Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Latest Salvo Fired in 'Mommy Wars'
Virtually everything said and done in a presidential election year distorts the truth, much like concave and convex mirrors in a carnival attraction alter one's true reflection. That kind of distortion occurred in the recent dustup over whether women who choose to stay at home can completely understand the economic challenges and personal struggles faced by women who choose, or need, to work outside the home while raising children. There is no question that professional women receive much more societal validation than "stay-at-home moms." Few magazine covers at the checkout line or full-page ads promoting events and awards to "successful" women, laud mothers who stay home to raise their children. There aren't a lot of television shows today like "Ozzie and Harriett," "Leave It to Beaver" or "Father Knows Best."
A Death Bounty and an Attorney General
One can be forgiven for wondering what level of New Black Panther Party (NBPP) thuggery is sufficient to warrant the attention of Florida law enforcement officials or, seemingly, the most myopic U.S. attorney general to ever head the Department of Justice. On March 24th, New Black Panther Party leader Mikhail Muhammad offered a $10,000 bounty for the "capture" of Zimmerman and publicly stated that Zimmerman "should be fearful for his life."
Don't be Cowed by The New York Times
"Romney Camp Stumbles on Pay Equity Question" crowed The New York Times last week. "The Caucus" blog was referring to a conference call in which Romney top aides "seemed uncertain" about how to respond to a question about whether the former governor supported the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. The aide's reply, "We'll get back to you on that," marked a "fumble" the Times ruled, that is "not likely to help (Romney's) case" in attracting women voters. Please.
Ouch! Decade of Obamacare Will Cost $1,160 billion
How much will Obamacare -- call it the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act if you like -- cost over the next 10 years? More than you've been led to believe, reports Charles Blahous of George Mason University's Mercatus Center. To be specific, he projects it will add $1,160 billion to net federal spending over the next 10 years and at least $340 billion to federal budget deficits in that time. Blahous was appointed by Barack Obama as one of two public trustees of the Social Security and Medicare programs. He worked on these issues in George W. Bush's administration and submitted his Mercatus paper for anonymous peer review.
Presidential Advance
I have no idea what happened, or didn't happen, in Cartagena last week when at least 11 Secret Service Agents were suddenly sent home and replaced by a different team. You've read the headlines: "Agents Procure Prostitutes While Waiting for Obama" or words to a like effect. A hundred years ago I did a few advance trips for Vice President Quayle. You can argue, and successfully, that the whole notion of putting about 100 people in place up to two weeks ahead of a visit by a President isn't so much presidential as it is as it is imperial, but that's a discussion for another day.
You Know You're a Liberal If...
A friend recently sent me a list defining the differences between Democrats and Republicans. Because so many people write to me, insisting that they can't see any difference, I'll print out my slightly revised version as a public service:
Our Turbulent Skies
DALLAS -- From his office window, Thomas W. Horton, in his fifth month as CEO of American Airlines, can see in the distance the Manhattan-size footprint of Dallas-Fort Worth airport, where American has 85 percent market share; it also has 68 percent in Miami, gateway to South America's booming market. A few miles from here, however, sits one of the reasons why, nevertheless, his company recently entered bankruptcy -- the corporate headquarters of Southwest Airlines.
Feel This
Last time I checked, conservatives in general, and Republicans in particular, were racist Neanderthals engaging in a "war on women" as a hobby, which is not to be confused with their full-time jobs of screwing over the 99 percent by not paying their "fair share" of taxes. Thus, you can imagine my surprise when a couple of outbursts from the oh-so-tolerant precincts of the left upset the proverbial apple cart.
From The Comedy Store
Mitt Romney emerged Tuesday as the certain GOP nominee against President Obama this fall. The choice is not exactly inspiring. This is the first presidential race that'll be won by whichever candidate best portrays himself as the minimally acceptable alternative.
The Delusional Left
Predictably, Nancy Pelosi applauded Rep. Bobby Rush when he donned a hoodie on the floor of the House to show his solidarity with the likes of Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and the Black Panthers, in their calls for George Zimmerman's head on a platter. Meanwhile, back in Chicago's 1st congressional district, home to Mr. Rush, during one recent Thursday night, 13 people were shot, two of them fatally. I understand that the shooters all wore hoodies. I trust that Mrs. Pelosi can provide Bobby Rush with an alibi.
Obama's Misleading Reagan Reference
In President Obama's latest class-war, tax-the-rich gambit, he has stooped to a new low with misleading and out-of-context quotes from Ronald Reagan. Apparently, the president is now trying to use the Gipper for cover while he attacks Mitt Romney with the so-called Buffett Rule. In an address this past week, Obama cited a couple of Reagan speeches from June 1985, in which the former president quoted a letter from a wealthy executive who grumbled that he paid less in taxes than secretaries or bus drivers.
The Democrats' Fear of Romney's Little Housewife
On Wednesday, when CNN's Anderson Cooper noted that "women are seeing jobs come back much more slowly than men are" and wondered whether there was anything wrong with the Romney campaign reaching out to women on economic issues, political strategist and mouthpiece for the Democratic Party establishment Hilary Rosen couldn't resist taking a shot at both Romneys. First up was Ann. "Guess what?" said Rosen. "His wife has never worked a day in her life" and therefore she was unqualified to champion women's economic concerns. Rosen hysterically linked this to Mitt being "so old-fashioned when it comes to women" that "he doesn't really see us as equals."
Free-Lunch Egalitarianism
WASHINGTON -- Here we go again. At the beginning of his presidency, Barack Obama argued that the country's spiraling debt was largely the result of exploding health care costs. That was true. He then said the cure for these exploding costs would be his health care reform. That was not true. It was obvious at the time that it could never be true. If government gives health insurance to 33 million uninsured, that costs. Costs a lot. There's no free lunch.
Feminists Limit Women's Choices
Not since Hillary Clinton's infamous remark during the 1992 presidential campaign -- "I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas" -- has a prominent Democratic woman so insulted full-time homemakers. Speaking on CNN Wednesday, Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen said that Ann Romney has "never worked a day in her life" and, therefore, can't understand the struggles of most women. Rather than apologize for sticking her thumb in the eyes of millions of American homemakers, Rosen doubled down when critics responded. "This isn't about whether Ann Romney or I or other women of some means can afford to make a choice to stay home and raise kids," she said. Talk about a "war on women"; this sounds like a war on work-at-home moms. In Rosen's view, they're either lazy or privileged.
Planning the Campaign
Now that we're deep into the general election campaign -- about 72 hours into it -- let's review the rules. No matter how many times you've hear it, it bears repeating that an election for President in the United States are not national event. It is a collection of 51 separate elections. The number of electoral votes each state gets equals the number of Members of the U.S. House of Representatives plus its two Senators. Thus California gets 55 electoral votes (53 Congressional Districts plus two Senators) while Wyoming (a single Member state) gets three.
Spot the Newest Low
The poobahs of our popular culture never seem happy unless they're taking entertainment down to the "next level" of deviancy. When they undertake remakes of Hollywood classics -- especially the comedies -- that's when you see how far we've fallen. The forthcoming modern-day adaptation of "The Three Stooges" isn't going to be a celebration of that iconic family comedy. The trailer features Moe poking the eyes of "Snooki" Polizzi from the uber-sleazy MTV show "Jersey Shore." But that's nothing compared to the real absurdity of 19-year-old Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Kate Upton playing a nun at the orphanage where the Stooges grew up.
Real Moms of the GOP vs. White House SOP
The authenticity of conservative women has always been under attack by radical orthodox feminists, but perhaps not as brazenly as by someone with such direct and frequent access to the corridors of the White House message machine as Hilary B. Rosen. The D.C. career lobbyist and Democratic media strategist took to CNN's airwaves this week to craft a left-wing "War on Women" attack on the real moms of the GOP. Ostensibly aiming at Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney for his "old-fashioned" views of women, Rosen's mouth instead shot off in the direction of wife, stay-at-home mother of five, grandmother of 16, and cancer and multiple sclerosis survivor Ann Romney. Mrs. Romney, sneered Rosen, "never worked a day in her life" outside of the home and should have no voice on women's issues.
In Battle for Young Voters, Romney Should Play It Uncool
President Obama's re-election largely hinges on his ability to play young voters for suckers -- again -- and whether Mitt Romney will let him. In 2008, Obama won the youth vote by better than a 2-1 margin, 66 percent to 32 percent. Even more impressive, he actually expanded the share of young voters going to the polls by some 3 million. Those extra voters helped tip several swing states.
You Pay for Warren Buffett's Medicare
The president is barnstorming around the nation hoping to enrage voters at the injustice that the wealthy pay fewer taxes than the middle class. "Now that's wrong," Obama objected, "That's not fair." It also isn't true. According to the National Taxpayers Union, in 2009, the top 1 percent of earners paid 36.7 percent of income taxes. The top 5 percent paid 58.6 percent. And the top 10 percent paid more than 70 percent. Social Security and Medicare taxes fall more evenly on all income groups (except the poor) but are lower. Further, Obama had the opportunity to repeal the Bush tax cuts he claims to find so odious when his party controlled both houses of Congress, but he chose to extend them instead.
What Goes Around...
WASHINGTON -- Nine years ago this week, our Fox News team accompanied U.S. Marines as they swept into Baghdad and then north up the Tigris River to seize Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit. It took less than three weeks to drive the tyrant from power in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and it appeared then that the force of American arms could ensure a new era of tranquility in a part of the world where brutality and anti-American despots had ruled for too long. But it was not so.