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Ben Stein's Diary
Obama and the Bodysnatchers
Anyone see a leader last night?
My pal, a frequent Spectator contributor and a super smart guy, Aram Bakshian, summed it up perfectly after Barack Obama’s State of the Union address.
“Obama does not seem like a leader anymore,” he said.
It is sadly true. This was painfully apparent in tonight’s speech. It was as if the Bodysnatchers had gotten hold of Mr. Obama and put a sixth grader’s brain in him. There were only a few glimpses of Obama the “intellectual” socialist on display tonight. Mostly, his speech sounded as if it could have been given by any 1958 Republican elementary school student. The problem is that this is not 1958 America.
This is a much changed America, and one that has put itself into a terribly confining box.
When Mr. Obama talks about reducing the deficit, it’s almost comical. The changes he proposes are so minuscule in terms of their effect on the budget that it’s as if he is saying he can throw a rock to the moon. This country’s deficit is spectacularly beyond his control. Only really painful surgery — drastic, draconian cuts in Social Security and in Medicare, and wildly higher taxes on upper income people — will come even close to fixing the problem.
The GOP has succeeded in making the tax part of these off limits, which makes certain the problem will get even worse. Mr. Obama did not come within a mile of telling the truth about it. He has been completely boxed in by the GOP, to an extent he would find deeply upsetting if he ever admitted it to himself.
When Mr. Obama says he’s going to reform American education by setting higher standards, he is just baying at the moon. Most of the nation’s public school pupils are not achieving at even close to the rates of the students in other advanced nations. The problem is intensely concentrated among the nonwhite students of this nation. If we cannot find a way to get these kids working, and working hard, to reach basic educational standards, we will face educational and job force catastrophe. For their sake and for the nation’s sake, they have to be helped to help themselves. Unless they can be brought up to standards of other industrial nations, we will become a third world country. This remediation can be done and must be done.
There was not one word about this in Mr. Obama’s speech. He kept talking about the Sputnik moment in 1957 when the USA made a major effort to improve its science education. I can remember those days very well. The crisis is that we do not have even remotely the same kind of student population we did in 1957. Not a word about that, either.
The crisis in non-white America will kill us if we don’t get it fixed, and slogans and test score measures will not do it.
Truth to tell, I don’t know what will fix the problem, but I know it can be done and we had better do it.
His bragging about Afghanistan rang a bit hollow, too. If progress is indeed being made in that sad country, the soldiers I talk to do not see it. Time for them to leave. There is just no reason for us to be there any longer.
His ridiculous words about the sanctions on Iran stopping them or slowing them down were almost sad. Israeli spycraft with software is doing something, but Iran is still a super catastrophe in the making.
There were two glimpses of the old Obama — when he slammed “subsidies” for oil companies, which of course do not get any subsidies, but have business deductions the way every other business does, he sounded every bit like the envious skinny Harvard man he once was. When he railed against tax breaks that he considered identical to government spending, that was outright socialism. That concept implies that all the income in the nation belongs to the state, and that if we let working people keep any of it, that is the same as a government expenditure. The opposite is true. The income belongs to the people, and they allow government to have some of it. But, of course, the servant has become the master now.
One final note: in its lack of eloquence, its complete absence of high points, its elementary school pedagogy, its complete absence of any interesting or memorable phrases, it was possibly the lamest SOTU speech I have ever heard.
Once again, Aram Bakshian, a far smarter man than I am, said it well. Mr. Obama just does not seem like a leader anymore, and, I will add, certainly not like an orator. This was a disappointing evening.
About the Author
Ben Stein is a writer, actor, economist, and lawyer living in Beverly Hills and Malibu. He writes “Ben Stein’s Diary” for every issue of The American Spectator.
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Will| 1.26.11 @ 6:24AM
You guys are brave, I could only muster enough energy to watch the Flyers/Canadiens game. As for the guest speaker last night, I think back to my old shipmate Jimbo and his sage advice, one dark, very late evening on the periphery of the Boston Common; "Never mind what he says, watch his hands"
BG| 1.26.11 @ 9:51AM
You got that right..."watch his hands!"
Last night we heard how the government is to be protected, not the people! We heard that the government and all it's special programs are what America is all about, not We the People! America is all about the government, and We the People are being relabled and regulated just to serve the monster that it is....., feed it, comfort it, and ensure it's growth and prosperity.
Look closely... The governments "rights" now trump the people's rights. The government apparantly now believes that it has the unalienable right to seek for all rights within the Declaration of Independence, and apply it to itself, as if it has gained "personhood".... The government wants us to believe that We the People have been unfair to it.... that the government has been a victim of the cruelty of We the People.... for indeed, we did not treat the government with equality, nor granted it the right to pursue its' own freedoms and personal prosperities.
To be sure, we had the audactity to limit its powers and regulatory reach..., and treat it less that We the People. No longer. And today it has raised itself up and declared that we all have discriminated against it, racists that we truly are!
Time for this nonsense to stop! The government is not a living person... it has no rights but those we give it. And though the government should not be treated like a living person, it has now the unconscionable right to take the lives of millions via abortions. The government has become a "tyrannical bully" to We the People, attempting to make it's own lifeless puppeteering into a "real boy." It wants "life," craves "life," and demands that we acknowledge this right by making it legal, or at least the chance to fool us all into beleiving that it should be "alive" and given all rights and privileges given to We the People so as to declare its legitimacy to then enslave us to its God-forsaken will. Sound a little like the Beast in Revelations, doesn't it?
But not so fast Pinochio! Not so fast!
As said, "Watch his hands! --- Watch his hands!" It's all back-ass backwards!
jawin| 1.26.11 @ 11:55AM
Sounds like Leviathan.
jhlam| 1.26.11 @ 4:58PM
I was just about to quote the Leviathan.. Touche.
Charles Hooper| 1.26.11 @ 4:16PM
Great meme. Simply excellent.
Gran Torino| 1.26.11 @ 9:08PM
Before long there will be heard throughout the planet a formidable cry, rising like the howling of innumerable dogs to the stars, "WHO IS LIKE THE BEAST?" (Revelation 13:4)
Politicians use bullshit to hide the fact that we are all living in a matrix, and that the Red Dragon will eventually take over.
Rev. Jesse Jackson| 1.26.11 @ 9:12PM
The platitudinous pabulum that passes for stirring political rhetoric is bullshit.
Timothy L. Pennell| 1.26.11 @ 9:54AM
Am I just naive? Everyone seems to believe that this is a COMPLICATED thing. Everyone agrees (except our Boy King) that the CURE is gonna cause some pain. Fine. Everyone agrees that EVERYONE should share in that pain. Also fine. How about a little Occam's Razor?
We cut EVERYTHING (except Defence) by 10%.
Right across the board. Everyone will hate it. Thus proving it's FAIRNESS.
See how easy this is?
Ned| 1.26.11 @ 11:16AM
Do I hear "15%"... how about 15% Ladies and Gentlemen? 15%? 15%?
I have 15% from the little lady there in the "Visit Alaska" sweatshirt! How about 17% then? 17? 17? Can I have 17%...
Pelligrino| 1.26.11 @ 11:40AM
Ned, I'll gladly give you 20% cuts for all federal agencies -- ALL of them -- and federal employees for the next 10 YEARS. (With the full elimination of 2 dozen federal agencies.)
For the agencies that remain -- after the 10 years of annual 20% cuts -- no increases outside of adjustments for inflation.
That's really NOT painful. NOT at all; just the opposite. It would be a genuine uplift for the nation. Everyone could start breathing again.
Folks, we have to roll back 55 years of completely unnecessary government expansion into every knook and creavace of your/mine/our lives.
jawin| 1.26.11 @ 11:55AM
55 years? More like 75 years.
Redneck Gunnut | 1.26.11 @ 4:33PM
Absolutely!!!
Cut programs, agencies, salaries straight across the board. I'm tired of these freeloaders and parasites bleeding us dry.
And while we're at it, close our southern border.
Ellen| 1.26.11 @ 5:15PM
Get rid of the Department of Education. The education of our children should be in the hands of the AmericanPeople. As a former School Board President I believe the the states, comminities, and parents should have the opportunity to have their voices heard and be able to know about, and make decisions as to the text books given to their children. Citizens vote for School Board Members -- let them be heard.
Santino Cardosi| 1.26.11 @ 5:26PM
For years (decades!) I have pointed out that America put Neil Armstrong on the moon without the benefit of a federal Department of Education. Now we can't put a shuttle in low-earth orbit.
Layna | 1.27.11 @ 6:57PM
A-men to that point !!!
Frisbee| 1.26.11 @ 7:01PM
Yes!!! DEA gone forever.
Old Counselor| 1.26.11 @ 9:19PM
Ellen,
After 40+ years in public ed, I heartily agree with your opinion of local control of our schools. I have worked in three states and nearly a dozen schools; every community and every school is unique and presents its own set of challenges.
Though the percentage has probably increased in the past decade under GWB and BHO, for many years most K-12 systems received only about 10% of their funding from the Feds. I often wondered why districts/states would not just tell the Feds to keep their money and relieve themselves of the onerous regulations that are always attached to the federal funds. As you well know, every district must employ many professional and service personnel just to meet all of the mandates associated with the funds.
Just as every family can reduce its budget by 10%, so could every school district, if they chose to. Sadly, I have never heard of one that will politely tell Uncle Sam "Thanks, but no thanks."
Burg| 1.30.11 @ 4:28PM
Agree, cut the DoE, as a disabled, retired veteran who became a Special Education Teacher, it is madness to try and educated anyone under these constrants. Add to it we are now the Parents and Guardians of these children...nope, can't get started on a endless, solutionless rant...THEY can vote themselves wealth, why work or be responsible for their "pleasures."
Layna | 1.27.11 @ 6:55PM
Ben says: "......only really painful surgery -- drastic, draconian cuts in Social Security and in Medicare .......... will come even close to fixing the problem" >> THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS. I BET YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT WHERE Y O U R NEXT MEAL $ OR RX $ OR HEAT $ IS COMING OUT OF !!! STOP THE LUXURY SPENDING OF GOVT AND RICH FOLKS...STOP SENDING O U R $$ TO OTHER COUNTRIES!! WE HAVE OUR OWN SICK AND STARVING AND HOMELESS!!!!
R Martin| 1.26.11 @ 11:22AM
It doesn't even have to be that drastic. I did the exercise in 1992 when Ross Perot was stirring about the deficit. With the absolutes at that time, a 2 percent per annum cut combined with a (historically below average) GDP growth of 2 percent wiped out the deficit in 10 years. The math would be different today and the total debt is larger but, you're right, it's not very complicated. However, the politics is complicated.
tatanka| 1.26.11 @ 1:11PM
Sadly we borrow 37 cents of every dollar we spend. So a 50% cut in non-defense spending is not unreasonable. Even then the defense budget will have to be cut substantially. Considering we have over 4400 federal agencies and programs there is a lot of cutting that can and someday will be cut.
oldfart| 1.26.11 @ 2:34PM
I am at a total loss what to say - this guy is supposed to be the modern day Jack Kennedy? What a looser.
Alan Brooks| 1.26.11 @ 7:25PM
It was the usual R & D speech, straight out of Gingrich.
But better than Bush's speeches. Bush was alwatys afraid he might actually say something. So he did the old speech in '05 about colonizing the Moon.
Bush couldn't even colonize Iraq but the Bushclone wants to colonize the Moon?
John Wayne| 1.26.11 @ 9:27PM
The best part about this particular State of the Union address was this: we no longer had to see Nancy Pelosi as House speaker, constantly popping up and down in the upper right-hand corner of our television screens -- a deranged jack-in-the-box, screaming her approval every time the president paused for an applause line. I know it's not much, but we have to thank God for every glimmer of hope that comes our way. Speaking of Pelosi, Isaiah 3:12 says, "As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths." Maybe things will continue to improve? Probably not, but we can dream...
Rosemary| 1.27.11 @ 9:45AM
Would you please get off the Bush Derangement Syndrome already? We didn't have effectively 17% unemployment under Bush, and the official rate was about half of what it is today. President Obama has led us down the path of complete dissolution, and it's time to acknowledge that Bush has not been President for more than two years.
Appleby| 1.26.11 @ 6:49AM
I watched Mother Angelica speak about confession and sin, and some oman in a baseball cap on the National Geographic Channel talk about an extinction catastrphe 250 million years ago that she attempted to blame on Americans driving SUVs -- and am glad to know I didnt miss anything.
Mr. Stein, you are now seeing the Obama the rest of us here saw in 2008. We were beginning to wonder if only Christians could see him as he is.
I was in Grade 5 in 1958 when the big push to beat the Russians (rather than become the Russians, as Obama would prefer) hit the schools, at the same time Telstar was launched, quickly followed by British rock and roll. I guess you remember between math and science, and rock and roll, which one won the war.
And good luck forcing the, er, non-white (of course you mean Blacks, as Asians and non-Mexicans are doing fine, thanks) to Act White, i.e. to speak and understand English as she is spoke, much less pay attention to *ol White wimmin* in class, or to understand that getting a job, as opposed to a life of crime, is *helping themselves*. Oh, and if you could stop the downloading of massive numbers of welfare babies onto the backs of those people still working, among that population, or convince the men that their responsibility does not end when they light up the cigarette...okay, good luck with that too, after 40 years of If It Feels Good, Do It.
And by the way, if YOU want to dump more of your fortune into the treasury, I believe there is an account to which you can direct it. Massive taxes on people who can move their fortunes to other venues is a trick that does not work.
Obama is not a leader and never has been. He thought he would be King; instead he has found out what Kings used to know: that the guy out front is the one they shoot at. He will now advance from the rear.
Stephanie| 1.26.11 @ 7:38AM
I always love your posts Appleby. Your comparisons of today to years past brings our sad situation into clear focus.
What I did like about last night's speech was that we didn't have to watch Pelosi pop up and down like,( as was written yesterday on this site), like a deranged jack-in-the-box. Thank you Jesus.
Kathy| 1.26.11 @ 3:55PM
Loved your reply!
Impeach Don't Wait| 1.26.11 @ 11:11PM
"that the guy out front is the one they shoot at."
Careful... Careful... Watch that violent speech there...
Snake Plissken| 1.27.11 @ 6:33AM
"And good luck forcing the, er, non-white (of course you mean Blacks, as Asians and non-Mexicans are doing fine, thanks) to Act White, i.e. to speak and understand English"
Uh oh. We're gonna get letters, as they say on Red Eye.
David T| 1.28.11 @ 10:58AM
Snake Plissen--thought you were dead
PaulD| 1.26.11 @ 7:18AM
For the Triumphal Entry of Obama last night, all that was missing were the palm fronds (there were plenty of jackasses there, though). The members of the elite were present: Sibelius, Geithner, Hillary. Obama ran the gauntlet, flashing his Cheshire Cat smile and greeting each lord and lady with his customary handshake and two pats on the shoulder. He even hugged Hillary. God, what a sight!
These people exist in the clouds, far above us groundlings. They do not deal with reality; theirs is a world of privilege where rules do not apply. A usurper is at the helm, and they fawn on him.
It was a sickening sight. I switched the tele off.
Frisbee| 1.26.11 @ 7:04PM
"groundlings" LOL. Thanks PaulD.
Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 1.26.11 @ 7:28AM
As the little king entered the chambers it was obvious all the luster and zeal had worn off. Obama looked out of his element. His element is the neighborhood. He's a community organizer.
What was more surprising was his speech. It was a tepid replay of 60's We Are The World philosiphies which appeared to go well with the "let's sit together and make nice while we plan to steal and squander another trillion" members sat below.
While they are destroying America these members of Congress could barely get the energy together to look like they cared. At least the ones the TV cameras focused on while they avoided the "God Bless America" behind the speaker's podium.
Obama looked like what he was precisely. A man who just got a good political beat down and he's not ready for more.
Will he even run again? Probably. But a man surprised is usually half beaten and Obama looked all beaten after his November surprise.
Grzmlyk| 1.26.11 @ 9:44AM
I expected the speech to suck. The air is out of Obama's balloon (well, that's only true for those of us who are not intoxicated on our own moral vanity, on the take or direct receivers of confiscated wealth).
But I didn't expect it to suck that badly - sure, the lies were all there, blantant as ever, delievered without a hint of irony or shame. That's vintage Obama.
But it was disjointed, schizophrenic, vague, ineloquent and almost incoherent. It was a very small speech for a very small man. And he delivered it poorly.
What really surprised me, though, was that Charles Krauthammer kept his turgid jousting pole of love in his pants when evaluating Obama's performance. I was gobsmacked that he failed to slobber even once.
Who knows? They might even be sleeping in separate beds now.
Nah. He'll come back.
Besides, O'Reilly's panting in the wings, waiting to re-declare the love that dares not speak its name.
Deborah D | 1.26.11 @ 9:56AM
Krauthammer took a polite beating from Limbaugh after the O's Tucson speech. He slobbered over that enough that Rush commented the next day about the Fox panel and the Washington elite being smitten (or something to that effect). Then, Krauthammer hit Rush back, which probably got him some choice words from reality-based Americans. Somehow Rush and the reaction from the publica at large must have awakened Krauthammer because he's been a bit more critical of Obama since.
Grzmlyk| 1.26.11 @ 10:24AM
Yes, I followed some of that mini-brouhaha between Krauthammer and Rush. Rush was 100% right, as usual.
Krauthammer's a bit of a puzzle to me - on most policy matters, I think he's reliable. But on politics, I think he is blinded - like O'Reilly - by a bizarre affection and wholly unearned respect for Obama. And I think that if Obama were white, Krauthammer wouldn't be so solicitous of him.
I KNOW O'Reilly wouldn't. Yesterday O'Reilly was insisting that Obama is a likeable guy that anybody would love to "have a beer with."
Really? Gee, I'm not so sure I'd like to sit down "and have a beer" with an arrogant, vengeful, puerile, immature, imperious, condescending, bloviating, vain, narcissistic, ignorant, Marxist jerk.
But hey, that's just me.
335blues| 1.26.11 @ 10:43AM
Really? Gee, I'm not so sure I'd like to sit down "and have a beer" with an arrogant, vengeful, puerile, immature, imperious, condescending, bloviating, vain, narcissistic, ignorant, Marxist jerk.
+1 I could not have said it better myself. o'reilly actually looks up to obama because he is better at self-worship than billy is (hard to believe isn't it?).
Cincinnatius| 1.26.11 @ 3:11PM
335blues: BINGO!! You hit the nail squarely on the head. I love it!!!
Deborah D | 1.26.11 @ 11:05AM
I do admire Krauthammer, and I agree that usually he is spot on. I do think that, as he was before and just after the election, Charles is a bit smitten with Obama -- he didn't really admire the crease in his pants ala NY Times' Brooks, but he really admired what he, Brooks, Noonan and other smarties thought was Obama's intelligence. I've never quite gotten all of that -- perhaps its the idea that he was Columbia and Harvard and could speak well off a teleprompter. Or maybe it was his engaging smile, but something has and continues to blind some people to the reality of the O. If one is "intelligent," it doesn't automatically translate into wise decision maker or the ability to learn from reality as opposed to being enmeshed in ideology. Our country suffered greatly from other smarties -- Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Jimmy Carter...to name a few in the 20th Century.
Frisbee| 1.26.11 @ 7:08PM
Wasn't the devil the most intelligent angel? Smart doesn't mean good.
Peter Murphy| 1.26.11 @ 11:29AM
O'Reilly and Krauthammer are right-of-center commentators who periodically praise the President out of a desire to come off as fair and reasonable and not ideological. This is especially true of O'Reilly, who pawns for ratings, and it works. Krauthammer should be less concerned.
missbosslady| 1.26.11 @ 5:48PM
Though I do enjoy Sir Charles I always remind myself that at the end of the day Krauthammer is an 'establishment' journalist, it is his Achilles heel.
For the most part Charles can keep his establishment-ism under wraps, but every once in a while you can see the scales peek out of the end of his sleeve.
Anthony| 1.26.11 @ 11:40AM
Ya know Grzmlyk, I think you're a bigger man than this. I give you more credit. Of course you could sit down and have a beer with Marxist Barry Soetoro. I mean, if McCain and Kerry could sit there holding hands and making out, you can have a brew with slick willie 2 and Sputnik too.
Besides, you're a witty conversational guy, why, I bet if you showed Obozo your birth certificate, he'd show you his. I'm certain of it.
P.S. Thanks for heads up on Rush, I missed the Kruathammer head to head. O'Reilly just wants to give head to get Obozo on his show.
FastJohnny| 1.26.11 @ 12:20PM
"Really? Gee, I'm not so sure I'd like to sit down "and have a beer" with an arrogant, vengeful, puerile, immature, imperious, condescending, bloviating, vain, narcissistic, ignorant, Marxist jerk."
Well said. Sounds a lot like my brother-in-law who worships at the alter of the Mosque of Obama. My brother-in-law is a spoiled, non-working, upper middle class house husband who does nothing since his wife pays for everything. He sits all day in front of his computer and reads about socialist and marxist thought, then extolls the virtues of such and Obama to the rest of us at Holiday dinners. I wonder why no one wants to go their house anymore? I had that same feeling of disdain last night while watching the SOTU and had to eventually turn it off in disgust.
Kathy| 1.26.11 @ 4:03PM
Oh my goodness, you have described about 10 guys I know that are n'er do wells, spouting off constantly about the evil corporations, stupid republicans, etc. while sitting on their lazy behinds while their wives support the household. I say whats up with the wives of these bums?
Grzmlyk| 1.26.11 @ 4:03PM
Your brother-in-law sounds like a real champ.
Of course, if he had to live by the Marxism he thinks is so swell, he'd be forced off of his fat ass and made to work at whatever the government wanted him to work at in order to support the bloated, lazy bureaucracy - at the point of a gun.
But, given that he lives within an EVIL capitalist construct, it sounds like he has plenty of time to assuage his own moral vanity. The perfect Obama voter, and one of the reasons this country has gone down the tubes.
My idea of social justice: We force all of these preening fools to live in the world they prescribe for us.
Ned| 1.26.11 @ 11:30AM
I think Chuck and Wee Willie are just trying too hard to be "Fair and Balanced" - both come off as trying too hard, which gives away the game... Barry Bullsh*t is a scumbag and a weasel, but they can't just SAY it, fer cryin out loud...
Grzmlyk| 1.26.11 @ 4:06PM
I actually think the explanation is more insidious than that.
I think both O'Reilly and Krauthammer like Obama because he is black. In Krauthammer's case, it's that weird affinity Jews feel for blacks, in which they will cut them slack all the livelong day. In O'Reilly's case, it's because he wants to prove he's not a racist.
If Obama were white, neither Krauthammer nor O'Reilly would be looking the other way and feigning ignorance at Obama's obvious malevolence.
missbosslady| 1.26.11 @ 5:56PM
I don't know G,
As I said above, I think Krauthammer's problem is that he's an insider. He can only go so far out on that limb and still be a socially successful denizen of DC. Let's face it, if home base is DC you're in the bubble, you see outside the bubble only by looking through its rather worn lens.
As for O'Reilly, he's just an idiot, that boy is just flapping in the direction of the wind. He has no clue.
One thing is for sure, the fact that both Obama and O'Reilly are Harvard alum has got to be the worst advertisement for that institution. Seriously, that these two guys are what passes for intelligent is frikkin' frightening!
Anthony| 1.26.11 @ 11:54AM
Too funny Grzmlyk!!! I see a fantasy story porn site in your future.
How great would that be, staying at home doing the job Americans would love to do!!!
Grzmlyk| 1.26.11 @ 1:07PM
I'm not sure I could type with one hand. :-)
Anthony| 1.26.11 @ 1:34PM
Grzmlyk, my man, I know you're up to the task.
Besides, demand is already building up, vitwin has already signed up.
Grzmlyk| 1.26.11 @ 3:24PM
Gee, and I thought Vitwin had a full-time job as a central tunnel support on the Number 2 train in New York.
Not that is a job for which vitwin is perfectly suited!
Anthony| 1.26.11 @ 5:26PM
Tisk, tisk, you are a clever one!!! I think however it's the Number 2 at the BART, in the city by the bay, where vtwin and his biker boys play havoc with the locals.
Besides, after a hard days ride, vtwin and the boys would love to read some of your salicious stories. What will you call your web site? How's Tingly Legs?
oldfart| 1.26.11 @ 2:36PM
Can I get an AMEN!
MarkR| 1.26.11 @ 7:34AM
"and wildly higher taxes on upper income people -- will come even close to fixing the problem." Mr. Stien, I would love to see how that woiuld do anything but stop jobs completely.
The top 1% pay 22.7% of taxes.
The top 10% pay 50% of taxes.
The top 20% pay 65.3% of taxes.
The top 40% pay 84.3% of taxes
These are old numbers and they are much higher now. Rich Liberal guilt equals rich liberal action such as this which leads to rich liberals feeling less guilt which leads to NO JOBS.
Grzmlyk| 1.26.11 @ 9:09AM
This is why I stopped reading Ben Stein long ago (aside from his treacly, self-satisfied paeans to his own wealth): He is at heart a socialist. Just like Obama.
On the one hand, he says that the money doesn't belong to the government, it belongs to the people. On the other hand, he advocates wildly higher taxes on upper income people. I forget, Ben, how'd that work out in Britain in the 60s? How does Socialism EVER work out? I'll tell you how: it doesn't raise the poor up, it brings the wealthy down; it is the equal distribution of misery, such that in places like the Soviet Union, which has perhaps the largest tract of arable farmland in the world, couldn't put loaves of bread on store shelves.
If Ben wants to haul his ass out of his favorite Four Seasons hotels, begin staying at Motel Sixes and send the cost difference to Big Brother, that's his prerogative. I'm sure that alone would purchase another private jet for Andy Stern.
Please, Ben, give Obama every goddamned dollar you have and shut up, ok? Live on $50k a year, which would be a princely existence for half the people in this country.
But when you impose confiscatory taxes on people, Ben, what is the difference between that and the philosophy that all money is the government's? I'd love to hear you wax eloquent about the difference between confiscatory tax rates to feed a voracious leviathan and the socialist's dream of a leviathan that starves the private sector.
There isn't enough money in the upper income tier to pay for government, in case you haven't noticed. Which means that the middle class is where the real money is, and it is the middle class that Obama wants to erradicate; that's how Marxism works. The rich aren't the enemy, the bourgeoisie are. Obama's few wealthy cronies at GE and Goldman Sachs can keep their weekend estates and private jets and Kobe steaks, of course.
And if you impose wildly higher taxes on those who aren't criminally connected or able to access shelters, do you really believe that means Washington will get a handle on spending, you fucking moron? Send Washington one dollar and it spends four. That's how that works, in case you didn't notice, Ben.
How many times, and in how many ways, have we paid taxes over the last 70 years for "infrastructure?" Yet the bridges corrode and roads deteriorate. Remember how state lotteries were going to end, once and for all, the government's never-ending need for more tax revenue to fund education? Why are we constantly feeding the beast, and yet essential programs remain underfunded?
Because the job of politicians is not to allocate limited resources intelligently; it is to grease the skids in order to attain naked power. So ever-expanding, ever-burgeoning pet projects get funding and the business of this country has the bread taken from its mouth.
What an idiot - a free market capitalist who advocates government confiscation of all wealth!
A distinction without a difference, Ben. Please, put your money where your mouth is and then shut up.
richard ryan| 1.26.11 @ 9:35AM
Ben makes some good points, and is certainly a very smart man. Regarding taxation of the wealthy, I too don't understand his comment. I assume (maybe not a solid assumption) that Democrats want to tax the rich to increase revenues to the federal government. But every major tax CUT in this century has increased revenues. Tax increases, as we know, stifle economic growth and reduce revenues. I am still waiting for someone to explain why this fact is largely ignored, especially by someone of Mr. Stein's impressive intellect. He is not an elitist OR a leftist, BTW.
Grzmlyk| 1.26.11 @ 9:50AM
I have been onto Ben Stein for years.
What he is is a guilt-riddled wealthy man who has completely lost touch with reality, ensconced as he is in a coccoon of capital gains; he doesn't seem to remember where capital itself comes from, or how it fuels economies.
If he wants to give Obama 90% of his assets, there is absolutely nothing stopping him.
You cannot reconcile denouncing socialism on one hand and advocating it by another name on the other.
Anthony| 1.26.11 @ 2:38PM
Several weeks ago, I was attacked and accused by Janet, that I was unmercilessly attacking Stein and was an anti-semite. Hence, I will no longer comment on Stein, just the posts.
missbosslady| 1.26.11 @ 6:37PM
G,
Again I find myself in agreement with you. Ben is just another establishment guy like Krauthammer.
I have a great suggestion for all these guilt-ridden hand-wringers; take 50-60K (the national annual avg) right off the top of your total income and disburse the rest. Never lay hands on the percentage disbursed, send it straight on to whatever the cause du jour is, and magically relieve yourself of all that guilt.
It is so simple.
I am so soooo sick of these pathetic guilt mongers! You gotta love how the guilt doesn't set in until AFTER they achive success. Ha-ha, just in time to start campaigning against the would-be, could-be sueccessful.
Hey Ben, et al, I am so sorry that you are unable to enjoy your success, because more people than you realize do not begrudge you this, but if you don't mind, stop friggin' trying to ruin it for the rest of us. What a *****!
Yes, your way is better, let's shame success.
Has anyone ever heard an athelete express remorse for winning? C'mon man! Imagine the post game interview with the Super Bowl MVP, "so how does it feel to win the championship?" Answer "pretty sh*tty."
Now, that's funny right there!
And since I brought up the subject of athletes, and I'm not above playing the race card even if it's totally off topic, why don't we have some affirmative action for certain white athletes? For example, the 100, how's a white guy ever gonna be the fastest man on earth if they don't lower the qualifying standards for whites?
Grzmlyk| 1.26.11 @ 8:43PM
Excellent points, Missbosslady.
I love the analogy to the Super Bowl.
Also, affirmative action for whites - maybe only make the white guy run 80 yards while the black guys have to run 100. Or maybe they should just cancel the competition, declare it a tie and give all the contestants a modest trophy.
Funny how you see a push to get blacks into coaching positions in the NFL - but nobody bitches because 25% of the players are white. I don't hear a clamor for more white wide receievers.
But back to the topic at hand - I totally agree that Ben should live on $50k and give the rest to the great and wonderful State.
Voila! No guilt.
Here's the dirty truth: Assuaging White Guilt is a delicious indulgence for the rich. It's worth every penny, even more than a luxurious stay at the Four Seasons. Every time Ben whines that he's not taxed enough, it's vanity's equivalent of an orgasm.
missbosslady| 1.26.11 @ 10:48PM
Nice! Never disappointed when orgasm can be used in a sentence!
Of course, you're dead on. Guilt is the secret handshake for the elitist club. Initiation consists of telling a story about your one black friend from childhood and having a good cry.
Deborah D | 1.26.11 @ 10:07AM
I used to be a fan of Stein's, but he must think that government will do things with money they take from us -- something that is just willful ignorance in my opinion. When will normally smart Americans remember some of the truisms that have sustained us: "That government is best which governs least." Thomas Paine
"Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny." Thomas Jefferson
"Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master." George Washington
Perhaps Mr. Stein should read up on the founders to acquaint himself with the truth of government.
Deborah D | 1.26.11 @ 10:08AM
Sorry I left out the word "good" in the first sentence...as in "good things with money"...
Grzmlyk| 1.26.11 @ 10:12AM
Very good quotes, Deborah - and very apropos.
I think Richard Ryan is wrong in his assessment above; I think Stein IS a leftist. If not a leftist, than a statist, and that's a distinction without a difference.
For a supposed conservative, Stein pays a hell of a lot of obeisance to liberal shibboleths.
Deborah D | 1.26.11 @ 10:55AM
I think you're right in your assessment of Stein as a guilty rich person. I'm not sure what kind of a conservative he is, but my guess would be that he is of the "compassionate conservative" variety, which is basically a liberal light.
Grzmlyk| 1.26.11 @ 11:20AM
Bingo, Deborah. You hit the nail on the head.
Big government conservatism is an oxymoron - it is a euphemism for statism.
I wonder if Ben has any tax shelters himself - which would make him a hypocrite as well as a statist.
MarkR| 1.26.11 @ 1:14PM
Grzmlyk: Thats an awesome post! Very succinct and to the point. Show where socialism has worked indeed!---The fact is Ben is a guilty white liberal who just like his show" Ben Stein's money"-loves to appear the heart felt defender of the working man only to make himself feel better while he being rich gives away his money out of millions undoubtedly to salve his guilty conscience. While the average middle class working stiff gets juiced by Uncle Sam and has his/her own meager resources made more meager by this alleviation of emotional distress Ben acheive's. Its the same story 60's radicals or those influenced by them have never grown up and deep in the resources of their minds believe the wealthy are the real enemy. The fact is the real wealth is in government jobs which have increased in benefits and real wages well beyond the private sector and include pensions and unionization which enables its workers to have a job that aint going away and which burdens the middle class beyond its means. Yes Obama does want eradication of the middle class like the good little marxist he is. The fact is a job in the private sector which pasy 60,000 a year is twice that in the public sector. And of course all this government $ goes to waste and abuse the likes which would drive the private sector into bankruptcy. Of course when you can print more $ the government never need worry along those lines. Ben Stein's money indeed- not my $ Ben if you please.
Frisbee| 1.26.11 @ 7:15PM
Socialism is this: One day, two men are given $100. One man squanders his $100 while the other saves his, and maybe earns another $20. On the 2nd day, the total $120 is divided equally between the two men.
JmsA| 1.28.11 @ 4:29AM
Don't mean to be argumentative, but I believe you're being too kind about socialism, which could be more accurately described as actually dividing the $20 between the two men, if they're lucky, and the government taking $100.
boomerbabe| 1.27.11 @ 1:37AM
Grzlmyk:
Love your posts, always!
R Martin| 1.26.11 @ 7:44AM
Mr. Stein, please, you cannot say in one breath that you do not know how to fix the problem and in the next that any solution must include wildly higher tax on people you deem to be "upper income". History has shown clearly, time and time again, what gets the American economy moving, but that is an economic model you do not buy into.
As to education, one can easily track the decline to the growth of the welfare state. Students learn by example, and when they see adults living reasonably well on handouts the government forces working people to provide, what incentive do they have to work in school? Welfare weaning is necessary, and the whole permissive attitude which spawned it needs to be changed.
Bob K.| 1.26.11 @ 7:45AM
Mr Stein,
How about extending some of that "painful surgery" and some of those "drastic, draconian cuts" to the federal and state bureauocracies?
And could you please be more specific and tell us which of the Industrial Nations educational systems we should emulate in order in order to have our public school students achieve at the rates of the students in these "advanced nations?" Surely you are not talking about China, India and other nations in the far east which have no child labor laws. So you must be talking about the industrial giants of Europe and all their great economic gains!
But I must admit that it is good of Israel to supply the spy craft and software to do something about Iran! In return, when the shooting starts, we can supply the bodies as we always do. Perhaps we can get them from the uneducated graduates of out public schools?
Intelligent Design| 1.26.11 @ 7:47AM
Obama said that the millions of illegal immigrants who suck up $hundreds of billions in public services are "undocumented". The drug dealers and terrorists who walk across our border with Mexico are also "undocumented". In fact, Obama is "undocumented".
And he lied when he took the oath of office, "... to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution ... "
TommyS| 1.26.11 @ 7:53AM
And where were O's pom poms? His speech last night was just more BS. He never does what he says anyway.
Same old thing, same old ideas, same old plans: more spending, more taxes. The future can' be changed unless the present is changed. It is insanity to keep doing the same things and expecting different results.
IT'S THE SPENDING STUPID!
Robert M| 1.26.11 @ 8:07AM
Here is one section of his speech I found disingenuous: "We need to teach our kids that it's not just the winner of the Super Bowl who deserves to be celebrated, but the winner of the science fair; that success is not a function of fame or PR, but of hard work and discipline."
When was the last time the winner of a science fair or the Valedictorian of any school has been invited to the White House for a photo op. The answer: Never. But time and time again, every president continues the tradition of inviting the champion of every major sport to the White House. If Obama was true to his word, he would stop this tradition of celebrating the overly celebrated athlete and for once show public approbation for people who excel in something other than throwing a ball around.
P.S. Obama's constant reference to the "internet" last night kept reminding me of Dr. Evil's giant "laser beam."
Grzmlyk| 1.26.11 @ 10:08AM
Yeah, Robert M, I thought his talk of the Internet sounded like it was right out of 1995. All of those things he ticked off - doctors talking to their patients via the Web, vendors selling products into a global marketplace, students reading digital books, etc. - those are already happening. HELLOOO Barack! Anybody home in there, or are there so many platitudes in your head that there's no room for things like knowledge?
And all of those applications were developed by private companies, by the way; the Internet itself laid like a dead carp until private enterprise got hold of it.
But to your main point: I find it laughable that Obama speaks of success and entrepreneurship and freeing companies from the shackles of regulation on the one hand and then decries exceptionalism, individual success and corporate greed on the other.
After all, Obama's minions all disdain anyone who dares to stand out from the crowd and achieve individual success - the first rule of liberalism is that individuals no longer exist - we're all members of various groups.
And everyone knows that on Obama's Animal Farm, everyone must have equal outcomes. Well, except for those pigs that Obama and his corrupt cronies choose to make more equal than others.
Sid Vicious| 1.26.11 @ 1:56PM
Oh, but it got even richer than all that blather about the Internet. What is That One's solution for 21st-century transportation challenges? Why, 19th-century choo-choo trains, of course!
That crack about avoiding pat-downs was at once cute and absurd. For the sake of argument, though, let's say he's right and I'm wrong: Once his choo-choo trains become wildly popular, it won't be long before the Homeland Stupidity spooks smoke out credible, continual terrorist threats against rail transportation. At that point, TSA would be almost certain to set up Grope-o-Rama security barriers at every intercity train station. If anything, the rails present an even juicier target than airplanes and airports do. We have many, many miles of track within dense urban areas. (Chicago's rail hub offers a perfect example.) Now imagine a dirty bomb going off a mile or so from the station, while the train is still moving at modest speed...
Grzmlyk| 1.26.11 @ 3:20PM
Sid, true dat, as they say.
That occurred to me to. "High speed rail" is the holy grail of government boondoggles that every Democrat president drools over.
You know, because Amtrak is such a rousing success with the public.
Never mind that there's absolutely no demand for this. The plan is to have gas prices skyrocket to the point where Obama's Obamatons can pluck Americans from the independence of their cars and herd us into their mass transportation nirvana.
After all, that's what we exist for - to be experiments for the elite social engineers producted by the Ivy League.
This never-ending fetish to get us all on trains is really just a way for Obama to 1) reward his union benefactors; 2) expand goverment's grip on our personal lives; 3) eliminate evil cars; 4) dis-empower individual choice; 5) corral us all into common spaces where we can be more easily controlled.
And you are absolutely right - we would instantly see the TSA's grope-a-dope presence at trains stations.
The left: Nothing if not predictable.
Yeah! that's the ticket! We'll build trains nobody wants!
This is a visionary president?
Sid Vicious| 1.26.11 @ 3:50PM
Too bad that vision thing doesn't seem to extend any farther than the horde of cronies he has to pay off.
Grzmlyk| 1.26.11 @ 4:26PM
Yeah - It's always interesting to see where the marxist ideologue ends and the felonious, corrupt thug begins.
One sort of bleeds into the other - it never fails, because socialism/Marxism is itself nothing but a lie - the soft, thin leather glove of compassion covering the iron fist of greed.
Every single time.
Frisbee| 1.26.11 @ 7:18PM
I happened to see Obama's motorcade when he arrived at Moffet field to inspect "the internet". Scary. He wants control of it, to stifle free speech, especially opposition.
The communists have had the media for so long, they can't stand to see people escaping their mind control.
missbosslady| 1.26.11 @ 6:48PM
Let's remember that infrastrucutre projects are prolific vehicles for crony capitalism. EVERYBODY know who get gets these contracts, and how they're gotten.
The term 'government contract' is synonymous with 'corruption'.
Louis Jenkins| 1.26.11 @ 11:55AM
And don't forget Robert, Congress is weighing an "internet kill switch act" which will allow the president to shut down the internet if he deems so.
Ivy| 1.28.11 @ 8:45AM
It's probably time for us to dust off the old BBS software, update it, and have our own personal "internet" - no kill switch on that.
Hm. I wonder if Cott Lang is still around?
Appleby| 1.26.11 @ 11:58AM
It would be wonderful if ANYBODY in America celebrated those who achieve intellectually. As a matter of fact, the most bullied, mocked, derided and jeered people in America are what were called "eggheads" and "double domes" when I was one of them (not to mention "four eyes" for those who also wore glasses) and are now called "geeks" and "nerds" and "sissies" etc. When was the last time you saw a successful, intelligent young person on television that was not a criminal or an alien or a vampire? In fact, when did you ever see an intelligent, successful young person who was BEAUTIFUL?
America has been telling its children for at least the last 50 years, especially its female children, that nobody likes smart kids, and that men will not marry smart girls; and they have been laughing as the brilliant skinny kid in glasses is shut in his locker or stripped naked and flung into the school yard by the big, blond (or African-American) jocks while the empty-headed cheerleaders giggle in the background.
If you want intelligence and achievement in school to be praised, draw a line between those kids and the ones bouncing the baw-ells, and start pointing out to the smart kids that the people running the world are not the huge behemoths with the third grade educations who get injured in the first quarter of their first ever pro game and are on skid road from that day on.
But I'm not holding my breath.
Signed,
Smart Girl Who Has Been There
Anthony| 1.26.11 @ 2:03PM
Appleby, have hope dear lady, not all of us fell for the "don't marry the smart girl with glasses",cant.
I married a smart girl with glasses and have been smiling my way to the bank ever since.
In fact, I make sure to clean my wife's glasses before she leaves the house every day, it's de reguer with me.
And if a giggling cheerleader comes to the house to mock my wife, well, I'll deal with that as well.
I Survived Arlen Specter| 1.26.11 @ 3:41PM
Hi Appleby. Not all men are chasing after looks before intelligence when it comes to women. I waited until my late thirties before I found the one for me & she is no dummy. My wife was also considered a "geek" in school for her intelligence, but she has an excellent career & out-earns myself & I also have a well paying job. Basically Appleby beauty is much more than a curvy body & dynamite looks. Be happy GOD blessed you with the intelligence you have. Take care & GOD bless!
Appleby| 1.26.11 @ 4:28PM
In International Mensa in the 1980s there was a cynical saying, "Dumb men like dumb women. Smart men like dumb women." That's why men outnumber women in Mensa 5:1. However, since I was not there to meet men, I really enjoyed my yearly two-week meetings at Cambrige with people who didn't have to have everthing explained to them, although decompression when I got home was painful.
Nice to know you guys married smart women; however, can you name me any intelligent, beautiful young people who are not movie stars, criminals, aliens or vampires?
Anthony| 1.26.11 @ 5:35PM
Dare I say her name? Sarah Palin. Or try Christine O'Donnell.
Appleby, you are a treasure, we're happy you're one of us!!! We love you!!!!
Frisbee| 1.26.11 @ 7:21PM
How old is Michelle Malkin?
Anthony| 1.26.11 @ 7:36PM
Don't know, don't care, good point by you Frisbee.
maf97| 1.26.11 @ 4:57PM
I have no problem with president's acknowledging the achievements of championship sports teams -- he is honoring achievement. And achievement should be honored. Most, if not all of the athletes involved arrived there after a lifetime of dedication and hard work. The winner of a science fair, or valedictorian is not quite the same as a championship athlete although their achievements are laudable. That being said, at all levels, people should be acknowledged and celebrated for achievement. Real achievement. Not by issuing "Participatory" accolades, the timeless, thanks for playing trophies.
And while we're at it, bring dodgeball back to our schools. How our are children to be competitive in this world when they are being taught to believe that competition is bad because it makes at least one person/team feel bad.
wodiej| 1.26.11 @ 8:13AM
I was extremely disappointed but not surprised that Obama is not sincere about what he said. Long on spending, short on cuts. He is focused on what he wants instead of what is best. But we'll see when the Republican House starts putting things on his desk if he signs or not as to how serious he is.
scythe| 1.26.11 @ 8:31AM
This was a "disappointing" evening for you? Did you really expect more? WOW. No one I know even bothered to watch because they expected exactly what took place. It would have been a colossal waste of time. And apparently it was.
George Rekers| 1.26.11 @ 8:53AM
They didn't watch because they never listen to ideas that differ from their own, they're unpatriotic, and they don't like black people.
Deborah D | 1.26.11 @ 9:02AM
Yeah, that's it. We didn't watch because we've heard all of these "ideas" a bunch of times from this president. Blah, Blah, Blah -- spend more (or let's call it invest more). Blah, blah, blah -- green energy. Blah, blah, blah -- more "investment" in education. Blah, blah, blah -- more "investment" in infrastructure. Yeah, the $800 billion stimulus wasn't enough? Blah, blah, blah -- let's keep spending, borrowing, raising taxes, and having absolutely nothing to show for it.
JmsA| 1.26.11 @ 9:06AM
When all else fails, resort to the race card. It's not going to help, buddy.
Sam Vaughn| 1.26.11 @ 9:26AM
You're almost funny George. My grand-parents were poor immigrants, they brought only the things they could carry. Grandfather never made it past the 8th grade. My Dad was the first to make it through college, bussing tables all the way. His kids, me included all made it through college, working all the way and not owing a penny at the end. Whenever we complained about ethic slurs thrown our way, he said to stand like a man, onlu the weak and insecure use insults to hold you back, if bitterness becomes part of your nature they've won. Nevertheless, whereever they came from (they never talked about the old country) was horrifying. To the day he died my grandfather knew better than most what America meant to him, it was the last place on earth where a man was free to be whatever he had the will and the courage to overcome. So throw all the reverse racist slurs you want you have no audience here.
Grzmlyk| 1.26.11 @ 10:48AM
But George Rekers, he just loves them black folks! Tall ones, short ones, thin ones, fat ones, dark ones, light ones, he loves 'em all, right George?
Why, it doesn't matter what their character is, he just loves them because they're black!
Because, after all, for George Rekers, what matters is color of skin, not content of character. Everybody knows black people are a single, monolithic entity, incapable of being judged by who they are as individuals; no, we have to judge them by how they look, cuz' they're the best victim group EVER!
That'll get us into liberal heaven!
And if a black person does anything wrong, obviously, it's a white republican's fault!
I'm sure George Rekers would love his daughter to date OJ, who was just another innocent black hero that whitey wanted to bring down.
MarkR| 1.26.11 @ 1:30PM
You nailed it! George! I mean when I voted for McCain all I was thinking was "No black man is gonna be president dammit!" and I knew that such a man as Obama- beholden as he is to democratic principles and the Constitution I still couldnt vote him in because of that pigmintation. I had to take my White Robe off to vote which was totally inconvienent! I thought to myself- is there anyway I could burn a cross tonight to display my displeasure at this guy. Yea you nailed it George. I must say that all us KKKers are sure upset with Mr. O- I mean we conservatives are all racists deep inside and only someone as deep and thoughtful as you could see that wholesale. So as I go through the next two years I will realize that any argument against Obama is based on only one thing and thats his pigmentation. I mean I feel the same way when reading Sowell and Williams and Elder- or does that count George? Will you defend them against racists such as me? Well never mind. They are Uncle Toms arent they George- they arent REALLY black are they George?
Tom Beebe| 1.26.11 @ 6:17PM
Who said "persons are to be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character" (not exact quote) and then we see a two-bit Chicage corrupted community organizer elected with 97% of the black vote?
Ivy| 1.28.11 @ 8:52AM
MLK, Jr. said it. He said that he wanted his children to be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.
Ever see the "Boondocks" cartoon. There's a very telling episode in which it is postulated that MLK was just in a coma. When he awakens, he is appalled by the way blacks are dumbed-down and play the race card. (And BTW, George Rekers, "Boondocks" is written by a black man. Just sayin'.)
Oh: Shelby Steel wrote a book named _The Content of Our Character_.
Appleby| 1.26.11 @ 4:30PM
How do you know what colour we are?
missbosslady| 1.26.11 @ 6:55PM
C'mon Appleby, that's too easy! George knows what colour we are because of the way we write. Everybody knows who's literate and who's not, who's got the 'goods' and who doesn't.
Right George? You wily little racist, you.
Frisbee| 1.26.11 @ 7:25PM
I love Alan Keyes, Herman Cain, and Thomas Sowell, to name a few. But I don't watch TV, so I just read the leaked copy of the SOTU. It was a bunch of re-hashed white guy moments, like Clinton's 1996 speech (bridge to the 21st century? We're there already!), and whoever wrote it even stole from Newt Gingrich for pete's sake.
Grzmlyk| 1.26.11 @ 8:54PM
Frisbee, you like Alan Keyes, Herman Cain and Thomas Sowell. So do I. Along with Walter Williams, Deroy Murdock, Clarence Thomas, Ward Connerly, and many others.
But liberals hate these guys. HATE them. Because they have had the temerity to walk off the liberal plantation. How DARE these people step out of the "black community" and reject their anonymous status as cogs in the dreary "black community."
Those damned uppity broth-uhs just don't appreciate the superior judgment of their do-gooding white overseers.
RacerJim| 1.26.11 @ 9:07AM
I quit watching Obama after November 4, 2008. I've got much better things to do than watch a usuper POTUS afflicted with Narcissistic Personality Disorder intent on destroying America lie, Lie, LIE.
Brian Mc| 1.26.11 @ 8:34AM
If this congress does not continue to apply pressure through legislation....scratch that. If congress does anything at all, it must continually send legislation to the alien's desk that overthrows the socialist healthcare once and for all. Nothing else should be done at the legislative level until this is accomplished. To get this ball rolling, every R should stand up before the end of the month and sign over a check to the IRS for the total balance of their salary. If they do not keep pressure on the alien his reelection is assured in 2012.
Deborah D | 1.26.11 @ 8:43AM
Over at NRO Yuval Levin said that Obama's speech was nearing dereliction of duty. I've only watched bits and pieces of it, but from what I've read about it, and knowing how the president lives in a the unreal world of Obamaland, I would have to agree with Levin. This man is so unsuited to be at the helm of the ship of state as it heads toward the iceberg, that I fear we might not be able to swerve to miss it in time. Our only hope is that Republicans can hold tight to the purse strings and refuse funding for Obama boondoggles while slashing funding for departments such as EPA, Energy and HHS -- these folks are intent on destroying the economy. We the people can plainly see the iceberg ahead while politicians play chicken with the future. Help us, Lord.
Larry| 1.26.11 @ 9:04AM
So uh... where's the birth certificate? The college records?
RacerJim| 1.26.11 @ 9:19AM
Good question...where's Obama's Hawaii long-form "Certificate of Live Birth" or any of his vital [birth related] records? The new Democratic Governor of Hawaii who claims he was a close friend of Obama's parents and said he was going to put an end to the birther conspiracy recently said there is no long-form "Certificate of Live Birth" or any vital records for Obama in Hawaii.
John Kriegsmann| 1.26.11 @ 9:08AM
Great article. Stein is a genius. I never get tired of reading his articles.
hardcard| 1.26.11 @ 9:09AM
DUMP THE CHUMP
jaykimball | 1.26.11 @ 9:10AM
A few minutes in to the State of the Union speech, the President specifically mentioned a Sputnik-like initiative to develop renewable energy and cleantech solutions, using the subsidies currently lavished on the Oil industry to fund those new initiatives.
Oil is our past, renewable energy is our future. It's time to support that future and assume a leadership role in bring cleaner greener energy and technology solutions to the world.
I put together a chart showing just how much money is spent on oil subsidies versus renewable energy. Check it out at:
http://8020vision.com/2011/01/.....subsidize/
I also include a poll on what your thoughts are on what should be subsidized and what not. I hope you will cast a vote and share your opinion.
Jay Kimball
8020 Vision
missbosslady| 1.26.11 @ 6:58PM
Um, we don't subsidise the oil companies.
Kinda ruins your whole post.
Sorry.
Grzmlyk| 1.26.11 @ 11:26PM
Hardy har har.
Let me guess, Jay: You cash checks from the government for one of these perpetual motion machines. You're either a fool or your on the take.
Renewable energy is NOTHING but a boondoggle.
Here's a little rule of thumb that combines physics and economics:
If it takes more energy - in terms of either manpower or time or kilowatts or calories or whatever - to create a "renewable energy" source than that "renewable energy" source yields, it is a net negative and economically unfeasible.
In other words, solar, biomass, wind - it ain't gonna work. Ever. Take away government subsidies and the mirage evaporates.
But what do you care, Jay? You're making a buck off of the scam. Or maybe you're a pie-eyed fool. I know, let's all hold hands and meditate our way to energy independence.
F. Dillon| 1.26.11 @ 9:22AM
Ben, to reiterate:
The top 1% pay 22.7% of taxes.
The top 10% pay 50% of taxes.
The top 20% pay 65.3% of taxes.
The top 40% pay 84.3% of taxes.
What say you Mr. Economics? Don't the people in the higher brackets create the jobs, and help the economy grow? Is it not true that the few rich folks can not supply the Leviathan with enough money, even if it takes everything from all of them? Yes? No?
You are disingenuous. Perhaps it is a guilt thing. Get over it. Or don't. Give your money to the Feds. But stop trying to enslave the upper tax bracket people more than they already are (which is an obscene amount by any measure BTW.)
da monk| 1.26.11 @ 9:31AM
Other than "Stop Spending" "Reduce the deficit"
What do you "conservatives" propose? What are your proposals? It's easy to complain. Now present some examples how you are going to "remedy" the problem. The time is to put up or shut up.
Sam Vaughn| 1.26.11 @ 9:40AM
Even the most ignorant among us recognize that no entity no matter how big can spend it's way out of debt. Apparently you have not crossed that threshold of realization.
da monk| 1.26.11 @ 11:13AM
Sam: Who said anything about spending our way out? All I am asking is: what is the Conservative solution to get us out of this morass? A solution that satisfys those on the Right and those on the Left. After all we all will benifit if we find a solution. Especially with out finger pointing.
missbosslady| 1.26.11 @ 11:24AM
da monk,
The problem is that there is no solution that will satisfy both the left and the right. Looking for one is a waste of time.
There are serious differences in what each side believes will remedy the problem. One side has to lead and be willing to stand firm for their convictions. In academia the left has done just that and it has been a spectacular failure. Now the right must, with the same zeal and organized effort, do the same for their postions.
Ken in Tyler| 1.26.11 @ 11:58AM
Ok, since you asked,here's the short version. Article 1, Section 8. Read it and realize that it is true that 90% of what Congress does really is outside of the authority delegated to them by the contract we call the Constitution. A pox on all in the judiciary who say this is a "living document". Horsepucky. The Founders knew it wasn't perfect. That's why they included a method of modifying it. Now, we didn't get in the mess we're in overnight and it will take time to undo the nonsense. But the goal- if we are to restore our Republic is to return to the principles upon which our nation was founded. That would include individual responsibility. Charity (wealth redistribution) is the purview of the Church, not the feds.
"If it be asked, what is the most sacred duty and the greatest source of security in a Republic? The answer would be an inviolable respect for the Constitution and the laws- the first growing out of the last. A sacred respect for the constitutional law is the vital principle sustaining the energy of a free government." Hamilton
"I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents." Madison
Grzmlyk| 1.26.11 @ 11:47AM
Eliminate the Dept. of Energy. Eliminate the Dept. of Education. Eliminate the Dept. of Agriculture. Eliminate the Dept. of Education. Eliminate the Dept. of the Interior. Eliminate the USDA. Eliminate the Dept. of Veterans' Affairs. Consolidate Homeland Security, which is 23 separate bureaucracies. Eliminate Fannie and Freddie. De-unionize all government employees and eliminate pensions. Implement the fair tax. Close our borders. Cut welfare. Raise the retirement age. Repeal Obamacare. Eliminate corporate income taxes.
That's just for starters, off the top of my head.
Capish?
Ken in Tyler| 1.26.11 @ 12:01PM
Ya lo entiendo. Oh wait, that's not our official language...yet.
Grzmlyk| 1.26.11 @ 1:00PM
Si, Ken.
Either Da Monk is dishonest - and, since he's a liberal, that's like saying water is wet - or he is confusing what is doable with what is politically difficult.
It would be very easy to cut this government down to size if so many people weren't on the gravy train.
That's why all democratic forms of government collapse - like rats who've learned to push the lever for cocaine will do so until they die, self-government always devolves into people voting in politicians who will give them something for nothing until there are more people in the cart than there are pulling the cart.
And then the cart falls apart. Because "something for nothing" is the most expensive, destructive force that exists within nation states.
We won't cut diddly squat; the leviathan will continue to metastasize, just as Obama prescribed last night - and this GOP looks as craven as the last GOP. No, we will continue to kick the can down the road, debasing the dollor and telling ourselves the party is still jumping - until there is nothing left of this country.
After all, it's awfully hard to dole out food stamps in a country when there's no food, no grocery stores, no government apparatus and no civil order.
Soon enough, these nihilists will get their wish: They'll bring down the evil, capitalist US. But it will be the most hollow victory in the world.
A truly successful parasite kills its host - and then, deprived of nutrients, it also dies.
Nunya| 1.26.11 @ 12:50PM
Eliminate the IRS, OSHA, EPA, DEA and BATFE.
Frisbee| 1.26.11 @ 7:36PM
And definitely stop the annual $400 million to Planned Parenthood. RIGHT NOW.
And close them down for all their crimes.
teacher| 1.26.11 @ 2:25PM
Cut out the Department of Education and privatize the schools. No more trying to cram kids/parents/teachers into one-size-fits-all, lowest common denominator achools, and save a ton of money.
John Navratil| 1.26.11 @ 6:58PM
do monk,
"You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away men's initiative and independence.
You cannot help men permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves."
— Abraham Lincoln
Other than stopping spending and reducing the deficit, what it there? The government is a parasite and it is about to kill the host.
PJ| 1.26.11 @ 9:42AM
I'm afraid to admit I did not watch the State of the Union Address. I was busy watching something a wee bit more important: "Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best?". I never realized this but Joan Rivers is reasonably moral given her lifestyle & today's standards. I certainly would love to have her as my grandmother!
BTW, the only interest I have about last night's speech is did the Supreme Court justices show up? Can't seem to find the answer.
missbosslady| 1.26.11 @ 11:19AM
All showed but Alito, Thomas and Scalia.
Good on them!
bobbcat| 1.26.11 @ 11:27AM
The justices there included all but Scalia, Thomas & Alito.
Tradcon| 1.26.11 @ 9:43AM
Amen Grzmlyk! Amen.
RacerJim| 1.26.11 @ 9:48AM
Anyone who believes anything usurper POTUS Obama/Soetoro says is, well....
rjh| 1.26.11 @ 9:50AM
"Once again, Aram Bakshian, a far smarter man than I am, said it well. Mr. Obama just does not seem like a leader anymore"
Really? This implies that obama seemed like a leader at one time. When was that? I must have missed that moment in time. Does not sound like a smart statement to me.
Jude Federspiel| 1.26.11 @ 9:51AM
Ben, the statement that we must raise taxes on the really rich exposes your (somewhat surprising) ignorance. Lowering tax rates encourages growth, shifts resources from tax-hiding allocations to growing, tax-paying allocations, and increases tax REVENUE, which is the stuff we use to pay our bills. Last I checked, we can't pay China in %, only in $. The lie that we have to raise tax RATES in order to increase our tax REVENUE is classic liberal poppycock, used as class warfare to stifle growth, kill entrepreneurship, destroy the job-creating upper class, drive business and jobs overseas to more business- and growth- friendly places, and create more need for more, bigger, more intrusive government. Bad on you.
Redstateboy| 1.26.11 @ 10:05AM
Mr. Stein touched on it yet our PC constipation, to the utter shame of those who are proponents of it, stifle any meaningful discussion of it but "Know the Truth and the Truth will set you free!" and I refer to:
"The crisis in non-white America will kill us if we don't get it fixed, and slogans and test score measures will not do it."
Naming your children, for your own Narcisstic purposes? Ta-Me-Qua or Ta-Na-sha or De-nar-re-us - places people with these names at a distinct Socialial/economic disadvantage and then there's the Attitude. I sell Auto Insurance via the phone. I'm lic. in 23 States. I speak with these young Black people with names like these and worse. When I ask them to spell their name for me.... They grow angrily Indignant!!! At Me!! As if I (or anyone) should automatically know how to spell their names and their attitudes are terrible - in most cases - which prompted me to offer this comment in the first place. They're Rude, short, obnoxious and definitely come across as not very educated people... and the wheels in this country are going to come off the rails soon. The Democrat Party... or.. As I refer to them as.. The "Slave Party" has promised the Black Race in America.. keep voting for Us and we'll take care of you.. Well Black America better wake up soon or we're going to have such a Race War in this Country - it's going to astound us all. You can't have a Permanent, Dependent Minority, self destructing itself expecting other Races to keep subsidizing their destruction.. there! I said it.. Now let all the Racist name calling of me begin I suppose.
Ken in Tyler| 1.26.11 @ 12:12PM
Could it be the cause of the racial anger is due to the fact that the current generation wants something different from than 40 acres and a mule? They don't care who is the rightful owner of the land so long as that someone else will work it and the government will forcibly redistribute the fruits of those who perform the labor.
teacher| 1.26.11 @ 2:29PM
These are the kids who are ruining our school system, along with administrators who will not allow/back up discipline. Privatize, and expel these kids to boot camp schools.
Tom Beebe| 1.26.11 @ 6:20PM
But I thought busing, to get rid of neighborhood schools, would cure all this !
Steve | 1.26.11 @ 10:22AM
You say you don't know how to fix the plight of non-white children. I know the answer: bring back the old civilization. Support families. Glorify the Dad. Glorify the Mom staying home with the kids. Stop killing babies and prosecute those who have. All this stuff was in place in 1958 and we must return to it if we are to have a chance of escaping the fate you describe. Obama will do all he can do to prevent this.
Jamie Shafer| 1.26.11 @ 2:01PM
And Steve - while you're at it, don't forget about telling the young unmarried women, "Keep your legs crossed until you get the wedding ring on your finger." That was very big back in my nubile youth in the fifties. If you make a mistake, you end up pregnant and definitely in your mother's bad graces, and will have to carry this little stranger for 9 months before giving it up for adoption, thereby putting a lifetime hole in your heart but also lifetime knowledge that a childless couple in your town or state will have their hearts' desire provided. What a concept!
idalily| 1.26.11 @ 3:20PM
Girls wouln't even have to keep their legs crossed if they could remember to take the damn pill. As a woman, I have to say, sadly, "Many women are dumb."
missbosslady| 1.26.11 @ 7:03PM
idalily,
There is so very much wrong with you post. Regards your last sentence, remember we tend to believe of others, what we know to be true of ourselves.
In other words, speak only for yourself, sister.
idalily| 1.27.11 @ 11:56PM
Look, I heard women swoon over Obama and vote for him because he's so "dreamy." Ditto for Clinton. I also see birth control commercials every day, yet women can't figure out how to use them? Please. I stand by my opinion. There are lots of dumb women out there. Including those who insult others without speaking to the point of the post. Yes, that's you, and I'm not your sister.
Frisbee| 1.26.11 @ 7:34PM
The pill has abortifacient properties. Maragaret Sanger promoted contraception before she promoted abortion. The contraceptive mentality includes abortion and "gay" marriage, because it assumes sex is meaningless.
idalily| 1.28.11 @ 12:00AM
Ah, so we should go back to men have mistresses and women become celibate when they reach the age where having children is dangerous? We should go back to women abstaining even when married, too? First the statement that the pill has "abortifacient properties" is absurd. And I am no fan of Sanger, but that doesn't mean birth control is wrong on its face. Sorry, you may want to go back to the stone age. I don't.
missbosslady| 1.26.11 @ 10:27AM
Obama doesn't seem like a leader anymore? Did he ever seem like one? If so, where was I when that happened?
Obama seemed to me last night, as he always has, a man occupying a space far larger than he believing mere words fix all.
There's absolutely nothing new about Obama, in fact, there has never been anything new about him. His entire repertoire consists of 1960's re-treads.
The problem of our youth cannot be fixed by government, by the school system, or by any other external source. The problem can only be fixed at it its core; the family.
In raising my own child I took very seriously my role, to deliver a teachable child to the classroom.
We foolishily blame video games, the internet, music, or whatever handy excuse we can find, but rarely to you hear anyone cite the proximate cause; parenting.
Pathetic!
teacher| 1.26.11 @ 2:32PM
You probably have no idea how much you are appreciated. Now the next thing is for parents like you to complain about their kids having to try to learn in the same room as the 'bangers.
Ivy| 1.28.11 @ 9:03AM
Preach it, Teacher!
I worked as a "student services team member" in a very affluent, incredibly intolerant liberal suburb of Chicago (not naming names, but it's where Hemingway grew up). Parents - especially parents of color - are absolved of all responsibility and authority, and The State (i.e. the School System) is charged with the raising of the children.
I couldn't take it. The money was fantastic, but the system was so frelled up I couldn't sleep at night. I could barely function during the day.
All the while, they still allow low-functioning "students" to bring down those who might have actually had a shot at becoming something.
Gah. Now I'm nauseated. Must... go... to... happy.. place... in... my ... head...
George| 1.26.11 @ 10:27AM
With seven out of ten African-American children being born out of wedlock, inner city kids will continue to be at an academic disadvantage into the foreseeable future. Liberal welfare policies have accomplished what even slavery failed to do -- and that's destroy the African-American family. Children of poor single parents are more likely to drop out of school, become addicted to drugs, and be incarcerated for serious crimes. Until this catastrophe is addressed, there is no hope for the majority of these children. Yet this root problem is never even mentioned -- much less addressed by Civil Rights and government “leaders.” Why?
old progrmr| 1.26.11 @ 2:59PM
Because those that make their comfortable livings off of race-baiting need the welfare class as a means of leveraging their propaganda. what never ceases to amaze, is that these people appear to have no dedication to their own race or culture.
idalily| 1.26.11 @ 3:22PM
And what's really sad, too, is that in the AA community, women have 4 times as many abortions. Combine that stat with 7 out of 10 kids born out of wedlock, and I have to wonder, don't ANY of these people use birth control?
Ivy| 1.28.11 @ 12:07PM
Idalily, no matter how many times you say it, birth control is NOT the answer.
Perhaps if people were less involved with no-accountability sex (and other such activities) and more involved in living their lives RESPONSIBLY and maybe even aspiring to some higher goals that may include (gasp!) Delayed Gratification.
How's that for a concept? Life isn't a sitcom where everything happens in 30 minutes (minus commercials), nor is life a microwave burger joint where you get it YOUR WAY - RIGHT NOW.
Redneck Gunnut | 1.26.11 @ 4:50PM
I read a few years ago in the Miami Herald that 2 of 5 have done prison time. maybe just in Florida, but that's still a huge number.
335blues| 1.26.11 @ 10:29AM
Anybody bother to tune in to the freak show last night?
kingsmill| 1.26.11 @ 10:35AM
Ben has morphed into -"tax collector for the welfare state"-Bob Dole.
deminohio| 1.26.11 @ 12:57PM
It may be that some form of "welfare state" is an indispensable adjunct of urbanization and industrialization, the traditional forms of social organization having been vitiated by the pervasive deracinement of the age. That's why the real conservatives, like Allan Carlson or Thomas Fleming, usually advocate various forms of agrarianism, realizing the fundamental tension, if not complete incompatibility, between modern capitalism and Burke's "little platoons." As Hilaire Belloc wrote, "Ownership is not a general feature of our society, determining its character. On the contrary, dependence on a precarious wage at the will of others is the general feature of our society."
Peter| 1.26.11 @ 10:50AM
The speech was lame, but for those who never drank the Kool-Aid there was never much beyond boring rhetoric and contradiction in all the O's speeches and proclamations. Read and analyzed carefully there just wasn't anything there--and his actions far too frequently were different than what his words.
On taxes Ben Stein is partly correct, at least insofar that it may take some tax increases, along with deep and permanent spending cuts and restructuring entitlement programs to get our fiscal house in order. As another member of the 1% club I would have no problem paying somewhat higher taxes, even though I live in the highest taxed state--and one of the most dysfunctional (NY) in the nation--in order to get our fiscal house in order.
But my acceptance of higher taxes would be predicated on government demonstrating far more efficiency and management discipline than it currently does, along with implementing a clear-cut plan to reduce its size and scope over a period of years. It's non-sensical to declare opposition to all tax increases now and forever. What must be demanded, however, is services that are delivered with quality that can't be denied.
As for improving the quality of our schools, my suggestion would be to end the requirement that educators have a teacher's certificate in order to be an instructor. We have math and science Ph.d's, working journalists, engineers and many other professionals who would be willing to teach, even part-time, but are prevented from entering a classroom because they lack the magic teaching certificate. These same professionals can teach at colleges, train other professionals and lecture to other groups--but can't teach our elementary and high-school students. Talk about stupid. . .
Ned| 1.26.11 @ 11:50AM
Peter:
Just to tweak your thoughts on education a little: in Europe to become a teacher you take a four year degree in a core subject, then a fifth year learning to teach it. In the US you take a four year degree in teaching, and "electives" on subject matter. Consequently US teachers know little except the latest (usually false) feel-good theory of learning. US teachers comprise the bottom third of any college graduating class, because it's EASY to regurgitate "feel-good"... no thinking is required. As a direct result, US Ed schools are just about the most politically correct, brain-dead group you can imagine... espousing education while studiously avoiding it. So, thanks to the magic of compound interest, each generation of "educators" is worse than the one before.
Peter| 1.26.11 @ 12:42PM
Couldn't agree more, Ned.
teacher| 1.26.11 @ 2:34PM
In most states, true, and it's frustrating. I (ahem) went to school in CA, where we majored in a subject and then did a 5th year of ed classes and internship (with another 1 1/2 yrs for special ed).
old progrmr| 1.26.11 @ 2:55PM
Ned, I couldn't agree more. The Colleges of education are simply the machines for taking poorly educated, incompetents and preparing them for a life serving their Union masters, in return for their protected , lifetime employment.
Melissa Garnett| 1.26.11 @ 10:55AM
You are so right about the difference between the student population today and what it was in 1957. I was 3 years old then and black folks were still not allowed to vote, go to neighborhood schools or even attend the state fair with the rest of us. We reap what we sow. The current make- up of the non-white student population is a given, no need to mention it. Besides, like you said, what can we do about it? I applaud the Pres. for laying out what we need to be doing for our future in terms of infrastructure, which is woefully out of date. Let's face it, Americans never want to look 10 years down the road- it's from quarter to quarter to quarter. We are hamstringing ourselves!
idalily| 1.26.11 @ 3:24PM
Please explain where the money for all this infrastructure is going to come from. Inquiring minds want to know.
Grzmlyk| 1.26.11 @ 5:25PM
As Sylvester the cat says, "It is to laugh."
Every damn couple of years we get saddled with more taxes for "infrastructure," nudge, nudge, wink wink. That's what gasoline taxes are supposed to be for, you'll remember. That's what city taxes go for. That's what partial sales taxes go for.
But once the money is added to the government's coffers, guess what? It doesn't get used for infrastructure. Why? It's a hell of a lot more satisfying to impress constituents by building an expensive, spiffy new Community Center or bribing foreigners to move into your area so they can sign up for welfare and vote Democrat for the rest of their lives than it is to fill potholes and paint bridges.
Wake the hell up, please.
Ditto education - property taxes continue to rise. Forty years ago, the state lotteries were supposed to be the magic bullet that would pay for eduction once and for all. Poof! Not a word about that anymore.
And every goddamned year, we have Democrats whining that not enough is spent on education - even though we spend, on average, about 50% more than the next highest spending country - we lay out about $14,000 per student.
In case you didn't know, throwing money at problems doesn't solve them. And in any case, that money never makes it past the greedy union fat cats who sit in their palaces lighting cigars with hundred dollar bills.
Again, for the love of god, WAKE UP.
Melissa Garnett| 1.26.11 @ 10:58AM
Black people could vote in 1957. But they were still being hanged in the deep south.
Ken Besig| 1.26.11 @ 11:26AM
Excellent job Ben!
James Lynch| 1.26.11 @ 11:27AM
In the United States, as it currently operates, the burden of any significant tax will fall primarily on the middle class. To recognize this, all you need do is remember why we tax, and then look around you. WE TAX IN ORDER TO FORCE DOWN PRIVATE SPENDING IN ORDER TO FREE REAL RESOURCES SO THAT THEY WILL BE AVAILABLE TO PRODUCE GOVERNMENT SERVICES AND PRIVATE, PRIMARILY CONSUMER, GOODS FOR THE RECIPIENTS OF GOVERNMENT TRANSFER PAYMENTS. Now, look around you. Are we using any significant part of our resources to produce consumer goods for the wealthy? Since the answer to this question is obviously no, it is equally obvious that we cannot divert resources out of this use. Remember, when you are analyzing economic activity, it is highly desirable to take your analysis through to the real sector.
fwb| 1.26.11 @ 11:58AM
Ok, so cut the programs and return EVERY dollar to those who have been forced to submit their funds.
THEN make the government spend money constitutionally. The Constitution limits ALL expenditures to exactly THREE limited areas. They are 1) the debts of the United States of America NOT debts of States, foreign nations, or individuals, 2) the common defense of the United States, that is ALL the States not just one or two but ALL and not defense of individuals or foreign nations, and 3) the general welfare of the United States not the general welfare of some States or the people but the body-politic known as the United States. Grant asked for line item veto because the Congress was spending for local and not national needs.
Congress cannot spend for foreign aid nor loan money for ANY reason to anyone. Congress cannot take from one and give to another, i.e. welfare. Congress cannot spend for local projects. So balance the budget by eliminating the unconstitutional expenditures.
fwb| 1.26.11 @ 12:03PM
Expenditures in Afghanistan, Iraq, etc are NOT comon defense of the United States of America and so those expenditures along with Vietnam and hundreds of other extraterritorial actions were not constitutional expenditures. The phrase "common defense" hinges on defending all the States against some attacking enemy. And this allowance for spending does not imply having military forces to do the job. That authority is granted elsewhere in Article I, section 8.
Nunya| 1.26.11 @ 1:01PM
fwb, based on your logic, spending on WWII would not have been allowed because there was no "common defense" in defeating the Nazis. Right? Also, Hawaii wasn't a state when we were attacked by the Japanese, so you're saying we shouldn't have gone to war at all, right?
We were attacked on 9-11 by fanatics that operate in multiple countries with support of several governments. Would you rather we just ignore those that were killed and the murderous bastards that caused their deaths, in the hopes that it would all just "go away"?
vladdy| 1.26.11 @ 2:36PM
The place for our military forces is on the border.
George| 1.26.11 @ 12:06PM
We didn't even watch the speech. My family was reading library books in the den, our wood burning stove radiating warmth throughout the room. All electronic screens were off. Out little house was quiet and peaceful for a change. I knew Obama would just spout liberal big government nonsense and noise and pander to voters again. Why listen to a dishonest and egotistical blowhard when Winter nights can be so peaceful?
gloria| 1.26.11 @ 12:08PM
Re education. The non-white students may, seemingly, be most vulnerable, but whites are not far behind.
My daughter is a teacher, with classroom size about 25, and four classes a day. Out of 25, an avg. is that 4 will be on IEP (individual eduction program), 2 will have violent acting-out tendencies, 1 autistic or having some tragic physical disability. Ten more are hungry, and half of the class hasn't had enough sleep. A class lasts 53 minutes (?).
My suggestion is that the 70+ million of we baby boomers who are retiring go back to elementary and high school -- as volunteers. Flood the schools. Stand in the hallways while students are changing class. The mere presence of adults may help staunch the rowdiness (and violence). READ with the students. Read, read, read. Help them with math homework. (It's my experience that math teachers, for the most part, do not help (a poor euphemism for teach/instruct) any longer. The students are told to figure it out themselves.
Being a postive helpmate to so many of our children who are in critical need has to be at least as exciting -- well, as driving around in an RV.
I well understand the many variables of this idea that could cause concern. But certainly, they are no more problematic than the crisis currently in our schools.
old progrmr| 1.26.11 @ 2:50PM
Sorry Gloria, you have a great idea on volunteers. However, the powerful Teacher's Unions will NOT PERMIT such a thing. How can they protect the high salaries, obscene retirement benefits and tenure of the incompetent teachers if we flood the schools with competent, intelligent and committed volunteers? There is no way we can ever fix our Nation's Public education System as long as the Unions are really in charge, and they are, indeed, in complete control!
Jim Dicks| 1.26.11 @ 12:12PM
Mr. Stein:
Please, please, please stop the leftist canard that increasing tax RATES increases revenue!!
For Pete's sake, why in the world must writers on the right keep repeating this foolishness, this demonstrable nonsense that increasing tax rates will result in increased revenue.
The revenue impact of changes in income tax rates has clearly been proven time (JFK) and time (Reagan) and time (Bush II) again.
If tax rates are increased on the wealthiest OVER TIME tax revenues will fall. Mr. Stein, if you want to INCREASE tax revenue OVER TIME you LOWER the marginal tax rate, not RAISE it.
It is so discouraging to see this ignorance of the proven effects of tax rate changes on revenue generation repeated again and again by those on OUR side.
Louis Jenkins| 1.26.11 @ 12:15PM
What's wrong with our society?
Kids! They should be taught the three Rs. Enough about feeling good, justified, or have self respect. Those things can come with "learning." If they drop out, send out the police and force them into a trade school. Plumbers and carpenters are better than drop outs!
The Parents- take away their xboxes, computer time, tv, you name it. Allow them to use the whip if necessary. Re-emphasis on the family, not on abortion, out of wedlock births, etc. Get the parents together to live and rear the child. That's one of the problems-the parents get together for sex, and that's about all.
Yes, it will take a generation. Twenty years, and maybe we begin to recover. Will it happen? Not likely. The liberals have a segment of our society they can prey on and it's growing.
As for Ben, it was a good read, but not to0 informative. Better luck next time.
ertdfg| 1.26.11 @ 12:18PM
Ah yes, higher taxes on the rich. See now we're taxing the rich at 35% and getting a total of 20% (+/- 1%) of the GDP in taxes.
But back when we taxed the rich at 80% we got 20% (+/- 1%) of the GDP in taxes.
And yes, in the middle, around 50%, we got 20% (+/- 1%) of the GDP in taxes.
So clearly we need to raise taxes drastically, because then we'll go from a mere 20% of the GDP in tax revenue all the way up to 20% of the GDP in revenue... and as Ben Stein will tell you; that'll cover a lot of spending.
I mean just do the math 20 - 20 = HUGE numbers.
If I were as smart as Ben Stein I could tell you that massive number you get when you calculate out 20 - 20; but my calculator must be broken as it's saying there isn't a difference.
Good to know we've got Ben Stein to help us realize that when we raise taxes; we always get more money because nobody ever moves their investments or income in a manner to reduce their tax burden... Hey, if we taxed 150% people would keep their jobs and pay for the privilege of working... at least according to the math Ben is using here.
Anyone think that's likely? Ben can complain about the limited vocabulary; but given his math skills there may be some remedial work he could look into as well.
rebekah huang| 1.26.11 @ 12:24PM
Well, I guess...
Give me your poor and tired isn't working for this century because we've actually let enough tired and poor into the country to fill those jobs and now we need to broadcast ...
Give me your smart and ready to fill our techno jobs and we will tax you to death in order to pay for our collective wrong mindedness.
Think we'll get any takers?
Ciarraiman| 1.26.11 @ 12:40PM
I love reading Ben, and I respect his economic knowledge. However, one thing continues to puzzle me. Since the "rich" already "pay" a majority of the taxes in the US, and since "wildly higher taxes on upper income people" will end up being the equivalent of "throw[ing] a rock to the moon," why can't Mr. Stein see the forest for the trees?
If taxes are to be raised, then the poor -- who currently pay no taxes -- need to pay. If welfare is to be reformed (far more than under Clinton) then it shouldn't be possible for a family of four on welfare to live better than 85% of the people on the earth.
Taxes cause tax shelters; welfare creates demand for welfare. Ben knows this.
Entitlement reform, since entitlements are the single largest budget item, is the only way in which the finances of the country will be fixed.
crusain| 1.26.11 @ 12:44PM
Stein is stuck in the Nixonian Republicanism of the 1960s-1970s. Admit that the Left has won the debate. Nibble around the edges of social-democratic policies. Maintain an elite as directors of that policy and keep the unwashed conservative masses in line.
Bill Carson| 1.26.11 @ 12:45PM
Ben, you're a racist! You forgot that anyone who criticizes the messiah is just that.
jawin| 1.26.11 @ 12:54PM
So diassapointing, Mr. Stein, to read you advocate for higher taxes. Higher taxes on the wealthy will not result in increased government "income". Why? The wealthy own businesses that employ the non-wealthy. The wealthy will recoup thier lost income (from your higher taxes) by reducing jobs or closing/moving businesses (lost government "income"), reducing pay (lost government "income"), and raising prices (exacerbating inflation and reducing government "income").
It really is pretty simple, Mr Stein.
thedoctor2001| 1.26.11 @ 1:00PM
Ben, you almost sound disappointed that the speech was flat and O is thought "no longer a leader." What did you expect? O's a commited socialist. He's not about to "change." the only good that came from this exercise is that the leftists over at Huff Post are likewise beside themselves in disgust with their former great leader.
jawin| 1.26.11 @ 1:15PM
Regarding Obama's leadership abilities: non-existent. There was never a there there. The dude never -- never -- goes into any kind of detail regarding policy. He never explains with specificity what the end results should be. He never makes those around him better. He refuses to listen, and he's nearly impossible (to give him the benefit of the doubt) to move from his statist/socialist/progressivist/etc. ideologies -- meaning he refuses to learn from his mistakes or the mistakes of others. He was not, is not, and never will be a leader. he is merely a figurehead and will never be more than that, and will likely end up far less than that (media house-of-cards building notwithstanding)
maf97| 1.26.11 @ 4:19PM
On point. Obama is not now and at no time has he ever been a leader. His 'leadership' style of concensus building is not leadership at all -- merely mediating. He wants to get to Utopia but, as with all libs, has no idea how to get there. A leader would at least have a clue. And he'd be able to nurture and motivate those around him. No, Obama has never been a leader.
sans| 1.26.11 @ 1:18PM
i like to check in to your sandbox once in awhile and i see all you children with your WAA WAA 6-year old mentality are still mulling around impotently flailing away at the bogeyman. How did so many in the right wing manage with such paucity of intelligence?
vladdy| 1.26.11 @ 2:44PM
Ever notice how 99% of leftist comments never mention issues, but do call conservatives dumb (especially conservative women)? That's because if they can take the meme that we're all idiots far enough, there'll be nothing left to do but let them make all the choices about how to run the country. Don't. think. so.
I think we've seen how a bunch of college kids would run the country these past two years. How 'bout some adults who know history, can talk issues and get positive things done for a change? (Besides, the "all conservatives are barefoot, ignorant, redneck Christian fundamentalist racists" thing is sooo 1980's.)
BackToBasics| 1.26.11 @ 6:16PM
But let's hope they communicate better than Bush II. And as I've mentioned before, I'd like to see Sarah Palin do well but her ad lib speeches do ramble enough to put a little doubt about her for me and also allows her enemies to attack her incessantly. But I hope she will yet find a stronger voice. I think the rambling may come from fear because of the attacks rather than a lack of intelligence. From looking at her and knowing a little about her background and family, I think she's smart enough. But she'd be better if she could internally forget about her many detractors and enemies and speak from her heart as Reagan was able to do. She also needs come out strong against illegal immigration.
John | 1.26.11 @ 1:21PM
This was Obama's Jimmy Carter moment...he is now a non entity
sans| 1.26.11 @ 1:26PM
jawin- the non-wealthy also employ the non-wealthy. if you don't want to support the country that provides you with the opportunity to succeed, then please take your business back to wherever it sprouted from or elsewhere. there are many socially responsible wealthy Americans that would fill the gap and have more honesty and humility than carpetbaggers who rape, pillage and loot leaving ruin in their wake.
jawin| 1.26.11 @ 2:03PM
sans (intelligence) -- Your statement is a non-sequitor response and as such makes no sense. As for my support of the world's greatest nation, you have no standing to make any kind of statement. I wonder what those "socially responsible wealthy Americans" are doing with their leftover dollars that would otherwise go to Obama's (and Mr. Stein's, as well as yours, apparently) higher taxes for the wealthy? Those you may know are probably buying expensive peices of art or funding organizations whose sole purposes are to weaken America.
sans| 1.26.11 @ 2:16PM
sure. are you an american?
sans| 1.26.11 @ 1:27PM
jawin- the non-wealthy also employ the non-wealthy. if you don't want to support the country that provides you with the opportunity to succeed, then please take your business back to wherever it sprouted from or elsewhere. there are many socially responsible wealthy Americans that would fill the gap and have more honesty and humility than carpetbaggers who rape, pillage and loot leaving ruin in their wake.
D. Chao Ma| 1.26.11 @ 1:30PM
Your comment about non white students touched a nerve. I am non white (Chinese American) my wife and I work very hard to see that our child excells at school. We spends hours every night to see that homework in completed, math & english drills are done and that she pratices the piano and violin. By profession I am a attorney and my wife is a physician. I hope my child will be also have professional success.
Not all non white students are the same.
teacher| 1.26.11 @ 2:48PM
We should be more specific. I think most of us know that Asian students (unless from gang neighborhoods) are outperforming whites for the most part. (I love Chinese-American students. Thank you for all you do.)
maf97| 1.26.11 @ 4:15PM
Relax. Stein can't call out the real culprits without bringing down a firestorm of controversy. Any thinking American knows who he's talking about by saying "non-white students." Sure, they need help, but they also need to help themselves.
JmsA| 1.28.11 @ 5:03AM
I was once riding in the elevator at UCLA Medical Center, when a very young looking Asian man walked in wearing a lab coat. It was then that I noted M.D. on his name tag. Somewhat taken by his very youthful appearance I couldn't help but ask him how old he was. He replied he was 24-years-old, to which I replied you must of gotten a very early start. He then commented: Yes, I did, but I owe all to my parents who pushed me and guided me to strive and succeed.
soldiermom11| 1.26.11 @ 1:32PM
His whole speech was such a distortion of the facts. His language was bland, non specific, and lame. Last night's speech was a progressive monolog. Americans are not stupid. We must stand behind those that are willing to make the tough cuts. LOUD and CLEAR. No more bashing from the likes of the progressives will be tolerated.
Delores Smith| 1.26.11 @ 1:37PM
MR. BEN STEIN,
Have you read this? This is what I believe is the Phase I of Obama and George Soros:
http://apathetic-usa.com/
What you heard at the State of the Union is what I believe is the REAL Obama. He and Soros have been collapsing our economy deliberately. When he sent $2,000,000,000 (2B) to Brazil for deep shore oil drilling, it was to destroy oil in the Gulf States. What he is doing to Arizona is very deliberate. I believe Obama is a liar and a fake.
When he spoke at the SOU, I believe he needed a reality-check.
Delores Smith
Delores109@cox.net
old progrmr| 1.26.11 @ 1:47PM
Hey Ben, I usually agree with you, but your extreme claims of what it will take to fix our economic problems makes it sound like it is even a waste of time to try. No, just look at the numbers, I do agree we need to increase some taxes here and there, especially to overcome the tragic 47 percent of workers who contribute noting to the federal revenue, but we can fix the problem without super-human efforts. Cuts in expenditures are embarrassingly obvious to every thinking American - like, shutting down the useless Dept of Education, cutting the Commerce Dept by about 40 percent ( I have intimate knowledge of Commerce). What a huge waste of of time for the thousands of intelligent people toiling at this Department on absolutely useless taskes which contribute NOTHING of value to our economy. These educated people should be contributing to the productive sectors of our economy.
There are tens of billions of dollars worth of waste just waiting to be cut.
BackToBasics| 1.26.11 @ 6:22PM
And speaking of programmers, "old progrmr", how about a Repub president who would fight to put a freeze on all H1-B visas and visa extensions until all underemployed and unemployed programmers, other engineers, technicians, and even some doctors are employed in their fields again.
I've yet to hear ONE person from either party address this issue.
Darkwater| 1.26.11 @ 1:54PM
His comments about the incipient space programme being a sterling example of our spirit rang hollow when you consider that he is the one who is shutting it down.
voted against carter| 1.26.11 @ 2:13PM
That the "Emperor" has no clothes on,.. is painfully obvious.
Naked Obama is truly HILARIOUS!!! oh,.. wait,.. thats ,.. Hillary-yes.
Not that I want to see that either.
jawin| 1.26.11 @ 2:26PM
Can it be possible that the lesson of yet more increases in spending on education is still yet to be learned???? Smaller class sizes, social experimentation, and teaching methods like "new" math will not do the trick. As a young nation, we managed to overcome tremendous gaps between us and European countries. How? With one-on-one educational models? By ensuring our students felt good about themselves at the end of the day? Did we drug the hyper students? Was there a national of even a state plan to improve our "scores"? No, there weren't even city plans for that. They weren't needed and neither were any of the previous items listed. Simply put, as parents we demanded results and provided help when our children needed it. And America's parents 100 years ago or more did a lot more demanding work outside the house than most American parents do now. So we are without excuse. Money cannot do what an attitude adjustment will.
OLJWOO| 1.26.11 @ 2:33PM
I find the obviously planned concert of media outlets and push-polls revaluations to be rather humorous to watch.
Sad & nauseating - but humorous nonetheless....
MikeAT | 1.26.11 @ 2:45PM
Sorry Ben but I have to disagree with your friend and you over Obama "not looking like a leader". He has never been that and his thinking and life show he is alien to the concept. Show me anything in his life where he has guided others to a nobel goal or after taking on a task improved the situation. I only pray we can repair the damage he has inflicted.
rob| 1.26.11 @ 2:56PM
I'm with you 100%, up to "get out of Afghanisan, we have no reason to be there."
We have the same good reasons to be there that we had when Bush sent SF people in there in the first place. Namely, destroy and dismember al Queda and the Taliban. Put bin Ladin's head on a pike.
Why? To free the men and women of that area from the control of radical Muslim government. To ruin the infrastructure of those who would attack us again, as they have twice before here in the continental US. To let the nacient successors to these goblins know that there is a severe downside to an attack on us.
The good reasons are still there. The fight is tough, and may get tougher. Our troops today are more than game, as we were in Vietnam when our Press and government abandoned that effort. Our beloved, courageous Congress at that time then abandoned the South Vietnamese government by not funding their army in the field, and 1975 saw our attempt to stopping totalitarian governance fail in 1975.
If we 'pull out' our troops here, how long do you think the courageous solons of this Congress will try to help this blood-hallowed effort?
Rick| 1.26.11 @ 3:05PM
Non-white Americans elected this radical socialist by 90%+ . They hate me and blame me for their problems because I am european-american. They can go to hell, and they are going to hell, courtesy of the Mr. Teleprompter. Good. It serves them right for being such haters.
James Boatwright| 1.26.11 @ 3:10PM
Old Arab Proverb:
"The Dogs Bark; The Caravan Moves On."
Mojo Risin| 1.26.11 @ 3:15PM
To Obonehead's sycophants it doesn't matter what he says, he's given a pass, they're not really listening to what he says, but HOW he says it. Barack comes-off as an erudition, sooo highly educated, it surprises most folks, especially coming from his background.
It's all metaphorically tangential---impressive, HUH!!!
S&WM;&P| 1.26.11 @ 3:31PM
Did anyone else hear our Sec. of State say, "Great speech, Mr. President." as he was walking up to give it? Wonder what she thought after it had actually been given? B.O.'s entry looked more like a basketball player going out on the court after being announced with the starters. To bad his play wasn't even third string.
maf97| 1.26.11 @ 4:07PM
The usage of "non-white" as a code word is Ben's way of trying to avoid politcal incorrectness. Let's be honest, the "non-white" population referred to are hispanics and african-americans. Not trying to be incendiary or mean, just calling it like it is. That being said, there are also dunces in the white and asian communities as well just meandering through life. But as a segment of American society, african americans and hispanics have a farther way to go. Right or wrong.
That being said, watching his ramblings last night reminded me 100% of a little kid that will say whatever it is he thinks you want to hear. Just making stuff up. Spend more, but freeze spending. Repurpose, recycle, reuse. 80% use of renewable energy in the future. Use unicorn tears to bath the homeless. Just making stuff up.
Robert | 1.26.11 @ 4:11PM
Well said, Mr. Stein. Well saidl.
MGabel| 1.26.11 @ 4:17PM
Obama's policy weakness and hypocrisy can and will be discussed at great lengths.
I, however, am flabbergasted by the expression that Obama does not seem like a leader anymore.
Obama has never seemed like a leader to me.
sly311| 1.26.11 @ 4:30PM
And yes Mr. Dickerson, you are exactly the people I just was talking about--still clueless as of last night. You and your ilk are what's wrong with America. Please, be kind and move to Venezuela. And sir, there is no 29012. And sir, our president is a boob.
Michael Dickerson| 1.26.11 @ 4:21PM
Mr. Stein is a comedian. And a bad one. It is no joke to listen to a right wing diatribe when they are the ones responsible for the nation tanking. Obama will win 29012 going away and the Paul Ryans will eat dirt. Maybe Mr. Stein write about that when it happens.
Commodore| 1.26.11 @ 4:40PM
Michael, you are delusional if you think Obama will win re-election going away. Most Americans realize the country made a gross mistake in electing him in the first place. His ideas run against America's grain, he's been a devisive leader, and it's clear he doesn't have a clue on how to lead the country. He has lost his credibility, the good will of the public and can only offer hope of a glimmering future. Unfortunately, we are having difficulty surviving the present under his weak leadership. credibility
sly311| 1.26.11 @ 4:27PM
As the very reverend Jeremiah Wright liked to say "the chickens have come home to roost"; the fruits of LBJ's war on poverty have ripened and what we have are millions of poverty-ridden "non-whites" (and whites) who cannot and now, will not fend for themselves. This is fault of Democrats who do not have a base if they cannot be poverty pimps and Republicans who do not have a spine when they finally get to run the show. This country is circling the drain and the Marxists running the show are very pleased indeed. Forty-five years of welfare and now three years of extended unemployment with no having to contribute anything to society but cashing the checks and what do you expect? Funny thing is, the liberals who voted these socialists in are clueless even as of last night. Oh well.
Redneck Gunnut | 1.26.11 @ 4:27PM
Obama has never seemed like a leader to me. He has always seemed petty, vindictive, petulant, hyper partisan, and elitist.
I have also never seen any evidence of this towering intellect he is reputed to possess.
Commodore| 1.26.11 @ 4:33PM
....Does not look much like a leader anymore? When has he ever been a leader? He had exactly zero executive experience prior to being sworn in as President. As a state and US senator, he voted "present" on most contentious issues so there would be no fingerprints. He left all the heavy lifting and distasteful explanations to his cabinet members or Democratic Congressional leaders. He avoids confrontation like the plague and he has shown no stomach to fight for much of anything. To me, Obama looked defeated, tired and overmatched during the SOTU last night. How can you expect the man to lead when he doesn't does not have a clue at to what he is doing to unleash the American economy or stand up to our enemies abroad? We're in trouble. The American public needs to keep this man on a 6-inch leash for the next two years and then give someone else a chance to get us out of this hole.
BackToBasics| 1.26.11 @ 5:56PM
Not a leader but the Repubs will be lucky to beat him if they nominate another go-along-get-along noodle candidate again. I say they and the crossover Dems they continue to allow at the state levels to help nominate the weakest candidates in the field as was done in 1996 and 2008 and it could be argued it was done in 1988 (Bush Sr.) and 2000 (Bush II).
Tom Beebe| 1.26.11 @ 6:01PM
Ben: Here's my idea to reform our sorry tax code AND replace all the entitlements, including my Social Security and Medicare, plus Medicaid, federal and state welfare, even programs like student aid. What do you think of it, my admired philosopher Ben?
TAX AND ENTITLEMENT REFORM
1. All persons residing in the U.S. shall come together in households for the purpose of reporting all income from any source, each item to be identified by payer's and payee's tax number, and for receipt of federal and state benefits. Members of a household need not be related, need not reside together, and a household may consist of as few as one person.
2. Each year congress shall set by legislation a "minimum wage" and a "tax rate".
3. The following income shall not be subject to taxation:
• An amount equal to a year's earnings at the minimum wage rate, for each adult (age 20-65) member of the household, decreasing 10% per year to 50% at age 15, and increasing 10% per year to 150% at age 70.
• All payments for what is classified as necessary health care for all members of the household including medical care, any pharmaceuticals prescribed by a recognized health care professional, vision and hearing aids, and membership fees for health-enhancing entities such as gyms or other exercise facilities. Health care insurance premiums may be deducted but not health care expense paid for by such insurance.
• All educational expenses including day care for young children or legally incompetent persons, that portion of state and local taxes identified as spent on education, that portion of parochial school tuition, fees and other expenses identified as going for non-sectarian education, tuition, fees and educational materials for private school education at any level, and a per-diem allowance for students traveling more than 50 miles from primary residence for education.
• All income saved into an identified account from which investments may be made. All withdrawals from this account for the benefit of any member of the household shall be reported as income to that member.
4. The "tax rate" shall be applied to any income over and above the deductions listed above, regardless of amount.
5. For households whose deductions exceed total income, the Federal Government shall make payment equal to the tax rate multiplied by the shortfall in income, as shall municipalities and states.
6. There shall be no federal tax on corporations or other business entities.
7. The Office of Management and Budget shall compute revenues to be expected using the newly set tax rate and minimum wage, applied to the previous year's reported incomes. No expenses in excess of that amount may be authorized or made by the federal government without approval by 75% of each house of Congress.
8. At the request, by legislation duly enacted by a municipality having greater than 100,000 inhabitants or a state, a surtax may be imposed on citizens of that municipality or state which shall be applied in a manner exactly as applied for the Federal tax.
BackToBasics| 1.26.11 @ 6:02PM
from my post - clarifying
I say they, the Republican primary centrist voters, and the crossover Dems that the Repubs continue to allow to vote in the primaries for the weakest candidates in the field. This was done in 1996 and 2008....
William Lerach| 1.26.11 @ 6:21PM
There is a lot true in this--and I'm a progressive democrat.We just cannot tolerate a huge undereducated under productive underclass--but how do we solve that problem?
Frisbee| 1.26.11 @ 7:38PM
Would you want to spend all day in a government institution? Would that be inspiring? That's what public school is. Time to get rid of public school, or at least to get the Fed out of it.
beebop| 1.26.11 @ 6:42PM
Unless and until we resume taking PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY for our acts, words and deeds we are doomed. Schooling used to actually MEAN something. Now? Pass/fail. No one wants to ACHIEVE.
YoAdrian| 1.26.11 @ 6:43PM
Ben: Great piece except that your reference to non-white students was too broad. I don't see too many students of Asian descent falling behind. In fact, you could have substituted simply "non-Asian" as opposed to either "non-white" or more accurately "non-white and non-Asian" and been closest to the mark.
dan roberts| 1.26.11 @ 7:19PM
"......does not look like a leader anymore". The "anymore" implies that he once did and with that I disagree. A great speech maker, great campaigner, salesman.....but has never shown leadership qualities.
A leader is not afraid to make the first move. It might be argued that's what leaders thrive on. Because he "wants it all", he can't lead because he puts himself in a reactive rather proactive position. He can't take the heat. Not a leader.
boinnc| 1.26.11 @ 7:27PM
When,pray tell,has this president ever resembled a leader? Just one incident,please.
JOANNE| 1.26.11 @ 7:42PM
Amen !! Thie arrogant inept man does not care about our country at all. Did you ever have to comment on a subject that does not interest you? case closed. I love the way he referenced Sputnik, yet de4cimated our NASA program using it for muslim outreach. who would've guessed??
He is a one man wreckin g ball who hates America, and is trying to pull a con job now to be re elected.
Fool me once...What a Loser!!!!!
PCP Smoker| 1.26.11 @ 7:46PM
"Only really painful surgery -- drastic, draconian cuts in Social Security and in Medicare, and wildly higher taxes on upper income people -- will come even close to fixing the problem."
Screw you creep. Go kill yourself.
AlphaPapa| 1.27.11 @ 1:04PM
Why is Social Security and Medicare always the attack point.. why not all the social entitlement programs starting with medicaid and welfare... I was apalled to learn that MY tax dollars pay for organ
transplants.. please..
medicais will pay for one pr of glasses and an eye exam a yr for those who wear them but for someone like me who it is medically necessary to wear contact it won't pay for even the exam.. not that I am on medicaid but the idea is ludicrious...
Carl Smith| 1.26.11 @ 7:54PM
If his speech sounded infantile it's because he is talking to his base. The failure of our educational system is only adding constituents to his base. Check out PhD Bob Beckle, how about Alan Colom (ps).About as elementary as y ou can get.
Richard Adamo| 1.26.11 @ 8:01PM
This very astute observation of what is at the heart of America's underlying problem will never be dealt with due to it's political and racial overtones.
As a retired educator I can personally attest to the validity of this problem that will ultimately be the undoing of our economy and our future.
DaveS| 1.26.11 @ 8:09PM
Rope-a-dope from a cardboard cut-out of a President. Ben, you can steal a two-dimensional President, but you can't do anything except put him on a street corner for some picture taking.
Diane| 1.26.11 @ 9:05PM
Thanks to Obama, Canada just came out higher on the Heritage Foundation/Wall Street Journal "economic freedom index" than the United States. Practically just yesterday it was socialist.
We're number 6 but the other 5 aren't as nice.
You can all move up here! Bring your woolies. :-)
Nite| 1.26.11 @ 9:11PM
Did I see a leader? Just a tone deaf arrogant man. Certainly NOT a leader.
Bob Johnson| 1.26.11 @ 9:29PM
The only way effectively to reduce gov spending and interference in our lives is to eliminate gov agencies, departments, commissions, etc.
polly| 1.26.11 @ 9:55PM
I guess a great speech according to Ben would have president Obama turn INTO a REPUBLICAN and say tax cuts all night like a PARROT. After the speech... 84% of the American viewer dig it , And i think all thing consider mission accomplish.
chris| 1.26.11 @ 10:06PM
What people like Ben are missing !! is that the viewers that watch that speech don't care how its deliver , They want jobs , and assurance how we are moving forward .I think many americans like uplifting messages, that's why TV evangelists are doing so well.
If the president was teaching a classroom, then he would have to come up with specifics and leave the sunlight rhetoric behind.
john bullet| 1.26.11 @ 10:13PM
Thank you, Mr. Stein, for your observations are the most insightful that I have seen. There is a poignancy to President Obama -- "keenly distressing to the feelings," according to my Random House College Dictionary, 1973.
Mr. Obama's Presidency has been a total disaster for our nation. I am no longer very hopeful that America will "come back." Paul Ryan, in his response to the SOTU, said that we still have time, but not much. I am not so sure.
You mention the total lack of education of our youth -- a problem that has been snow-balling for 50 years or more. Especially among minorities, there is no answer any longer. And many among the majority (for now) white communities are just as derelict. The root cause of the problem is the breakdown of the family -- a direct by-product of the loss of faith, or the devolution of the branches of Protestantism, especially the cave-in on birth control and abortion -- both of which were forbidden among Christians for 1900 years.
The atheist John Dewey, so-called father of the American public school system, is the author of much of what has gone wrong with the public schools -- which is mostly due to the loss of faith in God; and the advent of faith in Darwinism and materialism. Public schools ought to be totally abolished. You want your kid in a rabidly secular school system? Go ahead; but let me keep my $$$ to send my kids to a school that works with me, not against me.
Obama is nothing so much as the god-like avatar of the secularist/socialist state. "You will be assimilated!" exclaimed the Borg on Star Trek. The Borg, these days, reside at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and at the Supreme Court Bldg, and at the Capitol. And so we have violation of religious rights such as forcing people of conscience to prescribe &/or dispense abortifacients and birth control (the latter is frequently abortive, too); and to refer or perform abortions -- all of which are crimes against G-d and against our own nature, which is in the image of God.
We have forgotten the Declaration of Independence, not to mention the Book of Genesis -- which make it clear that we are created in God's image. That an obdurate, rebellious pride has taken so deep a root among most of the populace of the USA bodes ill for our future as a nation. As a civilization?---too late for that already; there is none remaining -- all we have is anger, pride, power-struggles; pornography and rampant licentiousness and consequently wild children growing up without true adults to raise them well; and pursuit of bodily pleasure and money and possessions as our idols. Of course we will be chastised by G-d -- it is written in our nature.
President Obama is nothing but the latest, most extreme manifestation of the disease that has afflicted all of Western Man for a couple of hundred years. That we should have taken of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden; and are again consuming this poisonous fruit, deciding for ourselves what is right and wrong; and are avidly pursuing the tree of life, including destroying embryos by the hundreds of thousands; and destroying G'd's own image by the millions in the unborn babies who are snuffed out mercilessly for our pleasure.
Mother Teresa said it right: the greatest destroyer of the peace is abortion, because people who think that they can destroy an unborn baby in order live as they might -- these people will literally do anything to get what they want; including murder, rape, pillaging; endless war; lying, cheating, stealing. There will be no peace for America so long as we murder the unborn and use contraception. These practices are evil, and are the death knell of our nation, and of all Western civilization. It is late -- very late; Europe is about beyond recovery. We are close behind.
AlphaPapa| 1.27.11 @ 1:01PM
John Bullet what gives YOU the right to tell ME a woman, to do with MY body... you don't have that right bottom line.. I don't believe, for me, in abortion but I am old enough to remember when it was illegal and I want my dtr and granddtr to have that choice at thier disposal. It is something that as a male, I doubt you would or could understand..
konastephen| 1.27.11 @ 1:15PM
Typical 20th century female chauvinism. Hopefully your "dtr and granddtr" won't be as misanthropic.
WAKE UP| 1.27.11 @ 1:32AM
"Obama does not seem like a leader anymore," he said.
Never was. He's just a sad, dangerous little man.
konastephen| 1.27.11 @ 1:04PM
I've heard that said of Hitler...
Konastephen| 1.27.11 @ 5:31AM
"Mostly, his speech sounded as if it could have been given by any 1958 Republican elementary school student."
I doubt that there is a literal body-snatcher at work here. I think the truth is that Obama is attempting to channel his inner conservative. It's the Democrat way; the Clinton formula for eking a second term out of a midterm shellacking. The best approximation of a conservative that Obama the 'intellectual' leftist/progressive can dutifully muster to fit the bill is apparently that of a 1958 sixth-grade Republican elementary school student. Of course, his apparent intellectualism, as his current body-snatched state, may well be no more than a mirage, an illusion projected by the real power behind the throne, the TOTUS (Teleprompter of the United States). In reality, Obama himself may be nothing more than an empty suit.
John Moses| 1.27.11 @ 7:38AM
Anymore? He never has sounded like a leader. No liberal ever has(Despica-Bill Clinton). Notice how there was no talk of "Presidential Timber" or "Gravitas" when he ran. This one always looks like a little boy wearing his fathers suit. Could you imagine in days of old following any democrat into battle?
like clockwork| 1.27.11 @ 9:47AM
This one always looks like a little boy wearing his fathers suit.
John Moses| 1.27.11 @ 7:38AM
-------------------------------------------------
I have news for you! that little boy as long as he stays in the 40-50% in approval rating will get another 4 years ,
WHY?? very simple ...while the REPUBLICAN candidates EAT each-other off in the primary run and will cost them a pretty penny in doing so , The president will be sitting there filling his nails waiting with his billion dollar plus WAR-CHEST.
Plus the old saying always apply' the voters will go with the devil they know as oppose to the one they don't.
konastephen| 1.27.11 @ 1:37PM
Depressingly, clockwork is probably right, although it'll take a lot of dead mexicans from texas and non-existent illinoisians to make it happen this time. The entire lamestream media will have to campaign harder than they ever have. The NYT may as well open a campaign office in their basement now already. Billary will need to muster all their old attack dogs and proglibs across the country will need to be screechier and shriller than ever they were for the Gore attempt. And Obama will have to do his best for two years to look like a conservative little boy in his dad's suit.
If they can all do that without screwing up and say, ignoring a major genocide in West Africa or getting caught with their cigars in other people's places, or otherwise too blatantly looking down their long snide noses at the Great not-so-Silent-anymore Majority, they just might pull it off. It'll be a swindle for the history books if they do.
marc| 1.27.11 @ 7:37PM
If I may be so bold as to point out, Obama himself defied this analysis in 2008.
Sysyphus| 1.27.11 @ 11:06AM
The issue isn't "schools," "teachers," "NCLB," funding, or anything else in the public sector. It's families and the pathology of certain cultural sectors of American society (and that's not a euphemism for race; the pathology touches all races, just some more than others). The issue is FAMILIES and parental insistence--in the home--that the offspring study and learn. Obviously, minimally-functional schools are necessary, teachers union cronyism and seniority systems are a hindrance, and there is always room for improvement in any system or institution. But if the kid doesn't fear what happens at home if s/he brings home bad grades, the best teachers in the best schools with all the money in the world won't make a bit of difference.
Jimbo| 1.27.11 @ 11:28AM
Hello from Canada-Ben mentions that, without an increase in income tax rates on upper-income Americans, you can't even dream about controlling the deficit, let alone making it go away. Does that mean that "trickle-down" economics is also dead? As for the government employees that you propose to lay off, be advised that they are human beings and, as such, will then avail themselves of whatever unemployment benefits they can. The fact is that we're living in a technological age in which "manpower" means less than "computer power". All the human-dependent jobs are finding their way to "other places". Has anybody considered what we have up here? I'm referring to a tax on goods and services (essentially an additional charge at the bottom of every bill/grocery receipt/whatever?
I eagerly await your responses!
AlphaPapa| 1.27.11 @ 12:57PM
Jimbo... until we have a flat tax rate where the multi write offs and deductions most wealthy americans take full use of to pay little or not tax is instituted raising the upper income tax rate is nothing more than lip service.
A flat 10 or 15% of everyone's income no matter what the income is will make us more money in the long run and simply our tax code as well as make it a lot easier on the taxpayer.
konastephen| 1.27.11 @ 1:01PM
Canadians tend to be smug. I'm tired of their constant comparisons. On average they really have no clue what life is like south of the border. I was a Canadian once. I should know.
General excise taxes and sales taxes are generally left to the States to collect, Jimbo. Some states have 'em some don't. The idea of a federal excise tax or sales tax has been bandied about by tax theorists for years. The constitutionality of it is dubious. The graduated income tax foisted on us by Woodrow Wilson is by now far too deeply rooted in the psyche of American government. It's such a convenient redistributionist tool. I think Ben is wrong (though not a jerk) to insist that it must be used on "higher income" Americans (a status some of us believe that anyone can achieve and all of us can aspire to). A flat tax makes far more sense. It combines the best of American egalitarianism and the American Dream with the best of "Trickle Down", known more respectfully down here by the moniker Ben's father coined: supply side economics.
Jimbo| 1.27.11 @ 3:11PM
Hi Konastephen:
I just read over my comment and would appreciate it if you would point out the part where I was being smug. I daresay that a "smug" Canadian would not even subscribe to this website.
Kate Kahn| 1.27.11 @ 11:40AM
What an jerk Ben Stein is. Deluded too.
Jimbo| 1.27.11 @ 11:49AM
Dare I say it Kate? Let's keep the namecalling down...:)
AlphaPapa| 1.27.11 @ 12:55PM
Hey Kate..why not qualify your statement with a reason you thnk he is a jerk or deluded... to be honest I find your comment deluded and you a jerk. for not bothering to explain WHY you think...............
konastephen| 1.27.11 @ 2:19PM
And if you're going to call him names, at least use the right indefinite article.
AlphaPapa| 1.27.11 @ 12:53PM
WHY is it that conservatives always attack social security and yet never call for an accouting of the trillions of dollars that were paid in by the Boomers and yet stolen by Congress..
WHY NOT go after Medicaid and Welfare first...
Ben and the rest of the far right have no idea apparently that the average payout / month of SS is about $900/month... any of you guys try living on that... I have been working since I was 15 and at the moment I will get $588/month. wow be still my beating heart.. I will NOT vote for anyone who wants to cut social security... without first cutting welfare and medicaid.
AlphaPapa| 1.27.11 @ 1:05PM
I found it interesting that one comment has completely gone uncommented on anywhere that he called upon our colleges and universtieis to reinstate ROTC and military recruiting..
eric affeldt| 1.27.11 @ 1:19PM
Ben, spot on as usual. All the best from Texas
ttocs| 1.27.11 @ 1:22PM
Obuma never has seemed like a leader
kscarlett| 1.27.11 @ 1:39PM
That school he praised so highly...? The reason it is doing such an exemplary job is that it got out from under the teachers' union, fired all the staff and made them all re-apply for their jobs. Only 6 remained - then it started building up with no obstacles to excellence in learning. I cry for the generation in school now and in the past decade and us who will have to live under their "leadership".
Sapwolf| 1.27.11 @ 4:01PM
http://www.facebook.com/sarahpalin#!/notes/sarah-palin/obamas-message-to-america-the-era-of-big-government-is-back-now-help-me-pay-for-/494999858434
There's your LEADER.
Palin/West 2012
Cuda & the Colonel
Timely Renewed | 1.27.11 @ 5:23PM
While I agree with Mr. Stein's analysis, I would suggest that the solution must go deeper than simply replacing this incompetent ideologue. Much of the Obama administration's ability to wreck such havoc, either naively or deliberately, comes from a constitutional jurisprudence which has allowed the national government to expand far beyond its proper constitutional bounds. We can only hope to be free of this or future administrations of its ilk when we restore the original limits on the national government. I suggest that this can be done by amendments restating those original constitutional understandings. See http://www.timelyrenewed.com.
Kim Overall| 1.27.11 @ 5:46PM
indeed, the emporer had no clothes or is this the prince and the pauper? it's all such a muddle anyways. I miss when America had common sense, backbone and integrity.
marc| 1.27.11 @ 7:31PM
Did Obama ever seem like a leader? Maybe its just the kool-aid wearing off.
Marc Jeric| 1.27.11 @ 9:41PM
Abu Hussein al-Mombassa has shown himself as he realy is - a community organizer, small scale. As for the lack of American students' love for science - it is nothing new. I arrived as a legal immigrant here after waiting 5 years for the visa. I had trouble explaining my European engineering degree to my employers - and so engaged in 6 years of graduate studies at the UCLA (MS and PhD degrees). There were 8 doctoral candidates that year in Engineering - one American and 7 foreigners; that shows you how the legal profession is vastly more popular. We have here some 1,100,000 lawyers - of whom about 200,000 are trial lawyers. Great Britain, Japan, and Germany have together some 35,000 trial lawyers; we need tort reform!
Rick| 1.27.11 @ 9:55PM
Your a rasist!
Marc Jeric| 1.28.11 @ 1:20AM
No mention was made by our Community Organizer-in-Chief on nuclear electricity (the only way to produce energy with no environmental impact); no mention of the ethanol scam; and no mention of the global warming hoax or the cap & trade power grab.
steve bourg| 1.29.11 @ 8:35AM
EXACTLY !! You nailed it Marc! My comment was 31 hours after yours.
Dave M. (now in S. Korea)| 1.28.11 @ 2:50AM
This remediation, bringing non-white educational standards of other industrial nations, can not be done. The problem is not with the system, it is with the students. They do not want to learn and do not have families (i.e. fathers) that stress education or discipline. No amount of money will fix this problem.
jgo| 1.28.11 @ 7:49AM
BackToBasics, we should either totally stop issuing E-3, F, H, J, and L visas for a decade or two, or cut them all back by at least 97% and apply some standards so that they really can only be used to bring in the genuinely "best and brightest". Even the O visa could use some tightening.
steve bourg| 1.29.11 @ 8:32AM
Obama talked about innovaters -- Edison, Ford, etc.
The Democrats have KILLED innovation with their policies for decades. Because of phony man-made-global-warning and enviro 'concerns' they want to prohibit Edison's light bulb, they've burdened car-makers with too many regulations, they refuse to use the greatest invention in the last 60 years -- nuclear power, to create the electricity we need, they refuse to take advantage of our prolific natural resources -- oil and gas -- it's as if Obama wants a poor inner-city child to become 'educated' and invent our new breakthrough for all our energy problems. That's possible, but why do the Democrats deny what we need now?
weddingdresses | 6.27.11 @ 5:07AM
This remediation, bringing non-white educational standards of other industrial nations, can not be done. The problem is not with the system, it is with the students. They do not want to learn and do not have families (i.e. fathers) that stress education or discipline. No amount of money will fix this problem.
Adidas | 8.11.11 @ 4:40AM
is good
العاب | 4.11.12 @ 3:29PM
I always love your posts Appleby. Your comparisons of today to years past brings our sad situation into clear focus.
What I did like about last night's speech was that we didn't have to watch Pelosi pop up and down like,( as was written yesterday on this site), like a deranged jack-in-the-box. Thank you Jesus.