Drew Richardson | The importance of good science in the Obama administration

Chris Graham

Which is President-elect Obama’s most important personnel appointment? Secretary of State? Attorney General? Secretary of the Treasury? The answer is none of them – not even close. I adamantly believe that distinction goes to his Presidential Science Advisor. You ask, “We are in the midst of two wars and our economy is crumbling, and you’re…

Steven Sisson | Don’t just stand there. Give ‘im a pencil

Chris Graham

In 2003, the Blue Dog first met Congressman Virgil Goode at the Greene County Strawberry Festival. While shaking hands and passing-out Sisson for Senate campaign literature, I heard a high-pitched shrilled voice calling-out … “Steeeveee Sissssson … anti-tax Democrat fer State Senate!” Even though I had never met him, I knew the distinct voice of…

Bruce Kesler: Redistribute this!

Contributors

Column by Bruce Kesler Barack Obama’s bluntly answered Joe the Plumber that we should have more redistribution from the well-off to “spread the wealth around.” Yet, according to the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the United States has the most progressive income tax and employee Social Security taxes in the developed world….

Bruce Kesler: The Fannie-ization of Health Care

Contributors

Column by Bruce Kesler Health care could be the next Fannie Mae-type disaster. Similar forces are at work. Anxieties over the financial meltdown may increase Democrats’ power to further their statist agenda via appeals that exaggerate need and rights among the poor and feed greed by many of the rest of us. The forces worked…

White House ’08: Barr talks with AFP about campaign

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham [email protected] It had seemed for a time back in the summer that former Republican congressman Bob Barr might end up playing a spoiler role in the ’08 presidential election by siphoning off a couple of percentage points from the vote total of Republican John McCain in what had been expected to…

David Reynolds: Looking back and beyond

David Reynolds

Column by David Reynolds First, a look back at last week. I argued that a cause of the current economic turmoil was a clash between a social policy, racial affirmative action, and economic reality, the current housing market. The column was based on several sources, including quotes from Washington officials and leading newspaper accounts. As…

David Reynolds: Why it happened

David Reynolds

Column by David Reynolds Greed. That’s OK for a one-word answer. But the editor allots me 800 words each week, so I should say a little more. I could say that before their sudden death, the investment banks were not subject to the same regulatory controls we place on commercial banks. But that is still…

Haresh Daswani: Basic principles in investing

Contributors

Column by Haresh Daswani Given that the world financial situation has become shaky, given that people were buying houses they cannot really afford, at prices higher than what is deemed fit, it is inevitable that price correction in real estate will cause chaos within the banking sector. It is also interesting to see that our…

Kaine addresses lawmakers on budget shortfall

Chris Graham

Story by Chris Graham [email protected] Everything is on the table, Gov. Tim Kaine told state legislators today as the two sides began to address a projected billion-dollar shortfall in the current biennial state budget. “The need to engage in a third major round of budget reductions will mean, by necessity, that all programs — including…

The purveyor of second chances

Chris Graham

Story by Edward Tutwiler “I think I should have no other mortal wants, if I could always have plenty of music. It seems to infuse strength into my limbs and ideas into my brain. Life seems to go on without effort, when I am filled with music.” – George Eliot Looking backwards on missed opportunities…