The President and his team have been blaming “European headwinds” for some of the U.S. economy’s woes. But the truth is that the policies pursued by Washington and Athens are frighteningly similar—and the outcomes are not good for either country. Both countries are in need of comprehensive fiscal reforms, yet their leaders have avoided the tough decisions in favor of bailouts and political posturing.

In yesterday’s election, political parties supporting Greece’s bailout secured a narrow victory, causing Europe and world markets to breathe a temporary sigh of relief. The parties must now form a coalition government, despite continued protests from the radical party that sought to throw out the terms of the bailout assistance—which could have led Greece out of the euro currency. At 22 percent unemployment, Greek voters expressed disappointment with their limited options.

The Greek crisis was foreshadowed in this year’s Heritage Foundation/Wall Street Journal Index of Economic Freedom, with Greece registering the largest decline in economic freedom of any country in the world. Its economy is rated “mostly unfree,” and it has the fifth-lowest economic freedom score inEurope, beating only Russia and three former Soviet republics.

Why is it in such a state? The authors of the Index point to “decades of overspending, a lack of structural reform progress, and endemic corruption,” noting that Greece’s “lack of competitiveness and fading business confidence are serious impediments to economic revival. Adjustments in market conditions have been stifled or delayed by public unions.”

Sound familiar?  It should, because the similarities between the U.S. and Greece are alarming. Two years ago, Heritage’s J.D. Foster said that “We’re not Greece…yet.” Since he wrote that in May 2010, however, U.S. debt has nearly doubled as a share of the economy. Greece’s public debt, at 165 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), doesn’t seem that unreal any more.

Read more at Heritage.org HERE.

President Barack Obama’s angry response to a reporter who interrupted his Rose Garden remarks Friday was the latest salvo in what some political experts see as an era of incivility.

Neil Munro, a White House correspondent for the Washington-based website The Daily Caller, asked the president about his administration’s dramatic policy shift on immigration while the president was in the middle of delivering prepared remarks.

“Excuse me, sir. It’s not time for questions, sir,” Obama fired back. “Not while I’m speaking.”

Munro later told CNN’s Brianna Keilar, “I have to ask the questions you all won’t ask,” referring to the reporters gathered who regularly cover the White House.

“I always go to the White House prepared with questions for our president. I timed the question believing the president was closing his remarks, because naturally I have no intention of interrupting the president of the United States,” Munro said in a statement on the Caller’s website. “I know he rarely takes questions before walking away from the podium. When I asked the question as he finished his speech, he turned his back on the many reporters and walked away while I and at least one other reporter asked questions.”

Read more at CNN.com HERE.

In March 2011, speaking at Univision town hall in Washington, D.C., Barack Obama firmly stated that, as president, he can’t simply “suspend deportations” with only an executive order. “With respect to the notion that I can just suspend deportations through executive order, that’s just not the case, because there are laws on the books that Congress has passed,” President Obama said then.

His statement then was in response to this straight forward question, “What if at least you grant temporary protective status, TPS, to undocumented students? If the answer is yes, when? And if no, why not?”

Today, the Obama administration seems to be contradicting what the president once believed. With the announcement that young illegal immigrants who “do not present a risk to national security or public safety” will not be deported, Obama seems to have turned a corner. Now the Obama administration will be using prosecutorial discretion not to go after these people.

So, what has happened since then? Has the president “evolved” on immigration the way he did on gay marriage?

There has not been any change to the laws on the books that would offer a different legal course regarding immigration. Instead, it appears to be a reinterpretation of the law–and of executive power–on the part of President Obama.

Read more at the Weekly Standard HERE.

The Minnesota food giant that brought to the nation’s parents, and especially their children, the Honey Nut Bee, Lucky the Leprechaun and the Silly Trix Rabbit now publicly is supporting homosexual marriage, leaving critics surprised at General Mills’ abandonment of traditional values families.

General Mills CEO Ken Peters announced this week at a Minneapolis homosexual pride event that his company opposes the marriage amendment on the Minnesota ballot in November.

Same-sex marriage is already illegal in Minnesota, but supporters of the traditional marriage initiative say that the constitutional amendment would keep marriage safe from activist courts and even legislators who may attempt to usurp state law.

Already there is a case in Hennepin County effectively putting the Minnesota Defense of Marriage Act on trial, and Minnesota pro-traditional marriage groups say that the November ballot measure is critical.

Supporters of traditional marriage say that General Mills couldn’t be more wrong in calling its support a business decision, but that is precisely how General Mills is voicing its opposition to the idea that state residents could define marriage for themselves.

Read more at WND.com HERE.

Global leaders and financial markets will be captivated by a high-stakes political campaign with broad economic implications Sunday, and it won’t be in the United States.

Instead, Greek parliamentary elections set halfway across the world will grip American policymakers and financial leaders as the poll results may dictate whether Greece can remain within the Eurozone, or if its messy exit could throw the global financial system into turmoil.

The White House will be watching the results closely too, as the president’s reelection campaign, thought to hedge primarily on the fate of the economy, could be swept up as well.

The populist leftist Syriza Party is led by Alexis Tsipras, who has basically told voters to call the bluff of Greece’s global backers – reject the austerity package offered by the European Union and International Monetary Fund, nationalize the banks, and effectively dare European leaders to cut off Greece’s lifeline and push them away from the eurozone.

The uncertainty brought by a Syriza win would test the mettle of financial markets, and its aftermath could weigh on the global economy, which is far from resolute.

Read more at the Hill.com HERE.