The Patriot Post Digest 6-2-2016

________________________________________
The Patriot Post Digest 6-2-2016
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
________________________________________

Mid-Day Digest

Jun. 2, 2016

THE FOUNDATION

“The government of the United States is a definite government, confined to specified objects. It is not like the state governments, whose powers are more general. Charity is no part of the legislative duty of the government.” —James Madison (1794)

TOP RIGHT HOOKS

Mortality Increasing Right Along With Insurance Premiums1

America’s death rate rose in 2015, according to the National Center for Health Statistics — one of the few times it has in the past 25 years. Meanwhile, Americans are paying more and more for health insurance thanks to a certain Democrat law. In 2014, the death rate was 723.2 people for every 100,000. Last year that rate ticked up to 729.5 deaths. The preliminary data, while not complete, suggests suicide, drug overdoses and Alzheimer’s disease are driving the spike.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researcher Andrew Fenelon said, “We are not accustomed to seeing death rates increase on a national scale. We’ve seen increases in mortality for some groups, but it is quite rare to see it for the whole population.” According to Fenelon, this comes at a time when Europe’s mortality rate is dropping.

Of course, ObamaCare is here to save the day, right? Requiring people to pay much, much more for health insurance will help them live longer, happier lives, the Obama administration’s line goes. Yet with the death rate rising, health insurance premiums are skyrocketing right along with it2. Americans in just five states saw the price of premiums drop last year. For Americans in 12 other states, sticker shock came in the form of more than 20% increases on premiums. We in our humble shop yearn for the 8-10% increases of the pre-ObamaCare days.

Part of the reason is decreased competition. Insurance companies find themselves unable to compete in the ObamaCare marketplace and, therefore, leave. The survivors jack up prices3. But hey, all this mandatory insurance is causing the health industry to grow4, thanks to the government’s decree.

Obama Spins Hurricane Threat5

Speaking on hurricane preparedness at the FEMA National Response Coordination Center on Tuesday, Barack Obama said6, “All of us have seen the heartbreak, the damage and, in some case, the loss of life that hurricanes can cause.” Indeed we have. But then he asserted a dubious claim: “And as climate continues to change, hurricanes are only going to become more powerful and more devastating.”

How then does he explain this? It’s now been a staggering “127 months since a major hurricane has made landfall in the continental United States,” CNS News calculates7. “The last major hurricane (defined as a Category 3 or above) to hit the U.S. mainland was Hurricane Wilma … on Oct. 24, 2005.”

But Obama’s sheer ignorance goes well beyond 21st century history. As meteorologist Joe Bastardi has chronicled, the mundane hurricane seasons of late are even more amazing when compared to the 1940s and 1950s. Then, according to Bastardi, the U.S. saw “22 major hits in 20 years8.”

Yet Obama strangely remarked, “What we’re always worried about are the things we don’t know, things we can’t anticipate, things that we haven’t seen before.” Perhaps if he wasn’t wearing ideologically blinders he would know that virtually nothing the world experiences today is unprecedented. Sadly, when hurricane seasons eventually do ramp back up, you can bet America’s shorelines that it will only add spin to warmists' rhetorical whirlwind.

State Department Censored Video to Further Iran Deception9

In an effort to dupe the American people and Congress regarding talks with Iran, the Obama administration went so far as to censor an eight-minute section of a press briefing in 2013. When originally asked, the State Department insisted the segment, which was replaced with a flash of white light on the video posted to YouTube, somehow experienced a “technical glitch.” Kinda like how another video started a “glitch” that was the deadly attack on the Benghazi consulate, if you believe the Obama administration’s YouTube tall tales.

The deleted section featured then-spokeswoman Jen Psaki seemingly admitting10 that the Obama administration had been talking with Iran in secret. “There are times where diplomacy needs privacy in order to progress,” Psaki said. “This is a good example of that.”

On Wednesday, State Department spokesman John Kirby admitted11, “A specific request was made to excise that portion of the briefing.” While the department claims not to know who ordered the eight minutes of footage erased — memory is foggy at Foggy Bottom, though the order came from somewhere in the Public Affairs Bureau — there’s no law against censoring, so State isn’t investigating the incident with anything approaching vigor. But Kirby made it a point to stress that his department has a “commitment to transparency and public accountability,” yada yada yada, Most Transparent Administration in History™.

Psaki now swears she “had no knowledge of nor would I have approved any form of editing or cutting my briefing transcript on any subject.”

Despite claims of transparency, the Obama administration was in the midst of a full court press of deception12, trying to sell the Iran deal by any means necessary. Now, it appears the administration is seemingly paying ransoms13 and otherwise capitulating to the state sponsor of terrorism. It’s no wonder Obama’s legacy is already being edited.

BEST OF RIGHT OPINION

Larry Elder: On ‘Inequality’14
Mona Charen: A Gorilla ‘Tragedy’15
George Will: The British Will Choose Their Destiny16

For more, visit Right Opinion17.

FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS
Obama’s Economic Fables18

By Allyne Caan

Lots of things can be considered “shovel-ready.” Manure, for instance. And that’s pretty much what we got with Obama’s speech Wednesday in Elkhart, Indiana, touting the “success” of his $800 billion stimulus package and overall economic policy.

Just weeks after taking office in 2009, Obama visited Elkhart to urge Congress to pass his massive spending plan. At about that time, Elkhart’s unemployment rate had skyrocketed to approximately 20%. Indeed, Obama had found the perfect stage to recite his regular mantra19 that he “inherited an economic crisis as deep and as dire as any since the Great Depression.” To fix it, he offered the holy grail of statist solutions — a bigger, more intrusive, more controlling, more burdensome government.

This week, he returned to Elkhart to claim victory20: “We … wouldn’t have come this far — Elkhart would not have come this far — if we hadn’t made a series of smart decisions — my administration, a cooperative Congress — decisions we made together early on in my administration.”

To hear Obama tell it, thanks to his policies unemployment has dropped to 4%, industry has revived and businesses are hiring. According to the White House21, not only has manufacturing returned to Elkhart, but fewer Indiana homeowners have seriously delinquent mortgages and more kids than ever are graduating high school. We hear the ozone layer directly above Elkhart has also shown improvement!

Of course, as is typically the case with Obama’s claims, they’re high on flourish, low on facts. For example, Sen. Dan Coats (R-IN) noted22 credit goes to “the pro-growth policies pursued by the state of Indiana, which have made our state one of the nation’s economic success stories.”

Indeed, Indiana has repeatedly lowered its corporate tax rate to make the state more attractive to businesses. In 2012, the rate stood at 8.5%; now, it’s 6.5%23. By 2022, it will be just 4.9% thanks to reforms passed by Republican state lawmakers and signed by GOP Governor Mike Pence. The personal income tax is going down, too.

________________________________________
The Patriot Post Digest 6-2-2016
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
________________________________________

And as for the graduation rate, it might just be tied to the education reforms of Republican Governors Pence and his predecessor Mitch Daniels24, including dropping out of Obama’s “Race to the Top Bottom” education indoctrination program.

What’s more, when Obama came to town in 2009, Elkhart’s primary industry — the RV industry, which provides more than half the area’s jobs22 — was in a massive slump. Obama’s solution? Give $39 million in federal stimulus dollars to Navistar International to develop an electric car industry. Navistar predicted25 it would produce thousands of electric trucks per year and create hundreds of jobs. But as Elkhart’s Mayor Tim Neese ® diplomatically put it, “That was not nearly as successful as we had hoped.”

Meanwhile, Elkhart’s recovery has far more to do with good state and local policies coupled with a rebound in the RV industry than with Obama’s stimulus dollars funding a government-picked project that proved to be an abject failure. (Almost all of those Obama Bucks went to Democrat-connected cronies, anyway.) As one local manager in the RV industry said26, “If the RV industry hadn’t come back like it did, I wouldn’t have the opportunity I have now. … There’s no direct correlation to anything [Obama has] done to help us. We’re not excited about anything he’s done. There’s nothing he’s done to help this industry around here.”

If you really want to see the impact of Obama’s economic policies, Elkhart isn’t the place to look. Instead, look at the crushing federal regulations27 that amount to $4 trillion in added costs to Americans. Or look at the labor force participation rate that at 62.8% is close to the lowest level since the 1970s28. Or look at the sluggish economy that delivers anemic growth as the “new normal.” (While the U.S. economy grew at an average rate of 3.5% from World War II to 2005, since then, it hasn’t hit 3% in a single year29.) Or look at the demise of the coal industry30, exacerbated by Obama’s environmental regulations. Or look at the $19 trillion national debt, which has doubled since Obama took office. Or…

The list goes on, and on.

To see Obama’s economic legacy, look at those things, not to Elkhart. Obama has pointed to Elkhart as the “story of America’s recovery.” Thanks to solid state policy and local hard work and perseverance, it may be an American story of recovery, but it’s certainly not Obama’s doing.

In fact, Obama’s legacy may be better defined by his own answer Wednesday to a Carrier employee about why the company’s jobs are moving to Mexico: Some jobs “are just not going to come back.”

MORE ORIGINAL PERSPECTIVE

ANALYSIS: EU Elites Join American Social Media to Define Hate Speech31
Congress Wants Answers on Obama’s Iran Capitulation13
In Britain, Socialism Gets in the Way of Health Care32
Still Blocking the Way for Christian Refugees33
Yale Students Want to Eradicate ‘White Male Authors’34

TOP HEADLINES

Clinton IT Aide Bryan Pagliano Will Plead the Fifth35
PGA Snubs Trump, Moves Tournament to Mexico City36
Illegal Immigration Up 57% in Two Years37

For more, visit Patriot Headline Report38

OPINION IN BRIEF

Larry Elder: “An ex-actor told me of her recent lunch with a friend she had met when they both left college and pursued acting. While the ex-actor moved on to a different, successful career, her friend stuck to acting, through thick and thin. The actor informed her friend that she recently turned down a commercial. Why? What struggling actor turns down this kind of work? Turns out, through some sort of ‘assistance’ program, said the friend, the state of California is ‘assisting with her mortgage.’ She has no obligation to repay the money, and she will continue to receive the assistance as long as her income is not above a certain level. How does this strengthen the economy? The ex-actor, through her taxes, subsidizes the lifestyle of the actor, who admits turning down work lest she be denied the benefits. But this is exactly the world sought by Bernie Sanders — a government that taxes the productive and gives to the less productive in order to reduce ‘income inequality.’ … To take from some and give to others reduces the initiative of both the giver and the givee. This is the fundamental flaw with income redistribution, the very foundation of communism, socialism and collectivism. One would think that Bernie Sanders would have figured this out by now. But wisdom among 74-years-olds, like outcome, is not distributed equally.”

SHORT CUTS

Upright: “Those demanding ‘justice’ for a gorilla are saying something nonsensical. Suppose the gorilla had climbed out of the enclosure and grabbed the boy? Would his advocates demand that he be tried for assault? Of course not. The gorilla cannot be held legally or morally liable for his actions because he is a dumb beast. By the same token, he cannot receive ‘justice’ from anyone. Animals can and should be treated humanely not because they are humane but because we are.” —Mona Charen

For the record: “People often ask me what President Obama is like. I always tell them the same thing. He’s pleasant enough, but he’s also like the kid in class who exerts a lot of energy trying to make sure everybody thinks he’s the smartest guy in the room. He is also a very liberal guy who is determined to force our country into the kind of progressive model that Western European societies embraced years ago, whether the rest of us like it or not.” —Mitch McConnell

Braying Jenny: “Some of the loudest voices in our national conversation are saying things that go against every single one of the values that you’ve been living at this school. They’re telling us that we should disrespect others… They’re telling us that we should be selfish… And they’re saying that it’s okay to keep harming our planet and using our land, our air, our water however we wish.” —Michelle Obama at Santa Fe Indian School

Alpha Jackass: “We’ve got to assume the best in each other, not the worst.” —Barack Obama after spending an entire speech talking about what despicably motivated liars Republicans are (He ought to have a word with his wife, too…)

Unintentional truth telling: “As I meet with my counterparts all around the world, as I engage with other countries, they are very concerned about … what’s happened to America and its clarity of leadership. … I think right now people are really wondering about where we’re heading.” —John Kerry on the 2016 election, but better describing his own boss’s administration

Demo-gogues: “Just because you are supporting Hillary doesn’t mean you are, quote, the establishment. It means you are progressive and you want to see her [as president]. She is so qualified for this post. She is just what we need. I love Bernie, he’s my friend for a long time. But you can’t just diss everybody who supports Hillary Clinton.” —Sen. Barbara Boxer

And last… “Katie Couric falsified a moment in her anti-gun documentary and is now the first recipient of the new Brian Williams Creative Editing Award.” —Twitter satirist @weknowwhatsbest

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.