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March 2017

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 08, 2017 3 Comments
On May 8, 2016, American tourist and veteran Taylor Force was stabbed to death by a Palestinian terrorist while on a trip to Israel. We reported at the time, Vanderbilt U. student stabbed to death by Palestinian as Biden visits Israel:
Resuming a pattern seen during the Second Intifada, and intermittently since then, there was a wave of terror attacks launched by Palestinians just as a major diplomatic event was occurring, in this case the arrival of Vice President Joe Biden. There were several knife and gun attacks today, the most deadly being in Jaffa, just south of Tel Aviv and a frequent tourist stop.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 08, 2017 54 Comments
I haven't had a chance to fully digest the House health care bill.  I'm just beginning the process of learning more. Trump supports the bill broadly, subject to some negotiations. And is promising a round 2 and round 3 of more market-oriented reforms. It appears that much of this procedure is driven by the desire to repeal Obamacare as a technical matter by the means through which it was passed -- the "reconciliation" process. That avoids the possibility of a Senate filibuster by Democrats, but also limits what can be done. I've seen many of the statements rejecting the bill, even if modified somewhat, from the conservative side (I've tuned out what Democrats are complaining about). The overall point, as I take it, is that the House bill institutionalizes the key concept of Obamacare - that the federal government not markets will drive health care.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 08, 2017 13 Comments
The liberal internet mob has been trying to destroy Ivanka Trump's clothing and accessories line. There have been calls for a boycott, and pressure put on retailers to drop the lines. When several retailers pulled Ivanka's products off the store shelves, there were hoots and hollers of joy in liberal land.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on March 08, 2017 16 Comments
"Can I get the McConnell special, please?" Almost exactly a month ago, Sen. Elizabeth Warren violated Senate floor rules when she attempted to read a letter from the late Coretta Scott King that would've impugned then Sen. Jeff Sessions. Warren refused to stop reading and eventually read the letter in full outside of the chamber. Describing the event, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said, "nevertheless, she persisted." Now, women everywhere are flocking to have this pithy little McConnell quote inked on their bodies for all eternity.

Posted by Mary Chastain on March 08, 2017 21 Comments
And there it is! Hawaii has become the first to file a lawsuit against President Donald Trump's revised executive order on six nations. From The Hill:
“The Executive Order means that thousands of individuals across the United States and in Hawai‘i who have immediate family members living in the affected countries will now be unable to receive visits from those persons or to be reunited with them in the United States,” attorneys said in court filings.

Posted by Mary Chastain on March 08, 2017 10 Comments
Officials within the CIA and FBI will open an investigation to find out how Wikileaks almost 9,000 pages that details the CIA's hacking operations:
The investigation is looking into how the documents came into WikiLeaks' possession and whether they might have been leaked by an employee or contractor. The CIA is also trying to determine if there are other unpublished documents WikiLeaks may have.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on March 08, 2017 22 Comments
As privileged women around the country don Soviet red and abdicate their responsibilities for their Day Without Women, the women of Legal Insurrection are hard at work. In fact, every woman I know -- my friends, my sister, my mom, my cousins, my aunts, and in-laws are all working today. You see, we don't feel it necessary to vanish in order to prove our worth or value. We're confident in who we are. Our work is never done. As a wife and Momma, there are no days off. But having the never-ending needs of a family to satisfy is far from burdensome, it's a privilege.

Posted by Mary Chastain on March 08, 2017 4 Comments
The news has lately shown steady and growing markets, pushing optimism to new heights. But is it worth it? Central banks around the world have gone into self preservation mode. While the subject is not sexy, everyone should have information on the financial market. It's another reminder how fragile the global economy remains:
These central banks are showing crisis-like behavior to protect their currencies even in the absence of obvious trouble. This exposes them to losses if their currencies fail to weaken on their own. It also raises doubts as to how long they can keep this up in an era when economic and political uncertainties appear to be a lasting feature of the world economy.

Posted by Mary Chastain on March 08, 2017 15 Comments
As the Islamic state (ISIS) retreats from Mosul, Iraq, more locals have spoken out about life under the terrorist group. ISIS captured Iraq's second largest city in the summer of 2014. OB-GYN Dr. Fatima Khaleel spoke with The Sunday Times about the females she treated in Mosul, noting most of them desperately wanted to get pregnant by ISIS fighters to breed caliphate cubs.

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on March 08, 2017 18 Comments
On CNN this morning, commenting on a report that President Trump has "no proof, no regrets" over his allegation that Pres. Obama wiretapped Trump Tower, Chris Cuomo claimed "no, proof, no regrets: they only go together with this administration." Really? We only have to go back to the immediately previous administration to debunk Cuomo's claim. Remember President Obama's "proof and regrets" that a video led to the murder of four Americans in Benghazi? Nope? How about "if you like your policy, you can keep your policy?" Or when he told the press on national television the Cambridge police "acted stupidly" at a Harvard professor's home? Remember President Obama's "proof and regrets" over that? Neither do we.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on March 08, 2017 21 Comments
As women of privilege abdicate their responsibilities in order to protest President Trump, women hoping to get a leg into the science, technology, engineering and math fields (STEM) have new hope. A week ago, Trump signed a pair of bills meant to encourage the recruitment of women in male-heavy STEM fields. Only one in four women who hold a STEM degree work in a comparable field. Trump called this "unfair."

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on March 07, 2017 3 Comments
As one of his first acts as President, Trump signed an executive order scooting the approval of the Dakota and Keystone pipelines along. As Professor Jacobson pointed out at the time, Trump's EO didn't guarantee approval or even construction of either pipeline. Shortly thereafter, the Army Corps of Engineers granted the easement necessary to finish construction on the Dakota pipeline. "The Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Sioux tribes seeking a preliminary injunction against an easement needed to construct the Dakota Access Pipeline," reported NBC, who has the story.

Posted by Mary Chastain on March 07, 2017 22 Comments
Outrage everywhere because House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) had the nerve to tell people they should prioritize their budget. On CNN, he spoke about healthcare with Alisyn Camerota:
"Well, we're getting rid of the individual mandate. We're getting rid of those things that people said that they don't want," Chaffetz replied. "Americans have choices, and they've got to make a choice. So rather than getting that new iPhone that they just love and want to go spend hundreds of dollars on that, maybe they should invest in their own health care.
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