Friday Digest

January 3, 2014

PUBLISHER'S NOTE

Beginning today, we're embarking on the final phase of our six-month long project to bring grassroots Patriots better content that's both more timely and reader friendly.

We're rolling each day's content into one Digest of the best news analysis and opinion on the Internet. The result will be a time-saving daily dose of Right thinking on the most pressing issues -- in just one email. It's the same great content you have come to expect from The Patriot Post over the last 17 years, only in a more concise and timely format. We know you'll love it!

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THE FOUNDATION

"The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind." --Thomas Paine

RIGHT HOOK

Phil Can Keep Filming

Just before Christmas, A&E announced it was "suspending" Phil Robertson from "Duck Dynasty" over comments he made about homosexuality in a GQ interview. The move was clearly a bow to the homosexual agenda and political correctness, as we recounted at the time. It wasn't long, however, before A&E realized their cash cow was in jeopardy and reversed its decision. And Phil didn't even miss any filming. A&E didn't completely concede, though, instead seizing the opportunity to plan a new PSA campaign about "tolerance." We can hardly wait.

13 Tax Hikes in 2013

Now that 2013 is history, here's a recap of some of the taxes that went up last year: Payroll tax (from 4.2% to 6.2%); payroll taxes on those earning more than $250,000 rose another 0.9% on top of the other rate increase; top marginal rate (from 35% to 39.6%); personal exemptions began phasing out for couples earning more than $300,000; ditto for itemized deductions; capital gains and dividends tax increased from 15% to 20%; the death tax on estates larger than $5 million rose from 35% to 40%; taxes on business investment increased; the ObamaCare surtax of 3.8% kicked in for those earning more than $250,000 per year; medical device manufacturers now pay 2.3% excise tax on their products; the deduction for medical expenses was reduced; the corporate deduction for Medicare Part D subsidy expenses was eliminated; and health benefits deductions for corporate executives were limited.

(Hat Tip: Heritage Foundation)

DNC's Fake 'Impeachment' Scare

The DNC emailed supporters just after the Winter Solstice to rustle up some year-end cash. The "urgent" message? Don't let Republicans impeach Barack Obama! Given that such an event is less likely than Al Gore renouncing his climate alarmism, we say to conservatives: Don't bite on this hoax. The DNC's message is a bait-and-switch attempt to change the subject from the Obama/Democrat epic FAILS this year to "impeachment." Any political capital devoted to any such effort will go down the same rat hole as all the capital wasted on the "birth certificate" charade.

Convicts Vote Democrat

According to a new study in The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, most convicted criminals register as Democrats. In fact, Breitbart reports, "The study found that felons registered Democratic over Republican by a six-to-one margin in some states, including New York, where 61.5% are Democrats and only 9% GOP. Another fact discovered was that 73% of the felons who would vote would vote Democrat." They add, "The study said there are 5.8 million eligible voters in jail," the majority of which are young black males. There's one thing the Left can always count on: support from criminals. Because pickpockets have to stick together.

Cold Hard Facts

It may be summer in Antarctica, but a group of scientists on a global warming expedition were dealt an ironic twist after their ship became stranded due to exceptionally thick sea ice. Several ships were forced to avert rescue attempts after also running into adverse conditions. A helicopter was finally deployed in a last-ditch effort to pick up the 52 passengers stranded for 10 days. All this embarrassment could have been avoided if the crew had simply looked at the cold hard facts: Antarctica continues to mount record after record for sea ice expansion, and the globe is cooling -- a development not projected by climate models. But environmental alarmists don't hinge their efforts on facts.

For more, visit Right Hook.

RIGHT ANALYSIS

ObamaCare: Some Things Never Change

Dropping the ball on 2014

It seems that 2014 will be the same as 2013 in at least one respect: The Obama White House will keep lying to us, particularly about its crowning "achievement," ObamaCare. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius claimed on Tuesday that, as of Dec. 28, "2.1 million people have enrolled in a private insurance plan" via ObamaCare. Recall, however, that one is not "enrolled" until the first premium is paid, and the administration refused to provide figures on how many people made it through the Healthcare.gov gauntlet and managed to pay their premium.

According to The Wall Street Journal, "As of Monday, however, only about half of enrollees billed for plans offered by more than 100 insurers in 17 states had paid their first month's premium." The deadline for paying those premiums has been extended, in some cases as late as Jan. 31.

Moreover, even if 2.1 million are enrolled, that doesn't outweigh the five million policies that have been cancelled because of ObamaCare. That isn't to say that three million people are without insurance; many of those five million rolled into other policies. But it also doesn't diminish the size of Obama's BIG lie that "if you like your plan, you can keep your plan." Undaunted, the White House spun it this way in an email this week: "Americans across the country have new health insurance that starts today, thanks to the Affordable Care Act." That's because they lost their old insurance because of the "Affordable" Care Act! No wonder the chief operating officer of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is retiring.

In the end, however, the problem for Democrats isn't the failed website rollout or even the mass cancellations, it's the fact that from here forward every American suffering anything from a hang nail to a heart attack will blame Democrats for wantonly destroying the health care system.

Another Spin Cycle for Benghazi

With the 2012 elections long past, one would think The New York Times would take a breather from its pro-Obama campaign rhetoric. One would be wrong. Faithful to toe the line for Barack Obama's narrative, the Times last week came out with an article all but absolving al-Qaida of the September 11, 2012 Benghazi attack that killed four Americans, including the ambassador. Instead, the Times blamed -- you guessed it -- the now-infamous YouTube video. According to the article, "Months of investigation ... turned up no evidence that Al Qaeda or other international terrorist groups had any role in the assault." As we reported extensively last year, however, this directly contradicts the CIA's conclusion -- or, at least, the CIA's conclusion before the Obama administration rewrote its talking points -- that "Islamic extremists with ties to al-Qaida participated in the attack."

Nevertheless, defending its tale against accusations of political motivation, the Times claimed that "there was no editorial/newsroom conspiracy of any kind." (If this is true, it may be a first in recent history for the Times). Meanwhile, the State Department continues to regurgitate the spin that it has "no indication that core al-Qaida ... directed or planned what happened in Benghazi." Apparently, the date of the attacks, September 11, doesn't qualify as an indication. We have a feeling there are four dead Americans who might disagree.
For more, visit Right Analysis.

RIGHT OPINION

Columnist George Will: "Despite dramatic expansions of education and information sources, abundant evidence shows the scope of political ignorance is remarkably persistent over time. New information technologies have served primarily to increase the knowledge of the already well-informed, which increases the ability of some to engage in 'rent-seeking' from the regulatory state, manipulating its power in order to transfer wealth to themselves. And if political knowledge is measured relative to government's expanding scope, ignorance is increasing rapidly: There is so much more to be uninformed about. A better ameliorative measure would be to reduce the risks of ignorance by reducing government's consequences -- its complexity, centralization and intrusiveness. In the 19th century, voters' information burdens were much lighter because important federal issues ... were much fewer. Political ignorance helps explain Americans' perpetual disappointment with politicians generally, and presidents especially, to whom voters unrealistically attribute abilities to control events."

Columnist Arnold Ahlert: "Twenty-seven-year-old Conrad Barrett of Katy, Texas has been charged with a hate crime by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for allegedly targeting a 79-year-old black man as his 'knockout game' victim. ... [T]he Washington Times addresses the other issue that is undoubtedly on the minds of many Americans. 'The 'game' has spawned a fierce debate since many of the reported victims have been white and their assailants have been black, but hate crimes charges have been all but non-existent,' the Post states. ... A study conducted by the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics asserted that more than 250,000 Americans over the age of 12 are victims of hate crimes every year, of which one third are reported. That means there are 83,000 reported hate crimes per year. If one ten-thousandth of one percent of those hate crimes involved some version of the knockout game, the Eric Holder-led DOJ would have had at least 41 other opportunities to pursue federal hate crime charges during the five years the Obama administration has been in charge."
For more, visit Right Opinion.

QUOTE ADDENDUM

U.S. Army General Peyton Conway March (1864-1955): "There is a wonderful mythical law of nature that the three things we crave most in life -- happiness, freedom, and peace of mind -- are always attained by giving them to someone else." 

Columnist Cal Thomas: "In our just concluded Christmas season, we recalled a different kind of Magi: wise men who came to worship and bring gifts to the Christ child. Now MAGI stands for Modified Adjusted Gross Income. How appropriate with a president who was called a messiah figure by some and to whom we are being forced to bring 'gifts' in increasing amounts to be misspent on bloated and dysfunctional government. There's only one way to fix this and it comes in the next two elections."
Comedian Jay Leno: "A new report says that members of Congress work harder than the average American. You know why? That's because thanks to Congress the average American is out of work."

Dave Barry in his always worthwhile "Year in Review" column: "[In October,] the federal government, in an unthinkable development that we cannot even think about, partially shuts down. The result is a catastrophe of near-sequester proportions. Within hours wolves are roaming the streets of major U.S. cities, and bacteria the size of mature salmon are openly cavorting in the nation's water supply. In the Midwest, thousands of cows, no longer supervised by the Department of Agriculture, spontaneously explode. Yellowstone National Park -- ALL of it -- is stolen. In some areas gravity stops working altogether, forcing people to tie themselves to trees so they won't float away. With the nation virtually defenseless, the Bermudan army invades the East Coast, within hours capturing Delaware and most of New Jersey. By day 17, the situation has become so dire that Congress, resorting to desperate measures, decides to actually do something. It passes, and the president signs, a law raising the debt ceiling, thereby ensuring that the federal government can continue spending spectacular quantities of money that it does not have until the next major totally unforeseeable government financial crisis, scheduled for February 2014."

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.

Friday, January 3, 2014

THE PATRIOT POST 01/03/2014