Arnold Ahlert

The Economic Paradox No One Wants to Talk About

There is an economic paradox that few people understand, much less wish to acknowledge, because to do so would reveal the level of societal deterioration that has caused it. In simple terms, there are two schools of economic thought: one posits that massive amounts of government spending, aka stimulus in all its odious forms, is the only way to save an economy.

2012: A Referendum on Our National Character

As I have said many times before, there are three types of Americans: the workers, the slackers and the fence-sitters. Inevitably the workers will always work, and the slackers will always be slackers. It is the fence-sitters who determine the overall tone of the nation. If more of them decide it is in their best interests to work, the nation is healthy. If they decide it's in their best interests to become slackers? Welcome to the essence of the 2012 election.

You feel me, my fellow Americans?

Last time I checked, conservatives in general, and Republicans in particular, were racist Neanderthals engaging in a "war on women" as a hobby, which is not to be confused with their full-time jobs of screwing over the 99 percent by not paying their "fair share" of taxes. Thus, you can imagine my surprise when a couple of outbursts from the oh-so-tolerant precincts of the left upset the proverbial apple cart.

Teaching Dependency

Few people more desperate than desperate progressives. And there are few things more despicable than desperate progressives attempting to impose their worldview on impressionable children, using the public school system as their vehicle of choice.

Progressive Promotion of Selective Law Enforcement

If one wishes to understand the ultimate destination of progressive ideology, California is a bellwether.

Gas Pains and Debt Bombs

Democrats are very sanguine regarding president Obama's re-election chances. Yet two economic issues could derail Mr. Obama. One is fraught with delicious irony, and remains in the forefront of the news. Yet issue number two, despite its far more serious implications, remains largely under the radar.

Israel Under the Bus

When one is an acolyte of the Marxist/socialist, command-and-control approach to governance, nothing aggravates more than that which is beyond one's command and control. Couple that tendency with an all-encompassing narcissism and a facility for prevarication and what do you get? A United States president more than willing to put Israel's very existence on the line so as not to weaken his chances for re-election in 2012.

Baby Steps Down the Road to Depravity

Anyone still wondering about where the train wreck of progressively-inspired moral relativism is leading Western society can stop wondering. An article written by Drs. Francesca Minerva and Alberto Giubilini published in the Journal of Medical Ethics (JME) offers us, according to JME editor Professor Julian Savulescu, a "well reasoned argument based on widely accepted premises." The title of the article? "After-birth abortion: why should the baby live?"

Debasing Our Military, One Politically Correct Moment After Another

For many years, the military was the last bastion of resistance against the bankruptcy of progressive thinking. No longer. Three vivid illustrations of what those who volunteer to defend this nation must now endure, stand as a beacon to the corruption that political correctness brings wherever it is unleashed. I could not be sadder for those who put themselves in harm's way. They deserve far better.

Progressives: Dedicated apostles of the “lowest common denominator

Sometimes one has to wonder if there's any common sense or common decency left in the world. A piece in Friday's New York Times, "For Women Under 30, Most Births Occur Outside Marriage" highlights that fact. So what does the article call this societal scourge? The "new normal." In fact, illegitimacy is neither new or normal. The only thing new is the greater number of people who worship at the altars of rationalization and moral relativity progressives have championed for the last half-century.

Sandwiches or Freedom?

Those closely attuned the dynamics of the 2012 election know that Barack Obama retains a high probability of being re-elected. Right now, the focus of many is on his obscene efforts to run roughshod over the First Amendment and force Catholics to violate their consciences. And while this issue may cost him votes, two others reflect the insidious effectiveness of promoting moral hazard as a means of maintaining, or ramping up, the progressive constituency. One issue most people have probably heard about. the other? Not so much, but it might be one of best attempts to literally buy votes that has come down the pike in a long time.

Progressive Obsolescence

Few things make this conservative happier than when progressives drop their holier-than-thou facade and reveal their true intentions. A column written by NY Times columnist Adam Liptak entitled "'We the People' Loses Appeal With People Around the World" is a textbook example. Essentially Mr. Liptak, and no doubt many of his progressive soul-mates, are ready to kick the Constitution of the United States to the curb because they consider it an "obsolete" document. Yet in explaining why, Liptak inadvertently reveals something else along the way: progressivism is an utterly bankrupt ideology.

Obama’s Happy Talk Versus Bernanke’s Action

For those Americans who continue to believe words speak louder than actions, president Obama's State of the Union speech was a smash hit. In fact on Wednesday, CBS News cited an online poll conducted by Knowledge Networks immediately following the president's address, which claimed 91 percent of those who watched the speech approved of the proposals Mr. Obama put forth. That was up from a "paltry" 83 percent who approved last year's speech. This is the words part of the equation.

South Carolina Goes for the Media-Masher

Everyone with a functioning brain knows why Newt Gingrich won the South Carolina primary. In fact it's as easy as ABC—along with Fox News' Juan Williams and CNN's John King—to understand that while many Americans may have differing political opinions, an overwhelming majority of them are united in one respect: they absolutely despise the mainstream media.

Nuking the Strait of Hormuz?

Remember when the left went crazy, claiming George W. Bush "knew" that the attacks of 9/11 were going to happen? They cited an August 6, 2001 President's Daily Brief (not Briefing, fyi) as their source. For the record, here's the germane part of the brief itself: "We have not been able to corroborate some of the more sensational threat reporting, such as that from a (redacted) service in 1998 saying that Bin Laden wanted to hijack a U.S. aircraft to gain the release of 'Blind Sheikh' Omar Abdel Rahman and other U.S.-held extremists.

Coercion and Incentive Are Not Interchangeable Terms

I am a truly evil person. I've come to realize that more and more lately, after reading volumes of commentary from so many "virtuous" people. These are people for whom no sacrifice — using someone else's money, time and effort — is too great in order to achieve the socialist utopia that is just around the corner, if we all subjugate ourselves to greater good. Screw you, comrades.

Will We Retire Obama—- or the Constitution?

"When Congress refuses to act and as a result hurts our economy and puts people at risk, I have an obligation as president to do what I can without them." — President Barack Obama While I always identify the speaker of a quote, it is especially necessary this time. Why? Because if you remove the president's name from the statement, it becomes really easy to imagine any number of other people making it. For example, plug in Chinese president Hu Jintao, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, or Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Is there any doubt that any of these men would we more than willing to act, if they saw an "obligation" to do so, without the messy necessity of dealing with their respective legislative bodies?

Dumb—or ‘Disabled?’

Whenever I read a news story, I check the readers comments wherever they're available. The good news is that more and more people are adding their two cents. A few years ago, even the more controversial stories would have no more 200-300 comments. Now, that number has increased, sometimes exponentially, with respect to certain stories. The bad news? Logic and reasoning run a distant second to name-calling and overt stupidity.

Islamists ‘Celebrate’ Christmas

Another Christmas, another slaughter of Christians by members of the so-called "religion of peace." The Boko Haram, a "radical Muslim sect" as the Associated Press puts it, claimed credit for bombing a Nigerian Catholic church on Christmas, killing 35 and wounding 52. What do the Boko Haram want?

A Deficiency of Decency

As I've said on many occasions, if one wishes to trace the origins of our increasingly sick modern-day society back to its roots, the left's determination to substitute moral relativism for any codified definition of right and wrong — most specifically religious codification — cannot be denied. Fifty years after the national temper tantrum they nostalgically define as the "revolution of the '60s," we are seeing the fruits of the "everything is a shade of gray" mentality that is little more than anarchy masquerading itself as freedom. Anyone daring to defy the trend must be ridiculed and ostracized. Exhibit A? Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow.