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Iran still getting the best of us

In my Jan. 20, post on Iran’s exploitation of President Obama’s foreign policy weakness I mentioned hints that U.S. negotiators were backing off their demand for an outright halt to Iran’s nuclear program in favor of a lesser demand that would provide Iran with a window to gradually build up its capability.  Today, it appears we’re a step closer to such an agreement.

Kerry (newsweek.com)

Appearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this week, Secretary of State John Kerry insists Iran will not get the bomb. (newsweek.com)

Secretary of State John Kerry told senators yesterday, “There is no deal yet.  And I caution people to wait and see what these negotiations produce.” All reports indicate, however, that a deal in the works would supposedly slow the Iranian nuclear program.

“The president has made clear – I can’t state this more firmly – the policy is Iran will not get a nuclear weapon,” Kerry tried to assure members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Continue reading →

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It’s time to take a stand on Homeland Security bill

Republicans don’t have the votes to pass its Homeland Security Bill, which calls for full funding of the agency with the exception of funding for the president’s amnesty immigration bill, putting the party in a dilemma as funding for the agency runs out on Feb. 27.

A friend wrote to me last week concerned about the Homeland Security Bill and the dubious position ahead for Republicans, including a copy of a thoughtful letter he wrote to Arizona Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake in which he asks that they consider the advice offered in Karl Rove’s Feb. 18 op-ed in the Wall Street Journal.

Essentially, Rove allows that the  preliminary injunction by federal district Judge Andrew Hansen stopping the implementation of the president’s immigration executive order, gives the GOP an opportunity to extract itself.  It would give Republicans a chance to make their point  on an issue where they  agree the president overstepped his authority, while avoiding getting blamed for a shutdown.

Meanwhile, conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer writes, “Republicans find themselves on the sidelines bleating plaintively about violations of the separation of powers.  But there is a way out for the GOP.  Go bold.  Go nuclear.  Abolish the filibuster.  Pass the bill and send it to the president.” Continue reading →

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Obama administration promotes another amateur

On a number of occasions I have noted how the two State Department spokespersons, Jen Psaki and her assistant Marie Harf, are ill-suited to perform their roles.

As recent as Feb. 11, I wrote in my post, “Surprise! There were Jews in the Jewish kosher deli, that Jen Psaki said we couldn’t assume that those targeted and killed in the deli were Jewish.

Now we learn that Psaki has been promoted and will move from State to the White House, where she will serve as Communications Director.

Do you suppose the president remembered what she said about him last year? Continue reading →

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Did you hear the one about no scandals in the Obama White House?

   “I’m proud of the fact that basically you’ve had an administration that’s been in place for six years in which there hasn’t been a major scandal … and I think that says a lot about the ethical strictures of this administration.” – David Axelrod, former advisor to President Obama

Those were the words of Axelrod during a session at the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics. … read more

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Surprise! There were Jews in the Jewish kosher deli

“It is entirely legitimate for the American people to be deeply concerned when you’ve got a bunch of violent, vicious zealots who behead people or randomly shoot a bunch of folks in a deli in Paris.” – President Obama

Obama (realclearpolitics.com)

President Obama referred to the Paris shooters as a bunch of violent, vicious zealots in his interview with VOX.com (realclearpolitics.com)

Those are the words of the president from a January interview with VOX.com’s Matt Yglesias made public this week, as he indicated the media overstates the terrorist threat and said his job fighting terrorism was akin to a big city mayor fighting crime.

“A bunch of violent, vicious zealots” is his latest description to avoid referring to Islamic radicals.  How are we ever going to defeat the scourge of this barbaric group if our leader stubbornly refuses to properly identify our enemy?

And, surely he doesn’t believe those “zealots,” who openly detest Jews, “randomly” selected a Jewish kosher deli to “randomly” murder its customers, who most certainly would be (and were) Jewish.

Of course, supporters of the president attributed his inappropriate word choice to a lack of a teleprompter.  What does that say about his ability to think on his feet? Continue reading →

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And she wants to be president, Part 9

As you probably know, Hillary Clinton is expected to make the issue of economic inequality in the United States the cornerstone of her presidential campaign in 2016.

Hillary (AP)

Hillary Clinton knows that the longer she isn’t a declared candidate the less time critics will have to pick apart her positions. (AP)

News that “the charitable foundation run by Clinton and her family has received as much as $81 million from wealthy international donors who were clients of HSBC’s controversial Swiss bank,” published in the UK’s The Guardian, should concern her followers.

Leaked files revealed accounts of seven donors to the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation. A Canadian mining magnate is one of the foundation’s biggest financial backers, and a British retail magnate, used his tax-free Geneva account to transfer $1 million into the foundation.

Meanwhile, the New York Times reports that “Dennis Cheng, a trusted aide to Hillary Rodham Clinton, will leave his post at the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Foundation this week and is expected to join Mrs. Clinton’s campaign preparation efforts as a fund-raiser.  He helped the Foundation secure a $246 million endowment there in 18-months. Continue reading →

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Obama, Big Government turn on pharmaceutical firms

Remember how candidate Barack Obama attacked K Street and the culture of lobbyists, special interests and backroom deals?  Within a few months, however, he was sitting with CEOs of pharmaceutical companies to make a deal he thought would help insure the success of health care reform.

Pharma (menwithfoilhats.com)

Pharma (courtesy menwithfoilhats.com)

Oh, how some decisions can come back to bite you in the ass.  Such was the deal PhRMA, the drug industry’s lobbying group, made when they sat at the ObamaCare negotiation table with President Obama in 2009.

Seeing the opportunity to increase their revenues as more people would be filling prescriptions for their products, they made a deal that tied them to the support of ObamaCare, and to advocate on its behalf.

They couldn’t get to the White House fast enough, and contributed $80 million to promote ObamaCare.  It also provided additional Medicaid discounts. Continue reading →

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It’s time we put the Bush “lie” to bed

I don’t often read columns by Froma Harrop, who leans to the left, but the headline on her recent piece, “What killed the American Sniper,” attracted my attention having seen the movie.  I knew how sniper Chris Kyle died.  I was living in the Texas hill country at the time and the news of this hero’s death in Stephenville hit the Lone Star State hard.… read more