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December 2015

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 18, 2015 23 Comments
We extensively covered the two Wisconsin "John Doe" cases in which prosecutors targeted Scott Walker and conservatives in Wisconsin. John Doe No. 1 concerned Walker's time as Milwaukee County Executive. John Doe No.2 was the more notorious, as a Democratic lead prosecutor unleashed the equivalent of SWAT teams on conservatives, raiding homes, seizing electronic records, and generally terrorizing innocent people. It was a nasty, vicious investigation (note: Michael Lutz in this interview from late April 2015 committed suicide in late July 2015). https://youtu.be/FPoSV9v7J1s John Doe No. 2 was definitively shut down by the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which found that it was based on a faulty and unconstitutional legal theory, and employed outrageous tactics that never should be repeated (emphasis added):

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on December 18, 2015 12 Comments
Pro-Carly Fiorina PAC CARLY for America released a new ad Thursday. The 50 second spot will air in the digital space in early voting states. The ad makes a bold comparison -- it pitches Fiorina as America's Margaret Thatcher.

Posted by Andrew Branca on December 18, 2015 92 Comments
I have been rather amused the last 48 hours or so watching the Progressive news media (but I repeat myself) in the aftermath of the hung jury in the “Freddie Gray” trial of Baltimore Police Officer William Porter. The media’s efforts to avoid acknowledging what an unmitigated disaster this outcome was for much-heralded State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby brings to mind the combat scene between King Arthur and the Black Knight in “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.” Even as King Arthur cleaves off the Black Knight’s limbs in succession, the Black Knight adamantly insists “its only a flesh wound!”

Posted by Leslie Eastman on December 18, 2015 4 Comments
Earlier this week we reported that the body of Tashfeen Malik, the female San Bernardino terrorist who slaughtered 14 of her husband's co-workers, was still unclaimed. As I predicted, Malik was buried without fanfare in an Islamic cemetery alongside her murderous spouse:
Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, who opened fire on a San Bernardino holiday party earlier this month, were buried Tuesday in a quiet, graveside funeral. Many of those who attended mosque with the couple refused to attend, two mosque members said. ...The funeral followed traditional Islamic rituals, said an attendee. At a Muslim cemetery hours away from San Bernardino, the bodies were cleansed according to Islamic rules, wrapped in white cloth and buried.
Those attending the funeral at a graveyard some distance from San Bernardino are keeping the location of the burials under wraps, fearing the graves would be desecrated.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on December 18, 2015 63 Comments
Having spent years working in immigration law, the current immigration cluster is enough to make me want to neck punch the entire internet (except for commenters who like my posts, of course). Of the many immigration rhetoric atrocities that make my blood boil, one of the worst is the lax use of terms like "amnesty" and "pathway to citizenship." "Pathway to legalization" is also on that list. These poor, defenseless terms are tossed about without regard for their respective definitions. They're used interchangeably, mischaracterized, and generally abused by armchair immigrationers and political reporters alike. Words matter. Definitions matter. Not being an ignoramus? Also important. So let's talk about these terms, shall we?

The "A" Word

Posted by Mike LaChance on December 18, 2015 5 Comments
The last Democratic primary debate was on a Saturday night and the next one is this Saturday night. The one after that will be on a Sunday night. What's going on here is so clear that even liberal journalists have to admit it. Frank Bruni of the New York Times:
The Invisible Democratic Debates What a shamefully imbalanced primary season this has been. For all their flaws and fakery, the Republican candidates have squared off frequently, at convenient hours and despite the menacing nimbus of Donald Trump’s hair; the Democratic candidates have, in contrast, hidden in a closet. Tuesday night’s meeting of Republicans, who sparred in Las Vegas over how to keep America safe, was the fifth. The meeting of Democratic presidential candidates in a few days will be only the third. And who’s going to watch it? It’s on a Saturday night, when a political debate ranks somewhere between dialysis and a Milli Vanilli tribute concert as a desirable way to unwind.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on December 17, 2015 18 Comments
Among the various random provisions in the 2,000+ page omnibus spending bill rattling around Congress is the amending the condition of the H-2B visa annual cap. The bill itself is indefensible. Cobbling together a 2,000 page tax-payer funded Christmas wish list, expediting it through both chambers and on to the Oval Office within 72 hours is hardly good government. It's particularly problematic when the bill is spiked with substantial immigration reforms. That being said, is amending the H-2B visa allocation a bad thing? The H-2B visa (along with its H-2A counterpart) is the guest worker program everyone on the immigration reform bandwagon loves to talk about but pretends does not exist. H-2Bs are for seasonal, one-time employment only. They're not used, nor will they be approved if the job is ongoing under normal circumstances. H-2Bs typically cover the oft cited, "jobs Americans don't want." H-2Bs are job specific, employer specific, and rarely (in my experience) see dependents tagging along. Employers are required to pay all costs for getting people here and sending them home. Like most other visa types where work is permitted, petitions must first be approved by the Department of Labor (DOL) before being sent to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for processing.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on December 17, 2015 32 Comments
Back in September, the New York Times reported that Turing Pharmaceuticals had increased the price of its HIV drug, Daraprim, from $13.70 per tablet to $750 per tablet.

Specialists in infectious disease are protesting a gigantic overnight increase in the price of a 62-year-old drug that is the standard of care for treating a life-threatening parasitic infection.

The drug, called Daraprim, was acquired in August by Turing Pharmaceuticals, a start-up run by a former hedge fund manager. Turing immediately raised the price to $750 a tablet from $13.50, bringing the annual cost of treatment for some patients to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Watch Turing CEO Martin Shkreli explain his decision on Fox Business:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 17, 2015 74 Comments
Does this go too far? Of course it does. Comments by Donald Trump about a temporary ban on Muslim immigration, which almost certainly never will happen even if there were to be a President Trump, hardly compare to round-up for extermination. There is no equivalent -- fortunately -- of Kristallnacht against Muslims in the U.S. The few instances of violence are being prosecuted, and one is still far more likely to be the victim of religious hate crimes for being Jewish. The Times of San Diego reports, USD Professor Leads Silent Protest Against Anti-Muslim Rhetoric:
A religious studies professor at the University of San Diego who is concerned about growing anti-Muslim rhetoric has started a silent protest, with students and faculty wearing yellow stars marked “Muslim.” Bahar Davary, associate professor of theology and religious studies, came up with the idea during her class “Islamic Faith and Practice,” an introduction to Islam, and her students suggested several designs.

Posted by Jonathan Levin on December 17, 2015 4 Comments
Russia's policy of bloody deterrence and intimidation is reaping battlefield victories, and exposing US fecklessness in Syria.  President Obama has decided the risk of alienating the Syrian population and providing propaganda fodder for ISIS and other anti-Western organizations outweighs the benefits of a substantive military intervention, but Russian President Vladimir Putin's s opposite strategy moots the theory.  Syrians afflicted by foreign military intervention and Islamists capitalizing on it are unlikely to parse their anger according to which foreign power actually caused their losses. Particularly since ISIS bombed a MetroJet airliner on October 31, 2015, killing 224 people, including 219 Russians, the Russian and American campaigns in Syria could not be more different.  Russia now operates four forward operating bases in Syria and claims to have flown more than 4,000 sorties and hit 8,000 targets since September 30, 2015 and to have conducted fifty-nine sorties on December 15 alone, hitting 212 targets, killing 321 ISIS fighters and destroying 100 oil facilities. After the MetroJet bombing, Russia also deployed ground forces to Syria for the first time.  According to Lt. Colonel James G. Zumwalt, USMC (Ret.):
Comparable to our own elite fighters of Delta Force, Russian special forces have an operational edge ours do not. While battlefield actions by U.S. forces will, appropriately, always be defined by the laws of land warfare, Russian special forces historically have tossed their moral compass aside. By doing so, they convey a clear message—in blood—to adversaries.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on December 17, 2015 79 Comments
While I didn't think Donald Trump did a particularly great job in Tuesday's CNN debate, his poll numbers and recent comment about a temporary halt to Muslims coming into the country have stirred interest in his candidacy abroad.  The latest foreign leader to weigh in on Trump is Russian president Vladimir Putin who thinks Trump is "brilliant," "talented," and "very colorful." The Hill reports:
Russian President Vladimir Putin had kind words for his “stablemate” Donald Trump during an annual end-of-the-year Q-and-A session in Moscow. "He’s a really brilliant and talented person, without any doubt,” Putin told reporters, according to a translation by Interfax. "It’s not our job to judge his qualities, that’s a job for American voters, but he’s the absolute leader in the presidential race.”
Putin claims that Trump was the "absolute leader" in the GOP presidential debates.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on December 17, 2015 6 Comments
More than 15 months have passed since the end of the conflict in Gaza between Israel and the terrorist outfit Hamas, but the campaign of slander against Israel and witch-hunt against the members of its armed forces still continues. Last week British authorities briefly detained a retired IDF reserves officer, apparently based on a list compiled by a "pro-Palestinian group" of soldiers involved in alleged 'war crimes' during last year's Operation Protective Edge. The officer was held for questioning for hours and was only released after Israeli Foreign Ministry intervened. British authorities have since apologized for the incident, but this once highlights how anti-Israel groups are subverting the laws in the West in an attempt to strip Israel of its right to defend itself in the face of terror. The incident took place just days after a fact-finding group comprising of military experts from around the world published their report on the 50-day clash between Israel Defense Force (IDF) and militant islamist outfit Hamas in Gaza. Around 14 high-ranking military officers came together to form the High Level Military Group (HLMG) earlier this year. Former head of India's Defence Intelligence (DG DIA) Lt. General Kamal Davar was accompanied by former Commander of British Forces in Afghanistan Colonel Richard Kemp, along with other top military commanders from U.S., Germany, Italy, Spain and France.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 17, 2015 43 Comments
The trillion dollar plus Omnibus bill being eased through Congress is stuffed with all sorts of provisions which, if debated individually, would cause an uproar. Senator Jeff Sessions focused in on immigration provisions and funding for the Obama agenda: Power Line has analysis:
With Republicans in control of both House and Senate, the backroom omnibus spending bill that was unveiled yesterday should have been an opportunity to advance the conservative agenda across a very broad front. No doubt there are a few good aspects to the bill. But, as Paul noted earlier, it strikes a blow against education and against the Constitution by expanding funding for the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.

Posted by Mike LaChance on December 17, 2015 38 Comments
While everyone in the media was talking about the Republican debate yesterday, Obama quietly met with former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg to discuss gun control. Jordan Fabian reported at The Hill:
Obama meets with Bloomberg to talk guns President Obama on Wednesday met with former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an ally of the White House on gun control. The meeting, which was not on the president's public schedule, comes as he is weighing new executive action on guns in response to a series of mass shootings that have marred his presidency. Obama huddled with Bloomberg "as part of the administration's continuing push to address gun violence in America," the White House said in a statement.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on December 16, 2015 18 Comments
Legislation designed to strengthen the existing Visa Waiver Program was lumped into the massive omnibus bill. The Visa Waiver Program currently allows foreign nationals holding citizenship from any of the 38 participating countries (there are a few other qualifying factors) to bypass consular processing in order to request entry to the U.S.. Though the House bill was introduced in January, the terrorist attacks in Paris last month prompted Congress to consider legislation designed to strengthen the existing Visa Waiver Program of which France is a particpant and, “help prevent terrorists from entering the United States,” said Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ). USA Today reported Wednesday:
The visa-waiver provisions were included in a 2009-page spending bill to fund the federal government until next October. The House and Senate are expected to vote on the bill without changes by Dec. 22.
I read both the House and Senate version of the bill last week and outlined them in painful detail here. In sum, the bill could be a little stronger, but it makes solid, substantive reforms to the existing visa waiver program.
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