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Posts tagged ‘Establishment’

To The Ivy League Palestine Supporters: Welcome To The ‘Eat Dirt’ Club


BY: EDDIE SCARRY | APRIL 23, 2024

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2024/04/23/to-the-ivy-league-palestine-supporters-welcome-to-the-eat-dirt-club/

A lot of congressional Republicans see a political slam dunk in thrusting their focus into the thick of anti-Israel protests raging at Ivy League campuses across the country, but to the protesters, there’s only one thing to say: This is what disappointment feels like. Get used to it.

Participants in the protests are demanding a range of things, from a simple “cease fire” in Gaza to something resembling more of what you might call a “final solution” in Israel. Republicans and Fox News are taking a special interest in the affair because of course all of the protesters are Democrat voters, and some of them are proudly allowing their anti-Jew flag to fly.

That makes things a little uncomfortable for the White House and Democrats in Congress, but so far, Joe Biden and Co. are managing to tolerate it. That’s because, with a giddy assist from Republicans, Democrats are within a baby’s breath of passing a nearly $100 billion foreign welfare package, about a quarter of which will go to Israel to continue its war campaign. Included in that portion is some “humanitarian aid” for Palestinians. (Enjoy!)

What’s not included in that handsome giveaway is anything of note that would directly improve the life of a single American on U.S. soil. There was nothing related to the collapse of the Southern border, nothing to address crime, and nothing to bring down the cost of groceries or the price of gas.

So, the anti-Israel faction of the Democrat Party feels put out by Washington? Don’t we all.

What they all need to understand is that the leaders they elected don’t care. Elected Democrats don’t share their interests. Likewise, elected Republicans just showed their priorities aren’t in sync with the desires of their voters, either.

I know it stings. Nobody likes rejection. But here we all are, as far corners of the world are taken care of by our tax dollars amid massive federal deficits and debt. Everyone here is fine, right?

Ultimately, what the protesters want is stupid anyway. After what happened on Oct. 7, Israel isn’t going to relent until it’s ready, just as any proud nation would do. That’s not to say Israelis should wage their battle at our expense, but that wasn’t my call. It was Washington’s. And Washington cares just as much about the preferences of anti-Israel activists as they do every other average American’s.

Get comfortable. Things aren’t going to change for a while.

Eddie Scarry is the D.C. columnist at The Federalist and author of “Liberal Misery: How the Hateful Left Sucks Joy Out of Everything and Everyone.”

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In A Culture Full of Sam Smiths, Christianity Is the Real Subversion


BY: VICTORIA MARSHALL | FEBRUARY 07, 2023

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2023/02/07/in-a-culture-full-of-sam-smiths-christianity-is-the-real-subversion/

Sam Smith and other dancers in "Unholy" music video

Hollywood is in desperate need of new ideas. Take Sunday’s Grammy Awards, for example. If there were ever a spectacle that could simultaneously be described as demonic and trite, it would be Sam Smith’s performance of “Unholy,” which rang the final death knell for the satanic-ritual-as-art trope.

As Federalist contributor Isabelle Rosini wrote, it was as boring as it was unoriginal. Stiletto-clad devils? Latex pants? Whips? Women in cages? Bursts of flame to signify — in case it wasn’t clear enough — that Smith was singing from the pit of hell? “Been there, done that,” artists ranging from Lil Nas X to Lady Gaga would say.

And it all fell flat. Despite the media’s attempts at running interference — with all the typical Republicans–pounce framing — the awards show was decidedly uninteresting, and this points to a broader crisis within the arts world itself. There is nothing it can produce that will shock the American public, quasi-satanic orgies and all.

Modern American culture has become a willing collaborator to the arts world — from Hollywood to the Oval Office, from TikTok to the public school classroom — thanks to the ascendancy of leftist orthodoxy in cultural and political institutions. Art can no longer be subversive once the political and broader media establishments espouse its values, whether those be sexual perversion or anti-religious bigotry.

Thus art has ceased to be interesting or subversive. Instead, the arts world and the establishment have merged — First Lady Jill Biden presented at the award show after all — producing mediocre content according to its tastes. If art wants to become subversive again, it must reject the values most prized by our modern culture. It must discard the idols of the left, from sexual deviancy to bitter racism. It must trash wokeness. Until it comes up with a fresh message, expect a continued mass exodus.

Reactionaries who really want to buck establishment tastes are congregating not in an art museum or mosh pit — but, ironically, at church. As Julia Yost described last summer in an op-ed for The New York Times titled “New York’s Hottest Club Is the Catholic Church,” pandemic-weary Manhattanites have rebelled against leftist orthodoxy by embracing traditional morality and the Catholic Church:

By 2020, the year of lockdowns and Black Lives Matter protests, progressivism had come to feel hegemonic in the social spaces occupied by young urban intellectuals. Traditional morality acquired a transgressive glamour. Disaffection with the progressive moral majority — combined with Catholicism’s historic ability to accommodate cultural subversion — has produced an in-your-face style of traditionalism. This is not your grandmother’s church — and whether the new faithful are performing an act of theater or not, they have the chance to revitalize the church for young, educated Americans.

Comedian Tim Dillon has noticed the same phenomenon. “All the cool kids now are unwoke and some of them are going back to Christianity because it’s the only way to be rebellious — because everybody’s blue-haired, non-binary, talking about piss orgies,” Dillon said in a recent interview with podcaster Joe Rogan.

@limitlessbrotherhood

Being woke is not cool anymore. Religious kids are now considered the rebellious ones

♬ Joe Rogan X Tim Dillion – The Limitless Brotherhood™

That to be “transgressive” in this day and age means attending church and rediscovering religious orthodoxy is quite the plot twist, but it’s encouraging for the West’s prospects. Let’s hope this trend continues, and that so-called artists like Sam Smith and his tired satanism shtick get the red, latex boot.

Victoria Marshall is a staff writer at The Federalist. Her writing has been featured in the New York Post, National Review, and Townhall. She graduated from Hillsdale College in May 2021 with a major in politics and a minor in journalism. Follow her on Twitter @vemrshll.

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Ranked-Choice Voting Keeps Rigging Elections


BY: VICTORIA MARSHALL | JANUARY 11, 2023

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2023/01/11/ranked-choice-voting-keeps-rigging-elections/

hand holding a bunch of "vote" buttons

As different states and municipalities across the country adopt ranked-choice voting, it’s become obvious this mind-boggling election system deserves a new name: rigged-choice voting.

After nearly two months of tabulation, Alameda County, California, — one such ranked-choice voting (RCV) adoptee — announced it got the count wrong for its Nov. 8 election. As The Wall Street Journal reported, the California county admitted it made systemic errors while tabulating ballots. As a result of the snafu, an Oakland School Board race flipped: The top vote-getter (and certified winner) must now hand his board seat over to the third-place finisher.

While gross negligence on the part of some Alameda County election officials is not only probable but likely, RCV’s Byzantine election system must also take the blame. In it, voters rank candidates in order of preference. If no candidate receives a majority of votes in the first round, the last-place finisher is eliminated, and his voters are reallocated to the voter’s second-choice candidate. The process continues until one candidate receives a majority of votes. For the Oakland mayor’s race, it took nine baffling rounds of RCV for one candidate to receive the narrow majority. The local NAACP chapter demanded a manual recount but scrapped it due to the expense.

In the case of the Oakland School Board election, officials blame a software configuration problem for the error (even the machines were confused about how to count the RCV-way). But is it right for a candidate who receives a plurality of votes on the first go-through to eventually lose to someone who finishes last? Often, the victors that emerge from ranked-choice voting are not the candidates a majority of voters favor. Case-in-point: Democrat Mary Peltola won Alaska’s lone congressional seat despite nearly 60 percent of voters casting their ballots for a Republican.

What’s behind the RCV takeover? As The Federalist has previously reported, partisan Democratic activists and moderate Republicans are pushing RCV as a legal mechanism to push out more revolutionary (read: populist) candidates in favor of establishment-backed contenders. As Project Veritas has documented, the moderate, nominal Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski was behind the campaign to change Alaska’s primary to an RCV system, ensuring the defeat of her Trump-backed challenger Kelly Tshibaka. Had Alaska not implemented RCV, Tshibaka likely would have defeated Murkowski in the primary.

There is a myriad of problems with RCV, as the Alameda County debacle shows. The Foundation for Government Accountability notes that ranked-choice voting causes ballot exhaustion (when a ballot is cast but does not count toward the end election result), diminishes voter confidence, and lags election results. It can take weeks or even months for a ranked-choice race to be counted, threatening the security of the process.

If Americans desire democracy and election integrity, rigged-choice voting is clearly not the way to go.

Victoria Marshall is a staff writer at The Federalist. Her writing has been featured in the New York Post, National Review, and Townhall. She graduated from Hillsdale College in May 2021 with a major in politics and a minor in journalism. Follow her on Twitter @vemrshll.

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Filmmaker Embedded in Caravan Gets to the Truth. Migrants Themselves Expose US Media as Total Liars


Reported By Malachi Bailey } November 15, 2018 at 2:16pm

A filmmaker traveled to Mexico and did what the U.S. media didn’t do: he witnessed the migrant caravan for himself and exposed the truth.nFilmmaker Ami Horowitz went to Oaxaca in southern Mexico to uncover the truth about the migrant caravan.

The caravan, consisting of thousands of Honduran illegal immigrants, has caught the attention of the media as it heads toward the United States. However, much of the coverage consists of hand-waving from the left-wing establishment media, which claims the caravan consists of peaceful families just trying to escape violence.

After visiting the caravan for himself, Horowitz came to a different conclusion.

“Despite the framing of the caravan as being full of women and children, the reality on the ground is quite different. Approximately 90 to 95 percent of the migrants were male,” Horowitz said in a Twitter video.

Last month, BBC wrote that “The migrants, mostly from Honduras, say they are fleeing violence and poverty, and include women and children.” That’s a grossly misleading statement for a caravan consisting of over 90 percent men.

The establishment media also continuously repeated the narrative that the caravan is made up of people seeking to escape violence.

“We do know that many migrants have said they are fleeing terrible gang violence, with some fearing for their lives,” The Guardian claimed last month.

However, Horowitz discovered that the migrants are actually seeking employment when they illegally enter the United States.

“The major narrative being pushed by the press has been that the migrants are leaving Honduras because they are facing extreme violence and that their lives are under constant threat,” Horowitz said.

To discover if this was true, the filmmaker asked several migrants, “Why are you coming to America?”

“To get a job,” one responded. “To work,” said another.

It’s clear that these migrants, who are mostly male, are economic migrants seeking American jobs. They aren’t “women and children” who are “fleeing violence.”

It’s completely absurd that the truth had to come from a filmmaker investigating the caravan for himself because the establishment media is too busy peddling lies and misinformation.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Malachi Bailey
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Malachi Bailey is a writer from the Midwest with a background in history, education and philosophy. He has led multiple conservative groups and is dedicated to the principles of free speech, privacy and peace.

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Betrayal beyond belief: Dem priorities funded; Trump’s scuttled


Posted May 01, 2017 11:09 AM by Daniel Horowitz

URL of the original posting site: https://www.conservativereview.com/articles/betrayal-beyond-belief-dem-priorities-funded-trumps-scuttled

status quo mega phone / Ildo Frazao | Getty Images

During the 2014 elections in my home state of Maryland, there were problems with some of the ballot machines, whereby many ballots cast for Republicans “coincidentally” were automatically rendered as Democrat ballots. With the omnibus deal forged at 2 a.m. last night in Congress, this is essentially what has happened on a national level. People voted for a revolution – to drain the swamp – and out popped a Democrat budget. In fact, one would be hard pressed to find anything different about this budget from the one we would have gotten if Hillary had been elected.

Amazingly, the FY 2017 budget was deliberately held over until this year instead of being completed in October or December 2016, precisely so that the victor of the election would reap the spoils of war. Well, Democrats lost the election but won this year’s budget. The reason why it took an extra few days to forge the “deal” is because once Republicans telegraphed the message that they’d jettison every conservative priority from the budget, Democrats then held out for their priorities. By and large, they got them.

Here is the end result:

Funded

  • The bill continues funding refugee resettlement and visas from the six countries from which Trump wanted to suspend immediate immigration, despite this budget being the last recourse against the judicial tyranny. The refugee program gets $3.1 billion, the same as it did under Obama.
  • Sanctuary cities were funded, despite the judicial tyranny and the need for Congress to weigh in.
  • Planned Parenthood was funded, despite the long-standing GOP promise to fight to defund it, even when they only controlled Congress. Yes, they couldn’t even defund a private organization getting taxpayer funds to traffic baby organs.
  • Increased spending for a number of liberal priorities rather than codifying Trump’s requested $17 billion in non-defense spending cuts.
  • EPA was saved from the cuts proposed for this year by Trump’s OMB.
  • A $295.9 billion bailout for Puerto Rico’s irresponsible Medicaid program. This is on top of the bailout from last year.
  • Sec. 543 of the omnibus contains a provision opening the door for more H2-B low-skilled workers this fiscal year.
  • $990 million increase of the “Food for Peace” program in Africa.
  • Government-run health care? HHS will see a $2.8 billion boost in spending, of which $2 billion will go to the NIH, which was supposed to be cut by the Trump budget.
  • Green energy programs within the Department of Energy, programs Trump would have eliminated, received a modest spending increase.
  • The federal judiciary saw its budget increased by three percent, to $7.4 billion, from fiscal 2016, despite engaging in civil disobedience against the rule of law.
  • The unconstitutional Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is fully funded despite GOP promises to dismantle it. Richard Cordray is still serving as its director despite the change in administration.
  • California’s high-speed rail will continue to be funded by the Federal Rail Administration.

Not Funded

  • The border wall. Although $1.5 billion in additional “border security” funds were allocated, Democrats made certain to bar funding for the fence. As I’ve noted before, given the legal problems with those who step foot on our shores and the cumbersome nature of interior enforcement, anything short of the permanent deterrent of a border wall will not solve the problem.  

Indeed, the 1,665-page, $1.16 trillion omnibus is everything we would have gotten had Democrats been in charge. After they successfully got Republicans to jettison all of Trump’s priorities, Democrats secured the Puerto Rico bailout. And while the bill does not contain an Obamacare bailout (cost-sharing subsidies), the White House agreed to continue illegally promulgating the insurer bailout without congressional appropriations as part of the condition for Democrats affording Republicans the honor of capitulating to them.

The only plus side of this bill is that the president did secure a $15 billion boost for the military, but Democrats always agree to spending more on the military, as it has become a consensus, albeit without offsetting the cost with cuts to non-defense spending. That is exactly the deal they secured. They increased spending in many of the areas where Trump proposed cuts.

Meanwhile, Nancy Pelosi is bragging about blocking 160 GOP priorities in the bill!

Some defenders of this deal will claim that we should wait for “the next time.” The president is coming out with the FY 2018 budget this week, and they will fight for it in September. But that budget is a complete joke. If they can’t fight for modest cuts and their basic campaign promises with control of all of government – with the momentum of the first 100 days – they certainly won’t fight later in the year for real spending cuts. Instead, the fear of a shutdown led them to increase spending. That will not change in September.  

I would have more sympathy for the president had he not spent the past month attacking conservatives on health care. He should have, instead, been shaming McConnell and the appropriators into funding his priorities the same way he shamed the Freedom Caucus to accept 20 percent repeal of Obamacare. The way for him to distinguish himself from congressional Republicans is to immediately issue a veto threat.

And now we are to believe this administration that we will repeal Obamacare in any meaningful way and get massive tax cuts when it tossed an interception on the first budget! At some point, conservatives need to wake up and smell the political adultery unfolding. Merely shouting “Gorsuch” as if it’s a punchline in itself to distract from the broader betrayal is sophomoric. Of course, we were going to get a decent judge to replace our very best when we have a GOP president, a GOP Senate, and were rid of the SCOTUS filibuster. Then again, I guess if we are judging expectations for judicial picks based on what just happened with the budget, we could have gotten an Elena Kagan.

But fear not, the best is yet to come. Gary Cohn, the Democrat running domestic policy for the administration, is promising a vote on “Obamacare” this week.

Now we can understand why McConnell and the NRSC are threatening anyone who works for Judge Roy Moore in the Alabama Senate race: They don’t want anyone elected to the Republican Party who will actually support the Republican budget and GOP platform.

At some point, conservatives need to realize they are just not wanted in the Republican Party.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Daniel Horowitz is a senior editor of Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @RMConservative.

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Perspective: Trump scored big, using a conventional speech to kick off an unconventional presidency


waving flag disclaimerA Perspective by  Daniel Horowitz | March 01, 2017

URL of the original posting site: https://www.conservativereview.com/commentary/2017/03/trump-scored-big-using-a-conventional-speech-to-kick-off-an-unconventional-presidency

Donald Trump in Mesa, AZ / Gage Skidmore | Flickr

State of the Union Addresses are usually full of carefully-crafted platitudes presenting the president’s agenda in a unifying tone from a position of strength. Typically, no new ground is plowed at these events. In recent years, they have fallen flat for presidents of both parties. But given that Trump is such an unconventional president, a conventional policy speech — carefully crafted with a serious but upbeat tone — is exactly what he needed in order to recover his stalled momentum.

In many ways this was the best speech he has given to date. In fact, it was a perfect presentation of his agenda. To be clear, not all of his agenda is conservative, but that is already baked into the cake. Amidst a month of endless muddled messaging, ramblings about the media, Republican infighting, and competing factions within his own administration, last night was his only opportunity to take his message directly to the American people. It was also a time to move beyond campaign rhetoric and embrace the reality of his party controlling all of government and the need for a forward-looking message.

Here are my quick observations on the policy aspects of the speech, divided into what conservatives should consider good and bad..

THE GOOD

1. Immigration:

Coming into the speech, rumors were swirling in the media that Trump would embrace some sort of amnesty. Not only did that not occur, but Trump reclaimed the term “immigration reform” and used it to describe what the word truly means: finally restoring our immigration system to its historical values before Ted Kennedy destroyed it. That means only admitting immigrants who love our values, do not become a public charge, and do not threaten our way of life. It also means implementing a sane legal immigration system that is not based on chain migration. He put Democrats on defense so that they will have to explain why they oppose merit-based immigration.. For those of us who’ve worked on this issue for years, this speech was just what the doctor ordered.

2. Refugees:

Trump spoke to the morality, not just the legality, of his immigration moratorium, which we called on him to do earlier this week. As Trump said,

“It is not compassionate, but reckless, to allow uncontrolled entry from places where proper vetting cannot occur. Those given the high honor of admission to the United States should support this country and love its people and its values.” He also charted a completely new path on the entire premise and goal of refugee policy: “The only long-term solution for these humanitarian disasters is to create the conditions where displaced persons can safely return home and begin the long process of rebuilding.”

3. Obamacare:

Earlier today, I laid down the gauntlet for Trump to finally speak directly to the problems of Obamacare. I argued he needed to call for full repeal and hold Democrats accountable for creating this disaster but then blocking its solution. Trump did not disappoint in the macro-messaging. The guiding principles he laid out on health care were sound. He actually touched on the central point missed by GOP congressional leadership — that we should focus on lowering costs rather than expanding coverage as an end to itself, saying: “The way to make health insurance available to everyone is to lower the cost of health insurance, and that is what we will do.” Unfortunately, he contradicted that messaging by hinting at a pre-existing condition mandate and refundable tax credits — two elements of the establishment plan that will actually keep prices high. Nonetheless, the overall plan was as good as we can hope for from any Republican at this moment and needs to be bolstered by allies in the administration.complete-message

4. Foreign policy:

Although the details were a little sparse for a speech this long, he made it clear that the era of nation building is over. “My job is not to represent the world. My job is to represent the United States of America,” said Trump in a very effective punchline. At the same time, President Trump spoke to defending American security without apologizing and waging an unflinching war against radical Islamic terror. And thank God, as this is the first time in years a president has mentioned our alliance with Israel without pushing the odious “two state solution.”

5. Drugs and crime:

Although crime is a policy mainly dealt with on a state level, I’m glad Trump used his “job” as ‘citizen in chief’ to address rising crime rates. This is one area of Trumpism that is actually more in line with traditional conservatism, even though it deviates from the current dogma among “right-leaning” policy elites. The same is true for the drug epidemic. He let the liberal open borders crowd own the disaster that is taking place in our communities thanks to drugs pouring over the border.

THE BAD

1. No mention of life and religious liberty:

While we’ve come to expect social conservatism to take a back seat, it’s a shame that these issues didn’t even receive the traditional obligatory mention, especially given the persecution that is taking place at the hands of the sexual identity lobby and the courts. He could have easily woven in respect for the conscience and private property decisions of others into this unifying speech and would have been a good ambassador for the cause. He won with overwhelming support from evangelicals and other faith-based groups in this country. It’s a shame they were left out tonight. Then again, the rest of the party is just as bad on this issue, so it’s not as if Trump is changing the party’s true position. Nonetheless, conservatives need to fight harder to address fundamental rights and judicial reform.amen

Let our policies stand on their own merits and the media’s desire to destroy them will be that much harder.

2. Ivankacare, porkulous, spending, and debt:

As always, there was no mention of balancing the budget, the threat of debt, or the need to cut spending. In addition, President Trump promoted “Ivankacare” and the full blown $1 trillion porkulous he calls an infrastructure rebuilding package. Conservatives should not back down in their opposition to these bad ideas. We don’t need another massive entitlement; we need to repeal Obamacare so that mothers don’t have to work more to pay for a second mortgage. Likewise, the talk of “crumbling infrastructure” is a dubious left-wing talking point. And to the extent there are problems with our infrastructure it’s because of the inefficient, failed federal monopoly on highway spending. Trump said, “the time has come for a new program of national rebuilding.” He is right, it’s time to devolve transportation and education spending to the states in order to improve those important functions.amen

Moreover, Trump must remember that we cannot have economic growth with such long-term debt. Also, the trade deficit he speaks of is only a problem because of our fiscal deficit and the misallocation of investments pouring into this country.

3. The protectionist trade policies:

Nothing new here, but still very problematic. Much of the appeal of “buy America” and “stopping companies from going overseas” stems from the general feeling that we have lost our economy and sovereignty. But were Trump to really propose a solid agenda ending venture socialism — taxation, regulation, and subsidization — along with his virtuous immigration ideas, those problems would go away over time and trade won’t have to be the bogeyman. Furthermore, enactment of true free market policies is the best way to keep companies in America.

Overall, there was really nothing new regarding Trump’s non-conservative views, and I believe they were overshadowed by the solid parts of his speech on immigration and Obamacare. It’s something we must continue to work on as we fight to defend his good policies.

President Trump must now harness the energy from this successful speech and deliver specific policies to Congress on taxes, immigration, and health care. He must whip GOP leaders into shape, get everyone in his administration on the same page, stay on message, and let his policies speak above the rancor of the media. Trump should focus relentlessly on his policies (hopefully the more conservative ones) and back them up with a series of policy speeches while simply ignoring the media. Yes, the media is the enemy, but we must not be our own worst enemy. Let our policies stand on their own merits and the media’s desire to destroy them will be that much harder.

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They lied all along: Republicans plan to ‘repair’ not repeal Obamacare


waving flagAuthored  By: Daniel Horowitz | February 03, 2017

URL of the original posting site: https://www.conservativereview.com/commentary/2017/02/they-lied-all-along-republicans-plan-to-repair-not-repeal-obamacare

Green and yellow capsule clamped in a wrench.

Is it possible to repair a house on fire without extinguishing the raging inferno in it? Republicans think we are stupid enough to believe so.

First they promised to repeal Obamacare “root and branch.” Then they promised to “repeal and replace” without explaining its meaning — other than to legitimize the premise of Obamacare as a partial force for good. Now, they are on to “repair.”

The Hill has the relevant quotes from two of the most important committee chairmen (Senator Walden, R-Ore. (F, 36%) and Senator Alexander, R-Tenn. (F, 15%)) drafting the repeal bill … which will not repeal Obamacare:

“I’m trying to be accurate on this that there are some of these provisions in the law that probably will stay, or we may modify them, but we’re going to fix things, we’re going to repair things,” House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.), a key player on healthcare, told reporters Tuesday.

“There are things we can build on and repair, there are things we can completely repeal,” he said.

Senate Health Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) is sounding a similar note. […]

“I think it is more accurate to say repair ObamaCare because, for example, in the reconciliation procedure that we have in the Senate, we can’t repeal all of ObamaCare,” Alexander said. “ObamaCare wasn’t passed by reconciliation, it can’t be repealed by reconciliation. So we can repair the individual market, which is a good place to start.”

As we noted before, every word of this premise is false because the price-hiking coverage regulations are inextricably linked to the subsidies, as noted by the courts and CBO. Therefore, the regulations can be repealed through budget reconciliation. Moreover, the Senate parliamentarian doesn’t have the final say on addressing Senate precedent.

However, there is a more important point to bring out from this story. These people lied to all of us. They told a bald-faced lie. Absolutely nothing changed structurally about Obamacare from the time they made these promises during the past three elections until now. If anything, premiums went up even more than expected and there are even fewer insurers than previously predicted, making the case for repeal an easier political sell.kick-em-out-of-office

Likewise, nothing changed procedurally from the time they promised to use budget reconciliation to repeal at least most of the main elements of the law. Republicans always knew that they would need to get rid of the actuarially crippling regulations, which would then unfreeze the insurance market, lower costs, bring back choice and competition, and engender much less of a need for subsidies. All the while, everyone always planned to maintain the subsidies and Medicaid expansion for a one to two-year transition period while other free market health care and health insurance reforms were put in place.

Yet, Republicans, particularly those in the Senate, never had any intention of repealing it because they don’t believe or understand free markets, are owned by the big pharma/big government complex, and have no desire or ability to articulate a winning issue to the public without shooting themselves in the foot.

This day was predicted long ago

In 2012 and 2014, conservatives worked against Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. (F, 40%) and his sitting RINO Senators (such as Thad Cochran, R-Miss. (F, 22%), Pat Roberts, R-Kan. (F, 51%) Lisa Murkowski, R-Ala. (F, 20%) and Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn. (F, 15%)) and his chosen challengers in open seats (such as Sens. Tillis, R-N.C. (F, 35%) and Cassidy, R-La. (F, 47%)). Voters were warned that they had no intention of repealing Obamacare. Conservatives cautioned that if Ted Cruz’s, R-Texas (A, 97%) plan to defund Obamacare at its inception was not followed, the law would never be repealed. That if we failed to build a Senate majority upon a solid foundation and stronger leadership, Obamacare would never be repealed even if we were so fortunate to control all three branches. [See my op-ed at Fox News Opinion on October 25, 2013, “Building a GOP Majority on Quicksand”]

Groups like Senate Conservatives Fund were maligned as pursuing “purity for profit” and undermining the creation of a GOP majority that would truly repeal Obamacare. Establishment voices accused the grassroots activists of needlessly creating a civil war over disagreements on strategy. Yet, we knew all along it was a disagreement over beliefs and courage, not strategy. Unfortunately, the establishment used their superior funding (from groups like the Chamber of Commerce that wanted to keep Obamacare all along) to run on repealing the law “root and branch,” as McConnell famously said. Now, some of these very senators are leading the charge to repair the law, which is not feasible.kick-em-out-of-office

Trump must intervene

Obviously, President Trump is having a busy week with his immigration policies and the Supreme Court pick, among many other issues. He can’t address everything in the first month of his presidency. But there is no way to ignore Obamacare. Unless it is FULLY repealed, within a few years no middle-income American will be able to live in freedom and dignity without permanent government support and intervention in healthcare. We will have no freedom in one sixth of our economy. Moreover, the crushing job loss, debt, and diminished wages from the Obamacare regulations are weighing down the economy and will undermine the president’s ability to grow the economy with some of his other plans. It will limit his ability to secure a legacy as a jobs president.

The plan forward

Trump should dispatch Vice President Pence to work with the House Freedom Caucus as well as Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc. (F, 52%) and ensure that the House passes the full repeal bill — along with the regulations. They should make it clear that there are no excuses for the Senate to not overrule the parliamentarian, but at the same time they should not wait around for the lords of the Senate to do the right thing. The reconciliation bill should be structured as follows:

  • An 18-month transition for retaining the subsidies and the Medicaid expansion. However, immediately freeze both programs from new registrations.
  • Repeal Obamacare’s taxes immediately and the regulations by mid-year so that insurance companies can have certainty to offer cheaper, competitive plans in 2018
  • On the administrative end, have Tom Price, R-Ga. (D, 62%) get rid of any cost-sharing subsidies and risk corridor bailouts for insurance companies. This will force them to utilize the lifting of regulations to lower prices and actually compete for business rather than relying on subsidies.
  • Meanwhile, individual states should work on reducing their own onerous health care and health insurance regulations in order to maximize the market effect of reducing federal insurance regulations.

At that point, Trump should relentlessly use his bully pulpit to name and shame the Senate into fulfilling their promise. It can be done if we actually got the momentum rolling in the House. As Reps. Mark Meadows, R-N.C. (A 94%) and Jim Jordan, R-Ohio (A, 96%) said in a statement today, “We committed to the American people to repeal every tax, every mandate, the regulations, and to defund Planned Parenthood. That’s what the American people expect us to do — and they expect us to do it quickly.”amen

In the meantime, conservatives should put the pressure on the Senate by launching a new round of primaries. Members like Jeff Flake, R-Ariz. (F, 50%), Bob Corker, R-Tenn. (F, 45%), Roger Wicker, R-Miss. (F, 28%), and Orrin Hatch, R-Utah (F, 33%) could be prime targets in states won by Trump.

As Bobby Jindal said, “Republicans who want to retreat from repeal to repair should be replaced.”

amen kick-em-out-of-office

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Today’s Politically CORRECT Cartoon


GOP Base Hit

Posted on June 13, 2014

http://conservativebyte.com/2014/06/gop-base-hit/#EFOg0VkMaAbYMM5G.99

Rino-saw-590-CI
WE MUST NEVER FORGETVOTE 02

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Why Republicans Must Go


http://lastresistance.com/3498/republicans-must-go/#HQ4g5yxpDgj4zXKg.99

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The above quote perfectly encapsulates the divide within the Republican Party. The rift within the Party is based on many things, but when boiled down, it is all about philosophy. For the longest time, the philosophy of the Republican Party has been about winning at all costs. This has caused permanent blindness which has led to endless mediocre candidates. In the Party’s pursuit of the “perfect” candidate, they have eschewed their own values in favor of someone they hope will be “electable,” and adored by moderates.

The problem with the desire to be liked is that it clouds one’s judgment. Trying to cover every base is impossible, and in their extraordinary need to be liked by all, Republicans have become hated by all. The tides have changed a bit with the appearance of Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, and the rest of the cast of Real Conservatives of Washington DC. Their rise has dramatically shifted the demographics of the Republican Party, increasing the rift between the establishment and the true Conservatives.

According to Breitbart:

“Appearing on NBC’s Meet the Press, former Pennsylvania Senator and 2012 presidential candidate Rick Santorum bashed Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), saying that Cruz’s crusade against Obamacare had been counterproductive. ‘I would say in the end, he did more harm. I think it was not his objective.’”

This column is not designed to bash Santorum, but to highlight the philosophical difference between establishment and Conservative. Santorum went on to say that Ted Cruz is a good guy, but that his strategy was misguided. In those words lies a massive philosophical statement. Santorum belongs to the establishment, a group of politicians who are unwilling to make waves in order to incite change. He will gladly make a statement about abortion, making waves around himself, but he is not out to change Washington in any real sense.

This is why we need to oust establishment Republicans. It’s not necessarily because they are malevolent—though some are (McCain)—but because they simply don’t understand what’s going on. No matter the situation, establishment Republicans just aren’t useful anymore.

Santorum on Cruz

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