The Patriot Post Digest 7-18-2017

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The Patriot Post Digest 7-18-2017
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
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Mid-Day Digest

Jul. 18, 2017

IN TODAY’S EDITION

Failing to play as a team, Senate Republicans drop the ball on health care. Again.
Meanwhile, the House GOP has released its budget plan of spending and tax cuts.
Democrats are so blinded by Trump hatred, that impeachment is still a topic.
Daily Features: Top Headlines, Cartoons, Columnists and Short Cuts.

THE FOUNDATION

“If the public are bound to yield obedience to laws to which they cannot give their approbation, they are slaves to those who make such laws and enforce them.” —Candidus (1772)

TOP RIGHT HOOKS

GOP Senators Fail to Agree on ObamaCare Repeal1

As two more Senate Republicans announced opposition to the fledgling GOP health care plan2, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) pulled the plug, stating, “Regretfully, it is now apparent that the effort to repeal and immediately replace the failure of ObamaCare will not be successful.” Once again, Republicans have fallen into the trap of letting the perfect become the enemy of the good. So what has been learned, and what are the possible future options?

Republicans struggle mightily to be team players. Unlike Democrats, whose collectivist instincts cause them to regularly abandon any personal convictions and principles for party loyalty, Republicans’ bent toward individualism often proves to thwart party unity.

There are myriad factors at play here — behind-the-scenes dealing and political favors or calculations. Politics in Washington is always much more than meets the eye.

That leads to the next point: follow the money. While politicians often explain their decisions as standing for high-minded principles, more often than not special interest groups are the overriding motivation. And don’t forget the constant concern over re-election. Then there’s the fact that health care accounts for roughly one-sixth of the economy. There’s a lot of money involved.

McConnell has now called for a straight-up repeal vote on ObamaCare, which at face value would be even more difficult to pass. So what’s the strategy? McConnell wants to get all Republicans on record to expose most clearly those who are unwilling to repeal the collapsing law — especially the moderates who benefited politically from repeal when it couldn’t actually be done but are now showing their true colors. Here’s looking at you, Susan Collins.

And while ObamaCare is indeed collapsing, that doesn’t mean it goes away. All the regulations and mandates that are negatively impacting every single American will remain in place, continuing to act as a weight dragging down the economy and costing billions in taxes and higher premiums.

Finally, by not repealing and replacing ObamaCare, Republicans have significantly hindered Donald Trump’s ability to move aggressively forward in tackling the economy and taxes. Trump has done much thus far in reforming Washington via enacting a massive deregulation campaign, but he needs Congress to work toward permanent change. Much of that change depends first on repealing ObamaCare.

It is indeed frustrating to see how ill-prepared Republicans were to take over leadership. As Pat Toomey (R-PA) alluded to3 recently, Republicans assumed that Hillary Clinton would win and were simply not prepared to enact a conservative agenda. They had better start working aggressively toward one soon, or they won’t be in leadership much longer.

The House GOP Budget’s Contentious Cuts4

Just as the Senate was failing to pass its ObamaCare overhaul1, the House, which has already passed its repeal/replace plan, introduced the 2018 budget. The big idea behind the House Republican budget is reduction — as in lower taxes, regulation and spending.

While increasing defense spending, House Republicans cut outlays in most other areas. Whether its discretionary spending or even Medicare and Social Security, Republicans don’t shy away from taking an axe to the federal fisc. In tandem with that spending discipline, Republicans plan to cut taxes, thus helping all Americans, not just “the rich” as Democrats monotonously complain.

House Budget Committee Chairman Diane Black (R-TN) said, “In past years, our proposals had little chance of becoming a reality because we faced a Democratic White House. But now with a Republican Congress and a Republican administration, now is the time to put forward a governing document with real solutions to address our biggest challenges.” That plan hasn’t worked out so well for ObamaCare repeal; we’ll see if it’s different for the budget. President Donald Trump has pledged not to touch Social Security or Medicare, so that alone may torpedo the GOP plan.

The House Freedom Caucus is pushing for double the budget’s $200 billion in proposed cuts, as well as better detail on tax reform. For one thing, they don’t want House Speaker Paul Ryan’s favored border-adjustment tax on imported goods to be tacked on. The moderate Tuesday Group, meanwhile, thinks cutting $200 billion from a $4 trillion budget is too extreme, and thus warns of the plan losing the group’s support. And Democrats are so wedded to their obstructionist agenda that no Republican plan will get a single vote from the other side. That means moderates and conservatives are going to have to compromise, like it or not.

Top Headlines5

Trump releases blue print for remaking NAFTA. (Paywall — The Wall Street Journal6)

Border Patrol union boss: Drop in apprehensions “nothing short of miraculous.” (The Hill7)

IRS awards ObamaCare premium tax credits without verifying citizenship or lawfully present status. (The Washington Free Beacon8)

This just in: Trump voters do not care what the press says about him. (Washington Examiner9)

Haiti official who exposed the Clinton Foundation found dead. (Miami Herald10)

Minneapolis PD officer who killed unarmed white woman identified as black Muslim immigrant, Mohamed Noor. Race riots? (NBC Affiliate11)

House rejects amendment requiring government to evaluate “violent or unorthodox Islamic religious doctrine.” (CNS News12)

Harvard’s proposed policy to punish students for having normal social lives. (The Daily Signal13)

Colleges pay diversity officers more than professors, staff. (The Daily Signal14)

California struggles to implement new gun control measures. (The Washington Free Beacon15)

Policy: Trump must withdraw from Iran nuclear deal — now. (The Hill16)

Policy: Returning seized compounds to Russia would be a mistake. (The Daily Signal17)

For more, visit Patriot Headline Report18.
Don’t Miss Patriot Humor

Check out You Can’t Touch This19.

If you’d like to receive Patriot Humor by email, update your subscription here20.

FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS
Obsessive-Compulsive Democrats and Impeachment21

By James Shott

Who dares to deny that the circus-like atmosphere surrounding Donald Trump’s presidency is the most unusual political phenomenon in recent memory?

There is a lot of true craziness among the anti-Trump crowd. They criticize him for virtually everything, or nothing. Like the non-story involving Poland’s first lady, who set the anti-Trump world ablaze when, after her husband and Trump shook hands, she had the audacity to shake the hand of Melania Trump before greeting the president. Oh, the horror! And daughter Ivanka sat in for him briefly at the G-20 meeting wearing a pink dress with — gasp — bows on it!

Perhaps the best evidence of compulsive obsession (or is it obsessive compulsion?) and leftists losing their grip on reality was Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), who wanted to impeach Trump before he was even sworn in.

Other evidence of the high degree of obsession — or at least amusing overstatement — comes from a survey by the drug and alcohol rehabilitation group Detox, which found22, “Over 73 percent of Democrats would give up drinking for the rest of their lives if it led to the impeachment of President Donald Trump…” The survey did not provide a mechanism for assuring allegiance to the pledge.

It’s quite likely that many people who desire impeachment don’t understand what it is or how it works. Impeachment is a political remedy; it deals with breaches of public trust, or injuries done immediately to the society itself, by certain government officials, but not necessarily criminal activity in the traditional sense.

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The Patriot Post Digest 7-18-2017
From The Federalist Patriot
Free Email Subscription
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The grounds for impeachment require the significant likelihood that “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors” (crimes by public officials against the government) have been committed, according to Article II, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution. It’s not the appropriate solution for those dissatisfied with the results of an election, or the most fervent wish to be rid of a president some don’t like.

Impeachment doesn’t remove a president from office. It’s the first step in a rigorous two-step process; bringing formal charges against him or her, much like a grand jury indictment. Remember, Bill Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives in 1998, but went on to serve out his term as president because he was not convicted in step two, the trial by the U.S. Senate, requiring the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of its members.

The only other successful impeachment of a president was Andrew Johnson, who was acquitted by the Senate in 1868. Richard Nixon likely would have been impeached and convicted over the Watergate affair, but he avoided impeachment by resigning from office.

The record for presidential impeachment shows it to be a difficult process without much success, as deliberately designed by the Founders.

Failures don’t impede Democrats in their efforts at futile goals, however. Obsession and compulsion are tough masters to defeat. It’s almost as if their real goal is just stirring up negative opinion among their faithful followers to interfere with the president’s agenda…

“If they had a good case based on real information, I think they would mention it by now and put their cards on the table,” said Ken Boehm23, chairman of the National Legal and Policy Center, a conservative government watchdog group. He is also a former Pennsylvania state prosecutor and former counsel for the board of directors at the Legal Services Corporation. He added, “They don’t have high crimes and misdemeanors. They don’t have low crimes and misdemeanors.”

Despite any compelling evidence, or even evidence that isn’t compelling, leftist cohorts who have rallied to the idea include MoveOn.org, Democracy for America and other “resistance” groups, and a group of Congressional Democrats who either don’t understand the issues or the process or just seek recognition.

This list includes the aforementioned Rep. Waters, along with Texas Rep. Al Green, California Rep. Jackie Speier, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, New York Rep. Jerry Nadler, Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings, Maine Sen. Angus King, Texas Rep. Shelia Jackson Lee, Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison, and Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal. And let’s not forget Virginia’s own Sen. Tim Kaine, who actually mentioned “treason” regarding Donald Trump Jr.‘s fruitless meeting24 with a Russian attorney in June 2016.

After admitting nothing has yet been proved, Kaine said, “We’re now beyond obstruction of justice, in terms of what’s being investigated. This is moving into perjury, false statements, and even potentially treason.”

California Rep. Brad Sherman actually has introduced articles of impeachment, although the House Democrat leadership hasn’t fallen in line with that move. The effort is almost certain to fail because only one Democrat, Al Green, has signed on to it, and, oh by the way, it won’t go anywhere in a Republican-controlled Congress.

At some point, however, Democrats must chill down the rhetoric. Emotion and desire, however fervent and crushing they may be, must be put aside, an objective look at the actual case must be undertaken, and then they need to get back to performing the national service for which they were elected. Then again, since they’re utterly untrustworthy on handling any issue of importance, the nation would be better served if Democrats continued their obsessive spiral and failed to advance in the 2018 election.

MORE ANALYSIS FROM THE PATRIOT POST

Jane and Bernie Sanders and the Lesson of Socialism25 — Democrats are notorious for blaming everyone and everything else for their wrongdoings. So no surprise here.
The All-Volunteer Military in Our Modern World26 — Coming up on 17 years in Afghanistan, we’re seeing some of the effects of so few feeling the burden of service.
Refugees Are Engaged in the 'Rape Jihad’ of Europe27 — Afghan refugees are the primary group responsible for much of the recent rise in sexual assaults in Europe.

BEST OF RIGHT OPINION

Dennis Prager: Nukes Threaten People; Ideas Threaten Civilizations28
Rich Lowry: The Party of Bad Faith?29
Cal Thomas: Here’s Ronnie!30

For more, visit Right Opinion31.

OPINION IN BRIEF

Dennis Prager: “Last week, I tweeted, ‘The news media in the West pose a far greater danger to Western civilization than Russia does.’ To my surprise, the tweet went viral. And while there were more likes than dislikes, 99 percent of the written reactions were negative. … It wasn’t the ad hominem insults that I found troubling. What was troubling was the low state of logical thinking that so many responses reflected. … Is it Putin who is removing American flags from American campuses? Is Putin destroying the notion of male and female? Has Putin convinced half of America’s Millennials that socialism is preferable to capitalism? Did Putin convince Pope Francis that Islamic terrorists are no more of a threat to Europe than baptized Catholics who kill their girlfriends? Is Putin the reason Oxford University students voted that Israel is a greater threat to peace than Hamas? Putin is indeed a murderous quasi dictator. But all this contempt for Western civilization comes from the Western media and the Western universities. The smoking gun was provided just two weeks ago in the media’s reactions to President Trump’s speech in Warsaw, Poland, in which he called for protecting Western civilization. Virtually the entire Western media said it was a call to protect white racism — because the media deem Western civilization to be nothing more than a euphemism for white supremacy. That’s what my tweet was about.”

SHORT CUTS

Insight: “The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. To be your own man is hard business. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.” —Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)

Braying Jackass: “I went to Trump Tower after the election. I thought that there was a chance he would come to his senses. But I was wrong.” —Al Gore

Non Compos Mentis: “It is a form of theological malpractice that borders on heresy when you can p-r-a-y for a president and others while they are p-r-e-y, preying on the most vulnerable. You’re violating the most sacred principles of religion.” —"Rev.“ William Barber

Political futures: "Politics is a team sport, and Republicans are playing it poorly. They have one more chance in the Senate to repeal and replace ObamaCare — possibly their last hope for a victory. Democrats are performing like a well-coached team. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has all 48 members of his caucus on board with saving ObamaCare at all cost. It’s been a successful strategy. It works for one reason: Republicans are divided.” —Fred Barnes

Pompous gloating: “Republicans attempted to take away health care from millions and failed twice because the American people made their voices heard and overwhelmingly rejected this bill. … Make no mistake: This bill’s defeat is a victory for human decency and for the millions of families who rely on the Affordable Care Act.” —Tom Perez

Belly laugh of the week: “We’re actually sincere … in saying that we hope that [Republicans] come and talk to us. And they’ve got to jettison the tax cuts and the gutting of Medicaid, but we will talk to them about some of their concerns about flexibility if they will give us some long-term guarantee that these exchanges will be solvent and strong.” —Chris Murphy

And last… “I’ll never understand how after 6 years they didn’t have a bill in the desk ready to go. It’s astounding.” —Stephen Miller

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.