Category: Column

“What we’ve learned through the course of this program is that this is really not a sensible way for the health care system to be run.” That was Gary Cohen, director of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight. He was talking about the apparently surprising need to […]

Let’s work through an example. Suppose 100 yards of fence could be built using one of two techniques. You could hire three low-skilled workers for $15 each, or you could hire one high-skilled worker for $40. Either way, you get the same 100 yards of fence built. If you sought maximum profits, which production technique […]

A new blockbuster survey by the noted Republican survey research firm McLaughlin and Associates reveals a stunning reversal of opinion by Republican voters on the issue of immigration reform. Where once there was hardened opposition to such legislation, a national sample of 500 self-described likely Republican voters shows broad support now emerging for the measure. […]

Most people are not even surprised any more when they hear about someone who came here from Korea or Vietnam with very little money, and very little knowledge of English, who nevertheless persevered and rose in American society. Nor are we surprised when their children excel in school and go on to professional careers. Yet, […]

PARIS — Is there anything people can possibly do these days to disgust or unnerve themselves? Or is the only barrier to bad behavior massive societal shunning, the likes of which isn’t noticed by those who are too engrossed with themselves to pay attention? I’m asking this because it seemed that everywhere I looked recently, […]

For years, conservatives have been split on whether President Barack Obama is incompetent or whether he is malicious. Mitt Romney ably made the argument for incompetence during the 2012 election cycle, when he stated that President Obama was —. Romney’s view symbolized the majority view on the issue. Until now. With the advent of sequestration, […]

Back in my teaching days, many years ago, one of the things I liked to ask the class to consider was this: Imagine a government agency with only two tasks: (1) building statues of Benedict Arnold and (2) providing life-saving medications to children. If this agency’s budget were cut, what would it do? The answer, […]

In the previous two columns, I highlighted the first seven of the top 10 reasons I wish George Washington were still alive: 10) Washington was a role model for many, even as a youth. 9) Washington epitomized courage. 8) Washington wasn’t afraid of public opinion or challenging the status quo. 7) Washington was a man […]

Is it possible that Obama’s arrogance, personal pettiness, sanctimoniousness and egotism (for starters) could finally be his unraveling? Even the liberal media are starting to notice, but will it last? Up to this point, they’ve dutifully played along with his Alinskyite tactics — converting the office of the presidency into a headquarters for community organizing […]

DENNIS PRAGER: Are you in Copenhagen as we speak? LARS HEDEGAARD: I can’t really tell you where I am at the moment. DP: Can you tell me what country? LH: I’m in Europe somewhere. DP: The reason you can’t tell is that there was an attempt to murder you just a few weeks ago. A […]

“President Obama has been among the most merciless presidents in the history of the United States,” political science professor P.S. Ruckman wrote on his blog, “Pardon Power,” over the weekend. The president had just issued 17 pardons — the first pardons of his second term. That’s merciful, right? Except that though Obama rightly used his […]

The President’s history of negotiations with Republicans has led to the remarkable feet of making Washington DC even more dysfunctional. The President has behaved as if the country is split roughly 80-20 in his favor. Through his negotiations and public pronouncements he has exploited every opportunity where he has had even the slightest advantage. This […]

“When you get mugged, there are certain rules you must follow,” my friend and his wife explained to me as we walked from a Washington, D.C., pub to their condo. “When I get mugged?” “Muggers are polite when you follow their instructions, but they get surly when you are rude,” said his wife. “How can […]

Do we have a president or a perpetual candidate? It’s not an entirely unfair question. Even as Barack Obama was warning of the dreadful consequences of the budget sequester looming on March 1, he spent days away from Washington, apparently out of touch with Democratic as well as Republican congressional leaders. In the meantime, Obama […]

Welcome to Thunder Dome. Well, at least sequestration was supposed to bring about a post-apocalyptic world until President Obama realized Republicans weren’t going to capitulate to his will (again) and raise taxes (again) to replace the sequester he birthed in 2011. There was a distinct change in tone from the White House this week on […]

According to CBS, St. Louis, Pastor Rodney Francis, of the Washington Tabernacle Baptist Church, wants to keep kiddos away from guns, so this summer his church is planning a “toy gun buy back” program. How quaint. I kid you not: A. Toy. Gun. Buy. Back. Sounds like he’s setting up the next generation to be […]

The sleight of hand continues unabated in Washington. While Barack Obama holds up this shiny, scary thing called “sequestration” with one hand, his real agenda seems to be to slip through the most massive amnesty bill ever foisted on the American people with the other. Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain, Dorothy. […]

“The report said people are getting dumber – at least I think that’s what it said, but the big words kept throwing me off.” “Ah, yes, you speak of a recent study by Stanford University researcher and geneticist Dr. Gerald Crabtree. He believes human beings are undergoing intellectual decline.” “We are?” “Writing about the study […]

Watching from the cheap seats, Obama’s “Sequester Two-Step” is quite entertaining. While not nearly as graceful as Charles Durning’s classic political footplay in “Best Little Whorehouse in Texas,” only fellow Democrat Bob Menendez puts in a better performance of the beleaguered innocent these days. In the opening scene, Barack swaggers from the golf course past […]

During his testimony before Congress this week, Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke made it a priority to dampen the growing concern that the unprecedented growth of the Fed’s balance sheet presents great risks to the economy. There has been a heightened sense even among normally complacent members of Congress that the Fed could spark a precipitous […]

There is a rule in Politics 2013 that’s evident in the flap about a White House aide’s maybe threatening or not threatening Washington Post veteran reporter Bob Woodward. The rule: The more superficial the brouhaha the bigger its impact. What public figures say is more important than what they do, because cable TV and political […]

America’s got some serious problems to solve. Our Obama Economy is still stuck in a ditch by the side of the road. Our campaigner in chief is running around the country pushing for higher taxes and no spending cuts and crying, “The federal sky will fall!” if Congress doesn’t stop the puny 10 percent sequester […]

“There once was a place called America,” our children’s children will one day write, “a bright and shining city on a hill, divinely placed by God to serve as a beacon of hope to the entire world. A land filled with generous-hearted souls who showered the needy the world over with their abundant blessings.” You […]

On Capitol Hill, events related to the congressional amnesty debate are unfolding at breakneck pace. Last week, the Obama administration authorized the release from federal detention centers of 10,000 criminal aliens. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano hinted at the move in her press conference when she disingenuously bemoaned how sequestration would force her […]

Testifying before the US Senate this past Tuesday, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke made an extraordinary claim about its bloated balance sheet: “We could exit without ever selling by letting it run off.” What Bernanke means here is that the Fed could simply hold its Treasuries and agency bonds until they mature, at which point the […]

We should not accept the statist premise that most government spending helps people. Government spending is not just wasteful or inefficient, but all too often serves to crush the private economy and individual freedom. In the coming days the media will provide a constant stream of purported victims of spending cuts. But for every victim […]