SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Times "Charlie Leonard: Show Germany the way, Obama"

Charlie Leonard:
"On Tuesday, it was reported that the Obama administration sent one of its top Treasury officials to Europe to tell government officials there that they need to take decisive actions now to solve their fiscal problems or risk causing another global economic crisis.

In a statement announcing the trip, the Treasury Department said the U.S. official “will meet with senior government officials in each country to discuss their plans for achieving economic stability and growth in Europe.” No additional details were provided.

Can you imagine how those talks are going?

“President Obama asked me to tell you that he really thinks the time has come for several of your countries to get control of your fiscal situation and to adopt policies that can help get your economies growing again.”

After seeing the constant threat of government defaults in Ireland, Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy, one can only imagine what a welcome relief Obama's advice to European officials must be this week.

Can't you just picture a profoundly grateful Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, saying to herself: “Fiscal stability and pro-growth policies — now why couldn't I have thought of that?”

Imagine, also, how profoundly embarrassed Germany must now be at having gone through a decade of painful reforms, including raising its retirement age, reducing unemployment benefits, lowering its deficits and easing hiring and wage restrictions in order to achieve its current prosperity. It seems all of that could have been avoided if Germany had just followed Obama's advice to pursue “growth and economic stability.”

This kind of extraordinary insight — from such a unique individual as Barack Obama — seems like the kind of advice from which others could benefit as well.

For instance, the president might consider sending one of his emissaries to the New York Yankees to advise the bullpen to improve their pitching if they want to have a chance at the playoffs. Or he could counsel the management of Kodak to adapt its products and services better to the digital age in order to escape bankruptcy. He could even urge contestants on “Survivor” and “Dancing With the Stars” to avoid being voted off their shows if they want to win their respective competitions....."
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"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: National Journal "If It Hits the Fan"

Charlie Cook:
"Talk to economists and people who work in the financial markets these days   and what you’ll hear is reminiscent of the ominous warnings that you occasionally hear from pilots about strong weather fronts. We’re facing not one wave of turbulence, but several.

First, there’s Europe and the eurozone. It’s possible that the situation could be worse in Greece, but not that much worse. There’s a pretty good chance that country will be exiting the eurozone soon, but either way, Greece is putting enormous stress on its economy. Then there’s Spain, which has an economy larger than Greece, also in trouble. With Europe teetering on the edge of recession, there are limits to how much even Germany can do to keep the eurozone—now the world’s largest single economy—from going into a serious tailspin. Europe contributes 21 percent of global economic growth, so there is rather obvious significance for the U.S.

Then, there is China, whose economy is slowing. Acknowledging the problem, the Chinese government just announced that it was placing greater emphasis on economic growth. Its central bank is expected to lower rates soon. It’s unlikely that China will go into a recession, but don’t expect purchases of U.S. goods there to match those of the last few years.

But it’s the fragile nature of America’s own economy—and questions about whether our political process is capable of coping with immediate and simultaneous challenges—that make things so much worse. The Federal Reserve Board has acted heroically to pump up the economy. As the International Strategy and Investment Group reports, the Fed’s efforts put the trade-weighted dollar at close to a record low, making it almost as competitive as it ever has been. But a weak world economy still limits the U.S. advantage to sell.
The term “fiscal cliff” has been rapidly entering the economic lexicon. People using the phrase may not know exactly what is scheduled to happen at the end of this year. Probably more than anything else, though, they may know that the George W. Bush-era income-tax cuts will be eliminated both for earners above and below the $250,000 level if not renewed by Dec. 31. They also may know that some significant spending cuts will automatically be made, unless Congress takes action, that will cut defense and nondefense funding pretty much evenly. Of course, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, the real drivers in the increase of federal spending, are exempted from those cuts....."  (Read more?  Click title)

"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: Hot Air Blog "Greek talks collapsed amid anger, insults, “unreality”"

Ed Morrissey:
"This may end up being the political quote of the year, uttered by the president of Greece after talks aimed at forming an emergency government collapsed last week:

“Gentlemen, we are finished,” said the patrician President, calling an abrupt halt to two hours of baiting and cat-calling between furious Greek politicians. “I’m starting to get upset myself now. We are finished.”

The final collapse of talks to forge a new Greek government triggered repeat elections and fears of a chaotic exit from the euro zone. But it is the manner of that collapse, the acrimony and rancor cited by Karolos Papoulias, that bodes ill for efforts after June polls to pull Greece back from the brink.

“It was a complete madhouse,” a source at the socialist PASOK party told Reuters after their leader,Evangelos Venizelos, returned from the May 17 showdown. “The discussion was unbelievable.”

The only people who don’t seem to realize the depth of the truth in that quote are the Greeks themselves:

Voters infuriated by grinding poverty, spending cuts and corruption, punished Samaras and fellow mainstream party leader Evangelos Venizelos. Leftist Alexis Tsipras, 37, emerged with the power to block them. Greece, he said, could ditch its spending cuts and renounce its debts to EU partners, yet enlist their help in keeping the euro currency some 80 percent of Greeks cherish.

“Pythagoras didn’t manage to square the circle and god knows these guys don’t know how to either,” said one EU diplomat in Brussels, echoing widespread sentiment in European capitals.

“The Greeks seem to have no understanding of the seriousness of their predicament and that is a great source of frustration. There’s a breaking point and I think we’re getting close to it.”..."

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"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBox Comments: Breitbart TV "Obama Whines: ‘We’ve Been Spending The Last Three Years Cleaning’ Bush’s Mess Up"

Has anyone noticed how much less coverage Obama's campaign  is getting this time around?

Even as an incumbent the amount of ink and air-time is very low.

Barack Obama.  "The Apostle of Change".

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