Content by Pejman Yousefzadeh
Posted at 11:39pm on Jul. 10, 2008 The Irony! It Burns!
By Pejman Yousefzadeh
Consider the subject of this hearing, in which Google sought to downplay concerns regarding its privacy practices. Done? Splendid. Now read this, in which Google admits to keeping public surveillance operations private because people don't like having their privacy invaded.
Posted at 11:07pm on Jul. 9, 2008 An Ethics Cage Match: ACORN v. Points Of Light
By Pejman Yousefzadeh
Posted at 11:06pm on Jul. 9, 2008 The Great Obamian Netroots Betrayal--A Continuing Series
By Pejman Yousefzadeh
Glenn Greenwald continues his attacks on Barack Obama for Obama's support of FISA reforms. Needless to say, other people are upset as well. Of course, if Obama's stark and amazing reversal on FISA does not prove that he is just an ordinary politician--as opposed to being the vehicle of Hope and Change he portrayed himself as being--then I don't know what to think. But for now, at least, it seems clear that Obama's campaign has enraged its base. If centrists and center-right voters are reminded that contrary to the contentions of the Obama campaign, the presumptive Democratic nominee is nowhere near the center or the center-right in terms of votes and rhetoric, then we might see the Obama campaign isolated not only from its base, but from the very people it is seeking to reach out to in the general election campaign.
Posted at 11:05pm on Jul. 9, 2008 "Oh, The Tide Is Turning!"
By Pejman Yousefzadeh
When the senior Senator from the home state of the presumptive Democratic Presidential nominee--who is the Senate Democratic Whip to boot--comes out in favor of offshore drilling, you have to know that there is a change in the political landscape. I figure that it is only a matter of time before Barack Obama changes his position on this issue as well.
Posted at 11:17pm on Jul. 8, 2008 Pope Griswold Schools The Head Of Zimbabwe's Central Bank
By Pejman Yousefzadeh
I know that's a weird title to a blog post, but it does make sense if you read this.
Posted at 11:16pm on Jul. 8, 2008 Upset About The World Food Crisis?
By Pejman Yousefzadeh
Be sure to thank governments around the world for bringing it about. Those who place an excessive reliance on the heavy hand of the State to solve various policy problems ought to be made aware of this massive transnational governmental failure. Perhaps it will give those people pause before they advocate yet another expansion of governmental power.
I can dream, can't I?
Posted in Policy | The Food Price/Inflation Crisis — Comments (3)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 11:12pm on Jul. 8, 2008 Rethinking War Powers
By Pejman Yousefzadeh
The 1973 War Powers Act has been the object of much political and legal derision--especially given the widespread belief that the Act is unconstitutional as written. The political derision stems from the fact that Presidents have not invoked the Act and Congresses have done nothing to call for the Act's enforcement.
This state of affairs has prompted the creation of a bipartisan commission--the National War Powers Commission--tasked with the assignment to replace the War Powers Act with something that would be more workable. The Commission is chaired by former Secretaries of State James Baker and Warren Christopher. This Commission is not a creation of Congress the way the Iraq Study Group was, but rather a creation of the University of Virginia's Miller Center of Public Affairs (note the language on the homepage stating that "[t]he Miller Center impaneled the National War Powers Commission in February 2007."). Secretaries Baker and Christopher co-wrote an editorial that appeared in today's New York Times and which spells out how a new legislative design would function in governing the exercise of war powers by both Congress and the President:
Our proposed statute would provide that the president must consult with Congress before ordering a "significant armed conflict" -- defined as combat operations that last or are expected to last more than a week. To provide more clarity than the 1973 War Powers Resolution, our statute also defines what types of hostilities would not be considered significant armed conflicts -- for example, training exercises, covert operations or missions to protect and rescue Americans abroad. If secrecy or other circumstances precluded prior consultation, then consultation -- not just notification -- would need to be undertaken within three days.
To guarantee that the president consults with a cross section of Congress, the act would create a joint Congressional committee made up of the leaders of the House and the Senate as well as the chairmen and ranking members of key committees. These are the members of Congress with whom the president would need to personally consult. Almost as important, the act would establish a permanent, bipartisan staff with access to all relevant intelligence and national-security information.
Congress would have obligations, too. Unless it declared war or otherwise expressly authorized a conflict, it would have to vote within 30 days on a resolution of approval. If the resolution of approval was defeated in either House, any member of Congress could propose a resolution of disapproval. Such a resolution would have the force of law, however, only if it were passed by both houses and signed by the president or the president's veto were overridden. If the resolution of disapproval did not survive the president's veto, Congress could express its opposition by, for example, using its internal rules to block future spending on the conflict.
Read on . . .
Posted in Law | War Powers — Comments (1)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 11:04pm on Jul. 8, 2008 Cynical Observation Of The Day
By Pejman Yousefzadeh
It really would be interesting to see just how fervently Henry Waxman would be pushing his latest pet cause if Barack Obama got elected President and wanted to give a Democratic version of Karl Rove some prime West Wing office space. My guess is that Waxman would somehow, suddenly find different projects with which to occupy his time.
Politics is an inherent part of governing. I am sorry that this upsets Waxman, but he will be about as successful in taking politics out of governing as he would be in taking the wet out of water.
Posted in Policy | Politics And Government Are Interrelated — Comments (0)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 10:57pm on Jul. 8, 2008 "Reality-Based" Budgeting
By Pejman Yousefzadeh
The Los Angeles Times has taken a look at the Obama fiscal plan and finds it wanting:
"I don't think it all adds up," Isabel Sawhill, an official in President Clinton's Office of Management and Budget, said of Obama's spending plans.
"There will definitely need to be a recalibration of these proposals once someone is in office," said Sawhill, now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. "The fiscal situation just isn't going to permit doing what Sen. Obama or anyone else would like."
[. . .]
Obama's staff thinks that ending the Iraq war would free up money -- at least $90 billion a year -- that could be redirected to the new government programs. But it is unclear when that would occur. Obama has not given a clear date by which the Iraq war might end. On Thursday, he said he remained committed to withdrawing combat troops in 16 months. At a debate in September, he would not commit to pulling all U.S. troops out of Iraq by 2013.
Some budget experts say even a speedy end to the war would not give Obama much money for new programs.
"You cannot justify a longer-term commitment to a program based on a one-time saving on the war in Iraq," said Stuart Butler, who studies domestic policy at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative-leaning think tank.
In addition, replenishing the military and rebuilding Iraq and Afghanistan are certain to become expensive priorities once the fighting stops, said Alice Rivlin, who directed the Office of Management and Budget for several years under Clinton.
"Savings from the Iraq war will not be all that great," she said.
Other new sources of revenue in Obama's plan include about $80 billion a year from closing tax loopholes and $100 billion from a variety of cuts in spending and revised government procurement rules.
The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center examined Obama's plans to eliminate tax loopholes and said it could not confirm the projected savings.
"If you look at official revenue estimates, the numbers come out to be less than half of what they say they're going to raise," said Len Burman, director of the center and a former Treasury official in the Clinton administration, referring to Obama's campaign staff.
It's good and reassuring to see that there exists critical coverage of the Obama fiscal plan, but that coverage needs to expand to more media outlets and the Obama campaign needs to respond to critics who point out that the numbers for Obama's fiscal plan simply do not add up. Thus far, they have done a poor job of defending their intellectual product, even if there has been relatively little in the news concerning the many deficiencies in the Obama fiscal plan.
Posted in Barack Obama | Economy | Fiscal Policy — Comments (1)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 10:55pm on Jul. 8, 2008 Disconnect
By Pejman Yousefzadeh
This Washington Post editorial applauds Barack Obama for "adjusting" his Iraq policy.
Of course, Obama himself claims that there has been no shift whatsoever in his Iraq policy, which means that he and the Washington Post need to sit down and figure out just what on Earth the story actually is. Thus far, about the only thing that we can say is that Obama has actually done nothing to alleviate the concerns of centrist and center-right voters, while at the same time appearing to go out of his way to stick a thumb in the eye of his liberal base.