THE FOUNDATION
"The people of the U.S. owe their Independence & their liberty, to the wisdom of descrying in the minute tax of 3 pence on tea, the magnitude of the evil comprized in the precedent. Let them exert the same wisdom, in watching agst every evil lurking under plausible disguises, and growing up from small beginnings." --James Madison, Detached Memoranda, 1823TOP 5 RIGHT HOOKS
248,000 Jobs Added in September
The U.S. economy added 248,000 jobs in September, and the headline unemployment rate fell to 5.9%. The real story is that 315,000 people left the workforce, and labor force participation ticked down again to 62.7%, remaining at levels not seen since the Carter-era recession. That's why the unemployment rate is falling. The U-6 unemployment rate, a better measure, sits at 11.8%. That said, the report contains some good news: The August report was revised up from 142,000 jobs created to 180,000, and CNBC notes, "The job creation [in September] was tilted heavily towards full-time positions, which surged by 671,000. Part-time jobs actually fell by 384,000." Furthermore, writes National Review's Patrick Brennan, "248,000 jobs in September is still not as fast as we’d like a recovery to be, but it’s noticeably more jobs than need to be created to keep up with population growth, and the past eight months have been a faster average period of job creation than any comparable time during this recovery." The American economy is resilient enough even to face the headwinds of Barack Obama's "recovery."Comment | Share
Are We Better Off Than Six Years Ago?
"[I]t is indisputable that our economy is stronger today than it was when I took office," Barack Obama said in a speech Thursday, echoing his comments in his "60 Minutes" interview last weekend. Of course, that's an awfully low bar, isn't it? And, as the American Enterprise Institute's James Pethokoukis notes, we haven't exactly been going gangbusters. "But consider," says Pethokoukis, "(a) the economy has been unable to consistently grow at more than 2% throughout this expansion; (b) trend GDP remains below its prerecession path; (c) the share of adults with any kind of job remains well below pre-recession levels; (d) there are just 1.2 million more private jobs today than January 2008 despite 15.6 million more adults; (e) wage growth remains weak; (f) the megabanks are even bigger, (g) the pace of startups is lackluster; (h) median household income, as measured by the Census Bureau, was 8 percent lower last year than in 2007." A few more stats: The poverty rate is up, even though government subsistence is at a record high, and homeownership is down almost 3%. Consumer confidence took a steep drop from 93.4% in August to 86% in September. Obama admitted the American people "don't yet feel enough of the benefits." No kidding. His solution? To raise the minimum wage (which will kill more jobs) and to spend more on infrastructure. Where have we heard that before? Finally, Obama noted, "Make no mistake: [My] policies are on the ballot. Every single one of them." He got that right. More...Comment | Share
Obama on Immigration: 'No Force on Earth Can Stop Us'
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Bush Takes the High Road, Doesn't 'Second Guess' Obama
During an interview with Fox News' Brian Kilmeade, George W. Bush was essentially asked to criticize Barack Obama's policies in Iraq. Bush didn't take the bait. "The president has to make the choices he thinks are important," Bush said. "I'm not going to second guess our president. I understand how tough the job is. To have a former president bloviating and second-guessing is, I don't think, good for the presidency or the country." He's right about that, but he was also right about Iraq. In 2007, Bush's warning was this: "I know some in Washington would like us to start leaving Iraq now. To begin withdrawing before our commanders tell us we're ready would be dangerous for Iraq, for the region and for the United States. It would mean surrendering the future of Iraq to al-Qaida. It would mean that we'd be risking mass killings on a horrific scale. It would mean we allowed the terrorists to establish a safe haven in Iraq to replace the one they lost in Afghanistan. It would mean increasing the probability that American troops would have to return at some later date to confront an enemy that is even more dangerous." How prescient was that? He doesn't need to second guess in a TV interview. The record speaks for itself.Comment | Share
IRS Hid Information From FOIA Requesters
If the IRS would blatantly mislead Congress over its political targeting of conservative non-profits, it's not surprising it would mislead the American people as well. An audit of the IRS into how it responded to the public's Freedom of Information Act requests shows the agency kept information hidden and didn't properly search for documents 336 times. It also shared sensitive taxpayer information that should have been kept private 21% of the time. The Washington Examiner reports the Treasury Department saw an 84% increase in the number of FOIA requests, right about the time the news broke of the agency's attacks on conservative groups. More...Comment | Share
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RIGHT ANALYSIS
U.S. and Israel: An Icy Meeting
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While U.S. leadership is fixated on degrading the Islamic State/ISIL/ISIS, Netanyahu made it plain that he was more concerned about Iran. “Israel fully supports your effort and your leadership to defeat [ISIL]. We think everybody should support this,” he said. “And even more critical is our shared goal of preventing Iran from becoming a military nuclear power.” The Israeli leader pleaded with Obama not to lift Iranian sanctions.
But this was a meeting in which Washington Post writer Dana Milbank wrote of Netanyahu: His “body language was that of a man suffering intestinal discomfort.” There's no question that the U.S. and Israel haven't been on the same page in recent years. In fact, just hours after the morning meeting, the White House once again chided Israel for a proposed new development in east Jerusalem.
Yet Israel's fears, likewise expressed by commentator Charles Krauthammer, lie more in the prospect of a nuclear Iran. ISIL has little respect among Israeli leadership. While Obama promoted them from the “JV team,” Netanyahu still describes ISIL as “militant Islamists on pickup trucks armed with Kalashnikov rifles.”
But in his United Nations speech this week, Netanyahu argued Hamas and ISIL have a shared philosophy, making them “branches of the same poisonous tree.” (Recall the Israeli offensive this past summer to root out Hamas militants who were firing rockets into Israeli territory from safe harbor across the border in Gaza.)
Netanyahu is rightly concerned about a softening of America's position on Iranian nukes, comparing the prospect to ISIL acquiring chemical weapons in Syria. As he warned the United Nations:
“[D]on’t be fooled by Iran’s manipulative charm offensive. It’s designed for one purpose and for one purpose only: to lift the sanctions and remove the obstacles to Iran’s path to the bomb. The Islamic Republic is now trying to bamboozle its way to an agreement that will remove the sanctions it still faces and leave it with a capacity of thousands of ... centrifuges ... to enrich uranium. This would effectively cement Iran’s place as a threshold military nuclear power. And in the future, at the time of its choosing, Iran, the world’s most dangerous regime, in the world’s most dangerous region, would obtain the world’s most dangerous weapons. Allowing that to happen would pose the gravest threat to us all.”
The only person Iran truly has to fool is the president of the United States, and over the last five-plus years it's become clear that the survival of the lone functioning democracy in the Middle East isn't a priority for Obama.
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Hong Kong and Exporting Liberty
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A number of city residents clashed with protesters early Friday morning, voicing their support for the Chinese government and demanding that demonstrators clear the streets so that they can go about their day. Police had to break up the fights, but it's unclear whether or not the residents were prompted by the city's administrators, who take their orders directly from Beijing. The Chinese government has been known to hire criminal gangs in the past to infiltrate protest movements and commit violent acts to give police pretext to quash otherwise peaceful demonstrations. Deception is a tool Beijing wields with skill.
The "Occupy Central with Love and Peace" movement came about because China went back on its word to allow universal suffrage in Hong Kong. It was announced on Aug. 31 that only candidates who were pre-approved by Beijing would be allowed to run for public office in Hong Kong. The former British colony has enjoyed a wider degree of political autonomy than the mainland since China assumed control in 1997. It was part of the deal returning the territory to China in the first place that Hong Kong residents maintain the freedoms they enjoyed under British rule. A 50-year grace period was put in place to keep the status quo. The formula came to be known as "one country, two systems." The hope at the time was that Hong Kong would influence the mainland to become more democratic. But the mainland had other plans and has decided to ramp up the pressure.
China has been emboldened in recent years to establish a regional hegemony in which it does whatever it pleases in Asia. Whether it be flexing military muscle over Taiwan, reigniting decades-old territorial disputes with Japan over small islands in international waters, or tightening its authoritarian grip over Hong Kong, the Chinese are seeking a path to greater power. And why not? Despite economic hiccups that much of the world is suffering, the Chinese financial picture has improved tremendously in the last 20 years. The country has the world's largest workforce, and it manipulates its currency for its own benefit while no other nations are willing to do anything about it.
America's own lack of will under Barack Obama has certainly emboldened the Chinese. On a swing through Washington this week, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made a point of sending a message to Secretary of State John Kerry: "Hong Kong affairs are China's internal affairs. All countries should respect China's sovereignty." In other words, butt out.
The only element working in the pro-democracy movement's favor now is world opinion and China's fear of it. It's unlikely Beijing wants a repeat of Tiananmen Square, particularly in an era dominated by social media. Yet, from their perspective, they cannot afford to do nothing. If Hong Kong remains shut down, or at the very least in turmoil, China's economy will take a big hit. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong dropped 7.3% for the month of September. Worse still, pro-democracy demonstrators on the mainland could be inspired to take action.
The future of Hong Kong remains uncertain, and it's difficult to know how Beijing will worm its way out of this situation. No one really knows how long support will continue for the "Occupy Central" movement, either. Their only strategy now can be to let people know just how despicable Chinese rule is, and to keep the world's attention on events.
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For more, visit Right Analysis.
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TOP 5 RIGHT OPINION COLUMNS
- Charles Krauthammer: The Real Reason Winning the Senate Matters
- David Harsanyi: Demand Some Effort From Voters
- Michelle Malkin: Can We End the Crazy Diversity Visa Lottery Yet?
- Linda Chavez: A Hidden Threat
- Mona Charen Women Lying to Women
OPINION IN BRIEF
U.S. Marine Jeff Cooper (1920-2006): "An unarmed man can only flee from evil, and evil is not overcome by fleeing from it."Columnist Charles Krauthammer: "[Obama's] agenda died on Nov. 2, 2010, when he lost the House. It won’t be any deader on Nov. 4, 2014, if he loses the Senate. But regaining the Senate would finally give the GOP the opportunity, going into 2016, to demonstrate its capacity to govern. You can’t govern the country from one house of Congress. Republicans learned that hard, yet obvious, lesson with the disastrous shutdowns of 1995 and 2013. But controlling both houses would allow the GOP to produce a compelling legislative agenda. The Democratic line is that the Republican House does nothing but block and oppose. ... Winning control of the Senate would allow Republicans to pass a whole range of measures now being held up by Reid, often at the behest of the White House. Make it a major reform agenda. ... If the president signs any of it, good. If he vetoes, it will be clarifying. Who then will be the party of no? The vetoed legislation would become the framework for a 2016 GOP platform."
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Columnist David Harsanyi: "Last week in Colorado, scores of negligent teachers and their pliable students took to the streets to protest the implementation of a curriculum that goes heavy on teaching the responsibilities of citizenship rather than romanticizing the state. ... Is it any wonder that so many young people have ridiculously outsize expectations about what government can or should be doing? Is it any wonder that so many people can be so easily manipulated with emotional appeals -- and the kind of 'bed-wetting' and scaremongering we hear every day? ... Unlike others, I’m not worried about widespread [voter] fraud -- though it certainly happens on occasion. I’m worried about too many uninformed and unmotivated people registering to vote. We should demand some effort."
Humorist Frank J. Fleming: "Conservatives should be happy about California; they’re just one step away from requiring a marriage license to have sex."
Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus et Fidelis!
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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