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Title: The Patriot Post Digest 7-5-2017 Post by: nChrist on July 05, 2017, 01:13:42 PM ________________________________________ The Patriot Post Digest 7-5-2017 From The Federalist Patriot Free Email Subscription (http://patriotpost.us/subscription/new) ________________________________________ Mid-Day Digest Jul. 5, 2017 IN TODAY’S EDITION The Blue State budgeting blues — spending more than you take in might cause problems. A liberal professor tries to distinguish between liberal and radical leftist. Deregulating nuclear power will be key to Trump’s ambitious energy agenda. Daily Features: Top Headlines, Cartoons, Columnists and Short Cuts. 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.) TOP RIGHT HOOKS Democrat-Controlled States Face Debt Crisis1 Longtime Democrat-controlled state governments are running out of other people’s money. Three states in particular are in varying degrees of budgetary crisis. Illinois, Connecticut and New Jersey are swimming in debt and yet Democrats’ only solution is to call for tax increases, not spending cuts. Illinois is especially bad2, finding itself staring at a growing debt crisis owing primarily to the cost of public pensions. It recently passed a massive tax hike, though Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoed the bill over its failure to deal with the root cause of the problem — the public employment system. But the state senate’s Democrat majority overrode Rauner’s veto, displaying once again that Democrats dance to the tune of big unions over and against the interests of citizens. Is it any wonder that Illinois has seen its population decrease3 by over 500,000 since 2010? Both Connecticut and New Jersey find themselves in similar predicaments. They’re trying to find the funds to pay for ever-increasing public pensions and retirement health care costs without actually working to reform these programs that have precipitated the problem in the first place. And their solution is always increased taxes. By contrast, look at a longtime Republican-controlled state. Tennessee4 is a state where high taxes are essentially non-existent. With no regular income tax, the Volunteer State has become a magnet for businesses and Americans seeking greater freedom from oppression of government excess. The Brookings Institute ranks the state as number one in the nation for advanced industry job growth. The state government also finds itself on the opposite side of the debt crisis and sitting on a revenue surplus, as Tennessee’s constitution requires lawmakers pass a balanced budget plan each year. As a right-to-work state, it has helped to prevent the development of political culture adhering to the demands of unions. When individual freedom is prized over collectivist sympathies, the result is a government with fiscal restraints rather than unchecked excesses. Liberal vs Leftist5 What is a liberal? Or maybe a better question is, what does the term liberal mean today? Well, according to Jacques Berlinerblau, a professor from Georgetown University who recently wrote an article for the Washington Post6, there are liberals and then there are “radical leftists.” Berlinerblau admits that American academia is mostly composed of liberal professors and that professors who identify as politically conservative are utterly underrepresented in America’s halls of higher learning, with humanities departments in particular being the least politically diverse. In other words, leftist ideology is controlling most of the nation’s colleges and universities. But while Berlinerblau rightly concludes that conservatives are not to blame for the recent havoc wreaked in places like Middlebury, UC Berkeley and Evergreen College, he also attempts to shift the blame away from liberals. According to Berlinerblau, three groups exist in academia: a small conservative minority, a sizable liberal contingent and the dominant radical left he blames for the current campus intolerance. The question remains, what is the difference between a liberal and a leftist? Berlinerblau’s answer to that question ends up sounding more like a disagreement over the manner of application rather than over opposing ideologies. He cites as examples liberals’ reactions to certain events, such as “liberals didn’t exult over Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution,” or that liberals didn’t “refer to the victims of 9/11 as ‘little Eichmanns.’” He also notes that “liberals are generally made highly uncomfortable by censorship, speaker boycotts, trigger warnings, safe spaces and the like.” Berlinerblau’s argument sounds eerily similar to the one made by Muslims who may reject the methods of Islamic terrorists, yet refuse to disavow radical Islamists. The truth is that modern liberalism stands in stark contrast to the classical liberal values expressed by our nation’s Founding Fathers. It is today’s conservatives who hold most closely to those classical liberal principles. Today’s radical leftist social justice warrior is merely the logical manifestation of modern liberal ideology. Liberal and leftist is a distinction without a difference. It is modern liberalism that can be credited with teaching the ideology of socialism that glories in the utopian ideals of Karl Marx. It is modern liberalism that sees little value in Christianity and has long mocked Christians as backward fools. It is modern liberalism that has questioned the very nature of truth itself, opening a Pandora’s box of relativism. No, Professor Berlinerblau, liberals may not like it, but the radical left is their creation. Top Headlines7 North Korea’s missile was a “real ICBM” — and a grave milestone. (The Washington Post8.) Some GOP states are raising taxes. (Hot Air9) Food stamp rolls plummet in states that restore work requirements. (Fox News10) Smaller government? At least at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. (National Review11) Court rejects Trump’s delay of EPA drilling pollution rule. (The Hill12) Still no collusion evidence. (National Review13) Immigration agency won’t commit to giving noncitizen data to voter fraud commission. (The Washington Times14) New Army training tells female soldiers to “accept” naked men in their showers. (The Federalist15) Miami judge rules Florida’s new Stand-Your-Ground law is unconstitutional. (The Miami Herald16) Canada to pay former Gitmo prisoner convicted of killing American soldier. His widow objects. (Associated Press17) Policy: Has Medicaid made the opioid epidemic worse? (National Review18.) Policy: The appalling delusion of 100 percent renewables. (Manhattan Institute19) For more, visit Patriot Headline Report20. Don’t Miss Patriot Humor Check out Clear as Mud21. If you’d like to receive Patriot Humor by email, update your subscription here22. FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS Trump’s Nuclear Energy Ambitions23 By Paul Albaugh President Donald Trump has made some significant policy promises regarding America’s energy sector. For most Americans, his policies are extremely welcome news because the days of excessive government regulation and oversight of our nation’s ability to tap into and produce vast amounts of energy will be ending soon. During a speech last Thursday24 on energy policy, Trump offered a stark contrast with his predecessor on not just pursuing energy independence for America, but “American energy dominance.” He outlined a six-pronged approach to doing so. Put simply, unlike Barack Obama, who implemented onerous regulations on coal, off-shore drilling and other fossil fuel production methods — while demanding unrealistic increases in unreliable and expensive wind and solar power25 — Trump is taking an all-of-the-above approach to unleash American innovation to produce more energy than ever before. Title: The Patriot Post Digest 7-5-2017 Post by: nChrist on July 05, 2017, 01:14:45 PM ________________________________________ The Patriot Post Digest 7-5-2017 From The Federalist Patriot Free Email Subscription (http://patriotpost.us/subscription/new) ________________________________________ Notably, the first part of his six-pronged approach is to “revive and expand our nuclear energy sector,” which will begin with a study26 on the issue. The study will analyze regulatory challenges that need to be addressed and offer possible solutions for fixing them. Furthermore, the study will take stock of costs associated with nuclear energy production and building additional nuclear reactors — much of which is regulatory burden. There weren’t a lot of details given in advance of this study, but recognizing a problem is the first step in coming up with a solution. During a White House Press briefing, Energy Secretary Rick Perry stated without reservation that America needs to regain a “leadership role” in developing nuclear energy. “We really need to have a conversation with our country about making sure that America stays technologically and economically engaged on the nuclear side,” he said, “because if we do not then China and Russia will fill that void.” Perry also noted27 that the Trump administration will “end the current blockade that has hindered American energy creation,” and he gave a passionate defense of nuclear power that is sure to irritate leftists. Perry pledged to make nuclear energy “cool again” and added that “no clean-energy portfolio is truly complete without nuclear power.” Perry, Trump and other administration officials believe that nuclear energy development is important for America and that it can be a “game changer.” They’re absolutely right, but there are numerous obstacles that will need to be overcome if nuclear energy is truly going to be part of Trump’s plan for American energy dominance. The nuclear industry is currently ailing with many construction projects being costlier than anticipated. One of the major nuclear reactor builders, Westinghouse, filed for bankruptcy28 this year after losing money on construction projects in South Carolina and Georgia. The projects were three years past due and cost between $1 to $1.3 billion more than expected. But the costs and timeframe were primarily due to — surprise — government regulation. Perry and the Trump administration intend to address these burdensome regulations and will push for incentives aimed at giving our younger generation a renewed interest in studying nuclear energy production. You can bet that the push for American energy dominance and independence, with nuclear energy being at the forefront, will outrage ecofascists. As usual, they’ll cry that Trump is trying to destroy the planet. For years, the Left has ignored nuclear power29 because words like “weapon” and “waste” come to mind whenever the word nuclear is mentioned. But nuclear power is clean energy just like wind and solar, and leftists have been making a terrible mistake by ignoring the benefits that come with nuclear power. Approximately 20% of America’s electricity comes from nuclear power. The nuclear reactors currently in operation produce four times the amount of energy that wind power can and 21 times the amount that solar power does. By the way, it’s also cheaper to produce than wind and solar, and because of research and innovation it is a safe means of producing energy. If Trump can follow through with his energy plans, we may very well see another example of American greatness through the harnessing and use of the vast energy resources with which our nation has been so richly blessed. MORE ANALYSIS FROM THE PATRIOT POST Getting It Right in the Battle Against Opioid Overdose Deaths30 — Nationwide, there were close to 60,000 deaths in 2016 from drug overdoses. Something must be done. Was America Founded to Be Secular?31 — Did the Founding Fathers want American society to be religious or secular? Joshua Charles, author of Liberty’s Secrets, explains. BEST OF RIGHT OPINION Byron York: When Republicans Saw the Troubled Future of ObamaCare Repeal32 Stephen Moore: Trump Can Make American Energy Dominant33 Walter Williams: Colleges: Islands of Intolerance34 John Stossel: Independence35 For more, visit Right Opinion36. OPINION IN BRIEF Byron York: “What the 2013 fight showed, and what the current fight is showing again, is that the Republicans’ actual last chance to get rid of Obamacare was the 2012 election. That was before the health care law went into effect, before it touched millions of American lives, and when it could still be repealed without great disruption. But when Barack Obama won re-election and could safeguard (and prop up) Obamacare through its early years, the Republican chance to repeal was gone. Now Republicans are fighting among themselves over a bill that would make substantial changes in Obamacare but leave the structure of the law intact. And several GOP lawmakers — enough to scuttle any final agreement — are still afraid of cuts in subsidies, in coverage, and in the Medicaid expansion. Maybe Republicans will succeed. But whatever they do, it won’t resemble the root-and-branch repeal they attempted when Obama was president — when they knew he would veto any repeal effort that got to his desk. The Republican effort that passes Congress today will be a much-scaled-back measure that could more accurately be called an Obamacare fix. It all shows that Cruz was right back in 2013. Once Obamacare’s subsidies and benefits began to flow, he reminded us, ‘this thing is here forever.’” SHORT CUTS Insight: “There is a place for government in the affairs of men, and our Declaration of Independence tells us precisely what that place is. The role of government is to protect individuals in their God-given individual rights. Freedom is the natural birthright of man, but all that government can do in behalf of freedom is to let the individual alone, and it should secure him in his rights by making others let him alone.” —Rev. Edmund A. Opitz (1914-2006) Upright: “For too long politicians have tried — oh have they tried — to centralize authority among the hands of a small few in our nation’s capital. I see them all the time. Bureaucrats think they can run over your lives, overrule your values, meddle in your faith, and tell you how to live, what to say, and where to pray. But we know that parents, not bureaucrats, know best how to raise their children and create a thriving society. And we know that families and churches, not government officials, know best how to create a strong, loving community. And above all else, we know this: in America, we don’t worship government, we worship God.” —Donald Trump Braying Jenny: “[Ben Carson] knows nothing about the mission of HUD. He doesn’t care about people in public housing. He believes that if you are poor, it is your own fault. … If he thinks when he comes before my committee where I am the ranking member of the financial services that I am going to give him a pass, I am going to take his a— apart.” —Maxine Waters Settled Science™: “We are close to the tipping point where global warming becomes irreversible. Trump’s action could push the Earth over the brink, to become like Venus, with a temperature of two hundred and fifty degrees and raining sulfuric acid.” —Stephen Hawking And last… “Did you think about the signing of the Declaration of Independence this week? The July 4 holiday is meant to honor that, not just fireworks. Ironically, government’s grown so much since 1776 that fireworks might be illegal in your town.” —John Stossel 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. |