Daily Digest
February 27, 2015
THE FOUNDATION"Were the pictures which have been drawn by the political jealousy of some among us faithful likenesses of the human character, the inference would be, that there is not sufficient virtue among men for self-government; and that nothing less than the chains of despotism can restrain them from destroying and devouring one another." --James Madison, Federalist No. 55, 1788TOP 5 RIGHT HOOKSBoehner Bids for Time in Immigration Fight With ObamaThere are only hours left until the clock strikes midnight and the Department of Homeland Security runs out of funding. While Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell seemingly kissed up to the filibustering Democrat minority, passing a clean DHS funding bill that gives the department money to fund Barack Obama's immigration executive actions, House Speaker John Boehner is not so compromising. When a reporter asked Thursday if Boehner would propose a clean DHS funding bill, he blew defiant kisses in reply. At the same press conference, Boehner said, "We passed a bill to fund the department six weeks ago. Six weeks ago! It's time for the Senate to act. How many times do I have to say it?" So as a counteroffer, Boehner introduced a continuing resolution that would simply fund DHS for three weeks. While it buys the GOP more time, a defiant president waits at the end of the legislative process. Obama recently said if congressional Republicans "want to have a vote on whether what I'm doing is legal or not, they can have that vote. I will veto that vote." Lawmakers, he says, don't have the power to make laws.Comment | Share Here Comes 'Net Neutrality'As expected, the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday approved so-called net neutrality rules. Fox News reports, "[T]he rules, more broadly, would put the Internet in the same regulatory camp as the telephone by classifying it like a public utility, meaning providers like Comcast or Verizon would have to act in the 'public interest' when providing [an Internet] connection to your home or phone. Republican Commissioner Ajit Pai, who delivered some of the most scathing criticism of the plan Thursday, warned the policy represents a 'monumental shift' to 'government control of the Internet.'" Pai also criticized FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler for his secrecy and the length of the "332-page Internet regulation plan." According to FCC counsel Gigi Sohn, however, only eight of those pages contain actual regulation -- the rest is supporting documentation. Clearly this is not a black-and-white subject, and the jury is still out on whether the FCC's ruling will do more good than harm, but that's mostly because it doesn't go to the crux of the problem, which is lack of competition. The FCC's action won't create more of it. Indeed, it's not at all clear it will usher in a neutral net. What is clear, however, is that the greatest invention since Gutenberg's printing press will now be regulated by a bureaucracy that still struggles to build a functioning website. More...Comment | Share And the GOP Presidential Primaries BeginIt's CPAC time, baby! Yesterday, the Republican Party's presidential hopefuls addressed the 10,000 grassroots conservatives gathered at the Conservative Political Action Conference, hoping to drum up support in what The Wall Street Journal calls one of the most populated primary contests in recent history. After eight years of Barack Obama, the GOP needs to decide how the party will grow. Some highlights: Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker told the audience, "In America we celebrate our independence from the government, not our dependence on it." Sen. Ted Cruz warned establishment Republicans are "cutting a deal" with the Left on Immigration. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal blasted the constitution-breaking president, saying, "It is time for our Republican leaders in Congress to grow a spine" to confront him. It's all tough talk aimed at tickling the ears of the defenders of Liberty who live far-removed from the Beltway. But in the end, when the temporary tattoos wash away, the NRA rifle is raffled off and everybody goes home, what matters is how these politicians did or did not defend Liberty in the positions they now occupy. More...Comment | Share Walker Doesn't Care What the Media ThinksIn an op-ed for USA Today, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker responded indirectly to the grilling he received over Rudy Giuliani's recent comments about Barack Obama's patriotism. "Americans believe our nation is facing some substantial challenges," Walker wrote. "Government spending is out of control. Terrorists seek to destroy our way of life. Our economic recovery has been slow. Our borders aren't secure. The federal government has usurped powers that rightly belong to our states." In other words, these issues are the serious ones. He concluded, "There has been much discussion about a media double standard where Republicans are covered differently than Democrats, asked to weigh in on issues the Democrats don't face. As a result, when we refuse to take the media's bait, we suffer. I felt it this week when I was asked to weigh in on what other people said and did and what others' beliefs are. If you are looking for answers to those questions, ask those people. I will always choose to focus on what matters to the American people, not what matters to the media." That approach is just one reason why Ronald Reagan was so successful.Comment | Share Emily Miller Only One of 16 DC Residents Okayed for a Gun PermitJournalist Emily Miller's journey to navigate the snarls of the District of Columbia's gun laws began in 2011, when she inadvertently came face-to-face with a criminal while armed with only her cell phone. Her quest for a handgun in the nation's most anti-gun city is nearing its conclusion as she was recently approved for a permit to carry in the city. But even after the Heller decision, the process is insurmountably high for citizens to exercise their right to bear arms because citizens have to demonstrate they have a reason (the Constitution evidently isn't sufficient) to convince the police to okay their firearm permit. "I got the police reports from two different threats against me, as well as an FBI warning that a terror group is targeting journalists," Miller wrote. "I turned in my application at the end of November. … I didn't hear anything until early February. … Keep in mind, any American can apply for a D.C. gun permit. But so far, only 76 have done so. Thirty-one were denied. Five cancelled their own applications. And 16 were approved." This is what the Second Amendment looks like under a mayor who declared she hates guns. While she swore to "protect the Constitution and what the courts say," she promises to do the opposite: "I will do it in the most restrictive way as possible."Comment | Share For more, visit Right Hooks. Editor's NoteThe New York Times has the scoop of the month: "The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said this month that it planned to restrict the armor-piercing 5.56-millimeter 'M855 green tip' rifle bullet because of new handguns that use the ammunition and pose a greater threat to the police."Oh, wait. We covered that critical Second Amendment issue almost two weeks ago. The New York Times: All the news that's fit to get around to eventually.
RIGHT ANALYSISThe Islamic Threat -- It's Already Here
That confusion was on full display from the White House to Capitol Hill this week. After three Islamists were arrested in New York for plotting to either join 20,000 other foreigners now among ISIL's ranks, or turn their sites on domestic targets, FBI Director James Comey warned, "We have investigations of people in various stages of radicalization in all 50 states. ... This isn't a New York phenomenon or a Washington phenomenon, this is all 50 states. ... [Radicalization prospects] exist in every state. I have homegrown violent extremist investigations in every single state." Apparently, the primary domestic terrorists threat is not "right wing," as errantly asserted by DHS on the heels of Barack Obama's faux Summit on Countering Violent Extremism. That notwithstanding, after a very bloody year, John Kerry had this to say in congressional testimony: "Our citizens, our world today is actually, despite ISIL, despite the visible killings that you see and how horrific they are, we are actually living in a period of less daily threat to Americans and to people in the world. ... We are actually living in a period of less daily threat to Americans and people in the world -- less deaths, less violent deaths today -- than through the last century." Kerry took a break from more important business like announcing the first-ever Special Envoy for the Human Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual and Transgender Persons, to spin Obama's blinding Islamophilia on the Islamic threat. A day after Kerry's testimony, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper demolished the Obama/Kerry's assessment, and set the record straight: "When the final accounting is done, 2014 will have been the most lethal year for global terrorism in the 45 years such data has been compiled. ... In my 50-plus years in the intelligence business, I don't know of a time that has been more beset by challenges and crises around the world. I worry a lot about the safety and security of this country. ... The homegrown a violent extremists continue to post the most likely threat to our homeland." Former Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who was already on record chastising Obama's Islamic blind spot, also buried Kerry's assessment: "Secretary Kerry is out of touch with reality. He clearly is not listening to the entire U.S. intelligence community. He is not reading any of the intelligence or other things that have been written over the last few weeks -- months -- years." It is abundantly clear that Obama's assessment of ISIL as the "JV team," and his assertion that concern about terrorism is the result of "media hype" and not actual threats, has no basis in reality. National Journal's left-of-center Ron Fournier admits, "What worries me is, I think we're going to get hit. [Islamists are] going to hit us... The problem is these semantic gymnastics, this lack of clarity, the dithering ... is going to make it hard for [Obama] to unite more than his base. ... [Obama] is either spinning and looking week ... or he's not spinning and he is weak. That's a devil's choice." But Charles Krauthammer concludes, "I don't actually think the president's spinning it. I think he truly believes that this is a tranquil era. ... I think he's internally placid about all of this. ... I think we really have a president who believes that stuff and it's not spin and that, I think, is worse." Meanwhile, ISIL's rampage continues apace. The terrorist group this week abducted at least 220, but some estimates say as many as 400, Christians. Fifteen have reportedly been killed. Following last week's massacre of 21 Coptic Christians in Libya, ISIL's attacks on Christians and all nonbelievers are clearly accelerating. Obama just thinks they're just angry about the Crusades. As for the domestic terrorist threat, while the media refers to these deadly assaults as "lone wolf attacks" and a "homegrown Western threat," these are dangerous mischaracterizations. All these actors, whether domestic or foreign, are part of an ideological Islamist web that is metastasizing globally. Obama's appeasement of Islamists has resulted in the bloodiest year of terrorism on record. And as Mark Alexander notes, "[R]egarding Obama's attempt to pivot from the threat of a global Jihad caliphate to 'climate change,' I assure you that the real "global warming" threat we face today is an apocalyptic trigger on an evermore accessible fission weapon that can be detonated in an American urban center." Comment | Share Trying to Reverse a Homeownership Slide
Unfortunately, the economic conditions that led to the dramatic increase in the decade from 1994 to 2004 can't be duplicated today. What was once an era of steady, mainly full-time employment and ample economic growth has now stagnated to a point where those most likely to enter the housing market and become owners are saddled with part-time gigs and staggering student loan debt. Meanwhile, older generations have been struggling with issues of their own, as the equity they once possessed in their homes has long since been wiped out, leaving some unable to keep the dwellings they once owned. After the housing bubble a decade ago led to the economic devastation of 2008, it would make sense to tighten the housing market and have banks ensure that borrowers are more qualified. But recent steps by Barack Obama's Federal Housing Administration indicate the desire to return to the reckless practices that wrecked our economy in the first place. Granted, a simple change in lending fees may not be all that significant, but further guidance in the direction of easing credit is likely. Greater demand for housing will bring prices back up, which in turn will reduce the number of homeowners who are "under water" with their mortgages. But since the federal government guarantees much of the mortgage industry, those who are just starting out will again be lured by easy mortgage money. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac now have a lot of recent experience flipping homes from borrowers who defaulted. In short, the seemingly laudable goal of encouraging homeownership could lead us down a path we already saw isn't desirable. As the wise old financial guru Yogi Berra used to say, "It's déjà vu all over again." Comment | Share For more, visit Right Analysis.
TOP 5 RIGHT OPINION COLUMNS
 OPINION IN BRIEFGeneral Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969): "[The Founders] proclaimed to all the world the revolutionary doctrine of the divine rights of the common man. That doctrine has ever since been the heart of the American faith."Columnist Charles Krauthammer: "The news from the nuclear talks with Iran was already troubling. Iran was being granted the 'right to enrich.' ... Then it got worse: News leaked Monday of the 'sunset clause.' President Obama had accepted the Iranian demand that any restrictions on its program be time-limited. ... Meanwhile, Iran’s intercontinental ballistic missile program is subject to no restrictions at all. It’s not even part of these negotiations. Why is Iran building them? You don’t build ICBMs in order to deliver sticks of dynamite. Their only purpose is to carry nuclear warheads. Nor does Iran need an ICBM to hit Riyadh or Tel Aviv. Intercontinental missiles are for reaching, well, other continents. North America, for example. ... Consider where we began: six U.N. Security Council resolutions demanding an end to Iranian enrichment. Consider what we are now offering: an interim arrangement ending with a sunset clause that allows the mullahs a robust, industrial-strength, internationally sanctioned nuclear program. Such a deal makes the Cuba normalization look good and the Ukrainian cease-fires positively brilliant. We are on the cusp of an epic capitulation. History will not be kind." Comment | Share Columnist David Harsanyi: "The Obama administration values a future relationship with Iran more than it values the historic relationship it has with Israel. ... First, Americans were supposed to be outraged because Netanyahu engaged in a breach of protocol. Then we were supposed to be outraged because the speech would be given too close to the upcoming Israeli elections. ... But if the Israeli elections ... are so problematic, then the controversy should be centered on the behavior of the prime minister, not the substance of his argument. That’s not the case, is it? ... [T]he problem isn’t protocol, Israeli elections, patriotism or partisanship. It’s the fact that Netanyahu is going to make a powerful argument against enabling Iran to become a nuclear power. Many Americans will hear it – or of it. Many Americans will agree. ... Critics of Netanyahu act as if opposing Obama’s Iranian deal is tantamount to declaring war on Iran. In the long run, allowing Iran to become nuclear might well mean war. ... Surely, hearing out the case of an ally that is persistently threatened by Holocaust-denying Iranian officials doesn’t need to come with this much angst from Democrats. But if it does, it’s worth asking why." Comment | Share Comedian Seth Meyers: "John Boehner said ... Obama's veto of the Keystone XL pipeline was a 'national embarrassment.' And then, out of habit, Joe Biden said, 'Here!'" 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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