The Patriot Post Digest 4-6-2017

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The Patriot Post Digest 4-6-2017
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
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Mid-Day Digest

Apr. 6, 2017

IN TODAY’S EDITION

States with the highest taxes rates often still have the highest debt. Who knew?
Focusing less on studying history may prove that we’re doomed to repeat it.
What’s the deal in Syria, and how should Trump handle it?
Daily Features: Top Headlines, Cartoons, Columnists and Short Cuts.

THE FOUNDATION

“An unlimited power to tax involves, necessarily, a power to destroy; because there is a limit beyond which no institution and no property can bear taxation.” —John Marshall (1819)

TOP RIGHT HOOKS

High Tax Rates and Debt Go Hand in Hand1

With Income Redistribution Day right around the corner, many Americans are wondering just where their hard-earned money is going. It’s easy to think about this only in terms of federal allotments. But, sadly, many states are also awash in debt, and a good portion of what taxpayers are doling out locally is merely feeding the debt swamp closer to home.

In terms of the overall tax burden, the Tax Foundation2, based on 2012 Census data, puts New York, Massachusetts, Alaska, Connecticut and New Jersey in the top five, with overall debt ranging anywhere from $11,623 per person in New Jersey to $17,405 in New York.

Meanwhile, the Mercatus Center, in a study published last June3, ranked states according to their fiscal conditions. That study, using “short- and long-term debt and other key fiscal obligations, such as unfunded pensions and healthcare benefits,” placed Kentucky, Illinois, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Connecticut dead last.

Which brings us full circle to Income Redistribution Day. A new USA Today article4 reveals the states with the highest tax rates. In order of highest to lowest, here are the “top” 10: New York (12.94%), Hawaii (11.27%), Vermont (10.75%), Maine (10.73%), Minnesota (10.24%), Connecticut (10.23%), New Jersey (10.14%), Rhode Island (10.09%), Illinois (10.00%) and California (9.52%).

You’ll notice some parallels between tax burden and tax rates. New York, Connecticut, New Jersey and Illinois — states that make one or both the Tax Foundation’s and Mercatus Center’s fiscally bleak lists — also happen to have some of the nation’s highest tax rates. But of the states with the lowest tax burden, three of them — Alaska (6.27%), Wyoming (7.29%) and South Dakota (7.12%) — make the list of the Mercatus Center’s five most monetarily healthy states. That’s not to say that red states don’t contain prodigious debt too. But the message here for blue states is that higher taxes aren’t the solution. Unless the objective is to continue the great blue state exodus5.

Hijacking the Field of History6

There’s no question colleges and universities have undergone seismic shifts in recent decades. The closing of the college mind7 means scholars like Charles Murray and conservative speakers like Ben Shapiro are stripped of their free speech rights by mobs on campus grounds. But why? At what point did everything go wrong? A fall speech8 by historian Niall Ferguson provides some telling insight. Take, for example, a history degree. According to Ferguson:

History as a share of all undergraduate degrees has fallen from 2.2% in 2007 to 1.7%. Taken together, the share of history and social sciences degrees has halved, from 18% in 1971 to 9%. And the decline seems likely to continue. … The data reveal a very big increase in the number of historians who specialize in women and gender, which has risen from 1% of the total to almost 10%. As a result, gender is now the single most important subfield in the academy. Cultural history (from under 4% to nearly 8%) is next. The history of race and ethnicity has also gone up by a factor of more than three. Environmental history is another big winner. The losers in this structural shift are diplomatic and international history (which also has the oldest professors), legal and constitutional history, and intellectual history. Social and economic history have also declined. All of these have fallen to less than half of their 1970 shares of the profession.

In other words, we’ve drifted way off course. As fellow historian Daniel Pipes notes9, “This means that the most significant events are ignored. Limiting oneself to modern Western history, courses barely cover such topics as the French Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, World War I, World War II, and the Cold War.” Quite the contrary, it turns out. Ferguson cites the seemingly off-topic courses in which students can enroll at schools like Harvard, Stanford, and Yale. Three examples: “Emotions in History,” “Witchcraft and Society in Colonial America” and “Madwomen: The History of Women and Mental Illness in the U.S.”

“I do not wish to dismiss any of these subjects as being of no interest or value,” Ferguson adds. “They just seem to address less important questions than how the United States became an independent republic with a constitution based on the idea of limited government, or how it survived a civil war over the institution of slavery.” Indeed. Part of being a good student of history is taking to heart this dire warning: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” We’ve triumphed over hardships. But those victories are being threatened by activists whose dreams, perceived through emotionally tainted lenses, can never be attained.

Top Headlines10

Senate is expected to vote to end Supreme Court filibuster Thursday. (The Wall Street Journal11)

House Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes recuses himself from Russia probe. (The Washington Post12)

There was more than one unmasker, and Susan Rice didn’t unmask Mike Flynn. (Washington Examiner13)

On Susan Rice, the issue is abuse of power, not criminality. (National Review14)

GOP health care talks stall. (The Hill15)

Repeal of ObamaCare could lead to $1.07 trillion in net deficit reduction. (The Washington Free Beacon16)

Seventh Circuit rules that civil rights laws protect LGBT employees from workplace bias. (USA Today17)

LGBTQ advocates demand that Donald Trump compiles a registry of all gay Americans. (The Federalist18.)

Trump removes Bannon from National Security Council. (CNS News19)

IRS seized millions from legal businesses because of how they made deposits (Hot Air20)

Policy: Can Trump clean up Obama’s mess in Syria? (Investor’s Business Daily21)

Policy: Towards high noon in U.S.-China relations. (Real Clear Defense22)

For more, visit Patriot Headline Report23.
Don’t Miss Alexander’s Column

Read Mass Media Malpractice — Betraying the First Amendment24. Print and other mainstream media outlets have become the archenemies of Liberty.

If you’d like to receive Alexander’s Column by email, update your subscription here25.

FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS
Syria Is Still Toxic. What Will Trump Do About It?26

By Allyne Caan

If anyone was foolish enough to believe Syria in 2013 when the country promised to stop producing chemical weapons and disclose its existing stockpile, those fantasies can be put to rest. This week saw the worst chemical attack in years against innocent men, women and children in Syria — almost certainly executed by the nation’s tyrant, Bashar al-Assad. (Of course, he’s spent the last six years killing his people in all sorts of ways.) Now the question is, does anyone believe the U.S. (or anyone) will do anything about it? And is humanitarian concern enough?

The dead, including children, numbered in the dozens, with many more injured due to what experts say appears to be a nerve agent such as sarin — the same agent used in the 2013 attack near Damascus. That 2013 attack followed Barack Obama’s famous “red line” threat in 2012, when he indicated if Assad used chemical weapons the U.S. would respond, possibly militarily. Well, Assad did, and Obama didn’t. Instead, Obama took Assad’s word that he would give up his chemical weapons stockpile — and, worse, he relied on Russia to keep Assad in line. That would be the same Russia now undermining American elections, according to the same Obama and his cohorts.

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The Patriot Post Digest 4-6-2017
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
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In 2014, then-Secretary of State John Kerry boasted27 of his deal with Russia and Syria, “We got 100% of the chemical weapons out.” Evidently not.

It’s little wonder, then, that in the aftermath of the latest attack, President Donald Trump — not known for his tact — pointed a finger28 at Obama, stating: “Today’s chemical attack in Syria against innocent people, including women and children, is reprehensible and cannot be ignored by the civilized world. These heinous actions by the Bashar al-Assad regime are a consequence of the past administration’s weakness and irresolution. President Obama said in 2012 that he would establish a ‘red line’ against the use of chemical weapons and then did nothing.”

First of all, the appropriate response of a sitting president to a chemical attack is not to blame the preceding president. We condemned Obama’s incessant blame-shifting; Trump’s isn’t much different. Beginning January 20, 2017, America’s action, or inaction, now rests on Trump’s shoulders.

That said, Trump is right on the merits — Obama did nothing in Syria after having created a vacuum in Iraq that led to the rise of the Islamic State29. The terrible reality in the Middle East that Obama created30 now greatly complicates any U.S. involvement.

It’s still anyone’s guess what action Trump might take. While he blasted Obama for not holding to his “red line” (and, indeed, promising consequences but not following through isn’t the best way to show strength, in case anyone is still wondering), Trump was adamant in 2013 in demanding Obama not take military action against Assad. Thanks to the glories of the Internet and social media, Trump’s tweets calling on the U.S. to stay out of Syria are preserved for posterity31.

Despite blaming Obama, as recently as last week Trump was following the Obama playbook regarding Syria, saying Assad’s removal was no longer U.S. priority32. Instead, the U.S. would focus on fighting the Islamic State and hope the Syrian people would deal with their president.

As M.G. Oprea writes33, “This was reported as a shift in policy from the Obama administration. Technically this is true, but in reality, the Obama administration held essentially the same view of Assad. While Obama kept up the rhetoric about a political transition of power, little indicates he would have been willing to spend the political and financial capital necessary to make this happen.”

Indeed, as the world — including our enemies — knows, if there’s one thing Obama mastered, it was empty rhetoric.

But it appears there might be a shift — not merely from the de facto policy of the Obama administration but also from Trump’s policy a week ago. As The Wall Street Journal reports34, Trump said the latest attack crossed “many, many lines, beyond a red line.” And while he didn’t provide specifics, he intimated a policy shift could be coming. “That attack on children … had a big impact on me. Big impact,” he said. “That was a horrible, horrible thing. It doesn’t get any worse than that. My attitude toward Syria and Assad has changed very much.”

Of course, one might wonder how the Damascus attack in 2013 — which killed more than 1,000 people, including hundreds of children — didn’t change Trump’s attitude toward Assad far before now. But perhaps the weight of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is finally beginning to hit him with the realization that Twitter wars are no substitute for real leadership. Indeed, Trump noted regarding Syria35, “It is now my responsibility.”

What that means is still unclear, both from him and in terms of what American policy should be. The question of whether removing Assad is in U.S. national security interests is a murky and complicated one. Yes, Syria has become a breeding ground for Islamic State terrorists, but removing Assad might not change that. It didn’t fix Libya to remove Moammar Gadhafi, but that’s also because Obama’s effort there didn’t even reach the level of being called half-hearted.

And that’s not the only question. There is also a lot to this story that really has nothing to do with Assad or ISIL and everything to do with Russia and Iran. That stuff rarely comes to the surface. The chess-level debate is in the war room. The tic-tac-toe stuff is what makes the press.

In any case, this much is clear: Trump’s action — or inaction — regarding Assad will likely set the stage for how the world views America’s new commander in chief for years to come.

MORE ANALYSIS FROM THE PATRIOT POST

Lawful Texas, Lawless California36 — The two states' immigration policies just about couldn’t be more different.
Feminists Condemn Webb for 40-Year-Old Article37 — Writing about the different roles of men and women ain’t ok.
The Left’s Resistance Fantasy38 — Harvard grad students think they’re living in Harry Potter’s world.
EPA Getting Its Just Deserts39 — Morale is low as Trump moves to reverse the leftist bent of the EPA.
A Recap of Government Interference in Health Care40 — The Daily Signals offers a worthwhile historical refresher.
The Dems' Premature Victory Lap in Syria27 — Obama’s claim of a chemical weapons-free Syria were grossly wrong.

BEST OF RIGHT OPINION

Cal Thomas: The Pence-Graham Rule41
Tony Perkins: The Seventh Circuit Stretch42
Victor Davis Hanson: Ancient Laws, Modern Wars43

For more, visit Right Opinion44.

OPINION IN BRIEF

Cal Thomas: “Some feminists have written that [Mike] Pence’s policy somehow harms women from making progress in the workplace. Recent newspaper columns by former female congressional staff members refute that claim. I’ve been in Pence’s office. Many women work there, including his deputy chief of staff, his national security adviser, his director of intergovernmental affairs and their top deputies. So what’s the problem? I think it is that the Pence ‘lifestyle,’ for wont of a better word, stands as a rebuke to those who have chosen different ways of behaving, in or out of marriage. Deep down inside most of us know right from wrong, otherwise ‘Judge Judy’ would not be so much fun to watch as she dispenses truths your grandmother probably agreed with and tried to teach you. After all the criticism about President Trump’s past with women, one might think the critics would welcome a wholesome example like the Pences. But in Washington, some people like having it both ways.”

SHORT CUTS

Insight: “Wherever is found what is called a paternal government, there is found state education. It has been discovered that the best way to insure implicit obedience is to commence tyranny in the nursery.” —Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881)

Flashback: “I think when it comes to filibustering a Supreme Court appointment, you really have to have something out there — whether it’s gross moral turpitude or something that comes to the surface. Now, I mean, this is a man I might disagree with. That doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be on the Court.” —Sen. Dianne Feinstein in 2006

The BIG Lie: “I can tell you, [Susan Rice] is a woman of highest integrity and character. She took her responsibilities to keep all of us safe [seriously]. … I think Susan thought for her reputation and peace of mind it was important to just go out and speak the truth.” —Valerie Jarrett

Non Compos Mentis: “I think the administration’s decision to cozy up to Russia means that they’re not willing to call a humanitarian war crime exactly what it is.” —Sen. Tim Kaine (Funny, but the Obama administration cozied up to Russia to supposedly remove chemical weapons from Syria. How’d that go?)

Rhetorical bullhorn: “I wouldn’t be surprised after all of this is said and done that some [Trump] people end up in jail.” —Rep. Joaquin Castro

Observations: “Obviously, there are going to be a lot of stars from the Obama years in need of lawyers. One question does bother me: How could so many Obama aides be so stupid as to eavesdrop on team Trump after Trump won the election?” —R. Emmett Tyrrell

Late-night humor: “I heard that the White House is saving all of President Trump’s tweets so they can be stored in the National Archives. That way future generations can read Kennedy’s journals, Lincoln’s diaries, and Trump’s insults about Arnold Schwarzenegger.” —Jimmy Fallon

Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis
Managing Editor Nate Jackson

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