A Taxing Situation
Federal income tax was first introduced under the Revenue Act of 1861 to help defray war costs. Congress repealed the tax in 1871 when the need for government revenue declined, only to restore it in 1894 as part of the Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act. The public policy debate surrounding the constitutionality of income tax has been going on ever since.
'Spotlight' Lecturers Give Harvey Weinstein a Pass
Spotlight won an Oscar for best picture in 2016 for its portrayal of the clergy sexual abuse scandal in the Archdiocese of Boston. At least nine of those associated with this film have worked with Harvey Weinstein, yet eight have said nothing about his sexual abuse, and all nine refuse to indict Hollywood the way they have the Catholic Church.
WashPost Columnist: Trump Has Beaten the Liberal Media
The Washington Post’s Philip Bump (full disclosure my former CNN colleague) is one of the first - or maybe so far the only - journalist at a mainstream media outlet to get what is seriously disquieting news for the mainstreamers.
Media Ignore Real Democratic Scandals
Why the collective liberal media yawn on the multi-headed Democratic scandals surfacing everywhere except on their pages and airwaves? It's not that the stories are too far-fetched and thin to interest self-respecting journalists, because they are real, damning and supported by sufficiently credible evidence to warrant serious attention and scrutiny.
Chelsea Handler’s Activism Excuse Bought By Corrupt Media
There’s one line politicians utter that always sets off a reporter’s Spidey senses. I’m leaving politics to spend more time with my family… That instantly sparks a media reaction. Is it true? Or does the politicians fear a scandal, a whupping on Election Day or something, gasp, even worse?
Beware the Rape Allegation Bandwagon
"#MeToo" is the social media meme of the moment. In a 24-hour period, the phrase was tweeted nearly a half million times and posted on Facebook 12 million times. Spearheaded by actress Alyssa Milano in the wake of Hollyweird's Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment scandal, women have flooded social media with their own long-buried accounts of being pestered, groped or assaulted by rapacious male…
Who Pays What in Taxes?
Politicians exploit public ignorance. Few areas of public ignorance provide as many opportunities for political demagoguery as taxation. Today some politicians argue that the rich must pay their fair share and label the proposed changes in tax law as tax cuts for the rich. Let's look at who pays what, with an eye toward attempting to answer this question: Are the rich paying their fair share?
Marsha Blackburn, Rose McGowan, the Power of Twitter and the Media
Who’da thunk? Who would possibly have thought Tennessee Republican and Trump-supporting Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn - a candidate to succeed out-going Senator Bob Corker - would have anything in common with Rose McGowan, the hardworking film, television actress and LGBT activist? Two worlds, and worlds apart.
Six Brutal Lessons From the Harvey Weinstein Scandal
Every day we learn new, more shocking, revelations about the Harvey Weinstein scandal. Here’s just two from the last 24 hours: Another woman shares an ugly story of how Weinstein sexually harassed her. An A-lister admits she knew Weinstein’s tendencies … and did nothing. (“the stories were everywhere…”)
Censorship in Seattle
If it were a plague, the government would rush to quarantine the infected, as occurred during Europe's Black Death in the 14th century. An immigration debate at Seattle University School of Law is a plague of a different sort, but deadly in a different way. The victim here is the right to free speech.
Obama Lied. My FOURTH Health Plan Died.
Cue the funeral bagpipes. My fourth health insurance plan is dead. Two weeks ago, my husband and I received yet another cancellation notice for our private, individual health insurance coverage. It's our fourth Obamacare-induced obituary in four years. Our first death notice, from Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, arrived in the fall of 2013. The insurer informed us that because of "changes from…
Our Broken Moral Compasses
As George Orwell said, "some ideas are so stupid that only intellectuals believe them." Many stupid ideas originate with academics on college campuses. If they remained there and didn't infect the rest of society, they might be a source of entertainment, much in the way a circus is. Let's look at a few stupid ideas peddled by intellectuals.
Defining Evil
Responding to the recent Las Vegas concert shooting that killed more than 50 people and injured hundreds more, President Trump described the act as one "of pure evil." One definition of "evil" sounds so inadequate in today's culture: "morally wrong or bad; immoral; wicked: evil deeds, an evil life."
Harvey Weinstein, Champion of Women's Rights?
Harvey Weinstein and I have been doing battle for decades—he is the supreme Catholic basher in Hollywood. Now we know that he is a serial abuser of women. He never paid a price for his anti-Catholic bigotry, but this is different: liberals are supposed to object to womanizers.
