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Feb. 8, 2013

Rabbi Berel Wein: Lofty ideals must be followed with grounded applications

Clifford D. May: Letter from the West Bank
Steve Rothaus: Judge OKs plan for gay man, lesbian couple to be on girl's birth certificate
Gloria Goodale: States consider drone bans: Overreaction or crucial for privacy rights?
Environmental Nutrition Editors: Don't buy the aloe vera juice hype
Michael Craig Miller, M.D.: Harvard Experts: Regular exercise pumps up memory, too
Erik Lacitis: Vanity plates: Some take too much license
The Kosher Gourmet by Susie Middleton: Broccoflower, Carrot and Leek Ragout with Thyme, Orange and Tapenade is a delightful and satisfying melange of veggies, herbs and aromatics
Feb. 6, 2013

Nara Schoenberg: The other in-law problem

Frank J. Gaffney Jr. : A see-no-jihadist for the CIA
Kristen Chick: Ahmadinejad visits Cairo: How sect tempers Islamist ties between Egypt, Iran
Roger Simon: Ed Koch's lucky corner
Heron Marquez Estrada: Robot-building sports on a roll
Patrick G. Dean, M.D.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: How to restore body's ability to secrete insulin
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: 3 prostate-protecting diet tips
The Kosher Gourmet by Emma Christensen 7 principles for to help you make the best soup ever in a slow cooker
Feb. 4, 2013

Jonathan Tobin: Can Jewish Groups Speak Out on Hagel?

David Wren: Findings of government study, released 3 days before Newtown shooting, at odds with gun-control crusaders
Kristen Chick: Tahrir becomes terrifying, tainted
Curtis Tate and Greg Gordon: US keeps building new highways while letting old ones crumble
David G. Savage: Supreme Court to hear case on arrests, DNA
Harvard Health Letters: Neck and shoulder pain? Know what it means and what to do
Andrea N. Giancoli, M.P.H., R.D.: Eat your way to preventing age-related muscle loss
The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington Baked Pears in Red Wine and Port Wine Glaze: A festive winter dessert
Feb. 1, 2013

Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb: Redemption

Clifford D. May Home, bloody, home
Christa Case Bryant andNicholas Blanford Why despite Syria's allies warning of retaliation for Israeli airstrikes, the threats are likely hollow
Rick Armon, Ed Meyer and Phil Trexler Ex-police captain cleared by DNA test is freed after nearly 15 years
Harvard Health Letters: Could it by your thyroid?
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: When 'healthy food' isn't
Sue Zeidler: Coke ad racist? Arab-American groups want to yank Super Bowl ad (INCLUDES VIDEO)
The Kosher Gourmet by Nealey Dozier The secret of this soup is the garnish
January 30, 2013

Allan Chernoff: Celebrating 'Back from the Dead Day'

America isn't a religious country? Don't tell Superbowl fans!
Mark Clayton Cybercrime takedown!
Germany remembers Hitler rise to power
Israel salutes U. N. --- with the one finger salute
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: Get cookin' with heart-healthy fats
Ballot riles Guinness World Records
The Kosher Gourmet by Elizabeth Passarella Potato, Squash and Goat Cheese Gratin
January 28, 2013

Nancy Youssef: And Democracy for all? Two years on, Egypt remains in state of chaos

Fred Weir: Putin: West is fomenting jihadi 'blowback'
Meredith Cohn: Implantable pain disk may help those with cancer
Michael Craig Miller, M.D. : Ask the Harvard Experts: Are there drugs to help control binge eating?
David Ovalle Use of controversial 'brain mapping' technology stymied
Jane Stancill: Professor's logic class has 180,000 friends
David Clark Scott Lego Racism?
The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali The celebrated chef introduces us to PANZEROTTI PUGLIESI, cheese-stuffed pastry from Italy's south


Jewish World Review Feb. 13, 2009 / 19 Shevat 5769

The Audacity of Hope

By Linda Chavez


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Now that Congress is on the verge of passing a $790 billion stimulus bill we can all breathe a huge collective sigh of relief, right? Our homes will be safe from foreclosure, unemployed workers will soon be heading back to their jobs, and no one else will lose theirs?


And what if the Congress hadn't pushed through this behemoth? Well, we have President Obama's word that a failure to act could have turned "a crisis into a catastrophe."


But apparently, not everyone is buying the Obama Miracle Plan. The stock market was down sharply on Tuesday — nearly 400 points — when Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner announced sketchy details of the Obama administration's plan to spend $2.5 trillion to rescue the American financial system.


Indeed, investors have been noticeably bearish since the election. The Dow Jones stood at about 9,300 on Oct. 31, 2008; as of Thursday, Feb. 12, 2009, it had fallen about 1,400 points. Not all of the decline reflects mistrust of the new president and his team — but it sure doesn't indicate much faith that he can rescue us either.


And that's the problem for President Obama. Many Americans voted for the president — whose actual record of accomplishments was thin at best — on hope alone. It was the basis of his whole presidential campaign, what he called the "Audacity of Hope" after a sermon from his former pastor, the now infamous Rev. Jeremiah Wright.


President Obama's hope lies in government. Monday night, in his first presidential news conference, he told the American people: "(T)he federal government is the only entity left with the resources to jolt our economy back into life. It is only government that can break the vicious cycle where lost jobs lead to people spending less money, which leads to even more layoffs." And he promised he would create jobs — 4 million of them to be exact.


But presidents don't create jobs, employers do — mostly in the private sector and primarily in small businesses, not large corporations. Which is why the congressional stimulus package won't do much. There are some tax breaks, but not the rate reductions and big capital gains cuts that could spur businesses large and small to take on new workers.


Just as important, the lack of available credit means that many businesses won't have access to the cash to pay workers in those industries that must rely on credit to fund their payrolls.


And what happens when the $790 billion spending spree and amorphous $2.5 trillion credit relief plan fail to jump-start the economy? What is Team Obama's game plan? So far, the president's answer has been to launch into campaign mode, taking Air Force One on a tour of small towns where he can give his stump speech to handpicked groups of factory workers.


He's good at campaigning, but he's yet to show he has a clue how to govern. His first few weeks in office were consumed with embarrassing revelations that a number of his appointees hadn't bothered to pay their taxes until they were nominated. And many of the most respected members of his new administration are, in fact, simply Clinton administration retreads. If the president's plan was to inspire confidence that he would take the country in a bold new direction, he's already fallen short.


The ability to inspire people has been at the heart of President Obama's phenomenal personal success. It's what draws huge crowds wherever he goes and makes people — even some of those who didn't vote for him — want him to succeed. But at some point in the not too distant future, President Obama will have to point to tangible evidence that he can do more than give a rousing speech or flash an appealing smile. Americans will want an accounting of what those billions, indeed trillions, of dollars produced. And it will take more than audacity or hope to satisfy them.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.


JWR contributor Linda Chavez is President of the Center for Equal Opportunity. Her latest book is "Betrayal: How Union Bosses Shake Down Their Members and Corrupt American Politics". (Click HERE to purchase. Sales help fund JWR.)

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