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February 13, 2012
Binyamin Rose: Back to the Bunker: How a life-risking act by a Christian family during the Holocaust saved a family and built a thriving community a world away
Menachem Wecker: Business Schools Teach Real Estate Despite Troubled Housing Market
February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
March 26, 2009
/ 1 Nisan 5769
Washington's math problem becomes ours
By
Jonathan Gurwitz
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
The American people already knew Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner had a math problem. After all, what else could account for innocent errors on years of income tax returns, errors that compelled him to pay $42,700 in back taxes and penalties for the privilege of enforcing IRS statutes on his fellow citizens?
But it isn't only Geithner who has issues with numbers. The entire Obama administration, the Democratic leadership of Congress and even liberal advocacy groups who parrot the Obama-Pelosi-Reid agenda are proving themselves to be numerically challenged.
Take the furor over AIG bonuses. The exclusion Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., slipped into the so-called stimulus package at the behest of the administration put $165 million of taxpayer money into the pockets of AIG executives.
Treasury officials had known about the bonuses for months. And for all of his "Tonight Show" indignation, President Obama could have actually done something to claw back those bonuses he was so "shocked" to learn about.
On March 2, the Obama administration poured another $30 billion of public funds into AIG. That's billion with a "b," or 181 times the value of the bonuses AIG's head honchos received.
A president who understood those numbers would have made AIG management an offer it couldn't refuse: Pay back the bonuses, or kiss the bailout money, your company and your jobs goodbye. Instead, we're treated to the spectacle of the White House opposing but not too strenuously congressional measures to tax the bonuses out of existence.
That's the same lame tack the White House took when members of Congress were larding up the fiscal 2009 spending bill, despite Obama's professed opposition to the abuse of earmarks.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., penned an op-ed in USA Today defending the Democrats' management of the budget process, noting that earmarks constituted less than 2 percent of the $410 billion measure. Media Matters, a reliable mouthpiece for all things Democratic, echoed the "less than 2 percent" defense on its County Fair media blog.
Again, look at the numbers. Those $8 billion in earmarks are 48 times the value of the AIG bonuses. The bonuses represent only .02 percent of the $787 billion stimulus package.
And, by the way, remember when Democrats were ramming that special-interest treat down the taxpayers' throats? Way back then in February, any federal spending any at all was considered to be essential to save the economy. Perhaps Team Obama had in mind that AIG executives would use the bonuses to pay their gardeners and au pairs and leave nice tips for the concierge.
The messiah of fiscal spending salvation, John Maynard Keynes, wrote that in economic downturns, even having the Treasury fill old bottles with bank notes, bury them in the ground and then allowing private enterprise to dig them up would have a positive effect. Geithner and Dodd simply bypassed the manual labor and buried the money in the arcane language of a spending monstrosity President Obama insisted needed to be passed without a moment's deliberation.
Here's another number: The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reported last week that the deficits under the Obama budget exceed those anticipated by the White House by $2.3 trillion over 10 years. That's trillion with a "t." The CBO's projection of a $9.3 trillion deficit from the Obama budget dwarfs the AIG bonuses by a factor of 53,364.
Two more numbers: 18 senior positions in the Treasury Department that require a presidential nomination and Senate confirmation; and one, the single nomination President Obama has made until this week, Timothy Geithner, during what he describes as the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.
President Obama should forget about his crummy scores in the White House bowling alley. The only numbers that count right now are in the economy. And so far, he's throwing far too many gutter balls.
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.
Comment by clicking here.
JWR contributor Jonathan Gurwitz, a columnist for the San Antonio Express-News, is a co-founder and twice served as Director General of the Future Leaders of the Alliance program at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. In 1986 he was placed on the Foreign Service Register of the U.S. State Department.
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© 2009, Jonathan Gurwitz
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