Written by Neil Kelty on February 2nd, 2009
President-elect Barack Obama has proposed giving a $4,000 tax credit to any US higher education student who works 100 hours of community service each year. Making college more affordable would be a major help to the American education system – it’s a perpetual problem and Obama proposes improving the community by having college students perform community service, which instills lifelong values of servant leadership and volunteerism. In return, these college students can cover two-thirds of the cost of tuition at the average public college or university.
Cutting Costs, Helping Others
The cost of college is rising each day and students continue to struggle with find ways to pay for it without taking out enormous loans that place a burden on themselves, their …
Written by Neil Kelty on December 30th, 2008
Grown tired of the phrases “failed Bush economic policies” and “the last 8 years of this administration” have I, or at least my inner Yoda rebukes the continual repetition of these soon to be cliche phrases.
Even as we, America, rush to force our President of the past decade out of office, we must pause and take a moment to reflect and examine Mr. Bush’s administration. We must look deeply and analytically to discover the true gift has Bush’s presidency has offered our country and President-elect Obama. The current situation, the state of our country, most notably our economy is not the fault of George Bush, it is not the fault of the Democrats, the Republicans, the Libertarians, the bankers, or …
Written by Neil Kelty on November 24th, 2008
Treasury
Timothy Geithner – Geithner appears to be President-elect Obama’s first choice for Secretary of Treasury. The current President of the New York Federal Reserve Bank has been in the thick of orchestrating the bailout and currently serves as chairman of the Federal Open Market Committee. Geithner graduated from Dartmouth College with a bachelor’s degree in government and Asian studies and then received his masters in International Economics and East Asian Studies from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
Education
Tim Kaine – Kaine will be reaching the end of his time as Governor in 2010, as he is term-limited. Therefore, he could be an interesting snag for the Obama campaign despite the fact that he was passed over for the …
Written by Neil Kelty on November 21st, 2008
Defense
Defense Secretary Robert Gates – It is extremely likely that current secretary will stay on to see the downsizing of operations in Iraq. It appears that the major holdup in this scenario is that gates wants some of his people to stay on.
Senator Chuck Hagel – Hagel appears to be the leading candidate to replace Robert gates should he choose not to return to serve in the Obama administration. You can hardly argue with Hagel’s experience and readiness for the job which includes work in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Hagel could also be a Republican in Obama’s cabinet, which experts say he should have at least one in order to hold his promise of change by not picking all …
Written by Neil Kelty on November 19th, 2008
This is the first in a series of posts I will make on the Obama cabinet in the next few days.
State
Hillary Clinton – Senator Clinton appears to have a lock on the job if she’d like it; however, I’m not convinced she will accept the position. The Secretary of State position would give her enormous experience points in foreign policy, but I think the Senate is still the place for her if she is even thinking about running in 2016. But the other question is will the offer still stand after the Obama team finishing digging up dirt on Bill Clinton’s dealings – he’s quite a lot of baggage.
Senator John Kerry – The runner up for the job and possible …
