I told you Friday about the Obama administration’s latest concession to Iran — granting the Islamic Republic’s financial institutions access to U.S. dollars. Members of Congress aren’t happy.

Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the second highest ranking House Democrat, blasted last week’s announcement, saying, “…the Administration had indicated that there would be no further concessions beyond those specifically negotiated and briefed to Congress. I do not support granting Iran any new relief without a corresponding concession.”

Today, there are reports that Congress is investigating whether the Obama administration misled our elected representatives about the terms of the Iranian nuclear deal. Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-KS), who serves on the House Intelligence Committee, told reporters, “… the gap between [the administration’s] promises on the Iran nuclear deal and today’s scary reality continues to widen. We are now trying to determine whether this was intentional deception on the part of the administration or new levels of disturbing acquiescence to the Iranians.”

Meanwhile, Tehran is warning that its missile program is off limits. General Maassoud Jazzayeri, the Iranian deputy chief of staff, said today that Iran’s “missile power … is among the Iranian nation’s red lines.” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, said last week, “Those who say the future [of Iran] is in negotiations, not in missiles, are either ignorant or traitors.”

Blue Lives Matter

Last week, State Trooper Chad Dermyer, a Marine veteran, was assassinated at a Greyhound bus station in Richmond, Virginia. His murderer, James Brown III, fired multiple shots at point-blank range. Other troopers returned fire, killing Brown.

Authorities said they had no motive for Brown’s actions. But his aunt told reporters, “He had a lot of anger about the police in the past… He always praised those people who got into shootouts with police.”

Trooper Dermyer’s death comes as new evidence indicates that while total police deaths are down compared to 2015, more officers are being gunned down in the line of duty. According to the Officer Down Memorial Page, police deaths by gun fire are up 150% this year.

While the media and, sadly, some Republicans are hyperventilating over the rhetoric of certain presidential candidates, the extreme anti-law enforcement rhetoric of the left, and especially the Black Lives Matter movement, gets a pass. Maybe we should be more concerned about the real life consequences of hateful rhetoric against the police!

Blue lives matter! Please pray for men and women in law enforcement who put their lives on the line to protect people of all races each and every day.

Big Business vs. Common Sense

Last week, more than 100 corporate CEOs signed a letter to North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory demanding the repeal of commonsense legislation that requires individuals to use public restrooms and other facilities that coincide to the sex of their birth.

The list of signers reads like a who’s who of the business community — Apple, Bank of America, Barnes and Noble, Hyatt Hotels, Yahoo, just to name a few. In their view, the legislation upholding the public’s expectation of privacy in public bathrooms amounts to discrimination. Moreover, they insist that not allowing men to use the women’s restroom is somehow detrimental to economic development.

CNBC is piling on, too, suggesting that laws defending religious liberty and issues like transgender bathrooms will affect a state’s pro-business ranking.

When did American businesses decide that in order to be pro-business you have to embrace San Francisco values?

Of course, any U.S. corporation that thinks men should be able to use women’s bathrooms can leave North Carolina and move to high-tax New York or big government California, but I doubt its shareholders would agree with its priorities.