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Commentary by Michael Barone

Most Recent Releases

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July 14, 2011

New Reality Emerging on Illegal Immigration By Michael Barone

The United States is a country that has been peopled largely by vast surges of migration -- from the British Isles in the 18th century, from Ireland and Germany in the 19th century, from Eastern and Southern Europe in the early 20th century, and from Latin America and Asia in the last three decades.

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July 11, 2011

'Man-cession' Ends as Males Learn New Job Skills By Michael Barone

Some of us called it the man-cession. In the deep recession that lasted from December 2007 to June 2009, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research, many more men than women lost their jobs.

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July 7, 2011

Racial Quotas, Speech Codes and the Thought Police By Michael Barone

It's racially discriminatory to prohibit racial discrimination. That's the bottom line of a decision issued last Friday, just before the Fourth of July weekend, by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

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July 4, 2011

Replacing Property as a Source of Wealth Creation By Michael Barone

One of the interesting things about our country, the independence of which the Founders declared 235 years ago today, is that we have been a property-holders' democracy.

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June 30, 2011

Why the Civil Service Is No Way to Run a Business By Michael Barone

What's the fair way to run a large organization? That's a question that is squarely, and interestingly, raised by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's dissenting opinion in Wal-Mart v. Dukes, a Supreme Court case decided last week.

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June 27, 2011

Like Chauncey Gardiner, Obama Is Profoundly Aloof By Michael Barone

Which past leader does Barack Obama most closely resemble? His admirers, not all of them liberals, used to compare him to Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt.

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June 24, 2011

Feds Crack Down on Campus Flirting and Sex Jokes By Michael Barone

When I was growing up, it was widely believed that colleges and universities were the part of our society with the widest scope for free expression and free speech. In the conformist America of the 1950s, the thinking ran, few people dared to say anything that went beyond a broad consensus. But on campus, anyone could say anything he liked.

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June 22, 2011

GOP Not Isolationist By Tony Blankley

Sen. John McCain, whose life is a continuing exemplar of the American heroic ideal, regrettably has got it quite wrong when he says that growing GOP opposition to the Libyan and Afghan wars is evidence of isolationism. In his words on weekend television:

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June 20, 2011

Government Looks to Past, Free Enterprise to Future By Michael Barone

Two years ago, in June 2009, the American economy emerged from recession, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. But as this week's Economist noted, with typical British understatement, "The recovery has been a disappointment."

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June 16, 2011

Romney in Front as Feisty Bachmann Gains on Pawlenty By Michael Barone

Barack Obama did not watch the Republican presidential candidates' debate in Manchester, N.H., on Monday night, we are told. He was busy addressing a campaign fundraising event in Miami.

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June 13, 2011

The End of a Surprisingly Good Political Career By Michael Barone

Exit Newt Gingrich. Well, not quite yet, officially. On his Facebook page, Gingrich says he will endure "the rigors of campaigning for public office" and "will carry the message of American renewal to every part of this great land, whatever it takes."

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June 9, 2011

Free Market, Not Government Policy, Drives Energy Boom By Michael Barone

There's an awful lot that's stale in the debate on government energy policy.

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June 6, 2011

Obama Tunes Out, and Business Goes on Hiring Strike By Michael Barone

Last week, I noted that various forms of the word "unexpected" almost inevitably appeared in news stories about unfavorable economic developments. You can find them again in stories about Friday's shocking news, that only 54,000 net new jobs were created in the month of May and that unemployment rose to 9.1 percent.

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June 2, 2011

Gates' Verdict: Pentagon's Biggest Enemy Is Itself By Michael Barone

Defense Secretary Robert Gates leaves office this month as widely respected as any public figure in America today, appreciated for his willingness to return to public service at a moment of high danger in Iraq and to faithfully serve presidents of both parties.

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May 30, 2011

Pro-Obama Media Always Shocked by Bad Economic News By Michael Barone

Unexpectedly! As megablogger Glenn Reynolds, aka Instapundit, has noted with amusement, the word "unexpectedly" or variants thereon keep cropping up in mainstream media stories about the economy.

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May 26, 2011

Obama Skirts Rule of Law to Reward Pals, Punish Enemies By Michael Barone

Question: What do the following have in common? Eckert Cold Storage Co., Kerly Homes of Yuma, Classic Party Rentals, West Coast Turf Inc., Ellenbecker Investment Group Inc., Only in San Francisco, Hotel Nikko, International Pacific Halibut Commission, City of Puyallup, Local 485 Health and Welfare Fund, Chicago Plastering Institute Health & Welfare Fund, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee, Teamsters Local 522 Fund Welfare Fund Roofers Division, StayWell Saipan Basic Plan, CIGNA, Caribbean Workers' Voluntary Employees' Beneficiary Health and Welfare Plan.

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May 23, 2011

Obama Channels W. Except on Israel and Palestinians By Michael Barone

"The State Department is a fitting venue," declared Barack Obama at the beginning of his speech on the Middle East last Thursday.

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May 19, 2011

Gingrich and Romney Run Against Their Own Party By Michael Barone

Exit Mike Huckabee. Enter Newt Gingrich. Exit Donald Trump. It's been a busy week in the race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

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May 16, 2011

Obama's Hypocritical Rhetoric on Immigration Reform By Michael Barone

Barack Obama's immigration speech in El Paso May 10 was an exercise in electioneering and hypocrisy. Hypocrisy because while Obama complained about "politicians" blocking comprehensive immigration bills, he was one of them himself.

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May 12, 2011

History Weeps at the Partition of India and Pakistan By Michael Barone

When you get into discussions about the Middle East with certain people, you start hearing that the great mistake was the partition of Palestine and the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. If that had somehow just not happened, you hear, everything would be all right.