Nowhere is the contrast between Barack Obama, as defined by his rhetoric ("Obama 1") and Barack Obama as defined by his actions ("Obama 2") greater than in his foreign policy -- and especially his policy toward Israel.What if we put aside Barack Obama's rhetoric, and instead look exclusively at his...
Many voters will be comparing Mitt Romney with Barack Obama between now and election day. But what might be even more revealing would be comparing Obama with Obama. There is a big contrast between Obama based on his rhetoric ("Obama 1") and Obama based on his record ("Obama 2").For example,...
The recently discovered tape on which Barack Obama said back in 1998 that he believes in redistribution is not really news. He said the same thing to Joe the Plumber four years ago. But the surfacing of this tape may serve a useful purpose if it gets people to thinking...
There was a time when Democrats and Republicans alike could talk sense about tax rates, in terms of what is best for the economy, without demagoguery about "tax cuts for the rich."Democratic presidents Woodrow Wilson and John F. Kennedy spoke plainly about the fact that higher tax rates on individuals...
The first time I saw Chris Christie on television, shortly after he became governor of New Jersey, my immediate reaction was, "My Gosh! A Talking Republican!" It was almost like seeing a talking giraffe or a talking salamander.Technically speaking, Republicans do talk, but talking is definitely not their strong suit....
One of the many false talking points of the Obama administration is that a rich man like Warren Buffett should not be paying a lower tax rate than his secretary. But anyone whose earnings come from capital gains usually pays a lower tax rate.
How are capital gains different...
Thomas Sowell's "'Trickle Down Theory' and 'Tax Cuts for the
Rich'" has just been published by the Hoover Institution. … Sowell states that "no such theory has been found in even the most
voluminous and learned histories of economic theories." … Several years ago, Sowell, in his syndicated column, challenged anyone to
name an economist from any economic school of thought who…
of discussing new ideas is to get people thinking about them, so that they might become realistic prospects in the future.Thomas Sowell … To find out more about ThomasSowell and read features by other Creators Syndicate columnists and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate…
During the same week when the American ambassador to Libya was murdered and his dead body dragged through the streets by celebrating mobs, the President of the United States found time to go on the David Letterman show to demonstrate his sense of humor and how cool he is.But Barack...
Much puzzling behavior by Barack Obama falls into place when we go behind the image that he projects ("Obama 1") to the factual reality of the man's whole life and thrust ("Obama 2").Obama himself is well aware of the nature and importance of his image. In his own words, "I...
Random thoughts on the passing scene:Not since the days of slavery have there been so many people who feel entitled to what other people have produced as there are in the modern welfare state, whether in Western Europe or on this side of the Atlantic.Economist Edward Lazear has cut through...
If you are sick and tired of seeing politicians and others playing the race card, or if you are just disgusted with the grossly dishonest way racial issues in general are portrayed, then you should get a copy of Ann Coulter's new book, "Mugged." Its subtitle is: "Racial Demagoguery from...
When President Barack Obama and others on the left are not busy admonishing the rest of us to be "civil" in our discussions of political issues, they are busy letting loose insults, accusations and smears against those who dare to disagree with them.Like so many people who have been beaten...
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.The skills required to use the cameras and chemicals required by the photography of the mid-19th century were...
Different histories, geography, demography and cultures have left various groups, races, nations and civilizations with radically different abilities to create wealth.In centuries past, the majority population of various cities in Eastern Europe consisted of people from Western Europe -- Germans, Jews and others -- while the vast majority of the...
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.Both politicians and intellectuals have tended to have simple answers to that question, even if...
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.This can be both a generous investment and a wise investment...
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. People who are preoccupied, or even obsessed, with disparities in income are seldom interested much, or at all, in the disparities in...
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...
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...
The main thing wrong with the term limits movement is the "s" at the end of the word "limit."What are advocates of term limits trying to accomplish? If they are trying to keep government from being run by career politicians, whose top priority is getting themselves reelected, then term limits...
Thomas Sowell's latest book, "Intellectuals and
Race," one cannot emerge with much respect for the reasoning powers of
intellectuals … Sowell concludes that our nation is painting itself into a corner
when it comes to thinking about racial problems.…
