Understanding Government

In the midst of the ruckus over the debt ceiling, Barack Obama announced strong new fuel efficiency standards for automobiles. This is something of a “man bites dog” story at a time of major cuts for the Environmental Protection Agency and Congress’s apparent inability to avoid a federal default. TIME’s Michael Grunwald writes that the standards represent “a big victory in the fight to reduce our foreign oil addiction, our carbon emissions, and our gasoline costs.” The success in writing such an ambitious law — that cars must go 55 miles per gallon by 2025 – seems largely due to the fact that Detroit automakers are literally indebted to the Obama administration, not to mention efforts by California to up tailpipe emission standards.

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Ezra Klein’s appeal to President Obama to be a more visible presence in American life and politics makes sense in the short term.  Klein says, “Perhaps the question isn’t “Where is President Obama?” It’s “Where is candidate Obama?”.  But Obama’s presidential campaign showed a calculating strategist who happens to be a  strong orator, not a firebrand or even, necessarily, a fighter (and if he is a fighter, he’s definitely not a brawler).  We have to remember that throughout his campaign, Obama kept telling us that his campaign wasn’t “about him,” it was “about us.”  So if Obama is willing to let us (for example, our elected representatives in Congress) push an agenda, he is not backing away from a leadership role.  He is letting the agenda form before he weighs in, which is a form of leadership. (more…)

Critiques of the State of the Union speech have become almost as clichéd as the speech itself.  The speech is a “grocery list” or a “laundry list” (does anyone really know what a laundry list is anymore?).   And the biggest question seems to be whether the president will come up with a  quotable phrase for the ages. But this year, President Obama has the chance to change the game and save us from another predictable State of the Union speech. (more…)

By Matthew Blake

The Obama administration is quietly making a big break from a Bush administration that turned a blind eye to antitrust enforcement – and its prime target could be agribusiness giant Monsanto.

From January 2001 to January 2009, the Justice Department Antitrust Division filed fewer lawsuits than previous administrations and did not file one case that claimed a dominant firm improperly obtained a monopoly. But in just one year, the Obama Antitrust Division, led by former Clinton administration official Christine Varney, has taken steps to scrutinize corporate giants. “They’ve ramped up investigations,” says Herbert Hovenkamp, a prominent antitrust law scholar who teaches at the University of Iowa. Hovenkamp said he believes the Obama administration is “looking for a major monopolization case.” (more…)

Only simple words are needed: government must help provide for the weakest and most vulnerable of its citizens. (more…)