Right Opinion

No, There Is No Consensus on Obama's Policies

Since its inception, the Obama administration has engaged in the deceptive routine of claiming that "economists" or "every economist" or a "consensus" among economists is in lock-step agreement over whatever policy prescription the White House happens to be peddling at the moment. It began with the stimulus, when President Barack Obama misleadingly asserted that "economists from across the political spectrum agree that if we don't act swiftly and boldly, we could see a much deeper economic downturn that could lead to double-digit unemployment and the American dream slipping further and further out of reach." Swiftly and boldly, perhaps, but not in the same way. The libertarian Cato Institute found 200 economists, three of them Nobel laureates -- James Buchanan, Edward Prescott and Vernon Smith -- who disagreed that all "economists" supported the president's stimulus plan.

A Proposal for the President

I was watching the president in California announce a billion dollar fund to combat the effects of climate change, and guess what? Every hair on my neck did not stand up on end! In fact I actually agree with this. Why? Because the climate is changing -- always has and always will. We are putting more people in harm's way every day. So we should be putting money toward adapting to its effects -- *of what comes natural!* My whole life on the New Jersey shore, I grew up understanding that it was just a matter of time before the glorious beach was going to be severely re-arranged by nature. Why? It's happened before and will happen again.

Farmers Among Common Core De-Tractors

People aren't just having a cow over Common Core -- they're selling them off in protest! In Alabama, one rancher felt so strongly about the President's education takeover that he offered to donate cattle to fund an anti-Common Core townhall. And he isn't the only one with hard (herd?) feelings. People from across the political and academic spectrum are resisting the White House's attempt to corral the states into a one-size-fits-all education scheme. In states where the benchmarks have already been adopted, the idea is so radioactive that leaders are trying to change the program's name to boost its image: Arizona's "College and Career Ready Standards," Idaho Core, Iowa Core, and my personal favorite -- "Next General Sunshine State Standards." In the Grand Canyon State, there couldn't be a bigger chasm between parents and the policy. Like other Republican Governors, Jan Brewer is trying to repackage the idea -- even going so far as to sign an executive order scrubbing "Common Core" from the math and reading criteria. But, to borrow a line from William Shakespeare, a Common Core by any other name would smell as fishy.

The Myth of 'Settled Science'

I repeat: I'm not a global warming believer. I'm not a global warming denier. I've long believed that it cannot be good for humanity to be spewing tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. I also believe that those scientists who pretend to know exactly what this will cause in 20, 30 or 50 years are white-coated propagandists. "The debate is settled," asserted propagandist in chief Barack Obama in his latest State of the Union address. "Climate change is a fact." Really? There is nothing more anti-scientific than the very idea that science is settled, static, impervious to challenge. Take a non-climate example. It was long assumed that mammograms help reduce breast cancer deaths. This fact was so settled that Obamacare requires every insurance plan to offer mammograms (for free, no less).

UAW Loss in Chattanooga a Repudiation of 1930s Unionism

It is 611 miles from the United Auto Workers headquarters in Detroit to Volkswagen's assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tenn. It's a long day's drive, about 10 hours almost entirely on Interstate 75, but it turned out to be too far for the UAW. Or so one must judge from the results of the unionization election last week in Chattanooga. Volkswagen employees voted 712-626 against certifying the UAW as their bargaining agent. That's not an overwhelming margin. But it's significant. Volkswagen, unlike most employers, didn't oppose the union. It supported it, opening its factory to union organizers but not opponents, announcing it wanted the UAW as a partner in a worker's council similar to the company's council with its IG Metall union in Germany.

We Must Reject Liberalism's Economic Death Sentence on America

There seems to be a common characteristic among those who follow the liberal orthodoxy, especially those in the old media. Their ideology and rabid partisanship prevent them from acknowledging, much less correcting, policy failures. My brother, Rush, expounds the "Limbaugh theorem," which holds that President Obama studiously avoids accountability for his disastrous agenda by positioning himself, with the willing aid of the media, as an outsider -- as one who is merely observing, rather than primarily causing, these failures. For five years, he's mostly blamed President George W. Bush. The old media never call him on it, for example, in reminding him that he promised to lead us out of this economic hellhole way before now.

Cruz Aims at His Own Side – Again

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, may be the brightest light to adorn the Republican Party in many years. He knows how to make the case for conservative ideas, pointing, for example, to the contrasting fates of Detroit and Houston to illustrate the superiority of conservative policies. So it's particularly galling to see that rather than train his fire at President Barack Obama and the liberal machine that cocoons him, Cruz has become a one-man wrecking ball against Republicans. His most recent foray into sabotaging his colleagues concerned the debt limit increase. Because Speaker John Boehner sent over a "clean" debt limit bill, Republican senators had decided to let it pass with only Democratic votes. Republicans would not be endorsing the Democrats' spending priorities, but neither would they be opening themselves to the accusation of flirting with national default. With Obama's political fortunes sinking and several "red state" Democratic senators in jeopardy, Republicans have a good chance to retake the Senate in November -- unless they fall into civil war.

Notes From a Sick Bed

Between the surgery and the flu, I have been pretty much housebound for a few weeks now. Between coughing, sneezing, taking meds and doing the hand exercises prescribed by the physical therapist, you wouldn't think I'd have time to also be annoyed on an hourly basis by external events. But God, in putting me through Job's trials, has not even spared me that. For instance, David Ortiz, the 38-year-old designated hitter for the Boston Red Sox has been negotiating a new contract. He has asked for a multi-year deal, but because of his advanced age, the team has been reluctant to oblige. Mr. Ortiz is certainly within his rights to ask for the moon, but it's the basis of his demand that has me reaching for the double strength Tylenol. It seems that Ortiz, who has been a major leaguer for 17 seasons and received $112 million in salary, exclusive of endorsements which, last year alone, brought in an additional five million, is requesting the multi-year deal for the security it would provide! I'd say Ortiz gives a whole new meaning to financial "insecurity."

Liberal Students Have a Funny Definition of 'Diversity'

Cancel the philosophy courses, people. Oh, and we're going to be shuttering the political science, religion and pre-law departments too. We'll keep some of the English and history folks on for a while longer, but they should probably keep their résumés handy. Because, you see, they are of no use anymore. We have the answers to the big questions, so why keep pretending there's anything left to discuss? At least that's where Erin Ching, a student at Swarthmore College, seems to be coming down. Her school invited a famous left-wing Princeton professor, Cornel West, and a famous right-wing Princeton professor, Robert George, to have a debate. The two men are friends, and by all accounts they had an utterly civil exchange of ideas. But that only made the whole thing even more outrageous.

The Lesson of Dunkirk

Politics is often like war. Unfortunately, politicians, the media and the voting public seldom have the same degree of realism and discipline with which professional soldiers fight wars. You can indulge your emotions and base your decisions on wishful thinking in politics, in a way that you are not likely to when your own life is on the line in battle. One of the most dramatic and heartening events of World War II was the miraculous evacuation of British troops trapped on the beaches of France in 1940, at Dunkirk. And its lesson is still relevant today. The British troops were in France to help the French fight off the invading army from Nazi Germany. But the sudden collapse of the French army left the Brits stranded on the beaches, with the German army closing in on them.

Numb and Numbers: Sebelius Keeps up Health Care Spin

If denial were an Olympic sport, the Obama administration would have a gold-medal team. In the latest ObamaCare numbers charade, Kathleen Sebelius tries to persuade skeptical reporters that the health care law won't drive down employment. Tell that to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Obviously, legislation isn't the only thing liberals don't read, else the HHS Secretary would know how ridiculous her statement sounds in light of the group's latest analysis.

New Obama Promise: If You Like Your Life, You Can Keep It

Liberals are winning wild praise for their candor in admitting problems with Obamacare. It shows you the level of honesty people have come to expect of our liberal friends. Now, liberals are applauded for not lying through their teeth about something. What are they supposed to say? *This Obamacare website is fantastic! And really, haven't you already read all the magazines in your current doctor's office anyway?* The New York Times has described Obama's repeated claim that you could keep your insurance plan and keep your doctor under Obamacare as a mere slip of the tongue: "Mr. Obama clearly misspoke when he said that."

Richie Incognito: White Scapegoat For NFL Culture of Bullying

Richie Incognito, an NFL Miami Dolphin, is a clubhouse bully who was suspended for traumatizing teammate Jonathan Martin. A new NFL investigative report found that Richie, a white, soon-to-be free agent veteran, abused Martin, a black player then in his rookie season. The report accuses Incognito and two other players of using racially charged abusive language and engaging in abusive conduct directed toward the black rookie. Incognito, according the to investigation, was the ringleader. Richie Incognito, meet former Los Angeles City firefighter Tennie Pierce. Or more precisely, meet Pierce's firefighter "friends" -- who stand accused of bullying the black LAFD veteran. Incognito can relate to this story of what happened to Pierce's friends and co-workers.

The Cold War's Final Episode?

One hundred years ago this coming Aug. 4, the day Britain declared war on Germany, socialists in the German Reichstag voted for credits to finance the war. Marxists -- including Lenin, who that day was in what now is Poland -- were scandalized. Marx had preached that the proletariat has no fatherland, only a transnational class loyalty to proletarians everywhere. "In 1918," wrote Louis Fischer, Lenin's best biographer, "patriotism and nationalism, born of the 'subjectivism' Lenin so disliked, were ideological crimes in Soviet Russia." These are history-shaping virtues in Ukraine today. Because the nation-state is the necessary framework for durable political liberty, nationalism is a necessary, although insufficient, impulse sustaining liberty. Marx, whose prophesies were perversely predictive because they were almost invariably wrong, predicted the end of nationalism. Economic forces, he said, determine political, cultural and psychological realities. So capitalism, with its borders-leaping cosmopolitanism, would dilute to the point of disappearance all emotional attachments to nations. Ukraine's ferment is an emphatic, albeit redundant, refutation of Marxism.

The Left-Wing Money Machine and the IRS’s War on Conservatives

A new report on the biggest donors and its implications for the IRS scandal.

Back to the Past: Not a Winning Formula for GOP

Kathleen Willey is back. For people who have forgotten, she is the former volunteer aide to President Bill Clinton who claims he sexually harassed her 20 years ago. She wrote a book about it called "Target: Caught in the Crosshairs of Bill and Hillary Clinton." What, you say you didn't read it? Neither, it seems, did most of America, which long ago yawned at Bill Clinton's exploits and Hillary's apparent enabling of his extramarital liaisons. Willey is telling anyone who will listen that "Hillary Clinton is the real war on women" because of the way she treated her and the other women who accused Bill Clinton of sexual harassment. Remember "bimbo eruptions," a term coined by Clinton aide Betsey Wright, who was charged with monitoring them and then discrediting accusers?

My Response to Mitt Romney

First Mitt Romney loses a presidential election that he was predicted to win in a walk. Then he appears some 15 months later on Sunday's "Meet the Press" to lecture the nation on how Republicans might lose the presidential election once again. "I don't think Bill Clinton is as relevant as Hillary Clinton if Hillary Clinton decides to run for president in 2016," Romney opined. Perhaps he forgot that Bill was elected president 21 years ago promising that a vote for him would mean acquiring two presidents "for the price of one." Romney, Hillary is actually pretty tightly entangled with Bill, now and forever. May I suggest that you read up on their peculiar relationship? They are even closer than Bonnie and Clyde.

Cruz Control? Part II

Senator Ted Cruz is a hero in some Republican circles -- and the opposite among many of his Senate Republican colleagues. At this crucial juncture in the history of America, internal battles within the only party that can turn things around are the last thing Americans need. Moreover, each side in this political civil war has all too many valid criticisms of the other. The Republican establishment's criticisms of Senator Cruz are criticisms of his rule-or-ruin strategy, which can destroy whatever chance Republicans have of taking back the Senate in 2014 and taking back the White House in 2016. And, without political power, there is no real hope of changing things in Washington.

The Outdated Business Model of Diversity Inc.

The Left Preaches the Great Apocalypse of Global Warming

This week, Secretary of State John Kerry announced to a group of Indonesian students that global warming was "perhaps the world's most fearsome weapon of mass destruction." He added, "Because of climate change, it's no secret that today Indonesia is ... one of the most vulnerable countries on Earth. It's not an exaggeration to say that the entire way of life that you live and love is at risk." Meanwhile, Hollywood prepared to drop a new blockbuster based on the biblical story of Noah. The film, directed by Darren Aronofsky, centers on the story of the biblical character who built an ark after God warned him that humanity would be destroyed thanks to its sexual immorality and violent transgressions. The Hollywood version of the story, however, has God punishing humanity not for actual sin, but for overpopulation and global warming -- an odd set of sins, given God's express commandments in Genesis 1:28 to "be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it."