The Patriot Post Digest 1-20-2017

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The Patriot Post Digest 1-20-2017
From The Federalist Patriot
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And it’s no wonder that fiscal conservatives are salivating at this thought. Imagine the liberal horror25 at the thought of a federal government that no longer funds the often scatological and pornographic byproducts of the National Endowment for the Arts and its sister National Endowment for the Humanities. Imagine their angst at the prospect of privatizing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. (Hint: it’s already started26.)

“Insiders” expect overall budget cuts of 10% and staff cuts to 20%, numbers they say would “rock Washington27.” Steep cuts are also expected in several departments, most specifically Energy and Commerce, but also in Justice, State and Transportation. Even the Defense Department could be affected in the area of procurement.

Of course, these cuts would also curtail the boom times in the capital regions of Maryland and Virginia, where government-addled cities and counties surrounding the District — many of them boasting the highest median incomes28 in the country — will have to get by with fewer cars on their taxpayer-funded gravy train. What this means, of course, is that headlines about homelessness and unemployment and the stagnant economy will be back in style again after an eight-year absence. And the elite media won’t have to stray too far to find those sob stories — which sure beats having to report from rural areas in the South or rundown parts of the Rust Belt.

Seriously, though, a 10% budget cut would net a savings of about $400 billion, but that only brings us back to the spending levels of the leanest Obama budget (or the most bloated one ever submitted by George W. Bush, in 2008.). It’s worth noting that so far in this century, through the years of Bush and Obama, our federal budget has just about doubled from $2 trillion to $4 trillion — and there’s no indication that Trump wants to make the sort of spending cuts that would require significant entitlement reform.

Yet, to quote the old axiom, the only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. There’s enough low-hanging budget fruit to satisfy those who wish to see spending cuts for years to come, so just getting the trend in the right direction will be a “yuuuge” accomplishment from the incoming president. Could it be that the era of Big Government is once again truly over?

MORE ANALYSIS FROM THE PATRIOT POST

Obama’s Tattered Legacy of Fecklessness and Corruption5 — A look back at the last eight years now that they’re over.
Sanders Trashes American Charity29 — “No, we are not a compassionate society,” he fumes. EPA Nominee Pruitt: Climate Change Is No Hoax, But…30 — He offers reasonable responses to the challenges leveled by climate alarmists.
University Gives Kids Juice Boxes, Legos to Deal With Inauguration6 — These poor little snowflakes need some comfort.

BEST OF RIGHT OPINION

Tony Perkins: Great Expectations for Life as Page Turns in Washington31
David Harsanyi: The Democrats' Fight Against School Choice Is Immoral32
David Limbaugh: Obama’s Inexcusable Commutation33

For more, visit Right Opinion34.

OPINION IN BRIEF

David Harsanyi: “There’s something perverse about an ideology that views the disposing of an unborn child in the third trimester of pregnancy as an indisputable right but the desire of parents to choose a school for their kids as zealotry. … Democrats often tell us that racism is one of the most pressing problems in America. And yet, few things have hurt African-Americans more over the past 40 years than inner-city public school systems. … Teachers unions are the only organizations in America that openly support segregated schools. In districts across the country — even ones in cities with some form of limited movement for kids — poor parents, typically those who are black or Hispanic, are forced to enroll their kids in underperforming schools when there are good ones nearby, sometimes just blocks away. … As many Americans surely know, rich and middle-class Americans already have school choice. In most places, the whiter the neighborhood, the better the school system; and the better the school system, the higher the prices of homes, making it impossible for those who aren’t wealthy to escape substandard schools. (Rural schools also often suffer.) This is the status quo Warren, Murphy and Murray hope to preserve.”

SHORT CUTS

Insight: “The abuse of greatness is when it disjoins remorse from power.” —William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

For the record: “Are the liberals who deny Trump’s legitimacy saying that they will not treat laws signed by him or regulations promulgated by his appointees as valid? Will they stop paying taxes to the federal government that they believe he illegitimately heads? Will they ignore Supreme Court decisions whenever his appointees were decisive to the outcome? Will Representative Lewis be filing a motion to impeach Trump? Anyone who truly believes that Trump holds his power illegitimately would at least have to consider such steps. But if anyone who is questioning his legitimacy is prepared to follow their premises to such conclusions, I haven’t heard of it.” —Ramesh Ponnuru

Political futures: “I think in my mind I know who it is. I think you’re going to be very, very excited.” —Donald Trump on his Supreme Court pick — the very reason so many Americans voted for him

Braying Jenny: “[Trump’s] actually doing us a great service, because we have gone as low as we can go. We can only go up from here, so what are we going to do? We have two choices, destruction and creation. I chose creation.” —Madonna

And last… “For over 200 years, this nation has been peacefully transferring power from one president to the next. We don’t reflect enough on how odd that is historically. And if it doesn’t give you goose bumps, you need to pause, and we need to re-learn some history together, because this isn’t the way it used to be done.” —Sen. Ben Sasse

Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis
Managing Editor Nate Jackson

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