March 5, 2014
THE FOUNDATION
"But let there be no change by usurpation; for though this, in one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed." --George Washington, Farewell Address, 1796TOP 5 RIGHT HOOKS
Pentagon Prepares for Climate
The Pentagon may be trading defense for welfare by cutting troop size and other expenses, but it's keeping its eye on the ball regarding climate change. The 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review says, "[W]e will complete a comprehensive assessment of all installations to assess the potential impacts of climate change on our missions and operational resiliency, and develop and implement plans to adapt as required." Climate change, warned the report, will "aggravate stressors" such as "poverty, environmental degradation, political instability and social tensions -- conditions that can enable terrorist activity and other forms of violence." Well, John Kerry did call global warming a WMD. Maybe that means Vladimir Putin is just hot.Comment | Share
Drag in the Military
U.S. soldiers at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa put on a fabulous show over the weekend, complete with makeup, dresses and wigs. Stars and Stripes reports, "Since the repeal of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, U.S. military bases have hosted gay marriage ceremonies and potluck gatherings. But on Saturday, servicemembers here may have been the first to take to the stage and perform as drag queens on a military installation in support of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender troops." The sold-out show was a fundraiser for "OutServe," which advocates for military homosexuals, and Stars and Stripes billed it as "a sign of the times within the military." That sign is a bad one, and it will undoubtedly make our military less feared in the world.Comment | Share
Tyrant Mocks Opponents of Tyranny
We already know Barack Obama has contempt for Rule of Law and separation of powers. He decided to combine that with his contempt for his political opponents by slamming them for opposing his abuse of power. "They say, how dare you fix the things we were complaining about [in ObamaCare]? ... They'll complain about something, and then we take steps to fix it -- 'you're a tyrant,' 'you're overreaching.'" That's absurd, he says, because "where Congress is unwilling to act, I will take whatever administrative steps that I can in order to do right by the American people." The ends justify the means -- and as long as the ends are "doing right" by America or his own party's electoral gain, all things are possible.Comment | Share
Flee Your Ground
"Police say a woman reported to be in labor and her boyfriend were robbed in Annapolis as they headed to a hospital," the Associated Press reports. Actually, the boyfriend wasn't really robbed because he "fled," leaving his pregnant girlfriend to fend for herself against three assailants. The crime happened in Maryland, so of course the only people armed were the perps. But what ever happened to chivalry? Maybe we should give the boyfriend the benefit of the doubt since he was just practicing leftist self-defense -- run away!Comment | Share
Finger-Pointing Suspension
Zero-tolerance policies have a shameful history in our nation's schools. Not to be left behind, officials at Devonshire Alternative Elementary School in Columbus, Ohio, have suspended a 10-year-old boy for three days for the heinous crime of "aiming" at anther student with his gun-shaped hand. The fifth-grader says he was "just playing around," which happens "a lot at my school." Exactly -- it's called being a 10-year-old boy. A district spokesman offered no apologies, however, saying the district sent multiple letters to parents warning that using pretend guns is a punishable offense. What's offensive is that these people call what they do to our children "education."Comment | Share
For more, visit Right Hooks.
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Update: Homeschool Family Can Stay
The Romeike family, which we reported yesterday was to be deported, will be permitted to stay after all. Their lawyer announced Tuesday that the asylum-seeking homeschooling German family has been granted "indefinite deferred status," which means they "can stay in the United States permanently (unless they are convicted of a crime, etc.)." That's good news.RIGHT ANALYSIS
Obama's Budget Proves Some Things Never Change
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"Our budget is about choices, it's about our values," Obama declared. "As a country we've got to make a decision if we're going to protect tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans or if we're going to make smart investments necessary to create jobs and grow our economy, and expand opportunity for every American." Tax breaks for the wealthy? He just raised tax rates on the top two brackets in January 2013. Evidently, he didn't update his stump speech accordingly. Yet he now proposes raising taxes further -- by resurrecting the so-called "Buffett rule" (now known as the "Fair Share Tax") and capping charitable deductions, for example -- so that he can spend even more money.
Just last month, the Congressional Budget Office projected that deficits will rise to $1 trillion once again and the debt will reach 79% of GDP by 2024, while Obama says his budget will cause it to fall to 69% -- still a staggering $25 trillion by 2024 -- a very dubious claim. Meanwhile, the administration predicts economic growth of just 2.6% per year for the next decade, but his prediction is probably too optimistic if his proposed taxing and spending increases continue to sap the economy.
To arrive at reduced deficits, the administration is also counting on a couple of unlikely things. First, Obama says higher taxes will actually yield higher revenue -- record-setting revenue of 19.9% of GDP, in fact, or $3.15 trillion more than CBO projects. That's an absurd calculation given that, well, it would tie a record, and, again, because tax hikes tend to depress growth, yielding lower revenue over time. Second, he plans on ObamaCare producing $402 billion in savings over 10 years. A certain hot place freezing over is more likely.
Finally, he proposes nothing regarding reforming Social Security or Medicare, which are the primary drivers of long-term debt, and such "mandatory" spending already consumes more than two-thirds of federal spending. Even The Washington Post understands this, editorializing, "In a federal budget of nearly $4 trillion, the president and Congress will argue over about $1 trillion, divided roughly evenly between defense needs and every other federal function. Under these circumstances, even the most modest policy prescription becomes a recipe for political trench warfare."
Indeed, the president's budget is nothing more than a leftist wish list. It would never pass the House and the Senate has already decided not to bother with a budget again this year. But at least Obama has reaffirmed that reality hasn't changed his priorities.
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SCOTUS Could Consider First Amendment
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Now the Supreme Court will decide in the coming days whether to hear Huguenin's appeal. While she will "gladly serve gays and lesbians," she doesn't want to photograph a same-sex "marriage" or commitment ceremony. She contends that her photography constitutes speech and she should not be forced to "create expression conveying messages that conflict with [my] religious beliefs."
Ilya Shapiro of the libertarian Cato Institute, UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh, and University of Minnesota law professor Dale Carpenter jointly wrote an amicus brief supporting the Huguenins, arguing, "Photographers, writers, singers, actors, painters and others who create First Amendment-protected speech must have the right to decide which commissions to take and which to reject."
The state Supreme Court didn't see it that way, however. Justice Richard C. Bosson wrote in concurrence that the case "provokes reflection on what this nation is all about, its promise of fairness, liberty, equality of opportunity, and justice." Furthermore, "at some point in our lives all of us must compromise, if only a little, to accommodate the contrasting values of others. A multicultural, pluralistic society, one of our nation's strengths, demands no less." That "compromise" is increasingly being demanded of only one side in this debate. Now it's up to the U.S. Supreme Court to either let this egregious violation of conscience and speech stand or to set the record straight.
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For more, visit Right Analysis.
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TOP 5 RIGHT OPINION COLUMNS
- Joe Bastardi: Climate Agenda, Not Global Warming, Our Biggest Threat
- John Stossel: Budget Baloney
- Ben Shapiro: The Faculty Lounge Administration
- Arnold Ahlert: The Democrats' War on the Two-Party System
- Walter E. Williams: Black People Duped
OPINION IN BRIEF
Columnist Ben Shapiro: "In the ivory tower inhabited by the great intellects of the Obama administration ... no problem is too big to be thought or talked or surrendered away. If Russia won't change its perspective, we will simply cut our military more to convince them we mean well; if the Palestinians or Iranians don't change their perspectives, we will force Israel to negotiate with them in order to prove our goodwill. Meanwhile, our enemies laugh. And they should. The global battlefield is no place for the Kennedy School political science grad students who inhabit our White House and believe that a well-aimed, snooty barb is a substitute for a muscular foreign policy presence."Comment | Share
Economist Walter E. Williams: "According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, between 1976 and 2011, there were 279,384 black murder victims. Contrast this with the fact that black fatalities during the Korean War (3,075), Vietnam War (7,243) and wars since 1980 (about 8,200) total about 18,500. Young black males have a greater chance of reaching maturity on the battlefields than on the streets of Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, Oakland, Newark and other cities. Black political power and massive city budgets have done absolutely nothing to ameliorate this problem of black insecurity. ... The black family managed to survive several centuries of slavery and generations of the harshest racism and Jim Crow, to ultimately become destroyed by the welfare state."
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Columnist John Stossel: "'I will ... create new jobs ...' Politicians always say that, but this president says it especially often. Do voters not know that government has no money of its own, so when politicians 'create' jobs, they take money from the private sector, the only group that creates real jobs? I emphasize 'real' because, of course, politicians can create jobs by funding companies like Solyndra, hiring more staff or paying people to dig holes and fill them up. But those jobs don't last or create real wealth. Politicians can't create real employment by taxing people and giving the money to others."
English philosopher and political theorist Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679): "Unnecessary laws are not good laws, but traps for money."
Comedian Argus Hamilton: "Secretary of State John Kerry went on Meet the Press Sunday and chastised the Russians for breaking three different international treaties by seizing the Crimea from Ukraine. White House response was swift and angry. President Obama just threatened to unfriend Putin on Facebook."
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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