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February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
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
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
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
January 18, 2012
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
July 9, 2009
/ 17 Tamuz 5769
Saving liberty
By
Bob Tyrrell
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
A few weeks back, at the dawn of the Obama
administration, I was at dinner with a very bright woman of middle years who
calls herself an independent. She found the new president very engaging, but
she was alarmed by the music in the air: a government takeover of Detroit, a
$700 billion government bailout of the banks, a $787 billion stimulus bill,
a cap and trade bill that would add perhaps $800-$2,000 to every family's
tax bill, and a massive health care reform now estimated to cost $1 trillion
over the next decade. For the past 30 years, most of them good economic
years, the federal bite into our gross domestic product has been just less
than 20 percent. Calculating the cost of Obama's spending, it could be 28.1
percent this fiscal year, a peacetime record!
My dinner companion was alarmed. She was not simply alarmed by
the bills our president and his Democratic colleagues were ringing up on the
Hill. My friend, the independent, was alarmed by something much more
important: the cost to our freedoms. As I believe she put it, "The question
here is our liberty." Increasingly, thoughtful Americans understand the
Obama era in these terms. With the government suddenly looming so large in
the life of every American, it is time for us to consider what is a
singularly American possession: individual liberty. The Founding Fathers
created a government that was uniquely solicitous about individual liberty.
With the federal government so deeply involved in our health care, our
banking, our manufacturing and the many targets of its $787 billion stimulus
program, it is time to think about your liberty vis-a-vis the government
bureaucrats who are about to minister to you.
Ronald Reagan's modern conservative movement began thinking
about the loss of individual liberty to government encroachment a
half-century ago, thanks in part to the wake-up call from Friedrich Hayek,
delivered in his indispensable book "The Road to Serfdom." Hayek believed
government is a threat to freedom, enterprise and the rule of law. Later,
another vigilant advocate of personal liberty, Frank Meyer, came along and
became a major figure for American conservatives, propounding the
exhilarating argument that freedom is essential to mankind. Freedom, he
wrote, is the "essence of (man's) being," for without it, a citizen cannot
be moral, by which he meant cannot choose good over evil. Meyer believed
freedom is at our essence because God put it there. God gave us freedom to
choose good over evil, art over schlock, a knee replacement over a Botox
treatment.
Personal liberty makes each American citizen a creature of
dignity. Obama overlooks this. Though in presenting Congress a $3.9 trillion
budget Feb. 24 he insisted that he's not for big government, he is. Consider
the vastness of the budget, its far-reaching domestic policies, and much of
his background as a community organizer. Clearly, he is a big-government
guy. No other American president has been so committed to big government.
Historically, most of our experiences with big government have
been unhappy. Big government is expensive, inefficient and, once corrupted,
very difficult to clean up. Moreover, once a government bureaucracy has made
its judgment on you, whom do you appeal to? With Obamacare, government will
decide when and whether you can get that knee replacement. From the clear
utterances of the president's health care advisers, namely, Ezekiel Emanuel
and David Blumenthal, that knee replacement will depend on such factors as
your age and your overall health. If you are too old or decrepit, government
will have a more economical place to spend its money. In other words, your
health will not be decided by what you want to pay for it, but by government
policy. That test you wanted for colon cancer might be denied. You might
just be too old. Such decisions are made by the nationalized British system
all the time.
Almost any service the government provides can be more
efficiently and effectively provided by private enterprise. The most
striking example is the inefficiency of the money-losing U.S. Postal
Service, which has been swept aside by the Internet and by such private
carriers as UPS and FedEx. Government is not even very effective in its
efforts at regulation. Consider the recent failures of Fannie Mae and
Freddie Mac and at the Securities and Exchange Commission.
There is another unappreciated failing of government. It
politicizes everything that it touches, including the simplest human
relations. Agreements that ought to be arrived at voluntarily or through the
rule of law are arrived at by lobbyists or thanks to the political power of
your group ethnic, economic or otherwise.
One of the little-noted projects of the government health care
reforms being considered on Capitol Hill today is the channeling of health
care money away from the elderly and toward community services and drug and
alcohol rehabilitation. Equal rights before the law is all well and good,
but it is political favor and political power that matter when big
government is making your decisions for you.
That is why so many Americans have opted for freedom from
government. We recognize that the free society is the most humane … and
the most productive.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Bob Tyrrell is editor in chief of The American Spectator. Comment by clicking here.
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