Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Tales From a Happy Life Without Kids. By Jen Kirkman.
It’s Very Condescending to Tell a Childless Woman She’d Be a Great Mom. By Jen Kirkman. The Atlantic, April 22, 2013.
Rise of the Lone Wolves: The New Faces of Jihad. By Ed Husain.
Rise of the lone wolves: the new faces of jihad. By Ed Husain. London Evening Standard, April 23, 2013.
The Terrorist Tipping Point: What Pushed the Tsarnaev Brothers to Violence? By Christopher Dickey. The Daily Beast, April 23, 2013.
The Terrorist’s Sojourn in a Most Dangerous Place. By Glen Howard. Wall Street Journal, April 23, 2013.
Jihad Is Now Truly Global. By Lydia Khalil. Real Clear World, April 22, 2013.
Radicalization in the West: The Homegrown Threat. By Mitchell D. Silber and Arvin Bhatt. NYPD Intelligence Division, 2007.
The Terrorist Tipping Point: What Pushed the Tsarnaev Brothers to Violence? By Christopher Dickey. The Daily Beast, April 23, 2013.
The Terrorist’s Sojourn in a Most Dangerous Place. By Glen Howard. Wall Street Journal, April 23, 2013.
Jihad Is Now Truly Global. By Lydia Khalil. Real Clear World, April 22, 2013.
Radicalization in the West: The Homegrown Threat. By Mitchell D. Silber and Arvin Bhatt. NYPD Intelligence Division, 2007.
Why Is There No Such Thing as an “English-American?” By Tim Stanley.
On St George’s Day, it’s time to ask: why is there no such thing as an “English-American?” By Tim Stanley. The Telegraph, April 23, 2013.
Why Russia Is Dying. By Peter Pomerantsev.
The Last Man in Russia: The Struggle to Save a Dying Nation. By Peter Pomerantsev. The Daily Beast, April 22, 2013.
Lessons of Boston: What the Fanatics Took Away. By Ralph Peters.
Lessons of Boston: What the fanatics took away. By Ralph Peters. New York Post, April 23, 2013.
Did the Brothers Tsarnaev Fail? By Pat Buchanan. Real Clear Politics, April 23, 2013.
Lessons from Boston and Chechnya. By Dennis Prager. Real Clear Politics, April 23, 2013.
The Real Boston Story. By Adam Garfinkle. The American Interest, April 23, 2013.
Did We Win or Lose the Battle of Boston? By George Rasley. ConservativeHQ, April 23, 2013.
Peters:
The superb work of our law-enforcement officials in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing ignited a blaze of self-congratulation that obscured the event’s implications.
Yeah, we killed one fanatic and nabbed the other. But our dysfunctional system couldn’t prevent this latest Boston Massacre.
That carnage was a dirt-cheap terrorist triumph. Fanatics will take its lessons to their shriveled jihadi hearts:
Lesson No. 1: Two amateur terrorists can paralyze a major American city for days. The Tsarnaev punks generated global headlines, ran up millions in government expenses, punished a major metro-area economy and disrupted society. And now we’ve got a costly civilian trial to come for the surviving brother — with more headlines to inspire copycats.
We’re relieved that the two young terrorists were “brought to justice” and delude ourselves that we “won.” Uh-uh. At the cost of two expendable young thugs, a few guns and a couple of homemade bombs, radical Islam generated a bloodbath that created genuine terror on our soil.
Al Qaeda and its ilk have long used suicide bombers and doomed assassins to rupture societies in the Middle East, killing tens of thousands of Muslims (a fact we fail to exploit in our lame “information campaigns”). Now the Islamists are in the export business. Expect more of these low-cost, high-return missions within our borders.
Lesson No. 2: The best weapons against targets in the US are disaffected legal immigrants or radicalized native-born converts to jihad. Political correctness — a pathetic fanaticism of our own — and legal paralysis make it virtually impossible to stop legal residents such as the Tsarnaev brothers before they commit a crime.
The FBI questioned Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the elder brother, after the Russians asked us to look into his radicalization. (Moscow’s murky role is another story.) It appears that the agents asked him, Are you a Muslim fanatic? To which he replied, No. End of investigation.
Get inside the red-white-and-blue tent legally, and you, the terrorist, have a license to kill.
Lesson No. 3: Our immigration system is one of terrorism’s best allies. Related to the last point, this is a case of just how idiotic a politically correct bureaucracy can be. The father of the Tsarnaev punks only had to declare himself an asylum-seeker afraid for his life in the Russian Federation and our consular officials fell all over themselves to get him to America.
Nobody cared that “fearful” Pops retained his Russian citizenship and passport, then voluntarily returned to Daghestan, a jihad-roiled Russian province, to live. Or that his elder son’s dream vacation appears to have been a terrorist training session.
If you’re a highly educated, ambitious West European who wants to become an American, your chances are near zero. If you’re a radical America-hater from a hostile region, all you have to do is shout that you’re a political refugee and we’ll give you residency and benefits.
There’s no reason that anyone from Chechnya should be granted a US visa. It’s a gangster mini-state (within the Russian Federation) at war with home-grown Islamists. There are no good guys. Chechnya’s sole export besides terror, Chechen mafiosi, make Mexican drug cartels look like Franciscans. And some of the cruelest jihadis our troops faced in Iraq and elsewhere were Chechens who joined al Qaeda.
Lesson No. 4: The more open a society, the more targets it presents. We all failed to see the obvious. Obsessing about attacks on the Super Bowl and other facilities-bound events, we missed the appeal of public displays, such as marathons, as targets: 26 miles of vulnerability, tens of thousands of (mixed sex, scantily clad!) runners and hundreds of thousands of spectators.
We’ve done a good job of protecting hard targets, from stadiums to government offices. But that only deflected the fanatics toward softer targets whose very randomness creates authentic terror. And don’t underestimate the appeal of butchering female athletes, who are almost as terrifying to Islamists as girls in bikinis.
You won’t hear that last point from our politically correct authorities or our “experts.” But Freud has more to tell us about Islamist terrorists than any think tank. My suggestion to the feds, if they want to understand why Tamerlan Tsarnaev turned to jihad? Check out this wife-beater’s love life. Scratch a terrorist, find a lonesome perv.
Last week, Islamist fanaticism scored a resounding victory on the cheap. The effectiveness of our manhunt didn’t change that.
Did the Brothers Tsarnaev Fail? By Pat Buchanan. Real Clear Politics, April 23, 2013.
Lessons from Boston and Chechnya. By Dennis Prager. Real Clear Politics, April 23, 2013.
The Real Boston Story. By Adam Garfinkle. The American Interest, April 23, 2013.
Did We Win or Lose the Battle of Boston? By George Rasley. ConservativeHQ, April 23, 2013.
Peters:
The superb work of our law-enforcement officials in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing ignited a blaze of self-congratulation that obscured the event’s implications.
Yeah, we killed one fanatic and nabbed the other. But our dysfunctional system couldn’t prevent this latest Boston Massacre.
That carnage was a dirt-cheap terrorist triumph. Fanatics will take its lessons to their shriveled jihadi hearts:
Lesson No. 1: Two amateur terrorists can paralyze a major American city for days. The Tsarnaev punks generated global headlines, ran up millions in government expenses, punished a major metro-area economy and disrupted society. And now we’ve got a costly civilian trial to come for the surviving brother — with more headlines to inspire copycats.
We’re relieved that the two young terrorists were “brought to justice” and delude ourselves that we “won.” Uh-uh. At the cost of two expendable young thugs, a few guns and a couple of homemade bombs, radical Islam generated a bloodbath that created genuine terror on our soil.
Al Qaeda and its ilk have long used suicide bombers and doomed assassins to rupture societies in the Middle East, killing tens of thousands of Muslims (a fact we fail to exploit in our lame “information campaigns”). Now the Islamists are in the export business. Expect more of these low-cost, high-return missions within our borders.
Lesson No. 2: The best weapons against targets in the US are disaffected legal immigrants or radicalized native-born converts to jihad. Political correctness — a pathetic fanaticism of our own — and legal paralysis make it virtually impossible to stop legal residents such as the Tsarnaev brothers before they commit a crime.
The FBI questioned Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the elder brother, after the Russians asked us to look into his radicalization. (Moscow’s murky role is another story.) It appears that the agents asked him, Are you a Muslim fanatic? To which he replied, No. End of investigation.
Get inside the red-white-and-blue tent legally, and you, the terrorist, have a license to kill.
Lesson No. 3: Our immigration system is one of terrorism’s best allies. Related to the last point, this is a case of just how idiotic a politically correct bureaucracy can be. The father of the Tsarnaev punks only had to declare himself an asylum-seeker afraid for his life in the Russian Federation and our consular officials fell all over themselves to get him to America.
Nobody cared that “fearful” Pops retained his Russian citizenship and passport, then voluntarily returned to Daghestan, a jihad-roiled Russian province, to live. Or that his elder son’s dream vacation appears to have been a terrorist training session.
If you’re a highly educated, ambitious West European who wants to become an American, your chances are near zero. If you’re a radical America-hater from a hostile region, all you have to do is shout that you’re a political refugee and we’ll give you residency and benefits.
There’s no reason that anyone from Chechnya should be granted a US visa. It’s a gangster mini-state (within the Russian Federation) at war with home-grown Islamists. There are no good guys. Chechnya’s sole export besides terror, Chechen mafiosi, make Mexican drug cartels look like Franciscans. And some of the cruelest jihadis our troops faced in Iraq and elsewhere were Chechens who joined al Qaeda.
Lesson No. 4: The more open a society, the more targets it presents. We all failed to see the obvious. Obsessing about attacks on the Super Bowl and other facilities-bound events, we missed the appeal of public displays, such as marathons, as targets: 26 miles of vulnerability, tens of thousands of (mixed sex, scantily clad!) runners and hundreds of thousands of spectators.
We’ve done a good job of protecting hard targets, from stadiums to government offices. But that only deflected the fanatics toward softer targets whose very randomness creates authentic terror. And don’t underestimate the appeal of butchering female athletes, who are almost as terrifying to Islamists as girls in bikinis.
You won’t hear that last point from our politically correct authorities or our “experts.” But Freud has more to tell us about Islamist terrorists than any think tank. My suggestion to the feds, if they want to understand why Tamerlan Tsarnaev turned to jihad? Check out this wife-beater’s love life. Scratch a terrorist, find a lonesome perv.
Last week, Islamist fanaticism scored a resounding victory on the cheap. The effectiveness of our manhunt didn’t change that.
Liberals Ignore the Islamist Elephant in the Room. By Rush Limbaugh.
Liberals Ignore the Elephant in the Room, Wring Their Hands Over Where and How These “Normal Kids” Were Radicalized. By Rush Limbaugh. RushLimbaugh.com, April 23, 2013. Audio, Daily Rushbo.
Dershowitz: “I Don’t Understand the Way Some People on the Left Glorify American Terrorists.” By Noel Sheppard. NewsBusters, April 22, 2013.
WashPost Suggests It’s Not the Tsarnaevs That Are Sick, But Islamophobic Americans. By Tim Graham. NewsBusters, April 23, 2013.
Boston Marathon bombing suspects elude labels. By Krissah Thompson and Michelle Boorstein. Washington Post, April 22, 2013.
David Remnick, editor of the New Yorker on Boston Marathon bombing investigation and capture of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Video. Charlie Rose, April 22, 2013.
Dershowitz: “I Don’t Understand the Way Some People on the Left Glorify American Terrorists.” By Noel Sheppard. NewsBusters, April 22, 2013.
WashPost Suggests It’s Not the Tsarnaevs That Are Sick, But Islamophobic Americans. By Tim Graham. NewsBusters, April 23, 2013.
Boston Marathon bombing suspects elude labels. By Krissah Thompson and Michelle Boorstein. Washington Post, April 22, 2013.
David Remnick, editor of the New Yorker on Boston Marathon bombing investigation and capture of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Video. Charlie Rose, April 22, 2013.
Tsarnaevs Learned How to Make Bombs from Inspire Magazine. By Pete Williams and Erin McClam.
Boston suspect: We learned how to make bombs from Inspire magazine. By Pete Williams and Erin McClam. NBC News, April 23, 2013.
Boston bombing suspects built explosives with help of online Al Qaeda magazine, official says. By Cristina Corbin and Mike Levine. FoxNews.com, April 23, 2013.
“My brother made me do it”: Boston “bomber” reveals in scrawled note that older sibling “wanted to defend Islam from attack”- and was motivated by US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. By Daniel Bates and James Nye. Daily Mail, April 22, 2013.
Boston bombing suspect cites U.S. wars as motivation, officials say. By Scott Wilson, Greg Miller, and Sari Horowitz. Washington Post, April 23, 2013.
Boston bombing suspects built explosives with help of online Al Qaeda magazine, official says. By Cristina Corbin and Mike Levine. FoxNews.com, April 23, 2013.
“My brother made me do it”: Boston “bomber” reveals in scrawled note that older sibling “wanted to defend Islam from attack”- and was motivated by US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. By Daniel Bates and James Nye. Daily Mail, April 22, 2013.
Boston bombing suspect cites U.S. wars as motivation, officials say. By Scott Wilson, Greg Miller, and Sari Horowitz. Washington Post, April 23, 2013.
Boston Marathon Bombing Lesson: Political Correctness Kills. By Jay Sekulow.
Boston Marathon bombing lesson –political correctness kills. By Jay Sekulow. FoxNews.com, April 23, 2013.
Melissa Harris-Perry: Boston Bombing Suspets’ Islamic Faith Is Irrelevant.
Harris-Perry On Boston Bombers’ Religion: “This Framed-Up Notion Of Islam Making Them Something That Is Non-Normal.” Real Clear Politics, April 21, 2013.
Harris-Perry: Bombers’ Muslim Faith As Relevant To Bombing As Ben Affleck Movies About Violence In Boston. By Noah Rothman. Mediaite, April 21, 2013.
Melissa Harris-Perry: Boston Bombing Suspets’ Islamic Faith is as Irrelevant as Ben Affleck Movies in Investigation. By Jason Howerton. The Blaze, April 22, 2013.
Fear of a different kind when it comes to the wake of terror. Video. Melissa Harris-Perry. MSNBC, April 21, 2013.
Harris-Perry: Bombers’ Muslim Faith As Relevant To Bombing As Ben Affleck Movies About Violence In Boston. By Noah Rothman. Mediaite, April 21, 2013.
Melissa Harris-Perry: Boston Bombing Suspets’ Islamic Faith is as Irrelevant as Ben Affleck Movies in Investigation. By Jason Howerton. The Blaze, April 22, 2013.
Fear of a different kind when it comes to the wake of terror. Video. Melissa Harris-Perry. MSNBC, April 21, 2013.
Psychologist Anne Speckhard Gets Inside the Minds of the Boston Terrorists.
Psychological Research Gets Inside the Minds of the Boston Terrorists. By Dr. Raj Persaud and Dr. Peter Bruggen. The Huffington Post United Kingdom, April 22, 2013.
Dr. Anne Speckhard website.
Education Does Not Equal Intelligence. By Rush Limbaugh. RushLimbaugh.com, April 23, 2013. Rush attacks Anne Speckhard.
Anne Speckhard, Ph.D. on FNC. Video. Sandy Frazier, April 23, 2013. YouTube.
Anne Speckhard, Ph.D. on MSNBC. Video. Sandy Frazier, April 22, 2013. YouTube.
Anne Speckhard: Talking to Terrorists. Video. New America Foundation, March 13, 2013. YouTube.
Dr. Anne Speckhard website.
Education Does Not Equal Intelligence. By Rush Limbaugh. RushLimbaugh.com, April 23, 2013. Rush attacks Anne Speckhard.
Anne Speckhard, Ph.D. on FNC. Video. Sandy Frazier, April 23, 2013. YouTube.
Anne Speckhard, Ph.D. on MSNBC. Video. Sandy Frazier, April 22, 2013. YouTube.
Anne Speckhard: Talking to Terrorists. Video. New America Foundation, March 13, 2013. YouTube.
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| Anne Speckhard |
Topless in the Country of Hijab? By Inna Shevchenko.
Topless in the Country of Hijab? By Inna Shevchenko. The Huffington Post United Kingdom, April 8, 2013.
U.N. Human Rights Official Richard Falk Says Boston Got What It Deserved. By Anne Bayefsky.
UN Human Rights Official Says Boston Got What It Deserved. By Anne Bayefsky. Breitbart, April 22, 2013. Fox News.
Antisemitism, anti-Americanism are UN Human Rights Council official’s job description. By Anne Bayefsky. FoxNews.com, April 23, 2013.
A Commentary on the Marathon Murders. By Richard Falk. Citizen Pilgrimage, April 21, 2013. Also at Foreign Policy Journal.
Clarifying Boston Marathon Post. By Richard Falk. Citizen Pilgrimage, April 25, 2013.
UN Official and Princeton Professor Says Boston Victims Were “Canaries.” Fox News Insider, April 24, 2013. Also find video here.
American Ingrates and Terror Apologists. By Michael Goodwin. New York Post, April 24, 2013.
UN official blames America for Boston Marathon terror attacks. By Hillel C. Neuer. UN Watch, April 22, 2013.
The Demonization of Richard Falk. By Jeremy R. Hammond. CounterPunch, April 25, 2013.
Richard Falk and Radical Islam. Ruthie Blum. Washington Times, April 26, 2013.
Divestment at UCSB. By Richard Falk. Citizen Pilgrimage, April 16, 2013.
Antisemitism, anti-Americanism are UN Human Rights Council official’s job description. By Anne Bayefsky. FoxNews.com, April 23, 2013.
A Commentary on the Marathon Murders. By Richard Falk. Citizen Pilgrimage, April 21, 2013. Also at Foreign Policy Journal.
Clarifying Boston Marathon Post. By Richard Falk. Citizen Pilgrimage, April 25, 2013.
UN Official and Princeton Professor Says Boston Victims Were “Canaries.” Fox News Insider, April 24, 2013. Also find video here.
American Ingrates and Terror Apologists. By Michael Goodwin. New York Post, April 24, 2013.
UN official blames America for Boston Marathon terror attacks. By Hillel C. Neuer. UN Watch, April 22, 2013.
The Demonization of Richard Falk. By Jeremy R. Hammond. CounterPunch, April 25, 2013.
Richard Falk and Radical Islam. Ruthie Blum. Washington Times, April 26, 2013.
Divestment at UCSB. By Richard Falk. Citizen Pilgrimage, April 16, 2013.
Monday, April 22, 2013
Conservative Philistines? By Mark Blitz.
Conservative Philistines? By Mark Blitz. Hoover Institution, March 13, 2013.
Gentry Liberals and Brass Knuckles: The Case of Maureen Dowd. By Walter Russell Mead.
Gentry Liberals and Brass Knuckles: The Case of Maureen Dowd. By Walter Russell Mead. Via Meadia, April 21, 2013.
Questioning the Mission of College. By Frank Bruni.
Questioning the Mission of College. By Frank Bruni. New York Times, April 20, 2013.
Are Top-Tier Colleges Worth It? By Walter Russell Mead. Via Meadia, April 23, 2013.
Are Top-Tier Colleges Worth It? By Walter Russell Mead. Via Meadia, April 23, 2013.
Jew Hatred on NYC Subway. By Walter Russell Mead.
Jew Hatred on NYC Subway. By Walter Russell Mead. Via Meadia, April 22, 2013.
Wild Brooklyn melee erupts as NYPD arrests Muslim teen for allegedly taunting Jewish subway rider. By Shane Dixon Kavanaugh. New York Daily News, April 18, 2013.
NYPD vs. man and woman. Video. Bonard Mathurin, April 16, 2013. YouTube.
Wild Brooklyn melee erupts as NYPD arrests Muslim teen for allegedly taunting Jewish subway rider. By Shane Dixon Kavanaugh. New York Daily News, April 18, 2013.
NYPD vs. man and woman. Video. Bonard Mathurin, April 16, 2013. YouTube.
The Conservative Paranoid Mind. By Michael Tomasky.
The Conservative Paranoid Mind. By Michael Tomasky. The Daily Beast, April 22, 2013.
Boston Is Not 9/11 Redux for American Muslims. By Peter Beinart. The Daily Beast, April 22, 2013.
Boston Is Not 9/11 Redux for American Muslims. By Peter Beinart. The Daily Beast, April 22, 2013.
Scarlett Johansson Is Not an Israeli. By Leon Hadar.
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| Scarlett Johansson |
Scarlett Johansson Is Not an Israeli. By Leon Hadar. Real Clear World, April 22, 2013.
The Ideology Behind the Boston Marathon Bombing. By Timothy R. Furnish.
The Ideology Behind the Boston Marathon Bombing. By Timothy R. Furnish. History News Network, April 22, 2013.
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Jihad Will Not Be Wished Away. By Andrew C. McCarthy.
Jihad Will Not Be Wished Away. By Andrew C. McCarthy. National Review Online, April 20, 2013.
Mr. President, these are Muslim terrorists. By Michael Goodwin. New York Post, April 21, 2013.
Yes, Of Course It Was Jihad. By Andrew Sullivan. The Dish, April 22, 2013.
Illusions About Why Muslim Brothers Kill. By Bruce Thornton. Real Clear Politics, April 22, 2013.
The Boston Bombing and its Aftermath. By Max Boot. Commentary, April 20, 2013.
GOP Congressman Peter King: “Increase Surveillance” of Muslim Community. By Katrina Trinko. National Review Online, April 19, 2013.
The insanity of blaming Islam. By Marc Ambinder. The Week, April 19, 2013.
The futility of blaming Islam. By Marc Ambinder. The Week, April 22, 2013.
Liberals in Denial Over Boston Terrorists. By Rush Limbaugh. RushLimbaugh.com, April 22, 2013.
Professor: Too Much Force Used on Boston Perps. By Rush Limbaugh. RushLimbaugh.com, April 22, 2013. Fox News.
Dead suspect broke angrily with Muslim speakers. Evidence mounts of radical turn. By Kevin Arsenault. The Boston Globe. Boston.com, April 21, 2013.
Killing from Qur’anic Piety: Tamerlane’s Living Legacy. By Andrew G. Bostom. American Thinker, October 1, 2005.
Mr. President, these are Muslim terrorists. By Michael Goodwin. New York Post, April 21, 2013.
Yes, Of Course It Was Jihad. By Andrew Sullivan. The Dish, April 22, 2013.
Illusions About Why Muslim Brothers Kill. By Bruce Thornton. Real Clear Politics, April 22, 2013.
The Boston Bombing and its Aftermath. By Max Boot. Commentary, April 20, 2013.
GOP Congressman Peter King: “Increase Surveillance” of Muslim Community. By Katrina Trinko. National Review Online, April 19, 2013.
The insanity of blaming Islam. By Marc Ambinder. The Week, April 19, 2013.
The futility of blaming Islam. By Marc Ambinder. The Week, April 22, 2013.
Liberals in Denial Over Boston Terrorists. By Rush Limbaugh. RushLimbaugh.com, April 22, 2013.
Professor: Too Much Force Used on Boston Perps. By Rush Limbaugh. RushLimbaugh.com, April 22, 2013. Fox News.
Dead suspect broke angrily with Muslim speakers. Evidence mounts of radical turn. By Kevin Arsenault. The Boston Globe. Boston.com, April 21, 2013.
Killing from Qur’anic Piety: Tamerlane’s Living Legacy. By Andrew G. Bostom. American Thinker, October 1, 2005.
Resilience and Complacency. By Fareed Zakaria.
Resilience and Complacency. By Fareed Zakaria. Time, April 18, 2013.
The Horror. The Heroism. By Nancy Gibbs. Time, April 18, 2013.
The Horror. The Heroism. By Nancy Gibbs. Time, April 18, 2013.
Republicans Need to Get Over the Makers vs. Takers Mindset. By Scott Rasmussen.
Republicans Need to Get Over the Makers vs. Takers Mindset. By Scott Rasmussen. Real Clear Politics, April 21, 2013.
Rasmussen:
Mitt Romney’s secretly recorded comment that 47 percent of Americans are “dependent on the government” and “believe they are victims” isn’t the only reason he lost the presidential campaign. But the candidate himself acknowledged after the election that the comments were “very harmful.”
He added, “What I said is not what I believe.”
But many Republicans still believe it, and the “makers vs. takers” theme has a deep hold on the party. In private conversations, many in the GOP are whispering that Romney was right and that his only mistake was saying it out loud.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people say something like, “Well, the half who favor government programs is the half who don’t pay any taxes.”
This is ridiculous — on many levels.
First, the overwhelming majority of those who don’t pay federal income taxes pay a whole variety of other taxes, including state and local taxes, payroll taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, sin taxes and more. They don’t feel excluded from sharing the tax burden just because they don’t pay one particular tax.
It’s also worth noting that these aren’t the people pushing for higher taxes. At Rasmussen Reports, our most recent polling shows that people who make $100,000 or more each year are more supportive of higher taxes than those who make less.
Second, the 47 percent who don’t pay federal income taxes include large chunks of the Republican base. Many senior citizens fall into this category because their primary income is from Social Security. They don’t consider themselves “takers.” They paid money into a Social Security system throughout their working lives and now simply expect the government to honor the promises it made.
Third, low-income Americans aren’t looking for a handout. Among those who are living in poverty, 81 percent agree that work is the best solution to poverty. Most would rather replace welfare programs with a guaranteed minimum-wage job. Sharing the mainstream view, 69 percent of the poor believe that too many Americans are dependent upon the government.
Sixty-five percent of low-income Americans consider it “very important” for an economy to provide everybody with an opportunity to succeed. Interestingly enough, low-income Americans consider that more important than those who earn more.
But if I had to pick just one number to highlight how bad the 47 percent remark was, it would be this. Just 11 percent of Americans today consider themselves dependent upon government. Sure, some receive a Social Security check or an unemployment check, but that’s not dependence upon government. That’s cash received in exchange for premiums paid.
If they want to seriously compete for middle-class votes, Republicans need to get over the makers vs. takers mentality. We live in a time when just 35 percent believe the economy is fair to the middle class. Only 41 percent believe it is fair to those who are willing to work hard. Those problems are not created by the poor.
GOP candidates would be well advised to shift their focus from attacking the poor to going after those who are really dependent upon government — the Political Class, the crony capitalists, the megabanks and other recipients of corporate welfare.
Rasmussen:
Mitt Romney’s secretly recorded comment that 47 percent of Americans are “dependent on the government” and “believe they are victims” isn’t the only reason he lost the presidential campaign. But the candidate himself acknowledged after the election that the comments were “very harmful.”
He added, “What I said is not what I believe.”
But many Republicans still believe it, and the “makers vs. takers” theme has a deep hold on the party. In private conversations, many in the GOP are whispering that Romney was right and that his only mistake was saying it out loud.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people say something like, “Well, the half who favor government programs is the half who don’t pay any taxes.”
This is ridiculous — on many levels.
First, the overwhelming majority of those who don’t pay federal income taxes pay a whole variety of other taxes, including state and local taxes, payroll taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, sin taxes and more. They don’t feel excluded from sharing the tax burden just because they don’t pay one particular tax.
It’s also worth noting that these aren’t the people pushing for higher taxes. At Rasmussen Reports, our most recent polling shows that people who make $100,000 or more each year are more supportive of higher taxes than those who make less.
Second, the 47 percent who don’t pay federal income taxes include large chunks of the Republican base. Many senior citizens fall into this category because their primary income is from Social Security. They don’t consider themselves “takers.” They paid money into a Social Security system throughout their working lives and now simply expect the government to honor the promises it made.
Third, low-income Americans aren’t looking for a handout. Among those who are living in poverty, 81 percent agree that work is the best solution to poverty. Most would rather replace welfare programs with a guaranteed minimum-wage job. Sharing the mainstream view, 69 percent of the poor believe that too many Americans are dependent upon the government.
Sixty-five percent of low-income Americans consider it “very important” for an economy to provide everybody with an opportunity to succeed. Interestingly enough, low-income Americans consider that more important than those who earn more.
But if I had to pick just one number to highlight how bad the 47 percent remark was, it would be this. Just 11 percent of Americans today consider themselves dependent upon government. Sure, some receive a Social Security check or an unemployment check, but that’s not dependence upon government. That’s cash received in exchange for premiums paid.
If they want to seriously compete for middle-class votes, Republicans need to get over the makers vs. takers mentality. We live in a time when just 35 percent believe the economy is fair to the middle class. Only 41 percent believe it is fair to those who are willing to work hard. Those problems are not created by the poor.
GOP candidates would be well advised to shift their focus from attacking the poor to going after those who are really dependent upon government — the Political Class, the crony capitalists, the megabanks and other recipients of corporate welfare.
Two Cheers for Web U! By A.J. Jacobs.
Two Cheers for Web U! By A.J. Jacobs. New York Times, April 20, 2013.
Should You Get a Ph.D. By Daniel Drezner. NJBR, April 18, 2013.
Are MOOCs Really Destroying Higher Education. By Walter Russell Mead. NJBR, April 2, 2013.
Professors Grade MOOCs. By Walter Russell Mead. NJBR, March 19, 2013.
MOOCs and Historical Research. By John McNeill. NJBR, March 15, 2013.
The Professors’ Big Stage. By Thomas L. Friedman. NJBR, March 6, 2013.
Ph.D. Problems: Wannabe Professors Need Not Apply. By Walter Russell Mead. NJBR, February 23, 2013.
The End of the University as We Know It. By Nathan Harden. NJBR, January 1, 2013.
Should You Get a Ph.D. By Daniel Drezner. NJBR, April 18, 2013.
Are MOOCs Really Destroying Higher Education. By Walter Russell Mead. NJBR, April 2, 2013.
Professors Grade MOOCs. By Walter Russell Mead. NJBR, March 19, 2013.
MOOCs and Historical Research. By John McNeill. NJBR, March 15, 2013.
The Professors’ Big Stage. By Thomas L. Friedman. NJBR, March 6, 2013.
Ph.D. Problems: Wannabe Professors Need Not Apply. By Walter Russell Mead. NJBR, February 23, 2013.
The End of the University as We Know It. By Nathan Harden. NJBR, January 1, 2013.
Did Tamerlan Tsarnaev Meet With Gadzhimurad Dolgatov, a Known Jihadist Terrorist?
Did Boston bomber meet with known jihadist terrorist? Speculation grows as it emerges Russia asked FBI to investigate Boston bomber just six months ago after his trip to Dagestan. By Leslie Larson and Lydia Warren. Daily Mail, April 21, 2013.
Dead Boston bomb suspect posted video of jihadist, analysis shows. By Tim Lister and Paul Cruickshank. CNN, April 21, 2013. Video.
Dead Boston bomb suspect posted video of jihadist, analysis shows. By Tim Lister and Paul Cruickshank. CNN, April 21, 2013. Video.
Tatyana McFadden: I’m Racing for Boston.
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| Tatyana McFadden |
I’m racing for Boston: McFadden dedicates London bid to victims of bombing. By Mick Collins. Daily Mail, April 20, 2013.
Tatyana McFadden website.
Boston wheelchair champ racing in London. Video. CNN, April 20, 2013.
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