THE FOUNDATION
"[T]he success of the usurpation will depend on the executive and judiciary departments, which are to expound and give effect to the legislative acts; and in a last resort a remedy must be obtained from the people, who can by the elections of more faithful representatives, annul the acts of the usurpers." --James Madison, Federalist No. 44, 1788TOP 5 RIGHT HOOKS
The April Fool's ObamaCare Numbers Racket
7.1 million. That's how many Americans Barack Obama is proudly trumpeting have signed up for ObamaCare by the March 31 deadline, and that, he said, means ObamaCare "is here to stay." Amazing that the number was so quickly released and so precise, just in time for April Fool's Day. As Charles Krauthammer noted, "These guys go six months without any idea what the numbers are, and all of a sudden it's to a decimal point." But in fact, it's remarkably not precise, since a large number of that 7.1 million haven't paid their premiums yet, which means they're not enrolled. How many were previously uninsured? They don't say. The White House also doesn't mention that ObamaCare forced the cancellation of six million insurance policies, leaving many of those folks no option but to sign up for ObamaCare. How convenient that signups outnumbered cancellations. "Why are folks working so hard for people not to have health insurance?" Obama asked smugly. He should look in the mirror. It's incredible what you can achieve when you mandate that people do something and penalize them for not doing it. But hey, it's a "success story"!Comment | Share
Yep. Pelosi's Still Delusional
Nancy Pelosi has long been a few French fries short of a Happy Meal, but the "mission accomplished" announcement on ObamaCare evoked more bizarre claims. "[T]hose of us who fought for this knew what we believed in and really don't think we needed any vindication," she boasted. "We just had to protect it from those ideological anti-government people who didn't want to see it succeed -- for ideological, or political or whatever those reasons are." Try constitutional reasons. She then had the gall once again to claim that the Founders would love what Democrats have done, saying ObamaCare has allowed "the American people [to have the] healthier lives that our Founders wanted for them, like a healthier life, liberty, the freedom to pursue their happiness." Government mandated happiness wasn't what they had in mind. Finally, she claimed that Democrats won't run on ObamaCare, but they won't run away from it either. "[W]hile we're proud of the Affordable Care Act, we now pivot to job creation." The two clearly don't go together, so that will be some pivot.Comment | Share
Putin's Gas
Vladimir Putin hasn't been the least bit deterred by Barack Obama's empty rhetoric and weak sanctions. Indeed, he's still putting the screws to Ukraine. Reuters reports, "Russian natural gas producer Gazprom announced a more than 40 percent increase in the price of gas for Ukraine on Tuesday, stepping up economic pressure on Kiev in its crisis in relations with Moscow." That could force Ukraine to look to Europe, though it would be a good move for the U.S. to seize the opportunity to sell them natural gas. That would be the best medicine for Putin's gas pains.Comment | Share
SCOTUS on Free Speech
The U.S. Supreme Court this morning struck down the federal limit of $48,600 on total individual campaign contributions per election cycle, though it left intact the limit for a single candidate. Chief Justice John Roberts explained in his controlling opinion in McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission, "Money in politics may at times seem repugnant to some, but so too does much of what the First Amendment vigorously protects." Furthermore, Roberts said, "combatting corruption" may justify regulating campaign spending, but "the aggregate limits do little, if anything, to address that concern, while seriously restricting participation in the democratic process. The aggregate limits are therefore invalid under the First Amendment." We're glad to see the Court get another case involving free speech correct. Cue the next Harry Reid meltdown over the Koch brothers.Comment | Share
U.S. Gov't Third Largest Economy
Whenever Democrats condone various Big Brother programs, they routinely defend their actions and intent as an "investment in the future." In other words, leftists believe that government initiatives can replace free enterprise as an economic and social engine -- despite the fact that most "investments" end up in a train wreck. Suffice it to say, this fiscal disorder has resulted in an overly bloated government. "Appreciating the full scope of the US government is difficult, because its activities are undertaken at the federal, state, and local levels," explains Breitbart's Mike Flynn. However, "Adding all of this together, government in the U.S. consumes more than $6 trillion a year. This makes the U.S. government the world's 3rd largest economy." This equals about what France and Germany produce economically -- combined. Only the U.S. economy, with $16 trillion outputted annually, and China, with $8 trillion at best guesstimate, rank higher on the scale. Unfortunately, exuberant government expenditures are drowning the real economic condition of America.Comment | Share
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RIGHT ANALYSIS
Choosing the Path to Prosperity
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Some conservatives have been disappointed with Ryan's compromises, but he remains the GOP's go-to guy on budget issues. And he will likely end up chairing the Ways and Means Committee since Chairman Dave Camp announced his retirement Monday. Camp's last contribution was his February tax reform proposal.
Now, the details of Ryan's budget. As with last year's plan, he aims to balance the budget in 10 years in large part by reducing projected spending by $5.1 trillion. This time, however, Ryan wisely doesn't count the "savings" of not fighting wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. In fact, Ryan moves $482 billion from domestic spending to defense, which would allow the Army and Navy to remain at current strength.
Ryan wants to make permanent the cap on discretionary spending enacted in the Budget Control Act of 2011 (the sequester), with the notable exception of defense. These cuts would save $800 billion over 10 years in lower interest payments alone. By 2024, he would have the federal government spending $1 trillion less than the president's latest budget calls for. That's still nearly $5 trillion for FY2024, so while he isn't exactly proposing a bare-bones government, he's proposing to reduce spending to a projected 18.4% of GDP -- down from 20.2% currently. And his plan shrinks public debt from 73% of GDP to 56% in 10 years.
The Washington Examiner's Philip Klein highlights other aspects of the plan: "Ryan's budget would also make a number of other reforms, such as reaffirming the work requirements in social safety net programs, block granting the food stamp program, better tailoring Pell Grants to students with the greatest financial needs and cutting back on alternative energy subsidies." Ryan includes several health entitlement reforms too, such as putting Medicaid on a budget indexed to inflation and population growth, and moving Medicare (albeit too slowly) toward a premium support model.
His biggest reform: Repeal ObamaCare. As the Heritage Foundation notes, "The budget would save $792 billion over 10 years by repealing the costly Medicaid expansion and $1.2 billion over 10 years by repealing the subsidies and related [ObamaCare] exchange spending."
Ryan reaches balance by using what's known as dynamic scoring, or taking into account the economic effects of proposed policy changes. This is a far more accurate measure of taxation and spending -- the very reason Democrats never use it. By reducing deficits and the overall drag of government on the economy, more wealth will be generated, leading to more federal tax revenue. The bad news is that, thanks to Obamanomics, the Congressional Budget Office has revised growth projections down to a woefully inadequate 2.5% through 2024. Ryan's budget would improve that number, low bar though it is.
Overall, Ryan's budget is an incremental improvement on his past proposals, not a seismic shift. But voters in November have a clear choice: The stagnation of the massive spending and higher taxes of Obamanomics or a Path to Prosperity.
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TOP 5 RIGHT OPINION COLUMNS
- Joe Bastardi: A Theory on Low Global Tropical Activity
- Terence Jeffrey: Male Fed Workers Can Use Women's Restrooms, Locker Rooms
- Arnold Ahlert: Obama's Wage Gap Myth
- Walter E. Williams: Sex and Race Equality
- John Stossel: Gambling and Government
OPINION IN BRIEF
Economist Walter E. Williams: "[T]here have been recent calls to end the ban on women in combat units, but there's no mention of the Army's sexist physical fitness test. For a male 17-21 years of age to pass, he must do 35 pushups, do 47 situps and run 2 miles in 16 minutes, 36 seconds. His female counterpart, who receives the same pay, can pass the fitness test by doing a mere 13 pushups, doing 47 situps and running 2 miles in 19 minutes, 42 seconds. How can anyone who values equality and self-respect tolerate this gross discrimination? You say, 'Williams, what's your solution?' I say we should either force women to come up to the physical fitness standards for men or pass men who meet the female standards of fitness. Maybe we should ask our adversaries which is better -- raising female fitness standards or lowering those of males."Comment | Share
Charles-Louis de Secondat (1689-1755): "There is no crueler tyranny than that which is perpetrated under the shield of law and in the name of justice."
Columnist Arnold Ahlert: "According to the 2013 Annual Report to Congress on White House Staff, the White House has its very own gender pay gap. Its 228 female employees received a median annual salary of $65,000 that year, while the 231 male staffers earned a median annual salary of nearly $73,729. That amounts to a 12 percent, or 88 cents on the dollar, disparity. If such an inconvenient reality appears very much in alignment with another cherished progressive value -- as in 'do as I say, not as I do' -- that's because it is."
Comedian Jimmy Kimmel: "The White House says it has surpassed its goal for people enrolled in ObamaCare. It's amazing what you can achieve when you make something mandatory and fine people if they don't do it and then keep extending the deadline for months. It's like a Cinderella story."
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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