PUBLICATIONS BY Brian Darling
Commentary
Media Appearances
2009 Commentary
November 17, 2009
Presidential Dithering, Dawdling and Defeat
By Brian Darling
While our indecisive Commander-in-Chief dithers about a troop surge in Afghanistan, Lawmakers are dawdling on funding the federal government. Congress didn't finish the nation's spending bills on time, yet Members of Congress are racing to establish government-run health care and (supposedly) combat non-existent global warming.
November 13, 2009
With Pelosicare DOA, Can Reid Rescue Obamacare in Senate?
By Brian Darling
With the House passing Speaker Pelosi's version of Obamacare by a 220-215 vote on Saturday night, the next arena for battle on an attempted government takeover of health care is the United States Senate. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R.-S.C.) correctly stated on "Face the Nation" this past Sunday that "the House bill is dead on arrival in the Senate."
November 10, 2009
Doubling Down on Defeat
By Brian Darling
The 2009 elections in Virginia, New Jersey and New York sent a strong message to elected officials. Yet many politicians may be willing to risk their future by continuing to promote unpopular ideas.
November 03, 2009
Barack Obama: Media Sweetheart and Golf Addict
By Brian Darling
Barack Obama enjoys wide support from his liberal friends in the media. That allows them to ignore the growing discontent average Americans hold toward a leader who promised so much and has delivered so little.
October 27, 2009
Enemies of the State
By Brian Darling
"Don't create an enemies list." Advice given years ago to President Nixon? No, a tip delivered just last week -- from Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) to President Barack Obama
October 20, 2009
Congress and Obama Show Contempt for Americans
By Brian Darling
Congress is showing contempt for the American people by excluding them from the crafting of Obamacare The president promised in his campaign he'd deliver transparency, saying, "I'm going to have all the negotiations around a big table" with everybody involved. Those that can't make it would be able to see "the negotiations televised on C-SPAN." Too bad this isn't happening: yet another broken Obama promise.
October 13, 2009
Where's the Health Care Bill?
By Brian Darling
As you read this, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and officials of the Obama administration are in a room at the Capitol rewriting health care policy. The American people aren't invited. Only a few lobbyists, Obama czars and liberal Senators have even been allowed to see this bill.
October 13, 2009
CBO Wrong on Health Bill's Cost to Taxpayer
By Brian Darling
Sen. Max Baucus (D.-Mont.) has received a score on his legislative outline for healthcare reform -- the Vapor Bill -- from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Still, as yet, there is no Baucus legislation for the American people to read.
September 30, 2009
Congress's Secret Plan to Pass Obamacare
By Brian Darling
President Obama and liberals in Congress seems intent on passing comprehensive health care reform, even though polls suggest it is unpopular with the American people. And despite the potential political risks to moderate Democrats, the President and left-wing leadership in Congress are determined to pass the measure using a rare parliamentary procedure.
September 29, 2009
The Honeymoon is Over
By Brian Darling
It's been a rough few weeks for the Obama administration, and the president's honeymoon with the American people is clearly over. The left wing group ACORN, a favorite of the left and training ground for many Obama administration officials, is under fire.
September 23, 2009
Your Guide to Budget Reconciliation and Obamacare
By Brian Darling
The details of President Obama's push for comprehensive health care reform get more baffling every day. The debate recently became even more complicated with the introduction of another term: "Reconciliation." Millions of Americans already recognize that politicians are trying to confuse the debate as a way to sneak through the most comprehensive change to our health care laws in our lifetime. That's why everyone needs to understand the "inside the beltway" procedures that liberals in Congress could use to railroad through a partisan and unpopular health care bill.
September 22, 2009
Thank You, President Obama
By Brian Darling
I love President Barack Obama. No kidding. I love the guy. Barack Obama is the best community organizer of conservatives since Ronald Reagan.
September 08, 2009
The Crashing Liberal Agenda
By Brian Darling
After an adventurous and, at times, treacherous August recess, lawmakers return to Washington, D.C. this week. Liberals hope to jumpstart the President’s agenda, which has stalled because public support for his big-ticket initiatives has crashed. The swing in public sentiment can be seen in President Obama's approval rating, which is hovering around 50 percent. Despite a steady diet of mainstream media news stories cheerleading for Obama Care and cap-and-tax energy policy, the liberal agenda is on life support.
September 01, 2009
Criminal Stimulus
By Brian Darling
The Boston Herald reported last week that 23 criminals in Massachusetts, including four murders and five rapists, received $250 stimulus checks from the Social Security Administration. Those checks were issued as part of the President's $787 billion "stimulus" plan. The Herald later found that stimulus checks were mailed to 3,900 prisoners, costing taxpayers nearly $1 million. Further evidence that the federal government can't effectively provide economic stimulus.
August 11, 2009
Recess for Your Wallet
By Brian Darling
Congress has left town, so members can head back to the district or take some fancy, taxpayer-funded trip overseas. Your wallet may be safe while the congressional tax-and-spenders are away, unless President Obama decides to bail out another failing industry.
July 28, 2009
Bailout Fever Hasn't Disappeared
By Brian Darling
One reason for the parties is that many Americans oppose using tax dollars to bail out failing industry and failed government policies. Too bad our representatives in the Capitol aren't heeding their voices. There's growing evidence that -- even though they are harming capitalism -- bailout fever is still an option for our free-spending politicians in Washington, D.C.
July 20, 2009
Tax, Spend and Disarm the Public
By Brian Darling
In May, President Barack Obama admitted, "The long-term deficit and debt that we have accumulated is unsustainable." This is the same President who railroaded through a $787 billion so-called stimulus plan and is in the process of pushing for a $1 trillion plan to nationalize heath care. Furthermore, the President wants the Senate to confirm Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, although her rulings seem to indicate she doesn't recognize an American's Second Amendment rights.
July 14, 2009
The Era of Obama, Pelosi and Reid
By Brian Darling
The saying "You break it, you own it" applies to politicians in Washington, D.C. With the addition of Senator Al Franken (D-MN), liberals completely control federal legislative and executive power.
June 23, 2009
Is There a Number Too Big to Fail?
By Brian Darling
What’s bigger than a trillion, a number so large it would take several lifetimes to count to it? Well, a quadrillion is a thousand trillion. It may be time to worry that President Obama's spending spree will introduce us to the word "quadrillion."
June 16, 2009
Breaking Down Government Motors
By Brian Darling
During a recent speech denouncing capitalism, Venezuelan strong man Hugo Chavez said, "Obama has just nationalized nothing more and nothing less than General Motors. Comrade Obama! Fidel, careful or we are going to end up to his right." The conversion of General Motors to Government Motors should be of grave concern to all Americans. It appears that President Bush's bailout of Wall Street merely set the table for an all-out assault by the Obama administration on capitalism.
June 09, 2009
New, Convoluted Auto Bailout
By Brian Darling
The Senate is considering a so-called "Cash for Clunkers" program. The idea behind the legislation, offered by Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), is that if you trade in your older car or SUV, the government will provide you with a voucher up to $4,500 to purchase a new car or SUV that is more fuel efficient.
June 04, 2009
Bad On Guns
By Brian Darling
President Obama's nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, 2nd Circuit Judge Sonia Sotomayor, owes the American people an explanation on her view of the Second Amendment.
May 26, 2009
Obama Is Costing You $1,300 Per Vehicle
By Brian Darling
Memorial Day is here, a time to commemorate Americans who died serving our nation. Maybe Americans should also pause to commemorate the end of free-market capitalism and the beginning of a new form of economics -- Obamanomics.
May 19, 2009
Fairy Tale Health Care
By Brian Darling
As children we loved to hear our parents read fairy tales with happy endings. Well, last week President Obama and Washington lobbyists penned a new chapter in the health care fairy tale.
May 13, 2009
The Obama Standard
By Brian Darling
Conservatives agree with the Senator Obama of 2006 and hope that President Obama's nominee to replace retiring Justice David Souter on the Supreme Court receives a detailed examination of his or her judicial philosophy and record.
April 06, 2009
Even Drunken Sailors Have a Credit Limit
By Brian Darling
The saying "spending like a drunken sailor" comes from the 1700s and 1800s, when sailors would come ashore from a long time at sea and go on a wild spending spree. These sailors were constrained by the amount of their paycheck and the credit they could incur from people who knew them.
March 31, 2009
Uncle Sam: Absolute Monarch of Financial Markets?
By Brian Darling
In last week's press conference, President Barack Obama talked about Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner's Public-Private Investment Program (PPIP) and about his own budget proposal before Congress. "The most critical part of our strategy is to ensure that we do not return to an economic cycle of bubble and bust in this country," he said. "We know that an economy built on reckless speculation, inflated home prices, and maxed-out credit cards does not create lasting wealth."
March 24, 2009
Bailouts, Not Bonuses, Are the Real Problem
By Brian Darling
Politicians are apoplectic that American International Group (AIG) executives received $165 million in bonuses. AIG's Financial Products unit engaged in credit-default swaps that put the insurance giant on the verge of insolvency before the feds bailed them out. Politicians are steamrolling forward with an initiative to tax their bonuses. Conservatives are outraged by the bonuses, but know that bonuses aren't the problem -- the bailouts are.
March 17, 2009
House and Senate Republicans Working on 'Bolder, Clear' Budget
By Brian Darling
Congress is commencing a debate on the President's $3.6 trillion budget. It represents efforts by the left to radically expand the size and scope of the federal government.
March 05, 2009
Thousands of Earmarks in Omnibus Bill
By Brian Darling
President Barack Obama pledged to keep his so-called stimulus plan free of earmarks. Unfortunately, no such pledge has been made about the omnibus spending measure consisting of the nine uncompleted appropriations bill from last year's appropriations process. The $410 billion omnibus is loaded with an estimated 9,287 earmarks.
March 02, 2009
Bam's Budget: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
By Brian Darling
THE president's budget blueprint contains some good initiatives, more that are bad - and some truly ugly ideas that would dramatically expand the government's role in American life.
February 24, 2009
Nightmare on Stimulus Street
By Brian Darling
Why the big rush on the "stimulus" plan? President Barack Obama claims it’s because his plan would "create jobs for Americans" and place the "economy on a firmer foundation." More likely, it's because it couldn't have survived public scrutiny and a more comprehensive congressional debate.
January 21, 2009
An Ominous First Vote
By Brian Darling
Conservative solidarity was in short supply last week as the Senate cast its first vote of the 111th Congress. President Bush requested another $350 billion in bailout funds, the Senate passed a $12 billion bill to buy more public lands, and debate began over President-elect Obama's request for around $800 billion to stimulate the economy. Time to dig in your heels.
January 13, 2009
Pelosi to Republicans: You'll Get Nothing and Like It
By Brian Darling
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has ushered in a new Congress. The “change” she believes in includes making it easier to raise taxes, spend like a drunken sailor and give the minority no opportunities to offer amendments in the House of Representatives. If you liked the out-of-control spending during the Bush administration, you’ll love the rule changes that allow for even more spending and a way to pay for the spending -- higher taxes. In short, these changes will make it easier for Speaker Pelosi to run the House without having to listen to conservative voices.
2008 Commentary
November 18, 2008
Congress Declares War on Taxpayers
By Brian Darling
This week on Capitol Hill, we expect to see at least two specious ideas up for consideration -- a bad stimulus package and an ill-advised automaker bailout.
October 22, 2008
U.S. Shouldn't Be Supporting ICC
By Brian Darling
Earlier this month a federal judge reminded us all of the immense power of the judiciary. He ordered the administration to release 17 Chinese Muslims being held at Guantanamo Bay into the U.S. Never mind that these men admitted to receiving terrorist training in Afghanistan and Pakistan and were captured fleeing training camps
October 14, 2008
Petraeus Lists Successes
By Brian Darling
If you asked Sen. Barack Obama two years ago for a strategy for Iraq, he would have recommended withdrawing all troops. The New York Times and other liberal news outlets would have said that Iraq was on verge of an inevitable civil war and a stunning U.S. defeat. Yet President Bush went with his "surge" strategy and wisely chose Gen. David Petraeus to lead it.
September 26, 2008
Conservative Victory on Energy
By Brian Darling
Under the command of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Congress rarely produces a decisive victory for the American people and the conservative movement. It did last week.
September 16, 2008
"Drill, Baby, Drill"
By Brian Darling
Less than two weeks ago, the Republican convention erupted with chants of “Drill, Baby, Drill.” In a recent Quinnipiac poll, 62% of likely voters support “drilling for new oil supplies in currently protected areas off shore.” Support included 82% of Republicans, 50% of Democrats, 60% of Independents, 67% of men, 58% of women, 65% of whites and 54% of blacks. Yet liberals in Congress don’t seem inclined to expand domestic energy production.
August 26, 2008
Socialism and the Cold War circa 2008
By Brian Darling
As Labor Day draws near, so too does the return of Congress, something every American should fear.
While the House of Representatives is clearly controlled by a majority of Democrats, the Senate is made up of a coalition of 49 Democrats and two independents. One of those independents is the self-proclaimed socialist from Vermont, Bernie Sanders. Because the Democrat alliance with a socialist controls only 51 out of 100 seats in the Senate, Sanders is an integral and necessary member of the governing union of the left and the far left.
August 19, 2008
Legislative Lowdown: The Do-Nothing Congress
By Brian Darling
For conservatives who have the stomach to monitor Congress, the 110th Congress has been especially unsatisfactory. Real Clear Politics has Congress with an average approval rating of 20% and a disapproval rating of 74%, strong evidence that the American people are nauseated with Congress.
Conservatives are angry because members of Congress do not have an appetite for a pro-active comprehensive conservative agenda for change. Remember the Contract with America? It worked, but evidently conservatives have a short memory. Real legislative achievements have been rare and liberals in Congress are in the process of starving the Bush Administration while anticipating a potential feeding frenzy if they capture the White House and both houses of Congress. It’s instructive to look back at what Congress failed to put away in the past 20 months.
August 13, 2008
Americans Take Back the House
By Brian Darling
History was made in the House of Representatives on Aug. 1 at 11:20 a.m. when Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) lead a cadre of Republicans, including John Shadegg (R-Ariz.), Mike Pence (R-Ind.), Kevin Brady (R-Texas), Don Manzullo (R-Ill.), Lynn Westmoreland (R-Ga.) and Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) in a remarkable protest.
July 30, 2008
GOP Fights for Military Voting
By Brian Darling
Sens. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas), along with Reps. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) are engaging in legislative combat for the rights of our military to vote in the 2008 election.
July 22, 2008
Republican Socialism
By Brian Darling
Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) has pledged to block a Bush administration proposal being steamrolled through Congress to grant the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve sweeping new powers. Slowing things down would allow Congress to debate the issue fully before approving measures that could put taxpayers on the hook for billions in debt incurred by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-backed home-mortgage giants.
July 08, 2008
Conservative Response to Death Penalty Ruling
By Brian Darling
On June 26, the Supreme Court struck down a death sentence in Louisiana for a man convicted of raping his eight-year-old stepdaughter. In a 5-4 decision, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote that “we conclude that there is a national consensus against capital punishment for the crime of child rape.” Once again, the Court engaged in judicial activism and handed violent criminals new rights.
June 17, 2008
McCain-Lieberman: Then and Now
By Brian Darling
Four and a half years ago, the U.S. Senate rejected a global-warming bill sponsored by Sens. John McCain and Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) by a decisive 43-55 vote. After the vote, McCain said, “We've lost a battle today, but we'll win over time because climate change is real. And we will overcome the influence of the special interests over time. You can only win by marshaling public opinion.”
June 10, 2008
Playing Politics with the Global War on Terror
By Brian Darling
May was a successful month in Iraq on many levels: Attacks in Iraq hit a four-year low, U.S. troop deaths are at their lowest level (down 85% from last May), oil production is almost at pre-war levels, and the anti-American strongholds of Basra and Sadr City are returning to a state of relative calm.
May 28, 2008
Conservatives Concern with Earmarks, Iraq and Immigration
By Brian Darling
Earmark Reform is a big issue for conservatives, because the American people want to see members of Congress weed out waste, fraud and abuse from the federal budget. Most earmarks are special-interest pork projects for a specific state or congressional district.
May 20, 2008
Media Ownership, Lieberman-Warner and Farm Bill Facing Congress
By Brian Darling
A week before Memorial Day, many Americans remain uneasy about their personal financial situation, partly because rising energy prices are putting a squeeze on family budgets. Now along comes a Heritage Foundation analysis of the Lieberman-Warner (S.2191) global-warming bill, which shows serious peril ahead if Congress enacts this cap-and-trade scheme to reduce carbon dioxide.
May 09, 2008
The Farm Bill and Other Bad Ideas
By Brian Darling
Need proof that Washington lawmakers are out of step with the American people? Consider the farm bill, a Depression-era relic that heavily subsidizes America's agriculture.
May 06, 2008
Lieberman-Warner Climate Change Bill
By Brian Darling
As millions of Americans prepare to spend their “stimulus” checks, the Senate is getting ready to debate what can be described as an enormous anti-stimulus bill. This legislation -- sponsored by Sens. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) and John Warner (R-Va.) -- is a “global warming” measure that could cripple our economy.
April 29, 2008
Federally Mandated Health Care Ahead?
By Brian Darling
Are we getting closer to socialized medicine? Some in the Senate are pushing for a bill to replace our current flawed health system with one that involves a complete federal takeover of our health care system, complete with mandates and federally approved, state-crafted plans.
April 22, 2008
Conservatives Must Be Aware of Liberal Agenda
By Brian Darling
Foreign Debt Relief. Last week the House passed the "Jubilee Act" to cancel debt for poor countries, a move that could cost Americans billions of dollars. House leaders failed to attach promised reforms to the debt cancellation, despite Treasury Undersecretary David McCormick's request that "any debt relief should be conditioned on the adoption of policies that promote sound economic practices." Apparently, they don't mind promoting unaccountable lending and forgiving nations that lack the will and/or the ability to repay their American taxpayer-financed loans
April 14, 2008
Congress Preparing for Another Spending Binge
By Brian Darling
Congress is on the verge of passing a $50 billion version of the President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). This bill would triple the current level of funding of $15 billion over the past five years. The House of Representatives passed the massive bill by a 308-116 margin on April 2 after rejecting a proposal to scale back the program to $30 billion.
April 10, 2008
Liberals Push Big-Spend Farm and Budget Measures
By Brian Darling
Baseball’s not the only thing in full swing here in Washington. So is Congress’s post-Easter work period. And conservatives had better watch out for liberals using the legislative equivalent of steroids to power through an agenda of higher taxes and more special-interest giveaways. The farm bill, the congressional budget and immigration are the three big items that conservatives need to monitor this week on Capitol Hill.
April 10, 2008
Dems Damn the Rules
By Brian Darling
Pelosi and Reid opened this Congress pledging a new openness and a respect for the rights of the minority party. Fifteen months later, their actions tell a far different story. The Colombia Free Trade Agreement and Sen. Reid's breaking of his word on a public-lands bill are the most recent evidence that a bait-and-switch is at work here.
2007 Commentary
June 27, 2007
Senate Rules
By Brian Darling
Usually, life in the U.S. Senate pokes along at a snail's pace. All the members insist they're working hard, but in a body that usually requires unanimous consent, it’s often difficult to make any headway.
June 21, 2007
Nightmare on Amnesty Street: Senate horror flick
By Brian Darling
Like a villain in a cheesy horror film, the Kennedy Amnesty Bill is back from the dead.
June 05, 2007
Presidential Wrongs: How about cracking down on illegals, not conservatives?
By Brian Darling
If President Bush were as intent on cracking down on illegal immigration as he is on insulting conservatives, we’d have a secure border by now.
May 18, 2007
GOP Sellout: A senseless giveaway on immigration
By Brian Darling
It may be harsh, but it's the most accurate and succinct way to sum up how conservatives feel right now about President Bush and Senate Republicans, who have cut a deal that would grant amnesty to the estimated 12 million illegal aliens living in the U.S. — not to mention the parents, spouses, and children of these illegals.
April 16, 2007
Avoiding Amnesty for Illegal Immigrants
By Brian Darling
President Bush says that Congress should pass comprehensive immigration reform "without amnesty," and he's right.
April 10, 2007
Campaign Capital; Repeal McCain-Feingold Law And Mandate Disclosure Instead
By Brian Darling
Clearly, the 2001 McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform law hasn't fully lived up to its promise of weeding excess money from political campaigns. In fact, "527" groups have thrived, providing yet another means for money to flow into the political process.
February 07, 2007
Amnesty Dilemma
By Brian Darling
Get ready for some strident debate next month. Congress is preparing to tackle immigration reform.
2006 Commentary
December 08, 2006
Flying in Unfriendly Skies
By Brian Darling
Six men are sitting together and talking in the boarding area, waiting to enter the plane you will be taking to celebrate Thanksgiving with your family. You notice the men, because ever since 9/11 you take note of other passengers. Three of the men start to pray loudly in Arabic. They intersperse English with Arabic when talking. You shudder instinctively, but you calm yourself by thinking that these guys must be different.
November 20, 2006
The Next Conservative Revolution
By Brian Darling
Election Day was all of the following for Republicans: a pounding, a thumping, a butt-whupping, a stomping, a drubbing, a shelling, a flogging, a spanking and an embarrassing beat-down. But the election wasn’t a loss for the conservative ideals of low taxes, traditional values and limited government.
September 16, 2006
The need for National Security Commissions
By Brian Darling
A declaration of war is just that, whether or not the recipient wants to fight.
November 20, 2009
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