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« on: April 21, 2015, 04:17:33 PM » |
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The Patriot Post Digest 4-21-2015
From The Federalist Patriot
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Daily Digest
Apr. 21, 2015
THE FOUNDATION
“It is of great importance to set a resolution, not to be shaken, never to tell an untruth. There is no vice so mean, so pitiful, so contemptible; and he who permits himself to tell a lie once, finds it much easier to do it a second and a third time, till at length it becomes habitual; he tells lies without attending to it, and truths without the world’s believing him.” —Thomas Jefferson, letter to Peter Carr, 1785
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
Your Patriot Post team always endeavors to improve our publication, which is a critical touchstone for Liberty. To that end, we have tightened up our Daily Digest of news, policy and opinion to cover more ground in fewer words, consistent with recommendations from you, our Patriot readers.
TOP RIGHT HOOKS
The Clinton Pay-to-Play Foundation Unmasked1
“Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich,” by Peter Schweizer, is due to hit the bookshelves soon, but Republican presidential candidates are already taking advantage. That’s because the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, including Rand Paul and Marco Rubio, was briefed on the book. The New York Times obtained a copy, too, and reports2 that the “186-page investigation of donations made to the Clinton Foundation by foreign entities … asserts that foreign entities who made payments to the Clinton Foundation and to Mr. Clinton through high speaking fees received favors from Mrs. Clinton’s State Department in return.” The Times quotes a passage in which Schweizer writes, “We will see a pattern of financial transactions involving the Clintons that occurred contemporaneous with favorable U.S. policy decisions benefiting those providing the funds.”
We know it’s shocking to consider that Hillary Clinton’s massive income and her record of “smart power” at the State Department might be tainted by these pay-to-play shenanigans, but Schweizer appears to have done his homework and provides numerous examples. Hillary’s use of private email servers was problematic in large part because she was able to cover up the Clinton Foundation’s dealings. No wonder she deleted tens of thousands of “personal” emails. And her response to the book is typical Hillary: It’s just part of the vast right-wing conspiracy.
Earth Day’s Coming, So Climate Rhetoric’s Heating Up3
In Saturday’s weekly address4, Barack Obama devoted his lecture to Earth Day, which is Wednesday, and he doubled down on global warming so we can “protect this precious planet we call home.” He claimed, “Today, there’s no greater threat to our planet than climate change. … The fact that the climate is changing has very serious implications for the way we live now. Stronger storms. Deeper droughts. Longer wildfire seasons. The world’s top climate scientists are warning us that a changing climate already affects the air our kids breathe.” (Earlier this month he wrongly blamed5 global warming for his daughter’s asthma despite his old smoking habit.) To commemorate Earth Day, Obama will visit the Florida Everglades, which he called “one of the most special places in our country.” He added, “But it’s also one of the most fragile. Rising sea levels are putting a national treasure — and an economic engine for the South Florida tourism industry — at risk. So climate change can no longer be denied — or ignored.” After all, there’s still government power to gain.
Veteran Arrested for Refusing to Give up American Flag6
A group of protesters at Valdosta State University had cast the American flag on the ground and were walking all over it when Michelle Manhart snatched it away from them. “It was tattered and torn, covered with mud and dirt,” the former Air Force training instructor said. “I told the demonstrators that it needed to be properly disposed of.” Instead, campus police led her away in handcuffs when she didn’t let Old Glory go after they ordered her to. It’s a situation that has kindled anew discussions over the flag code, free speech and … pornography.
See, this isn’t the first time Manhart has created controversy. In 2007, she was demoted in the Air Force after she posed nude in Playboy Magazine. “This staff sergeant’s alleged action does not meet the high standards we expect of our airmen, nor does it comply with the Air Force’s core values of integrity, service before self, and excellence in all we do,” the Air Force said in a statement7 at the time. According to an Air Force Times8 cover story, Manhart wanted to use her Playboy notoriety to launch a modeling career, and she later used the flag to cover herself in a nude photo-shoot for PETA — itself a disrespectful use of the flag, in our estimation. Yet even if she wasn’t the best messenger, Manhart’s intent in the Valdosta incident was honorable and any veteran who sacrificed so much to defend the flag would agree. More…9
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FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS
What if the Supreme Court Strikes Down ObamaCare Subsidies?12
By Lewis Morris
A major shift could be taking place in ObamaCare this June, and Republicans stand to gain big, but only if they are sure-footed. June is when the Supreme Court will announce its decision in King v. Burwell13, the case regarding whether the federal government overstepped its authority in paying out subsidies to those purchasing health insurance on the federal ObamaCare exchange. But Republicans face the unpleasant specter of a legal win and a political loss.
As ObamaCare is written, each state had the option to set up its own exchange through which people would buy health insurance. These exchanges were theoretically supposed to offer cheaper coverage, though we know how that went — costs went up and continue to do so. Just the same, 36 states opted not to create their own exchanges, forcing the creation and implementation of a federal ObamaCare exchange to take up the slack. And since Barack Obama needed to keep the law afloat, he arbitrarily decided that taxpayer subsidies could be paid out through the federal exchange, too.
If the Supreme Court interprets the law literally, then the federal taxpayer subsidies will be wiped out. It’s plainly written in the law: no state-run exchange, no taxpayer subsidy for insurance. The immediate outcome will be that some 7.5 million people could lose their insurance. But not if Republicans act.
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) have proposed alternative plans to protect low-income people currently on the federal exchange. Tax credits would allow people to buy insurance in the private market and across state lines, something ObamaCare subsidies do not allow.
Naturally, Hatch and Ryan stand accused of creating “ObamaCare Lite14,” but Ryan counters that their plans would “empower Americans to make their own health care decisions rather than government mandates.”
Republicans face a tricky situation in dealing with ObamaCare subsidies. The Supreme Court ruling, if it goes their way, offers the best opportunity yet to gut ObamaCare. Without the subsidy as it currently exists, the law could collapse. However, subsidies are popular15 — everybody loves “free” stuff. The American public still hates ObamaCare, but a number of polls indicate people are comfortable with taxpayer subsidies to help pay for insurance. If Republicans don’t offer a viable alternative to replacing the subsidies, the political backlash will be costly. |
