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Brief · May 21, 2012 The Foundation"[A] good moral character is the first essential in a man." --George Washington Political Futures"Well, that didn't take long. No sooner had the idea surfaced in the house organ of the Obama reelection campaign -- that would be the New York Times -- that a Romney super PAC funded by conservative billionaire Joe Ricketts was contemplating attack ads centered on the president's now-you-see-it, now-you-don't relationship with his 'controversial' pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, he of 'God d--- America' fame, than it got shot down in one news cycle by both Romney and Ricketts, with an obligatory cameo appearance by John McCain. Even by Stupid Party standards, it was an impressive display of preemptive surrender. I can see why Romney 'repudiated' the effort; so far, so boilerplate for a cautious candidate like Mitt, who's clearly going to run on an above-the-fray, 'I can fix this mess' campaign, and leave the gut-punching to others. But it doesn't help to allay the fears of conservatives who were appalled by the 'honorable campaign' of 2008 that Romney doesn't yet realize the mortal threat Obamaism poses, not simply to the economy but to the nature of the nation. The malevolent phoniness of 'hope and change' was evident to some of us from the moment it began, and McCain's campaign's blanket proscription against calling it by name was the real reason he lost so badly. ... If the Right accepts the liberals' definition of 'negative campaigning' as simply telling the truth about them, we might as well go home." --columnist Michael Walsh How should conservatives handle Obama's character? Government"Unsurprisingly, President Obama and others have used the recent $2 billion loss by JPMorgan Chase as a call for more regulation. Obviously, our existing regulations have worked so well that more can only be better! What the president and his allies miss is that recent events at JPMorgan illustrate how the system should -- and does -- work. Let's compare two cases. In September 2003, when warned of problems at Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, then-House Financial Services Chair Barney Frank stated, 'I want to roll the dice a little bit more in this situation.' Well, Chairman Frank did indeed 'roll the dice,' and now the American taxpayer is almost $200 billion poorer. JPMorgan rolled the dice, betting that the U.S. economy would improve -- essentially a bet on Obama's economic agenda. That bet went south. JPMorgan lost $2 billion, one hundredth of the losses so far on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But the losses at JPMorgan were borne not by the American taxpayer, but by JPMorgan. The losses also appear to have been offset by gains so that in the last quarter JPMorgan still turned a profit. This is the way the system should work. Those who take the risk, take the loss (or gain). It is a far better alignment of incentives than allowing Washington to gamble trillions, leaving someone else holding the bag." --Cato Institute's Mark Calabria The Gipper"There seems to be an organized, well-financed lobby determined to preserve the natural habitat and comfort of every species except man. Well, it is time to remember that we are ecology, too." --Ronald Reagan For the Record"In his January 2011 inaugural address, California Gov. Jerry Brown declared it a 'time to honestly assess our financial condition and make the tough choices.' Plainly the choices weren't tough enough: Mr. Brown has just announced that he faces a state budget deficit of $16 billion -- nearly twice the $9.2 billion he predicted in January. In Sacramento [last] Monday, he coupled a new round of spending cuts with a call for some hefty new tax hikes. In his own inaugural address back in January 2010, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie also spoke of making tough choices for the people of his state. For his first full budget, Mr. Christie faced a deficit of $10.7 billion -- one-third of projected revenues. Not only did Mr. Christie close that deficit without raising taxes, he is now plumping for a 10% across-the-board tax cut. ... When the Obama administration's Transportation Department called on California to cough up billions for a high-speed bullet train or lose federal dollars, Mr. Brown went along. In sharp contrast, when the feds delivered a similar ultimatum to Mr. Christie over a proposed commuter rail tunnel between New York and New Jersey, he nixed the project, saying his state just couldn't afford it. On the 'millionaire's' tax, Mr. Brown says that California desperately needs to approve one if the state is to recover. The one on California's November ballot kicks in at income of $250,000 and would raise the top rate to 13.3% from 10.3% on incomes above $1 million. Again in sharp contrast, when New Jersey Democrats attempted to embarrass Mr. Christie by sending a millionaire's tax to his desk, he called their bluff and promptly vetoed it. ... Now, no one will confuse New Jersey with free-market Hong Kong. Still, because the challenges facing the Golden and Garden States are so similar, the different paths taken by their respective governors are all the more striking." --columnist William McGurn Faith & Family"It is one thing to talk about 'fairness' when it comes to allowing gays and lesbians to marry; it is quite another to claim biblical authority for such relationships. President Obama cited the 'Golden Rule' about treating others as you would like to be treated, but in doing so he ignored the totality of Scripture and the Lord Himself, who alone gets to set the rules for human behavior. The president says he is a 'practicing Christian.' It is difficult to be one while simultaneously holding a low view of the Bible, which his position on several social issues might suggest. ... I recently wrote that it is becoming increasingly difficult for people who believe the Bible is God's Word to impose their beliefs on those who disagree with them. But it is something altogether different for those who disagree to claim the Bible doesn't say what it says, in effect calling God a liar. President Obama apparently hopes there are sufficient numbers of biblical illiterates -- and he could be right about this -- that either won't notice his sleight of hand, or don't care. ... People are free to accept or reject what Scripture says. What they are not free to do is to claim it says something it does not." --columnist Cal Thomas Culture"A recent Gallup poll highlights what many political insiders know intuitively: that the cultural divide between religious and non-religious Americans plays out at the ballot box as well. Two-thirds (66%) of Americans describe themselves as somewhat or very religious, while one-third (33%) say they are 'non-religious.' According to Gallup, each of the presidential candidates, Republican Mitt Romney and Democrat Barack Obama, benefits from a core group of supporters defined by their religious perspectives. President Obama commands strong support (54% v. 38% for Romney) among white Americans who describe themselves as non-religious, while Mitt Romney followers are decidedly religious (62% of moderately or strongly religious voters support Romney while just 29% are fans of President Obama). Religious Americans understand the stakes in this election because we have felt the consequences of the most anti-religion President of our time. ... While Christians are still the largest denomination in the country -- and Christian values still guide much of what is good in our institutions -- the challenge is set before us: who will win the hearts of the growing numbers of unaffiliated Americans, particularly young people? ... The question is not just a religious one. Its implications carry over into the political and civic spheres as well." --columnist Rebecca Hagelin Essential Liberty"Soon, the Supreme Court will rule on the constitutionality of Obamacare, euphemistically titled the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. There is absolutely no constitutional authority for Congress to force any American to enter into a contract to buy any good or service. ... If the Supreme Court rules that Obamacare is constitutional, citizens should press their state governors and legislatures to nullify the law. You say, 'Williams, the last time states got into this nullification business, it led to a war that cost 600,000 lives.' Two things are different this time. First, most Americans are against Obamacare, and secondly, I don't believe that you could find a U.S. soldier who would follow a presidential order to descend on a state to round up or shoot down fellow Americans because they refuse to follow a congressional order to buy health insurance. Congress has already gone far beyond the powers delegated to it by the Constitution. ... Former slave Frederick Douglass advised: 'Find out just what people will submit to and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them. ... The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.'" --economist Walter E. Williams Reader Comments"Mark Alexander's essay, 'Obama's Gay Political Play,' is correct in its analysis that the O'campaign is betting large on the 'stupid female voter' strategy, which assumes a majority of women will vote emotively rather than intellectually, and reverse the women voter trend toward the right. Additionally, the issue is a flaming red herring the Left is betting will distract from Obama's efforts to break the back of free enterprise and complete the transformation to a Democratic Socialist economy." --George from Pennsylvania "This homophobic rant against Obama revealed a lot of hatred and anger you have. I pity you spending so much time and energy on lashing out against a minority group. Homosexuality is not a choice -- you are born one way or the other. I tried to 'choose' heterosexuality from the age of 15 through 40. It didn't work because I was born homosexual. All of the denial almost ruined my life. You do know that in 40 years when gay marriage is the law of the land that you will be looked upon as narrow minded and ignorant don't you?" --Tom Alexander's Reply: Ah, yes. Name-calling, the last refuge of some poor soul who has no substantive rebuttal. We certainly regret whatever abuse (mental, physical and emotional) you have suffered -- both that which led to your condition and that which you have endured as a result. In an effort to get beyond name-calling, please do read Alexander's essay on Gender Disorientation Pathology. Assuming our culture devolves to the point that 'gay marriage' is acceptable to a majority of people, by your calculation, that old divine prophet, Jesus, will be considered 'narrow minded and ignorant' too. As for the errancy of majority opinion, I would refer you to the advice of James Madison: 'There is no maxim, in my opinion, which is more liable to be misapplied ... than that the interest of the majority is the political standard of right and wrong.' Perhaps you assume Madison and the rest of our Founders were 'homophobic' also." "I'm very glad you pointed out that Obama had Rev Wright as his pastor for 20 years. Some media reports refer to Wright as Obama's 'one-time pastor,' which connotes a short-term relationship. Obviously this was not the case. We all must wonder about a man who subjects himself to 20 years of incendiary racism. Was he subjecting himself by force, or coercion, or politics -- or has Obama drunk the Kool-Aid, and was therefore there by choice? The answer to that question directly relates to your opening principles about character." --Hamilton "I totally disagree with the commentators belief that Obama was born in Hawaii, (as his birth certificate shows). The so-called birth certificate is a forgery as Sheriff Joe Arpaio has stated. There is just too much that points to him having been born in Kenya. There are also just too many missing links in the Obama history." --Richard Editor's Reply: For those interested in our position on Obama's birth certificate, see this editorial from April 2011. We realize that, for many, this issue will never be resolved to satisfaction. The Last Word"According to President Obama, he's a historic figure. That's no figure of speech. ... President Obama ... authorized his staff to add his name to the biographies of former presidents from Calvin Coolidge to George W. Bush on the White House website. ... This massive sense of ego has led Obama to the inevitable conclusion that his is the only opinion that matters. If he is the culmination of Ronald Reagan, John F. Kennedy and Dwight D. Eisenhower, then he is also the culmination of all moral thought for the last several thousand years. ... Obama's ego has disconnected him from everyday Americans. ... Obama's arrogance would be amusing were it not so insanely dangerous. When it comes to the world stage, it is Obama's perverse self-assurance that he can right all wrongs merely by talking at them that has doomed much of the Middle East to generations of darkness. When it comes to domestic policy, it is Obama's egotistic belief that he knows best and that Americans are simply ignorant, which has led him to embrace radical causes ranging from nationalization of health care to drilling moratoria. The American people are an open-minded and tolerant people. But we don't take kindly to being ordered about by a man with a monarchic mind. If Obama doesn't check his ego at the door, he's going to find the door hitting him on the way out." --columnist Ben Shapiro Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus et Fidelis! 
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