Friday, January 31, 2014

THE PATRIOT POST 01/31/2014

Daily Digest for Friday

January 31, 2014

THE FOUNDATION

"[T]he States can best govern our home concerns and the general government our foreign ones. I wish, therefore ... never to see all offices transferred to Washington, where, further withdrawn from the eyes of the people, they may more secretly be bought and sold at market." --Thomas Jefferson, letter to Judge William Johnson, 1823

TOP 5 RIGHT HOOKS

Obama's Double Talk

Barack Obama repeated this week, "I'm not going to wait for Congress. I could do more with Congress, but I'm not going to not do anything without Congress, not when it's about the basic security and dignity of American workers." That was some classist double talk with a triple negative. And Obama has done more to undermine "the basic security and dignity of American workers" than any president since FDR.

Conn. Gun Ban Upheld

U.S. District Judge Alfred Covello upheld Connecticut's recent draconian gun control laws, which ban standard-capacity magazines and so-called "assault weapons." Covello wrote, "While the act burdens the plaintiffs' Second Amendment rights, it is substantially related to the important governmental interest of public safety and crime control." The latter claim is completely bogus, of course, and the Second Amendment reads "shall not be infringed." The ruling also came despite Covello's admission that "the firearms and magazines at issue are 'in common use' within the meaning of Heller and, presumably, used for lawful purposes." Again, never mind the law or the Supreme Court -- these guns are scary.

DOJ Seeks Death for Tsarnaev

In a surprising move, the Obama Justice Department is seeking the death penalty for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement, "After consideration of the relevant facts, the applicable regulations and the submissions made by the defendant's counsel, I have determined that the United States will seek the death penalty in this matter." That doesn't mean Tsarnaev will actually be put to death, however. It's far likelier that he'll be sentenced to life without parole. Given that he planted his bomb five feet from an eight-year-old and attended a college party two days later, a firing squad seems about right.

MSNBC Race Bait

With MSNBC, everything's about race. Earlier this week the Twitterverse was set abuzz after an MSNBC employee launched an unprovoked attack on conservatives in response to a new Cheerios ad depicting a biracial family. "Maybe the rightwing will hate it, but everyone else will go awww," read the tweet. MSNBC has since fired the culprit and offered condolences after RNC chairman Reince Priebus ordered his staff to boycott the network until an apology was issued. "The tweet ... was outrageous and unacceptable," MSNBC president Phil Griffin conceded. "We immediately acknowledged that it was offensive and wrong, apologized, and deleted it ... I personally apologize to Mr. Priebus and to everyone offended." Still, we're left asking: Does anyone actually watch MSNBC?

Solar Provides 0.2% of Power

During Tuesday's SOTU address, Obama boldly took credit for America's energy boom despite this administration's crushing regulatory state. "The all-of-the-above energy strategy I announced a few years ago is working," Obama declared, "and today, America is closer to energy independence than we've been in decades." We'd point out that America probably would be energy independent if Obama ended his war on coal and oil drilling on government land. He absurdly added that "we're becoming a global leader in solar [power], too." Here's an inconvenient truth: Government data reveals that between January and September of 2013, solar energy furnished a whopping 0.2% of electricity in the U.S., up from 0.02% when Obama took office. But hey, progress!

For more, visit Right Hooks.

RIGHT ANALYSIS

GOP Floats Immigration Reform

On Thursday, the GOP released their Standards for Immigration Reform, and the standards themselves are pretty much on target. But the devil is always in the details.

The Republican proposal begins by dividing up a comprehensive approach into as many as eight separate proposals, starting with border security but also with granting "probationary" legal status to illegals. Before beginning any such discussion, however, the important question is this: Can Barack Obama be trusted to enforce the laws? The obvious answer is no, and therein lies our primary criticism.

In laying out the principles, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) said, "We want to make sure that we write a law that [Obama] can't avoid." Good luck with that. Obama and his infamous pen are quite adept at avoiding or writing law. Recall that Obama unilaterally enacted the DREAM Act -- rejected by Congress multiple times -- by granting de facto amnesty to the children of illegal aliens. (That element is part of the GOP proposal, too.) Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson also says that illegals have "earned the right to be citizens." When such is the prevailing attitude of the executive branch, what then?

Well, Ryan says the GOP's thinking isn't actually all that different: "If ... you satisfy the terms of your probation, you're not on welfare, you pay a fine, you learn English and civics, and the border's been secured and interior enforcement independently verified, then you can get a regular work permit."

But we've seen this movie before. All of those things were part of the 1986 amnesty, too. How did that work out? Ryan says that the estimated 11 million illegals here won't be "preferenced over people who did follow the laws." But does anyone believe that Congress would revoke legal status once it's granted? Republicans are obviously desperate to win more Latino votes, so there's no way they'll revoke anything later. And Democrats... Need we say more?

None of this is to say some reforms aren't needed, or that there aren't good reforms in the GOP's proposal. The legal immigration process is far too cumbersome and bureaucratic, making crossing the border illegally an attractive alternative. The Republican proposal for expanding the visa and work-permit system would alleviate pressure on the border, though enforcing existing law will always remain key. Furthermore, the GOP acknowledges U.S. economic interests -- we should seek and keep the best and brightest, not just focus on every immigrant's mom, uncle and second cousin.

But it's hard to trust Republicans to keep their eye on the ball and work toward smart reforms without caving to Democrat demands on amnesty -- all for an issue that almost no one but Democrats finds important right now. Dividing the GOP over it in this election year seems especially ill-advised.

Is the Economy Really 'Picking Up Speed'?

There is a pulse...

In his State of the Union address, Barack Obama made the case that "the economy [is] picking up speed" as part of "four years of economic growth." To the extent that the numbers show a slight improvement in gross domestic product, particularly in the last two quarters of 2013, that much is true.

But the overall economy slowed down in 2013, growing at a 1.9% annualized rate compared to a 2.8% rate in 2012. And while the latter two quarters of the year pointed us toward a growth rate just north of 3%, a significant portion of that came from business stockpiling. Interestingly enough, the 16-day government shutdown was blamed for shaving 0.3% off the fourth quarter growth rate

As many know, since the last recession technically ended just months after Barack Obama took office in 2009, he has presided over the weakest recovery in recent history. And while he's "pivoted back to the economy" seemingly dozens of times, his emphasis on tweaking ObamaCare for his political allies, figuring out ways to stall the Keystone XL pipeline while enriching cronies in the "green energy" business, and making a complete mess of American foreign policy have always taken precedence over trivial items like making policy that encourages job creation and independence from government aid.

If anything, some of the most recent numbers -- which are subject to change in subsequent revisions -- show that American consumers are nothing if not resilient. Consumer spending in the fourth quarter grew at its fastest pace all year, although 3.3% is nothing to celebrate. The Reagan recovery featured growth averaging more than 4%.
Economists polled by the Leftmedia seem to believe the recovery will accelerate modestly for 2014, and the Federal Reserve seems to agree as they continued tapering off their monthly bond purchases, slowing to $65 billion from $85 billion as recently as December. Whether this is all a mirage in the face of a shrinking workforce and a declining savings rate remains to be seen, but the stakes are high: Control of Congress teeters in the balance this November, and the economy promises to be a top issue.
For more, visit Right Analysis.

TOP 5 RIGHT OPINION COLUMNS

David Limbaugh: The Man Who Would Be King
Arnold Ahlert: Welfare State Madness
Mona Charen: The Little Victims of the State
Ken Blackwell: President Obama: Mr. Inequality
Joe Bastardi: A Crisis of Cold

For more, visit Right Opinion.

OPINION IN BRIEF

Columnist Michelle Malkin: "Family participation is not an afterthought. It's the engine that drives everything. The dedicated parents, grandparents, foster parents and legal guardians I've met in the charter school movement and homeschooling community see themselves as their children's primary educational providers. Not the U.S. Department of Education. Not the White House. Not GOP politicians cashing in on top-down 'education reform.' After several years of educational satisfaction, however, we've encountered another sobering life lesson: There is no escape, no foolproof sanctuary, from the reach of meddling Fed Ed bureaucrats and cash-hungry special interests who think they know what's best for our kids. ... No fully funded school voucher system in the world can improve the educational experience if Fed Ed controls the classroom and homeschool room. Coerced conformity kills choice."

Columnist Jonah Goldberg: "On the anniversary of Roe v. Wade earlier this month, President Obama couldn't bring himself to say the word 'abortion,' preferring instead virtually every poll-tested buzzword. Indeed, in all of the 'war on women' noise, abortion is almost always wrapped in the velvety euphemisms of 'women's health' and 'reproductive choice.' It should tell you something when passionate advocates of unrestricted abortion are so uncomfortable talking about ... abortion. Perhaps all of the rage abortion extremists aim at their opponents is cover for a deep insecurity ... about the reality of what they are defending. Sen Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) once said that life begins 'when you bring your baby home' from the hospital. That is not very far from Wendy Davis' position. But she doesn't want to say that -- certainly not in Texas! Better to change the subject to the evils of her opponents and -- hey -- have you seen my sneakers?"

Mark Twain (1835-1910): "Do the right thing. It will gratify some people and astonish the rest."

Allen West: "I have an idea to cut government spending immediately. Every Member of Congress who stood and applauded when Obama said he can take steps without legislation can be immediately fired since they agree they are irrelevant -- including their staff. Their constituents can then live under the rule of edict instead of the rule of law. I think that would save us a whole bunch of money -- including their congressional pensions since they abandoned their duties."

Comedian Jay Leno: "[Tuesday's SOTU] was a very important speech for the president ... and he gave it at a time when he's losing support from his own party. In fact, congressional Democrats were warned ... that if they didn't applaud the president's speech, he would go out and campaign for them."

Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus et Fidelis!
Nate Jackson for The Patriot Post Editorial Team

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