I have an unusual background for someone in the public sector, having worked for a number of years in the private sector not just as a consultant, but actually in a private enterprise. In the private sector, it is a gospel fact that government in California is bloated at all levels — too many employees doing too little work. But like many gospel facts, it turns out that this one […]
Frequently the most difficult legal issues arise at the intersection of two separate and distinct areas of the law. The Supreme Court’s recent much-criticized First Amendment/campaign finance decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission is a good example of this. On its face, given the facts of the particular case in front of it, the decision seems to me to be entirely correct. A conservative non-profit corporation, formed for […]
C’est à Alain Minc, dans Le Point le 6 aout: “Etre un libéral de gauche, c’est posseder un mauvaise chromosome, atypique dans l’ADN politique; c’est croire que l’intérêt général existe en dehors le marché, mais que l’Etat n’est pas l’expression naturelle et exclusive de cet intérêt général.” Je le crois aussi. Rough translation: To be a conservative leftist is to possess a bad chromosome, unusual in political DNA; it’s believing […]
At least I think that’s how you’d translate La Figaro’s paraphrase (“de ne pas vendre la peau de l’ours avant de l’avoir tué”) of Segoline Royal’s reaction to Martine Aubrey’s declaration of victory, in the middle of what looks to become a really donneybrook between the two over the election for leadership of the Socialist Party in France. What’s happening is exactly what you’d expect — lawyers are getting involved, […]
Being a political junkie, I’ve followed the contest for the leadership of the Socialist Party in France closely. Since the summer, it’s been apparent that the party is split between a more moderate faction, who are amenable to a coalition with the center-left “MoDem” party of Francois Bayrou, and a hard left faction, who believe the party should sharpen its differences with the right. The more moderate faction is lead […]
Funny-and-sad-at-the-same-time article in the Times Online today about a discussion in August between French President Nicholas Sarkozy and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin: With Russian tanks only 30 miles from Tbilisi on August 12, Mr Sarkozy told Mr Putin that the world would not accept the overthrow of Georgia’s Government. According to Mr Levitte, the Russian seemed unconcerned by international reaction. “I am going to hang [Georgian Prime Minister] Saakashvili […]
Perhaps a good sign that the Democrats won’t make the same mistakes they made during the first two years of Clinton’s term: This article in the Wall Street Journal, reporting on an interview with Rahm Emanuel, the new White House Chief of Staff. [Obama wants] real solutions to real problems. And if we do an ideological test, we will fail. Our challenge is to work to solve the actual problems […]
On Election Night, Suzie and I attended the official U.S. Election Night party, which was held at a place called the Cineaqua near the Trocadero. Because of the time difference, the party didn’t start until 10:30 p.m., and was scheduled to go through the night, which meant that we were going to have do so something we hadn’t done in a long, long time, namely, staying up past midnight. We […]
I went to the office of La Poste on Rue d’Alésia and mailed my ballot on Monday. Even though I am solidly in the center of the political spectrum, this decision was not even a close one. Thinking about my decision, I realize that it was based on three separate but related fundamental notions. Trite and tired and cliched, maybe, but a big part of my decision was grounded in […]
You gotta wonder sometimes. From the New York Times — Senate Passes Bailout Plan; House May Vote by Friday: In the House, officials of both parties said they were increasingly confident that politically enticing provisions bootstrapped to the original bill — including $150 billion in tax breaks for individuals and businesses — would win over at least the dozen or so votes needed to reverse Monday’s outcome and send the […]