On January 19, 2010, something historic happened in Massachusetts. On a day marred by foul weather and an even fouler public sentiment, Bay Staters flocked to the voting booth in droves to have their voices heard. The result was surprising: despite its reputation as one of the country’s most liberal electorates, Massachusetts chose Scott Brown, a Republican, to fill the seat formerly held by the Senate's "liberal lion," Edward Kennedy. This marks the first time in almost four decades that the state has sent a Republican to the U.S.
Barack Obama has recently proposed market share limits on deposits, banning of proprietary trading and internal private equity funds at deposit-holding institutions.
A Korean newspaper recently noted that the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-Il, watched another set of military exercises. He, apparently, also commented that his troops would again march down to Pusan, defeating the South Koreans and their allies along the way. This statement came approximately two months after the twentieth anniversary of a major turning point in the long march towards the end of the Cold War. On November
Libertarian icon and occasional humorist Ron Paul once stated that when one gets in bed with government, one must expect the disease it spreads. The effects of these metaphorical STDs on the nation’s health have been repeatedly explicated. Conservative pundits argue that government intervention degrades the human will, prolonging poverty while undermining future self-assertion. Current welfare programs, such as the nutritional program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and food stamps, are not ‘hand-ups’ but ‘handouts.’
In The Lord of the Rings, “The Ring” was the “mighty gift which will change our fortunes in this war.” In today’s War on Terror (or “overseas contingency operation” in Obama-speak), the Predator drone is our Ring. The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has become the only effective tool in the US arsenal for dealing with (read: eliminating) some of the most complex and dangerous problems in the fight against international terrorism.
This month, an official Pentagon review was published detailing the systemic failure that permitted the culprit behind the Fort Hood shootings to advance through and operate within the military while his fanaticism remained undetected. This system-wide breakdown culminated in the deadly events that transpired on November 5th when Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, rampaged through the military base at Fort Hood and slaughtered thirteen Americans.
Times are changing in central Harlem. For most of its recent history Harlem has been a tragic center of urban decay, with high rates of violence, drug use, and astonishingly high student dropout rates. That is, until Geoffrey Canada came to town.
If it wasn’t apparent during the campaign, it certainly seems to be out in the open now: Obama is emasculating America’s defenses, giving more truth to the cliché that Democrats are incapable of handling national security. We are also seeing the rise of another maxim of the Obama administration’s foreign policy: better to be an enemy than a friend (if we still even have those anymore).
In late September of this year, President Obama became the first US president to presided over a session of the United Nations Security Council. He used the opportunity to push for a new Security Council resolution that would make it harder for countries to use nuclear energy facilities to make nuclear weapons. This measure deserves a bit more scrutiny.
Tell me if you've heard this one before: The U.S. ranks lower than almost all other Western and developed nations in life expectancy, child birth mortalities, and other health care metrics. The countries that rank better than us have "universal" or socialized health care systems. Thus, correlation implying causation, if we wish to enjoy better life expectancy et al, we must adopt the nanny state solution of government-run and regulated health care (or at least move closer to it).
If you’ve been watching the news the past couple of weeks, you might have gotten the idea that the Car Allowance Rebate System or “Cash for Clunkers” program has been a great success for all parties involved. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood even called it “the best economic news story in America.” A closer examination of the fundamental premises and efficacy of the program, however, reveals that it is flawed in both theory and practice.
Only months ago the Obama message was taking the country by storm. Football stadiums were filled with thousands of swooning supporters. On their shoulders Barrack Obama defeated the Clinton machine and a Republican candidate with significantly more experience to become the 44th President of the United States.
During the week of May 4 President Obama’s approval ratings stood at a solid 66%; as of August 23, 2009, his approval rating had dropped 12 points to 54%. Rasmussen puts the number as low as 49%. When the President asked Congress to draft bills that would solve our nation’s health care woes, he unearthed the same frustration that buried the Democratic Party sixteen years ago and threatens to do so again. Obama seemed invincible as a candidate last November.
'To protect the middle class' _ this, each candidate and his proxies sought constantly to reassure the public during the recent presidential campaign, would be a top priority upon taking office. Yet the appeal rang false to me. I do not deny that to protect the middle class is an important endeavor, nor do I doubt that the middle class is a bulwark of any democratic republic, but I object to the message in its implication.
As of now, the $820 billion financial stimulus plan being debated in the halls of Congress ranks as perhaps the most important issue facing the new administration. Massive in scope and unprecedented in magnitude, the consequences of the bill will affect American citizens long after current recession worries have passed away.
Mr. Gray seems to have watched Animal House and taken it to be a documentary on life here at Georgetown. I imagine many students strongly object to his characterization of campus life, and in the spirit of debate, I think it is appropriate for this paper to further discuss some of his more controversial points.
Since President Obama's inauguration, the media has bombarded Americans incessantly with headlines about the stimulus package that Congress still debates. The rate of news combined with the complexity of the issues must keep even economists confused about the true nature of the stimulus bill. I would like to take a step back and start over, to ask questions about the stimulus that the media overlooks in its excitement. In doing so, I wish to encourage any who care about our economic future to ask these kinds of questions before taking a position. The danger this crisis presents necessitates that we think and research diligently.
Centuries ago, the ancient Romans celebrated Valentine's Day as young men hit young women with goatskin hides, an act thought to improve fertility. In further celebration of the day, men placed their names in a box and from that box couples would be paired for the next year. Reflecting on this tradition from Georgetown centuries later, it amazes me how little we truly change. Perhaps the dapper young men here at Georgetown no longer beat women with goatskins
I am distressed by a growing trend in our society to view liberty and license as synonyms. Citizens commonly invoke their rights without pausing to consider that they have duties as well. Conservative philosophy maintains that freedom has a higher purpose than the gratification of our appetites, but the popularity of the idea of natural rights seems to have overshadowed those higher aspirations and left our political culture bereft of the concept of civic duty.
At this pivotal moment in American history, it comes with little surprise that another elected representative is under investigation for poor judgment and illegal activity. On December 9, Governor Rod Blagojevich of Illinois was arrested on federal charges of corruption for attempting to sell the Senate seat that once belonged to President-elect Obama. One month later, the Illinois Senate voted to impeach Blagojevich by a 114-1 vote.
It often seems rarely a day passes that we do not receive a campus-wide e-mail referring to Georgetown and its faculty as a "campus community." We are often grouped together with the characterization that we are an academic community, with institutions and norms like any other community found in society.Though we often pass these terms around casually, Georgetown should focus on the state of its "campus community."
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