Lingua publica
The good and the bad...
web posted March 26, 2001
"Taxes are not just about money. Every tax represents a transfer of power and freedom from the people to the government. The underlying premise of every tax is that the money will do more good in the hands of government than in the hands of the people who earned it." -- Linda Bowles
"President Bush's very modest tax cut proposal is being debated with all the passion that raged over the Emancipation Proclamation, and for the same reason. At stake is the question whether some men have the right to live at the expense of others. Today the taxing power, rather than chattel slavery, is the instrument by which the parasitical element of the population subsists. And that element, which includes politicians, panics at the slightest reduction in the state's power to plunder. Once you start liberating taxpayers, even a little tiny bit, nobody knows where it may end." -- Joseph Sobran
"I've never been one for class warfare. Some of the rhetoric in the campaign -- 'the people vs. the powerful' -- in general terms is not the approach that I'm interested in or that I feel comfortable with." -- Sen. Joe Lieberman
"Ignore the double talk and double the tax cuts." -- Jack Kemp
"...[C]ampaign finance reformers depend on academic theories about why it is acceptable to act as though the First Amendment does not mean what it says." -- George Will
"While the stock market reels and rocks, the U.S. Senate debates ... campaign finance?" -- Bill Murchison
"The campaign-finance bill is becoming ever more stacked in favor of incumbents." -- National Review Online
"Let's not gloss over this truth: The gun debate isn't about firearms -- it's about freedom and what it takes to protect it." -- Charlton Heston
"[Our nation's] public school monopoly...needs to be relegated to the Smithsonian because we are going to be in competition with other people." -- Secretary of Education Rod Paige
"Most of us -- if not all of us -- are grossly incompetent at other people's jobs. That is why it is so dangerous to have politicians telling doctors, farmers, bankers, entrepreneurs and others what to do." -- Thomas Sowell
"The patriot hates to admit his beloved countrymen have gone trashy around him, but the honest American patriot today has no choice." -- Barry Farber
"Those who believe in individual rights should not base their policies on 'disparate impact' arguments." -- Paul Craig Roberts
"Economic recessions are not the result of a gloomy national state of mind; if so, we could create economic prosperity simply by positive thinking." -- Rep. Ron Paul
"Our cult of correctness not only is highly selective in its choice of targets; it's also nothing but cowardice dressed up as good manners -- an attempt to silence important ideas, rather than taking the time to grapple with them." -- Tony Snow
"There is probably not a single nook or cranny in America where people are oblivious to what is going on in the markets or the economy. Nuns in their cloisters are agog. We do believe, however, there is one place in this great country of ours where you can go away and hide if you don't want to hear about it: Capitol Hill." -- Wall Street Journal
"Although nicotine and cigarettes have to remain available, you cannot ethically and morally allow [tobacco] companies to make a profit." -- Former Food and Drug Administration head David Kessler
Members of a religious sect in Afghanistan are continuing to smash statues all over that country. It's gotten so bad that advisors to Al Gore have told him to cancel his trip there out of fear that he'll be mistaken for one." -- Ira Lawson
"Bill Clinton was allegedly furious when he found out the Executive Branch of the federal government had -- on its payroll -- people who could dig secret tunnels and no one had offered to dig one from the White House out." -- Rich Galen
"Hillary Rodham Clinton is now facing a personal dilemma. She can't decide whether to drop the name Clinton or Rodham. She can't figure out which one is more embarrassing." -- Jay Leno
"Hillary Clinton has an office building here in New York City. It has a peach-colored granite facade. Kind of like her!" -- David Letterman
web posted March 19, 2001
"We need to ask ourselves why liberals have made gun confiscation such a priority. I think it is to distract us from the disastrous results of liberal social engineering. When high-school students shoot their classmates and workers open fire on their co-workers, the fault lies not in guns. It lies in the breakdown in self-control and moral integrity. The irrational shootings are due to the success of liberals in achieving their goals." -- Paul Craig Roberts
"There will come a time, and I hope it is soon, when the people's patience is finally taxed to the limit, when they see what is happening to their freedom, how little by little it is being nibbled away by the very people they elect to represent them. When that time comes there will be a rebellion. And when it breaks out legislators and bureaucrats will be running for their lives. As they pass me by I fully intend to stick out my leg and trip them. That will be my contribution to the cause of liberty and justice for all." -- Lyn Nofziger
"The most effective arguments of the Right are those from first principle: people have a right to choose how to live their own lives, a constitutionally-limited government prevents a slide into totalitarianism, it is wrong to take money from one person by force just because you'd like to give it to someone else, and so on." -- Gene Callahan
"As vice president of a large urban school board, here's a message for parents of every public school child in America: Private school choice is one of the best things that ever happened to my city's public schools. Many are surprised to hear that from an elected member of the Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) Board of Directors. ... Milwaukee's experience with school choice flatly contradicts the claims of its opponents, who misled citizens to think that private school choice harms children 'left behind' in public schools. The exact opposite is true in Milwaukee, where we have the nation's oldest and largest program of tax-supported vouchers for low-income parents." -- Ken Johnson, Vice President, Milwaukee Public Schools Board of Directors and member of IBEW Local 494, AFL-CIO, in an ad paid for by the Black Alliance for Educational Options
"We're going to continue to insist we can do more. You have ample room for tax reductions that are larger. I believe, under these circumstances, we'll come out with a larger package and more components." -- House Majority Leader Dick Armey
"U.S. energy policy now stands at a crossroads, and the time has come for Mr. Bush to make a choice. He can either pursue a Kyoto agenda of carbon taxes and energy suppression, or he can pursue a prosperity agenda of tax relief and energy abundance. Mr. Bush would be well advised to champion free market energy policies and leave the Kyoto agenda to the dustbin of history." -- Alan Keyes
"My Constitution is a very flexible document. You want a right to abortion? Pass a law. That's flexibility. The Constitution means now what its text reasonably conveyed to intelligent and informed people at the time it was drafted and ratified. When you enshrine new rights in the Constitution, you are impoverishing democracy." -- U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia
"Any faith-based program that accepts government funds will...be required to pay an even bigger price in the loss of their primary message." -- Cal Thomas
"Gun control is not the answer. 'Parent control' is." -- John LeBoutillier
"The needless and tragic deaths at Columbine, Santana and other schools where shooting sprees have snuffed out young lives are part of the high cost already being paid for the fetish of disarming law-abiding people." -- Thomas Sowell
"Tactical considerations always dominate when the political class writes laws limiting communication about -- and competition against -- itself." -- George Will
"For some, hatred of conservatives will trump truth every time." -- Brent Bozell
"By yielding to a false form of civility, we sometimes allow our critics to intimidate us." -- Justice Clarence Thomas
"If a tax cut of this magnitude is enacted, it is essentially going to starve all of the programs that the organizations in this room care about." -- Charles Loveless, director of legislation for the government employees' union AFSCME
web posted March 12, 2001
"Have you noticed? Watching George W. step off HM-1 in a live broadcast last week, the Marine at the foot step saluted and W returned it with due respect. Then, as he walked away, the young Marine executed a right face to stand ready facing President Bush as he walked toward the White House -- something I never saw in eight years of the Clinton presidency. That was the traditional Marine Corps mark of respect which goes back to the days in the rigging, when the Marine orderly to the ship's captain always faced him, no matter his direction of movement, to be ready to receive an order. Leave it to the Marines to speak so loudly without ever uttering a word. SEMPER FI!" -- a reader of The Federalist
"The fundamental principle is this: No matter how worthwhile an end may be, if there is no constitutional authority to pursue it, then the federal government must step aside and leave the matter to the states or to private parties. The president and Congress can proceed only from constitutional authority, not from good intentions alone. If Congress thinks it necessary to expand its powers, the Framers crafted an amendment process for that purpose. But too often, rather than follow that process, Congress has disregarded the limits set by the Constitution and gutted our frontline defense against overweening federal government." -- Robert A. Levy
"It's been said about Congress that there are really three political parties on Capitol Hill: Republicans, Democrats and appropriators. President Bush is going to discover ... that the biggest adversaries to fiscal conservatism were often pork-barreling congressional Republicans." -- Stephen Moore
"Why the disappearance of Clinton haters? The answer is simple: the pardon scandal. ... Suddenly [Democrats] find themselves in agreement with, well, the folks they used to denounce as Clinton haters." -- Fred Barnes
"Due to an Army worldwide 9mm ammo shortage, all Fort Hood 9 mm ranges have been canceled.... This shortage is expected to last until sometime this fall. Until further notice no units (active, reserve, National Guard) will get [9 mm rounds]...." -- A memo circulated at the U.S. Army's largest manpower base
"This purist approach to politics is quite simply juvenile. Nobody cares in what direction you want the wagon to go if you won't get out of it and help push." -- Jonah Goldberg
"Lower taxes are the only real check on the expanding size and scope of the federal government. If we want smaller government, our best strategy is to reduce the amount of money Congress has to play with." -- David Boaz
"Critics of repeal say fairness demands keeping a tax that is notable mainly for its futility and malignant effects. But if the estate tax is fair, what would be foul?" -- Steve Chapman
"Republicans who celebrate control of Senate, House and presidency for the first time in 48 years are guilty of either illusion or self-deception. Anyone who doubts the Senate is Republican in name only should [re]consider...." -- Robert Novak
Disquieting rumors persist that some of President Bush's advisers are eager to sign a campaign finance 'reform' bill, or at least to avoid vetoing one. Bush should beware of what Edmund Burke called 'the irresistible operation of feeble councils'." -- George Will
"Given the Republican track record of trying to hold Bill Clinton accountable for his serial misdeeds but largely failing, it is best for President Bush to allow the properly designated authorities...to do their respective duties regarding Clinton's pardons." -- Cal Thomas
"In a way the progress of civilization is a matter of saving and, when necessary, restoring the meaning of good words." -- Paul Greenberg
"A CBS News poll showing 88% of Americans who heard Bush's speech approved of his proposals, and 67% supported the Bush tax cut, has never aired on the CBS Evening News. Instead, White House correspondent John Roberts has reported information from other polls less favorable to Bush. This is not journalism. This is using the network television airwaves to oppose President Bush." -- Brent Bozell, chairman of the Media Research Center
"Two politicians are holding a debate when one suddenly shouts, 'You're lying.' The other responds, 'I know, but hear me out'." -- GOP Rep. Anne Northup, dubbed the funniest woman on the Hill
"Jane Fonda said she has overcome a quarter-century battle with bulimia. Good for her. Maybe now she can help the countless thousands of Vietnam veterans who still throw up at the mention of her name." -- Alex Kaseberg
"In a 50-50 Senate, there's no such thing as a small populated state." -- White House spokesman Ari Fleischer explaining President Bush's visit to Fargo, N.D.
"There's more trouble for [Jesse] "Action" Jackson. According to papers, it seems there's another woman involved. I don't know how many more there are, but I understand next month in Washington, they're holding the 'Million Mistress March.'" -- Jay Leno
web posted March 5, 2001
"[Girl Scout officials] seem intent on a cookie-cutter approach to shaping a new generation of like-minded women with disdain for the past. [The Senior Scout handbook for girls 14 and over contains exercises relating to] 'ending a pregnancy' and 'how to organize an event to make people aware of gender bias.' You might know a Girl Scout who earned a badge for selling cookies or learning to cook. But did you notice her 'Domestic Violence Awareness' badge? Girl Scouts executive director Marty Evans boasts, 'We're not your mother's Girl Scout troop.' No kidding. Remember that when you consider buying this year's box of Thin Mints." -- Kathryn Jean Lopez in Organization Trends
"Was there reason to regard Clinton as a dangerous person to trust with power? Is there a legitimate reason for Clinton-hating? Yes, and the reason is, ... he was capable of abusing his powers, of abusing his office, of abusing the people, of abusing the truth, of abusing the law -- of doing practically anything in the pursuit of power and personal desires." -- Michael Kelly
"President Bush, in less than a month in office, has gained the respect and admiration of the military, a battle his predecessor lost even before he became commander in chief. Where Mr. Bush made good on his promised pay raises for soldiers, President Clinton gave the armed forces a battle over open homosexuals. Where the new president promises fewer deployments intended 'just to keep warring parties apart,' Mr. Clinton set a record for peacetime missions. And where Mr. Bush, a former Texas National Guard pilot, snaps off a salute with the best of them, Mr. Clinton, who dodged the Vietnam draft, had to attend a remedial 'saluting class'." -- Wall Street Journal
"For every social problem A caused by government program X, problem A can be solved by abolishing program X. The principle can be applied at all levels of government --federal, state and municipal. The possibilities are intriguing and should appeal to partisans of all political persuasions." -- William J. Stepp
"The people of New York, trapped in their little Stalinist time-warp, still fretting about why that nice Mr. Adlai Stevenson didn't get in in '52...will probably go on voting for [Ms. Rodham-Clinton] until, like Gagoola the hag in King Solomon's Mines, 'She has lived so long that none can remember when she was not old, and always she it is who has trained the witch hunters, and made the land evil in the sight of the heavens above.' But given her far-left paper trail and her amazing capacity to make people detest her where'er she treads, Hillary's maxed out: She has no real future." -- John Derbyshire
"Well, actually, about 97% of (Ms. Rodham-Clinton's press conference) comments were obfuscation. The rest were 'you know.' We noticed that Hillary seemed particularly prone to this verbal tic yesterday, so we went to the transcript and counted: She said 'you know' 63 times, and uttered a total of 3,255 words. That means 3.87% of her words were 'you know.' For purposes of comparison, we found the transcript of Hillary's first debate with Rick Lazio last Sept. 13. Hillary said 'you know' 25 times out of a total of 4,062 words--a 'you know' ratio of only 1.23%. That means she said 'you know' more than three times as often yesterday as she did Sept. 13. Is she nervous about something?" -- Wall Street Journal Online
"Limitless taxation is the natural consequence of limitless government. It owns you. It may not take everything you have but there is no defining line beyond which it recognizes taxation as robbery. .. Once it can take anything, it can take everything. ... Maybe someday Americans will wake up and realize that taxes are not only excessive, but wrong in principle. And unnecessary -- except for that part of the population that expects to be supported by others." -- Joseph Sobran
"For the tax debate, we have to get really basic, really fast. The question at stake isn't simply: How do we finance government? The question is also: Do you have more money than is good for you? If you do, the government stands ready to help you address that problem. More than is good for you? How much would that be? And -- more to the point -- how come somebody else, besides you, gets to make that call?" -- Bill Murchison
"We should be ashamed of ourselves. We have undermined our community's moral fabric, jeopardized our political standing, disillusioned our youth and compromised the sacred values of our tradition. In short, the moral stain of this sordid affair has begun to engulf us." -- Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, writing in New York Jewish Week on his community's unwavering support of the Clintons
"Whether one agrees with President George W. Bush's ideas, any reasonable person must admit that it's nice to have a president who says what he means and means what he says." -- Charley Reese
"Bush is in a strong position -- for now. Let's hope he knows that politics won't stay pleasantly boring forever." -- National Review Online
"Democrats will play the old Washington game of calling reductions in the rate of growth of spending for any program a 'cut'." -- Bruce Bartlett
"Squeezing our money out of politicians is more difficult than squeezing blood from a turnip. To paraphrase an Oscar Hammerstein love song, once they have found a way to take our money, they never let it go." -- Cal Thomas
"If rich heirs and heiresses like the Rockefellers feel guilty, surely they can afford to seek professional help for themselves, instead of inflicting counterproductive policies on the whole society." -- Thomas Sowell
"...[O]ur political kultur is polluted with politics, the politics of the left. Call it Kultursmog. It pollutes every area of life it touches with politics." -- R. Emmett Tyrrell
"There is a war going on between law enforcement and privacy, and privacy is losing." -- Steve Chapman
"Let me tell you something, without a doubt, George W. Bush did not carry Florida. It wasn't even close." -- Congressional Black Caucus's Corrine Brown refusing to accept the media-sponsored recount in her home state
"If the party doesn't get its act together after the lies, mess and celebrity glitz of the Clinton years, disaffected Democrats like me will vote Green again in 2004. The Democratic Party needs to regenerate itself and recover its ethical center." -- Camille Paglia
"[This week] marks the 50th anniversary of the ratification of the 22nd Amendment, which limits presidents to two terms. Only now can we fully recognize its utility." -- John Fund
"Looks like Mrs. Clinton will get more mileage out of Monica than her husband ever did." -- Mona Charen on the rewarmed victim routine
"Do you know who first broke the pardon story? The National Enquirer! When it came out, Clinton told everyone it wasn't true and no one believed him! Look at the point we have reached -- the National Enquirer now has more credibility than the president!" -- Jay Leno
"People went in and counted the Florida votes and found Al Gore lost. The Republicans are now stunned that they won this thing legally! Things are now really looking bad for Al Gore!" -- David Letterman
