GOVERNMENT & POLITICS

News from the Swamp: Fannie and Freddie

This week Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke stepped in to prevent the collapse of government-backed mortgage behemoths Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Both shareholder-owned companies, which are government-sponsored enterprises, buy or finance close to half of the $12-trillion U.S. mortgage market. Last week, Fannie and Freddie respectively lost 45 and 47 percent of their value on the New York Stock Exchange, though Freddie is considering selling $10 billion in new shares to raise capital. Bernanke’s Fed has offered to make discount loans available to the mortgage companies, while Paulson urged Congress to allow Treasury an 18-month window to buy equity in the firms to beef up their lines of credit.

Many in Congress, in the midst of putting together a $300-billion housing-bailout package for President George W. Bush, are all for the idea. Several Republicans are trying to put on the brakes, though, urging a few moments of contemplation. Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL) noted that the Treasury’s unprecedented move may not be necessary if the Fed is going to lend money directly to Fannie and Freddie. However, Bernanke’s gloom-and-doom testimony in Congress about the continuation of high energy and commodities prices in the coming months, combined with voter agitation over the economy, has prompted Congress to do something, anything, even if it’s the wrong thing—and it could be trillions of taxpayer dollars wrong.

One other aspect of this story that you won’t hear from the Leftmedia is the part played by Bill Clinton’s Budget Office Director, Franklin Raines, also the former Chairman and Chief Executive of Fannie Mae. Raines resigned in disgrace in 2004 after pocketing more than $50 million, largely gotten through a $6.3-billion accounting scandal. Raines’ actions are no doubt partially responsible for the current mess. In short, Fannie and Freddie are far from victims, but they are treated as such by the media.

New & notable legislation

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) has been the scourge of Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) in his attempts to get pork spending through the Senate. Using parliamentary rules, Coburn has been able to block some 100 bills from coming to the floor because he maintains that they represent nothing more than special interests at the expense of taxpayers. Reid has found a way around this by bundling many of those same bills into an omnibus package that he wants a vote on before the August recess. Will Coburn’s fellow Republicans stand by him and prevent cloture on the bill, or will they remain loyal to earmarks, some of which they created themselves? When it comes to the almighty dollar, don’t bet too heavily on party loyalty. Kudos, though, to Senator Coburn.

The House passed the 2009 intelligence authorization bill by voice vote on Wednesday. The bill limits available funds for covert actions next year until the (oxymoron alert) House intelligence panel is briefed on current activities. The Senate has yet to pass its version. President Bush may veto the bill if that provision remains in it when it reaches his desk.

From the Left: Political shenanigans

Barack and Michelle Obama find themselves the subjects of a satirical New Yorker magazine cover that has liberals screaming. The cover of the uber-liberal magazine depicts the two in the Oval Office, Barack in Muslim attire and Michelle dressed like a 60s Black Panther revolutionary complete with Afro and AK-47. A portrait of Osama bin Laden hangs over a fireplace in which an American flag burns. The cover pokes fun at every issue that Obama has had to contend with in his campaign, and the article itself decries the tactics of the vaunted Republican Attack Machine. Of course, the real issue liberals have with the cover is that it brings up all the controversies about Barack Hussein Obama that they had hoped were swept under the rug.

As for another Obama-related item, Jesse Jackson last week in a behind-the-scenes candid moment said that he wanted to “cut [Barack’s] nuts out.” This week, the news is that Jackson didn’t stop there. Jackson fumed that not only was Barack “talking down to black people,” but was “telling niggers how to behave.” Surely Jackson didn’t really use that word. After all, the NAACP held a funeral for it last July.

Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton is politely asking her donors to allow her to roll over their contributions to her presidential campaign for the 2012 contests, including her Senate re-election bid, the 2012 presidential primary, or the 2012 general election. The campaign has made a provision to refund contributions automatically if nothing is heard from donors by 28 August 2008.

Campaign watch: Congressional race update

In Georgia last July, Dr. Paul Broun surprisingly won a special election for an open GOP House seat over a better-funded Georgia legislator. The Grand Old Poobahs in the Party, however, expected this conservative misfit to lose this year’s primary. His opponent, state Rep. Barry Fleming, raised and spent more money and was backed by the state GOP… and still got thumped 71-29. Broun contends that this proves a congressman can win re-election, even while voting against unconstitutional expenditures. Broun’s four-part test for a bill: Is it constitutional and a proper function of government? Is it morally correct? Is it something we really need? Is it something we can afford? We hope other GOP candidates learn a lesson.

In Minnesota, former comedian and liberal pundit Al Franken is encountering rough sledding in his run to unseat Republican Senator Norm Coleman. While Franken’s ego and his Hollywood buddies are sure that he will pull it off, every poll has him losing to Coleman by anywhere from seven to 12 points in a state that Barack Obama is expected to carry easily. To complicate Franken’s problems further, he is going to have a primary challenger. Priscilla Lord Faris, daughter of a popular liberal judge, expects to raise up to $2 million for her campaign. Franken is favored to beat Faris, but a debilitating primary fight will make his run against Coleman that much harder.

Tony Snow, 1955-2008

Tony Snow, conservative writer and commentator and former White House Press Secretary, died Saturday of colon cancer. He was 53. He is survived by his wife of 21 years and their three children. Snow was an editorial writer from the late 1970s until he joined Fox News and served as the host of “Fox News Sunday” from its inception in 1996 until 2003. He continued with Fox until 2006, when he was chosen to replace Scott MacClellan as White House Press Secretary. Snow bravely battled cancer during his 17-month tenure there. In 2005, his colon was removed and he underwent six months of chemotherapy, and in 2007 an abdominal tumor was removed. He was a cheery firebrand when sparring with the press—reporters couldn’t help but like him, even when he was challenging or scolding them. As The Wall Street Journal noted, “A regrettable by-product of modern media proliferation is its frequent lack of restraint and good humor, especially on the Web. Tony Snow rose above such vituperation as a happy political combatant, which is one reason so many who knew him or watched him in action are now mourning his death.” Tony Snow’s faith was deep and powerful. He put God first, family and country second and himself a distant third. Our nation is no doubt poorer for his passing, yet far better that he lived.

NATIONAL SECURITY

Warfront with Jihadistan: Base attack

On Sunday, 200 Taliban fighters attacked 45 American soldiers at a remote outpost in Afghanistan. The Taliban militants crossed the border from nearby Pakistan under cover of darkness, surprising the American troops, who had not yet completed the defenses of their new, makeshift outpost. But despite being outnumbered more than four to one, the valorous American force inflicted grievous losses on the Taliban, who were driven off after a four-hour firefight. Nine American soldiers were killed and at least 15 more were injured. While Leftmedia outlets like The New York Times are pointing to the incident as proof that we are losing in Afghanistan, we think it shows that our courageous soldiers are capable of winning against overwhelming odds, especially when they are given the right strategy and support.

To that end, the Pentagon has dispatched the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln to the Gulf of Oman, where it will provide air support for U.S. special forces. Democrat and Republican lawmakers have confirmed that the White House has authorized a plan to deploy commandos deep into Pakistan’s tribal areas, where al-Qa’ida and the Taliban have been operating freely. The decision comes after a tumultuous debate among President Bush’s staff. In light of Islamabad’s failure (and even unwillingness) to rein in the Islamic terrorists within its borders, we believe that President Bush’s decision to take more aggressive action inside Pakistan is the right one. As the improved situation in Iraq clearly shows, an insurgency can be defeated, but only when its havens are no longer safe.

This week’s ‘Alpha Jackass’ award

Barack Obama, the national security neophyte, continues to prove himself unworthy of the title “Commander in Chief.” Obama tripped up on national security numerous times this week. First, as the situation in Iraq continues improving, Obama continues to stick by his 16-month plan for withdrawal. However, his campaign did scrub his Web site over the weekend, removing all criticism of the surge. Instead, it cites an “improved security situation” en route to advocating more change (read: retreat). Barack will travel to the Middle East beginning today, with a stop in Europe on the way. And he will have groupies—namely ABC anchor Charles Gibson, CBS anchor Katie Couric and NBC anchor Brian Williams, who will tag along and fawn appropriately.

Next up, the infamous New Yorker magazine article referenced above quotes Obama as saying, “My grandfather signed up for a war the day after Pearl Harbor was bombed, fought in Patton’s Army. He saw the dead and dying across the fields of Europe; he heard the stories of fellow troops who first entered Auschwitz and Treblinka…” Obama stuck his foot in his mouth on Auschwitz before, and we noted that the Red Army of Soviet Russia liberated that camp. Treblinka, on the other hand, was closed and destroyed by the Germans in 1943. Oops.

Finally, a gaffe that is far more worrisome than the others: According to Obama, the U.S. “cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives we’ve set.” He continued, “We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded.” Whoa there, compadre! (That’s a little Spanish there for the man who wants us all to learn it.) Will this “national security force” also wear brown shirts? Oddly enough, it seems that Obama’s campaign realized that wouldn’t fly—the line was stricken from the transcripts given to the media, though it is still in the video posted on YouTube.

Military Readiness: In need of carriers

“Without a respectable Navy—Alas, America!” So said John Paul Jones, the U.S. Navy’s greatest sailor. Jones understood the implicit need for sea power in a nation surrounded by wide oceans. Today, even in an age when planes can cross those same oceans in hours, almost all commercial goods and military equipment can be moved long distances only by sea. Sea power is also vital in protecting U.S. interests and allies around the world.

Between 1991 and 2001, however, the Navy saw its budget cut, which resulted in a reduction of the number of aircraft carriers from 15 to 11. Carriers are an integral part of the defense of any command theater, but they are particularly important in the Pacific for dealing with a military escalation between China and Taiwan. With the closest airfields located far from Taiwan—the nearest one is at Kadena, on the island of Okinawa, more than 350 miles away—carriers will bring vital airpower to the fight. A carrier’s planes may also be the only combat-ready air force in the vicinity on the day a war begins.

A troubling development indicates that China, too, understands the importance of the U.S. Navy’s aircraft carriers. According to defense industry experts, China has been working on a ballistic missile warhead that will target ships at sea, especially aircraft carriers. While the Navy will have some ability to defend against incoming ballistic missiles due to its previous work in this area, it is not hard to envision a mass missile attack overwhelming the self-defense capability of a carrier and its escorts. It’s something the politicians in Washington need to think about as they decide how much funding to give a 279-ship fleet that numbered nearly 600 under commander in chief Ronald Reagan.

Profiles of valor: USA Sgt. Mora

United States Army Sergeant Ezequiel Mora of DeKalb, Illinois, was on patrol in a Baghdad neighborhood in May 2007 when his convoy was attacked. The rear Humvee in the convoy was hit by an explosively formed penetrator, the most lethal of all roadside bombs. The convoy commander and platoon medic were both in the damaged vehicle, and both were badly injured. Mora directed his Humvee to the rear. He ignored heavy fire as he jumped out to aid the trapped soldiers. Mora assisted in rescuing the gunner and administered first aid to the badly wounded medic. He turned his attention back to the wounded gunner and, along with another sergeant, carried him to safety though still under fire from the insurgents. Sergeant Mora saved the lives of many soldiers that day. As a result of his courage and determination, he was awarded the Bronze Star with Valor.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

President lifts offshore-drilling ban

President Bush this week rescinded his father’s executive order banning offshore oil drilling. The next step is for Congress to do likewise. Its ban sunsets in September, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has promised to do everything in her power to keep the ban in effect. “The president of the United States, with gas at $4 a gallon because of his failed energy policies, is now trying to say, ‘That is because I couldn’t drill offshore’,” Pelosi said. “That is not the cause, and I am not going to let him get away with it.” Truth be told, we hope she maintains this position—straight through to an election loss for Democrats in November. “Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are standing in the way of what the American people want,” Minority Leader John Boehner said. The high price of gas is a winning campaign issue for Republicans if they will only take hold of it.

The president explained his decision in a press conference this week. Illustrating the nanny-state approach of most Leftists, a reporter asked, “Why have you not, sir, called on Americans to drive less and turn down the thermostat?” President Bush’s answer was brilliant: “They’re smart enough to figure out whether they’re going to drive less or not.” He added, “I think people ought to conserve and be wise about how they use gasoline and energy, absolutely, but… it’s a little presumptuous on my part to dictate to consumers how they live their lives.” We couldn’t have said it better. Furthermore, in 2001, President Bush proposed new drilling and new refineries, more nuclear power plants, revamping the electricity grid and tax breaks for alternative energy. If these things had been enacted then, we would not be paying $4 at the pump today.

This week’s ‘Braying Jenny’ award

“You know, God bless him, bless his heart, president of the United States, a total failure, losing all credibility with the American people on the economy, on the war, on energy, you name the subject…[He’s] challenging Congress when we are trying to sweep up after his mess over and over and over again.” —House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

Mass. chaos over healthcare

In a continuing ode to budgetary ineptitude, Massachusetts’ promises of controlled program costs for its mandatory healthcare plan have flat-lined. This misguided scheme has managed to cover only about half of the uninsured persons for whom it was intended, and it is costing far more per year than predicted. Instead of trying to rein in the runaway costs of the program by cutting overly generous benefits, the governor, in typical Democrat fashion, instead is proposing to impose additional taxes to make up for cost overruns.

Governor Duval Patrick’s proposal to raise $100 million would confiscate about a third of that amount by requiring employers with more than 10 employees to pay at least a third of employee premiums within 90 days of hiring. Additionally, he would demand that at least a quarter of the employees be enrolled in an employer-sponsored insurance plan. As with previous attempts to impose arbitrary taxation schemes to fund a government-conceived universal health plan, the Massachusetts legislature will discover these tax ideas are forbidden by the federal government’s Employee Retirement Income Security Act. It’s time politicians start looking to balance budgets by cutting costs and correcting their mistakes, rather than passing them on to taxpayers.

Big Three strains under Big Labor

While the largest of the Big Three automakers, General Motors, recently announced that it will cut back truck production by 150,000 a year, another automaker unveiled plans to open a new assembly plant. As Investor’s Business Daily notes, “Guess which one is unionized.”

Volkswagen is planning to invest $1 billion into its new plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and expects to produce roughly the same number of units that GM is dropping, about 150,000. It also means about 2,000 new jobs for that region, not to mention the spinoff employment that follows a plant of that size.

Part of GM’s problem is a shift in market away from more profitable trucks and SUVs in favor of smaller cars, but a larger issue is the ongoing effort by the United Auto Workers union to furnish its membership and their families with lavish cradle-to-grave services while automakers pick up the tab. Add in another program that the Big Three willingly allowed to be implemented—that of paying laid-off and displaced workers practically full salaries and benefits—and Detroit automakers are hamstrung by nearly $3,000 per car that the market won’t forgive.

Short of absolute UAW capitulation on all of these issues when its labor contracts expire in 2011, the long-term outlook for the Big Three is bleak. If any of the companies go bankrupt and close permanently, the irony will be that the union which gave its members so much ended up costing them their very livelihoods.

CULTURE

Around the nation: DC ignores Heller ruling

On 26 June, the Supreme Court ruled in District of Columbia vs. Heller that Washington, DC’s handgun ban violated the Second Amendment, forcing the city to draft new gun legislation. The DC city council is now considering that new legislation, but if it passes, it’s almost certain that the District will end up in court again. That’s because DC’s new law doesn’t look much different from the old one.

While handguns would be allowed in DC homes under the new legislation, semiautomatic pistols would still be illegal. “The semiautomatic ban is clearly unconstitutional,” said Alan Gura, the attorney who successfully challenged DC’s handgun ban. “The overwhelming majority of handguns people use in the United States are semiautomatic.” This is significant because the Supreme Court majority opinion noted that weapons in “common use” could not be banned, but only “dangerous and unusual weapons.”

Also basically unchanged is DC’s requirement that guns be locked or disassembled unless there is an “immediate threat.” In other words, the District of Columbia expects residents to assemble and load a revolver while being attacked by an intruder in the middle of the night. We doubt the Supreme Court would be amused, especially since Chief Justice John Roberts mocked the very idea during the oral-arguments phase of Heller.

No matter—Washington, DC, is intent on defying the Heller ruling anyway. “[B]ecause we really haven’t changed the storage rule from the prior unconstitutional law and because of other features, I do agree that this is a lawsuit waiting to happen,” said council member Mary Cheh, “but we’ll be prepared.” The problem is, the law-abiding citizen who is threatened in his own home won’t be prepared.

Faith and Family: Same-sex marriage en Mass.

As it now stands, 26 states have constitutional amendments defining marriage as between one man and one woman. Add to that the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which provides that states need not recognize same-sex marriages from other states. Still, many conservatives are pointing to Massachusetts and California as reasons to enact an amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

This week, Massachusetts made news again on the same-sex marriage front. The New York Times reports, “On Tuesday, the State Senate voted to repeal a 1913 law that prevents Massachusetts from marrying out-of-state couples if their marriages would not be legal in their home states.” The House is expected to follow suit. While many in the legislature call the bill an “economic benefit” since out-of-state couples will come to Massachusetts to “marry,” the end game of such legislation is to test the “full faith and credit” clause of the U.S. Constitution as same-sex couples then return to their home states and demand recognition. One thing certainly smells fishy to us: We thought the judiciary, not the legislature, made marriage law in the Gay, er, Bay State.

Colorado to vote on ‘personhood’

In November, Colorado voters will become the first in the nation to vote on the question of when human life begins. Funded by Colorado for Equal Rights, a pro-life organization, the Human Life Amendment says the words “person” or “persons” in the state constitution should “include any human being from the moment of fertilization.” Leslie Hanks, vice president of Colorado Right to Life, which supports the amendment, says, “The goal is to restore legal protection to preborn babies from the moment they are conceived, which is the only way we’re going to stop abortion.” On the other hand, “If we give fertilized eggs legal rights, abortion could be considered murder and a woman could be sent to jail for making the difficult life decision to terminate a pregnancy,” said Crystal Clinkenbeard, spokeswoman for the misnamed Protect Families, Protect Choice, which opposes the amendment. Interestingly, National Right to Life and Focus on Family do not support the measure.

Update: Knoxville murder case

Last year, Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom of Knoxville, Tennessee, were brutally tortured, raped and murdered. Christian and Newsom were white, and their killers black, hence the dearth of media attention. In his essay, “Murder in Black and White,”, Mark Alexander examines the gruesome details of the case as well as the media’s negligence. This week, justice has been delayed in the trial of suspect George Thomas. His trial, which was to begin 11 August, was rescheduled for August 2009 after the request for a speedy trial was dropped. All four defendants face the death penalty if convicted.

Climate change this week: Round up

In a bid to reduce so-called “greenhouse gases,” Columbia University researchers have proposed injecting carbon dioxide emissions from power plants into formations of volcanic rock beneath 8,000 feet of ocean and 1,000 feet of sediment in the Pacific Northwest. They claim that the porous basalt can hold up to 120 years’ worth of U.S. emissions. This instead of offshore drilling? That sounds like a lot of hot air to us.

Speaking of rocks, researchers at the University of Texas claimed in a recent paper that global warming will cause a massive rise in the number of Americans who suffer from kidney stones. In keeping with today’s scientific drumbeat of doom and gloom, the disastrous effects this will have on the economy are already spelled out in dollar signs.

Meanwhile, Lawrence Solomon, author of the anti-climate change alarmism book The Deniers, has discovered liberal bias on Wikipedia. Solomon claims that editors have conspired to forge a false doomsday consensus regarding global warming on the popular online “people’s encyclopedia.” More specifically, he cites Wikipedia administrator and so-called “expert” William Connolley, a one-time climatologist who made a number of unsuccessful bids for office with England’s Green Party, claiming that Connolley uses his editorial power to enforce his doomsday beliefs and smear reputable scientists. Beyond climate change alarmism, Solomon says, Wikipedia is skewed toward Leftist views on almost everything. Imagine that.

And last…

As we have noted in the past, climate alarmists have a twisted fascination with cow flatulence. The latest experiment on the frontiers of junk science comes from researchers at the National Institute of Agricultural Technology in Argentina, who had the brilliant idea of strapping giant plastic tanks onto the backs of cows to catch their wind. Really, who wants that job? One researcher estimates that Argentina’s 55 million cows create more than 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the country. The next step is to figure out which diet reduces methane emissions. Apparently, clover and alfalfa instead of grain will do the trick. Less beer and potato chips, too. Another alternative benefit of this study might be to popularize a whole new kind of whoopee cushion.

Veritas vos Liberabit—Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus, et Fidelis! Mark Alexander, Publisher, for The Patriot’s editors and staff. (Please pray for our Patriot Armed Forces standing in harm’s way around the world, and for their families—especially families of those fallen Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen, who granted their lives in defense of American liberty.)