Robert W Tracinski

Willy Sutton, in case you are wondering, is the 1930s outlaw who achieved immortality when a reporter asked him why he robbed banks and Sutton replied, simply, “Because that’s where the money is.” It is an amusing reply because it so utterly misses...

Five years ago, then-President Clinton stated before Congress the essence of his contradictory agenda: “The era of big government is over,” he intoned, to great applause. Then he continued, “But we cannot go back to the era when people were left to...

On Thursday, President Bush sent his tax-cut plan to Congress, and it was met with an immediate chorus of class-warfare yelping from the Democrats. House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt led the pack, complaining that Bush’s tax cuts will go to “just the top...

There was a moment in the past weeks’ confirmation hearings that reveals the root of what’s wrong with our government. It was not in the most contentious or well-publicized hearing — and indeed, it was a case where Senate Democrats, Senate...

With just a week left before the new president takes office, our government is engaged in a frenzy of lawmaking. No, Congress has not convened to consider legislation, and no, your elected representatives will not decide whether these new federal rules go into effect....

Does anyone remember the Field of the Blackbirds? It was in the news quite frequently about a year ago, back when people were still paying attention to the mess in Kosovo. The Field of the Blackbirds is the battlefield where a Serbian army was defeated by the Ottoman...

Where are the flying cars? It is now 2001, and for those of us who insist on technicalities, this is the real, official beginning of the 21st century. So I want to know: Where is the future predicted for us by science fiction writers — you know, the future of...

A cloud is hanging over this year’s Christmas season: the cloud of recession. You can see it in weak Christmas shopping sales and the desperate deals being offered by car makers. You can see it in the words of a shopper interviewed on television, who explained...

While the election crisis was still upon us, I hated it as much as anyone else. As a columnist, I probably hated it more. How do you write about politics when the news reverses direction every two hours? But now that it’s all over, I’m getting downright...

Is the media coverage of the election fiasco biased in favor of Gore? Many small instances of bias show up in reporters’ choice of words. When Democrats take to the streets, for example, they are always described as “demonstrators” or...

There used to be a half-joking, half-cynical saying on Capitol Hill: “reality is negotiable.” It stood for the idea that there is no fact that can’t be spun out of existence, and no number so absolute that you can’t doctor it off the books....

The vote last Tuesday wasn’t even close. I know what you’re thinking. If you look at the national totals, the electoral college count, and the chaos in Florida, this election is probably the closest in history. But look at it again, state by state,...

At a memorial service for the sailors killed in the terrorist attack on the USS Cole, President Clinton declared, in the tone of intense emotional sincerity he is so practiced at faking, that “justice will prevail.” It was a cruel lie to tell to the...

If you want to know why the Bush campaign is foundering, you don’t need to look any farther than last week’s battle (week of September 4th, 2000) over prescription drugs. Proving that the era of big government is far from over, Al Gore has proposed a $253...

What an exciting election season. Just think of the campaign issues everyone’s talking about. Al Gore gave his wife a long smooch at the Democratic convention; will this endear him to suburban women? George W. got in trouble when he called a reporter an...