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May 22, 2013

John Thorne: They launched the 'Arab Spring' but now yearn for the good old days of a strongman

John Rosemond: 'Disciplinary math' adds up to parental successl

Warren Richey: Are prayers before public meetings OK? Supreme Court to decide
Rick Montgomery: Use of ADHD drugs as study aid raises concern on campuses

Brierley Wright, M.S., R.D.: 6 convincing reasons you should keep carbs in your diet

Eoin O'Carroll: Scientists examine nothing, find something

The Kosher Gourmet by Carole Kotkin: This soup is made from one of the great pleasures of spring: A wonderful pairing of rosy color and earthy tang

May 20, 2013

Richard A. Serrano: Is Meir Kahane's assassin now a changed man?

Hannan Adely: Town raises Palestinian flag at City Hall

Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction
Morgan Housel: When smart investors do stupid things

Sharon Saloman, M.S., R.D.: Hunger games: Eat more, weigh less, without starving

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star

The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting

May 13, 2013

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Why the giving of the document that would permanently change the world could only be done in desolation

David G. Savage: Church-state, literally? Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church

Emily Alpert: Recession dragged down birth rates for less-educated women
Morgan Housel: The deep downside of home ownership

Peter Teffer: Will Dutch police soon be stalking cybercriminals on your computer?

Heidi McIndoo, M.S., R.D.: Meatless 'meat' can have its own set of problems

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Celebrate! This must-try appetizer is delicate yet has depth of flavor: Corn-Leek Cakes with Caviar, Smoked Salmon and Creme Fraiche

May 10, 2013

Rabbi Berel Wein: Be all that you should be

Caroline B. Glick: The dirty little secret about Israel's Arabs

Mona Charen: Hawking's Moral Calculus: The man and the movement he embraces
Morgan Housel: The biggest retirement myth ever told

Sandi Doughton: Eyes may provide new insight into brain problems

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : The Great Gatsby's Jewish Ties; Jews in the "Time 100 list" List; People's Most Beautiful Women

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: A sweet-hot meal: Pear salsa spices up salmon

May 8, 2013

Peter Ford: Why China is welcoming both Israel's Netanyahu and Palestinians' Abbas

Warren Richey: Obama administration quietly backs out of appeal over new contraceptive mandate

Fred Weir: At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw --- a tad
Amanda Paulson: Study reveals sad truths about community colleges

Harvard Health Letters: Evidence weak that zinc, echinacea are beneficial

The Kosher Gourmet by Leela Cyd Ross : Almost too pretty to eat, this colorful salad with Sicilian inspiration will tickle the taste buds and delight your visual sensibility

May 6, 2013

Edmund Sanders and Patrick J. McDonnell: Think Israel's objective in Syria is to weaken Assad or embolden the rebels? Think again

Brian Bennett: Israeli airstrikes may show weakness in Syrian defense

Michael Ollove: Millions of ex-felons, parolees and those on probation are about to be entitled to tax-payer paid health coverage
Karen Kaplan: Most men can skip PSA test for prostate cancer, urologists say

Kimberly Lankford: How to track down a lost life insurance policy

Dream of Mars exploration achievable, experts say

The Kosher Gourmet by Susan M. Selasky: EGGPLANT WRAPS are an easy, sumptuous and scrumptious meal

May 3, 2013

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Human Courage and the Unavoidable, Disturbing Text

Steven Emerson: Attorney General Fights CAIR in Court, Lauds it in Public

Mediterranean diet helps beat dementia: study
Harvard Health Letters: When to be screened for a hearing problem

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Iron Man's Jewish Connections; Marc Maron's New TV Show; Martin Landau Grows Up with Israel; Shalom, Allan Arbus

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: A sweet surprise for Mother's Day dessert

May 1, 2013

Jonathan Rosenblum: An Improbable Journey to Orthodoxy

Jonathan Tobin: Blame Obama, Not Israel for Syria Push

Kids, kittens the Same? With employee perks at struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo! it's hard to tell
Halena M. Gazelka, M.D.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: What you need to know about implanted pain relief devices

Sandy Kleffman: Artificial kidney offers hope to patients tethered to a dialysis machine

Jessica Shugart: When it comes to math, MRIs may be better than IQs

The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali: The celebrated chef on how high-maintenance ASPARAGUS RISOTTO need not be

April 29, 2013

Roy Gutman: Poland's new Jewish museum celebrates life, doesn't revisit Holocaust

Mark Clayton: Terrorism in America: Is US missing a chance to learn from failed plots?

Kim Murphy: Boston Bomber's 'Svengali' Revealed
Morgan Housel: He's rich, smart and old: Listen to him

Thomas Salinas, D.D.S.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: The safety of amalgam fillings

Harvard Health Letters: Tomatoes and stroke protection

Pete Spotts: Tiny satellites + cellphones = cheaper 'eyes in the sky' for NASA

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Swing into spring with lemon cream pie

April 26, 2013

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: The world is a mirror

Caroline B. Glick: Time to confront Obama

Clifford D. May: Defense in the Age of Jihadist Terrorism
Kimberly Lankford: New strategies ease pain of paying for long-term care insurance

Howard LeWine, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Too much ibuprofen?

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: How to feel your best -- with plenty of energy, a healthy weight and optimal mental and physical function -- without driving yourself batty

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Jewish Major Leaguers, 2013; New Movies and Comedy Show; Shalom, 'Lumpy' (Leave it to Beaver)

The Kosher Gourmet by Emily Ho : A bright and cheerful salad to herald the warmer months ahead

April 24, 2013

Steven Emerson: Boston Bomber Exposes Islamist Secret

Morgan Housel Admit it: No one has any idea what's going on
Harvard Health Letters: Can you get headaches from headache medication?

Kerri-Ann Jennings, M.S., R.D.: How to easily get more Omega-3s in your diet

Melissa Healy: Pot in a pill: All the pain relief without the smoke

The Kosher Gourmet by Susan Russo: Chipotle Chili Butternut Squash Soup is bold, zesty, hot

April 22, 2013

Ken Dilanian: Counterterrorism's future is unclear

US man departing country arrested on terror charges
Barbara Williams: An unorthodox but growing treatment in a 9-year-old's battle against cancer

P.J. Skerrett, M.D.: How to recognize a good whole grain product

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Teen actor Jonah Bobo in New Flick: Hunky James Wolk on Mad Men; Erich Segal's Daughter Writes Prize-Winning Jewish Novel


Jewish World Review Nov. 27, 2008 / 29 Mar-Cheshvan 5769

The return of British socialism

By Cal Thomas


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | PORTSTEWART, Northern Ireland — British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, like legions of politicians before him, has broken a campaign promise not to raise taxes and will do so on the citizens of the United Kingdom in April 2011, that is, if the governing Labour Party is re-elected. Those earning between 40,000 and 100,000 pounds ($61,335 to $154,000USD) will pay an average of 156 pounds ($240USD) more in tax per year. According to The London Times, Brown also proposes to raise taxes on the already burdened "wealthy." Those earning "150,000 pounds ($230,000USD) will pay an extra 3,000 in tax. Someone earning 200,000 pounds ($307,000USD) will pay an extra 5,000."


Brown says the money will be used to pay for the heaviest borrowing in Britain's history. Within five years, Britain's debt will be equivalent to more than one-half the nation's entire gross domestic product. According to the Conservative Party, Britain is borrowing more money, in real terms, than the credit it received from the United States to fight World War II. The Value Added Tax will be reduced — but by a paltry 2.5 percent — in the highly problematic hope that the pocket change saved by consumers will drive them into shops for Christmas shopping.


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Under the Brown proposal, the Times reports, "people earning more than 100,000 pounds a year will have their personal allowances cut in half, and those earning more than 140,000 pounds ($215,000USD) will have them removed altogether."


Clearly this proposed tax increase (especially one during a recession) announces the return of the old tax-and-spend Labour Party that was rescued from itself by former Prime Minister Tony Blair. That rescue occurred only after Blair's predecessor, Margaret Thatcher, demonstrated the economic wisdom of cutting taxes and reducing government spending, something as foreign to the old (and now apparently the "new") British Labour Party as a croissant in a fish and chips shop. Under Thatcher (and Ronald Reagan who cut taxes in America), boom times returned to Britain.


More than just income taxes are going up, however. Brown wants to increase taxes on National Insurance (for the second time since Labour returned to power), gasoline, alcohol and tobacco and long-distance air travel. "End of prudence," headlined The Daily Telegraph. "What About Spending?" asked a Times of London editorial, which faults Brown's government for planning to create "thousands of often meaningless posts (jobs) — feather-bedded with job security, easy hours and generous pension entitlements." These government jobs, notes the Times, often pay more to retirees than private pensions.


Brown calls his approach the "fairness agenda," which sounds very much like the language used by liberal Democrats in America. What is "fair" about penalizing the productive and robbing them of the incentive to work harder and take risks, while subsidizing those who seemingly do not wish to work harder, or take risks? Is it fair to send out government checks drawn on someone else's bank account? If you or I write a check on an account not our own, we would go to jail. But when government does it, that is supposed to be admirable.


No economy can sustain this level of borrowing while keeping spending high and increasing taxes. Building dependence on government is how politicians steal additional power for themselves. The more people become addicted to and come to depend upon government, the greater need they will have of politicians to keep the money flowing. This isn't just vote buying. It is a type of people buying reminiscent of the slave trade. Government is the new master and citizens of Britain and America are rapidly becoming their slaves.


Britain's most famous writer, William Shakespeare, is named in the King's Remembrancer Subsidy Roll as a tax defaulter in Bishopgate ward for failing to pay an assessed 5 shillings. Perhaps old Will was onto something. At what point will the British and American taxpayers say "enough!" and revolt, refusing to pay any new taxes until these governments stop wasteful and "entitlement" spending, which is robbing us of the principles that built our countries into once-great financial powerhouses?


At a news conference Tuesday, president-elect Obama pledged to end wasteful spending, including some farm subsidies. But discretionary spending amounts to only a small fraction of the government's proposed 2009 budget. The real need is to reform entitlement programs. Will he? He hasn't yet said.

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Cal Thomas Archives

JWR contributor Cal Thomas is co-author with Bob Beckel, a liberal Democratic Party strategist, of "Common Ground: How to Stop the Partisan War That is Destroying America". Comment by clicking here.

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