"So Greece has cultural problems that contributed to its economic implosion. But there are similarities to the U.S. as well — and because we have elected Democrats, they are growing. By the end of 2011, Greece’s debt will be 150 percent of its GDP. According to a March report by the Congressional Budget Office, President Obama’s 2011 budget will generate nearly $10 trillion in cumulative budget deficits over the next ten years — $1.2 trillion more than the administration projected — which will increase our debt-to-GDP ratio to 90 percent by 2020...

"Greece is in flames, but if you look around, you can smell the smoke here as well."

"Last Saturday, Americans were again instructed on their political manners by their Moralizer in Chief... 

"'We cannot expect to solve our problems if all we do is tear each other down,' Mr. Obama said. He spoke against 'demonizing' political opponents or 'questioning their motives or their patriotism.'... 

"A lot is right with those words. But there's a lot wrong with them coming from Mr. Obama, who is contributing to the 'slash and burn politics' he preaches against...

"If Mr. Obama wants his Ann Arbor words to be taken seriously, then he needs to rein in his party, his staff and himself. Presidential leadership matters as much as presidential words, perhaps more. Mr. Obama should back up his inspiring call to civility with action."

"The Washington think tank industry has launched a thousand blue-ribbon commissions and furrowed-brow panels to brood over the public’s loss of trust in government and its leaders. Why are people so cynical?

"Last week, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist raised his hand with the answer.

"It turns out that one big reason people assume that politicians are slippery opportunists whose words can’t be trusted is that many of them are slippery opportunists whose words can’t be trusted."

"President Reagan had a sign on his desk that said, 'It's amazing how much you can accomplish if you don't care who gets the credit.' If President Obama had a sign, it would say, 'It's amazing how much you can accomplish if you don't care what the public thinks.'

"Washington has never been held in lower esteem by Americans than it is today. Yet those in control of Washington -- President Obama and congressional Democrats -- are bent on enacting a series of sweeping domestic policy changes this year that have one thing in common: They are unpopular, in whole or in part.

"This is unprecedented and a bit weird too. A revival of civility and an end to the ugly political polarization in Washington -- goals stressed by Mr. Obama in his presidential campaign and again last Saturday in a speech at the University of Michigan -- won't be furthered by passage of an unpopular agenda. A more likely result is years of partisan resentment and bitter fighting over efforts by Republicans to repeal the unwanted policies."

"That was a close one.

"Police and federal agents were still searching last night for suspects in Saturday night's attempted car bombing in the heart of Times Square -- averted when an alert street vendor notified police.

"But whether the culprit was an agent of Islamist terrorism or domestic nihilism -- or a deranged lone wolf -- the events on West 45th Street were a frightening reminder that New York City remains smack in the crosshairs of a whole lot of people nursing murderous grudges."

"We are at a remarkable moment. We have an open, 2,000-mile border to our south, and the entity with the power to enforce the law and impose safety and order will not do it. Wall Street collapsed, taking Main Street's money with it, and the government can't really figure out what to do about it because the government itself was deeply implicated in the crash, and both political parties are full of people whose political careers have been made possible by Wall Street contributions. Meanwhile we pass huge laws, bills so comprehensive, omnibus and transformative that no one knows what's in them and no one — literally, no one — knows how exactly they will be executed or interpreted. Citizens search for new laws online, pore over them at night, and come away knowing no more than they did before they typed 'dot-gov.'

"It is not that no one's in control. Washington is full of people who insist they're in control and who go to great lengths to display their power. It's that no one takes responsibility and authority. Washington daily delivers to the people two stark and utterly conflicting messages: 'We control everything' and 'You're on your own.'

"All this contributes to a deep and growing alienation between the people of America and the government of America in Washington."

"Ready to show your papers? Mexico's National Catalog of Foreigners tracks all outside tourists and foreign nationals. A National Population Registry tracks and verifies the identity of every member of the population, who must carry a citizens' identity card. Visitors who do not possess proper documents and identification are subject to arrest as illegal aliens."

"The President says the Arizona law is 'misguided.' His attorney general says it's 'unfortunate.'  In San Francisco, they're talking about boycotting the state. Al Sharpton is on the way to lead marches and Linda Greenhouse, the esteemed legal affairs commentator of The New York Times, says she will boycott Arizona because, she says, it is now a police state where 'breathing while undocumented' is a crime...

"But it's already a federal crime to enter the U.S. illegally. The new law just makes it a state crime, too...

"In fact, once you actually read this law, it becomes clear the fuss over it has little to do with breathing in Arizona and a lot to do with hyperventilating in Washington."

"Arizona’s offense is to attempt to enforce the nation’s immigration laws, in the absence of any serious commitment to do so on the part of the federal government or our political class...

"Once millions of illegal aliens are in the country, there’s no neat way to get them back out. It’s much better to endeavor to stop them at the southern border, something Washington still refuses to do. During the last eruption of the national immigration debate, Congress passed a law mandating a fence along the border. The Bush administration bid it down to a high-tech 'virtual fence.' And the Obama administration has ceased constructing even that. If the federal government had been in charge of building the Great Wall, it wouldn’t have been great or a wall."

"The Obama Democrats' stealth strategy for increasing the size and scope of the federal government is well underway, despite huge voter backlash. Federal spending has been increased from a 30-year average of 21 percent of gross domestic product to 25 percent, and a bipartisan commission tasked with reducing the deficit may recommend tax increases.

"Presidential economic adviser Paul Volcker has already called for a value-added tax, a form of national sales tax, and presidential press secretary Robert Gibbs has declined to rule it out.

"The assumption in some quarters is that a tax increase is inevitable and that the public won't allow any significant decrease in public spending. But there's reason to question that assumption."