The Foundation

“There are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.” –James Madison

Government

“The Obama Democrats portray the Dodd [financial ‘reform’] bill as a brave attempt to clamp tougher regulation on Wall Street. They know that polls show voters strongly reject just about all their programs to expand the size and scope of government, with the conspicuous exception of financial regulation. Republicans have been accurately attacking the Dodd bill for authorizing bailouts of big Wall Street firms and giving them unfair advantages over small competitors. They might want to add that it authorizes Gangster Government – the channeling of vast sums from the politically unprotected to the politically connected. That can boomerang even against the latter. Goldman Sachs employees gave nearly $1 million to the Obama campaign and $4.5 million to Democrats in 2008. That didn’t prevent Goldman from being shoved under the SEC bus. Gangster Government may look good to those currently in favor, but as some of Al Capone’s confederates found out, that status is not permanent, and there is always more room under the bus.” –political analyst Michael Barone

For the Record

“If President Obama’s financial regulations are adopted, there will be fewer loans, credit will be more costly, and individuals will face more risk. Obama argues today that his reforms are necessary to prevent ‘a second Great Depression’ from occurring, but he does nothing to fix what the government did. Nothing is done to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, despite their problems with fraud and costing taxpayers $400 billion in bailouts. Nothing is done to change government regulations that force banks to make risky mortgages. The powers that would be given to the president and the Federal Reserve are unprecedented. The bill gives the government the power to regulate the capital, liquidity and permissible activities for a long list of firms, including securities firms, insurance companies, bank holding companies, hedge funds, finance companies as well as others. The government will be also able to limit the size of these companies. … In another of his proposals … Obama says that he wants to stop government bailouts of companies. And that should be the goal. Otherwise, firms have an incentive to take too many risks when they keep their profits but taxpayers pick up their losses. Who wouldn’t head straight to Las Vegas if you got to keep your winnings and the taxpayers picked up your losses? But Obama’s solution … is to still allow bailouts, but try to prevent them from becoming necessary by stopping financial institutions from taking what he considers to be risky behavior. … The government caused the current financial crisis by forcing banks to make bad mortgages. And the solution is less, not more, government control.” –economist John R. Lott Jr.

Liberty

“Ironically, the United States is moving in the direction of the kind of economy that China has been forced to move away from. China once had complete government control of medical care, but eventually gave it up as the disaster that it was. The current leadership in Washington operates as if they can just set arbitrary goals, whether ‘affordable housing’ or ‘universal health care’ or anything else – and not concern themselves with the repercussions – since they have the power to simply force individuals, businesses, doctors or anyone else to knuckle under and follow their dictates. Friedrich Hayek called this mindset ‘the road to serfdom.’ But, even under serfdom and slavery, experience forced those with power to recognize the limits of their power. What this administration – and especially the President – does not have is experience. Barack Obama had no experience running even the most modest business, and personally paying the consequences of his mistakes, before becoming President of the United States. He can believe that his heady new power is the answer to all things.” –economist Thomas Sowell

The Gipper

“The developing world has been told that it’s necessary to give up freedom in order to achieve progress. Nothing could be further from the truth. Freedom and economic advance go hand in hand; they are two sides of the same coin. The mainspring of human progress is found not in controlling and harnessing human energy but in setting it free. The most valuable resource is not oil or precious metals or even territory; it’s the infinite richness of human potential. The creative genius and diligence unleashed when people are free and working to improve their lot and that of their families is the greatest force for good on this planet.” –Ronald Reagan

Culture

“Obama has given America a great gift, though it is surely one he did not intend. A new awakening is sweeping across America, one not seen since 1980, when Ronald Reagan, leading a movement of optimistic conservatism put government on trial, charged it with corruption and convicted it of excessively overstepping its bounds. Today, Americans are questioning all levels of government as never before. The bottom line is that the Tea Party, in little over a year, has grown into an impressive movement including millions from all walks of life. History and principles are on their side.” –columnist Craig Shirley

Re: The Left

“‘Hello, fellow racists.’ That’s how I greeted the gathering at the Tax Day Tea Party rally in Sacramento, Calif. Several people dropped their hoods and sheets in laughter. After a thorough search, I can report that I detected no secret handshake, security guards or minority-sniffing German shepherds to alert blacks that our presence was unwanted. … A more serious criticism of the Tea Party movement goes like this: When George W. Bush and the Republicans controlled the House, Senate and Oval Office, where were the complaints about spending? … As to Bush’s non-defense, non-homeland security domestic spending, people did complain – lots of them and frequently. Why isn’t this more widely recognized? … The Left loves domestic spending. For liberals, Bush’s No Child Left Behind program ‘wasn’t fully funded.’ The prescription bill for seniors contained a ‘doughnut hole,’ which made it insufficiently generous. Conservatives, pundits and talk show hosts routinely blasted Bush for domestic spending. … So if people were unhappy with Bush’s spending, then why are folks only now assembling, carrying signs and holding rallies in opposition to bigger government? Fair question. Better late than never. More importantly, things are much, much worse. Government bailouts, ‘stimulus,’ ObamaCare, etc., now push the nation’s deficit to record non-World War II levels and debt to an all-time high. … Tea Party supporters, at least many of them, did complain about the size of government pre-Obama. Now things have changed – for the worse. Government is larger than ever – with no sign of abating unless and until this administration is stopped.” –columnist Larry Elder

Political Futures

“Arizona’s Republican Governor Jan Brewer has signed into law a bill which, according to Reuters ‘Requires police to determine whether people are in the country legally and to question them if there is suspicion they’re not. It also forces immigrants to carry their alien registration documents at all times.’ The law, SB1070, makes it a misdemeanor to lack proper immigration paperwork and forbids local cities and counties from passing laws which would, in effect, form sanctuary cities by forbidding their local police to enforce the law. … Arizona is ground zero for illegal immigration with … between 450,000 and 650,000 illegal immigrants in that state. The 2010 census will not help define that number any more closely because illegal aliens are not likely to have filled out and sent back their census form. Hispanics have become an important voting bloc for Democrats and, with Democrats’ mid-term electoral fortunes continuing to fade, using the Arizona law as a launching pad for a major registration and turn-out effort in November makes good political sense. To that end, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev) and President Obama have apparently decided to shove aside important climate change/energy legislation which was to have been introduced [Monday] by Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.), Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) in favor of turning the nation’s attention to what they consider to be a more politically favorable immigration debate.” –political analyst Rich Galen

Opinion in Brief

“Barack Obama isn’t leading. Instead, events are leading the president – and I don’t mean stage-managed summits, puppet press conferences or White House dinners, but the international events that matter, the ones paid for in blood. Iran and North Korea are immediate cases where rogue regimes seeking nuclear weapons follow calculated strategies that harm American interests and allies. … From its inception, the Obama administration has talked and talked a great deal about the way it wants the world to be. Rhetorical theatrics, to include sermons promoting visions, and emotionally charged media spectaculars hold pre-eminent and almost holy positions among administration elites. This is understandable, for these are the tools of domestic politics in a free, secure nation of laws – the terrain where American community organizers operate. Obama believes that if he can chitchat long enough and with sufficient eloquence, the world will align with his words – his rhetorical ‘oughtta be’ becomes the way it is. It worked in Chicago. But talk does not stop mass-murdering dictatorships. Events – especially unexpected, game-changing events – demand action.” –columnist Austin Bay

Reader Comments

“Thank you for your succinct essay on ‘Earth Day.’ What a farce the environmental movement has become. What perhaps once upon a time started out as a legitimate concern for preservation and conservation has morphed into something entirely different, as you outlined in your excellent essay. I pray that Americans are finally starting to wake up to the truth that ‘environmentalism’ has absolutely NOTHING to do with saving the environment. It’s now all about money, power, control and, ultimately, destroying these United States. God Save America.” –Ellen

“I remember the first ‘Earth Day.’ I worked in an office building across the street from McPherson Square in Washington, DC. A big rally was held there. When the rally ended and the people who want to save the planet left, the beautiful park was literally covered with trash. Their walk did not match their talk. So much for ‘Earth Day.’” –Roy

“Ayatollah Kazem Sedighi may actually get the link between sin and God’s disdain of it. But usually Muslims want to dish out the punishment to the infidels who sin against them. Assuming they think the eruption was against the Muslim community. It’s hard to tell if this view is better or worse than the ‘Goronic’ belief that every natural disaster is the result of man-made global warming.” –Jim

“How on earth can anyone in Congress allow the likes of Barney Frank and Chris Dodd to write legislation guarding against future failures of Wall Street, Fannie/Freddie, banks, etc. when they were smack dab in the middle of the whole mess to begin with? Blows my mind what they get away with in Washington.” –Texas Gal

The Last Word

“After months of hysterically warning viewers that cheerful, well-dressed tea partiers carrying ‘I Can See November From My House’ signs could suddenly erupt into wanton violence, MSNBC finally had proof: Timothy McVeigh. … On her April 14 show, [Rachel] Maddow gave a ‘War of the Worlds’ report on gun rights activists whom she claimed were planning tributes to Timothy McVeigh’s bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City. ‘On the anniversary of the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City by Timothy McVeigh,’ she said, ‘there will be two marches on Washington.’ After reminding viewers that McVeigh was ‘an anti-government extremist with ties to the militia movement’ (his only ‘ties’ being that he tried to join the Michigan Militia, but was rejected) Maddow said one of the groups, the Second Amendment March, had ‘been holding armed rallies at state capitols from Kentucky to Montana to Virginia – anti-government marches and rallies at which participants are encouraged to wear and display their guns.’ So if I have this straight, the pro-Second Amendment marchers were both armed … AND displaying guns! Having received an ‘A plus’ from the Department of Redundancy Department, a deadly earnest Maddow continued: ‘Also on the occasion of the Oklahoma City bombing anniversary,’ there would be an Open Carry rally. Participants, she said, ‘are being encouraged to bring guns’ (you know, just like the guns Timothy McVeigh used to shoot up the federal building in Oklahoma City). True, April 19 is the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. It’s also the anniversary of Lexington and Concord. Once upon a time, the skirmish that sparked the Revolutionary War was a date that every schoolchild knew. When British soldiers moved to seize the gunpowder and arms of voluntary militias, armed citizens defended themselves, firing upon the British in ‘the shot heard 'round the world’ – as Ralph Waldo Emerson put it in his ‘Concord Hymn.’ Hmmm, I wonder if the gun rights activists chose April 19 for their rallies because it was the anniversary of Lexington and Concord – or because it was the anniversary of Oklahoma City?” –columnist Ann Coulter