Taking advantage of the populist revolt against Wall Street and AIG bailouts, the House Democrats have passed a vengeance tax on TARPed financial firms that amounts to a 90 percent marginal tax rate on bonuses. This is being done in the name of AIG outrage, and nobody wants to defend the insurance company — including me. The financial-products division helped blow up the global credit system, and it shouldn't be rewarded. Yet one wonders about ... [full story]

President Barack Obama, in an appearance on "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno, made a self-deprecating but ill-advised joke, in which he referred to the Special Olympics. He quickly apologized. Crisis averted. Fair enough. But the real story is the media double standard: Imagine the uproar if a President John McCain made the Special Olympics comment. For that matter, imagine if a President McCain mistook a White House window for a door; his secretary of ... [full story]

Can a child be accused of child pornography? Could a child then be formally charged and convicted of it? These are the questions raised by the disturbing new trend called "sexting," teenagers sending nude or semi-nude pictures around on their cell phones. In some jurisdictions, prosecutors are playing hardball, threatening that students caught with naughty pictures could face jail time and being registered as sex offenders. At a minimum, prosecutors are demanding a 10-hour rehab ... [full story]

There's a huge hole in all of the public discussion about the reimposition of a "Fairness Doctrine" or a return to "localism" on the talk-radio format: What about National Public Radio (NPR)? Liberals would like to "crush Rush" and his conservative compatriots by demanding each station balance its lineup ideologically. But since when has NPR ever felt any pressure to be balanced, even when a majority of taxpayers being forced to subsidize it are center-right? ... [full story]

At a recent San Francisco event, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi denounced the Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests of illegal immigrants. "Taking parents from their children … that's un-American," Pelosi said. Fox News aired videotape of Pelosi's "un-American" remark last week, and a minor national story was born. Be it noted that Pelosi wasn't saying anything new. She has long opposed enforcement of federal immigration laws duly enacted by Congress, even as she pays lip service ... [full story]

There is no group more dangerous than one with some power, no scruples and leaders who think that they are really smart and that everyone else is really, really stupid. That description sadly fits not only the Wall Street swells whose credit default swaps toppled U.S. financial markets but also Congress. Like you, I am outraged at the $165 million paid out in AIG bonuses. I'm furious at the very notion of a bailed-out-by-taxpayers corporation ... [full story]

Imagine how different things might be right now if there were a Republican Party. I mean a party like the one led by Ronald Reagan, George Bush or Newt Gingrich; a party with a program, a single set of talking points, and the technological and communications advantages to get their message across. That kind of Republican Party. The kind that doesn't exist right now. Conservative talk radio is on the wane. The Internet, with the ... [full story]

The African-American religious community deserves considerable praise for taking leadership of the civil rights movement during the first half of the 20th century. But there is no doubt that toward the end of the 20th century, the black church, primarily because of its opposition to homosexuality, abdicated its responsibility and totally disregarded the human toll that AIDS has had on the members it largely serves. It only has been recently that pastors have opted not ... [full story]

As the U.S. financial crisis broadens and deepens, wiping out the wealth and savings of tens of millions, destroying hopes and dreams, it is hard not to see in all of this history's verdict upon this generation. We have been weighed in the balance and found wanting. For how did this befall us, save through decisions that brushed aside lessons that history and experience had taught our fathers? It all began with the corruption called ... [full story]

"To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan." WASHINGTON — The Department of Veterans Affairs claims this is its "mission." The slogan — extracted from the last paragraph of Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural address — is inscribed proudly on metal plaques at the entrance of the VA's headquarters in Washington. The Obama administration made a mockery of this pledge by proposing to charge veterans' private insurance ... [full story]

Rock stars are rarely controversial for acting like rock stars. A decadent lifestyle of sex, drugs and alcohol abuse are the expected menu. In our upside-down popular culture, rock stars create controversy only when they advocate an alternative lifestyle — when they wear purity rings and abstain from sex until marriage. Some dream of being rock stars just for the selfish fantasy of organizing an assembly line of casual sex partners. In the minds of ... [full story]

He was positively infuriating. I e-mailed his then-girlfriend, as the crowd was applauding him at Madison Square Garden in 2004, that I hoped she wasn't dating the (expletive deleted) anymore. She was. Ron hammered me about that e-mail: Did I like a friend less because I disagreed with him on politics? Did I doubt the sincerity of his beliefs? Did I think there could be any reason other than an honest passion that would support ... [full story]

Republicans are still awestruck at how Barack Obama was able to get every Democrat in the House and Senate to vote for his stimulus package despite opinion polls showing impressive public opposition. The answer is Obama's use of his years of training in Saul Alinsky-style community organizing combined with 21st-century technology. This converted his successful campaign tools and technology into a political tsunami to pass tremendous spending bills that will saddle us, our children and ... [full story]