Right Opinion
The best of conservative opinion and commentary, updated daily.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
The Right Stuff Goes Wrong
Silly me. I thought America's unparalleled space program (before the present administration began dismantling it) was a triumph of American ingenuity, technology, vision and boldness. Instead, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden says its "foremost mission" is not returning to the moon, or completing a mission to Mars; rather it is improving relations with the Muslim world. Bolden says President Obama told him he also wants NASA to encourage children to study science and math, but isn't that best done by applying science and math to a robust space program? Obama is boldly going where no president has gone before.
The Wall Street 'Revolt' Against the Democrats
Here's The Washington Post's first sentence: "A revolt among big donors on Wall Street is hurting fundraising for the Democrats' two congressional campaign committees, with contributions from the world's financial capital down 65 percent from two years ago." The article acknowledges that many things explain the drop in contributions: "But the overwhelming factor is the rising anger among financial executives who think they have not been treated well based on their support of Democrats over the past four years." And "'Democrats worked hard to pass reform with tough oversight, accountability and regulation, and it's no secret the big banks were against it,' said Deirdre Murphy, spokeswoman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. 'But we believe preventing another financial collapse is the responsible thing to do.'"
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
The Founders' Vision Versus Ours
The celebration of our founders' 1776 revolt against King George III and the English Parliament is over. Let's reflect how the founders might judge today's Americans and how today's Americans might judge them. In 1794, when Congress appropriated $15,000 to assist some French refugees, James Madison, the acknowledged father of our Constitution, stood on the floor of the House to object, saying, "I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents." He later added, "(T)he government of the United States is a definite government, confined to specified objects. It is not like the state governments, whose powers are more general. Charity is no part of the legislative duty of the government." Two hundred years later, at least two-thirds of a multi-trillion-dollar federal budget is spent on charity or "objects of benevolence."
