Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Wednesday, February 8, 2017
Order in the Court
President Trump’s executive order imposing a moratorium on immigration from seven terrorist-infested countries is back in court today. This afternoon, three judges from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments via conference call.
The Great Manipulators at Time
Time magazine has singled out White House strategist Steve Bannon for its Darth Vader cover treatment. Shown is a picture of Bannon looking like a Marvel Comics villain and the title “The Great Manipulator.” Bannon dared to identify the liberal media as “the opposition party.” Time took offense and demonstrably proved him right.
Hillary’s ‘Future Is Female’ Femme-A-Goguery
All that was missing from Hillary Clinton’s video address to a left-wing women’s group this week was a pink pussyhat and a “BOYS SUCK” T-shirt.
Super Bowled Over by Liberal Ads
Apparently, the political ads didn’t end when the election did! The 113 million fans who tuned into Sunday’s Super Bowl thriller found that out the hard way, getting an earful of a lot more than Tom Brady’s comeback.
Trump’s Rational Response to Testimony of Obama’s CIA, FBI
FBI Director James Comey and then-CIA Director John Brennan — both appointed by President Barack Obama — issued public warnings over the past two years about a terrorist threat to the United States that demanded a rational response from the president. Donald Trump has now provided one.
Can the Super Bowl Save America?
It’s been several decades since American politics has been so contentious. According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll taken after President Trump’s election, 32 percent of California residents want the state to secede from America. In the middle of the election cycle, Public Policy Polling found that 40 percent of Texans would have wanted the state to leave the country if Hillary Clinton had won — and that included 61 percent of Trump supporters. Nationally, 22 percent of people now want to see their particular state leave the union.
Trump’s Mistaken Interest in HBCUs
According to press reports, the topic of Historically Black Colleges and Universities came up in the recent “listening session” at the White House with President Trump and his internal team of black leaders, as part of Black History Month. Reportedly, this piqued the president’s interest and the discussion continued after the meeting formally concluded, with presidential aide Omarosa Manigault announcing to the media that she is working on an executive order to help the HBCUs.
Smearing Team Trump
Oh, no! I did it again. It was a foolish mistake. But I slipped. I read The New York Times. This is bad for my health, because I get so mad at the smug socialist spin, but how can I *not* read it? It’s my hometown paper. My wife wakes me up with indignant questions like, “How can you say government is too big? The Times says ... “
Minimum Wage and Discrimination
There is little question in most academic research that increases in the minimum wage lead to increases in unemployment. The debatable issue is the magnitude of the increase. An issue not often included in minimum wage debates is the substitution effects of minimum wage increases. The substitution effect might explain why Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, a national network of business owners and executives, argues for higher minimum wages. Let’s look at substitution effects in general.
Trump’s Rhetoric on Russia Throws U.S. Under the Bus
Once again, President Trump has come to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s defense by throwing America under the bus.
Let’s Debate Who Is Mainstream
“Mainstream.” We are having a country-wide civics lesson on who is or is not out of our mainstream: Senate Democrats or the Supreme Court nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch.
Tuesday, February 7, 2017
Will the Real Donald Trump Please Stand Up?
Last week President Donald Trump spoke to the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, DC, as his predecessors have consistently done since 1953. Called the Presidential Prayer Breakfast until 1970, the event routinely attracts 3,000 or more people to pray for the country and world and hear addresses by religious luminaries. Originally organized by Methodist minister Abraham Vereide and Republican Senator Frank Carlson of Kansas and sponsored by Fellowship Foundation, it also provides a forum for presidents to discuss their faith. Billy Graham convinced Dwight Eisenhower to address the first breakfast, where he characteristically declared that “all free government is firmly founded in a deeply felt religious faith.”
Trump’s Executive Order on Immigration Is Both Legal and Constitutional
If you want to see the difference between a federal judge who follows the rule of law and a federal judge who ignores laws he doesn’t like in order to reach a preferred public policy outcome, just compare the two district court decisions issued in Washington state and Massachusetts over President Donald Trump’s immigration executive order.
A So-Called Court Ruling
If the law means anything, the Trump administration will succeed in overturning the so-called court ruling against its travel ban.
Be Careful What You Wish For
At the National Prayer Breakfast last week, President Trump promised to “totally destroy” the so-called “Johnson Amendment,” a law that prohibits churches from endorsing or opposing political candidates at the risk of losing their tax-exempt status.
How Trump Can Create a Bull Market
The stock market has risen about 9 percent since the election of Donald Trump, with an increase in wealth of nearly $2 trillion. Is this the start of a big bull-market rally?
Judging Trump’s Order
Friday afternoon, a federal judge in Seattle suspended President Trump’s executive order halting refugees from entering the country. Over the weekend, an emergency request by the Trump administration to reinstate the president’s order was denied. I think it is important to revisit the issue to better understand why President Trump took the action he did.
Election Integrity Can’t Wait
For years, Republicans have pushed to improve election integrity. Democrats, aided by the courts, have fiercely resisted efforts to ensure honest elections. But there’s no good argument against making sure that everyone who casts a ballot is eligible to do so, and that they cast only one per election.
Houston’s Real Patriots Didn’t Deflate Profits
Houston is doing just fine after repealing the city’s controversial bathroom bill, thank you very much!
Audi: The Car for the Unhappy Woman
As a believer in the free market and the free exchange of ideas, I have rarely advocated for or participated in a boycott of a company for the political positions of its owners or directors. I eat Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream despite the fact that I have opposed every left-wing political and social position Ben and Jerry have ever advocated. It’s a free country. And I want to keep it free. But Audi crossed a line. It should pay an appropriate price.