Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Don't Look for Culture War Arguments in Campaign 2016
In an earlier column, I looked at the role the abortion issue would play in the 2016 election -- not very much, I concluded -- and promised another column on other cultural issues. Here goes. On anyone's list of cultural issues that have been debated over the last decade, same-sex marriage ranks just behind abortion. And unlike abortion, opinion on same-sex marriage has changed dramatically in recent years. Not long ago, it wasn't a political issue at all. The gifted writers Andrew Sullivan and Jonathan Rauch were making an intellectually serious, and interestingly conservative, case for same-sex marriage. But the large majority of Americans weren't buying it -- yet.
Common Core Doesn't Make the Grade
It's one thing to experience "buyer's remorse" when the product is something you can return easily, from new clothes to a set of high-end speakers. It's another when you're talking about your state's educational standards. Yet more and more states are finding that there's simply no living with Common Core. Parents, teachers, students and lawmakers have become increasingly vocal in their criticism of the federally backed standards -- and more and more of them are taking action. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, for example, once backed Common Core, saying in 2012 that he expected it to "raise expectations for every child." By this summer, however, he was pulling his state out of the program. He insisted it was sold falsely to states as voluntary standards and that he was the victim of a "bait and switch."
Congress Is Renewing Insane Tax Breaks, Including One for Race Horse Owners
The legislative process in Washington is often compared to sausage making -- something you don't want to watch. But Jimmy Dean couldn't hold a candle to this Congress. Harry Reid's swan song is a 1,603 page budget that no one has read. Even worse is this year's so-called "tax extenders" bill. This has become an annual end-of-the-year Washington ritual with Congress waiting until the very last minute to approve dozens of expiring tax credits, deductions and loopholes. It is a microcosm of everything wrong with the way Congress operates. The "extenders" bill crams into one bill a mishmash of both necessary and absurd provisions of the tax code. All told, the annual price tag is roughly $50 billion. The package includes the valuable research and development tax credit and expensing for business equipment and other capital purchases. These create jobs and make American businesses more competitive.
Shirt Company Won't Fold on Values
T-shirt maker Blaine Adamson doesn't exactly wear his heart on his sleeve, but he's not about to ignore it either. When the Kentucky businessman was approached about printing rainbow shirts for Lexington's gay pride festival two years ago, he had to turn the job down. As a Christian, he felt that using his shop to promote a message that contradicted his faith was a non-starter. Unfortunately, Adamson has paid for his principles -- dearly. In October, the city's "special rights" ordinance -- the same kind of measure that's caused a firestorm in Houston, San Antonio, Fayetteville, and Springfield -- came back to bite Hands On, which was found guilty of "discrimination" and sentenced to a year of "sensitivity training." As far as Lexington's Human Rights Commissioner was concerned, it's time for Christians in the marketplace "to leave their religion at home."
Obama Outlaws the Constitution
According to polls, even Hispanics oppose Obama's latest power grab. In the meantime, Hispanic members of Congress, not to be confused with people who actually believe in the Constitution, try to provide cover for his criminal actions. They do this by pretending that Reagan and Bush did the exact same thing, ignoring the fact that both of those men were merely fine tuning congressional legislation, not ruling by edict simply because the House wasn't prepared to do their bidding. By now, every Hispanic in the U.S. is aware that for his first two years in office, Obama had a most compliant Congress and could have passed any immigration bill he wanted, and could probably have ceded California back to Mexico with nary an objection by Boxer or Feinstein. Instead, he devoted all his time to pushing the Affordable Care Act and working on his putting.
Monday, December 15, 2014
Let's Get Government Out of the Charity Business
The story is told that when Tennessee frontiersman Davy Crockett served in the US Congress (between 1827 and 1835) he voted for a bill appropriating $20,000 for relief for victims of a fire that broke out in Georgetown. When he returned home, a constituent farmer chastised him for supporting the bill and for "giving what is not yours to give." The farmer told Crockett the constitution does not grant Congress the power to give charity and if it did, "You will very easily perceive what a wide door this would open for fraud and favoritism and corruption, on the one hand, and robbing the people on the other."
The United States of Debt
Sorry, but this one you can't blame on either party. Yes, President Obama has made the problem much, much worse, but the scary truth is that the national debt keeps rising inexorably no matter who or which party is in office. That's the new law of American politics. When I first arrived in Washington in the early 1980s, the debt was roughly $2 trillion. This week, 30 years and five presidents later, the debt for the first time exceeded $18 trillion. We have been in the red in all but four of the last 40 years. That's $18,000,000,000,000. We all know that $18 million is a lot of money. This is $18 million times another million. The number is so gigantic we won't or can't try to fathom it.
The Military's New Assault Team
Sexual assault has been devastating to the military community, but it's certainly been a boon to the employment line. In news that's both shocking and depressing, the Pentagon admits to hiring more than 1,000 full-time "certified response coordinators and victim advocates" to handle the crisis, which has only gotten worse as time passes. Outgoing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel brought up the army of new counselors at a recent news conference when he addressed the 8% jump in sexual assaults.
You're a Scream, Howard Dean!
When former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean (D) ran for President in 2004, he liked to joke that his campaign was pitched to "the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party." It was a jab at his rivals, whom he charged with being too cozy with Wall Street, too popular in corporate boardrooms. Long before there was an Occupy Wall Street movement, there was Howard Dean. That was then. Now, Howard Dean is endorsing Hillary Clinton for President. Despite the fact that Hillary went from being "flat broke" in 2001 to co-owner today of a $105 million fortune, Dean says "I'm ready for Hillary."
When 'Justice' Trumps Accuracy, Journalism Loses
Speaking last month at the International Press Freedom Awards, Univision's influential news anchor told his audience that while he has "nothing against objectivity," journalism is meant to be wielded as "a weapon for a higher purpose: justice." To be sure, he said, it is important to get the facts right -- five deaths should be reported as five, not six or seven. But "the best of journalism happens when we, purposely, stop pretending that we are neutral and recognize that we have a moral obligation to tell truth to power." As it happens, Ramos delivered those remarks soon after the publication of Sabrina Erdely's 9,000-word story in Rolling Stone vividly describing the alleged gang rape of a freshman named Jackie at a University of Virginia fraternity party. Erdely had reportedly spent months researching the story, and its explosive impact was -- at first -- everything a tell-truth-to-power journalist could have wished: national attention, public outrage, campus protests, suspension of UVA's fraternities, and a new "zero-tolerance" policy on sexual assault.
Sunday, December 14, 2014
Let's Shut Down the Government
As I sit here, it's the 8th of December and I have no idea if the government will be shut down before the end of the month. For my purposes, it hardly matters because the threat of a shutdown is always lurking in Washington. That is especially true now that the two parties are hunkered down in their respective trenches as if reenacting the bloodiest days of World War I. For a long time, as my wife just reminded me, I opposed such shutdowns. But I only opposed them because the media is always quick to blame it on the Republicans and because in one case, the 2013 shutdown did lead to the Clintons' bagman, Terry McAuliffe, defeating Ken Cuccinelli in Virginia's gubernatorial race. That was because northern Virginia is home to so many federal bureaucrats that they took the work stoppage personally.
The Cheerfulness of Tax Reform
"Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery." --Mr. Micawber in "David Copperfield" If America's long-term economic growth were 3.5 percent, the result would be the restoration of cheerfulness. If long-term growth is closer to 2 percent, the result will be continuing social disappointment and political crankiness. Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, did his considerable best to deliver the indispensable igniter of sustained growth -- tax reform. As he leaves Congress after 12 terms, passing the gavel to an equally able reformer, Paul Ryan, Camp remains confident that it can be done. Such serenity is strange in today's Washington, where even events that cause cheerfulness are for that reason depressing.
Saturday, December 13, 2014
China's Economy Isn't No. 1 -- But if It Were, So What?
Have you been lying awake at night, fretting over the news that China has surpassed the United States to become the world's largest economy? If so, let me offer some reassuring advice: Turn over and go back to sleep. The International Monetary Fund's most recent compilation of global economic data isn't exactly a page-turner, but buried among its eye-glazing statistical appendices was a detail that had some financial writers hyperventilating. In 2014, the IMF estimates, China's economic output will total $17.6 trillion, putting it slightly ahead of the United States, where GDP this year is valued at $17.4 trillion. That means China now exercises 16.5 percent of the world's economic clout, outranking the United State, with 16.3 percent.
From The Comedy Store
Obama decided to name Pentagon career official Ashton Carter as Defense Secretary. He is a theoretical physicist. The president wants to know how he can theoretically put a hundred thousand troops back in Iraq without letting their boots touch the ground.
Lower Oil and King Dollar Are Unambiguously Good
We all know that the American energy revolution, led by the new technologies of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, has created a flood of new shale-oil and natural-gas production that has overwhelmed world markets and driven prices down by roughly 40 percent. End-of-week crude oil closed near $57 a barrel, and the national average gasoline price finished at $2.60. No matter what the naysayers are trying to sell, the new energy reality is unambiguously good for the U.S. and global economies. There may be some dislocations among countries, sectors or companies, but the overwhelming impact is positive. In fact, the U.S. economy is already getting better. Recent numbers on jobs, retail sales, consumer confidence, small-business confidence, ISM's, and business investment point to a 3 percent growth rate rather than the tepid 2 percent pace of the prior five years.
Friday, December 12, 2014
O CRom All Ye Faithful
Not everyone on Capitol Hill is anxious to go home. Senator Harry Reid (D-Nev.) might be the last one out the door this Christmas, one of the many liberals none-too-eager to see the window close on their era of power. Late yesterday, Reid hinted that he'll prolong his leadership as long as possible -- warning his chamber to be ready for a long work weekend. Among other things, the Majority Leader is trying to slip a few more court nominees down the chimney, squeezing every last ounce out of his party's control. For now, the Senate is busy putting a bow on the Defense bill -- which is up to its ear(marks) in pork. Retiring Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), famous for his annual "Wastebooks," isn't exactly thrilled with this latest bill. Is it the National Park Service or the National Pork Service? It's tough to tell based on the text, which creates a bevy of new government parks. Like us, Senator Coburn cares more about getting bills right than just getting them.
Slaughtered 'Sons Of Anarchy'
The year is winding down with some good TV news: The amoral biker-gang drama "Sons of Anarchy" has ended its seven-year run on the cable channel FX, after a final season drenched in pointless sex and violence. Jax, the leader of the gang, shot a bunch of his enemies dead and then drove his motorcycle straight into the oncoming grill of a semi truck. The show wound down into a relentless deathfest. Jax shot his mother dead, because she stabbed his wife in the neck with a barbecue fork. Most of the cast was slaughtered. And for what? It all seemed like a long slog of sensationalism for its own sake.
The Cop-Killing Cult of Larry Davis
In Manhattan's Union Square last week, a protester wielded a menacing sign. It didn't make the front page of any newspaper. You didn't see it on cable news. An appalled bystander sent me a photo of the marcher and his inciteful placard, but didn't want to be identified in any way. You'll know why in a moment. "Justice Please," the top line of the poster read. "Before we see a lot of new Larry Davis[es]," the message threatened. "1986 6 cops killed," the banner ended ominously. It was underlined in red marker for bloody emphasis.
Hey, GOP Establishment, Stop Whining About Primaries
Although the specifics are still hazy, The New York Times reports that a group of deep-pocketed Republican donors and bundlers has hatched a plan to clear the GOP field of all insurgents to make room for a favored "establishment" candidate -- preferably Jeb Bush, Chris Christie or Mitt Romney. But there can only be one. This strikes me as a dubious strategy for a number of reasons. But the main point of the Times piece is to inform everyone that Republican powerbrokers intend to get ahead of the intraparty squabbling that accompanies the long primary season because, in the end, all of that ugliness would only help elect Hillary Clinton: "For the first time in decades, the Republican Party is facing a wide-open primary with up to a dozen serious candidates representing virtually every branch of the party. Republican leaders, hoping to minimize damage to their eventual standard-bearer, have already sought to compress the formal primary season and reduce the number of candidate debates."