The Front Page Cover
"I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened"
Featuring:
Our Political Class: 114th Congress
Alan Caruba
"Rise up together as one voice"
"Be careful where you stand"
~~~lll~~~
nObama's Oil Boom?
In advance of his State of the Union speech on Jan. 20, Barack nObama and his propaganda machine are in high gear, claiming credit for, among other things, lower fuel prices. Though nObama has erected an insurmountable gauntlet to oil and gas exploration leases, he recently claimed, "We're saving drivers about 70 cents a gallon at the pump." Really? Who is "we"? And this week, after reaffirming his commitment to veto the Keystone XL pipeline project, nObama had the unmitigated audacity to again claim credit for the additional drop in prices: "America is the number one producer of oil, the number one producer of gas. That's helping to save drivers about $1.10 a gallon at the pump over this time last year." Recall if you will that when nObama entered office, gasoline cost about $1.60 per gallon. In four short years, on top of the deepening nObama recession, his severe constriction on oil production increased the price to more than $4.00 a gallon. Ahead of the 2012 election, nObama declared, "We can't just drill our way to lower gas prices. ... [Republicans] are dusting off their three-point plan for $2 gas." Currently the average price for a gallon of gas is under $2 in 18 states. But for the record, oil production on government land is down 16% since 2009, while oil production on private land has increased 61%. Those gains are despite nObama's obstruction of oil exploration. -The Patriot Post
Anti-Gunners Snipe at a Patriot
"American Sniper," the film based on the true story of Navy sniper Chris Kyle and his book of the same name, hits theaters Thursday. Kyle served with the SEAL Team 3 Sniper Element Charlie platoon and was the most lethal sniper in U.S. history. He accumulated 160 confirmed kills and another 95 probables, and was known to his enemies as Al-Shaitan Ramad (The Devil of Ramadi). Though he survived numerous harrowing encounters in Iraq, sadly, he was killed by a vet suffering from PTSD here in the States. That story is, in part, why the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence has provided a Facebook forum for anti-gun jackasses to swap spit over the movie and Kyle's death. "Good Riddance," jeered one. "What goes around comes around," derided another. Chris Walker, executive director of 2nd Vote, said, "Americans' voices don't end on Election Day, they continue with the dollars they spend every day. The companies and groups that are financially supporting outrageous comments like these need to explain why they continue to receive their support or risk a financial backlash as consumers might choose to take their money elsewhere." Indeed, such hateful sentiment deserves scorn of its own. -The Patriot Post
Coming to a State Near You: The Gun Safety-ers
Gun control should only mean hitting your target. So, facing numerous public debate defeats, gun grabbers have rebranded. They will target individual states and will refer to themselves as advocates of gun safety because it's such a cuddly term. Who could be against gun safety? Sure, we're all for gun safety: Always assume the gun is loaded, keep your finger off the trigger and never leave your firearms in a place where children could discover them -- especially if the child is 75, in Congress and wants to mess with your guns. But the "safety" for which gun grabbers advocate is the iron fist of the government deciding who deserves the right to bear arms. President of Everytown for Gun Safety John Feinblatt told The New York Times that gun grabbers looked to the success of leftist crusades like same-sex marriage for their new strategy. "The arc of the marriage-equality movement started in the federal government, and got them the Defense of Marriage Act," he said. "Then they went to the states and showed that if you can get the majority of the public on your side state by state, that will influence the courts and Congress in the end." Of course, same-sex marriage advocates more often than not won by going to activist judges first, only later winning public opinion through guilt and intimidation. Let's hope support for the Second Amendment is stronger than that. More... -The Patriot Post
Goober Jimmy Carter Speaks About Charlie Hebdo Attack
The goober farmer stumbled into the national spotlight to talk about the Charlie Hebdo attack by defending Barack nObama and blaming Israel. "I don't think there's any need for criticism," former president Jimmy Carter said of nObama's decision to skip going to Paris. "The president sometimes can't go where he'd prefer to go. He's just come back from vacation so I think he's probably got a lot on his desk." See? According to the least successful president in American history, the president's ways are higher than our ways. The next day, the addlepated ex-president blamed all attacks by violent Islamists on the Jews. Carter appeared on Jon Stewart's comedy news show to say, "Well, one of the origins for it is the Palestinian problem. And this aggravates people who are affiliated in any way with the Arab people who live in the West Bank and Gaza, what they are doing now -- what's being done to them." Two French Muslims attacked a French paper known for its blistering satire about any religion, including Jews, Christians and Muslims. And Carter says the attack has Israel written all over it? -The Patriot Post
Even the King of England Had No Power to Suspend Laws
Depending on who you ask, Barack nObama has done what King George III never did. Joel Gehrke writes at National Review, "[A]n expert at the Law Library of Congress -- a non-partisan branch of the Library of Congress that has advised Congress and the Supreme Court since 1832 -- tackled a slightly different question: What would George III do when faced with a law he didn't like? Not even the King of England at the time of the American Revolution had the authority to suspend laws unilaterally, the Law Library expert wrote in a memorandum to the Senate committee tasked with responding to President nObama's recent executive orders on the enforcement of immigration law." But yet, nObama claims he can unilaterally decide who his administration will deport and who will remain de facto citizens -- even if they came into this country illegally. nObama has become the king the Founders warned about. More...
-The Patriot Post
1.
Duck Dynasty’s Phil: They Didn’t Want Us to Pray ‘In Jesus’ Name’
(Michael W. Chapman)- Duck Dynasty patriarch Phil Robertson said that when the Duck Dynasty show began on A&E in 2012, the video editors, based in Los Angeles, would often take out the words “in Jesus’ name” from the family prayer scene...because they thought the name “Jesus” might “offend some of the Muslims or something.” Robertson said he advised the show’s producers, in West Monroe, La., that they and the entire world kept time, the “year of Our Lord,” A.D., Anno Domini, based upon Jesus Christ and that it would not hurt to “throw His name in there from time to time,” and he noted that this example represented, the “spiritual warfare” that is always occurring. http://cnsnews.com/blog/michael-w-chapman/duck-dynasty-s-phil-they-didn-t-want-us-pray-jesus-name-not-offend-some
2.
Republican Writes Bombshell Handbook on Immigration
(shawn) - Lower wages, higher unemployment, and a heavier tax burden. Those are the trio of “benefits” American citizens enjoy as a result of President nObama’s executive amnesty...according to a new handbook written by Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions. Sessions, one of the administration’s fiercest critics on the subject of illegal immigration, delivered the handbook on Monday to Republican congressman. Entitled “Immigration Handbook for the New Republican Majority,” it is a 25-page roadmap outlining what Sessions believes should be the GOP position on immigration. “The largest untapped constituency in American politics are the 300 million American citizens who have been completely left out of the immigration debate,” Sessions says in the handbook. “Speak to that constituency—with clarity and compassion—and change the issue forever.” http://unfilteredpatriot.com/republican-writes-bombshell-handbook-on-immigration/
3.
Bret Baier of FOX no Longer Fair and Balanced on Homosexuality
(Bryan Fischer) - Last year, Bret Baier, one of Fox News’ most popular anchors, told a fan that he tries to play it right down the middle. “I truly try not to lean. I have thoughts and feelings about things…I try to keep them to myself…I am a registered independent.” It looks like Mr. Baier may have to hand in his independent registration form, at least on the issue of human sexuality. He has taken sides, as we all must do at some point, on the issue of homosexuality. And he has chosen the wrong side. He has reneged on a commitment he made to speak at the 2015 Legatus Summit. The problem? Legatus, as an orthodox Catholic organization for laymen and laywomen, believes that marriage is the union of one man and one woman and that sexual expression should be reserved for marriage. http://sonsoflibertymedia.com/2015/01/bret-baier-fox-news-no-longer-fair-balanced-homosexuality/
4.
nObama's New Push: Paid Family, Sick Leave
(Jenn Gidman) - One of the first steps President nObama took in 2015 was to propose free community college. Now he's expected to announce today that he'll direct federal agencies to offer employees up to six weeks of paid leave after the birth or adoption of a child, the New York Times reports...He'll also ask Congress to pass a bill that would let workers earn up to seven paid sick days a year, setting up a $2 billion incentive fund to assist states that set up family leave programs. The move was announced in a LinkedIn blog post last night by Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett, who had this to say about the announcement venue: "This is the very first place we're breaking this news because you're in the best position to drive change," she writes to the professionals and companies that frequent the site. http://www.newser.com/story/201322/obamas-new-push-paid-family-sick-leave.html
5.
The Biggest Conservative Group In Congress Is Breaking Up
(W. James Antle III) - The Beatles broke up. So, eventually, did Led Zeppelin. The biggest conservative caucus in Congress appears to be next...House conservatives are planning what National Journal described as a “mass exodus” from the Republican Study Committee. The departing lawmakers complain that the RSC has stopped fighting for its founding principles– much like the Republican Party itself. Unlike the Beatles, the RSC isn’t going away. But dissatisfied conservatives are going to start a splinter group of their own. http://dailycaller.com/2015/01/14/the-biggest-conservative-group-in-congress-is-breaking-up/?advD=1248%2C48782&bt_alias=eyJ1c2VySWQiOiJjNTliYzIxYy1kM2ZhLTQ5MWMtYjhmZC02M2M2MjhjYzNjZjMifQ%3D%3D#mnetint
6.
Iraq War Vet Senator Rips Barack H. nObama to Shreds
(conservativetribune.com)A U.S. senator who served in the Iraq War has accused President Barack nObama of putting his own interests ahead of what’s best of the country...Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton, who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan as a U.S. Army officer, said that nObama is “risking our national security to secure a presidential legacy” — namely, a nuclear deal with Iran. Rather than continuing to heed administration requests that Congress refrain from taking any action against the Islamic country lest it push them away from the negotiating table, Cotton argued that congressional action against Iran is overdue. http://conservativetribune.com/iraq-vet-senator-rips-obama/?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzEmail&utm_content=936184&utm_campaign=0
7.
Creeping Anti-Israelism in the Evangelical Movement
(Jim Fletcher) - The tentacles of anti-Jewish fervor are seemingly everywhere. Not even the American Church is immune from the sickness of anti-Semitism, and tracing the networks can be a fascinating exercise...They are so diverse, and so unequally yoked in various ways. But they are all linked by a dislike of Jews and Israel. So it is that I spend much of my time now researching the decline of Israel support, specifically within American Evangelicalism, once a stronghold of support for the Jewish state. From visits to captured Palestinian weaponry and propaganda literature displayed in Israel, to sitting in on evangelical leadership conferences that feature anti-Israel speakers, watching the erosion of support for Israel is jarring. http://www.frontpagemag.com/2015/jim-fletcher/creeping-anti-israelism-in-the-evangelical-movement/?utm_source=FrontPage+Magazine&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=723a7e0522-Mailchimp_FrontPageMag&utm_term=0_57e32c1dad-723a7e0522-156509103
8.
How the Islamic Republic Is Shaping Iraq & Syria
(Majid Rafizadeh) - It appears that President nObama continues to believe that resuming diplomatic relationships with the Iranian ruling clerics — through efforts such as striking a final nuclear deal, lifting the UN Security Council sanctions, directly or indirectly cooperating with the Iranian military in the region — is an informed policy...This position has led to the unprecedented level of compromises being made on the part of the nObama administration. Some of these compromises are not written in contracts or papers, but are applied implicitly behind-the-scenes and through weak leadership in the Middle East. This strategic, geopolitical and security gamble has resulted in turning a blind eye to the Iranian cleric establishment’s role in the region, primarily in Iraq and Syria. The Islamic Republic has profited from the civil war in Iraq and instability in the region. Although President nObama is planning to send thousands of troops to Iraq to train Iraqi forces, it is the Islamic Republic which has recently signed an agreement with Iraq to allow Iran to take covert control of Iraq’s security and military establishments. After the agreement Iraqi Defense Minister Khalid al-Obeidi stated, “We assume Iran’s increased support for the Iraqi armed forces as a strategic necessity,” http://www.frontpagemag.com/2015/majid-rafizadeh/how-the-islamic-republic-is-shaping-iraq-syria/?utm_source=FrontPage+Magazine&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=723a7e0522-Mailchimp_FrontPageMag&utm_term=0_57e32c1dad-723a7e0522-156509103
9.
Hezbollah prepared for war deep into Israel, beyond the Galilee
(YASSER OKBI/ MAARIV HASHAVUA) - Hezbollah is prepared for military intervention in Israel's Galilee and beyond, deeper into Israeli territory, the group's leader Hassan Nasrallah said in an interview with Lebanon's Al-Mayadeen TV to be aired Thursday evening... "We have made all necessary preparations for a future war with Israel," Nasrallah said. He vowed that the group would not stay quiet in the face of attacks attributed to Israel in Syria. "We will provide an answer for every attack against Syria," he said. http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Nasrallah-Hezbollah-prepared-for-war-deep-into-Israel-beyond-the-Galilee-387826?utm_source=Newsletter+1-15-2015&utm_campaign=Newsletter&utm_medium=email
10.
President nObama's Gas-Drilling Dance
(Ben Geman) - President nObama is doing a two-step when it comes to fossil fuels. nObama and White House officials clear their throats by praising the oil and gas boom, and even taking a measure of credit for it, before moving on to the specific topic at hand...There has been a surge in domestic oil and gas production. Gasoline prices keep falling. The natural-gas boom has helped the manufacturing sector. And the combination of oil-production increases and low prices has boosted the U.S.'s foreign policy leverage against petro-states. But applause for expanded oil and gas drilling is an awkward fit with the president's desire to leave a green legacy and battle climate change. The White House celebrates the natural-gas boom, so why is it hitting industry with new regulations? http://www.nationaljournal.com/daily/president-obama-s-gas-drilling-dance-20150114
Our Political Class: 114th Congress
Alan Caruba
(factsnotfantasy.blogspot.com) - I have a theory that ties in with backstabber John Boehner’s third election as Speaker of the House on Tuesday.
Could it be that the newly elected congressmen and women are greeted by one of the members who has been there long enough to be the chairperson of one of the many committees of the House and quickly informed that they now belong to a very exclusive group in which they can, with relative safety, ignore the voters who just elected them?
In the House there were 58 freshman members and in the Senate, there were 13, some of whom were formerly members of the House. In total, the opening session of Congress welcomed 246 Republicans and 188 Democrats.
Those contesting for the job of Speaker in addition to backstabber Boehner were Reps. Ted Yoho and Daniel Webster of Florida and Louie Gohmert of Texas. The Democrats nominated Rep. Nancy Pulosi. Four Democrats did not vote for her. Meanwhile Webster received 12 votes, Gohmert earned three, and Yoho won 2. Of the 408 votes cast, backstabber Boehner won 216.
My other theory is that enough members of the House had concluded that backstabber Boehner had done as good a job as possible under the circumstances and saw no reason to turn the job of Speaker over to someone who might rock the boat. His opposition came mostly from the strongly conservative bloc in the House.
What we likely have in the 114th Congress is a very pragmatic leadership who are not likely to do anything dramatic regarding immigration, energy, or any of the other issues about which conservatives want action. In both the House and the Senate, they know what they are up against. They will put forward legislation, but all it will do is demonstrate what we already know about nObama.
In his first speech on the floor of the Senate, Mitch McConnell (KY-R), the Majority Leader, said “Bipartisan compromise may not come easily for the President. The President’s supporters are pressing for militancy these days, not compromise.” Those supporters are the Far Left. I doubt that he or backstabber John Boehner met with the President that much over the past six years.
The Founding Fathers created a republic in which the business of legislating was intended to move slowly, subject to debate and the need for compromise. nObama has made it clear he has no intention to work with Congress, especially now that it is controlled by the GOP. So gridlock will continue and conservatives will stay angry.
Regarding my theory that our political class doesn’t really worry that much about what the voters want, do you recall the omnibus budget that was passed in the last hours of the previous Congress? That was 2,000-plus pages crammed full of things we are not likely to ever learn about until well after the money is spent. Does that suggest that the members of Congress think it wiser to keep us in the dark? Yes.
Think of it another way, Over the course of the last six years with nObama as President, the House passed some fifty resolutions calling for the repeal of nObamaCare. Were we supposed to take that seriously? Are we going to see legislation repealing, for instance, nObamacare’s medical device tax? Maybe. I will be very interested to see any legislation aimed at undermining nObamaCare because I believe the 114th Congress would prefer to wait for the courts to do that for them.
backstabber Boehner knew early on that nObama was a President who had little regard for Congress or, for that matter, the Constitution.
Despite a major rejection of the Democratic Party and nObama’s policies in the 2013 midterm elections, nObama has been acting as if the Party won those elections and they had confirmed his agenda. He has let it be known he has no intention of negotiating, preferring to use his veto power, unilateral executive orders, and to get what he wants via various federal agency regulations.
One of the most important functions of the 114th Congress will be oversight of departments and agencies. Has anyone heard from the Justice Department’s Lois Lerner lately? Any word about the Benghazi tragedy?
Little wonder that, after being elected to his third term as Speaker, backstabber Boehner said “All I ask is that we disagree without being disagreeable.” There are 435 members in the House of Representatives and backstabber Boehner is responsible primarily for its Republican members. If there are Democrats who are willing to cross the aisle, he will welcome their votes. As in the Senate, they will be needed on occasion.
Regarding the passage of legislation, backstabber Boehner said “It’s the real work. It’s a grind. The battle of ideas never ends and frankly never should. We Americans never quit,” adding “Let’s once and for all prove the skeptics wrong.”
It is worth keeping in mind, as Karl Rove reminded us in a Jan 7 commentary, "Every Republican senator and virtually every congressman challenged as insufficiently conservative won their primaries." The voters have spoken.
As unhappy as many conservatives are with backstabber Boehner and those they call RINOs (Republicans in Name Only), backstabber Boehner did not sound like a man expressing great joy at having been reelected to what appears to be a very difficult job. That this is his third term suggests that his colleagues in the House have a measure of respect for him that his critics do not.
As unhappy as many conservatives are with backstabber Boehner and those they call RINOs (Republicans in Name Only), backstabber Boehner did not sound like a man expressing great joy at having been reelected to what appears to be a very difficult job. That this is his third term suggests that his colleagues in the House have a measure of respect for him that his critics do not.
The House and Senate used to be exclusively an old white man’s club. Now the Speaker and the Senate Majority Leader are looking at an extraordinarily diverse membership.
The same day backstabber Boehner was reelected Speaker the Congressional Black Caucus hosted a swearing-in ceremony to welcome new and returning members of the House and Senate. There were 46 of them.
Rep. Mia Love (R-Utah) will make history as the first black Republican woman in Congress. She and the others represent the largest Black Republican class in Congress since the Reconstruction era. Makes you wonder what those blacks rioting in the streets are so angry about? More than 125 blacks have been elected to Congress over the past forty years, including of course, Barack nObama.
The 114th Congress has been hailed by The Hill as the “Most diverse Congress in history to take power.” There are a record number of female lawmakers at 104, alongside 420 men. Hispanic lawmakers will number 33 with 30 in the House and Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) in the Senate. There are 12 Asian-Americans and Oklahoma has contributed two Native-Americans.
The Hill reports that “A vast majority of lawmakers identify as Christian, either Protestant or Catholic, along with 16 Mormons.” There are 28 Jews, two Buddhists, two Muslims, and one Hindu.
Think you’d like to have backstabber John Boehner’s job or Mitch McConnell’s? To all that diversity add political points of view that range from Far Left to Far Right.
Let me return to my original theory. In the House, though they must face election every two years, I suspect they quickly conclude that there is no satisfying the voters so they might as well vote as they wish. In the Senate where they face election every six years, that goes double or triple.
These are professional politicians. Of the new Congress, ten have been governors, 32 were mayors, and 251 served in state legislatures. It’s a job they have chosen and, frankly, I am glad it is them, not me.
Comments