Obama: Transforming America

From energy to foreign policy to the presidency itself, Obama’s agenda rolls along.

by Victor Davis Hanson // National Review Online 

“We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America.” — Barack

Photo Credit: Michael Shane via Flickr
Photo Credit: Michael Shane via Flickr

Obama, October 30, 2008

“We are going to have to change our conversation; we’re going to have to change our traditions, our history; we’re going to have to move into a different place as a nation.” — Michelle Obama, May 14, 2008

There certainly is no question that Barack Obama wants to change the United States. And there clearly is no doubt that such fundamental transformation is difficult, given our tripartite system of government — even though Obama entered office with large Democratic majorities in Continue reading “Obama: Transforming America”

The Late, Great Middle Class

It’s never been harder to find a decent job making something real.

by Victor Davis Hanson // National Review Online 

The American middle class, like the American economy in general, is ailing. Labor-force participation has hit a 35-year low.Destitute_man_vacant_store

Median household income is lower than it was five years ago. Only the top 5 percent of households have seen their incomes rise under President Obama.

Commuters are paying more than twice as much for gas as they were in 2008. Federal payouts for food stamps, unemployment insurance, and disability insurance have reached unprecedented levels.

Meanwhile, the country is still running near-record budget deficits and is burdened by $17 trillion in aggregate debt. Yet the stock market is soaring.

How can we make sense of all this contradictory nonsense? Irony.

Obama promised to restore the middle class. In truth, Continue reading “The Late, Great Middle Class”

The Myth of a California Renaissance

Sacramento’s strategy for recovery is more taxes, more regulation, and more government.

by Victor Davis Hanson // National Review Online 

Are the recent raves about a new California renaissance true?

SF_From_Marin_Highlands3Rolling Stone magazine just gushed that California governor Jerry Brown has brought the state back from the brink of “double-digit unemployment, a $26 billion deficit and an accumulated ‘wall of debt’ topping $35 billion.”

Unfortunately, California still faces existential crises. Continue reading “The Myth of a California Renaissance”

Illegal Immigration: Elite Illiberality

The elite charm of comprehensive immigration reform.

by Victor Davis Hanson

National Review Online

The divide over immigration reform is not primarily a Left/Right or Democratic/Republican divide; instead, it cuts, and sharply so, across class lines. Continue reading “Illegal Immigration: Elite Illiberality”

Beautifully Medieval California

by Victor Davis Hanson

PJ Media

Gates Close at Dusk

At about dusk, I close two large metal gates to my driveways. The security lights come on, and I enjoy intramural life. Continue reading “Beautifully Medieval California”

2013: Welcome to Very, Very Scary Times

by Victor Davis Hanson

PJ Media

On the One Hand…

These should not be foreboding years. The US is in the midst of a veritable energy revolution. There is a godsend of new gas and oil discoveries that will help to curtail our fiscal and foreign policy vulnerabilities — an energy bonanza despite, not because of[1], the present administration. Continue reading “2013: Welcome to Very, Very Scary Times”

What Romney Needs to Do

by Victor Davis Hanson

National Review Online

About half the country disapproves of the job the president is doing. Most Americans think he has not handled the economy well. Yet a majority also believe that the tough times are still George W. Bush’s legacy, and, further, that Mitt Romney would not necessarily do any better a job than has Obama. Continue reading “What Romney Needs to Do”

Get Ready For More Charges of Racism

by Bruce Thornton

FrontPage Magazine

The implosion of the Obama administration will create more and more desperate narratives on the part of progressives as we head toward the November election. With no record of achievement to run on, Obama must try to misdirect voters by shifting blame elsewhere: so far George Bush, the Eurozone crisis, the Japanese tsunami, even ATMs have all been fingered as the cause of our sluggish economic growth and high unemployment. Continue reading “Get Ready For More Charges of Racism”

The EU at the Abyss

by Victor Davis Hanson

NRO’s The Corner

Over the last four years, almost all of the news about the shaky European Union has been financial, with some attention paid to southern Mediterranean tabloid attacks on Germany and the German media counter-stereotyping of irresponsible siesta-loving sunny Mediterraneans. Continue reading “The EU at the Abyss”

Obama’s Postmodern Vision

by Victor Davis Hanson

National Review Online

There has been for months a popular parlor game of tallying instances in which President Obama seems to have either ignored or simply bypassed federal law. Continue reading “Obama’s Postmodern Vision”