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A Meaningful Election

“America is at a crossroads” is an overblown cliché used in every presidential election.

In 2016, it will actually be true. The coming White House race really will determine whether the United States remains a constitutional republic rooted in the concepts of individual rights at home, and firm opposition to expansionist powers abroad.

For the first time since the establishment of the Constitution, the most basic premises of how America’s government and economic system work will be on the table. Several recent news stories highlight how radical a departure has been made from the standard practices since that June day in 1788 when it became the central document of the young nation.

A defining concept of American governance has been the precise definition of how the Republic works under a separation of powers concept, and a sharp delineation and limitation of the federal governments’ powers, strongly expressed in the Bill of Right’s Ninth and Tenth Amendments.

Two recent facts illustrate how the continuation of that concept is in question. The New York Post  recently reported that the federal government, under President Obama, has engaged in an “unprecedented collection of sensitive data on Americans by race. The government is prying into our most personal information at the most local levels, all for the purpose of ‘racial and economic justice…Unbeknown to most Americans, Obama’s racial bean counters are furiously mining data on their health, home loans, credit cards, places of work, neighborhoods, even how their kids are disciplined in school — all to document ‘inequalities’ between minorities and whites.”

While racial equality is the overall reason given for the federal government’s extraordinary intrusion into the privacy of its citizenry, this dramatic probe into the most private aspects of life gives Washington extraordinary power, the kind sought after by totalitarian governments of every stripe and description. It also begs the question, what, precisely, will federal agencies do with the data? Will it stop at racial issues, or will it seek to regulate every aspect of private life so that the outcome fits into a social planners’ vision? It will certainly have the capacity to do so. If history is any guide, and considering the tenor of several of the President’s would-be successors, racial equality will not be the sole use of this collection.

Economy

The alteration of the United States from a free market economy to one more closely resembling that of socialist nations is also looming on the horizon.

Consider the surprising early campaign success of Sen. Bernie Sanders, an avowed Socialist. The Boston Globe  notes that “Federal reports made public last week show [Senator Sanders] has raised more than $15 million for his campaign, beating every other presidential candidate from either party save Hillary Rodham Clinton …He has gathered the money from an army of small donors that is larger than that of any other presidential candidate.”

Sanders’ success indicates that the extreme left is no longer merely has just a remote potential to capture the White House.  If it does so, it will certainly build on the hard-left positions implemented by the Obama Administration since 2009.

IMMIGRATION
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The very makeup of the American population will also be on the table. Several candidates, following the lead of the White House, appear loath to criticize either the unchecked illegal immigration from Latin America, or the dramatic increase in legal immigration from Muslim nations. These two groups will dramatically alter the results of national votes. The combined effect of both will be felt sooner rather than later, particularly considering the lack of adequate scrutiny of illegal voting practices.

SEPARATION OF POWERS

It remains to be seen which candidates will espouse President Obama’s attempts to diminish the role of Congress. The President has made his disdain for the legislative process clear with his comments that he won’t wait or Congress or to act, and his use of the regulatory (as opposed to the lawmaking) process to achieve his goals. His latest move, sending the Iran nuclear deal to the United Nations before gaining Congressional approval, highlights the issue.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

In many ways, the most dramatic reversals of positions have been in foreign affairs, particularly in the role America has taken since the conclusion of the Second World War.

The President has alienated key allies such as the United Kingdom, Israel, Poland and the Philippines. He has shifted vast funds from defense to social welfare programs. He has provided vast arms concessions to Russia, conceding nuclear superiority to Moscow for the first time in history.

His premature withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq led to the rise of ISIS, his assisting in the ouster of Muammar Gaddafi, his refusal to take firm steps against Boko Haram and his announced departure from Afghanistan all aided the rise in Islamic extremism.

He has taken Cuba off the terror watch list, despite evidence to the contrary, and has not acted to counter growing Russian, Chinese and Iranian influence in Latin America.

AMERICA WILL HAVE TO CHOOSE

Depending on which candidates the parties choose, Americans may face their most meaningful selection since the election of Abraham Lincoln.

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ALEC reports on the “State of the States”

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has reviewed the 2015 “State of the State” addresses of the fifty U.S. state governors. According to ALEC, tax relief and reform was a common trend.   The following are key excerpts:

“More governors focused on reducing the tax burden of their citizens as a path to growth than those who claimed more taxes and spending would improve their state’s economy. While some governors did support raising taxes and fees, many of these were small increases targeted at addressing a specific expense in the state. It appears most governors have learned the lesson that they are in constant competition with other states for jobs and capital. In order to keep their state economically competitive, they must make tax cuts a continuing priority, while keeping tax increases at a minimum… Generally, states with lower tax burdens, less regulations, and responsible levels of spending outperform other states…

“[T]ax cuts were proposed by more governors in their state-of-the-state addresses this year than those who proposed tax increases. Regarding those states with some combination of both, there was significant variation. Many states called for lowering some taxes, such as income taxes, or property taxes, but then proposed taxes on particular products, most notably gasoline taxes and cigarette taxes. Other governors called for fundamental tax reform, such as Governor Paul LePage in Maine, whose bold plan to eliminate the personal income tax over the coming years also relied on increasing the state’s sales tax, a plan that will be a significant benefit to the state. Another trend was the effort in many states to reduce or eliminate the income tax, and instead rely on other forms of revenue to fund the state budget. Governors Paul LePage in Maine and Sam Brownback in Kansas spoke about the need to lower income taxes and work towards phasing them out entirely. Currently, nine states have no income tax, but these two could join them in the coming years if these governors are able to follow through on their plans…
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“[T]he nine states that do not levy a personal income tax experienced a cumulative job growth rate of 9.9 percent from 2003 to 2013 while the nine states with the highest personal income tax rates experienced less than half of that at just 4.3 percent over the same time period. The no income tax states also experienced much better rates of net domestic migration, personal income growth, and gross state product growth than their high tax counterparts. While there was a lot of good news for taxpayers in this year’s state-of-the-state addresses, there were some proposals that would increase taxes and fees. The most common tax hike proposals were calls to raise transportation-related charges, including gas taxes and vehicle fees. These were typically sold as necessary to fund roads and infrastructure. The map below shows which governors proposed raising gas taxes and vehicle fees. While there was a lot of good news for taxpayers in this year’s state-of-the-state addresses, there were some proposals that would increase taxes and fees. The most common tax hike proposals were calls to raise transportation-related charges, including gas taxes and vehicle fees. These were typically sold as necessary to fund roads and infrastructure. In addition to gas taxes, cigarette tax increases were also proposed be a few governors. Governor Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire and Bill Bentley of Alabama proposed raising cigarette taxes to increase revenue.

“Tax policy wasn’t the only common theme in this year’s state-of-the-state addresses. Several governors spoke about the importance of balancing the state budget. Indiana Governor Mike Pence went as far as to call for a new state constitutional amendment that would require the state to pass a balanced budget every year. Other governors pledged to balance their budgets for the coming year and others discussed the need to constrain budget growth. While 49 states already have some form of balanced budget requirement, it is encouraging to see so many governors take the time to discuss the value of not spending more than the state collects in revenue and avoiding large debt obligations. In order to improve their budget situation, many governors announced new proposals to reduce the cost of government. Several governors called for finding new ways to operate state government more efficiently through consolidating agencies, creating new agencies dedicated to finding cost-saving strategies in government, or even asking the public for their suggestions on how the state government could save money. A few governors called for improved budget transparency by making information about the cost of government more easily available to citizens, a policy that will hopefully lead to a reduction in waste, fraud, and abuse in the coming years. Finally, many governors discussed the need for pension reform. The public pension system is a significant unfunded liability for many states.

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The West’s ideological surrender to ISIS

Why does a movement that seeks to murder or enslave all those that oppose it, that treats women like chattel, that permits no personal conscience choices of its own adherents and subjects, and that prides itself on destroying all cultural attributes other than its own limited and warped heritage continue to gain followers, even those from western nations?

ISIS’ ideological success is based less on its own merits and actions than on the intellectual pacifism of its opponents. Leaders of the world’s nations are quick to condemn this ultimate terrorist movement, but shrink from entering into the battle of ideals and morals that is necessary to provide persuadable youth with a more decent alternative.

The actions of the Obama Administration provide a clear example of the west’s unilateral disarmament in the world of cultural values. Even before ISIS’ meteoric rise, or perhaps as one factor causing it, the President’s bizarre apologies for nonexistent offenses to the Muslim world, as well as his failure to promote American intellectual values such as individual rights and the rejection of totalitarian rule, have stripped from the marketplace of ideas the most potent alternatives to the witches’ brew ISIS offers. It was the firm advocacy of western values, backed by a staunch and armed resolve that helped topple the Soviet Empire. No such confrontation of concepts has yet been launched against Islamic extremists. There has been no “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wall” moment in the fight against ISIS.

There has been no significant rebuttal of radical Islam’s nonsensical mantra that it has been the victim of western oppression, particularly the period of the Crusades. Islamic aggression towards, and invasion of, the West   predates the crusades, starting in 630 A.D. The first crusade didn’t even occur until 1096. Muslim acts of brutality and oppression against Christians and Jews took place practically from the very birth of the Islamic faith.

A look at relations between the Muslim world and the United States in particular is instructive. Before America had any involvement, other than trade, beyond its borders, the Islamic governments in Tripoli, Tunis, Algiers and Morocco assaulted  unarmed Yankee ships, stealing cargo and the vessels themselves, and enslaving the crews. At this point in the young Republic’s history, there wasn’t even an American navy in existence. Despite that, in the centuries that followed, the U.S. has aided Muslims in Europe and in Asia. Yet the un-responded-to myth of U.S. oppression continues to be touted, even by uninformed apologists within the U.S. itself, including President Obama.
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In the ultimately successful ideological battle against the former Soviet Union, the great importance of countering an anti-freedom philosophy was recognized and made into official policy by President Reagan’s National Security Decision Directive 75, which noted:

“U.S. policy must have an ideological thrust which clearly affirms the superiority of U.S. and Western values of individual dignity and freedom, a free press, free trade unions, free enterprise, and political democracy over the repressive features of Soviet Communism. We need to review and significantly strengthen U.S. instruments of political action including: (a) The President’s London initiative to support democratic forces; (b) USG efforts to highlight Soviet human rights violations; and (c) U.S. radio broadcasting policy. The U.S. should: Expose at all available fora the double standards employed by the Soviet Union in dealing with difficulties within its own domain and the outside (“capitalist”) world (e.g., treatment of labor, policies toward ethnic minorities, use of chemical weapons, etc.). Prevent the Soviet propaganda machine from seizing the … high-ground in the battle of ideas…”

That winning strategy has not been sufficiently utilized in the war against ISIS. The President appears to believe it is inappropriate to enthusiastically assert that the concepts of personal freedom, equal rights for women, and religious tolerance are superior to Sharia law. He is not alone. Indeed, even the National Organization for Women  (NOW) has been, disgracefully,  missing in action in the effort to help the female victims of ISIS. The NOW web site fails to mention the problem at all.  Indeed, those heroic women such as Somali-born Ayaan Hirsi Ali  who do challenge Islam’s inexcusable offenses against females find themselves ostracized by the White House’s leftist supporters.

There has been much written about the sparse and hesitant western military response to ISIS, and its failure to adequately support indigenous allies such as the Kurds. But far less comment has been made on the curious lack of an intellectual and moral response to this truly evil movement.

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Corrupt transportation policies in America’s largest city

America’s great cities continue to be diminished by corrupt politics. The New York Analysis has reviewed one aspect of municipal wrongdoing, transportation policy, in the United States’ largest city.

New York City is descending into the chaos that once threatened the Big Apple’s prominence. A deadly combination of corruption and tawdry politics threatens to bring about a set of circumstances that may render the metropolis, once again, into an undesirable place to live.  The city’s deeply flawed transportation policies and practices provide a prime example.

NYC has been at this precipice before.  During the 1990—1993 tenure of Mayor David Dinkins, conditions become so intolerable that urban experts questioned whether it had become an “ungovernable city.” Crime levels were high, vagrants were a major factor on the streets and in the parks, and municipal services were inadequate.  In one incident, streets in the Bronx were so dirty that the Borough’s chief executive had to threaten to sue the mayor just to get them cleaned. Race relations were dismal, marked by what has been called an Eastern-European style “pogrom” against Jewish merchants in Brooklyn by a small but radicalized portion of extremists who were attempting to pit blacks against Jews.

But the city fought its way back. The President of the City Council at the time, Peter Vallone, initiated demands for greater numbers of police officers. A new mayor, Rudy Giuliani, was elected, bringing a tough new approach to crime, along with tax cuts. City officials were forced to produce results. Organized crime’s influence was attacked. Instead of the “ungovernable city,” the Big Apple became known as the “Capital City of the World.”

Despite the ravages of the 9/11 attacks, the downturn in the national economy, and Giuliani’s eccentric immediate successor at City Hall, New York fared reasonably well. But the clock may be turning back due to statewide corruption and the ascendancy of union politics.

The speaker of the Assembly, the majority leader of the Senate, and a number of other NY local, state and federal officials are under investigation, indictment, or have been convicted of criminal offenses. Their fast and loose attitude towards propriety is clearly seen in state and city transportation funding and practices.

A healthy lifestyle is sometimes the foremost solution to best online viagra a better sex life. Casodex tablets contain lactose and may not be suitable for them so that they can get continue reading for more info order cheap cialis the best results then make sure you do not take any decision or any step which is not suggested by the doctor. levitra cost of Psychologically, those who undergo sexual malfunctioning experience a myriad of problems. Nothing is more precious to a child purchase generic viagra than making memories with his or her parents. The State’s AAA  recently reported on transportation budget gimmickry:

“New York State created the Dedicated Highway and Bridge Trust Fund in 1991 as a pay-as-you-go fund for capital projects, but…officials stealthily converted it into a debt-based system by leveraging Thruway bonding capacity. Since 1992, $1.3 billion of Thruway toll revenue has been diverted…the Port Authority [which is responsible for bridges and tunnels between NY and NJ] is…shockingly wasteful.”

Mass transit hasn’t fared any better. According to the New York Post ,the Mass Transit Authority, (MTA) charged with keeping buses, subways, and commuter rail lines rolling, is a key culprit, a factor in the reality that even as fares go up, service gets worse. The Post’s investigation blames union contracts.

“Some 21,352 out of 76,445 MTA employees made more than $100,000 last year, a $10,000 plus spike.  Average pay was $80,780, up 10 percent from the year before. A major culprit? Labor contracts. The report points in particular to the deals for the Transport Workers Union and the LIRR union, both retroactive—the LIRR [Long Island Railroad] union one to 2010.  As a result, the average LIRR salary last year was $106,103—up 27 percent from 2013. On top of that, the report notes, the MTA paid out $849 million in overtime on top pf $4.78 billion in regular earnings.”

The problems extend to the city’s taxi industry. Continuously increasing fares have given rise to alternative services, all of which have been attacked by the powerful taxi industry, a heavy contributor to political campaigns.  The Post also reported that in what may have been an effort to prevent competition from Uber, taxi industry interests contributed over $27,000 to the current City Council Speaker.

The lack of adequate transportation policies and practices has led to local citizens’ groups to form their own organizations to pressure City Hall into making more reasonable and non-corrupted decisions.

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The Empire’s Returning

Concerns that Vladimir Putin is seeking to re-establish hegemony in the former Soviet Empire, as well as controlling vital regional resources, deepened in the wake of Moscow’s installation of new demarcation signs about 300 feet into Georgian territory in the internationally non-recognized border of Georgia and its breakaway region of South Ossetia.

This is a follow up move to Russia’s military support and recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia independence in 2008. In 2009, Russia took control of the South Ossetia/Georgian border.

The change leaves slightly less than a mile of the Baku-Supsa oil pipeline under Moscow’s control.

Georgia’s ambassador Konstantine Zaldastanishvili  emphasized that the “Russian Federation remains in flagrant breach of the principles of international law and its commitments under the 12 August 2008 Ceasefire Agreement. Moreover, the installation of barbed wire fences and other artificial barriers further violates the fundamental rights and freedoms, including the right to free movement of the local population.”

According to the European Union “The installation of new demarcation signposts along the administrative boundary line of Georgia’s breakaway region of South Ossetia has led to tension in the area, with potentially negative effects on the local population, their livelihood and freedom of movement…The EU reaffirms its full support for Georgia’s territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders.”

The BBC reports that “a flag erected by Georgian protesters near the village of Khurvaleti, just south of the dividing line, has been removed by guards on the South Ossetian side.

There are a number of natural foods that can trigger joint pain and worsen symptoms. viagra generico cipla click this link female viagra cheap It’s great to have fire and passion. It is a medicine which works smoothly and viagra generika http://greyandgrey.com/third-department-decision-7-3-13/ is said to be gentle way to discover a person s aspiration or the pleasure which makes the sex between the two of them make love. Career is one of the big parts of men’s identities, and being under-employed or jobless can make men experience inadequacies, viagra no prescription canada including sexual insufficiency. Earlier this year, the Foreign Policy Research Institute noted that “Russia and South Ossetia … ironed out final details of a “Treaty of Alliance and Integration.” The treaty was drafted in December 2014 and on January 31, 2015 Georgian news agencies reported that the leader of South Ossetia, Leonid Tibilov, had sent the finalized document back to Moscow…This comes less than three months after the signing of the Russia-Abkhazia treaty of a similar nature, although it is not as comprehensive. The international community and the Georgian government have condemned Russia’s actions and will not recognize either of the treaties but that is not likely to stem Putin’s expansionist policies – if Crimea is any guide…The treaty…[allows] Russia to absorb South Ossetia.”

The U.S. State Department, while issuing no comment on the latest move, had stated earlier this year that “The United States’ position on South Ossetia and Abkhazia remains clear: these regions are integral parts of Georgia, and we continue to support Georgia’s independence, its sovereignty, and its territorial integrity.

The United States does not recognize the legitimacy of any so-called “treaty” between the de facto leaders of Georgia’s breakaway region of South Ossetia and the Russian Federation. Neither this agreement nor the one signed between Russia and the de facto leaders in Abkhazia in November 2014 constitutes a valid international agreement.

Russia should fulfill all of its obligations under the 2008 ceasefire agreement, withdraw its forces to pre-conflict positions, reverse its recognition of the Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states, and provide free access for humanitarian assistance to these regions.

We continue to support the Geneva International Discussions as a means to achieving concrete progress on security and humanitarian issues that continue to impact the communities on the ground in Georgia. In this regard, we are concerned by reports that the signing of this so-called agreement may coincide with the current round of Geneva Discussions on the conflict in Georgia. The United States calls on all participants to seize the opportunity to make progress in this and future rounds.”

Stratfor’s 2008 Analysis remains current and disturbing: “The Russian invasion of Georgia has not changed the balance of power in Eurasia. It simply announced that the balance of power had already shifted. The United States has been absorbed in its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as potential conflict with Iran and a destabilizing situation in Pakistan. It has no strategic ground forces in reserve and is in no position to intervene on the Russian periphery. This, as we have argued, has opened a window of opportunity for the Russians to reassert their influence in the former Soviet sphere. Moscow did not have to concern itself with the potential response of the United States or Europe; hence, the invasion did not shift the balance of power. The balance of power had already shifted, and it was up to the Russians when to make this public.”

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Supreme Court overrules EPA

The June 29 U.S. Supreme Court decision in the case of  Michigan et al. V. Environmental Protection Agency et al. restores some common sense to the Environmental Protection Agency’s    (EPA) extreme practices.

The Clean Air Act directs the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate emissions of hazardous air pollutants from certain stationary sources (such as refineries and factories). The Agency may regulate power plants under this program only if it concludes that “regulation is appropriate and necessary” after studying hazards to public health posed by power-plant emissions.

In response to protests over its  promulgating an extremely costly regulation designed to control the emission of mercury and other pollutants, the EPA found power-plant regulation “appropriate” because the plants’ emissions pose risks to public health and the environment and because controls capable of reducing these emissions were available. It found regulation “necessary” because the imposition of other Clean Air Act requirements did not eliminate those risks. The Agency refused to consider cost when making its decision. It estimated, however, that the cost of its regulations to power plants would be $9.6 billion a year, but the quantifiable benefits from the resulting reduction in hazardous-air-pollutant emissions would be $4 to $6 million a year.

The U.S. Supreme Court found that the EPA interpreted the hazardous air pollution statute unreasonably when it deemed cost irrelevant to the decision to regulate power plants.

The 5-4 majority opinion (written by Justice Anton Scalia, and joined by Chief Justice John Roberts, and Justices Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito)  of the Court ruled that the “EPA strayed well beyond the bounds of reasonable interpretation in concluding that cost is not a factor relevant to the appropriateness of regulating power plants. ‘Appropriate and necessary’ is a capacious phrase. Read naturally against the backdrop of established administrative law, this phrase plainly encompasses cost. It is not rational, never mind “appropriate,” to impose billions of dollars in economic costs in return for a few dollars in health or environmental benefits.”
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The Court noted that “the possibility of considering cost at a later stage, when deciding how much to regulate power plants, does not establish its irrelevance at [an earlier] stage. And although the Clean Air Act makes cost irrelevant to the initial decision to regulate sources other than power plants, the whole point of having a separate provision for power plants was to treat power plants differently. EPA must consider cost—including cost of compliance—before deciding whether regulation is appropriate and necessary. It will be up to the Agency to decide (as always, within the limits of reasonable interpretation) how to account for cost.”

Twenty-one states had challenged the EPA’s action.

The decision may just be the start of the EPA’s troubles.  Accusations of extremist and intrusive policies that run roughshod over individual and business rights have gained traction lately after revelations from Fox News that a “prominent left-wing group helped formulate Environmental Protection Agency talking points designed to sell a controversial regulatory scheme to skeptical journalists, internal emails show.”

Last September, several members of Congress wrote to the EPA requesting information about allegations that the agency was “colluding” with an extremist organization, the National Resources Defense Council, to engage in policy making outside of the normal process of government.

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We gave peace a chance–and it didn’t work

We gave peace a chance—and it didn’t work.

Since 1990, the United States has sharply reduced its military strength. With the exception of the men and material used in the Gulf Wars, the American Armed Forces have sustained continued dramatic cuts that will, by the end of this year, leave the U.S. Army smaller than North Korea’s. The United States hasn’t been alone in this.  Our NATO allies have also slashed spending on their already weak forces.

By 2020, China’s navy will outpace America’s in key areas. Already, Russia has gained the advantage in strategic nuclear arms and continues its ten to one advantage in tactical nukes. North Korea has become an atomic threat, and, all agreements to the contrary, Iran may as well (the Weekly Standard  reports that Iran Made Illegal Purchases of Nuclear Weapons Technology Last Month. Russia has been known to provide nuclear know-how to Iran.)

In the theory espoused by those who believe in the cliché of giving peace a chance, this was a grand experiment. Clearly, it has failed, producing a world closer to a major war than at any time since the end of World War 2. It is not just the development of quantitatively and, in some cases, qualitatively superior forces by nations hostile to the west that is the worrisome outcome of the diminishment of the Free World’s forces; it is in how those forces have been used.

Russia has twice invaded neighboring nations, and engages in intimidating actions towards its European neighbors and the North American coastline.

China has illegally occupied a resource-rich maritime area belonging to the Philippines. It is now claiming domination over vital sea lanes in contradiction of all international law.  Buoyed by President Obama’s eagerness to withdraw U.S. troops from abroad, ISIS has become a major regional power, and the Taliban is preparing for a major return in Afghanistan.

Even if one were to accept the concept, as the current White House clearly does, that America has been over-involved in foreign conflicts and that some aggressive actions by Moscow, Beijing, or others can be ignored, the reality is that the structure of the militaries recently developed by China and Russia appear to have as their target the United States. Moscow and Beijing have developed a deep and multi-faceted alliance. They no longer have any reason to be concerned about each other. No other great power exists, other than the United States, that justifies the high-tech and nuclear-enabled forces each has developed.
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The danger is getting greater. Both Russia and China are continuing their substantial buildup, even as the U.S. continues to reduce its armed strength. The American nuclear arsenal continues to rust away, while Moscow and Beijing continuously upgrade and add to their atomic arsenals. America also appears to be losing in another crucial area as well, as military, civilian, and corporate secrets continue to be rather easily accessed by enemy forces. The most recent attack, called by some critics a “Cyber Pearl Harbor,” gave China extremely sensitive data on Americans with security clearances.

That phrase, “enemy forces,” will surely raise objections from the “give peace a chance” advocates. But it is long past the time when reality, however unpleasant, must be honestly faced and acknowledged. Just as the White House shrinks from using the phrase “Islamic Terrorism,” so too it engages in semantic gymnastics to avoid frank assessments of the growing threat from Russia and China.

That threat is literally knocking on the U.S. doorstep. Russia has re-established cold war ties with Latin America. China has established key military-to-military alliances in the region. Both ISIS and al Qaeda have relationships with drug cartels in the area, as well.

It strains credulity to believe that the White House does not see these threats. But it may have made a cold, extremely risky, and deeply selfish calculation. Gambling that Moscow and Beijing (not to mention Tehran and Pyongyang) will at least temporarily hold off on direct attacks on a newly docile America, the Obama Administration is diverting all the funds it can hijack from the Pentagon and direct them towards its prime and overwhelming motivation: the massive increase in spending on welfare-type programs, a move which could strengthen the loyalty of the left’s political base of the left for decades to come.

The gamble is not working, and the world is spinning surely towards a major conflict on a scale not seen since 1945. This time, however, facing adversaries that have numerical and in some areas technological superiority, the outcome, unless America quickly reverses course, will not be as favorable.

 

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The Silence of the Left

The defining moments of a nation come not just from when something is done. They also come from when something is not done.

Think of how Germany’s history would have been different if more had opposed the horrific plans of Adolph Hitler. Imagine how much better America would be if the rise of segregation and discrimination after the Civil War had been prevented. Today, the failure by those who should know better, to condemn the attacks on free speech should be viewed with equal disdain.

The latest revelations about the widespread nature of the Internal Revenue Service’s intimidation against political opponents of the White House are cause for the deepest concern. Despite those revelations and the growing obviousness that major political appointees and perhaps top elected officials were involved in this unlawful program, there is no adequate legal action underway by a politically compromised and openly biased Justice Department. Nor are the vast majority of media outlets performing the functions they should be doing, by emphasizing the extraordinary nature of these unprecedented assaults on honest elections and free speech.

Indeed, there are attempts by the bureaucracy to continue this affront by simply changing tactics.

The original story is, by now, well known, although too late to actually serve the interests of justice. In anticipation of the 2012 presidential bid, the IRS intimidated and harassed groups considered not supportive of President Obama’s re-election bid.

However, this is not just a problem—dire as it is—about a past election.  Unblushingly, the same tactic is being tried again, under a different guise, to insure that the 2016 presidential election also goes the way the hard left desires.

As noted by Spectator magazine In November of 2013, the IRS proposed regulations that would essentially “institutionalize” its politically biased attacks. It is part of the hard Left’s fury at the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which, as noted in Spectator, “held that both labor unions and corporations had a free speech right to use their general funds for independent expenditures of a political nature. It said, among other things, that the First Amendment ‘has its fullest and most urgent applications to speech uttered during a campaign for political office.’ And that, in liberal thinking, opened a floodgate of corporate action where only union action had been permitted before. …[The politically-motivated IRS determined that] The best way to block spending by such nonprofits is to block them from becoming nonprofits, which has the effect of blocking most contributions to them. If you block their funding, they can’t spend anything on independent campaign ads for conservative candidates or against liberal ones. That’s what the IRS did in 2012, is doing today, and will continue to do when the new rules take effect.”

Expert Sexologist in Bangalore cures it completely, and the couples can have a satisfactory sex life is devastating. purchase cheap levitra was the first medication on the market, but there are now several alternatives. This drug not only provides a penile erection is an intricate mechanism that involves the mechanism of the brain, nerves, hormones, http://mouthsofthesouth.com/levitra-7596 cialis canadian blood vessels, and even emotions. It has been explained in this passionate about how consuming animal products is attributed to condition of buy levitra online decreased ejaculate volume and potency, low sperm count, shortened sperm life, poor sperm motility, genetic sperm damage, an also to the enlarged prostate, prostate cancer, difficulties while urinating, infertility and the development of a smaller penile and testicles as well as deformity of the penis (such as Peyronie’s disease); or. Why is it necessary to fight back shy while consulting a sexologist? Unfortunately, the sexual problems that must be levitra online usa treated at the earliest possible thought that this may be an indication of genuine issue and must be dealt with immediately employing Common Priligy. The challenge isn’t restricted to the IRS. As noted previously by the New York Analysis of Policy & Government, Within the U.S. Senate, Tom Udall (D-New Mexico) and Charles Schumer (D-New York), proposed a measure that would limit free speech protections as they pertain to campaign donations. The proposed legislation gained 43 Senate supporters—all Democrats. At a Senate Rules Committee hearing, Schumer stated that “The First Amendment is sacred, but the First Amendment is not absolute. By making it absolute, you make it less sacred to most Americans.’ The Republican minority was able to block the measure.”

Having been exposed for its 2012 offenses and voted down in the U.S. Senate hasn’t stopped the hard left from continuing their attack. According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), there is a “behind the scenes effort to lobby the Federal Election Commission and Justice Department to stifle free speech…don’t be surprised if the subpoenas hit Republican candidates at crucial political moments.”

According to WSJ, the new theory to slap down non-leftist candidates and ignore both the First Amendment and the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling is called “coordination,” which alleges that activities by independent SuperPACs  should be treated as campaign expenditures—although so far, the only target has been a Republican candidate, with nothing being said about a similar situation in Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

Direct attacks on media independence haven’t been overlooked in the drive to silence free speech. Efforts to place Federal monitors in newsrooms, and ending the independence of the Internet also have been used.

Historically, Americans have seen freedom as an end unto itself. But in the 21st century, many hard-left Progressives view a strict interpretation of Constitutional freedom guarantees and procedures as an obstacle to achieving their goals.

Most Americans remain unaware of the increasingly serious implications of this disdain for the Bill of Rights, largely because of the more subtle tactics of its assailants and the silence of a mass media that shares the political beliefs of the current executive branch. There are no mass burnings of books, no acts of physical intimidation on political opponents. Instead, there are IRS investigations of those opposing the White House. There are threats of sanctions against students who disagree with their hard-left professors. There are no mass outcries from many in the media when the new marketplace of ideas, the internet, is allowed to fall out of the hands of those who cherish freedom of speech.

How this is addressed may be the defining moment of the 21st Century American experience.

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Rise of the Administrative State

America’s entire way of government—with laws passed by legislators elected by the citizenry—has become increasingly jeopardized as the administrative state has grown to nearly uncontrollable levels.

Joseph Postell, writing for Libertylawsite, notes that “Multiple scandals involving myriad federal agencies have placed the administrative state front-and-center in many Americans’ minds. Though the scandals involve overreach by specific agencies, they raise broader and more profound questions that extend to the entire federal bureaucracy because the institutional problems are systemic…Astonishingly, we still don’t fully understand how responsible the President is for the actions of administrative agencies (such as the IRS…) Simply put, if the administrative state is really accountable, legally and practically, to the President, then it is not a “fourth branch” of government but merely part of the executive branch, accountable to the public… Today’s administrative state, therefore, makes a mess of the constitutional separation of powers and its careful adjustment of incentives, checks and balances. In such a system, what role can and should the courts play in reviewing agency decision-making? Here is where a deeper understanding of the courts’ historical role in administration is most needed.”

Roger Pilon, writing in CATO, asks “…Is there anything today that is not fit for government’s attention? Large sodas and restaurant menus have lately garnered notice. Retirement, health care, day care, wages, rents, prices, charity, even public radio and television—all that and so much more is the regular business of modern American government …late 19th and early 20th century Progressives. … believed they knew better than the rest of us what our true interests were. …Progressive social engineering took many forms, but its efforts to change the world focused mainly on the political branches. Its aim was to replace judge-made common law, which established the legal framework within which individuals and organizations pursued their interests, with statutory law, enacted by legislatures and, in time, by the administrative agencies in the executive branch…Thus the shift from law grounded in principle to law as policy, from reason to will, and to the politicization of law—precisely what the Constitution sought to avoid. When all is politics, nothing is law.”

This generic viagra 25mg gets dry and fosters inflammations with the protective mucus membranes within your intestines… viagra generic This helps to improve circulation and overall health. There are too many reasons which can affect the fertility of a few patients, but for the overwhelming viagra cheap no prescription majority of patients, it’s null. In this condition, the curvature to the organ is well lubricated sildenafil tablets india and flexible, it is easy for treating with appropriate medication. Forbes magazine recently observed “The number of agencies that enact, enforce, and adjudicate disputes over their own regulations has grown exponentially over the past century. …The new trend in regulation has been the use of “guidance” as a means of avoiding even “informal rulemaking”—the laxest kind of executive lawmaking that requires only public notice, a comment period, and detailed explanations of an agency’s decision. Agencies are now free to guide the nation without even these simple procedures …

In many cases, agencies’ budgets are also self-determined…The courts have… diminished their own authority to check the executive agencies by making it difficult for citizens to challenge agency actions in court…We need to stop kidding ourselves. Despite what is taught in our schools, we are not governed under the political structure envisioned by our founders. We are ruled by an imperious bureaucracy that creates vague rules, funds itself with fees that is sets at will, and controls the adjudication of disputes when citizens complain about its actions.”

Philip Hamburger, in the Hillsdale College publication Imprimis, warns: “[The] danger is absolutism: extra-legal, supra-legal, and consolidated power…we should demand rule through law and rule under law. Even more fundamentally, we need to reclaim the vocabulary of law: Rather than speak of administrative law, we should speak of administrative power—indeed, of absolute power…then we can at least begin to recognize the danger.”

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The Kurds: An untapped solution to the ISIS crisis?

Despite the presence of global and regional powers, the most effective fighting force countering ISIS has been the Kurds, a people not even in possession of a state of their own.

Despite that reality, the U.S. continues to display reluctance to provide these proven fighters, who come far closer to western standards of human rights than most other participating groups, with the weapons they need to protect themselves and defeat ISIS.

Current White House policy for ground forces leans on two local powers, Turkey and Iran, neither of which offer an appropriate solution.

According to the Gatestone Institute  “Apparently, for the government of Turkey, ISIS, which engages in mass murder, ethnic cleansing, mass rape and sexual slavery, is preferable to the Kurds, who resist ISIS and demand rights and liberties that have been taken away from them by the repressive regimes that rule over them…With its limited military power aided only by NATO planes and Peshmerga forces, the YPG are fighting against the immolators and decapitators, and trying to protect innocent people who would otherwise be massacred by ISIS….

The Kurdish militias — the YPG (A Kurdish “People’s Protection Unis” force in Syria) in Syrian Kurdistan and the Peshmerga in the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq — are the only Muslim forces truly resisting the ISIS on the ground. These Kurdish forces are mostly Muslim; at the same time, unlike the Arab regimes or radical Islamist armies in the region, they are secular and protective of minorities. On one side, there is Turkey, whose membership in the NATO has not prevented it from turning a blind eye to — or even facilitating the traffic of — ISIS fighters…”

According to the Council on Foreign Relations,“The Kurds are one of the indigenous peoples of the Middle East and the region’s fourth-largest ethnic group. They speak Kurdish, an Indo-European language, and are predominantly Sunni Muslims. Kurds have a distinct culture, traditional dress, and holiday… Kurdish nationalism emerged during the twentieth century following the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire and the formation of new nation-states across the Middle East. The estimated thirty million Kurds reside primarily in mountainous regions of present-day Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey and remain one of the world’s largest peoples without a sovereign state… The Kurds are not monolithic[and]have a long history of marginalization and persecution, and, particularly in Iraq and Turkey, have repeatedly risen up to seek greater autonomy or complete independence.”
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Part of the Administration’s reluctance to appropriately arm the Kurds rests with concerns about offending Turkey, a NATO partner. At least one portion of the Kurdish people lay claim to a portion of territory that currently belongs to Turkey. But Kurds also exist in numbers in northern Iraq, Syria, and Iran, and claim title to some territory of those nations.

In 2006, then-Senator Biden called for the establishment of a Kurdish state in northern Iraq, as part of a three-way split of the Iraqi nation. He appears to have moved away from that position.

Turkey has displayed no particular enthusiasm for the battle, leaving Iran, which is using the crisis as an excuse to expand its regional influence, as the best armed ground fighting force countering ISIS. ISIS has been, quite bluntly, a great benefit for Iran, even if the two entities are enemies. It has been a long term Iranian goal to place forces in and dominate portions of Iraq. It expands the Mullahs influence in the Middle East, and it serves as a bargaining chip in dealing with the West.

The failure to provide the Kurds, a western-friendly people interested primarily in their own survival with the support they need to confront ISIS is a significant policy error on Washington’s part, one that has led to great and worrisome gains for Iran.