Thomas Sowell's Townhall.com Column

The 'Fairness' Fraud

2012-02-22T00:01:00-05:00

Thomas Sowell Column
During a recent Fox News Channel debate about the Obama administration's tax policies, Democrat Bob Beckel raised the issue of "fairness."

Academic Hypocrisy

2012-02-21T00:01:00-05:00

Thomas Sowell Column
It is fascinating to see people accusing others of things that they themselves are doing, especially when their own sins are worse.

The Progressive Legacy: Part III

2012-02-16T00:01:00-05:00

Thomas Sowell Column
The same presumptions of superior wisdom and virtue behind the interventionism of Progressive Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson in the domestic economy also led them to be interventionists in other countries.

The Progressive Legacy: Part II

2012-02-15T00:01:00-05:00

Thomas Sowell Column
"Often wrong but never in doubt" is a phrase that summarizes much of what was done by Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, the two giants of the Progressive era, a century ago.

The 'Progressive' Legacy

2012-02-14T00:01:00-05:00

Thomas Sowell Column
Although Barack Obama is the first black President of the United States, he is by no means unique, except for his complexion. He follows in the footsteps of other presidents with a similar vision, the vision at the heart of the Progressive movement that flourished a hundred years ago.

The Anti-Romney Vote

2012-02-09T00:01:00-05:00

Thomas Sowell Column
A funny thing happened to Mitt Romney on the way to his coronation as the inevitable Republican candidate for President of the United States. Minnesota, Michigan and Colorado happened.

A Defining Moment

2012-02-07T00:01:00-05:00

Thomas Sowell Column
Governor Mitt Romney's statement about not worrying about the poor has been treated as a gaffe in much of the media, and those in the Republican establishment who have been rushing toward endorsing his coronation as the GOP's nominee for president -- with 90 percent of the delegates still not yet chosen -- have been trying to sweep his statement under the rug.

Getting Nowhere, Very Fast

2012-02-01T00:01:00-05:00

Thomas Sowell Column
California has a huge state debt and Washington has a huge national debt. But that does not discourage either Governor Jerry Brown or President Barack Obama from wanting to launch a very costly high-speed rail system.

The Florida Smear Campaign

2012-01-31T00:01:00-05:00

Thomas Sowell Column
The Republican establishment is pulling out all the stops to try to keep Newt Gingrich from becoming the party's nominee for President of the United States -- and some are not letting the facts get in their way.

Is Anybody Serious?

2012-01-26T00:01:00-05:00

Thomas Sowell Column
The Republican candidates' circular firing squad now seems to be using machine guns.

A Brass Age?

2012-01-25T00:01:00-05:00

Thomas Sowell Column
This may be the golden age of presumptuous ignorance. The most recent demonstrations of that are the Occupy Wall Street mobs. It is doubtful how many of these semi-literate sloganizers could tell the difference between a stock and a bond.

South Carolina Message

2012-01-24T00:01:00-05:00

Thomas Sowell Column
Just days before the South Carolina primary, polls showed Mitt Romney leading Newt Gingrich. Then came the debates and the question about Gingrich's private life, which brought a devastating response from the former Speaker of the House -- and a standing ovation from the audience.

An Ignored 'Disparity': Part IV

2012-01-20T00:01:00-05:00

Thomas Sowell Column
Focusing attention and attacks on people who have greater wealth-generating capacity -- whether races, classes or whatever -- has had counterproductive consequences, including tragedies written in the blood of millions. Whole totalitarian governments have risen to dictatorial power on the wings of envy and resentment ideologies.

An Ignored 'Disparity': Part III

2012-01-19T00:01:00-05:00

Thomas Sowell Column
Anyone who has ever been in a Third World country, or even in a slum neighborhood at home, is likely to wonder why there can be such dire poverty among some people, while others are prospering.

An Ignored 'Disparity': Part II

2012-01-18T00:01:00-05:00

Thomas Sowell Column
One of the ways of trying to reduce the vast disparities in economic success, which are common in countries around the world, is by making higher education more widely available, even for people without the money to pay for it.

An Ignored 'Disparity'

2012-01-17T00:01:00-05:00

Thomas Sowell Column
With all the talk about "disparities" in innumerable contexts, there is one very important disparity that gets remarkably little attention -- disparities in the ability to create wealth.

Kodak and the Post Office

2012-01-10T00:01:00-05:00

Thomas Sowell Column
The news that Eastman Kodak is preparing to file for bankruptcy, after being the leading photographic company in the world for more than a hundred years, truly marks the end of an era.

Republican Voters' Choices

2011-12-29T00:01:00-05:00

Thomas Sowell Column
No one seems to be really happy with this year's field of Republican candidates for that party's presidential nomination -- except perhaps the Democrats.

Random Thoughts

2011-12-27T00:01:00-05:00

Random thoughts on the passing scene: Talk show host Dennis Miller said, "I don't dig polo. It's like miniature golf meets the...

The Past and the Present

2011-12-20T00:01:00-05:00

Thomas Sowell Column
If Newt Gingrich were being nominated for sainthood, many of us would vote very differently from the way we would vote if he were being nominated for a political office.