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March 2015

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on March 27, 2015 13 Comments
Earlier today, MSNBC published a story suggesting Senator Cruz supports legalization of undocumented individuals currently in the United States. Derived from the fact that Senator Cruz hasn't specifically stated he does not support legalization of undocumented individuals, the inference is that Cruz must therefore support legalization of undocumented individuals. It's a nice little semantic game, really. MSNBC referenced a Texas Tribune article from 2013 which they claim indicates, "that he [Cruz] supported giving some undocumented immigrants permission to stay in the country with more limited legal status." This summation is not accurate. The Texas Tribune article, written around the time of the Gang of Eight immigration fight, makes the same incorrect assumption as MSNBC. The first statement is correct while the latter is only partially so:
When it comes to immigration reform, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz has made it abundantly clear what he opposes: giving citizenship to people who broke the law to come here. What has not been as evident is what he supports: legal status for millions of people here already, while making it easier for immigrants to come here through the front door.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on March 27, 2015 30 Comments
47 Traitors. White House snubs. A Presidential temper tantrum. Public fights with Netanyahu. Damaging international relationships with Israel. Leaked intel information. And what do we get for all the hassle? you get nothing A vague deal that won't even appear in writing. At least according to British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond. Edward-Isaac Dovere reports at Politico:
No specifics, nothing written, perhaps not even anything that Iran and the international negotiating partners say as one—that’s the most to expect out of the nuclear talks now running up against the deadline in Switzerland, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said Friday. But even concluding this round of talks with that level of ambiguity, Hammond said, would count as a significant success. And he thinks they’ll get it.
It's safe to say that Secretary Hammond's definition of success is a bit different from the rest of the world.

Posted by Amy Miller on March 27, 2015 4 Comments
The U.S. military is worried about ISIS---and not because of their violent offensive tactics. ISIS is good at propaganda. Really good. Their use of social media to recruit and promote themselves is unlike anything we've seen from an extremist group, and what's worse---it's working. Military officials believe that ISIS may even be winning the "propaganda war" in the Middle East. No stranger to propaganda themselves, the U.S. military decided to fight back. The Department of Defense recently dropped 60,000 copies of a leaflet depicting potential ISIS recruits literally being put through a meat grinder. Why propaganda? The U.S. military believes that, for all their bravado, ISIS is currently running a precarious defense in the Middle East. They're teetering in Iraq, and losing ground in Syria, partially due to coalition airstrikes targeting strongholds. The AP explains:
The leaflets, part of an information campaign to discourage people from joining the extremist group, were dropped in a canister by an F-15 fighter jet last week. ""The message of this leaflet is, if you allow yourself to be recruited by Daesh, you will find yourself in a meat grinder. And it's not beneficial to your health," said Army Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman who released a copy of the leaflet Thursday in response to media requests. Daesh is the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group.
("Daesh" is the Arabic acronym for ISIS.) Take a look at it:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 27, 2015 3 Comments
The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, conceived at the anti-Semitic 2001 Durban NGO Conference and rolled out with a 2005 boycott call from "Palestinian Civil Society," is a weapon to isolate, demonize and dehumanize Israel and Israeli Jews. As documented here hundreds of times, the goal of BDS is the destruction of Israel, though it is packaged in vague social justice language that leads many naive and ill-informed progressives to think it is only about the "occupation" of the West Bank. In fact, the leadership and founders of the BDS movement consider all of Israel "occupied" territory which must be liberated. That's why a leading chant at rallies is "From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free." The BDS movement has gained a lot of public attention in the past couple of years and is a hot topic of discussion, particularly at academic organizations like the American Studies Association, which have been taken over by anti-Israel faculty activists. The BDS movement's relentless false and defamatory propaganda against Israel is a key factor in the rise of anti-Semitic violence in Europe and even on some U.S. campuses. When a Synagogue in Paris was attacked in the summer of 2014, it started with a BDS rally. BDS is, in my terminology, the mother's milk of modern anti-Semitism.

Posted by Casey Breznick on March 27, 2015 14 Comments
President Barack Obama’s administration has been one rife with scandals. Some pertain directly to the President himself and his own actions–like the recent immigration executive order that some say unconstitutionally side-stepped Congress–and some to members of his administration, like the targeting of conservative groups by the IRS and the Secret Service’s series of embarrassments. So in the spirit of March Madness and NCAA bracketology, I crafted an Obama Administration Scandal Bracket, originally published at The Cornell Review. Obama Scandal Brackets

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 27, 2015 45 Comments
There have been few people as destructive to our political process and discourse as Harry Reid. His pugnacious antics have been a feature here since the inception of this blog. Finally, he's retiring. From The NY Times:
Senator Harry Reid, the tough tactician who has led Senate Democrats since 2005, will not seek re-election next year, bringing an end to a three-decade congressional career that culminated with his push of President Obama’s ambitious agenda against fierce Republican resistance. Mr. Reid, 75, who suffered serious eye and facial injuries in a Jan. 1 exercise accident at his Las Vegas home, said he had been contemplating retiring from the Senate for months. He said his decision was not attributable either to the accident or to his demotion to minority leader after Democrats lost the majority in November’s midterm elections. “I understand this place,” Mr. Reid said. “I have quite a bit of power as minority leader.”

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on March 27, 2015 47 Comments
Yesterday the Wall Street Journal reported Scott Walker as having "adjusted his stance on immigration" at a private dinner in New Hampshire. After drawing intense criticism for supporting the eventual legalization of illegal immigrants currently in the United States, Walker made a bold move. Earlier this month, Governor Walker admittedly changed his position on legalizing undocumented individuals saying, “My view has changed, I’m flat out saying it.” Fox News reported:
Walker in 2013 said a plan in which illegal immigrants can become United States citizens by first paying penalties and enduring a waiting period “makes sense.” However, he is now saying such a plan is tantamount to amnesty, amid criticism that he has flip-flopped on that issue and others — including right-to-work legislation in his home state. “I don’t believe in amnesty,” said Walker, who finished second Saturday in the Conservative Political Action Conference’s straw poll for potential 2016 Republican presidential candidates. “We need to secure the border. We ultimately need to put in place a system that works — a legal immigration system that works.”
Just weeks later, the Wall Street Journal reports that in a private dinner, away from the eyes of the press, Governor Walker is back to his old amnesty lovin' ways. The reporter relied on attendee reports; providing no indication he attended the dinner personally.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 26, 2015 13 Comments
I could imagine such a conversation some decades in the future, if and when I have grandchildren and they are old enough to comprehend the historical mistakes of prior generations. The deal being discussed does not eliminate Iran's ability to produce nuclear weapons, it enshrines the process by international agreement so long as Iran does not take the last step. Recognizing Iran as a Nuclear Threshold State: Implications for Israel and the Middle East:
With shrewd strategic perspective, the Iranian leadership has weighed the long term implications of an agreement with the major powers that constitutes international recognition of Iran’s “right” to be a “nuclear threshold state,” and gives it the ability to break out to a nuclear bomb when it so chooses. Consequently, it seeks an agreement (even if its validity is limited to 10-15 years) that in addition to leaving it with access to its nuclear technology also rewards it with both removal of the sanctions and international recognition of its special status in the Middle East. The status of a threshold state will leave Iran with the possibility of arming itself with nuclear weapons within a short time span, when it decides that conditions enable (or in its view, require) it to break out to military nuclear capability.
Who will act against it at that time when Iran decides the time is right for the breakout?

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on March 26, 2015 47 Comments
Though he's yet to officially toss his hat in the ring, Governor Perry is quietly building out the framework for his 2016 run. Iowa is RickPAC's latest release. Governor Perry's message is markedly different from Senator Cruz's for reasons other than his west Texas drawl -- inclusion and experience. Senator Cruz formally launched his presidential bid in a fiery speech at Liberty University Monday. Though he's an undeniably passionate conservative, Cruz's message might not be the fit for everyone, though it's a lovely dream to have. More problematic is that this Conservatopia effectively marginalizes everyone who doesn't seize the vision. It's not an attractive ideal, rather a disappointingly exclusionary one. Cruz is pitching himself as a true conservative. Of his principles and dedication to the banner of conservatism, there's absolutely no question. Ted Cruz is a true believer in the purest sense. But trying to win the White House with only a faction of the conservative base and little to show in terms of tangible leadership results (other than the ability to rouse portions of the grassroots) are two obstacles Cruz will have to navigate around. Not to say either is unsurmountable, but they are unavoidable.

Posted by Amy Miller on March 26, 2015 3 Comments
Last night, members of the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force arrested a national guardsman at Chicago's Midway Airport after a long-term investigation revealed that he was allegedly planning a terror attack on an Illinois military post. Army National Guard Spc. Hasan Edmonds, 22, was on his way to Cairo to join ISIS when he was apprehended without a struggle. Agents also arrested Edmonds' cousin, Jonas Edmonds, 29, at his home in the Chicago area. Watch: According to CBS Chicago, an undercover FBI agent originally made contact with Edmonds in late 2014; this eventually led to a series of messages in which Edmonds told the agent that he was planning to travel overseas with his cousin to join ISIS:
"The State has been established and it is our duty to heed the call," he allegedly wrote. "I look forward to the training. I am already in the american kafir [infidel] army ...and now I wish only to serve in the army of Allah alongside my true brothers." In another message, he allegedly wrote, either he and his cousin would make it overseas, "or bring the flames of war to the heart od [sic] this land with Allah's permission." Jonas Edmonds allegedly told the undercover employee that they would use uniforms and information from Hasan Edmonds to access the facility and target officers.
The FBI released some information today about what the official charges look like:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on March 26, 2015 3 Comments
Just in: Reports indicate firefighters on are the scene after a building collapsed in Manhattan. The New York Post reports:
As many as 30 people were hurt in the partial collapse of an East Village building Thursday afternoon, law-enforcement sources told The Post. The destruction near the corner of Second Avenue and East Seventh Street was reported shortly before 3:30 p.m. The FDNY quickly declared a three-alarm emergency at the scene, which it said was a mixed-occupancy building at 125 Second Ave.
Authorities told DNA Info the explosion was consistent with a gas explosion, though this has yet to be confirmed:
"It was like a bomb," Aleksandr Srdi, 32, who lives around the corner, said. "Everyone was like what's going on? People from Starbucks were yelling to get back inside and they were trying to lock the doors." The explosion was consistant with a gas explosion, authorities said. About 4 p.m. the building at 125 Second Avenue which was engulfed in flames collasped completely. ...A fire caused by the blast spread to two other buildings, a fire department spokesman said. The building was landmarked and had a stop work order on it since 2005, according to the Department of Buildings website.

Posted by Amy Miller on March 26, 2015 21 Comments
We now know a little bit more about the Germanwings pilot who deliberately crashed into a mountain, killing himself and 149 other people; but friends and family are still baffled as to why 28 year old Andreas Günter Lubitz would lock himself into the cockpit and initiate the plane's deadly descent. Lubitz reportedly had taken a hiatus from his pilot training in 2008 due to "burnout." Friends close to Lubitz told investigators that the break came about as a result of Lubitz's "depression." That break lasted for several months, but he was deemed "100% fit to fly" well before this week's tragedy. Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr went into detail about the hiatus and the security precautions the airline takes with all its employees:
"We are shaken. This is our worst nightmare, that such a tragedy could happen in our group," CEO Carsten Spohr told reporters in Cologne. The company carefully vetted its crews and did not only test them on technical abilities but also made psychological checks. He said the co-pilot had taken an 11-month break, during which he worked as a flight attendant but that he passed all the relevant checks upon restarting. Spohr said the break was not unusual and declined to give details of the reasons behind the pause in training. "No matter your safety regulations, no matter how high you set the bar, and we have incredibly high standards, there is no way to rule out such an event," Spohr said. "This is an awful one-off event."
Officials are slowly ruling out the possibility that this was an act of terrorism---Lubitz had no known affiliations with any terror organizations---but the evidence that has been reviewed so far is no less horrifying for it.

Posted by Jay Caruso on March 26, 2015 37 Comments
Some families who signed up for Obamacare and have been estimating what their tax returns are going to look like this year are in for a rude awakening. Due to mid-year income levels changing, nearly 50% of people who received an advance payment of the tax credit for Obamacare will have to repay some or all of the tax credit in question. From CNBC:
Half of the households that received federal subsidies to help pay for their health insurance in 2014 will have to repay some money back to the government when they file their tax returns, a new analysis released Tuesday estimates. The average repayment owed by those people will be $794, the Kaiser Family Foundation study found. The repayments will be owed because those households' actual incomes ended up being higher for the year than what they had estimated when they applied for the subsidies.
But it gets worse for some families:
But the Kaiser study also found that a relatively small group of households will owe back a lot more than the average when it comes to refunds, after their actual incomes ended up being too high to qualify for the subsidies they got. That group of people will have an average repayment of between $2,306 and $3,837—and some could owe much more. Unlike people who earn below 400 percent of the federal poverty line, higher earners have no limit on the subsidies they must pay back if they were not entitled to them.
This is one of those nasty secrets of Obamacare that Nancy Pelosi and company must not have read about even after passing it.

Posted by Amy Miller on March 26, 2015 12 Comments
Someone needs to go check the cable connections at the White House, because the comms department clearly hasn't watched TV or read the internet in the past month. Yesterday, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest executed what may be the most impressive whiff in recent memory. ABC News White House Correspondent Jon Karl asked a very pointed question about how Yemen's place in the war on terror has changed, given the fall of the Hadi government and subsequent withdrawal of US troops. Earnest's response? The White House does continue to believe that a successful counterterrorism strategy is one that will build up the capacity of the central government to have local fighters on the ground to have local fighters take the fight to extremists in their own country. Watch:

Posted by Leslie Eastman on March 26, 2015 9 Comments
I have a late entry for the annual “Egregious 8″ tournament, which pits wasteful government programs against each other. It turns out that blogging can be fun and profitable...for those websites on the government dole!
Since Politico, a politics-focused website and newspaper, launched its subscription-based news service Politico Pro in 2011, government agencies have increasingly turned to the service to keep abreast of the latest developments in their spheres of policy. Government records show fiscal year 2011 contracts with the owner of Politico, Capitol News Company, totaling $41,900. By fiscal year 2014, there were no fewer than twenty-eight contracts with sixteen different departments and agencies, including the Executive Office of the President, totaling $431,800. A chart from the USASpending.gov website illustrates the trend (including the first five and a half months of fiscal year 2015) LI #15 Money to Politico The first five and a half months of fiscal 2015 have seen fifteen contracts for $198,188, although at least one agency, the FCC, appears not to have renewed a $50,000 fiscal 2014 contract in 2015.
Who knew such riches awaited!
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