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« on: August 15, 2019, 01:34:05 PM » |
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The Patriot Post Digest 8-15-2019
From The Federalist Patriot
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The Patriot Post® · Mid-Day Digest
Aug. 15, 2019
https://patriotpost.us/digests/64866-mid-day-digest
THE FOUNDATION
“Dependence begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition.” —Thomas Jefferson (1781)
IN TODAY’S EDITION
Market volatility continues — though ups and downs are to be expected.1
Anti-gun lawmakers instruct SCOTUS to “heal itself.”2
Daily Features: More Analysis3, Columnists4, Headlines5, Opinion in Brief6, Short Cuts7, Memes8, and Cartoons9.
IN BRIEF
China, Tariffs, and Recession Fears Amid Strong Economy10
On Tuesday, the markets were up on the news that President Donald Trump’s third round of tariffs on $300 billion more of Chinese goods would be delayed until December. Added to this was the positive news of a restart of U.S.-China trade talks. However, the U.S. markets on Wednesday had one of their worst days in over a decade. Stocks fell 3% over bad economic news out of Germany and China, sparking fears of a possible global recession. Then came Thursday morning, with news of U.S. retail sales in July increasing well above economists’ expectations, once again propelling the markets skyward, relieving recession fears.
The truth of the matter is that market ups and downs are normal and to be expected. Furthermore, if properly managed, massive negative impacts on the economy can be avoided. A future recession is inevitable; the questions revolve around when it comes and how bad it will be. Interestingly, unlike the last two major recessions to hit the U.S., The Wall Street Journal notes that “with unemployment low, incomes rising and household saving rates higher than in the late 1990s or mid-2000s, many consumers are in better shape to weather a storm.”
Politically speaking, Democrats are hoping a recession comes sooner rather than later, as they know a strong economy makes the possibility of defeating Trump11 that much slimmer. Others have criticized Trump for walking a dangerous line with his tariff levies against China. As we have regularly noted, Beijing would love to wait Trump out with the hopes that he loses in 2020. The question is, can China afford to wait?
With the weeks-long Hong Kong protests — which are capturing more and more of the world’s attention — showing no signs of ending, coupled with China’s slowing economic growth, Beijing is clearly feeling the pressure. China’s communist government relies on a strong economy to placate the masses and dissuade civil unrest. If the Chinese economy further slows, Hong Kong’s freedom movement could easily spill out into the mainland.
Going forward, expect more interest-rate cuts from the Federal Reserve and the real possibility of Trump getting a trade deal worked out with China before the year is up.
https://patriotpost.us/articles/64865-china-tariffs-and-recession-fears-amid-strong-economy
Senate Dems Give SCOTUS 2A Ultimatum12
In 1833, Joseph Story touched on the importance of the judicial system when he noted: “Personal security and private property rest entirely upon the wisdom, the stability, and the integrity of the courts of justice.”
The judicial system is obviously profoundly important — and also extremely susceptible. It’s under constant siege by those who abhor the Rule of Law, which is why Thomas Jefferson in 1819 wrote, “The Constitution … is a mere thing of wax in the hands of the judiciary which they may twist and shape into any form they please.”
The Supreme Court is the last line of defense — or, in social activists’ minds, the last line of offense — which makes it extremely powerful, for good or ill. Thomas Jefferson was especially concerned about the latter. In 1821, he wrote, “It has long, however, been my opinion … that the germ of dissolution of our federal government is in the constitution of the federal Judiciary; an irresponsible body … working like gravity by night and by day, gaining a little today and a little tomorrow, and advancing its noiseless step like a thief, over the field of jurisdiction, until all shall be usurped from the States, and the government of all be consolidated into one.”
Whether in the past or in the present, too many jurists have used their roles not to enforce constitutional rights but to implement their own objectives — the consequences of which are plainly obvious. Such dereliction is especially true of leftist judicial activists who think of our charter as a “living constitution.” In fact, upholding the Rule of Law is considered unfashionable by their standards. Ironically, it’s those who defend the Constitution who are most viciously assailed today.
This was intimated with scary brazenness this week. According to Fox News13, “Several high-profile Senate Democrats [Sheldon Whitehouse, Richard Blumenthal, Mazie Hirono, Richard Durbin, and Kirsten Gillibrand] warned the Supreme Court in pointed terms … that it could face a fundamental restructuring if justices do not take steps to ‘heal’ the court in the near future.”
Fox News adds, “The Democratic senators’ brief was filed in the case of New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. City of New York, which dealt with legal limitations on where gun owners could transport their licensed, locked, and unloaded firearms. They are urging the court to stay out of the case brought by the NRA-backed group, claiming that because the city recently changed the law to ease restrictions, the push to the Supreme Court is part of an ‘industrial-strength influence campaign’ to get the conservative majority to rule in favor of gun owners.”
The brief fumes, “Perhaps the Court can heal itself before the public demands it be ‘restructured in order to reduce the influence of politics.’” But as Hot Air’s Jazz Shaw observes14, “What [its] actually threatening to do is the most politically driven and drastic action imaginable in this scenario.” It wreaks of political malfeasance. How else can you parse the demand to, as The Daily Wire’s Paul Bois says15, “vote liberal or else have conservatives rotated off the court”?
The Second Amendment is the palladium of liberties16, therefore the Left rightly sees it as the biggest hindrance to the rule of men. So expect Democrats to use whatever “influence of politics” they can in their attempt to encroach on it — including by overhauling the Supreme Court for protecting the all-important Second Amendment.
https://patriotpost.us/articles/64846-senate-dems-give-scotus-2a-ultimatum
ON OUR WEBSITE TODAY
Featured Analysis: ‘Red Flag’ Laws Are a Scam17 — Seizing guns from those disputably deemed more likely than not to be a threat is a hazardous slippery slope.
‘An Act of Violence’: Texas ICE Offices Fired Upon18 — These incidents mark at least four violent attacks against ICE facilities so far this year.
Dems’ Political Strategy: Straw Man Trump19 — Rather than seeking to win over Americans with superior policy proposals, Democrats choose character assignation.
American Spirit: Eleven Brothers, 158 Years of U.S. Military Service20 — They would prefer to hear “Thank you for helping to keep this country free” rather than “Thank you for your service.”
Video: America’s Biggest Issue: Welfare21 — Genevieve Wood explains why more than five decades, several welfare programs, and $25 trillion later, the welfare system has failed the poor.
Video: Still More Shallow Thoughts With AOC22 — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shares her shallow thoughts on unemployment and capitalism.
Don’t Miss Alexander’s Column
Read Indoctrinating and Radicalizing Mass Murderers23.
If you’d like to receive Alexander’s Column by email every Wednesday, update your subscription here24.
TOP NEWS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
PROTECTING RELIGIOUS LIBERTY: “The Labor Department on Wednesday announced a new rule to grant the ‘broadest protection permitted by law’ to religious organizations contracting with the federal government. The proposed rule to clarify civil rights protections for religious groups will be added to the Federal Register on Thursday, but is now open to public comment.” (The Daily Signal26)
FAUX FAUXCAHONTAS POLL, OR LEGIT HEADWAY? “Joe Biden and Senator Elizabeth Warren are polling within just one percentage point of each other as Warren catches up to the former vice president, who has led the pack of Democratic presidential candidates nationally for weeks. Biden stands at 21 percent support, while Warren is right behind him at 20 percent, up four points from last week, according to the latest national Economist–YouGov poll.” (National Review27)
CONSTITUENTS MIA: “Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has outraised all other freshmen representatives so far in 2019, but nearly all of her reported contributors to her reelection campaign live outside her congressional district… Ocasio-Cortez’s reelection campaign has reported receiving contributions from just 10 individuals living within her district in the first half of 2019, according to its Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings.” (The Daily Caller28) |
