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Topic: Capitol Hill

  
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United They Evangelize

In one corner, we have "latte-sipping, Prius-driving, endive-munching, New York Times-reading snobs." And in the other corner, "Hummer-driving, Bible-thumping, fire-breathing, snake-handling fundamentalists." Just another skirmish ...READ»

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A Bailout We Can Build On

With a grim jobs report, a hinky stock market and a deal for auto executives still on the table, America's mayors may be offering the best bailout plan around.READ»

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Diversity In Government Agencies - Beyond Obama's Cabinet

  President-elect Barack Obama made history when he was elected to the White House, and he continues to make significant strides with regard to diversity as he assembles a tremendously experienced and diverse ...READ»

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The Real Culprit of the Financial Crisis

This week on Capitol Hill, Congress was grilling Kerry Killinger, former Wamu CEO, about what he knew regarding the toxic loans that brought down the 119 year old savings & loan which he’d run for 18 years. As you might imagine, ...READ»

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iFive: Energy Change Law in Jeopardy, Storm Hits Deepwater Cleanup, Verizon Goes 4G and iPhone, SpiderKid!, Gaga Goes Homme

While you were sleeping, innovation was being held to ransom on Capitol Hill. Ah, frack it, it said, before shrugging on a suit and smoking a cigarette--all in the name of art.1. Barack Obama's attempts to push his clean energy agenda ...READ»

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Another Credit Crunch

  Retailers who had been bracing for weak sales this holiday season were pleasantly surprised on Black Friday, as retail sales rose 3 percent to $10.6 billion nationally according to MarketWatch. In the midst of the current ...READ»

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Age and Adaptation

The recent appearance of automobile executives on Capitol Hill and their dire warnings about the threats to their industry reminded me of another brutal transformation that their industry experienced in the late 1970s and early 1980s, ...READ»

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iFive: Life as a Clean-up Worker, Murdoch's Paywall Goes Up, the Centenarian Gene, Lexus Recall, Cycling Tech in London

While you were sleeping, innovation was whisking its love away for a cruise on its private yacht, and then erecting a paywall around her so that no one could see her. Strange, that.1. The Los Angeles Times has documented what life is ...READ»

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Regulatory Contagion?

I had the pleasure to be on a panel on Capitol Hill last Friday sponsored by the Advanced Communications Law and Policy Institute. The subject was whether the current financial crises and the likely push to rightly reregulate the ...READ»

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Bad Banks? Bad Idea?

30 January 2009 Jose D. Roncal www.financialspeculation.com Lawmakers are looking for a quick fix for the banking and credit markets. No fix will be clean or easy. Every option comes with big hits to taxpayers, partisan bickering ...READ»

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To Some, "Small Business" is Big Business

Language is a form of power. It is far more than simply communication. Its usage, evolution and application can confer or limit power and status like other forms of influence, bet they physical or mental. Thus, we have to take great ...READ»

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First in Series: Calling All (Crisis) Leaders to Rebuild Trust in the Finance Industry

In one of my earlier blogs, I called on today’s leaders to put their egos aside in order to guide us out of a vicious cycle of bad decisions, short-sightedness, and financial despair toward an integrity-based vision where innovation and creativity is the norm. And now, several months later, I am calling all (crisis) leaders once again…but this time, specifically to guide us out of this financial crisis. In this series of blogs, I’ll address the destroyed trust that has occurred and recommend ways to rebuild that trust through effective crisis leadership. The financial industry is undergoing one of the most tumultuous times in history and the consequence has been a precipitous decline in the public’s trust in the industry and in its leadership. Over the next few weeks I’ll provide an overview of the construct of trust, describes why crisis events erode trust, and offers guidelines for how to rebuild trust following a crisis. Using the principles of crisis leadership as a backdrop, I’ll demonstrate the significance of integrity, positive intent, capability, mutual respect, and transparency on the trust building process. Here I present the first in a series of blogs on Rebuilding the Image of the Finance Industry through Trust:READ»

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Lifetime's Mastectomy Petition - More Surface Than Substance?

Whenever I see a beautifully crafted dessert, I am always hopeful it will taste as good as it looks. More often than not though, I am disappointed by the incongruity between the attractive exterior and inferior interior. This is ...READ»

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Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service (SFS)

I pursued my undergraduate education at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service (SFS), a school within Georgetown University founded by the Jesuit priest Reverend Edmund A. Walsh in 1919. An institution to train future ...READ»

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Candidates for Hire

It’s been two weeks of partying for America’s biggest parties – the Democrats and Republicans. Now four candidates have officially submitted their resumes for the two highest offices in America.  Nearing the end of this very ...READ»

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Innovators Reveal Cool, Creative Spots in Seattle

Where are the cool and the creative? Nine Seattleites on the places that inspire them in their hometown.READ»

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iFive: BP Caps Leak, Global Recession, Iran's Nuclear Scientist Defects, Sarkozy Scandal, Hef's Private Playboy

While you were sleeping, innovation was pulling on its flares and platform shoes and practicing its disco moves in front of the mirror. The reason? What with oil, dissident scientists, spies, Castro and recession, we're so back to the ...READ»

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Home Appliance Energy, Water Efficiency Standards Could Save 5 Trillion Gallons of Water

The U.S. government may not be able to push through a climate bill, but that hasn't stopped appliance makers from banding together and establishing efficiency standards of their own.READ»

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How Sustainability Survived the Great Recession

Around this time last year, the deathwatch for sustainability was on full alert. Many wondered whether the "green bubble" would burst the same way the tech bubble and the housing bubble did. Would sustainability follow Lehman Brothers into the pages of history, a relic of the good times?READ»

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Google Teases News on Its Economic Impact--Big Reveal Tomorrow

Google's just popped up a blog posting that's absolutely, completely, utterly designed to tease: It's titled "Coming tomorrow ..." and it says Google's about to explain what Google does for the economy. All of the economy. Coming from ...READ»

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Diversity - The Silver-Lining

Given the seemingly endless negative economic news that we are currently absorbing every day, Bridge Partners LLC has been looking for a silver-lining – and we found it in the fact that the country is making great progress when it ...READ»

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This Week in Health Reform—Federal Legislative Overview

The Senate’s health care reform legislation has still not yet been unveiled, but there are reports that an analysis from the Congressional Budget Office has found the bill to be more costly than expected, so Senate Democrats are already considering new ways to pay for the bill. READ»

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If You're Not Furious Over the Bank Bailout, Read This

Provisioned within the stimulus bill is a salary cap for executives of any bank that receives federal money through the TARP program. Instead of taking home millions, the top brass will be limited to $500,000 in total annual pay. ...READ»

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No Capitol Gains: eBay Bans Sales of Inauguration Tickets

Under pressure from Congress, online auction giant eBay agreed to ban the re-selling of free tickets to the Presidential Inauguration ceremony in January. But doesn't this move stifle the free market? If people are willing to pay, why stop them?READ»

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Diversity - The Silver-Lining

  Given the seemingly endless negative economic news that we are currently absorbing every day, Bridge Partners LLC has been looking for a silver-lining – and we found it in the fact that the country is making great progress when ...READ»