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| Brief · July 11, 2011 The Foundation"No country upon earth ever had it more in its power to attain these blessings than United America. Wondrously strange, then, and much to be regretted indeed would it be, were we to neglect the means and to depart from the road which Providence has pointed us to so plainly." --George Washington Government"There's no good way to spin the news that came out of [Friday's] monthly U.S. jobs report. The economy generated only 18,000 total new jobs, the unemployment rate increased to 9.2 percent, and the number of unemployed Americans has gone up by 445,000. In other words, the recovery appears to have slowed markedly. President Barack Obama's stimulus-infused 'recovery' refuses to ignite, unsurprisingly to all but him. And to make matters worse, May's paltry job growth numbers were revised even farther downward, from the initial estimate of 54,000 to 25,000. Sadly, the record continues -- the Obama recovery remains the weakest recovery of the post-World War II era. In past recessions, employment fully recovered within two to three years. Today, U.S. job growth is stopped dead in its tracks. If you want a comparison of what job growth could look like, go back to the 1980s' Reagan recovery. By the 20-month mark, the unemployment rate had dropped from 10.8 percent to 7.5 percent -- a 3.3-point drop. In contrast, under Obama, the unemployment rate has risen a full percentage point to today's 9.2 percent. ... The pace of America's economic recovery is unacceptable, and it's being made worse by the Obama Administration's adherence to a flawed philosophy of relying on government to do the work of the private sector." --Heritage Foundation's Mike Brownfield Re: The Left"Obama has run disastrous annual deficits of around $1.5 trillion while insisting for months on a 'clean' debt-ceiling increase, i.e., with no budget cuts at all. Yet suddenly he now rises to champion major long-term debt reduction, scorning any suggestions of a short-term debt-limit deal as can-kicking. The flip-flop is transparently political. A short-term deal means another debt-ceiling fight before Election Day, a debate that would put Obama on the defensive and distract from the Mediscare campaign to which the Democrats are clinging to save them in 2012. A clever strategy it is: Do nothing (see above); invite the Republicans to propose real debt reduction first; and when they do -- voting for the Ryan budget and its now infamous and courageous Medicare reform -- demagogue them to death. And then up the ante by demanding Republican agreement to tax increases. ... And what have been Obama's own debt-reduction ideas? In last week's news conference, he railed against the tax break for corporate jet owners -- six times. I did the math. If you collect that tax for the next 5,000 years -- that is not a typo -- it would equal the new debt Obama racked up last year alone. ... Obama's other favorite debt-reduction refrain is canceling an oil-company tax break. Well, if you collect that oil tax and the corporate jet tax for the next 50 years -- you will not yet have offset Obama's deficit spending for February 2011." --columnist Charles Krauthammer Essential Liberty"Opportunity only flourishes upon uncertain terrain. The government's job should be to reduce the artificial uncertainty generated by its own actions. Free people should not have to worry about being crushed by the State, or watch their commercial triumphs washed away by huge subsidies to their defeated competitors. ... No one is free unless everyone is. That means you cannot make demands upon your neighbors that you are not willing to reciprocate. It means the burden of financing our government should be shared by everyone, not lumped upon small populations that can be easily out-voted. It means that people are accountable for their actions. It is the reason a free people should embrace charity, but deny entitlement. The Declaration of Independence announced the glory of American liberty by advancing three self-evident truths. The never-ending struggle to retain that liberty involves combining those truths to produce an endless series of denials. The allure of government control and dependency is great, so every free man and woman should be prepared to spend a lifetime saying 'no.'" --columnist John Hayward Insight"Men naturally rebel against the injustice of which they are victims. Thus, when plunder is organized by law for the profit of those who make the law, all the plundered classes try somehow to enter -- by peaceful or revolutionary means -- into the making of laws. According to their degree of enlightenment, these plundered classes may propose one of two entirely different purposes when they attempt to attain political power: Either they may wish to stop lawful plunder, or they may wish to share in it." --French economist, statesman, and author Frederic Bastiat (1801-1850) The Gipper"Without timely expression and emphatic endorsement, our own belief in the principles of human freedom and representative government must eventually atrophy and wither." --Ronald Reagan Political Futures"What brilliant good it can do a country when the world respects, and will not forget, one of its leaders. What was vividly true 30 years ago is true today: The world looks to America. It doesn't want to be patronized or dominated by America, it wants to see America as a beacon, an example, a dream of what could be. And the world wants something else: American goodness. It wants to have faith in the knowledge that America is the great nation that tries to think about and act upon right and wrong, and that it is a beacon also of things practical -- how to have a sturdy, good, unsoiled economy, how to create jobs that provide livelihoods that allow families to be formed, how to maintain a system in which inventors and innovators can flourish. ... These are the thoughts that follow eight days of celebration, in Eastern Europe and London, of the leadership of Ronald Reagan. History is rarely sweet, but it was last week when they raised statues of him in his centenary year. People old and young stopped for a moment to think and speak of him, and to define what his leadership meant to them and their countries. The celebrations in Krakow, Budapest, Prague and London were a reminder that we are all traveling through history together, that you are living not only your own life but the life of your times, as Laurens van der Post once said. And your era can actually be affected, made better, by what you do." --columnist Peggy Noonan The Right OpinionOur editorial team has evaluated and selected a roster of nationally syndicated columnists who write about subjects that are relevant to our mission -- the advancement of Liberty. While we don't agree with every position taken, we find these authors best reflect good Right Thinking. We post these essays -- without advertising or frills -- by 0800 ET each day. Want the best columnists on the Web? Visit The Right Opinion every day! Opinion in Brief"Can we move past race and gender and simply elect the best American for the job? Due to liberal media manipulation and guilt, America elected an incompetent black guy as leader of the free world to prove that we are not racist. Obama's black skin has made him untouchable, the left's dream tool to further their socialist agenda. ... Obama got 96% of the black vote [in the 2008 election] with surveys proving that many blacks were clueless about Obama's intentions.... Call me crazy, but if it 'ain't' right for whites to vote for the white guy because he is white, it 'ain't' right for blacks to vote for the black guy because he is black. Yes, we blacks have suffered greatly in the past due to racism. But to exploit America's original sin of slavery as a license for black racist behavior is a slap in the face to MLK and all who have sacrificed, suffered, and died to move us forward and together as a nation." --singer, songwriter and columnist Lloyd Marcus For the Record"[H]ow many times have we heard the mantra that communism and Nazism represented the two extremes of the political spectrum, left and right, respectively? This never made sense to me, as I knew that conservatism championed political and economic liberty and that communism and fascism were the direct antithesis of these. ... Both communism and Nazism are evil totalitarian systems characterized by enormous power in the central government. ... Apart from being centralized political systems, Nazism and fascism were nationalistic, patriotic and militaristic. ... The Soviet system was more international in its orientation, being driven less by national fervor and more by world expansion. ... Communism, as conceived by Marx, was based on the perceived class struggle. Marx envisioned that the 'workers of the world' would unite against so-called capitalist oppression. Marxism was thoroughly materialistic and rooted in class warfare. Nazism was probably not so virulently anti-capitalist -- at least in terms of its ideological emphasis. It was more racially and nationally driven. ... The left's worst-kept secret is that many liberals believe -- or would at least like the electorate to believe -- that conservatives are racist. So there you have it. Conservatives are nationalistic, jingoistic and racist. Point, set, match. They're fascists. But it's as divorced from reality as it is sinister. Conservatives are driven by liberty and a healthy skepticism for centralized government. They aren't enemies of the federal government but believe it ought to be limited in its powers and scope, as contemplated and designed by the Constitution. They are the opposite of racists, aspiring to colorblindness and equality of opportunity and rights for everyone. We will proudly accept, however, the charge that we are nationalistic, patriotic and firm believers in American exceptionalism." --columnist David Limbaugh
Faith & Family"In May, a Toronto couple made international news when they revealed what they're not revealing: the gender of their baby, Storm. Parents Kathy Witterick and David Stocker claim they want their baby to grow up free of the constraints gender identification implies. That way, despite the fact that the child is anatomically well-defined, Storm can decide his or her gender when he or she is old enough to make up his or her mind about what he or she wants to be. Suffice it to say, Storm's parents have created a pronoun problem, but that's likely to be the least of their child's long-term issues. ... '[E]arly gender socialization' is deemed unhealthy for children by powerful progressive organizations such as UNICEF, which defines 'gender socialization' as 'the process by which people learn to behave in a certain way, as dictated by societal beliefs, values, attitudes and examples.' UNICEF decries this process, noting that it begins even before a child is born when the community anticipates its arrival as a boy or girl. ... [W]e're about a half-generation away from preschools full of kids named Storm who can't tell you if they're little boys or little girls, not because they don't know but because they simply haven't decided yet." --columnist Marybeth Hicks Culture"According to a shocking news report, California legislators have enacted legislation that gives the state the dubious distinction of being the first state in the nation to require public schools to include the contributions of gays and lesbians in their social studies curriculum. ... The bill, SB 48, passed on a party-line vote, adds lesbian, gay, bisexual and so-called transgendered people as well as those with physical or mental disabilities to the list of groups that schools must include in the lessons. It also would prohibit material that reflects adversely on gays. ... It will prove instructive to see how the state's lawmakers go about the job of implementing this absurd legislation. ... The matter of the content of school textbooks has long been a controversial subject, but until now it has never reached the point where specific parts of the population are singled out for preferential treatment, especially when the segment of the population is distinguished solely by their sexual preferences." --columnist Michael Reagan Reader Comments"90 Years of Red Chinese Tyranny was an excellent article! Thank you for the historical description of China's demise, its lost culture due to the communists take over. How sad when a nation is so oppressed and its leaders so bent on making everyone the 'same' that their myopic goal destroys the very thing that makes the country unique. Good thing we don't have that in the USA ... oh wait!" --Morning Glory "This isn't a complaint as I think Friday's Digest summed up the current Republican contenders pretty well. It is however, a promise; I refuse to ever again hold my nose and cast a vote for somebody just because they're the lesser of two evils. If the Republicans can't do any better than Mitt Romney I will either stay home on Election Day or write in a candidate I can believe in, as is my right as a free citizen of this Republic. If that means we're all stuck with Obama for four more years then so be it." --Kathleen "No complaints on your assessment, I think you are spot on. Of the announced candidates, I am leaning toward Bachmann then Cain followed distantly with the others. I will probably support Perry if he gets in the race. My bottom line is to beat Obama in 2012 and I will support whoever the Republican nominee is!" --Ramona "Mickey Mouse, Ronald McDonald, or Luke Skywalker would all be far better presidents than the traitorous hack that currently holds that position." --Zach "Please give equal and/or fair time to Ron Paul's candidacy. He appears (to me) to be the only viable candidate that consistently considers the Constitution in his congressional decisions. I also believe he will be the only candidate to seriously tackle the national debt and spending spree by the federal government. I also believe Ron Paul is the only candidate capable of beating Obama." --Marshel Editor's Reply: We appreciate Paul's work in the House, where he has an outstanding conservative record. However, our analysis is simply that he won't win the nomination, much less the general election. There are various reasons for that, but again, we're just calling it as we see it.
The Last Word"Speaking, as we were, about Anthony Weiner, some people were terribly upset when they learned that in spite of the sordid circumstances leading to his resignation, he stands to collect over a million dollars from his congressional pension. At first, I, too, was outraged. But then it gave me an idea how we might finally put an end to congressmen and senators growing old on the job. Years ago, I recall that a concert of composer John Cage's pain-in-the-ear music was held in New York City. What made it noteworthy was that tickets sold for five dollars, but for every hour a person could endure the pain, he would get a dollar back. If the poor saps remained for the entire concert, it would cost them nothing but their sanity. So, how about if members of Congress receive 100% of their pension if they quit after one term, but only 50% if they stick it out for a second, and nothing after that? What, I ask you, could possibly improve Congress more than installing a revolving door?" --columnist Burt Prelutsky Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus et Fidelis! Patriot News Review
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