Penna Dexter The Left predictably exploits the coronavirus pandemic to bash capitalism. The Wall Street Journal’s Kim Strassel counters, “To the extent America is weathering this moment, it is in enormous part thanks to the strength, ingenuity, and flexibility of our thriving, competitive capitalist players.” The U.S. response has not been without its problems, but capitalism is providing many more…
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Penna Dexter There’s a wide disparity across America regarding how we’re experiencing the coronavirus pandemic. More and more of us know people who have or have had COVID-19, but polling shows the majority still doesn’t. A recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found that 59 percent of Americans don’t know a soul who has contracted the virus. Yet every one…
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Penna Dexter The air is leaking out of the bubble of frustration we’ve all been living in. There’s a national sense of relief as states and localities announce they’re relaxing lockdowns, quarantines and social distancing standards. We’re anxious to jump back into normal life, but also cautious – a bit hesitant. Now that Americans are getting a few more opportunities…
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Penna Dexter In one of those ZOOM get-togethers that have become a social lifeline lately, participants were asked to reveal their worst and best experiences during life in the coronavirus lockdown. My worst is an underlying angst and sleeplessness I can’t shake as I watch businesses and workers idled and try to swallow the passage of trillions of dollars in…
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Penna Dexter What has COVID-19 done to the Europe that coalesced into a formal union in 1993 meant to ensure the free movement of people, goods, services, and capital? What’s become of its borderless economy? As the coronavirus was spreading across Europe, the German government announced a ban on the export of surgical face masks. Shipments on the way to…
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Penna Dexter Have you found yourself tipping generously these days? Americans are of a mind to be generous with those working hard to deliver food and supplies and the things we need during social distancing. But fears and uncertainties also arise. Even for people who are fully able to pay their bills, the specter of some disturbing economic scenarios gives…
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Penna Dexter As we all adapt to social distancing, the new normal for daily living, we’ve also got to get serious about economic distancing from China. We have become too dependent on China in key sectors of our economy — like pharmaceutical and medical supply production. China’s state news agency has issued several warnings that if the United States isn’t…
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Penna Dexter After the Coronavirus pandemic dissipates, perhaps we’ll ask why some countries got a better handle on patient recovery than others? There are early hints that outcomes have a lot to do with how dependent countries’ systems are on direct government financing of health care. In Italy, doctors know how to treat severe cases. But they need ventilators in…
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Penna Dexter The House of Representatives Committee on Reform and Oversight held a hearing recently on what members called “the administration’s religious liberty assault on LGBT rights.” New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is on this committee as are fellow “Squad” members, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts. The hearing’s stated premise was that the Trump administration is…
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Penna Dexter Even if you’d rather not worry about it — and you can certainly put me in that category — coronavirus is, if not front and center, at least brewing below the surface for most of us. On weekends, I read Peggy Noonan’s column. She’d planned on writing her latest piece about presidential politics: the South Carolina primary, Super Tuesday, etc….
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Penna Dexter Where do public school bureaucrats get the idea that they, not parents, have the final authority to decide, in some very sensitive areas, what is best for children? In Madison, Wisconsin, this attitude is some parents’ worst nightmare as teachers help children begin gender transitions without notifying their parents. Fourteen Wisconsin parents, representing eight families, are bringing a…
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