Steve Chapman from Creators Syndicate

The Case Against the Bailout for 09/25/2008

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

The late comedian Jack Benny made a career of claiming to be a cheapskate. In one joke, a robber accosted him and said: "Your money or your life." Getting no response, the thug repeated his demand. Benny replied, "I'm thinking about it!"

That's the sort of dilemma posed by Henry Paulson and Ben Bernanke in their proposed rescue of financial institutions. They predict ...

Updated: Thu Sep 25, 2008

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Hastening the Ultimate Bailout for 09/28/2008

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Sometimes bipartisanship is grounds for celebration, but more often it is cause for tears. Last week, congressional leaders from both parties went into a room to hammer out a plan that would put taxpayers on the hook for $700 billion. But they assert that the investment is essential to the health of the economy. And they insist that if we make this investment, we'll get all or most of it back.< ...

Updated: Sun Sep 28, 2008

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Palin's Small-Town Snobbery for 10/02/2008

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Americans disdain snobbery in all its forms except the most popular one: reverse snobbery. Joe Biden would never get up in front of a crowd and suggest that the citizens of Manhattan are morally superior to the residents of Possum Gulch, Ark. But Sarah Palin was happy to tell the Republican National Convention that the very best people come from the country.

"We grow good people in ...

Updated: Thu Oct 02, 2008

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No Shopping, Please, We're German for 10/05/2008

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

BERLIN — It's a Sunday afternoon, and the Potsdamer Platz shopping arcade looks like any American shopping mall on a busy weekend. It's thronged with parents pushing baby strollers, retirees eating ice-cream cones and teenagers sneaking kisses.

But there is one major difference. The mall has plenty of stores to draw shoppers — Foot Locker, H&M, Eddie Bauer, a discount sup ...

Updated: Sun Oct 05, 2008

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A Rescue Plan That Didn't for 10/09/2008

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Thank goodness Congress approved that bailout. Otherwise, the economy might be tanking.

Just a couple of weeks ago, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke asked Congress to approve a $700 billion rescue of the banking industry. Without this sudden, massive infusion of federal cash, we were told, economic disaster loomed. Prompt approval, on the other h ...

Updated: Thu Oct 09, 2008

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The Candidates In Fairyland for 10/12/2008

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

When it comes to taxes, this election presents a clear choice. On one side you have a Democrat who proposes to raise taxes. On the other, you have a Republican who proposes to raise taxes.

I know, I know, John McCain says he wants to do just the opposite. In the second presidential debate, he opened by declaring, "We have to keep Americans' taxes low. All Americans' taxes low. Let's ...

Updated: Sun Oct 12, 2008

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John McCain, Reveling in Anger for 10/14/2008

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

DAVENPORT, IOWA — If the presidential campaign were the lead-up to a World Wrestling Entertainment smackdown, John McCain would be winning. A former high-school wrestler, he's been making the most of the chance to show his withering contempt for the other guy.

At a town hall meeting on Friday in Wisconsin, McCain had taken a surprising tack. When a woman in the audience said that B ...

Updated: Tue Oct 14, 2008

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Right and Wrong on Gay Marriage for 10/19/2008

Sun, 19 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

When you set out to do something important, it doesn't matter just whether you achieve it — it also matters how. That's why Hank Aaron is a baseball immortal for breaking the career home run record, while Barry Bonds, who did the same, is a pariah.

The maxim holds true in public policy as well as sports. Same-sex marriage is a noble goal designed to serve both individual freedom an ...

Updated: Sun Oct 19, 2008

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McCain Stonewalls On His Radical Friend for 10/23/2008

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

There are three things in the world that you should recognize will not happen in this lifetime. You will not become a billionaire. The Cubs will not win the World Series. And John McCain will not explain his warm association with a notorious political criminal.

McCain has attacked Barack Obama for his connection to former Weather Underground member William Ayers, who in his words "w ...

Updated: Thu Oct 23, 2008

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The Secret of Obama's Success for 10/26/2008

Sun, 26 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

INDIANAPOLIS — Barack Obama's success so far in this campaign is a puzzle. How is it that a youngish first-term senator with so many disadvantages — a slight resume, a foreign-sounding name, an exotic background, a professorial manner, a thoroughly liberal voting record, and a skin color unlike any previous president — has come so far, and even leads in national polls with les ...

Updated: Sun Oct 26, 2008

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Obama's Economic Mythology for 10/30/2008

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

If you're at a Catholic shrine, it's a good idea to show respect for the Virgin Mary. In New York, a Yankees cap will make you look right at home. And among a Democratic crowd, you can never go wrong by lamenting the decline of the middle class and the stagnation of wages.

I don't have to tell Barack Obama. He makes a habit of claiming that "wages are shrinking," working famili ...

Updated: Thu Oct 30, 2008

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The Certain Loser In This Election for 11/02/2008

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Regardless of what the polls say, it's not clear who is going to win the presidential race. But it is clear who is going to lose: George W. Bush. If this contest proves anything, it's that the electorate is sick of him and eager for someone very different.

They might even prefer the candidate they elected in 2000. The one who promised to be "a uniter, not a divider." Who said h ...

Updated: Sun Nov 02, 2008

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The Audacity of America for 11/06/2008

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Barack Obama's victory Tuesday brought to mind a number of Americans who helped pave the way for this historic moment, from Abraham Lincoln to Jesse Jackson. But it also called up someone whose achievements were of a different kind: George Patton.

Obama may know little about the fabled World War II general, but he is a kindred spirit. It was Patton who said, "In planning any operati ...

Updated: Thu Nov 06, 2008

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Change We Can Remember for 11/09/2008

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Barack Obama's campaign mantras were "change we need" and "change we can believe in." His victory, and the enthusiasm of his more ardent supporters, may suggest that Americans dream of doing what Thomas Paine proposed we do in 1776: "begin the world over again." In fact, underlying the vote is yearning to return to how things were before: before the Iraq war, befor ...

Updated: Sun Nov 09, 2008

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The Results of Adequate Counsel for 11/13/2008

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Zacarias Moussaoui looked like a lead-pipe cinch for the death penalty. He didn't just admit his guilt, but reveled in it. Moussaoui refused to cooperate with his lawyers, boasted about his role in the 9/11 attacks, said he had "no remorse," and proclaimed he would be happy to kill Americans even in prison: "Anytime, anywhere."

It shouldn't be hard to kill a guy so ea ...

Updated: Thu Nov 13, 2008

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When Term-Limits Advocates Won't Leave for 11/16/2008

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

When Republican Helen Chenoweth ran for Congress in Idaho in 1994, she not only endorsed term limits on members but pledged she would leave Washington after three terms no matter what. But something strange happened in 2000, when it was time for Chenoweth to step down: She did it.

What was she thinking?

In 2000, when Republican Timothy Johnson ran for Congress in a central Illinoi ...

Updated: Sun Nov 16, 2008

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Rx for Republicans: Patience for 11/20/2008

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

It was the aftermath of the presidential election and everyone was explaining why the losing party lost. It was out of step with ordinary people. Its voters were too old. It was too identified with hot-button issues like abortion. It had a problem with Hispanics, young people and independents. It was increasingly confined to a limited number of states.

For all these reasons, commentators ...

Updated: Thu Nov 20, 2008

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'Socialism' Is Not the Problem for 11/23/2008

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Something about Barack Obama has a way of driving some conservatives completely batty. John McCain detected something "a lot like socialism" in his tax plan. Veteran conservative media critic L. Brent Bozell has no doubt the new president will "deliver socialism." But the prize goes to Rep. Paul Broun, R-Ga., who says "we've elected a Marxist" who may create an Ame ...

Updated: Sun Nov 23, 2008

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Chicago Defies the Second Amendment for 11/27/2008

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Since the Supreme Court upheld the individual right to own guns last summer, one municipality after another with handgun bans has faced reality. Washington, D.C., which lost the case, changed its law. Morton Grove, Ill., repealed its ban. So did neighboring Wilmette. Likewise for Evanston. Last week, Winnetka followed suit.

Then there is Chicago, which is being sued for violating the Sec ...

Updated: Thu Nov 27, 2008

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Gay Adoption: The Real Agenda for 11/30/2008

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

On Nov. 4, Arkansas voters approved a ban on adoption by unmarried couples. The purpose of the ballot measure, according to the Family Council Action Committee, was "to blunt a homosexual agenda that's at work in other states and that will be at work in Arkansas unless we are proactive about doing something about it."

On Nov. 25, a court in Florida pointed out something that th ...

Updated: Sun Nov 30, 2008

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