THE FOUNDATION
"Government is instituted for the common good; for the protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness of the people; and not for profit, honor, or private interest of any one man, family, or class of men; therefore, the people alone have an incontestable, unalienable, and indefeasible right to institute government; and to reform, alter, or totally change the same, when their protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness require it." --John Adams, Thoughts on Government, 1776TOP 5 RIGHT HOOKS
ENFORCE the Law
The sponsor of the ENFORCE the Law Act, Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC), took to the House floor to slam the president for his violation of our Constitution. Gowdy shared a few quotes from Senator Barack Obama to illustrate the president's abuse of power, such as, "These last few years, we’ve seen an unacceptable abuse of power, having a president whose priority is expanding his own power." So, Gowdy asked, "How does going from being a senator to a president rewrite the Constitution? ... We are not a country where the ends justify the means no matter how good your motivations may be." But, he continued, "If a president does not faithfully execute the law ... what are our remedies? Do we just sit and wait on another election?" The answer to that will be key moving forward.Watch the video.
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Kerry's Tough Talk
John Kerry had a message this week for those weary of U.S.' dealings with Iran: "We have made it crystal clear that Iran is not open for business. They have accepted that. They are not cutting deals." That's more tough talk by Democrat standards, but it's just that -- meaningless words not rooted in reality. Recall that as part of Barack Obama's foreign policy tour de force, the administration recently agreed to sanctions relief for Iran in exchange for the crossed-finger promise that the rogue nation will cease its development of nuclear weapons. Initial estimates put the sanctions relief at about $7 billion -- likely a conservative figure considering it doesn't include revenue from increased Iranian oil sales. Not only has nuclear-aspiring Iran been opened back up for business, but Kerry was caught fabricating another BIG lie; though, to be fair, leftists do view $7 billion as mere pennies.Comment | Share
Transgendered Military Service?
A think tank at San Francisco State University convened a panel led by former Clinton administration Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders to evaluate the military's ban on transgender people. Predictably, they determined that there "is no compelling medical reason" for the Armed Forces to prohibit transgenders from serving. They went even further, saying that the ban "is an expensive, damaging and unfair barrier to health care access for the approximately 15,450 transgender personnel who serve currently in the active, Guard and reserve components." The panel claims that Barack Obama can lift the decade-old ban with only his pen; no approval from Congress necessary. However, at least according to Navy Lt. Cmdr. Nate Christensen, a defense department spokesman, "At this time there are no plans to change the department's policy and regulations which do not allow transgender individuals to serve in the U.S. military."Comment | Share
Dieting Away Global Warming
The federal government is now looking to tie nutritional standards to global warming reversal efforts. The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) -- yeah, we hadn't heard of them either -- is drafting next year's "Dietary Guidelines for Americans." According to The Washington Free Beacon, the panel "is responsible for creating new nutrition standards that are used to create policy at the federal level." During a meeting in January, participant Kate Clancy said that, "In terms of keeping a broader idea of food security in your minds it would be perilous ... for this committee or anybody else to not be taking climate change into account in any of the deliberations about sustainability." She advised more plant-based dieting and less herding of meaty stock because "methane production by cattle" heavily contributes to environmental hazards. As HotAir's Erika Johnsen quips, "Yes, by all means -- let's base our nutrition guidelines, not on actual human nutrition, but on politics."Comment | Share
Reid Slams Climate Skeptics
Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) slammed climate skeptics once again following the Senate's ridiculous climate slumber party earlier this week: "Every day that goes by, every week that goes, every month that goes by, every year that goes by ... there's more evidence of the dangers of climate change," he declared on Tuesday. "The more climate changes, the more extreme the weather gets, and we've seen that in spades." Consequently, he asserts, "These deniers are, as each day as the weather gets worse, are becoming less credible." Ironically, while on the topic of credibility, Reid's comments come during the coldest six-month stretch in the U.S. since 1912, as hurricane strikes along the U.S. coastline remain historically low, and as the frequency of tornadoes continue at a relatively measly pace. Oh, and global warming has been dormant for 17 years and counting. So, Harry: Who exactly is losing credibility?Comment | Share
For more, visit Right Hooks.
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RIGHT ANALYSIS
ObamaCare Detours Won't Save Democrats
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At least most of the time. As we noted Wednesday, HHS quietly delayed the individual mandate for millions of Americans -- a change buried in a technical bulletin not even related to the mandate. Ironically, the law caused millions of insurance plans to be cancelled, which now qualifies those people for a "hardship" exemption from the law. All that's necessary is filling out a form attesting that you "believe that the plan options available in the [ObamaCare] Marketplace in your area are more expensive than your cancelled health insurance policy" or "you consider other available policies unaffordable."
In another rewrite of existing law, Barack Obama has declared that the sequester no longer applies to ObamaCare's subsidies for low-income Americans. According to the White House, the cuts would have taken 7% from those subsidies, but not any more -- the administration restored "full funding" for 2015. National Journal reports, "The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, which noticed the change, said the reversal would likely restore about $560 million to the subsidies -- and require $560 million in cuts to other programs to make up for it." All told, the subsidies will cost $8 billion this year and $156 billion over 10 years.
Back to Sebelius's testimony, Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) asked her, "How many of those [4.2 million people] that have ... enrolled in ObamaCare have paid their premium?" Sebelius responded, "I can't tell you that, sir, because I don't know that." Industry estimates are that 15%-20% of enrollees haven't paid yet. The White House also isn't bothering to track how many uninsured people are enrolling. Isn't enrollment pretty much the point of ObamaCare? At least that's what Democrats told us.
Another supposed benefit of ObamaCare, as Obama repeatedly told us, was that it was going to save the average family $2,500 a year on health insurance premiums. So how's that working out? "I think premiums are likely to go up [in 2015], but at a smaller pace than what we've seen since 2010," Sebelius projected. One more "Affordable" Care Act promise broken.
These are just the latest in a long string of horrible headline stories about ObamaCare, so it's no wonder that Democrats are running scared with an election looming. That's especially true in light of this week's loss of a very winnable House election in Florida, where little known Republican David Jolly beat a better known and far better funded Democrat, Alex Sink. Jolly made a point to run against ObamaCare -- even calling for repeal -- while Sink deployed DNC Chief Debbie Wasserman Schultz's "mend it, don't end it" tripe. Some Democrats are so desperate to keep their seats that they might just run against the law -- even if in some cases they voted for it.
Then again, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) says, "I'm very proud of our House Democrats and how they have not only embraced the Affordable Care Act, as they helped create it, but how proud they are of it. Republicans are wasting their time using that as their electoral issue, and they will find that out." Keep up that plan, Nancy.
As we argued early on, it was actually a brilliant strategy for Democrats to delay the implementation of their health care takeover until after the 2012 election. If the disastrous rollout and subsequent barrage of bad news and lawless rewrites had taken place in 2011 and 2012, we'd now be writing about President Mitt Romney.
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'Semi-Delusional' on Ukraine
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Read the rest of the story here.
For more, visit Right Analysis.
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TOP 5 RIGHT OPINION COLUMNS
- Joe Bastardi: I've Figured Out the AGW Strategy
- Jonah Goldberg: Obama Deserves Share of Blame for Millennial Cynicism
- Linda Chavez: Ban Bossy, No Way
- Charles Krauthammer: How to Stop Putin
- David Limbaugh: Obama, in His Sole Discretion
OPINION IN BRIEF
Columnist Jonah Goldberg: "Honor, glory and respect are earned individually, not collectively. Politicians pander to young people, and lots of young people fall for it. And that speaks well of neither. Politicians pander to 'youth' because it's a time-saving way to trawl for votes and volunteer door-knockers wholesale. ... It's true, millennials remain more liberal and look more favorably toward big government than other age groups. But people grow up. They may well learn that their cynicism towards marriage and God -- time-honored sources of happiness -- was misplaced as the single life gets old and they find the one or the One they were waiting for. Similarly, the hot embers of their ardor for big government may cool as they realize the poetry rarely gets translated into prose. And for that, Barack Obama will deserve a fair share of the credit. For nothing breeds disillusionment and cynicism more than the failure to deliver."Comment | Share
British Parliamentarian Josiah C. Wedgwood (1872-1943): "Men must have the right of choice, even to choose wrong, if he shall ever learn to choose right."
Meteorologist Joe Bastardi: "I ... get sent the scholarly articles both for and against human influence on the climate. I know and understand the reason this is actually a debatable point and have pointed out several times that two major indicators -- stratospheric cooling and the outgoing radiation measurements -- support the idea of a slowly warming troposphere. Whether that is natural or man-made is impossible to call, for Earth has warmed before ... and has also cooled. How one could possibly know this is CO2-driven given the history of CO2 and temperatures that show there is no correlation, yet alone causation, is beyond me."
Fred Thompson: "Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein took to the Senate floor to angrily accuse the CIA of spying on Congress. Yes, why should the CIA know what Congress is doing when Congress doesn't? ... Senate Democrats held an all-night 'talkathon' about global warming on the Senate floor. When it was done, they climbed into the idling limos that were waiting outside to take them home."
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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