Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Monday, November 24, 2014
The Injustice of Amnesty
President Obama looks set to embark on a power play that will usurp the legislative power of Congress. The lives of untold thousands rest on that decision as well; if he opts to decree amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants already in this country, it will encourage millions more to risk a treacherous, unlawful journey across our borders for the same reward. Administration officials have leaked word of the president's plan -- likely announced tonight -- to grant administrative amnesty for up to five million illegal immigrants. Like his Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative of 2012, the move would constitute a stark refusal to enforce laws passed by Congress. It might even precipitate a Constitutional crisis.
Obamagration and Our Disdainful President
The executive order, which President Obama has issued, granting amnesty to millions of individuals now residing illegally in our country, should make clear the profound disregard our president has for American voters, our constitution, and our two-party system. It might be possible to justify this action if it was addressing a national emergency of utmost urgency or clearly reflected the priorities and wishes of the American people. But neither is the case.
The Jewish State's Newest Hero Wasn't Jewish
By the thousands they streamed to Yanuh-Jat, Israelis of every description making their way on Wednesday to the remote northern Galilee district, where a fallen hero was to be buried with full honors. Israel's president, Reuven Rivlin, was there to pay his respects; so were the minister of internal security and the nation's top police commissioner. From around the country, hundreds of black-hatted haredi ("ultra-Orthodox") Jews came on chartered buses, disembarking to join throngs of Arabic-speaking Druze in traditional white turbans, police officers in dress blues, and so many other mourners that even the roofs of nearby homes were crowded with onlookers.
The Nanny Media
We all know that Obama's federal government wants to control us from the cradle to the early grave mandated by the Affordable Care Act, but they wouldn't have nearly so easy a time of it if it weren't for the complicit media. As I have said in the past, if I could control the media, I'd be willing to let the Democrats control the House. I mean, look at the fawning way the media continues to treat Hillary Clinton even after she first boasted about how impoverished she and Bill were in 2001, at least for the first two seconds after leaving the White House before $20 million in book advances took effect, and then stated that "businesses and corporations don't create jobs." If a potential Republican presidential candidate had tried to get away with such unmitigated nonsense, the media would turn him or her into a laughingstock. They managed to do it with Sarah Palin, even though the line about being able to see Russia from her front porch was delivered by Tina Fey during a "Saturday Night Live" sketch and never by Mrs. Palin.
Sunday, November 23, 2014
Recalling Rockefeller
Seen through the prism of subsequent national experience, Nelson Rockefeller resembles a swollen post-war automobile -- a land yacht with tail fins, a period piece, bemusing and embarrassing. He remains, however, instructive. Richard Norton Smith, a biographer as talented as he is industrious, could not have known, when he began his labors 14 years ago, that publication of his "On His Own Terms: A Life of Nelson Rockefeller" would coincide with the curtain rising on a presidential campaign to which Rockefeller's story is pertinent. It illuminates today's two-party dynamic.
How the GOP Should Now Deal With ObamaCare
Republicans in Congress have created their own internal gridlock on ObamaCare. Even if the Democrats all abstained and let Republican legislators do whatever they wanted, the Republicans still could not agree on what to do next. From the base there is the incessant cry for "repeal." But as just about every Republican candidate in this last election acknowledged, there can be no "repeal" without "replace." Otherwise, from 10 to 15 million people will lose their health insurance. However, "repeal and replace" means transitioning from ObamaCare to a new system. And no matter how radically different the new system is, it will run the risk of being called "ObamaCare lite."
Saturday, November 22, 2014
A Gruber by Any Name
If you've been watching Fox recently, you would think Prof. Jonathan Gruber had been given his own show. He's been on more often than Juan Williams. While normally that would be a good thing, Gruber is no improvement over Obama's house black. In case you only watch the major networks, you wouldn't even know that Gruber existed, let alone that, after helping to create the Affordable Care Act, he spent years bragging about how he helped the Democrats peddle chicken poop to the American people by calling it chicken fricassee.
What About the Brainiacs?
Is this immigration game really worth the candle? I think not. And I say this as someone who is an immigration reformer, not a restrictionist. The free movement of trade, capital and labor is strongly pro-growth. History shows that legal immigration is good for America, economic growth, entrepreneurship, job creation and hard-working families. America must remain a city on a hill, attracting the best and brightest from around the world -- a beacon of freedom. The trouble is, Obama's executive actions not only usurp powers that are not his, they don't really solve key immigration problems.
Can't We All Get Along?
At a recent small dinner at the end of the fabulous Freedomfest gathering at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas, major supply siders, libertarians, Tea Partiers, and traditional conservatives gathered to discuss strategies to regain political power in Washington. The libertarian faction fumed with the familiar complaint that the GOP will only win back young and female voters in 2016 by abandoning social issues like abortion and gay marriage -- which would in effect toss the evangelicals off the bus. Yet this has also become a common recommendation from the country-club Republicans who may not be members of the Tea Party movement but who write the big checks. "We must have a truce on the social issues; it is turning off voters" complains one prominent Wall Street financier who raises money for the party. By "truce," he means "surrender."
From The Comedy Store
The Weather Channel reported a brutally cold Arctic air mass swept across the United States, which set new early-season records for low temperatures. The wind made it even worse. It was so cold in Missouri that grand juries were speeding up their deliberations just for the fire.
Friday, November 21, 2014
The (Trans)parent Trap
If the President didn't have anything to hide on abortion funding, he's had plenty of time to prove it! Instead, organizations like FRC have been left to deliver the disclosure that the administration won't. For all the cover-ups of this White House (and there are plenty!), the biggest may be the details of the federal health care exchange. After four years of denying the law covers abortion-on-demand, the General Accounting Office (GAO) finally blew the lid off the ObamaCare lie and confirmed what groups like FRC have said all along: that Americans are footing the bill for the largest expansion of taxpayer-funded abortion in history. And making matters worse, the entire administration refuses to admit it. Remember "we have to pass ObamaCare to find out what's in it?" Well, now, "you have to buy it to find out what's in it."
Will Boehner's House Unilaterally Nullify Its Power of the Purse?
The Constitution is unambiguous about which branch of the federal government has the authority to make laws governing immigration and control all money spent from the Treasury. It is Congress. Article 1, Section 8, Clause 4 gives Congress the power to "establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization." Article 1, Section 9, Clause 7 says: "No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law."
The Right GOP Response to Obama's Actions
Now that President Obama has acted to defer deportation for some four to five million illegal immigrants, all eyes will be on the Republican Party's response. How they handle the challenge may well shape the future of the party and the country. Provocateurs will urge defiance. Retiring Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn even suggested, "You're going to see -- hopefully not -- but you could see instances of anarchy. You could see violence." More likely will be attempts to defund the president's order and legal challenges to his constitutional authority. I would counsel a different reaction: Don't take the bait.
The Truth About Obama's 'Temporary' Ebola Amnesty
When it rains, it pours. Just before unveiling his colossal administrative amnesty for millions of "undocumented" aliens and foreign tech workers on Thursday, President Obama separately ordered up to 8,000 more executive pardons and special work passes for Liberians, Sierra Leoneans and Guineans illegally in this country. Strange, isn't it? The same administration that refused to enact travel bans from Ebola-plagued West African nations to protect Americans is now granting "temporary protected status" (TPS) to West Africans on American soil so they don't have to go back.
The Will to Power
"I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." President Obama twice pronounced those words. On the first occasion, Chief Justice Roberts erred slightly in the wording. So mindful was Obama of the importance of complying with the letter of the law that he arranged for Roberts to administer the oath again the following day. The second time, both spoke the words verbatim.
Bowing Before the Almighty Jon Stewart
The liberal myth surrounding the hypercompetent Barack Obama faded long ago, but the liberal myth of "cultural icon" Jon Stewart is only getting stronger. Stewart's tour of interviews for the new movie he directed, "Rosewater," has created a parade of flatterers, sycophants, and every other synonym in the thesaurus for obsequious. Roy Sekoff at The Huffington Post stands out by insisting the movie only polishes this walking statue: "In finding this format, in this form, you have become obviously a cultural icon, maybe one of the dominant figures in the political discourse."
The 2-State Solution Is Dead
Nothing in history or current reality could possibly lead an honest observer to conclude that there's a viable path to peace between Palestinians and Israel. Barring some dramatic exogenous event, this isn't about to change. Give it up. After the murder of five Israelis (three of them American citizens and one of them a Druze) this week, people fired celebratory gunshots in the air "and praise for God and the attackers poured from mosque loudspeakers soon after the synagogue attack," reported The New York Times. Fatah officials in Lebanon chimed in to let us know that "Jerusalem needs blood in order to purify itself of Jews." There were congratulatory messages on Fatah's official Facebook page and festive post-murder spree sweets for the kids. This celebration of death -- whether dead babies or dead rabbis, it matters not -- not only illustrates the colossal moral gulf that exists between these societies but also reminds us that any Palestinian government inclined to entertain a viable agreement with Jews wouldn't last long anyway.
Obama's Amnesty Lawlessness Demands Accountability
Time and time again, President Obama demonstrates his contempt for the Constitution and for the American people, whose integrity and will must be subordinated to his personal prerogative and hijacked sovereignty. Obama has admitted on several occasions that he had no authority to act unilaterally, via executive order, to grant amnesty to millions of immigrants who came here illegally, so his doing so is, in his own opinion, flagrantly illegal. Daily he proves to us that his words mean nothing. They are utilitarian tools to serve his political purposes. When traveling the country to rally support for the DREAM Act, he confessed that he had no power to pass it on his own, but shortly thereafter, on the heels of his failed efforts to secure sufficient congressional support for this legislation, he issued an executive order implementing provisions of the act anyway.
Gruber Flap Reopens Not-So-Old Wounds
I understand we've turned the page to the next controversy -- Obama's unconstitutional immigration pander -- but I'd like to dwell a little longer on the previous travesty. Obama administration health-care consultant Jonathan Gruber was discovered to have boasted that Obamacare was designed to exploit the "stupidity" of American voters and elude honest accounting by hiding both its cost and the taxes necessary to pay for it. When asked about this in Brisbane, Australia, the president rolled his eyes at the controversy.
The Climate Pact Swindle
Historic. Such is the ubiquitous description of the climate agreement recently announced in Beijing between Barack Obama and Xi Jinping in which China promised for the first time to cap carbon emissions. If this were a real breakthrough, I'd be an enthusiastic supporter. I have long advocated for a tangible global agreement to curb carbon. I do remain skeptical about the arrogant, ignorant claim that climate science is "settled," that it can predict with accuracy future "global warming" effects and that therefore we must cut emissions radically, immediately and unilaterally if necessary, even at potentially ruinous economic and social cost.