Politics In 60 Seconds

Good morning. Here's the news:

1. For millions of Americans, the recession has become a way of life. They work week-to-week, job-to-job, doing what they can to stay afloat. Their standard of living steadily erodes. 

2. US consumer spending rebounded in July as Americans bought cars and trucks and other long-lasting items. Disposable incomes rose.

3. The Wall Street Journal reports: "Alan Krueger, President Barack Obama's pick to head the White House Council of Economic Advisers, will likely serve as an administration advocate for more aggressive government intervention to revive job growth."

4. Texas Governor Rick Perry Republican said yesterday that no new economic stimulus is needed to “get America working again.” He declined to give specifics about how his plan to jump start the nation’s economy would create jobs.

5. According to a new poll, Governor Perry has opened up a substantial (27%-14%) lead over former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney among Republicans nationally.

6. There will be five 2012 GOP presidential candidates' debates in quick succession after Labor Day.  The Romney campaign thinks that these and other forces will slow down the Perry juggernaut. We're of the view that they could just as easily accelerate Perry's momentum.

7. The Wall Street Journal reports: "European politicians signaled Tuesday that there is no quick fix to the row over Finland's insistence on receiving collateral for taking part in Greece's second bailout, even as the European Commission insisted talks were yielding progress."

8. The Washington Post reports: "European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet and European Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said banks within the 17-nation euro currency zone have been steadily raising the amount of capital set aside as a cushion against losses and will not face the sort of cash crunch that helped trigger the recession in 2008."

9. Hans-Olaf Henkel argues that the eurozone must create two currencies; one for the strong economies and one for the weak. Mr. Henkel, it might be said, is calling for the Geuro and the Euro.

10.  WikiLeaks has posted nearly 134,000 leaked diplomatic cables on the web in the last week. The New York Times reports: "A sampling of the documents showed that the newly published cables included the names of some people who had spoken confidentially to American diplomats and whose identities were marked in the cables with the warning “strictly protect.”" Publication raises the acute concern that no one in their right mind will speak confidentially with US diplomats in the future.

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Politics In 60 Seconds

Good morning. Here's the news:

1.The Wall Street Journal reports: "After four years of fighting crises and pumping money into the financial system, the world's central bankers are concluding that the global economy is still in a precarious position and the policy apparatus is ill-equipped to help. The mood here in the Grand Tetons, where central bankers and private economists from around the world gather each August, was distinctly gloomy."

2. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde says that European banks may need forced capital injections to stop the spread of the eurozone’s sovereign and financial crisis.  The Financial Times reports that this is "one of the starkest warnings from a senior policymaker about the danger of a new global slowdown."

3. Wolfgang Munchau today offers a typically lucid analysis of the crisis of the eurozone. He asserts that "(t)he crisis now has such force that it renders the existing resolution mechanisms defunct." Which is to say: even a eurobond might not work.

4. The political upheaval in Syria has raised serious concerns that Syria's vast chemical weapons arsenal (mostly weaponized sarin gas) might fall into "the wrong hands."

5. Syrian President Assad continues to hold the upper hand in Syria. He is betting that NATO and the US have no appetite for intervention and that despite their tough talk, they will do nothing.  He's probably right.

6. Al-Qaeda's second-in-command, Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, was killed in a drone attack in Pakistan,  according to a senior Obama administration official. The attack further strained relations between the US and Pakistan.

7. President Obama's job approval rating continues its relentless decline. Mr. Obama's performance is viewed favorably by 38% of Americans and unfavorably by 55% of Americans.

8. Texas Governor Rick Perry has shrewdly positioned himself as a "10th Amendment" conservative in advance of the 2012 GOP presidential campaign. He hasn't been consistent on "10th Amendment" issues however, giving critics plenty of fodder for attack.

9. Gov. Perry has also shrewdly positioned himself to the right of former President and fellow Texan George W. Bush. Perry eschews Mr. Bush's brand of "compassionate conservative" politics, saying that it amounts to nothing more than greater Federal government over-reach

10. The insider wrap on Rick Perry is that he's dumb. Politico's Jonathan Martin digs into this subject in some detail. Martin ends up at shrewd, not knowledgeable.

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