Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Thursday, October 27, 2016
An Honest Question for All Voting Americans
In 1996, “The Simpsons” did a “Treehouse of Horror” episode featuring Bill Clinton running against Bob Dole. Halfway through the episode, during a presidential debate, Homer Simpson reveals that both candidates are “hideous space reptiles,” complete with dripping fangs, tentacles and one eye each: Kodos and Kang. The crowd screams in shock and horror. Then one of the aliens, Kodos, speaks: “It’s true; we are aliens. But what are you going to do about it? It’s a two-party system. You have to vote for one of us.” The crowd mutters in stunned agreement. One fellow speaks up: “Well, I believe I’ll vote for a third-party candidate!” “Go ahead,” says Kang, “throw your vote away.” Both aliens laugh hysterically as the crowd frets.
Social Security’s IOU Trust Fund
Social Security is the largest single program in the federal budget. The retirement and disability program will cost about $950 billion this year, which is about 23 percent of the entire federal budget. Along with Medicare and Medicaid, these “entitlement” programs are already the main drivers of federal spending. Unless reined in, Social Security and its counterparts will eventually explode the federal budget. Unfortunately, few in Congress — and neither of the major-party presidential candidates — have any interest in acknowledging, let alone confronting, the problem with Social Security’s insolvency.
In Georgia, a Helping of Preach Pry
Not too long ago, liberals argued that Christians couldn’t bring their beliefs to work. Now, it seems you can’t even bring them to church! That’s a lesson Georgia state officials are apparently trying to teach Dr. Eric Walsh — but it is state leaders that need some schooling! The lay pastor from California had just accepted a job running the state’s Department of Public Health (DPH) in 2014 when his new office called and asked for copies of the sermons he’d delivered over the weekends at his church. The next day, to everyone’s astonishment, Walsh was fired. Of course, Georgia’s DPH insists it had nothing to do with his biblical beliefs, but as our friends at First Liberty Institute know, that’s nothing but a vain attempt to cover their tracks for what should be an open-and-shut case of religious discrimination. Thanks to First Liberty, Dr. Walsh didn’t shrink back and take the discrimination from Governor Nathan Deal’s (R) administration, he filed a lawsuit against the State of Georgia.
Hillary Clinton Insults Intelligent, Thoughtful Women
The fact that Secretary Clinton thinks she deserves our vote simply because she is a female is sophomoric, and belies her claim that she seeks to represent “all the people.” When a politician expects someone to vote for them just because of her gender or race, it demeans everyone in that particular category. Hillary and her “feminazis” — as the great Rush Limbaugh rightly calls them — do intelligent, thoughtful women a grave disservice when they demand our vote based on gender.
Pull the Plug on ObamaCare
Just when you think the news about Obamacare couldn’t get any worse, it does. Check out this CBS headline: “Arizona Obamacare Plan To Jump By 116 Percent.” As I wrote yesterday, Obamacare was built on the lie that the government can do it better. Now it is more expensive and more insurance companies are abandoning the system. In many parts of the country, there is only one provider. Conservatives warned this would happen. The same people who lied to us six years ago now want to “fix” Obamacare. But their idea of a fix is more government, not less.
Trump vs. Clinton: A Risk vs. a Disaster
With a Republican candidate, the media can be counted upon to seize upon any deficiencies — big or small, real or imagined — while giving the Democrat a pass. So Trump’s “failure to ever apologize” outweighs an examination of Clinton’s flat-out lie during the third debate when she insisted that the Supreme Court Heller case was about “toddlers,” as opposed to the fundamental issue of whether the Second Amendment confers an individual right to keep and bear arms.
The Angry Woman Makes History
As I have been saying, the sexual revolution of the 1960s is now over. We can thank Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton’s gang of angry women (which Trump either knew or did not know years ago) for that. I think it is a contribution to the moral life of the republic, but I might be wrong. Arguably, the females of the species began the sexual revolution; and unarguably, they are now ending it. Frankly, I, for one, am relieved. There is nothing more frightening than an amorous — if that is the word — woman aroused and on the move.
Republican Party Needs to Revert to Nominating Republicans
When told that the New England transcendentalist Margaret Fuller had grandly declared “I accept the universe,” the Scottish philosopher Thomas Carlyle dryly remarked: “She’d better.” Much ink and indignation has been spilled concerning whether Donald (“I am much more humble than you would understand”) Trump will “accept” the election’s outcome. The nation, like the universe of which it is the nicest part, will persevere even without the election result being accepted by the fellow who probably will be the first presidential candidate in 16 years to receive less — probably a lot less — than 45 percent of the vote.
Lessons From the Highway of Death
California State Route 99 is the north-south highway that cuts through the great Central Valley. And it has changed little since the mid-1960s. A half-century ago, when the state population was about 18 million — not nearly 40 million as it is today — the 99 used to be a high-speed, four-lane marvel. It was a crown jewel in California’s cutting-edge freeway system. Not now.
State of Georgia Demands Pastor Turn Over Sermons
A lay minister who is suing the Georgia Department of Public Health for religious discrimination has been directed by the state’s attorney general to relinquish his sermons to the government, according to federal court documents. “Please produce a copy of your sermon notes and/or transcripts,” Attorney General Samuel Olens wrote to attorneys representing Dr. Eric Walsh. Dr. Walsh said he will not comply with the request. “No government has the right to require a pastor to turn over his sermons,” Walsh said. “I cannot and will not give up my sermons unless I am forced to do so.”
Trump’s ‘Contract’
Last Saturday, Donald Trump delivered a speech in Gettysburg, Pa., that he should have given much earlier in the campaign, minus the usual threats against women who have accused him of sexual assault. The speech, which was probably written for him because “deep” and “thinker” are likely not the first two words that spring to mind when you hear the name Trump, set out an agenda for what he promises to do should he be elected president. Trump’s promises were divided into three sections. The first action, he said, would “clean up the corruption and special interest collusion in Washington, D.C.”
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Meet the Guy Whose Insurance Premium More Than Doubled
You probably know somebody like Jay Wells in your town. He’s a hardworking family man. He goes to church on Sunday. He owns a small business. He’s an all-around good guy. And he’s also become a national symbol for the complete and utter failure of President Obama’s Affordable Care Act. Mr. Wells, of Colquitt, Georgia, is facing a massive (and I do mean massive) increase in his monthly health insurance premiums, according to a letter he received from BlueCross BlueShield of Georgia. “Your current monthly premium is $711.83,” read the letter. “Starting in January, your monthly premium will be $1,872.17.” The sticker shock was shocking.
Turnout Time
Some of us this election year don’t even want to say the words “Clinton” or “Trump” — and with good reason. However, there is one word that we should keep in mind: “Turnout.” If we sit home in disgust on election day, we forfeit the right — and the duty — to elect a Congress that can keep either of these dangerous people from doing permanent damage to this country and to the future of this generation — and generations yet unborn. Control of Congress has probably never mattered more than in this election, simply because of two out-of-control people, one of whom is going to become President of the United States.
McMullin Scenario a Last-Ditch Hope for Dismayed Voters
If you think 2016 will stop being weird come Nov. 8, please look at your calendars: This whole election process actually lasts almost an additional two months beyond that, finally ending when Congress counts the electoral votes in early January. But just because it’s been a weird year, that doesn’t mean it has to end badly. There’s reason to hope. Consider independent write-in candidate for president Evan McMullin. He has virtually no chance of winning the election on Nov. 8, but he does have a shot at becoming president by the end of December.
The Ruling Class
America is often described as a society without the Old World’s aristocracy. Yet we still have people who feel entitled to boss the rest of us around. The “elite” media, the political class, Hollywood and university professors think their opinions are obviously correct, so they must educate us peasants. OK, so they don’t call us “peasants” anymore. Now we are “deplorables” — conservatives or libertarians. Or Trump supporters. The elite have a lot of influence over how we see things. I don’t like Donald Trump. I used to. I once found him refreshing and honest. Now I think he’s a mean bully. I think that partly because he mocked a disabled person. I saw it on TV. He waved his arms around to mimic a New York Times reporter with a disability — but wait!
NAACP Denies Education Civil Rights
It’s a rare day when the editorial pages of The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and The Washington Post are of one mind. But it just happened. Each of these newspapers, with the largest circulations in the country, and with views on the right and the left, weighed in with unanimity, criticizing the recent resolution of the NAACP calling for a moratorium on expansion of charter schools. The NAACP wants to freeze expansion of charter schools until, according to the resolution, they meet the same “transparency and accountability standards as public schools,” no longer compete for the same public funds as public schools, don’t reject students that public schools accept, and that evidence of segregation is no longer evident.
ObamaCare Collapsing
Obamacare is collapsing. These headlines speak for themselves. “Covered California Notifies Subscribers of Up to 57 Percent Rate Increases.” “Nearly 400,000 Michigan Residents Brace for Double-Digit Obamacare Spike.” “More Than 1 Million to Lose Obamacare Plans as Insurers Quit.” “Gov. Dayton (D) Declares Affordable Care Act ‘No Longer Affordable.’” “Average Premiums For Popular ACA Plans Rising 25 Percent.”
Insurers Rock Enroll on ObamaCare
The president promised that his health care law would grow on us. Well, something’s growing all right — the system’s premiums! When enrollment starts for the new coverage period on November 1, policy shoppers will be lucky to be staring down hikes of at least 25 percent — and that’s just the average! In some states, the sticker shock is enough to make Americans sick, which is ironic, since they won’t be able to afford the coverage they’ll need to get over it. The changes are striking in places like Arizona, where premiums for a typical 27-year-old buying “a benchmark ‘second-lowest cost silver plan’ will jump by 116 percent.”
Leaked: How Hillary Pandered to the Press
The WikiLeaks email trove is revealing more than the servility of “objective” reporters trying to please Hillary Clinton and her aides. It’s revealing the press strategy of Clinton and her aides — how they seek to praise reporters, even as they arrogantly stonewall them. One internal campaign email exchange is salient. It discusses Clinton speaking at a Syracuse University event for the Toner Prize for Excellence in Political Reporting, which is so named for the deceased liberal New York Times political correspondent Robin Toner. Clinton had been invited as a keynote speaker.
Government Health Insurance Up, Freedom Down
“We’ve agreed that our health reform bill will promote choice,” President Barack Obama said on July 21, 2009. “Americans will be able to compare the price and quality of different plans and pick the plan that they want,” he said. “If you like your current plan, you will be able to keep it,” he said. “Let me repeat that: If you like your plan, you will be able to keep it,” he said. He apparently wanted Americans to remember that — at least until Congress enacted his Affordable Care Act.