RADICALS EULOGIZED: The recent deaths of former Rep. Shirley Chisholm (D.-N.Y.) and authoress Susan Sontag offer empirical evidence of the overwhelming liberal tilt of the media elite, particularly major U.S. newspapers. Chisholm, 80, who died January 1, and Sontag, 71, who passed away December 28, were hailed as trailblazing "activists"-liberal journalists' description of choice for deceased Marxist radicals. Obit after obit described Sontag in glowing terms: "Intellectual," "celeb," "crusader," "revolutionary thinker," "pop icon," "remarkable person," "pre-eminent," and "fiercely smart." The front-page headline of the Washington Post's obituary (below the fold), "Cultural Author, Activist Was a Fearless Thinker," merely whet liberals' appetite for Henry Allen's "Appreciation" piece in the Post's Style Section, headlined: "Thinking Woman." Writing in HUMAN EVENTS ["The Race Problem: Reassessing Some Liberal Assumptions," Oct. 21, 1967, page 8], author Frederic Nelson pointed out that which most obits conveniently omitted from their eulogies: Sontag once wrote in Partisan Review "that 'the white race is the cancer of human history: it is the white race and it alone-its ideologies and inventions-which eradicates autonomous civilizations wherever it spreads, which has upset the ecological balance of the planet, which now threatens the very existence of life itself.' Whew! No violence anywhere until whitey came along."
RADICALS EULOGIZED II: New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg described former Rep. Chisholm, the first black female elected to Congress and first black female presidential nominee, as a "trailblazer." Her accomplishment: A fighter for "social justice and equality for all Americans." In March 1971, HUMAN EVENTS reported that Chisholm was one of four members of the Congressional Black Caucus-John Conyers (Mich.), Charles Rangel (N.Y.), and Ron Dellums (Calif.) being the other three-who "endorsed a New York Times ad calling for a 'massive mobilization of the American people' to demonstrate against the President's actions in conducting the war in Southeast Asia. The demonstration is planned by the Trotskyites." ["Black Caucus Exploiting President," March 13, 1971, page 5]. In remembering Sontag and Chisholm, liberals predictably recognize radical leftists for their ideological contributions to progressive causes, which are cloaked as valued assets to American society. The Pittsburgh Tribune Review was one of the few papers to put Sontag's life into proper perspective: "A pathetically misguided life."
EURO-STYLE TAX CUTS: President Bush's tax cuts over the last four years were strongly opposed by liberals, and even many moderates saw them as controversial. So it is interesting to discover, according to a new report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, that governments of the left in Europe have been doing pretty much the same thing that President Bush has done here, says Bruce Bartlett in an analysis, "Tax Cuts in Europe," for the National Center for Policy Analysis.
- There have been a number of major tax cuts in Europe that have lowered taxes as a share of the gross domestic product by one percent, from 39.9% in 2000 to 38.9% in 2002.
- Among the 15 members of the European Union, the reduction has been a little greater, from 41.8% in 2000 to 40.6% in 2002. Such a tax cut may not seem terribly significant, explains Bartlett, but one must realize that taxes have been climbing very sharply in Europe for decades and this is the first sustained reduction since records started being kept in 1965: At that time, the 15 EU countries took only 27.9% of GDP.
- By 1975, that figure had risen to 33.2% and by 1985 it was up to 38.8%. Interestingly, European tax cuts have included meaningful cuts in individual income tax rates for the rich-the most controversial element of President Bush's program. According to the OECD, 17 of 30 countries cut tax rates on the rich between 2000 and 2003-some by much more than here.
RED STATES SWELL: A recent article in USA Today noted that robust population growth continues to sweep the nation's Southern and Western states, according to recent Census Bureau estimates. The U.S. population on July 1 was 293.7 million, up 1% from July 1, 2003. If that growth rate holds, the nation will have 311.7 million people in 2010.
