Thursday, March 30, 2017

The Vehemence of the Democratic Attack on Representative Nunes Tells Us He is On to Something Serious About the Obama Administration Illegal Surveillance and Leaks of President Trump

The Democrats last November 8 lost the Presidency, Senate, House of Representatives, and the State Houses. They have clearly formulated their response in a 6 demands: resign, recuse, investigate, indict, impeach, and special prosecutors, all of which they demand with righteous indignation, coating a cake of rank hypocrisy. They cannot blame the November losses on themselves or the poor candidacy of Secretary Clinton. They do not understand how the clingers and deplorables in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin, and almost Minnesota could desert the Democrats and vote Republican. They have yet to comprehend the flight of blue collar workers, many of whom are union members, to the Republican agenda. They didn’t respond to the Republican landslides in the 2010 and 2014 midterm elections. Those elections were warning signs for the 2016 Presidential Election. They were oblivious to their weakening party because of the presidential victories of President Obama. They argue Secretary Clinton received almost 3 million more votes in November than Donald Trump, but don’t mention Republican Congressional candidates received about 3 million more votes than Democratic Congressional candidates in November. Instead, they and the mainstream media are blaming the 2016 Election on the Russian Connection - that the Russians worked with the Trump campaign to bring down the Clinton campaign. They never explain why the Russians would prefer Trump to Clinton, who gave them the reset, authorized the Russian acquisition of 20% of the United States uranium supply, stood by when Russia invaded the Crimea, and funneled tens of millions of dollars to the Clinton Foundation and President Clinton. They ignore the John Podesta connection to Russia, and the $35 million to a company he was director of. They ignore his disposal of 75,000 shares of the Russian connection just prior to being named advisor to President Obama. They dump on President Trump for saying President Obama wiretapped him, which was probably an exercise of tweeting excess by President Trump. Yet they ignore the clear evidence of government surveillance of President Trump and his advisors and staff during the election and the pre-inauguration period. Surveillance is technically not the more narrow wiretapping, but electronic surveillance is just as nefarious as wiretapping. They continue to push the Russian Connection to impugn the legitimacy of the Trump Administration. Representative Devin Nunes is the Chair of the House Intelligence Committee. Representative Adam Schiff is the ranking Democratic on the Committee. Representative Schiff and Senator Schumer are leading the Democratic Jihad on the Trump Russia Connection. To date, “there is no there, there,” but if you repeat it often enough and loud enough, people will start believing it, especially the NeverTrumpers. The real scandal is the Obama Administration surveillance of Trump. If true, it will be a bigger scandal than Watergate. President Nixon was brought down by a coverup. The Obama charge involves direct action by the Obama Administration to use the security services of the federal government to spy on a political opponent. Never forget that the Obama Administration used the IRS to crush the Tea Party and suppress the conservative vote in the 2012 election. We know that the New York Times cited wiretaps in February. We know that transcripts were leaked on General Mike Flynn’s phone calls, as well as those of President Trump to the leaders of Australia and Mexico. We know that former Obama Administration official Evelyn Farkas, essentially said surveillance was under way in an interview on MSNBC a few days ago. She’s now attempting to walk back her comments. Unless he is stupid, which I doubt, President Obama’s fingerprints will not be on the IRS or surveillance scandals. If the charges are proved though, members of the Obama Administration are headed to jail. Representative Nunes told the press last week that he had seen documents showing the surveillance occurred. The response by Representative Schiff was feigned outrage, with repeated demands that Representative Nunes recuse himself. Senator Schumer echoed Representative Schiff. The two, with the support of other Democrats and the media, have daily repeated the recusal demand. They’re scared that Representative Nunes’ charges might lead to solid information of high crimes and misdemeanors in the Obama Administration. They don’t want the surveillance reality to detract from their Russian Connection narrative. They can’t attack the message, so they are dumping on the messenger, with excessive vehemence. Representative Nunes’ response is that the investigation is ‘moving forward.”

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Everybody Hates the New Republican Replacement for ObamaCare; Thus, it Must Be Good Enough to Pass the House of Representatives Tomorrow

Everybody Hates the New Republican Health Care Plan; It Must Be Good The House of representatives is scheduled to vote on Phase I of the Republican plan to repeal and replace Obamacare. The assumption is that there would not be a vote unless the Speak of the House, the Majority leader, and the Whip knew they had the votes. Seemingly everyone is opposed to the Republican plan. Thus, it must be good. One of the jokes about a good compromise is that both sides are unhappy. This is a list of those lining up against The American Healthcare Act:” AARP The American Hospital Association Federation of American Hospitals America’s Essential Hospitals American Medical Association American Nurses Association National Nurses United American Academy of Family Physicians American College of Physicians American Public Health association National Physicians United Association of American Physicians and Surgeons National Disability Rights Association Families USA AFL-CIO AFSCME National Council of La Raza Club for Growth Freedom Works Heritage Action for America Americans for Prosperity The Koch Brothers Presumably every Democrat in Congress. The Freedom Caucus of conservative House Republicans. So much Sturm und Drang. The media is proclaiming the Republicans lack the votes in the House and that it would be DOA at the Senate. Maybe, but if the Republicans have a secret plan to pass the Bill as they really want. First, they should pass it by one vote in the House and send it to the Senate. The Senate in turn will may several amendments to the bill, substantially changing he House bill. It would then go to a conference committee, the differences will be ironed out, and the final bill will placate the conservatives. Conservative critics are correct. The House bill is not a total repeal. Nor can it be! ObamaCare is a disaster, unraveling before our eyes. It is sinking almost as fast as Sears. The republican Congress will never bail out Obamacare in its present form. Yet, they cannot let it die on their watch. They will be pilloried if they kill it without a satisfactory replacement. The American medical system was cracking eight years ago. ObamaCare broke it, shattering it into pieces. Repealing Obamacare without any replacement will not, and cannot, put the pieces back together again. Killing the entitlement of ObamaCare will destroy the Republican electorate in at least the short term. Several provisions of ObamaCare are basically untouchable: 1 Keeping children on parents’ policies through age 26; 2 Eliminating the pre-existing condition clause; and 3 Eliminating the cap on benefits. The pre-existing conditions coverage and the end of the cap are what drive up the cost of ObamaCare, which tried to cover these costs through a seemingly infinite number of taxes. It fails because it violates the basic economics principle of supply and demand. It radically increases demand, while freezing supply. Other constraints are not striping the Medicaid and ObamaCare recipients off the coverage rolls. Finally, repeal and replace lacks 60 votes in the Senate. Unless the Senate Republicans repeal the filibuster, they are constrained by the Senate rules of reconciliation. Hence, the dance of a partial repeal followed, theoretically, by two more rounds of legislation. The Republican bill lacks several cost savings measures, including malpractice and defensive medicine, driven by malpractice litigation. Nor does it offer insurance across state lines. The litigation reforms are actually in another measure going through Congress at this time. The proposal repeals most, but not all, of the ObamaCare tax increases. It delays, but does not end the Cadillac tax. It will turn Medicaid over to the states with block grants. It will result, with the help of Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price, much of the mandated coverage which drives up the costs of medical care. The reviled, and often ignored, individual mandate will become history. I still think the mandate is unconstitutional, but Chief Justice Roberts went through judicial conniptions to uphold it. The house should pass it. One final thought. Ignore the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The CBO was in bed with the Obama Administration, working with the Democrats to massage the costs and taxes to make it look like an economic winner. In essence, the CBO helped cook the books on ObamaCare. Repeal, amend, conference committee, and replace ObamaCare.

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

President Trump Has Ignited Yet Another Media Storm, This Time Accusing President Obama of Wiretapping Him

Once again the media is in a tizzy over a “supposed outrageous claim” Saturday by President Trump- this time a tweet claim that President Obama may have ordered a wiretap of his campaign. He tweeted: “Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my ‘wires tapped’ in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!” Most media reports are outraged that he made this claim without any proof. Denials reverberated among the media and network news. And yet, we need to remember the ringing lyrics of Buffalo Springfield: “There’s something happening here What it is ain’t exactly clear.” Here’s the problem. At least two of President Trump’s private phone conversations to the Prime Minister of Australia and the President of Mexico have been leaked, complete with transcripts. A separate phone call by General Flynn, while still a private citizen, to Russia Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, intercepted by the FBI in 2016, was leaked in February 2017, costing the general his position as the National Security Advisor to the President. The New York Times on January 10, 2017 reported that the FBI, CIA, NSA and the Department of the Treasury had been monitoring Trump associates suspected of Russian ties. Wiretaps showed no connection between the Trump Campaign and the Russians. The Obama Administration last June petitioned the FISA Court for permission to wiretap the Trump and his advisors. It was rejected. They again petitioned in November, this time not naming Trump. It was granted. Denials of come from a variety of sources. Obama spokespersons are indignant, denying everything. Josh Ernest, outgoing Press Secretary of President Obama, said no President “has the authority to unilaterally order the wiretapping of an American citizen ….” You need the FISA Court to issue an order. Ben Rhodes, not a font of veracity in the Obama Administration, got the same talking point: “No President can order a wiretap. Those restrictions were put in place to protect citizens from persons like you (Trump).” Both are technically correct, but plain wrong. The statute provides: “The President through the Attorney General, may authorize electronic surveillance without a court order ….” If the Attorney General makes specific certifications. Ben Rhodes was instrumental in obtaining Congressional approval of the Iran Agreement. He afterwards said in a New York Times magazine article: “The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old, and their only reporting experience consists of being around political campaigns …. They literally know nothing.” The story he created for them, the lie, was that the change in Iranian regimes meant the U.S. was now dealing with the moderates who will be in a position to improve the lives of the Iranian people. The reporters swallow the spin, hook, line, and sinker. The agreement is approved and over $1 trillion in cash is sent to the mullahs to persue their military and terrorist ambitions. Kevin Lewis, another former Obama Spokesman two days ago said [N]either President Obama nor any White House official ever ordered surveillance of any U.S. citizen. Any suggestion otherwise is simply false.” In 2013 the Justice Department tapped the phone and emails of Fox News correspondent James Rosen in a leaks investigation. The Justice Department in seeking the warrant labeled Rosen a “criminal co-conspirator” and called him a “flight risk.” They also got the records of his parents. Attorney General Eric Holder testified before the House Judiciary Committee that he had recused himself from the investigations. As was later discovered, the Attorney General had signed off on the Rosen File. His Justice Department also subpoenaed the records of 20 Associated Press reporters. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, the Queen of Irony, say of Trump: “You make up something. Then you have the press write about it. And then you say, everybody is writing about this charge. It’s a tool of authoritarianism.” Embattled FBI Director James Comey Immediately called upon the Justice Department to repudiate the Trump Statement, yet another error in Judgment by the FBI Director. James Clapper, the former Director of National Security, who blatantly lied to Congress on March 12, 2013, said “There was no such wiretap activity mounted against the president-elect at the time, as a candidate, or against his campaign.” He added he would have known if a FISA request to wiretap Donald Trump had been granted to the FBI, and none was. He said “Absolutely, I can deny it.” Of course, the tap does not have to be directed at President Trump, but at his associates, in which case he would be opportunistic “collateral damage” Senator Ron Wyden asked Clapper in 2013 “Does the NSA collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans?” Director Clapper responded: “No, sir. Not wittingly. There are cases where they could inadvertently perhaps collapse, but not wittingly.” A history of misrepresentations, prevarications, and outright lying characterized the 8 years of the Obama Administration. President Obama July 21, 2015 denied on John Stewart’s Daily Show, the epitome of fake news, the IRS had discriminated against conservatives, especially the Tea Party, from 2010 through the 2012 Election. He blamed Congress for “passing a crummy law.” He earlier feigned “outrage” at the IRS’ actions. President Obama uttered yet another major misrepresentation on Augus8 8, 2013 on Jay Leno “We don’t have a domestic spying program.” The Snowden Wikileaks proved the contrary. Remember these phrases: “Shovel ready jobs” “If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor” “If you like your insurer, you can keep your insurer” Attorney General Lynch and her Justice Department petitioned the FISA Court in June 2016 for permission to tap Donald Trump’s phones, ostensibly because of a suspected link between the Trump Campaign and the alleged Russian interference in the election. The Court’s response was one of the few times it has denied a request. They returned in October, seeking permission to monitor a computer in Trump Tower. The allegation was that the sever was linked to a Russian bank. No evidence was found, but significantly the tap continued for “national security” reasons. President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton lied to the American people on Benghazi. Attorney General Eric Holder was held in contempt of Congress for stonewalling on Operation Fast and Furious by ATF. There’s enough here for a Watergate, but the publishers of the Washington Post, which made its bones on Watergate, and the New York Times are interested in bringing down President Trump rather than their hero, President Obama. “There’s something happening here. What it is ain’t exactly clear.”

Friday, March 3, 2017

The Democrats Are Bereft of Ideas: The Faux Russian Connection - Now With Attorney General Sessions

President Trump campaigned with ideas. He has accomplished much in the first 40 days despite the Senate Democrats slow-walking his nominees. They hope to both find damming information about the nominees and to delay the initiation of President Trump’s program. He still has hundreds of appointments to be confirmed, including two cabinet appointments.. The Democrats are not offering positive proposals to the American people. Their only position is to stay the course with the failing ObamaCare. They asked Steve Beshear, the 72 year old former Governor of Kentucky, to deliver the Democrat’s response to President Trump’s Speech. His listless speech proved to the American people that the Democrats are out of ideas. Where are the adults in the Democratic Party? The Democrats and media act like they remain in the denial stage. They still cannot believe that their anointed one, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, lost to Donald Trump. Hillary was measuring the White House drapes. Senator Schumer was salivating about becoming the Senate Majority Leaders. Representative Nancy Pelosi expected to reclaim the Speaker’s gavel with the anticipated Clinton landslide. The Republicans were to be consigned to Trotsky’s ash heap of history. The Republicans swept the elections on November 8 from the local level to the Presidency. The Democrats still can’t figure it out, so they blame it on the Russian Connection, the Russian Link, the Russian Conspiracy. Their latest focus of attack is Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who met twice with the Russian Ambassador last year. One meeting was a large public meeting and the other was in his office with two senior aides and perhaps a junior aide present. The argument is that then Senator Sessions committed perjury when he answered “No” to a question as to whether he had met with the Russians. The actual question was longwinded and ambiguous: Senator Franken: “CNN just released a story alleging that the intelligence community provided documents to the president-elect last week, that included information that ‘Russian operatives claim to have compromising personal and financial information about Mr. Trump.’ These documents also allegedly say ‘there ws a continuing exchange of information between Trump surrogates and intermediaries for the Russian government.’ Again, I’m telling you this as it is coming out, so you know. But it’s true, it’s obviously extremely serious, and if there is any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of the campaign, what will you do.?” Senator Sessions: “Senator Franken, I’m not aware of any of those activities. I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians, and I am unable to comment on it.” They had no problems when Secretary Clinton’s State Department approved the sale to Rosatum, a Russian company, of a Canadian company controlling 20% of the United States uranium supply. They were unconcerned that former President Clinton received a $500,000 speaking fee and the Clinton Foundation at least $2.35 million from the Russians. They were quiet when President Clinton on March 26, 2012 in Seoul said to Russian President Medvedev “This is my last election. After my election, I have more flexibility.” They had no complaints on March 6, 2009 when Secretary Clinton presented Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov a “Reset button” to symbolize a change in Russo-American relations. Symbolically, the reset button didn’t work. More significantly, the Russian word used did not translate to “reset” but “overloaded.” The Democrats were silent when Russia seized the Crimea. They remain quiescent as Russia sponsors and forments a rebellion in eastern Ukraine. And now they raise the Red Scare! Their Red Scare is highly selective. The Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak gets around. He was at President Trump’s presentation Tuesday before a Joint Session of Congress. Not only was he present, but he even sat with the Democrats. President Trump tweeted out a photo today of Senator Schumer eating a donut and drinking coffee with Vladimir Putin. President Trump suggested an investigation of Senator Schumer. Many did not understand President Trump’s ironic humor. His idea is no more preposterous than the attacks on Attorney General Sessions. Former Senator Barbara Boxer said that Senator Durban organized a group meeting of Senators to meet with the Russian ambassador. 30 Democratic Senators met with the Ambassador in 2015 to be briefed on the pending vote on President Obama’s Iran Nuclear Agreement. Three of the Senators reportedly changed from undecided to positive votes on the agreement. Senator Clare McCaskill and Representative Nancy Pelosi seem to suffer from early memory loss. Senator McCaskill said she never met with the Russian ambassador, but her tweets showed at least two meetings with the ambassador. Representative Pelosi also claimed to have never met him, but a photo has surfaced of the two of them at a table with Putin. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the Attorney General should be above reproach. That maxim did not exist when Attorney General Loretta Lynch met with former President Bill Clinton for 30 minutes on the tarmac at Phoenix Airport when his wife, running for President, was under investigation for her private email server. Senator Diane Feinstein said she once had lunch with the Russian Ambassador. Senator Joe Manchin also met with the Russian ambassador. The Democrats are engaged in the Big Lie with the “Russian Connection.” If you tell a monster lie often enough, it acquires credibility. The only reason these slanders have any credibility is that the mainstream media highlights them. No evidence has been uncovered to show the Russians changed one vote in the election. No evidence exists to show a link between the Trump Campaign and the Russians with respect to the election. Even President Obama said no link existed. As Gertrude Stein once said: “There is no there, there.” The Congressional Democrats are playing to their base, their shrinking base.

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

President Trump Became President last Night

President Trump is not the great orator that President Obama is (not many all), but he nailed his speech to Congress last night. He was asked all throughout the campaign to elevate his speeches, to show Americans he could be Presidential President Trump soaredt last night. Even some of his staunchest critics on the left, such as Van Jones, said he became President last night. President Trump painted with words a vision of greatness and rebirth for America – a vision which the American people have been anxiously waiting for. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton could not deliver that message. It would not have been believable. The American people believe in American Exceptionalism. President Obama did not. He believed in the America of suppression, racism, sexism, homophobia. He believed the police are the domestic oppressors of the Black community and America’s military is the global oppressor. He believes fossil fuels are the source of global climate warming. President Trump believes in American Exceptionalism. He spoke to the people of American Exceptionalism. President Trump announced an end to the War on Police last night. President Trump announced an end to the War on Coal last night. President Trump announced his priority was employment, not the environment. The Democrats and mainstream media last night were expecting the snarky Trump, the insulting Trump, the vitriolic Trump, the egomaniac Trump, the bombastic Trump, the tweeting Trump, the truculent Trump. They heard President Trump, the statesman. Donald Trump was elected President on November 8, 2016. He was inaugurated on January 20, 2017. He has been acting as President since then. The skeptics though, the bitter partisans, viewed him as an interloper, who really wasn’t elected. They keep talking about impeachment and psychiatric exams. Rosie O’Donnell is mouthing off about an overthrow of the government and treason. The Democratic women in Congress wore white yesterday to show solidarity with the suffragette movement. White is also symbolically the color of surrender. The Democrats sat frozen on their hands during President Trump’s speech. They knew! President Trump seized the moment. They were impotent. The Democrats did not formally surrender last night, but they quickly fled after President Trump’s speech. Significantly, they did not race to the mikes to expound their talking points. President Trump silenced them, at least temporarily. President Obama may be a great orator, but the audiences of American people started tuning him off. His message was not connecting with the people. President Trump used the unholy trinity of words “I, me. mine” significantly less than President Obama. He spoke to the American people as their leader with a well thought out vision of America, He appealed to the “Spirit of America.” He did not provide a checklist, unlike President Clinton, of low expectations appealing to distinct Democratic constituencies. Some of the media remain, to use William Safire’s term, the “nattering nabobs of negativity.” The fact checkers will continue fact checking. They will continue to magnify disputes within the Republican party. They criticized his speech for lack of specifics. It was leaving too much to Congress to work out. These ‘pundits” fail to understand that Congress enacts legislation. They must have been enraptured by President Obama’s unilaterally legislating. Their viciousness will not work now; it did not work during the general election. If President Trump turns around the economy, their slings and errors won’t stick.