Tag Archives: The Washington Examiner

Prepare For The Pre-Election Spin

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The Washington Examiner today is reporting on a new Washington Post poll taken on the Presidential race. Donald Trump leads Hillary Clinton by two percentage points (within the margin of error) in the poll,  but don’t look for that number early in the story.

The article at The Washington Examiner reports:

It’s not the headline, and it takes 219 words to get there, but a new Washington Post poll on the presidential race reveals that Republican Donald Trump leads Democrat Hillary Clinton among registered voters 46 percent to 44 percent.

Inside the Post’s story about the poll is this paragraph:

“At this point, the two candidates are in a statistical dead heat among registered voters, with Trump favored by 46 percent and Clinton favored by 44 percent. That represents an 11-point shift toward the presumptive Republican nominee since March. Among all adults, Clinton holds a six-point lead (48 percent to 42 percent), down from 18 points in March.”

This is going to be an interesting election. Leading in a poll of people who don’t vote really isn’t worth much. The challenge for the Democrats will be getting voters to register and vote. Many Republicans are angry enough at Washington to come out and vote for anyone. Democrats can’t really blame the Republicans for the mess we are in now–Obama has been President for eight years and Hillary Clinton looks like more of the same.

We Cannot Support The World Indefinitely

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The Washington Examiner posted an article today about welfare payments that go to illegal immigrants.

The article includes the following chart:

IllegalWelfareI don’t want anyone to go hungry or be homeless, but why are we taking money away from Americans who have worked for it and giving it to people who are here illegally? It is time to reevaluate how we are spending tax money.

The article states:

The total cost is over $103 billion in welfare benefits to households headed by immigrants. A majority, 51 percent, of immigrant households receive some type of welfare compared to 30 percent of native households, said the analysis of Census data.

The article concludes:

— The greater consumption of welfare dollars by immigrants can be explained in large part by their lower level of education and larger number of children compared to natives. Over 24 percent of immigrant households are headed by a high school dropout, compared to just 8 percent of native households. In addition, 13 percent of immigrant households have three or more children, vs. just 6 percent of native households.

We need to take a serious look at our immigration policies. We also need to take a good look at efforts we are making to educate the people who are already here–legally or illegally. We can’t send everyone back home, but we can secure the border and make an effort to help those people here–legally and illegally, immigrant or natural citizen–get off of our welfare rolls. We can no longer afford to have an entire segment of our population depending on hard-working taxpayers for their support–it is time everyone finds a way to contribute to our economy–not just take from it.

We Need A New State Department

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Anyone can make a mistake, but some people take it to a whole new level. On March 2nd, The Washington Examiner reported that the State Department had set up a hotline to take calls about cease-fire violations in Syria. That in itself is not a bad idea. However, they used volunteers with limited abilities in Arabic languages.

The article reports:

“In order to help monitor the cessation of hostilities in Syria, we did set up an information hotline that was staffed 24/7, where violations could be reported I think via a number of different apps,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Wednesday.

“There were some language issues among some of the volunteers,” he added. “And granted, these again are State Department employees who are doing this in addition to their usual jobs.”

“We are aware that there were some language issues, as you note, and we’re working to correct those, obviously, because it’s important that we have Arabic speakers who are able to field incoming calls,” Toner said.

Toner was asked whether proficiency in Arabic was a requirement for volunteering to work the hotline.

“It was, just but, you know, given the time limits on setting this up, probably some of the language skills weren’t properly vetted,” he said.

“Agreed, we should have people … agree,” Toner said when pressed further. “So, we’re working to address that.”

Shouldn’t the State Department have a good idea which of its employees are fluent in Arabic? If the language issue was a concern, could they have borrowed people from other government agencies who were fluent in Arabic? This sounds like a total lack of common sense.

One Suggestion For A Budget Cut

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The Washington Examiner is reporting today that the taxpayer-funded Office of the Former Speaker is paying two aides to former Speaker John Boehner more than $10,000 a month.

The article reports:

Boehner stepped down at the end of October. Rep. Paul Ryan was elected to replace him. Boehner’s office opened in November.

The Office of the Former Speaker is an official office that provides space and staff to former House speakers for some five years. Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert ran up a $1.9 million bill, according to reports.

Might I suggest that we abolish the concept of Office of the Former Speaker and any funding that goes with it. I see no reason for extra staff once the Speaker leaves office. This is the culture in Washington that we need to end.

Thank God For The Freedom Of Information Act

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The government’s Freedom of Information Act website describes the act as follows:

What is FOIA?

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is a law that gives you the right to access information from the federal government. It is often described as the law that keeps citizens in the know about their government.

I suspect there are more than a few politicians that really despise this law.

The Washington Examiner reported today that a federal judge has ordered the State Department to release 700 new pages of records from Hillary Clinton’s time as Secretary of State. In November of last year, Jason Leopold of Vice News had filed a FOIA request for virtually all written records from Hillary Clinton and her staff. This was long before we knew anything about her private server.

The article reports:

That FOIA case eventually prompted the court’s high-profile decision to force the State Department to publish all of Clinton’s emails in batches at the end of every month.

Now, the agency could be compelled to prepare thousands of additional documents for release in order to satisfy other aspects of Leopold’s FOIA request, which was narrowed after he and his attorney, Ryan James, sued the State Department.

Remember, Hillary Clinton deleted all of her emails that she deemed personal. This FOIA request may shed some light on how many of those deleted emails were actually personal. Stay tuned. This does not seem to be going away.

The Nanny State Strikes Again

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The Washington Examiner reported on Wednesday that Congressional Democrats have introduced legislation to raise the smoking age to 21. I don’t smoke, but this is ridiculous. If you look back over the past thirty years, you can see the slow cultural demonization of smoking and smokers. It began with the culture–movie heroes were no longer shown smoking, anti-smoking campaigns began in our schools, and eventually smokers were huddling in door ways trying to have a cigarette after lunch or dinner. Again, I don’t smoke. I hate the smell of cigarette smoke, but I regard this as an assault on personal freedom.

The article reports:

The act would cover conventional cigarettes, as well as smokeless and vaporizing options, ascendant in national popularity, especially among millennials. The bill notes this phenomenon.

“Young adults aged 18 to 24 are more than 2 times as likely to use smokeless products as compared to older adults aged 45 to 64.”

After the “Tobacco to 21 Act” was introduced, an adjoining campaign, #TobaccoTo21, was launched on Twitter and other social media. The campaign is supported by a gauntlet of health groups, including the American Heart Association and the American Lung Association.

The bill is co-sponsored by Minority Whip Richard Durbin, and seven other senators, all Democrats, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

If smoking is so horrible, make an offer to tobacco growers to switch to another crop. As far as I know, we are still subsidizing tobacco farmers. Our policy on smoking is schizophrenic–if tobacco is a dangerous substance, it should be banned. Also, why are we legalizing marijuana, which is more dangerous to the lungs, while restricting tobacco? It’s time for a new Congress–this one is broken.

The Supreme Court Stopped President Obama’s Agenda

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The Washington Examiner posted an article today about a Supreme Court ruling announced today. The Supreme Court ruled against Environmental Protection Agency pollution rules for power plants. These new regulations would have resulted in drastic increases in the amount of money Americans pay for electricity.

The article reports:

The EPA rules in question regulate hazardous air pollutants and mercury from coal- and oil-fired power plants, known as the MATS regulations. The regulations went into effect April 16. The utility industry had argued that the rules cost them billions of dollars to comply and that EPA ignored the cost issue in putting the regulations into effect.

“EPA must consider cost — including cost of compliance — before deciding whether regulation is appropriate and necessary. It will be up to the agency to decide (as always, within the limits of reasonable interpretation) how to account for cost,” Scalia wrote in agreeing with the industry.

Because of this decision, the Obama Administration’s environmental agenda will also be looked at in terms of the cost of compliance. Unfortunately, the Court is not looking at the fact that laws are being put in place that have not been passed through Congress.

The article reports on the DC Circuit Court decision that brought the case before the Supreme Court:

The D.C. Circuit majority also agreed the EPA could focus solely on the utilities’ contribution to the pollutants of concern, rather than identifying any specific health hazards attributable only to utility emissions.

The EPA had argued that the rules are both appropriate and necessary regardless of the costs, and that it has the discretion under the law to act as it deems fit in regulating hazardous pollutants.

As I have previously stated, I don’t think anyone is in favor of pollution. There is a need for sensibility in making environmental rules. As previously stated, the EPA did not identify any specific health hazards attributable only to utility emissions.

The EPA has been the latest home for those people who want to control the cost and usage of electricity and other power sources by Americans. This has much more to do with government control than it does with the environment. Unfortunately, we can expect to see more attempted power grabs for government energy control in the waning days of the Obama Administration.

 

Another Obama Lie

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The shooting in Charleston last night was tragic. An obviously disturbed person sat through part of a prayer meeting in a black church and then opened fire. That is a tragedy. Unfortunately President Obama has already decided to make the tragedy into an issue about gun control. Has it occurred to him that if anyone in the church other than the gunman had been armed, a lot fewer people would have been killed?

The Washington Examiner quoted the President’s statement today:

“Now is the time for mourning and healing, but to be clear, some at time we have to reckon as a country that this type of mass violence doesn’t happen in other countries…,” he said. “It doesn’t happen with this type of frequency in other countries…and it’s within our power to do something about it.”

With all due respect, Mr. President, guns are not the problem. This type of violence does happen in other countries. In February 2010, I posted an article about a violence problem in the United Kingdom. Guns are not allowed in the United Kingdom–their violence problem was related to beer glasses in pubs.

The article explained the British response to broken pint glass attacks:

“According to British Home Secretary Alan Johnson, there are about 87,000 of these (glass) attacks every year, some very serious. We even read a story about a bloodbath in a London bar in which 50 pint glasses were smashed in a minute and one person’s eye popped out. Sounds more like a horror movie than a night out at the pub.”

As a result of this problem, neither pubs nor ale glasses were outlawed or controlled. The glasses were redesigned so that they were harder to break and use as weapons, but it is still possible to hit someone on the head with one.

The point is this–the violence is the problem–not the weapon. Until we begin to teach  all Americans respect for all life–from the womb to the grave, violence will continue to be a problem

 

It Will Be Interesting To See If This Goes Anywhere

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The Washington Examiner posted an article today about a lawsuit filed in Florida charging the Clinton Foundation with racketeering. The lawsuit was filed by Larry Klayman of Freedom Watch.

The article reports:

The racketeering, influenced and corrupt organizations, or RICO, case alleges the former first couple and their family philanthropy traded political favors for donations or generous speaking fees for Bill Clinton while his wife was the nation’s chief diplomat.

“Negotiations by email about influencing U.S. foreign policy or U.S. Government actions to benefit donors to … The Clinton Foundation or sponsors of speaking engagements would not be captured on a U.S. Government email account because her emails would not be with a U.S. Government official,” Klayman said in court documents obtained by the Washington Examiner.

“Hillary Clinton deleted 32,000 email messages from her email server that included her communications arranging, negotiating, and agreeing upon speaking engagements by Bill Clinton in return for large speaking fees and donations to The Clinton Foundation,” the documents, dated May 20, said.

There has been so much questionable behavior regarding finances surrounding the Clintons, it is amazing that there have not been more legal steps taken to hold them accountable. I am reminded that the life expectancy of many people involved with the Clintons in Arkansas seemed to be very short. It would be very interesting to see Hillary Clinton’s emails involved in negotiating speaking fees and consulting fees.

 

This Really Does Not Seem To Be An Innocent Mistake

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The Washington Examiner is reporting today that the head of the Clinton Foundation has stated that the Foundation made mistakes in the way donations to the Foundation were reported.

The article reports:

Pally (acting Foundation CEO Maura Pally) wrote that the foundation didn’t list individual donors to its Canadian arm because national law requires charities to gain permission from individuals before disclosing them.

She also acknowledged mistakenly combining government grants with other donations in tax filings, although she said the grants were still publicly available on the foundation’s financial statements posted online.

The donations to the Foundation are in the news right now, but the more interesting part of the Clintons financial story is the exorbitant speaking fees President Clinton began to collect from foreign countries after Hillary Clinton became Secretary of State. Again, it is questionable as to what laws (if any) have been broken, but there is certainly the appearance of dishonesty. That appearance is aggravated by the disappearing emails, which would have either provided proof of total innocence or guilt.

The Clintons have amassed a tremendous amount of wealth while serving in public office. Unfortunately, that is not unusual at the present time. The question is whether they did it by cutting the usual corners or they did it by inventing a few new corners to cut. I do know that if you or I acted in the way that they are acting, we would find ourselves in jail for a very long time.

Here’s One Place We Can Cut Government Spending

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The Washington Examiner posted a story today about Medicaid fraud. Medicaid is the federal program that provides medical care to people who can’t afford it.

The article reports:

Healthcare providers banned from Medicaid may have been reimbursed $213 million in federal money, thanks to a state agency oversight, a government watchdog reported.

Valid identification numbers — identifiers that ensure providers are eligible for Medicaid reimbursements — were missing from 800,000 Colorado claims in 2011, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services inspector general reported Wednesday.

The state reimbursed the providers $424.4 million for the claims, of which, $213 million was federal money.

Regardless of how you feel about government-provided healthcare and whether or not it is constitutional, a $213 million dollar savings in federal spending would be nice. If one state has that much Medicaid fraud, how much do the other states have?

The article goes on to explain that the computer system in Colorado was not able to alert officials to missing or incorrect identification numbers and that the problem would not be corrected until 2016. However, the agency is now denying claims with invalid or missing numbers. It sounds like Colorado is working with the same programmers that designed the ObamaCare website.

Another Reason The Internal Revenue Service Needs To Go Away

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I posted an article earlier today about the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) monitoring what is said in churches, but another story illustrating the problems with that organization has surfaced in the Washington Examiner today. It seems that money given to the IRS for the purpose of helping taxpayers with income tax questions was diverted to other things.

The article reports:

“Spending decisions entirely under the IRS’s control led to 16 million fewer taxpayers receiving IRS assistance this filing season,” said the report (House Ways and Means Committee report), which was prepared by majority staff of the tax-writing House panel chaired by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisc.

“Other spending choices, including prioritizing employee bonuses and union activity on the taxpayer’s dime, used up resources that otherwise could have been used to assist another 10 million taxpayers,” the report said.

Budget cuts that Congress has imposed on the IRS in recent years resulted in part from “waste and misconduct” at the tax agency, including nearly $50 million spent on employee conferences that critics say were extravagant and unnecessary. Congress has reduced IRS funding by $1.2 billion since 2010.

The article goes on to explain many of the mixed-up priorities of the IRS. It seems to me that if the IRS cannot properly allocate the funding it is given, we should not give it any more money. There are a number of tax proposals out there that would abolish the IRS. I think it is time we looked at them more closely.

Which Party Is The Party Of Old Politicians?

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The Republicans have the reputation of being the party of ‘old white guys,’ but in this presidential cycle Democrats are becoming the party of ‘old white candidates.’ Byron York posted an article at the Washington Examiner last Thursday entitled, “Why is the 2016 Democratic field so old?” That is an interesting question. The presidency of Bill Clinton did not boost the influence of the Democrat party, despite the fact that he was generally a popular President. Despite his personal failings, Bill Clinton is a person most people would enjoy having a beer with. Barack Obama has also not increased the power of the Democrat party. Again, despite the failure of many of his policies, Barack Obama is a person most people would enjoy having a beer with. So why are the potential candidates for President in the Democrat party so old?

The article reports:

“It’s the snuffing out of young talent by the strength and size and sheer velocity of the inevitable nominee,” says a well-connected Democratic strategist. “The Clintons took all the air out of the collective Democratic room. There are a lot of people who would be running who are much younger, but they’ve got their future in front of them, and they don’t want the Clintons to ruin it, in this campaign or after this campaign. So they’re waiting for a moment when there is enough oxygen to run.”

“If Hillary Clinton weren’t running, we’d have a field that looks like the Republican field — young and vibrant and diverse.”

Dynasties are not a good thing in a republic–they tend to discourage young talent from rising through the ranks.

Defending Free Speech

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The Washington Examiner is reporting today that Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch has asked Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen not to change the Internal Revenue Service’s rules regarding political speech by nonprofit organizations.

The article quotes Senator Hatch:

“The IRS is just beginning to recover its reputation, and your agency is just beginning to regain trust from lawmakers,” Hatch wrote to Koskinen. “Do not throw all of that away in a quixotic and bizarre mission to regulate the political activity of Americans.”

Hatch said Congress will “have no choice” but to investigate the agency’s motivations if it issues the rules, claiming that it would be viewed as an act of political bias. He asked Koskinen to preserve all communications related to the rulemaking, in case the Obama White House or Treasury Department is playing a role in shaping it.

The IRS is not supposed to be a political organization. Unfortunately under President Obama it has become one. It would be nice to have an IRS Commissioner who would uphold the political neutrality of the IRS. Evidently John Koskinen is not that person.

What Hillary Clinton Stands For

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Hillary Clinton announced today that she is running for President. Byron York posted an article at the Washington Examiner listing five things she believes about her campaign.

First, Clinton indicated she believes 2016 will be another election about the economy.

Second, Clinton indicated that she doesn’t feel the need to re-introduce herself to the American people.

Third, Clinton indicated that she knows voters suspect she feels entitled to the job.

Fourth, Clinton indicated her campaign will be all about trying to keep the Obama coalition together.

Fifth, Clinton indicated she fully supports gay marriage and will work to win the support of gays unhappy with her slow (for a Democrat) change of mind on the marriage issue.

The decision is in the hands of the American voters.

What Happens When Reporters Do Their Job

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Yesterday The Washington Examiner posted an article about the donations that were made to the Clinton Foundation in 2014.

The article reports:

Of 38 donors listed on the foundation’s website who were contacted by the Washington Examiner,18 declined to answer at all, and the other 18 either responded suspiciously or stuck to generalities and refused to address follow-up questions.

The importance of who gave to the foundation and why was highlighted this week when CBS News revealed that one donor in 2013 was Rilin Enterprises. Rilin is headed by Wang Wienlang, a Chinese businessman who was invited to join the National Peoples’ Congress as a delegate in the same year as he made the donation.

Rilin is close to China’s national security and intelligence agencies. Besides the $2 million given to the Clintons’ foundation, Rilin also spent at least another $1.4 million in 2012 lobbying Congress and the U.S. State Department, of which Hillary Clinton was secretary of state.

…Another donor willing to discuss its contribution was the Norwegian Climate Foundation, which responded with a statement saying “our purpose is to make new contacts (or allies) that could be useful in our work against global warming. Therefore, we have for some years now participated in the annual meeting in New York.”

But the statement added a warning that “we have also wanted to influence the agenda of the Clinton Global Initiative events to make them get more actively involved in climate change issues. That is why we are not sure if we want to continue being a member next year. The board will make that decision in June.”

Money in politics is nothing new. However, foreign money influencing American politics is neither welcome nor acceptable. The relationship between the Clintons and foreign money has been questionable since the 1990’s. The last thing we need in the White House in 2016 is someone who can be swayed by foreign money.

Watch This Space

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I firmly believe that at some time in the future, Senator John Thune will run for President. I’m not saying I would vote for him (or that I would not) and I am not commenting on the candidate he would be, I’m just saying that I believe that he will run someday. Just for the record, I also believe that if I were a Hollywood casting agent, I would cast him for the part. I just think there is something about him that looks presidential. He is now in the process of doing something that desperately needs to be done.

The Washington Examiner is reporting today that Senator Thune is going to fight back on the Obama Administration’s limits they are planning to place on ground-level ozone.

The article reports:

The South Dakota Republican’s bill would prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from imposing a more stringent standard until 85 percent of the more than 200 counties that have yet to comply with the current regulation do so. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., is lined up to co-sponsor the bill, said Thune spokeswoman Rachel Millard.

The move comes as the comment period for the proposed EPA rule closes Tuesday. The House Science, Space and Technology Committee will hold a hearing on the subject Tuesday.

The EPA in November floated lowering the tolerable limit for ozone, or smog, to between 65 and 70 parts per billion, down from the level of 75 ppb set under former President George W. Bush in 2008. The agency also is taking comment on whether to set the standard at 60 ppb, though it wasn’t part of the official proposal.

I need to make it very clear that I am not in favor of pollution. What I am in favor of is fairness and practicality. It makes total sense to wait for the majority of our worldwide neighbors to comply with the current regulations before we make ours tougher. We are not a major part of the problem, and until our neighbors also take steps to cut their pollution, our efforts will not actually amount to much.

The article reports:

Industry groups and Republicans contend the updated standard would be one of the most expensive ever. They say it would throw dozens more counties into “non-attainment” zones that would restrict permitting for expanding or adding industrial emitters such as factories, refineries and other manufacturing facilities.

A National Association of Manufacturers-commissioned study by NERA Economic Consulting put the price tag for a 60 ppb level at $140 billion annually from 2017 through 2040. The study did not weigh potential benefits.

We need balance. We also need everyone to participate. Right now the move by the Obama Administration is overkill. Senator Thune is right to fight it.

These People Have Way Too Much Time On Their Hands

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Have you ever wondered about the country we will leave our children? They will never know the smell of burning leaves in autumn or the experience of walking to the corner store to get penny candy (penny candy causes obesity and one Maryland couple is being investigated for letting their two children walk home from the neighborhood park). Now the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a new target–backyard barbeque grills.

The Washington Examiner posted an article yesterday about the latest meddling by the EPA into our everyday lives.

The article reports:

The agency announced that it is funding a University of California project to limit emissions resulting in grease drippings with a special tray to catch them and a “catalytic” filtration system.

The $15,000 project has the “potential for global application,” said the school.

The school said that the technology they will study with the EPA grant is intended to reduce air pollution and cut the health hazards to BBQ “pit masters” from propane-fueled cookers.

Charged with keeping America‘s air, water and soil clean, the EPA has been increasingly looking at homeowners, especially their use of pollution emitting tools like lawn mowers.

I wonder how much the addition of a catalytic converter will add to the price of a barbeque grill, making cook outs a luxury only the rich can afford.

The article explains:

But, total capture isn’t “practical,” so a filter and fan are proposed for installation. “The secondary air filtration system is composed of a single pipe duct system which contains a specialized metal filter, a metal fan blade, a drive shaft, and an accompanying power system with either a motorized or manual method. This system can be powered by either an exterior electric motor with a chain-driven drive shaft, directly spinning the fan blade, or a hand-powered crank,” said the project write-up.

The grant is part of the EPA’s “National Student Design Competition for Sustainability Focusing on People, Prosperity and the Planet (2014).”

Good grief!

Someone Needs To Stop This Runaway Train

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The Daily Caller is reporting today that the legalization of illegal aliens that the Obama Administration had stated would begin in February 2015 actually began in November 2014.

The article reports:

But on March 3, Obama’s lawyers admitted to the judge that officials had already given three-year DACA amnesties to 100,000 younger people, according to a March 4 article in the Washington Examiner.

 “Out of an abundance of caution, however, Defendants wish to bring one issue to the Court’s attention,” said the administration’s document given to the judge. “Between November 24, 2014 and the issuance of the Court’s [Feb. 16] Order, USCIS granted three-year periods of deferred action to approximately 100,000 individuals who had requested deferred action under the original 2012 DACA guidelines.”

The officials excused the deception by claiming that the announced Feb. 18 start-date “may have led to confusion about when USCIS had begun providing three-year terms of deferred action to individuals already eligible for deferred action under 2012 DACA.”

The lack of respect the Obama Administration seems to have for the Constitution and for the American people is simply amazing. Hopefully the judge in Texas will put a stop to this since Congress does not seem to be able to.

 

 

Does Integrity Matter?

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Should a government official lose his job for doing something that is routinely done in bars all over America every night of the week? That is one way to look at the situation surrounding Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald. This is actually a really sad story. In an effort to relate to a homeless veteran, Secretary McDonald stated that he had served in the Special Forces. Unfortunately the moment was caught on camera. The sad part of this story is that Secretary McDonald is a military veteran (despite the fact that he was not in the Special Forces) and obviously has compassion for military veterans. The fact is that he lied. The question is, “How significant is that?” Actually, I think it is rather significant–if I were in the Special Forces and had seen action, I would resent someone who hadn’t served there claiming he had.

Yesterday The Washington Examiner posted an article noting the news coverage of this incident.

The article states:

A majority of headlines this week have characterized Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald’s claim that he served in the Army’s Special Forces as a “misstatement” and a “false claim.” Very few have referred to his admitted fabrication as a “lie.”

McDonald, who qualified but never served as a Ranger and did not serve in Special Forces, apologized this week for the falsehood.

Headlines from the Huffington Post, the Washington Free Beacon, the Washington Examiner, the Hill and Military Times have used variations of “falsely claimed” in headlines regarding McDonald’s fabrication.

I hate to be difficult, but I can’t help but wonder if this event would have been reported differently if a Republican were in the White House.

An Interesting New Wrinkle In The Immigration Fight

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The Washington Examiner is reporting today that U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen has issued a temporary injunction blocking President Obama’s executive action to shield up to 5 million immigrants from deportation. The injunctions at least temporarily blocks those immigrants from applying for social security numbers and work permits (see previous articles about many of these people voting and receiving earned income tax refunds for years when they were here working illegally).

The article reports:

However, uncertainty persists at a time when the Obama administration was banking on clarity.

The judicial fight also comes as the White House and Senate Democrats engage in a standoff with Republican lawmakers over funding for the Department of Homeland Security.

Conservatives insist the court ruling gives them ammunition to roll back the president’s executive action on immigration, but they still don’t have the 60 votes in the Senate to get such legislation through the upper chamber.

Hanen, the South Texas judge, did not rule on the legality of the executive action taken by Obama in November. He simply said the president’s blueprint should be put on hold while 26 states pursue a lawsuit arguing that Obama lacked the authority to make such a decree to governors already dealing with budget shortfalls.

The Fifth Circuit Court is now the gatekeeper for whether Obama’s power play on immigration will proceed. It will have to decide whether to grant the Justice Department’s expected request for a stay on the district court ruling.

President Obama has admitted numerous times that he does not have the authority to issue the executive order that he issued. However, there has not been anyone in Congress with the backbone to stop the runaway executive branch. Unfortunately, the court ruling in this case, while needed to stop the runaway train, may actually give the Republicans in Congress permission to cave. That would not be a good thing. There is a reason we have three branches of government. Legislation is supposed to come from Congress–the President is supposed to uphold the laws–not write them!

Make no mistake–executive amnesty is about future Democrat voters. While I have no problem with expanding immigration, I am not convinced America can assimilate 5 million people all at once in the current economy. We do need to overhaul our immigration policy, but 5 million people at a time is not the way to do it.

This Is Pathetic

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The graph below is from an article posted today at the Washington Examiner. It illustrates the national deficit over the past few years. Please look at the graph carefully.

So why is this graph posted here? President Obama has stated, “I’m proud that since I took office, we’ve experienced the fastest period of sustained deficit reduction since the end of World War II.”

I would like to quietly point out that he reduced the deficit after he tripled it. (That is somewhat like being against the war after you were for it.) The deficit is still higher than it was when he took office. Statements like the above are one reason Americans cannot afford to be low-information voters. I am sure that there are many people who totally believe that President Obama has reduced the deficit during the time he has been in office. Those people need to see this graph.

Ending The Release Of Terrorists By Executive Order

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The Washington Examiner posted a story today about a group of Republicans putting together a bill that would block President Obama from releasing any more terrorists from Guantanamo during the remainder of his term.

The article reports:

The bill would bar the release or transfer of any detainees judged to be medium- or high-risk — the vast majority of those who remain — and requires greater justification for any other release or transfer. It also would bar transfers of any Guantanamo prisoner to Yemen, home country of the largest single group of remaining detainees.

The problem is that the prisoners released often return to the battlefield. The article reports:

According to the latest report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence issued in September, 107 of 620 detainees released from Guantanamo, or 17.3 percent, had been confirmed as returning to terrorism as of July 15, and another 77, or 12.4 percent, were suspected of having done so.

Traditionally, prisoners of war are not released until the war is over. Also, traditionally prisoners of war are not treated to soccer fields, recreational facilities and a diet in keeping with their religion. The prisoners at Guantanamo are being treated much better than they would be in their home countries. It is unfortunate that they are separated from their families and the people they love, but that is something they have earned.

President Obama is not bringing terrorists to Guantanamo–he is using drone strikes to kill them. Although, drone strikes do prevent them from further terrorist activity, it also cuts off a major source of intelligence about what is currently happening in the world of Islamic terrorism. Unfortunately terrorism has become a worldwide problem, and not capturing terrorists has taken away a valuable current source of information on what the terrorists are planning.

Will President Obama Work With The New Senate?

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The Washington Examiner posted a story today about President Obama’s new liaison to the Senate.

The article reports:

Marty Paone will be the new deputy assistant for legislative affairs with the White House, the White House confirmed to the Washington Examiner. Paone has previously lobbied for construction of the 1,200-mile TransCanada Corp. oil sands pipeline on behalf of a coalition of Canadian oil companies through his job at lobbying shop Prime Policy Group, where he most recently served as executive vice president.

…”As an expert on Senate procedure, [Paone] will be instrumental in helping the White House navigate complex developments like reconciliation and potential rules changes in the next Congress,” a White House official said. “Marty has longstanding Senate relationships, which will help the president advance major bipartisan legislative issues like trade and long-term transportation bill. Marty has the reputation as a tough but fair negotiator, and is known for his good sense of humor.”

Does this mean that President Obama actually wants to work with the Senate to get things done? Grad some popcorn, this could get interesting!

Some Thoughts On That New Car Smell

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Yesterday Byron York posted an article at the Washington Examiner about President Obama’s recent comments that a 2016 Democrat Presidential candidate would need that new car smell.

The article states:

President Obama set off ripples in the political world Sunday morning when he said voters in the 2016 presidential race will want “that new car smell.” Speaking with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, Obama said in picking a new leader, Americans will “want to drive something off the lot that doesn’t have as much mileage as me.”

President Obama also praised Hillary Clinton’s performance as Secretary of State as he made those comments.

I would like to point out something about that ‘new car smell.’ Just for the record, it is toxic! In February 2012, CBS News reported:

(CBS) Who doesn’t love that factory fresh “new car smell”? It’s so well-liked that air fresheners and sprays have been produced in attempts to reclaim the odor.

…But according to a new study from the nonprofit Ecology Center and HealthyStuff.org, what you might actually be sniffing are toxic fumes from chemicals used to create the car interior.

Meanwhile, back to President Obama’s statement. Despite praising Hillary Clinton’s performance as Secretary of State (which isn’t a surprise, since theoretically the President controls the actions of the Secretary of State), it seems to be common knowledge in Washington that there is no great love between the Clintons and the Obamas. I believe that President Obama (either behind the scenes or obviously) will support Elizabeth Warren as the Democrat candidate for President in 2016. Senator Warren would be able to challenge Hillary Clinton from the left, despite the fact that politically they are not really very far apart. Note that the leaders of the Senate have already put Senator Warren in a leadership position.

Anyway, I am hoping that the new car smell that is toxic in automobiles will also be toxic in Democrat presidential politics.