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« on: September 17, 2015, 08:43:04 PM » |
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The Patriot Post Digest 9-7-2015
From The Federalist Patriot
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Daily Digest
Sep. 7, 2015
THE FOUNDATION
“I think we have more machinery of government than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious.” —Thomas Jefferson, 1824
TOP RIGHT HOOKS
Unemployed Labor Day1
As most Americans are grilling in the backyard to celebrate Labor Day, there isn’t as much labor to go around as we all would like. In his weekly address2 for Labor Day weekend, Barack Obama boasted of “the longest streak of job creation on record.” Indeed, Friday’s jobs report3 had some good headline numbers — who could argue with 5.1% unemployment? But the underlying story isn’t so hot. As we noted Friday, black unemployment is at 9.5%, which increased 0.4% from July. And as has been true throughout the Obama “recovery,” much of the decline in the overall unemployment rate was caused by people leaving the workforce. The labor force participation rate remained at 62.6% — the lowest level since 1977 — and there are a record 94 million Americans not in the workforce. As for Gross Domestic Product (GDP), while second-quarter growth was a seemingly healthy 3.7%, that number could be revised down closer to first quarter numbers. The Daily Signal reports4, “Gross Domestic Income (GDI) grew at just 0.6 percent, after 0.4 percent growth in the first 1st quarter. GDI is a more accurate measure of the health of the economy. When the government revises GDP figures as more data comes in, it tends to get revised towards the initial GDI estimates.”
Obama turned his address into a call for a budget from Congress that will “support working Americans and strengthen our middle class.” Naturally, he wants “investments” in the same old stuff — infrastructure, schools and research. All fine things, but when 94 million Americans aren’t working (and aren’t paying taxes to support that budget), Obama’s promises and braggadocio ring hollow.
Clinton’s Secret Server Had a Secret IT Guy5
Turns out, once a Clinton lackey, always a Clinton lackey. IT specialist Bryan Pagliano was paid by the Clintons to run Hillary’s secret email server while she headed the State Department, Clinton’s campaign admitted6 last week. Pagliano worked on Hillary’s failed 2008 presidential campaign and then moved over to the State Department. But he never stopped getting paid by the Clintons. According to the Post, Pagliano disclosed to State in April 2009 that the Clintons paid him $5,000 for his tech expertise. But for some reason, Pagliano then quit reporting his Clinton income. Was it just a matter of convenience, to avoid awkward questions? Or, as Ed Morrissey7 wonders, was it something more sinister, like a bribe to keep the email server secret? When three congressional committees asked Pagliano to the Hill to testify about the server last week, Pagliano declined, invoking the Fifth Amendment8. Some members of Congress indicated that they might grant Pagliano immunity if he testifies against his former employers, which indicates there are bigger fish to fry, namely fish of the Slimis Clintonus variety.
West Hammers Trump9
Donald Trump interviewed with radio host Hugh Hewitt and badly fumbled a foreign policy question. “I’m looking for the next commander in chief to know who Hassan Nasrallah is, and Zawahiri, and al-Julani, and al-Baghdadi,” Hewitt said. “Do you know the players without a scorecard, yet, Donald Trump?” Trump, who is about attitude, not details, called it a “gotcha question.” But it doesn’t matter anyway, he explained. “You know, I’ll tell you honestly, I think by the time we get to office, they’ll all be changed. They’ll be all gone. I knew you were going to ask me things like this, and there’s no reason, because, number one, I’ll find — I will hopefully find Gen. Douglas MacArthur in the pack.” He then boasted, “I will be so good at the military, your head will spin.” Ah, well, never mind then!
Lt. Col. (ret.) Allen West’s response to Trump’s vacuous and ignorant answer was perfect: “No, I don’t think it’s a gotcha question. When you are running for the presidency of the United States of America, the most important title is commander in chief. … This is a great teachable moment. … Our national politics are starting to resemble American Idol. … I want to see our candidates out there that understand the geopolitical scene and not be like President Obama.”
FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS
Beefing Up Obama’s Pro-Amnesty Agenda10
By Arnold Ahlert
The Obama administration’s intention to force-feed a pro-amnesty agenda to a recalcitrant American public has reached a new low. The Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced11 it had reached an immigration-related settlement with Nebraska Beef Ltd., a meat packing company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. The DOJ had accused the company of discrimination — because the meat packing company demanded that workers show proof of immigration status to demonstrate they were eligible to work legally in the United States.
The DOJ insisted Nebraska Beef violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) because it required “non-U.S. citizens, but not similarly-situated U.S. citizens, to present specific documentary proof of their immigration status to verify their employment eligibility.” Yet the act itself states that “employers may hire only persons who may legally work in the United States (i.e., citizens and nationals of the U.S.) and aliens authorized to work in the U.S. The employer must verify the identity and employment eligibility of anyone to be hired, which includes completing the Employment Eligibility Verification Form (I-9).” Adding insult to injury, the act warns employers that they can be penalized if they fail to complete and/or retain those I-9 forms.
Judicial Watch put this outrage in the proper perspective12: “You know the nation is in trouble when a U.S. business gets investigated by its own government for following the law.”
Regardless, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, was adamant. “The department is committed to ensuring that individuals who are authorized to work in the United States can support their families and contribute to our country’s economic growth without facing unnecessary and discriminatory barriers to employment,” she stated. “We will vigorously enforce the law to remove such barriers where we find them, and ensure that affected individuals have a means of seeking relief.”
“Relief” in this case amounts to Nebraska Beef paying $200,000 in a civil penalty settlement, establishing an uncapped back-pay fund for people who lost wages because they could not prove they are in the country legally, and two years of compliance monitoring. The company is also required to train employees on the anti-discrimination provision within the Immigration and Nationality Act and to revise policies within its office.
The anti-discrimination provisions of the act can be seen here13. The germane clause states that employers “may not treat individuals differently based on citizenship or immigration status. U.S. citizens, recent permanent residents, temporary residents, asylees and refugees are protected from citizenship status discrimination.” All well and good, save for one seemingly inherent contradiction:
How is a company supposed to determine a potential employee’s status and eligibility to work in the United States without documentary proof?
A 2014 federal audit14 conducted by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) inspector general revealed the bigger stakes in play here, noting the Obama administration has not only been “inconsistent” in enforcing the provisions of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), but it reduced the average fine for businesses caught hiring illegals by a whopping 40% between 2009 and 2012. Now the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division is getting in on the act, helping to facilitate the administration’s pro-amnesty agenda.
All Americans should be outraged, but none more so than black Americans. Another disappointing jobs report Friday revealed3 that only 173,000 jobs were created in August, despite predictions of 220,000. And though the unemployment rate dropped to 4.4% for whites, a drop of 0.2% from July, black unemployment is 9.5%, up 0.4% from July.
Unfortunately, both of those figures hardly tell the real story. The daunting reality is that a record-setting 94,031,000 Americans were not15 in the labor force last month, and the labor participation rate is 62.6% — the lowest level since 1977. When those people are counted, the overall unemployment rate, trumpeted to be 5.1%, more than doubles to 10.3%. Even worse, wages for all American workers have declined16 from the time the so-called recovery began in 2009, right through 2014 — with lowest paid workers taking the biggest hit.
All while Obama champions amnesty for million of illegals who would drive those wages even lower17 — for as long as a decade. |
