THE FOUNDATION
"The only foundation of a free Constitution, is pure Virtue, and if this cannot be inspired into our People, in a greater Measure than they have it now, they may change their Rulers, and the forms of Government, but they will not obtain a lasting Liberty." --John Adams, letter to Zabdiel Adams, 1776TOP 5 RIGHT HOOKS
Air Force Academy Does It Again
Cadets at the AFA traditionally post personal information on their barrack doors. For some students, that includes some expressions of their faith. This week, a student was required to remove a Bible verse posted on his door's white board, because the head of an atheist organization issued a complaint. According to Fox News, Lt. Col. Brus Vidal said, "The whiteboards are for both official and personal use, but when a concern was raised we addressed it and the comment was taken down." You may recall, Mark Alexander first reported the AFA's unlawful removal of the words "So Help Me God" from the Officer, Enlisted and Cadet oaths in its official AFA handbook. That violation of both civilian and military law is now the subject of an internal Air Force investigation prompted by a Freedom of Information Request to determine who altered the oaths.Comment | Share
Executive Power Struggle
On Wednesday, the House passed a bill called the Executive Needs to Faithfully Observe and Respect Congressional Enactments of the Law (ENFORCE the Law) Act of 2014. Five Democrats joined Republicans in a 233-181 vote. It does just what the titles suggests and calls on Barack Obama to enforce the law, not to rewrite or ignore it. Naturally, the president threatened a veto, but his reason is laughable -- it supposedly violates the separation of powers. That claim takes some chutzpah since Congress is merely trying to stop Obama's legislating from the White House. Remember, even leftist law professor Jonathan Turley says Obama's actions have brought us to a "constitutional tipping point." He's right.Comment | Share
Remedial History Needed
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) doesn't known when the Constitution was ratified. Taking the House floor Wednesday to oppose the ENFORCE the Law Act, she said, "Maybe I should offer a good thanks to the distinguished members of the majority -- the Republicans, my chairman and others -- for giving us an opportunity to have a deliberative constitutional discussion that reinforces the sanctity of this nation and how well it is that we have lasted some 400 years, operating under a constitution that clearly defines what is constitutional and what is not." The Constitution, of course, was ratified 225 years ago, in 1788. To be fair, we're surprised she knows we have a Constitution. She and her fellow Democrats certainly don't abide by their oaths to support and defend it.Comment | Share
White House Overtime Mandate
Barack Obama's pen is at it again, this time, Fox News reports, "to order the Labor Department to expand overtime pay requirements to include millions more workers." The change is to the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act, and would mandate that more salaried workers be paid overtime. If he can regulate the minimum wage, why not salaries too? Such a move will come at a price, however, as businesses will adjust by cutting hours. But until then, people can thank Obama for the "raise." Meanwhile, 500 economists wrote a letter to the White House warning that hiking the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour will cut jobs and raise prices. Which about sums up leftist economic policy.Comment | Share
Just Give Up Your Phone
Can't afford ObamaCare? Just get rid of cable television and cell phones. At least that's what Barack Obama said recently when asked how low-income Americans now forced to buy comprehensive health insurance can afford to do so. "[I]f you looked at their cable bill, their telephone, their cell phone bill ... it may turn out that it's just they haven't prioritized health care." He may or may not have a fair economic point on what people choose to afford -- after all, the "poor" in the U.S. have more amenities than the wealthy did 50 years ago -- but didn't he promise that ObamaCare would be affordable? Why yes, it's even in the law's name.Comment | Share
For more, visit Right Hooks.
Don't Miss Alexander's Column
Read The GOP's Fratricidal Threat to Liberty, on Ronald Reagan's Eleventh Commandment.If you'd like to receive Alexander's Column by email, update your subscription here.
|
RIGHT ANALYSIS
Fannie and Freddie Fading Fast?
|
But the major flaw in the Crapo-Johnson plan is that it simply replaces Fannie and Freddie with a new agency called the Federal Mortgage Insurance Corporation, which would be similar to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) with which bank customers are familiar. Nor is there much taxpayer relief, as Fannie and Freddie's responsibility for failed loans declines only from 100% to 90%. That's not much “skin in the game” for private lenders.
Crapo and Johnson see this as an evolution of a similar bill drafted last year by Senators Bob Corker (R-TN) and Mark Warner (D-VA), one that gives more of a timetable for changes. Barack Obama indicated that the Corker-Warner bill was “consistent” with his vision for reform, which doesn't exactly recommend it.
On the other hand, this proposal doesn't go as far as a House bill introduced last year by Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), called the Protecting American Taxpayers and Homeowners (PATH) Act. Hebsarling's proposal would wind down Fannie and Freddie completely in five years; in its place would be what Hensarling called the National Mortgage Market Utility, in which participation would be voluntary.
Many of our more seasoned readers may recall a time when a prospective homeowner scraped up a large sum of money for a down payment, went to the bank downtown, and if the bank found that buyer worthy of their business, the bank wrote the loan and held on to it for the entirety of the term. But as is often the case, something that worked was a problem to the government and this “solution” will likely need to be addressed in a few short years.
Comment | Share
White House Scraps Medicare Part D Changes -- For Now
Obama puts aside a plan to limit drugs available through federal program.Read the story here.
For more, visit Right Analysis.
|
|
|
TOP 5 RIGHT OPINION COLUMNS
- Tony Perkins: At Air Force Academy, Fight and Flight
- Cal Thomas: Getting Satisfaction
- Victor Davis Hanson: Is Obama Walking the Trail Blazed by Nixon?
- George Will: The Benefits of Prudence
- Burt Prelutsky: Putin on the Ritz
OPINION IN BRIEF
FRC's Tony Perkins: "Frustrated by the [Air Force Academy's] decision to scrub a Bible verse from one of the dorm whiteboards, cadets decided to take matters into their own hands. In a show of defiance, Bible verses started popping up on dry erase boards throughout the dorms -- outraging the anti-Christian 'tolerance' police at the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. ... Since when is the standard of what's constitutional based on what offends someone else? If Scripture frightens these cadets, what will they do in the face of a determined jihadist? It's decisions like these that are creating cowards in place of the proud warriors of the U.S. military. All these cadets have done is freely exercised the constitutional rights they'll be defending upon graduation."Comment | Share
Columnist Cal Thomas: "[C]ulture, including the media, are less focused on people with good character qualities and work habits. ... Working harder too often means working longer, as if the two are equal. I recall a prominent ex-network newsman who was once denied the anchor chair because management didn't like him taking a little time off to watch his son's baseball games. He didn't get the anchor chair, but he has the love and respect of his son. Which is of greater value and pays more dividends? ... I am regularly reminded of what truly matters from the mouths of children. Last weekend, my 3-year-old granddaughter looked up from her dinner plate and spontaneously said, 'I love you, Poppa.' It takes the investment of time to earn that kind of love. No boss can give it; no career can satisfy like the love of a child, as yet uncorrupted by the world."
Comment | Share
William Penn (1644-1718): "A good end cannot sanctify evil means; nor must we ever do evil, that good may come of it."
Columnist Burt Prelutsky: "Obama's defenders like to say that it wouldn't matter who was in the Oval Office because Putin would do whatever he likes because he's Putin. I beg to differ. It was Obama who refused to supply Poland and the Czech Republic with promised missile defense systems because he didn't wish to irk Russia's dictator. It was also Obama who let Putin get away with consorting with the mullahs in Iran and Assad in Syria. And that was after decreasing our nuclear arsenal at Putin's request. Every school kid knows all too well that if you give in to a bully even once, he'll just keep taking your lunch money."
Comedian Argus Hamilton: "House Republicans drew up a bill asking President Obama to drop the mandatory clause out of Obamacare Monday. Here's how Republicans can sell it to him, They tell the president that he can go on TV and assure the American people that if they like their complete lack of coverage, they can keep their complete lack of coverage, and it will never come back to bite him."
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment