The Patriot Post Digest 6-1-2016

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The Patriot Post Digest 6-1-2016
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
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Mid-Day Digest

Jun. 1, 2016

THE FOUNDATION

“Newspapers … serve as chimnies to carry off noxious vapors and smoke.” —Thomas Jefferson (1802)

TOP RIGHT HOOKS

Trump Mounts Attack to Distract From Vet Donations Story1

Donald Trump hammered the “extremely dishonest” press at a 40-minute Q&A session he scheduled in response to a Washington Post story investigating the millions of dollars he claimed he raised2 for veterans in January. For his supporters, who think the Leftmedia is oozing bias and that Republican politicians are too spineless to fight back, this was exactly what they were itching to hear.

Trump told the reporters, “I sent people checks of a lot of money. … And instead of being like, ‘Thank you very much, Mr. Trump,’ or ‘Trump did a good job,’ everyone’s saying: ‘Who got [the money]? Who got it? Who got it?’ And you make me look very bad. I have never received such bad publicity for doing such a good job.” Trump went on, saying he wouldn’t stop attacking the press if he were elected president.

In January, Trump campaigned with the “veteran card.” Rather than face his fellow GOP candidates in one televised debate, Trump held a fundraiser a few miles away — at which he admitted, “I didn’t want to be here, I have to be honest.” At the time, he announced3 he had raised $5 million and thrown in $1 million himself. “Our Veterans have been treated like third-class citizens,” Trump said, “and it is my great honor to support them with this $1 million dollar [sic] contribution.”

Words are different than actions and even before the mainstream media picked up the story, conservative media was pointing out4 that, weeks later, Trump had not made good on his word. In short: There were legitimate questions. Was Trump honestly trying to help veterans, or was he using them as political puppets to generate goodwill? It wasn’t until after the Washington Post contacted Trump five months later that he started actually donating in earnest to veterans groups, sending about half of the checks to the 26 organizations by overnight express around May 24.

Trump successfully turned attention from the millions of dollars that took their sweet time getting to veterans groups and to a narrative about the “dishonest” press.

As commentator Charles Krauthammer observed, “He usually counterattacks against the press, because you can’t lose in doing that — there’s no love lost for the press — and I think he did it effectively.” Thirty years ago, Ronald Reagan was known for dealing with the press by talking over it and directly to Americans. Trump jumped into the peanut gallery and started a brawl.

Why Half of Voters Support Hillary’s Run5

Will Hillary Clinton be indicted for her email subterfuge6? Last week’s inspector general report7 sure confirms that would be a fitting result. But the decision ultimately lies with Barack Obama’s Justice Department and Attorney General Loretta Lynch. You can guess the likelihood of Lynch indicting her party’s likely presidential nominee. (Though the wild card is how much Obama wants a Biden-Warren ticket8 instead.)

Either way, what do voters think? According to Rasmussen9, “Most continue to believe likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton is a lawbreaker, but half of all voters also say a felony indictment shouldn’t stop her campaign for the presidency.” Despite the fact that 65% say she likely broke the law, 48% say the scandal will have “no impact on their vote,” and only 25% think she’ll actually be indicted. We already know the Clintons always put themselves first, so there’s no chance she’d step aside willingly. With numbers like this, why should Crooked Hillary give up now?

Wall Street Journal columnist William McGurn has the most likely explanation10 for this polling phenomenon: “By refusing to resign after being caught out in an affair with an intern, President Bill Clinton successfully lowered the bar for would-be President Hillary. … In this brave new world, even perjury turned out not to be a crime when Bill Clinton did it, because it was about sex. Today the No Crime/No Foul defense defines the case for Mrs. Clinton. … For so long as a criminal conviction is presented as the only possible disqualification for running for president, Mrs. Clinton will remain viable even if she does get indicted.”

SCOTUS Chips Away Gov’t Control Over Nation’s Water11

In a unanimous ruling, the Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a North Dakota peat farm can go forward with a lawsuit against the U.S. government over its expansive interpretation of the Clean Water Act. Let’s repeat a key word: unanimous. As in all eight justices believe there’s a good case to be made against another overreach of Barack Obama. Last year, the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which jointly enforce water pollution law, vastly expanded their jurisdiction claims over what constitute “waters of the U.S.” That makes this case critical in defining the reach. The Hill puts it in perspective12: “The case is likely to have consequences for the federal government’s entire enforcement of the Clean Water Act, the main law regarding pollution control.”

Hawkes Company, a family-owned peat farm, was attempting to expand its operation into Minnesota when the Corps of Engineers declared13 that because the bog eventually fed into the Red River 120 miles away it somehow fell under the Corps' jurisdiction. After the regulatory decree, there was little the farm could do besides enter a tangle of red tape. In its Tuesday ruling, the High Court determined that those jurisdictional determinations come with legal consequences, and organizations like Hawkes Company can take the government to court and challenge the ruling just like any other regulation. In the past, these companies didn’t have the courts available to them to check the government’s ever-expanding definition of what it can control water-wise. Now they do.

BEST OF RIGHT OPINION

    Michelle Malkin: The $16 Billion Tax-Credit Black Hole14
    Walter Williams: Elitist Arrogance15
    Star Parker: New Evidence Supporting School Choice16

For more, visit Right Opinion17.

FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS
Looking Libertarian?18

By Lewis Morris

The Libertarian Party decided on its 2016 presidential campaign ticket over Memorial Day weekend, choosing former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson with former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld as his running mate. In any other election year, this might be considered small news, but in 2016, with Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton earning historically high disapproval ratings, the Libertarian ticket is a possible alternative for disgusted voters.

Johnson got less than 1% of the vote in his 2012 presidential campaign as a Libertarian, but he is already enjoying much better name recognition this time around. In May, he drew 10% in a Fox News poll that asked voters to name their presidential preference. This was against Trump’s 42% and Clinton’s 39%.

So who is Gary Johnson?

He has considered himself a Libertarian for most of his political life, outside of a brief stint as anti-war Democrat in 1972. He turned a small handyman business into a multi-million-dollar enterprise, and as he rose up the political ranks in New Mexico, he considered running for the governorship as a Libertarian, but switched to Republican in 1994.

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The Patriot Post Digest 6-1-2016
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
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“It took about 45 seconds for me to come to grips that I would never get elected as a Libertarian,” Johnson said of his visit to a Libertarian Party meeting in 1994. “It wasn’t an organization and it wasn’t my crowd.”

Johnson’s governing style and stance on the issues can best be described as fiscally conservative and socially tolerant. He seeks to balance the federal budget with spending discipline and pro-growth policies. He proposes saving Social Security by raising the retirement age, introducing means testing, and allowing personal investments. National Review’s John J. Miller explains19, “Johnson supports gay marriage and calls himself pro-choice on abortion, but he also believes Roe [v. Wade] was wrongly decided and says that abortion should be legal only ‘up to the point of the viability of the fetus, when it can be sustained outside the womb even if by artificial means.’” Johnson embraces an immigration policy that would rely on work visas and not big walls.

Johnson is also pro-marijuana legalization, and during his second term became the highest-ranking public official in the country to back legalization. Not only that, but he is an admitted pot smoker and was CEO of Cannabis Sativa, a Nevada company that markets legal marijuana products. But he promises not to inhale if elected president.

Johnson believes that he and Weld are offering a viable alternative to voters turned off by what the Republicans and Democrats are offering in 2016. Yet they’re well aware of the steep uphill climb they have to reach those voters. No Libertarian candidate has been on the ballot in all 50 states since 1980, and no third-party challenger has reached the required 15% national polling threshold to join the debates since 1992.

“There’s no way a third party wins the presidency without being in the debates,” Johnson says. “You’ve got to have a microphone in your mouth, broadcasting to tens of millions of people instead of nobody.”

So the big focus for Johnson-Weld now is to raise their notoriety with the electorate.

There are some net positives for the pair. They are both multi-term governors, which means they have more governing experience between them than Clinton and Trump combined. (Then again, some folks consider that a negative.) They also embrace a largely center-right stance on the issues that matches the general mood of the electorate.

However, the Libertarian Party20 has never been taken seriously on the national stage. It may be in part due to shenanigans like seeing a candidate for party chairman strip on the national convention stage21. Libertarians have enough trouble being taken seriously without such headline-grabbing incidents. But, in a year when pretty much anything goes in the presidential race, the Libertarians might just fit right in.

MORE ORIGINAL PERSPECTIVE

    It Was a Memorable Weekend in Chicago, Alright22
    New Climate Studies Refute ‘Settled Science’23
    Hillary’s Childcare Proposal Will Only Harm Kids24

TOP HEADLINES

    1,037 Syrian Refugees Admitted in May: Only Two Christians25
    Now HBO Accused of Deceptive Edits in Anti-Gun Segment26
    Police Departments Begin to Reward Restraint Tactics27

For more, visit Patriot Headline Report28

OPINION IN BRIEF

Michelle Malkin: “The earned income tax credit, a bipartisan-supported ‘anti-poverty’ benefit, is robbing honest, law-abiding Americans blind. Originally intended to help low- to moderate-income working individuals and couples with children, the refundable tax credit has ballooned into a massive welfare entitlement for politically correct constituents who pay no income taxes — yet are still eligible for payouts. According to a new report from the Treasury Department’s Inspector General for Tax Administration, a whopping 23.8 percent of EITC payments, worth an estimated $15.6 billion, were issued improperly in fiscal year 2015 alone. … Instead of stopping the rip-offs, the Obama administration has fueled an entire industry of illegal immigration vultures gaming the already fraud-plagued system. In addition to blanket deportation waivers and work permits, Obama’s executive amnesty orders extended EITC eligibility (retroactive to the last three tax years) to the so-called Dreamers and their parents. It’s a proven recipe for bamboozlement. … When the enormous costs of such tax code social engineering outweigh the benefits in an era of unfettered open borders, it’s time to pull the plug.”

SHORT CUTS

Insight: “Let anyone who believes that a high standard of living is the achievement of labor unions and government controls ask himself the following question: If one had a ‘time machine’ and transported the united labor chieftains of America, plus three million government bureaucrats, back to the tenth century — would they be able to provide the medieval serf with electric light, refrigerators, automobiles, and television sets?” —Ayn Rand (1905-1982)

Upright: “Black youths had lower unemployment during earlier times. How might that be explained? It would be sheer lunacy to attempt to explain the more favorable employment statistics by suggesting that during earlier periods, blacks faced less racial discrimination. Similarly, it would be lunacy to suggest that black youths had higher skills than white youths. What best explain the loss of teenage employment opportunities, particularly those of black teenagers, are increases in minimum wage laws.” —Walter E. Williams

Observations: “I don’t think we have anything to be ashamed about from reflecting on Harry Truman’s decision to use the atomic bomb against Japan. I think Obama’s speech29 [in Hiroshima] was, however, consistent with his apology tour across his seven and a half years of office. I don’t think he’s ever actually said in any of these occasions, ‘I apologize.’ It’s always more indirect, and it was indirect [in Japan].” —former UN ambassador John Bolton

Village Idiots: “I went back and reviewed [the ‘Under the Gun’ transcript] and agree that those eight seconds do not accurately represent [the gun advocates'] response. … I regret that those eight seconds were misleading and that I did not raise my initial concerns more vigorously.” —Katie Couric

The BIG Lie: “Had Secretary Clinton known of any concerns about her email setup at the time, she would have taken steps to address them. She believed she was following the practices of other Secretaries and senior officials.” —John Podesta, Clinton campaign chairman

And last… “With the right policies, we could stop that gorilla tragedy from happening again. Also, if we do nothing it most likely won’t happen again.” —Frank Fleming

Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis!
Managing Editor Nate Jackson

Join us in daily prayer for our Patriots in uniform — Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen — standing in harm’s way in defense of Liberty, and for their families.