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Title: The Patriot Post Digest 3-30-2017 Post by: nChrist on April 01, 2017, 06:00:28 PM ________________________________________ The Patriot Post Digest 3-30-2017 From The Federalist Patriot Free Email Subscription (http://patriotpost.us/subscription/new) ________________________________________ Mid-Day Digest Mar. 30, 2017 IN TODAY’S EDITION It’s almost like Democrats forget that their previous statements were on the record. The GOP’s odd move on Internet privacy. Who benefits? North Carolina is on the cusp of reversing its bathroom law under pressure. Daily Features: Top Headlines, Cartoons, Columnists and Short Cuts. THE FOUNDATION “The truth is, that, even with the most secure tenure of office, during good behavior, the danger is not, that the judges will be too firm in resisting public opinion, and in defence of private rights or public liberties; but, that they will be ready to yield themselves to the passions, and politics, and prejudices of the day.” —Joseph Story (1833) TOP RIGHT HOOKS Democrats' Convenient Memory Loss1 Democrats seem to be currently afflicted with what may be best described as a case of politically convenient amnesia. This sad condition has been most clearly evident through the confirmation process of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, and symptoms include acute displays of remarkable levels of hypocrisy. Observe these past statements by leading Democrat leaders contrasted by these same Democrats' most recent statements. Beware, witnessing the total reversal of opinion on attempting to block a nominee’s confirmation by these Democrats might temp one to scream out a slew of frustration-induced profanities. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in 2013: “We much prefer the risk of up or down votes and majority rule [on judicial nominees], than the risk of continued total obstruction. That’s the bottom line no matter who’s in power.” Schumer now: “The irresistible, immutable logic is, if the nominee doesn’t get 60 [votes], you change the nominee, not the rules.” Senator Tim Kaine in October 2016: “If [Republicans] think they’re going to stonewall the filling of [the SCOTUS] vacancy or other vacancies, then a Democratic Senate majority will say, ‘We’re not going to let you thwart the law.’ And so we will change the Senate rules to uphold the law.” Kaine now: “The way I look at it is the Supreme Court is the only position that requires you to get to a 60-vote threshold, which means it mandates that there be some bipartisanship and that is appropriate. Life tenure. Highest court in the land. Should have to get to 60 votes.” And, “I will oppose his nomination.” Senator Elizabeth Warren in November 2013: “If Republicans continue to filibuster these highly qualified nominees for no reason than to nullify the president’s constitutional authority, then senators not only have the right to change the filibuster, senators have a duty to change the filibuster rules.” And she also said, “We need to call out these filibusters for what they are — naked attempts to nullify the results of the last presidential election.” Warren now: “I believe Judge Gorsuch’s nomination should be blocked.” To be sure, the filibuster is a Senate rule subject to the desires of any Senate majority. Both parties use those rules to political advantage. What’s striking is Democrat sanctimony. The GOP’s Odd Move on Internet Privacy2 While much attention was focused3 on the GOP’s health care failure4, the Republican majority in Congress did something else that deserves scrutiny. ArsTechnica reports, “The US House of Representatives voted Tuesday to eliminate [Internet Service Provider] ISP privacy rules, following the Senate vote to take the same action last week.” What privacy rules? “The rules issued by the FCC last year would have required home Internet and mobile broadband providers to get consumers' opt-in consent before selling or sharing Web browsing history, app usage history, and other private information with advertisers and other companies. But lawmakers used their authority under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to pass a joint resolution ensuring that the rules ‘shall have no force or effect’ and that the FCC cannot issue similar regulations in the future.” Proponents argue5 that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), not the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), is the proper regulatory vehicle. But there is no indication of any forthcoming protections from the FTC. Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) pushed the bill, saying the FCC rulemaking was “just another example of big government overreach.” But is that true? Various websites, including giants like Facebook and Google, can already see a lot about users depending on what people do on those websites. People can choose not to use those websites. Now, ISPs have free reign over all the data coming through a user’s browser. It’s much harder to avoid particular ISPs, especially when most people live in areas with only one or two providers. And ISPs can sell data to the highest bidder without users' permission. That’s browsing history, mobile app usage, content posted in emails, financial and medical information, etc. Can a hospital sell your medical information? No, but ISPs now can. It’s also reasonable to assume this just made it easier for the government to use ISPs as data collection proxies. An ISP can’t say they don’t have data when they’re actively selling it. We normally argue against regulation, and we don’t want to overstate this case, but the GOP’s move to deregulate here is baffling. Then again, it’s not the first time Republicans have been wrong about the Internet6. Exit question: Besides Big Business, who benefits? Top Headlines7 Seattle files lawsuit over sanctuary cities8 funding threat. (NBC News9) Trump declares, “Freedom Caucus will hurt the entire Republican agenda if they don’t get on the team,” and “we must fight” them in 2018 midterm elections. (The Washington Post10) Report: Obama officials blocked Comey from going public about Russian interference last summer. (Washington Examiner11) Clinton-era State Department official supplied information to Chinese intelligence for cash. (The Washington Free Beacon12) Trump travel ban: Hawaii judge extends hold on implementing executive order. (Fox News13) VA tried to pay $10 million for 25 parking spaces, and 20-year official’s excuse is that he’s new. (The Daily Signal14) Trump administration is right: Open the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. (Reason15) Interior secretary reopens federal coal mining. (The Hill16) U.S. oil producers continue to put pressure on OPEC. (CNBC17) Arizona college student fights for “mankind,” penalized for refusing gender-neutral term — hello 1984. (The Washington Times18.) Policy: California’s moral atrocity. (National Review19) Policy: The truth about the economic impact of North Carolina’s “bathroom bill.” (Daily Signal20) For more, visit Patriot Headline Report21. Don’t Miss Alexander’s Column Read Democrats Beware — ObamaCare Survived4. — If our Republican conference conservatives pursue an “all or none” strategy, they should just give the keys to the Democrats now. If you’d like to receive Alexander’s Column by email, update your subscription here22. FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS Is North Carolina About to Flush the Bathroom Law?23 By Allyne Caan The NCAA Final Four playoffs may be more than a week away, but the final shot for North Carolina — the state, not the team — may come much sooner. The state’s legislators reportedly struck a deal Wednesday to repeal the year-old “bathroom bill” (HB2), which codifies the obvious — that biological men should use men’s restrooms and women, women’s. That law was in response to a Charlotte ordinance mandating that businesses allow transgender individuals to use the restroom of their choice instead of their sex. On Tuesday, the NCAA issued the state an ultimatum24: repeal or gut the law within 48 hours or be disqualified from hosting any NCAA events through the spring of 2022. NCAA site selections for 2018-22 will begin next week, and North Carolina venues have reportedly submitted more than 130 bids that could bring the state more than $250 million. Title: The Patriot Post Digest 3-30-2017 Post by: nChrist on April 01, 2017, 06:01:34 PM ________________________________________ The Patriot Post Digest 3-30-2017 From The Federalist Patriot Free Email Subscription (http://patriotpost.us/subscription/new) ________________________________________ It would appear legislators caved, though “LGBT” activists aren’t happy because the compromise doesn’t go far enough for them. Of course, if the Associated Press is the arbiter of all truth, the price of HB2 has already soared. This week, the AP tagged the bill’s cost to the state at $3.76 billion over 12 years. The AP’s analysis25 concluded: “Over the past year, North Carolina has suffered financial hits ranging from scuttled plans for a PayPal facility that would have added an estimated $2.66 billion to the state’s economy to a canceled Ringo Starr concert that deprived a town’s amphitheater of about $33,000 in revenue. The blows have landed in the state’s biggest cities as well as towns surrounding its flagship university, and from the mountains to the coast.” Did you catch that? PayPal’s lefty-activist move accounts for nearly three-quarters of the economic impact. Additionally, the AP pointed26 to companies such as Deutsche Bank, which stopped plans in North Carolina due to the law; CoStar, which located a new research center in Virginia instead of North Carolina due to “negative publicity over the law”; and Adidas, which opted not to put a factory in the Tar Heel State because of the law. First, the AP’s estimate is likely vastly overstated. Second, conveniently missing from the AP analysis is a look at North Carolina’s thriving economy despite HB2. As the Washington Times reports27, “Economic indicators released for 2016 show that the boycott has failed to derail North Carolina as a regional and national powerhouse.” Indeed, in 2016, the state ranked fourth nationally for attracting and expanding businesses, topped the region in attracting corporate facilities, and earned Forbes No. 2 slot for business climate. What’s more, between 2015 and 2016, North Carolina’s average unemployment rate fell from 5.8% to 5.1%. Additionally, VisitNC, part of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, announced a record-breaking year for hotel lodging. Hotel and motel occupancy in 2016 rose by 3.4% over 2015, and the average room rate increased by 3.6%. In fact, according to VisitNC, “each month of 2016 experienced the highest occupancy on record.” This hardly bears out the predictions of doom and gloom. As North Carolina Lt. Gov. Dan Forest recently said28 when addressing the current impact of HB2 (not a possible future impact which may or may not happen), “If you look at the most extreme instances of economic impact, by the media and by the universities and the people who come out and say ‘This is the impact,’ that most extreme impact equates to one-tenth of 1% of our annual GDP.” Ranking this claim as “true,” Politifact noted28, “While $500 million in economic losses (not to mention at least 1,400 jobs lost) is not insignificant, the state’s overall economy is large enough that the losses are only about 0.1 percent of the total GDP.” Given North Carolina’s highly attractive business climate, it’s very possible any future “losses” will also be significantly offset by continued growth. In reality, the issue really was never about luring or losing businesses. It was about one thing the Left usually loves: safe spaces. As Lt. Gov. Forest stated27, “Don’t be fooled by the media; this issue is not about the economy. This issue is about privacy, safety and security in the most vulnerable places we go. This is about doing the right thing. And I will never trade the privacy, safety and security of a woman or a child for a basketball ticket, and neither should you.” It would appear newly elected Democrat Gov. Roy Cooper and a number of Republican legislators don’t quite agree. Whether they beat the NCAA’s buzzer is another question. MORE ANALYSIS FROM THE PATRIOT POST Iraqi Civilians Die Because Islamists Want Them To29 — But the Leftmedia blames Trump and the American military. AR-15 Ends Home Invasion30 — None of the three thugs survived to reflect on the rash decision. Transgender High Schooler Will Now Wrestle Against Boys31 — The continuing tale of a Texas wrestler. Campus Intolerance of Christians32 — American colleges are committed to only those ideas the Left deems acceptable. BEST OF RIGHT OPINION Tony Perkins: Planned Parenthood’s Killer Workout33 Larry Elder: ObamaCare Was Designed to Explode — Dems Want Single-Payer34 Hans von Spakovsky & Elizabeth Slattery: Why Sen. Feinstein’s Argument Couldn’t Be More Wrong, and Dangerous35 For more, visit Right Opinion36. OPINION IN BRIEF R. Emmett Tyrrell: “Judge Gorsuch, in the course of his testimony last week, summed up the conservatives' much more modest formula for choosing justices and deciding cases. Not surprisingly, he quoted Justice Antonin Scalia, who said: ‘If you’re going to be a good and faithful judge, you have to resign yourself to the fact that you’re not always going to like the conclusions you reach. If you like them all the time, you’re probably doing something wrong.’ As I say, I think the essential extremism of the American Left can be seen in its formula for choosing justices. It would choose justices who see themselves as above the other branches of government and the Constitution itself. The conservatives see themselves as complementary to the other branches and subservient to the Constitution. If they want to change the Constitution, they go to the onerous process of changing it or its laws. Conservatives are for limited government. Liberals are for hog-wild government, which is very piggish of them.” SHORT CUTS Insight: “The ruling class has the schools and press under its thumb. This enables it to sway the emotions of the masses.” —Albert Einstein (1879-1955) For the record: “In 2016, the Medicaid expansion was $230 billion, or 53 percent, more expensive than originally projected in 2014. It will get worse. As such, rolling back the Medicaid expansion is a first step to start controlling our debt. It’s important for many states, as well, because Medicaid is now the biggest item in their budget and further spending expansion would squeeze out other items, such as education and transportation.” —Veronique de Rugy Hyperbole: “Historians in the near future will mark today, March 28, 2017, as the day the extinction of human life on earth began, thanks 2 [sic] Donald Trump. Trump has signed orders killing all of Obama’s climate change regulations. The EPA is prohibited henceforth from focusing on climate change.” —Michael Moore Alpha Jackass: “In order to maintain his popularity, the Trump administration will have to try to find some means of rallying the support. … I think that we shouldn’t put aside the possibility that there would be some kind of staged or alleged terrorist act, which can change the country instantly.” —lefty philosopher Noam Chomsky Famous last words: “I am not running for public office.” —Chelsea Clinton Those darn vast right-wing conspiracies: “It’s not like I didn’t know all the nasty things [foes] were saying about me. I thought some of them were kind of creative. But you just have to keep going.” —Hillary Clinton “Resist we much. We must, and we will much, about that be committed”37: “These are bad policies that will hurt people and take our country in the wrong direction. It’s the kinds of things you think about when you take long walks in the woods. Resist, insist, persist, enlist.” —Hillary Clinton Late-night humor: “Ford announced … it will create 130 new jobs in Michigan. ‘Is one of them president?’ asked Hillary.” —Seth Meyers 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. |