http://www.realclearpolitics.com/ en Copyright 2008 Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:42:15 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=3.33 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss OBAMA: Hello and Happy Fourth of July, everybody. This weekend is a time to get together with family and friends, kick back, and enjoy a little time off. And I hope that's exactly what all of you do. But I also want to take a moment today to reflect on what I believe is the meaning of this distinctly American holiday. Today, we are called to remember not only the day our country was born - we are also called to remember the indomitable spirit of the first American citizens who made that day possible. We are called to remember how unlikely it was that our American experiment would succeed... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/04/obamas_weekly_address_independence_day_97303.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/04/obamas_weekly_address_independence_day_97303.html Barack Obama Barack Obama 2009/07 07/04/2009/00/00/00 Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:41:35 -0500 Hi, I'm Senator John McCain . Today, we celebrate our independence, declared 233 years ago, achieved through the trial of a long and difficult war, and preserved through the years with the blood and sacrifice of millions. It's an occasion for Americans to reunite with family and enjoy a mid-summer holiday with picnics and barbeques, ballgames and golf, and other recreation. Our appreciation for what happened on a hot summer day in Philadelphia all these years ago is often limited to a fleeting, warm feeling about an ancient generation of Americans who, against great odds, stood up... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/04/mccain_july4_gop_weekly_address_97302.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/04/mccain_july4_gop_weekly_address_97302.html John McCain John McCain 2009/07 07/04/2009/00/00/00 Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:38:40 -0500 LOS ANGELES -- There is a story about Rep. Henry Waxman during hearings on steroid use in baseball that some say is apocryphal. But I believe it -- and we have been friends for more than 25 years. It is said that after the sensational hearing where Mark McGwire said he did not want to talk about the past, the congressman came into his office the next morning and said he was surprised there was so little coverage in the newspapers. "It's all over the sports pages," a staffer told him. "Oh," said Waxman. He has never read the sports pages. You could say he is some kind... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/04/this_is_how_congress_works_97295.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/04/this_is_how_congress_works_97295.html Richard Reeves Richard Reeves 2009/07 07/04/2009/00/00/00 Sat, 04 Jul 2009 07:03:41 -0500 Thank you, governor. It is with a heavy heart that I hear these words. I so appreciate what you have done for our state and your sacrificial service. You have been a strong leader for our state, you've inspired a nation, and you've ignited the fire of real hope around the world. I profoundly respect your decision for I know the depth of character and integrity from which it springs. Rare, indeed, are such selfless acts seen in the public arena. Governor Palin has recounted well the achievements of the last two and a half years and I want to take a moment to assure Alaskans of the... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/03/alaska_lieutenant_governor_parnell_palin_97301.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/03/alaska_lieutenant_governor_parnell_palin_97301.html Sean Parnell Sean Parnell 2009/07 07/03/2009/00/00/00 Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:49:15 -0500 Wasilla, Alaska Hi Alaska, I appreciate speaking directly TO you, the people I serve, as your Governor. People who know me know that besides faith and family, nothing's more important to me than our beloved Alaska. Serving her people is the greatest honor I could imagine. I want Alaskans to grasp what can be in store for our state. We were purchased as a territory because a member of President Abe Lincoln's cabinet, William Seward, providentially saw in this great land, vast riches, beauty, strategic placement on the globe, and opportunity. He boldly looked "North to the... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/03/palin_speech_transcript_resigning_as_governor_97300.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/03/palin_speech_transcript_resigning_as_governor_97300.html Sarah Palin Sarah Palin 2009/07 07/03/2009/00/00/00 Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:28:06 -0500 Recently, the editor of Public Discourse sat down with Robert P. George to discuss the state of the marriage debate. While supporters of same-sex "marriage" claim that history is on their side, it turns out that supporters of traditional marriage have more reasons for hope than they may realize. PD: What is the struggle over the legal recognition of same-sex unions a struggle about? Is it about legal benefits? Or is it about something else? George: It's about sex. Those seeking to redefine marriage began by insisting that what they were fundamentally interested in was gaining... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/03/robert_george_on_the_struggle_over_marriage_97291.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/03/robert_george_on_the_struggle_over_marriage_97291.html Ryan Anderson Ryan Anderson 2009/07 07/03/2009/00/00/00 Fri, 03 Jul 2009 07:04:30 -0500 Wherever Jim Hansen is right now -- whatever speech the "censored" NASA scientist is giving -- perhaps he'll find time to mention the plight of Alan Carlin. Though don't count on it. Mr. Hansen, as everyone in this solar system knows, is the director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies. Starting in 2004, he launched a campaign against the Bush administration, claiming it was censoring his global-warming thoughts and fiddling with the science. It was all a bit of a hoot, given Mr. Hansen was already a world-famous devotee of the theory of man-made global... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/03/the_epa_silences_a_climate_skeptic__97290.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/03/the_epa_silences_a_climate_skeptic__97290.html Kimberley Strassel Kimberley Strassel 2009/07 07/03/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 23:03:47 -0500 The toughness issue has returned. First Dick Cheney engineered an unlikely comeback by arguing that Obama isn't tough enough to protect us from terrorists. Now Republican pundits charge that Obama lacks a backbone in dealing with Iran. This "toughness" issue has been the Achilles heel of the Democrat left in the United States for decades. We need to understand what's going on here. First of all, we're not talking about the kind of toughness that makes you willing to risk your own life for a cause. John Kerry lost a political toughness competition with George W.... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/03/the_politics_of_toughness_97289.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/03/the_politics_of_toughness_97289.html Kenneth Cone Kenneth Cone 2009/07 07/03/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 23:07:18 -0500 WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court's ruling on the Ricci case -- that white firemen suffered illegal discrimination when a promotional test on which they did well was thrown out because not enough blacks did well -- will have no effect on Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court. While overturned on Ricci, she is protected by the four dissenting justices who upheld the side of the case she had taken as a Circuit Court judge. Sotomayor was additionally helped by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's insistence on reading her dissent from the bench, as if to emphasize the... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/03/the_meaning_of_ricci_97283.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/03/the_meaning_of_ricci_97283.html Charles Krauthammer Charles Krauthammer 2009/07 07/03/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:42:50 -0500 After nine months of explosive monetary and fiscal stimulus, you'd think economic recovery would be upon us. But the June jobs report tells a much different story. Non-farm payrolls fell by 467,000 as the unemployment rate edged up to 9.5 percent. This isn't nearly as bad as the 700,000 monthly job losses of last winter, but it's still a rough number. Equally disappointing is the household survey -- often a key turning-point signal since it captures the health of small businesses -- which has dropped 811,000 in the past two months. Donald Marron, a former senior economist with... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/03/june_jobs_tell_a_bad_story_97285.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/03/june_jobs_tell_a_bad_story_97285.html Larry Kudlow Larry Kudlow 2009/07 07/03/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:37:57 -0500 Last Saturday, Honduran soldiers marched into the presidential palace, bundled up President Manuel Zelaya and put him on a plane for Costa Rica. The ouster had been ordered by the Supreme Court and approved by the Congress, as Zelaya was attempting an illegal referendum to change the Honduran constitution so he could run for another term. Will someone please explain why this bloodless transfer of power to the civilian legislator first in line for the presidency, in a sovereign nation, is any business of the United Nations, the Organization of American States, Hugo Chavez, the Castro brothers... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/03/hands_off_honduras_97288.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/03/hands_off_honduras_97288.html Patrick Buchanan Patrick Buchanan 2009/07 07/03/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:29:23 -0500 WASHINGTON -- It may seem strange to Americans, so close to our independence celebration, that Iraqis should break out the fireworks when our troops withdraw. We are not accustomed to being cast in the British role. In Iraq, nearly every achievement seems colored by ambiguity. But we are seeing achievement nonetheless. The recent American withdrawal was not a decisive military shift. Our units will no longer conduct unilateral military operations. Except for Baghdad and Mosul, however, this has been the situation in Iraq for months. American troops will still be visible on the streets in a... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/03/success_and_failure_in_iraq_97284.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/03/success_and_failure_in_iraq_97284.html Michael Gerson Michael Gerson 2009/07 07/03/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:40:46 -0500 WASHINGTON -- It took the Obama administration eight days to figure out whether Iranians being gunned down for protesting a fraudulent election and demanding basic civil liberties deserved to be acknowledged by the president of the United States. It took the O-Team less than eight hours to side with Cuba's Fidel Castro, Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega over the ouster of Manuel Zelaya in Honduras. As we now have come to expect, Mr. Obama got it wrong again, but this time, nobody noticed. The U.S. news media, preoccupied with the sudden demise of Michael... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/03/wrong_again_97287.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/03/wrong_again_97287.html Oliver North Oliver North 2009/07 07/03/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:30:49 -0500 Help me out here. President Obama immediately "meddles" in the affairs of Honduras, denouncing a military coup, the intent of which is to preserve the country's constitution, but when it comes to Iran's fraudulent election and the violent repression of demonstrators who wanted their votes counted, the president initially vacillates and equivocates. Are we expected to accept this as a consistent foreign policy? Even Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was reluctant to call the removal of President Manuel Zelaya a coup, if for no other reason than it would stop U.S.... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/02/obamas_selective_meddling_97282.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/02/obamas_selective_meddling_97282.html Cal Thomas Cal Thomas 2009/07 07/02/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:37:25 -0500 During his two months on the campaign trail as Barack Obama's running mate, Joe Biden was fond of sharing his father's witticisms with audiences to illustrate a point. One of the more common ones went something like this: "Don't tell me what you value. Show me your budget, and I'll tell you what you value." Barack Obama promised voters he would change the way Washington does business and turn the page the tired politics of the past. But newly-released documentation of White House employee salaries suggests that his administration has placed a premium on political... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/02/politics_takes_chunk_out_of_white_house_payroll.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/02/politics_takes_chunk_out_of_white_house_payroll.html Mike Memoli Mike Memoli 2009/07 07/02/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:44:58 -0500 WASHINGTON -- The implicit message, delivered by the Supreme Court majority in two of the most important decisions of the term that ended this week, is that racial discrimination is no longer as big a problem as we once thought. Neither the voting rights case out of Texas nor the affirmative action hiring case out of New Haven, Conn., said that explicitly. But the link between the two is the assumption or assertion that this society has largely healed itself and does not need the race-conscious remedies that the previous generation of politicians thought necessary. If that reading of the... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/02/the_issue_thats_not_going_away_97273.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/02/the_issue_thats_not_going_away_97273.html David Broder David Broder 2009/07 07/02/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 05:00:32 -0500 The Supreme Court's decision in Ricci v. DeStefano, the case of the New Haven firefighters, was a ringing endorsement of the Civil Rights Act of 1964's ban on racial discrimination and a repudiation of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's decision in the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. While five justices flatly rejected Sotomayor's ruling, even the four dissenters wouldn't have let stand her ruling allowing the results of a promotion exam to be set aside because no black firefighter had a top score. Ricci is also something else: a riveting lesson in... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/02/firefighter_case_shows_seamy_side_of_racial_politics_97268.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/02/firefighter_case_shows_seamy_side_of_racial_politics_97268.html Michael Barone Michael Barone 2009/07 07/02/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 05:10:32 -0500 WASHINGTON -- Hours before the House passed its cap-and-trade bill last week, freshman Democrats Tom Perriello and Frank Kratovil were pondering the political fallout of the votes they were about to cast in favor of a plan Republicans were denouncing as "cap-and-tax." "Maybe we should be called the conscience caucus," said the 34-year-old Perriello, who won his Southside Virginia district last year by 727 votes even as Barack Obama was losing it by 7,512. He recalls Kratovil, 41, replying that perhaps they would be known as the caucus of soon-to-be unemployed... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/02/warming_up_a_new_politics_97272.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/02/warming_up_a_new_politics_97272.html E.J. Dionne E.J. Dionne 2009/07 07/02/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 05:03:32 -0500 Liberal health reform advocates have talked about ramming a reform plan - including a Medicare-like public insurance option - through the Senate with only 51 Democratic votes. But a leading Senate player says it won't work. If an attempt is made to pass health reform under "reconciliation" rules - requiring just a simple majority vote - Senate Budget Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) told me, the bill would be so pared down, "you'd be left with Swiss cheese." Conrad also serves on the Finance Committee, which will mark up its version of health care reform in... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/02/_reconciliation_to_pass_health_bill_wont_work_97257.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/02/_reconciliation_to_pass_health_bill_wont_work_97257.html Mort Kondracke Mort Kondracke 2009/07 07/02/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 05:18:00 -0500 MOSCOW -- As Barack Obama packs his suitcase for his trip to Russia next week, he should bring along a copy of "The Brothers Karamazov." For the modern Russia of Vladimir Putin is still struggling with the same political riddles that Fyodor Dostoyevsky described 130 years ago. Human beings would happily trade their freedom for food and security, Dostoyevsky wrote in the novel's famous chapter, "The Grand Inquisitor." In place of this anarchic freedom, the Inquisitor offered the people "miracle, mystery and authority. And mankind rejoiced that they were once more... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/02/deja_vu_in_the_land_of_dostoyevsky_97274.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/02/deja_vu_in_the_land_of_dostoyevsky_97274.html David Ignatius David Ignatius 2009/07 07/02/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:52:29 -0500 Last month, hundreds of thousands of Iranians took to the streets to protest a rigged presidential election. Our president was extremely cautious in his initial criticism of the Iranian government's fierce crackdown against the protestors. At first, President Obama said that the United States - given our history in Iran - should not be "meddling" in the country's internal affairs. Obama suggested that the leading opposition candidate, the reformer Mir-Hossein Mousavi, might not be that different from the entrenched theocracy's choice, the incumbent (and winner of the... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/02/missing_our_moment_in_iran_97276.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/02/missing_our_moment_in_iran_97276.html Victor Davis Hanson Victor Davis Hanson 2009/07 07/02/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:39:59 -0500 WASHINGTON -- Anytime a bunch of soldiers break into a presidential palace, pick up the president and put him on a flight to exile, as happened in Honduras last Sunday, you have a "coup." But, unlike most coups in Latin America's tortuous republican history, Honduras' deposed President Manuel Zelaya bears the biggest responsibility for his overthrow. A member of the rancid oligarchy he now decries, Zelaya took office in 2006 as the leader of one of the two center-right parties that have dominated Honduran politics for decades. His general platform, his support for the... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/02/zelayas_coup_97275.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/02/zelayas_coup_97275.html Alvaro Vargas Llosa Alvaro Vargas Llosa 2009/07 07/02/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:47:18 -0500 WASHINGTON -- It hardly seems worth mentioning that the search for role models of sexual rectitude has gone pretty badly lately. That famous poster of Farrah Fawcett -- her golden locks tumbling around her shoulders and her gleaming smile offering a girl-next-door counterpoint to the suggestiveness of her red swimsuit -- sure makes it look as though, by comparison, the 1970s were an era of wholesomeness. They weren't. It was about then that social conservatives -- fed up with sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll, divorce, Roe v. Wade, women surging into the work force and who knows what... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/02/reaping_what_weve_sown_97271.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/02/reaping_what_weve_sown_97271.html Marie Cocco Marie Cocco 2009/07 07/02/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 05:04:24 -0500 If Americans hope to discuss health care, climate change, green economics or public infrastructure with any degree of realism, then the time has come to acknowledge that hearing someone say "a trillion dollars" is no reason to panic. Politicians and pundits cite that figure to argue that we cannot afford health care reform, following recent cost estimates by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), but the plain truth is that we spend (andsquander) more than that on purposes not nearly so wise and humane as universal quality health care. As a matter of fact, America's current... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/02/suddenly_a_trillion_dollars_is_too_expensive_97270.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/02/suddenly_a_trillion_dollars_is_too_expensive_97270.html Joe Conason Joe Conason 2009/07 07/02/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 05:06:32 -0500 "President Barack Obama says that he can pay for his goal to provide health care insurance for every American without it. Why isn't that good enough for you?" Elder: Yes, the President says that he can "pay for" his goal of providing health insurance for every American without it. Care to bet on that? When government proposes a program, the ultimate price tag inevitably exceeds projections. In "Why Government Doesn't Work," libertarian Harry Browne wrote: "Most older people now find it harder to get adequate medical service. Naturally, the... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/02/45_million_americans_--_who_are_those_guys_part_3_97269.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/02/45_million_americans_--_who_are_those_guys_part_3_97269.html Larry Elder Larry Elder 2009/07 07/02/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 05:06:54 -0500 Public schools are filled with eager, fresh-faced youngsters, and prisons contain many rough-looking adults with uninviting personalities. But put aside that difference and you find some important similarities between the two places -- government-run facilities where individuals are held for a specific number of years without their consent, at the mercy of their custodians. For years, the Supreme Court has been doing its best to further blur the distinction by giving public-school officials the same powers as the warden of San Quentin. So it was a mild surprise last week to learn there are... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/02/a_bare_minimum_of_student_privacy_97267.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/02/a_bare_minimum_of_student_privacy_97267.html Steve Chapman Steve Chapman 2009/07 07/02/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 05:13:33 -0500 Americans agree on health care. Ask them, "Who should pay for it," and they all answer, "Not me." But follow up with, "Who, then?" and you have a fight on your hands. Wal-Mart has greatly improved the quality of the conversation with its newfound support for requiring employers to help pay for their workers' health coverage. Its bombshell statement astounded the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and National Retail Federation. Five years ago, Wal-Mart led the "not-me coalition." The name of the game was ensuring that most of its employees' health-care... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/02/a_health-care_greeting_welcome_to_wal-mart_97266.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/02/a_health-care_greeting_welcome_to_wal-mart_97266.html Froma Harrop Froma Harrop 2009/07 07/02/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 05:15:47 -0500 Frank Lombard is a Duke University health official, a licensed social worker, a white, college-educated, legal father of two African-American boys, and according to federal authorities, a pedophile. He allegedly abused his adopted son personally and then offered him on the Internet for abuse by others. "Perv dad for fun" was his online moniker. Nobody could have guessed. Nobody but him is responsible, right? I want to believe that. Really, I do. But adoptions are government acts. What did his fellow social workers who approved this adoption know? What did they overlook? What... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/02/duke_case_raises_questions_97265.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/02/duke_case_raises_questions_97265.html Maggie Gallagher Maggie Gallagher 2009/07 07/02/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 05:17:45 -0500 As Barack Obama's trip to Moscow next week draws near, there is much talk of a fresh start -- or, as Vice President Joseph Biden put it earlier this year, "pushing the reset button" -- between the United States and Russia. But "reset" to what? A partnership based on shared democratic values, as many hoped in the 1990s? A pragmatic collaboration based on common interests such as combating terrorism, with issues of freedom and human rights sidelined? There are strong voices arguing for each viewpoint. But for the foreseeable future, neither approach is likely to... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/02/obamas_trip_to_russia_97277.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/02/obamas_trip_to_russia_97277.html Cathy Young Cathy Young 2009/07 07/02/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 07:27:45 -0500 Over the past few months, Jay Cost and I have expended quite a few keystrokes identifying the problems realignment theory. But remember, our argument is not simply that there is no emerging Democratic majority. We argue that the concept of permanent majorities in American politics is at best problematic, period. Parties adapt to changing circumstances, and generally succeed in keeping the other party at bay. Given the American preference for divided government, it is nearly impossible for one party or the other to achieve a permanent majority. And yet, the arguments for realignments keep... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/02/there_are_no_permanent_majorities_in_america_97110.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/02/there_are_no_permanent_majorities_in_america_97110.html Sean Trende Sean Trende 2009/07 07/02/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 06:06:03 -0500 (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MITT ROMNEY, (R) FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Republicans have to do what is right for the country. And I'm not sure whether politics are good or bad, but frankly, at a time like this, you have say what's right for America and fight for it as hard as you can. When the stimulus bill is wrong, when it wastes money, when it threatens the viability of our currency long term, you have to say no. When the health care plan says we are going to have the government take over health care, which is roughly a fifth of our economy, Republicans are going to have to say no to... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/01/roundtable_on_the_gops_2012_contenders_97286.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/01/roundtable_on_the_gops_2012_contenders_97286.html Special Report With Bret Baier Special Report With Bret Baier 2009/07 07/01/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:20:20 -0500 Northern Virginia Community CollegeAnnandale, Virginia 1:28 P.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT: Good to see you guys. Thank you, everybody. Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you, Northern Virginia. Thank you very much. What a wonderful welcome. And I'm so grateful to all of you for taking the time to be here. A couple of quick acknowledgments. First of all, I want to thank President Templin and Chancellor DuBois for their wonderful hospitality. We are grateful to both of them. We've got some extraordinary elected officials -- a few that I want to mention. First of all, you've got one... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/01/president_obamas_townhall_on_health_care_97280.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/01/president_obamas_townhall_on_health_care_97280.html Barack Obama Barack Obama 2009/07 07/01/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:24:49 -0500 Joining us now, as promised, the independent senator who supports a public option and universal health care, for that matter, Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Senator Sanders, thanks for joining us. SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I), VERMONT: My pleasure. SHUSTER: If we stipulate that Lieberman and a handful of Democrats may be a lost cause for you on health care, who has the power to at least make them help you at least end a Republican filibuster? SANDERS: Well, this is the way I look at it: I mean, as you heard at President Obama‘s-town meeting today, we have a disastrous health care... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/01/sen_bernie_sanders_on_health_care_97279.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/01/sen_bernie_sanders_on_health_care_97279.html Countdown Countdown 2009/07 07/01/2009/00/00/00 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:21:41 -0500 The recently passed House bill on global warming is a 1,500-page political sucker punch that could give family finances a bloody nose and ultimately flatten the economy while proponents pretend it will save the planet. In and of itself, it won't do an inch of good. Assume if you want that all the talk of unperturbed greenhouse gases finally frying us is true and that the bill would slowly reduce carbon emissions in the United States to roughly the level of 100 years ago. The impact of holding down an increase in world temperatures by the end of this century would still be something... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/01/us_will_suffer_so_dems_can_save_the_planet_97264.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/01/us_will_suffer_so_dems_can_save_the_planet_97264.html Jay Ambrose Jay Ambrose 2009/07 07/01/2009/00/00/00 Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:40:24 -0500 The House's passage of the Waxman-Markey bill raises the possibility that the United States will finally do something on global warming. This prospect has the industry hacks screaming at top volume about the horrible fate that awaits the economy. Everyone should know not to take them seriously, as I will explain in a moment. First, we should acknowledge the obvious: The bill is awful. It gives away permits to greenhouse gas emitters that should instead be auctioned. As a result, money that could be rebated to taxpayers or used to fund the development of clean technologies instead goes to... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/01/the_global_warming_lie_detector_97263.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/01/the_global_warming_lie_detector_97263.html Dean Baker Dean Baker 2009/07 07/01/2009/00/00/00 Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:37:03 -0500 Only the Senate and House Republicans can save Obama now by compromising and lending his extremist legislation the veneer of bipartisanship in order to remove it as a political issue. If the likes of GOP Sens. Olympia Snowe (Maine), Susan Collins (Maine), Chuck Grassley (Iowa), Orrin Hatch (Utah) and others refuse to go along with Obama on healthcare and on cap-and-trade, they will force him to pass both programs as one-party bills. Not only is it possible that as public support runs out on these measures he will fail even to get 50 votes to pass them, but it is likely that even if they go... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/01/gop_stand_your_ground__97256.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/01/gop_stand_your_ground__97256.html Dick Morris Dick Morris 2009/07 07/01/2009/00/00/00 Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:14:19 -0500 The United States, the OAS, the European Union, Hugo Chávez, Fidel Castro -- most of all, Chávez and Castro -- want Manuel Zelaya immediately restored to the presidency of Honduras. He was expelled from the country on the morning of June 28. Almost by unanimity, the Honduran Congress, supported by the Supreme Court, had removed him for breaking the law and ignoring the rulings of the Electoral Tribunal. But that was a technical excuse. The deep truth is a lot more dramatic: Zelaya, obstinate and rash, intent on being reelected at any cost, heedless of all the warnings of... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/01/whats_the_chance_of_stability_97255.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/01/whats_the_chance_of_stability_97255.html Carlos Alberto Montaner Carlos Alberto Montaner 2009/07 07/01/2009/00/00/00 Wed, 01 Jul 2009 06:33:14 -0500 Watchdogs are an endangered species in the Age of Obama. The latest government ombudsman to get the muzzle: Amtrak Inspector General Fred Weiderhold. The longtime veteran employee was abruptly "retired" this month -- just as the government-subsidized rail service faces mounting complaints about its meddling in financial audits and probes. Question the timing? Hell, yes. On June 18, Weiderhold met with Amtrak officials to discuss the results of an independent report by the Washington, D.C., law firm Willkie, Farr and Gallagher. The 94-page report has been made publicly available... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/01/who_railroaded_the_amtrak_inspector_general_97242.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/01/who_railroaded_the_amtrak_inspector_general_97242.html Michelle Malkin Michelle Malkin 2009/07 07/01/2009/00/00/00 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:29:03 -0500 La Rochefoucauld famously said that "hypocrisy is a tribute vice pays to virtue." This is often understood to mean that the hypocrite who says one thing but does another, says what he says because he knows it is right. The hypocrite possesses the knowledge that his behavior is wrong or sinful, and so speaks the truth, even while not living it. There is something to this. A person's failure to live up to his stated moral code need not call either the validity of that code nor his belief in the code in question. In fact, given the inevitability of moral failure in our lives, it... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/01/hypocrisy_and_public_life_97253.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/01/hypocrisy_and_public_life_97253.html Christopher Tollefsen Christopher Tollefsen 2009/07 07/01/2009/00/00/00 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:58:35 -0500 Facts. Costs. Consequences. Who cares? We're in the middle of pretending to save the planet, baby. If it's about helping "the environment," suspend reason and salvation is yours. As I'm sure you've heard a lot of smart and compassionate folks tell you lately, doing something -- anything! -- is better than doing nothing. So the House did something. It passed a "cap and trade" bill that would ration energy, destroy productive jobs, levy the largest tax increase in United States history and, for kicks, penalize foreign trade partners who fail to engage in... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/01/lets_do_something_--_anything_97252.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/01/lets_do_something_--_anything_97252.html David Harsanyi David Harsanyi 2009/07 07/01/2009/00/00/00 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:15:20 -0500 For the fourth time in six cases, the Supreme Court of the United States has reversed a decision for which Judge Sonia Sotomayor voted on the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. If this nominee were a white male, would this not raise questions about whether he should be elevated to a court that has found his previous decisions wrong two-thirds of the times when those decisions have been reviewed? Is no one supposed to ask questions about qualifications, simply because this nominee is Hispanic and a woman? Have we become that mindless? Qualifications are not simply a question of how long you have... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/01/equality_on_trial_97251.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/01/equality_on_trial_97251.html Thomas Sowell Thomas Sowell 2009/07 07/01/2009/00/00/00 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:00:36 -0500 As Americans celebrate the Fourth of July, Iran enters limbo, an uncertain yet perilous period of time separating anger-driven demonstrations from either bloody tyrannical repression or sustained popular struggle producing a liberalizing revolution. Frustration, righteous anger and bitterness powered Iran's post-election demonstrations. These emotions are also fuel for revolution. Toppling Iran's corrupt Khomeinist regime, however, requires leadership, organization and time -- in other words, calculated assessments and cool political war-fighting skills disciplining the emotional... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/01/iran_in_limbo_97250.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/01/iran_in_limbo_97250.html Austin Bay Austin Bay 2009/07 07/01/2009/00/00/00 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:16:54 -0500 WASHINGTON -- The midterm elections in Argentina have dealt a devastating blow to President Cristina Kirchner and her husband, former President Nestor Kirchner, who is the power behind the throne. The couple's support has not only been seriously eroded among the larger society but also, and perhaps more importantly in a country in which "Peronismo" represents an entire culture, within their own party. The government lost its majority in Congress, and was defeated in all the major electoral districts, including Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, Mendoza and Cordoba, as well as the... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/01/not_tears_for_them_in_argentina_97248.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/01/not_tears_for_them_in_argentina_97248.html Alvaro Vargas Llosa Alvaro Vargas Llosa 2009/07 07/01/2009/00/00/00 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:19:40 -0500 SAN DIEGO -- As one who is critical of racial preferences, I'm surprised to find myself disappointed in the Supreme Court's 5-4 decision in Ricci v. DeStefano, a case involving a group of mostly white firefighters in New Haven, Conn. They alleged "reverse discrimination" after the city threw out a promotion exam because too few minorities (one Latino and no African-Americans) scored high enough to earn promotions. Let me be clear. I oppose racial preferences because they hurt who they're supposed to help by lowering standards, stigmatizing beneficiaries, masking... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/01/judicial_activism_you_bet_97247.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/01/judicial_activism_you_bet_97247.html Ruben Navarrette Ruben Navarrette 2009/07 07/01/2009/00/00/00 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:20:25 -0500 Among the alumni of Far Rockaway High School in Queens, N.Y., are three Nobel Prize winners -- two in physics (Richard Feynman, Burton Richter) and one in medicine (Baruch Blumberg) -- plus a pioneer in women's basketball (Nancy Lieberman), a famous psychologist (Joyce Brothers), a financier (Carl Icahn) and, appallingly and with much regret, Bernard Madoff, class of 1956. Apparently, even back then I didn't like him. I was in the class of 1958, two years behind Bernie, but in the same class as his wife, Ruth. She was my friend, or so our yearbook strongly suggests, although my... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/01/the_bernie_she_never_new_97246.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/01/the_bernie_she_never_new_97246.html Richard Cohen Richard Cohen 2009/07 07/01/2009/00/00/00 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:21:00 -0500 WASHINGTON -- Finally, a new model for the wronged political spouse. It's about time. South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford's let-it-all-hang-out news conference was a different approach, too. But a better one? Pick your poison: staged declaration of politically requisite contrition, or meandering mooning of a love-struck adolescent inhabiting the body of a supposedly grown-up politician. The stomach churns at both -- and from the spousal perspective, I suppose I'd rather have my straying husband (I mean, my theoretically straying husband) driven by a different piece of his anatomy... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/01/jenny_sanford_role_model_97245.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/01/jenny_sanford_role_model_97245.html Ruth Marcus Ruth Marcus 2009/07 07/01/2009/00/00/00 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:21:42 -0500 President Obama says government will make health care cheaper and better. But there's no free lunch. In England, health care is "free" -- as long as you don't mind waiting. People wait so long for dentist appointments that some pull their own teeth. At any one time, half a million people are waiting to get into a British hospital. A British paper reports that one hospital tried to save money by not changing bedsheets. Instead of washing sheets, the staff was encouraged to just turn them over. Obama insists he is not "trying to bring about government-run... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/01/better_health_care_97244.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/01/better_health_care_97244.html John Stossel John Stossel 2009/07 07/01/2009/00/00/00 Wed, 01 Jul 2009 09:53:09 -0500 This week, American troops start leaving Iraqi cities in compliance with both former President George W. Bush's negotiated start date for withdrawal and President Barack Obama's campaign pledge. Given Bush's profound commitment to succeed in Iraq, if he were still in office and if he judged such a scheduled removal of troops to be dangerous, he doubtlessly would have postponed the action -- just as he changed his strategy and ordered the surge against the advice of most of his government and most of Washington in 2007. Yet it was that surge and the changed strategy designed and... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/01/from_kabul_to_baghdad_--_and_back_97243.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/01/from_kabul_to_baghdad_--_and_back_97243.html Tony Blankley Tony Blankley 2009/07 07/01/2009/00/00/00 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:34:51 -0500 "I am a firm believer in the power of the free market," President Obama told the Wall Street Journal recently. The "irony" surrounding his public image as a collectivist, the president insisted, was that "I actually would like to see a relatively light touch when it comes to the government." Either Obama is as confused about the definition of irony as pop singer Alanis "rain on your wedding day" Morrisette, or he was being disingenuous. Given the president's ambitious, state-bloating agenda and longtime disdain for free enterprise, the latter is... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/01/obamas_statist_ambitions_97254.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/01/obamas_statist_ambitions_97254.html Gene Healy Gene Healy 2009/07 07/01/2009/00/00/00 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:58:12 -0500 WASHINGTON -- With the cap-and-trade bill passing the House of Representatives last week by seven votes, the eight Republicans who supported it were bound to feel some rapid, political warming. Conservative Internet and radio accused them of single-handedly passing President Obama's "cap-and-tax" legislation, which is a myth; Speaker Nancy Pelosi likely would have forced the requisite number of Democratic votes in the absence of Republican backing. But these eight Republicans were still termed "traitorous." It is typical that we praise independent judgment and... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/01/cap-and-traitors_97249.html http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/07/01/cap-and-traitors_97249.html Michael Gerson Michael Gerson 2009/07 07/01/2009/00/00/00 Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:18:33 -0500