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Submitted by John Mauldin via MauldinEconomics.com,I have been in Washington DC for the last three days. The ostensible reason was to participate in a board meeting of a public company, Ashford Inc. (AINC). We manage hotel REITs that own three hotels here in DC, and the group decided to move our board meeting up a few weeks and hold it in DC during the inauguration. That gave me the opportunity to set up a few meetings to try to gain some insight into what the first 100 days, the first six months, and the first year of the Trump...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama has chosen a retired corporate and government official with experience managing numerous organizations in crisis to take over an Internal Revenue Service under fire for targeting political groups. Obama said his nominee for commissioner of the tax agency, John Koskinen, "is an expert at turning around institutions in need of reform." "With decades of experience, in both the private and public sectors, John knows how to lead in difficult times, whether that means ensuring new management or implementing new checks and balances," Obama said in a statement. "Every part of our government must operate...

Even as General Motors bid goodbye to Rick Wagoner and ushered in its new chief executive, Frederick Henderson, restructuring circles were abuzz Monday with speculation that another player may soon join the carmaker. That would be a chief restructuring officer, whom the Obama administration would implant in G.M. to serve as its representative in either a bankruptcy filing or an out-of-court restructuring. President Obama made no mention of the idea during his speech on the industry Monday. And for now, it seems clear that Mr. Henderson will be in charge at the company. But there are plenty of restructuring experts...

How To Restructure Without Getting Taken

NEW YORK - AOL's chief executive announced yet another restructuring of the online company's corporate structure Monday, creating a senior position to market its brand while naming several executives who will report to a newly appointed deputy. Randy Falco, recently hired from NBC as AOL LLC's chairman and chief executive, acknowledged in a memo to employees that much work remained "in such crucial areas as our speed to market and innovating new products." Although AOL once was the dominant Internet brand, the company has seen its paying subscribers leave for free offerings from Yahoo Inc., Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp.'s...

If only turning around a car company were as easy as turning around a car - or an airline manufacturer. The new chief executive of the Ford Motor Co., in his most recent role, successfully guided aerospace giant Boeing through a wrenching downturn as the 9/11 terrorist attacks reduced demand for air travel. At Boeing, Alan Mulally gained experience dealing with union labor, a global supply chain, and building products that contain everything from sheet metal to complex electronics. Those are skills that Ford desperately needs. The No. 2 US automaker confronts declining market share, mounting losses, and a major...

The New Curia of Benedict XVI Looks toward Asia The new prefect of “Propaganda Fide” comes from India. And the new secretary of the congregation for the liturgy is from Sri Lanka. His first public address was the presentation of a book. And it was revealing by Sandro Magister ROMA, May 26, 2006 – On his first anniversary as pope, Benedict XVI asked God “to grant that I may be a gentle and firm Pastor.” He is already gentle and firm, to judge by his recent actions. It’s enough to consider how on May 19 he imposed retirement from public...

WASHINGTON -- The 2005 Base Realignmnent and Closure Commission began its work here yesterday. Commission Chairman Anthony J. Principi, former secretary of veterans affairs, administered the oath of office to the eight commissioners who will evaluate the Defense Department's recommendations for changes in U.S. force posture. After evaluating DoD's recommendations, the independent BRAC Commission will submit its own list to the president for review and approval, then to Congress, which must accept or reject the list in its entirety. "The Congress and the president look to this commission to provide an unbiased, independent assessment and clear 'eye of reality check'...

Paralyzed by an all-Iraq, all-war, all-the-time fever (not to mention a desperate opposition to the possibility of said war), the media managed to miss one of the central stories of President Bush's Crawford vacation: the administration's emerging plan to remake the structure of U.S. military forces. Yes, defense "transformaton" is about to rise from the grave, revitalized by the sweeping changes in American and international politics caused by the events of last September 11. And what appears to be a normal turning of the bureaucratic wheel -- the preparation of the 2004 defense budget request -- stands every chance of...