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Thursday, May 24, 2018
All Gave Some~Some Gave All
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What Obama Administration Did Was Much Worse Than Watergate
At the end of all the scandal and drama, all of the breathlessly reported lies and false accusations, at the end of all the money wasted on some zany kabuki swamp dance choreographed to the thrumming of giant bullfrogs and yipping of excited coyotes — at the end of all of this — it comes down to precisely what we said it was a year and a half ago.
The Obama administration — with or without the knowledge and direction of President Obama himself — perverted one of the most powerful, clandestine spying operations in the world and used it at the very height of a presidential campaign to spy on political opponents, punish them and, ultimately, silence them through extortion.
If this was orchestrated without the express knowledge of Mr. Obama, then it reveals just how blatantly he instructed by example the weaponizing of the entire federal government to carry out his low, dishonest and unjust ideology. By any means necessary, one might say. Only instead of being driven by visions of justice, these people were driven by visions of undying power.
If this conspiracy was carried out at the express direction of Mr. Obama or other high officials in his administration, then they belong in jail. From unmasking of political opponents to leaking their names to the press, to killing legitimate investigations, to launching politically motivated witch hunts, a racket of this scale could not have been carried out without some major juice and cover at the top levels of the Department of Justice, FBI, and the White House.
The rogue henchmen carrying out the dirty work, as always, presented as perfect, decent and most honest little Boy Scouts like former FBI Director James B. Comey.
Most of the FBI today must be horrified by the degree to which Mr. Comey and his goon squad handed over the entire mission of the FBI to political hacks inside the Obama administration. Still, there were far too many inside the bureau willing to junk their oath in the name of some kind of higher “justice.” Which is just another way of saying “selling their soul for partisan gain.
What the Obama administration did to infiltrate the Trump campaign, spy on political opponents and then launch a wicked vendetta against them is worse than anything J. Edgar Hoover ever did — at least that we know about.
It is worse than any of the domestic abuses by the CIA during the Cold War.
It is worse even than what the federal government did to undermine civil rights activists like Martin Luther King Jr.
As bad and corrupt as it is to harass innocent citizens under any circumstances, it is so much worse to weaponize the government to pursue and punish and eliminate domestic political opponents. That is the sort of thing that destroys a Republic.
And yes, it is even much worse than Watergate. At the end of the day, Watergate was a bungled break-in by low-level political hacks. And then it was about the political cover-up and how high it went.
What happened under Mr. Obama is the stuff of Third-World dictators.
When Donald Trump was running for president, establishment Republicans and Democrats alike ran around thumping their chests feigning outrage that Mr. Trump would not be capable of respecting the Constitution.
At that time, the Obama administration was spying on Mr. Trump and his campaign and carrying out the most extensive and brazen undercover espionage-war campaign against political opponents that we have ever seen.
All the while nary a peep from these same smarmy swamp creatures as Mr. Obama rolled the constitution into joints so he and his political Choom Gang could smoke bales of weed.
Left-Wing Billionaire Michael Bloomberg: Raising Taxes on Poor People Is a “good thing.”
Bloomberg: “The question is do you want to pander to those people?”
Bloomberg: “Taxes or life? Which do you want to do? Take your poison.”
Michael Bloomberg, a nanny-state-imposing left-wing billionaire, is now on video promoting tax increases on poor people, calling such tax hikes a “good thing.” For years, Bloomberg has personally funded and promoted all sorts of regressive taxes and regulations in an attempt to push people around. He uses the coercive power of the government to force people to live their lives as he sees fit.
So here is Bloomberg on stage with another global mandarin, Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund. Bloomberg refers to low income individuals as “those people” and takes shots at the U.S. military and coal miners. He clearly reveals his arrogant, bullying worldview [click here for video]:
Michael Bloomberg: “Some people say, well, taxes are regressive. But in this case, yes they are. That's the good thing about them because the problem is in people that don't have a lot of money. And so, higher taxes should have a bigger impact on their behavior and how they deal with themselves. So, I listen to people saying 'oh we don't want to tax the poor.’ Well, we want the poor to live longer so that they can get an education and enjoy life. And that's why you do want to do exactly what a lot of people say you don't want to do.
The question is do you want to pander to those people? Or do you want to get them to live longer? There's just no question. If you raise taxes on full sugary drinks, for example, they will drink less and there's just no question that full sugar drinks are one of the major contributors to obesity and obesity is one of the major contributors to heart disease and cancer and a variety of other things.
So, it's like saying, ‘I don't want to stop using coal because coal miners will go out of work, will lose their jobs.’ We have a lot of soldiers in the United States in the US Army, but we don't want to go start a war just to give them something to do and that's exactly what you're saying when you say 'well, let's keep coal killing people because we don't want coal miners to lose their jobs.' The truth of the matter is that there aren't very many coal miners left anyways and we can find other things for them to do. But the comparison is: a life or a job. Or, taxes or life? Which do you want to do? Take your poison.”
Christine Lagarde: “So its regressive, it is good. There are lots of tax experts in the room. And fiscal experts, and I’m very pleased that they hear you say that. And they all say that two things in life which are absolutely certain. One is death, the other one is tax. So you use one to defer the other one.”
Bloomberg: “That’s correct. That is exactly right. Well said.” [Applause]
For years, billionaire Bloomberg has sat atop an Ivory Tower with a massive checkbook, judging the appropriateness of raising prices on low-income consumers. He has no concept for the difficult choices consumers make on a daily basis and despite claiming he cares about things like public health, he’s actually championed taxes and policies that harm it.
For one, he’s committed $20 million in the last year alone to demonizing people who decide to quit smoking known-harmful cigarettes. Many are able to quit thanks to the help of tobacco-free alternatives like vapor products. But Bloomberg is a major funder of organizations like the Campaign for Tobacco-free Kids, an organization that pushes prohibition of vapor products, despite the growing international consensus that they are at least 95% less harmful than cigarettes. His money is being used to harm public health by reducing the choices consumers have who are trying to improve their personal health in switching to lower risk alternatives.
This isn’t the only effort. He’s also bankrolled the effort to raise the cost of everyday groceries in places like Chicago, New Mexico, Philadelphia, and Washington through higher beverage taxes. Soda taxes don’t work; they are regressive, unpopular across the political spectrum, and they result in low income people having less income in their pockets. The outcome is lower economic mobility simply because billionaire Bloomberg has no fundamental understanding of what it means to live paycheck to paycheck. So while he entertains the world’s wealthiest, his money is being used to make it harder for American’s most vulnerable to afford energy bills, mortgages, and everyday products.
Bloomberg's remarks were made on April 19, 2018 at the IMF’s Spring Meeting.
U.S. Supreme Court rules against Obama administration
Image via Joseph Sohm / Shutterstock.comThe administration that has “no” scandals just got hit with another one and it is a doozy.
The Supreme Court ruled, in a 6-2 decision, then-President Barack H. Obama illegally allowed Lafe Solomon to serve at the “acting” general counsel for the National Labor Relations Board.
Unconstitutional
In 2010, Ronald Meisburg resigned as general counsel for the NLRB.
Obama then nominated Lafe Solomon for the appointment.
However, Obama also appointed him to hold the position temporarily until his confirmation came through.
The appointment stalled in the Senate for more than two years and was eventually withdrawn.
However, the case was made Solomon being allowed to continue serving temporarily was a constitutional violation.
The Violation
As General Counsel, Solomon was supposed to have stepped down from any position held or give up stock in any company that could create a conflict of interest.
The company that filed the lawsuit, SW General, presented the argument Solomon should have never been able to hold the position since he was actually the presidential appointee.
The Supreme Court agreed.
The two dissenting votes, Justices Sotomayor and Ginsburg, cited the fact that more than 100 people have served in “acting” roles while awaiting confirmation.
In addition, when Solomon stepped in on behalf of a company where he had an investment stake, he violated the agencies ethics laws.
Ripple Effect
The ruling is a significant hit against the legacy of Barack Obama, but it will also impact other administrations in the future.
This ruling means sitting presidents will now have less discretion when appointing someone to a temporary role while an appointment is being confirmed.
If this ruling is used as precedent moving forward, no appointee will be able to hold a position until they are actually confirmed by the Senate.
Report: FBI Agents Want To Be Subpoenaed To Testify Against Comey, McCabe
By Rebekah Baker
There are numerous agents within the FBI eager to be subpoenaed so they can testify about problems that occurred within the bureau under the leadership of former FBI Director James Comey and former Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, according to three sources who spoke to The Daily Caller.
All three sources are in direct contact with active FBI agents, according to The Daily Caller.
Former federal prosecutor Joe DiGenova told The Daily Caller on Tuesday that many agents are angry that “the bureau was used as a tool of political intelligence by the Obama administration thugs.”
“There are agents all over this country who love the bureau and are sickened by (James) Comey’s behavior and (Andrew) McCabe and (Eric) Holder and (Loretta) Lynch and the thugs like (John) Brennan,” DiGenova said. “Who despise the fact that the bureau was used as a tool of political intelligence by the Obama administration thugs. They are just waiting for a chance to come forward and testify.”
“I can assure you I’ve been approached by agents who want to be subpoenaed for the same reason as the guys in the field,” he continued. “All over this country there are agents but the big ones the ones that matter New York/Washington I can assure you I’ve spoken with agents who want to come forward.”
The Daily Caller also spoke with a former Trump official who has maintained contact with FBI agents, as well as a counter intelligence consultant who held an interview with an active special agent of the FBI’s Washington Field Office.
“TheDC independently confirmed the veracity of the consultant’s position and access, and reviewed detailed transcripts of his Q&A with the special agent, who requested the arrangement due to internal dragnets and fear of vicious retribution,” The Daily Caller report stated.
The former Trump administration official told The Daily Caller that FBI agents would rather be subpoenaed than risk the political and professional backlash that would likely come with being a government whistleblower.
“(W)hen you are subpoenaed, Congress then pays … for your legal counsel and the subpoena protects [the agent] from any organizational retaliation,” he said. “They are on their own as whistleblowers, they get no legal protection and there will be organizational retaliation against them.”
As someone who has represented whistleblowers in the past, DiGenova agreed with the former Trump staffer’s assessment.
“It’s an intelligent approach to the situation given the vindictive nature of the bureau under Comey and McCabe. I have no idea how to read Chris Wray, who is not a leader and who has disappeared from the public eye during this entire crisis. You know, he may be cleaning house but if he’s doing so, he’s doing it very quietly,” he said.
“I don’t blame them,” he continued. “I don’t blame the agents one bit. I think that the FBI is in a freefall. James Comey has destroyed the institution he claims to love. And it is beyond a doubt that it is going to take a decade to restore public confidence because of Comey and Clapper and Brennan and Obama and Lynch.”
The former Trump official also claimed the corruption at the FBI goes far beyond Comey and McCabe.
“They know that it wasn’t just Comey and McCabe in this case. That’s too narrow a net to cast over these guys. There’s a much broader corruption that seeped into the seventh floor at the bureau,” the staffer said.
“They ruined the credibility of the bureau and the technical ability of the bureau, so systematically, over the past several years, they’re worried about their organizational reputation and their professional careers,” he said.
An Washington FBI agent who spoke to The Daily Caller’s third source also said that “rank and file FBI agents” are desperate for justice from the DOJ.
“Every special agent I have spoken to in the Washington Field Office wants to see McCabe prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. They feel the same way about Comey,“ the special agent said, according to transcripts provided to The Daily Caller.
“Activity that Congress is investigating is being stonewalled by leadership and rank-and-file FBI employees in the periphery are just doing their jobs. All Congress needs to do is subpoena involved personnel and they will tell you what they know. These are honest people. Leadership cannot stop anyone from responding to a subpoena. Those subpoenaed also get legal counsel provided by the government to represent them,” the special agent added.
These revelations about FBI agents willing and eager to testify against Comey and McCabe come ahead of the release of inspector general’s report regarding how the bureau handled the Clinton email server investigation.
“Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz announced the draft report was done in a letter to members of Congress on Wednesday,” Fox News reported last week. “He did not say when the results of the review will be officially released to the FBI, DOJ and congressional committees.”
Grassley to DOJ: Why Is There a Redaction on a Strzok Text Message Referring to the Obama White House 'Running an Investigation'
Grassley to DOJ: Why Is There a Redaction on a Strzok Text Message Referring to the Obama White House 'Running an Investigation'
Katie Pavlich
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley sent a letter to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein Wednesday asking for the remaining redactions of text messages between FBI Agents Peter Strzok and Lisa Page to be removed. Strzok and Page are the agents who were busted earlier this year for anti-Trump, pro-Clinton bias during the 2016 presidential election.
According to the letter, the redactions appear to be improper and cover information, including lavish spending and FBI investigations, the American people deserve to see. There's also a redacted reference to an investigation being led by the Obama White House.
"On May 1, 2018, and May 18, 2018, Committee staff reviewed in camera less redacted versions of the Strzok and Page text message productions provided to the Committee. On several occasions, my staff have requested that the Department of Justice provide the Committee with a redaction key, to no avail. Thus, the Committee is still in the dark about the justification the Department is relying upon to withhold that information from Congress," the letter states. "As one example of redacted material, in a text message produced to the Committee, the price of Andrew McCabe’s $70,000 conference table was redacted. In another, an official’s name was redacted in reference to a text about the Obama White House 'running' an investigation, although it is unclear to which investigation they were referring."
"In order to see under the redactions, Committee staff had to travel to main Justice to review a lesser redacted version. When viewing the still redacted portions in context with the unredacted material, it appeared that the redacted portions may contain relevant information relating to the Committee’s ongoing investigation into the manner in which the Department of Justice and FBI handled the Clinton and Russia investigations," the letter continues (bolding is mine). "Congress, and the public, have a right to know how the Department spends taxpayer money.
I am unaware of any legitimate basis on which the cost of a conference table should be redacted. Embarrassment is not a good enough reason. The manner in which some redactions have been used casts doubt on whether the remaining redactions are necessary and defensible."
Grassley has asked for the message to be turned over in unredacted form by June 6.
Democrats’ Russia truth coming out
Possible Trump campaign spying comes back to bite
Adriana Cohen
According to the letter, the redactions appear to be improper and cover information, including lavish spending and FBI investigations, the American people deserve to see. There's also a redacted reference to an investigation being led by the Obama White House.
"On May 1, 2018, and May 18, 2018, Committee staff reviewed in camera less redacted versions of the Strzok and Page text message productions provided to the Committee. On several occasions, my staff have requested that the Department of Justice provide the Committee with a redaction key, to no avail. Thus, the Committee is still in the dark about the justification the Department is relying upon to withhold that information from Congress," the letter states. "As one example of redacted material, in a text message produced to the Committee, the price of Andrew McCabe’s $70,000 conference table was redacted. In another, an official’s name was redacted in reference to a text about the Obama White House 'running' an investigation, although it is unclear to which investigation they were referring."
"In order to see under the redactions, Committee staff had to travel to main Justice to review a lesser redacted version. When viewing the still redacted portions in context with the unredacted material, it appeared that the redacted portions may contain relevant information relating to the Committee’s ongoing investigation into the manner in which the Department of Justice and FBI handled the Clinton and Russia investigations," the letter continues (bolding is mine). "Congress, and the public, have a right to know how the Department spends taxpayer money.
I am unaware of any legitimate basis on which the cost of a conference table should be redacted. Embarrassment is not a good enough reason. The manner in which some redactions have been used casts doubt on whether the remaining redactions are necessary and defensible."
Grassley has asked for the message to be turned over in unredacted form by June 6.
Democrats’ Russia truth coming out
Possible Trump campaign spying comes back to bite
Adriana Cohen
Credit: AP Former CIA Director John Brennan, left, and former National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers, rush to a meeting with the Senate Intelligence Committee in their probe of Moscow's meddling in the 2016 campaign, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 16, 2018. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)A Democratic Watergate is unfolding before our eyes.
It’s no wonder Obama’s former CIA chief John Brennan is tweeting like a madman, attacking President Trump, House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Brennan’s running scared because it’s starting to look like he may have been a co-conspirator in the biggest political scandal since, well, Watergate.
Yesterday, Trump met with FBI Director Christopher Wray, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats to inquire if Brennan’s CIA and the FBI spied on his 2016 presidential campaign, as reported by The New York Times and other media last week.
If it’s confirmed that the Obama administration used U.S. intelligence agencies and the Justice Department to go after political opponents — to keep Democrats in power through a presidential election cycle — Attorney General Jeff Sessions should immediately un-recuse himself from the Russia “collusion” witch hunt, shut it down and open a criminal investigation into all parties involved.
And to think that Democrats and their puppets in media have been calling Trump the greatest threat to democracy all this time when their party may have been using authoritarian tactics against the leader of the opposition party and his associates.
It will be the height of irony if it is established that Democrats, who have been screaming Russia, Russia, Russia for the past two years, making Putin out to be the bogeyman, themselves used police state tactics including spying, waging a massive disinformation campaign against Trump and his associates, and other scurrilous actions eerily similar to Communist regimes.
Special counsel Robert Mueller would be wise to wrap up his investigation before he’s accused of being the last act in a chain of conspiracy that could implicate Obama, Brennan, James Comey, Hillary Clinton and others. The truth is coming out.
Today, U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin and more than a dozen other lawmakers are expected to introduce a resolution alleging FBI and Justice Department misconduct involving improper surveillance in the Trump-Russia probe.
Trump should also declassify information the DOJ has been withholding from Congress, so lawmakers entrusted with oversight can obtain pertinent documents and information without excessive redactions and further stonewalling.
The Democrats have overplayed their hand and karma is now nipping at their heels.
It’s hard to feel sorry for them.
United Technologies CEO: We’re Creating 35,000 US Jobs Thanks To Tax Reform Bill
ED MORRISSEY
United Technologies CEO: We’re Creating 35,000 US Jobs Thanks To Tax Reform Bill
ED MORRISSEY
The crumbs from the tax reform bill continue to pile up. United Technologies announced today that they will take advantage of changes in the tax law passed in December to invest $15 billion in the US, repatriating cash from overseas to create 35,000 jobs over the next five years. The move comes as some questioned a transfer of jobs from one of its units that got a lot of attention during the 2016 election, Forbes’ Loren Thompson notes:
United Technologies disclosed today that it expects to hire 35,000 employees in the United States over the next five years, a number equivalent to half of its current domestic employment. The Connecticut-based maker of aerospace systems and commercial building technology (like Otis elevators) also disclosed it expects to spend $15 billion in the U.S. during the same period on capital investments and research.
The twin announcements appear aimed at correcting an impression fostered by controversy over the transfer of some jobs at its Carrier division that it is shifting manufacturing outside the United States. According to a press release, the company is growing faster in the U.S. than overseas, and in the last three years has created more jobs domestically than in all foreign locations combined. A third of the company’s 200,000 employees are in the U.S.
Most of the new hires will be replacements of retiring or departing employees, but there will be a net increase of “several thousand” domestic jobs, mainly in response to surging demand for the company’s aircraft engines and other aerospace products. United Technologies, a contributor to my think tank, will see revenues grow to $67-68 billion this year following assimilation of Rockwell Collins, an aerospace and electronics firm whose acquisition was revealed last year.
Thompson offers a fairly detailed analysis of the move, one well worth reading, but also missing one component. That’s the incentive for the move, which the company spelled out explicitly in its press release:
The competitive tax system resulting from U.S. tax reform is encouraging global companies, such as United Technologies, to make long-term investments in innovation in America.
United Technologies anticipates investing $15 billion in R&D and CapEx projects in the U.S. over the next five years. About $9 billion of that investment is expected to go towards R&D that will include initiatives to accelerate the firm’s digital strategy. The strategy is focused on transforming service capabilities, improving the customer experience with intelligent products, driving optimization through smart factory adoption, and developing connected products that enable real-time health monitoring capabilities. It will also include work on next-generation additive manufacturing, artificial intelligence and autonomy, hybrid-electric, cybersecurity and the advancement of high-temperature materials.
The remaining $6 billion is expected to go towards CapEx initiatives that will drive innovation across existing U.S. manufacturing facilities to increase capacity and improve quality and efficiency.
Reuters did pick it up, mentioning the comment in its lead, but not providing much in deeper analysis, either political or economic. The Associated Press missed it, and CNN hadn’t bothered to report the story at all by noon today. Why not, and why did UTX go out of its way to credit the tax bill? Perhaps the most recent effort from Democrats to roll it back explains both. Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi announced a plan to spend $100 billion on schools over the next decade, money financed by … well, you know:
On Tuesday, Democratic leaders in the House and Senate made a bold promise: They will raise taxes on the rich to give teachers a raise. They just need voters to put them in control of Congress in November.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi announced the new plan, which would give $50 billion to states and school districts over 10 years to pay for teacher raises and recruitment efforts. It would also create a new $50 billion fund for school infrastructure and resources, like new desks and books. …
The twin announcements appear aimed at correcting an impression fostered by controversy over the transfer of some jobs at its Carrier division that it is shifting manufacturing outside the United States. According to a press release, the company is growing faster in the U.S. than overseas, and in the last three years has created more jobs domestically than in all foreign locations combined. A third of the company’s 200,000 employees are in the U.S.
Most of the new hires will be replacements of retiring or departing employees, but there will be a net increase of “several thousand” domestic jobs, mainly in response to surging demand for the company’s aircraft engines and other aerospace products. United Technologies, a contributor to my think tank, will see revenues grow to $67-68 billion this year following assimilation of Rockwell Collins, an aerospace and electronics firm whose acquisition was revealed last year.
Thompson offers a fairly detailed analysis of the move, one well worth reading, but also missing one component. That’s the incentive for the move, which the company spelled out explicitly in its press release:
The competitive tax system resulting from U.S. tax reform is encouraging global companies, such as United Technologies, to make long-term investments in innovation in America.
United Technologies anticipates investing $15 billion in R&D and CapEx projects in the U.S. over the next five years. About $9 billion of that investment is expected to go towards R&D that will include initiatives to accelerate the firm’s digital strategy. The strategy is focused on transforming service capabilities, improving the customer experience with intelligent products, driving optimization through smart factory adoption, and developing connected products that enable real-time health monitoring capabilities. It will also include work on next-generation additive manufacturing, artificial intelligence and autonomy, hybrid-electric, cybersecurity and the advancement of high-temperature materials.
The remaining $6 billion is expected to go towards CapEx initiatives that will drive innovation across existing U.S. manufacturing facilities to increase capacity and improve quality and efficiency.
Reuters did pick it up, mentioning the comment in its lead, but not providing much in deeper analysis, either political or economic. The Associated Press missed it, and CNN hadn’t bothered to report the story at all by noon today. Why not, and why did UTX go out of its way to credit the tax bill? Perhaps the most recent effort from Democrats to roll it back explains both. Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi announced a plan to spend $100 billion on schools over the next decade, money financed by … well, you know:
On Tuesday, Democratic leaders in the House and Senate made a bold promise: They will raise taxes on the rich to give teachers a raise. They just need voters to put them in control of Congress in November.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi announced the new plan, which would give $50 billion to states and school districts over 10 years to pay for teacher raises and recruitment efforts. It would also create a new $50 billion fund for school infrastructure and resources, like new desks and books. …
Democrats say they have an obvious plan to pay for the $100 billion in new funding for teachers and schools: They want to reverse some of the GOP’s tax cuts for the richest Americans.
“Paying for this is simple: revisit the Trump tax cuts for the top 1 percent. Instead of allowing millionaires, billionaires, and massive corporations to keep their tax breaks and special-interest loopholes, Democrats would invest in teachers and students,” the plan states.
The announcement makes two political arguments. As Thompson points out at Forbes, it alleviates a political headache over the job transfers at Carrier. UTX will add lots more jobs over the next several years, so it matters less whether a smaller number get shifted out the US — at least to people outside of Indiana and the families of those who jobs are moving, of course. Those dislocations will still generate negative media coverage, but will exist in the context of a much broader expansion of US employment.
Much more important, though, is the reminder to voters that these changes really did have their desired impact, and resulted in more than “crumbs” to American working families. The changes in repatriation rules and especially in lowering the corporate tax rate to a level competitive with the rest of the world incentivizes US companies to stay in the US. Remove those incentives, and watch that reverse itself tout suite. Not only will the jobs dissipate, but all those tax revenues on which Democrats count for their own purposes will also evaporate along with the domestic investments.
In other words, the outlook for American working families under Democratic control of Congress would be distinctly … crumb-y. Even if news outlets aren’t keen to connect those dots, expect the GOP to make it crystal clear over the next five months to the midterms.
Regime Change Is Coming To Iran
by Amil Imani
“Paying for this is simple: revisit the Trump tax cuts for the top 1 percent. Instead of allowing millionaires, billionaires, and massive corporations to keep their tax breaks and special-interest loopholes, Democrats would invest in teachers and students,” the plan states.
The announcement makes two political arguments. As Thompson points out at Forbes, it alleviates a political headache over the job transfers at Carrier. UTX will add lots more jobs over the next several years, so it matters less whether a smaller number get shifted out the US — at least to people outside of Indiana and the families of those who jobs are moving, of course. Those dislocations will still generate negative media coverage, but will exist in the context of a much broader expansion of US employment.
Much more important, though, is the reminder to voters that these changes really did have their desired impact, and resulted in more than “crumbs” to American working families. The changes in repatriation rules and especially in lowering the corporate tax rate to a level competitive with the rest of the world incentivizes US companies to stay in the US. Remove those incentives, and watch that reverse itself tout suite. Not only will the jobs dissipate, but all those tax revenues on which Democrats count for their own purposes will also evaporate along with the domestic investments.
In other words, the outlook for American working families under Democratic control of Congress would be distinctly … crumb-y. Even if news outlets aren’t keen to connect those dots, expect the GOP to make it crystal clear over the next five months to the midterms.
Regime Change Is Coming To Iran
by Amil Imani
Despite easing down, the sporadic protests have been ongoing across Iran and has been widely energized by the words and support from President Donald Trump – and the hope for more substantial support. Despite its vast oil and gas resources, the Iranian economy is in shambles.
More than three decades of rule by the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) has not only failed to achieve the security and well-being of its people, it has ensnared the nation in a stifling theocracy where the rights of the governed are routinely violated for the benefit of the governing.
The revolution of 1979 that brought down Mohammad Reza Shah in the hope of instituting a democratic government was quickly usurped by a religious autocracy.
For the past 40 years, the Islamic Republic’s response to the legitimate peaceful protests and demands of the people has been an iron fist in the form of heartless beatings of the demonstrators—both men and women—there have been arrests, torture and rape of some in secretive compounds, and even shooting the unarmed in the streets, a standard stock of dictatorships, yet the surest way of swelling and solidifying the ranks of the dissenters.
Time has arrived to end the Mullah’s reign of terror. Unfortunately, both the New York Times and the Washington Post who have offices in Tehran, and other liberal news media are not reporting accurate stories from inside Iran. Millions of Iranians from all walks of life are gearing up to end this horrific nightmare.
President Donald Trump has a historic mission to redeem a flawed policy followed by his predecessor, President Obama. In 2009 people when in the streets of Tehran were chanting
“Obama are you with us or with them. Regrettably, President Obama stayed with the mullahs which emboldened them to mascara the protesters.
The internal dynamics within Iranian society has drastically changed. Iranians no longer fear the brutal Mullahs and demand regime change. These protests have become mainstream. Even students from an elementary school students in a remote village dare to say: “Death to Khamenei.”
These Islamic rulers are aware they are slowly losing complete legitimacy (by many accounts it has no legitimacy), and will be toppled, in a violent confrontation with similarly sized demonstrations. There may be a handful of regime officials who are struggling activists for reform, but the entire Islamic regime is aware of the looming threat from their citizenry.
The mullahs’ regime still exists because the US and its allies have failed to pursue a workable strategy to end it. It is, at best, appeasement to make any deals with the sworn enemy of the United States of America. How clearly and how often do the mullahs have to proclaim their irreconcilable and irreversible hostility toward the U.S. and Israel? These mullahs believe their own delusions of grandeur. They think that they can win their brinkmanship and they do firmly believe that they will outsmart America, rest of the world and will have their way. In the process, they are more than willing to do whatever services their objective, by any and all devious means. Dealing with the mullahs brings to mind the “peace in our time” that Chamberlin brought to England by his deal-making with the Fuhrer. Except that this time the stakes can be much higher and deadlier.
I am personally opposed to any military action in Iran. So, that’s out. Let us be reminded that we have invaluable allies on the ground in Iran. There are some 50 million Iranians who are the best hope of the world in that part of the world. These enlightened Iranians despise the Mullahs and have no animosity toward Israel or the United States. Most of these people are well-educated and smart and have broken away from the slavery and fraud of Islamism. They are in the best position to send the Mullahs packing for good. Instead of throwing a lifeline to the sinking ship of the Mullacracy, we must act resolutely in doing everything non-violent to help them defeat the Mullahs. It is our best bet.
The only viable approach is not half-hearted but full court press restrictive economic measures against the Islamic rulers. Unfortunately, it would make the Iranian people, particularly those outside the ruling apparatus suffer hugely. Yet, a temporary hurt of this nature is the price that people are willing to pay to get rid of this scourge that is the IRI.
And by full measure, I mean just that — a complete, unyielding crippling of the oil industry and all banking operations. Severe shut-down of the Persian Gulf States’ backdoor for the mullah’s transactions with the world. Entice China for full cooperation. Even bribe Putin to join in. A Herculean task.
The best strategy that stands the greatest chance of success and entails the least risk of starting a cataclysmic chain reaction is for a “coalition of the willing,” to borrow a phrase, to rally behind the Iranian opposition. It is the democracy-seeking secular Iranians who are thoroughly capable of dislodging the tyrannical Mullahs. The call of the opposition should be resoundingly answered by President Trump and all other nations and leaders, not only for humanitarian reasons, but in furtherance of their own national interests.
But, once the regime, falls, it would be the greatest thing since the fall of Soviet communism. It would subvert virulent Islamism by creating a truly democratic secular strong nation allied with Israel in the heart of the Islamic Umma (Muslim world). It would be an answered prayer both for the world and for Iranians. How many Iranians would leave Islam? Millions have already left, in fact, Christianity is the fastest growing religion in Iran.
We need our insightful administration sees the handwriting on the wall and takes drastic action. The ripple effect throughout the entire Middle East would be monumental. In a nutshell, Islamic terrorism would eventually cease to exist.
8 Reasons Why: Sharyl Attkisson on Trump Probe Politicization
Journalist Sharyl Attkisson (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)There are "troubling signs of misuse of America's intelligence and law enforcement apparatus" against President Donald Trump, journalist Sharyl Attkisson contends.
In a commentary for The Hill, the Emmy-winning investigative journalist points to eight signs of a "counterintelligence operation deployed against Trump for political reasons."
Along with the FBI Trump probe codename — "Crossfire Hurricane" — Attkisson also points to the secret surveillance of seven Trump associates: chief strategist Stephen Bannon, lawyer Michael Cohen, former National Security Adviser Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn; adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, campaign chairman Paul Manafort, and foreign policy advisers Carter Page and George Papadopoulos.
She also writes another controversial tool was the reported use of "national security letters" by the FBI to obtain phone records and documents in the investigation, which "bypass judicial approval" and which were "an ongoing theme at the FBI."
Attkisson writes other signs of misuse are:
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Unmasking, or identifying protected names of Americans captured by government surveillance, used by at least four top Obama administration officials who have been Trump critics, including James Clapper, Samantha Power, Susan Rice, and Sally Yates.
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Rules changes, including one by Clapper in 2016 that allowed the National Security Agency "to widely disseminate surveillance material within the government without the normal privacy protections."
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A media strategy in which former CIA Director John Brennan and Clapper, the former Director of National Intelligence, have joined national news organizations "where they have regular opportunities to shape the news narrative — including on the very issues under investigation."
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A "steady and apparently orchestrated campaign of leaks" nearly all of which have been damaging to Trump.
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Use of "friends, informants, and snoops," including that of one-time CIA operative Stefan Halper in 2016, as an informant on Trump officials, and former FBI Director James Comey's friend Daniel Richman, a Columbia University law professor, who leaked Comey's memos against Trump to The New York Times after Comey was fired.
Ciao…….Helen and Moe Lauzier
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