An opportunity squandered

Photograph showing the March 4, 1861, inauguration of Abraham Lincoln in front of U.S. Capitol Building
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By Judd Gregg – The president’s inaugural address, rather than speaking to our better angels, to paraphrase Lincoln, spoke to lesser purposes.

He is the president. He was elected. He has the right to define where he wishes to lead us, and should do so.

But this speech was not set in those terms. It was structured and built with what seemed to be a purpose of setting the nation against itself. more> http://tinyurl.com/b2qrpxg

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“Fiscal cliff” talks turn sour, Obama threatens veto

By Matt Spetalnick and Mark Felsenthal – Talks to avoid a U.S. fiscal crisis stalled on Wednesday (Dec 19) as President Barack Obama accused opponents of holding a personal grudge against him while the top Republican negotiator called the president “irrational.”

“It is very hard for them to say yes to me,” he told a news conference in the White House. “At some point, you know, they’ve got to take me out of it.”

The rise in tensions threatens to unravel significant progress made over the last week. more> http://tinyurl.com/corv5bl

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If Mitt Romney Wins, What Happens Next Is Crucial

By Morton Blackwell – Loyalty as a hiring requirement can have at least two meanings. It could mean loyalty in the sense of commitment to principles, or it could mean loyalty in the sense of willingness to do exactly what you are told to do.

Every Presidential political appointee has some power to make things happen.

A principled appointee will look for ways to implement his or her principles. Those without principles will tend to do nothing unless they are told to do it. A too centralized organization cannot achieve as much as an intelligently de-centralized one. more> http://tinyurl.com/9s2ay5e

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Election a watershed for nation

English: U.S. Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush and Richard Nixon at the dedication of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Français : Présidents américains Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush et Richard Nixon à la bibliothèque Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By Judd Gregg – There probably hasn’t been a presidential election since the contest between Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan in which the outcome — the current that will carry the nation forward — will have such a dramatically different impact or involve such a fundamental reshaping of how we are defined.

This is an election where the nature and purposes of the candidates have converged with a flow of events in such a way that the winner could easily deliver a change that will alter our course and form our national character for years to come.

We are moving into an extraordinarily unsettled world. more> http://tinyurl.com/cbpsgf3

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Romney opens new front vs Obama: schools are failing

By Sam Youngman and Laura MacInnis – Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney opened a new front on Wednesday (May 23, 2012) in his fight against President Barack Obama, accusing him of presiding over a failing U.S. education system in the grip of union bosses who refuse to accept reforms.

Meanwhile, at a series of fundraisers , Obama kept hitting at his opponent’s record as a job-cutting private equity executive – a prime target for his re-election campaign – and touted his own economic plans to “move the country forward.”

Romney made more money and more access to charter schools the centerpiece of his platform, but he launched a strong attack on teachers’ unions. “The teachers’ unions are the clearest example of a group that has lost its way,” Romney said. more> http://tinyurl.com/c52je9p