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February 4, 2011

ElBaradei a Bad Guy? Don't Listen to the American Right By Joe Conason

To his fellow Egyptians and to most observers across the world, Mohamed ElBaradei looks like a hero -- an international diplomat who might well have lived out his days in the comforts of Geneva and New York, but returned home to provide leadership despite serious personal peril. But to leading figures on the American right, ElBaradei is a figure to be mocked, scorned and dismissed as a stooge of darker forces in Egyptian politics and the Mideast.

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February 3, 2011

Do-gooders Mobilize Against Free Speech By Debra J. Saunders

Forget all that talk about bipartisan civility. When some 200 conservatives showed up for a weekend conference hosted by the libertarian-leaning industrialist brothers Charles and David Koch in Rancho Mirage, Calif., there was no welcome wagon. Instead, seminar attendees were met by close to 1,000 activists protesting the meeting and waving banners. News reports showed a swastika and cute slogans like: "Quarantine the Kochs" and "Koch kills."

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February 3, 2011

“Winning the Future” Requires Real Choice By Howard Rich

In his State of the Union address last week, U.S. President Barack Obama acknowledged that America’s “free enterprise system is what drives innovation.” He also said that if America is to “win the future,” then it must first “win the race to educate our kids.”

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February 3, 2011

Obama and Reelection: One Term or Two? By Rhodes Cook

When it comes to presidents and reelection, two things seem clear. If they appear to be in control of events, they win. If events seem to be controlling them, they lose.

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February 2, 2011

Obamacare: D.O.A. By Dick Morris

How did Obama ever think that his program would pass constitutional muster?  How could he imagine that the Interstate Commerce clause could cover something that wasn't interstate (health insurance cannot be sold over state lines) and wasn't commerce (failure to buy insurance is not commerce) would stand up in court?  He was so sure that he would win any constitutional challenge that he arrogantly failed to put a severability clause in the bill so that it would survive even if parts were stricken down.

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February 2, 2011

Bernanke and Ethanol Sink Egypt By Lawrence Kudlow

Decades of autocratic government and a lack of free elections are, of course, the main drivers of the political upheaval in Egypt. But did the sinking dollar and skyrocketing food prices trigger the massive unrest now occurring in Egypt -- or the greater Arab world for that matter?

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February 2, 2011

Support Mubarak: Down the Revolution, Up Orderly Progress! By Tony Blankley

Whatever may happen in the hours after I write this column, two things are certain: The next chapter in the magnificent and ancient civilization of the Nile will be yet to be known. And the role that America plays in Egypt's great, unfolding story remains also in doubt.

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February 1, 2011

From Psycho to Tourist Draw By Froma Harrop

Billy the Kid was a psycho. It took the balm of time and multiple retelling of Old West sagas to turn this killing machine into a folk figure. You may recall former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson's causing a fuss when he considered granting the little monster a posthumous pardon. Among the Kid's many victims were officers of the law. Richardson wisely decided to take a pass.

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February 1, 2011

A Spending Problem and a Debt Problem By Debra J. Saunders

"We don't have a revenue problem. We have a spending problem." That's a Republican mantra often used to explain why the answer to Washington's deficit spending is not a tax increase, but more spending cuts.

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January 31, 2011

Politics by the Numbers: Good Omens for the GOP in 2012 By Michael Barone

Numbers can tell a story. Looking back on Barack Obama's second State of the Union message, and looking forward to the congressional session and the 2012 elections, they tell a story that should leave Democrats uneasy.

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January 30, 2011

Where Judicial Activism Morphs into Disregard By Debra J. Saunders

Four times this month, the U.S. Supreme Court has slapped down the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Four times the Big Bench unanimously reversed Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decisions. Unanimous is a big deal. It means that there's no left-right political divide in the Big Bench's findings -- just right on the law and wrong on the law. 

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January 29, 2011

Food Riots: Is Bernanke Partially to Blame? By Lawrence Kudlow

As we know, massive popular unrest has broken out against autocratic governments in North Africa and the Arab world. Egypt is the biggest story. But to varying degrees, the people have taken to the streets in Algeria, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, and Yemen.

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January 28, 2011

Christie: Showing Washington How to Get It Done By Lawrence Kudlow

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie expressed disappointment in President Obama’s failure to commit to aggressive budget cuts and entitlement reform in last night’s State of the Union speech.

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January 28, 2011

Freshman Stress By Susan Estrich

Every year, UCLA's Higher Education Research Center does a national study of college freshmen, some 200,000 in all. This year, the big news is emotional health -- or lack thereof. Nearly half of the students surveyed -- and more than half of the young women -- ranked their emotional health as "below average," the highest numbers since the survey began 25 years ago.

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January 28, 2011

Boomers' 'Second Adolescence' Goes on Hold By Froma Harrop

A few years ago, baby boomers needed 3-D glasses to take in the gorgeous vision of their decades to come. Books and articles foresaw baby boomers skipping off into a "Second Adolescence" of self-fulfillment. No longer chained to the 9-to-5 and still healthy, the newly "retired" would follow their muse. The future was theirs, despite all that gray hair (or gray roots).

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January 27, 2011

Obama Changes the Narrative By Joe Conason

Complaints about President Obama's State of the Union address on both sides of the political divide (which was obscured but not obliterated by the evening's novel seating arrangements) seemed to miss its point and purpose

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January 27, 2011

The Early Line: 2012 House Races By Isaac T. Wood

Following the 2010 House “shellacking” by the GOP, Democrats are hungry for revenge while Republicans are hungry for more. While there is an endlessly long list of unknowns as we assess the November 2012 races from our current vantage point, 22 months removed from Election Day, there are also several signposts that offer some suggestion of what the 2012 House elections may bring.

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January 27, 2011

Obama's Take on U.S. Innovation By Debra J. Saunders

The problem with left-leaning elites trying to run the U.S. economy from the top down is simple: They think the answer to America's economic woes is to create more jobs that replicate managers just like them.

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January 26, 2011

Mr. ‘Investment’ By Lawrence Kudlow

In his State of the Union message tonight, President Obama is likely to call for some kind of corporate tax reform. But don’t look for him to be a budget-cutter.

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January 26, 2011

Regulations and Rhetoric By Tony Blankley

Last week, the president wrote in the Wall Street Journal an article titled "Toward a 21st-Century Regulatory System" in which he announced that he had issued an executive order to review all government regulations on a cost-benefit ratio basis. In itself, this is a good idea, although the president makes it explicit that the cost-benefit analysis must take account of -- as benefits -- intangible factors such as "equity, human dignity, fairness, and distributive impacts." Plenty of leeway there for career regulators and liberal political appointees to justify almost any oppressive regulation they may stumble over. 

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