Tuesday, February 4, 2014

THE PATRIOT POST 02/04/2014

Daily Digest for Tuesday

February 4, 2014

THE FOUNDATION

"A little matter will move a party, but it must be something great that moves a nation." --Thomas Paine, Rights of Man, 1791

TOP 5 RIGHT HOOKS

Obama's Super Bull

In 2008, Barack Obama infamously proclaimed, "We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America." But in Sunday's Super Bowl pregame interview, when pressed by Fox News' Bill O'Reilly about the statement, Obama replied, "I don't think we need to fundamentally transform the nation." Obama's flip flop fits right in with other BIG lies he kicked off during the interview, such as his claim that "we have not massively expanded the welfare state," or, "In a lot of ways Richard Nixon was more liberal than I was." Fact is, Obama already has partially succeeded in fundamentally changing America -- in large part by expanding the welfare state. By denying all this he's trying to deceive his low-info constituents, but we can see it's only a trick play.

Ryan on a Lawless President

Elaborating on the GOP's immigration reform proposal, Paul Ryan said, "Here's the issue that all Republicans agree on: We don't trust the president to enforce the law. So if you actually look at the standards Republican leadership put out, which is, security first -- first, we have to secure the border and [get] interior enforcement. ... Those things have to be in law, in practice, and independently verified before the rest of the law can occur." Our suggestion: Forget legal status and focus on security, enforcement and reforms to the legal process. Even so, it will be almost impossible to overcome what Ryan called "an increasingly lawless presidency."

Obama's Syria Policy Has Failed

Secretary of State John Kerry is evidently not overly pleased with his boss's policy regarding Syria. Kerry reportedly told a gathering of 15 senators that Obama's policy isn't working because Bashar al-Assad's regime is not keeping its promises regarding chemical weapons, because peace talks in Geneva are failing, and because the Russians are doing the entirely expected -- propping up their man Assad. It's encouraging to hear that Kerry may be aware of the failure, but it's too much to hope that he's seen the light.

Gibson Strikes Back

In 2011, two Tennessee factories of the Gibson Guitar Corporation were raided by federal authorities, who seized guitars, office files and pallets of exotic wood used in the manufacture of instruments, including East Indian rosewood. The raid was conducted on the basis of India's law that discourages the processing of this wood outside India; the company did not violate any American laws. Now that the dust has settled, Gibson is introducing a new guitar series made from the very same wood targeted by the feds. According to Gibson, "Great Gibson electric guitars have long been a means of fighting the establishment, so when the powers that be confiscated stocks of tonewoods from the Gibson factory in Nashville -- only to return them once there was a resolution and the investigation ended -- it was an event worth celebrating." That's a tune we love to hear!

Bridge Trolling Christie

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie once again finds himself denying any knowledge or participation in the bridge closing scandal. David Wildstein, a long-time friend of Christie and the Port Authority official who personally oversaw the lane closings, says that he has evidence that Christie knew what was going on. Perhaps Wildstein is simply lashing out after being ousted for his own involvement, because unless he can prove that Christie ordered the closures, or at least knew the reason for them, his new accusations aren't actually new. What's clear is that this episode will continue to nag Christie for a long time.

For more, visit Right Hooks.

Don't Miss Patriot Humor

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RIGHT ANALYSIS

Unaffordable and Uncaring

We all knew there would be incredible transition pains from ObamaCare, and thus far the Affordable Care Act has predictably turned out to be anything but what its name implies. The latest is news that those who made mistakes in signing up via Healthcare.gov and later found out they're paying too much for coverage are trapped in a situation where there is no hope for change. In the case of one 27-year-old West Virginian, a botched calculation in her subsidy is costing her $100 more a month for her policy and an extra $4,000 on her deductible -- bad news for her given that she needed gall bladder surgery in January. Unfortunately, even after she learned of the mistake, her appeal is stuck in a bureaucratic loop because the appeals system for the online signup is non-functional.

Others are finding out the hard way that premiums are going to be taking a much larger slice of their paycheck than falsely advertised. A Pennsylvania television station was on location when workers at a small business learned of the cost of their new group plan. To put it mildly, few of them considered it "affordable." Others are seeing more modest premium increases, or even small decreases, but will have to bear steep out-of-pocket costs on deductibles or co-pays to keep their premiums in check.

As this sort of news trickles out through the gatekeeping Leftmedia, support for the ACA among the uninsured is dropping -- a nearly 2-to-1 margin now view ObamaCare unfavorably. However, the same Kaiser poll showed respondents would rather fix the bill than kill it, and Republicans seem more willing to oblige. Since dozens of repeal votes went nowhere with the Senate or the president, GOP efforts are beginning to focus on realistic repairs to the system such as tax credits, allowing insurance to be sold across state lines, necessary tort reform, and a revived emphasis on health savings accounts.

While any and all aspects of ObamaCare are subject to change at the whim of namesake Barack Obama, the general feeling among those who were told that we had to "pass it to find out what was in it" is that we got a raw deal. Even though recent focus has been on the disaster of rolling out the online portion of ObamaCare, the balky website is the least of its problems.

Keystone Cops Find No Problem

Last Friday, the State Department released its final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed Keystone Pipeline, and -- surprise, surprise -- the report reiterates the department's earlier findings that building the pipeline will have little impact on climate change. This buckles yet another leg on which Barack Obama has been trying to stand in his effort interminably to delay approving the pipeline for fear of backlash from the green lobby.
Still, the Obama administration continues to stall its decision, apparently unfazed by the specter of shovel-ready jobs awaiting job-ready Americans. Even Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz explained that our domestic energy boom lacks adequate transportation infrastructure to support it: "The core approach, really, is that our infrastructure needs to build out."

White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough downplayed the State Department report, however, saying other agencies -- including the EPA -- will weigh in and noting that the president had promised to "insulate this process from politics." McDonough should try stand-up comedy because that's a knee-slapper. Indeed, the political calculating behind the delayed approval has become so obvious that even members of the president's own party are urging action. As the Associated Press accurately put it, "President Obama is running out of reasons to say no to Keystone XL." Unfortunately, this won't stop him from trying to come up with some.

For more, visit Right Analysis.

TOP 5 RIGHT OPINION COLUMNS

Tony Perkins: Baby Steps on Abortion Rates
Cal Thomas: Retreating on Illegal immigration
Dennis Prager: America's Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan Are Not 'Ended'
Mona Charen: Obama and the Grievance Industry
Thomas Sowell: Republicans to the Rescue?

For more, visit Right Opinion.

OPINION IN BRIEF

Columnist Cal Thomas: "Republicans have convinced themselves that Hispanics are a 'natural' constituency for their party because they are hard workers, religious and family-oriented. ... According to Pew, 53 percent of babies born to Hispanic immigrants are to single mothers, about twice the rate of whites. As for Republican 'family values,' Pew found a majority of Hispanics, 53 percent, support same-sex marriage. ... In a recent column, Phyllis Schlafly, a conservative political analyst, cited an American National Election Study that asked Hispanics their views about the free market vs. big government solutions to problems. Schlafly noted, 'Only 17.9 percent of Hispanics responded "the less government the better," and 85.3 percent said "a strong government involvement is required to handle economic problems."' This is not the profile of a future Republican voter."

Economist Thomas Sowell: "What 'comprehensive' reform means is that border control and amnesty should be voted on together in Congress. Why? Because that would be politically convenient for members of Congress, who like to be on both sides of issues, so as to minimize the backlash from the voting public. ... What in the world is wrong with Congress taking up border security first, as a separate issue, and later taking responsibility in a Congressional vote on whether the border has become secure? Congress at least should come out of the shadows. The Republican plan for granting legalization up front, while withholding citizenship, is too clever by half. It is like saying that you can slide halfway down a slippery slope. Republicans may yet rescue the Democrats, while demoralizing their own supporters and utterly failing the country."

Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoi (1828-1910): "Hypocrisy is anything whatever may deceive the cleverest and most penetrating man, but the least wide-awake of children recognizes it,  and is revolted by it, however ingeniously it may be disguised."

Columnist Mona Charen: "A vicious cycle is clearly underway. Poorly educated women do not find marriageable mates among low-earning or jobless young men. Women then raise children alone and handicap their sons more than their daughters, and the cycle repeats itself. The collapse of the marriage culture is arguably the 'defining issue of our time.'"

Comedian Argus Hamilton: "President Obama went on the road Thursday where he faced hostile questions about Obamacare. He answered if you have trouble with the Obamacare website, you can always apply by mail. Only the federal government would develop a website that's slower than mail."

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

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