|
nChrist
|
 |
« on: January 12, 2016, 07:00:51 PM » |
|
________________________________________
The Patriot Post Digest 1-12-2016
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
________________________________________
Daily Digest
Jan. 12, 2016
THE FOUNDATION
“Here comes the orator! With his flood of words, and his drop of reason.” —Benjamin Franklin, 1735
TOP RIGHT HOOKS
Ghosts of SOTU, Past and Present1
In January 2009, Hope ‘n’ Change™ was still fresh, and Democrats and many Americans were looking forward to a new start and a real recovery from a tough recession. As Barack Obama prepares to deliver his final State of the Union Address tonight, however, the shine is tarnished, and he has no one to blame but himself. Looking back to his first address to Congress in 2009, Obama said things that would make us laugh out loud if they weren’t so serious. He renewed his call for a “recovery plan” (a.k.a. the $800 billion “stimulus”) though he insisted it was “not because I believe in bigger government — I don’t” and “not because I’m not mindful of the massive debt we’ve inherited — I am.” He also declared we have a “responsibility to ensure that we do not pass on to [our children] a debt they cannot pay.” When Obama gave that speech, total national debt was $10.8 trillion. It’s quickly approaching $19 trillion. So he was mindful, alright — as he whipped out the nation’s credit card to pay for redistribution to Democrats' favored constituency groups, thereby setting a new minimum level of spending that would be very hard to cut. He’ll come very close to doubling our national debt over his (insufferably long) eight years.
In terms of his other numerous initiatives and promises, he delivered on ObamaCare (though it was built on a foundation of lies2 and is not at all3 the success he claims), climate change regulations (via the EPA, not Congress), withdrawing from Iraq (we all know how that turned out4), homosexuals serving openly5 in the military, raising taxes6 on the top two income brackets, and a handful of other things that grew government, increased debt or advanced leftist social engineering. Fortunately, however, Republican wins in 2010 and 2014 slowed his progress. Intentionally declining to tackle immigration reform with Democrat congressional majorities, Obama eventually made a show7 of executive action and decreased enforcement to keep the issue as a political wedge. But he did not succeed in achieving his idea of reform. Likewise, he has failed to do anything really meaningful8 to restrict gun rights, and he managed to become Gun Salesman of the Decade. The extent to which he was able to raise taxes was limited, as was the trajectory of federal spending. His current boasts of cutting the deficit are both disingenuous and empty — he nearly quadrupled it first, and it’s only falling because Republicans blocked many further increases.
So tonight we can expect a typically petulant man to take aim at his opponents, painting them in the worst possible light as he blames them for his failures. On the bright side, it’s his last State of the Union.
2016 Not Looking Good for ObamaCare3
There’s a high probability that Barack Obama will boast of the success of his signature health care legislation at tonight’s State of the Union Address. It was one of the policies he highlighted in his first weekly address of 2016, saying his administration has covered 17 million people. But Obama is throwing out an eight-digit number, saying it with a smile, and selling a statistic that actually shows ObamaCare isn’t performing like promised. As Investor’s Business Daily notes9, 11.3 million people enrolled through an ObamaCare exchange in 2015. But many of those people were switching plans, through voluntary effort or government coercion. Furthermore, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that ObamaCare needed to enroll 20 million Americans for it to become solvent. Obama’s rosy 17 million doesn’t look good now, especially in the face of crumbling co-ops10 and fewer Millennials signing up than expected. This lack of participation comes as 49 states11 expect insurance premium hikes this year. While Mississippi is the only state expected to see a (slight) drop in the price of health insurance, 29 states will see double-digit percentage increases (like the 25% increase The Patriot Post faced in 2015). Minnesota will get hit the hardest, with an expected 47.7% increase. But all this insolubility only underlines the biggest issue with ObamaCare: It’s still unconstitutional for the government to tell Americans to get insurance and dictate what kind of insurance they can receive, two legislate-from-the-bench Supreme Court rulings notwithstanding.
Fewer Democrats Than Ever12
“I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on Earth. This was the moment — this was the time — when we came together to remake this great nation so that it may always reflect our very best selves, and our highest ideals.” —Barack Obama, upon securing the Democrat nomination in 2008
Oh how the mighty have fallen. Yes, Obama won re-election, but his two mid-term elections have been disasters for his party. He proved too heavy a load13 down the ballot, even in off-year elections. And it turns out the blow wasn’t just to elected Democrats around the country, but to registered voters as well. In the latest Gallup survey14, “the percentage of U.S. adults identifying as Democrats is now at the lowest point in the past 27 years, down from the prior low of 30% in 2014.” The current tally is just 29%. To be sure, the GOP has its own problems15, and Gallup measures its numbers at a paltry 26%, but that’s not a record low for Republicans either. And conservative-leaning voters are less party-loyal than liberals.
According to Gallup, “The rise in political independence is likely related to Americans' frustration with party gridlock in the federal government. In the past several years, dissatisfaction with the government has ranked among the leading issues when U.S. adults are asked to name the most important problem facing the U.S., and was the most frequently mentioned problem in 2014 and 2015. Also, Americans' favorable ratings of each party are on the lower end of what Gallup has measured over the past few decades.”
So why do voters keep voting for more government?
Don’t Miss Patriot Humor
Check out The Height of Narcissism16.
If you’d like to receive Patriot Humor by email, update your subscription here17.
FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS
Corrupt Clinton Foundation Under Expanded FBI Investigation18
By Paul Albaugh
For Americans who have been paying attention to the numerous scandals19 that have always surrounded Hillary Clinton, many are wondering when and if she will ever be indicted and charged for her crimes. If her improper handling of classified emails, use of her private server and failure with Benghazi have not been enough to derail her campaign for the presidency, perhaps an expanded FBI probe into the Clinton Foundation will be.
Last spring, we wondered20 whether the Clinton Foundation would actually be Clinton’s downfall, but for the last several months the FBI investigations have been primarily focused on her emails and use of a private server. That has now changed.
The FBI has expanded its investigation21 to include the Clinton Foundation and is looking into whether or not there is a connection between Foundation work and State Department business. If there is a connection between the two, then that would be a violation of public corruption laws, and should be disastrous for Clinton. |
