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Title: The Patriot Post Digest 9-1-2018 Post by: nChrist on September 01, 2018, 05:38:41 PM ________________________________ The Patriot Post Digest 9-1-2018 From The Federalist Patriot Free Email Subscription (http://patriotpost.us/subscription/new) _______________________________ The Patriot Post® · Mid-Day Digest Aug. 31, 2018 · https://patriotpost.us/digests/57987-mid-day-digest THE FOUNDATION “The same prudence which in private life would forbid our paying our own money for unexplained projects, forbids it in the dispensation of the public moneys.” —Thomas Jefferson (1808) https://patriotpost.us/fqd/57985-founders-quote-daily IN TODAY’S EDITION A pay freeze for federal workers was fine when Obama did it… Did the Chinese hack Hillary Clinton’s supposedly “private” email server? Explaining the “gun violence” problem in the Americas. Senate confirms a slew of Trump’s judicial nominees. STDs hit record high in the age of #MeToo. Daily Features: Top Headlines, Memes, Cartoons, Columnists, and Short Cuts. IN BRIEF ‘Trump Has the Nerve to Eliminate Pay Raises for Federal Employees’1 Nate Jackson At a time when the economy is booming, wages are rising, and blue-collar optimism is soaring2, the federal government is also still growing too fast. Accumulation of debt hasn’t slowed — in fact, it’s accelerated. So it’s a welcome sign when President Donald Trump cites federal spending as a justification for freezing the pay of more than two million civilian federal workers next year. The pay freeze doesn’t apply to military personnel, who will receive a 2.6% raise. “We must maintain efforts to put our nation on a fiscally sustainable course, and Federal agency budgets cannot sustain such increases,” the president said of the planned pay freeze in a letter to Congress. In fact, Trump said, “Federal employee pay must be performance-based, and aligned strategically toward recruiting, retaining, and rewarding high-performing Federal employees and those with critical skill sets.” Performance-based pay raises? Gosh, that’s a novel concept. Of course, there’s an even chance Congress will override Trump in coming spending bills. “Trump has the nerve to eliminate pay raises for federal employees to ‘put our nation on a fiscally sustainable course,’” fumed a DNC spokesman, who slammed the move as “yet another slap in the face to American workers.” That same spokesman also lamented the GOP tax cuts, which let American workers keep more of their own money. By the way, Democrats didn’t put up much #Resistance when Barack Obama froze pay for federal workers in 2011. One element of this debate is just how much more federal workers earn than their private-sector counterparts. Last year, we noted3 a Congressional Budget Office study revealing that pay gap to be 17%. Most of the disparity comes via benefits, not necessarily wages. As we said then, there are extremely hard workers who earn their pay as public servants. The problem is we have people like the EPA employee4 who browse porn all day, IRS employees who steal from taxpayers5, and CFPB bureaucrats resisting Trump by forming “Dumbledore’s Army6” based on children’s literature. When you factor in the total job security that government workers have and then lump in extra pay and benefits, the private sector simply can’t compete. A final note: Given that Hillary Clinton received 95%7 of all donations from non-military federal employees, this is a low-cost move for Trump in more ways than one. https://patriotpost.us/articles/57984-trump-has-the-nerve-to-eliminate-pay-raises-for-federal-employees China Hacked Clinton’s Not-So-‘Private’ Email Server?8 Thomas Gallatin Earlier this week, The Daily Caller News Foundation published a story9 with a serious allegation: A Chinese-owned company successfully hacked Hillary Clinton’s infamous and supposedly “private” unauthorized home email server and obtained copies of virtually every email that passed through the server throughout the entirety of her term as secretary of state. According to the DCNF, “The Chinese firm obtained Clinton’s emails in real time as she sent and received communications and documents through her personal server, according to the sources, who said the hacking was conducted as part of an intelligence operation.” President Donald Trump commented, “Report just out: ‘China hacked Hillary Clinton’s private Email Server.’ Are they sure it wasn’t Russia (just kidding!)? What are the odds that the FBI and DOJ are right on top of this? Actually, a very big story. Much classified information!” The following day, an FBI official pushed back on the report, stating, “The FBI has not found any evidence the servers were compromised.” Notice that the FBI did not outright deny the report as false. Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) noticed, asserting, “It’s not surprising that the FBI ‘has not found any evidence’ regarding Clinton’s servers being breached. Like I stated to former FBI agent Peter Strzok in the House Judiciary hearing, it was the Obama-appointed Intelligence Community Inspector General that discovered the breach. It was not the FBI that found it, so their statement was technically correct, but very deceptive in its omission.” It has long been suspected and assumed that Clinton’s home-brew server was compromised. And with China having successfully breached the Office of Personnel Management back in 2015, hacking Clinton’s server would have been a cakewalk. In fact, Clinton may have suspected as much. In one of the emails collected from her “private” server, Clinton wrote10, “Even weirder — I just checked and I do have your state but not your gmail — so how did that happen. Must be the Chinese!” Once again this story appears to reveal one of the oldest tactics from the Clinton political playbook: attacking their opponents for engaging in unethical behaviors they themselves are guilty of committing. https://patriotpost.us/articles/57983-china-hacked-clintons-not-so-private-email-server Top Headlines11 DOJ sides with plaintiffs alleging Harvard discriminates12 against Asians (National Review13) NYT, Daily Beast expose how NBC News tried to nix bombshell Weinstein story (NewsBusters14) Trump administration to end U.S. funding to UN program for Palestinian refugees (The Washington Post15) EU trade commissioner gives ground: We’re willing to drop auto tariffs to zero (if the U.S. will do the same) (Hot Air16) Report: political interests “commandeered” state AGs for environmental agenda (The Washington Free Beacon17) Democrat threatens ICE agents conducting deportations: “You will not be safe” (The Daily Wire18) Explosive Ivy League study repressed for finding transgender kids may be a social contagion (The Federalist19) An anti-scientific cult has way too much control over non-GMO food labels (Washington Examiner20) California Democrat calls for boycott of In-N-Out Burger chain over donation to GOP (Hot Air21) Humor: Trump wins 19th consecutive “Employee of the Month” award at White House (The Babylon Bee22) Policy: Send campus sexual assault to court (Washington Examiner23) Policy: The misguided Affordable Clean Energy rule (The Heartland Institute24) For more of today’s news, visit Patriot Headline Report25. https://patriotpost.us/articles/57986-friday-top-headlines FEATURED ANALYSIS The Americas and ‘Gun Violence’29 Brian Mark Weber A new study shows that countries in North and South America are the most violent in the world when it comes to deaths perpetrated using firearms. U.S. News & World Report reveals30, “Half of all global deaths from gun violence occur in six countries in the Western Hemisphere, according to a new study that exposes trends in fatal shootings, particularly in the cause of death.” Topping the list in the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation study are Brazil, the United States, and Mexico. Yet one of the more interesting results of the study is that the U.S. actually ranks 30th in the rate of homicides with guns, which, given the prevalence of firearms in our nation, flies in the face of those claiming that more guns cause more violence. The trick to ranking the U.S. second overall is suicides. More on that below. First, let’s consider “gun violence,” a politically charged term devised by the media and leftist politicians to blame guns and avoid focusing on the real problem. As gun-rights advocates rightly say: Guns don’t kill people; people kill people. The factor making up most of the homicides has nothing to do with flag-waving, Bible-thumping, country-music-loving gun owners in America’s flyover country (as the Left would have us believe); instead, the violence is mostly caused by gangs, drugs, and the breakdown of our culture and values in cities that have been run by Democrats for generations. Title: The Patriot Post Digest 9-1-2018 Post by: nChrist on September 01, 2018, 05:40:18 PM ________________________________ The Patriot Post Digest 9-1-2018 From The Federalist Patriot Free Email Subscription (http://patriotpost.us/subscription/new) _______________________________ Even Jenn Christensen at the virulently anti-gun CNN admits31, “If you were to look on a map, the highest numbers of gun-related homicides are concentrated in a belt that stretches from Mexico through the Caribbean to Brazil.” Citing the study, she acknowledges, “Many of these homicides involve drug cartels,” and asserts, “There’s a problem with organized crime and the illegal gun trade.” The Left perpetually ignores fatherless homes, roving gangs, drug trafficking, and other social and cultural maladies that lie at the root of the problem here at home and elsewhere in the West. Areas where guns are more prevalent do not experience a higher rate of gun crime or violence. America’s most violent places are the cities and states where guns are banned, whereas low homicide rates are reported in locations with fewer gun restrictions, such as Idaho, New Hampshire, and even deep-blue Vermont. Aaron Bandler writes32 at The Daily Wire that after Washington, DC, outlawed guns, “annual homicides rose from 188 in 1976 to 364 in 1988, and then increased even further to 454 in 1993.” Lest some attempt to deny that correlation, he adds, “The gun ban was struck down by the Supreme Court in District of Columbia v. Heller, and homicides have steadily declined since then to 88 yearly murders in 2012.” Bandler adds that the Crime Research Prevention Center shows that “nearly 99 percent of mass public shootings have occurred in gun-free zones.” Of course, violence is high in these gun-free zones because criminals and other deranged individuals know that there’s virtually no chance that they’ll encounter resistance from an armed citizen. It’s no wonder that crime is lower where right-to-carry laws have been passed. Gun-rights defender John R. Lott Jr. writes33, “Right-to-carry laws reduced both the frequency and the severity of mass public shootings; and to the extent to which mass shootings still occurred, they took place in those tiny areas in the states where permitted concealed handguns were not allowed.” Finally, suicides account for more than two-thirds of our nation’s “gun deaths.” Leftists prefer to lump these self-inflicted deaths with homicides to add shock value to their statistics, but suicide is far different than gang-related murder, even if the same tool is used. And while the U.S. may be second in suicides with guns, it’s 48th in suicides overall. Furthermore, firearms were used in just over half of American suicides — which means people bent on ending their lives will find another way. In any case, it’s pretty clear that we don’t have an epidemic of “gun violence” in this country, despite the Leftmedia’s incessant desire to repeat the association. In fact, a range of statistics show that more guns are actually helping to keep Americans safe from the real problems that plague our society. The recent spate of knife attacks34 in Great Britain is proof that those who seek to inflict harm upon innocent people will find the means. Just as American leftists refuse to address the root causes of violence, London’s mayor is now calling for knife control35. That’ll work about as well as gun control in DC. As long as the innocent are prevented by the government from protecting themselves, their families, their businesses, and their communities, those who seek to terrorize will have the upper hand. Countries in the Americas should address the real root causes of violence rather than pushing for failed solutions that empower violent people while keeping responsible citizens from defending themselves. https://patriotpost.us/articles/57981-the-americas-and-gun-violence MORE ANALYSIS FROM THE PATRIOT POST August Confirmations Overcome Dem Obstruction36 — A backlog remains, but Mitch McConnell’s canceling of the August recess alleviated the situation. U.S. Seeing Record Numbers of STDs37 — With promiscuity promoted by the mainstream culture, is it any wonder that STD numbers are rising? Video: Shapiro Slams Fake News Antifa Coverage38 — The Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro discusses the faulty coverage of antifa by the mainstream media. OPINION IN BRIEF Marc A. Thiessen: “It would be the height of hypocrisy if Democrats tried to remove the president over allegations of illegality relating to extramarital affairs. During the Monica Lewinsky scandal, congressional Democrats told us the private sexual conduct of a president does not matter, and that lying under oath to cover up a ‘consensual relationship’ is not an impeachable offense. … If Democrats do try to impeach Trump over anything but a criminal conspiracy with Russia, they will regret it. The president was legitimately elected by Americans who knew about his lecherous past and supported him anyway. Indeed, Trump’s election was a direct result of the Democrats’ victory in the culture war of the 1990s. Republicans are now simply playing by the rules Democrats established. … If Mueller finds conclusive evidence that Trump entered into a criminal conspiracy with Russia, then by all means impeach away. But absent such evidence, the idea that Stormy Daniels is going to bring down Trump is a liberal fantasy. If Democrats are upset that they cannot remove Trump over this, well, sorry — they set the precedent.” SHORT CUTS Insight: “Most of the major ills of the world have been caused by well-meaning people who ignored the principle of individual freedom, except as applied to themselves, and who were obsessed with fanatical zeal to improve the lot of mankind.” —Henry Grady Weaver (1889-1949) Demo-gogues: “As the smoke continues to build with one revelation after another, there is greater need than ever to see what Trump may be hiding in his personal tax returns, the return information to explain them and those of the 500 business entities, which he controls from here to Azerbaijan.” —Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) Priorities: “If Democrats take back the House, I’ll fully support efforts to finally make [Donald Trump’s] tax returns public.” —Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) Braying Jackass: “My only message [to Trump] would be ‘resign.’ … I think everyone knows to discount what this current administration is doing and saying.” —Al Gore Hot air: “Climate change is seldom far from my mind. It’s causing real damage and death. It’s so omnipresent it rarely tops the headlines, but it’s one of the most important stories of our time. Reality continues to close in and it will likely be devastating. Attention must be paid.” —Dan Rather Alpha Jackass: “I will not cooperate with ICE. They’re a bunch of thugs.” —NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo The response: “To call ICE agents ‘thugs,’ think about it: These are men and women who are fathers and mothers and brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, that chose to enforce the laws of this country, strap a gun to their hip every day and put a Kevlar vest on to go out to the community and protect America and protect the community. Cuomo calls them ‘thugs.’” —former ICE Director Tom Homan And last… “Ironically, the easiest way these days to get people to act like Nazis towards a group is to convince people that group is a bunch of Nazis.” —Frank Fleming https://patriotpost.us/articles/57982-friday-short-cuts Join our editors and staff 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 |