THE FOUNDATION
"He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself." --Thomas Paine, Dissertation on First Principles of Government, 1791TOP 5 RIGHT HOOKS
Wait Till You Get the Bill
The Associated Press reports on the latest way ObamaCare is going to increase costs for many Americans: "The Obama administration has given the go-ahead for a new cost-control strategy called 'reference pricing.' It lets insurers and employers put a dollar limit on what health plans pay for some expensive procedures, such as knee and hip replacements. Some experts worry that patients could be surprised with big medical bills they must pay themselves, undercutting financial protections in the new health care law." Such "reference pricing" treats everything beyond an arbitrary limit as out-of-network care, even if it's not, which means billing will be higher with no help from your insurance company. And it won't count toward your out-of-pocket limit. Has there ever been a bigger fraud perpetrated on the American people than ObamaCare?Comment | Share
One-Percenter in Chief
Barack Obama released his financial disclosures and it turns out the president is rolling in the dough. According to The Blaze, Obama is worth $7 million, including the $400,000-a-year presidential salary and the royalties from his three books. He only paid $98,169 in taxes. With enough money to qualify him as a One-Percenter, maybe he should take the advice of Hillary Clinton who said at the New America Foundation Conference Friday, "America is strongest when prosperity is shared. ... I urge elites to pay their fair share." More...Comment | Share
Wrist Slapping for GM
What happens when Washington's darling car company, General Motors, does something embarrassing like ignoring a defect in its cars' ignition switches which then led to 32 accidents and 13 fatalities? When the government started looking, GM started 'fessing and the government slapped the automaker on the wrist with a civil penalty of $35 million. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said, "What GM did was break the law. They failed to meet their public safety obligations. And today, they have admitted as much." While the transportation secretary could look stern announcing the fine, it was a fraction of the $1.2 billion Toyota has to pay for its sticky acceleration pedals. But wait... didn't the federal government own GM during all those years the company hid the ignition switch defect? More...Comment | Share
Greenies Emit More GHGs
Startup founder Ian Monroe has developed a carbon footprint-tracking app called Oroeco, which calculates your emissions contribution based on lifestyle choices. What he found was almost too predictable. According to Monroe, "The average person who says they care about climate change actually has a substantially worse than average footprint. Generally that's because they tend to have a bit more money, and they tend to be people who like to think of themselves as multicultural and like to get out and see the world. Which means that they're flying around a lot, and all that flying generally outweighs any other green lifestyle choices that they've made." Say, that sounds an awful lot like Al Gore. Monroe says, "Realizing the hypocrisy in my own life is exactly why I wanted to create this [app]." At least he's putting his money where his mouth is. That's more than we can say about ecofascists. More...Comment | Share
Banks Dump Gun Sellers
Gun companies on all levels, from parts manufacturers to local gun stores, have seen banks back away from doing business with them because the federal government defined gun companies as "high risk." The companies say the Department of Justices' "Operation Choke Point," a probe into credit card fraud, is an attack on the Second Amendment. Peter Weinstock, a lawyer with Hunton & Williams LLP, told the Washington Times, "This administration has very clearly told the banking industry which customers they feel represent 'reputational risk' to do business with. So financial institutions are reacting to this extraordinary enforcement arsenal by being ultra-conservative in who they do business with: Any companies that engage in any margin of risk as defined by this administration are being dropped." The Obama administration never has made secret its contempt for Liberty. More...Comment | Share
For more, visit Right Hooks.
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RIGHT ANALYSIS
Free Speech: Blaming Their Troubles on Koch
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| Reid's Koch fixation is troubling |
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), who has another two years left in his current term, is looking at the 2014 political landscape and has obviously made the decision that he has no desire to be in the minority party to finish his term. But what successes can his Democrat Senate point to? Fellow Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) correctly noted, "Democrats are simply seeking to distract from their failure to address the real issues facing our country, like our sluggish economy and the president's disastrous health care law." So what does Reid do? Blame the Koch brothers, of course.
Granted, the entrepreneurial philanthropist Koch brothers are major conservative players, among other things bankrolling the advocacy group known as Americans for Prosperity. Who could be against prosperity besides the current administration? Harry Reid could. That's why he incessantly screeches about private citizens from the Senate floor. "None of us should be afraid of the Koch brothers," he said. "These two multi-billionaires may spend hundreds of millions of dollars rigging the political process for their own benefit. But I will do whatever it takes to expose their campaign to rig the American political system to benefit the wealthy at the expense of the middle class." Matthew 7:3-5 (first remove the log from your own eye) comes to mind, particularly when Democrat coffers are overflowing with millions of dollars from the pockets of George Soros and Tom Steyer.
But Reid sits in a position to do great harm. He and other Democrats are championing a constitutional amendment that would undo several Supreme Court precedents, beginning with Buckley v. Valeo -- a 1976 case in which money was first equated with political speech -- and continuing on through the more recent Citizens United and McCutcheon decisions striking down parts of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance "reform" law from a decade ago. Reid's is a populist appeal to hide the fact that the biggest in-kind donations to leftist campaigns come from the Leftmedia, which trumpet news when it's bad for conservatives but downplay the negative about the Left.
More to the point, The Washington Times explains, "Mr. Reid and his fellow Democrats say the government should have the ability to decide who can spend money in elections and how much they are allowed to spend."
Democrats' plan to amend the Constitution to limit campaign contributions from certain categories of people practically amounts to an unconstitutional bill of attainder -- a law aimed to punish a person or group. Reid nearly admitted as much, saying, "Amending our Constitution is not something we take lightly. But the flood of special interest money into our American democracy is one of the greatest threats our system of government has ever faced. Let's keep our elections from becoming speculative ventures for the wealthy and put a stop to the hostile takeover of our democratic system by a couple of billionaire oil barons. ... There is absolutely no question the Koch brothers are in a category of their own. No one else is pumping money into the shadowy campaign organizations and campaigns like they are. There isn't even a close second. They are doing this to promote issues that make themselves even richer."
So Reid is going to try to amend the Constitution to stop the Koch brothers. His singular obsession with them has become severely disturbing. As Hot Air's Ed Morrissey quips, the amendment should be titled "*The Koch Brothers Are So Un-American That I Have Lost My Mind Act*."
One would think this amendment is a non-starter with congressional Republicans, but at one time we thought ObamaCare would never see the light of day, and then Republicans would defund it the first chance they got. As an "incumbent protection plan," Reid's proposal possibly has legs. Perhaps Reid would like to call a constitutional convention. We have some ideas for amendments to rein in abuse of power.
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'We Can Make It Harder'
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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
- Scott Powell: Obama Blocks Keystone to Start Energy Takeover
- Arnold Ahlert: Comprehensive Con Job
- Ken Blackwell & Bob Morrison: Putin Out and Proud
- Jeff Jacoby: Pfizer and the Flight From Punitive Taxes
- George Will: LBJ's Bifurcated Legacy
OPINION IN BRIEF
The Gipper: "We can't socialize the doctors without socializing the patients. Recognize that government invasion of public power is eventually an assault upon your own business. If some among you fear taking a stand because you are afraid of reprisals from customers, clients, or even government, recognize that you are just feeding the crocodile hoping he'll eat you last."Columnists Ken Blackwell & Bob Morrison: "Reagan's visionary yet realistic approach to U.S.-Russian relations produced a miracle of American resurgence after a decade of 'malaise.' The Obama record is one of retreat, retrenchment, and reflection. No one should call for 'boots on the ground' in Ukraine. Reagan never invaded the USSR, or even Poland or Rumania. Better than that, he created the conditions for the Evil Empire to collapse because of its own internal contradictions. Reagan provided clarity of purpose: 'My idea of U.S.-Soviet relations is this: We win and they lose.' In Ronald Reagan's Farewell Address to the Nation, in January 1989, he expressed his hope for better relations with Soviet Russia, but he wisely warned us: 'Do not be afraid to see what you see.' Mr. Obama's circle is not afraid to see what they see. Unfortunately, they are wearing idealistic blinders that prevent them from seeing what is obvious: Putin is out and proud."
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Columnist Arnold Ahlert: "Despite a 1907 law requiring all immigrants to learn English in order to become a citizen, Section 203 of the 1975 Voting Rights Act, and its subsequent amendment in 1992, required ballots to be printed in multiple languages if a Latino, Asian-American, American Indian or Alaskan minority group comprised more than 5 percent of the voting-age population or at least 10,000 citizens in various locals. Those are requirements. Does anyone seriously believe that every leftist stronghold in the nation won't simply accommodate newly minted citizens who tend to vote Democratic? ... [A]nyone stupid enough to believe the same president who has unilaterally and un-Constitutionally re-written ObamaCare, and who has already played it similarly fast and loose with existing immigration law, would faithfully enforce new legislation is utterly delusional."
Comedian Argus Hamilton: "Obama was lectured by Uruguay president Jose Mujica in front of reporters about the need for him to close Guantanamo prison. If Obama really wants to close it he should turn it into a government-financed solar company. The doors will be shut in a month."
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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