Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Monday, December 16, 2013
A Conservative Alternative to Obamacare
President Barack Obama claims that Republicans have no alternative to Obamacare. Has he really forgotten that his presidential campaign spent millions of dollars attacking the health plan of Sen. John McCain? What follows is an update of McCain's approach, coupled with the more recent thinking of many Republicans in Congress. This approach would take us from where we are now to a health care system that empowers patients, allows real competition and minimizes the role of government in the medical marketplace.
Give Low-Income Earners Exit From Social Security
A new study just published by the National Institute on Retirement Security -- "Race and Retirement Insecurity in the United States" -- presents a dismal snapshot of the state of retirement savings of minority American families. It reports that 54.3 percent of blacks work for employers that offer retirement plans compared to 62.3 percent of whites. And 43.9 percent of blacks participate in those plans compared to 53.9 percent of whites.
Troops, Trouble, and Treasure
The service members who tuned in to Saturday's Army-Navy game at Lincoln Financial Field may have had another reason to cheer. Before jetting off to celebrate Christmas, House members delivered their own package: a Defense Authorization bill that takes some of the uncertainty out of military pay, weapons programs, conscience protections, and other key national security projects. "This legislation pays our troops and their families," said House Armed Services Chair Buck McKeon (R-Calif.). "It keeps our Navy fleet sailing and military aircraft flying."
John Kerry's Wrongheaded Priority
The annual "Death to America" rallies across Iran last month were the largest ever. The outpouring of hate against the United States wasn't cancelled, or even toned down, by the new Iranian president, the purportedly "moderate, reasonable" Hassan Rouhani. Far from it. "Iran's propaganda machine had been working for weeks ahead of the ceremonies to mobilize maximum public participation," reported the BBC Persian service on November 4. The resulting demonstrations were "unprecedented in their scale and scope."
The Age of Affluenza and Other Afflictions
On June 15 in Tarrant County, Texas, a Burleson Walmart security camera recorded footage of 16-year-old Ethan Couch and his friends shoplifting two cases of beer. That same night, Couch was driving 70 mph in his father's Ford F-350 pickup in a 40 mph zone when he lost control of the vehicle. In the ensuing collision, four people standing by an SUV that had broken down were killed. Two people riding in Couch's truck were severely injured. One can no longer move or talk due to a brain injury. The other suffered broken bones and internal injuries. Three hours after the crash, Couch had a blood alcohol content of 0.24, three times the legal limit, as well as traces of Valium in his system. Last week State District Judge Jean Boyd sentenced Couch to to 10 years probation, and ordered him to receive therapy at a long-term, in-patient facility, because she didn't believe jail would the right place to get it. Therapy for what? Psychiatrist G. Dick Miller testified that Couch suffered from "affluenza" and that his parents gave him "freedoms no young person should have."
Sunday, December 15, 2013
What If No Doctor Will See You?
At this point we have no idea how many people will become newly insured under ObamaCare. For the first year out, the number of people with insurance may actually go down! But the administration's goal is to insure an additional 30 million people and eventually a lot of those people will acquire health plans. When they do, the economic studies predict that they will try to double their use of the health care system.
Dinosaurs, Planets & Obama
Liberals are always given to landing on the side of what they insist is science, whether the topic is Darwin's Theory of Evolution versus Intelligent Design or man's ability to control the weather. That's because they believe that scientists are, like themselves, much smarter than other people. But the fact is that science, to put it as kindly as possible, is an imperfect science. Scientists are, after all, people. They are therefore as prone to being affected by greed, blind ambition and even ignorance, as any of us.
Raise Minimum Wage? It's Iffy
Liberals' love of recycling extends to their ideas, one of which illustrates the miniaturization of Barack Obama's presidency. He fervently favors a minor measure that would have mostly small, mostly injurious effects on a small number of people. Nevertheless, raising the minimum hourly wage for the 23rd time since 1938, from today's $7.25 to $10.10, is a nifty idea, if...
Saturday, December 14, 2013
Ryan Saves GOP From Itself
Did Paul Ryan's budget deal save the Republican party from itself? I think it did. Everyone acknowledges that Ryan-Murray is not a great deal. But the fact is, its passage will avoid a government shutdown. That's crucial. If the GOP wants to retake the Senate and hold the House in 2014, the key issues must be the catastrophic pitfalls of Obamacare and better economic growth. A shutdown would be a distraction. It would take the heat off Obama and Obamacare, and all the Democrats who falsely promised that if you like your insurance and doctor, you can keep them.
From The Comedy Store
President Obama lit the National Christmas Tree in Washington D.C. In many ways the U.S. president has replaced Santa Claus. He knows where you've been sleeping, he knows when you're awake, he knows when you've been bad or good, he just asks the NSA.
Friday, December 13, 2013
The House Budget Advances Conservative Principles
Republicans are finally looking like grownups capable of governing, and much of the credit goes to House Speaker John Boehner. After caving in to the kamikaze wing of the House and shutting down the government for 16 days in October, this week Boehner decided it was time to lead his troops in passing a two-year budget. In doing so, the Speaker took on powerful, well-funded conservative groups that have pushed the GOP into dangerous territory over the past few years. The groups aren't happy, but it is folly to think they represent the Republican Party much less the interests of Republican voters.
96% of Americans Are Wrong About Congress
For more than 20 years, an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll has been measuring how voters feel about Congress. And "perhaps unsurprisingly," writes Ezra Klein, "a majority of Americans -- a new record -- thinks the current Congress is one of the worst ever." Klein, like many other liberal pundits, has written numerous pieces about how Congress is the worst/laziest/rottenest ever, so this works out well for him. Not getting your way all the time can be frustrating.
The Truth About Ronald Reagan and South Africa
The whole world mourns Nelson Mandela. Rightly. But, as usual, some politically and historically challenged liberals have seen the passing of a great man of history as a chance to take more cheap potshots at Ronald Reagan. One human rights attorney, Gay McDougall, made a fool of herself on "Good Morning America."
Disinformation Behind ObamaCare Runs Deep
"Obamacare was sold on a trinity of lies." That ornate phrase, more suitable for the Book of Revelations or perhaps the next installment of "Game of Thrones," comes from my National Review colleague Rich Lowry. But I like it. Most people know the first deception in the triumvirate of deceit: "If you like your health insurance you can keep it, period." The second leg in the tripod of deception was "If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor."
Evil Irish Nun Movies for Christmas
The man whose last controversial movie was "Bully" certainly knows how to behave like one. Just ask New York Post film critic Kyle Smith, who dared to give a thumbs down to Hollywood bigwig Harvey Weinstein's latest anti-Catholic attack film, "Philomena," carefully timed for release during the Christmas season. Weinstein took out a full-page color attack ad in The New York Times singling out Smith for abuse. It got his attention. "I've never been flogged in the public square, but now I have a rough idea what it's like," Smith responded.
Culture of Corruption: The Dems' Dangerous DHS Pick
The "S" in President Obama's DHS doesn't stand for "security." It stands for "sleaze." In the wake of Dirty Harry Reid's sabotage of the filibuster, Democrats have rammed through the Senate nomination of a shady Chicago crony associated with dangerous Clinton corruption and at least two visas-for-sale schemes. The White House wants Alejandro Mayorkas to helm the No. 2 position at the Department of Homeland Security. It speaks volumes about this ethics-challenged administration that the most qualified person it could find for this important post is a government DHS hack currently under investigation by other DHS hacks. More on that in a moment.
A Selfie in South Africa
President Obama is receiving plenty of criticism for his *selfie* cellphone portrait at the funeral of South Africa's revered leader, Nelson Mandela. What the president had to say in tribute to Africa's greatest statesman was largely overshadowed by the press pictures of Obama, Prime Minister David Cameron, and Denmark's shapely blonde chief of government, Helle Thorning Schmidt. The three leaders are shown, dressed appropriately enough in mourning black. But they are seen yucking it up like teenagers while First Lady Michelle Obama sits up attentively, the perfect picture of dignity and respect. And keeping her distance from the antics.
Don't Be Fooled: ObamaCare Is Not Getting Better; It's Not Fixable
If you have just returned from a space mission on a spaceship without Internet access and some Kool-Aid-drinking liberal has assured you the disastrous Obamacare problems are behind us, let me do my part to help deprogram you. The website problems were too numerous to count, and they are just the tip of the Obamacare iceberg. The substantive problems with Obamacare are enormous. Oh, and the website problems continue, as well.
Secrecy Clause Plays Santa Claus to Abortion Crowd
Don't expect Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Congressman John Shimkus (R-Mich.) to be sharing a cup of Christmas wassail anytime soon. The two leaders got into a heated exchange during the HHS chief's latest turn in the House's witness chair. In a scene eerily similar to October 30 when Sebelius first testified, Shimkus pressed the ObamaCare boss to come clean on taxpayer-funded abortion.
Obama the Oblivious
In explaining the disastrous rollout of Obamacare, President Obama told Chris Matthews he had discovered that "we have these big agencies, some of which are outdated, some of which are not designed properly." An interesting discovery to make *after* having consigned the vast universe of American medicine, one-sixth of the U.S. economy, to the tender mercies of the agency bureaucrats at the Department of Health and Human Services and the Internal Revenue Service.