Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Friday, April 4, 2014
Sorting Through the Rubble
Even the good news these days is tainted. For instance, the department of Homeland Security has granted the Romeikes, the German family seeking asylum, indefinite deferred status. That means they will not be deported back to their homeland, where they faced losing custody of their children because of their insistence on home-schooling the kids. The bad news is that our government took the case all the way to the Supreme Court, which wound up denying them asylum on a technicality. What was the point? To frighten them? To prove America can be as intolerant as Germany? To show that even in the midst of the longest recession in our history and all of those pricey Obama vacations, we still have money to waste on pointless legal exercises?
Thursday, April 3, 2014
The Tech Industry's Immigration Lies
One of the primary narratives associated with comprehensive immigration reform has nothing to do with the millions of low-skill workers that would be granted an opportunity to compete against Americans for jobs. As a letter sent to the president and Congressional leaders signed by more than 100 chief executives of major tech companies and trade associations indicates, there is a shortage of highly-skilled American labor that drives reform as well. Yet as the Atlantic's Michael S. Teitelbaum reveals, that narrative is a lie. "A compelling body of research is now available, from many leading academic researchers and from respected research organizations such as the National Bureau of Economic Research, the RAND Corporation, and the Urban Institute," Teitelbaum explains.
The 77% Lie, and Why Obama Keeps Telling It
A quick way to kill debate is to accuse your political adversary of "lying." Still, it's hard to figure out what else propels President Barack Obama to falsely assert, yet again, that employers rip off female employees by paying them 23 cents less per dollar than men -- *for doing the same work.* In his last State of the Union address, Obama said: "Today, women make up about half our workforce. But they still make 77 cents for every dollar a man earns. That is wrong, and in 2014, it's an embarrassment. A woman deserves equal pay for equal work. She deserves to have a baby without sacrificing her job." See, the president begins the statement with a fact. That is, women *on the whole* make 77 cents on the dollar compared to the earnings of men, on the whole. But here, as he has other times, Obama has added *for the same work,* or, as in this case, "equal pay for equal work." This makes the statement not only flat out false, but insultingly so.
Founding Fodder: Would the Framers Love ObamaCare?
From a PR standpoint, April Fools' Day was probably the worst possible moment to announce ObamaCare's enrollment numbers. But President Obama plowed ahead anyway, refusing to acknowledge the biggest joke was the White House's own data. In an event that felt more like a campaign rally than a press conference, the President claimed victory on his health care law, insisting in the Rose Garden that the legislation was just a late bloomer. More than seven million Americans have "enrolled" in the exchanges by the March 31 deadline, claimed ObamaCare's namesake -- though no one, including the White House's own staff, seems to know what "enrolled" actually means. Faced with a barrage of questions, even Press Secretary Jay Carney admitted that he didn't have "breakdown data" at this point. But the facts certainly haven't gotten in the way of the administration's victory parade, which continued today despite fresh doubts that the law is actually helping the people who needed it.
The ObamaMedia High-Fives ObamaCare
Watching the president doing his ObamaCare victory lap in the Rose Garden the other day made me feel so sick to my stomach I had to call my doctor. But seeing the mainstream media join the celebration like a pack of liberal lapdogs made me wonder if I was watching a channel from North Korea. The uncritical reaction of the New York-Washington Axis of Journalism to the announcement that ObamaCare had miraculously hit its magic sign-up number was a new low for a profession that is already a national embarrassment. It's not a newsflash that passing along the propaganda of the Obama administration to the American people has become the main job of the media.
Millionaires Need Your Help!
Last Sunday, The New York Times published a front-page article about the heartfelt need of California farmers for more illegal aliens. The first tip-off that heinous public policy ideas were coming was that the Times introduced farmer Chuck Herrin, owner of a farm-labor contracting company, as a "lifelong Republican." That's Times-speak for "liberal." Herrin admitted that he employs a lot of illegal aliens and bitterly complained that they lived in fear of "Border Patrol and deportations." (But, apparently, he doesn't live in fear of admitting he's violating our immigration laws.)
Why No Wine Online in Massachusetts?
Massachusetts is home to some of the nation's most enthusiastic wine drinkers, and Rick Libby of Ipswich is one of them. Libby is the owner of a California winery and the founder of The Traveling Vineyard, which promotes and sells wines through home-based wine tastings around the country. His passion for wines is infused with good humor; on his website and voicemail greeting, Libby identifies himself as "chief grape stomper and head cheerleader." But when the subject turns to regulation -- in particular his home state's bizarre prohibition on the shipment of wine directly to consumers -- Libby is frustrated.
The Latino Media Need Balance
Our English-speaking media were very clear after the 2012 election that the Republican Party was demographically doomed, since all the voters "of color" were shifting toward President Barack Obama and the Democrats. They echoed the mantra of GOP moderates, stating the only way to political viability was through "comprehensive immigration reform." What these analysts did not do was explore the messaging Hispanic voters are getting from Spanish-language media. Has the conservative message been rejected by Spanish-language voters -- or is something being kept from them? We've seen a disturbing set of reports on how hand in glove these Spanish networks seem to be with both Obama and Hillary Clinton -- not just in news reporting, but in creating "empowerment initiatives" that provide positive images of these Democratic leaders.
One California for Me, Another for Thee
No place on the planet is as beautiful and as naturally rich as California. And few places have become as absurd. Currently, three California state senators are either under felony indictment or already have been convicted. State Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) made a political career out of demanding harsher state gun-control laws. Now he is facing several felony charges for attempting to facilitate gun-running. One count alleges that Lee sought to provide banned heavy automatic weapons to Philippines-based Islamic terrorist groups.
The ABC's of School Choice
When people speak of a legacy, they usually mean something other than what the late economist Milton Friedman and his wife, Rose, left behind, namely the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice (edchoice.org). The foundation has just released a small book entitled "The ABC’s of School Choice: The comprehensive guide to every private school choice program in America." The Friedman philosophy can be summed up in two sentences, which are posted on their web page: "School choice gives parents the freedom to choose their children's education, while encouraging healthy competition among schools to better serve families' needs. School choice lets parents use the public funds set aside for their children's education to choose the schools -- public or private, near or far, religious or secular -- that work best for them."
The Difference Between a House and a Home
My youngest is getting married in less than two months. Although we are deep in the midst of wedding plans and to-do lists, she still manages to spend a good chunk of time every day dreaming about her first home with her soon-to-be hubby. How will they decorate? How will they use their budget? How will they entertain guests? She is incredibly enthusiastic about it, too. You would think the endless list of things to think about would be exhausting, but instead, the wealth of possibilities gives her loads of energy. I think there is something important to learn from her young, idealistic nature.
Jeb Bush's Challenge
The human kindling that makes up the flammable Republican base may soon burst into flames, again. Portions of that excitable cohort are looking -- some with fawn-like eyes filled with hurt, others with sparks shooting from eyes narrowed like gun slits -- askance at other Republicans urging Jeb Bush to seek the 2016 presidential nomination. A candidacy by Florida's former governor would be desirable. But if Republicans want to avoid intra-party carnage, they should be very careful about doing what The Washington Post recently reported: "Many of the Republican Party's most powerful insiders and financiers have begun a behind-the-scenes campaign to draft former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush into the 2016 presidential race."
Climate Activists Uncaged
Finally, someone has come up with a way to settle the debate over climate change: Put the people on the wrong side of the argument in cages. A writer for the website Gawker recently penned a self-described "rant" on the pressing need to arrest, charge and imprison people who "deny" global warming. In fairness, Adam Weinstein doesn't want mass arrests. (Besides, in a country where only 44 percent of Americans say there is "solid evidence" of global warming and it's mostly due to human activity, you can't round up every dissenter.) Fact-checking scientists are spared. So is "the man on the street who thinks Rush Limbaugh is right. ... You all know that man. That man is an idiot. He is too stupid to do anything other than choke the earth's atmosphere a little more with his Mr. Pibb burps and his F-150's gassy exhaust."
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Obama's Wage Gap Myth
During his State of the Union address, President Obama restated a long-discredited factoid. "Today women make up about half our workforce," he declared. "But they still make 77 cents for every dollar a man earns. That is wrong, and in 2014, it's an embarrassment." What's truly embarrassing is a president who seeks to once again divide Americans against each other using inaccurate information as his vehicle. The so-called wage gap is based on calculations done by the U.S. Census Bureau. Yet when the Bureau compiled those calculations, it made no distinction between professions, lumping them all together. Thus, as the Heritage Foundation explains, "if high school teachers make less than congressmen…and there are more women who are teachers and more men in the U.S. Congress, then yes, the numbers will show that men make more than women."
Why Hillary Clinton Will Win in 2016
On Tuesday, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., presented his 2015 budget proposal. The Senate Democrats did not provide any such proposal; President Barack Obama's proposal posited an unending federal deficit and massive tax increases. Ryan's proposal, by contrast, lowered the rate of increase of spending moderately (by $5.1 trillion over the next decade), struck Obamacare from the rolls, and suggested revamps to Social Security and Medicare. This was possibly the dumbest thing Ryan could have done.
Sunlight Slays Secret Snooping
Testifying before the House Judiciary Committee last July, Deputy Attorney General James Cole explained why the National Security Agency (NSA) needed to collect everyone's telephone records. "If you're looking for the needle in the haystack," he said, "you have to have the entire haystack to look through." Judging from the changes that President Obama recommended last week, he has decided that looking for a needle in a haystack might not be the smartest way to prevent terrorist attacks. Obama's decision to eliminate the NSA database he once defended as essential to national security shows how important transparency is in protecting civil liberties, because he thought everything was fine as long as it was secret.
Male Fed Workers Can Use Women's Restrooms, Locker Rooms
When an expectant mother visits her doctor for an ultrasound, the doctor invariably asks: Do you want to know the sex of your child? The Obama administration, however, does not believe an unborn child has a sex -- even when a doctor sees indisputable physical evidence. Obama's Office of Personnel Management has published what it calls "Guidance Regarding the Employment of Transgender Individuals in the Workplace." This document speaks of "sex" as something a person has "assigned" to them only after they make it through the birth canal.
Dear Mr. Colbert: Me So Stupid. You So Funny!
Question: Who are the most prominent public purveyors of Asian stereotypes and ethnic language-mocking in America? The right answer is liberal Hollywood and Democrats. The wrong and slanderous answer is conservatives, which is what liberal performance artist/illegal-alien-amnesty lobbyist Stephen Colbert wants Americans to believe. Last week on his Comedy Central show, Colbert resurrected his "satirical" 2005 "Ching-Chong Ding-Dong" skit, in which he speaks in pidgin English with a grossly exaggerated accent. He used it in a boneheaded attempt to ridicule Republican football team owner Dan Snyder and others who defend the Washington Redskins' name.
Young at Heart of ObamaCare Reform
Yesterday may have been April 1st, but Democrats are nobody's fool. While they frantically try to hang onto their seats, the Left is putting as much distance between ObamaCare and the Democratic Party as possible. Even as House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) insists the policy is a political "winner," more House and Senate members are climbing aboard any effort to repeal or change public health care enemy number one. That includes cosponsoring an increasing number of GOP bills to undo the damage -- like Rep. Todd Young's (R-Ind.) Save American Workers Act.
Some Dogs Are Nicer Than Others
When my dog Angel and I take off on her two daily constitutionals, we merely circle the block. Under normal circumstances, it would only take me about 10 minutes. Instead, it usually requires half an hour. That's because Angel needs to stop and sniff just about every bush, tree, wall and fire hydrant, we pass. It was driving me nuts until I realized that my email is her peemail, and God knows I spend far more time dealing with mine. I suspect in the dog world, it's regarded as all the news that's fit to spritz. Also, having recently debuted my new webcast (Wednesday from 1-1:50 P.M., at K4HD.com), it occurred to me that as much as I hate speaking on the phone, I enjoy speaking into my mic. The difference, I've decided, is that I'm prepared to speak to the callers. That's why I'm sitting there, whereas when my phone rings, it's interrupting whatever I may be doing with its shrill and incessant demand to be answered. Furthermore, when I'm doing my show, nobody is calling trying to sell me a loan, a renovated kitchen or, worst of all, a politician.