Paul

Ibrahim

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January 7, 2008

The Ten Best Stories of 2007

The year we sent off last week was quite mixed. It thus seems appropriate to create lists of the worst and best stories of 2007. Last week, I listed the 10 worst stories of 2007. This week, I present to you the 10 best stories of 2007:

10. Burj Dubai becomes the world’s tallest freestanding structure: This story presents dual reasons to cheer. First, it represents the power of free trade and the global economy in improving technology and humanity’s standard of living. Second, it demonstrates the ability of capitalism to modernize Muslim countries such as the United Arab Emirates, incorporate their economies into the global economy and eliminate the need for their poor and destitute to resort to radicalism and terror.

9. Coburn and DeMint fight big spenders: As they did under the Republican majority, Senators Tom Coburn and Jim DeMint heroically stood up to big spenders and porkers under the Democratic majority in the Senate. They understand that the Republicans lost Congress because of their betrayal of small government principles, and along with some colleagues in the House, they have every intention of taking back the GOP for fiscal conservatives.

8. Bush stands up to the Democrats: After years of overseeing increased spending and a widening budget deficit, President Bush finally found the fiscal conservative in him and went on a veto spree. It hasn’t accomplished as much as one would hope, but it did slow down the Democrats’ campaign to continue government enlargement. Predictably, Bush also held his ground on Iraq, which left nothing going right for Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi.

7. Sarkozy elected president of France: The obvious good news for Americans here is President Nicolas Sarkozy’s unabashed admiration of American principles. Perhaps the most notable of the many pro-American leaders recently elected by the world’s greatest democracies, Sarkozy represents a new era of Western cooperation in combating the threats of the 21st Century. This is not to mention his significant, however imperfect, adoption of pro-growth policies that are bound to boost France’s lagging economy.

6. Scientists find stem cell alternatives: One study found that stem cells are in abundant supply in amniotic fluid, and another team of scientists reported that they are able to reprogram easily available human cells into ones that behave just like stem cells. These supplement previous studies showing the effectiveness of stem cells derived from umbilical cords. If these new avenues are pursued, as they should be, the embryonic stem cell debate becomes moot (barring political incentives to the contrary).

5. Comprehensive Immigration Act crashes: Passionate phone calls and letters flooded Senate offices as Republican and Democratic senators prepared to offer illegal immigrants amnesty with President Bush’s support. In the end, common sense succeeded and the bill failed. Though immigrants have been and will continue to be vital to America’s success (I am one myself), granting amnesty to illegal immigrants will incentivize more illegal immigration, lead to national security problems and remain fundamentally unfair to those who have and are waiting in line to get into the country legally.

4. Supreme Court upholds partial-birth abortion ban: Virtually every legitimate poll shows that most Americans are opposed to partial-birth abortion. This is no surprise. The “procedure” involves partially pulling an often viable baby out of the mother feet first, and subsequently inserting instruments that suck his/her brains out, crushing the skull. Legislation to ban partial-birth abortion was twice vetoed by Bill Clinton, and finally signed by President Bush in 2003. Further delays in the courts caused the law’s constitutionality to be upheld as late as 2007, but it is certainly better late than never.

3. Economy remains strong: Contrary to the media’s warnings of an inevitable recession, which they have been predicting since the last recession, 2007 proved to be yet another good year for the economy. The unemployment rate remained at historically low levels as the economy added jobs for a record-breaking 52 consecutive months. Gross Domestic Product continued its strong growth – the third quarter of 2007 showed a 4.9 percent growth in GDP, which is almost like adding the entire economy of Australia to the United States. Inflation continues to be low. The fact that the economy has been able to withstand high oil prices and the bursting housing bubble shows, if anything, resilience and solidity.

2. America is not attacked by terrorists: If the United States was attacked in 2007, who would have been blamed for it? It would take about five seconds for pundits to talk about how the administration failed to protect the country, was distracted by Iraq, blah blah blah. So why shouldn’t the administration get credit for keeping the country safe? We know for a fact that there were several terrorist plots against America that were foiled, so it wasn’t a coincidence either. Considering that the world’s major terrorists have their sights set on the United States and are actively trying to destroy it, the fact that we have not been attacked is one of the greatest stories of 2007 and the years before it.

1. Success in Iraq: The progress seen in 2007 on the ground in Iraq is nothing short of remarkable. When Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid declared the Iraq War “lost,” our troops responded by showing they can win despite stabs to their morale by their elected leaders. Thanks to the 21,000 surge troops, and to those already on the ground, the United States is clearly winning the foremost battle in the global war on terror. These men and women have made our year.

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