Month: December 2008
-
Good to See: Arab Leaders Criticize Hamas
Via Taranto (third item) comes the welcome word that some Arab leaders understand the cause of the Gaza conflict better than the Episcopal Presiding Bishop does: Nimr Hammad, an adviser to [Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud] Abbas, told a Lebanese paper, “The one responsible for the massacres is Hamas, and not the Zionist entity, which in […]
-
Quick Takes on Gaza & Hamas
Wired magazine’s Danger Room defense blog is covering the Gaza conflict — today comes the grim news that Hamas has obtained Chinese rockets with a range of 22 miles, doubling the terrorists’ reach into Israel. The rockets are also deadlier and more accurate (not that Hamas is concerned about precision targeting). Thanks for nothing, China… […]
-
The Unholy Union of Automakers and Financing
Time to smack the auto industry and the UAW again. From a column in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal: The collective bargaining agreement with the UAW is a heavily negotiated document the size of a small telephone book. It is virtually identical for each of the Detroit Three, owing to “pattern” bargaining, but it doesn’t exist […]
-
I Stand With Israel
Spare me from listening to officials of the thugocracy-infested United Nations complaining that Israel’s assault against Hamas is “disproportionate.” Of course it is. It should be. When a sovereign nation gets goaded into war by terrorist attacks upon civilians, its goal should be to destroy the terrorist infrastructure and kill as many terrorists as possible. […]
-
A Golden Opportunity for a Higher Gas Tax
Charles Krauthammer burnishes his credentials as a member of the Pigou Club with a cover story in the January 5, 2009 edition of Weekly Standard, titled “The Net-Zero Gas Tax: A Once-in-a-Generation Chance.” (Hat tip: Jonah Goldberg.) The Pigou Club Manifesto was Greg Mankiw’s call in October 2006 to increase the gasoline tax significantly, thereby […]
-
Grateful to Live in the Shining City on the Hill
Conservative Peggy Noonan takes a step back from the gloomy economy and focuses on the big picture: People are angry but don’t have a plan, and they’ll give the incoming president unprecedented latitude and sympathy, cheering him on. I told a friend it feels like a necessary patriotic act to be supportive of him, and […]
-
Bush Punts Auto Bailout to Obama’s Team
Color me unsurprised. The Bush administration said it would lend $17.4 billion to General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC, buying them a few weeks of financial relief but leaving the biggest decisions about the industry’s future to President-elect Barack Obama. Another WSJ article suggests, contrary to the opinion flagged by my new BFF Mickey Kaus, […]
-
Minnesota: Not Heads or Tails, but Standing on Edge
Move over, Florida — Minnesota is making a strong bid for supremacy in the category of freakishly close electoral results. CNN reports today that Sen. Norm Coleman’s unofficial lead over unfunnyman Al Franken has shrunk to a mere 5 votes, out of about 3 million cast. If that holds up — the state is continuing […]
-
Sorry, No Tears Here for Madoff’s Clients
(After learning more about Madoff’s victims, I recanted in a later post — KP) Apparently regulators ignored warning signs for more than a decade while Bernie Madoff stole and/or lost as much as $50 billion of his clients’ money. Holman Jenkins explains why we should not waste our sympathy on the clients: There are costs […]