NEW YORK TIMES: When the Obama administration agreed this summer to erase the federal loan debt of some former students at Corinthian Colleges, a for-profit schoolthat filed for bankruptcy in the face of charges of widespread fraud, education officials promised to “protect students from abusive colleges and safeguard the interests of taxpayers.” But the Education […]
Paul Samuelson review of Ben Bernanke’s “The Courage to Act”
Years ago, banks dominated the system and got their funds mainly from household and business deposits. These were largely immune to panic because most were government-insured. But in recent decades, a “wholesale” market for funds had developed consisting of the spare cash of corporations, pension funds, wealthy individuals and others. These uninsured funds were lent to banks and other financial institutions for short periods, often overnight. By late 2006, wholesale funds totaled $5.6 trillion, exceeding insured deposits of $4.1 trillion. It was the abrupt withdrawal of these funds that drove panic and threatened the financial system with collapse.
Reuters/Ipsos Poll: Half of Democrats Want Biden in Race
NEWSMAX: …Almost half of the nation’s Democrats want the vice president to enter the field and challenge front-runner Hillary Clinton, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll. The poll breakdown among Democrats: • 48 percent favor a Biden run • 30 percent want Biden to stay out. The results come as speculation surrounding Biden’s intentions has […]
U.S. Weaponry Is Turning Syria Into Proxy War With Russia
NEW YORK TIMES: Insurgent commanders say that since Russia began air attacks in support of the Syrian government, they are receiving for the first time bountiful supplies of powerful American-made antitank missiles… The American-made TOW antitank missiles began arriving in the region in 2013, through a covert program run by the United States, Saudi Arabia […]
Obama Bans Pork from Prisons, CAIR Praises Decision
NEWSMAX: …”In general we welcome the change because it’s facilitating the accommodation of Muslim inmates,” CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said. “We hope it’s not an indication of an increasing number of Muslims in the prison system.” Non-pork options have long been available to observant Jews and Muslims, who can’t eat pork products for religious reasons. […]
How do PA and IL governors differ in their budget efforts?
Both are chief executive officers of the last two states (Pennsylvania and Illinois) without an operating budget. Both are businessmen worth considerably more than ordinary folks, Rauner through equity investing (shades of Mitt Romney!) and Wolf via a family owned business.
Readers deem NewsLanc right on Kane and wrong on migrants
It is educational and a bit humbling to note the overwhelming different reactions to our views of our readers on two very different subjects.
The Kissinger Diaries: What He Really Thought About Vietnam
POLITICO: …From a very early stage, Kissinger understood the nature of the problem the United States faced. “All history proves that there is no cheap and easy way to defeat guerrilla movements,” he wrote in February 1962. “South Vietnam has been plagued by Communist Viet Cong attacks ever since it became independent in 1954. Their […]
Fear and loathing in Hungary
One would think that such an oppressive political climate combined with rising poverty levels would result in greater disaffection, if not open rebellion as it did in 1956. But EU membership serves as an enormous safety valve on Hungarian society. Anyone fed up with the “Christian nationalist” government of Viktor Orbán is at liberty to pack up and move to Germany or England, which is precisely what hundreds of thousands of Hungarians have done since Viktor Orbán and Fidesz returned to power in 2010.
Clinton’s Support Slides Ahead of First Democratic Debate
COPYMAX: Just days before she will take the stage in the first Democratic debate, Hillary Clinton’s lead over rival Bernie Sanders has narrowed, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll… From October 4 to October 9, Clinton saw her support tumble from 51 percent of Democratic support to just 41 percent. Her nearest competitors, Vermont Senator Sanders […]
The value of apologies; the meaning of charity
Two article in Thursday’s New York Times touched upon important ethical issues.
Here Comes the Big One: The ReformCA Marijuana Legalization Initiative
The Control, Regulate and Tax Cannabis Act of 2016 would allow people 21 and over to possess and cultivate limited amounts of marijuana and it would set up legal marijuana commerce overseen by a pair of new state agencies, the California Cannabis Commission and the Office of Cannabis Regulatory Affairs.
To retake the Pennsylvania legislature, Democrats first must regain the state Supreme Court
Whichever party controls the court appoints a tie-breaking member to the redistricting commission and most recently, that has been a Republican who voted for partisan gerrymanders.
Behind McCarthy’s decision to bail
POLITICO: …The majority leader’s longtime allies — the people he recruited and helped get elected to Congress — told him they were getting hammered back home, and that it would be difficult to back him on the House floor… McCarthy went back and forth in his head, and with his staff. Should he stay in […]