Townhall Review | Commentaries

The state of Kentucky is in the historic process of passing four new, pro-life laws—all of them expected to be signed by Kentucky’s pro-life, Governor, Republican Matt Bevin.

One has already been appealed—it’s a law that would nearly ban abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy. The “Fetal Heartbeat Bill” would protect life once a detectable heartbeat is existent.

House Bill 148 would ban abortion completely in the state of Kentucky, taking effect only in the event that Roe v. Wade is reversed.

Another would require physicians to tell women about certain realities of life and options available to them in the event they’re considering an abortion.

But in moral terms, one of the most important of these bills is the last one, called House Bill 5. It would make illegal abortion based on race, gender, or the disability of a fetus. But the pro-abortion movement is fighting it with everything they have.

It’s a big moment for the cause of life.

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You may remember the baker Jack Phillips in Colorado. As a Christian, Philips felt he could not in good conscience decorate cakes celebrating events that did not square with his beliefs.  The Colorado Civil Rights Commission opposed him and, finally, the US Supreme Court said the Commission had acted prejudicially.

But within weeks of the Court’s decision, the Civil Rights Commission brought another case against Phillips for declining to customize a cake celebrating a gender transition.  One Commissioner took to Twitter calling him a “hater.”

Finally, after six and a half years, the Commission has decided to withdraw its complaint and let him bake cakes in peace.  Perhaps the change from Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy to Brett Kavanaugh was a reality check. 

First Amendment religious rights and Fourteenth Amendment civil rights are sometimes in tension, but religious rights must not be put down by government agencies.

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The cheating scandal in college admissions should force immediate changes at leading universities. For instance, corrupt parents bribed coaches and created false records for their kids, who pretended to be athletic stars in water polo, rowing or sailing.

But why reserve slots even for children who really excel in these sports? How does the presence of better student golfers, for instance, raise the quality of a major college? Football and basketball can make big money for the university, but minor sports cost money that only inflates tuition.

Moreover, kids who are accomplished in sailing, golf, or tennis, most likely come from wealthy backgrounds. Giving them preferences in admissions is like affirmative action for rich kids.

In addition to grades and test scores, it’s appropriate to count volunteerism, or artistic ability, or community leadership. But to tilt toward participants in minor sports shows a problem of misplaced priorities.

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The 2020 Democratic presidential field continues to take shape, and what’s been more revealing are the people who have decided not to run, as opposed to those who have.

Mike Bloomberg, the former Mayor of New York City, would have been a formidable candidate with his wealth and moderate positions on economic issues.  He’s not running. 

Sherrod Brown, a US Senator from Ohio, would have brought a liberal pragmatic voice to the primary campaign.  He’s not running either.

Those who are left are either extreme liberals like Beto, Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders, or previously moderate Democrats like former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper who now struggled to even admit that he’s a capitalist.

With Medicare-for-all and the Green New Deal dominating the policy discussion amongst the contenders, we shouldn’t be surprised that centrist Americans have been squeezed out of the Democratic Party. 

And that’s a trend that works in President Trump’s favor as he seeks re-election in 2020.

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Few Americans realize that they currently live under some 30 states of national emergency, the oldest declared by President Jimmy Carter during the Iran hostage crisis 40 years ago. Actual emergencies come and go but emergency declarations live on.

The primary effect of a national emergency is to shift power from Congress to the president, as President Trump wanted to build his wall. Along with executive orders and domestic policy wars on poverty, crime, drugs and terror, presidents since Lyndon Johnson have been moving power from one end of Pennsylvania Avenue to the other.

But politically, it’s a two-edged sword. When presidents seek to do things unilaterally, these actions are easily canceled and replaced by the next president. Perhaps you recall how quickly President Trump undid President Obama’s executive orders.

One day Congress will wake up and notice its primary powers are lost.

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By now you have all heard about the Green New Deal. It doesn’t take a very long memory to know that this sort of massive spending plan will collapse the economy.

You see, the European debt crisis was triggered in part by plans very much like those recommended in the Green New Deal: Heavy subsidies for so-called green tech, utopian timelines for alternative energy usage, and punitive treatment on the kinds of energy which our economy actually depends on. The result? Greece and Spain and Italy triggered a crisis that jeopardized the future of the entire European Union.

If eight years ago is ancient history for AOC and her zealots, how about three months? France instituted a tiny version of the same thing—and even France abandoned it. Experience is a great tutor, but her tuition can be very expensive for those who refuse to learn from the failures of others.

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If you have to pass a resolution saying we, in the House, won’t tolerate anti-Semitism, what does that say about what you, in the House, have really been tolerating?

Even more astounding than the panoply of vile statements that earned Rep. Ilhan Omar an endorsement from the KKK’s David Duke is the enabling of anti-Semitism by Jewish members of Congress.

The whole Omar affair is illustrative of identity politics. The pursuit of political power demands some cultural Marxists create an identity while others abandon theirs. The key is everyone plays nice on the noxious, intersectional playground.

So Rachel Dolezal is black. Caitlyn/Bruce Jenner is a woman. And Rep. Jan Schakowsky is an apologist for anti-Semitism who chalks up Omar’s intemperance to a cultural difference suggesting that Omar didn't say what she said and didn’t mean what she meant.

It turns out hate does have a home on the Left.

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The Trump tax cuts have done great things for our economy, but—as I’ve warned—the economy is slowing down somewhat. The new GDP report shows the growth rate last quarter dropped from an above average 3.4 to a below average 2.6 percent. Overall, 2018 was a good year for the economy, but at the end it lost some steam, but we can get it back.

First, get out of the trade war. It’s made trade deficits higher and hitting farmers particularly hard. We’ve already created the conditions for American economic preeminence with the tax cuts, let them do their thing and let's not seize defeat out of the jaws of victory.

Second, stabilize the dollar. America became the envy of the world when the dollar was stable in terms of gold and the currencies of other trading partners.

With just a few changes, we can unleash the American economy.

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Imagine if conservatives had attacked freshman Congress member Ilhan Omar by questioning her loyalty to the United States and suggesting that she cared more about her Muslim faith or her Somali homeland than she did about America.

Democrats along with all right-thinking people would have been outraged at the bigoted nature of such an assault, but Omar herself has repeatedly slammed her pro-Israel colleagues on a similarly unacceptable basis. Her most recent comments claim that Israel supporters “push for allegiance to a foreign country.”

This is no more appropriate than prior slanders against Catholic Americans for “allegiance” to the Vatican over loyalty to America, or potential claims against Omar and Muslim colleagues for giving devotion to Islam above the Constitution.

It’s always okay to challenge the judgment of Jewish or Christian supporters of Israel, but it’s never appropriate to question their patriotism.

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Democrats introduced single-payer health care legislation last week that—if passed—would move every American into a single, government-run insurance program, within two years. The bill already has over 100 co-sponsors in the U.S. House, and many of the Democratic Party’s candidates for president in 2020 are sure to endorse it too.

But, as with other plans to bring socialized medicine to all Americans, this single-payer legislation has plenty of drawbacks.

Like your current coverage? Say goodbye to it. Value your relationship with your doctor? Time to find a new one. Think health care spending in the U.S. is high now? Wait until you see what happens if the Democrats’ proposal actually becomes law.

One more thing: The Democrats have no explanation for how the system would be paid for.

But, don’t worry. I’m sure they’ll find the estimated $30 trillion somewhere.

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