Digest

Friday, February 25, 2011

The Foundation

"Taxes should be continued by annual or biennial reenactments, because a constant hold, by the nation, of the strings of the public purse is a salutary restraint from which an honest government ought not wish, nor a corrupt one to be permitted, to be free. ... We must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We must make our election between economy and liberty, or profusion and servitude. ... The multiplication of public offices, increase of expense beyond income, growth and entailment of a public debt, are indications soliciting the employment of the pruning knife." --Thomas Jefferson

Government & Politics

The Shutdown Showdown

The budget fight enters Round 10

Though neither party wants to be responsible for a government shutdown, both parties are playing chicken in the run-up to March 4, when the debt ceiling will be reached. However, taxes will continue to be extracted. Early Saturday morning, the Republican-controlled House passed a $1 trillion spending bill to fund the government through September. The bill cut $61 billion from current spending levels -- a somewhat paltry sum that appears even more so when compared to Barack Obama's proposed $3.73 trillion debt bomb for fiscal year 2012. Still, Democrats in the Senate are promising that the House bill is dead on arrival because it cuts too much. Seriously.

The freshman Republican class in the House played a significant role in shaping the final bill by pushing for deep cuts in a number of areas where some senior Republicans fear to tread. A number of those cuts were aimed at signature areas of the Obama agenda, namely ObamaCare and the Dodd-Frank financial "reform" law. Democrat efforts to increase funding for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau failed, inhibiting their abilities to carry out the Dodd-Frank mandates. Republicans also succeeded in passing an amendment to deny funding for ObamaCare implementation through fiscal year 2011. However, the program will still receive $105.5 billion due to an automatic funding mechanism.

Rep. Jim Jordan, chairman of the Republican Study Committee, introduced an amendment to push for $21 billion in cuts above and beyond the $61 billion being considered. When faced with that, though, the GOP backbone withered as it so often does. Borrowing a Democrat talking point, some Republicans expressed concerns that the cuts went "too deep," and the amendment failed 147-281. Democrat leadership in both the House and the Senate have spoken out vociferously against the House budget because they realize the future of their agenda is at stake. Indeed, the president threatened to veto any spending bill that cuts "too deep" (see what we mean?).

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who just last week said that Obama's budget proposal would leave the nation with "unsustainable obligations over time," warned that the Republican cuts would "undermine our capacity to create jobs and expand the economy." We get whiplash just listening to him. The real laugh about Geithner's criticism is that it was made in Paris, France where he is representing the U.S. at a meeting of G20 finance ministers to discuss deficits. America is currently being raked over the coals for its outsized deficit spending, yet Geithner continues to validate the concerns of other major economic players.

By passing $61 billion in cuts, Republicans have called Obama's bluff, but the March 4 deadline looms. Congress still managed to take the week off for Washington's Birthday, which would seem to indicate a misplaced confidence in passing a spending resolution that's currently locked in a partisan standoff. The president is hoping that the American public will back him in the fight and believe his fearmongering about cuts that are "too deep." Republicans, though, are making a judgment based on the 2010 election results and the clear mandate from the American public to cut government spending. The question is, which side will blink first?

Hope 'n' Change: Administration Seeks 'Motion to Clarify'

The Obama administration filed a "motion to clarify" with U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson regarding his recent ruling that ObamaCare is unconstitutional on the grounds of its individual mandate. Such a motion would ordinarily consist of a request for reconsideration by the judge or a request for a stay pending an appeal. This particular motion merely states that the government will continue forward with the implementation of the law unless Judge Vinson issues another order stating that he intended for his ruling to act as an injunction against further action.

Judge Vinson is likely to reject the motion because the judiciary has spoken and the federal government must abide by the decision. As it stands, Vinson called his ruling the "functional equivalent of an injunction." This latest tactic to keep ObamaCare alive demonstrates that the administration can't meet the standard to stay Vinson's judgment. It also indicates that now they're grasping at straws, albeit transparently.

From the Left: Boss Rahm

Democrat Rahm Emanuel, Barack Obama's former White House Chief of Staff, was elected mayor of Chicago Tuesday, garnering 55 percent of the vote against five challengers. "All I can say is, you sure know how to make a guy feel at home," Emanuel said after his victory. That's ironic given that questions about his residency status (i.e., the fact that he didn't actually live in Chicago) nearly derailed his quest for the mayor's seat.

Emanuel becomes the first new mayor of Chicago in 22 years, with current mayor Richard Daley having decided not to seek re-election. When Emanuel announced his candidacy, he became the immediate frontrunner. The Daley Machine backed him, though Daley himself never officially endorsed a candidate, and Emanuel out-fundraised all of his opponents combined. He now faces the task of managing a city with a near-$1 billion budget deficit and $20 billion in unfunded public-employee pensions. (That seems to be a recurring theme these days, especially in cities and states with a strong union presence.) The Windy City is a one-party town, which should suit Emanuel just fine. He may well use the post as a launching pad for greater office, perhaps someday even seeking a return to the White House.

Income Redistribution: Of Green Schemes and Shams

Reports have surfaced that tie the Obama administration to a massive green energy stimulus scam by a failed California solar panel manufacturer whose billionaire majority owner happened to be a major fundraiser for the 2008 Obama-Biden campaign. Solyndra Inc. left taxpayers on the hook for $390.5 million by reneging on its promise to create 3,000 construction jobs and 1,000 manufacturing jobs. Instead of creating the president's utopian green manufacturing economy, Solyndra announced Nov. 3 that it planned to postpone expansion, close a plant and lay off workers. According to Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Cliff Stearns (R-FL), Solyndra should never have received a stimulus-guaranteed loan of $535 million. You don't say.

The Obama administration's government payback of its own campaign fundraiser's "green" enterprises -- that predictably never turn a profit -- has yet to prompt this administration to make meaningful efforts to stop fraud and waste. The government has no legitimate business trying to fund new industries and unproven startups. Sad how the Obama administration's green energy stimulus schemes continue to be financial calamities for the taxpayers.

National Security

Libyan Revolution Portends Middle East Meltdown

Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi's ossified regime is following in the footprints of Hosni Mubarak's Egyptian dynasty. At least two of Gadhafi's military pilots defected to Malta on Monday rather than bomb their countrymen as Gadhafi ordered. Various regime ministers have resigned in protest, and Gadhafi has had to refute rumors that he'd already fled to Venezuela. Gadhafi still vows to fight to the end -- to the "last bullet" -- and die as a martyr, but his ability to do so appears weaker by the hour. That's no thanks to the UN, though. The Security Council issued a press statement -- its weakest possible option short of saying nothing -- to condemn violence against civilians perpetrated by the Libyan regime. Libya's seat on the Human Rights Council, the UN's top human rights body, seems secure as well.

Curiously, Obama has been much quieter about Gadhafi's bloody regime than he was in his support for Mubarak's ouster. Perhaps that is because, by extension, Obama has ties to Gadhafi that he would like to leave in the closet. As you may recall, Obama's spiritual mentor, Jeremiah Wright, has long been tied to Gadhafi and the U.S. organization he sponsors, Louis Farrakhan's Nation of Islam. In the 2008 election campaign, Wright even noted, "When [Obama's] enemies find out that I went to Tripoli to visit [Gadhafi] with Farrakhan, a lot of his Jewish support will dry up quicker than a snowball in hell." Of course, at the time, his sychophants were so focused on "hope and change" that nobody noticed.

Libya's oil industry came to a virtual halt this week, and oil and gas prices predictably spiked. Libyan crude, long the benchmark due to its clean, easily refined composition, provides less than 3 percent of the world's oil, and even a total loss could probably be made up by increased Saudi production. However, its loss, even the threat of its loss, has driven up prices worldwide, as seen when oil approached $120 a barrel this week. Europe will be especially hard-hit by any prolonged stoppage of Libyan oil exports for two reasons: Much of Europe's oil is provided by Libya, and many of Europe's largest oil companies, most notably British Petroleum, are heavily invested in developing Libyan oil fields -- a double whammy of higher gas prices and lost economic activity.

Pan Am 103 -- Lockerbie

It appears that the favor of the Scottish and UK government's release of Abdel Baset al-Megrahi in 2009, is not going to pay much dividend. Al-Megrahi is the terrorist convicted in the murder of 259 people aboard Pan American flight 103 on their way home for Christmas in 1988, and 11 Scottish citizens when the bombed plane crashed in their village of Lockerbie. Yet another great moment in BP history...

In related news about vulnerable Arabic regimes, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah returned from three months abroad on Wednesday and promptly cracked open the royal piggy bank, clearly hoping simply to pay off any of his subjects who might be getting ideas about revolt. According to differing news reports, the king doled out between $34 and $37 billion worth of cheer in different subsidies. Abdullah and his very extended ruling family have good reason to worry. Saudi Arabia provides free college education to its young men and women but cannot provide them with jobs. Outside the oil industry, which is largely run by foreigners, and a limited number of government jobs, the ordinary Saudi has little opportunity to move up in the world or to support a family.

Warfront With Jihadistan: Talking Taliban

While America's best and bravest continue to take the fight to the Taliban and al-Qa'ida in Afghanistan, the Obama regime continues to make the Afghan campaign an unbelievably muddled mess, and it will be U.S. troops who pay the price -- with their blood. Reports from last weekend say that the U.S. has entered into direct contact with the Taliban in Afghanistan, hoping that at least some Taliban leaders will choose to break with al-Qa'ida and participate in Afghan electoral politics, such as they are. These would be the same Taliban who have been fighting and killing U.S. and Afghan forces over the past decade, who nurtured al-Qa'ida prior to 9/11, and who seek to impose a Sharia theocracy in Afghanistan, if not the world.

This move is another sign that Obama has no plans for victory in Afghanistan, that he never intended victory, and that he has grown weary of the effort. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton all but admitted as much last week, saying, "We are launching a diplomatic surge to move this conflict toward a political outcome that shatters the alliance between the Taliban and al-Qa'ida, ends the insurgency, and helps produce a stable Afghanistan and a peaceful region." Wow, a "diplomatic surge." If the Taliban are quaking in their boots from that statement, it's because they're laughing so hard. We, in our humble shop, can't wait for the diplomatic shock and awe campaign.

Unbelievably, Obama's State Department is also assisting a delegation from Afghan President Hamid Karzai that is seeking the release of 20 Taliban commanders and leaders at Gitmo. Of course, they're still held because there is no doubt that, if released, they would return to the battlefield and kill American troops.

If Obama doesn't care about Afghanistan or our troops there, and he decides to cut our losses and bring our troops home, perhaps those soldiers can then prepare for the time when they'll be needed here at home, when the jihadis again return to our shores. Or at least wait until we get a commander-in-chief who knows how to take the fight to the enemy.

Somali Pirates Kill American Christian Missionaries

Muslim Somali pirates killed four Americans Tuesday, marking the first American deaths since these pirates began terrorizing the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean in 2009. Scott and Jean Adam of California were living on a private vessel named "Quest" and were Christian missionaries who had been distributing Bibles in the region since 2004. They and friends Phyllis Mackay and Bob Riggle were overtaken by pirates last Friday. The U.S. Navy began monitoring the Quest shortly after the pirate takeover, but no action was taken until gunshots were heard aboard the ship. The four Americans had been shot. Two pirates were killed in the ensuing confrontation, and 13 more were captured.

Piracy is clearly terrorism, and the U.S. should take further measures to stop it. As we recall from history class, Thomas Jefferson took the fight against the Barbary Pirates all the way to the shores of Tripoli -- enshrined in a line of the Marines' Hymn -- with blockades and attacks on the port. The current administration should (but probably won't) consider more aggressive actions to put a stop to modern-day Somali piracy.

Profiles of Valor: 1973 Redux

Maschek

After being shot eleven times in an Iraqi firefight and recovering for two years in Walter Reed Army Medical Center, it's obvious that former Staff Sgt. Anthony Maschek isn't shying away from a fight. Indeed, he bravely stepped forward to endure the verbal punishment of fellow Columbia University students who jeered him at a town hall meeting for his stance in support of bringing the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) back to the campus. The 28-year-old freshman was greeted with the standard leftist epithet of "racist!" along with their boos and catcalls. At least they didn't spit on him.

However, the demise of ROTC at Columbia predates the controversy over homosexuals serving openly in the military, or even the birth of the young ideologues in the audience. The school disbanded a longstanding Navy ROTC program way back in 1969, and while ROTC training is available for Columbia students who wish to be Army and Air Force cadets, they have to attend those classes at other nearby colleges. Still, Maschek believed the Columbia program should be reinstated because "it doesn't matter how you feel about the war ... there are bad men out there plotting to kill you."

Obviously, those who believed the anti-military stance of Columbia and many of its Ivy League peers would disappear with the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" were too optimistic. DADT was a smokescreen for the real problem: the utter disdain for the military instilled by too many in academia and popular culture and proven by the misbehavior of Columbia students toward an American Patriot who deserves their profound respect.

Business & Economy

Climate Change This Week: SEC Bust

First, anthropogenic global warming was shown to be little more than an anthropogenic sham. Now, one company has been exposed as a fake for fraudulently profiting off the climate-change crusade. This week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) outed CO₂ Tech as having no "significant assets or operations" and charged seven individuals in a "global warming pump-and-dump scheme" that "resulted in more than $7 million in illicit profits from sales of stock in CO₂ Tech Ltd. at artificially inflated prices."

According to the Daily Caller, "The seven individuals carried out the scheme by distributing false information via emails and faxes, hiring stock promoters who carried out illegal 'matched orders' with Red Sea [a Costa Rican asset protection company]. In other words, they injected money into a fake account through Red Sea to jumpstart the market and drive up the stock price. As a result, according to the SEC, the company's stock jumped 81 percent in one day."

Moreover, according to the SEC's complaint, CO₂ Tech claimed relationships with companies such as Boeing when no such relationships existed. Now, not only do all seven face charges from the SEC but six of the seven also face related criminal charges from the U.S. Department of Justice. From global-warming profiteers to lawsuit defendants: For this group, we'd say the climate certainly has changed.

Around the Nation: Gov. Christie's Tax Cuts

Like him or not, New Jersey Republican Governor Chris Christie is on almost everyone's short list of potential presidential candidates for 2012. Here's an example why. Christie submitted a $29.4 billion budget that he's dubbed the "new normal" of state budgeting. In keeping with his focus on drawing business to the state, the budget calls for nearly $200 million in business tax reforms. Among the measures proposed are a phase-out of the Transitional Energy Facility Assessments, which the administration says will save businesses $62 million in the first year and $245 million in the fifth year. The governor also plans to double the tax credits for research and development, bringing the credit to 100 percent. The move would save businesses $33 million in the first year, according to administration figures.

Predictably, the governor's budget drew the ire of New Jersey Democrats. Settling in for a battle, Christie even vetoed a slew of Democrat job-creation and tax-cutting bills, saying that he wanted to include any taxing and spending within the annual budget because "a deal is a deal."

The Wall Street Journal noted that the small business tax cuts "underscores Mr. Christie's determination to be seen as a tax-cutter even amid one of the worst budget crises in years." Because New Jersey is one of two states with gubernatorial elections a year before other states, it's considered a bellwether for the rest of the country. Thus, Christie was credited nationally for taking the lead on cutting spending in his first budget. This second budget is considered a follow-on to his prior groundbreaking proposals.

Regulatory Commissars: Smoking 'Justice'

"The Justice Department wants the largest cigarette manufacturers to admit that they lied to the public about the dangers of smoking," reports the Associated Press, "forcing the industry to set up and pay for an advertising campaign of self-criticism for past behavior." The DOJ, as part of a 12-year-old lawsuit against the tobacco industry, wants companies to make 14 "corrective statements," which it released on Wednesday.

For example, the government aims to force tobacco companies to say, "A federal court is requiring tobacco companies to tell the truth about cigarette smoking. Here's the truth: ... Smoking kills 1,200 Americans. Every day." Also, "We falsely marketed low tar and light cigarettes as less harmful than regular cigarettes to keep people smoking and sustain our profits." Another one reads, "For decades, we denied that we controlled the level of nicotine delivered in cigarettes." A third statement says, "Here's the truth. ... We control nicotine delivery to create and sustain smokers' addiction, because that's how we keep customers coming back."

Regardless of one's position on smoking or "Big Tobacco," the strong-arm tactics on display here and the negative implications for liberty and Rule of Law are alarming. Substitute any other industry for tobacco producers -- say, gun manufacturers -- and the problem becomes a bit clearer.

Culture & Policy

Second Amendment: House Blocks Record-Keeping Regulation

Violence in Mexico by drug gangs with guns is all the fault of the United States. That seems to be the attitude of those at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE) who proposed a regulation forcing gun sellers in states bordering Mexico to report within five business days the multiple sales of certain semi-automatic weapons. As part of the backlash against an overly restrictive government, however, the House recently passed an amendment, authored by Reps. Dan Boren (D-OK) and Denny Rehberg (R-MT) to the 2011 fiscal year continuing budgetary resolution (H.R. 1) stripping funding for BATFE to enforce the restriction.

On another front cherished by gun-grabbers, a bill sponsored by Rep. Mike Ross (D-AR) to restore gun rights granted to District of Columbia residents by the Supreme Court's Heller decision (and rescinded by the District's City Council) is awaiting consideration -- that bill is H.R. 645.

In their haste to enact more regulation, BATFE seems to have forgotten that existing law already allows the federal government to examine records at gun shops as a matter of course. Moreover, the proposal ignores the fact that Mexican drug cartels routinely purchase weapons on the black market. No law we enact will stop that, just as the gun restrictions piled on by the District of Columbia's City Council haven't stopped gun crime in DC. But facts can't get in the way of circumventing the Second Amendment, can they?

Judicial Benchmarks: Justice Dept. Won't Defend DOMA

The Obama Justice Department dropped all pretenses this week and announced that it won't defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in federal court. DOMA, the Clinton-era law that was passed by huge bipartisan majorities in both houses, defines marriage as between one man and one woman, and it says that no state is required to recognize a same-sex marriage from another state. The administration has long held that it would defend the law in court, but that defense has been extremely lackluster. At least they're being honest now, though we wonder if anyone -- even his supporters -- actually believed that Obama opposed same-sex marriage. To the poor saps who did believe him we say: Welcome to politics.

The problem is that the administration is making policy preference its sole justification for this non-defense, not whether the law is deemed constitutional. That is an entirely new standard for the Justice Department, though it's certainly in keeping with this administration's blatant disregard for Rule of Law. The administration is now required to present Congress with a report detailing its reasons within 30 days, and the court of appeals will have to appoint counsel to defend the law. The latter could actually prove beneficial given that the administration's defense was so half-hearted.

Faith and Family: Health Care Conscience Regulation Change

Shortly before leaving office, President George W. Bush instituted regulations designed to protect health care providers who refuse to perform abortions and other medical procedures on moral or religious grounds. This week, the Health and Human Services Department (HHS) took a hatchet to these "conscience" regulations. This includes axing the critical requirement that health care institutions certify their intention to comply or risk losing their federal funding. HHS's reasoning for doing away with this provision? Too much paperwork -- seriously.

The administration has also announced that it will enforce them on a case-by-case basis. That means that while they're waiting for their case to be adjudicated, medical professionals could either be forced into participating in abortions and sterilizations, or be penalized for refusing to do so. In addition, medical school applicants can now be denied admission to the school of their choice based on their moral or religious convictions. This puts them at risk of suffering irreparable mental and financial harm.

Yet as bad as this is, it could have been even worse. In 2009, Obama had suspended the regulations, making sure everyone knew of his plans to trash them all together. Perhaps the public comment period had something to do with the administration's decision to back off; of the 300,000 comments submitted, 187,000 people were in favor of keeping the conscience regulations, while only 97,000 wrote to abort them.

Dr. Bernard Nathanson, R.I.P.

The pro-life movement lost one of its icons this week when Dr. Bernard Nathanson died of cancer at the age of 84. The OB/GYN is best known for his radical conversion from abortionist to tireless champion of the unborn. Nathanson, a co-founder of the pro-abortion group NARAL Pro-Choice America, admitted that he was responsible for 75,000 abortions and had personally performed 5,000 -- including one on a girlfriend he had gotten pregnant. He also revealed that he and other abortionists exaggerated the number of women who had died from illegal abortions. Those numbers had been key in winning people over to the pro-"choice" side.

Nathanson's renunciation of abortion began with the arrival of new sonogram technology in the 1970s; this technology also inspired his work on "The Silent Scream," a 1985 film that exposed the realities of abortion and changed the face of the debate. Later, he produced the documentary "Eclipse of Reason," which showed various abortion procedures, and he wrote several books about his experiences on both sides of the issue. His conversion was also a religious one; Nathanson, who had grown up in a secular Jewish home, became a devout Catholic in his later years. He will be missed.

Village Academic Curriculum: The University of Civility

Does irony never cease? First, actor Richard "Let Me Channel My Inner Hitler to Portray Dick Cheney" Dreyfuss named himself the poster child for civil political discourse, and now the University of Arizona is launching the National Institute for Civil Discourse which, as the University's student newspaper the Daily Wildcat reports, "is a non-partisan center designed to advance civility in political discourse." It's a response to the tragic shooting in Tucson last month. What's the irony? Well, joining former President George H. W. Bush as honorary chair of the Institute is none other than fellow former President Bill Clinton.

As Kevin D. Williamson of National Review points out, this is the same Bill Clinton who "tried to blame Oklahoma City on Rush Limbaugh" and "constantly implied that his critics were either racists, sexual deviants, corrupt, or all three." Clinton even whined to Peter Jennings, "You never had to live in a time when people you knew and cared about were being indicted, carted off to jail, bankrupted, ruined, because they were Democrats and because they would not lie." Naturally, this depends on what the definition of the word "lie" is, for as Williamson notes, "Of course, they were lying. Lying -- wagging one's finger and flat-out lying -- also is not traditionally considered part of civil discourse." Likening Cheney to Hitler? Blaming the deaths of Oklahoma City on the right wing? Civility, indeed!

And Last...

Everyone's favorite time of year -- federal tax return time -- is here. If you're worried about the complexities of the tax code and need some sound advice, look no further than the U.S. congressional representative for Harlem. "Rep. Charlie Rangel isn't backing down from anything after his censure by the House last year -- including offering tax advice," reports the New York Daily News. Among the ethics violations for which Rangel was censured in December was failing to report or pay taxes on rental income from a villa in the Dominican Republic. He was forced to resign his chairmanship of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, as well as pay some $10,000 in back taxes and penalties. Nevertheless, his latest "Rangel Report" to constituents included tax advice. Rangel's spokesman's only comment was that his boss does this every year. People can change, but Rangel has remained defiant throughout the process and we don't think his tax advice comes with a change of heart. We suppose the next thing we can expect is a healthy marriage seminar by Bill and Hillary Clinton.