Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Monday, March 2, 2015
It's Time to Kill This Tax (Entirely)
If there were ever a right time to eliminate the estate tax in America, it is right now. The latest tax collection data make an overwhelmingly persuasive case for abolishing the most immoral and counterproductive of all federal taxes. Here is what the latest IRS numbers tell us: In 2013, the estate tax raised $12.7 billion. And estate tax revenue is falling, not rising. In 2001 the tax collected nearly twice as much money as 2013 ($23.5 billion). This $12.7 billion raised was out of about $2.8 trillion in total federal revenue in 2013. In other words, a trivial 0.46 percent of federal tax receipts now comes from estates.
An Eye for an ISIS
It's the stuff of Old Testament times: God's people taken into captivity, sold into slavery, or worse -- slaughtered in cold blood. Their villages conquered, their people taxed, the thousands of Assyrian Christians suffering in the Middle East today share more than a language with the people of Jesus's time. They also share the deep pain of an ancient war now ripping through Syria and northern Iraq. While U.S. warplanes rain down strikes from above, reports suggest that an estimated 300 Christian hostages sit frightened in an unknown location, prisoners of a primitive hatred. After just two days, their numbers are already dwindling, as Islam's terrorists are said to have viciously executed another 15 innocents. For its part, the Obama administration finally acknowledged the Christian faith that ISIS is targeting in a statement from his National Security Council, insisting that the world's leaders stands "united and undeterred" in its resolve to bring an end to the terrorists' "depravity." But the same officials still refuse to label what ISIS is doing in Iraq as what it is: genocide.
The Squabble Over Bibi's Speech
Charlie Rose wasn't sure he'd heard right. National Security Advisor Susan Rice, his guest on PBS, was lamenting that the controversy over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's forthcoming speech to Congress had "injected a degree of partisanship" into the traditionally bipartisan US-Israel relationship. That's not only "unfortunate," said Rice. "It's destructive of the fabric of the relationship." Rose seemed nonplussed. "It's *destructive* of the fabric of the relationship?" The national security advisor dug in. "It's always been bipartisan. We need to keep it that way.… And when it becomes injected or infused with politics, that's a problem."
It's No Surprise
If you keep hearing bad news, you come to expect it. I suppose in a way that's a good thing because you are at least spared the shock to your system. Therefore, the only real surprise these days is when a bit of good news slips through. For instance, I know that David Axelrod is getting a lot of media attention for writing a book in which he divulges the news -- stop the presses! – that Barack Obama did not really evolve, as he claimed, from being opposed to same-sex marriages to being an ardent supporter. Axelrod explained that Obama was always in favor of them, but claimed otherwise in 2008 for political reasons. But, really, did anyone really believe he was on the conservative side of the debate? Even homosexuals knew better, which explains why they voted overwhelmingly for the great pretender.
Sunday, March 1, 2015
Two Reading Lessons From the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court frequently ponders arcane matters. But this week, however, in oral arguments concerning two cases, the justices' task will be to teach remedial reading to Congress and to Arizona. On Wednesday, the justices will consider this: Did Congress mean what it said when, with patently coercive intent, it stipulated in the Affordable Care Act that subsidies for persons compelled to purchase health insurance can be disbursed only through exchanges "established by the state"? If so, billions have been illegally disbursed through federal exchanges in the 34 states that resisted the ACA's pressure to establish exchanges. On Monday, however, the court will consider whether the Constitution's Framers meant what they said when, in the Election Clause, they assigned an important function to each state's "legislature." This clause says: "The times, places and manner of holding elections for senators and representatives shall be prescribed in each state by the legislature thereof."
Saturday, February 28, 2015
Susan Rice: Choking on a Gnat
Even in a Senate then controlled by Democrats, President Obama's National Security Adviser, Susan E. Rice, could not be confirmed as his second term Secretary of State. That's because she notoriously went on five Sunday television news talk shows to claim that the September 11, 2012 attack on our diplomatic compound at Benghazi was provoked by an anti-Islamic video. It soon became clear that cover story was false. She was then our Ambassador to the UN. Now, Amb. Rice is on TV making news again. She told PBS's Charlie Rose that the address by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Congress slated for next week "injected a degree of partisanship" into the U.S.-Israeli alliance that was "destructive to the fabric of the relationship."
When Harry Met Barack
In the 1989 movie, "When Harry Met Sally," there is a famous restaurant scene in which Sally (Meg Ryan) and Harry (Billy Crystal) are having lunch when the subject turns to sex, and Sally feels called upon to prove that women can fake orgasms. Harry doesn't believe it, so Sally starts to moan and groan and thrash around in her chair, seemingly oblivious to her surroundings. When the waiter approaches an elderly woman (director Rob Reiner's mother, Estelle) and asks for her order, she indicates Sally and says, "I'll have what she's having." That pretty much sums up how I felt when I heard Barack Obama recently claim that the world is getting more peaceful and tolerant, and that Islamic terrorism is basically a hoax trumped up by the media. Or to paraphrase FDR, he would have us believe that we have nothing to fear but Fox News itself.
Republicans Attacking Janet Yellen Should Be Careful What They Wish For
Fed chair Janet Yellen testified this week on the state of the economy. The only interesting thing to come of it was some sharp-edged criticism by Republican members of the House Financial Services Committee. That includes committee chair Jeb Hensarling, who said, "Fed reforms are needed ... Fed reforms are coming." Senator Rand Paul, for one, is pushing a bill to audit the Fed, by which he means auditing the Fed's policies and discussions. But Yellen and other Fed big shots fiercely oppose any rules that might be imposed on the central bank by Congress. Now, down through the years, the Fed has always resisted rules in the name of independence from political pressure. But there's an interesting backstory here.
From The Comedy Store
The USDA approved a genetically modified apple that won't turn brown when you slice it open. No one can believe the Obama administration approved something that'll never turn brown but remain white.The White House was so busy defending Islam last week they took their eye off the ball.
Friday, February 27, 2015
Government Takeover of the Internet Begins
Net Neutrality heads for an uncertain future in the courts.
Comforting the Enemy
Democrats are playing a dangerous game with Israel by snubbing the prime minister of America's staunchest Middle East ally. Four Democratic senators, as well as almost two-dozen House members, have already announced that they will not attend Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to a joint session of Congress on March 3. By doing so, they may curry favor with the White House, but they risk sending a dangerous message to Israel's enemies -- especially Iran. As recently as November, Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned that the only "cure" for Israel is to "be annihilated." Is it any wonder that Netanyahu considers a nuclear-armed Iran an existential threat to Israel's very existence? Israel is the only nation in the world that, from its inception, has been constantly threatened with extinction. Its Arab neighbors have fought repeated wars to destroy the Jewish state. Terrorist organizations have periodically slaughtered Israelis -- aiming their attacks at innocent civilians, even school children. Last year alone, Hamas fired more than 4,000 rockets into Israel from Gaza. Only Israel's superior Iron Dome defense system prevented the rockets from killing hundreds if not thousands of Israelis who were Hamas' intended victims.
Police Chief Cops Out on Freedom
At the Salt Lake Police Department, the only thing officers are handcuffing is freedom. Like most Americans, Eric Moutsos never dreamed that his faith would cost him his job. But that's exactly what happened last summer after the long-time policeman asked for a different post at the city's gay pride event. He was asked, along with other members of the team, to lead the motorcycle brigade at the very front of the parade. Moutsos said he "felt uncomfortable doing what he considered celebratory circles with other motorcycles leading the parade because of his religious views" and asked to be placed somewhere else at the event. "It is unquestionably my duty as a police officer to protect everyone's right to hold a parade or other event, but is it also my duty to celebrate everyone's parade?" For that particular assignment, he explained, "It looks like we and I are in support of this parade. I said I would feel the same way if this was an abortion parade. I would feel the same way if it was a marijuana parade."
Questions the Press Doesn't Ask Democrats
Gov. Scott Walker has leapt to the top of polls in Iowa. As day follows night, he has moved to the center of the liberal press's crosshairs. This is the world we inhabit: When a Democrat is perceived as popular, the press discovers layers of humor and elan we never suspected. When a Republican is gaining strength, the press sharpens its bayonets. Based on his response to trap-door questions in the past few days, we've been instructed that Walker a) is a crypto young Earther (or, just as bad, a panderer to same); b) that he ought to have answered the question regarding President Obama's faith with a resounding affirmation of Obama's fitness for sainthood; and c) that he is some sort of coward for not grabbing Rudy Giuliani by the scruff of the neck and escorting him off stage when the former mayor questioned the president's love of country.
Why Political Oscar Speeches Stink
The media noticed that this year's Oscars ceremony contained a lot of political tub-thumping, but they didn't notice that these speeches were predictable and obnoxious left-wing screeds. They were just "passionate pleas for equality," according to the Associated Press. Actress Patricia Arquette unleashed a tirade on wage inequality for women. Singer John Legend said more black men were trapped in prison than America had black men trapped in slavery in 1850. There's apparently no difference between Kunta Kinte and Willie Horton. On CNN, Entertainment Weekly writer Anthony Breznican represented the media fog on this one: "I can't really think of anything last night that was actually liberal." He wanted to pretend these were just compassion issues, not ideological issues. When anchor Don Lemon retorted that "conservatives often complain about the issues and about these types of shows being issue-oriented," Breznican responded, "that's because they don't like to be bothered by these issues. They ... would rather not be confronted by them."
There's Nothing Unpatriotic About Challenging Obama on Iran
The Obama administration values a future relationship with Iran more than it values the historic relationship it has with Israel. Unless there's a reversal in the reported deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran, all the superficial talk about this extraordinary friendship between Israel and the United States isn't going to mean much. And the histrionics surrounding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's planned speech in front of a joint session of Congress only confirm that there are plenty of people who are happy about it. First, Americans were supposed to be outraged because Netanyahu engaged in a breach of protocol. Then we were supposed to be outraged because the speech would be given too close to the upcoming Israeli elections. (Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., is still using this excuse for his own boycott.) But if the Israeli elections -- and President Barack Obama's done about everything possible to weaken Netanyahu's position -- are so problematic, then the controversy should be centered on the behavior of the prime minister, not the substance of his argument. That's not the case, is it?
Obama's Highhanded Immigration Hypocrisy
Honestly, are any of my Democratic friends even slightly bothered by President Obama's habitual and brazen lawlessness and what that could mean for our liberties? Does it bother them that he implemented two new administration programs to halt deportations and allow work permits for up to 5 million immigrants living illegally in the United States after clearly admitting he didn't have the constitutional authority to do so? Does it bother them that after having done so, despite his insincere promise, he has been openly defiant about the decision U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen made in favor of the states trying to block Obama's unlawful act? Obama said: "This is just one federal judge. We have appealed it very aggressively. ... I'm using all of the legal power vested in me in order to solve this problem." Me, me, me.
Watch Out for China Winning Its 100-Year Marathon
In reflecting on relations between the United States and China, Henry Kissinger in his 2011 book, "On China," notes that since he and Richard Nixon ventured to Beijing more than 40 years ago, "Eight American presidents and four generations of Chinese leaders have managed this delicate relationship in an astonishingly consistent manner, considering the difference in starting points." Kissinger diplomatically avoids saying that almost every presidential candidate over the years has campaigned against the Nixon-Kissinger policy and is perhaps taking pride in the fact that every president has continued it. Forty-plus years is a long time for a democracy to have maintained the same controversial policy.
Is Liberalism Exhausted?
Canaries are not very formidable birds, but they have their uses. For instance, coal miners learned over a century ago that when canaries gag and drop dead at the bottom of the cage, it's a sign that maybe there's something wrong with the air in the mine. MSNBC is not a very formidable network, but its wheezing is similarly instructive. MSNBC's slogan is "Lean Forward," which has a robust sound to it. But it turns out the phrase is a more apt descriptor of how the Peacock Network's mini-me is poised to teeter off its perch and plunge beak-first into the droppings-stained pages of the fading New Republic below. It is suffering "cataclysmic ratings declines" (in Politico's words) from already mediocre ratings to begin with. The hope had been that Ronan Farrow, the Prius-dashboard saint of Brooklyn hipsters and the son of Mia Farrow and Woody Allen (or Frank Sinatra), would, like David Hasselhoff in "Baywatch," leap into the waters and save the drowning network.
The Challenge: Understanding Repentance
If you showed up at an Ash Wednesday service last week, chances are you heard the word "repentance" quite a few times. It isn't a term we often use outside of a church context. It's one of those scary-sounding "Christianese" words that few of us feel comfortable with, probably because it conjures up images of crazy old men standing on street corners, holding picket-signs and yelling at people as they pass by. Look it up in the dictionary, and you'll find explanations like "to feel sorry," "conscience-stricken," and "self-reproachful." Pair that with the dust and ashes that represent our mortality, and the fasting that serves as a constant reminder of our frailty, and the whole idea of repentance -- the whole idea of Lent, which is a long season of repentance -- may sound pretty miserable.
The Fatal Flaw in the Iran Deal
A sunset clause? The news from the nuclear talks with Iran was already troubling. Iran was being granted the "right to enrich." It would be allowed to retain and spin thousands of centrifuges. It could continue construction of the Arak plutonium reactor. Yet so thoroughly was Iran stonewalling International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors that just last Thursday the IAEA reported its concern "about the possible existence in Iran of undisclosed ... development of a nuclear payload for a missile." Bad enough. Then it got worse: News leaked Monday of the "sunset clause." President Obama had accepted the Iranian demand that any restrictions on its program be time-limited. After which, the mullahs can crank up their nuclear program at will and produce as much enriched uranium as they want.