The Patriot Post Digest 3-29-2017

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The Patriot Post Digest 3-29-2017
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
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Mid-Day Digest

Mar. 29, 2017

IN TODAY’S EDITION

DNC Chief Tom Perez tells all staffers, “You’re fired!”
CA shoots the messenger behind the videos of Planned Parenthood’s baby parts sale.
As the GOP prepares to tackle tax reform, the ObamaCare-repeal failure looms large.
Daily Features: Top Headlines, Cartoons, Columnists and Short Cuts.

THE FOUNDATION

“There must be a positive passion for the public good, the public interest, honour, power and glory, established in the minds of the people, or there can be no republican government, nor any real liberty: and this public passion must be superiour to all private passions.” —John Adams (1776)

TOP RIGHT HOOKS

The DNC Cleans House1

Tom Perez, Barack Obama’s man, is the new chief2 of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), and a month into his new role he’s making waves. “The DNC has requested resignation letters from all current staffers,” NBC News reports3 [emphasis added]. The Leftmedia mouthpiece further explains it away as perfectly normal: “Party staff routinely see major turnover with a new boss and they had been alerted to expect such a move.” But the very next sentence may be a clue that maybe this isn’t the way it usually works. “However, the mass resignation letters will give Perez a chance to completely remake the DNC’s headquarters from scratch.”

Why would remaking the DNC from scratch be necessary? And does that really happen at every transition?

What a difference losing makes. Democrats have been decimated in the last few elections (2012 notwithstanding), culminating in the disastrous and shocking loss of the Entitled One, Hillary Clinton, last November. And Perez is the third leader for the party in the last year — a year that included an embarrassing Russian hack which became Democrats' favorite scapegoat for their aforementioned loss. That hack, as readers will recall, revealed4 the DNC’s unabashed favoritism of Hillary Clinton at the expense of Bernie Sanders. The revelation cost former chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz her job, and it clearly damaged party unity. After that, Interim Chair Donna Brazile was exposed for providing town hall questions to Clinton’s campaign in advance — that only solidified the anti-Bernie vibe.

Normally, we’d say Trump’s election will lead to jobs created. But, for the DNC, the first order of business is yelling, “You’re fired!”

California Shoots the Messengers5

California has charged two pro-life journalists with 15 felonies — essentially for committing acts of journalism. Two years ago, David Daleidan and Sandra Merritt of the Center for Medical Progress6 made undercover videos to expose Planned Parenthood’s practice of selling and profiting from the body parts of aborted babies. The videos shocked much of the American public and brought about renewed calls for a congressional investigation and government defunding of the nation’s largest abortion mill. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, a former Democrat member of Congress, leveled charges against the two journalists for secretly recording conversations with those involved in Planned Parenthood’s aborted baby-parts selling scheme. “The right to privacy is a cornerstone of California’s Constitution, and a right that is foundational in a free democratic society,” Becerra declared. “We will not tolerate the criminal recording of confidential conversations.”

This story stinks of unabashed partisanship, cronyism and government tyranny. Former California AG Kamala Harris, a long-time supporter of Planned Parenthood, chose not to investigate the damning evidence found in the videos, but instead focused her investigation on the pro-life journalists. During the investigation Harris secretly worked with Planned Parenthood to craft legislation designed to protect the organization. Harris has since been elected to the U.S. Senate where she is a staunch advocate for Planned Parenthood, which just happened to help fund her campaign.

California’s case against Daleidan and Merrit is suspect at best. The undercover videos were recorded in public areas. Arguably it was done under false pretenses, but that was necessary for candid discussion. Even during one of the recorded discussions, top Planned Parenthood executive Deborah Nucatola says it’s not a good idea to talk about the selling of aborted baby parts in a “non-confidential setting.”

If found guilty on all felony charges, the two Daleidan and Merrit could be looking at up to 15 years in prison. The abortion industry is clearly seeking to use the force of government to put fear into those who would dare to expose and endanger their vile business. The Left will stop at nothing to protect its most sacred cow — abortion.

Top Headlines7

Senate Majority Leader McConnell affirms Gorsuch confirmation — Democrats can choose how. (CNS News8.)

Trump’s executive order on energy9 has been sorely needed. (The Daily Signal10)

President is reversing record number of government regulations. (Reason11)

House Republicans revise plan to replace ObamaCare. If at first you don’t succeed… (The Daily Signal12)

City leaders defy White House threat on sanctuary cities policies. (CBS New York13)

For sale: Your “private” browsing history — Congress passes bill allowing ISPs to sell customer Web surfing data. (ArsTechnica14)

Britain gives EU formal notice of Brexit break — prepares to restore sovereignty. (The Washington Post15)

Oregon Democrats: OK sex mutilation at 15 but want to raise tobacco use age to 21. (Washington Examiner16)

College suspends student who challenged Muslim prof’s claim that Jesus' crucifixion a hoax. (The Washington Times17)

Humor/satire: Man who constantly calls people “snowflakes” deeply offended by slightest criticism of President Trump. (The Babylon Bee18.)

Policy: Reining in sanctuary cities. (National Review19)

Policy: How paid parental leave in the U.S. could work. (American Action Forum20)

For more, visit Patriot Headline Report21.

FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS
ObamaCare Repeal Failure Makes Tax Reform Harder22

By Louis DeBroux

Less than a month after taking office, Barack Obama signed the “stimulus” bill, an $800 billion pork-filled progressive goodie bag. Within a year he was bragging about the GM bailout and ironically named Affordable Care Act, better known by its pejorative moniker, “ObamaCare.”

With time those accomplishments became an albatross. The massive stimulus bill stimulated nothing but the pockets of well-connected Democrat donors. GM and Chrysler went bankrupt anyway.

More than anything else, it was the disaster of ObamaCare that led Republicans to electoral victory, securing their strongest political position in nearly a century on promises of repealing ObamaCare.

That is why the optics of what happened last week — the failure of the GOP’s ObamaCare repeal bill23 to even get a vote in the Republican-controlled House — was such a disaster. For nearly a decade the GOP promised the full repeal of ObamaCare if voters restored them to power. In 2010 the voters gave them the House, in 2014 the Senate, and in 2016 the White House. And with what to show for it?

There are two significant concerns with what happened; the substance and the optics. As a matter of substance, what happened was in many ways as the Founders intended. They gave us co-equal branches, separation of powers, and checks and balances. The branches were intended to be in tension in order to negate usurpations of power. The House negotiated with the Senate, the Senate with the House, and both with the White House.

But in the end, rather than agreeing to a compromise bill, congressional Republicans dealt their new president an embarrassing public relations blow. For a man known as the master dealmaker, this was the worst possible outcome, and it’s likely to have repercussions.

The brunt of the blame is being heaped upon the House Freedom Caucus, a group of the most conservative lawmakers. The Wall Street Journal dubbed the repeal failure the “Freedom Caucus’s Obamacare preservation act24.” This isn’t entirely unfair. While caucus members expressed legitimate concerns as to whether the GOP’s bill went far enough in fully repealing ObamaCare, as a practical matter, blowing it up may damage their cause in the long run.

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The Patriot Post Digest 3-29-2017
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
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President Donald Trump now says he will move on to tax reform.

Unlike Obama, Trump does not have the luxury of filibuster-proof majorities in Congress to start his presidency. Republicans have a comfortable margin in the House but only a two-vote majority in the Senate, which is why it was critical for the GOP to hand Trump an early legislative victory to build momentum, both for Trump and for the party. As the WSJ also notes, “The risk now is that the health failure will make the GOP Congress even less cohesive and less likely to follow its leaders. Freedom Caucus Members sit in safe seats and don’t need achievements to win re-election.” And Democrats, emboldened in their efforts to obstruct the Trump/GOP agenda, will feel less pressure to compromise.

As Trump and the Republicans turn to tax reform, the same obstacles remain25; conflicting visions between the conservative and moderate/liberal wings of the GOP. Do Republicans pursue steeper, front-loaded tax cuts in favor of a slower initial reduction of the national debt? Revenue-neutrality or spending reductions? Middle class tax cuts (as Trump promised), or tax cuts for the wealthy/business class to stimulate broader economic growth (as preferred by Speaker Paul Ryan)? And they still have to deal with obstructionist Democrats.

And make no mistake; tax reform is desperately needed. The U.S. has the highest corporate tax rate in the industrialized world26 at 39.1%, and a tax code that clocks in at 2.4 million words, more than three times as many as the King James Bible. Compliance to that monstrosity costs Americans $234.4 billion per year27. We routinely lose businesses to more favorable tax environments28 like Ireland and Canada, and the investment capital and jobs go with them.

Likewise, high personal income tax rates mean less money for consumers to spend and invest, which leads to less personal savings, slower job creation, and less economic growth. Millions of small businesses file revenue under personal income taxes and face a top rate of 43.4%, reducing their ability to create jobs. As “red” states have proven, tax cuts boost the economy29.

Success is possible based on the record of state and local Republicans, but the national GOP has to get on board. Charles Cooke of National Review points out30, “At the state level, the GOP has been remarkably effective at ushering in reform over the last seven years; at the federal level, by contrast, it has been able only to hold the line.”

As Republicans move to take on tax reform, there will be plenty of disagreements on policy that will need to be resolved, from top marginal rates to tax credits to the controversial “border adjustment” tax. In order to resolve these conflicts, Republicans have to avoid a purist approach and negotiate with one another. Better to get a half loaf today and come back for another bite tomorrow than go home hungry.

The moderates need to understand that standing on principles — Rule of Law, individual liberty, limited government and personal responsibility — is important. Conservatives have to concede that a large number of elected Republicans don’t hail from the solidly-conservative Deep South, and they will not keep their seats in places like Colorado and Maine and New York if they take a hardline approach. The perfect cannot be the enemy of the good. And as frustrating as it is for conservatives to not get provisions they want, they will be even more frustrated if President Trump decides to shun them and work with moderates and Democrats. Each group is needed to maintain a majority, and that majority is worthless if it can’t work together to accomplish its larger goals.

Republicans will either learn quickly from the recent debacle, or their time in power will be short-lived.

MORE ANALYSIS FROM THE PATRIOT POST

Tax Filing: Back to Basics27 — Statistics show that billions of hours and billions of dollars are being wasted.
Unions and Government ≠ Accountability31 — Jared Kushner’s new role — inserting private sector accountability — is easier said than done.

BEST OF RIGHT OPINION

John Stossel: Free Market Care32
Star Parker: Freedom Caucus, Today’s Abolitionists33
Hans von Spakovsky: The Left’s Sanctuary Cities Hurt Americans' Safety34

For more, visit Right Opinion35.

OPINION IN BRIEF

John Stossel: “Trump is right when he says that Obamacare will explode. … Insisting that lots of things be paid for by someone else is a recipe for financial explosion. Medicare works that way, too. … But that’s why Medicare will explode, too. There’s no way that, in its current form, it will be around to fund younger people’s care. Someone else paying changes our behavior. We don’t shop around. We don’t ask, ‘Do I really need that test?’ ‘Is there a place where it’s cheaper?’ Hospitals and doctors don’t try very hard to do things cheaply. Imagine if you had ‘grocery insurance.’ You’d buy expensive foods; supermarkets would never have sales. Everyone would spend more. Insurance coverage — third-party payment — is revered by the media and socialists (redundant?) but is a terrible way to pay for things. … The solution is to reduce, not increase, government’s control. We should buy medical care the way we buy cars and computers — with our own money. Our employers don’t pay for our food, clothing and shelter; they shouldn’t pay for our health care. They certainly shouldn’t get a tax break for buying insurance while individuals don’t.”

SHORT CUTS

Non Compos Mentis: “You can think about religion simply as a virtual reality game. You invent rules that don’t really exist, but you believe these rules, and for your entire life you try to follow the rules. If you’re Christian, then if you do this, you get points. If you sin, you lose points. If by the time you finish the game when you’re dead, you gained enough points, you get up to the next level. You go to heaven.” —historian Yuval Noah Harari (Grace is not contingent on “gaining points.”)

Braying Jackass: “In Los Angeles, we don’t demonize our hard-working neighbors just because they speak a different language or come from a different country. That’s un-American.” —Democrat Mayor Eric Garcetti offering sanctuary to anyone who wants to clean house or landscape for LA’s rich and famous

Braying Jenny: “I oppose this president; I do not honor this president; I do not respect this president… When we fight against this president, and we point out how dangerous he is for this society and for this country, we’re fighting for the democracy. We’re fighting for America. We’re saying to those who say they’re patriotic but they’ve turned a blind eye to the destruction that he’s about to cause this country, ‘You’re not nearly as patriotic as we are.’"—Maxine Waters

Alpha Jackass: "Uday and Qusay working for Saddam Hussein — you couldn’t go to a restaurant and have eye contact with those guys without getting killed. These people are really powerful. Imagine getting into a fight in the office with Jared or Ivanka. They have enormous power, and they’re always gonna be there.” —Chris Matthews

The BIG Lie: “President Trump and Paul Ryan tried to mercilessly strip health insurance from 24 million Americans.” —Debbie Wasserman Schultz (How is giving people options stripping them of health care?)

And last… “Notice how this [health care debacle] turns the big narrative of the last election on its head. We were supposed to support Trump because he was the guy who was finally going to break the corrupt Republican ‘establishment.’ Now he’s the guy launching tweet-storms on behalf of the establishment and against the House Freedom Caucus — the guys who actually did break the GOP establishment.” —Robert Tracinski

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.