The Patriot Post Digest 9-28-2016

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The Patriot Post Digest 9-28-2016
From The Federalist Patriot
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Mid-Day Digest

Sep. 28, 2016

THE FOUNDATION

“In planning, forming, and arranging laws, deliberation is always becoming, and always useful.” —James Wilson (1791)

TOP RIGHT HOOKS

Fracas Over Stop and Frisk1

Debate moderator Lester Holt’s claim that the New York Police Department’s “stop and frisk” practice was declared unconstitutional because it was racist, an assertion seconded by Hillary Clinton, was more evidence that Holt was heavily biased toward Clinton. The actual facts surrounding the case against “stop and frisk” are these: In the 1968 Terry v. Ohio case, an 8-1 Supreme Court upheld as constitutional law enforcement’s practice of stopping and frisking individuals who they deemed reasonably suspicious. This law has never been overturned and is practiced by police departments across the country to this today.

Holt’s reference to it being declared unconstitutional is based upon a ruling by federal Judge Shira Scheindlin, who ruled in 2013 that the NYPD’s application of the law was racially biased and therefore unconstitutional. Judge Scheindlin was later removed from the case under allegations of her own bias against police — just as Donald Trump correctly noted Monday night. It has been argued that Scheindlin’s ruling would have been overturned based on the circumstances surrounding the case, had then-newly elected mayor Bill de Blasio chosen to pursue it. The judge’s ruling was not concerned with the constitutionality of “stop and frisk” in general, but the specific manner in which it was applied in New York City. Holt completely misrepresented the case in order to challenge Trump’s statements on law and order. Clearly, Trump was correct and Holt was wrong.

The nuances of political gamesmanship are something the Leftmedia has become very adept at applying. It’s always a good practice to apply a healthy level of skepticism to any political claim, especially if the claims are made by the mainstream media.

UN’s Hypocritical Call for Reparations2

A new report out of the UN argues that the United States' history of slavery justifies reparations for black Americans. The report states, “In particular, the legacy of colonial history, enslavement, racial subordination and segregation, racial terrorism and racial inequality in the United States remains a serious challenge, as there has been no real commitment to reparations and to truth and reconciliation for people of African descent.” The report went on to point to recent police shootings of blacks as further evidence to support its conclusion that America is still a white-dominated racist society. According to the UN, “The dangerous ideology of white supremacy inhibits social cohesion amongst the US population.”

The report suggests that reparations could come in a variety of forms, such as “a formal apology, health initiatives, educational opportunities … psychological rehabilitation, technology transfer and financial support, and debt cancellation.” Interestingly, many of the mentioned reparations have already happened in various forms, but under the classification of “welfare.” And look how well that turned out3…

What’s ironic about this UN report is the fact that so many of the nations that make up the UN are currently practicing such things as enslavement, segregation, terrorism and various forms of racial supremacy. The history of the world is replete with examples of injustices far worse than any practice by the United States. But the more troublesome aspect of this report is its promotion of a blatantly racist and unjust ideology that would force the innocent to pay for injustice perpetrated by others in the past, simply due to a shared ethnicity. This report condones the very same kind of injustice and racism it purports to condemn.

‘Your Call Is (Not) Very Important to Us…’4

Veteran suicide is a significant problem — something we’ve previously lamented5. Some 20 military vets commit suicide every day. And as Wesley Smith observes6, “World Suicide Prevention Week recently came and went invisibly — again. Society these days seems more emotionally investing in facilitating suicides of the ill and disabled than preventing theirs and those of other despairing people.” While that’s not as true when it comes to helping veterans, many vets are still not getting the help they need.

David Shulkin, undersecretary for health at the Department of Veterans Affairs, calls veteran suicide a public health crisis and a top priority for the VA. But the VA’s suicide hotline is leaving more than a third of all calls unanswered. CBS reports7, “Some hotline workers handle fewer than five calls per day and leave before their shifts end, even as crisis calls have increased sharply in recent years, said Greg Hughes, the former director of the VA’s Veterans Crisis Line.” Furthermore, “a February report by the VA’s office of inspector general indicat[ed] that about 1 in 6 calls are redirected to backup centers when the crisis line is overloaded. Calls went to voicemail at some backup centers, including at least one center where staffers apparently were unaware there was a voicemail system.”

The House passed a bill Monday requiring the VA to handle these calls appropriately, but a bill probably isn’t going to fix bureaucracy that’s bloated and uncaring.

BEST OF RIGHT OPINION

Jonah Goldberg: Narrative-Building Has Become a Political Obsession8
Terence Jeffrey: 44% Hike in Taxes Covers Obama-Era Debt9
Walter Williams: Transgenderism Can Be Helpful10

For more, visit Right Opinion11.

TOP HEADLINES

Former Israeli Leader Shimon Peres Dies12
Charlotte’s Keith Scott Was Carrying Stolen Gun13
Dutch Report: Russia Shot Down MH1714
FBI Probes Hacks Targeting Dem Phones15

For more, visit Patriot Headline Report16.

FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS
Clinton Promises Malaise in the Name of ‘Fairness’17

By Lewis Morris

Hillary Clinton used a fair portion of her awful debate appearance18 Monday to sell America on her economic vision. Though she framed taxes as the typical leftist issue of “fairness,” whether or not she openly admitted19 she is going to raise taxes on the middle class, her plans for this country’s fiscal future mean dark days for everyone.

It’s not as if we’re in a robust economy right now. The Census Bureau would have us believe that we’re in good shape. After all, median household income rose 5.2% in 2015, the first jump since 2007, and the biggest since 1968. That should be good news, but it’s really just manufactured good news20.

The Census Bureau changed its reporting methods to measure income, the result being that reported income actually appears more than actual income. And in time for election season, too. What a coincidence. This explains the supposedly mysterious question as to why Americans are making more money but don’t feel like they are getting ahead. Answer: they are not making more money.

This gimmick, along with the economic fantasies being spun by Barack Obama to shore up his legacy and put Clinton in the White House, have the electorate confused. That’s just how the Left wants it.

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The Patriot Post Digest 9-28-2016
From The Federalist Patriot
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That is also why Monday night’s debate moderator Lester Holt was able to get away with his opening statement: “There are two economic realities in America today. There’s been a record six straight years of job growth, and new census numbers show incomes have increased at a record rate after years of stagnation. However, income inequality remains significant, and nearly half of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck.”

The very premise was part White House press release, part Bernie Sanders stump speech.

Clinton also trotted out the usual lie that George W. Bush’s tax cuts “for the wealthy” caused the recession. That’s baloney. First of all, Bush’s tax cuts were for everyone, not just the wealthy. Second, and more important, it was Hillary’s husband who set the stage for the financial crisis21 with his home lending policies.

As for Clinton’s tax plan, there should be no confusion about its true nature. She spoke wistfully Monday night about the great 1990s when “Bill” was president. And there were some good economic years during that period. The trouble is she isn’t going to come remotely close to achieving those budget surpluses and strong business and investment sector with the policies she wants to implement or expand.

On the contrary, Clinton doesn’t even consider capping the growth of federal budget deficits, and calls for $1.8 trillion in new taxes to fund new projects22. She isn’t looking to rein in the size of the government as Republican policies of 1990s did. She wants to push the federal government into more areas of our daily lives while refusing entitlement reform and spending cuts, and our reward will be to pay through the nose for it.

Hillary is nothing if not thorough in her tax plan23. No one will be spared. Sure, the $350 billion income tax hike and the $275 business tax hike are meant to target the top earners, as is a $400 billion “fairness” tax, which is about as arbitrary a tax as one might conceive.

Clinton calls to raise the capital gains tax (which millions of middle class Americans pay), taxes on stock trading, and implement an “exit tax” on income earned overseas. And she wants a 65% death tax for the largest estates, with jacked up rates for estates that fall into lower income categories. This would crush small businesses that even she admitted Monday create most of the jobs in America.

The problem with all these taxes is that they will stifle growth. Donald Trump spoke frequently Monday night about how American business is in apocalyptic shape. Clinton just shook her head and smiled. But that’s all she could do. She’s never worked in the private sector, so she cannot truly relate to what a majority of American taxpayers are experiencing. After all, she just funnels her income into the Clinton Foundation.

It makes perfect sense that Clinton is the Democrat nominee for president. She is the poster child for statist, centralized policies in which every citizen really works to fund the government so that it can become larger and more intrusive. And her central message Monday was that the government under her direction will spend your money better than you will. She says her tax policies will help our economy. What she really wants to do is continue the transformation of America that Obama started.

MORE ANALYSIS FROM THE PATRIOT POST

Gun Control Meant to Make Victims of Blacks24 — A Leftmedia columnist completely misses the racist history of gun control.
Oregon Student Causes Bomb Scare25 — So did Ahmed Mohamed. But the end results are very different.
Lessons From Norway’s Refugee Policy26 — Norway offers a better and more measured response to immigration.
Clemson’s Harambe ‘Safe Space’27 — An RA decided to ban “offensive” Harambe displays.

OPINION IN BRIEF

Jonah Goldberg: “The most exhausting thing about our politics these days — other than the never-ending presidential election itself — is the obsession with ‘shaping the narrative.’ By that I mean the effort to connect the dots between a selective number of facts and statistics to support one storyline about the state of the union. Narrative-building is essential for almost every complicated argument because it’s the only way to get our pattern-seeking brains to discount contradictory facts and data. Trial lawyers understand this implicitly. Get the jury to buy the story, and they’ll do the heavy lifting of arranging the facts in just the right way. President Obama understands this too. Just consider the way he talks about terrorism — often reassuring Americans that they’re more likely to die in a bathtub accident than in a terror attack. And he’s right. On the other hand, bathtubs aren’t trying to get nuclear weapons. Nor are bathtubs destabilizing the Middle East (often killing massive numbers of non-Americans) or otherwise plotting to conquer the world. Obama’s goal is obvious. He wants the story of terrorism to lose its potency and recede from our politics.”

SHORT CUTS

Insight: “Of all the properties which belong to honorable men, not one is so highly prized as that of character.” —Henry Clay (1777-1852)

Upright: “Ferguson, Mo., is emblematic of how the Ferguson effect is hitting cities with large black populations: It has produced the largest homicide increase in nearly a half-century. That crime increase will only end if the false narrative about policing promulgated by the Black Lives Matter movement and embraced by President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton is finally put to rest.” —Heather Mac Donald

Non Compos Mentis: “Let’s elect Hillary Clinton to be the 49th president of the United States of America.” —Ohio State Rep. Teresa Fedor (Uh, she’d be the 45th.)

The BIG lie: “When we look at the balance sheet for Medicaid — health benefits, financial security, societal improvements through education — it’s not hard to argue that money allocated to Medicaid is well spent.” —professor Aaron E. Carroll in The New York Times

A blind nut finds a squirrel: “A plan to raise the hourly minimum wage across Colorado would seem an attractive solution, and we had hoped to support its methods for growing the base wage. But the proposed Amendment 70 overreaches and would be a mistake for Colorado. … It goes too far in some key ways and we worry that it could actually hurt low-wage earners more than it would help them, especially the young, new workers the law has traditionally served.” —Denver Post Editorial Board

Late-night humor: “Hillary was so prepared, my new nickname for her is Preparation H. … In the primaries, she already proved she could ‘soothe the Bern.’” —Stephen Colbert

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.