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« on: January 28, 2016, 06:56:25 PM » |
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The Patriot Post Digest 1-26-2016
From The Federalist Patriot
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Daily Digest
Jan. 26, 2016
THE FOUNDATION
“Nothing is more essential to the establishment of manners in a State than that all persons employed in places of power and trust must be men of unexceptionable characters.” —Samuel Adams, 1775
TOP RIGHT HOOKS
Who Is the True Heir to Obama?1
Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton continued to draw differences with each other Monday night at a forum in Des Moines — a last attempt to sway voters in Iowa days before the caucuses. Sanders said in order to make this nation a social democracy that wages war against the rich, he wants to bring back “the era of big government,” and cause government spending to increase about 10 times the amount the government planned to spend on ObamaCare. Meanwhile, Clinton painted herself as a “proven fighter2” (though she would be more honest to describe herself as a morally ambiguous anti-hero) who will, somehow, do what Barack Obama didn’t and work with Republicans. A fighter who wants to bury the hatchet. Ironic.
As for Obama, it’s pretty clear his choice for an heir is his former secretary of state. “[The] one thing everybody understands is that this job right here — you don’t have the luxury of just focusing on one thing,” he told Politico3 in an interview about the Democrat primaries. But Obama’s pick is a pragmatic one. Clinton will preserve what Obama created. Sanders wants what Obama originally envisioned. Commentator Charles Krauthammer said4, “Sanders is the one who wants to achieve the ultimate dreams of Obama over the ones he couldn’t. He was the one who openly said he would prefer a single-payer system like the Canadian system, he obviously wasn’t able to achieve it. Sanders is the one you would expect to be his ideological heir.” And thus, Democrats continue their slow, incremental push toward ever more socialism.
Clash of Billionaires: Donald vs. Michael5
Hey ho! Welcome to the 2016 elections, where everything is a clamorous tumult and past conventions don’t matter. For at least 100 years, third-party runs for the White House ended up splitting votes so the candidate with the minority views gained power. But former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is testing the water for a third-party run. And it’s not the craziest thing to say that the man who launched a regulatory crusade against salt and big soda cups while mayor of the Big Apple just might do well. “Mr. Bloomberg is a serious man who wouldn’t waste his money or time if he didn’t sense an opportunity,” wrote6 The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board. “If we’ve learned anything so far in this tumultuous election season, it’s that the electorate is volatile enough that anything can happen.”
Bloomberg is a lifelong liberal Democrat who claimed “Republican” status for his first NYC mayoral run, but is now back in his Demo comfort zone. (Shades of Donald Trump7…) He is most loathed by conservatives for his persistent assault on the Second Amendment8 via his Everytown for Gun Safety organization. He also is an abortion and homosexual marriage advocate, along with a long slate of other leftist social agendas, and, as you recall, was the most outspoken supporter of the “ground zero mosque.” Bloomberg is flush with potential campaigning cash, as he has about nine times the wealth of Trump and has strong Wall Street connections. “He’d be able to tap into the anti-establishment fervor roiling both parties,” blogger Ed Morrissey wrote9, “and add in his extensive executive experience in both the private and public sectors, something which none of the current top contenders offer at the moment.” The prospects of Clinton, Sanders, Trump and Bloomberg candidacies all pose a perilous threat to Liberty.
Trump has described Bloomberg as “a friend of mine over the years,” saying Bloomberg “called me to help him out.” Last fall, Bloomberg joked, “I’ve always said that the country is not ready for a divorced, Jewish billionaire from New York City. But after watching a divorced, Christian billionaire from New York City shoot to the top of the polls … I’ve decided to become a candidate.” Maybe he wasn’t joking. For the record, if Bloomberg runs and none of the candidates secure an outright electoral college victory, then the election would be decided by the Republican majority in the House.
With Budget Problems Looming, Fewer Americans Care10
The Congressional Budget Office released a report on the future of the federal government’s budget and the projections aren’t good. In 10 years, the federal government could hold a $30 trillion pile of debt, the Washington Times reports11. That means any meager gains in fiscal responsibility made under the Republican Congress tugging on the purse strings to reduce the deficit will vanish. During the Obama administration, the amount of money the government spent while exceeding its budget declined, though it helps that he quadrupled the deficit before lowering it. In the 2015 fiscal year, we had a deficit of “only” $439 billion. But in the 2016 fiscal year, that number is supposed to climb to $544 billion, and the CBO sees more fiscal irresponsibility in the future. The solution includes searching for candidates with the fiscal chops to tackle the problem. However: “Voters care more about the economy and terrorism, and there’s good sense to that,” The Wall Street Journal editorial board opined12. “The deficit will never vanish without faster economic growth, and the various tax reform plans that Republicans are offering would spur growth. By all means let’s debate growth.” But that might not be enough. For a dramatic shift in deficit reduction, the nation needs to take a difficult look at programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, the programs contributing most to the national debt, according13 to The Heritage Foundation’s Romina Boccia. Tax hikes and budget cuts are only temporary fixes; what this nation needs is reform.
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FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS
Hillary’s Continuing Saga of Malfeasance16
By Paul Albaugh
Anyone who works in the intelligence community, defense industry or any other capacity that requires a secret clearance or higher knows that there is information that must be safeguarded at all costs. A breach of security, mishandling of classified information and failure to follow policies results in termination, fines and/or imprisonment. For the average worker, these penalties are enforced rather quickly. Yet in the case of Hillary Clinton, this is not the case — at least not yet.
The FBI’s investigation17 into Hillary’s malfeasance has most recently revealed that her private server contained not just classified material, but also information that an intelligence agency has identified as being extremely sensitive and “HCS-O.” According to two sources who were not authorized to speak on the record, this is the code used for reporting on human intelligence sources in ongoing operations.
This new evidence, along with the Special Access Programs (SAP) that were identified by the FBI last week, is very damaging for our national security. Dan Maguire, former Special Operations strategic planner for Africom, states, “There are people’s lives at stake. Certainly in an intel SAP, if you’re talking about sources and methods, there may be one person in the world that would have access to the type of information contained in that SAP.”
Despite the mounting evidence against her, Clinton continues to lie about her deliberate (more on this in a minute) mishandling of classified information. In fact, during a recent interview on “Meet the Press,” she insisted18 again, “I never sent or received any material marked ‘classified.’ I cannot control what the Republicans leak and what they are contending.” So it’s the Republicans' fault (vast right-wing conspiracy, anyone?), it’s all made up and they are only doing it to derail her campaign for the presidency.
In the Democrats' town hall Monday night, she repeated her claim of innocence: “Nothing I did was wrong. It was not in any way prohibited.”
Both of her claims are outright lies.
She aims to deflect the attention off of herself and onto an entire political party. But the party at fault is her and most likely several staffers who worked for her at the State Department.
Col. Kurt Schlichter (USA, retired) explains19 how Clinton had classified material sent to her server. Classified information is stored on machines that are not connected to unclassified machines. Further these classified machines are stored in a secure facility often referred to as a SCIF, the doors are always locked and only personnel with authorized clearances can even access the secured room. No one can bring in any electronic devices to include cell phones, laptops, thumb drives or anything that could potentially store information. These rules are in place to prevent spillage — classified material leaving the secure facility. |
