Political Predictions For 2011

This year I decided to ask our staff and our consultants what their New Year’s predictions are for the political world. I will add mine at the end of this column, but we will start out with their views of 2011.

Richard F. Miller, military correspondent and military historian:

The economy: By the end of 2011, Americans will bless ourselves that we are not Europe or China. Unemployment remains at 9 percent and the economy remains flat, but the indicators are mixed. Both the economy and President Obama are flat.

The year will be a year of foreign policy disasters or opportunity. How President Obama deals with foreign policy will determine his electability. Obama could make miscalculations, or he could be on target. One of three things will happen, and they will be around the “axis of evil” or Russia. There will be trouble around the 38th parallel with North Korea, Hezbollah or al-Qaida becomes more aggressive pushing Obama into action or Putin decides to invade a former Soviet satellite state.

People will be quick to draw comparisons between Lincoln and Obama on the 150th anniversary of the Civil War.

Bob Ney, former Republican representative from Ohio and Talk Radio News’ political analyst:

Bob predicts that the neo-cons want an attack on Iran. He says that, although Vice President Dick Cheney was successful in his invasion of Iraq, he never got what he really wanted, an attack on Iran. Now that they’re in control of the new majority, neo-cons (the Cheney crowd) will try to get “investigations going” that will lead toward ginning up more anger with Iran and build a case for “attack.”

Jay Goodman Tamboli, Supreme Court and legal correspondent:

I think a lot of the incoming tea-party candidates are going to have trouble adjusting to the realities of Washington. I predict that at least a couple of them are going to run into serious ethics charges. What’s coming out with Christine O’Donnell shows that the tea-party candidates don’t understand how the Federal Elections Commission and ethics laws work. I think the tea partiers are coming to Washington with an idealized view of how the government should work, and I think they’re going to have a lot of trouble adjusting to the realities of financial disclosures and lobbying rules. Someone’s going to slip up and take a fall.

Jack Rice, legal and international correspondent:

The liberal wing of the Democratic Party will be progressively alienated by Afghanistan. Some troops will start to leave in 2011, but the numbers will be too small. However, they have no alternative, so they will fall in line behind President Obama into 2012.

Justin Duckham, Pentagon and Capitol Hill correspondent:

As the White House undergoes a cabinet shake-up, one Republican senator will put an anonymous hold on key administration officials’ nominations, including the defense secretary or Treasury secretary.

Tea-party Sen. Jim DeMint will rise in prominence this year following his attention-grabbing stunts around the START Treaty and the earmark ban. It will be followed by serious 2012 talk.

Biden will buck the rumor mill and stay on as vice president.

The summer 2011 drawdown in Afghanistan will be much smaller than progressives would like and cause serious unrest in some Democratic quarters.

With Republicans becoming more lockstep in their ideology, either Scott Brown, Lisa Murkowski or Olympia Snowe will pull an Arlen Specter and caucus with the Democrats.

Geoff Holtzman, congressional correspondent and news director:

Mike Bloomberg and Mitt Romney will emerge as the top two challengers to Obama in 2012.

Tala Towlatshahi, U.N. bureau chief:

The Turkish government will manage to persuade Iran to get back to the nuclear negotiation table.

Ellen Ratner, Bureau Chief

On the presidential race, I predict we will see Gov. Haley Barbour and Gov. Sarah Palin in the debates in New Hampshire and South Carolina.

The health-care bill will get a ton of hearings in the House of Representatives but will get nowhere. The House will attempt to cut off money for implementation of the bill but will not make much progress because the Obama administration will move money around.

The House and Senate will agree, even though there will be huge partisanship, on a jobs bill. The newly elected Republican members will vote for an increase in the debt ceiling while holding their noses and complaining about spending.

President Obama looks presidential as he negotiates with Speaker Boehner. Minority Whip Steny Hoyer increases in influence with his party.

The repeal of “Don’t ask, don’t tell” is implemented. Aside from a few stories in the mainstream press, it is a yawn, and no one cares by the year 2012.

Democratic members of Congress, who have lost their seats in 2010, will plan a strategic fight to take back their seats, mounting line-by-line objections to legislation that the winners are filing.

(source:talkradionews.com)

Reid would seek tighter lobbying, ethics laws

CARSON CITY, Nev.—Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Rory Reid says he would tighten Nevada lobbying and ethics laws if elected.
In a policy statement issued Thursday, Reid said if Nevada wants to attract new businesses and restore its economy, it needs to create a foundation of trust.

Among other things, Reid says he would work to end lobbying by legislators, extend Nevada's "cooling off" period to two years, require ethics training for all state employees and lobbyists, and impose penalties for violations.

Reid also pledged "transparency" in state government, saying he would make his official schedule public and hold regular news conferences and town hall meetings.


Source:mercurynews.com/

Exposing Britain's Pro-Israel Lobby: Channel 4 Makes Bold Start

Political commentator Peter Oborne. (Photo: Channel 4)






By Stuart Littlewood - London

Last night Channel 4's 'Dispatches' program set out to investigate the pro-Israel lobby in Britain, and to boldly go where no TV team had gone before.

On the Dispatches website we were told that the lobby "aims to shape the debate about Britain's relationship with Israel and future foreign policies relating to it".

So the program (Watch video here) would be looking at "who they are, how they are funded, how they work and what influence they have, from the key groups to the wealthy individuals who help bankroll the lobbying".

Political commentator Peter Oborne would explain how accountable, transparent and open to scrutiny the lobby was, particularly regarding its funding and financial support to MPs.


So it was with mounting excitement that countless thousands of citizens here in an increasingly Zionist-ruled Britain awaited the screening of this daring program. Some of the reader comments on the Dispatches website showed the expectant mood ...

"Finally someone will take this issue on. British politicians should represent Britain not a foreign interest."

"I expect the usual accusations of anti-semistism of any attempt to show Israel in its true light."

"I hope the program would expose how lobbyists for Israel trample over the UK democratic process. I expect Oborne to expose the destructive role of the Labor Friends of Israel in British politics, but I hope he won't stop there."

"The Zionist Lobby counts many British politicians in its ranks where they function as a fifth column in support of Israel's illegal actions."

"I live in hope but I doubt this program will truly unmask the Israel lobby that has played a critical role in destabilizing the Middle East..."

"Expect numerous cries of "anti-semitism". Le’ts hope the program doesn't pull its punches."

"We have tried for years to have this shadowy support mechanism for Israel exposed. Please do not allow this program to be pulled. Please do a proper exposé of all aspects..."

"It won’t change anything. Most of the British public are too stupid to realize how important this program is." Mr Oborne reported that a large majority of Conservative MPs and half the shadow cabinet are signed-up Friends of Israel, and £millions flow into the bank accounts of MPs and parties although only a fraction of these “contributions” is visibly accounted for.

As Sir Richard Dalton, a former British diplomat who served as consul-general in Jerusalem, observed: "I don't believe, and I don't think anybody else believes these contributions come with no strings attached."

Mr Oborne showed how Labor and Conservative Friends of Israel take dozens of MPs on free trips to Israel, where they are guests of the Israeli government.

He showed how one of the Conservative Party's big donors has vested interests in illegal settlement development in the West Bank and in Bicom, an Israeli public affairs outfit, and how the party's leadership is prey to foreign pressure.

Assuming the Conservatives win next year’s election Israel can rest easy in the knowledge that it continues to have sufficient stooges in place at the heart of our government.

Just as importantly, Mr Oborne showed how the BBC - or the ZBC, as it has become known for obvious reasons - allows itself to be relentlessly bullied by the Board of Deputies and the Zionist Federation who, the program pointed out, don't represent anybody except an extremists section of the Jewish community.

But he forgot to tell us that director-general Mark Thompson has Zionist links through marriage and Thompson himself went to Israel in 2005 to "build bridges" with the then prime minister Ariel Sharon, considered by many a war criminal and mass murderer.

Interesting though the program was, it left out too much. For example, it didn’t name and shame enough individuals. It didn't tell the nation that our most important security bodies – the Intelligence & Security Committee, Foreign Affairs Committee and Defense Committee – are all headed by Israel flag-wavers. How can that possibly be in our national interest?

It didn’t reveal that our Labor and Conservative leaders are both patrons of the Jewish National Fund or explain the sinister purpose of that organization.

According to Mr Oborne, ”the pro-Israel lobby, in common with other lobbies, has every right to operate and indeed to flourish in Britain. But... the present obscurity surrounding it can, paradoxically, give rise to conspiracy theories that have no basis in fact.” However, he spent the best part of an hour convincing us (well me, anyway) it is indeed a conspiracy and a very large and well organized one.

He didn’t mention that two years ago a group of individuals asked the Committee on Standards in Public Life to investigate the undue influence of the Friends of Israel lobbies.

Their main argument was that the lobbies existed in contravention of the Seven Principles of Public Life, which the Standards Committee had been formed to uphold. Some of those who signed the letter believed the strength of these alliances should be seen as bordering on treason.

They put it to the Standards Committee that "the activities of the Israel lobby in Westminster seriously undermine a number of those Principles as defined by the Committee itself, namely Selflessness, Integrity, Accountability, Openness and Honesty.

"A large majority of Conservative MPs and MEPs are Friends of Israel. The lobby also claims a very large number of Labor MPs and ministers. The Liberal Democrat FoI website brazenly states that its first aim is to maximize support for the State of Israel within the Liberal Democrats and Parliament, furthermore to develop and maintain a broad-based LDFI membership inside and outside of Parliament...

“All MPs (and many parliamentary candidates) are exposed to the lobby's influence and a disturbingly large number apparently carry its message into their parliamentary work, causing great damage to our parliamentary democracy, harm to Britain's reputation throughout the world and risk to our security because a just solution in the Holy Land is excluded by such partisanship."

They even quoted George Washington: "The nation which indulges towards another a habitual hatred or a habitual fondness is in some degree a slave...a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils."

But their concerns were rejected out of hand. Not surprisingly it was found that the Israel lobby had infiltrated the Standards Committee itself. Who could be summoned to investigate that?

Peter Oborne and the Dispatches team get an encouraging two cheers from me. It was a brave effort which went halfway and will no doubt draw considerable flak from Israel’s hirelings and admirers. A wholehearted third cheer will be earned if they go back and finish the job.

In the meantime it would be no bad thing if all our Westminster politicians had the Second Principle of Public Life tattooed on their forehead – Integrity: Holders of public office should not place themselves under any financial or other obligation to outside individuals or organizations that might seek to influence them in the performance of their official duties. (Note to tattooist: Apply back-to-front so that they can read it every morning when they look in the mirror.)

- Stuart Littlewood is author of the book Radio Free Palestine, which tells the plight of the Palestinians under occupation. He contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com. Visit: www.radiofreepalestine.co.uk.

Source:palestinechronicle.com