The Patriot Post Digest 5-23-2017

________________________________________
The Patriot Post Digest 5-23-2017
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
________________________________________

Mid-Day Digest

May 23, 2017

IN TODAY’S EDITION

Trump offers a true reset to U.S.-Israel relations.
We “can’t afford” real tax cuts? Try Trump’s budget cuts on for size.
Gerrymandering can be ugly. So can Supreme Court rulings about it.
Daily Features: Top Headlines, Cartoons, Columnists and Short Cuts.

THE FOUNDATION

“The rights of neutrality will only be respected when they are defended by an adequate power. A nation, despicable by its weakness, forfeits even the privilege of being neutral.” —Alexander Hamilton (1787)

FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS
Trump’s First Visit to Israel Brings Hope1

By Paul Albaugh

Tragically, as President Donald Trump was rallying unity from Arab nations and Israel to combat Jihad Terrorism2 and their Islamic State3 sponsors, despite Barack Obama’s assurances that “we’ve contained them3,” there was yet another Islamist attack at a concert venue4 in Manchester, England, leaving at least 22 dead. The attack occurred at an Ariana Grande show, and perhaps she will reconsider her “I hate America5” sentiments now that her name will now be indelibly linked with the real haters.

“The terrorists and extremists, and those who give them aid and comfort, must be driven out of our society forever,” President Trump said after the attack. “This wicked ideology must be obliterated.”

With that now as our frame of reference, Trump landed in Israel Monday as part of his Middle Eastern tour to reassert American leadership in the region. Trump made known during his campaign that Israel would be a key part of his foreign policy objectives in the Middle East and, with his first visit with Saudi Arabia6 going fairly well, the Israelis awaited the arrival of Trump to the Holy Land.

Despite the anticipation, there are some high-ranking officials concerned over the $110 billion arms deal Trump signed7 over the weekend in Riyadh. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu views Saudi Arabia as a “hostile nation” and sees this arms deal as troublesome for Israel’s future. Trump, however, sees that America’s strongest allies in the region must work together to “stamp out extremism.” We agree — America can lead, but we cannot fight terrorists and violent extremist organizations alone.

Also, some Israeli intelligence officials are reportedly furious8 over Trump’s decision to share with Russian officials classified information pertaining to the Islamic State, a common enemy of the U.S. and Russia. According to Israeli intelligence officials, sharing the information compromised a vital source on the Islamic State and Iran and may have caused problems for useful information on Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and Hezbollah’s proxies in Syria and Lebanon.

Aside from these negatives, which the Leftmedia will certainly rehash for as long as possible, there are some major positives to highlight as well.

During his visit to Israel, Trump made history9 as the first sitting U.S. president to visit the Western Wall, which is significant because it is Judaism’s holiest site located inside Jerusalem’s Old City. “I was deeply moved by my visit today to the Western Wall,” Trump said afterwards. “Words fail to capture the experience. It will leave an impression on me forever.”

During a joint press conference — which the White House billed as from “Jerusalem, Israel,” in a significant shift of U.S. policy — Netanyahu expressed his gratitude10 for Trump’s visit. “We appreciate the reassertion of American leadership in the Middle East,” Netanyahu said, in an obvious swipe at the previous administration. “For the first time in my lifetime, I see a real hope for peace.”

Indeed, the tone from Trump must have been refreshing for Israel. In the same press conference, Trump stated, “The United States and Israel can declare with one voice … that Iran must never be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon — never, ever — and must cease its deadly funding, training and equipping of terrorists and militias, and it must cease immediately.” This is quite the contrast from Barack Obama, who promoted a legacy of loathing Israel11 and practically built Iran’s nuclear program instead of dismantling it.

Still, there are some questions that remain unanswered. For example, Trump promised during his campaign that the U.S. embassy would move to Jerusalem. Since this will not be announced during this trip to Israel, there are already some who are accusing Trump of wavering12 on his commitment to do so.

But from a practical view, moving a U.S. embassy from one city to another is not an easy task, and it certainly won’t happen in the first several months of Trump’s presidency. There are numerous plans, protocols, coordination and security measures that must be taken into account, and none of that can happen quickly. And from a strategic standpoint, care must be taken with how such a significant move would affect the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Nothing short of eliminating Israel would satisfy too many Palestinians, but provocation must be done thoughtfully and without short-circuiting Trump’s other priorities for this particular trip.

There may be a deal in the works that we just don’t yet know what it is or what it looks like. But American-Israeli relations are back on track, which for many voters, especially Christians, is a huge deal.

TOP RIGHT HOOKS

Trump’s ‘Taxpayer First’ Budget13

Last month when President Donald Trump released his plans to cut individual14 and corporate15 tax rates, it was touted as being “the biggest tax cut and the largest tax plan in the history of our country.” And indeed it was and will be should it ever reach his desk unmolested by Congress. (Fat chance, we know.) Democrats were quick to blast it with their typical and tired refrain of it being a plan that favored the rich, because in Democrats' minds the government is more entitled to your money than you are. We “can’t afford it,” they cried — after they doubled our national debt, by the way. But Democrats as well as everyone else understood that tax cuts meant government spending cuts would be needed.

On Monday, Trump released his proposed budget and, true to form, it offsets the predicted drop in revenue produced by his tax cuts with cuts in government spending. Trump’s “taxpayer-first' budget proposal would cut $3.6 trillion in federal spending and produce a balanced budget by 2027. And as Trump promised, the budget cuts don’t touch Medicare or Social Security.

So what does get gut? The short answer is welfare spending and regulations. With national debt sitting a $20 trillion and growing, the government clearly has a spending problem, and much of it is through income redistribution. Mick Mulvaney, Trump’s budget director, stated, "We cannot continue to simply measure our compassion or our success by the amount of money we spend. We are going to measure our compassion and success by actually helping people and by respecting taxpayers who pay for it in the first place.”

Medicaid would see the largest cut at $800 billion over the next decade, which is based in part on the passage of the Republican replacement of ObamaCare16. The food stamp program, which grew precipitously under Barack Obama, would see a reduction of $193 billion, or 25%, over 10 years. New work requirements for individuals receiving financial aid are also included in the proposal. A growing economy will help.

Trump’s proposal is clearly an aggressive budgeting plan and it remains to be seen how much of it will get through Congress, but he’s intent on putting the government on a spending diet.

________________________________________
The Patriot Post Digest 5-23-2017
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
________________________________________

The Supreme Court’s Gerrymandered Ruling17

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-3 Monday that North Carolina’s most recent redistricting in two congressional districts was driven by racial considerations. Justice Clarence Thomas joined the Court’s four leftists, with the majority opinion written by Justice Elena Kagan. Virginia faces judicial review for 11 districts, and Alabama also saw some districts struck down in 2015.

USA Today, of all places, makes plain18 the predicament facing Southern states: “The Voting Rights Act of 1965 requires that states draw districts enabling African Americans to elect their chosen representatives, lest black voters be spread too thinly across district lines. Two decades ago, Democrats used the law to demand so-called ‘majority-minority’ districts. Since Republicans took over many state legislatures in 2010, they have drawn districts with what African American and Democratic critics claim are more blacks than necessary, in order to keep surrounding districts whiter — and more Republican. But the Supreme Court has knocked down several of those maps.”

In other words, Democrats wanted race-based voting districts until they didn’t.

The Washington Examiner’s David Freddoso adds19 that all eight justices (Neil Gorsuch sat out the vote after missing the arguments) agreed on one particular district. “The reason that even the dissenting justices concurred in this part of the decision is that state legislative leaders made the mistake of openly saying they were deliberately creating this district as a 51 percent black-majority district in order to get preclearance from the Obama administration’s Justice Department.” Ironically, then, he points out, “The easiest way to violate Section Two of the Voting Rights Act is to try very hard to follow it.”

Let’s face it: Gerrymandering is a rather ugly part of partisan behavior. Both parties draw the lines to the best of their own advantage, and it’s always been that way. But The Heritage Foundation’s Hans von Spakovsky highlighted “the confused state of the law” when he said, “The Supreme Court says race can be a factor in redistricting but not the predominant factor, a rule that is so vague, so broad, and so lacking in a definable legal standard that it is not really a rule at all.” And that’s exactly the way Democrats want it so they can continue to slap Republicans with the “racist” label.

Top Headlines20

Obama holdover colluded with unions to pressure Congress on budget cuts. (The Daily Signal21)

Nearly 740,000 foreigners overstayed visas last year. (Associated Press22)

In 100 days, ICE officers arrest over 41,000 illegal immigrants. (National Review23)

Report: Regulation “has essentially ground to a halt” under Trump. (Reason24)

California lawmakers discover single payer would cost twice as much as the state budget. (Washington Examiner25)

Another anonymous hit piece: Trump asked intelligence chiefs to push back against FBI collusion probe after Comey revealed its existence. (The Washington Post26)

Trump on visiting Israel’s Western Wall: “It will leave an impression on me forever.” (CNS News27)

Number of carry permits in the U.S. tops 15 million in 2017. (The Truth About Guns28.)

Agencies under fire for keeping billions in fines, fees. (Washington Examiner29)

Policy: Here’s what’s in Trump’s “taxpayers first” federal budget. (The Daily Signal30)

Policy: Students would scorn free speech less if colleges honored their mission to transmit knowledge. (City Journal31)

For more, visit Patriot Headline Report32.
Don’t Miss Patriot Humor

Check out A Comparison33.

If you’d like to receive Patriot Humor by email, update your subscription here34.

MORE ANALYSIS FROM THE PATRIOT POST

Restoring Government’s Three Branches to Constitutional Balance35 — The Founders produced an original form of government that included a system of checks and balances to maintain its integrity.
Harvard Study: Media Coverage of Trump Overwhelmingly Negative36 — It’s not really surprising, but the negativity coming from the MSM is at historically unprecedented levels.
Flynn Pleads the Fifth37 — This isn’t an admission of guilt; it’s the realization that federal investigations tend to incriminate somebody.

BEST OF RIGHT OPINION

Cal Thomas: The Genius of Roger Ailes38
Rich Lowry: Not on Our Soil39
Marvin J. Folkertsma: President Trump and the Invasion of Poland40

For more, visit Right Opinion41.

OPINION IN BRIEF

Rich Lowry: “The Turkish government is obviously familiar with the concept of ‘chutzpah,’ if not necessarily the word. Ankara summoned the American ambassador to protest allegedly ‘aggressive and unprofessional actions’ by the Washington, DC, police. Their offense? Intervening after Turkish security personnel mauled peaceful protesters outside the Turkish ambassador’s residence in Washington last week. … The Turkish goons who punched and kicked people should be identified and charged with crimes. They are beyond our reach, either because they are back in Turkey or have diplomatic immunity. But we should ask for them to be returned and for their immunity to be waived. When these requests are inevitably refused, the Turkish ambassador to the U.S. (heard saying during the incident, ‘You cannot touch us’) should be expelled. Erdogan is crushing his opponents with impunity in Turkey. Reacting firmly to this attack at least will send the message, ‘Not in our house.’”

SHORT CUTS

Insight: “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” —late 16th century Proverb

For the record: “[The Manchester] attack was the virtual equivalent of walking into a middle school auditorium for the express purpose of maiming and mutilating children. There is no reasoning with this hate. … There is no way for the West to be ‘good’ enough to appease terrorists. There is no policy short of religious conversion that will cause them to relent. The best deterrent to jihad is the obliteration of jihadists. They thrive on victory, not defeat. [Last night], sadly, they won a victory, and here’s all you need to know to understand the character of our enemies — they relish the sound of young girls' screams.” —David French

Nothing to see here, move along! “There’s only one way Britain should respond to attacks such as Manchester. That is by carrying on exactly as before.” —The UK Independent’s Andrew Buncombe

Upright: “I am a firm believer in ‘keep your history before you.’ So I don’t actually want to rename things that were named for slave owners. I want us to have to look at those names, and realize what they did, and be able to tell our kids what they did and for them to have a sense of their own history. When you start wiping out your history; sanitizing your history to make you feel better? It’s a bad thing.” —former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

Braying Jenny: “You are graduating into a very different time than it was when you arrived a few short years ago. … A time when throwing millions of working people off their health insurance to give tax breaks to the top 1% is considered a victory to some. A time when we worry that a late-night tweet could start a war.” —Sen. Kamala Harris at Howard University

And last… “Trump in Saudi Arabia, Pence at U.S. college. One went to foreign turf & spoke to intolerant, dogmatic extremists; other went to Western Asia.” —Twitter satirist @hale_razor

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.