Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Obama's Environmentalist Attack on America
The devastating consequences of the president's unilateral enactment of cap-and-trade.
Tiananmen Square, 25 Years Later
It's one of the most iconic images of the 20th century: a man standing perfectly still, facing a large tank as it bears down on him. He's unarmed and alone. Defenseless -- except for an unshakeable conviction that freedom is so important, it's worth risking your life for. That is just what the man was doing when, on June 4, 1989, he joined thousands of other fellow citizens in China to protest what became known as the Tiananmen Square massacre. The tank, which was moving down Beijing's Chang'an Boulevard and could have plowed over him easily, stopped directly in front of him. He stood his ground. The tank turned right to try and maneuver around him. He immediately stepped to his left and continued to block its path. The tank went left; he moved right back in front of it. Right again, then left. It was no use. His message was plain: You want to move? You want to continue to oppress us? You'll have to do it, quite literally, over my dead body.
The Danger at the Summit: Signaled Weakness
First Lady Michelle Obama recently appeared on the Web holding a sign: #BringBackOurGirls. She was presumably acting with the full approval of her husband. President Barack Obama is the Commander-in-Chief of what was once repected as a Super Power. In London, Prime Minister David Cameron similarly resorted to the Internet to express the concern of a nation once known as *Great* Britain. These fatuous responses to the kidnapping of nearly three hundred Christian girls by the Islamist Boko Haram in Nigeria have met with widespread derision, as they should. But these empty gestures by the White House and Number 10 Downing Street are worse than futile -- *they are dangerous*. They reveal for all the world to see the spinelessless of Western leaders "at the Summit." Could Mr. Obama and Mr. Cameron really think such infantile gestures will move the hard-bitten *jihadists* who have displayed the poor abducted girls in burkas and chanting Islamic slogans? Will the girls be raped? Will they be genitally mutilated? It is terrible to contemplate their fate.
The Subversion of Democracy
Not to be overlooked amid the gale of reaction to the Environmental Protection Agency's carbon emission proposal is the EPA's gall, its effrontery, its smug tone of We're-the-government-and-don't-you-forget-it. Putin could take lessons from this gang. The signal point, to be sure, is the thumbprint of Barack Obama on the EPA's plan to reduce -- in theory -- the economy's carbon footprint. EPA wants by 2030 a 30 percent cut in emissions compared with 2005. A plan to tackle the perceived problem failed in 2010 in a Senate heavily controlled by Democrats. OK, says Obama, his term as president winding down, I'll do it myself, through executive authority. Listen up -- I'm talking! The EPA, which he controls, sure did listen.
Who's Racist?
No day passes without a Democratic politician, a left-wing commentator, or, if I may be excused a redundancy, a left-wing academic labeling Republicans and conservatives racist. Given the power of repetition, one consequence is that many Americans, especially young ones, believe that one side of the political spectrum -- the right -- is racist. Having been involved with conservatives for about 30 years, I have long known that this isn't true. In fact, the charge of conservative racism is so easily refuted that it is difficult to imagine anyone without a vested interest in libeling conservatives believing it. How, for example, does one explain that the most conservative Republicans were the ones who most supported Herman Cain, the one black running for the Republican presidential nomination n 2012?
Obama Sprinting to Finish Line to 'Transform' America
It obviously doesn't bother President Obama a whit to usurp congressional power to impose more draconian environmental regulations -- and probably not much more to do so in an election year, even when his action will hurt Democrats. What's he going to do now, you ask? Well, his Environmental Protection Agency, in deference to and collusion with Obama's war on domestic energy producers, has unveiled a proposed rule to mandate power plants to cut U.S. carbon dioxide emissions 30 percent by 2030 from levels 25 years earlier. According to The Wall Street Journal, the rule would affect hundreds of fossil-fuel power plants and hit America's 600 coal-fired power plants the hardest. The rule, says the Journal, "is a major element of (Obama's) attempt to secure a second-term legacy."
Saving Bergdahl
Speaking to graduates at West Point (New York), President Barack Obama tooted on his toy horn, "al-Qaida's leadership on the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan has been decimated." Even that slender boast -- just on the border regions? -- is now vitiated. The five Taliban terrorists released from Guantanamo Bay in exchange for Sgt. (sic) Bowe Bergdahl will step nimbly into any vacant posts. Khairullah Khairkhwa, one of the founders of the Taliban, served as governor of Herat province when the Taliban controlled Afghanistan. He is known for ethnic massacres, narcotics trafficking, close ties to Osama bin Laden, and supervising terrorist training camps within Herat.
(Sex) Change We Can Believe In?
Taxpayer-funded sex changes: They aren't just for traitors and illegal immigrants anymore! While the rest of the media was racing from story to story over the weekend, HHS quietly tried to disguise the reversal of a 33-year-old coverage ban on gender reassignment surgery. In a 48-hour span that saw the resignation of the VA chief and the potentially illegal release of five top Taliban terrorists, taxpayer-sponsored genital reconstruction almost seems tame by comparison. Every week, the competition for most scandalous decision gets stiffer, as evidenced by this story -- which, under any other circumstances, would be front-page news. Instead, it's just another sign of an administration wildly out of control -- and out of excuses -- for its taxpayer-funded extremism.
Tax the Roads, Not the Fuel
For decades, gasoline taxes have been the largest source of funds for building and fixing America's highways. What happens if those funds dry up? Gasoline sales have been trending downward in recent years, thanks in part to more fuel-efficient cars, which travel farther and farther between fill-ups. That trend is sure to continue. Federal fuel-economy standards require automakers to achieve an average of 54.5 miles per gallon for new vehicles by 2025. And the first all-electric cars -- such as the BMW i3, which can run for 80 miles on battery power alone -- are now showing up in dealers' showrooms. Transportation politics are endlessly thorny, and debates over paying for America's highways frequently become debates about other issues, such as mass transit, federalism, and the environment. But the looming gas-tax shortfall offers a chance to repair the funding mechanism itself -- one that disguises the costs of operating roads and gives the impression that using them is literally a free ride.
The Ambassador and the Post Office
At one time, people in India had to get on a waiting list to buy Hindustan Motors' Ambassador automobile, even though it was an obvious copy of Britain's Morris Oxford of some decades earlier. The reason was simple: the Indian government would not allow cars to be imported to compete with it. The fact that the Ambassador was a copy is hardly an automatic reason for condemnation. The first Nikon camera was an obvious copy of a German camera called the Contax, and the first Canon was an obvious copy of the Leica. The difference is that, over the years, Nikons and Canons rose to become state of the art, during both the era of film and in the new digital age. Not so the Ambassador car. It was notorious for poor finish and poor handling. But, since it was the only game in town -- and "town" was all of India, people were on waiting lists for it for months, and sometimes even years.
Democrats' Nightmare Scenario for 2016
Last week I set out a 2016 nightmare scenario for Republicans -- not one that seems likely, but one that can be extrapolated from current polling. In that spirit, let me set out a 2016 nightmare scenario for Democrats -- again, not likely but a plausible extrapolation. It assumes, first of all, that Hillary Clinton is not the Democratic nominee, or that her poll numbers have gone sharply down (they've declined somewhat over the last year, and could conceivably fall more). And it assumes that voters' attitude toward the Obama administration remains roughly where it is today, with 44 percent job approval for the president.
Negotiating With Terrorists
Euphoria over the Taliban's release of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was quickly tempered by media reports that Bergdahl had abandoned his post and that his father made comments opposing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Bergdahl's father tweeted, "I am still working to free all Guantanamo prisoners. God will repay for the death of every Afghan child." Does that include those children killed while being used as human shields by the Taliban? Where is Bergdahl's concern for women who die from "honor killings" and for girls who are denied an education?
Seeking Answers
H.L. Mencken, who was referred to as "The Sage of Baltimore" by people besides H.L. Mencken, at least until he shared his Nazi sympathies, at which point they began referring to him as "The Loony Tune of Baltimore," once observed that "For every complex question, there is an answer that is simple, obvious and wrong." And every day, the left-wingers in Congress and the Oval Office prove how right he was. Whether the question revolves around how best to deal with health care, Vladimir Putin, Islamic jihadists, the economy, environmental zealots, the IRS, the Veterans Administration or racist thugs like Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and Eric Holder, the current administration, against extraordinarily long odds, somehow manages to be wrong every single time.
Monday, June 2, 2014
Why Obama's EPA Plan Is Not Needed & Dangerous to Our Country
One of the claims is 97% of scientists agree man is responsible for warming that is accelerating, and due to man's production of greenhouse gases, most notably carbon pollution and that with the warming, this is increasing asthma and health problems related to ozone. First of all carbon pollution is 'soot' which we don't have a problem with -- the EPA's own data shows in fact it is well below EPA standards, declining 50% since 1999. CO2, which is conflated with soot, is a harmless (actually beneficial) gas, and with every breathe every human emits 100 times as much CO2 as is in ambient air. CO2 is critical for plant life and we are at the low end of the scale of CO2 for the earth's history, just above the survival level needed for plants which require it for photosynthesis -- around 280 ppm.
A Pathetic Prisoner Exchange
While Americans were busy with the weekend, a hopelessly corrupt Obama administration did a Saturday news dump that can be summed up in one succinct phrase: America now negotiates with terrorists. Five high-level Taliban thugs were swapped for American Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who had been held by the Taliban for several years. And as sure as night follows day, the rule of law was once again kicked to the curb in the process. Current law requires the Secretary of Defense to notify Congress 30 days prior to any prisoner transfer. Moreover, they must provide Congress with the reasons for doing so, along with assurances that those released will be incapable of resuming activities that could endanger the United States and its interests. This law was enacted at the end of last year, replacing one that was even stricter. When Obama signed it, he contended it was an unconstitutional infringement on his power as as commander in chief, and that he could override it, if necessary.
Liable in Libya?
From day one, Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) has been clear about his role as head of the House's special committee on Benghazi. "I want this to transcend politics," he said. That's a tall order in this chamber, where Democrats are looking at every order of business as a possible campaign angle, hoping to catch Republicans at a vulnerable point and spin it into election gold. On Benghazi, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is already ginning up opposition to the committee, slamming it as a GOP fundraising ploy -- instead of what it really is: a truth-seeking mission. "[The Left] raised money on Sandy Hook, they raised money on Katrina, they raised money on Iraq and Afghanistan," Rep. Gowdy pointed out. "It would be helpful if our colleagues on the other side of the aisle did not have selective amnesia when it comes to what's appropriate to raise money off of." In the end, he said, "The facts are neither Republican nor Democrat," Gowdy told Fox News. "They're facts."
Harry Reid Threatens Private Property in America
The Commerce Department reports that first quarter GDP contracted by one percent. The Wall Street Journal notes that a contraction of GDP during a time not in recession is rare. So we continue in the slowest economic recovery since the end of World War II, with unemployment, in the 6th year of the Obama regime, at 6.3 percent, still well above its historic average. According to a recent Gallup poll, the economy is the number issue on the minds of Americans. Ninety one percent of Republicans and 87 percent of Democrats say it is the most important issue facing the nation.
Sunday, June 1, 2014
Showdown in Tar Heel Country
"Twenty-four times" is Thom Tillis' answer, delivered with a faint flicker of a Cheshire Cat smile. The question was: How many times, that his campaign knows of, has Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan said on camera that under Obamacare, if you like your health insurance, you can keep it? Tillis will be sharing some of her video promises with voters as he seeks to become part of a Republican Senate majority in January 2015. Tillis will also suggest that Obamacare, which Hagan pluckily says she would vote for again, portends a dismal future of government-run health care akin to that offered in today's alarming VA hospitals, including a troubled one in Durham. There are, however, limits to Hagan's kamikaze loyalty: When Barack Obama visited North Carolina last January, she stayed in Washington.
Conspiracies & Conspirators
When I was young, a lot of conspiracy theorists (aka crazy people) were convinced that fluoride in our water was a Commie plot to destroy America one glass at a time. Back then, I discounted it as a result of the Cold War jitters, but for the past six years I've found myself wondering if young Barack, in addition to cocaine and marijuana, used to mainline fluoride back in Hawaii. You would think that millionaires and billionaires would finally tell Obama to either stop using them as scapegoats for what's wrong with this country or stop diving into their pockets every chance he gets. Instead, they keep showing up at his $35,000-a-plate fund raisers. Just recently, he went so far as to invite the future heirs of those people to the White House, softening them up for the DNC.
Saturday, May 31, 2014
Bernanke's Loose Lips
Are Ben Bernanke's loose lips the real cause of surging stocks and plunging interest rates? Here's the backstory: The so-called smart money on Wall Street had it all wrong. "Sell in May, and go away" was the big theme a month ago. Oops. The broad-based S&P 500 has jumped another 2.5 percent to a record high near 1920. Meanwhile, 10-year Treasury rates unexpectedly dropped to less than 2.5 percent. So if the Wall Street pros are honest, they'll admit they've been selling stocks and bonds, not buying them, and therefore got the story all wrong. And perhaps most surprisingly, the so-called "real" or inflation-protected 10-year TIPS yield also dropped another 25 basis points. Year to date, this key proxy for real economic growth has unexpectedly fallen 56 basis points to a low 0.2 percent. This is an election-year economic warning for Democrats.