government

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Gleeful Brown Is Acting Like a Drunk Dowager

Brits' PM 'swanks' and 'preens,' but the economy is his fault

(Newser) - Gordon Brown, "known as a gloomy old nail-biting misery-guts," has turned into the life of the party ever since the economic downturn hit Britain, writes Boris Johnson in the Telegraph. Deeming that the swooning market and plummeting home prices demand action, he's gleefully launched measures that will incur...

Bush Appointees: We're Not Going Anywhere

(Newser) - When President Bush leaves Washington in January, many of his appointees won't be going with him, Daniel Schulman writes in Mother Jones. Administration workers are "burrowing in," arranging to trade their political positions for cushy career jobs, even though many were unqualified when hired. They ensure that the...

How Much Is Main St. Willing to Suffer to Punish Wall St.?

The economic hole is deep, and 'we're all in it together': Pearlstein

(Newser) - If people understood how bad the financial situation is, there would be less hostility toward the bailout, writes Steven Pearlstein in the Washington Post. Americans haven't owned up to having helped create the credit bubble that is now deflating, and Wall Streeters haven't owned up to their "greed, arrogance,...

Mandatory Tests Key to Feds' New Crane Regulations

Operators will be made to pass qualification exams in wake of fatal accidents

(Newser) - Crane operators will be made to pass certification tests, the AP reports, as the US Department of Labor, reacting to a number of deadly crane accidents this year, moved to make written and performance assessments mandatory in every state. In the first update since 1971, the tests will measure safety...

'Coercive Paternalism' Is Bad Parenting

Laws designed to force public to choose healthy options is 'Orwellian'

(Newser) - Under the banner of what’s good for you, an insidious new trend is growing. “Coercive paternalism,” Steve Chapman writes in Reason, is the wrong-minded older sibling of the much-in-vogue “libertarian paternalism” responsible for dietary information in chain restaurants. “Libertarian paternalists … limit themselves to promoting...

Italians Impatient With Alitalia Rescue Efforts

Berlusconi's pleas for patriotism fall on deaf ears

(Newser) - Fed up with government efforts to resuscitate Alitalia, many Italians think Rome needs to face reality and let the airline die, Bloomberg reports. PM Silvio Berluconi characterizes Alitalia’s survival as “a matter of national security,” but it hasn't turned a profit in nearly a decade. The latest...

WTC Rebuilding an Emblem of Can't-Do Politics
WTC Rebuilding an Emblem of Can't-Do Politics
OPINION
Jul 3, 2008 12:37 PM CDT

WTC Rebuilding an Emblem of Can't-Do Politics

Morass of competing parties and gridlock mirrors US system

(Newser) - We’re having an entertaining campaign season, Daniel Henninger allows in the Wall Street Journal, but the US' fundamental political system is in deep trouble: “It’s an open question whether we have one, or are losing the one we’ve got.” He finds a microcosm in the...

Government Typos 'Kill' Thousands
Government Typos 'Kill' Thousands
Mar 1, 2008 9:08 AM CST

Government Typos 'Kill' Thousands

People very much alive struggle to convince Social Security they're alive

(Newser) - It's not easy being dead—just ask Laura Todd. The Tennessee woman is one of an estimated 12,000 people a year the government declares dead—often because of a typo in the Social Security database—when they're still very much alive, MSNBC reports. The error can create a financial...

Faith Doesn't Play in British Politics

Blair complains that any UK pol who cites God is considered 'a nutter'

(Newser) - Soon-to-be-Catholic Tony Blair has confessed that faith was "hugely important"  in decisions he made as Britain's prime minister, and he wished he could, like President Bush, have been open about it at the time. But Britons are suspicious of religion, Blair said in a TV interview reported in...

Lebanon Picks No Prez Today
Lebanon Picks No Prez Today
Nov 22, 2007 5:40 PM CST

Lebanon Picks No Prez Today

Streets quiet over civil war fears as sides negotiate

(Newser) - Lebanon's parties failed to pick a new president today, leaving them 24 hours to find a replacement before President Emile Lahoud's term ends, the Wall Street Journal reports. Lahoud has said the army chief may take over if sides remain deadlocked tomorrow at midnight—a turn that could spark blocs...

Sheehan to Pelosi: Impeach or I'll Run

Anti-war mom threatens to challenge Speaker's House seat

(Newser) - Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan declared her intention to challenge House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her congressional seat yesterday unless the top-ranking Democrat draws up articles of impeachment against President Bush. "Democrats and Americans feel betrayed by the Democratic leadership," said Sheehan. "We hired them to bring an...

Bush, Cheney Should Quit Over Scooter

Resignation, impeachment the only options, argues Olbermann

(Newser) - MSNBC's Keith Olbermann came out swinging last night, demanding the resignation of both the president and VP—"two men who are now perilous to our democracy." Drawing on both John Wayne and James Madison, the anchor donned his commentator hat to contend that commuting Scooter Libby's sentence was...

Sunset for Blair&rsquo;s New Dawn
Sunset for Blair’s New Dawn
May 6, 2007 9:07 PM CDT

Sunset for Blair’s New Dawn

(Newser) - With Tony Blair about to step down, Alan Cowell considers the departing PM's most important accomplishments and failures. The former: moving Britain’s poiltical center of gravity away from Margaret Thatcher’s rugged individualism and toward a more compassionate society. 

Bhutan Test-Drives Democracy
Bhutan Test-Drives Democracy
Apr 24, 2007 3:28 PM CDT

Bhutan Test-Drives Democracy

Himalayan kingdom not sold on the ride or the mileage

(Newser) - The tiny Buddhist nation of Bhutan held a mock election Saturday in preparation for the transition from monarchy to democracy set for next year. The yellow thunder dragon defeated its blue, green, and red counterparts in the vote, a test run for the latest reform advocated by modernization-minded King Jigme...

Nigerians Reject Election Results
Nigerians Reject Election Results
Apr 23, 2007 7:21 AM CDT

Nigerians Reject Election Results

Candidates charge fraud; observers say polling should be repeated

(Newser) - Opposition candidates in Nigeria’s presidential elections have rejected the results of  Saturday’s voting, accusing the governing party of fraud. Foreign observers concur that the polling was faulty, with violence, intimidation, missing ballot boxes, and even abduction and murder of electoral officials and the police officers escorting them the...

Chinese Talk The Talk On Democracy
Chinese Talk
The Talk On Democracy 
Apr 20, 2007 12:26 PM CDT

Chinese Talk The Talk On Democracy

Officials court support by permitting calls for political reform

(Newser) - It's spring in China, and calls for democracy are in bloom, the New York Times reports. Articles are about the need for political reform are being published—even encouraged—and leaders are promising openness. But the outburst of rhetoric has more to do with the political calendar than with an...

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