Fleeced

The White House

May 19, 2010

I was going to write about tonight’s state dinner for Mexico and the amnesty plan, but we’ve got a national crisis here! I think somebody’s been snooping in this diary! The pages are all wrinkled! And the most personal entries are dog-eared! WHAT THE HELL’S GOING ON HERE?

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) On May 20, 2010, Laura Ingraham received a package from an anonymous source that will change the history of the United States and the legacy of President Barack Obama. While retrieving her automobile from the underground garage at the Watergate complex (where she had just enjoyed her weekly pedicure), Ingraham discovered a manila envelope on the hood of her car. When she picked it up, a deep baritone voice called out from a nearby stairwell: "Just read it. You’ll know what to do." The shadowy figure then disappeared into the darkness without another word.

The envelope contained copies of what appeared to be diary entries written by President Barack Obama, his family, and high-ranking administration officials. Because the "diaries" are so revealing, Ingraham felt compelled to release them to the American public and the citizens of the world.

Major media outlets love to describe the president as "no drama Obama," but The Obama Diaries tells a different tale. Through these "diary entries," readers will see past the carefully constructed Obama façade to the administration’s true plans to "remake America."

In The Obama Diaries, Ingraham hilariously skewers the president and his minions. She takes aim at:

•the cynical "razzle-dazzle" marketing of Obama’s radical agenda

•the use of the Obama "brand" and family to obscure Obama’s true aims

•Michelle Obama’s gardening and anti-obesity initiative; and much more.

Informative and hugely entertaining, The Obama Diaries will inspire both laughter and critical thinking about the future of the nation and the man currently at the helm.

•the use of the Obama "brand" and family to obscure Obama’s true aims

•Michelle Obama’s gardening and anti-obesity initiative; and much more.

Informative and hugely entertaining, The Obama Diaries will inspire both laughter and critical thinking about the future of the nation and the man currently at the helm.

Excerpts from Laura Ingraham’s The Obama Diaries

Obama on Sarah Palin:

"Hell, doesn’t Palin have anything better to do than criticize me? Shouldn’t she be back home shooting some endangered wolf species from a helicopter?" (April 9, 2010)

Michelle on being First Lady:

"I’ll be damned if all this fabulosity is going to go to waste reading Dr. Seuss to snot-nosed kids all day." (January 23, 2009)

Vice President Joe Biden on Michelle Obama:

"She’s kind of like a black Hillary Clinton. I mean that in a good way."  (May 5, 2009)

Obama on his visit to the Vatican:

"If I can ingratiate myself with a few more of these red-hats, the pope thing might not be a bad follow-up to the presidency."  (July 10, 2009)

In 1945, many Europeans still heated with coal, cooled their food with ice, and lacked indoor plumbing. Today, things could hardly be more different. Over the second half of the twentieth century, the average European's buying power tripled, while working hours fell by a third. The European Economy since 1945 is a broad, accessible, forthright account of the extraordinary development of Europe's economy since the end of World War II. Barry Eichengreen argues that the continent's history has been critical to its economic performance, and that it will continue to be so going forward.

Challenging standard views that basic economic forces were behind postwar Europe's success, Eichengreen shows how Western Europe in particular inherited a set of institutions singularly well suited to the economic circumstances that reigned for almost three decades. Economic growth was facilitated by solidarity-centered trade unions, cohesive employers' associations, and growth-minded governments--all legacies of Europe's earlier history. For example, these institutions worked together to mobilize savings, finance investment, and stabilize wages.

However, this inheritance of economic and social institutions that was the solution until around 1973--when Europe had to switch from growth based on brute-force investment and the acquisition of known technologies to growth based on increased efficiency and innovation--then became the problem.

Thus, the key questions for the future are whether Europe and its constituent nations can now adapt their institutions to the needs of a globalized knowledge economy, and whether in doing so, the continent's distinctive history will be an obstacle or an asset.