Daily Digest

January 10, 2014

THE FOUNDATION

"He therefore is the truest friend to the liberty of his country who tries most to promote its virtue, and who, so far as his power and influence extend, will not suffer a man to be chosen into any office of power and trust who is not a wise and virtuous man... The sum of all is, if we would most truly enjoy this gift of Heaven, let us become a virtuous people." --Samuel Adams

TOP 5 RIGHT HOOKS

Dismal December Jobs Report

Economists predicted that December would see nearly 200,000 new jobs, but reality was ... unexpected. Just 74,000 jobs were created last month. The headline unemployment rate dropped from 7.0% to 6.7%, but -- and it's a big but -- this was almost entirely attributable to the 525,000 people who left the workforce. Just 62.8% of Americans were part of the labor force, tied for the lowest rate since 1978, and nearly 92 million people aren't in the labor force. For the year, unemployment dropped 1.2 percentage points, but real unemployment is at least 13.1% and, again, we'd point to the 2.9 million Americans who left the labor force in 2013 as the reason. By the way, we're entering year six of the Obama "recovery."

Broken 'Promise Zones'

The latest front in the Left's redistributionist war on "inequality" is Barack Obama's five "promise zones" -- areas that will receive special federal aid due to their poverty. "We've got to make sure this recovery, which is real, leaves nobody behind," he explained. Unlike the biblical promised land, Obama has determined that Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Antonio, southeastern Kentucky and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma are not exactly flowing with milk and honey and therefore need his help. (Interesting that Detroit's not on the list.) He will choose 15 other needy areas in the future. Such targeted aid zones aren't new, dating back to the New Deal. But -- surprise -- the results are usually both underwhelming and difficult to assess. Fortunately for leftists, it's only intentions that matter.

Regulatory Explosion in 2013

The ever-growing regulatory state continues to strangle the U.S. economy. American Action Forum calculates that, in 2013, the cost of complying with new federal regulations stripped $112 billion from the economy, and $494 billion dating back to 2009. Most of last year's hefty cost comes courtesy of two environmental standards. In total, the new rules equate to nearly 158 million hours of additional paperwork. AAF estimates this year's financial burden to approach $143 billion. To see the effect of these regulations, see December's jobs report.

A Partial IRS Investigation

The Obama Justice Department selected Barbara Kay Bosserman, a trial lawyer in the department, to head up its investigation into the IRS political-targeting scandal. The catch is that Bosserman donated more than $6,000 to Obama in 2008 and 2012, as well as hundreds of dollars to the DNC, which creates quite the conflict of interest. The Justice Department says it won't consider political activity when assigning cases, but this case should be an exception. Then again, the administration insists that using the might of the IRS to target political opponents is a "phony scandal," so why wouldn't they appoint a phony investigator?

Obama's Racist Civil Rights Nominee

Barack Obama has nominated attorney Debo Adegbile as chief of the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. But the Fraternal Order of Police isn't happy. The FOP sent a letter to Obama explaining that Adegbile led efforts by the NAACP's Legal Defense Fund to represent, pro bono, notorious cop-killer and far-Left darling Mumia Abu-Jamal. With Adegbile's help, Abu-Jamal's death sentence was overturned on bogus claims of racism. "This nomination can be interpreted in only one way," wrote FOP National President Chuck Canterbury. "[I]t is a thumb in the eye of our nation's law enforcement."

For more, visit Right Hooks.

RIGHT ANALYSIS

Gates Slams Obama's Political War Fighting

Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates's new book, "Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War," lays bare the shambles that is Barack Obama's foreign policy. Not that we needed another book to tell us that. In it, Gates recalls a number of examples of how Obama prosecuted the war in Afghanistan purely for political gain with no regard for the consequences of his decisions, save re-election. The White House increasingly sought to control the war from the inside, repeatedly undermining the counsel and judgment of military commanders on the ground and in the Pentagon. Gates writes that he came to realize by 2010 that the president didn't even believe in his own strategy and refused to take ownership for the conflict. "For him," Gates wrote, "it's all about getting out." Yet, three out of every four Americans killed in Afghanistan died on Obama's watch -- in a war he was manipulating for political gain. It's an absolutely disgusting breach of faith with our men and women in uniform.

Predictably, the White House objected to Gates's portrayal, again asserting that Obama has a "clear plan for winding down the war, which will end this year." But this statement only proves Gates's point. The war in Afghanistan will not end simply because American troops are leaving the battlefield. We left Iraq thanks to another politically charged decision by Obama, and al-Qaida is busy regaining territory it lost during the 2007 surge. A surge, by the way, that both Hillary Clinton and Obama openly admitted in front of Gates they opposed for purely political reasons.

Gates's account comes as no surprise, but it's no less troubling because of the extent to which the White House has allowed politics to dictate policy. Decisions on Libya and Syria followed the same model, with political aides in the White House making decisions and shutting the Pentagon out of the process. It's no wonder that America's allies are walking away and enemies are emboldened. The only real question is, where was this book in 2012, when the American people re-elected this sorry excuse for a commander in chief?

Christie's Bridge Toll

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, whom some consider a frontrunner for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination despite his decidedly un-conservative agenda, may find his aspirations derailed in the aftermath of a traffic scandal. The Leftmedia is certainly doing its part, so far covering Christie 17 times more often in 24 hours than the IRS scandal over the last six months. The background: Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, a Democrat, declined to endorse Christie for re-election last year, and some of Christie's aides apparently decided to enact retribution through September lane closures on the George Washington Bridge into New York. At the time, they explained it as a "traffic study."

However, incriminating emails and text messages came to light revealing that these traffic jams were intended to punish the mayor for his snub. "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee," wrote deputy chief of staff Bridget Anne Kelly in an Aug. 13 email to Port Authority executive David Wildstein. Of course, the victims were the voters of Fort Lee, who went for Christie by a fair margin.

Christie apologized profusely Thursday, saying he was "embarrassed and humiliated by the conduct of some of the people on my team." He fired Kelly for lying to him when he sought answers last month about the emerging scandal, and he also told campaign manager Bill Stepien to withdraw from consideration for New Jersey GOP chief. Wildstein resigned in December.

Despite his apology, Christie distanced himself from his staff's "abject stupidity," saying he had "no knowledge or involvement in this issue." Furthermore, he said, "I never saw this as political retribution because I didn't think [Sokolich] did anything to us." Christie already struggles to shake the image of a bully due to his aggressive style, though he has also been regarded as a straight talker. But now, whether or not he "ordered the code red," the "what did he know and when did he know it" question could nag him into 2016. After all, can you imagine a president using the power of his office to punish his political opponents? Neither can we.

For more, visit Right Analysis.

TOP 5 RIGHT OPINION COLUMNS

Arnold Ahlert: Semper Fail
Mona Charen: Be for Work
Michael Barone: The Democrats' Feckless Attacks on Income Inequality
David Harsanyi: In Praise of Libertarian Judgmentalism
Joe Bastardi: Wake Up Cold

For more, visit Right Opinion.

OPINION IN BRIEF

Columnist Burt Prelutsky: "[T]he State Department said they were hoping for a democratic and stable society in Egypt. In case nobody at State noticed, Egypt experimented with democracy two years ago and wound up with the Muslim Brotherhood in control. In the Middle East, with the exception of Israel, you can have either democracy or stability, but you can't have both. In the meantime, Obama and Kerry refuse to negotiate with the Taliban for the release of Warren Weinstein, a 72-year-old American who has been held captive since 2011 in Pakistan. That's because it's our policy not to negotiate with terrorists. So, apparently, it's only a nasty rumor that we are actively engaged in negotiations these days with Hamid Karzai, Vladimir Putin, Hassan Rouhani and Bashar al-Assad."

Columnist Linda Chavez: "With much ballyhoo, the Obama administration announced this week that it will keep a close eye on school districts that discipline minority students at higher rates than whites. ... Of course, Holder and Duncan claim their intention is to ensure nondiscrimination in school disciplinary procedures -- but the guidelines they've offered will result in exactly the opposite. ... In essence, what the Obama administration wants school districts to do is guarantee that minority students don't experience higher rates of suspension or other serious punishments for disciplinary infractions. ... Forcing school districts to weaken disciplinary policies or set racial quotas in implementing them serves no one. And those who would suffer the most would likely be underachieving minority students stuck in undisciplined classrooms."

U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Robert Bork (1927-2012): "[A] society deadened by a smothering network of laws while finding release in moral chaos is not likely to be either happy or stable."

Columnist Mark Tapscott: "How long is a temporary emergency in the nation's capital? World War II lasted just under 45 months, from Dec. 7, 1941, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, to the Japanese surrender on Sept. 2, 1945. The Emergency Unemployment Compensation program that President Obama and congressional Democrats want to extend started in June 2008 and is now in its 66th month. What's wrong with this picture? Perhaps it's time to stop calling it either temporary or for an emergency and start calling it a permanent entitlement."

Comedian Jay Leno: "There was a nuclear meltdown in North Korea today. But enough about Dennis Rodman."

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 10, 2014

THE PATRIOT POST 01/10/2013