Author Archives: Barry Schumacher

Trust, But Verify

President Obama in his presidency has not achieved the heights of oratory we all witnessed on his campaign for the office. His last two speeches have begun to re-establish himself as worthy to be in the same sentence as Ronald Regan and Bill Clinton as a great presidential speech-giver. Last night’s speech also was very Reagan-esque in tone and vision – finally.
Posted on January 26, 2011 By Barry Schumacher
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In Memoriam: Stephen Solarz

In the days and weeks to come there will be many tributes to Steve Solarz.  They will be issued from presidential residences, released by prime ministers’ offices and put into the record by legislators here and around the world.  In whatever language they are presented, and in whatever specifics they may contain, they will surely [...]
Posted on November 30, 2010 By Barry Schumacher
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No Voter Enthusiasm Gap in Washington State

Washington State enjoyed several top-tier races last week, headlined by the Senate race between incumbent Sen. Patty Murray and her GOP challenger Dino Rossi, which Murray won by a better-than-anticipated 51.45 percent to 48.55 percent.
Posted on November 9, 2010 By Barry Schumacher
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Republican Victory Brings New Message of Change

Two years ago, many astute political observers believed, in the wake of the election of Democrat Barack Obama to the White House, that the Republican Party was dead. On November 2, these observers were rudely proved wrong as Americans all across the country voted overwhelmingly for Republican candidates in our mid-term congressional... Read more »
Posted on November 4, 2010 By Barry Schumacher
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Stop Pointing Fingers and Do Something

Frustration drove the results of yesterday’s election (anger manifests as frustration) and led to the voters firing scores of elected officials, replacing them with others. At the same time, pundits and officials of both parties were already positioning for the next election by pointing out (from the Democrats), “the Republicans now have responsibility because they can block legislation in the House,” and (from the Republicans), “the Democrats have the White House and the Senate, so it’s going to be their fault.”
Posted on November 3, 2010 By Barry Schumacher
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Extremism in the Pursuit of Governance is No Virtue

Between 2001 and 2007 the Republican Party controlled every branch of the federal government – executive, legislative, judicial. During that time no balanced budget was ever issued by the White House nor constructed (let alone enacted) by the Republican-led Congress. Rather, the majority party left fiscal sanity by the wayside as it focused on extremist wedge issues (Terri Schiavo) to mobilize its core supporters and shoved money out the door on dubious projects (The Bridge to Nowhere) to protect its legislative incumbents.
Posted on November 1, 2010 By Barry Schumacher
Categories  U.S. Elections | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment