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Title: The Patriot Post Digest 12-22-2017 Post by: nChrist on December 22, 2017, 05:45:05 PM ________________________________________ The Patriot Post Digest 12-22-2017 From The Federalist Patriot Free Email Subscription (http://patriotpost.us/subscription/new) ________________________________________ The Patriot Post® · Mid-Day Digest Dec. 22, 2017 · https://patriotpost.us/digests/53111 IN TODAY’S EDITION Despite how some may feel, 2017 had a lot of good news for which to be thankful. Nikki Haley rebukes the UN for its cowardly vote against the U.S. and Israel. Americans will enjoy tax cuts in spite of Leftmedia efforts to spread the BIG Lie. Democrats argue against the very concept of private property in opposing tax cuts. Plus our Daily Features: Top Headlines, Memes, Cartoons, Columnists and Short Cuts. PUBLISHER’S NOTE At the end of each year, I ask my editors and staff to take leave between Christmas and New Year’s Day in order to be with their families. Moreover, I want each of our team members to step back from the rigors of relentless daily deadlines so that they can begin January with fresh perspective. As always, I will remain on the wall with our Managing Editor, Nate, keeping watch for any mischief by adversaries of Liberty. And our News Editor, Jordan, will be updating our Top Headlines1 section and Columnist/Opinion2 pages every day. Our regular editions will return on January 2nd. Pro Deo et Constitutione — Libertas aut Mors Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis Mark Alexander, Publisher The Patriot Post THE FOUNDATION “Let us animate and encourage each other. … A Freeman contending for Liberty on his own ground is superior to any slavish mercenary on earth.” —George Washington (1776) IN BRIEF 2017 Had a Lot of Bright Spots3 By Nate Jackson As bad as 2016 was for American politics, with bitter primaries followed by an even more bitter general election, 2017 has suffered some of the same division, vitriol and utterly unhinged partisans running amok. But there’s been a lot good in 2017, too, and so we end the year in our humble shop by counting some of those blessings. The economy has been a bright spot. After the Democrat-caused financial collapse in 2008 and the Barack Obama stagnation of the last eight years, the economy really turned a corner in 2017. President Donald Trump has worked on a fantastic regimen of regulation cutting, and, of course, Republicans just passed the biggest tax reform4 in a generation — both of which will spark even more economic growth going into 2018. The average family of four will save more than $2,0005, and nearly all American families eagerly anticipate this long-needed relief. On the national security front, Trump recently unveiled his “America First” national security strategy6 — a strategy that hinges on strong economic growth making America stronger. And that came on the heels of victory over the Islamic State7, at least in terms of its control over territory in the Middle East. That Long War will continue against jihadis the world over, but destroying the “caliphate” is big news. Moreover, as far as the military is concerned, we finally have an administration that prioritizes military morale. Trump just made an unscheduled visit8 to wounded veterans Thursday, and Vice President Mike Pence made a surprise trip9 to Afghanistan to visit our troops. Culturally there were also some good things: Planned Parenthood closed 32 clinics, teen pregnancy rates continue to fall, the NFL suffered for its players obnoxious anti-Americanism and Al Gore’s “Inconvenient Sequel” grossed a pathetic $3.5 million. Perhaps that’s not so much good news as schadenfreude, but it also means leftists aren’t always gaining ground in the culture wars. It’s also fair to say that some good has come of the reckoning among Hollywood, media and political elites over sexual misconduct. Leftist playboys like the late Hugh Hefner10 helped cause the problem, and many of these (often leftist) creeps are now being held to account. Also, in the face of terrible natural disaster, scenes of Americans helping each other11 were very heartwarming. Finally, as Mark Alexander wrote in November12: “Patriots, take a deep breath, and take heart in the knowledge that there are tens of millions of Patriots who are equally devoted to Liberty.” On that note, we humbly ask your prayers for our Patriot team, that we would be tireless in our mission in defense of Liberty, and that we would seed and encourage the spirit of Liberty in the hearts and minds of our countrymen. Haley Rebukes the UN for Rebuking U.S. and Israel13 By Thomas Gallatin Prior to Thursday’s vote on a United Nations resolution that condemned President Donald Trump’s decision to move the U.S. embassy in Israel14 from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley issued a warning. She said the U.S. would be “taking names” of opponents, and that the U.S. isn’t keen to continue paying “for the privilege of being disrespected.” Haley reminded the assembly, “In the case of the United States, we are asked to pay more than any other nation for that dubious distinction. We have an obligation to demand more for our investment. And if our investment fails, we have an obligation to spend our investment in more productive ways.” This vote comes on the heels of a measure passed by the UN Security Council that would have prevented any country from moving its embassy to Jerusalem. The U.S. vetoed that measure, which was clearly designed to stop Trump. The results of Thursday’s vote was 128 countries condemning the U.S. (and Israel), with just nine against and 35 abstained. Haley responded to the results, saying, “The United States will remember this day in which it was singled out for attack in the General Assembly for the very act of exercising our right as a sovereign nation. We will remember it when we are called upon to once again make the world’s largest contribution to the United Nations. And we will remember it when so many countries come calling on us, as they so often do, to pay even more and to use our influence for their benefit.” What this UN vote only further exposes is the significant degree of anti-Semitism and anti-Israel bias present within this world body. After Europe’s shameful history of anti-Semitic pogroms culminating in the horrors of the Holocaust a mere 70 years ago, now the nations of Britain and France, not to mention Germany, are turning and embracing anti-Israel policy positions. It’s all under the guise of seeking peace, but what peace? How many decades has this “peace” process gone on, with still no peace in sight? The truth of the matter is that Europe’s open borders policies have resulted in a significant increase in the number of migrant Muslims living within these countries. Thus Britain, France and Germany’s vote against the U.S. and Israel had more to do with fears over inflaming the Muslim communities within their own borders. All three nations have suffered from Islamist terror attacks in recent years, and their vote was aimed at placating their growing Muslim populations. Anti-Semitic though it may be, they know that this toothless UN resolution amounted to little more than opportunities for political grandstanding on the world stage. Title: The Patriot Post Digest 12-22-2017 Post by: nChrist on December 22, 2017, 05:46:04 PM ________________________________________ The Patriot Post Digest 12-22-2017 From The Federalist Patriot Free Email Subscription (http://patriotpost.us/subscription/new) ________________________________________ Top Headlines15 Trump signs sweeping tax bill into law (The Washington Post16) After tax reform, maybe Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell aren’t so bad after all (Washington Examiner17) Congress votes to avert shutdown, sends Donald Trump stopgap spending bill (The Washington Free Beacon18.) Judge dismisses lawsuit against Trump over Constitution’s Emoluments Clause (The Hill19) Donald Trump leaves White House unannounced to visit wounded warriors for Christmas (The Daily Wire8.) Mike Pence makes surprise trip to visit U.S. troops in Afghanistan (Time9) Prosecutors ask FBI agents for info on Uranium One deal (NBC News20) How Obama manipulated sensitive secret intelligence for political gain (The Washington Times21) Dems wonder: Maybe we should triple-down on Hillary in the midterms (Hot Air22) New nuclear power plant gets thumbs up from Georgia regulators (Washington Examiner23) Trump administration considering to separate families who illegally cross U.S.-Mexico border (Fox News24) Policy: Democrats’ favored DACA amnesty bill would cost $26 billion (The Daily Signal25) Policy: Global warming: fake news from the start (The Heartland Institute26) For more of today’s news, visit Patriot Headline Report27. FEATURED ANALYSIS Democrats Aim to Make Tax Cuts Unpopular28 By Brian Mark Weber It was a sight conservatives have waited decades to see. This week on the White House lawn, President Donald Trump was flanked by House Republicans in a ceremony marking a historic legislative achievement: the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The act is being heralded in many circles as the most conservative, pro-growth policy to emerge from Congress since President Ronald Reagan’s 1986 tax reform. One might think the name of the act alone would clearly resonate with the American people. (Then again, when you have legislative catastrophes named the “Affordable Care Act,” folks can be forgive for some cynicism.) What could be better than keeping more of our hard-earned money and giving businesses the ability to invest in our nation’s economy, hire more workers and raise wages? Apparently, not everyone is on board. In fact, most people don’t believe it. How did this happen? How could the House Republican leadership and even the president allow such a momentous occasion to be summarily dismissed by the very people who will benefit? Republicans have historically lost the public relations battle to Democrats and their mainstream media accessories, and while yesterday’s ceremony is a step in the right direction, one senses that average, hard-working Americans still want a common-sense explanation for how this tax bill will put more money in their pockets. This should have been done in the weeks leading up to the vote, but once again Republicans failed to control the debate. Investor’s Business Daily reports29 that the tax plan is “widely unpopular” or “wildly unpopular” or “horribly unpopular,” depending on which news outlet one reads. The polling analysts at FiveThirtyEight say the tax plan is “historically unpopular,” noting that it gets an average of just 33% support in nine surveys taken in December, with 52% saying they oppose it.“ Yes, that’s the same FiveThirtyEight that had Hillary Clinton beating Donald Trump late into the evening on election night. Nonetheless, someone is shaping the public’s perception about this bill, and it’s not Republicans on Capitol Hill. Most of the surveys asked very broad questions about whether Americans support the plan or whether they think they’ll receive any benefits. It’s no wonder that many respondents are suspicious about the legislation. After all, Democrats demonized30 the act as soon as they got a whiff of it. While Republicans in the House and Senate were squabbling over the details, Democrats had effectively characterized the plan as another scheme to take from the poor and give to the rich. It’s a BIG Lie, but an effective one. National Review’s Jibran Khan states31, "The predictable result is that a false claim — Republicans are raising taxes on all but the very rich, full stop — has spread like wildfire across Twitter, and has been given added momentum by think tanks, verified accounts, and trending hashtags. This effort has certainly paid off. According to a recent New York Times poll, only a third of Americans believe that they will see their taxes go down in 2018. It should come as no surprise, then, that the bill’s extreme unpopularity is in line with historic tax rises, rather than tax cuts: The majority of people think it’s a hike.” But it’s hard to run from the facts, and even The Washington Post had to admit32 that “8 in 10 Americans will pay lower taxes next year, according to the nonpartisan [insert hysterical laughter at that characterization] Tax Policy Center’s analysis of the final bill. Only 5 percent of people will pay more next year. Mostly, those are folks who earn six figures and own expensive houses in places with high local taxes, such as New York and California.” Yet the Post led the Leftmedia assault on the bill, and none of those outlets are backing down in their effort to mislead the American people. Alexandra DeSanctis writes33 in National Review, “A couple of weeks ago, the NYT editorial board co-opted the Twitter account of its opinion page and spent an entire afternoon issuing tweets, urging readers to call their senators to protest the tax-reform bill. They even went so far as to include the office numbers for each senator, so readers could more easily petition their representatives. It was outright political lobbying, from an editorial board that has routinely denounced Citizens United and decried the supposed involvement of ‘dark money’ in U.S. politics.” Clearly, Democrats and their media propaganda machine34 will go to any lengths to stop the Trump/Republican agenda. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said that the legislation “will be an anchor to the ankles of every Republican running in 2018.” Really? If Democrats truly believed that the tax plan will backfire on Republicans, then why did they fight so hard to stop it? Sounds more like Democrats are fearful that Americans will forget all of the rhetoric when they see more money in their 2018 paychecks. Even so, Republicans aren’t helping matters. They need to do more than sit around and wait for the truth to take hold. The fact that a significant number of Americans think that one of the largest tax cuts in American history is actually a tax hike should put Republicans at all levels on notice that they need to do a better job of communicating their ideas. This is the only way to overcome the coordinated assault on a measure that will fatten nearly everyone’s wallet. Title: The Patriot Post Digest 12-22-2017 Post by: nChrist on December 22, 2017, 05:47:00 PM ________________________________________ The Patriot Post Digest 12-22-2017 From The Federalist Patriot Free Email Subscription (http://patriotpost.us/subscription/new) ________________________________________ But this is the problem. Democrats have always circled the wagons and come up with catch phrases and slogans to drive their points home. They never shy away from making their case, even when their case is baseless. Many Americans still believe that Democrats are the party of the working class, and Republicans are fat cats. That’s because the Left has been in lockstep on message for decades. It’s time for Republicans to defend their ideas without apology. For the first time since Reagan, we have a president willing to embrace a bold, conservative agenda — if only members of his own party would join him. President Trump has never been afraid of winning, but it’s taken Republican leaders in Congress a full year to catch on. MORE ANALYSIS FROM THE PATRIOT POST No, Democrats — Keeping Your Own Money Isn’t ‘Theft’30 — “A heist,” “looting the federal treasury,” “ransacking the middle class.” Democrats truly have no shame. Tax Reform Headed to High-Tax States?37 — Democrat-controlled high-tax states will now be held to account by the GOP’s new tax bill. Rosie O'Donnell’s Bribery ‘Joke’ Is No Laughing Matter38 — O'Donnell hoped to convince two Senate Republicans to abandon tax reform with a multimillion-dollar seduction. BEST OF RIGHT OPINION Rich Lowry: Nancy Pelosi’s Tax Apocalypse39 Tony Perkins: A Frosty Reception to Trump’s Prayer40 L. Brent Bozell & Tim Graham: Cultural Winners and Losers of 201741 Erick Erickson: From Tent to Glory42 David Limbaugh: A Celebration of Life43 For more of today’s columns, visit Right Opinion44. OPINION IN BRIEF David Limbaugh: “Christ suffered — so that we can live — more pain than anyone who has ever existed. It was not only his physical beatings and passion but also His excruciating separation from the Father and His endurance of God’s wrath for all of the past, present and future sins of mankind. Moreover, God created us knowing at the time that Christ’s human birth and sacrificial death would be necessary. John tells us that Jesus is ‘the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.’ A greater act of love is inconceivable. Having become human and suffering as a human being, Christ is an empathetic, personal God who is approachable to us and with whom we can have a personal relationship. ‘Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in the time of need’ (Hebrews 4:16). This Christmas, let’s celebrate the wonders of our existence as human beings created in God’s image and with the capacity for His love, which we must abundantly share with one another. Let’s draw near to His throne of grace, profusely thanking Him for the undeserved mercy He gave us and meditating on ‘whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable’ (Philippians 4:8.).” SHORT CUTS For the record: “I told [Trump] that I’d had a healthy respect for the media. I deal with them all the time. … But I had a newfound empathy for him in watching how a totally debunked story [about me took off].” —Sen. Bob Corker Belly laugh of the week: “As I leave the Senate, I have to admit that it feels like we’re losing the war for truth.” —Sen. Al Franken, who’s been a key part of Democrats’ war ON the truth Braying Jenny: “[Tax reform is] a monster — a Frankenstein — and anybody who’s familiar with Frankenstein knows it was a creation, a monster that was created.” —Nancy Pelosi Braying Jackass: “What a shocker … there’s ONE black person there and sure enough they have him standing right next to the mic like a manipulated prop. Way to go @SenatorTimScott.” —HuffPost blogger Andy Ostroy (“Uh probably because I helped write the bill for the past year, have multiple provisions included, got multiple Senators on board over the last week and have worked on tax reform my entire time in Congress. But if you’d rather just see my skin color, pls feel free.” —Sen. Tim Scott) Alpha Jackass: “Pretty much every man over 30 has to really look and start thinking about their part [in promoting sexual assault].” —actress Jodie Foster Thou doth exaggerate too much: “This is the worst moment I’ve had in the 34 years I’ve been living in the United States. … I have never been treated so badly. I have never been insulted so much. We’ve never been attacked so much. They have never tried to run us out as much as now.” —Univision anchor Jorge Ramos Non Compos Mentis: “We know that actually someone who has engaged and turned away from [ISIS] can be an extraordinarily powerful voice for preventing radicalization in future generations and younger people within the community.” —Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau And last… “I like when the poor get tax cuts. I like when the middle class get tax cuts. I like when the rich get tax cuts. I like when the super rich get tax cuts. I like everybody keeping the money they earned.” —Frank Fleming 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. We also humbly ask prayer for your Patriot team, that our mission would seed and encourage the spirit of Liberty in the hearts and minds of our countrymen. Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis Nate Jackson, Managing Editor Mark Alexander, Publisher |