THE FOUNDATION
"Resolve to perform what you ought. Perform without fail what you resolve." —Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography, 1772TOP RIGHT HOOKS
Clinton Foundation Profited While Russia Seized U.S. Uranium
Today, Russia controls a fifth of the uranium production in the United States, according to The New York Times. Needless to say, this is the bitter fruit of the Obama administration's foolish "Russian reset." Thanks, Hillary Clinton. While a Russian company was taking over energy company Uranium One from 2009 to 2013, millions of dollars tied to the company's previous owners ended up in the Clinton Foundation's coffers. When the deal was made public, Bill Clinton was invited to speak to a Kremlin-linked bank that was promoting the stock of Uranium One. He was paid $500,000. So not only did the Clintons profit off of Russia, but Hillary did so while damaging national security in her critical position at the State Department.Obama spokesman Josh Earnest wouldn't deny that Clinton Foundation activity influenced the former secretary of state's actions, saying, "I'm not going to be in a position here where every time someone raises a spurious claim that I'm going to be the one to sit down here and say it's not true." But the Clinton Foundation is refilling its tax returns because there were "errors." Apparently, the nonprofit didn't properly disclose donations from U.S. and foreign governments from 2010 to 2012 — y'know, when Clinton was secretary of state. That's a tacit admission there's much more here than a vast right-wing conspiracy, and the nonprofit may be the thing that finally brings Clinton's career to a close. More...
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Don't miss Will the Clinton Foundation Be Hillary's Downfall?
VA Helped ATF Seize Veterans' Guns
By now, most everyone knows about the Veterans Affairs wait-time scandal. But health care isn't the only thing for which the VA is making our veterans wait. The Daily Caller reports, "The Department of Veterans Affairs is disarming America's veterans by getting them placed on the FBI's criminal background-check list. The VA sends veterans' personal medical and financial information directly to the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which can seize their guns in home raids." Sen. Chuck Grassley sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder demanding to know why "99.3% of all names reported to the NICS list's 'mental defective' category were provided by the Veterans Administration (VA) even though reporting requirements apply to all federal agencies." That's a great question, and one that we're not holding our breath for Holder to answer. Disarming the public — even veterans specifically trained to use weapons — is a key objective for the Obama administration, and they'll use whatever means necessary. More...Comment | Share
Cleveland Recreates Gun Offender Registry
Thumbing its collective nose at Ohio state law, the city of Cleveland passed a battery of gun control laws April 20. Among the changes, the city plans on running a gun-offender registry, requiring residents to notify police when they sell firearms and jailing anyone for six month who doesn't secure guns to the extent the city deems they should. The measures overreach the state's gun laws. The editorial board of The Plain Dealer and Northeast Ohio Media Group supported the gun control ordinances. "The legislation also is a direct challenge to state lawmakers who have sought at every turn, abetted by misguided Supreme Court rulings, to deny Ohio cities their constitutionally guaranteed home-rule rights when it comes to gun laws," the board wrote. "In 2010, the state high court overturned a Cleveland ban on assault weapons as well as city handgun registration requirements. This legislation could be challenged on similar grounds. But until then, it is law." On April 21, Ohioans For Concealed Carry sued the city over the ordinances. "Shall not be infringed" doesn't leave a lot of wiggle room for anti-gun cities to create a patchwork of laws that make a constitutionally sanctioned act criminal in one zip code but not the next. More...Comment | Share
Don't Miss Alexander's Column
Read Earth Day, the EPA and Regulatory Tyranny, on how this leftist celebration is about economic centralization, not environmental protection.If you'd like to receive Alexander's Column by email, update your subscription here.
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FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS
Democrats Trade Blows Over Trade
By Allyne Caan
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At issue is bipartisan, bicameral trade-promotion authority (TPA) legislation, introduced last week by Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI). It would give the president authority, within the parameters of certain rules, to negotiate the Asian trade agreement and present it to Congress for an up-or-down vote, no amendments allowed. Obama claims such authority is necessary to close negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a 12-nation free-trade deal that some say would be jeopardized if the participating nations think Congress may amend the deal after terms are finalized.
But while Republicans generally favor free trade, many high-powered liberals oppose Obama and are saying "not so fast," despite the fact that almost every president since FDR has had similar authority. One reason for the opposition could be that the powerful AFL-CIO, which, according to OpenSecrets.org, spent $1 million supporting Democrat candidates in the 2014 election cycle and an equal amount opposing Republicans, has not only come out strongly against TPA but also announced it is suspending campaign contributions to federal candidates in order to fight the White House trade plans.
Obama promised he will sign his name only “to an agreement that helps ordinary Americans get ahead.” But Democrats opposing him aren’t buying it. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), for example, said, “All evidence I’ve seen is that this hurts middle-class incomes,” and as a result he “can’t be for it.”
Former Maryland governor and potential Democrat presidential candidate Martin O’Malley also declared his opposition to TPP, writing in an email to supporters, “To me, opposing bad trade deals like TPP is just common sense.”
Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who championed an Asian trade pact while secretary of state, hasn’t yet taken a public position on TPP. After all, any AFL-CIO contributions may have to outweigh whatever the Clinton Foundation brought in. Hillary's positions go to the highest bidder.
Meanwhile, Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) believes only a quarter of Senate Democrats are with the White House. In Durbin’s words, “A fourth, hell no; a fourth, lean yes; and a big group undecided.” At least one of those “hell no’s” comes from Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, who said of supporting the TPA, “You couldn’t find a person to ask this question who feels more negatively about it than I do. ... So the answer is not only no, but hell no.”
Also in Reid’s camp is Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, who wrote a scathing opposition to the TPP and fast-track legislation, claiming the government doesn’t want Americans to see what’s in the deal. For Democrats, that's usually a plus (think ObamaCare), but how do the arguments change when Warren tries to fight a trade deal.
Of Warren specifically, and of TPA and TPP’s detractors generally, Obama said they are “wrong on this,” adding that while “some of the information that has been getting thrown out there plays into legitimate fears that Democratic voters have, and progressives have, it’s simply not true. It’s simply not the facts.”
Come on. When have "progressives" ever cared about facts?
The Senate Finance Committee approved TPA Wednesday night by a vote of 20-6, and the bill now moves to the full Senate, where most believe it will pass. On the House side, however, the outcome is less certain, as the vote count is tighter. Some House conservatives are (understandably) hesitant about giving Obama any additional power, meaning at least some Democrat “yes” votes will be needed.
But with the intraparty fight in full swing, it's a question all its own whether Democrats will pause long enough to cast those votes.
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BEST OF RIGHT OPINION
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- R. Emmett Tyrrell: Where to Find America's Aristocracy
OPINION IN BRIEF
FRC president Tony Perkins: "Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) chief Michele Leonhart [is] stepping down after a Department of Justice Inspector General’s (IG) report documented that DEA agents in Colombia had participated in 'sex parties' with prostitutes — in some cases hired by the very drug cartels the agents were supposed to be fighting. This comes following a similar well-publicized scandal in Colombia (where prostitution is tolerated) involving Secret Service agents, but the IG report covered problems of sexual harassment and misconduct not only in the DEA, but also in the FBI, U.S. Marshals Service, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Meanwhile, the Defense Department continues to struggle with problems of sexual assault and pornography in the military. White House spokesman Josh Earnest insisted, 'The president … maintains a very high standard for anybody who serves in his administration.' Perhaps, however, what President Obama needs to do is engage in some soul-searching about his party’s unqualified affirmation of the values of the sexual revolution — namely, sex without boundaries (such as homosexuality) and without consequences (hence the necessity of abortion). If it is not permissible for the society or culture to demand sexual self-restraint from anyone, it inevitably makes it harder to demand such restraint even in the professional context of the military or law enforcement, which by now, should be very evident."Comment | Share
SHORT CUTS
Insight: "When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle." —British statesman Edmund Burke (1729-1797)Dezinformatsia: "[V]ery few people stop to think: [Hillary] Clinton has been in our faces for 20-plus years. Where is any evidence of real corruption? I don’t mean stuff you may not have liked or that kinda looked funny. I mean actual, Rhode-Island-style, steal-a-hot-stove corruption." —The Daily Beast's Michael Tomasky in his piece, "The Clintons Still Aren’t Corrupt"
Non Compos Mentis: "[W]e do not as a country, in our culture, have any collective acknowledgment that slavery happened, that it built our economy and that every single one of us ... are shaped by the legacy of racism in this country." —Heather McGhee, president of Demos (*The problem is that today's race-baiters want us to remain slaves to the past. Some folks will never move on...*)
Alpha Jackass: "Policy makers who deny basic scientific truth should also be denied penicillin, horseless carriages, [and] air time on the magic box of shadows." —Hollywood director Joss Whedon on climate change
Demo-gogues: "[Y]ou do not have time to deny the effects of climate change. Folks are already busy dealing with it. And nowhere is it going to have a bigger impact than here in south Florida. No place else. It has to be paying closer attention to this and acknowledging it, and understanding that if we take action now we can do something about it." —Barack Obama on Earth Day
And last... "[For Earth Day] Obama flew a jet all the way to the Everglades then rode in a massive SUV motorcade to tell you to cut carbon emissions." —twitter satirist @hale_razor
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Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis!
Managing Editor Nate Jackson
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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