Author: Cal Thomas

My first question after reading about seven teachers in an Atlanta, Ga., public school accused of altering standardized test scores to make it appear students performed better than they actually did was: How could they!? The seven were nicknamed “the chosen” and, according to Georgia state investigator Richard Hyde, the less than magnificent seven sat […]

There are many successful liberals, so why do so many of them wish to subsidize failure for the poor, instead of showing them how to succeed? Take Dr. Ben Carson, as one example. Dr. Carson, the renowned neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Md., is enjoying a certain amount of celebrity unrelated to his […]

“If there is anything that links the human to the divine, it is the courage to stand by a principle when everybody else rejects it.” — Abraham Lincoln History is full of warnings about what happens when people follow public opinion instead of standing by their principles. In its most extreme manifestation, public opinion might […]

Last week, politicians who helped craft the Affordable Care Act (ACA) celebrated in self-congratulatory style the third anniversary of that monstrosity which will soon extinguish health care as we’ve known it. The president’s promises about the ACA saving money and allowing you to keep your existing health plan are proving false, as many predicted. The […]

President Obama should listen to former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, the “founder” of shuttle diplomacy. Kissinger told Bloomberg TV’s Judy Woodruff recently that he sees little hope in the “Arab Spring,” nor is he optimistic about peace in the region following the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood. Welcome to the party, Dr. Kissinger. Some […]

Since the Motown sound went silent — except on oldies stations — and General Motors and Chrysler (but not Ford) required life support from Washington, there has been little to recommend Detroit, Mich., to visitors, much less its residents. The recent conviction of Kwame Kilpatrick, the former mayor of Detroit, on multiple charges, including racketeering, […]

Given his track record on marital fidelity, former President Bill Clinton is not the person I would consult about “committed, loving relationships.” Clinton used those words in a Washington Post op-ed last week, urging the Supreme Court to overturn the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defines marriage as the legal union of one […]

The Broadway musical “Annie” is enjoying another revival on Broadway. The show opened during the Carter administration when America was in need of some optimism. “The sun’ll come out tomorrow,” sang Annie, and with the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, for a while, it did. Now we’re back in “Hooverville,” the name given to […]

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) is looking beyond Friday and the beginning of the sequestration. In an interview I conducted with him on Capitol Hill Tuesday, Ryan told me he believes a majority of Americans will come to understand how bad the debt is after the rhetoric gives way to reality. “Mitt (Romney) […]

ORLANDO, Fla. — Gov. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) was one of those tea party stars whom voters believed had the courage of his convictions when he promised, as recently as last summer, to block The Affordable Care Act in his state. But last week, writes the Orlando Sentinel, “Scott made an abrupt about-face, embracing a three-year […]

At the end of 1995 and stretching into January 1996, the federal government “shut down” because of an impasse between President Bill Clinton and House Republicans led by then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich. The issue was increased taxes vs. less spending. Sound familiar? The government re-opened when a bipartisan agreement was reached to balance the budget […]

Just as Lenin’s body remains on public display in Russia, because one never knows when he might be useful to rally the masses, so, too, does the ghost (but thankfully not the body) of the late Joseph McCarthy (R-Wis.) remain a useful symbol for Democrats in Washington. Senators Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) […]

President Obama’s approach to so-called “climate change” appears to include recycling old ideas. In his State of the Union address, the president recycled the idea of spending more on education, though we are still getting unsatisfactory results. A fact he inadvertently acknowledged by saying we’re not keeping up with other countries in science and math. […]

Our politics have become so polarized and corrupted that a president of the United States cannot even attend an event devoted to drawing people closer to God and bridge partisan and cultural divides without being lectured about his policies. Last Thursday at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., Dr. Ben Carson, director of Pediatric […]

An unsigned and undated Justice Department white paper, obtained by NBC News, reports The New York Times, “…is the most detailed analysis yet to come into public view regarding the Obama legal team’s views about the lawfulness of killing, without a trial, an American citizen who executive branch officials decide is an operational leader of […]

Under pressure from religious and conservative groups, the Obama administration has offered another compromise on the issue of birth control coverage within the Affordable Care Act. While exempting churches and some religiously affiliated institutions, such as hospitals and universities, from supplying the coverage, the new proposal calls for their employees to receive stand-alone private insurance […]

In the days of the late Mike Wallace, “60 Minutes” was known for hard-hitting, aggressive journalism that asked the questions viewers wanted answered and held the powerful accountable. The Jan. 27 program on which Steve Kroft interviewed President Obama (at his request, no less) and outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton fell far short of […]

Bill Clinton isn’t often wrong when it comes to politics, but his assertion in his 1996 State of the Union Address that “the era of big government is over” was a bit premature. In light of President Obama’s Second Inaugural Address, the era of big government has just begun. The reliably liberal columnist Dana Milbank […]

At last week’s signing of “executive actions” designed to combat gun violence in America, President Obama, flanked by schoolchildren, said, “…when it comes to protecting the most vulnerable among us, we must act now.” There’s no doubt that children, especially schoolchildren, are vulnerable to all kinds of threats, but are they “the most vulnerable,” as […]

Baseball great Stan Musial died over the weekend. He was 92. In September 2007, I was invited to make a speech to a civic group in St. Louis. I told the person who invited me I would come on one condition: that I could meet Stan Musial. “That’s no problem,” he said. “We are members […]

One definition of “imperial” on: dictionary.com: is, “of the nature or rank of an emperor or supreme ruler.” At his news conference Monday, a petulant, threatening and confrontational President Obama spoke like an emperor or supreme ruler. All that was missing was a scepter, a crown and a robe trimmed in ermine. This president exceeds even Bill […]

If laws were enough to deter criminal behavior prisons would be empty. The latest effort to “control” guns in America is as likely to deter someone intent on breaking the law as outlawing lust would affect one’s libido. What’s in a heart can’t be controlled by restricting what’s in a hand. Following the Newtown tragedy, […]

Biography isn’t policy. President Obama’s choice for secretary of defense, Chuck Hagel, former Nebraska Republican senator, has a resume most politicians can envy: a clean senatorial record, no ethical lapses and two purple hearts from a war many opposed and many more tried to avoid. Some think Hagel’s 2006 comment about “the Jewish lobby” should […]

As the son of a woman, the husband of a woman and the father of daughters and granddaughters, I celebrate the record number of females who are now United States senators. However, I do see some differences in the way these and other women are treated, depending on their party, policies and beliefs. Diane Sawyer […]

Everything that everyone loathes about Washington was present in the “fiscal cliff” bill just passed by Congress. It is 153 pages long; most members probably hadn’t read all of it before voting on it; it was delivered in the middle of the night; it was loaded with pork — the mother’s milk (to mix a […]

HONG KONG — We read about famous people like French film star Gerard Depardieu, who moved to Belgium to avoid a 75 percent income tax on millionaires proposed by France’s Socialist government (a measure rejected last week by a French council, though French leadership has vowed to resubmit a similar proposal). Then there is Eduardo […]

Most people who haven’t finished their shopping are starting to worry about what gifts to give a friend, relative or spouse. Quick, what did you give or receive last year? How about two years ago? Most of us can’t remember, unless it was a big-ticket item. What if you could give a gift that mattered; […]

BANGKOK — Most of us can read about sex trafficking with a sense of detachment. It is only when we see its results up close that we are forced to confront the full extent of its horror. Nana Plaza is one of several “red light” districts in Bangkok. It is less than two blocks from […]

SINGAPORE — While the U.S. unemployment rate “dropped” to 7.7 percent last month — a figure even The Washington Post acknowledged was due “…in large part because the labor force fell by 350,000…” — here in this modern and prosperous city-state of slightly more than 5 million people, unemployment is practically nonexistent. A taxi driver […]