Friday Digest
November 22, 2013
THE FOUNDATION
"A fondness for power is implanted, in most men, and it is natural to abuse it, when acquired." --Alexander Hamilton
GOVERNMENT & POLITICS'If You Like the Rules, You Can Keep the Rules'Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) got it right: "[Reid] might just as well have said, 'If you like the rules of the Senate, you can keep them!'" Maybe he's just regretting that Republicans didn't do this 10 years ago.
The Senate's nuclear option
is the latest of Obama's autocratic power grabs -- this time to stack
the courts with far-Left judges before the 2014 election. He is
principally concerned with packing the DC Circuit Court, which will hear
most challenges to ObamaCare. While some suggest this rule change was
done to distract from the ObamaCare mess, we think ObamaCare's
ubiquitous failure will actually serve as cover for this maneuver. In
two days, Senate rules will be off the radar.
Now for some history. The
filibuster was rarely used to block nominations until Democrats lost the
Senate in 2002 and decided to torpedo as many of George W. Bush's
nominations as they could. When Republicans considered ways to do
something about that, Democrats threw a hissy fit about the "tradition
of the Senate." In 2005, then-Sen. Barack Obama argued, "The talk of the
'nuclear option' is more about power than about fairness." Then-Sen.
Joe Biden declared, "The nuclear option is ultimately an example of the
arrogance of power." Harry Reid warned that changing the rules was
"un-American" and "illegal," and in 2008 promised never to bring it up
for a vote.
This week, however, Reid finally pulled the trigger and changed the
rules. Obama also changed his tune: "I support the step a majority of
senators today took to change the way that Washington is doing business.
Today's pattern of obstruction it just isn't normal. It's not what our
Founders envisioned -- a deliberate and determined effort to obstruct
everything no matter what the merits just to fight the results of an
election."For Obama to invoke "what our Founders envisioned" is laughable. Actually, our Founders set forth clear protections to keep majority rule in line with our Constitution -- protections which were clearly explained in Federalist Papers No. 64-66. Meanwhile, file this disgraceful episode with Obama's other lying, cheating and stealing. We now know that ahead of the 2012 election, in order to ensure his re-election, Obama repeatedly lied about ObamaCare, lied about Benghazi so as not to detract from his "al-Qaida conquerer image," his administration surrogates used the IRS to disable political opponents, and manipulated critical jobs numbers so as not to undermine the facade that his economic policies were succeeding. If the leftist agenda is so great, why the dishonest tactics?
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CULTURE, SCIENCE & FAITHMilitary Oath Alteration Update
As commander in chief, Obama has certainly succeeded in suppressing religious expression by uniformed Patriots in our military service branches. However, his subversion of their freedom to express faith is not going without objection.
Last year, The Patriot Post
uncovered what appeared to be a legal setup by Obama's DoD civilian
administrators and their surrogates -- a setup that has the potential to
force the removal of "so help me God" from all military oaths.
That strategic ploy starts with the 2011 removal of those words from
the officer, enlisted and cadet oaths in the Air Force Academy's
official handbook. Three weeks ago, we published a detailed followup of that strategy
after one of Obama's surrogates issued a formal challenge to remove "so
help me God" from the Cadet Honor Oath. This week, in response to that
column, 28 members of Congress issued an official letter of inquiry to the Superintendent
of the Air Force Academy asking for "a detailed explanation as to why
[they omitted] 'so help me God' from these oaths, despite the fact that
the phrase is used in the very statutory language of the United States
Code, and was part of the military oath drafted by the Founders
themselves."
A Fox News report
notes the AFA's Public Affairs Office claims that the alterations were
"an editorial oversight." That is possible, but given the Obama
administration's aggressive faith suppression agenda in our military
ranks, an "oversight" is questionable -- especially since the omission
was perpetuated in the 2012 and 2013 AFA handbooks. Moreover, when Mark
Alexander first inquired about the oath alterations in 2012, the Air
Force Public Affairs Office refused to comment and said any further
information about this issue would require a Freedom of Information Act
request. Now that the congressional inquiry is underway, an FOIA request
is being filed today in an effort to determine if anyone outside the
AFA had a hand in the oath alterations.
NATIONAL SECURITYWarfront With Jihadistan: Troops in Afghanistan
The agreement, which has
been evolving through negotiations since 2013, sets a framework for the
presence of American troops and their continued role in conjunction with
Afghan security forces. Details are still fluid, but what is known is
that approximately 15,000 American soldiers will remain in the country
to train and assist in the continued fight against al-Qaida and Taliban
forces.
The White House has kept
the agreement quiet, most likely because it's an about-face from Barack
Obama's previous desire to wash his hands of Afghanistan by the end of
2014. He perhaps was compelled to change his mind, however, after
watching Iraq fall apart following the unilateral U.S. withdrawal in
2010. Al-Qaida has surged once again and spread to Syria and elsewhere.
If we hope to have any chance of holding on to gains made in
Afghanistan, we have no choice but to maintain a strong presence there.
The real concern at this point is if 15,000 troops will be enough, and
whether the Afghanistan National Security Force will develop its
intelligence and equipment capabilities to a point where it will be able
to handle the country's defense on its own. The history of the conflict
to this point doesn't offer much to be confident about in either case.
ECONOMY, REGS & TAXESHouse Votes on Energy Bills
The House passed three
bills this week, largely along party lines, to ease restrictions on oil
and gas drilling. The first bill aimed to streamline the permitting
process by setting a 60-day deadline for drilling applications on
federal lands. It passed 228-192 with 10 Democrats supporting the
measure. The second, which passed 235-187 with a similar number of
Democrats, would block the Interior Department from enforcing rules on
hydraulic fracturing in states that already have their own regulations
in place. The third bill, which passed with the help of 26 Democrats,
would tighten the deadlines for rulings on natural gas pipeline
projects.
These bills collectively seek to encourage an oil and gas boom that would boost the economy. As we noted Wednesday,
the International Energy Agency (IEA) recently announced that by 2015,
the U.S. will top Russia and Saudi Arabia as the world's leading oil
producer and, in the next 20 years, will near energy independence.
But that all makes it a
primary candidate for Barack Obama to oppose. Indeed, the White House
issued a veto threat and the legislation stands little chance of
reaching a Senate vote. Obama continues to hold fast to his claim that
the federal government is helping the energy industry even though
regulations continue to stymie any opportunities for effective
development of America's natural resources.
BRIEF OPINIONEssential LibertyColumnist John Stossel: "Some regulation is useful. But when we passively accept government regulation of everything, thinking we're protecting people from evil corporations run amok, we're really making life harder for ordinary people. Every profession, from cab driving to floral arrangement, is now burdened with complex rules. ... Jeff Rowes, an attorney at the Institute for Justice, a civil liberties group that defends many people caught up in regulatory cases, says, 'America was conceived as a sea of liberty with islands of government power. We're now a sea of government power with ever-shrinking islands of liberty.' The little guys don't have an army of lawyers to defend those islands of liberty one regulatory battle at a time. We should get rid of most of these regulations -- and sail back, together, to a free country."For the Record
Columnist Larry Elder:
"Democrats flat-out despise insurance companies. They've been called
'immoral villains' (Pelosi), 'deceptive and dishonest' (President Barack
Obama), 'fly-by-night' (former Gov. and DNC chair Howard Dean),
'rapacious' (Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va.) and 'greedy' (Sen. Harry
Reid, D-Nev.). Are health insurance companies any greedier than any
other for-profit sector of the economy? In 2009, before Obamacare,
profit margins for the network and communications equipment industry
averaged 20.4 percent; Internet services and retailing was 19.4 percent;
pharmaceuticals averaged 19.3 percent; railroads 12.6 percent; gas and
electric utilities 8.7 percent; and food consumer products 6.7 percent.
Health insurance and managed care companies? They averaged 2.2 percent."
Re: The Left
Historian Victor Davis
Hanson: "The Obama administration once gave us 'man-caused disasters'
for acts of terrorism and 'workplace violence' for the Fort Hood
shootings. Now it has trumped those past linguistic contortions by
changing words to mask the Obamacare disaster. ... The newly canceled
health plans are suddenly rebranded by the administration as 'subpar.'
Only in autumn 2013 is the supposedly unaware public told that, years
ago, 'bad apple' insurance companies sold them 'substandard' plans. ...
From the very beginning, Obamacare defied the laws of common sense and
basic logic. Providing more coverage for more people cannot result in
radical reductions in costs, as promised -- unless a shopper normally
can buy more and better groceries for cheaper prices. How logical was
expecting indebted young people to voluntarily pay more for insurance
they would rarely use in order to pay for others to use it a lot?"
For more, visit The Right Opinion.CHRONICLE QUOTESThe Demo-gogues
Barack Obama: "It's no
secret that the American people have probably never been more frustrated
with Washington. And one of the reasons why that is, is that over the
past five years, we've seen an unprecedented pattern of obstruction in
Congress that's prevented too much of the American people's business
from getting done. ... At a time when millions of Americans have
desperately searched for work, repeated abuse of these tactics have
blocked legislation that might create jobs. ... [T]oday's pattern of
obstruction, it just isn't normal. It's not what our Founders
envisioned. ... [Republicans have blocked my nominees] simply because
they opposed the policies that the American people voted for in the last
election. ... [T]his isn't obstruction on substance, on qualification,
it's just to gum up the works. ... The American people's business is
far too important to keep falling prey day after day to Washington
politics. ... It's rather used as a reckless and relentless tool to
grind all business to a halt. And that's not what our Founders intended.
... The American people deserve better than politicians who run for
election telling them how terrible government is, and then devoting
their time in elected office to trying to make government not work as
often as possible. ... And as long as I have the privilege of being in
this office, I'll keep working as hard as I know how to make sure that
the economy's growing and we're creating good jobs and we're widening
prosperity and opportunity for everybody."
Non Compos Mentis
Part I: Rep. Sheila Jackson
Lee: "The [insurance] cancellation notice[s] was not the truth. It
should have been: 'We intend to or expect to modify your insurance.'
[Cancellations happen] when you don't pay your premium, or something has
happened in the bad old days. A cancellation notice was the
inappropriate document to send without notice. All they had to do is
[say] that, 'This is a notice to say that we're going to improve your
insurance, not, in essence, eliminate your insurance.'"
Part II: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi: "Did I ever tell my
constituents that if they liked their plan they could keep it? I would
have if I'd ever met anybody who liked his or her plan. But that was not
my experience."Dezinformatsia
Political "analyst" Juan
Williams: "[S]enior officials at the White House ... are in full fight
mode over the Affordable Care Act right now. What you hear from these
senior officials is, you know, they're concerned about what happened
with insurance companies. They wish the insurance companies hadn't sent
out the cancellation notices and if they had, that they simply call them
renewals. ... They feel they have to turn that around, as the first
step in trying to repair the damage that's been done to this president."
How about repairing the damage done to the American people?
The BIG Lie
Michelle Obama: "We don't believe in handouts. We don't think anyone should get a free ride."
Village Idiots
Hip-hop mogul Russell
Simmons: "Yes, we initially wanted single-payer, and we had to
compromise back in 2009 for the Affordable Care Act. But, it is a da--
good piece of legislation that has already saved hundreds of thousands,
if not millions of lives."
Braying Jackass
Actor Richard Dreyfus: "For
about 100 years one of the political parties has always tried to get a
safety net under people. And the other party hasn't. ... I love to
remind people that all of our national endeavors started out badly.
World War II did not start well, or the Highway Act, or Social Security,
or the Hoover Dam. And what happens is they get fixed by a Congress of
both parties. And that's what should happen now. And if one party says
no, then they should anticipate having the sick and the dying and the
dead on their lawns."
Short Cuts
Comedian Jay Leno: "The
ratings for Al Jazeera America has now dipped even lower than Al Gore's
Current TV, which it replaced. That's how you know you're boring, OK?
When Al Gore is considered more entertaining to people than what you
have."
Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus et Fidelis!
Nate Jackson for The Patriot Post Editorial Team
Join us in daily prayer for
our Patriots in uniform -- Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast
Guardsmen -- standing in harm's way in defense of Liberty, and for
their families.
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