Here are my comments on the news of the day.
WHO DO YOU TRUST? Certainly not our intelligence officials. You may recall former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper responding to Sen. Ron Wyden’s (D-Ore.) question during the March 12, 2013 Senate Intelligence Committee hearing – “Does the NSA collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans?” After simply answering, “no, sir,” Clapper added, “Not whittingly.” And that, I remind you, occurred even though Clapper knew the day before that this question would be asked. Wyden charged Clapper with being “deliberately misleading.”
More recently, on May 23, 2017, Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) asked former CIA Director John Brennan – “Do you recall any U.S. ambassador asking that names be unmasked?” Watching the hearing, I wondered what Gowdy was getting at with that question. Obviously, he knew something that wasn’t known publicly.
Clearly Brennan exhibited an uneasiness with the question, noticeably squirming and strangely twisting his head as he responded – “I don’t … I don’t know … maybe its ringing a vague bell, but I couldn’t answer with any confidence.” Ringing a vague bell, Mr. Brennan?
Now we know, that former UN Ambassador Samantha Power’s name has surfaced as one who may have asked for unmasking. Stay tuned.
PRESIDENT TRUMP DID THE RIGHT THING, removing the United States from the outrageous Paris Agreement on climate change, fulfilling another campaign promise. Former President Obama committed the U.S. to a deal that will have little effect on the climate, while harming our economy. It has been estimated that more than $2.5 trillion in gross domestic product would be lost to us if Trump followed through with Obama’s commitment.
Democrats and others who dislike President Trump want him to stay in the Paris Agreement, according to Grover Norquist, tax reform advocate. That should tell you something. Liberal Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) today attacked President Trump for “unilaterally” removing the U.S. from the agreement, conveniently ignoring the fact that former President Obama unilaterally signed on to the agreement.
“He (Obama) avoided the democratic process altogether,” wrote Ed Rogers, a popular blogger, suggesting that if he sent it to Harry Reid’s Senate Floor for a vote, “it would certainly fail.”
While making his announcement on the Paris accord today, the president offered a willingness to renegotiate its role in controlling carbon emissions among nations, and invited Democrats to participate. Don’t hold your breath.
FOLLOW THE MONEY – Elon Musk, who has skillfully managed to get a variety of federal regulations to subsidize his Tesla electric car company, Solar City energy company and battery factory, has threatened to resign from the president’s business advisory panel over the Paris decision. Goodbye. Elon.
Reportedly, Musk has received $1.3 billion for his battery operation in Nevada, while Solar City has received $1.5 billion through solar regulations in California and $1 billion in New York.
THE PARIS ACCORD PULLOUT doesn’t mean cities and states, businesses large and small, and individual taxpayers will cease to practice environmentally sound measures. Though the massive budget of the Environmental Protection Agency will be slashed, the federal government will continue to develop clean air and water practices without the heavy-hand of the government.
California’s Air Resources Board is issuing regulations to curb bovine burping to meet its climate goals.
It is interesting to note that the U.S. cut carbon emissions by 18 percent before signing the Paris accord.
RIDICULE FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION – EU Commission President Jean Claude Juncker took the opportunity to ridicule President Trump, saying “Americans can’t just get out of the agreement … it takes three to four years to pull out. We tried to explain this in clear simple sentences to Mr. Trump during the G-7 meeting,” while laughingly adding, “I guess he just doesn’t understand.” We’ll see, Mr. Juncker, we’ll see. Here’s a clear sentence for you. The Paris Agreement is not legally binding.
Are you aware that Germany had to increase coal power production when Chancellor Angela Merkel decided to shut down the country’s nuclear power plants due to her unfounded fear of a nuclear disaster?
