THE FOUNDATION
"On every question of construction carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed." —Thomas Jefferson, 1823TOP RIGHT HOOKS
What You Need to Know About Tonight's GOP Debate
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Seven candidates will take the stage: Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Bush and Kasich. Duking it out at the Happy Hour debate will be Mike Huckabee, Carly Fiorina, Rick Santorum and Rand Paul — except Paul declined the invite. He issued a statement saying he should have been up on the big stage and he'll not attend tonight's undercard debate. Instead, he'll "double down on his efforts to talk straight to the voters."
According to the polling data for Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, Trump could win all three. Cruz and the billionaire are running neck in neck in the Hawkeye State, but Trump is cruising with a 17 point lead in New Hampshire and an 11 point lead in South Carolina, which has its primary on Feb. 20. In Iowa, though, Trump has been feeling the pressure from Cruz, who has become the favorite of value-voting Republicans, so he has finally begun throwing punches at the senator.
Fox Business moderators Neil Cavuto and Maria Bartiromo might not let weak rhetoric fly. Red State expects that the moderators will highlight the differences between the candidates, focusing on the issues, because Fox News knows its conservative audience. As for the candidates, some of them should be asking if it's time to politely excuse themselves from the race. There can be only one winner, and that person must be able to unite and excite the broad field of conservatism.
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A Way to Slow Executive Overreach
"Our Founders distributed power between states and branches of government, and expected us to argue, just as they did, fiercely, over the size and shape of government, over commerce and foreign relations, over the meaning of liberty and the imperatives of security," Barack Obama told us Tuesday night in a civics lesson meant to browbeat everyone into agreeing with him.So how do we use the separation of powers he mentioned to slow the unilateral advance of his agenda by executive fiat? Genevieve Wood of The Heritage Foundation has a strategy: "Though Congress has given up much of its power when it comes to using its 'power of the purse' to stop executive overreach, there is one power it still holds, and there is absolutely no reason not to use it. Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, popularly known as 'Advice and Consent,' requires the Senate to approve all presidential appointments of cabinet officials, ambassadors, and federal judges. The day of the Senate 'consenting' and following a go-along get-along strategy on such matters should be over."
While this wouldn't cause much trouble for judicial appointments — 91% of those seats are filled — there are more than 100 key administration jobs being held by an acting deputy if not by an empty chair. (And we all know how much Obama likes empty chairs.) It's not uncommon for this to happen to some extent in the final year of a president's second term, but Obama's vacancies are more numerous than his predecessors'. Republicans shouldn't hesitate to use any tool at their disposal to make Obama's final year as unproductive as possible.
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Obama Still Working to Close Gitmo
During his State of the Union remarks, Barack Obama said that he would continue to make the closing of Guantanamo Bay Detention Center a reality — just like he's said for the last seven years. "I will keep working to shut down the prison at Guantanamo," Obama said. "It's expensive, it's unnecessary, and it only serves as a recruitment brochure for our enemies." Late last year, Obama lost a political fight to close the prison that is holding terrorists and suspected terrorists. He tried to attach a proposal to the defense-spending bill that would authorize a move of Gitmo detainees to a prison in the States — even vetoing the bill when it arrived on his desk without his demands. Now, Obama will again use executive action to subvert the will of Congress and U.S. law. His administration has been releasing prisoners, five in trade for Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl, and now 10 Yemenis will be shipped off to the United Arab Emirates because this administration no longer considers them a threat. But this administration also once argued Iraq was stable enough to leave. While Obama won't close Gitmo all at once, he will close it one prisoner at a time.Comment | Share
Don't Miss Alexander's Column
Read Obama's State of Delusion, on Alexander's customary and comprehensive rebuttal to the State of the Union Address.If you'd like to receive Alexander's Column by email, update your subscription here.
FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS
State of Fundamental Change
By Allyne Caan
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Obama set the stage by preemptively insulting anyone who would attempt to unravel the spin he was about to spew, stating, "Anyone claiming that America's economy is in decline is peddling fiction." Of course, someone who lives in a world of fantasy, where a jump in the national debt from $10.6 trillion in 2009 to $18.8 trillion today is "economic progress," can hardly be trusted to judge fact and fiction.
In the land of reality, Obama's economy is a downright failure. First, as The Daily Signal explains, while Obama touted lower unemployment and more jobs, the fact is that the 5% unemployment rate today is worse than the 4.4% rate under George W. Bush in May of 2007. And the unemployment rate doesn't count the millions who have left the workforce during Obama's reign. Indeed, the labor participation rate today is the lowest since 1977, standing at just 62.6%. What's more, the average unemployed worker has been jobless for more than six months, longer than at any time between 1945 and Obama's inauguration.
As for those new jobs? Job creation has mostly kept pace with population growth. While treading water is better than the alternative, it's hardly worthy of a medal.
And let's not forget the $80 billion (per year) in new regulations under Obama that have wreaked financial havoc on business and individuals alike — ObamaCare being the prime example. Obama said Tuesday that "there are outdated regulations that need to be changed, and there's red tape that needs to be cut," but under his watch Americans have inherited 184 new major rules. Meanwhile, just 17 federal rules have been scaled back. That red tape seems to be sticking pretty close to Obama.
Then there's Obama's claim that government spending on renewable energy has brightened the economic landscape. "On rooftops from Arizona to New York," he said, "solar is saving Americans tens of millions of dollars a year on their energy bills and employs more Americans than coal — in jobs that pay better than average." Well, remember all those regulations? They're killing thousands of better-than-average-pay coal jobs. Meanwhile, solar energy, while growing thanks to taxpayer-funded subsidies, remains one of the most expensive ways to generate electricity. So if there are more solar jobs than coal ones, it's because Obama put his foot on the scale.
Finally, while Obama claimed over the last seven years that progress toward the goal of "a growing economy that works better" for everyone, those facing declining incomes under his watch might disagree. As the Signal notes, "Between 2007 and 2011 (the most recent data available) labor income for non-elderly households in the middle quintile dropped roughly 10 percentage points."
While no amount of rhetoric can spin all this into a booming economy, Obama still tries. As The Wall Street Journal observes, "Obama's legacy project is already in high gear. This includes Tuesday night's State of the Union, which is best understood as the start of a campaign to persuade Americans that the last seven years have been better than they believe. He needs to start early because this reality makeover won't be easy."
Indeed, Obama prepares to exit office with a limping U.S. economy, an economic slowdown in China that could make the limp more pronounced, and falling oil prices that might bring relief at the pump but are hitting the U.S. drilling industry hard.
It's little wonder that the Democrat presidential candidates lining up to take Obama's place are far from enthusiastic about the economic legacy they're simultaneously running on and against.
Who can blame them? Obama's economic legacy will be one of change minus the hope. And no lies intermittently augmented by nearly 15 minutes of applause can change that.
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MORE ORIGINAL PERSPECTIVE
- ANALYSIS: Jihadist-Denying Progressives
- A Boast Exposes a Huge Failure
- Nikki Haley's State of the GOP Address
- Shocking New Study: Polar Bears Learn to Adapt
- Safe, Legal and ... Fully Paid For
BEST OF RIGHT OPINION
- Ryan T. Anderson & Roger Severino: Why ObamaCare Might Force Doctors to Perform Sex-Reassignment Surgeries
- Mona Charen: What '13 Hours' Teaches
- Victor Davis Hanson: Obama's Failings Among the Reasons for Trump's Rise
TOP HEADLINES
- Paris-Style Terror Attack by ISIS Militants in Jakarta
- Record Low 1-in-10 Americans Watched SOTU Address
- IRS May Still Be Targeting Conservative Groups
OPINION IN BRIEF
Ryan T. Anderson & Roger Severino: "You've heard about the Obamacare Individual Mandate. That's the one that requires every person in America to get government-approved health insurance or face significant IRS penalties. You've heard about the Health and Human Services (HHS) contraception mandate. That's the one that requires private employers, including religious institutions like the Little Sisters of the Poor, to help provide insurance coverage for abortion-inducing drugs or face millions in IRS fines. Well, now Health and Human Services has a 'Gender Identity Mandate' in the works. This one would require doctors and insurers to provide or cover 'gender transition' treatments or face discrimination charges and loss of federal funds and Medicaid reimbursements. As we explain in a new Heritage Foundation report, the proposed regulations would create serious conflicts of conscience for many organizations, hospitals, physicians, and other individuals involved in health care who do not feel they are able to perform reassignment surgeries. ... To truly protect individual liberty and freedom of conscience, and fully respect the medical independence of physicians, Obamacare must be repealed. Patient-centered health care reform that puts decision-making back in the hands of individuals, families, and physicians would lower costs, increase access, and respect the freedom of conscience of both consumers and medical providers."Comment | Share
SHORT CUTS
Insight: "Any formal attack on ignorance is bound to fail because the masses are always ready to defend their most precious possession — their ignorance." —Hendrik van Loon (1882-1944)Apology tour: "I'm appreciative for the quick and appropriate response of the Iranian authorities. ... I think we can all imagine how a similar situation might have played out three or four years ago and in fact, it is clear that today this kind of issue was able to be peacefully resolved and officially resolved and that is a testament to the critical role that diplomacy plays in keeping our country safe, secure and strong." —John Kerry ("The U.S. administration is accepting and thanking the Iranians for their humiliation." —Charles Krauthammer)
Lost on Fantasy Island: "Iran has moved from being one of the most despised nations in our history to something that's a much more comfortable potential partner. ... This is an example of Iran is sending a signal that it's not just about the Iran deal anymore. This is about future actions and where they hope to go." —Atlantic editor Steve Clemons
Non Compos Mentis: "Iran's Swift Release of U.S. Sailors Hailed as a Sign of Warmer Relations" —New York Times headline
Belly laugh of the week: "I'm sure it's going to be just devastating to all their viewers." —NFL quarterback Peyton Manning's snarky stab at Al Jazeera America, which announced its closing up shop
Warning shot: "We'll do audacious executive action over the course of the rest of the year. I'm confident of that." —White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough
Late-night humor: "The White House joined Snapchat [this week]. It's a great platform for the White House, because moments after you make a promise, it magically disappears." —Jimmy Fallon
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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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