Tag Archives: 2012

Inaugural Address: Right for the President; Wrong for the Country | HughHewitt.com | 1.22.13

By Clark S. Judge | Published: January 22, 2013
It is 1937 all over again. In his second inaugural address yesterday, Barack Obama channeled the style, structure and substance of Franklin Roosevelt’s second inaugural with all but unprecedented fidelity. Each president employed a comparable rhetorical device to identify himself with his audience and with the programs of his first term.  For FDR it was […]
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Leader of a Country or a Faction? | HughHewitt.com | 1.15.13

By Clark S. Judge | Published: January 17, 2013
In his press conference yesterday, the last before the inauguration, President Obama spoke in a tone remarkable – actually unprecedented — in the post World War II era, perhaps in the history of the nation.  He presented himself as the leader, not of the country, but of a faction. Again and again, the president wasn’t […]
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At the New Year, the American Middle Class and the Ghost of Christmases Long Ago and Far Away | HughHewitt.com | 12.28.12

By Clark S. Judge | Published: January 2, 2013
Looking back on the year now ending, I have been struck by a disconnect that has entered American language. Through the presidential campaign and now in the fiscal cliff fight, we have heard about “the middle class.”  The president – to the cheers of the media  — tells us he is for the middle class […]
Posted in Economic Policy: General, Economic Policy: US Debt Crisis | Also tagged , | Comments closed

What is Going on with the Fed? No, Not Anything Like What it Seems | Ricochet.com | 12.15.12

By Clark S. Judge | Published: December 21, 2012
6.5% unemployment or bust; until then, the money spigot is open wide. This was the gist of the Fed’s world-headline-grabbing announcement this week. Less noticed was that, as the FT reported on the same day, “The US Federal Reserve is carrying out its first ever system-wide stress test of bank liquidity…”  Translation: The Fed will be pushing […]
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Honoring Robert H. Bork | HughHewitt.com | 12.20.12

By Clark S. Judge | Published: December 21, 2012
At the Constitutional Convention in 1787, it was remarked that the system the delegates were designing – a government of checks and balances, sovereign states, limited government and enumerated powers — would likely last in tact no more than 150 years, that is, to the 1930s. Today, some would say the prediction was all too […]
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Federal Reserve Moves in Opposite Directions on Fixing the Economy | USNews.com | 12.14.12

By Clark S. Judge | Published: December 14, 2012
Here’s a flash. Things aren’t always as they seem in Washington. Case in point: This week headlines around the world screamed that the Federal Reserve Board is making lowering unemployment, not controlling inflation, its key objective. It will continue holding down interest rates and expanding the money supply so long as unemployment remains above 6.5 percent. This means […]
Posted in Economic Policy: The Great Financial Crisis | Tagged | Comments closed

A Quiz and Two Rules for the Budget Talks | Hughhewitt.com | 12.11.12

By Clark S. Judge | Published: December 11, 2012
OK, class, here’s a quiz. If the government were to raise the top personal income tax rate by, say, 25 percent, what would be the increase in its take of the total gross domestic product? Twenty-five percent? Are you sure?  After all how much of the government’s total personal income tax take actually comes from […]
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Why The President Will Go Over The Fiscal Cliff Rather Than Compromise On Tax Rates | HughHewitt.com | 12.4.12

By Clark S. Judge | Published: December 5, 2012
Why is President Obama so unmovable on about tax rates increases on high earners? Oh, I know what he says.  Fairness.  The rich – whoever they are – must pay their fair share (I’m not going to get into whether they already do or maybe even pay more than their fair share). But that’s no […]
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Benghazi v. Findlay: The National Security Stakes in the Election | HughHewitt.com | 10.29.12

By Clark S. Judge | Published: October 31, 2012
In the week since the last presidential debate, national security – supposedly something the American people don’t care about – has become Exhibit A in the case for a new president. Why were reinforcements and air cover denied to our men in Benghazi under jihadist fire? The White House never misses a chance to trumpet […]
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Foreign Policy Debate, Romney Looked Like The Real President | HughHewitt.com | 10.23.12

By Clark S. Judge | Published: October 23, 2012
Four debates, including the Veep debate.  Four wins for Romney-Ryan. Everyone had said about this debate that Romney needed to show we could trust him as commander in chief and head of our foreign policy.  He cleared that hurdle and then some. Given the political moment, the incumbent needed to look far superior to his […]
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Biden’s debate night bluster looks even worse 48 hours later | Ricochet.com | 10.13.12

By Clark S. Judge | Published: October 16, 2012
Rick Wilson persuasively argues below that Vice President Joe Biden’s principal objective going into Thursday night’s debate was to reenergize the dispirited Democratic base.  If so and if the vice president’s clownish performance fitted the script, it only confirms the cluelessness of the supposedly brilliant Chicago-based managers of the Democratic campaign. Everything I learned about […]
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“Lesson for POTUS Debate #2: It isn’t over ‘til it’s over” | HughHewitt.com | 10.15.12

By Clark S. Judge | Published: October 16, 2012
Can things get any worse for the Obama-Biden ticket? Two weeks ago the president debates the first capable opponent of his career and comes off as an empty suit.  One week ago the vice president puts on a clownish performance in his matchup with Congressman Paul Ryan. Then the polls tanked.  On Saturday this week, […]
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Biden Unhinged! | USNews.com | 10.12.12

By Clark S. Judge | Published: October 16, 2012
What was that all about? The inappropriate smiles, the aggressive laughs, the all but unhinged finger-pumping raging at moderator Martha Raddatz–I suppose Vice President Joe Biden could have come in with a less appropriate performance last night. I just don’t know how. Then there was the substance. The vice president’s charges that Rep. Paul Ryan […]
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Advice to the Romney Campaign: Time for Something Old (Policy Speeches); Something New (Twitter) | HughHewitt.com | 09.24.12

By Clark S. Judge | Published: September 27, 2012
A tide of opinion is rising inside Republican ranks. In last week’s column, I said that Mitt Romney needed at least two policy speeches – one on the economy and spending, the other on foreign policy.  Pull his positions together.  Put them in the context of the nation and the times. For example, in a […]
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Real Story of the Campaign: President’s Crony Capitalism Prolonged the Downturn | 09.11.12 | HughHewitt.com

By Clark S. Judge | Published: September 14, 2012
Last week, the Democrats in Charlotte partied as if there were no tomorrow… and no yesterday.  Friday morning, following the president’s peculiarly disconnected speech of Thursday night, reality returned. Last week’s jobs numbers – few new ones, an entire city of Americans dropping out of the workforce in the month before – were enough to […]
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Lesson of the Week: For this administration, only faux compromise welcome | HughHewitt.com | 02.14.12

By Clark S. Judge | Published: February 14, 2012
One fact has become sharply clear this past seven days: it is no ordinary administration that occupies Washington just now. In the face of a fiscal crisis of unprecedented magnitude, yesterday the president submitted a budget of fake spending cuts (“a mirage” the Wall Street Journal called them this morning) and gigantic tax increases guaranteed, […]
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SOTU: Did I hear that right? | HughHewitt.com | 01.25.12

By Clark S. Judge | Published: January 25, 2012
It sounded like such a soft, even conservative speech. But let me get this straight: 1) banks will be punished (do I understand this right, by a committee headed by Eric Holder?) if their lending is too risky, 2) and they will be required (by the same committee) to give more home loans (meaning, it […]
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The GOP Race Turns Upside Down Again | HughHewitt.com | 01.17.12

By Clark S. Judge | Published: January 18, 2012
In this up and down year, last night’s South Carolina GOP debate turned the political world upside down again. Going into the debate, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney had every reason to believe that he was within days of locking up the nomination.  He had won (if just barely) the Iowa caucuses and more convincingly […]
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GOP New Year’s Blues | HughHewitt.com | December 27, 2011

By Clark S. Judge | Published: December 28, 2011
With the Iowa caucuses a week away, uneasiness pervades GOP circles in Washington and around the country. Part of the reason – but only part – stems from continuing disquiet about the field of candidates. “Mitt or Newt,” I was asked at a holiday party of longtime conservatives and activists last night.  No matter how […]
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