The Average Joe

Over the last week we have been hearing that Larry Summers might be President Obama’s pick for the next chair of the Federal Reserve after Ben Bernanke retires.  Just from looking at his history, as well as the economic history of the United States over the last 15 years, he is the wrong man for the job. President Obama has demonstrated that he is loyal to those that have supported and aided him, but picking Larry Summers would be a terrible mistake, as we are still recovering from the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.  It is best to put somebody at the Federal Reserve that will respond quickly and effectively.  In looking back to the late 1990’s, it is clear to see that Larry Summers is not that guy. Back in the late 1990’s, Brooksley Born, the former head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), vigorously pushed to regulate the risky over-the-counter derivatives market, which are off-balance sheet agreements whose prices are dependent up...

The other day, I had a long conversation with a good friend of mine on the topic of deregulation, the doing away with government regulations on industries, and whether or not it is a good thing.  The general consensus seemed to be that some industries require serious regulations, while in other industries; not so much is needed. From looking at our own history, deregulation will lead to companies having monopolies in certain industries, while in other industries; there is innovation and competition that seems to be long lasting.  So now the question is which industries benefit and which suffer from deregulation? First we should discuss trusts and monopolies in the United States for those that may be unaware.  A  trust  was an agreement by which stockholders in several companies transferred their shares to a single set of trustees. In return, the stockholders received a certificate allowing them to a specified share of the consolidated earnings of the j...

After reading an article in the New York Times by Michael R. Gordon, titled “ 1991 Victory Over Iraq Was Swift, but Hardly Flawless ”, I thought it was a well written article, but I disagreed with a few points the author makes that I would like to address. Mr. Gordon suggests that the Persian Gulf War was not flawless, as the end result left Saddam Hussein in power, as well as the Iraqi war machine, otherwise known as the Iraqi military, intact, which paved the way for the 2003 Iraq War. Also, he quotes Walter E. Boomer, the retired general who led the Marine attack into Kuwait, by referencing his belief as whether or not the 1991 Persian Gulf War ended too soon, " I continue to be asked if we stopped too soon,” he said. “The answer in retrospect is ‘yes.’ ” . Granted, military actions in combat do not always go as they are planned, but in the case of the 1991 Persian Gulf War, I believe the best way to examine it is to look at the bigger picture. Taking Saddam Hussei...

We saw a lot of mudslinging last night between VP Joe Biden and Rep. Paul Ryan.  Let’s review some of the key comments made during the debate and determine fact from fiction. From the Washington Post : “We weren’t told they wanted more security there. We did not know they wanted more security.” — Biden, speaking of the U.S. diplomatic mission in Libya Biden’s bold statement was directly contradicted by State Department officials just this week, in testimony before a congressional panel and in unclassified cables released by a congressional committee . “All of us at post were in sync that we wanted these resources,” said Eric Nordstrom, the top regional security officer in Libya earlier this year. A Utah national guardsman who led a security team, Lt. Col. Andrew Wood, said: “We felt great frustration that those requests were ignored or just never met.” Maybe Biden was too busy in debate prep to watch? “The congressman here cut embassy security in his budget by...

As the Iraq War has just ended and the War in Afghanistan is now winding down, most Americans are under the false impression of this nation beginning its "war on terror", as President George W. Bush coined the phrase, since the dawn of the 21 st Century and this is just not true.  The United States has been fighting terrorism since shortly after its independence.  Compared to the rest of the world, the United States is still very young.  This nation was born into a very hostile world ruled by monarchies that did not wish this new democracy well.  At the time of its birth, there was an unexpected problem that the new American leaders were unsure as to how to confront, which was known as piracy.  This piracy was nothing more than state sponsored terrorism of its day.  In this case, it existed in the Mediterranean Sea along the North African Coast. As a result of this, the fledgling United States was considered an easy target due to the lack o...

Over the last couple of weeks, contraception has become an issue that has dominated the media.  In fact, there was even a hearing held by Congressman Darrell Issa, a Republican, yet it featured six male witnesses and not one woman.   Their stance on this issue is further damaging and tarnishing the GOP in the eyes of female voters.  Aside from the fact that this was a ridiculous spectacle, I find it wrong and sexist that not one woman was featured as a witness.  Many women have been voicing two main points over these hearings.  The first is that these politicians clearly are not on their side, and the second is they do not understand their life and what it is like to be a woman. After having this whole issue out in the open, many women feel that Republicans just do not get it. Mitt Romney’s position on birth control further demonstrates that he really has no core values.  He has flip-flopped on thi...

On December 31 st , 2011, while most Americans were celebrating the New Year, President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).  This pernicious legislation significantly expands the power and scope of the federal government to fight the War on Terror, including the indefinite detention of terrorism suspects without trial. Under the new law the US military has the power to carry out domestic anti-terrorism operations on US soil. Even worse, the NDAA authorizes the military to detain US citizens under the broad new anti-terrorism provisions provided in the bill; once again, without trial.  Originally, President Obama threatened to veto the bill unless that specific provision was retooled, so that the civil liberties of US citizens were not in danger. Basically, this law now opens the door for the military to conduct policing inside the United States, which would overstep the powers of the Executive Branch.  The image of military patrolli...

Over the last decade, many in the GOP have created this myth of Ronald Reagan as the savior of the United States and American way of life after the Vietnam Era, high inflation, high unemployment and the gas shortage.  From this, he has become the embodiment of the Republican Party.  For every Republican I can think of, Ronald Reagan is their role model. Is their image of Ronald Reagan accurate ?  Unfortunately, this is a false image as history has proven…should you dare to challenge the status quo. It is worthwhile to find out how images are created.  More importantly, how false images come into being.  Many Americans have grown up accepting, with little question, certain images as accurate portraits of public figures.  As a historian, it is my duty to question whether or not these images are true to the original.  Because of the spotlight that is centered on their every move, presidents seem to fall perfectly into this category. Popul...