We already chose not to face head-on the consequences of failure on Wall Street. We had a referendum on pain and our willingness to walk the walk of our capitalist principles, and we decided we just weren't up to it. Now, as the economy is coming undone, one has to question whether this is the moment to let GM and others fall under the weight of their legacy cost structures. The arguments for bankruptcy and the urgency of finally having Detroit make the real changes that are essential to its future are valid. But bailout opponents should not kid themselves into thinking that the process will be smooth or without collateral damage.
Obama is the American President, but he is, in many respects, also the world's President. What he does will matter to young and old across the globe. The world, like America, is waiting for him to lead.
There's a good chance that the role California played in Obama's victory will go unnoticed. However, the California team actually pulled off what can only be called a field operation coup.
Although Prop 8 wasn't exactly a remake of Prop 6, it's the same disaster movie storyline pitch: any recognition of constitutional rights for gay and lesbian citizens will somehow destroy the natural order.
Obama shouldn't make the mistake that Bill Clinton did and install a drug czar who will ignore science and push dogma.
Financial markets have given Hank Paulson a vote of no confidence. His inaction has triggered a chain reaction. Unfortunately, it's the rest of us who will pay the price.
It's time for the New York senator to take a step forward -- to use her experience for the benefit of the country.
The financial crisis is a good, albeit painful, reminder that the stocks, bonds, gold, silver have no intrinsic value. We act as if they do, because it gives us some sense of an orderly world.
To pick Clinton would send a message indeed: that the U.S. is a leader on women's rights across the world. Clinton also has the bona fides to match any other contender on foreign policy issues not related to human rights.
In order to make sure Barack Obama will not be a president like George W. Bush, there are ten urgent questions that he must be asked before he takes the oath of office.
We're giving Detroit money we don't have to feed and house their employees and bail out their suppliers. We're doing it to save our country, not to save the auto industry as its currently configured.
With Americans facing economic challenges unlike any in our lifetime, will Obama's high-tech outreach become a hub for civic action?
As a professor of global affairs and an international security advisor to both the U.S. military and President of Afghanistan, I say if Obama wants to mend scars he should send her flowers.
We're seeing an amazing act of willful ignorance here. The predicament that Detroit has found itself in is an American business tragedy. Let's not make it worse by lying to ourselves.
In a nutshell, the Pentagon's argument couldn't be simpler or more red-bloodedly American: We have too much stuff there to leave Iraq any time soon.
It is almost irrational to give finance the instruments to do more of what has brought us to the brink. The prior bailouts each contributed one more element to the unsustainable leveraging we have now reached.
Right-wing critics of public employee pensions will use any angle to convince folks that these plans are bankrupting states, cities and towns. However, they are an essential part of the capital market.
Let's not be coy about the real agenda here. Republicans like Mitt Romney see this as an opportunity to wage war against the UAW.
The fog of memory and the spin of media are teaming up to explain that Obama must hew to "the center" if he knows what's good for his presidency.
