Author Archive

Joe Bell

This month President Barack Obama signed the “Dodd-Frank Wall Street and Consumer Protection Act” into law, declaring, “There will be no more taxpayer funded bailouts, period.”

Obama’s critique of previous bills he has signed has been wrong and it is likely his record will remain unblemished. One glaring past error is illustrated by an interview with ABC News, where George Stephanopoulos asked the president if the mandate to purchase health care insurance is a tax. Failure to comply will result in paying a penalty to the Internal Revenue Service.

Obama rejected Stephanopoulos’s assertion that the penalty seemed to conform to the dictionary definition of a tax and said, “Nobody considers that a tax increase.”

Congress should end the income tax

The Times said, “The law describes the levy on the uninsured as a ‘penalty’ rather than a tax.

Read the rest of this entry »

Joe Bell

It may be emotionally satisfying for Republicans to place the blame for the nation’s financial crisis solely at the feet of President Barack Obama and the congressional Democrats but it would be dishonest to do so. Undoubtedly the president and his party have made matters worse since taking the reins of power but nations do not embark on a downward trajectory without warning. President Obama and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi represent the logical destination of the path America has traveled for many years. They took the baton previous administrations – of both parties – carried and are continuing down the same road. America is not in the midst of a one party calamity.

The July 18, CNN interview with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell demonstrates why many conservatives are increasingly wary of the GOP. Several of his statements clarify the results of recent Gallup and Rasmussen polls.

Grand Party indeed.

A July 1, Rasmussen poll revealed 35.4 percent of Americans identify themselves as Democrats; 33 percent consider themselves Republicans; 31.6 percent identify themselves as unaffiliated.

In June, a Gallup poll found 42 percent of Americans consider themselves conservative while 20 percent consider themselves liberal.

McConnell, as leader of the Senate Republicans, may wonder why the GOP, which is considered the conservative party, cannot claim the full 42 percent of those who place themselves on the ideological right. A review of the CNN transcript and the Republican record of leadership provides the answer.

During the interview McConnell criticized the Obama administration’s “gargantuan spending spree.” The criticism is justified. Read the rest of this entry »

Joe Bell

America is a confused nation. The simplest questions that were once considered answered are today debated with a seriousness that would rival Moses upon his return from the mountain. There is even a sense of bewilderment over a question that was decided thousands of years ago: What is marriage?

On July 8, a federal judge in Boston struck down the 1996 federal law that defines marriage as a union between a man and woman. Judge Joseph Tauro said the Defense of Marriage Act, signed into law by President Bill Clinton, violates the rights of same sex couples as well as the federal tradition that permits states to establish their own marriage laws. Same sex marriage became legal in Massachusetts in 2004.

This decision illustrates a misunderstanding of the issue on at least two points. First, marriage should not be a state issue – it belongs in the federal arena. Second, Tauro and those who support gay marriage approach the topic from a civil rights perspective even though it is not a civil rights issue. Read the rest of this entry »

Joe Bell

Earlier this week the co-chairmen of President Barack Obama’s deficit commission offered a bleak assessment of America’s fiscal future.

Co-chair Erskine Bowles, who was White House chief of staff for President Bill Clinton, said, “This debt is like a cancer. It is truly going to destroy the country from within.”

That’s not news but his candor is refreshing. If an individual has cancer he will try to eliminate the disease. A physician will recommend any number of procedures, perhaps surgery or chemotherapy. Given their record, it is doubtful the current collection of Washington politicians has the will to address the nation’s economic distress with the urgency of a physician and a cancer patient.

The Spend-a-Thon continues

Bowles was correct when he said, “We could have decades of double-digit growth and not grow our way out of this enormous debt problem. We can’t tax our way out.”

Unfortunately this truth was coupled with error when he said the current economic crisis was largely unforeseen before 2008. That is untrue. For decades political observers warned of impending disaster.

In 1997 the Heritage Foundation released, “Balancing America’s Budget,” that chronicled the financial situation and offered recommendations to avoid the type of calamity that has arrived. No one saw this mess coming? Don’t believe it. Read the rest of this entry »

Joe Bell

The Obama administration has filed a lawsuit against S.B. 1070, Arizona’s new immigration law. After reviewing the July 6 press release from the Department of Justice, in which the legal action is explained, it is clear the administration would have an easier time stapling ice cream to a wall than winning this case.

The DoJ said the law “unconstitutionally interferes with the federal government’s authority to set and enforce immigration policy, explaining that ‘the Constitution … (does) not permit the development of a patchwork of state and local immigration policies…’”

If that’s true why does the administration ignore a Rhode Island policy that mirrors S.B. 1070? Rhode Island State Police have the authority to verify an individual’s immigration status at a traffic stop if they believe it’s justified.

The Arizona law says during any “lawful detention or arrest … a reasonable attempt shall be made, when practicable, to determine the immigration status of the person…”

Maybe Rhode Island gets a pass because its senators, Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, are Democrats and Arizona’s senators, John McCain and John Kyl, are Republicans. Read the rest of this entry »

Joe Bell

If President Barack Obama wants NASA to continue to follow its stated mission he’d better contact the current administrator, Charles Bolden, and tell him. According to NASA’s web site its mission “is to pioneer the future in space exploration … and aeronautics research.”

Despite that clear directive Bolden believes Obama has given him a new assignment. In a recent interview, Bolden said the president “charged me with three things. One was he wanted me to help re-inspire children to want to get into science and math, he wanted me to expand our international relationships, and third … he wanted me to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historical contributions to science … and math and engineering.”

Having guided the economy and health care down irresponsible paths Obama now turns his attention towards enfeebling the nation’s space program. Inspiring children is the job of parents and educators. The men and women of NASA should be cited as examples of scholarship and achievement to motivate children but they must focus on space exploration. Obama should demand NASA rise to the level of its glory days. It is doubtful anyone, child or adult, will be inspired by Bolden’s proclamation, “We’re not going to go anywhere beyond low earth orbit as a single entity. The United States can’t do it…” Achieving impressive goals will rouse America’s children more than words and a nifty web site. Read the rest of this entry »

Joe Bell

The president nominates individuals to serve on the Supreme Court. Since these are lifetime appointments a president can leave his mark on the nation long after leaving office. President Barack Obama’s two nominees to the Supreme Court – Sonya Sotomayor and Elena Kagan – indicate he will leave a negative mark.

Some downplay Kagan’s inevitable confirmation, suggesting that with one liberal replacing another, the configuration of the bench will be little changed. That’s the problem. With a different president this would have been an opportunity to shift the Court to an original intent posture. Court vacancies are rare so these are two critical opportunities lost.

On May 2, 2009, the Los Angeles Times reported Obama said his Court nominees will understand “justice isn’t about some abstract legal theory or footnote in a casebook. It’s also about how our laws affect the daily realities of people’s lives…”

Judges are not tasked with determining how laws affect people’s lives. That is the obligation of legislators who make the laws.  The time to look into how a law will affect people’s lives is during the legislative process. Read the rest of this entry »

Joe Bell

A June 27 story from the New York Times points a finger towards one of the many problems that contaminates the nation’s educational system – the belief that competition is an elitist, antiquated concept and those who try deserve accolades equal to those who achieve.

The article focused on the swelling number of valedictorians at the nation’s high schools. One school has seven valedictorians this year, another has 30 and Colorado’s St. Vrain Valley school district has 94.

A June 3 story from KFSN-TV, in Fresno, California, reported that Bullard High School will have 62 valedictorians this year.

How can so many students be ‘Number One’? The Times explained, “Principals say that recognizing multiple valedictorians reduces pressure and competition among students and it is a more equitable way to honor achievement, particularly when No. 1 and No. 5 may be separated by only the smallest fraction of a grade from sophomore science.”

One valedictorian, who is headed for Harvard University, said, “To be named valedictorian is an honor and a testament to how hard we’ve tried.” Read the rest of this entry »

Joe Bell

If Congress cannot or will not repeal the unsuitably named “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” the states should oppose the law on the basis that it is unconstitutional. In his new book, “Nullification,” Thomas Woods Jr., makes a coherent case that the American people and their representatives have become detached from the original meaning of the Constitution.

Not so fast.

Nullification begins with the conviction that a federal law that violates the Constitution is null and void. The states have a right to defend themselves against Washington overreach.

Woods writes, “If a law is unconstitutional and … of no effect, it is up to the states, the parties to the federal compact, to declare it so and thus refuse to enforce it.”

One of the most successful examples of nullification in recent years is with respect to the medical use of marijuana. Marijuana use is illegal by federal statute yet 14 states are openly opposing the law. Read the rest of this entry »

Joe Bell

I wonder if I’m the only conservative who doesn’t hyperventilate over comments made by celebrity liberals. If I gave any credence to what celebrities thought I might get annoyed but since I don’t I shrug them off and accept that they are among the more uninformed and insulated individuals on the planet.

Paul McCartney made a pointless statement recently upon receiving the Library of Congress’s Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. At an event hosted by President and Ms. Obama, McCartney remarked, “After the last eight years it’s good to have a president that knows what a library is.”

The ‘witty’ comment was aimed at former President George W. Bush’s intellect. It was as inappropriate to the occasion as it is false. What is most disappointing to me is that such a rude statement was dribbled by someone whose music I have enjoyed since the 1960s. No serious individual takes the former Beatle as an authoritative social commentator. Sir Paul should stick to his “Silly Love Songs.”

McCartney is not alone. Singer Sheryl Crow once said, “I think war is never the answer to solving any problems. The best way to solve problems is to not have enemies.” Read the rest of this entry »