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February 13, 2012
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Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
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February 7, 2012
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Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
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Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
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Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
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January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
March 9, 2010 / 23 Adar 5770
Beware of Dems Bearing Gifts
By
Mona Charen
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
The signs are all around us. Even as Barack Obama and the Democrats lower their heads and prepare to bulldoze a huge new entitlement through Congress, the results of profligate government spending are everywhere apparent. It requires a prodigious degree of ideological blindness to miss this.
In Greece, decades of lavish spending on public employees and social programs have led to national bankruptcy. Greece's budget deficit last year was 12.7 percent of GDP. Want to know what an economic dead end looks like? It looks like this: A socialist government is forced to try to adopt austerity measures on an infantilized citizenry gone soft and dependent. Public employees respond with strikes and violence. "Tax collectors began a two-day walkout," reports the Sydney Morning Herald, "court employees launched a week-long series of work stoppages and garbage collectors also mobilized against state spending cuts that are meant to save 4.8 billion euros (6.5 billion US dollars)." These smaller walkouts fall between last week's general strike and the general strike called for Thursday.
In related news, thousands of students and faculty took to the streets to protest cutbacks and tuition increases at the lavishly funded University of California at Berkeley. Arrests were made after about 200 students rioted, vandalizing a university building and lighting trashcans on fire. An ethnic studies professor at San Francisco State lamented the violence, explaining that it "casts a shadow on the majority of our students who are working constructively toward budget justice."
No doubt many New Jerseyans also think of themselves as crusaders for justice. But last month, newly elected Gov. Chris Christie delivered a frank assessment of the need for budget continence: "There's no time left. We have no room left to borrow. We have no room left to tax." New Jersey, he warned, is "on the verge of bankruptcy." New Jersey faces a $68.9 billion long-term liability for retiree health care and other benefits, one of the steepest obligations of any state, but has not set aside the funds to cover it. The recession played a role in bringing New Jersey's woes to a head. But part of competent government is planning for contingencies. Consider what even the liberal Newark Star-Ledger acknowledged:
"We have the highest-paid police officers in the country, and they can retire after 25 years at 65 percent of their highest salary. We have the nation's highest-paid firefighters, too. Salaries for our teachers are always at the top of the nation, or close to it. And most pay nothing for red-carpet health benefits for life.
"This year, in the middle of a punishing recession — when more than 10 percent of New Jerseyans are out of work, when others are having their pay and hours cut, when many are losing homes to foreclosure — teachers' average base salaries rose by nearly 5 percent, double the rate of inflation."
Unlike most private sector employees, New Jersey police officers can cash in on unused sick days. A retiring New Brunswick officer received $376,234 for unused sick days, on top of his annual $115,000 pension. It's a common pattern. New Jersey has run itself into a ditch, led by liberal Democratic office holders and their public union backers/beneficiaries.

New Jersey is one of the worst offenders (along with California, Florida, Michigan, and a few more), but nearly all states are facing a shortfall. The Pew Center on the States found a $1 trillion gap at the end of fiscal year 2008 between the $2.35 trillion states had set aside to pay for employees' retirement benefits and the $3.35 trillion price tag of those promises. "While the economic crisis and drop in investments helped create it," explained Susan Urahn, the study's director, "the trillion dollar gap is primarily the result of states' inability to save for the future and manage the costs of their public sector retirement benefits."
At the federal level, the government has undertaken promises in the form of Social Security and Medicare that amount to $107 trillion in 2009 dollars. And while the future obligations under Medicare get plenty of ink, the costs of the Medicaid program (which, due to elastic eligibility standards, winds up providing nursing home care for many middle-class elderly people in addition to the poor) may eventually dwarf its sister programs.
Last week, the Congressional Budget Office projected that if President Obama's budget is adopted (without the health care bill), the national debt will grow by $9.7 trillion over the next decade. And what we need, at this critical juncture, the Obama administration insists, is a huge new entitlement.
Beware of Democrats bearing Greek-like gifts.
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Mona Charen Archives
© 2006, Creators Syndicate
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