Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Friday, April 22, 2011
An Easter Bonnet of Mud
For the Christian faithful, the week between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday is sacred. It's a time of reflection, prayer and fasting. It is Holy Week. It deserves the strongest respect. But our secular media culture does not bend a knee -- or even shut a mouth. Instead, Holy Week means it is time to grab the spotlight with the most indulgent forms of spiritual irreverence and mockery. Start with the infantile Lady Gaga. She released a new single titled "Judas."
Donald Trump's Eminent-Domain Empire
Don't be fooled by The Donald. Take it from one who knows: I'm a South Jersey gal who was raised on the outskirts of Atlantic City in the looming shadow of Trump's towers. All through my childhood, casino developers and government bureaucrats joined hands, raised taxes and made dazzling promises of urban renewal. Then we wised up to the eminent-domain thievery championed by our hometown faux free-marketeers. America, it's time you wised up to Donald Trump's property redistribution racket, too.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
The Donald: Doing the Job the Media Won't Do
Donald Trump isn't going to run for president. He is rich, enjoys himself, says bold and often stupid things, trades his wife in for a younger model every few years, and calls Rosie O'Donnell a "big fat pig." What's not to like? But President The Donald Trump? Really?! He couldn't take the scrutiny. Given his swashbuckling life and the media's heightened scrutiny of things Republican, Trump would spend his entire campaign putting out fires. Whether it be shady-side-of-the-line business deals, "bimbo eruptions," tax shenanigans, enemies looking to get even, or Lord knows what else, he'd barely have time to round up enough B-listers to keep "Celebrity Apprentice" afloat.
No Poking President at Facebook
PALO ALTO, Calif. -- Last year, when President Obama wanted to convince Americans that his policies were paying off and creating jobs, he visited a solar-panel plant in Fremont, Calif. "The true engine of economic growth will always be companies like Solyndra," quoth the president. It was an odd choice. Solyndra was in business with the help of a $535 million federal loan guarantee, had yet to turn a profit and five months later, it shuttered one of its factories to save money.
No Trump
In bridge, a trump card is held in reserve for winning a trick. In politics, Donald Trump is anything but reserved and appears to think he might trick enough voters to win the next presidential election. There's plenty to draw on when critiquing a possible Trump candidacy. His multiple marriages (three) and affairs provide fodder for the media and contrast poorly with President Obama's "family values" image as husband of one wife and father of young daughters, whom he clearly loves.
Make the Rich Pay!
Last week, President Obama reversed course once again and now wants to raise taxes on the "rich" making above $250,000 per year. Obama is in dire need of additional revenue after proposing a $3.8 trillion 2011 budget -- containing the largest deficit in U.S. history at an estimated $1.6 trillion. Yet his latest share-the-wealth proposals make little sense. Obama never distinguishes between the super-rich and the well-off. At one point in justification, the president scoffed, "I don't need another tax cut, Warren Buffett doesn't need another tax cut."
Trump Is for Real
I've listened over the past few weeks as the mainstream GOP establishment and pundits have tried to demean the possibility of a presidential candidacy by Donald Trump. Mr. Trump, take it from me, someone who has run for and held elective office, and has been involved in more campaigns, from presidential on down, than I care to count: They are scared of you. Let's look at some of the criticisms of a Trump candidacy that have been leveled.
Conservatives are Too #@*%# Nice!
Recently, I was thrown for a loop when a friend of mine said he could no longer regard himself as a Republican because he lacked what he referred to as the mean gene. I tried not to take it personally. But my own tender feelings aside, I found it a shocking statement because, from my perspective, most of the really nasty people I know are Democrats. In fact, my main objection to conservatives is that they tend to be too polite, too mealy-mouthed, too damn reluctant to confront liberals.
President Obama Plays With Fire
WASHINGTON -- Why is it that Donald Trump is a creditable candidate with a significant segment of Republican voters? In some polls, he runs ahead of all Republicans save Mitt Romney, and all I have heard him say is that he wants to see our president's birth certificate. Imagine if he would ask to see budget cuts from the president or revenue enhancements. Frankly, I would like to see President Barack Obama's birth certificate, too. But on the other hand, I have in hand a copy of a notice of our president's birth printed Aug. 13, 1961, from The Honolulu Advertiser. That has to count for something, no? According to the notice, he was born Aug. 4, 1961, but there are a lot of other things about him I would like to know. For instance, I would like to see those aforementioned budget cuts and the revenue enhancements.
EPA's Train Wreck Could Leave Ohio in the Dark
During a recent speech at Cleveland State University focused on small business in Ohio, President Obama described a goal of "knocking down barriers that stand in the way of your growth." Unfortunately, his EPA couldn't be more in the dark about how to translate that message into practice -- with the agency poised to adopt more than 30 new, major regulations and over 170 major policy rules in the next several months. Even with 14 million Americans out of work and an economy still searching for light at the end of the tunnel, the EPA is poised to enact a series of back-door mandates that will stifle economic growth. And with the speed that this runaway train is traveling, Ohioans should be scared of the "Train Wreck" headed towards a town near you.
Ryan vs. Obama
There is a struggle now being waged in Washington, the outcome of which will determine whether the nation's economy will grow or continue to falter. The main combatants are President Barack Obama and a thoughtful member of Congress from the nation's heartland, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. One of them, the president, represents the theory that government needs to regulate every facet of the economy. The other, Rep. Ryan, champions the economic freedom that has made the United States the wealthiest and most free nation on the face of the earth.
Mr. Obama: Taxing the Rich Won't Increase Revenues
Did Barack Obama take Tax 1 in law school? I did, and I remember the first day of classes, when mild mannered Professor Boris Bittker asked a simple question, "What is income?" I was pretty confident I could come up with a quick answer, and so were a lot of other students. By the end of the hour, after Professor Bittker had politely punched huge holes in every student's definition, it was pretty clear that none of us could. Income is a slippery concept -- especially slippery when you're trying to tax it.
Semper Fi Reformer
WASHINGTON -- During 25 years in the Marine Corps, including flying helicopters in Vietnam, Rep. John Kline, a Minnesota Republican, developed the skill of maintaining small-unit cohesion. He will need this skill in his new job. Half the Republican members of the committee he now chairs are in their first term, and he laughingly guesses that in 2010 "about half of them campaigned on abolishing the Education Department." Ronald Reagan was an abolitionist, and Kline has proposed legislation to replace Ulysses Grant's visage with Reagan's on the $50 bill.
Reagan Democrats: 'Tea Baggers' or MSNBC Viewers?
Among the most preposterous claims being made on MSNBC about the fight over public sector unions in Wisconsin is that Gov. Scott Walker and the Republicans are losing "Reagan Democrats" by taking on government employees. The theory seems to have been concocted by Howard Fineman, editor at The Huffington Post, who said, back in February on Lawrence O'Donnell's "The Last Word," that the "whole idea of a Reagan Democrat" was that union families were voting for Reagan. But today, according to Fineman, they are shifting against Republicans because of Walker's tough line on government unions. "That's got to scare Republican strategists nationally," he said.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Duck, It's the Donald!
At this point, there's at least one thing you can't blame Donald Trump for: being Donald Trump. Like the scorpion in Aesop's fables who must sting the frog because that's simply what scorpions do, the world-renowned, self-promoting billionaire-clown must tout himself with passion and narcissistic self-regard. It was only a matter of time, for instance, before he came out with his own fragrance: Donald Trump Cologne by Donald Trump Eau De Toilettes (You can find it on Amazon.com. The first of the two customer reviews is from a woman who discovered the scent as it wafted up from the stock boy at "Toys R Us").
Needless Delay on Nominations
Should a president have to wait ... and wait ... and wait for the Senate to approve the people he nominates to serve in high office? Of course not. Yes, the Senate has an important role to fill, but interminable and pointless delays have become the norm. They have bedeviled both Republican and Democratic presidents in recent years, and they need to stop. (Senators, for their part, point out that presidents take too long to consider people and make nominations.)
Watch the Watchmen
I believe in the right to privacy. Yet I can think of someone who deserves very little privacy -- a policeman making an arrest. Unfortunately, in some states it's a crime to make a video of a policeman doing just that. People recording police have been threatened, detained or arrested. Some were jailed overnight. That's wrong. Police work for the public, they're paid with tax money, and most importantly, they have tremendous power. They've got the legal right to pull guns, detain us, lock us up and, in some cases, shoot us. The potential for abuse is great. So it's a good thing that modern video cameras are now so commonplace. Any abuse of police power in a public place is likely to be recorded. Why should that be a crime in some states?
All the President's Funny Money
Ka-ching, ka-ching, ka-ching. President Obama's perpetual campaign cash-o-matic machine kicks into high gear again this week as the celebrity-in-chief heads to Hollywood for several high-priced fundraisers. But while the Democrats' 2012 re-election team stuffs its hands into every liberal deep pocket in sight, questions about the Obama 2008 campaign finance operation still fester. Last week, the laggard watchdogs at the Federal Election Commission announced an audit of the Obama 2008 campaign committee -- which raised a record-setting $750 million. White House flacks are downplaying the probe as a "routine review."
Academic Rot
The average American, as parent, student and taxpayer, has little idea of the academic rot at so many of our colleges. Save for a tiny handful of the nation's colleges, what distinguishes one college from another is the magnitude of that rot. One of the best sources of information about our colleges is the New York City-based Manhattan Institute's quarterly Web magazine, Minding the Campus, edited by John Leo, former columnist for U.S. News & World Report.
Planned Parenthood: A Taint on Tiffany's
Tiffany's. Even the name sounds beautiful. America's most elegant jeweler is synonymous with engagements, weddings, births, and anniversaries. Its stunning diamonds, jewelry, and silver mementos become enduring gifts to celebrate life's most important occasions. The problem for most Americans, of course, is that Tiffany's is way over-priced.