The Border ‘Insurrection’ under Biden’s Administration and Harvard’s Recovery after Claudine Gay’s Departure
Conservative: Biden’s Border ‘Insurrection’
“Despite all the dishonest talk of ‘insurrection’ coming from the left, it is Joe Biden’s open borders agenda that amounts to the greatest insurrection since the Civil War — and with every passing day, it continues to imperil our safety, our culture, and our national security,” fumes Aaron Flanigan at the Association of Mature American Citizens. Per early reports, “December was the worst month on record for illegal immigration, with more than 300,000 border crossings — capping off . . . the worst year on record in 2023.” “Biden is now facing criticism from both parties with the 2024 election looming — although the media has remained shamefully silent.” “Despite inheriting the most secure border on record . . . Biden single-handedly and deliberately created the conditions for a crisis of previously unimaginable proportions.”
Econ watch: Debt’s Worse Than It Looks
The “federal debt ratio of approximately 120 percent of GDP” is “mismatched,” argues Andrew Liang at The Boston Globe. A better measure is “the government’s debt to the government’s own income — federal revenue, nearly all of which comes from taxes.” That metric shows debt is “750 percent of annual federal revenue,” laying bare “the extent to which the situation is out of hand.” And “using federal revenue, the debt ratio has actually increased by close to 400 percentage points” since 2005. “As Congress contemplates setting up a fiscal commission to focus on this issue, a critical first step should be the replacement of the debt-to-GDP framework with debt-to-federal revenue. The starting point for any discussions should be the use of the right yardstick.”
Ed desk: Harvard’s Long Post-Gay Recovery
Ousted Harvard President Claudine Gay’s letter of resignation “deserves close reading,” scoffs Peter W. Wood at The Spectator. “The first, not entirely cynical reaction is: did she write it herself?” Another question: Why wouldn’t Harvard “unload a dishonest, serial plagiarist, whose record of scholarship would embarrass a cooked lobster?” And “why, oh why, Harvard Corporation, did it take this long to figure out the incalculable damage this pseudo-scholar and race-baiting activist was doing to Harvard’s reputation?” “Gay, we can be sure, will land on her feet” and “play a part in politics after a due period of reputational rehabilitation. Harvard may have to wait longer.” That’s “cause for lamentation for those of us who took pride in [a] once great institution.”
Israel war: Jerusalem’s Post-10/7 ‘Calculations’
Since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks, Israel has been “taking on” the group’s terrorists in Gaza “in a relentless ground invasion,” observes The Times of Israel’s David Horovitz. Yet Tuesday’s killing of top Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut, “widely attributed to Israel, was a military operation of an entirely different order, character and potential consequence.” Israel had vowed to take out Hamas’ leaders wherever they may be, but if it was responsible, the Arouri assassination “constituted a highly dramatic confirmation of that pledge and of the readiness and ability to implement it.” Israel risked “untold repercussions” from Hezbollah and Iran, since the strike occurred in Hez’s “center of operations” in Lebanon. “Such calculations” may have been cause for hesitation before Oct. 7. Afterward, “they manifestly were not.”
From the right: Voters Flee to GOP-run States
“Voters are heading for an election next November in which they are offered a choice they do not want,” snark the Washington Examiner’s editors. The outcome “probably would tell us little about which political party most voters want in charge.” For that answer, the latest Census Bureau numbers “make clear that the public prefers Republican governance.” “States where Republicans control the governor’s mansion and both legislative chambers saw populations grow by 3.03% since 2020.” “Better job prospects” and lower housing costs are factors. Remote work since the pandemic has freed people to live and work away from their offices — and “given the choice, the public chooses Republican states.” Republicans in Congress have good reason to fight President Biden’s agenda.
— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board
