Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College
Tue, May 14, 2013
Another Group Targeted for IRS Scrutiny
In a press conference last week, White House press secretary Jay Carney fielded
insistent questions from a variety of news agencies regarding the Internal
Revenue Service's alleged actions ...
Wed, May 08, 2013
My Inheritance
The great 20th century novelist Chaim Potok wrote, in his novel, My Name Is Asher Lev, "You have a gift, Asher Lev. You have a responsibility." My Mom had a gift of 89 years, 89 years to live her ...
Mon, April 29, 2013
Happy Birthday James Monroe
Recently, I had the pleasure of reading one of Harlow Giles Unger's thorough biographies of key figures in the era of America's founding. In reading "The Last Founding Father: James Monroe and a ...
Mon, April 29, 2013
Obama's Planned Parenthood Love Fest
"I love you!" shouted one of the rapturous faithful at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington.
"I love you back," responded the proud recipient, President ...
Wed, April 24, 2013
Academic Freedom, Civility, and the Name of Jesus
Recently, a self-proclaimed Christian instructor at Florida Atlantic University asked his students to write "Jesus" on a piece of paper and step on it. The exercise was from a textbook manual and was ...
Thu, April 18, 2013
The Inviolable Law of Nature
Editor's note: A version of this article was first published by the Reformed Theological Seminary.
When the rats begin to scramble on board a ship, it is a sure ...
Mon, April 15, 2013
Progressive Income Tax Turns 100
Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared at Investor's Business Daily.
Maybe it's a measure of progressives' refusal to look back, to always ...
Mon, April 08, 2013
Well Done, Lady Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher, one of the greatest leaders of the Cold War, of the 20th century, and of British history, has died at the age of 87.
I've referred to her as one of my Cold War seven: ...
Fri, April 05, 2013
Business, Entrepreneurship and a Vatican Think Tank
Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared at Forbes.com.
"Am I creating wealth, or am I engaging in rent-seeking behavior?" If this question would be asked during a course ...
Tue, April 02, 2013
Republicans Need to Grow Up on Taxes
Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared at Forbes.com.
Republicans are flailing about these days, trying to rebrand themselves before the next election cycle. A certain ...
Wed, March 27, 2013
True Happiness
One of the most famous opening lines in literature comes from Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina: "All happy families are like one another; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."
Great ...
Thu, March 21, 2013
Hillary Clinton's Evolution on Gay Marriage
Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared in USA Today.
Hillary Clinton supports gay marriage. This is a major shift. Yet, as someone who wrote a book on Clinton's faith, I ...
Wed, March 20, 2013
Social Justice and Pope Francis
Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared at Forbes.com.
Having spent most of his life in Buenos Aires, Pope Francis has given proof that he can rise above his environment. ...
Tue, March 19, 2013
The Hope of Heaven
In response to recently being diagnosed with a rare and terminal type of brain cancer, sitcom star Valerie Harper declared, "we are all terminal." In a cover story for "People" magazine and an ...
Sun, March 17, 2013
Medicare: Did You Really Pay for That?
Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared at Forbes.com.
Last summer, Barack Obama riled a lot of [4]entrepreneurs when he got carried
away at a ...
Sun, March 17, 2013
From Aid to Enterprise
Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared at Forbes.com.
We will always have [4]the poor among us (Matthew 26:11), but over a billion
living on ...
Fri, March 08, 2013
Reagan's 'Evil Empire' Speech Turns 30
Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared as an Exclusive Special Report for American Spectator.
Today, Ronald Reagan's Evil Empire speech turns 30 years old. It ...
Wed, March 06, 2013
Hugo Chavez: Faithful to Death
In "Hugo Chavez: Faithful to Death" (728 words), professor of political science and executive director of The Center for Vision Values at Grove City College–Dr. Paul ...
Mon, March 04, 2013
Eliminating the Debt, Progressive Style
Editor's note: A longer version of this article first appeared at American Thinker.
A wise man once told me that when any tax-levying entity operates at a deficit, the possible causes ...
Mon, March 04, 2013
Pentagon Budget as Political Football
Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared at Forbes.com.
The Pentagon's budget occupies center stage in the sequestration drama. Defense spending comprises approximately 18 ...
Mon, February 25, 2013
Considering the Guest Worker Program
Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared at The Guardian.
Suddenly, everyone in Washington seems to agree on the need for immigration reform, and they may even agree on ...
Mon, February 18, 2013
Abe Lincoln and Slavery
Stephen Spielberg's masterful movie on Lincoln and the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation have recently brought even greater attention than usual to Abraham Lincoln. Holidays like ...
Mon, February 18, 2013
Crossing the Rubcion
Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared at RealClearMarkets.com.
The current global debt accumulations are unprecedented. In fact, it can be observed that at no ...
Thu, February 14, 2013
Dr. Ben Carson's Heresy
Editor's note: A longer version of this article first appeared at American Spectator.
Liberals are apoplectic over remarks by Dr. Ben Carson at the National Prayer Breakfast. ...
Tue, February 12, 2013
Erasing Reagan: The Illiberal War on Truth
Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared at Forbes.com.
The prospect of four more years of Barack Obama in the White House has caused several conservative voices (among ...
Thu, February 07, 2013
Thinking About Think Tanks
Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared at Forbes.com.
The history of the London exchange dates back to 1698. John Castaing, a pioneer of a Starbucks of sorts, started ...
Mon, February 04, 2013
Finding the City on a Hill
One of the most widely employed metaphors in today's American political discourse is that the United States is a "city on a hill." Especially popularized by Ronald Reagan, this phrase (taken from ...
Thu, January 31, 2013
On Russia's Adoption Ban
Editor's note: A longer version of this article first appeared at National Catholic Register.
Vladimir Putin has sparked international outcry by banning adoptions of Russian children by ...
Tue, January 29, 2013
Firearms: Reasonable and Sensible?
President Obama routinely promotes his firearms policies with the adjectives "reasonable" or "sensible," and he probably believes quite sincerely that his proposals are just that. Implicit in such ...
Fri, January 25, 2013
Is America's House Divided Again?
Having just viewed Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln," and knowing that Lincoln's
birthday is approaching, it seemed fitting to ponder one of Lincoln's most
famous speeches, and perhaps a lesson ...
Tue, January 22, 2013
End of the Reagan Era?
Editor's note: A longer version of this article first appeared at American Spectator.
With Barack Obama's second inauguration, liberals are touting an altogether new epoch: the end of the ...
Thu, January 17, 2013
Obama's Medical Device Tax
Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared in The Washington Times.
With the start of the New Year, one of the little noticed but potentially harmful features of Obamacare ...
Thu, January 17, 2013
Second Inaugural of Barack Obama
Attn: Editors – The Center for Vision Values at Grove City College (Grove City, PA) is pleased to provide the following submission to your media outlet as a free service. To publish this ...
Fri, January 11, 2013
Free to be Healthy
So how is that New Year's resolution diet going? Will the long-term results be better than the last diet? For the majority of us, even successful diets are unsuccessful. We may lose weight, but it ...
Wed, January 09, 2013
Economic Outlook for 2013
Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared at Forbes.com.
I recently indulged in some wistful, year-end nostalgia, but now that 2013 is underway, let's turn our attention to ...
Tue, January 08, 2013
Human Freedom Matters
Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared at Forbes.com.
"If it matters, measure it" is the motto of the Fraser Institute, the leading Canadian think tank, where I have been ...
Thu, January 03, 2013
Remembering Robert Bork
It has been a couple of weeks since the death of Robert Bork, which occurred shortly before Christmas and didn't really get the news coverage that Bork merited.
Bork died at age 85. In ...
Wed, January 02, 2013
A Nostaligic Look at New Year's in the 1950s
Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared at Forbes.com.
New Year's observances blend recollections of the past, celebrations in the present, and anticipation of the future. ...
Thu, December 27, 2012
France: Is Anybody There?
Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared at Forbes.com.
The fiscal frenzy that has seized French socialists is not only grinding France's economy to a halt; it is ...
Fri, December 21, 2012
Christmas Thoughts 2012
The gentle spirit of Christmas brings a sense of fresh promise and renewal every year. The remembrances and commemorations of the birth of an innocent baby have a softening effect. Christmas provides ...
Fri, December 21, 2012
Robert Bork and Grove City College
On a dark February afternoon in 1988, 25 students in a U.S. Constitutional History class waited expectantly in a little-used dining hall on the campus of Grove City College (in Grove City, ...
Thu, December 20, 2012
What Should Be Done About the Fiscal Cliff?
Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared at Forbes.com.
Everyone is talking about the "fiscal cliff"–the likely impact of the expiration of the Bush tax cuts ...
Wed, December 19, 2012
Fiscal Cliff: WWRD?
By Dr. Paul Kengor and Michael Reagan
Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared at FoxNews.com.
As President Obama and Democrats urge Republicans to increase ...
Tue, December 18, 2012
Time of Giving, Giving of Time
Christ is quoted, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." Therein is one of life's toughest lessons. How do we teach our children the habit of giving?
We know that social modeling ...
Mon, December 17, 2012
America's Growing Government Class
Editor's note: A longer version of this article first appeared at American Spectator.
The latest unemployment figures are again depressing, but not for the usual reasons. They provide ...
Thu, December 13, 2012
American Politics as a Confidence Game
Reading post-2012-election news reports can be hazardous to one's mental health, particularly for the sanity-challenged among us. But perhaps the singularly most prescient comments come from long ...
Tue, December 11, 2012
Compromise or Gridlock?
Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared at Forbes.com.
As soon as the elections were over, a wave of commentaries extolling the virtues of compromise appeared in the ...
Mon, December 10, 2012
Welfare: France's Status Quo, America's Future?
Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared at Forbes.com.
Welfare has become a characteristic of President Obama's domestic policies. There has been a surge in American ...
Thu, December 06, 2012
Romney vs,McCaina nd Obama vs. Bush
Editor's note: This article first appeared at American Spectator.
Shortly after the November election, I wrote an article titled, "McCain Beats Romney!" The article focused on initial ...
Tue, December 04, 2012
The Dividends of Self Control
As Christmas approaches, Americans are once again spending a lot of money. With that in mind, here are some thoughts on the importance of self-control in our lives.
Experience, an ...
Thu, November 29, 2012
Long Live the Twinkie !
Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared at Forbes.com.
Can the Twinkie and other famous Hostess brands be saved? I hope so, and I'll offer my own two cents' on one ...
Wed, November 28, 2012
Media Begins Attack on Marco Rubio
Editor's note: A longer version of this article first appeared at American Spectator.
In a recent interview, Senator Marco Rubio, effectively the ...
Sat, November 24, 2012
Blasted Twinkie Killers
Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared at Forbes.com.
Drat! I'm bummed–saddened by the news that the Hostess company, home of the
Wed, November 21, 2012
Holidays Without Andy Williams
It was shortly before Thanksgiving. I was in the kitchen washing dishes when I heard my first music of the holiday season. Sick of talk radio and sick of election post-mortems, I gave myself a ...
Wed, November 21, 2012
The Gaza Trap
Even though Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has announced an Israel-Gaza ceasefire, it's apparent that Gaza still holds many traps for Israel.
For example, there's the media trap. ...
Mon, November 19, 2012
The Decline and Fall of America
A few days after the election of 2012 the very talented Michael Ramirez published a political cartoon that perhaps conveyed a more profound meaning than he anticipated. He depicted a pair of hands ...
Thu, November 15, 2012
2012 Elections and Power of Incumbency
Mitt Romney lost the presidential race by only two percentage points. If the election had been held just a week earlier, when he was up in the polls, things might have been different. Nonetheless, ...
Fri, November 09, 2012
V&V Flashback: The 40% President
Editor's note: A version of this piece was written for the American Thinker on January 26, 2011.
We're at the halfway mark of Barack Obama's first term as president. I say "first term" ...
Fri, November 09, 2012
An Open Letter to Mitt Romney
Editor's note: A version of this piece first appeared at USAToday.com.
Dear Mitt,
I have awakened on November 7 to learn that your bid for the presidency was unsuccessful. In ...
Thu, November 08, 2012
America's Fundamental Transformation
Timing is everything in politics. For four years, I angered conservatives by insisting Barack Obama would get reelected. I figured that an electorate willing to elect a man with ideas and a record ...
Thu, November 01, 2012
Two Percent Economic Growth: Real or Apparent?
Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared at Forbes.com.
The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) has just announced that GDP grew at a rate of 2 percent during the last ...
Wed, October 31, 2012
All Hallows' Eve
"On the vigil of the hallows, it was gloomily and steadily raining."
And so it is. I am quoting from a story set in 1945 London, but here we are on another eve of All ...
Wed, October 24, 2012
Proof of Heaven
"Heaven is Real," a Newsweek cover proclaimed last week. Renowned neurosurgeon Eben Alexander's scientific worldview had previously led him to view near-death experiences as having plausible ...
Mon, October 22, 2012
What About the Homeless?
As a biographer of Ronald Reagan, I'm constantly asked to compare today's fiscal/economic situation to what Reagan faced in the 1980s. Today's record debt/deficits remind of the 1980s, though today's ...
Wed, October 17, 2012
Intelligence and National Security Priorities
A generation ago, in the 1970s, the U.S. intelligence community possessed the technology to discern whether or not a U.S. consulate was under attack by terrorists or by rioters run amok. Moreover, no ...
Mon, October 15, 2012
Joe Biden Makes History
Editor's note:A version of this article first appeared at The American Spectator.
Joe Biden's antics against Paul Ryan have taken a few days to sink in, and should take longer still.
Thu, October 11, 2012
Holding the Fed Accountable
Many hard questions have been raised in response to the Federal Reserve's decision to embark on open-ended bond buying or quantitative easing ("QE"). Can we afford it? Will it create jobs? Will the ...
Wed, October 10, 2012
President Obama and the Intelligence Brief Scandal
The last few weeks have produced many intriguing political moments, but none as shocking as the revelation that President Obama has been absent from the vast majority of his daily intelligence ...
Mon, October 08, 2012
Politically Incorrect Billionaire
Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared at Forbes.com.
Two news items about "the rich" recently popped up online within a couple of hours of each other.
Story ...
Tue, October 02, 2012
Mitt Romney and the Politics of Virtue
When Mitt Romney blurted out his now notorious 47-percent lament, liberal gaffe-o-meters went ballistic, acting as though he were an American Ebenezer Scrooge who had just shoved Tiny Tim Cratchit ...
Mon, October 01, 2012
Imagine If This Were George W. Bush
Imagine this: The president is George W. Bush.
At his re-election celebration at the national convention, his enthusiastic supporters flood the floor with ...
Fri, September 28, 2012
Who Spends Wisest?
Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared at Forbes.com.
The financial and economic meltdown of 2008 was preceded by large increases in government spending and monetary ...
Thu, September 27, 2012
Communism on Parade?
Editor's note: A version of this piece first appeared at FoxNews.com.
"What do you think of this?" So began a phone call from Todd Starnes of FoxNews radio. Starnes asked me for a comment ...
Fri, September 21, 2012
President Obama's Munich Moment
In September 1938 the British prime minister had a problem. The Third Reich's
psychopath-in-chief was scorching the airwaves in one of his trademark rants,
this time about the supposed ...
Tue, September 18, 2012
V&V Q&A: Main Street, and QE3
Editor's Note: The "V&V Q&A" is an e-publication from The Center for Vision Values at Grove City College. In this latest edition, we interview the chair of the department of economics at Grove City ...
Fri, September 14, 2012
On Libya Three Decades Ago
By Dr. Paul Kengor and Bill Clark
Editor's note: A version of this piece was written for USA Today shortly after
the Libyan revolution in early 2011.
Wed, September 12, 2012
Religion and the 2012 Election
Religious issues have played a significant role in numerous presidential elections, as they are in 2012. In 1800, his opponents accused Thomas Jefferson of atheism and trying to undermine the ...
Sun, September 09, 2012
God, Democrats. and the Europeanization of America
The battle at the Democratic convention to exclude God from the party's platform
is no minor moment. Do not underestimate what transpired there.
And while it ...
Thu, September 06, 2012
The Silence of Bill Hillary Clinton
Editor's note: A different version of this article first appeared at National Catholic Register.
Bill Clinton was basking in glory at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday ...
Tue, September 04, 2012
Is There an Afterlife?
Throughout human history people have pondered whether death ends their existence or is the gateway to an afterlife. In recent decades millions around the world have reported near-death or out-of-body ...
Sun, September 02, 2012
A More Immediate Threat
On July 23, 2012, Syria–one of seven nations not to sign the Chemical Weapons
Convention–admitted owning a stockpile of chemical and biological weapons. A
foreign ministry ...
Sun, September 02, 2012
Does Ryan Want to Take Medicare Away from Seniors?
Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared at Forbes.com.
A year ago, opponents attacked Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), claiming that his plan
to reform ...
Tue, August 28, 2012
On God and Wall Street
Editor's Note: The "V&V Q&A" is an e-publication from [4]The Center for Vision &
Values at Grove City College. In this latest edition, we interview Dr. Craig
Columbus, co-author–along ...
Fri, August 24, 2012
Growth, Not Gifts
President Obama has been arguing for a number of plans to reduce the burden of student loans such as artificially low interest rates and allowing for some loans to be discharged through bankruptcy. ...
Thu, August 23, 2012
Man Vs Himself on Wall Street
Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared at RealClearMarkets.com.
A costly computer trading glitch involving market maker Knight Capital has intensified the debate over the ...
Fri, August 17, 2012
The Tale of the Hitchhiker's Recovery
Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared at Forbes.com.
In light of claims that we've been in an economic recovery since late 2009, news such as the unemployment rate ...
Thu, August 16, 2012
Remembering Gene Kelly
This August 23, 2012 marks the centennial of the birth of Gene Kelly, the great American dancer, actor, singer; a guy's guy who–along with Fred Astaire–is the only male who ever left me ...
Fri, August 10, 2012
Obama's Popularity with Younger Voters
Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared at Forbes.com.
According to a recent USA Today/Gallup poll, Americans under the age of 30 favor
Wed, August 08, 2012
The Significance of VJ Day
Consider this fictitious scenario: In the summer of 1950, President Thomas E. Dewey faced a national security crisis of extraordinary proportions–one that his advisors agreed likely would ...
Mon, August 06, 2012
Obama's Progress
Try to define [4]progressivism. In fact, [5]ask progressives to try to define
progressivism. All we really know is that they're, well, progressing. They and
their ideas and their politics ...
Thu, August 02, 2012
Gay Marriage: Killing Democracy of the Dead
President Obama's position on gay marriage has won some converts, from (perhaps) the entirety of the Democratic Party to (especially) young people. As to the latter, one of them emailed me recently. ...
Mon, July 30, 2012
V&V Q&A: Getting Jefferson Right
Editor's Note: The "V&V Q&A" is an e-publication from The Center for Vision Values at Grove City College. In this latest edition, we interview the co-authors of "Getting Jefferson Right: Fact ...
Tue, July 17, 2012
The Obama Nullification Doctrine
In December 1828, South Carolina had 5,000 copies of John C. Calhoun's "Exposition and Protest" printed and distributed throughout the state. A defiant document, Calhoun's "Exposition" outlined a ...
Sun, July 15, 2012
On a Wing and a . . .
Not long ago, a group of 66 members of Congress sent a letter to Secretary of
Defense Leon Panetta, urging him to issue guidance to counter an "alarming
pattern of attacks on faith" in the ...
Thu, July 12, 2012
America: Coming Apart?
Best-selling author and controversial social scientist Charles Murray is back in the news. This time it's because of his new book, "Coming Apart: The State of White America, ...
Thu, July 05, 2012
ObamaCare Decision: A Mixed Bag
The case that received more media attention and more consideration by the U.S. Supreme Court than any in recent history has been decided. The 5-4 decision upheld the "individual mandate," the central ...
Tue, July 03, 2012
V&V Q&A With Sheila Carlberg
V&V Q&A With Sheila Carlberg
"America Is My Home"
By Dr. Paul Kengor
Editor's Note: The "V&V Q&A" is an e-publication from [4]The Center for Vision &
Tue, July 03, 2012
Thomas Jefferson: An American Enigma
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of ...
Mon, July 02, 2012
Obama Fulfills Dreams of Communist Mentor
(This Article first appeared in the American Thinker.)
As readers of this site are aware, thanks especially to Jack Cashill's recent posts, I've been researching ...
Fri, June 29, 2012
Euro is a Frankenstein Currency
Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared at Forbes.com.
What do Dr. Victor Frankenstein and the architects of the euro currency have in common? Answer: They both ...
Wed, June 27, 2012
Public Sector Unions: Hope for Struggling States
Recently, Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin won a historic recall election sought by unionized government workers and their allies who opposed his bargaining reforms. Because Walker's margin of victory ...
Fri, June 15, 2012
Volckier Rule is a Step in Right Direction
JPMorgan Chase, one of the nation's largest banks, announced that it lost over
$2 billion in trading over the last few months. This has emboldened supporters
of the Volker rule, which ...
Mon, June 11, 2012
The Nation's Top Progressives, Socialists and Communists
Editor's note: A longer version of this article first appeared at American Spectator.
The left-leaning magazine The Nation has published a list of what it deems America's all-time, most ...
Thu, May 31, 2012
Cuba Backing Gay Marriage?
I was recently contacted by Ben Johnson of LifeSiteNews, who told me of a fascinating development. He informed me of a curious fan of President Obama's advocacy of gay marriage: Mariela Castro, niece ...
Thu, May 31, 2012
Remembering the Significance of D-Day
At 0227 hours on the morning of June 6, 1944, Lieutenant Robert Mathias saw the red light flash above the door of his C47 "Dakota" aircraft, signaling his men to get ready to parachute into a ...
Fri, May 25, 2012
The Flags at the Cemetery
Like many Americans, Memorial Day never ceases to move me. Rivaled only by Christmas and Easter, it's the most poignant time of the year for me, maybe because, like Christmas and Easter, it's ...
Fri, May 25, 2012
Homelessness: How Government Makes it Worse
During a recent trip to Chicago, I couldn't help but notice the large number of homeless people in the downtown area, including one homeless man pushing a child in a stroller. Homelessness was ...
Tue, May 22, 2012
Me and Mitt: A Personal Glimpse
Editor's note: A longer version of this article first appeared at Forbes.com.
What interesting timing. I had recently planned a column on my observations
about ...
Thu, May 17, 2012
Britain, Austerity and the Lessons of Economic History
Economists and pundits alike are going wild over the United Kingdom's recent "double dip" recession. The 2008-09 recession prompted the election of a conservative coalition led by Prime Minister ...
Tue, May 15, 2012
The Controversial Faith of Barack Obama
President Obama's recent statement on gay marriage has again thrust his religious views onto the front pages. In defending his position, Obama stressed that he and his wife were "practicing ...
Fri, May 11, 2012
Reflections on the French Election
Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared at Forbes.com.
The election of Socialist Party candidate Francois Hollande to the presidency of France epitomizes the sorry state ...
Thu, May 10, 2012
Allen West and His Critics
Editor's note: A longer version of this article first appeared at American Spectator.
Congressman Allen West (R-Fla.) is being heavily criticized for comments alleging that certain ...
Thu, May 10, 2012
Yo Yo Economics
Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared at Forbes.com.
President Obama recently referred to free-market economics as "you're-on-your-own economics." It's a catchy ...
Fri, May 04, 2012
Afghanization
President Barack Obama's five-point plan for turning the war back to the Afghans is designed to cover the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces and "forge a just and lasting peace." What does the plan ...
Wed, May 02, 2012
Carter to Obama: Same Old Story on Energy
As spring bloomed, the president addressed the nation on energy. The president told us, "Without our planning for the future, it will get worse … The oil and natural gas that we rely on for 75 ...
Mon, April 30, 2012
Remember Victory in Europe Day
December 1941 is usually remembered by Americans as that fateful month when
Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, thus thrusting the United States into World War
II. However, consider an alternate ...
Wed, April 25, 2012
Energy: Pennsylvania's Choice
We can't drill our way to energy independence. Or so proclaims the president and many of his supporters. Here in Pennsylvania, the proclamation rings hollow; we are in the midst of a historic natural ...
Tue, April 24, 2012
Teddy Roosevelt 2012?
The 2012 presidential election is shaping up to be one of the most significant elections in American history. The outcome of major political issues such as Obamacare, carbon regulations, and our ...
Wed, April 18, 2012
Week One of Obama v. Romney
Something wonderful unfolded in American politics the last few days.
Almost immediately after Rick Santorum dropped out of the Republican presidential hunt, David Axelrod and the Obama ...
Fri, April 13, 2012
Ozzie Guillen, Fidel Castro Baseball
"I love Fidel Castro," said Florida Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen to Time magazine. "A lot of people have wanted to kill Fidel Castro for the last 60 years, but that [expletive] is still here." ...
Wed, April 11, 2012
Sick Chickens and Sick Laws
When President Obama made his famous declaration about how he was confident that "that the Supreme Court will not take what would be an unprecedented, extraordinary step of overturning a law that was ...
Tue, April 10, 2012
Obama's Monumental Misunderstanding
President Obama recently complained about the possibility of the Supreme Court striking down Obamacare. He used the term "unprecedented" and was critical of "judicial activism" engaged in by ...
Thu, April 05, 2012
We're Serious About Constitutionality of Obamacare
America anxiously awaits the Supreme Court's decision on Obamacare. At the core of the decision is a simple question: Is the "individual mandate" in Obamacare constitutional? And thus, is Obamacare ...
Mon, April 02, 2012
A Tour of Supreme Court's Commerce Clause Jurisprudence
Editor's note: The opinions expressed by the author are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Grove City College, its Board of Trustees, or his firm.
There is a widely ...
Fri, March 30, 2012
Obama, the Russians and Missle Defense
President Obama has caused quite a stir with a private comment made to Russian President Dimitri Medvedev. In discussing missile defense, Obama suggested he would be prepared to yield to Russian ...
Tue, March 27, 2012
Rembering Audacious Military Operations
On March 19, speaking at a Morris Township, New Jersey Democratic Party fundraiser, Vice President Joe Biden provided what may be the mother of all election year bumper stickers when he asserted, ...
Mon, March 19, 2012
Election Year Politics of Energy
Realizing that his popularity may decline as the price of gasoline rises, President Obama is barnstorming the country, emphatically insisting that drilling for more oil isn't the cure for high gas ...
Fri, March 16, 2012
Culture War of Class War?
Editor's note: A longer version of this article first appeared at American Spectator.
The question for Republicans right now seems obvious: Would you prefer Rick Santorum or Mitt Romney ...
Thu, March 15, 2012
Viral Videos and International Justice
Can a viral video on the internet bring the world's most wanted criminal to justice? This question is at the core of a video viewed more than 77 million times during the last week.
Who ...
Fri, March 09, 2012
People Say the Darndest Things
Those of you past a certain age may remember the old Art Linkletter show "Kids Say the Darndest [sic] Things." The one I still remember was when Linkletter asked a little boy if he looked like ...
Fri, March 09, 2012
A Centennial Verdict on Progressivism
Contemporary liberals fondly recall their progressive forebears from a century past, who railed against trusts and fought for social justice. Certainly, their forebears did much to make them proud; ...
Mon, March 05, 2012
Israel's Options
Late in the summer of 1961, President John F. Kennedy asked the Air Force to plan a nuclear first strike on the Soviet Union. The plan involved 55 B-52 bombers hitting 80 targets to degrade Soviet ...
Thu, March 01, 2012
Sorry Mess: Presidential Apologies and Pardons
Much ink has flowed over the recent apologies from President Barack Obama, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and General John Allen, commander of NATO forces in ...
Wed, February 29, 2012
Hope Vs. Despair
Editor's note: Lee Wishing will be a participant in an April 19-20 conference hosted by The Center for Vision Values at Grove City College on "The Challenge 2012: The Divided Conservative Mind."
Mon, February 27, 2012
On Santorum, Democrats and 'God's Will'
In case you didn't notice…. With George W. Bush out of office and a Democrat in the White House, the secular media stopped its handwringing over the president mentioning God. With Rick ...
Fri, February 24, 2012
A Whiff of Privatization
Three decades ago, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher implemented a policy called "privatization" to rejuvenate the moribund economy of the United Kingdom.
Like the United States today, the ...
Wed, February 22, 2012
Satan and Santorum: A Reagan Perspective
Editor's note: A longer version of this article first appeared at The American Spectator.
The secular world today trembles and shudders at the sight of Rick ...
Mon, February 20, 2012
V&V Q&A The HHS Mandate
Editor's note: A version of this Q&A first appeared at National Review online.
V&V Q&A (Presidents Day Special): What Would Reagan Do?
The HHS Mandate ...
Fri, February 17, 2012
Strategic Abdication
From Damascus to Tehran, a test for world leadership is underway. Daily, the Syrian military–well-armed, highly trained thugs whose current mission is to keep dictator Bashar Assad in ...
Thu, February 16, 2012
What If We Removed Wartime Conscience Exemptions?
Last Friday, President Obama responded to Catholic bishops' concerns over his controversial mandate compelling Catholic institutions to provide contraception, sterilization, and abortion-inducing ...
Mon, February 13, 2012
Catholic Bishops v. Obama
I've gotten some very interesting emails regarding President Obama's mandate commanding Roman Catholics (and many evangelical Protestants) to violate their consciences by providing mandatory ...
Fri, February 10, 2012
Obama's Health Care Mandate
Editor's note: Dr. Kengor will be a participant in an April 19-20 conference
hosted by The Center for Vision Values on [4]"The Challenge 2012: The Divided
Conservative Mind."
Wed, February 01, 2012
Obama to Catholics: To Hell With You
America's Catholic bishops are princes of diplomacy, highly educated, erudite, men of tact, propriety. They're asked to shepherd the flock with a long historical timeframe–like, say, eternity. ...
Thu, January 26, 2012
Preparing the Military for Future Threats
With breaking news of a U.S. Navy SEAL team successfully [4]rescuing two
hostages from pirates in Somalia, military pundits are quick to note how the
deployment of small, elite units will ...
Thu, January 26, 2012
The Tax Rate Scandal
When Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney casually estimated that his
effective tax rate is around 15 percent, progressives immediately pounced on
the issue. To this ideological ...
Fri, January 20, 2012
Patrick Henry: Patriot
Among America's amazing pantheon of founders, Patrick Henry stands out for his stirring speeches and fervent commitment to liberty, virtue, and small government. The Virginia planter, lawyer, and ...
Wed, January 18, 2012
Military Modernization: Back to the Future
President Barack Obama's vision for modernizing the U.S. military is little more than an exercise in "back to the future."
Consider: Back in 2001, the armed forces were nearly a decade ...
Fri, January 13, 2012
Readying Romney for the Class Warfare Machine
Editor's note: A longer version of this article appears at today's American Spectator.
If Mitt Romney gets the GOP nomination, prepare for a season of class warfare in America unlike any ...
Thu, January 12, 2012
Sports, Concussions Contemporary American Culture
If you follow professional sports, and especially if you are a football or
hockey fan, you undoubtedly are aware of the rash of concussions that have
rendered players unfit to play. Now ...
Wed, January 11, 2012
The Year of the Entrepreneur
This is the time of year when 2012 prediction lists abound. I am struck by how many lists have included some reference to a surge in American entrepreneurship during the next year. Entrepreneurs are ...
Mon, January 09, 2012
The Red Card Solution
Attn: Editors – The Center for Vision Values at Grove City College (Grove City, PA) is pleased to provide the following submission to your media outlet as a free service. To publish this ...
Thu, January 05, 2012
A Kim-less Christmas
Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared at American Thinker.
This past Christmas, the people of North Korea were without their messiah. That is, their self-anointed ...
Wed, January 04, 2012
Rembering Battlers of the Bulge
On December 16, 1944, the men of Lieutenant Lyle Bouck's platoon had their all-night vigil interrupted by a pre-dawn fusillade of artillery rounds from a hundred German guns, their muzzle flashes ...
Wed, January 04, 2012
Rick Santorum's Rosetta Stone
Editor's note: Lee Wishing will be a participant in an April 19-20 conference hosted by The Center for Vision Values at Grove City College on "The Challenge 2012: The Divided Conservative Mind."
Fri, December 30, 2011
On Hitchens, Havel and Kim
Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared at TheBlaze.com.
They say that famous people die in groups of three.
I recently heard the news of the death of ...
Thu, December 22, 2011
The Five Best Christmas Movies
Let's have a happy debate: What are the five best Christmas movies of all time? Obviously, tastes differ and change over time. Here are my five favorites, the ones I am willing to watch every ...
Thu, December 22, 2011
Nativity vs. Occupiers
Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
I recently strolled down Grant Street in downtown Pittsburgh and was struck by two images.
...
Mon, December 19, 2011
Barry and the Babe
Barry Bonds' Dec. 16 sentencing for obstruction of justice is an anticlimactic addendum to a sterling, though marred, baseball career.
Without a doubt, Bonds was a great hitter who ...
Mon, December 19, 2011
On Vaclav Havel and Chris Hitchens
Editor's note: This article first appeared at The American Spectator today.
Vaclav Havel is dead. Among other forces and powers, he is among the seven individuals most responsible for ...
Thu, December 15, 2011
Happy Bill of Rights Day
An estimated 4.5 million young people will vote for the first time in the 2012 presidential election. Is this a good or bad thing?
The popular answer is that it is indeed good. Many ...
Wed, December 14, 2011
Rich Getting Richer, So Are Poor
"No matter your thoughts about the Occupy Wall Street movement, the protesters were right in at least one respect: The rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting poorer."
Wed, December 07, 2011
More Recollections from Deer Seasons Past
Last week I wrote an article on Deer Season a half century ago, focusing on my grandmother's town in the mountains of Emporium, Pennsylvania. Each year, my grandmother and other households opened ...
Fri, December 02, 2011
When Clarence Thomas Came for a Visit
On Tuesday, November 15, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas visited Grove City College. I had a choice to make–whether to meet him or attend to the tons of work I had to finish before ...
Mon, November 28, 2011
Deer Season Half a Century Ago
This week hunters across America storm the woods loaded for deer. For yet another indication of how times have changed, consider this account of Deer Season a half century ago:
My ...
Wed, November 23, 2011
An Occupy Wall Street Thanksgiving
Editor's note: A longer version of this article first appeared at TheBlaze.com.
Last week, a deranged malefactor was arrested at Occupy Wall Street for
Fri, November 18, 2011
Should a Candidate's Faith Be An Issue?
Mitt Romney's Mormon faith remains a frequent news item as the 2012 election
cycle grinds on. Not long ago, a Texas evangelist called Mormonism a cult and
has since been sharply criticized ...
Wed, November 16, 2011
Green Boondoggles
A barrage of news headlines on the [2]Solyndra scandal continue to remind us
that President Obama made green jobs one of his administration's priorities.
Those headlines also reveal this ...
Fri, November 11, 2011
Veterans: What Is Seen and Not Seen
In economics, the first lesson I teach my pupils is the lesson of things that are seen and things that are not seen. Actions have some effects that are readily apparent and others are ...
Thu, November 10, 2011
When Wall Street Erupted
Editor's note: A shorter version of this article first appeared in today's issue of USA Today.
As the indignation of the Wall Street Occupiers spreads across the nation, it is time to ...
Thu, November 10, 2011
No Regrets: Frank Kravetz' Story
Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
"Just existing became what was important," says 87-year-old Frank Kravetz ...
Mon, October 31, 2011
Looking Ahead to 2012, 2013, 2014
Whoever takes the oath of office as President of the United States in January of 2013 will inherit an economy facing multiple challenges:
Undoubtedly, still-escalating federal spending ...
Fri, October 28, 2011
Wall Street Mob and French Connection
In "The Wild One," Marlin Brando plays Johnny, a leather-jacketed vagabond sporting a black-brim hat perched on his head at a rakish angle, below which lurk piercing dark eyes and a sneer of contempt ...
Wed, October 26, 2011
A Global Central Bank?
Do we need a supranational authority to enforce social justice? The Vatican's Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace (PJCP) seems to think so. Its new document, "Towards Reforming the International ...
Mon, October 24, 2011
Sinn Fein Reacts to Death of Gaddafi
When the world learned of the capture and subsequent death of Muammar Gaddafi on Oct. 20, 2011, academics and pundits and political leaders looked to official responses before framing their own. The ...
Sat, October 22, 2011
Death of a Bad Dude
In the 1980s, I was an unrefined adolescent from blue-collar Butler,
Pennsylvania. I knew nothing and cared nothing about politics. I had no idea if
I was a conservative or liberal, ...
Thu, October 20, 2011
Cows, Communists, Cell Phones - and Wall Street
V&V Q&A:
Cows, Communists, and Cell Phones–and Wall Street
With Herb Meyer
Editor's Note: The "V&V Q&A" is an e-publication from The Center for Vision Values at Grove ...
Tue, October 18, 2011
America's Orwellian Liberalism
The ink was barely dry on the asterisk in Jimmy Hoffa Jr.'s rant about taking out those "sons-of-b*tches"–referring to Tea Party members–when the vice president made his own ...
Fri, October 14, 2011
Nancy Pelosi the Wall Street Mob
Editor's note: This article first appeared at CatholicVote.org.
Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has a lengthy track record of jaw-dropping political statements. Among them, the ...
Wed, October 12, 2011
We've Been ZIRPed
It isn't easy to earn interest income these days. Interest rates on government T-bills, banks' savings accounts, and certificates of deposit are microscopic. You can blame our government and central ...
Fri, October 07, 2011
On Steve Jobs, Roseanne Barr The Wall Street Mob
Editor's note: This article first appeared at American Thinker.
I got a double shock Thursday morning when I turned on my radio.
Thu, October 06, 2011
Remembering Steve Jobs
As an entrepreneurship educator, studying the co-founder and former CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs, has been one of the great pleasures of the profession. At times, it even feels like an indulgence given ...
Mon, October 03, 2011
Debt Control or Bondage?
The student-loan checks for the fall semester have now been cashed. Round one of the Federal debt-limit debate is over, but round two may soon begin. Should we be experiencing feelings of control or ...
Fri, September 30, 2011
The Democrats' Deadly Sin
Envy is sadness or discontent at another's good fortune or excellence. Dante defined it as a perversion of one's own good; a "wish to deprive" others of their own good. Augustine ...
Fri, September 30, 2011
God's Call? Christie and the Presidency
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is being urged to seek the Republican presidential nomination. There is a genuine groundswell for Christie.
Asked this week at the Reagan Library ...
Wed, September 28, 2011
The Boys of October
"The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball."
–Terence Mann (played by James Earl Jones), Field of Dreams
For over 100 years, baseball has been a ...
Wed, September 21, 2011
Greece on the Brink
The Greek government is in a gigantic financial hole and is teetering on the brink of defaulting on its debt. It has been able to limp along since last year only with bailouts from outside of Greece. ...
Mon, September 19, 2011
Does Alzheimer's Justify Divorce?
Recently, Pat Robertson, chairman of the Christian Broadcasting Network, told his "700 Club" viewers that divorcing a wife with Alzheimer's disease is justifiable (click here). His statement came in ...
Fri, September 16, 2011
The Deficit, The Rich The Tea Party
I've only recently come to realize the nature of the hurdle this country faces in trying to turn around a stalled economy and horrendous deficit. Here it is: liberal Democrat ...
Thu, September 15, 2011
America's Mark Twain Conservatives
Attempting to categorize conservatism in the 21st century runs the risk of plunging into the briar patch of academic labeling or the fever swamp of left-wing vitriol. In the first category, ...
Tue, September 13, 2011
Greece, Germany and the Fate of the Euro
It has been over a year since I have written about the fragile condition of the European Union's financial system. The financial crisis of a possible Greek default has been papered over since then, ...
Wed, September 07, 2011
Obama's New Stimulus Czar
Obama's selection of Alan Krueger to head the Council of Economic Advisers might be an upgrade from Austan Goolsbee, but not by much. Obama's new economic adviser lacks the foresight to craft an ...
Tue, September 06, 2011
When Teddy Roosevelt Saved Football
For more than a century baseball has been called America's national pastime, and Major League Baseball is flourishing today. However, in recent decades, football–college and ...
Fri, September 02, 2011
Obamacare: Constitutionally Infirm
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the key feature of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, better known by many as "Obamacare," is ...
Wed, August 31, 2011
Race, Segregation Heaven
The new movie, "The Help," based on Kathryn Stockett's best-selling book by the same name, continues to lead ticket sales at the box office. Both dramatize the extent and tragedy of segregation and ...
Mon, August 29, 2011
The Bedroom in the Classroom
Though my mastery of Greek mythology is not strong enough to know off-hand the
muse of history's sexual orientation, I do know that Clio might try to persuade
her father to hurl ...
Thu, August 25, 2011
China Dupes
Vice President Joe Biden made the news again this week. Three weeks ago, Biden was in the news because of reports he had denounced Tea Party members as "terrorists," a claimBiden was in the ...
Wed, August 24, 2011
Obama: From Truman's Whistle-Stop to Wilsonian Folly
President Obama's tour through the Midwest in a coal-black Darth Vader-mobile begs comparison with past presidential excursions. I'm thinking of those made by presidents Harry Truman and Woodrow ...
Wed, August 24, 2011
It's the Spending, Stupid
We have failed to heed the lessons of economic history, with terrible consequences for our economy and country. And the most crucial of those lessons, particularly since the start of LBJ's Great ...
Fri, August 19, 2011
Gold's Meteoric Rise
The price of gold has gone on a tear this summer, from slightly under $1500 per ounce to well over $1800 per ounce, and it looks like it wants to go higher. What gives?
Well, if you ...
Thu, August 18, 2011
Abortion's Slippery Slope
Ever heard of a "two-minus-one pregnancy?" Chances are you have not, unless you have read the recent article by that title in the New York Times Magazine. This expression, which we may have to ...
Mon, August 15, 2011
Reagan Stimulus vs. Obama Stimulus
Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared in USA Today.
How ironic that as America debated its debt ceiling all summer and faced a stunning credit downgrade, the ...
Fri, August 12, 2011
Deal or No Big Deal?
As the August 2 deadline for a debt-ceiling deal drew near, many expected a big deal that would significantly change the direction of federal fiscal policy. After weeks of tumultuous negotiations, ...
Wed, August 10, 2011
Need to Restructure DOD (Part II)
The U.S. Department of Defense must restructure to accommodate deep budget cuts and, more importantly, be ready for the challenges of 21st-century warfare. Those challenges will include ...
Mon, August 08, 2011
Obama's Executive Order
The Obama administration has drafted a new, little-noticed executive order that would plainly stifle free speech. The "Disclosure of Political Spending by Government Contractors" order is still a ...
Thu, August 04, 2011
The Need to Restructure DOD
In 1914, on the eve of the Great War, the Duke of Cambridge wrote, "There is a time for all things. There is even a time for change; and that is when it can no longer be avoided."
Mon, August 01, 2011
Two Negotiators: Obama v. Reagan
"Editor's note: This article first appeared at The American Spectator.
Presidential scholars write on all sorts of aspects of the American presidency. Among the most interesting ...
Fri, July 29, 2011
USA on the Brink
Some have called August 2 "Financial D-Day." That is the date, according to
Treasury Secretary Geithner, by which either Congress raises the debt ceiling
or some government ...
Fri, July 29, 2011
The Significance of Congressman West
Amidst the rhetorical pyrotechnics surrounding July's debt-ceiling debates,
another controversy streaked across the sky like a comet, flared for an
instant, then receded into the maelstrom ...
Tue, July 26, 2011
Secret Memo That Predicted Soviet Collapse
Editor's note: This article first appeared at National Review Online.
It was 20 years ago this summer that the final disintegration of the Soviet
Union rapidly ...
Sun, July 24, 2011
A Free Speech Challenge for Parents
Should a 13-year-old be able to purchase a school-shooting simulator without
parents' knowledge or consent?
The Supreme Court says that freedom of speech ...
Wed, July 20, 2011
Could You Survive Another Great Depression?
I just read two very interesting articles on the U.S. economy, written from historical perspectives. They compelled me to share my own historical perspective. And what I want to say is more about our ...
Mon, July 18, 2011
Solutions for the 'Tax Gap'
In 2010, there was a "tax gap"–i.e., the difference between federal taxes owed and those actually paid–of $410—$500 billion.
Some of the gap stems from the ...
Fri, July 15, 2011
Americans Without Chests
As Americans prepared to mark the birth of their country with the usual outpouring of celebratory events, pundits on the political right were scratching their heads over President Obama's most recent ...
Thu, July 14, 2011
Not Year of School Choice in NYC
In a recent editorial, The Wall Street Journal calls 2011 the "year of school choice." Parents and the legislators who represent them, particularly in inner-city schools, are tired of waiting for the ...
Tue, July 12, 2011
The Limits to Bernanke's Power
As chairman of our country's central bank, the Federal Reserve Board, Ben Bernanke is expected to put the economy on a sound footing and foster strong economic growth. Unfortunately, Bernanke faces ...
Wed, July 06, 2011
Controversy Over Heaven
The Red Hook section of Brooklyn recently renamed a street "Seven in Heaven Way" to honor seven firefighters who died trying to rescue victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks at the World Trade ...
Tue, July 05, 2011
Obama's 'Inalienables'
Eitor's note: A longer version of this article appears at today's American Thinker.
Each time President Obama addresses America's inalienable rights, I get emails. "Did you see Obama ...
Fri, July 01, 2011
Self-Government Demands Virtuous Populace
I encourage you to set aside the burgers and dogs and soda and beer for a moment this Fourth of July and contemplate something decidedly different, maybe even as you gaze upward at the flash of ...
Fri, July 01, 2011
Chesterton's Stars Stripes
"Lamenting that 'the English have often forgotten the cross on their flag,' Chesterton hoped that 'the crossless flag' of the United States 'may yet become a symbol of something; by whose ...
Wed, June 29, 2011
Jefferson Vs. Hamilton: The Continuing Contest
This Fourth of July marks 235 years since the Declaration of Independence was published. In this immortal document, the Spirit of '76 was given its fullest, most eloquent expression. The Declaration ...
Mon, June 27, 2011
My Congressman's Tough Job
Being a congressman can be a great job. It can be attractive for someone who relishes the ersatz virtue of playing Santa Claus with other people's money, who finds a year-round routine of ...
Mon, June 27, 2011
Planned Parenthood Funding
Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared at CatholicVote.org.
With a critical vote in its state Senate, North Carolina has voted to de-fund Planned Parenthood. Republicans ...
Tue, June 21, 2011
Our Health is Overinsured
One of the arguments for healthcare reform is that millions of Americans with employer-provided healthcare are underinsured. Proponents of this view are saying that people are underinsured if they ...
Fri, June 17, 2011
Thanks, Pop!
Father's Day is a poignant occasion for me, as for many. I never knew my biological father, who died in an accident. Mom and I lived near Detroit with her oldest sister and her husband, who were ...
Thu, June 09, 2011
Swindling America's Youth
We older Americans have saddled our youth with a mind-boggling public debt–over $20 trillion already spent ($14.3 trillion of "official" national debt plus various off-budget ...
Fri, June 03, 2011
Persist for Airport Freedom
A "Woman Screams for Help After TSA Molestation," and the "Texas Pat Down Ban May Be Back." Those are just two of the headlines breaking around the nation this morning, as summer travel picks ...
Fri, June 03, 2011
Where Have the Cold Warriors Gone?
It was 24 years ago, in June 1987, that Ronald Reagan gave his famous speech calling on Mikhail Gorbachev to "Tear down this wall." In 1990, a year after the fall of the Berlin Wall, when the ...
Wed, June 01, 2011
High Stakes Showdown Over Medicare
The trustees of the Medicare system recently reported that the program will go broke in the year 2024–five years sooner than was projected just last year.
The millions of Americans ...
Thu, May 26, 2011
Spring Contrasts
Madison, Wisconsin's winter follies relinquished their national attention to Tuscaloosa's tornado in April, events along the Mississippi in May, and finally to the most recent twister in Joplin, ...
Tue, May 24, 2011
The Global Energy Superpower
Saudi Arabia has long been the dominant producer of petroleum on the planet. Nature endowed the Arabian Peninsula with gigantic deposits of this vital source of energy. Many of us have lamented the ...
Mon, May 16, 2011
Sins of the Father
Editor's note: This article first appeared in the National Catholic Register.
As someone with the highly unusual task of researching old, declassified Soviet and Communist Party USA ...
Fri, May 13, 2011
Tax Hikes Are Coming!
President Obama is now openly proposing tax increases on at least two important fronts as part of his "solution" to the growing debt crisis.
The president's favorite approach is ...
Thu, May 12, 2011
Heaven and Hell
Heaven and hell are in the news and on Americans' minds a lot lately. "Heaven Is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back" is currently number one on The New ...
Mon, May 09, 2011
Inflation, Food, Fuel the Fed
As Americans increasingly feel the pinch of higher prices for food and fuel, the Federal Reserve's QE2 policy of creating more money has been called into question. Asked if the Fed bore some ...
Fri, May 06, 2011
What Would Jesus Cut?
That is the question asked by the left-leaning Christian organization, Sojourners, in its campaign of the same name. It is a most appropriate question given the battle over the budget and given this ...
Wed, May 04, 2011
A Report from Tuscaloosa's Ground Zero
The Warrior River borders the University of Alabama campus, separating old
Tuscaloosa from up-scale housing developments to the north. Tuscaloosans know a
"north of the river" address ...
Mon, May 02, 2011
Bush, Obama and Osama
"In Bin Laden Announcement, Echoes of 2007 Obama Speech," [2]declared the
headline in The New York Times. It's difficult to find a newspaper that has
demonstrated a worst ...
Mon, May 02, 2011
Millionaires in America
Recently, CNN's Money.com posted an article bearing the title, "U.S.
Millionaires Population Expanded by 8 Percent in 2010." According to the
article, there are now approximately 8.4 ...
Tue, April 26, 2011
Downgrading America
If you had been living on another planet the last three years, you would be
shocked to learn that the credit-rating agency, Standard and Poor's (S&P), has
placed the current AAA credit ...
Tue, April 26, 2011
Playing the Ostrich on Price Inflation
By the time you read this, there's a good chance that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will have held the Fed's first press conference following a meeting of the Federal Open Market ...
Wed, April 20, 2011
Sterilizing Those Pesky Humans
Every April 22 is Earth Day. As one who studies Soviet Russia, I can't help notice that the day coincides with the birthday of Vladimir Lenin. The inaugural Earth Day occurred April 22, 1970, no less ...
Tue, April 19, 2011
Christian Conservatives and Randians
According to a 1991 Book of the Month Club / Library of Congress survey that asked what book had most influenced their lives, the two top picks by respondents were the Bible and Ayn Rand's Atlas ...
Mon, April 18, 2011
The Signing of Jackie Robinson
Editor's note: This article first appeared at Crosswalk.com.
For many Americans, April 15 marked Tax Day. But it also marked an event much more redeeming. On April 15, 1947, Jackie ...
Fri, April 15, 2011
On Margaret Sanger, the Soviets and Democrats
Editor's note: A longer version of this article first appeared in American Spectator.
"[W]e could well take example from Russia," advised Planned Parenthood founder Margaret ...
Fri, April 15, 2011
How Radical is the Ryan Plan?
Question for those of you concerned about the size of federal debts and deficits: Would you endorse a plan which would add another five or six trillion dollars to the federal debt over the ...
Wed, April 13, 2011
Money Can't Buy You Economic Prosperity
Defenders of the Federal Reserve have been out in force recently declaring the triumph of Money Printing 2, James Grant's suggested more truthful term for "quantitative easing." Some ...
Thu, April 07, 2011
America's March of Folly
The budget deficits from the first two years of the Obama administration are of sufficient magnitude to spring Dr. "Billions and Billions" Carl Sagan from his grave. Sagan could sue for copyright ...
Fri, April 01, 2011
Roots of Tocqueville's American Exceptionalism
The Roots of Tocqueville's American Exceptionalism
Editor's note: Dr. T. David Gordon will be a participant in an April 7-8 conference hosted by The Center for Vision Values at Grove City ...
Wed, March 30, 2011
When President Reagan Was Shot
Editor's note: This article is adapted from a previous version published by the Reagan Centennial edition of Newsmax.
On March 30, 1981, Ronald Reagan, president for merely 10 ...
Fri, March 25, 2011
Imperfect Justice in Snyder v. Phelps
On March 2, the Supreme Court issued a decision in the case Snyder v. Phelps that illustrates the difficulty of balancing competing claims to rights and justice in our judicial system.
Thu, March 24, 2011
VV Q &A With Herb Meyer
Editor's note: The "V&V Q&A" is an e-publication from The Center for Vision Values at Grove City College. In this latest edition, professor of political science and executive director of the ...
Mon, March 21, 2011
The Ted Kennedy Chronicles
Editor's note: A longer version of this article first appeared at American Thinker.
Another round of declassified FBI files on Senator Ted Kennedy has been released (click here and ...
Fri, March 18, 2011
The Great Lisbon Earthquake
It was November 1, 1755, All Saints Day in the Roman Catholic faith. The churches were full as the faithful worshiped. Suddenly, the earth began to shake and continued for more than three ...
Mon, March 14, 2011
Budget Tightening in PA and Across the Nation
Pennsylvania's new governor, Tom Corbett, has submitted his first annual budget to the state legislature. It includes proposals for spending cuts and no new taxes. In some ways, the budget is a model ...
Sun, March 13, 2011
The TEA Party vs. NPR
"The current Republican Party, particularly the Tea Party, is fanatically
involved in people's personal lives and very fundamental Christian," said
NPR's Ron Schiller to two ...
Tue, March 08, 2011
When Winston Warned America
It was 65 years ago, March 5, 1946, when Winston Churchill delivered his "Iron Curtain" speech in Fulton, Missouri. It was a speech that rocked the world and changed history.
By then, ...
Fri, March 04, 2011
Who Objects to Free Speech?
Free speech has always been one of our most cherished rights. It has come under attack repeatedly by those who find it to be an inconvenient and unwanted obstacle to the attainment of their political ...
Mon, February 28, 2011
Debt Ceiling Dance
Once again it's time to talk about raising the statutory limit on the U.S. government's debt–the so-called "debt ceiling." Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has estimated that Uncle Sam will ...
Fri, February 25, 2011
Purpose of Government: Wealth Distribution?
A teachable moment on the purpose of government recently occurred on MSNBC's "The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell," who has picked up the torch for the departed Keith Olbermann. It was ...
Tue, February 22, 2011
Wisconsin Unions vs. Governor Walker
Editor's note: A version of this article was first published by the Christian Science Monitor.
It is hard to overstate what is at stake in the dramatic showdown between Wisconsin's ...
Fri, February 18, 2011
Jeopardy: Humans Are Still the Masters
I have been using computers since 1982 and still recall a simple artificial intelligence program that ran on my Commodore 64. I was mindful of that this week as I watched IBM's computer–named ...
Wed, February 16, 2011
V&V Q&A with Ron Templeton
Editor's note: The "V&V Q&A" is an e-publication from The Center for Vision Values at Grove City College. In this latest edition, fellow for entrepreneurship and innovation with The Center ...
Tue, February 08, 2011
Honoring Reagan's Memory in the Most Honorable Way
It is fitting that we are pausing to remember President Ronald Wilson Reagan on
the centennial anniversary of his birth this February, a month that also
includes Presidents' Day. There ...
Mon, February 07, 2011
Ronald Reagan: The Anti-Nixon/Kissinger
This February marks the birth centennial of Ronald Reagan. As a Reagan biographer, I'm often asked how Reagan was different from his predecessors, Republican and Democrat, and especially in ...
Fri, February 04, 2011
The Truth About Ronald Reagan's Mind and Memory
Editor's note: This article first appeared at FOXNews.com earlier today.
Ron Reagan, son of the late president, continues to get attention because of speculation in his new book ...
Thu, February 03, 2011
The Professor, the Prankster and the President
Editor's note: As we near the centennial celebration of President Ronald Reagan's birth–and as The Center for Vision Values prepares for tonight's Fifth Annual Ronald Reagan Lecture by ...
Tue, February 01, 2011
Economics of the State of the Union
The news from Egypt has thrust President Obama's State of the Union off the front pages. While that news is critical, so is further analysis of the State of the Union, especially from an economic ...
Thu, January 27, 2011
The New-Old Barack Obama
The 2012 presidential campaign has begun. Not being a political junkie, it gives me no pleasure to report this phenomenon. And no further proof of this assertion is needed than Barack Obama's ...
Wed, January 26, 2011
SOTU: Best Response is No Response
Last night, Republican Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin delivered the official "Republican Response" to the State of the Union (SOTU). I wish there were no official response, and that's not ...
Tue, January 25, 2011
Remembering Roe: A Forgotten Warning from Ronald Reagan
Given the somber anniversary of Roe v. Wade–source of 40 million abortions since 1973–I thought I'd share an excellent but forgotten speech by President Ronald Reagan. The speechwriter ...
Wed, January 19, 2011
Hu's in Town: Time to Talk Money
China's President Hu Jintao is visiting the United States this week. This means we can count on two things: 1) a proliferation of Hu/who jokes (think: Abbott and Costello, "Who's on first?"); and 2) ...
Wed, January 19, 2011
Reagan and Alzheimers
Editor's note: This article first appeared at FOXNews.com earlier today.
This February 6, 2011 marks the centennial of Ronald Reagan's birth. Reagan died June 5, ...
Tue, January 18, 2011
Changing the Mood: Two Inaugurals
This January 20 marks the anniversary of two unforgettable inaugural addresses from two beloved presidents, Democrat and Republican: John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan. For Kennedy's speech, ...
Fri, January 14, 2011
Reagan Centennial: Ronnie and Joe
Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared at National Review Online on February 6, 2010.
February 6, 2011 marks the 100th anniversary of Ronald Reagan's birth. In a telling ...
Thu, January 13, 2011
On Reading Aloud in Congress
Opening the 112th Congress by having a succession of representatives read the Constitution aloud on the floor of the House was a worthwhile exercise, despite heated criticism to the contrary.
...
Mon, January 10, 2011
Lost Religious Liberties Around the World
Americans take religious liberty for granted. Unfortunately, this most fundamental freedom is not protected in many countries around the world.
Religious liberty is the proverbial ...
Fri, January 07, 2011
Death of the Pro-Life Democrat?
Editor's note: A longer version of this article first appeared in American Spectator.
With the swearing in of the 112th Congress, an already endangered species is nearing extinction in ...
Thu, January 06, 2011
V V Q A : "Showdown" with Dr. Jamie Glazov
Editor's Note: The "V&V Q&A" is an e-publication from The Center for Vision Values at Grove City College. Each issue will present an interview with an intriguing thinker or opinion-maker that we hope ...
Tue, January 04, 2011
Historical Outrage of 2010
Editor's note: Another version of this article first appeared in the Washington Times.
Of course, it's customary at year's end to share our favorite news items from the year past. As ...
Thu, December 23, 2010
Christmas with Clarence (Darrow)
Editor's note: A longer version of this article first appeared in the American Spectator.
No, that's not "Clarence the Angel" of It's a Wonderful Life fame. The Clarence ...
Wed, December 22, 2010
The Tea Party's Uphill Challenge
The Tea Party movement and its millions of supporters have high hopes that the recent elections will rein in runaway government. While I endorse this objective, accomplishing it will be far more ...
Mon, December 20, 2010
Christmas at Katyn
The people of Poland got an early Christmas present this year. It's bittersweet but long awaited, and indeed a gift of sorts–and from an unlikely source: Russia. In Moscow, the State Duma, ...
Mon, December 13, 2010
Jimmy Carter: Wrong on North Korea
It is not often that I am struck speechless by any individual act of political commentary. Yet, former President Jimmy Carter accomplished just that through a recent editorial in the Washington Post. ...
Thu, December 09, 2010
Honroring Bill of Rights Day
December 15 is Bill of Rights Day. This year is the 219th anniversary of the adoption of the first 10 amendments to the United States Constitution–the Bill of Rights.
Few ...
Tue, December 07, 2010
Barack 'Clinton' Obama?
"Obama Announces 'Framework' for Deal With Congress to Extend Bush-Era Tax Cuts." That was the lead headline at this morning's FoxNews website. It's an eye-grabber, for sure.
Mon, December 06, 2010
The Lessons of Japan
Since Fed chairman Ben Bernanke announced his plan for the Federal Reserve to inflate (I'm sorry, "quantitatively ease") commercial bank reserves by $600 billion, he has come under surprising, but ...
Thu, December 02, 2010
Dealing with the Debt Monster
In January 1850, President Zachary Taylor peppered the air with language bluer than a Union uniform. He asserted that he would personally lead an army against traitors who threatened ...
Mon, November 29, 2010
Duped on North Korea
North Korea is not an easy issue. I've dealt with it since the early 1990s, beginning at the Center for Strategic International Studies. I had few answers then, and I still have few today.
Wed, November 24, 2010
A Thanksgiving Lesson
Every fall in my Econ 101 course, during the last class period before we part for Thanksgiving, I share a lesson from early American history. It is particularly timely, because it deals with ...
Wed, November 24, 2010
From Redeemer Nation to Redeemer President
Recently, I was re-reading a favorite book of mine that has been on my shelf within eyesight for decades. That book is Ernest Lee Tuveson's Redeemer Nation: The Idea of America's Millennial Role ...
Wed, November 24, 2010
Decision Point: George Bush's Pro-Life Path
George W. Bush is an interesting man with a complicated presidency that most Americans–going into Bush's final year of office–deemed a failure. At one point, Bush had the worst ...
Fri, November 19, 2010
Dead Man Walking
Editor's Note: A version of this article first appeared in American Thinker.
To Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, deflation is regarded as Public Enemy Number One.
Thu, November 18, 2010
Justice is Done in Connecticut
Dr. William Petit stood on the steps of the New Haven Superior Court House. A jury had just recommended the death penalty for one of the men who had assaulted and murdered his wife and daughters. ...
Mon, November 15, 2010
V&V Q&A: Dupes and the Religious Left (PArt 5)
A Weekly Series of Interviews with Dr. Paul Kengor
Editor's Note: The "V&V Q&A" is an e-publication from The Center for Vision Values at Grove City College. This is the final ...
Thu, November 11, 2010
Thank You for Your Service
We Americans tend to look forward to the various holidays on the calendar. Sometimes we pause to ponder the meaning of these commemorative days; often we do not. Perhaps in your own experience you ...
Mon, November 08, 2010
What's Next? Buckle Up!
The Republican Party, with the help of the Tea Party, swept the House of Representatives with a massive pickup of at least 60 seats. The Federal Reserve made another historic announcement with its ...
Thu, November 04, 2010
Tough Times Ahead
Now that the elections are over, attention is turning to the economy.
The stock market rose steadily from the end of August up to the elections. Since the stock market tends to be ...
Wed, November 03, 2010
The Great Corrective
On November 4, 2008, something incredible happened, something that will never again allow me to predict or trust the American electorate, regardless of the great corrective that happened this ...
Mon, November 01, 2010
V&V Q&A On Dupes and the Religious Left (Part 4)
Editor's Note:The "V&V Q&A" is an e-publication from The Center for Vision Values at Grove City College. This is the fourth of five installments in a series of weekly interviews of the Center, ...
Thu, October 28, 2010
Dangerous Election Year Demagoguery on Trade
As is customary in the days leading up to an election, the campaign rhetoric is getting heated. Here in western Pennsylvania, Democrats have gained points in the polls by adopting an ...
Tue, October 26, 2010
'Dupes' and the Religious Left (Part 3)
V&V Q&A:
On "Dupes" and the Religious Left (Part 3)
A Weekly Series of Interviews with Dr. Paul Kengor
Editor's Note: The ...
Fri, October 22, 2010
How the Progressives Will Win
Karl Marx once commented that voters' choices in a democracy constituted little more than deciding which bourgeois party would oppress them the most. The old misanthrope's views on such ...
Wed, October 20, 2010
Breakdown
You've probably seen the headlines about major banks suspending foreclosure proceedings to reclaim houses from borrowers who have defaulted on their mortgages. This has the potential to be hugely ...
Mon, October 18, 2010
V V Q A ; Dupes and the Religious Left, Part II
Editor's Note:The "V&V Q&A" is an e-publication from The Center for Vision Values at Grove City College. This is the second in a series of weekly interviews with Dr. Paul Kengor, professor of ...
Mon, October 11, 2010
'Dupes' and the Religious Left
Editor's Note: The "V&V Q&A" is an e-publication from The Center for Vision Values at Grove City College. This is the first in a series of weekly interviews with Dr. Paul Kengor, professor ...
Fri, October 08, 2010
A TEA Party Cheat Sheet
The Tea Party Movement, otherwise known as the Great Peasant Revolt of 2010, has been greeted by the country's ruling class with all the sympathy that Voltaire expressed toward the Catholic ...
Wed, October 06, 2010
Jimmy Carter's Kennedy Problem
I recently wrote about President Carter's "superiority" complex, where I objected to the former president's rather conceited claim of "superior" ex-presidential service, as ...
Fri, October 01, 2010
V&V Q&A with Dr. Paul Kengor on Dupes
Editor's Note: The "V&V Q&A" is an e-publication from The Center for Vision Values at Grove City College. This is an interview with Dr. Paul Kengor, professor of political science and executive ...
Mon, September 27, 2010
Paul Kengor Releases New Book: Dupes
AUTHOR EXPLORES ARCHIVES AND
A CENTURY OF EXPLOITATION
In this intensively researched new book, bestselling author Paul Kengor shines light on a deeply troubling aspect of American ...
Fri, September 24, 2010
Obama and Washington: A double Standard?
Recent reports that nearly 20 percent of Americans believe Barack Obama is a Muslim have been widely discussed and analyzed. Moreover, according to surveys, only a third of Americans believe he is a ...
Wed, September 22, 2010
President Carter's 'Superiority' Complex
Former president Jimmy Carter told NBC News on Monday that his work at home and abroad has been "superior" to other presidents. "I feel that my role as a former president is ...
Fri, September 17, 2010
Could an Atheist Be Elected President?
Last month Julia Gillard was elected prime minister of Australia. Gillard is Australia's first female and first unmarried prime minister. Even more remarkably, she won Australia's highest office ...
Wed, September 15, 2010
A Dose of Capitalism and Freedom
It has been almost 50 years since Milton Friedman, Nobel economist, released his classic, Capitalism and Freedom. The book has slowly slipped from my course syllabus, not to mention that of the ...
Tue, September 14, 2010
Where Have You Gone,Ludwig von Mises
Washington's stunning economic power grabs–healthcare centralization, Keynesian fiscal stimulus, and Federal Reserve bailouts–are creating an unintended consequence: an increasing demand ...
Thu, September 09, 2010
Public Employee Union Scam
Editor's note: This article first appeared through the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a research and educational institute headquartered in Midland, Mich. Permission to reprint in whole or in ...
Tue, September 07, 2010
When Ford Snubbed Solzehenitsyn
Editor's note: A lengthier version of this article first appeared in The American Spectator.
It was 35 years ago this summer that the conservative movement found ...
Fri, September 03, 2010
50th Anniversary of Historic Speech
This September 12 marks the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy's historic speech to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association in which he countered religious objections to his candidacy and ...
Wed, September 01, 2010
President Obama's Faith Protectors
I got the email in late afternoon. "In a major liberal initiative to curtail discussion of President Obama's religious identity," the email began, "over 70 Christian leaders and ...
Mon, August 30, 2010
Back to School, Back to the Books
The high price of college textbooks is getting a lot of press. Legislators are considering bills to bring down costs, such as requiring professors to use the least expensive "educationally ...
Fri, August 27, 2010
Taxing Transportation
Not long ago, Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell toured the state to highlight its crisis in transportation funding. He called on the General Assembly to resolve the crisis this year. In May, the State ...
Tue, August 24, 2010
Obama Invites Confusion About His Faith
Editor's note: This article first appeared in USA Today.
The recent poll by the Pew Forum on Religion Public Life is generating much discussion over its provocative finding that an ...
Fri, August 20, 2010
Understanding Austerity
Editor's Note: A longer version of this article first appeared in American Thinker.
A couple of years ago, the terms "too big to fail" and "bailout" were the ...
Thu, August 19, 2010
The Fed's Historic Announcement
Mark it down. At 2:15 p.m. on Tuesday, August 10, 2010, the U.S. Federal
Reserve made a historic announcement. It signaled that the central bank was
going to "preserve the size of its ...
Tue, August 17, 2010
President Obama Cites Bush and Christ - Sort Of
The blogosphere is burning red, consumed with fury over President Obama's
announcement–made at the end of the news cycle, with talk-radio on weekend
break–that he supports the ...
Fri, August 13, 2010
An Outsider's View of Christianity
Review of The Unlikely Disciple
"The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest
University" By Kevin Roose | Grand Central Publishing [Paperback] (June 3,
2010) | 336 pp. | List Price: $13.99
Mon, August 09, 2010
Global Warming: The Big Picture
"Climategate: A Veteran Meteorologist Exposes the Global Warming Scam" By Brian Sussman | WND Books (April 22, 2010) | 240 pp. | List Price: $25.95
Mon, August 09, 2010
Rethinking The Corporate Income Tax
It is hard to find anything positive to say about the corporate income (i.e., profits) tax. Economists across the ideological spectrum agree that the corporate profits tax is woefully inefficient: ...
Fri, August 06, 2010
When They Dropped the Bomb
This week marks 65 years since the United States dropped the atomic bomb. On August 6, 1945, President Harry Truman delivered a "rain of ruin" upon Hiroshima, Japan, with Nagasaki hit three ...
Wed, August 04, 2010
Are We All Ideologues Now?I
New media have shaped our political culture. Some, like talk radio and all-news cable stations, are developments of older, established technologies. Others, like internet blogs, are based on ...
Mon, August 02, 2010
Geithner Vs. Bush Tax Cuts
I'm now convinced that the Obama administration is placing its political agenda above policies that would contribute to the economic recovery that millions of Americans so desperately need. That ...
Tue, July 27, 2010
Newsflash: Stalin Liberates Normandy
Call it another Twilight Zone moment; another ignominious contribution to the
"you-can't-make-this-up" category. First, Mao Tse-tung was honored by oblivious
New Yorkers, with ...
Fri, July 23, 2010
Lessons from History: How Obamanomics May Play Out
The grand lesson of the 20th century is that Big Government retards economic progress.
The evidence of this lesson goes beyond the socialist countries and their ...
Wed, July 21, 2010
'Economic Justice' as 'Social Justice'
Editor's Note: A longer version of this article first appeared in American Thinker.
Historically, social justice has meant different things to different people, ...
Mon, July 19, 2010
The Alien Among Us: A Conservative Christian Perspective
Most of those involved in the immigration debate agree that immigration policy needs to be reformed. How to reform the system exactly is a matter of considerably greater disagreement.
Thu, July 15, 2010
Three Neglected Ecoomic Lessons from American History
In most, if not all, states, pupils must pass a course in American history to receive a high-school diploma. Unfortunately, when it comes to our country's economic history, most students are poorly ...
Wed, July 14, 2010
The Blood of the TEA Party
I've never participated in a Tea Party rally. My natural habitat is a classroom or behind a keyboard. That said, I've had a lot of contact with Tea Party people, and, of course, I hear the angry ...
Thu, July 08, 2010
The Thin Culture
My favorite section of the paper is still the comics. Lately I have been reading what seems to have become an annual theme in the "Cathy" comic strip. Not only can Cathy not find a suitable bathing ...
Wed, July 07, 2010
Libertarianism vs. American Sovereignty
Recently, Bill O'Reilly interviewed John Stossel about the dangerous situation along Arizona's porous border with Mexico. Stossel is probably my favorite reporter. I admire the way he demolishes ...
Fri, July 02, 2010
John Hancock: A neglected American Hero
As we celebrate the Fourth of July this year, our attention will once again turn to such luminaries as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Samuel Adams. However, ...
Tue, June 29, 2010
Whatever Happened to 'General Betray Us?'
I was in Washington last week, meaning I was able to observe, on-site and up close, the reaction to President Obama's remarkable switch in leadership in Afghanistan from the bizarre General Stanley ...
Tue, June 29, 2010
Economic Information Worth Knowing
It's easy to be overwhelmed by the bewildering array of economic data, statistics, charts, and graphs floating around. Often, we economists can't see the forest for the trees. It's hard to figure out ...
Fri, June 25, 2010
Exchange Rate Mythology
If you read the financial press or listen to what politicians say, you have probably heard many times how important it is for the Chinese renminbi (yuan) to strengthen against the dollar. Indeed, it ...
Wed, June 23, 2010
Columbia Presidential Election: Not 'Too Close to Call'
The just-completed Colombian presidential election took place in two stages.
The first round took place on May 30. There were multiple candidates. Since
nobody received an outright ...
Mon, June 21, 2010
Is There a Message in Lincoln's Religion for Obama?
Since the Rev. Jeremiah Wright incident during the last presidential campaign, there has been low-level grousing by many Christians regarding Obama's religious convictions. He has claimed to be a ...
Sat, June 19, 2010
Yea, Though I Walk Through the Valley . . .
Editor's Note: This article was first published by The Center for Vision Values on June 18, 2009.
"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no ...
Mon, June 14, 2010
Reservations About a Balanced Budget Amendment
Calling for a balanced budget amendment has been a staple campaign issue for conservative Republicans for years. Undeniably, our nation is beset by fearful fiscal woes. However, a balanced budget ...
Fri, June 11, 2010
Helen Thomas Angers Media - Finally
This week veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas announced her sudden "retirement." The source was an insight shared by Thomas outside the White House during a Jewish-American Heritage Month ...
Thu, June 10, 2010
Death and Life of Great American Society
"The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice are Undermining Education." By Diane Ravitch | Basic Books (March 2, 2010) | 283 pp. | List Price: $26.95
Thu, June 03, 2010
America Needs Union Competition
I agree with President Obama that we need more labor unions. However, I disagree with his approach.
Full disclosure: I have been a dues-payer to both the United ...
Tue, June 01, 2010
First, Do No Harm
As a psychology professor I teach students who plan to be practitioners of social science. They have been moved with compassion by the problems so many people face, such as being in a painful ...
Fri, May 28, 2010
The Forgotten Battle of WWII: The Aleutian Campaign
Editor's Note: This article was first published by The Center for Vision Values on November 6, 2009.
Every Memorial Day presents an opportunity to commemorate ...
Wed, May 26, 2010
Reflections on the Deepwater Horizon Disaster
The explosion that sank British Petroleum's Deepwater Horizon oil-drilling vessel/platform in the Gulf of Mexico in April was an unmitigated disaster. The accident killed 11 workers and has caused ...
Tue, May 25, 2010
Don't Ignore PA-3
"Today Is the Beginning," beamed the subject head in my email box the morning after last Tuesday's election. It was a rally cry from the office of Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper (D-PA), a freshman ...
Mon, May 24, 2010
Tragedy in Amish Country
I first met Levi almost 20 years ago. He was about 12. We had just purchased our land from his parents, Jake and Nancy. Being old-order Amish, Jake and Nancy needed a ride to the attorney's office, ...
Fri, May 21, 2010
Social Justice, the Needy, and the Wealthy
Recently, The Center for Vision Values at Grove City College has tackled the issue of "social justice," with articles by Gary Smith, J. D. Wyneken, Mark Hendrickson, and Shawn Ritenour. I strongly ...
Fri, May 21, 2010
The Crucible of Faith, Freedom, and Learning
The Crucible of Faith, Freedom, and Learning:
Address to the Grove City College Trustee-Faculty Luncheon
By David Rathburn '79
Good afternoon, thank you for joining us here ...
Mon, May 17, 2010
The Great Greek Bail-Out
The sovereign debt crisis–centered on Greece for the moment, but bound to spread to other heavily indebted national governments–has taken an ominous turn.
The European Central ...
Fri, May 14, 2010
Commemorating Mao, but Not Mother
Where's Anita Dunn when you need her?
Recall Anita Dunn, who resigned as President Obama's communications director not long after Glenn Beck had the temerity to ...
Wed, May 12, 2010
Good Cop, Bad Cop
Economic error knows no partisan bounds. Republican Herbert Hoover and Democrat Franklin Roosevelt both adopted foolish, harmful policies during the Great Depression. Republican George W. Bush's ...
Tue, May 11, 2010
Pro-Life, Pro-Death: Revisited
In November 2008, just after the historic election of Barack Obama, I wrote a piece titled, "Pro-Life Death?" I noted that America's choice of Obama as president and, equally important, of ...
Mon, May 10, 2010
Death's Progress
Editor's note: A longer version of this article first appeared in American Thinker.
Progressivism is all-the-rage nowadays, with liberals having jettisoned the ...
Thu, May 06, 2010
When Regimes Reach Insanity
On August 25, 1914, in a spate of disorder, shots rang out from the Belgian town of Louvain, instigating its German occupiers to launch a frenzy of looting and destruction. Crazed soldiers butchered ...
Tue, May 04, 2010
Financial Intrigue in Greece: Should We Care?
The intertwined worlds of government and finance are swirling with drama not
seen since the fall of Lehman Brothers in 2008. The epicenter of the current
crisis is Greece. The Aegean ...
Fri, April 30, 2010
A Manifesto on the Manifesto
I knew the time would come. America's public schools and ideologically monolithic universities have spawned a generation woefully uninformed in the most elementary facts about free markets, ...
Thu, April 29, 2010
Financial Reform: The Problem of Leverage
Trying to keep up with all the changes in U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd's (D-Conn.) financial reform bill has been a daunting task. Two weeks ago, it was described in the press as "the 1100-page bill." Last ...
Tue, April 27, 2010
Rendell and Marcellus Shale
Taxing the Golden Goose
Imagine that you are governor of the state of Pennsylvania, and private enterprisers discover a new, clean source of fuel within the state's borders, a source which would help reduce the costs of ...
Fri, April 23, 2010
One-Sided Arms Control
President Obama signed the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) in Prague on April 8–and did so to global accolades. It was the culmination of years of negotiations and a major triumph ...
Thu, April 22, 2010
Poland: Remembering Two Tragedies
As Americans get on with the daily business of their comfortable lives, enjoying the blossoming of spring, thinking about their summer vacations, somewhere else, half way across the world, a ...
Mon, April 19, 2010
The Great American Debt "Roll"
Financial markets function to discount the future. Usually, by the time you read about something in the newspaper, financial market pricing has already "discounted" that event weeks, months, or ...
Thu, April 15, 2010
VAT Talk No Suprise
Editor's note: This is one of many articles from The Center for Vision Values dealing with the topic of our two-day conference on "The Progressives," which kicked off today on the campus of Grove ...
Wed, April 14, 2010
Poland: Remembering Two Tragedies
"The crash of a Polish airplane in the Russian territory of Smolensk last weekend is a stunning tragedy, taking the life of Polish President Lech Kaczynski, his wife, and high-level figures in the ...
Tue, April 13, 2010
The VAT-Man Cometh?
Editor's note: This is one of many articles from The Center for Vision Values dealing with the topic of our April 15-16 conference on "The Progressives." Click here for information.
Thu, April 08, 2010
Buchenwald and the Totalitarian Century
Editor's note: A longer version of this article first appeared at The American Spectator.
This spring 2010 marks some sordid anniversaries: 65 years since the discovery of the Nazi ...
Thu, April 08, 2010
The Social Justice Fallacy
Editor's note: This is one of many articles from The Center for Vision Values dealing with the topic of our April 15-16 conference on "The Progressives."
Many Christians over many ...
Mon, April 05, 2010
How to Help the Poor
Most Christians today acknowledge that caring for the poor is a biblical requisite. The primary debate among them is over how we can best fulfill this mandate, which more than 2,000 verses of ...
Tue, March 30, 2010
Progressing Backwardj
Editor's note: This article first appeared through the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a research and educational institute headquartered in Midland, Mich. Permission to reprint in whole or in ...
Fri, March 26, 2010
How Christian Were the Founders?
The Case of Madison and Jefferson
Editor's note: Dr. Gary Scott Smith will be a participant in an April 15-16 conference hosted by The Center for Vision Values at ...
Wed, March 24, 2010
Strategic Misstep or Prelude to Meltdown?
On Thursday, March 11, during Vice President Joe Biden's trip to Israel to herald the re-initiation of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, Israel's Interior Ministry announced the construction of 1,600 ...
Tue, March 23, 2010
God Gets His Health Care Bill
Editor's note: This is one of many coming articles from The Center for Vision Values dealing with the topic of our April 15-16 conference on "The Progressives." Click here for information.
Fri, March 19, 2010
The Progressives' Destruction of Constitutional Rights
Editor's note: This is one of many coming articles from The Center for Vision Values dealing with the topic of our April 15-16 conference on "The Progressives." Click here for information. ...
Wed, March 17, 2010
V&V Q&A: God, Socialism, and the Free Market
Editor's Note: The "V&V Q&A" is an e-publication from The Center for Vision Values at Grove City College. This latest edition of "V&V Q&A" is an intriguing look at the biblical basis for the ...
Mon, March 15, 2010
The Church and the Social Gospel
By Dr. Gary Scott Smith Dr. J.D. Wyneken
Should churches and individual Christians seek to help people with material problems and social needs, remedy social ills, and improve social ...
Fri, March 12, 2010
Who is Ayn Rand?
"Jennifer Burns' new biography of Ayn Rand, Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right, is a welcome contribution to this growing body of literature. Burns has produced a thoroughly ...
Wed, March 10, 2010
Gorbachev vs. The Evil Empire
The media jumps at anniversaries of historical figures and events. For those of us who write about history, we, too, seize these opportunities to teach history, especially history Americans should ...
Mon, March 08, 2010
In Memoriam:
The Beichman Library Closes
Editor's note: A longer version of this article first appeared in The American Spectator.
Some 2,000 years ago, the great Ancient Library in Alexandria, Egypt ...
Fri, March 05, 2010
The Governing Elite vs. The Rest of Us
The truly revolutionary American idea of government as the servant of the people may be fading away. Many of today's so-called "civil servants" are a protected, privileged class. While ...
Thu, March 04, 2010
The Politics of Arrogance
On the eve of the German offensive against France in August 1914, Kaiser Wilhelm confidently asserted to some departing troops, "You will be home before the leaves have fallen from the trees." The ...
Mon, March 01, 2010
What America Needs: Young Entrepreneurs
Compared to prior recessions, something is definitely different this time. If you've lost your job, it is harder than ever to replace it.
The New York Times reports that 6.3 million Americans ...
Fri, February 26, 2010
Hillary Clinton and the Mother Teresa Home for Infant Children
Editor's note: A longer version of this article first appeared in The Weekly Standard.
A few years ago, I wrote a book on the faith of Hillary Clinton. Released in ...
Tue, February 23, 2010
In Memoriam: Al Haig's Charge
Editor's note: This article first appeared at The American Spectator, February 22, 2010.
Alexander Haig passed away over the weekend at the age of 85. A military ...
Mon, February 22, 2010
The Character of George Washington
What made George Washington the most remarkable man of an extraordinary generation? He was not an intellectual giant like Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, or James Madison. Compared ...
Thu, February 18, 2010
The Founders: How Christian Were They?
One of today's most contentious culture wars is over the religious commitments of our nation's founders. Were most of them orthodox Christians, deists, or agnostics?
Tue, February 16, 2010
V&V Q&A: Outrageous Public Debt
Editor's Note: The "V&V Q&A" is an e-publication from The Center for Vision Values at Grove City College. In this latest Q&A, Dr. Paul Kengor, executive director of the Center, interviews Dr. Guido ...
Fri, February 12, 2010
Econoclasts: A Book Review
"Econoclasts: The Rebels Who Sparked the Supply-Side Revolution and Restored American Prosperity" By Brian Domitrovic | ISI Books (August 2009) | 368 pp. | List Price: $27.95
Tue, February 09, 2010
Reagan Joe
Editor's note: This article first appeared at National Review, February 6, 2010.
This February 6 marks the 99th anniversary of Ronald Reagan's birth. In a telling development, Republicans around ...
Mon, February 08, 2010
God and Man at the National Prayer Breakfast
President Obama spoke last week at the National Prayer Breakfast. I've long studied the sitting president's remarks at these breakfasts, particularly President George W. Bush, President Bill Clinton, ...
Thu, February 04, 2010
The Education of Sarah Palin
A REview of 'Going Rogue: An American Life'
"Going Rogue: An American Life" By Sarah Palin | HarperCollins (November 2009) | 432 pp. | List Price: $28.99
Most likely, millions of copies of Going Rogue have ...
Tue, February 02, 2010
Taxpayers Fund Abortions, Not School Vouchers
In my last article, a somber remembrance of Roe v. Wade, I called attention to something that shocked readers: I noted that the Obama administration and Democratic Congress "rejected funding for ...
Tue, February 02, 2010
Freedom of Political Speech Restored
Suppose you were arrested on criminal charges because you were the head of an organization that had produced a film critical of the wife of a former political leader, who was now running for office ...
Thu, January 28, 2010
The Relevance of Scott Brown
Republicans have greeted Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts with the sort of relief expressed by Winston Churchill when he learned that Pearl Harbor had prompted America to finally enter the war; ...
Thu, January 28, 2010
What's in a Word?
Each day, political claims and terminology–astonishing or at least remarkable–pop up in the media. Consider two such current terms: "middle class" and "populism."
Wed, January 27, 2010
Mixed Up World: Abortion, Yes; School Choice, No
Recently, on January 22 to be exact, over 300,000 pro-lifers marched in Washington to somberly mark the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, source of the legalized abortion of over 40 million unborn human ...
Thu, January 21, 2010
Remembering Roe: A Forgotten Warning from Ronald Reagan
Given the somber anniversary of Roe v. Wade–source of 40 million abortions since 1973–I thought I'd share an excellent but forgotten speech by President Ronald Reagan. The speechwriter ...
Tue, January 19, 2010
A Moment of Illumination
We've all had those sudden epiphanies where the proverbial light bulb clicks on and understanding comes into clear focus. I had one of those moments over the Christmas holiday season. In this case, ...
Fri, January 15, 2010
PA's Green Eco-Slumber
As a poster child for liberal energy policies throughout the country, Pennsylvania's Governor Ed Rendell has issued the edict to grow the state's energy resources greener. Huge sums of ...
Thu, January 14, 2010
Obama's Anti-Jobs Policy
High and/or rising unemployment is always a political liability for a president, and so Barack Obama has taken the offensive in trying to persuade the American people that his team can get Americans ...
Tue, January 12, 2010
Hanging Mao on the Tree?
With Christmas over, it may seem late to comment on something that happened over the holiday. Quite the contrary, what happened at the Obama White House this Christmas reaches far beyond the festive ...
Mon, January 11, 2010
The Uncertain Trumpet and Systemic Failure
_In the mid-1960s, the Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Notre Dame's Rocky Bleier. Unfortunately, Steeler management failed to protect the prized rookie with the paperwork necessary to take advantage of a ...
Fri, January 08, 2010
Bulldozed in New London
Pfizer, the huge drug company, has announced that it will be leaving a large research complex in New London, Connecticut and moving several hundred jobs to nearby Groton. Such belt-tightening in ...
Thu, December 31, 2009
Latest 'Human Made Disaster" Attack Succeeds
History holds that during World War II the Army executed only one American soldier, Private Eddie Slovik. There was another, a footnote to history.
In 1944, B-24 Liberators taking off ...
Tue, December 29, 2009
Norman Borlaug: An American Hero
Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared with the Mackinac Center. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author and the Center are properly ...
Thu, December 24, 2009
A Candle for Iran?
Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared at American Thinker.
Twice in this space last summer, I wrote about Iran -- specifically, the dramatic June protests against the ...
Wed, December 23, 2009
Combating Recessions:
The search for the right macroeconomic policy
What should governments do to combat recessions? In the United States, before the Great Depression of the 1930s, the answer was "very little."
Of course, the federal government was much smaller ...
Tue, December 22, 2009
Grove City College Establishes Home School Leadership Scholarship
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Grove City College Establishes Christopher J. Klicka '82 Home School Leadership Scholarship
GROVE CITY, Pa. (Grove City College) December 21, 2009 -- On ...
Thu, December 17, 2009
Jefferson's Warnings About Money and Banks
In 1962, President John F. Kennedy hosted a dinner for 49 Nobel laureates. The occasion provided the opportunity for JFK to display his keen wit in the memorable quote, "I think this is the most ...
Mon, December 14, 2009
O' Unity Tree, O' Unity Tree
'Tis the season…. That is, to not refer to the Christmas Season as the "Christmas Season."
Of course, that's old news. But what's new news, or recent news, is the ...
Sun, December 13, 2009
The Theory of Moral Sentiments:
Adam Smith's Timely and Timeless Classic
2009 marks the 250th anniversary of the publication of Adam Smiths masterful
treatise on ethics, The Theory of Moral Sentiments. Smith, primarily known today for his hugely influential 1776 work ...
Wed, December 09, 2009
V V Q A With Dinesh D'Souza on Life After Death: The Evidence
Dr. Paul Kengor: Dinesh, your last book was "What's So Great About Christianity," which did quite well, and which we profiled in a series of Q&As last year (Part I). It led to, among other things, an ...
Mon, December 07, 2009
Government Intervention and High Prices
What kind of prices do you prefer to pay when you go shopping–high or low? Unless you're trying to show off for someone by spending a bundle, I'd bet that you prefer low prices. I've never met ...
Fri, December 04, 2009
The Berlin Wall and Me: Reflections on the Fall
Reflections by Thomas O'Boyle
Editor's note: As part of its Freedom Readers lecture series, Center for Vision Values' Executive Director and Ronald Reagan biographer, Dr.
Paul Kengor, interviewed Thomas F. O'Boyle on the ...
Thu, December 03, 2009
Deploying the Soldier-Entrepreneur
Earlier this week, President Obama announced his decision to send 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan by mid-2010. The president chose to address the nation from the U.S. Military Academy in ...
Wed, December 02, 2009
Finally, An Honest Con Game
"This is not funny, this is serious stuff!" intones a flock of furrow-browed politicos about that well-dressed couple who conned their way into a White House shindig. Yes and no, in that order, ...
Tue, November 24, 2009
Barack and the Buchanan Precedent
Presidential comparisons that greeted Barack Obama's election ranged from the sublime to the transcendent. He was variously described as the second coming of John F. Kennedy, a re-embodiment of ...
Mon, November 23, 2009
Obama and Reagan Go to China
Obama actually gave a pretty good speech, one directed at Chinese college
students. I was pleasantly surprised to hear him refer to basic American values of liberty and free enterprise. Obama ...
Thu, November 19, 2009
Mr. Obama, Go To That Wall!
In my previous commentary for American Radio Journal, I commended the
profound historical event that was fall of the Berlin Wall, the 20th
anniversary of which took place on November 9. The ...
Wed, November 18, 2009
Who Was Nels Konnerup?
America honors its deceased presidents, its fallen troops, its late senators, and even its musicians and movie stars. But what about its veterinarians?
Well, theres one veterinarian who ...
Mon, November 16, 2009
The Coming of Caesar
We have a problem. This could be "the big one"–bigger than coping with the Ahmadinejads, Kims, and Chavezes of the world and bigger than our current economic woes. Our republic, our society, ...
Thu, November 12, 2009
Psyching Out the Stock Market
There's something about stocks that turns us upside down. For example, normally when something goes on sale, we tend to buy more of it; yet, when stock prices fall, many investors want to buy ...
Thu, November 12, 2009
Vision Values Q A
V&V Q&A:
George Schroeder, M.D.:
Witness to the Wall and to Socialized Medicine
Editor's Note: The "V&V Q&A" is an e-publication from The ...
Mon, November 09, 2009
The Forgotten Battle of World War II
Every Veterans Day presents an opportunity to commemorate those who served in some faraway place long ago, many of whom paid that ultimate sacrifice. World War II offers its share of remembrances: ...
Fri, November 06, 2009
Berlin Wall Fell 20 Years Ago
The credit for that collapse goes to multiple players: Lech Walesa and his Solidarity movement in Poland, Vaclav Havel and his Charter 77 movement in Czechoslovakia, dissidents like Alexander ...
Wed, November 04, 2009
Sex, Life and Death
Two summers ago, while passing through an airport, I caught a TV news
story: double homicide in Ohio. The victims were a young woman and the nine-month-old fetus she was carrying. The murderer ...
Fri, October 30, 2009
Washington's Masque of the Red Death
New administrations normally inspire commentators into rummaging through a thesaurus to extract that single phrase or word that is apposite to the times. Instead musing about a reincarnation of The ...
Wed, October 28, 2009
Cap and Trade Update
On Sept. 30, Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and John Kerry (D-MA) unveiled their proposal for cap-and-trade (C&T) legislation. The Senate bill calls for a 20 percent reduction of U.S. CO2 emissions by ...
Tue, October 27, 2009
Hope vs. Appeasement
In his inaugural address, President Barack Obama reached out to the world's rogue leaders, telling them, "We will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist."
Fri, October 23, 2009
The Philosophy of Mao and Mother Teresa?
"[T]he death of ten to twenty million people is nothing to be afraid of."
–Mao Tse-tung
"Human rights are not a privilege conferred by ...
Wed, October 21, 2009
Vision Value Q A with Dr. Charles Hull Wolfe
Editor's Note: The "V&V Q&A" is an e-publication from The Center for Vision Values at Grove City College. Each issue will present an interview with an intriguing thinker or opinion-maker ...
Mon, October 19, 2009
Gold, Geopolitics, and the Carry Trade
The price of gold has recently spurted to a new all-time high in terms of U.S. dollars. I'm neither an expert nor a market timer, but let me offer a few perspectives on this event.
Wed, October 14, 2009
Christopher Klicka: Warrior for Educational and Religious Freedom
A young dark-haired student, Chris Klicka, sat in my U.S. Constitutional History class at Grove City College, Grove City, Pennsylvania around 1980. He was an excellent student with a particularly ...
Mon, October 12, 2009
Honduras and the United States
As this is being written, Manuel Zelaya, the ousted and exiled ex-president of Honduras, is holed up in the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital, having been smuggled there on Sept. ...
Fri, October 09, 2009
The Nobel Committee Dishonors Itself
Even CNN was shocked. Even the Obama White House was shocked.
"Only nine months into his presidency," reported a baffled CNN news anchor this morning. "President ...
Wed, October 07, 2009
Ludwig von Mises: Economist for the Ages
It seems that when an economy goes bad, the temptation for intellectuals to go and do likewise is too much for them to resist. Public thinkers across the spectrum, from Paul Krugman to Richard ...
Mon, October 05, 2009
A Teachable Moment on Communist China
When I first heard it, I didn't believe it. Alas, it's true.
Last week, New York City's Empire State Building was aglow in red and yellow. Why? To commemorate the ...
Fri, October 02, 2009
The Dollar at the Precipice
If you've seen the movie "Thelma and Louise," you'll never forget the
ending: In the last scene, the two main characters head down a dirt road in their top-down convertible. The road ...
Tue, September 29, 2009
Got Hope? The Theological Virtue of Obama
As someone who teaches and writes about international politics, I can confidently say that last week was one of the strangest in memory, from the G-20 circus in my backyard (Pittsburgh) to the ...
Mon, September 28, 2009
The G-20 Meeting is Over (Thanks Goodness!)
Count me among the cynics when it comes to G-7, G-8, and now G-20 meetings. They seem to involve little more than photo ops and platforms for politicians to bore us with platitudinous ...
Wed, September 23, 2009
Vision Values Q A With Dr. John J. Fry
Editor's Note: The "V&V Q&A" is an e-publication from The Center for Vision Values at Grove City College. Each issue will present an interview with an intriguing thinker or opinion-maker that we hope ...
Tue, September 22, 2009
New Life for the Comprehensive Test Ban Tready
The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), an agreement which would ban all nuclear tests, may soon be revived from its purgatory in the Senate.
It was signed by President Clinton in 1996 and ...
Mon, September 21, 2009
Truth and Politics
Many of us are cynical about promises made by politicians. "Campaign promises are made to be broken" is a venerable truism of American politics. There are "truth-in-advertising" laws against ...
Wed, September 16, 2009
A plea to the President to Attend Church
Dear Mr. President,
Remember all the analysis immediately after your election this past November regarding where you and your family would attend church?
Mon, September 14, 2009
America Remains a Conservative Country
The huge "9/12" protest in Washington was the latest expression of discontent over President Obama's leftward policy thrust. The discord is evident from the "Tea Party" movement ...
Thu, September 10, 2009
Coping with Losing:
Confessions of a Frustrated Fan
During the turmoil of the 1970s, Pittsburgh became known as the city of champions. Led by two very charismatic and colorful players–Roberto Clemente in 1971 and Willie Stargell in ...
Wed, September 09, 2009
Monetary Madness
China, Russia, et al. are talking about shifting their monetary reserves out of U.S. dollars. Gold has hit $1000 per ounce, even though wholesale and retail prices exhibit a deflationary bias. The ...
Tue, September 08, 2009
Millions of Jobs Would Vanish With Energy Bill
By David N. Taylor and Jay Timmons
This Labor Day, America is in its 20th month of recession, making this the longest and deepest economic downturn since the Great ...
Fri, September 04, 2009
On Kennedy, Andropov, and KAL 007
Over the last week-and-a-half I've gotten an overwhelming number of inquiries relating to the death of Senator Ted Kennedy. Why me? Because of my report back in 2006 of Kennedy's confidential offer ...
Fri, August 28, 2009
Round Two on Bush and AIDS
Last week I wrote about former President George W. Bush's unprecedented work on behalf of the African AIDS epidemic. That $15 billion package, first proposed in January 2003, was entirely Bush's ...
Wed, August 26, 2009
Credit Cards and Predictable Unintended Consequences
Imagine being a contractor and regularly using your credit card to purchase building materials for your job. Without warning you receive a notice that effective immediately your credit limit has been ...
Fri, August 21, 2009
A Nuclear Japan?
Sixty-four years ago this month, the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were devastated by the first and only wartime use of nuclear weapons. The death toll totaled approximately 200,000. The ...
Thu, August 20, 2009
Bush Quietly Saved a Million Lives
Editor's note: This article first appeared at NCRegister.com.
What if a president, on his own initiative, under no demands from staff or from supporters or ...
Tue, August 18, 2009
A Trillion Here, A Trillion There
About 50 years ago, Sen. Everett Dirksen (R-IL) uttered his famous quip, "A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you're talking about real money."
Mon, August 17, 2009
Christianity and Depravity in the Afterglow of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Each year, in early August, debate reemerges over the use of atomic weapons to end World War II. Some historians justify their use given the prospects for a long, bloody invasion of Japan. ...
Wed, August 12, 2009
Saving Obama from Himself
The Machiavellian thing vs. the moral thing on health care
The late Republican political strategist, Lee Atwater, a brilliant Machiavellian, used to invoke what he called "The Napoleonic Maxim:" Never interfere with the enemy when he's in the process of ...
Wed, August 12, 2009
'Health Care Reform" America Can't Afford
The healthcare reform bill pending in Congress is called "America's Affordable Health Choices Act." It is supposed to provide "affordable, quality health care for all Americans and reduce the growth ...
Wed, August 05, 2009
Sleepy, 'Lazy' Teenagers?
We are now well into summer vacation, and it is time for a quiz. How many hours per night does your teen sleep during vacation? How many hours of sleep does your teen get on school nights during the ...
Tue, August 04, 2009
Happy Birthday, President Obama!
Editor's note: This article first appeared at WORLDmag.com. Reprinted with permission of WORLDmag.com. To read more news and views from a Christian perspective, call 800-951-6397 or visit ...
Tue, August 04, 2009
The Next Great Depression, Updated
"There is nothing inevitable about another depression. We have a simple choice: We can repeat the errors of the past or we can avoid them."
Those were my words, Feb. 8, 2008. It's time ...
Tue, July 28, 2009
The Minimum Wage: Keeping Prosperity Around the Corner
The last thing we need in the midst of our current recession is what happened last Friday: the third increase in the minimum wage in only two years.
Contemporary labor markets throughout ...
Fri, July 24, 2009
Detroit: The Triumph of Progressive Public Policy
Editor's note: This article first appeared through the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a research and educational institute headquartered in Midland, Mich. Permission to reprint in whole or in ...
Wed, July 22, 2009
Iranian Aftermath: Can Obama Close the Deal?
Editor's note: A longer version of this article first appeared in American Thinker.
On December 7, 1978, President Jimmy Carter was asked if he thought the Shah of ...
Fri, July 17, 2009
Remembering July 20, 1969
For those of you above a certain age, do you remember where you were on July 20, 1969? I certainly do. Just as many of us will never forget where we were when we learned about 9/11 or heard President ...
Thu, July 16, 2009
The Nuts and Bolts of Cap and Trade
The purpose of cap and trade (C&T) legislation is to reduce Americans' consumption of fossil fuels–coal, oil, and natural gas–and to speed up the transition to alternate forms of energy, ...
Mon, July 13, 2009
Critical Differences Between Non-Embryonic and Embryonic Stem Cells
By Dr. Jan F. Dudt, Jonathan D. Moore, Dr. Durwood B. Ray
We hear a lot about "stem cells," which are front-and-center as a major policy debate in America, one that involves ...
Mon, July 13, 2009
Gore Unhinged
"How can ANYONE take this man seriously?" writes Marilyn, a frequent reader of our Center for Vision Values articles.
Attached to Marilyn's email was this headline, ...
Thu, July 09, 2009
Upheaval in Honduras: A Defining Moment for the Obama Presidency
Quick, what's the capital of Honduras? Probably fewer than 10 percent of Americans could answer that question prior to the recent news that Honduran President Mel Zelaya was sent packing to Costa ...
Wed, July 08, 2009
Kind of Like Star Wars All Over Again
Editor's note: This article first appeared at WORLDmag.com. Reprinted with permission of WORLDmag.com. To read more news and views from a Christian perspective, call 800-951-6397 or visit ...
Thu, July 02, 2009
Prudence at the American Founding - And Today
Will you be celebrating prudence this July 4th? Maybe you should. Or, at the least, it's worth pausing to think about.
Prudence is a timeless virtue never more ...
Thu, July 02, 2009
No Laughing Matter
Who won the Cold War? That's a no-brainer. The United States prevailed while the Soviet Union collapsed, and the People's Republic of China dumped Marxism; capitalism (free markets and private ...
Thu, July 02, 2009
'Thinking' Cal Coolidge on the Declaration of Independence
Textbooks have pictured President Coolidge (1923-29) as an accidental, dim-witted president who said little, and thus, was dubbed "Silent Cal." Actually, he was the most popular political figure in ...
Thu, June 25, 2009
Something's Rotten in Farrell
Editor's note: This article first appeared at WORLDmag.com. Reprinted with permission of WORLDmag.com. To read more news and views from a Christian perspective, call 800-951-6397 or visit ...
Tue, June 23, 2009
Bush Unplugged and Unappreciated
Editor's Note: Attention readers, please check out Paul Kengor's weekend exclusive from American Thinker, "'Freedom Fighters' and the American President."
Last ...
Thu, June 18, 2009
With Father, Through the Valley of Death
"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me." (Psalm 23:4)
My family and I drove aside the ...
Tue, June 16, 2009
Detroit: A Glimpse into America's Future
Wouldn't it be wonderful if, like Ebenezer Scrooge, we could have a preview of the future so that we could change our course if necessary? This can happen in real life. Such a dispensation was ...
Mon, June 15, 2009
Team Obama's Auto Coup
In assessing Team Obama's semi-nationalization of the auto industry, a slight alteration of the famous verse by Elizabeth Barrett Browning encapsulates my reaction: "How do I [not] love thee? Let me ...
Mon, June 15, 2009
Talking Jesus: Obama vs. Bush
There's an important article in the Politico, titled, "Obama invokes Jesus more than Bush." President Barack Obama, says the article, has mentioned Jesus Christ "in a number of high-profile public ...
Wed, June 10, 2009
Why Don't Students Like School?
The beginning of June brings the onset of summer vacation for children across the United States. The excitement bubbling in their young hearts is easy to understand yet also offers a valuable ...
Mon, June 08, 2009
Opening Pandora's Box: Classifying CO2 as a 'Pollutant'
A few days before "Earth Day" (which happens to be the same day as Lenin's Birthday), America's ideological greens and reds received a present they have been desiring for many moons: The ...
Mon, June 08, 2009
What I Saw at the Rotunda
Carrying the torch for America, the beautiful
I was at the Rotunda at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, June 3, for the dedication of the statue to President Ronald Reagan. I was there because Bill Clark was there. Judge Clark, as readers of my ...
Wed, June 03, 2009
Interfaith Dialogue: Let's Talk Persecution
President Barack Obama plans to call for an improved dialogue with Islam in his upcoming speech in Egypt. All faiths would benefit from greater understanding. Yet no conversation will be complete if ...
Tue, June 02, 2009
Buy American, but Exclude Farrell, PA
Editor's note: This article first appeared at WORLDmag.com. Reprinted with permission of WORLDmag.com. To read more news and views from a Christian perspective, call 800-951-6397 or visit ...
Fri, May 29, 2009
Limited Options for Dealing with North Korea
Kim Jong Il, North Korea's psychotic "Dear Leader," specializes in "guerrilla diplomacy." He backs it up with a half-dozen or so nuclear weapons squirreled away deep inside ...
Thu, May 28, 2009
The U.S. Constitution:
Living, Breathing Document or Dead Letter?
In the concluding paragraph of my article about President-elect Obama's constitutional philosophy, I opined: "Our Constitution has been terminal for a long time." President Obama's nomination of ...
Tue, May 26, 2009
Meet John Podesta: Architect and Salesman for the New Progressivism
Editor's Note: Be sure to mark your calendar for April 15-16, 2010, when The Center for Vision Values hosts its sixth annual conference on "The Progressive Surge and Conservative Crackup."
Tue, May 26, 2009
A Closer Look at the IPCC
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is widely regarded in the media as the ultimate authority on climate change. Created by two divisions of the United Nations, and recipient of the ...
Fri, May 22, 2009
The American Cause this Memorial Day
"Based upon our observations of American soldiers and their officers captured in this war, the following facts are evidenced," a foreign intelligence officer wrote. "There is little ...
Mon, May 18, 2009
Barack Obama and Religion
Americans have long been fascinated with and sometimes disturbed by the faith of their presidents, and Barack Obama's faith is no exception. U.S. News and World Report recently claimed that ...
Fri, May 15, 2009
Economic Strangulation
The "greens" must be thrilled with the new Obama/Pelosi/Reid (OPR) troika in charge of the federal government. Three times already, the troika has blocked the development of domestic oil ...
Thu, May 14, 2009
Obama, Notre Dame, and the Character Thing
In May 1995, his first year as Pennsylvania governor, Tom Ridge was invited by Gannon University, a Catholic college in Erie, Pa., to give the commencement address and receive an honorary degree. But ...
Fri, May 08, 2009
The Riskiest Merger
Bumpy though the last decade has been, most Americans have continued to trust in the basic institutions that undergird the nation's economy. Until now.
Recent ...
Wed, May 06, 2009
Obama's Two Achilles' Heels
In my recent article "Checkmate," I made the case that President Obama's grand strategy has outfoxed the opposition, dooming us all to a massive increase in the scope and power of Uncle Sam. Is the ...
Tue, May 05, 2009
When Biden and Rudman Wept
Is he pro-life or pro-choice? That was the giant unknown hanging in the balance one day in 1990 as President George H. W. Bush nominated a mystery man named David Souter for a Supreme Court seat. ...
Mon, May 04, 2009
Obama, Looking More Like Nixon than FDR
The Bush administration subjected us to a deluge of fiscal and monetary expansion, the likes of which we haven't seen since the 1960s. The federal budget ballooned 112 percent from $1.86 trillion in ...
Thu, April 30, 2009
Checkmate?
Some people I know react with incredulity when they hear television commentators remark on President Barack Obama's brilliance. "How can he say that?" they expostulate. "He doesn't understand basic ...
Thu, April 30, 2009
Joan Clark, a 20th Century Life
Joan Clark, a 20th Century Life
By Dr. Paul Kengor
Every American, obviously, has heard of Ronald Reagan, and Reagan historians have heard of Bill Clark. Clark ...
Mon, April 27, 2009
FDR: Then and Today
Economic historian Burton Folsom's "New Deal or Raw Deal?" is a truly important book. Thoroughly researched, well organized and fluently written, this reader-friendly study of President Franklin ...
Wed, April 22, 2009
Tom Dillon vs. the Relativists
Last week, as we at Grove City College held a conference on "Faith, Freedom, and Higher Education," in which we underscored the struggle against rampant secular relativism in our universities, ...
Tue, April 14, 2009
V&V Q&A
With Dr. Jason R. Edwards
Editor's Note: The "V&V Q&A" is an e-publication from The Center for Vision Values at Grove City College. Each issue will present an interview with an intriguing thinker or opinion-maker that we hope ...
Tue, April 14, 2009
Why Not Manage Universities, Mr. President?
I hear it repeatedly, even from pro-business conservatives:
Hey, I have no sympathy for AIG and the automakers and banks. When you take government money, you can ...
Wed, April 08, 2009
Economic Stimulus 101: Reaganomics vs. Obamanomics
President Obama says the economy is the worst since the Great Depression. Actually, it is the worst since the Reagan recession of 1982-83. Further, the 2009 market crash is not the worst since 1929 ...
Tue, April 07, 2009
Baseball, America, and the 21st Century
"Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball"
—Jacques Barzun
Right off the bat, Jacques Barzun's pitch about baseball ...
Fri, April 03, 2009
Two Americas?
One of the favorite refrains of the class-warfare left has long been to lament what it perceives as a division in America between economic haves and have-nots. From the standpoint of egalitarian, ...
Thu, April 02, 2009
God and Man at Notre Dame
This May, Notre Dame University will host President Barack Obama to inspire its graduates as they are sent into the world. Obama will be awarded an honorary degree. For the record, this will be a ...
Tue, March 31, 2009
In Praise of Capitalist Exploitation
For well over a century, socialists, progressives, and even many Christians have railed against the capitalist exploitation of workers. They denounce capitalists–whether the Carnegies and ...
Mon, March 30, 2009
More Bailouts, More Fed
In the last week, the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve each announced a major policy initiative for the stated purpose of reversing our economic woes. Don't hold your breath.
Mon, March 23, 2009
Communicating Obama's Fiscal Disaster
Newsflash, March 20, 2009: The Congressional Budget Office today forecast a U.S. budget deficit of $1.8 trillion for this year.
For many Americans, including some ...
Mon, March 23, 2009
V V Q A with Dr. Jeffrey M. Herbener
On Booms, Busts, and America
Editor's Note: The "V&V Q&A" is an e-publication from The Center for Vision Values at Grove City College. Each issue will present an interview with an intriguing thinker or opinion-maker that we hope ...
Thu, March 19, 2009
Anger at AIG
A raw nerve was struck this week. Reports that employees of the insurance giant AIG–the recipient of four federal bailouts totaling more than $170 billion–were now receiving $165 million ...
Mon, March 16, 2009
The Employee Free Choice Act: Why Unions Will be Hurt
The Obama administration is pushing again for the adoption of a bill with the misleading title, the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). One of its major provisions would make employers recognize unions ...
Fri, March 13, 2009
The Ghost of John Maynard Keynes
The Ghost of John Maynard Keynes
By Dr. Mark W. Hendrickson
The British economist John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946) turns out to have been something of a ...
Wed, March 11, 2009
Crisis, What Crisis?
"Dear Iranians, your children have put the first indigenous satellite into orbit…. [T]he Islamic Republic of Iran has officially achieved a presence in space."
–Iranian leader ...
Tue, March 10, 2009
Rush and Rick
I was in the third row as Rush Limbaugh spoke for nearly 90 minutes to a wildly exuberant audience as he closed this year's Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C. I was ...
Fri, March 06, 2009
Into the Fiscal Abyss
The U.S. Treasury recently released its "2008 Financial Report of the United States Government." In case you had any doubts, our government's finances are in a terrible mess. According to ...
Thu, March 05, 2009
Where Have You Gone, Bill Casey?
"We win and they lose."
–Ronald Reagan, January 1977
As an unprecedented, colossal "stimulus" package was passed by the new president ...
Mon, March 02, 2009
Three Books for the Current Crisis
When my friend Paul Kengor, the executive director of The Center for Vision Values here at Grove City College, asked me what three books I would recommend to students if they wanted to broaden their ...
Thu, February 26, 2009
Slumdogs and Slavery
By Jane Marie Smith Dr. Gary Scott Smith
On the Monday morning following the Oscars, U.S. news websites splashed the
announcement that the "little film that could," ...
Mon, February 23, 2009
Hugs and Kisses from Iran
Arguably, the world's leading apostle of hate is Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad–few do the task better, especially toward Jews. On Dec. 12, 2006, at a two-day gathering of Holocaust ...
Fri, February 20, 2009
V&V Q&A: On Fed Distortions and Bailouts
Editor's Note: The "V&V Q&A" is an e-publication from The Center for Vision Values at Grove City College. Each issue will present an interview with an intriguing thinker or opinion-maker that we hope ...
Thu, February 19, 2009
Tough Times for Wise Virgins
The biblical parable of the 10 virgins (Matthew 25:1-12) is particularly relevant today. As you may recall, the five wise virgins behaved responsibly and prudently, making sure they had enough lamp ...
Fri, February 13, 2009
An Obama-Reagan Presidency?
What's the state of the republic–and its citizens–this Presidents' Day 2009? It is a state of deep confusion. Here are some polls to ponder, as America considers presidents past and new. ...
Thu, February 12, 2009
Breakfast in America
My wife and I tag-team to get our four kids ready for school in the morning. She manages the lunch-packing process and I make a hot breakfast. Rarely does a lively morning pass that I don't gaze upon ...
Wed, February 11, 2009
Team Obama: Ready to Rock 'n Roll
Ready for some political and economic rock and roll? It's happening. In 2008, Americans were rocked by the beginnings of a deflationary credit collapse and Uncle Sam's extraordinary ...
Tue, February 10, 2009
The Legacy of Abraham Lincoln
On Feb. 12 we celebrate the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth. The relatively short history of our nation makes this a particularly momentous milestone. Of all of our leaders after the ...
Fri, February 06, 2009
Obama's 'Change We Can Believe In':
Paying off the unions
Barack Obama has surprised supporters and opponents alike by choosing centrists for his Cabinet. The leading exception is Labor Secretary-designate Rep. Hilda Solis, a long-time supporter of coercive ...
Fri, February 06, 2009
The Employee Intimidation Act
The Obama administration will make every effort to pass a key piece of pro-union legislation. The bill has a misleading label: The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). In the interest of truth in ...
Wed, February 04, 2009
Freedom Works:
Speaker Pelosi's teachable moment
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) recently provided a stark illustration of the fundamentally divergent worldviews of big-government liberalism and free-market conservatism. She told ABC's ...
Tue, February 03, 2009
Love That Economic Pain
What would you think if you heard a prominent physician being interviewed and the topic of discussion was the breakout of a serious epidemic, and then the physician started enthusing about how great ...
Fri, January 30, 2009
V V Q A: Dr. Jeffrey Hebener
On Economic Depressions–Then and Now?
Editor's Note: The "V&V Q&A" is an e-publication from The Center for Vision Values at Grove City College. Each ...
Wed, January 28, 2009
Viva La Revolucion
Viva La Revolucion
By Dr. Paul Kengor
Editor's note: An earlier version of this article first appeared in American Thinker.
Tue, January 27, 2009
The Sparkle of Irony:
When Presidential politics and poetry collide
What is it with Democratic inaugurations and poetry? Poetry and politics do not mix. Never have. One or the other never fully measures up to the task of the historic moment. Alexander the Great ...
Thu, January 22, 2009
A Tale of Two Inaugrals
Watching the inauguration of President Barack Obama, I was impressed by the graciousness and civility by the two presidents at the platform during the transition. To tepid applause, Obama began his ...
Wed, January 21, 2009
Media Lied, Kids Died?
I first heard it in an email from a professor in Illinois. We were arguing about something I wrote on Barack Obama. I asked if he agreed that the media had been breathlessly, transparently biased in ...
Tue, January 20, 2009
Assessing the Presidency of George W. Bush
George W. Bush had the misfortune to become president when two long-term trends that predated his presidency reached historical tipping points: First, decades of militant Islamic ferment culminated ...
Fri, January 16, 2009
Not the Great Communicator:
On Bush, Berlin, and Moses
As the country considers the inauguration of Barack Obama, I'm mindful of another inauguration that seems a long time ago, and which speaks volumes to the presidential transition we are about to ...
Thu, January 15, 2009
'Only Government Can . . . . ?'
Parsing Obama's speech on the economy
Last Thursday, President-elect Barack Obama delivered a major speech on the economy. I didn't know if it had that legendary tingling effect on its listeners, but reading the text in black and white, ...
Tue, January 13, 2009
Obama's Trillion Dollar Gamble
President-elect Obama is considering an economic stimulus package that will include increases in government spending and tax cuts of approximately one trillion dollars. Many fear a prolonged ...
Wed, January 07, 2009
Operation Cast Lead:
A Necessary, Just and Legal Response
As soon as Israeli air strikes began striking Hamas-controlled Gaza, many American church leaders started calling for an immediate ceasefire based solely on human suffering rather than the political ...
Mon, January 05, 2009
'Fed' Up? Money Lessons for the New Year
Could 2009 be the year the United States of America starts to go subprime? Just as subprime mortgages wrecked the economy in 2008, 2009 might be the year we begin to see problems associated with the ...
Wed, December 31, 2008
Safe, Legal and Rare?
The common mantra of pro-choice politicians is that they do not favor abortion. Quite the contrary, they want abortion to be "safe, legal, and rare." Pro-choicers generally hold to this ...
Tue, December 30, 2008
Israeli Attacks on Hamas Justified
The Hamas Charter proscribes peace with Israel. Ceasefires are possible only when advantageous to Hamas and always are temporary. Accordingly, as soon as the latest ceasefire expired, Hamas ...
Mon, December 29, 2008
Lessons from the Oil Market
The longer I study economic phenomena, the more I learn two truths. The first truth is how little I know. This is very humbling. There is just too much information out there for any one human being ...
Mon, December 22, 2008
Christmas Behind Bars
Every time it seems the so-called Democratic People's Republic of Korea is about to join the "world community," the regime in Pyongyang reminds us of its criminal nature. A North Korean soldier not ...
Fri, December 19, 2008
The Real Saint Nick
Given the decision-making power of Santa Claus on the matter of gifts, my children make sure they leave Mr. Claus some seriously good cookies on Christmas Eve. However, most children don't know that ...
Thu, December 18, 2008
The Problem with Monotheism
When an author argues that there is no God, that's his personal business–something between him and the Creator. But when an author, in addition to denying God, asserts that monotheism is a net ...
Tue, December 16, 2008
Obama's Abortion Socialism
Conservatives rightly fear that President Obama will produce the Democrat Party's third great expansion of the welfare state, extending Leviathan beyond FDR's and LBJ's most fertile imaginations. ...
Mon, December 15, 2008
Remembering an Unknown Hero
Morris Childs, America's Greatest Cold War Spy
If you're looking for a book as a Christmas gift, I suggest an oldie but goodie, and in honor of the fact that it was 20 years ago that this nation quietly honored the subject of the book: a hero, a ...
Mon, December 15, 2008
V&V Q&A
America's Economic Illiteracy Epidemic
Editor's Note: The "V&V Q&A" is an e-publication from The Center for Vision Values at Grove City College. Each issue will present an interview with an intriguing thinker or opinion-maker that we hope ...
Thu, December 11, 2008
Five Years Ago:
The Beginning of the End for Saddam
Five years ago this week, something remarkable happened, which has been conveniently forgotten: On December 13, 2003, one of history's worst dictators, Saddam Hussein, was captured by U.S. ...
Tue, December 09, 2008
Dancing with Fred or Frankenstein:
Free Markets, Socialism, and the Bailout
Washington's $700 billion bailout plan is making a lot of people unhappy. The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), as the implementation of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 has come ...
Fri, December 05, 2008
Shades of Reagan: Sarah and the Leakers
The trashing of Sarah Palin continues. Some of the shots have been downright ugly, such as the "Retarded Republican Babies for Sarah Palin" t-shirts. Equally notable, however, is the odd ...
Tue, December 02, 2008
Barack Obama and the Church
The question of where Barack Obama and his family will go to church after he takes office is attracting a lot of media attention. As the author of "Faith and the Presidency: From George Washington to ...
Tue, December 02, 2008
Educational Choice for the Obamas: What About Others?
Where will the Obama kids attend school in Washington? That question has been answered as it should be: by the new president and first lady.
There is no argument about that. Sasha and ...
Wed, November 26, 2008
The Big Three: Assigning Blame An Alternative to a Bail-out
I've already explained the problematical economics and ethics of a federal bailout for the Big Three (see "A Bailout for Detroit"). The demise of the pillar of metro Detroit's economy saddens ...
Wed, November 26, 2008
Thanksgiving Thoughts 2008:
The challenge of affluence
Throughout recorded history, most human beings have been poor. Poverty has been the norm and affluence the exception. Given a choice, most of us would rather be affluent than poor, but in this year ...
Wed, November 26, 2008
I'm Positive About Parenting
Both our media and our politicians tell us that it is a terrible time to rear children. As parents, we are tempted to sing, "Why can't they be like we were, perfect in every way?" We understand ...
Tue, November 25, 2008
Ignorance is Not Bliss
Quick, attempt the following: Name the three branches of the federal government. Recognize the speech where the words "of the people, by the people, and for the people" come from. Identify the female ...
Wed, November 19, 2008
Barack and the Bishops
A potential big battle has begun, one of special interest to all Christians and guaranteed to generate a lot of attention from all Americans.
The United States ...
Mon, November 17, 2008
The End Game
If you wanted to turn the United States of America into a socialist country, what strategy would you adopt? Joseph Stalin, the world's top communist from 1924 to 1953, is reputed to have advocated ...
Fri, November 14, 2008
The Threat Within
Human nature has a blind spot. We often detect external flaws faster than internal ones–seeing the speck in our neighbor's eye sooner than the beam in our own, to use the biblical metaphor.
Tue, November 11, 2008
I'm Pagan and I Vote
Old Town Alexandria, Northern Virginia–Jogging through this gorgeous, historic town the first Saturday after the Tuesday vote, which elected the most leftist presidential candidate in American ...
Thu, November 06, 2008
Obama, FDR, the Constitution, and Rights
Earlier this year, in "The Next Great Depression," I noted several parallels between the political economy of the early 1930s and today. Another intriguing parallel between then and now is the ...
Thu, November 06, 2008
Pro-life Death?
The victory for Barack Obama and the Democratic Party on Tuesday is the death of the pro-life movement as we know it. The pro-life movement has sought to reverse abortion through legislative action ...
Mon, November 03, 2008
Whatever Happened to the 'Education President?'
The last three presidents clamored for the title but in 2008, the economy, terrorism, and "Saturday Night Live" skits have pushed education out of the media's election circus.
However, ...
Fri, October 31, 2008
Sarah Palin's Real Record on Special Needs
Last week, in a major speech on disabilities in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, delivered to several groups of medical professionals, Sarah Palin promised that she would be an advocate for special needs ...
Thu, October 30, 2008
Testing Presidential Mettle: JFK and Obama
Democratic vice-presidential nominee Senator Joe Biden recently predicted that within the first six months of an Obama administration the freshman president would be tested by a contrived ...
Mon, October 27, 2008
Can Obama Win the Values Voter?
Editor's note: This is part two of a two-part series on Barack Obama and Christian voters.
In 2000 and 2004, it was the churchgoing moral-religious "values voters" ...
Fri, October 24, 2008
God Barack Obama
Editor's Note: This is part one of a two-part series on Barack Obama, his faith, and Christian voters.
Let me begin with what I hope is a credibility enhancer: For ...
Thu, October 23, 2008
Hatred and Politics
Politics in America is a contact sport. Passions flare and the rhetoric can get heated and nasty. Political parties stoke these fires, playing on people's fears as a key fund-raising tactic.
...
Wed, October 22, 2008
General Powell's Endorsement
Many conservatives wonder why retired Army Gen. Colin Powell endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. The quick answer–and the most inadequate one–is that Powell is ...
Mon, October 20, 2008
We're Broke
Global stock markets have been plummeting. Where the bottom is, nobody knows. There will be gut-wrenching zigs and hopeful zags along the way; they will be of larger magnitude and–in our ...
Fri, October 17, 2008
Red Herring: The Great Depreession and the American Communist Party
(Editor's Note: "It goes without saying that the Great Depression was the worst economic crisis in American history, and no doubt one of the worst crises ever to face the nation–wars included. ...
Thu, October 16, 2008
Spreading the Wealth:
Obama, Joe, and the Democratic Socialists
By now, almost everybody knows "Joe the plumber." Mentioned about 15 times in Wednesday's presidential debate, Joe Wurzelbacher, a plumber from Toledo, questioned Barack Obama at an Ohio campaign ...
Wed, October 15, 2008
Joe Biden's Church Troubles
Certain elements in the news media are attacking Sarah Palin's religious beliefs. This has included several bizarre articles, in mainstream publications, highly critical of her local church. One ...
Wed, October 15, 2008
Vision Values Q A with Dr. Steve Jones
Palin, Pentecostals, and Evangelicals
Editor's Note: The "V&V Q&A" is an e-publication from the Center for Vision Values at Grove City College. Each issue will present an interview with an intriguing thinker or opinion-maker that we hope ...
Wed, October 15, 2008
The Dominant Campaign Question
What issue(s) dominated the presidential campaign two months ago–foreign policy, taxes, health care? That seems like ancient history now. The one question that everyone wants Barack Obama and ...
Fri, October 10, 2008
Why November 2008 Looks Like March 1936
Near the conclusion of Tuesday night's second presidential "town-hall" style debate, a questioner from the audience asked each candidate what he would do if Iran attacked Israel. Both ...
Wed, October 08, 2008
Message to Obama: We Were Greeted as Liberators
A casualty of the left's hatred for President George W. Bush has been a destructive inability to separate fact from fiction in the ongoing history of the war in Iraq. The latest case, which, sadly, ...
Mon, October 06, 2008
Critical Mass:
Economic Leadership or Dictatorship
Economic and political destabilization ranked high on al-Qaeda's list of strategic objectives in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Washington, DC. In addition to killing nearly 3,000 ...
Fri, October 03, 2008
V&V Q&A with Earl Tilford
Editor's Note: The "V&V Q&A" is an e-publication from the Center for Vision Values at Grove City College. Each issue will present an interview with an intriguing thinker or opinion-maker that we hope ...
Thu, October 02, 2008
Governor, Who's the Leader of Angola?
Biden prepares for Palin
I would like to share a story on Senator Joe Biden that happened 27 years ago. It involved his international humiliation of a good man, and it became a habit for Biden. I'm confident Biden will ...
Wed, October 01, 2008
Stop the Bailout
When facing a major financial problem, it is not uncommon to face the temptation to do something foolish at best or something evil at worst. Our elected officials and un-elected monetary and ...
Wed, October 01, 2008
Thoughts on the Bailout
The biggest bailout plan (so far) will continue to be revised in an attempt to win approval of a congressional majority. The goal of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 is to put the ...
Mon, September 29, 2008
Freedom of Choice vs. Born Alive
In a presidential campaign issues arise and then fade from view. The emergence of new media preoccupations may make it seem as though yesterday's controversy has been resolved. This is rarely ...
Fri, September 26, 2008
V V Q A
An Interview on America's Founding Fathers
V&V Q&A:
"Where Have You Gone, Thomas Jefferson?"
(An Interview on America's Founding Fathers and Modern Presidents)
With Dr. Paul Kengor
Editor's ...
Thu, September 25, 2008
Blaming the Free Market
It's finger-pointing time, folks. Whose fault is the ongoing financial crack-up that has hurt, angered, and frightened so many people? There is plenty of blame to go around, and the American people ...
Tue, September 23, 2008
Economic Nonsense
It saddens me when I see a member of my profession go over to "the dark side," that is, to politics. Politics replaces voluntary action with compulsion, private contract with coercion. Government ...
Thu, September 18, 2008
A Tale of Two Narratives -- And the Palin Paradigm
Reactions to Governor Palin's selection as Senator McCain's running mate ranged from laughter to incredulity and then from alarm to panic. Indeed, editorials on the danger she poses to Senator ...
Tue, September 16, 2008
Another One Bites the Dust
September 15, 2008. Lehman Brothers, the giant Wall Street firm, declares bankruptcy. Merrill Lynch, the most famous stock brokerage company in the country, avoids the risk of eventually suffering a ...
Tue, September 16, 2008
Is Sarah Palin the Next Ronald Reagan?
Sarah Palin and Ronald Reagan appear poles apart in their backgrounds. Before coming to the center stage of national politics, Palin was a small-town mother of five and governor of Alaska, and ...
Tue, September 16, 2008
Hating Palin: Words of Wisdom from Ronald Reagan
It has taken me a couple of weeks but I think I've finally gotten handle on why Sarah Palin's bravado Republican convention speech was such a smash among conservatives: After nearly eight years of ...
Fri, September 12, 2008
When Does a Baby Get Human Rights?
When Pastor Rick Warren asked Barack Obama "at what point does a baby get human rights," Sen. Obama hesitated and answered, "Well, you know, I think that whether you're looking at it ...
Thu, September 11, 2008
For Whom Does the Bell Toll?
Remembering September 11, 2001
Seven years ago, Sept. 11, 2001, we all remember where we were and with whom and what we were doing. I was rushing off for my 9:25 AM class; it was my first semester as a tenure-track professor. ...
