Lawrence Kudlow from Creators Syndicate

Investor-Class Dead Heat for 05/10/2012

Thu, 10 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

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 the here and now.

Real gross domestic product in the second quarter stalled at 2.2 percent. There were a paltry 115,000 new jo ...

Updated: Thu May 10, 2012

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Geithner Goes Over the Edge for 04/28/2012

Sat, 28 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Is Tim 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 policies.

Geithner has blasted Mitt Romney by name on several occasions. He frequently attacks Rep. Paul Ryan and the GOP budget. And he re ...

Updated: Sat Apr 28, 2012

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Obama's 2.5 Percent Stall for 04/21/2012

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Wall Street headlines are full of fears of a springtime stall for the already subpar economic recovery. And if that weren't bad enough for Obama's re-election chances, a spate of new polls show Mitt Romney's economic-approval ratings are far outdistancing the president's.

Even while the headline surveys basically show an Obama-Romney tossup, it will be very difficult for Obama to pull ou ...

Updated: Sat Apr 21, 2012

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Obama's Misleading Reagan Reference for 04/14/2012

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0700

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 the so-called Buffett Rule.

In an address this past week, Obama cited a couple of Reagan speeches from June 1985, in which the former pres ...

Updated: Sat Apr 14, 2012

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There Obama Goes Again for 03/31/2012

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0700

As Ronald Reagan famously said, â€œThere you go again.â€

Of course, Reagan was blaming Jimmy Carter for launching false attacks during a debate. And that line was so effective, it not only helped Reagan win the debate, but a presidential election that would change American history.

But â€œthere you go againâ€ can apply equally to President Obama. Once again this week, the presid ...

Updated: Sat Mar 31, 2012

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The Reagan in Romney for 03/24/2012

Sat, 24 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0700

The late William F. Buckley Jr. naturally put it best when he said: "The wisest choice would be the one who would win. No sense running Mona Lisa in a beauty contest. I'd be for the most right, viable candidate who could win."

Bill Buckley's law applies to Mitt Romney today. And it's worth noting Rush Limbaugh's recent update to the dictum. After Romney's terrific Illinois vict ...

Updated: Sat Mar 24, 2012

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King Dollar Will Cut Oil Prices for 03/17/2012

Sat, 17 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0700

No matter how much President Obama protests, the simple fact is that he continues to oppose and mock and disparage oil and gas drilling. He is a prisoner of the environmental left, and he remains on the wrong side of energy history.

And that's exactly why he has a 59 percent negative rating on the economy, according to a recent poll, even though jobs and other indicators have actually pi ...

Updated: Sat Mar 17, 2012

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Fed Hooey for 03/10/2012

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0800

I didn't want to let the latest cockamamie Fed idea for "sterilized" bond buying pass without a comment. A Wall Street Journal story explained that somehow the Fed will buy more long-term bonds, print new money and then borrow the money back so it doesn't cause inflation. It's all a lot of hooey. Typical Fed tinkering. It can't seem to help itself. The dollar has already fallen about ...

Updated: Sat Mar 10, 2012

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Romney's Upper Hand for 03/03/2012

Sat, 03 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Mitt Romney snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in Michigan by unveiling a pro-growth, 20 percent tax-cut plan and by resetting his limited-government spending cuts and entitlement reforms. In other words, he delivered an economic-growth package. It served him well.

It may not have been the only factor in his victory last week, but it put him squarely in the voter zeitgeist. And it ...

Updated: Sat Mar 03, 2012

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Barack ‘All of the Above' Obama for 02/24/2012

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

President Obama fought back against rising oil and retail gas prices in a speech in Florida on Thursday. But it was a curious speech. He started out by mocking Republicans, stating that GOP candidates are licking their chops as gasoline prices rocket up. He said, "They are already dusting off their three-point plans for $2 gas. I'll save you the suspense: Step one is drill, step two is dri ...

Updated: Fri Feb 24, 2012

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Obama's Class-Warfare, Tax-the-Rich Budget for 02/16/2012

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

If you shake out the Obama budget in terms of bold headlines, it's really a class-warfare, tax-the-rich budget. Layer upon layer of tax hikes are piled on successful investors, small-business owners and corporations.

The capital-gains tax goes from 15 percent to 24 percent (including Obamacare). The dividends tax goes from 15 percent to nearly 40 percent, and that's not includin ...

Updated: Thu Feb 16, 2012

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A King Dollar GOP? for 02/11/2012

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Out on the campaign trail, Fed head Ben Bernanke is an unpopular guy.

Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich have both said they would replace Bernanke, not reappoint him. Rep. Ron Paul would swap the whole Federal Reserve monetary system for a gold-linked dollar, making the yellow metal legal tender. And it was Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, before he dropped out of the race, who said more q ...

Updated: Sat Feb 11, 2012

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Message to Mitt: A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats for 02/04/2012

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

A rising tide lifts all boats.

That great phrase was coined by the late Jack Kemp, who believed that growth and opportunity for all is the answer to poverty. In fact, Kemp believed it was the answer to all things economic. And he was right. The best anti-poverty program is the one that creates jobs. The answer to large budget deficits? Grow the economy, create jobs, watch incomes rise, a ...

Updated: Sat Feb 04, 2012

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Obama's Lowball Vision: Tax Success and Growth for 01/28/2012

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

You would think that with one of the weakest economic recoveries on record, President Barack Obama would be searching desperately for ways to promote economic growth. It is, after all, an election year. Most pundits and pollsters agree that it's the economy, stupid.

But instead, Obama used his State of the Union speech to rail on about fairness, inequality and redistribution. The Obama s ...

Updated: Sat Jan 28, 2012

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Mitt's Attack on Crony Capitalism for 01/21/2012

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Let me build on Charles Krauthammer's great Friday column, "The GOP's Suicide March." Krauthammer argues that just as President Obama's class-warfare, soak-the-rich mantra started lagging in the polls, some Republicans on the campaign trail started making the case that Mitt Romney's Bain Capital was involved in nothing more than vulture capitalism, looting companies and destroying job ...

Updated: Sat Jan 21, 2012

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Isn't a Bainful Turnaround What America Needs? for 01/14/2012

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

There's a very troubled company out there called U.S. Government Inc. It's teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. And it badly needs to be taken over and turned around. It probably even needs the services of a good private-equity firm, with plenty of experience and a reasonably good track record in downsizing, modernizing, shrinking staff and making substantial changes in management. Yes, layoffs ...

Updated: Sat Jan 14, 2012

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Mitt's Big Next Step on Tax Reform for 01/12/2012

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

While so much attention has been turned to Newt Gingrich's catastrophically mistaken attack on Mitt Romney's Bain Capital, free-market capitalism, investment and profits, a potentially much more significant development occurred in the New Hampshire debate Saturday night. For the first time, Romney embraced a much bolder tax-reform plan.

Under pressure from a number of supply-side conserv ...

Updated: Thu Jan 12, 2012

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The GOP Needs a Bolder Growth Message for 01/07/2012

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Message to my fellow conservatives: Please don't blame the mainstream media for the improvement in jobs, unemployment and economic growth. Reporters are not making this up. The economy is better. It's going to give President Obama a leg up on the election. GOP beware, and come to your senses.

Take Friday's jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Non-farm payrolls gained 200,000, ...

Updated: Sat Jan 07, 2012

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Paul Ryan's Old-Fashioned American Vision for 12/23/2011

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

When you think of Republican Rep. Paul Ryan, terms like earnest, serious and important come to mind. So does the term old-fashioned. Ryan comes from an old-fashioned place, the blue-collar town of Janesville, Wis. He cherishes the old-fashioned values of a faithful family man. He even looks old-fashioned, with his white shirts and striped ties. And he uses old-fashioned argument skills, persuas ...

Updated: Fri Dec 23, 2011

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Keystone Blue-Collar Blues for 12/16/2011

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

The payroll-tax-cut debate is not really about the payroll tax, which is a very weak-kneed economic stimulant and a lackluster job creator because of its temporary nature. Without permanent incentives at lower tax rates, these rebates don't do anything for growth and jobs.

Instead, the key to understanding the payroll-tax debate is to grasp President Barack Obama's leftist vision of taxi ...

Updated: Fri Dec 16, 2011

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