THE FOUNDATION
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TOP 5 RIGHT HOOKS
GOP Fixes ObamaCare?
By a voice vote the Republican House passed a small revision to ObamaCare attached to the Medicare "doc fix." In short, the House voted to eliminate the cap on deductibles for small business plans. More important, it brings up questions about Republican strategy. Should they work to make ObamaCare the least bad they can, or should they let Democrats -- and, by extension, the nation -- suffer under the law that was crammed down our throats? The GOP is divided on this, as evidenced by the effort to sneak this fix through unnoticed. Obviously, Republicans don't have the votes to repeal ObamaCare now, and the law is truly awful on its own. But can Republicans stand back and watch the blaze in order to score political points? It appears that's the question of the election.Comment | Share
Pryor Still Backs ObamaCare
Arkansas Democrat Sen. Mark Pryor is facing a tough re-election fight this year and he likely just made his battle even tougher. Pryor was asked, "Knowing now what you know now [about ObamaCare's troubles], would you have voted for this back then?" Without missing a beat, he replied, "You know, I would have. Of course, I would want to see some changes back then, but I think on something like this, it's big, it's complicated, it's difficult. If you get 80% of this right, you've really done something. We probably did get 80% of it right." No, they got 100% of it wrong because health care is not the constitutional responsibility or prerogative of the federal government. It doesn't matter if the website works or premiums went down -- the fundamental basis for it is flawed. We just hope Pryor's stubbornness means he'll be packing his bags come November.Comment | Share
Concealed Carry and Murder Rates
It's a simple theory: More guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens are more likely to prevent criminal negligence. This isn't just the conjecture of right-wing extremists as the Left would have you believe; rather, it has strong statistical support in study after study. You can now add another analysis to that mix -- according to economist Mark Gius, more guns still equal less crime. Gius explains, "Using data for the period 1980 to 2009 [which he adds "is one of the longest time periods examined in any research on assault weapons bans or CCW laws"] and controlling for state and year fixed effects, the results of the present study suggest that states with restrictions on the carrying of concealed weapons had higher gun-related murder rates than other states. It was also found that assault weapons bans did not significantly affect murder rates at the state level. These results suggest that restrictive concealed weapons laws may cause an increase in gun-related murders at the state level." There are causation and correlation questions that remain, but one thing seems clear: Guns don't cause crime.Comment | Share
Biden Pans Voter ID
Joe Biden has a real problem with needing to show an ID before casting a vote. In fact, he thinks it's despicable and racist. "I've got to tell you," he said, "if someone had told me 10 years ago I'd have to make a pitch for protecting voting rights today, I would have said, 'you've got to be kidding.'" He added, "I thought at that time the only debate we'd be having now is how to continue to expand the voting franchise. But last year, when the Supreme Court cut the heart out of the Voting Rights Act, it opened up the floodgates to voter-suppression efforts nationwide. We have to stand up. It's time to stand up and fight back." Democrats need those illegal votes! In truth, all the Supreme Court did was say that it's not reasonable to hold some states to a metric devised when Biden was still a 23-year-old kid on his parents' insurance plan.Comment | Share
NY Doesn't Inspect Clinics
"The state Health Department is failing to inspect many of New York's abortion clinics -- with some facilities escaping scrutiny for more than a decade," reports the New York Post. "Eight of the 25 clinics were never inspected over the 2000-12 span, five were inspected just once, and eight were inspected only twice or three times -- meaning once every four or six years." Meanwhile, restaurants are inspected annually and tanning salons bi-annually. Recall that Pennsylvania neglected to inspect the clinic of Kermit Gosnell, which became a house of horrors for his patients. But it's conservatives who are waging the "war on women."Comment | Share
For more, visit Right Hooks.
Don't Miss Patriot Humor
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RIGHT ANALYSIS
Putin's Protests Put Eastern Ukraine in Danger
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That scenario seems to be playing out all over again in the eastern Ukrainian cities of Donetsk, Kharkiv and Lugansk, three regions with a high concentration of Russian-speaking residents. "Protesters" no doubt commissioned by Moscow seized government buildings on Sunday and created a "people's republic" in Donetsk and an "independent republic" in Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine. This is likely a precursor to joining Russia, which lies just across the border. The State Department says the protests were not a "spontaneous set of events," so perhaps they have learned something from Benghazi.
According to Ukraine Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, "The plan is to destabilize the situation. The plan is for foreign troops to cross the border and seize the country's territory, which we will not allow." But what is Yatsenyuk going to do? He started with calling on police to clear out protesters, which they did in Kharkiv, but if he escalates too far, Vladimir Putin then has "legitimate cause" to save "oppressed Russians." Not that he needs a pretext -- if Yatsenyuk does nothing, Putin may very well sweep in anyway. The Russian president has made no secret of his desire to rebuild at least some of the Soviet empire. And Moscow's parliament rubber-stamped Putin's desire to use Russian soldiers to protect Russian speakers in Ukraine. Tens of thousands of those troops are stationed at Ukraine's border for just such a moment of need.
Meanwhile, Putin is demanding the farce of "federalism" in Ukraine, by which he means that all Russian-speaking areas should become autonomous -- before submitting to effective rule by the Kremlin, of course. Perhaps by using a term so dear to American history, Putin thinks he can once again outmaneuver the Obama White House in negotiations over the future of Ukraine. He's probably right, because all Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry can do is keep warning of "further costs for Russia."
Last week, Putin turned the economic screws on Ukraine by raising natural gas prices by 80%. Ukraine is so far the only nation experiencing "further costs" because Putin's language, offers and actions amount to this: "Nice country you have there. Shame if anything happened to it."
Comment | Share
Second Circuit Keeps the Doors Locked for NYC Church
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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
- Ed Feulner: Remembering Margaret Thatcher a Year After Her Death
- Arnold Ahlert: Issa Report Slams Dem Collaboration With IRS
- David Limbaugh: Leftist Thought-Gangsters Strike Again
- Tony Perkins: Photography Case Another Snapshot of Intolerance
- Thomas Sowell: A Halo for Selfishness
OPINION IN BRIEF
Former Heritage president Ed Feulner: "It's been a year to the day since we lost Lady Thatcher. ... We lost something that's all too rare in any age; namely, a leader who knew what she believed in -- and had the courage to say it. That was quite a breath of fresh air back in the days of the Cold War, when most politicians spoke the language of detente and wondered how to contain the spread of communism. Lady Thatcher was not one of those politicians. In fact, do you know who dubbed her 'the Iron Lady'? The Soviet Army newspaper Red Star, in the wake of a remarkable speech she gave on Jan. 20, 1976. ... Her point: Like it or not, threats to liberty don't go away when you hide your head in the stand. You have to turn and fight -- or risk being overrun and overruled. She knew that Britain and the United States have a key role in carrying on the defense of liberty. ... Now is the time to stop grumbling or merely cheering. The best way to honor Lady Thatcher's legacy is to join the fight for freedom -- and be vocal about it."Comment | Share
Margaret Thatcher (1925-2013): "We want a society where people are free to make choices, to make mistakes, to be generous and compassionate. This is what we mean by a moral society; not a society where the state is responsible for everything, and no one is responsible for the state."
Columnist Dennis Prager: "During the McCarthy era, the left (and not only the left) screamed when people were falsely charged with supporting Stalin and Communism, one of the greatest evils in human history. But the left also screamed when people who really did aid and abet Stalin were dismissed from their jobs. In other words, for those on the left who celebrate [Mozilla CEO Brendan] Eich's ouster, it was evil to deprive a man who supported Stalin of a job, but it is right to fire a man who supports the man-woman definition of marriage. Such is the left's moral compass."
Comedian Argus Hamilton: "Obama held a meeting with Tunisia's prime minister Mehdi Jomaa in the White House Friday. It was the first meeting. Whenever President Obama meets a foreign leader for the very first time it must be fun for him to put a face with the voice he hears in the wiretaps."
Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus et Fidelis!
Nate Jackson for The Patriot Post Editorial Team
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