Recent Events

Rep. Paul Ryan: “The Congressional Budget Office has found that fixing our broken immigration system could help our economy grow. A proper accounting of immigration reform should take into account these dynamic effects.” (Rep. Paul Ryan, Statement to Press, 5/6/13; David M. Drucker, “Ryan Critical of Heritage Immigration Study,” Roll Call, 5/6/13)

As a young urban Mayor, I looked to the passion Ed Koch had for his City, and the people he served for inspiration. His can-do spirit, his unwavering optimism and his unabashed love for New York City and the people he served was always evident -- even long after his term of Office.

Monday, President Obama was sworn in to begin his second term of office as the President of the United States.  For roughly 1,460 days he will lead our nation as we enter a new period of challenges and uncertainties.

A recent article in the New York Times by David Rothkopf , Chief Executive of the FP Group, the publisher of Foreign Policy magazine and another by David Gergen, Senior Political Analyst for CNN and  adviser to four presidents, are worth reading and considering as we enter President Obama’s 2^nd term.

Today marks a particularly American Experience -- the swearing in of our next President.  That today's swearing in will be on the day we celebrate the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., is particuarly profound. 
 

In six decades on this planet, I’ve seen tremendous change in America. 

In the year of my birth, NATO was formed, the Soviet Union tested its first atomic bomb and Apartheid was made the official policy in South Africa.

From 1949 and beyond, America has changed in ways that our forefathers could never have envisioned.

Not long after World War II, we fought in Korea – and then in Vietnam.

When Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner proposed to Republican leaders in Congress that the President’s plan for avoiding the fiscal cliff included $1.6 trillion in tax increase -- $400 billion in entitlement savings – more “stimulus” spending – and a request for a permanent increase in the government’s borrowing limit – it reminded me of a famous Peanuts comic strip segment.

In the strip, Lucy promises the hapless Charlie Brown that she absolutely, positively will not pull the football away at the last moment if he simply runs up and kicks it.

I suspect I am like most Americans who are about as sick of hearing the phrase “fiscal cliff” as we are seeing Psy (or imitators) do another performance of “Gangnam Style” on television.

Thankfully, Psy’s fifteen minutes of fame will soon come to an end and other than thousands of unfortunate YouTube videos attempting to replicate the music, little in the way of lasting damage will be done to America’s future.

Before January 1^st, the U.S. government must come up with a plan to keep America from diving off the fiscal cliff that threatens our current anemic economy.  But, equally important, it must resolve the issue for the long-term to prevent situations like this from ever happening again.

We live in interesting times as Americans.  Throughout our nation, despite all of the challenges of a weak economy, a paucity of jobs and changing expectations of what the future holds for all of us, we still gather each year for a holiday called Thanksgiving.

WASHINGTON - American Action Network (AAN) Chairman and former Senator Norm Coleman issued the following statement following tonight's election results.