News
Bananas for Capitalism: History of United Fruit Chronicles Innovation, Creativity
By IRA STOLL, Special to the Sun
May 25, 2012
Americans puzzling over the role of today’s powerful corporations — Bain Capital, Goldman Sachs, Google — may profit from considering the example of the United Fruit Company. It seems almost quaint to think that a company specializing in bananas might…
Why Cory Booker Spoke Out on Negative Campaigning
By SHMULEY BOTEACH, Special to the Sun
May 23, 2012
For a moment, let me remove my hat as a Republican candidate for public office and speak only wearing my yarmulke, as a Rabbi who has known Cory for twenty years and has had the blessing throughout that time of an intimate, brotherly friendship. Many…
Schumer’s Bid To Tax a Founder of Facebook Ignites Discussion of a Law Used by Nazis
By IRA STOLL, Special to the Sun
May 21, 2012
Call it the return of the Reichsfluchtsteuer. The president of Americans for Tax Reform, Grover Norquist, did not use the term. That is what Mr. Norquist was talking about, though, when he spoke to The Hill newspaper about the legislation proposed by…
A Fell Swoop Is Sought by Boehner on Debt-Limitation and Tax Cuts — in Advance of November
By LAWRENCE KUDLOW, Special to the Sun
May 17, 2012
House Speaker John Boehner is playing a heroic role right now. In his efforts to prevent the Bush tax cuts from expiring, Mr. Boehner is aggressively taking on President Obama’s leadership ineptitude on the economy. In essence, Mr. Boehner is pushing…
Big Romney Fundraiser in New York Backed Not by Big Banks But by New Breed of More Nimble Financiers
By IRA STOLL, Special to the Sun
May 14, 2012
The Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, will visit New York City May 22 for a large fundraiser featuring many members of the financial industry, and on the face of it, it couldn’t be worse timing. New York Times columnist Paul Krugman…
Danger Sign for GOP Emerges as Romney’s Margin Among Investors Likely To Vote Turns Out To Be Razor Thin
By LAWRENCE KUDLOW, Special to the Sun
May 8, 2012
While President Obama is out on the campaign trail talking about how bad things were four years ago and how we have to go “forward” to his second term to see just how great things are going to be in the next four years, the biggest problem he’s got is…
Weak Presidential Nominees Pose a Bleak Choice for Voters in Both France, U.S.
The Two Democracies Must Choose Between 'Apparently Incorrigible Wafflers'
By CONRAD BLACK, Special to the Sun
April 28, 2012
In last Saturday’s edition, I reviewed the French election. And the first round came out largely as I expected. The second round in May, between François Hollande and incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy, right now seems too close to call. Closer to home, the…
Geithner Crosses the Line Into the Political Fray as a Particularly Partisan Treasury Secretary
Calls Dean of Columbia Business School a‘Hack’
By LAWRENCE KUDLOW, Special to the Sun
April 27, 2012
Is Secretary Geithner the most politically partisan treasury secretary in history? Certainly sounds like it these days. As the government’s chief financial officer, he’s spending a lot of time firing campaign barbs at various Republicans and their…
Romney’s Economic-Approval Rating Soars Over President’s, New Polls Show
By LAWRENCE KUDLOW, Special to the Sun
April 20, 2012
Wall Street headlines are full of fears of a springtime stall for the already subpar economic recovery. If that weren’t bad enough for President Obama’s reelection chances, a spate of new polls show Governor Romney’s economic-approval ratings are far…
Guarded Optimism Voiced on Measure in Congress To Narrow Scope of the Federal Reserve
An End to Era of Humphrey-Hawkins Is Seen
By JOHN V. BENNETT, Special to the Sun
April 20, 2012
NEW YORK — The main sponsor in Congress of legislation to narrow the mandate of the Federal Reserve expressed guarded optimism about the bill’s prospects at a monetary parley here today. Representative Kevin Brady was speaking of his “Sound Dollar…
Obama’s Radio Address Leaves Him Exposed To a GOP Challenge Over Taxes
By IRA STOLL, Special to the Sun
April 16, 2012
If there were some kind of award for the most misleading statements in a single four-minute speech, President Obama would have earned it with his weekly address this weekend, timed for tax day. “We can’t afford to keep spending more money on tax cuts…
America’s Decline Turns Out To Be Real But Reversible
By CONRAD BLACK, Special to the Sun
April 14, 2012
Prominent public intellectuals in the United States are becoming increasingly vocal in their protestations that their country is not in decline. Robert Kagan militates in his latest book that the United States is still by far the most powerful country…
A New Definition of Chutzpah Emerges as Obama Seeks To Use Reagan as Cover for Attacks on Romney
By LAWRENCE KUDLOW, Special to the Sun
April 13, 2012
In President Obama’s latest class-war, tax-the-rich gambit, he has stooped to a new low with misleading and out-of-context quotes from Ronald Reagan. Apparently, the president is now trying to use the Gipper for cover while he attacks Mitt Romney with…
President Bush, Governors Due in New York for Tax Parley, As State v. State Tax Competition Looms
By IRA STOLL, Special to the Sun
April 9, 2012
The big news over the long holiday weekend, which is resonating in the stock market, was the national employment and unemployment number. The national unemployment number for March was 8.2%, down just slightly from the 8.3% reported in February. The…
Americans Will Have To Wait Until After the Election for a 5% Growth Rate
By LAWRENCE KUDLOW, Special to the Sun
April 9, 2012
Despite the disappointing jobs report for March, it’s difficult to make a realistic case that the economy is falling off a cliff or that some kind of double-dip recession is on the way. Or that a Ben Bernanke QE3 is likely. Sure, the 120,000 gain in…
Misconception on Health Care Law Could Be Key To Decision of Supreme Court
By BETSY McCAUGHEY, Special to the Sun
April 6, 2012
If the Supreme Court upholds the health law’s mandatory insurance, the ruling will likely turn on a misconception rather than constitutional principle. During the oral argument on March 27, Solicitor General Donald Verrilli told the packed courtroom…
Clouds of a (Real) Culture War Are Scudding as Santorum Nears the End of His Quest
By CONRAD BLACK, Special to the Sun
April 5, 2012
Now that the Santorum campaign — the last and most durable of the non-Mitt efforts — is finally fading, a little analysis of it is warranted before it vanishes from mind. It didn’t flame out absurdly like the Bachmann, Perry, Cain, and Gingrich…
One of Biggest ‘Tax Cuts’ in History Seen in Collapse of Natural-Gas Prices
Romney Would Be Big Winner If Supreme Court Voids Health Insurance Mandate
By LAWRENCE KUDLOW, Special to the Sun
March 29, 2012
If the Supreme Court overthrows the individual mandate, doesn’t Mitt Romney say “I told you so” and emerge as the big political winner? All along he’s been arguing that only states have mandate power, and that the federal government under the commerce…
Supreme Court Ruling on Plea Bargains Is Occasion for Rejoicing
By CONRAD BLACK, Special to the Sun
March 29, 2012
Every resident of or frequent visitor to the United States should rejoice at the Supreme Court’s decision last week expanding the rights of defendants to effective counsel in plea-bargain negotiations. As Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the majority…
Ryan Budget May Be Best GOP Can Produce, But It Would Increase National Debt and Share of GDP That Government Takes From Taxpayers
By IRA STOLL, Special to the Sun
March 26, 2012
The burst of attention devoted to Congressman Paul Ryan’s 2013 federal budget seems to have passed, at least momentarily, but don’t be deceived: the plan rolled out last week by the Republican chairman of the House Budget Committee is going to be…
The Crisis of Peter Beinart
By RICK RICHMAN, Special to the Sun
March 24, 2012
On March 19, the New York Times published an excerpt -- covering almost half the op-ed page — from Peter Beinart’s new book, “The Crisis of Zionism,” in which Mr. Beinart proposed boycotting Jewish communities in the disputed territories of the West…
 Spectacle of Unsuccessful Politicians at G-8 Brings Summiteering To a Low
By CONRAD BLACK, Special to the Sun
May 22, 2012
The spectacle of the G-8 leaders in the bucolic verdure of Camp David, as they were strutting in their leisure attire capped by prudent sweaters against any non-fiscal Catoctin chill for photo-ops for those at home, could momentarily disguise what an…
How Benzion Netanyahu Helped Put in the U.N. Charter A Clause That Could Yet Save the Jewish State
By JEROLD AUERBACH, Special to the Sun
May 2, 2012
Benzion Netanyahu, who died Monday in Jerusalem at the age of 102, has been widely scrutinzed this week for his myriad contributions to the history of Zionism in Israel and the United States. Yet arguably the most important one has been overlooked…
Of Fatherhood and War: Benzion Netanyahu Doubted His Son Was Tough Enough To Lead the Jewish State
By SETH LIPSKY, From The Wall Street Journal
May 2, 2012
'Can you imagine what it must have been like having him for a father?" asked one of the writers for the Jewish Forward newspaper after an editorial dinner with Benzion Netanyahu. Mr. Netanyahu's son, Benjamin, had recently been elected prime minister…
Fifth Republic in France Teeters in Spectacle of an Astonishing Election
By CONRAD BLACK, Special to the Sun
April 21, 2012
The simultaneous election campaigns in France and the United States furnish an astonishing spectacle of the limits and hazards of democratic government. The French Fifth Republic, founded by Charles de Gaulle in 1958, is the most successful state in…
House at Hebron Becomes a Case of Dickensian, Even Biblical, Proportions
By JEROLD AUERBACH, Special to the Sun
April 4, 2012
In the ancient city of Hebron, twenty miles south of Jerusalem, the patriarchs and matriarchs of the Jewish people are buried. When Sarah died, according to the biblical narrative, Abraham purchased the cave of Machpelah from Ephron the Hittite…
Pope’s Visit To Cuba Stirs Hope As Palsy of the Castro Regime Grows More Aggravated
By CONRAD BLACK, Special to the Sun
March 24, 2012
In regard to the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Cuba next week, the official version of events from the Vatican and from the cardinal in Havana, Jaime Ortega y Alamino, is one of uplift and celebration of the Church's progress since the visit of Pope…
Will America Abdicate Its Status as a Great Power?
By CONRAD BLACK, Special to the Sun
March 8, 2012
The visits to Washington of the Israeli president, Shimon Peres, and, a day later, Prime Minister Netanyahu bring the question of the Iranian nuclear program to a head at last. President Obama came into office encumbered with the sophomoric idea that…
Nephew of Yasser Arafat Surfaces as Aide to Kofi Annan on Road to Damascus
By BENNY AVNI, Special to the Sun
March 6, 2012
UNITED NATIONS — Yasser Arafat’s nephew, Nasser Al-Kidwa, will accompany former Secretary General Kofi Annan, who is scheduled to visit Bashar Al-Assad in Damascus this weekend. Mr. Al-Kidwa’s visit will renew a complex history of relationship between…
America Takes Canada for Granted at Its Peril
By CONRAD BLACK, Special to the Sun
March 3, 2012
The estimable American military writer Max Boot, a guerrilla-war expert associated with the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, wrote in Commentary magazine last month that Canada is a country that most Americans consider a “dull but slavishly…
Sarkozy Shows That Voters Punish Conservatives Who Fail To Deliver
By IRA STOLL, Special to the Sun
May 7, 2012
Six takeaway lessons for Americans from socialist candidate Francois Hollande’s victory in Sunday’s election in France: Growth beats austerity. “Austerity isn’t inevitable. My mission now is to give European construction a growth dimension,” Mr…
Farewell To an American ‘Princess’ Murdered in Syria
By YOUSSEF IBRAHIM, Special to the Sun
February 23, 2012
This is a personal tribute to a dear friend and highly respected colleague, Marie Colvin, the Middle East correspondent whose eye patch photos are all over the front pages today after being murdered by the Syrian regime yesterday at Homs. Marie lost…
West Falters in Defense of Christians, Who Are Being Persecuted in 131 Countries
Failure Now Resting Heavily on Would Be Protectors
By CONRAD BLACK, Special to the Sun
February 8, 2012
Perhaps the gravest under-publicized atrocity in the world is the persecution of Christians. A comprehensive Pew Forum study last year found that Christians are persecuted in 131 countries containing 70% of the world’s population, out of 197 countries…
A Brilliant Reign Nears Its Diamond Jubilee
By CONRAD BLACK, Special to the Sun
February 4, 2012
It does not seem like 60 years ago that my late brother said to our half-asleep parents as we departed early for school: “There was a bug in my cereal, and by the way, the King is dead.” A much admired man, only 56, there were some comparisons between…
How the Mufti of Jerusalem Once Impacted America’s Presidential Election — and Could Do So Again
By RAFAEL MEDOFF, Jewish Telegraphic Agency
February 1, 2012
WASHINGTON — A Palestinian mufti has called for violence against Jews, Prime Minister Netanyahu is demanding Palestinian leaders disavow him, and America's presidential race could be affected. That could be the lead sentence of a news report from last…
Falling Traffic Congrestion a Sympton of Weak Economy
By ANDREW WOLF, Special to the Sun
May 23, 2012
Urban traffic congestion is on the way down in most cities, according to a study recently released by a Washington State firm, INRIX. The data is based on monitoring GPS devices, maybe even yours, and reveals one interesting trend. If the economy of…
 The Day Derek Jeter Tipped Off President Bush on How To Throw a Perfect Pitch — And Other Stories of the Damn Yankees
Just in Time for Opening Day, a New Season of Great Writing
By RICK RICHMAN, Special to the Sun
April 11, 2012
Friday is Opening Day at Yankee Stadium, the start of a Spring ritual that brings with it a new season of great baseball writing – books and essays that seem to capture insights into life almost as effortlessly as a Willie Mays catch, even though (or perhaps because) they are about what appears simply a game.
Bloomberg USA: New York City Will Sue Sponsors of Legal Immigrants Who End Up on the Dole
By Staff Reporter of the Sun
March 31, 2012
NEW YORK — Mayor Bloomberg, in a startling departure from his pro-immigration stance, is testing a new program designed to chase down sponsors of legal immigrants who end up on certain kinds of public assistance, and the city intends to make the…
Top New York Labor Leader Moves To Long Island, Saves $30,000 in City Income Taxes
By IRA STOLL, Special to the Sun
March 19, 2012
One of America’s most powerful labor leaders, teachers union president Randi Weingarten, has quietly moved out of New York City, a decision that saved her from paying more than $30,000 in city income taxes that she would have owed if she had stayed…
Turnaround Now Possible in the Bronx as Its President Comes Into His Own
By ANDREW WOLF, Special to the Sun
January 19, 2012
This his has been a good month for the president of the Bronx, Ruben Diaz, Jr. When Mayor Bloomberg’s proposal for a shopping mall in the Kingsbridge Armory was defeated two years ago, largely due to Mr. Diaz’s opposition, he was widely demonized as a…
Weak Results on National Tests Are a Wake-Up Call for Parents in New York
By ANDREW WOLF, Special to the Sun
November 14, 2011
New York State parents, teachers and students have gotten during the past few weeks a couple of wake-up calls about the quality of education here in the Empire State . Weak results on two nationally administered tests confirmed the worst fears of…
 Shakespeare, Proust Join the Protests
By GARY SHAPIRO, The Knickerbocker
October 27, 2011
Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, and Emma Goldman are not on Wall Street, but they are there in spirit. Activists at the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York have set up what they call “The People’s Library,” where books can be borrowed and read…
Bloomberg’s Ambition To Be Treasury Secretary Seen Behind His Backing of Obama’s Jobs Plan
By LAWRENCE KUDLOW, Special to the Sun
September 17, 2011
Mayor Bloomberg, in a radio interview on Friday, warned that high unemployment could lead to widespread rioting. That’s right. He actually said that. At a time when European cities have suffered massively from hooliganism, and at a time when U.S…
Religious New Yorkers at Risk of Government Action Under Same-Sex Marriage Law, Professors Warn
By Special to the Sun
June 15, 2011
NEW YORK — As the question of same-gender marriage in New York goes down to the wire at Albany, experts on the legal impact of the changes being sought are warning that religious exemptions in Governor Cuomo’s bill have fallen far short of what the…
Fool’s Errand? Tax Cap Activists Due Today To Test the Legislators at Albany
By DAVID PIETRUSZA, Special to the Sun
May 9, 2011
The battle to gain a cap on taxes on property will come to Albany this afternoon, when activists are due to meet with the chiefs-of staff of the state’s most prominent Democrats — and aspire to meet with Governor Cuomo and Speaker Sheldon Silver…
Startling Study in Belgium Suggests Rate of Heart Disease Decreases With More Salt in Diet
Should Mayor Bloomberg Move To Brussels?
By ANDREW WOLF, Special to the Sun
May 6, 2011
Maybe Mayor Bloomberg should move to Belgium. A startling study was just published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. It disputes the conventional wisdom that too much salt in the diet leads to all sorts of negative health…
Formal Search Needed for New York Schools Chancellor
By ANDREW WOLF, Special to the Sun
April 10, 2011
From all we’ve seen, Dennis Walcott, Mayor Bloomberg’s choice as the city’s new schools chancellor is a fine fellow, a loyal deputy to the mayor, and a knowledgeable public servant. Loyalty and knowledge are admirable qualities, but are they all that…
The First Call Bloomberg’s New School’s Chief Needs to Make
By HENRY STERN, Special to the Sun
April 7, 2011
We were surprised today to learn that Mayor Bloomberg dismissed his hand-picked Schools Chancellor, Cathie Black, after 97 infelicitous days as chief of New York City's school system. The mayor did not set a speed record, however, in dismissing a…
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