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Commentary by Debra J. Saunders

Most Recent Releases

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April 3, 2011

'No Blood for Oil' Is for Sale! By Debra J. Saunders

"No blood for oil" was a popular slogan chanted by the left in opposition to President George W. Bush's push to send U.S. forces into Iraq. Now that President Obama authorized Operation Odyssey Dawn in Libya, I have been waiting to hear chants of "no blood for oil." I am happy to report, I don't hear them.
 

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April 1, 2011

They All Fall Down By Debra J. Saunders

California Gov. Jerry Brown won the blame game and lost the budget.

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March 29, 2011

Let Voters Decide on Pensions, Spending By Debra J. Saunders

In Sacramento, the knee-jerk response to any crisis is to blame the Republicans. But if Gov. Jerry Brown and Democratic legislative leaders can't cut a deal to win the two GOP votes in the Assembly and two in the Senate needed to qualify Brown's tax-increase extension for the June ballot, Democrats must take their share of responsibility for fudging a deal. 

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March 27, 2011

Gadhafi -- the Mad Dog Who Trumped the World By Debra J. Saunders

Every American should look at Libya through the prism of the 1988 Pan Am 103 terrorist bombing that left 270 people dead. Moammar Gadhafi -- the man whom Ronald Reagan called the mad dog of the Middle East -- ordered an attack that killed mostly American civilians in a bombing over British soil. Yet rather than be beaten by more powerful nations, he lived to crow about it.

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March 24, 2011

Why Sacramento Can't Get Cellphones Out of Prison By Debra J Saunders

California prisons confiscated more than 10,000 cellphones last year. This year, officials at Corcoran State Prison found a cellphone with a camera in possession of convicted serial killer Charles Manson. It was the second phone found on Manson in two years.

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March 22, 2011

Dud Deals in California By Debra J. Saunders

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Perhaps one of the most dangerous sentences in the English language is: "It can't get any worse."  

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March 20, 2011

Few Angels in the Budget Brawl By Debra J. Saunders

The White House Office of Management and Budget projects that this year, mandatory spending will exceed federal revenue. Congress could cut every dime of discretionary spending and Washington would still run a deficit. Years ahead of forecasts, Social Security paid out more money than it took in last year. So who in Washington is serious about tackling the deficit and looming tidal wave of debt?

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March 17, 2011

Golf, Cocaine and Budget Talk By Debra J. Saunders

Grover Norquist, the affable head of the Washington-based Americans for Tax Reform, doesn't want Republicans to negotiate with Democrats to solve Washington's deficit problems or to cut a deal to solve California's budget shortfall.

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March 15, 2011

Obama at Wheel of Father's Oldsmobile By Debra J. Saunders

At Friday's news conference, President Obama tried to connect with the common man coping with rising gasoline prices. Instead, the president left little doubt that he is clueless about cars.

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March 13, 2011

National Public Racket By Debra J. Saunders

Forget the recent scandals involving National Public Radio. Go back to the days before NPR chief exec Vivian Schiller resigned, before a conservative prankster videotaped NPR fundraisers disparaging tea party participants as "seriously racist, racist people" -- to even before NPR fired senior news analyst Juan Williams after he said on Fox News that he got "nervous" flying with passengers in Muslim garb.

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March 8, 2011

In Wisconsin and Washington, Broke Ain't Broke By Debra J. Saunders

"America is not broke," filmmaker Michael Moore told a group protesting against Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's attempts to curb public employee union collective bargaining in Madison over the weekend.

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March 6, 2011

First the Public Service, Then Endless Litigation By Debra J. Saunders

Last month, the website Politico reported that the Department of Justice dropped its representation of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, his former deputy, Paul Wolfowitz, and other defendants in a lawsuit filed by convicted al-Qaida operative Jose Padilla and his mother. The Department of Justice continues to represent Defense Secretary Robert Gates, but no longer the Bushies.

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March 4, 2011

Who Wants To Be Charlie Sheen? By Debra J. Saunders

This week, Charlie Sheen owns network news. No wonder Americans hate the media.

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March 1, 2011

Tax or Spend? The Final Chapter By Debra J. Saunders

I am reluctant to join the chorus of scolds who chide Republicans for opposing Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal to put a tax-increase extension on a special election ballot in June.

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February 27, 2011

The Cheesehead Rubicon By Debra J. Saunders

In 2008, 56 percent of Wisconsin voters supported Barack Obama for president. In 2009, Wisconsin's Democratic governor and Democratic Legislature passed legislation that raised taxes and fees by about $1.2 billion over three years. State lawmakers approved the bill on the very day it was introduced, with no public hearing. Remember that.

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February 25, 2011

Sutter Brown -- Unleashed By Debra J. Saunders

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Call me Sutter. Sutter Brown. California's first dog, the shortest, cuddliest member of Gov. Jerry Brown's and Anne Brown's nuclear family.

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February 20, 2011

Human Nature and D.C.-backed Loans By Debra J. Saunders

In 2009, when CNBC's David Faber asked former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan what lessons could be learned to prevent another great financial meltdown in the wake of the mortgage-financing collapse, Greenspan did not have a happy-face answer.

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February 18, 2011

Birthers, Truthers and Spreaders By Debra J. Saunders

My first reaction to stories about the Public Policy Polling survey that found that 51 percent of GOP primary voters believe President Obama was not born in the United States was disbelief.

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February 15, 2011

NPR, PBS Federal Subsidies Should Go By Debra J. Saunders

The liberal group Moveon.org has been sending out e-mails to warn that Republicans are back in control of the House and to ask recipients to sign a petition that states, "Congress must protect NPR and PBS and guarantee them permanent funding, free from political meddling."

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February 13, 2011

Berkeley Does Guantanamo By Debra J. Saunders

On Feb. 15, on the recommendation of its Peace & Justice Commission, the Berkeley (Calif.) City Council is set to vote on a resolution to invite "one or two cleared" Guantanamo Bay detainees to resettle in Berkeley.