Jack Lew for Budget Director

Jack Lew for Budget Director

Today the President announced his intent to nominate Jack Lew as Director of the Office of Management and Budget. I support Mr. Lew’s nomination.

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13 July
A decade of spiraling deficits

A decade of spiraling deficits

If the President is right when he says that “a decade of spiraling deficits” are “the consequence of a decade of misguided economic policies,” he is looking at the wrong decade. I don’t see how he can justify his own budget.

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12 July

Methodology: How to compare Presidencies over time

This is a wonky methodology post that some readers may want to skip. I am including it because I need to use it in another post today, and I anticipate I may need it again in the future.

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12 July
How to enact a bipartisan stimulus (and why it won’t happen)

How to enact a bipartisan stimulus (and why it won’t happen)

As President Obama ramps up his partisan campaign blame rhetoric, remember that he is choosing not to pursue this bipartisan option that would enact more fiscal stimulus and extend unemployment insurance benefits while preventing tax increases on small business owners during a too-slow economic recovery.

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9 July
Extending unemployment insurance

Extending unemployment insurance

Congress should extend unemployment insurance benefits for six months and reevaluate. They should pay for this by cutting future spending.

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8 July
The President’s recess appointment of Dr. Donald Berwick

The President’s recess appointment of Dr. Donald Berwick

Recess appointments are not quite routine, but they are Constitutional and are an ugly reality of how things sometimes work in Washington. Yet the timing and manner of Dr. Berwick’s recess appointment are clear process fouls by the Obama Administration. In this case the President is using the recess appointment power not to work around a filibuster as claimed, but to avoid disclosing information that is potentially relevant to Dr. Berwick’s service, to avoid an unpleasant reprise of the health care debate, and because it’s convenient for the Administration.

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7 July
Partisan premises for the 2010 election

Partisan premises for the 2010 election

Here are a dozen premises that appear to be driving Republican and Democratic party strategies as we approach the 2010 election.

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6 July
Dawn of the Dead: the Krugman remake

Dawn of the Dead: the Krugman remake

Dr. Krugman’s claim that the President’s Fiscal Commission is dead presents a strategic threat to Team Obama.

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22 June