Wouldn’t It Be Nice

Tonight President Obama will speak to the nation marking the official end to combat operations in Iraq. What a thankless task. Wouldn’t it be nice to hear the President say that the US never needed to spend all the money it has, nor did it have the need to have wasted over 4400 lives or [...]

The Banks Fault?

Banks are not lending. That is what Americans are being told. Credit is tight and therefore the economy is having a difficult time getting any traction. That’s number two for the Banks. First they precipitated the financial crisis and consequent recession. Now they are doing their best to act righteous and are holding back on [...]

Any Ideas?

The US economy seems to be moping along showing no signs of recovery from the 2008 recession. A lot of people have lost their jobs and have little prospect in getting new ones. States all seem to be having difficulty balancing their budgets and are engaged in layoffs and cutbacks. How did we get into [...]

A Peak Under the Covers

There are two big scandals enjoying wide press coverage going on in Philadelphia. One involves the Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA) and the other, the Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA). Both scandals expose the lack of any real oversight one would expect for agencies with budgets the size of these two. But there is much more [...]

Yes, And…?

A new out of State funded attack ad has come to Pennsylvania TV screens. The TV spot characterizes Democrat Senatorial candidate, Joe Sestak, by saying (ominously), “he voted for government health care”. How bad is that? If you equate government with bad, then this add makes sense. Or, does it? The US health care system [...]

The Mountain Ahead

Opinion polls in the Pennsylvania Senate race are favoring Republican Pat Toomey over Democrat Joe Sestak. TV ads supporting Toomey have thundered all summer that Joe Sestak is too liberal. They cite his support of the stimulus package and a straightline vote with the House Democratic majority. While these claims are factually true, what is [...]

Food Fight

It could just as easily be the extreme disagreements over health care reform. One side vociferously in favor and the other equally opposed. Both sides augmented (if not outrightly pushed aside) with money and voices from outside the area.   In short the food fight is not about food but about some greater issue in [...]

Obama’s Iraq Speech

The White House reports that President Obama is preparing to give a major speech on the symbolic occurrence of the withdrawal of combat designated army units from Iraq. Pundits are wringing their hands on whether he should claim victory (like in mission accomplished) or avoid any mention of it. Conservatives are gearing up their spin [...]

Unexpected?

Just when all seemed out of sorts with positive movement, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced the invitation and the acceptance by Mahmoud Abbas and Benjamin Netanyahu to meet in Washington for discussion on a comprehensive peace plan. Israel and the Palestinians have been this close several times before and always found a way to [...]

Numbers

Headlines the past few days has been poll results that indicate 18% of Americans think President Obama is Muslim. This number has increased over the past 6 months and despite numerous White House denials, a segment of America think otherwise. The poll asked respondents whether they thought President Obama was a) Christian, b) Muslim, c) [...]