"A conservative," the old cliché goes, "is a liberal who has been mugged." But some liberals who are mugged refuse to admit that it happened.

Observe the rough treatment to which the new American ambassador in Moscow, Michael McFaul, has been subjected since his appointment last January. Since his arrival, the ambassador has been constantly accused in the media of stirring up anti-government protests, and lately he has been ambushed by Russian state-TV crews at his meetings, official and unofficial, suggesting that his phone was tapped.

This comes on top of numerous other strong indications that the Obama administration's attempts to "reset" relations with Russia - a policy spearheaded by Mr. McFaul - have failed. But while McFaul has complained loudly about his recent treatment, he does not seem to realize that he, along with his boss Hillary Clinton, have been mugged in a much broader sense.

Some people, in their pursuit of profit, benefit their fellow humans by creating new or better goods and services, and then by employing others. We call such people entrepreneurs and productive workers.

Others are parasites who suck the blood and energy away from the productive. Such people are most often found in government.

Perhaps the most vivid description of what happens to a society where the parasites become so numerous and powerful that they destroy their productive hosts is Ayn Rand's classic novel "Atlas Shrugged." The just-released movie version is an entertaining, tension-filled struggle between the productive and the parasites who ally themselves with the envious and evil. Go see it - here's the theatre list nationwide .

Bad policies come about from the actions of specific people - individuals in Congress and government agencies - not the Congress or the administration as a whole. Washington is filled with people who are more destructive than constructive. It is useful to name some of the most destructive people in the hope that they will either reform or leave.

Last January, a team of US scientists, led by former Los Alamos lab director Sig Heckler, was allowed to visit the Yongbyon nuclear facility in North Korea. The North Koreans produced a heavy glass jar containing a funnel-shaped piece of metal that was “blackish with a rough surface,” according to Heckler. The jar was warm -- plutonium generates heat -- and “seemed about right in terms of weight” for Heckler. A Geiger counter registered radiation. At a subsequent press conference in Beijing, the scientists announced North Korea has reprocessed enough plutonium for at least four bombs. A few days later, the North Korean government offered to freeze its nuclear weapons program in exchange for massive aid and the lifting of sanctions. The question arises: is this all a con?

President Barack Hussein Obama has laid out the core message of his re-election campaign. It is a message whose claims are blatantly false and whose point is irrelevant to what is of greatest concern to Americans today.

Despite this, there is no evidence so far that his strategy and messaging is not working and won't be successful.

In his speech last week (4/10) at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, the president defined what he called "the defining issue of our time."

This defining issue, per the president, appears to be that America is not fair.

Now excuse me for pointing out the irony of hearing from our nation's first black president a suggestion that America may no longer be a nation where dreams can be realized or where someone can come out of nowhere and make it.

Ironically, I would say that if America is unfair today, it is because politicians and government have the power to do exactly what it is that Obama wants to do: Seize control of the wealth of some and redistribute it to whomever they choose.

The Bible that I read every day calls this theft.

With apologies to Clint Eastwood, we're facing a real-life version of his famous movie that could be entitled The Responsible, The Timid, and The Ugly.

For the past year, the Federal Reserve has been the largest single purchaser of U.S. government securities, buying well more than half of all new debt. The Fed calls this program quantitative easing (QE2), or what normal people would call printing money. The Fed has stated that this program will stop in June. Who is going to purchase all of the new government debt when the Fed stops?

The Chinese and other foreign holders of U.S. government debt are well aware of the increasing probability of higher U.S. inflation and the corresponding further decline in the dollar. Since September, the Chinese have been gradually reducing their holdings of U.S. government securities (i.e., becoming net sellers). The Japanese had been net buyers of U.S. government debt, but they also will now likely become net sellers as they will need funds for rebuilding.

Again, who will fill the Treasury bond-buying gap left by the withdrawal of the Fed, the Chinese and the Japanese?

"I'm confident that the Supreme Court will not take what would be an unprecedented, extraordinary step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected Congress."  --Barack Obama, April 2, 2012

I don't think that President Obama believes a word of his remarks about what the Supreme Court can or cannot do about any given piece of legislation.  Attorney General Holder said as much when he agreed that the Supremes are there specifically to protect against laws they consider unconstitutional. Holder's not picking a fight with his boss.

It's not about that.  It's about power.  And freedom.

Power, because the president and his people think that, since they are smarter and better than the rest of us, anyone who tries to limit their power is bad, and has to be brought into line.  Thus, the tough words of warning to any Justice contemplating voting against Obamacare.

Freedom, because the accumulation of power in the hands of the executive branch comes at our expense, bit by bit and law by law, precisely as Alexis de Tocqueville feared.

"Fiscal crisis hits the states" has become this year's most boring and repetitive headline.

But what is largely overlooked is that some states are doing relatively well - such as my home state of Virginia - and are, in fact, balancing their budgets without draconian budget cuts or tax increases.

What are the well-managed states doing right and the others doing wrong? And what lessons could those running the federal government learn from the better managed states?

The accompanying table shows the rankings of seven of the major states by various organizations.