The Patriot Post Digest 4-5-2017

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The Patriot Post Digest 4-5-2017
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
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Mid-Day Digest

Apr. 5, 2017

IN TODAY’S EDITION

The Leftmedia are more interested in Trump and Russia than in Susan Rice.
Jeff Sessions hits the brakes on Obama’s “racist cops” reforms.
The GOP’s ObamaCare repeal effort isn’t dead yet, and that’s a good thing.
Daily Features: Top Headlines, Cartoons, Columnists and Short Cuts.

THE FOUNDATION

“It is essential to the idea of a law, that it be attended with a sanction; or, in other words, a penalty or punishment for disobedience.” —Alexander Hamilton (1787)

TOP RIGHT HOOKS

Fake News Media Choose Prince Over Rice1

As we noted yesterday, former National Security Advisor Susan Rice was the person responsible2 for “unmasking” the identities of individuals connected to Donald Trump’s campaign caught up in intelligence surveillance. This bombshell should have turned the mainstream media’s attention back to questions of domestic political meddling by Barack Obama and his henchmen. Instead, the MSM brushed it aside as insignificant and instead sought to double down on its narrative of a Trump-Russian collusion scandal.

The Washington Post and New York Times are leading the rest of the Leftmedia on the distraction campaign. Trumpeting a secret meeting between Blackwater founder and Trump supporter Erik Prince and a Russian with Kremlin ties in the United Arab Emirates, the Post and Times want to redirect Americans' attention away from the growing genuine scandal of Rice’s political machinations.

The Post headlines covering the two stories display its profound degree of political bias and flat out hypocrisy. First, the paper attacks conservatives for suggesting that the Rice unmasking is a scandal. The headlines read, “Anatomy of a fake scandal, ginned up by right-wing media and Trump3,” and “Susan Rice isn’t a ‘smoking gun,’ but she does have some explaining to do4.” Pivoting attention, the Post ran the following headline: “Blackwater founder held secret Seychelles meeting to establish Trump-Putin back channel5.” This blatant double standard would be comical if it wasn’t so serious.

The New York Times follows a similar pattern with its headlines: “Trump Tries to Deflect Russia Scrutiny, Citing ‘Crooked Scheme’ by Obama6” was followed by its own attempt to “gin up” a scandal via “Trump Campaign Adviser Met With Russian Intel Operative7.”

And then there was CNN, which seems bent on overtaking MSNBC as the leading cable news network of the unhinged Left, trotting out a slew of its top analysts who successively poured cold water on the Rice scandal8.

The fact of the matter is, the mainstream media is faced with a dilemma. On the one hand its favorite narrative of a Trump-Russia collusion conspiracy has turned up nothing but unsubstantiated innuendoes, while there is mounting evidence of what may prove to be a significant and legitimate scandal — Obama’s right hand woman using intelligence for political gain9. So much for the “scandal free” Obama administration. As usual, the Leftmedia are leading the Obama Fanboy Club rather than honestly following the evidence.

Sessions Hits the Brakes on Enacting Police Reforms10

Barack Obama’s time in office is not one to be looked upon fondly from a Rule of Law perspective. In fact, more often than not Obama was one who cheered on11 those engaged in protesting law enforcement, which typically blamed police for simply doing their job. And in the waning days of his presidency, Obama’s Justice Department rushed to secure nationwide police reform agreements before Donald Trump took office. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has now hit the pause button on enacting these reforms and requested a 90-day review period.

In a two-page memo12 the Justice Department reasoned, “The Attorney General and the new leadership in the Department are actively developing strategies to support the thousands of law enforcement agencies across the country that seek to prevent crime and protect the public. The Department is working to ensure that those initiatives effectively dovetail with robust enforcement of federal laws designed to preserve and protect civil rights.”

Over Obama’s tenure, the Social Justice™ Department headed by former Attorney General Loretta Lynch was especially critical in its evaluation of law enforcement, often blaming police departments for a “culture of racism.” It saw the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, anti-police riots erupting in cities across the country, as well as the targeted murder of several police officers. Not to mention the surge in murder and other violent crimes in places like Chicago and Baltimore. After such an increase in violence, it was indeed appropriate to review policing practices, but the Obama administration’s penchant for presuming widespread racism within law enforcement raises the question as to both the effectiveness and legitimacy of these new policing reforms.

Sessions is to be commended for wanting to slow down and give a more thorough review.

Top Headlines13

Senate begins debate on Gorsuch; McConnell says he has majority vote if needed. (The Washington Times14)

Border apprehensions hit 17-year low in March. (Washington Examiner15)

Illegal immigration down 67% under Trump. (The Washington Times16)

California pulls the trigger on “sanctuary state” status. (Hot Air17)

Yeah, Chicago’s this bad: Bullet-proof vests suggested for children on South, West Sides. (CBS Chicago18.)

Russian subway bomber ID’d as … radical Islamist. (Reuters19)

Assad uses chemical weapons on civilians. Again. (The Daily Beast20)

Young Americans are killing marriage. (Bloomberg21)

Poll: Fewer Democrats than ever say they’re proud to be an American. (Washington Examiner22)

Hump Day Humor: Obama was definitely better than Trump … as a gun salesman. (Hot Air23)

Policy: Have worker wages really gone nowhere for 40 years? (American Enterprise Institute24)

Policy: Here’s how Congress can use its opportunity to restore the military. (The Daily Signal25)

For more, visit Patriot Headline Report26.

We Need Your Help

“Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigues of supporting it.” —Thomas Paine

Our 2017 Patriots' Day Campaign27 is underway. The Patriot Post is not sustained by any political, special interest or parent organization. Nor do we accept any online or email advertising. Instead, our operations and mission are funded by — and depend entirely upon — the voluntary financial support of American Patriots like you! Please help us meet our Spring funding goal by making a donation27 today. Thank you! —Nate Jackson, Managing Editor

FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS
A Second Bite at the Health Care Apple28

By Michael Swartz

Repealing ObamaCare without replacing it is no longer politically or economically tenable, so over the last few days there have been backroom discussions among Republicans about resurrecting a bill believed dead a week ago. (For the record, Mark Alexander bucked the popular narrative29 in saying the effort wasn’t dead.) A reboot of the American Health Care Act (AHCA) became more likely after Senator Rand Paul, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) head Mick Mulvaney, and President Donald Trump played a round of golf together30 over the weekend, and it’s likely some concessions were made to help get the House Freedom Caucus on board.

While the language was supposed to be released late Tuesday31, as of this writing there’s only speculation as to what the changes may be. The most predicted changes to the original bill would involve eliminating mandates on two of ObamaCare’s most expensive and market-distorting elements: essential health benefits and community rating.

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The Patriot Post Digest 4-5-2017
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
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“The real reason why people want ObamaCare repealed,” House Freedom Caucus chairman Rep. Mark Meadows explained, “is because their premiums went up. They could care less about the policy. If the policy had been in and the premiums went down, they’d say, ‘Let’s keep ObamaCare.’”

Eliminating ObamaCare’s essential health benefits requirements — a list of 10 services the know-it-alls in DC decided all health plans must include — would go a long way to reducing premiums. States would be allowed to opt out of mandating that insurers cover certain ailments and services in all policies and could again empower insurers to charge different rates based on the covered person’s gender or overall health.

As for the community rating, critics of its removal claim32 it would be “bad news for those with pre-existing conditions.” But supporters counter33 that one reason particular funding mechanisms in the AHCA were being made available to states was to encourage them to set up their own high-risk pools, which were in place in 35 states34 prior to the adoption of the Affordable Care Act. This would answer the charge of being cruel to people with pre-existing conditions as they could take their complaints up with the several states.

Speaking of the states, Vice President Mike Pence offered a compromise in which states can apply for waivers from ObamaCare’s costly regulations. The conservative Club for Growth, which was instrumental in scuttling the original bill and singled out for blame by Donald Trump, says it’s now ready to get behind35 Pence’s compromise.

While President Trump was originally inclined to pivot over to tax reform36 when the AHCA was pulled, over the last few days he’s warmed back up to the idea of redefining federal involvement in health care. “We were very close,” said Trump37, but a tight margin and no Democrat support meant he was doing what he thought was politically best all along. “Let ObamaCare explode,” he argued, “and it is exploding right now.”

But is the resurrection of this bill coming at a time that’s politically best?

Because Congress is approaching its Easter break, there are only a handful of legislative days this month. Moreover, the federal budget will take center stage at month’s end as yet another government shutdown looms — the most recent deal to keep Uncle Sam humming along expires on April 28. So while the new compromise measure won’t have to start the process all over38 — because it was pulled before it got a negative vote on the House floor — there are still a number of hurdles for it to overcome. Getting a vote by week’s end is possible, but may be another case of trying to pass the bill before we know what’s in it.

There are a lot more questions than answers33 when it comes to intent and adoption. Some may be answered as the text of the amendments leaks out and gets analyzed by all sides of the political spectrum of commentators, but it’s not likely that the new and improved AHCA gets any Democrat votes.

In terms of limiting government, though, the battle for conservatives and federalists may be lost. The Left has succeeded in advancing their ball to where the argument had gone from a straight repeal (bills introduced in this Congress from early on39 to just last week40 to do just that have gone nowhere fast) to a situation where only certain portions of ObamaCare will go away. With the AHCA, the most politically popular provisions of the Affordable Care Act will remain and the federal government will give billions to the states to maintain some sort of government health insurance program. And once states grow addicted to this new strain of federal government crack money, it’s unlikely anyone in Congress will make a move to shut off that flow of cash even after it sunsets in a decade’s time.

In a sense, it doesn’t matter what the new AHCA bill actually says. We still can’t find that enumerated power of providing or subsidizing health insurance in our copies of the Constitution. That said, we’re in a distinct minority on that, and Republicans had better work together to keep their promises the best they can.

MORE ANALYSIS FROM THE PATRIOT POST

Anatomy of a Smear Piece41 — Washington Post: exposed for blatantly biased reporting on Christian charity.
Caution Needed on Tax Reform42 — Beware of the value-added tax and carbon tax ideas being considered.

BEST OF RIGHT OPINION

Scott Powell & Steve Baldwin: It’s the Democrats Who Collude With the Russians43
Hans von Spakovsky & Elizabeth Slattery: Ordinary Americans Get What’s at Stake in Fight Over Neil Gorsuch44
John Stossel: Enough Protection Already45

For more, visit Right Opinion46.

OPINION IN BRIEF

John Stossel: “Some of what regulators do now resembles the work of sadists who like crushing people. … The [EPA] was necessary in 1970, when it was created. At the time, cities dumped whatever we flushed into nearby waterways — with no treatment. Smokestacks filled the air with actual pollutants: soot, sulfur dioxide, etc. In New York City, we didn’t dare leave windows open because filth would blow in. The EPA required sewage treatment, scrubbers in smokestacks and catalytic converters in car exhaust systems. The regulations worked. America’s air and water is cleaner than it’s been for decades. I can even swim in the Hudson River, right next to millions of people — who are still flushing. Now, in a rational world, the EPA would say, ‘Stick a fork in it, it’s done! EPA now stands for ”Enough Protection Already.“’ But bureaucracies never say they’re done. ‘Done’ means bureaucrats are out of work. Can’t have that. So politicians keep adding unnecessary new rules and keep harassing people.”

SHORT CUTS

Insight: “If Americans wish to preserve a country they will recognize, then the first step is to recognize the enemy. Public education is the enemy. The entertainment industry is the enemy. The corporate culture is the enemy. The advertising industry is the enemy. And most of the politicians in both parties are the enemy. An enemy is defined as anybody, or any organization, which is attacking the traditional beliefs of Americans.” —Charley Reese (1937-2013)

Protesting much: “The notion, which some people are trying to suggest, that by asking for the identity of the American person is the same is leaking it — that’s completely false. There is no equivalence between so-called unmasking and leaking. … I leaked nothing to nobody.” —Susan Rice, denying any wrongdoing in “unmasking2” individuals in intelligence reports

Friendly fire: “Not to be a jerk here, but will the real Susan Rice please stand up?” —CNN’s John King

Belly laugh of the week: “The answer, again, isn’t to change the rules, it’s to change the nominee. And we Democrats are not going to oppose every Republican [SCOTUS] nominee.” —Chuck Schumer

For the record: “What does the Left’s newfound enthusiasm for the Bible tell us? It tells us that the Left doesn’t actually believe in the Bible — the Left believes in government. Every time the Left cites the Bible, it does so as an excuse to let government take from some and redistribute to others, or compel work from some on behalf of others.” —Ben Shapiro

A blind squirrel finds a nut: “Some people think that the people who voted for Trump are racists and sexists and homophobes — just deplorable folks. I don’t agree.” —Bernie Sanders

And last… “The people who were skipping around Alaska with a selfie stick while Syrian kids were washing up on beaches will now lecture us on horrors.” —Stephen Miller

Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis
Managing Editor Nate Jackson

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