A New Year, A New Governor

Brown sworn in as Council chairman, pledges 'world-class' city, schools
Kwame R. Brown was sworn in Sunday as the seventh chairman of the D.C. Council, vowing to work closely with Mayor Vincent C. Gray while also providing "robust Oversight" of the administration. Brown, a former at-large Council Member, was joined by his wife, Marcia, and two Children when he was administered the oath. In his inaugural address at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Brown pledged to have an ongoing dialogue with District residents to balance the Budget, continue education re...

Georgiana Vines: Bill Haslam inaugural will be eventful
Tennessee Gov.-elect Bill Haslam will have a variety of activities throughout the region and in Nashville as part of his inauguration in two weeks. The Republican also will make a little Tennessee history. He will be sworn in by Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Cornelia "Connie" Clark. She's the first woman in Tennessee history to administer a swearing-in for a Governor, Dave Smith, a Haslam spokesman, said Friday. Clark was chosen by her fellow court members to be the chief justice last y...

Rhee taking agenda for D.C.-style education reform to national stage
Michelle Rhee plans to release her legislative agenda for Education Reform early this week, but whether legislators will embrace the platform remains to be seen, analysts say. "Whatever she releases will get attention," said Neal McCluskey, associate director of the Cato Institute's Center for Educational Freedom. "It's a lot harder to say whether it will have any on-the-ground traction as far as Legislation passed." The Washington Examiner of her plans to create a national education platform t...

2010: A year of seismic change for R.I. schools
Governor-elect Lincoln D. Chafee, left, speaks with Education Commissioner Deborah Gist this month. Chafee has expressed reservations about Gist’s tough approach to school reform. It’s hard to imagine a more eventful year for education. Any other year, the firing of every teacher at struggling Central Falls High School alone would have marked 2010 as extraordinary — a year that placed the tiniest city in the smallest state at the center of the national Education Reform stage. ...

Kaine: Obama too busy with ObamaCare to deal with job creation
Pam Key at The Blaze captures this exercise in spin from today’s State of the Union on CNN, as Tim Kaine attempts to explain why Barack Obama has to promise yet again to shift his focus to Job Creation.  Ed Henry wonders why it took so long for Obama to focus on jobs and The Economy, since Obama took office during an Unemployment crisis that went from the mid-7%s to double digits in the first two years.  Kaine says that Obama’s been really, really busy [rush transcript from CNN]:...

Opposition leaders who push for better on the economy won't fare better in the polls
Opposition politicians wondering why they aren’t making up more ground against the federal Conservatives, despite the recent global economic turmoil, need look no further than a couple of modern-era Economic Indicators. Back when Pierre Trudeau and Robert Stanfield were battling it out (1974) the country’s economic debate centered on Unemployment, Inflation and Interest Rates and occasionally the value of The Dollar. By the 1990’s the Deficit had also become a vital sign that ...

Republicans rattle sabers on cooperation
WASHINGTON, Jan. 2 (UPI) -- A senior Republican U.S. senator said the GOP was willing to work with President Obama on policies that will reduce Government Spending and create jobs. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday that Democratic initiatives such as Healthcare Reform and the economic stimulus had actually made the recovery more difficult and it was now time to let the Republicans voice their ideas. "The mandate of the last election was pretty clear to me, that t...

Graham Calls For Social Security Reform
(NewsCore) - The incoming congressional session needs to address the government’s rising Debt, pursue laws that create jobs and finally reform Social Security, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Sunday. Still, the recovery is going to be slow and lawmakers need to give businesses more certainty and reconsider the recent Health Care bill, he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” President Barack Obama has said his goal is to get The Economy back on track. “He’ll find ...

Do you want to see healthcare reform repealed? | Poll
Barack Obama signs the Healthcare Bill into law. Photograph: guardian.co.uk Yes, but unfortunately for different reasons than the Republicans. Not because it's "socialistic," but because it's a sop to Insurance Companies, with no cost controls & does not even allow the govt to negotiate for drug prices, which is the most ridiculous thing imaginable when the whole point of reform is to save money. Obama is nothing but a right-wing version of Bush, with his brand of Health Care reform bein...

No More Mister Nice Blog
HUNTSMANIA: THE BECK CONNECTION Yesterday I wrote a very skeptical post about Newsweek's lengthy article speculating on a possible 2012 presidential run by Jon Huntsman Jr., the former GOP Governor of Utah who's the Obama administration's ambassador to China. I said that the notion of a conciliatory Republican winning the GOP nomination in this climate struck me as absurd, the kind of thing only blinkered Beltway insiders could believe was possible; I gathered, from reading around the blogs, th...

Thomas E. Heslin: Providence Journal embracing innovation while holding onto core values
This is a time of rapid evolution for news and information providers. Today seems like a good day to share some perspective. Evolution is nothing new to The Providence Journal. Since 1829, we have been responding to the changing demands of news and technology. Through it all, we have been sustained by our values: Our commitment to public service and Watchdog journalism, our determination to provide you unique and essential local content, and our appreciation for visual excellence (which now inc...

Capital's war against WikiLeaks
© EPA In the words of Thomas Friedman,"the hidden hand of the market will never work without the hidden fist. McDonald's cannot flourish without McDonnell Douglas..." When your Swiss Banker throws you overboard, you know you've made some very powerful enemies. Long famed for hiding money for everyone from Nazis and drug lords to spies and dictators, the Swiss government's banking arm has decided that Wikileaks and Julian Assange are just too hot even for it to handle. And so the PostFin...

GOP congressman predicts easy early wins
WASHINGTON, Jan. 2 (UPI) -- A ranking U.S. House Republican said Sunday that President Obama's Healthcare Reform program would be scuttled in short order by the new Congress. Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., said the effort to Repeal the so-called ObamaCare plan would begin before the president delivers his State of the Union Speech and would likely have enough votes in the House to pass easily. "We have 242 Republicans and there will be a significant number of Democrats, I think, that will join us," U...

U.S. Republicans to enjoy new clout, face pressure
Once they take power from Obama’s Democrats in the House of Representatives when the new Congress convenes on Jan. 5, they will be held accountable to answer this and other questions. How will they keep their promise to cut federal spending and reduce the federal Deficit? What will they do to pump new life into the sluggish economy still trying to recover from the worst Recession since the Great Depression? Will they raise the federal Debt Limit or threaten a government default? “T...

Goolsbee: Obama to Make Tough Choices on Budget
Yahoo! Buzz Austan Goolsbee, President Barack Obama’s top economic adviser, said the administration wants to “juice” The Economy amid signs that the Economic Recovery is continuing at a gradual pace. Mr. Goolsbee, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, said on ABC’s “This Week” that the administration is focusing on spurring investment and improving U.S. exports and innovation to boost economic growth. And he said that steps already taken, such a...

Obamas Weakly Address
From WhiteHouse.gov WASHINGTON - In his weekly address, President Obama resolved to do everything he can to make sure The Economy is growing, creating jobs, and strengthening the Middle Class in the new year.  With each party controlling one house of the Congress, Democrats and Republicans will share the responsibility to move the country forward, and the President reiterated his commitment to work with anyone who has a good idea in either party. ~snip~ This is a farce. Obama has his mind m...

Obama Promises to Work With GOP
The AP reports: Honolulu (AP) — President Barack Obama says Democrats and Republicans must work together in the new year and share responsibility for moving the country forward. In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama said Saturday that lawmakers must return to Washington next week prepared to make serious decisions about how to grow The Economy in the short run and stay competitive in the future. “I’m willing to work with anyone of either party who’s got a good...

Obama aide urges debt-ceiling raise
WASHINGTON, Jan. 2 (UPI) -- One of President Obama's top economic advisers warned Sunday Congress risks a calamity it refuses to approve raising the National Debt ceiling later this year. Speaking on ABC's "This Week with Christiane Amanpour," Austan Goolsbee said that refusal to raise the Debt ceiling would be tantamount to an unprecedented default on the nation's obligations. "The impact on The Economy would be catastrophic," said Goolsbee, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advis...

Goolsbee: Debt ceiling critics ruled by 'insanity'
Top White House economic advisor Austan Goolsbee warned Sunday that a congressional failure to rise the nation's Debt Limit early this year would be "catastrophic." "It pains me that we would even be talking about this," Goolsbee told ABC's "This Week."  "This is not a game. You know, the Debt ceiling is not something to toy with. … If we hit the Debt ceiling, that's essentially defaulting on our obligations, which is totally unprecedented in American history. The impact on The Economy woul...

Obama Advisor: Not Raising the Debt Ceiling is Insanity or Something
Sure, let's remain sane by spending ourselves into oblivion.Top White House economic advisor Austan Goolsbee warned Sunday that a congressional failure to rise the nation's Debt Limit early this year would be "catastrophic." "It pains me that we would even be talking about this," Goolsbee told ABC's "This Week." "This is not a game. You know, the Debt ceiling is not something to toy with. … If we hit the Debt ceiling, that's essentially defaulting on our obligations, which is totally unprec...

Schwarzenegger Set To Leave Office
(NewsCore) - California was set Sunday to say goodbye to "The Governator," as Arnold Schwarzenegger leaves office after seven years running America's most populous state. Even Schwarzenegger’s supporters will have a tough time defending his record: his popularity Ratings were a lowly 22 percent, Unemployment was above the national average at 12.4 percent, and California's Deficit now tops $28 billion. Much of the turbulence buffeting the administration was out of Schwarzenegger's control -...

Solving California's jobs crisis
As we enter the new year with a new Governor, new Legislature and renewed commitment to restoring California's luster, our singular focus as a state must be on Job Creation in the short term and job competitiveness in the long term. A meeting held in Monterey in November might hold the key that unlocks the door to California's economic future. In a small conference facility and with little fanfare, the University of California Curriculum Integration Institute brought together a group of teachers...

Hangover or after-party for stocks?
By Edward Krudy NEW YORK | Sun Jan 2, 2011 11:30am EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - A bout of profit taking seems likely early in the new year after the S&P 500 ended its best December in almost two decades, but stocks may have further to run at the start of 2011. Technical indicators are pointing to a strained market, though recently stocks have been maintaining the momentum of late 2010. The potential is certainly there for shares to derail this week with some important economic reports due. A ...

The GOP Perpetual Motion Machine
Steve Benen is right: the GOP-controlled House knows absolutely that their first order of business come next week, to try to Repeal the Affordable Care Act, is just so smoke and mirrors. They have the votes to do it in the House. It won't get past the Senate, and it certainly won't get past a Presidential Veto. So why do it? ...But there's almost certainly a realization on everyone's part that House Republicans are doing this for show. If passed, their Repeal measure can't pass the Senate, and w...

NJ Assembly To Vote On Job Training Bill
Jobless New Jersey residents may soon be able to receive training from potential employers without jeopardizing their Unemployment Benefits. TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Jobless New Jersey residents may soon be able to receive training from potential employers without jeopardizing their Unemployment Benefits. The measure, scheduled to go before the full Assembly on Thursday, is part of a multi-bill package that proponents say will create jobs and boost New Jersey’s economy. The plan is model...