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« on: September 20, 2015, 08:00:02 PM » |
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The Patriot Post Digest 9-15-2015
From The Federalist Patriot
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Daily Digest
Sep. 15, 2015
THE FOUNDATION
“Let the American youth never forget, that they possess a noble inheritance, bought by the toils, and sufferings, and blood of their ancestors; and capacity, if wisely improved, and faithfully guarded, of transmitting to their latest posterity all the substantial blessings of life, the peaceful enjoyment of liberty, property, religion, and independence.” —Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution, 1833
TOP RIGHT HOOKS
Oh, Now Hillary Is an Advocate for Rape Victims1
While campaigning in Iowa, Hillary Clinton pledged that she would push for policies to deal with sexual assault on college campuses by making government programs for victims “comprehensive, confidential and coordinated.” Don’t be fooled. She’s positioning herself to capitalize on the Left’s witch hunt in the supposed “epidemic” of rape on college campuses. “I want to send a message to all of the survivors,” Clinton said. “Don’t let anyone silence your voice. You have the right to be heard, the right to be believed, and we are with you as you go forward.” Say, does that apply to the women who accused Bill Clinton of sexual assault? Juanita Broaddrick says Hillary threatened her2 into keeping quiet. Kathleen Willey says3 the former first lady goes after the women who have accused her husband “to ruin them again and again.” When Paula Jones accused the playboy in chief of sexual harassment in the late ‘90s, it was “scorched-earth legal warfare,” The Washington Post said at the time4. And let’s not forget Monica Lewinsky, the low-level intern abused by her superior. Hillary famously blamed that one on a “vast right-wing conspiracy.” But just whose side is Clinton on in the “war on women”?
Crime Soars in 'Sanctuary’ San Francisco5
The murder of Kathryn Steinle6 in San Francisco by an illegal alien who had been released by local law enforcement before the killing brought the issue of sanctuary cities to the forefront of public debate. These cities are not just havens for illegals, but local authorities in many of them are releasing criminals by the thousands7. Once again using the Golden Gate City as an example, Judicial Watch released some staggering new numbers8: “Judicial Watch announced today it obtained records from the San Francisco County Sheriff’s Department revealing that violent crime in the Bay area has skyrocketed since 2011, with the number of arrests for murder up 55%, and the number of arrests for rapes up 370%.” The Department doesn’t track the citizenship or legal residency status of criminals represented in these statistics, but San Francisco began implementing sanctuary city policies in 2011 and officially became one in 2013 and the rise in crime coincides with those policy changes. It’s hard not to think San Francisco is doing its own citizens an unspeakable disservice by catering to illegal immigrants.
Just How Close Was Iran With Osama bin Laden?9
There is a connection between the terrorist group that brought down the World Trade Center towers and the world’s newest endorsed-for-nuclear-power country, but the Obama administration has yet to disclose that link. We know from documents10 captured by SEAL Team 6 after they killed Osama bin Laden that al-Qaida was comfortable going into the country. At one point, probably sometime around 2006, the terrorist group wanted to set up an office in Iran, but rejected the idea because it was too expensive. And while Iran detained many al-Qaida members after they fled Afghanistan during the U.S. invasion of the country, The Weekly Standard suggested11 in February the two groups had an uneasy agreement. After all, the enemy of your enemy is your friend. The Wall Street Journal editorial board wrote Monday12, “Earlier this summer the State Department’s latest country report on terrorism said Iran had ‘previously’ allowed al Qaeda ‘to operate a core facilitation pipeline through Iran,’ implying this was a thing of the past. Less than a month later, President Obama announced the Iran nuclear deal. With his deal now moving ahead, the least the President could do is release the other bin Laden files dealing with Iran. And if the President doesn’t release the documents, Congress ought to demand them.” Before Obama gives Iran up to $150 billion in sanctions relief to go with nuclear capability, these documents might be worth a look.
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FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS
Walker’s Plan to Take Down Federal Unions15
By Paul Albaugh
As Republican presidential candidates prepare for the debate Wednesday, several have taken on specific issues that are viewed as either important to voters or important to the candidate. To name a few, Donald Trump’s focus, as always, is immigration, while Marco Rubio tackled college reform and Mike Huckabee’s fighting against abortion and Planned Parenthood. And now, Scott Walker has made ending federal labor unions16 a top priority for his campaign. Considering that public employee unions are one of the things that make the federal government as inefficient as it is, Walker’s proposal is intriguing.
Walker has had enormous success as governor of Wisconsin on this issue. In fact, the battle garnered national attention and is essentially the reason he’s a presidential candidate. After being in office for only six weeks, he proposed and succeeded in ending collective bargaining for public employees in the state. Democrats in the legislature literally fled the state to avoid a losing vote. They returned when it became clear defeat was inevitable, but they also forced Walker into a recall election in 2012. Despite protests from union supporters and millions in special-interest money flooding into the state, he won — by a wider margin than his initial victory. He then won re-election in 2014. Earlier this year, he made Wisconsin a right-to-work state.
With all of the issues facing our nation, however, why is Walker choosing to focus on eliminating federal labor unions? There are a couple of factors to consider here. First, we repeat: He had great success fighting against Big Labor in the state of Wisconsin. It worked at the state level, so why not try it at the federal level?
Second, taking on Big Labor has not been talked about much amongst the GOP candidates thus far and Walker needs an issue that separates him from the pack. As The Wall Street Journal notes17, “The plan to severely limit labor-union rights nationwide is Mr. Walker’s attempt to force other candidates to respond to his proposals, rather than the other way around.”
The campaign spotlight is no longer on Walker like it is on Trump, Carly Fiorina or Ben Carson. In fact, Walker has plummeted in the polls18. Early in the race, he was the frontrunner in Iowa. Now he has fallen to 10th place with just 3% support in a recent poll. He is no doubt hoping that taking on federal labor unions as a big part of his campaign platform — returning to his roots, as it were — will boost his numbers.
Walker highlighted several reasons19 that labor unions are detrimental to the federal government — and America.
“In 2012, American taxpayers shelled out some $156 million to do the bidding of big-government union bosses. Federal workers spent more than 3.3 million hours that year doing union work, instead of serving the government.”
Further, he explains that political donations from federal unions overwhelmingly go to leftist candidates and causes, and that’s been true “for decades.” The reason is simple: Unions have a self-interest in growing government, and Democrats promise to deliver.
Federal unions are also a “force for making our government less efficient and accountable,” Walker said, as evidenced by union bosses who have a grip on the Department of Veterans Affairs. Several employees at the VA should have been demoted or fired for poor performance or misconduct in the wait-time scandal20, but because of labor unions they were allowed to stay — and even received back pay.
Walker contends that federal unions “interfere with the ability of government to serve people.” He specifically points to the IRS, which has “more than 200 employees work[ing] full-time for big-government union bosses at taxpayer expense” — all while the agency is targeting conservative political groups.
So what exactly does Walker intend to do to fight against federal labor unions if he is elected president? Reason’s Scott Shackford points out five key areas21:
Eliminate the National Labor Relations Board — He will transfer power to the National Mediation Board and the courts, but he will need cooperation from Congress to change existing federal law.
Eliminate federal unions — He promises to end taxpayers subsidizing millions of hours of union lobbying. |
