Is Obama Turning Into Carter?

Without a strong progressive movement, country won't shift leftward

(NEWSER) - If Barack Obama wants to be a transformational progressive president like Lyndon Johnson or FDR, he’s going to need a strong liberal movement in the streets. “Every Democratic president since Johnson has raised the hope that he would bring with him a new era of progressive reform,” writes Harold Meyerson, but they’ve all suffered from “the absence of a vibrant left movement,” like the communist, democratic socialist, or civil rights movements. More»

(NEWSER) - All four living former presidents will attend Ted Kennedy’s invitation-only funeral, the Boston Herald reports. President Obama will also be there, breaking off his Martha’s Vineyard vacation to deliver a eulogy. Gordon Brown also plans to attend, as will Irish PM Brian Cowen. “Sen. Kennedy is being honored as though he were a former sitting president,” observed one political scientist. More»

Colin Powell 'concerned' by Obama's spending

(NEWSER) - Joe Biden conceded today that the Obama administration “misread” how bad the economy actually was and that now the unemployment rate is “much too high,” The Hill reports. In an interview taped in Iraq with This Week, the vice president also said the US doesn’t intend to slow its withdrawal plans from Iraq even if violence surges after American forces leave. More»

(NEWSER) - Unlike a certain talk radio host, John McCain is rooting for Barack Obama—they just don’t agree on much. In an interview with Politico, McCain says he’s trying to work with Obama; in the past week he’s appeared with him at a press conference and consulted with Robert Gates and Joe Biden. “These are terrible, perilous times,” he said. “I don’t want him to fail.” More»

How to stimulate the economy without draining your account

(NEWSER) - While leaders encourage Americans to stimulate the economy by spending, those who have lost jobs or investments are a lot more inclined to hoard their remaining assets. But there's a way to avoid this "paradox of thrift," in which the frugal behavior that's best for an individual ends up hurting the economy at large. In the New York Times, David Leonhardt explains: More»