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June 2015

Posted by New Neo on June 04, 2015 21 Comments
Republicans are in a pickle, and have been since the moment Obamacare was passed. You might think they're in a good position, because the Supreme Court is considering overturning the state Obamacare exchanges and subsidies because of wording in the statute, and this would throw the entire Obamacare system into turmoil. The case in question is King v. Burwell, and it could be decided any day now. But there's one catch, and it's a biggee: if the ruling goes against Obamacare, the press and the left will rail at the Republicans for being the big bad meanies who took away a lot of people's subsidies. That was part of the beauty of Obamacare for the left, and one of the many many reasons they were so extraordinarily eager to pass it and pass it as quickly as possible: they wanted to create a dependence and an expectation, otherwise known as an entitlement, that would be tremendously hard to reverse. But what do the American people actually want if SCOTUS throws out the state exchanges and therefore the state subsidies? A substantial majority appear to want Congress to fix Obamacare rather than re-establish the state exchanges, according to this poll. But what would that actually look like?

Posted by Mike LaChance on June 04, 2015 30 Comments
Jeb Bush may be a decent man, but when it comes to fundraising, conservative donors are putting their eggs in another candidate's basket. Matea Gold and Sean Sullivan of the Washington Post:
With some donors doubting Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio seizes an opening Marco Rubio is benefiting from pockets of discontent in Jeb Bush’s sprawling money network, winning over donors who believe the 44-year-old freshman senator from Florida offers a more compelling persona and sharper generational contrast against Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton. Rubio is working to seize the moment by making an all-out push to lock down financial backers in the coming month, hopscotching the country in a nonstop series of fundraisers that are limiting his presence on the campaign trail. While he faces stiff competition in the money race from Bush and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, in particular, Rubio’s in-person courting sessions are starting to pay off. Longtime Bush loyalists and other big-money players on the right have emerged from the meetings raving about his abilities, according to people familiar with private gatherings he has had across the country.

Posted by Andrew Branca on June 04, 2015 127 Comments
State Attorney Marilyn Mosby, who raised eyebrows (understatement maximus) when she abruptly charged six Baltimore police officers in the death of Freddie Gray, has now sought to seal Gray's autopsy report from the public. This is based on reporting by the Baltimore Sun, as brought to my attention by Chuck Ross at the Daily Caller. As reported in the Daily Caller piece, Ivan Bates, the attorney for the only female officer charged by Mosby's office in the case, is quoted as saying:
[Th]ere is something in that autopsy report that they are trying to hide. . . . It’s as if she wants to do everything to make sure our clients do not get a fair trial. . . . Nobody would know anything but the state and the defense, so they would totally hide it from the public. . . .  If your case is as good as you said it was, why don’t you just show the evidence? . . . You can’t holler and say, ‘I’m about accountability for the citizens,’ and then run around filing for a protective order.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 04, 2015 2 Comments
Problems between the Bedouins in the Negev desert area in the south of Israel and the government over redevelopment plans have received a lot of media attention, including at Legal Insurrection: As with every problem in Israel, there are dozens of Israeli and international "human rights" groups seeking to exploit the issue for a greater purpose unrelated to actually helping the Bedouin. So the media narrative is spun as the bad Jews trying to steal land. The Israeli side of the story rarely is told in the media. In part that reflects media bias, in part that Israel is not very good at getting its story out. So during our trip to the south of the country, we met with and toured the area with a local official from the Israeli government ministry which is handling Bedouin redevelopment issues. The official spoke Arabic fluently and was intimately familiar with the Bedouin tribes and culture. (We also were accompanied by our Negev guide, Danny Kella, who also guided us along the Gaza border.) Negev Bedouin Rahat Regional Satellite Map The official was frank in his assessments.  He acknowledged that there are real problems and that the situation has not been handled as well as it should have been. But he also felt that a lot of the problems had causes on each side of the equation and was misrepresented in the media.

Posted by Amy Miller on June 03, 2015 15 Comments
Democrats are playing politics with defense funding, and today, the game turned ugly. Since Republicans seized the majority in 2014, Democratic leadership has engaged in a revolt not against specific policies, but against productivity in general. Today, they put the NDAA on their chopping block. Defense funding is chum in the water for Democrats, who whose minority status has forced a tactical shift from all-out bullying via the calendar, to simply threatening to hold good legislation hostage. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said today that, although he hasn't forced the issue yet, Dems may still filibuster defense spending unless Republicans agree to pad the already-passed House version of the bill with cash for other federal agencies. Oh, and if Reid and his caucus don't like that bill? Well, it's clearly a waste of time to even begin a discussion. Watch, via America Rising:

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on June 03, 2015 8 Comments
When he withdrew troops from Iraq, Obama himself proclaimed, "we are leaving behind a sovereign, stable, and self-reliant Iraq."  That was in 2011.  Flash forward to now, and Iraq is none of those things; indeed, Iraq is now an ISIS strong-hold, part of their declared caliphate. Throughout Obama's presidency, we've heard him blame President Bush for everything from the still-flailing economy to the rise of ISIS.  His supporters within the media have ensured that this message is the one that Americans hear most often, and for (too many) years, (far too many) Americans have believed what they were told. No longer. A CNN poll found that, for the first time, more Americans blame Obama than President Bush for the instability in Iraq:

[N]early the same percent of people blame President Barack Obama's policies for the current situation in Iraq as those who hold President George W. Bush responsible, the survey showed.

Overall, 44% say they blame Obama's policies for the problems in Iraq and 43% blame Bush; 11% say both are equally responsible.

Posted by Andrew Branca on June 03, 2015 29 Comments
One of the dominant theories of our time is that police officers are waging a Terminator-like war against unarmed young black men, killing them with a ruthlessness and determination evocative of a genocide, all the while escaping legal sanction. The Washington Post, certainly not a paper to shy away from fanning the flames of discord, seems to have stumbled upon some actual data on the subject.  Their reporting of this data is, as one might have expected, far richer in anecdote than analysis, but nevertheless the snippets of data that slip through are perhaps noteworthy. We start with a data point showing 385 police killings of suspects so far this year. Of these 385 killings, only about 25% involved a black suspect.  While it is certainly true that this 25% is disproportionate to the 13% or so of the US population that is black, it is also true that black suspects are disproportionately represented among those arrested for violent crime in general.

Posted by Amy Miller on June 03, 2015 24 Comments
Today Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) hosted a Google Hangout with entrepreneurs who have first hand experience dealing with "patent trolls"---firms that come in and sue companies over "patent violations" that don't actually exist. The Hangout was part of a renewed push in the Senate to achieve meaningful patent reform. The PATENT Act is the latest in a long history of efforts to prevent patent trolls from shaking down small startups. The bipartisan bill would help protect innovators from the crippling pre-litigation costs (think discovery, which in patent cases takes anywhere from 3 to 5 years) that trolls use as leverage against startups that can more easily afford a payout than they can afford years of legal fees. Until very recently, patent trolling was an issue that mostly affected the technology and pharmaceutical industries; now, however, patent trolls are going after "main street"---think small business owners, startups, and independent inventors---and end users, meaning that people who simply use allegedly patented technology are being hit with bogus lawsuits. You can watch the Hangout here:

Posted by Amy Miller on June 03, 2015 11 Comments
Last month, international investors aired their concerns about how instability in Nigeria could shift what was once a balanced and successful economy into dangerous territory. The country had just ousted their incumbent President, and replaced him with a man claiming a serious commitment to ending the rise of Islamic extremism; but the promise of political overhaul wasn't enough. Coalition forces claimed multiple victories over Boko Haram, eradicating their hideouts and rescuing hostages; yet attacks on citizens living in the embattled villages of northeastern Nigeria continued. Terror remains the norm, and yesterday, residents of the northeast Nigerian city of Maiduguri woke up to find their world on fire. A band of Boko Haram militants attacked the city with bombs, and executed a suicide bombing that took the lives of at least 20 people. It wasn't the first attack on Maiduguri, and it certainly won't be the last: late last month, newly elected President Muhammadu Buhari declared the city the headquarters in the war to curb the Islamic uprising. Boko Haram may be under fire, but when it comes to the business of terrorism (i.e., creating terror), they continue to make headway, and their new efforts at distributing propaganda have cast doubt on just how effective coalition efforts to eradicate the group have been.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on June 03, 2015 21 Comments
As the American press reports breathlessly on the #WarOnWomen in conjunction with Hillary Clinton's Presidential Run Version 2.0, two of Professor Jacobson's colleagues are battling to defend research showing that there may actually be a campus #WarOnMen. A favorite assertion of campus-level feminist activists is that women in the sciences have a more difficult time achieving jobs, recognition, and tenure than their male counterparts. Cornell University professors Wendy M. Williams and Stephen J. Ceci decided to test that theory, and published a study of faculty hiring preferences showing that women were preferred over identically-qualified men. A look at the hard data reveals a shocking truth: Women are being offered science positions at colleges and universities at rates higher than their actual presence within the pool of applicants. For example, analysis of the numbers between 2002 and 2004 reveals that 20% of applicants in mathematics were women, but they received 32% of the job offers.

Posted by Mike LaChance on June 03, 2015 26 Comments
Have you noticed that the same media that uses words like "extreme" to describe Ted Cruz, Scott Walker, and other Republicans finds nothing out of the ordinary when it comes to Bernie Sanders? Sanders, who wants a 90% tax rate for the wealthiest Americans, and recently came under fire for a 1972 column describing female rape fantasies, describes himself as a socialist---yet the media treats him like a viable candidate for 2016. Socialism is the most important aspect of Sanders' political identity and goes a long way in helping us understand the media's kid-glove treatment of him. Jennifer Harper of the Washington Times:
The Bernie Effect: Media normalize socialism There’s yet another trend in the trendy news media, identified by more than one concerned critic. Consider a new Investor’s Business Daily editorial titled “The soft-soaping of socialism in the U.S.” The publication focuses on the happy-go-lucky press coverage of a certain Vermont independent making a vigorous run for the White House as a Democrat.

Posted by David Gerstman on June 03, 2015 21 Comments
President Obama's speech a week and a half ago at Washington D.C. synagogue Adas Israel was alternatively promoted as both an opportunity to address the scourge of anti-semitism, and a chance to reach out to American Jews. The speech did nothing to advance either goal and was tone-deaf to any Jews, or Americans for that matter, who don't buy into the president's foreign policy. As far as his reaching out, the president simply rehashed all of his administration's arguments about closing off Iran's paths to a nuclear weapon. He offered nothing new. Of course, he said that the deal he's trying to make with Iran will make Israel safer. He made a point of saying that he shares the goal with Israel of preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons; but he said it with no real conviction. He was just repeating a talking point. Repeating all of his talking points isn't going to convince someone who doesn't already agree with him. Notably, he repeated his 2012 line about having Israel's back. But with Israel's political establishment - Isaac Herzog is no less skeptical of the emerging deal than Benjamin Netanyahu is - doubting the efficacy of the ongoing diplomacy, that claim hardly seems credible. He says that he welcomes debate, but the night before Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to Congress, Obama gave an interview to Reuters attempting to undercut Netanyahu's arguments.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on June 03, 2015 31 Comments
Hillary is putting the majority of her campaign eggs in one basket, and that may prove to be a mistake.  As I've noted previously, she is banking on her potentially historic role as the first woman president to clear the way for the nomination.  Indeed, when asked about her achievements, her supporters can't name any and fall back on the fact that she's a woman (and a Democrat). Running on her gender is proving more challenging than her team supposed.  Unable to attract a measly 125 women to her recent "women only" event, Team Hillary decided to allow men to attend.  The New York Post reports:
Hillary Clinton had trouble attracting high-powered women to a New York talk hosted by Silda Wall Spitzer two weeks before her campaign officially kicks off. Sources said that after ticket sales fizzled for an intimate, $2,700-per-person, “just for women” meeting on Monday, the event was thrown open to men at the 11th hour, and the deadline extended to buy tickets. The “Conversation With Hillary Clinton” event at Midtown law firm Akin Gump was originally aiming to attract 125 women. An email invitation seen by Page Six said the event is “just for women.” But by Friday, “They’d only sold 50 tickets, so they threw it open to men,” a source said. “Ticket sales were supposed to close at 10 a.m. Sunday, but the hostesses were working the phones and pushed the deadline till Monday.”

Posted by Jay Caruso on June 02, 2015 25 Comments
One of the things the Obama team did well in 2012 was to define Mitt Romney before he could really define himself. Rather than seeing Romney as an adventurous entrepreneur who took risks to help fund companies that eventually created tens of thousands of jobs,  the Obama team was able to portray him as  an out of touch oligarch who cared about only the wealthiest of the wealthy. Republicans are using the same tactics thus far with Hillary Clinton (allowing Super PACs and the national party do most of the work), portraying her as out of touch as well as secretive and less than honest when it comes to money she and Bill Clinton have made, her handling of her emails from when she was Secretary of State, and the shenanigans going on within the Clinton foundation. Her avoidance of the press and refusal to answer questions, combined with all of that, is taking its toll. From Politico:
Hillary Clinton is seeing her highest unfavorability ratings in 14 years, according to the latest CNN/ORC poll released Tuesday. Just 46 percent said they view the Democratic presidential front-runner favorably, compared to 50 percent who said they have an unfavorable view. In the preceding April survey, Clinton polled with 53 percent favorable, compared to 44 percent unfavorable.
There's more bad news:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on June 02, 2015 5 Comments
Merriam-Webster released this year's dictionary update and the additions are... interesting. According to their website, the dictionary expansion includes more 1,700 words:
As of last week, it’s grown by more than 1,700 entries, and existing entries have expanded by more than 700 new senses. We’ve added 3,200 examples that provide contextual information, and another 200 entries for some of the words people most frequently look up have been updated and enhanced. Some of the new entries are for terms you’ve heard of and some likely aren’t.
Several words birthed from the politisphere made the cut -- like this lefty favorite. Take this one away and they'd have no clue how to chat about the Koch brothers: dark money merriam-webster dictionary addition

Posted by Amy Miller on June 02, 2015 19 Comments
Today the Senate voted 67-32 to pass the USA-FREEDOM Act, a piece of surveillance (read: privacy!) reform legislation meant to extend key provisions of the PATRIOT Act, which expired Sunday night. The USA-FA passed the House with supermajority, bipartisan support, but found a more hostile crowd waiting when it arrived in the Senate chamber. Rand Paul opposed it, and on Sunday night (the same night the PATRIOT Act expired) blocked a vote that most certainly would have ended with the Act's approval. Senate leadership opposed an immediate clean passage of the Act, but for different reasons entirely---they wanted the opportunity to amend and return to the House, a tactic that was met with opposition in both chambers. From earlier today:
One amendment would extend the timeframe for transferring data collection responsibilities from the NSA to the phone companies, allowing 12 months for that handover rather than six, as the House bill stipulates. Another would force phone companies to give Congress six months' advance notice if they change the procedures they use to collect and retain data. A third would allow the Director of National Intelligence to sign off on any procedural changes by the phone companies before they go into effect. "The House's bill is not holy writ. It's not something we have to accept in its entirety without any changes...and I think where the policy debae should go would be toe embrace these amendments," explained Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, during a floor speech on Tuesday. "We sure need to know that the new system would actually work. Doesn't that just make sense?"

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 02, 2015 5 Comments
On Sunday, May 31, 2015, I reported from Sderot, Israel, on the history of rocket and mortar fire from Gaza, and the extensive preparation of bomb shelters and emergency protocols: Israelis shelter in place near Gaza. This week Israel is in a nationwide drill, testing sirens that will warn of incoming missiles and rockets. The drills have been implemented on the assumption that Hezbollah, Syria, and Hamas will be able to fire thousands per day. Today two sirens were sounded. I was in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City when the 7:05 p.m. (local) siren sounded: Speaking of the Jewish Quarter, the historical truth of the illegal conquest by Jordan and subsequent ethic cleansing of Jews is long down the memory hole. But there is a sign to remind people:
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