The Empire State has a lot to recommend it -- Broadway shows, Niagara Falls, and baseball's World Series champions, the New York Yankees. But politics? As the locals would say, Fuhgeddaboudit. Colorful, ethnic, tribal, the New York political scene is much like the Big Apple itself, a bit rough around the edges. But the political upheaval taking place in the state now has shocked even hardened New Yorkers and given disillusioned voters across the nation more reason to lose faith in their leaders. Just in the past week: -- Democratic Gov. David Paterson dropped his re-election bid because of evidence...
Health care legislation in Washington may be stalled, but that has not stopped legislatures in more than two-thirds of the states from objecting to one of its central planks: a requirement that everyone buy health insurance. The objections, many of them driven by the Tea Party movement, may turn out to be largely symbolic. But they nonetheless serve notice to President Obama and the Democrats of real anger over their health care plans and signal the potential for political upheaval down the road. These measures, which are in various stages of ripening in about 36 states, could also pave the...
As he prepares to speak on the state of the union after his first year in office, President Obama faces a political landscape that has shifted dramatically in just the past week. The president's first State of the Union address, as recently as a week ago, was expected to be a mostly positive progress report of his first year in office peppered with great expectations for the future. And there were reports that the president had delayed setting a date for the speech because he hoped congressional Democrats would quickly pass a final health care bill, giving Obama the
Massachusetts voters have created a political upheaval not seen in recent memory. However, now that the red, white and blue balloons in Boston have come down, it’s time for Republicans to have a reality check. Scott Brown is a moderate Republican, at best There once was a time when the Republican Party was truly a big tent, in the sense that conservative and moderates a like worked together for the good of the country and to a lesser extent, for the party. However, in recent years, as the balance of power in Washington got so close between Republicans and Democrats,...
President Barack Obama signed an Executive Order on March 20, extending the temporary stay in the US of an estimated 3,500 Liberians for another 12 months. Their current stay of deportation would have expired in about 10 days on March 31st, 2009 and would have subjected them to deportation. Liberians breathed a sigh of relief. Many are asking what about the Haitians? They are similarly situated insofar as the circumstances that led to their seeking refuge in the United States are not different than those which led to Liberians’ flight. Political upheaval, a shattered economy, a dysfunctional and feeble government,...
The interim leadership in Honduras has vowed to use all security measures at its disposal to ensure a safe election this month. Leader Roberto Micheletti, installed after President Manuel Zelaya was ousted in a June coup, has said he expects November 29 elections to bring an end to the worst political upheaval in Central America in decades. He vowed to bring the full weight of security forces to bear on the abridged campaign season and the election itself. 'People should know that we are here to provide security,' said armed forces chief General Romeo Vasquez on Saturday. 'We have put...
Friday, March 5, 2010
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