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For Saturday, Dec. 30, 2017
All Gave Some~Some Gave All
Three Huge, Totally Unexpected Surprises to Look for in 2018
Check Washington's conventional political wisdom — then look the other way to see where U.S. is headed in next 12 months
by Mark Tapscott
Here are three leading examples of the conventional wisdom among Washington’s political experts about what will happen in 2018:
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Democrats will ride a “blue wave” of congressional campaign victories to retake control of Congress, gaining majorities in the Senate and the House of Representatives.
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Only the richest Americans will benefit economically from passage of President Donald Trump’s tax cuts, as the stall in middle-class prosperity continues.
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Special counsel Robert Mueller will indict a host of former Trump campaign and administration figures — then the chief executive himself will be impeached and convicted by the blue wave Democratic majority in Congress.
Now here’s what will actually happen next year:
There won’t be a blue wave. In New York magazine’s Daily Intelligencer blog, Ed Kilgore captures the conventional wisdom’s assumption about next year’s midterm elections, saying that even if Roy Moore had somehow eked out a victory in Alabama, “It is impossible to take an honest look at the overall pattern of 2017 contests without hearing the not-so-distant rumbling of a likely 2018 wave for Democrats.”
Forget the Democrats’ blue wave. There are three reasons it won’t happen. First, Democrats will have to defend 25 Senate seats (26 if Minnesota’s Al Franken actually resigns), compared to only eight for the Republicans. Half a dozen of those Democrats are running in states Trump carried handily in 2016.
Related: Resigning, Al Franken Declares Himself a ‘Champion of Women’
Second, Doug Jones wins in Alabama only by running against Moore in 2017. Democrats are too obsessed with identity politics to permit another Jones to win their primaries in other states in 2018. There are no more Blue Dogs capable of winning because the Democratic base views “moderation” as selling out to the White Racist Supremacy Hegemony, whatever that is.
Third, Roy Moore, the fatally flawed candidate, lost the Alabama Senate race, not populist conservative views. Democrats just don’t get that. There will be many more Republicans on the Tom Cotton model in coming years. Moore, like 2017’s snow in Houston and Galveston, is a once-in-a-lifetime event.
Put it all together, and this calculus means Democrats will more likely lose Senate seats, not gain them. And the House will be a disappointment for them as well, with very minimal gains at best. Some of us remember a similar Republican optimism going into the 1998 midterms.
Middle America prospers big-time in 2018. Now, about the economy, it has been axiomatic among the Washington elites since 1978 — when Congress enacted the Steiger Amendment cutting the capital gains tax and thereby provided a perfect predicate to the Reagan individual tax cuts in 1981 — that “only the rich benefit” from reduced federal levies.
As the Institute for Policy Studies’ Josh Hoxie put it, shortly before the Trump tax reforms were approved by Congress without a single Democratic vote, the measure represents “the biggest wealth grab in modern history.”
Similarly, the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities — the gold standard for conventional liberal Democratic economic analyses — insisted the Trump reform’s corporate tax cuts won’t help individuals “because workers would only receive a quarter or less of the benefits from tax cuts. And among those workers, it’s likely the higher earners that would benefit.”
There are two key reasons why middle-class Americans will benefit enormously beginning in 2018.
Wrong. There are two key reasons why middle-class Americans will benefit enormously beginning in 2018. First, even the reliably liberal Tax Policy Center conceded, according to Vox, that “the bill would reduce taxes for Americans in all income groups in 2018 — increasing after-tax income by an average of 2.2 percent.”
That means millions of middle-class earners will keep thousands of dollars of added income every year for the next eight years. True, the amount will steadily decrease as 2025 approaches and the reductions are planned to expire, but billions of dollars in additional spending, plus job growth and continued consumer confidence, mean significantly heightened prosperity for Middle America, beginning in 2018.
The second reason Middle America will see big economic gains is the Trump reform’s treatment of state and local tax deductions (SALT). Prior to 2018, high-tax blue states and localities didn’t have to worry about imposing too heavy taxation, since their residents could deduct the levies. But Trump caps the deduction at $10,000.
Related: Trump and GOP Triumph as Historic Tax Cuts Approved
That cap will speed up the out-migration from blue states, especially New York, California and Illinois. Millions of people in recent years have left high-tax states and moved either south or west, but especially to Texas, which has for a decade been an engine of economic growth for the whole country.
As the Daily Signal reported in February 2017: “Over the past decade, New York has suffered a net loss of nearly 1.5 million residents and over 650,000 Illinoisans have moved elsewhere. Meanwhile, Texas, a right-to-work state with no income or estate tax, saw its population grow by 1.3 million.”
Capping the SALT provision of the federal tax code will accelerate the blue state out-migration, sending millions more people looking for new jobs and opportunities in growing, mostly red, southern and western states. Most of them will be middle- or lower-income earners seeking to move up.
No blue wave means no Trump impeachment. If, as predicted above, Democrats fail to regain a congressional majority, there obviously won’t be a serious impeachment effort against Trump. Where will that leave Mueller’s Russia collusion investigation? Mueller may be occupied with his own problems come spring 2018.
Watch for the report of Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz on the FBI, the Clinton email investigation, and the infamous “tarmac meeting” between former President Bill Clinton and then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch.
Horowitz has a history with the FBI and some of his former colleagues at the Department of Justice. He rallied 45 other IGs in 2014 to demand the FBI, DOJ, and multiple other agencies stop routinely violating the 1978 law giving them unlimited access to all federal documents. Congress did as Horowitz demanded.
It was the FBI that especially raised Horowitz’s ire, as seen in this 2015 letterto Congress. The FBI director at the time was … James Comey.
Horowitz is a straight-arrow, tough-minded investigator, not unlike John Sopko, the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, who has repeatedly blistered U.S. politicians and military leaders while exposing colossal waste, fraud and corruption.
Nobody in either party will be spared when Horowitz releases his report.
Senior editor Mark Tapscott can be reached at mark.tapscott@lifezette.com. Follow him on Twitter.
(photo credit, homepage images: Donald Trump, CC BY-SA 2.0, by Gage Skidmore / Robert Mueller, CC BY 2.0, by Ryan J. Reilly)
Newt Gingrich: ‘The stage is being set’ for GOP landslide in 2018
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. (Associated Press)
By Jessica Chasmar - The Washington Times - Thursday, December 28, 2017
Newt Gingrich said Thursday that Democrats. are headed for a major political upset in 2018, mostly due to the mainstream media’s dishonesty and the party’s inability to learn from its own mistakes.
“The great political surprise of 2018 will be the size of the Republican victory,” the former Republican House Speaker wrote in a column for Fox News. “After members of the elite media have spent two years savaging President Trump, lying about Republican legislation, and reassuring themselves that Republican defeat was inevitable, the size of the GOP victory in 2018 will be an enormous shock.”
Mr. Gingrich said the most glaring example of “fake news” is the media’s handling of the GOP’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which he said will be “the 2018 proving ground of media liberal bias and dishonesty.”
“First, the media lied about the tax bill in an effort to convince most Americans their taxes would go up,” he wrote. “Then, the media took surveys of people who opposed the GOP bill based on the false information supplied by the media. Then, the media talked again and again about how unpopular the Republican plan was and how it was going to weaken Republican candidates in 2018. Then, the bill passed, and unsurprisingly, it turned out to be dramatically better for Americans than the elite media had described.”
Mr. Gingrich cited a recent CBS News report that interviewed three different families about their initial impressions of the GOP tax bill, which Mr. Trump signed into law last week. All three families believed they either wouldn’t be affected or would have to pay more under the tax plan, only to be told that they would actually be paying significantly less. In fact, CBS News reported that “most Americans” will get a tax cut next year under the plan. Mr. Gingrich said the report is just one example of how the media’s attempts to paint the tax bill as a tax hike on the middle class have negatively shaped public opinion.
“The gap between the news media falsehoods and the dramatically better reality of the GOP tax cuts will have three huge effects on the 2018 campaign,” Mr. Gingrich wrote.
First, he said the American people will be swayed by the Republican Party’s ability to follow through on its promises. Second, an increasing number of people will come to distrust the media after they compare their personal experiences with its “fake reporting and endless bias.” And lastly, the Democrats who voted against the bill “will live to regret it” and face major political upsets in the states that Mr. Trump won in 2016, Mr. Gingrich wrote.
“The stage is being set for a definitive election,” he said.
“Do you want higher taxes, bigger bureaucracy, more power in Washington, and a smaller economy with lower take-home pay and fewer jobs? If yes, vote Democrat, because that is what they stand for and will continue to vote for next year,” he continued. “If you want a bigger economy, more jobs, more take-home pay, less power with Washington bureaucrats, and lower taxes with more money in your pocket, then vote Republican.”
“If Republicans can learn to tell the truth better than the elite media and Democrats lie, the GOP will win an astonishing victory in 2018,” Mr. Gingrich concluded.
Sheila Jackson Lee accuses woman of racism – she’s actually a human-rights activist
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) is known for appealing to racial tensions when she needs an advantage, irrespective of whether her allegations are supported. In 2011, she asserted that “the minority community” believes racism was the motivation for the GOP not wanting to increase the federal debt limit – a claim so absurd that it made Larry Elder wonder if the “Texas heat” was getting to her.
This time Jackson may be suffering from altitude sickness after her seat-bumping episode on United Airlines, where she openly accused the woman whose seat she took of being a racist. The joke is on Jackson Lee; the woman, Jean-Marie Simon, is an award-winning photographer who specifically works in the area of human rights.
Open Mouth, Insert Foot
Many Americans know the story by now: United Airlines, already hated for confusing assault for customer service, allowed Jackson Lee to take a first-class seat already reserved and paid for by Simon. The photographer wasn’t happy about not getting what she paid for and let her frustration be known.
Jackson Lee jumped into the fray with a rambling statement that managed to claim Simon was racist while congratulating herself for being so awesomely magnanimous.
Here’s a snippet:
Since this was not any fault of mine, the way the individual continued to act appeared to be, upon reflection, because I was an African American woman, seemingly an easy target along with the African American flight attendant, who was very, very nice.
Jackson Lee’s allegations are easily disproved – as the internet is showing the world today. The Texas Democrat may be in the running for an award titled Worst Time Ever to Pull the Race Card, as numerous websites collectively roll their eyes at Jackson Lee’s martyr routine.
After returning from Guatemala in 1988, Simon practiced law for a decade before becoming a high school Spanish teacher. She has also written reports for a number of human rights organizations and continues to visit Guatemala regularly.
“I am kind enough to simply say sorry,” tweeted the Representative, after characterizing herself as a hapless, unwitting victim of blindingly obvious racism that she is rising above.
To see Jackson Lee tell the story on Twitter, one would think she lived through a Rosa-Parks-like scenario in the air.
Why Are We Surprised?
Jackson Lee certainly isn’t the first sitting lawmaker to exploit racial tensions.
Most recently, in the wake of sexual harassment accusations against Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), fellow House member James Clyburn likened Conyers’ accusers to Susan Smith – a mother who drowned her own children and then claimed a black male had carjacked her and kidnapped the children.
The undertone was clear – white women are liars – and the message was called out immediately by the conservative media.
Jackson Lee was still getting roasted on Twitter on Thursday morning. That’s a show that won’t be over for a while.
Obama FURIOUS over Trump news (he’s VERY mad) HARUMPH!!!
It’s no secret that former President Barack Obama hates President Donald Trump.
Since taking office, Trump has torn apart Obama’s shaky legacy, leaving Obama “furious” and “livid.” Trump has made Obama look bad by slashing regulations that destroyed the U.S. economy. And Trump has taken down multiple Deep State leakers that were undermining the effort to ‘drain the swamp’ of Obama loyalists.
Now, Obama just got the worst news of all.
It turns out that Trump is as popular as Obama was after one year, despite the mainstream media’s full court attack.
Matt Drudge of The Drudge Report also reported an amazing find — one that will leave liberals and their media cronies stunned.
MATT DRUDGE ✔@DRUDGERasmussen Poll shows Trump at 46% APPROVE this morning, with 53% DISAPPROVE…
What about Obama at same exact date first year in presidency?? 46% APPROVE, 53% DISAPPROVE!
What about Obama at same exact date first year in presidency?? 46% APPROVE, 53% DISAPPROVE!
9:47 AM - Dec 28, 2017
Ouch.
For someone as concerned about his legacy as Obama was, it must hurt seeing Trump’s approval ratings rise… especially without the media’s help.
For someone as concerned about his legacy as Obama was, it must hurt seeing Trump’s approval ratings rise… especially without the media’s help.
Trump Jumpstarts “Project Gray Wolf” Striking Fear Directly to KJU
BY STEVEN BEYER
In a $110 million dollar contract, Lockheed Martin has announced that it will begin working on a program simply known as “Project Gray Wolf.” This contract will create the first weapon of its kind, swarming missiles, that is sure to strike terror into the hearts of the United States enemies, including North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.
According to the U.K. Daily Mail, the missiles, “will be a low-cost missile with built-in networked, collaborative behaviours – or, swarming behaviours.”
In essence, these missiles will be able to communicate to each other. Pretty darn cool.
The missiles will initially work with the F-16 fighter jet, but will work with other planes as well. The F-35, F-15, F-18, B-1, B-2 and B-52 aircraft will all eventually get this new technology.
Advanced Missiles Program director for Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control Hady Mourad told the Daily Mail: “(O)ur system is being designed to maximize modularity, allowing our customer to incorporate advanced technologies such as more lethal warheads or more fuel-efficient engines, when those systems become available.”
In addition to missiles that swarm, Lockheed Martin is also creating a high-powered fiber laser for fighter jets.
This is literally almost something you would see from a “Star Wars” movie.
According to Daily Mail, “the new laser system would allow fighter jets to take down targets from the air, in contrast to previous systems, which were mounted on vehicles or ships.”
Under a $26.3 million contract from the Air Force Research Lab, Lockheed Martin plans to develop “a directed energy system for aircraft, with plans to test the technology by 2021.”
Lockheed Martin has had success with similar ground based systems, now the company is moving toward developing that same technology for airborne systems.
While all of this seems pretty amazing, the “swarm” missiles won’t be ready until 2019 while the laser weapons for aircraft are looking at a much later date.
Regardless, as phones, TVs, and even cars become “smarter,” rest assured, you’re going to see that happen with our weapons systems all the more. Having missiles that can communicate with each other is some pretty amazing technology.
As Trump continues his presidency, look for more technological advances as well as a stronger military. If there’s one thing we know about President Donald Trump, it’s this:
He wants our military to be the best trained and best equipped military in the world, and will do whatever it takes to make it happen.
“Project Gray Wolf” does just that.
Trump Cancels Celebration of Big Government
BY BEN MARQUIS
Though obstinate NeverTrumpers are loathe to admit it, President Donald Trump has pressed an incredibly conservative agenda while in office thus far, one that largely eschews the “big government” celebrated by liberals in favor of a more pragmatic realism toward getting work done.
A prime example of this is the lack of an ostentatious “state dinner” in his first year in office, an apparent political faux pas the mainstream media is crowing about and wringing their hands over, as evidenced by a widely spread Associated Press piece.
The AP pointed out that Trump is the first president in nearly a century to not host a state dinner at the White House during his first year in office. The last president to act similarly was former President Calvin Coolidge, who assumed office in 1923 after the death of former President Warren Harding, was elected to a full term in 1924. Coolidge finally held his first official state dinner in 1926, when he hosted Queen Marie of Romania.
Every other president since then has held at least one state dinner during the first year of his term — former President Lyndon Johnson held 12 dinners his first year — which are viewed by “experts” as an important and valuable diplomatic tool to strengthen friendships and make statements to the world.
The often showy events typically feature elaborate arrival ceremonies for the foreign guest of honor, full of pomp and circumstance, which lead to private meetings, joint news conferences and a lavish dinner with hundreds of other important guests in the evening.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told the AP that there was no “singular reason” that Trump hadn’t hosted a state dinner yet, but noted that one could be planned for some point in early 2018, though she declined to drop any hints about who the honored guest might be.
To be sure, Trump has hosted plenty of foreign dignitaries and heads of state at the White House — and held the requisite private meetings and joint press conferences — though those visits typically included a working lunch instead of a luxurious dinner.
Trump also hosted a “full dinner” for Chinese President Xi Jingping at his Mar-A-Lago estate in April, though it didn’t quite rise to the level of an official “state dinner.”
The U.K. Independent reported that Trump has previously talked down the notion of state dinners, particularly when former President Barack Obama rolled out the red carpet for President Xi in 2015. He remarked at the time, “I would not be throwing (Xi) a dinner. I would get him a McDonald’s hamburger and say we’ve got to get down to work.”
Of course, Trump and Xi didn’t eat McDonald’s at the dinner in Mar-a-Lago, and Xi spared no expense in hosting Trump to a “magnificent” state dinner when he visited China in early November, among other honors not lavished upon former U.S. presidents.
Nevertheless, many in the media are searching for a reason why Trump has yet to hold a state dinner at the White House, and the decidedly anti-Trump Newsweek settled on two possible reasons for what they viewed as a terrible oversight.
They noted that Trump had vowed during the presidential campaign to not hold state dinners if elected until the nation’s financial situation had improved, specifically the trade deficit.
“It’s going to be different, folks. It’s going to be different. We’re not going to have state dinners,” Trump stated in February 2016. “I’ll have state dinners — when we break even I’ll have a state dinner, and when we start making money, I’ll have a double state dinner.”
Considering the quiet work Trump and his top financial advisers — Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer — have done behind the scenes in his whirlwind first year to improve America’s standing in the global realm of trade, Trump could be getting close to making good on that vow.
But Newsweek also cast blame for the lack of a state dinner upon first lady Melania Trump, due to her tendency to “stay away from the spotlight.”
First ladies have historically played a significant role in the planning of official state dinners, and the magazine noted that Melania didn’t move into the White House until June, several months after Trump took office. Furthermore, Newsweek lamented that it appears she is more preoccupied with caring for her son, Barron, and taking part in events involving children at schools and hospitals, than in planning massive events.
In truth, state dinners are little more than showy celebrations of our nation’s “big government” as we play host to our allies and friends. Trump knows he can host such honored guests — while actually getting work accomplished — without all of the ostentatious trappings of a state dinner.
Good.
THE OBAMA YEARS: A LEGACY OF SCANDAL AND DECEPTION
By Ari Lieberman
By Ari Lieberman
On December 13, former vice president, Joe Biden, appeared on CBS with the hosts of “This Morning” where he peddled his new book and showered his former boss with praise. During the course of the interview, he was asked about his relationship with Obama and responded with the following; “I’ve served with eight presidents and I’ve gotten to know four of them very well. I’ve never met any president that has more character, more integrity, and more backbone than this guy does.” Then he went completely off the rails when he absurdly added; “And eight years, not a hint — not a hint — of a scandal.”
What was perhaps even more outrageous than the statement itself was the fact that none of This Morning’s hosts challenged the veracity of that statement and allowed it to pass without a scintilla of scrutiny, exposing yet again an extreme bias existing within elements of the establishment media. In fact, the Obama administration was among the most corrupt and scandal-ridden in recent memory. Biden’s comment merits further examination so let’s buckle up and take a stroll down memory lane.
Solyndra Scandal – The Obama administration provided this failing solar company with a $535 million stimulus-funded loan, courtesy of the American taxpayer. Taxpayer money kept pouring in despite the fact that the Office of Management and Budget warned that Solyndra was not a profitable or viable company. But it gets worse. The family foundation of billionaire George Kaiser, an Obama fundraiser, was one of Solyndra's main investors. Can you say quid pro quo?
Veterans Affairs Scandal - Over 40 veterans needlessly died while waiting to be seen by doctors at a Phoenix VA facility. Another 1,700 veterans were forced to wait for months before being seen by medical personnel. An audit of the VA confirmed that VA officials systematically altered records and appointment schedules in a deliberate and methodical VA scheme to manipulate data to meet fabricated goals.
Operation Chokepoint Scandal – The Obama DOJ utilized the power of big government to pressure banks to cease doing business with industries with which the administration had ideological differences. Gun manufacturers and gun stores were prime targets even though they had not violated any laws. Eventually, the FDIC admitted to misconduct, bowed to pressure and significantly curtailed the discriminatory regulations after affected businesses threatened legal action.
Gibson Guitar Scandal – Armed federal agents executed four search warrants on Gibson Guitar Corp. facilities in Nashville and Memphis, Tenn., seizing guitars, electronic files and other inventory including wood that was purchased in India and Madagascar. The DOJ alleged that Gibson’s had violated an obscure law known as the Lacey Act which made it a crime to violate the environmental laws of another country. Gibson produced an affidavit from government officials in Madagascar stating that Gibson had violated none of that nation’s laws. Gibson also alleged that the DOJ was misinterpreting Indian law. Gibson’s CEO was a major donor to the GOP but his competitors, who purchased the same materials and were not GOP donors, were untouched by Obama’s DOJ. As part of a settlement to drop criminal charges, Gibson was required to pay a $250,000 fine and was required to donate $50,000 to an environmental group. Gibson was eventually able to retrieve its inventory from the clutches of the DOJ.
Fast & Furious Scandal – A scheme concocted by the Obama administration that went horribly wrong. The administration lost track of some 1,400 guns that made their way into the stream of criminal enterprises including those of the Mexican drug cartels. Two of the guns were found at the scene of the shooting of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. Attorney General Eric Holder was cited for contempt of Congress for failing to turn over documents relating to the scandal. It was the first time Congress had taken such an action against a sitting Cabinet official. Seventeen Democrats joined Republicans in voting in favor of the criminal contempt resolution.
DOJ-James Rosen Scandal – FOX News journalist, James Rosen became the target of Obama’s DOJ in yet another example of extreme government overreaching. Believing that Rosen was responsible for a leak concerning a policy decision on North Korea, AG Eric Holder sought a subpoena for Rosen’s emails claiming that Rosen had broken the law “at the very least, either as an aider, abettor and/or co-conspirator.” The government’s affidavit also accused Rosen of possibly violating the Espionage Act. It appeared that the DOJ was acting like the East German Stasi in chasing fictitious enemies of the state. In a rare instance of bipartisanship, Holder was roundly criticized from all sides of the political spectrum and Holder himself was later forced to acknowledge that he regretted the episode.
Gruber-Obamacare Scandal – To establish Obamacare’s validity, Obama hired economist and academic Jonathan Gruber to give the plan his seal of approval. Gruber was later caught on video and audio making several disparaging remarks about Americans, stating that Obamacare’s passage rested on the “stupidity of the American voter.” Democrats later tried to distance themselves from him and tried to minimize his role in formulating Obamacare but there was no debating that he was one of Obamacare’s chief architects and was paid nearly $400,000 for his services. Gruber confirmed what most of us already knew; that Obamacare passed as a result of a concerted effort by the administration to deceive the American people.
Skolkovo Scandal – While serving as secretary of state, Clinton oversaw a program meant to “reset” relations with Moscow and improve ties. The program centered around the Russian city of Skolkovo near Moscow with the stated aim of “identifying areas of cooperation and pursuing joint projects and actions that strengthen strategic stability, international security, economic well-being, and the development of ties between the American and Russian people.” The program transformed Skolkovo into a technology hub akin to a Silicon Valley. Sensitive American technology was transferred to the Russians, substantially enhancing their military and cyber capabilities. The US Army and the FBI concluded that Russia had exploited the program for military applications. The FBI warned American technology companies doing business in Skolkovo that the Skolkovo project was a means by which the Russians would acquire dual use technologies and apply them for military ends. According to investigative author Peter Schweizer, Russian and American companies and individuals involved in the Skolkovo fiasco “had major financial ties to the Clintons.” Moreover, during the Russian reset period, those entities provided the Clintons with “tens of millions of dollars” in the form of “contributions to the Clinton Foundation, paid for speeches by Bill Clinton, or investments in small start-up companies with deep Clinton ties.”
Benghazi Scandal - U.S. Ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed during an attack on the American consulate office. The Obama administration initially denied that the attack was terror related and instead peddled the now false and discredited narrative that it was triggered by a reaction to an anti-Muslim film. However, emails later confirmed that administration officials were well aware that it was a well-orchestrated, premeditated attack planned by Islamist terrorists and had nothing to do with an internet film. In addition, a congressional committee found that the delay in deploying military assets to the theater, which it attributed to needless bureaucratic bungling, almost certainly cost those men their lives.
IRS Exemption Scandal – IRS officials, taking their cues from the White House delayed, ignored or rejected nonprofit status applications from groups deemed to be right-wing or pro-Israel. Eventually, Former IRS senior executive Lois Lerner, one of the key actors in the scandal was held to be in contempt of Congress, though Holder’s DOJ refused to prosecute.
Iran Ransom Scandal – In deal to secure the release of four Americans held hostage by Iran, the Obama administration gave the Iranian government $1.7 billion in unmarked, untraceable cash, stacked in pallets. The money promptly went to finance Iran’s terrorist activities. Attorney General Loretta Lynch was required to sign off on the ransom deal but no paper bearing her signature was ever produced despite congressional calls compelling her to do so.
Bergdahl-Guantanamo Scandal – Obama released 5 hardened Taliban terrorists for convicted deserter Bowe Bergdahl. The release of the terrorists was in violation of the National Defense Authorization Act. Obama was required to provide Congress with 30-days’ notice prior to releasing the Guantanamo detainees but he only provided notice on the actual day of the exchange. Consequently, the chief counsel for the Government Accountability Office determined that the Pentagon had illegally spent the money used to facilitate the prisoner exchange. In addition, like Benghazi, the administration tried to spin the story and portrayed Bergdahl as a soldier who “served with honor and distinction.” Lastly, at least 3 of the 5 detainees released for Bergdahl have reverted to their terrorist habits placing America and its allies at risk.
Dossier Scandal – Elements within the FBI and DOJ who were hostile to Trump and friendly to Clinton obtained a salacious and unverified dossier on Trump which was compiled by a British foreign agent from Russian sources. In addition to being unverified, unreliable and based exclusively on Russian sources, the dossier amounted to opposition research because it was obtained by agents and operatives working directly and indirectly for the Clinton campaign. Despite this knowledge, the FBI dressed up the dossier to appear as if it was a legitimate intelligence document and then used it to obtain a FISA warrant to spy on American citizens.
Clinton Email Server Scandal – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton used an unsecured bathroom server to send and receive classified information. It is a virtual certainty that many of Clinton’s emails were compromised by foreign, hostile governments. Over 33,000 emails belonging to the State Department were deleted and some of Clinton’s state department emails ended up on a registered sex offenders laptop. Clinton was criminally exonerated by the FBI and Loretta Lynch’s DOJ blindly accepted the FBI’s findings and recommendations without conducting an examination of its own. FBI agent Peter Strzok, who maintained a visceral hatred toward Trump and was deeply involved in the email investigation, later changed the wording of a memo exonerating Clinton to “extremely careless” from “grossly negligent.” The change was significant because the latter language tracked the wording of the criminal statute. FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who was also involved in investigating Clinton, failed to disclose that his wife had accepted $500,000 for her state senate campaign from long-time Clinton ally, Terry McAuliffe.
Uranium 1 Scandal – While serving as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton signed off on a deal that allowed Russia to acquire 20 percent of America’s uranium mining capacity. While other members of the Obama cabinet were also required to sign off for approval of the deal, Clinton was the only cabinet figure to obtain direct pecuniary benefit, to the tune of millions of dollars, from entities with vested interests in seeing the acquisition completed. She never disclosed this conflict of interest when giving her authorization. Once in Russian hands, some of the uranium, the foundational material for nuclear bombs, was exported abroad.
Loretta Lynch-Bill Clinton Tarmac Scandal – While Hillary Clinton was being criminally investigated by the FBI, Loretta Lynch, the nation’s top law enforcement official met with Bill Clinton for 30 minutes at a Phoenix tarmac where she says they discussed “grandchildren” and “golf.” Later, it was revealed that she instructed FBI Director James Comey to refer to the investigation as a “matter” rather than an investigation, tracking the Clinton campaign’s talking points. Finally, Comey testified in a closed session before the Intelligence Committee, that he confronted Lynch with a sensitive document in which it was suggested that Lynch was going to use her authority and power of her office to thwart prosecution of Clinton irrespective of the FBI’s findings. Lynch reportedly stared at the document and then “looked up with a steely silence that lasted for some time, then asked him if he had any other business with her and if not that he should leave her office.”
Project Cassandra Scandal – In an effort to curry favor with the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Obama administration delayed, obstructed and ultimately shut down a DEA initiative aimed at thwarting Hezbollah arms trafficking, drug trafficking and money laundering schemes. As a result, Hezbollah continued to import drugs into the United States, continued to supply anti-American insurgents with deadly Explosively Formed Projectiles and continued to engage in massive money laundering schemes.
The level of corruption and scandal witnessed during Obama’s tenure rivals, and perhaps even surpasses that of the Nixon years. The administration’s legacy leaves a long and wide trail of lies, deception and government overreaching. Biden’s comment on This Morning would be laughable if it wasn’t so sad. Lastly, whether one opposes or favors Trump, all can acknowledge that but for Trump’s victory, many of these scandals would have never come to light because the Clinton administration would have happily swept all the filth under the rug.
G’ day…Ciao…
Helen and Moe Lauzier
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