The Patriot Post Digest 4-3-2018

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The Patriot Post Digest 4-3-2018
From The Federalist Patriot
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The Patriot Post® · Mid-Day Digest
Apr. 3, 2018 · https://patriotpost.us/digests/55111-mid-day-digest

IN TODAY’S EDITION

Regulatory rollback continues, this time with Obama’s mileage standards.
Leftmedia goes ape over Sinclair Broadcasting’s message of journalistic integrity.
Trump threatens DACA and NAFTA in latest Art of the Deal negotiating.
London just surpassed New York City for homicides. Here’s why that matters.
Plus our Daily Features: Top Headlines, Memes, Cartoons, Columnists and Short Cuts.

THE FOUNDATION

“Every new regulation concerning commerce or revenue; or in any manner affecting the value of the different species of property, presents a new harvest to those who watch the change and can trace its consequences; a harvest reared not by themselves but by the toils and cares of the great body of their fellow citizens. This is a state of things in which it may be said with some truth that laws are made for the few not for the many.” —James Madison (1788.)

IN BRIEF

Pruitt Rolls Back Obama-Era EPA Emissions Rules1

By Thomas Gallatin

On Monday, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt announced that the vehicle-emissions standards created during Barack Obama’s presidency would be cut as promised2. In his statement Pruitt explained, “The Obama Administration’s determination was wrong. Obama’s EPA cut the Midterm Evaluation process short with politically charged expediency, made assumptions about the standards that didn’t comport with reality, and set the standards too high.” Recall that back in January 2017, just before Donald Trump took office, Obama’s EPA rushed a review of its new CAFE rules that had set the new fuel-efficiency standards at 54 miles per gallon for passenger cars and light trucks to be met by model years 2022-2025.

Pruitt’s announcement was widely applauded by those in the automobile manufacturing business and by many conservative and libertarian groups. Predictably, however, Democrats and ecofascist groups decried the change. Sen. Dianne Feinstein tweeted, “The EPA is willfully ignoring the fact that these emission standards are working. Cars are becoming more fuel efficient and consumers are saving money at the pump.” And it appears likely that California will seek to challenge Pruitt’s decision to lower the emissions standards.

Yet it is leftists who are out of touch with reality on this issue. Sam Kazman of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) noted, “CAFE’s lethal effects on vehicle crashworthiness were documented by analysts and a federal appeals court years ago. We hope that the Trump Administration will finally take account of those effects and start to liberalize this program.” Myron Eball, director of the CEI’s Center for Energy and Environment, also praised the decision, stating, “EPA’s announcement is good news for consumers who care about safety, performance, and size, as well as fuel economy in the vehicles they drive. This is the first step in many years toward reducing government control over what kinds of cars people can choose to buy.”

This is indeed good news for American consumers, the economy and, yes, the environment. While it remains to be seen what the new emissions rules will be (the current standard is 38.3 miles per gallon), it will certainly be less dramatic and a more affordable and realistic standard. Obama’s climate change rationale was simple: He embraced the unproven theory of mankind’s activity being the primary cause of global temperature increases, which he then used as an excuse to enact greater government control over Americans’ lives. The fact is the free market has always been better than government fiat as a means for making products that are innovative, affordable and efficient.

Leftmedia Decries Journalistic Integrity in Video Montage3

By Nate Jackson

This video4 is featured on YouTube as “1984 in 2018. Stop this.” But is that an accurate characterization?

Conservative-leaning Sinclair Broadcasting5 owns numerous local TV stations across the country, and headquarters prompted local TV news reporters to read the following:

Hi, I’m (A) ____________, and I’m (B) _________________.

(B) Our greatest responsibility is to serve our ___ communities. We are extremely proud of the quality, balanced journalism that ____ News produces.

(A) But we’re concerned about the troubling trend of irresponsible, one-sided news stories plaguing our country. The sharing of biased and false news has become all too common on social media.

(B) More alarming, some media outlets publish these same fake stories… stories that just aren’t true, without checking facts first.

(A) Unfortunately, some members of the media use their platforms to push their own personal bias and agenda to control “exactly what people think” … This is extremely dangerous to a democracy.

(B) At ____ it’s our responsibility to pursue and report the truth. We understand truth is neither politically “left nor right.” Our commitment to factual reporting is the foundation of our credibility, now more than ever.

(A) But we are human and sometimes our reporting might fall short. If you believe our coverage is unfair please reach out to us by going to ____news dot com and clicking on CONTENT CONCERNS. We value your comments. We will respond back to you.

(B) We work very hard to seek the truth and strive to be fair, balanced and factual. … We consider it our honor, our privilege to responsibly deliver the news every day.

(A) Thank you for watching and we appreciate your feedback.

That’s innocuous enough … until you watch the compilation, which is meant to make this sound like it’s a sinister propaganda effort. But “this happens across the country all the time,” notes6 Erick Erickson. “It’s only a big deal now because Sinclair is calling out the rest of the media so the rest of the media is responding.” And boy are they responding. “Expertly creepy,” “frightening,” “chilling,” “this should freak you out,” “propaganda” — those are just some of the criticisms leveled by Leftmedia talkingheads, uniformly and without a corporate script.

Who’s guilty of groupthink again?

It’s fair to argue that Sinclair’s effort is pro-Trump bias coming from local news. But the phony outrage is being driven by the Democrat/MSM Propaganda Machine7, which so vastly outweighs local media in terms of coverage and influence it’s laughable. These leftist propaganda mouthpieces are throwing stones from a glass house.

“The critics are now upset about our well-researched journalistic initiative focused on fair and objective reporting,” said Scott Livingston, senior vice president of news at Sinclair.

Ironically, while the Left is using the montage to skewer these stations for committing to the standards of Sinclair’s mission statement, at least Sinclair’s anchors and reporters say what journalistic standard they pledge to abide by. The Leftmedia networks would never commit to such standards.

Top Headlines8

Trump Justice Department sets up quotas on immigration judges to speed up deportations (Fox News9)

Border Patrol agents overwhelmingly support Trump’s wall in new survey (The Washington Times10)

Contrary to hysterical Leftmedia reporting, there’s no ban on studying gun violence (National Review11)

Merriam-Webster online dictionary changes definition of “assault rifle” after Parkland (The Federalist12)

Fox News releases statement defending Laura Ingraham after attempted censorship13 of the Left (The Daily Wire14)

Report: House Democrats exempted Pakistani IT aides from background checks (National Review15)

Stocks’ second-quarter start is the worst since the Great Depression (Bloomberg16)

Trump admin sues California over state bill on federal land rights (The Hill17)

University event aims to combat “Christian privilege” (The College Fix18.)

Humor: Man recants belief in innate goodness of humanity after four seconds browsing YouTube comments (The Babylon Bee19)

Policy: Trump’s got it all wrong about Amazon (Fox News20)

Policy: Why trade deficits really don’t matter very much (The Daily Signal21)

For more of today’s news, visit Patriot Headline Report22.

FEATURED ANALYSIS
DACA, NAFTA and a Caravan … Oh My23

By Lewis Morris

President Donald Trump signaled over the weekend that a deal with Democrats on DACA is now off the table. The Democrats have rejected24 all of the numerous offers to create a legislative fix to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program since Trump ended the program last fall. Trump also fired shots across the bow of Mexico over NAFTA. Part of Trump’s impetus was the reported caravan25 of 1,000-1,500 people in Mexico aiming to illegally cross the U.S. border. While these people would not be DACA eligible, the Leftmedia is happy to use the caravan as an opportunity to profile the plight of this group and to promote how terrible Trump and Republicans are for not taking these people in. Trump got out in front of it.

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The Patriot Post Digest 4-3-2018
From The Federalist Patriot
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When Trump ended26 Barack Obama’s unconstitutional order to create the DACA program, he gave Congress six months to come up with a permanent legislative fix. During that time, Trump signaled a willingness to end deportations, extend citizenship to the so-called “Dreamers,” and offer amnesty to close to two million illegal immigrants. In return, he wanted an end to the visa lottery and chain migration27, which the Left now claims is a racist term, and money set aside to start building the wall. And even that was up for negotiation, as the president appeared willing to break out the $25 billion tab for the wall over three years.

Democrats refused everything28 put in front of them. They sought neither compromise nor any alternatives. The reason for this is simple: Democrats don’t want a solution29 to DACA. They want to keep the issue alive for the midterms because they believe it will drive support among Latino voters and they can use it as a cudgel against the Republicans by claiming the GOP doesn’t care about immigrants. Democrats will claim Republicans are using immigration as a political wedge issue, even though that is precisely what Democrats are doing.

Where to from here now that DACA is dead? (Well, maybe not technically dead. A federal judge recently ruled that Trump doesn’t have the authority to end the program by executive order, even though the program was created by executive order by his predecessor. Stay tuned on that one.)

Trump suggested that Senate Republicans go nuclear — end the filibuster even on legislation — and pass tough immigration legislation on their own. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said he will not end the filibuster. Such a move would surely come back to haunt the Republicans later since they won’t be in the majority forever.

Now, to Trump’s threats to dump NAFTA30 if Mexico doesn’t help stem the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs into the U.S. He referred specifically to a caravan of anywhere from 1,000 to 1,500 people currently making their way through Mexico from Honduras headed for the U.S. border. Mexican authorities had been turning a blind eye to this group, allowing them free passage through their country. The caravan reportedly plans to cross the U.S. border this weekend by any means necessary, then demand asylum or just blend into the masses once they arrive. However, Trump’s threat might have worked — the Mexican government appears poised to break up the group.

Of course, Trump has threatened to dump NAFTA before, but, as negotiations to revamp the deal continue, he can still pull the plug. Mexico stands to lose big if that happens; it sends close to three quarters of all its exports to the U.S. And whether Trump will make good on his most recent call to end NAFTA is uncertain. He’s very likely posturing for a better deal by going for the extreme position, forcing Mexico to come further his way than it otherwise would. Again, that might already be working.

Either way, if there is going to be any true immigration reform, then Republicans are going to have to do it themselves just like with the tax cuts. Democrats can’t be counted on to do the right thing here. In fact, they can’t be counted on to do anything.

MORE ANALYSIS FROM THE PATRIOT POST

London Murder Rate Surpasses New York City’s35 — The murder weapon of choice in the UK is the knife. The problem is not the tool, but the motive of the individual.

BEST OF RIGHT OPINION

R.B.A. DiMuccio: When Ideology Collides With Good School Governance36
Tony Perkins: Easter ShunDay: Google Gets Heat for Holiday Snub37
Dennis Prager: Conservatives, Too, Undergo Secular Indoctrination38
Stephen Moore: The Art of the Trump Trade Deal39
Cal Thomas: What’s Wrong in Washington (and America)40
For more of today’s columns, visit Right Opinion41.

OPINION IN BRIEF

Gary Bauer42: “You may have heard the news that roughly 1,000 ‘migrants,’ mostly from Honduras, are on a long march through Mexico to the United States. They are being led by an organization called ‘People Without Borders.’ The name tells you everything you need to know, and it is wrong. Borders define nations and their people. I suspect many well-meaning people in churches across the country Sunday were talking about this caravan. They may be confused and divided about the appropriate response to this situation. Many were likely told that they are 1,000 hurting people who need our compassion. What if it were 5,000? Or 10,000? What if it were one million? Or 150 million? There are several billion people who could make a poverty or compassion claim to demand entry into America. Every year we legally admit one million immigrants. But 150 million people around the world want to come here, and we cannot let them all in. It is not compassionate to allow more people into the country than we can assimilate. Nor is it compassionate to allow more people into the country than the American taxpayer can support. President Trump is calling out Congress for our lax immigration laws and weak border security policies. Good for him. In the days ahead, every politician should be forced to go on the record about what exactly they would do with this migrant caravan and whether they believe we should be a nation without borders.”

SHORT CUTS

Re: The Left: “To have an informed [immigration] debate, shouldn’t we have accurate information about the citizen/noncitizen population of the country? In fact, even the United Nations recommends that its member countries ask a citizenship question on their census surveys, and countries ranging from Australia to Germany to Indonesia all ask this question. Only in the U.S. is this considered at all controversial — and it shouldn’t be.” —Hans von Spakovsky

For the record: “One of the things that makes the president who he is is that he’s a salesman, and salesmen at times tend to be hyperbolic. That’s OK when you’re working on Congress. It is not OK when you’re sitting talking to federal agents because, 18 U.S.C. 1001 is false statements to federal agents. That’s a crime. That can send you to jail.” —former NJ Gov. Chris Christie on why Donald Trump should not interview with Robert Mueller

Finger in the wind: “I don’t know how I can responsibly look at those young people and not say, ‘We need to do something.’ … I don’t think there’s anything contradictory to say, ‘I support your right to have a gun for self-protection, long gun for hunting purposes.’ You can still support that and recognize that military-style weapons are creating such havoc. The killing rate in our country is so much higher than any other nation in the world that the American public demands action.” —Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) abolishing his support for so-called assault weapons

Translation: There’s always tomorrow: “I’m not sure I can go that far just yet. … I really don’t believe that a gun ban is feasible right now.” —Sen. Doug Jones (D-AL) awaiting gun control opportunism

Demo-gouges: “[Trump officials] have been putting more and more money into the private sector with VA money. … I think they are listening to the Koch brothers and I think that that is a very, very bad idea.” —Sen. Bernie Sanders (Socialist-VT)

And last… “The Laura Ingraham controversy shows how brazenly hypocritical the mainstream is. If you’re a conservative and make a rude comment, you get your career ruined. If you’re a liberal and call Dana Loesch, the NRA, Marco Rubio and all gun owners ‘child murderers,’ you get called a hero.” —Allie Stuckey

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. We also humbly ask prayer for your Patriot team, that our mission would seed and encourage the spirit of Liberty in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis

Nate Jackson, Managing Editor
Mark Alexander, Publisher