Category Archives: Policy

The federal debt limit suddenly reappears on January 2, 2025, but it is no Happy New Year. The limit is already reached and the game is on to raise it.

Posted on December 31, 2024 by willmann

By Robert Willmann There’s no business like show business. The United States Congress passed a law signed on 21 December 2024 to “appropriate money” to keep the federal government operating without being shut down until 14 March 2025. Misleadingly called … Continue reading →

Posted in Administration, Current Affairs, government, Policy, Politics, The economy | Tagged , | 9 Comments

A new manifest destiny?

Posted on December 27, 2024 by TTG

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — First it was Canada, then the Panama Canal. Now, Donald Trump again wants Greenland. The president-elect is renewing unsuccessful calls he made during his first term for the U.S. to buy Greenland from Denmark, adding to the list of allied countries with … Continue reading →

Posted in government, Policy, TTG | 63 Comments

“Peak Oil Demand is Coming Soon!”

Posted on November 24, 2024 by TTG

In the 1980s, I spent weeks at a time covering Opec meetings in fancy hotels in Geneva and Vienna at which ministers — including the then-famed Zaki Yamani of Saudi Arabia and the immediate post-revolutionary Iranians — debated how to … Continue reading →

Posted in Oil, Policy, Politics, The economy, TTG | 34 Comments

The 2024 federal fiscal year ended. $35.46 trillion in debt. A $1.83 trillion deficit. $1.13 trillion in gross interest payments. The presidential candidates are silent.

Posted on November 4, 2024 by willmann

By Robert Willmann Like Mother Nature, mathematics is impartial. The financial or fiscal year of the U.S. government starts on 1 October and ends on 30 September of the following year, with its name being the year of the last … Continue reading →

Posted in Administration, Current Affairs, government, Policy, Politics, The economy | Tagged , | 9 Comments

“Without immigrants, America’s job growth would have stalled”

Posted on September 24, 2024 by TTG

Beth Casella’s family has been making things out of metal in Dayton, Ohio, for more than half a century. FC Industries — the company started by her grandfather, Frank — has grown into an $85 million local manufacturing business, churning … Continue reading →

Posted in Current Affairs, government, Policy, Politics, The economy, TTG | 91 Comments

“Project 2025 Is A Blueprint For Business Disaster”

Posted on July 23, 2024 by TTG

Project 2025: A Road Map to Oblivion That playbook is Project 2025, a 900-page report developed by the Heritage Foundation and a large coalition of conservative groups to help a second Trump presidency hit the ground running. “If we are going to rescue … Continue reading →

Posted in Policy, Politics, TTG | 79 Comments

“Before Biden can save Ukraine, he must use the NATO summit to save himself”

Posted on July 9, 2024 by TTG

CNN  — The NATO summit was long planned to celebrate the alliance’s 75th anniversary, to lock in longterm military support for Ukraine and even to future-proof the West against a possible second term for Donald Trump. But no one expected the … Continue reading →

Posted in Europe, Policy, TTG, Ukraine Crisis | 86 Comments

Harper on the Treaty of Westphalia

Posted on May 17, 2024 by TTG

I have a problem with the liberal democracy/authoritarian divide. From the time of our founding as a Constitutional Republic, the United States maintained a special close relationship with Russia. And Russia was always authoritarian. Catherine the Great and even Peter … Continue reading →

Posted in Harper, Policy, Politics | 59 Comments

A truck tries to penetrate into the Quantico Marine Corps Base

Posted on May 17, 2024 by willmann

By Robert Willmann Back on Friday, 3 May 2024, a box truck pulled up to the gate of the Quantico Marine Corps Base on Fuller Road in Virginia. The two men in the cab of the truck claimed they were … Continue reading →

Posted in Current Affairs, government, Intelligence, Jordan, Middle East, Policy | Tagged , | 10 Comments

More provocation. An attack on a Moscow concert hall and mall by several persons has produced many casualties.

Posted on March 23, 2024 by willmann

By Robert Willmann As if indiscriminate violence has not been enough starting at the Mediterranean Sea and going through Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and then up into Ukraine. Now an attack on a civilian entertainment and mall area in … Continue reading →

Posted in Current Affairs, Europe, Middle East, Policy, Politics, Russia, Ukraine Crisis | Tagged | 163 Comments