With family members of three Americans killed by illegal immigrants looking on, President Donald Trump on Tuesday night used his address to Congress to bring attention to his plan for an office to help victims of crimes committed by those not authorized to be in the country.
“I have ordered the Department of Homeland Security to create an office to serve American victims,” Trump said in his speech. “The office is called VOICE—Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement. We are providing a voice to those who have been ignored by our media, and silenced by special interests.”
The mention brought audible groans and murmurs from some, apparently Democrats, in the House chamber.
Trump mandated creation of the office as part of an executive order he signed Jan. 25.
But by using part of his prime-time address to highlight this little-known part of the executive order, Trump sent a message as his administration implements a series of tough immigration enforcement measures.
“The idea is to have an office that will assist and advocate for people who have been victims or family members victimized by criminal immigrants,” Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, said in an interview with The Daily Signal.
“There is a legitimate need for this kind of office, and they will be busy. I don’t see it as a symbolic or political move at all.”
The Trump administration has provided little information on what exactly the office will do, its budget, or staffing level. On Wednesday, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the agency in the Department of Homeland Security tasked with creating the office, gave few additional details.
“The men and women comprising the VOICE office will be guided by a singular, straightforward mission—to support victims of crime committed by immigration violators through access to information and other resources, as needed,” ICE spokeswoman Jennifer Elzea said in a statement to reporters.
Information, Answers
In memos last week detailing implementation of Trump’s immigration policies, John Kelly, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, wrote that victims of crime committed by illegal immigrants “are often not provided adequate information about the offender, the offender’s immigration status, or any enforcement action taken by ICE against the offender.”
Kelly said ICE will appoint a liaison to “facilitate engagement with the victims and their families to ensure they are provided information about the offender and that their questions and concerns regarding immigration enforcement are addressed.”
Little published data exists on crime committed by illegal immigrants, and critics of the new office worry the president is exaggerating the risks to make his immigration enforcement initiatives more attractive.
A 2015 study by the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute found that 820,000 illegal immigrants had criminal convictions, including about 300,000 with felony records.
“What they are trying to do is criminalize immigrants,” David Leopold, an Ohio-based immigration attorney, told The Daily Signal. “It seems this administration will stop at nothing to dehumanize and criminalize immigrants.”
Administration officials and their defenders point out that the program is aimed at illegal immigrants, not immigrants in general.
‘Providing Evidence’
In the memos, Kelly writes that the process to gather and publish information about crime committed by illegal immigrants is hampered by a previous DHS policy that protected all those on whom the agency has records through the Privacy Act of 1974, regardless of their immigration status.
The Privacy Act of 1974 governs the collection, use, and dissemination of personal information about individuals maintained in federal government records.
Kelly said DHS no longer will afford privacy rights to those who are not U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents. He also ordered ICE to provide monthly reports to the public detailing the arrest and release of illegal immigrants.
“The biggest thing this new office ought to be doing, and what it sounds like it is going to be doing, is gathering information on and regularly reporting the quality and quantity of crimes committed by illegal immigrants,” said Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation. He added:
I don’t know of any government agency that is on a regular and consistent basis collecting this information and reporting it to the public and Congress. That is a very important way of providing evidence of the effects of not enforcing our immigration laws.
Objections of Immigration Lawyers
Immigration lawyers have expressed concerns about language in Kelly’s memo on reallocating DHS resources currently used to “advocate on behalf of” illegal immigrants to the new VOICE office.
It’s not clear what funds Kelly means, and ICE did not answer questions from The Daily Signal on that subject.
Greg Chen, director of advocacy at the American Immigration Lawyers Association, told The Daily Signal that no government resources explicitly benefit immigrants who live in the country illegally.
Chen and his colleague, William Stock, president of the group, speculated that Kelly may be referencing funds ICE currently uses for “community engagement officers.”
According to ICE, community engagement officers strengthen “partnerships with state and local law enforcement agencies, community organizations, local governments, civic leaders, and the public” by fostering communication regarding the government’s immigration enforcement efforts.
These ICE officers sometimes sought community assistance to identify people they were looking to apprehend, Stock told The Daily Signal.
“Because the [officers] have also dealt with issues like communication problems family members have if a loved one is detained, there has been some press labeling them and the overall Community Relations Office at ICE [as] ‘advocates for illegal immigrants’ and calling for them to be defunded,” Stock said.
‘Shooting Himself in the Foot’
If the Trump administration were to deemphasize these efforts, and illegal immigrants lost privacy protections, Chen said, he worries this will harm law enforcement investigations that depend on tips from residents.
“If Trump’s real goal is to improve national security and public safety, he is shooting himself in the foot,” Chen said. “Immigrant communities will be less likely to use local law enforcement services to report crimes, and that is what law enforcement needs.”
Regardless of this program’s fate, Vaughan, of the Center for Immigration Studies, contends that victims of crimes committed by illegal immigrants deserve more support. She said:
Every law enforcement agency in the country at the state and local level has a victim advocacy office. It seems only fair you should have something dedicated to those harmed in a crime that is committed by someone here illegally that would not have occurred if that person wasn’t in the country to begin with.
(For more from the author of “How Trump Proposes to Help Victims of Crimes by Illegal Aliens” please click HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/illegal-immigration-1.jpg467700Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2017-03-01 16:50:112017-03-01 16:50:11How Trump Proposes to Help Victims of Crimes by Illegal Aliens
President Donald Trump didn’t shy away from asking Congress to unwind Obamacare during Tuesday night’s joint address, and he presented lawmakers with a list of five policies to consider as Republicans craft their replacement for the health care law.
During his speech, Trump called on lawmakers to repeal and replace Obamacare, and reform the health care system to “expand choice, increase access, lower costs, and at the same time, provide better health care.”
“Mandating every American to buy government-approved health insurance was never the right solution for our country,” Trump said. “The way to make health insurance available to everyone is to lower the cost of health insurance, and that’s what we are going to do.”
The president offered few specifics on what reforms he would like to see Congress pursue as they work toward a replacement for Obamacare.
But Trump did outline five policies he supports in a proposal that will dismantle the health care law.
Many of the policies are in line with those backed by House Speaker Paul Ryan and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price. But some have been met with resistance from the House and Senate’s most conservative members.
The GOP conference hasn’t yet united around a plan to repeal and replace the law, and Trump’s comments seemed to tip the scales in favor of leadership’s suggested reforms.
But, conservatives have said they’ll oppose any legislation that doesn’t fully repeal Obamacare, and their hard line sent Republican leaders back to the drawing board.
Here are the policies Trump said he would like to see in an Obamacare replacement plan, and where they stand in the context of the current debate.
1. “We should ensure that Americans with pre-existing conditions have access to coverage, and that we have a stable transition for Americans currently enrolled in the health care exchanges.”
Obamacare’s pre-existing conditions provision has become one of the health care law’s more popular measures. Under the Affordable Care Act, insurance companies were prohibited from discriminating against consumers with pre-existing conditions.
Trump, Price, and congressional Republicans have repeatedly said they want to make sure Americans with pre-existing conditions have access to health insurance.
Most replacement plans include a provision barring insurers from discriminating against customers with pre-existing conditions if the person maintained coverage continuously, and a draft proposal—viewed as the leading plan—leaked to the press last week penalized individuals who let their coverage lapse by raising their premiums 30 percent for a year.
2. “We should help Americans purchase their own coverage through the use of tax credits and expanded health savings accounts—but it must be the plan they want, not the plan forced on them by our government.”
Republicans across the board agree on expanding health savings accounts, or medical savings accounts.
In fact, GOP leaders want to see the expansion of health savings accounts included in the bill that will repeal Obamacare.
But where Republican leadership and conservative lawmakers are at odds is in the financial assistance available to customers buying individual market coverage.
Tax credits were a staple of Obamacare replacement plans rolled out by Price and Ryan, and the leaked repeal document created refundable tax credits based on age—ranging from $2,000 for consumers under 30 to $4,000 for consumers over 60.
But conservatives object to the idea of refundable tax credits and say they’re a form of “Obamacare lite.”
They’re not ruling out all forms of financial assistance for consumers, though. Last month, the House Freedom Caucus, a group of approximately 40 conservatives, backed an Obamacare replacement plan from Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Rep. Mark Sanford, R-S.C., that created a $5,000 tax credit for those who contribute to their HSAs.
By referencing tax credits explicitly, Trump seemed to side with Ryan and Republican leadership.
However, conservatives after the speech suggested that Trump didn’t explicitly endorse “refundable tax credits,” which leadership’s plan calls for, and which they object to.
3. “We should give our great state governors the resources and flexibility they need with Medicaid to make sure no one is left out.”
Trump hasn’t offered specifics on which changes to Medicaid he would prefer. However, he seemed swayed by Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a Republican, after a meeting at the White House on Friday—Trump suggested Kasich meet further with Price and chief of staff Reince Priebus to discuss Obamacare’s future more.
Kasich is opposed to repealing the Medicaid expansion, but favors making changes to the Affordable Care Act.
Governors who decided to expand the program, as well as Republican senators representing those states, have opposed a rollback of the Medicaid expansion, which expanded eligibility.
Still, Republican governors are working with congressional leaders to discuss potential changes and come up with a plan for the future of the Medicaid program.
Trump’s call for giving governors “resources and flexibility” with Medicaid seems to go along with Republican plans to block grant the program.
Some Obamacare replacement plans call for Medicaid to be turned into a block grant, or a lump sum of money allocated to the states. Others, though, favor a per-capita allotment.
Like the tax credits, the future of the Medicaid expansion is a point of contention for conservative lawmakers.
House and Senate conservatives are urging Republican leaders to bring a bill from 2015 rolling back key provisions of Obamacare, including Medicaid expansion, before members vote again.
Any proposal that falls short of that legislation won’t earn their support, and Medicaid expansion, specifically, is a sticking point for the conservatives.
4. “We should implement legal reforms that protect patients and doctors from unnecessary costs that drive up the price of insurance, and work to bring down the artificially high price of drugs, and bring them down immediately.”
Trump’s fourth policy calls for medical malpractice reform.
The issue hasn’t been prominent in debates over Obamacare’s future, though, Price and Ryan did say in the past they wanted to make tort reform part of their replacement plan.
On drug pricing, though, Trump has criticized the “artificially high price of drugs” before. During the campaign, the president said he was in favor of letting Medicare negotiate prescription drug prices.
Last month, White House press secretary Sean Spicer confirmed Trump hadn’t changed his stance. But the high cost of prescription drugs has largely been left out of discussions surrounding Obamacare’s replacement.
5. “The time has come to give Americans the freedom to purchase health insurance across state lines—which will create a truly competitive national marketplace that will bring costs way down and provide far better care.”
The ability to purchase health insurance across state lines has been the one health care reform Trump has consistently advocated.
And on this policy, in particular, Republicans are in agreement.
Some Obamacare replacement plans floated by GOP lawmakers over the years would allow consumers to buy coverage across state lines, including Ryan’s “Better Way” plan, Price’s proposal, and the Paul-Sanford replacement bill.
Trump and his fellow Republicans believe allowing insurers to sell across state lines will increase consumers’ access to coverage.
This proposal is beneficial for insurers based in states with strict regulations that can drive up the cost of plans, since they would be able to sell coverage in others with less stringent mandates.
However, it’s not the only thing that needs to be done to lower costs and boost competition, according to Sabrina Corlette, a research professor at Georgetown University. (For more from the author of “Trump’s 5 Health Care Principles, Explained” please click HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/health-care-1.jpg515900Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2017-03-01 16:43:452017-03-01 16:48:51Trump’s 5 Health Care Principles, Explained
President Donald Trump’s gesture for bipartisan immigration reform seemed to call for replacing the current legal immigration system that prioritizes family reunification with an economic merit-based system.
If that’s the direction, then some pro-enforcement groups seem willing to listen.
“Right now, just 16 percent of illegal immigrants came because they were sponsored by an employer,” Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies for the Center for Immigration Studies, told The Daily Signal. “Ample research shows that immigrants admitted for employment are more likely to be self-sufficient, an economic plus, and on balance less of a fiscal burden.”
Critics of the focus on family reunification say it has led to chain migration.
Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and David Perdue, R-Ga., last month introduced the Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment (RAISE) Act, which would rebalance the legal immigration system toward employment-based visas and immediate family households, rather than extended family members.
The sponsors project that if enacted, the legislation would lower overall immigration to 637,960 people per year, and to 530,958 immigrants in the second year. That’s down from 1.05 million immigrants admitted in 2015.
During his address to a joint session of Congress, Trump noted that Canada and Australia are among countries with a merit-based immigration system.
“It is a basic principle that those seeking to enter a country ought to be able to support themselves financially,” Trump said. “I believe that real and positive immigration reform is possible, as long as we focus on the following goals: to improve jobs and wages for Americans, to strengthen our nation’s security, and to restore respect for our laws.”
Rep. Luis Gutiérrez, D-Ill., chairman of the Immigration Task Force of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, who dismissed the view that the president was making a bipartisan appeal for reform, said what Trump spoke about would limit Hispanics coming to the United States.
“[Trump] envisions an immigration system where quotas for Ph.D.s are set in Washington and the multitude of immigrants who built this country and who keep it flourishing would not be welcome,” Gutiérrez said in a statement. “The Latino community won’t forget and won’t let that happen. And the millions of allies we have who support immigration as a fundamental and integral aspect of America’s greatness will not forget either.”
Vaughan said that numbers of immigrants admitted to the U.S. are an issue even in a merit-based system.
“We have to be careful with the numbers and we don’t want American workers to be displaced,” she said.
A merit-based green card system would differ from a guest worker program because it would be more stringent for both the employer and the immigrant in proving they have skills and can contribute to the economy, Vaughan said.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer said the president is not compromising his principles.
“One of the network anchors said, if anyone can get a deal, it would be [Trump]. Obviously, he was pleased with that, because it’s true,” Spicer said. “He recognizes that a comprehensive solution has alluded our nation for a long time and it’s a big problem. If he can get it consistent with his principles, he will.”
In response to a later question, Spicer said: “I think he was making it clear that the results of our immigration system don’t yield one that reflects a merit-based one.”
Congress broadened the merit-based system in 1990, but left the family reunification-based system in place. A merit-based system should replace the family-based system in order to be more effective, Vaughan said.
If illegal immigrants could prove they have a particular skill set, this might open the door for a limited, economic-based amnesty, or legalized status for illegal immigrants, Vaughan said. However, this would be an economic-based granting of legal status to those who can be self-sufficient.
“Democrats might be on board if they saw a chance to get something in return, like amnesty,” Vaughan said. “It may be reasonable to look at, but it would require legislation.”
The chief focus is on legal immigration, though, and tackling the problem of chain migration, said Ira Mehlman, spokesman for the Federation of Americans for Immigration Reform.
“It would be about families and children, instead of siblings, which brings the biggest pressure, because those siblings bring spouses, who bring in-laws,” Mehlman told The Daily Signal. “The point is to have an objective assessment for letting people enter the country, who will complement, not compete with, our workforce.”
Mehlman noted the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform in the 1990s that called for limits on immediate nuclear family and employment-based immigration. The commission was chaired by former Rep. Barbara Jordan, D-Texas, and was endorsed by then-President Bill Clinton. (For more from the author of “Trump Reform Could Admit More Self-Sufficient Immigrants” please click HERE)
After President Donald Trump gave his first joint address to Congress Tuesday night, numerous lawmakers voiced support for Trump’s tone and agenda.
Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., said Trump’s message was “critical” to Americans and noted Trump’s “strong” message on Obamacare.
“I was pleased to hear President Trump address many issues critical to everyday Americans, such as job creation, tax reform, national security, supporting our military and veterans, and improving addiction treatment services,” Scott said in a statement, adding:
The president made a strong call for the principles that will guide the replacement of Obamacare. I look forward to passing legislation that repeals Obamacare and builds a sustainable system for all American families.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., called the address a “home run.”
“That was a home run,” Ryan said. “President Trump delivered a bold, optimistic message to the American people.”
Ryan also said that Congress and the White House are on the same page in their stance on Obamacare.
“Obamacare is one of the biggest challenges that the American people face,” Ryan said. “Congress and the White House are united in our promise to repeal Obamacare and replace it with a patient-centered system.”
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, also reaffirmed his support for the full repeal of Obamacare.
“The vast majority of people in the country have been hurt by Obamacare,” Cruz said Tuesday morning in an interview with MSNBC and tweeted his support for full repeal of Obamacare during the joint address.
We should honor the promise we made to the American People — #FullRepeal of Obamacare. #Jointsession
“We have undertaken a historic effort to massively reduce job-crushing regulations, creating a deregulation task force inside of every government agency; imposing a new rule which mandates that for every one new regulation, two old regulations must be eliminated; and stopping a regulation that threatens the future and livelihoods of our great coal miners,” Trump said in the address.
In February, Trump signed legislation that removed regulations on coal mining provisions.
Rep. Diane Black, R-Tenn., who also serves as chairman of the House Budget Committee, said she is excited to see Trump putting actions behind his words.
“I support the president’s efforts to rebuild our military and protect our communities,” Brat said. “As Congress considers spending levels, the firewall between defense and discretionary spending must be torn down. I believe our men and women in uniform must have the capabilities to defend our country against current and future threats.”
Trump told Congress Tuesday night that “ … to keep America safe we must provide the men and women of the United States military with the tools they need to prevent war and—if they must—to fight and to win.”
Freshman Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., said he appreciated Trump’s message of unity.
“I applaud the president for his bold vision and for his message of national unity,” Bacon said. “I also look forward to working with this administration, and with congressional colleagues on both side of the aisle to renew our belief in America’s spirit so that we can guarantee our future generations the same opportunities that have been the hallmark of American greatness for over two centuries.”
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said Trump’s address showcased his commitment to the American people.
“We have a fundamental task,” Jordan tweeted. “Do what the voters sent us here [to] do.”
We have a fundamental task: Do what the voters sent us here 2 do. President Trump understands that, and it’s time 4 all of us 2 get 2 work.
I do not write these words lightly, and there is not an ounce of mockery or, God forbid, hatred in my heart when I say that Caitlyn Jenner is a man wearing a dress. I am simply speaking the plain and obvious truth, as politically incorrect as that truth might be right now. But with transgender issues dominating the news these days, and in light of Tucker Carlson’s epic takedown of Democratic leader Zac Petkanas on national TV last week (specifically, discussing gender-related questions), it appears that now is as good a time as ever to state some things clearly.
So then, to avoid all ambiguity: No, you do not get to choose your gender; no, gender is not determined by the level of your personal enlightenment (as Petkanas alleged); no, your gender does not change simply because you announce that it has changed; and no, it is not good science to allow people to change their sexual identity on their birth certificates. In fact, there is nothing scientific about that at all.
This being said, I do not minimize for a moment the very real struggle of precious little children who struggle deeply with their gender identity, nor do I deny that many children (and adults) report that their lives are more stable and fulfilled when they identify as the opposite of their biological sex.
I do not minimize the traumas through which Bruce Jenner (or others like him) has lived, nor do I claim to be able to relate to those traumas personally.
And I do not make a spiritual judgment about someone who struggles with their gender identity, as if this struggle somehow made them into the vilest of sinners. Why should that be the case?
Again, my goal is not to belittle or disparage, and as loudly and clearly as I can, I proclaim God’s love for all of you who identify as transgender, reminding each one that Jesus died for you just as He died for me and that God has a good and godly purpose for each of your lives.
You are not defective any more than I am defective, and every human being on the planet is broken in some way and in need of a Great Physician.
Caring Enough to Speak the Truth
But because I care enough about the transgender community to speak out, even though I’ll be branded a transphobe and bigot, I’m going to state things with clarity and conviction here, reminding us that the emperor has no clothes (as Carlson rightly did on Fox last week). And I’m going to encourage parents and policy makers, counselors and pastors, educators and activists, along with all those who care about their trans-identified friends and family that: 1) there is no settled science confirming transgender identity; 2) we still know very little about many operations of the brain, including those related to what is now called gender dysphoria (previously known as gender identity disorder, or GID); 3) studies continue to indicate that the vast majority of children who identify as transgender do not do so after puberty (even if many ultimately identify as gay); 4) there must be a better way than our current approach to treating gender dysphoria; 5) it is unfair to impose the struggles of less than 1 percent of the population on the rest of the population, especially on impressionable kids; and 6) gender distinctions should be celebrated and appreciated, rather than branded patriarchal or heterosexist or the like.
And while I’m at it, let me say this to CNN’s Chris Cuomo: Sir, it is not intolerant for a father not to want his daughter to see a boy’s penis at school. That’s called being a good dad.
I address these issues (and more) on this new video commentary, including some telling clips with Jenner and with Carlson and Pektanas, along with some shocking statements from Cuomo and from California public universities.
Please take a few minutes to watch and share the video (it’s less than 8 minutes), and then do three things: 1) pray for a fresh and real love for those who struggle with their gender identity; 2) reach out to those who identify as transgender and ask them sincerely to tell you their story; and 3) help them find wholeness in the Lord.
And remember: Caitlyn Jenner is no more a woman than Rachel Dolezal is black.
Those are the facts, and nothing more.
WATCH:
(For more from the author of “I’m Sorry, but Caitlyn Jenner Is a Man Wearing a Dress” please click HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/18354493308_97be90ff44_b.jpg7521000Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2017-02-28 23:20:532017-03-04 21:45:35I’m Sorry, but Caitlyn Jenner Is a Man Wearing a Dress
Russian diplomats seem to be an endangered species, as seven officials have been found dead under mysterious or unexplained circumstances just since Election Day, and — although any link remains as yet unprovable — the deaths certainly provoke a number of questions.
1. Sergei Krivov:
First is the perplexing case of Sergei Krivov — disputably a consular duty commander at the Russian Consulate in Manhattan — died on November 8, Election Day, under perhaps the most problematic circumstances of any of the deaths listed.
Found unconscious and unresponsive on the floor inside the consulate, Krivov suffered blunt force trauma to the head — initially reported as received in a fall from the roof of the building — and passed away before emergency services could reach the scene.
Consular officials quickly backtracked that Krivov died after plunging over the building, instead insisting he’d suffered a heart attack — but the diplomat’s lack of a paper trail, and ambiguity from officials about his career position, make the death appear to be far from ordinary.
“That position is no ordinary security guard,” reported BuzzFeed on Krivov’s ambiguous role at the consulate. “According to other public Russian-language descriptions of the duty commander position, Krivov would have been in charge of, among other things, ‘prevention of sabotage’ and suppression of ‘attempts of secret intrusion’ into the consulate.
“In other words, it was Krivov’s job to make sure US intelligence agencies didn’t have ears in the building.”
2. Andrey Karlov:
On December 19, Russian Ambassador to Turkey, Andrey Karlov, met his fate while giving a speech at an art exhibit in Ankara, when Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş — an off-duty Turkish riot police officer — fired several shots from behind, fatally wounding the diplomat and injuring several others.
Altıntaş proceeded to declare jihad and implored the terrified, small crowd of attendees and press, “Do not forget Aleppo, do not forget Syria!”
It was later revealed Altıntaş had used his law enforcement identification to enter the gallery; but at the time, Russian President Vladimir Putin railed against the attacker, thin security allowing him to enter the exhibit, “Russia Through Turks’ Eyes,” without issue, and the possible implications for resolving the conflict in Syria, stating,
This murder is clearly a provocation aimed at undermining the improvement and normalization of Russian-Turkish relations, as well as undermining the peace process in Syria promoted by Russia, Turkey, Iran and other countries interested in settling the conflict in Syria.
3. Petr Polshikov:
At some point on the same day — and prior to the brazen assassination of Karlov — Petr Polshikov, a senior diplomat in the Latin America division at the Russian foreign ministry, died in his Moscow apartment of a gunshot wound to the head. An announcement of the suspicious death did not become public until a few hours after Altıntaş shocked the world in Ankara.
Detailed information on Polshikov’s untimely demise remains difficult to obtain, but reports at the time alleged authorities found two bullet shells on the scene and a firearm under a sink in the bathroom.
4. Oleg Erovinkin:
Ex-KGB chief, Oleg Erovinkin — believed to have assisted former British spy, Christopher Steele, with a lurid dossier alleging explicit acts by President Donald Trump — was found dead in his black Lexus on December 29.
Erovinkin had been close to Igor Sechin, a former deputy prime minister and now head of State-owned oil company, Rosneft, and had acted as a key liaison between Sechin and Putin.
Although validity of the contents of that dossier have been called into serious question, Erovinkin’s alleged involvement in compiling the information makes his death dubious by nature. An investigation is ongoing.
5. Andrey Malanin:
Despite living alone on a tightly-guarded street, Andrey Malanin — head of the consular section at Russia’s embassy in Athens — was “found on the floor of his bedroom by a member of the embassy’s staff with no evidence of a break-in, the official said on condition of anonymity,” Reuters reported January 9.
Authorities also told Reuters there were no indications Malanin had been murdered, but homicide officials are investigating the death due to his status as a diplomat.
6. Aleksandr Kadakin:
On January 26, Russian ambassador to India, 67-year-old Aleksandr Kadakin — who had served in the position since 2009 and spent over two decades as a diplomat — died in New Delhi, ostensibly from heart failure.
Although it appeared the man’s death was unrelated to the others and had been natural, the timing in conjunction with Karlov, Polshikov, Erovinkin, and Malanin raised some eyebrows.
7. Vitaly Churkin:
Then, last week, Russian ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, died one day before his 65th birthday in New York City — reportedly of a heart failure.
According to the New York Times on February 20, “The Russian government said he died suddenly but did not specify a cause. The New York City police said there were no indications of foul play.”
However, Pravda reported, “According to ABS-CBN, a post-mortem examination of Churkin’s body showed the presence of poison in his kidneys. Allegedly, the diplomat had had late supper, at around midnight, hours before his death. Perpetrators could have added an unknown substance in his food.”
Churkin had been a vocal critic of hypocritical Western foreign policy, particularly concerning military actions in Syria.
An obituary in the Guardian stated Churkin “hated the moralising tone of his US, British and French counterparts on the UN security council who, he felt, were not only hypocritical but were playing to the global gallery and aiming to score rhetorical points instead of looking for compromises that could lead to the resolution of differences. This applied particularly to the war in Syria, about which western governments tabled resolutions that could lead, in the Russian view, to full-scale military intervention against the Syrian government and which they knew Churkin was bound to veto. Russia preferred to produce resolutions that criticised the Syrian army for using ‘disproportionate’ force and sought agreement on ceasefires. Churkin consulted the security council’s five permanent members on these resolutions, but chose not to provoke vetoes when he realised there was no consensus.”
What, if anything, this growing Russian diplomat body count actually means might never be fully known, but many suspect the deaths evince a methodical, covert war between the Deep State and Russia — particularly as hostilities continue mostly unabated — as a shift in power away from the ailing imperialist U.S. empire gathers speed. (For more from the author of “Deep State War? 7 Russian Officials Murdered or Found Dead Since Election Day” please click HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/russians-assassinated.jpg415790Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2017-02-28 22:59:442017-03-04 21:48:46Deep State War? 7 Russian Officials Murdered or Found Dead Since Election Day
How do 700 tobacco farmers uncover a highly secretive criminal operation generating millions of dollars in fraudulent cigarette sales? By going into business with the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), as they sold millions of dollars of cigarettes, the number one cause of preventable death, that’s how. And the operation may be as scandalous and controversial as the famed Fast and Furious gun running program with which the ATF was also involved.
Raleigh-based U.S. Tobacco, a group of farmers who operate small farms from Virginia to Florida, was looking to expand its operations by purchasing a distributor, someone with a warehouse and the means to supply retailers with their cigarette brands Wildhorse, Traffic, and 1839. They negotiated a deal with Big South Wholesale and its owners, Jason Carpenter and Christopher Small. Big South had a network of retailers and held out promise for U.S. Tobacco to be able to distribute their own brands.
Because Big South was able to make purchases on behalf of U.S. Tobacco, the distributors had access to U.S. Tobacco funds. The parent company quickly began to notice irregularities in various business transactions. According to the New York Times, Big South bought tobacco for, “$15 a carton and sold it to U.S. Tobacco at $17.50. The profit, about $519,000, went into what was known as a ‘management account.’ That account, while controlled by Mr. Carpenter and Mr. Small, helped pay for A.T.F. investigations.”
That’s right. According to a lawsuit filed by U.S. Tobacco, who is suing its own distributor, the ATF was running a cigarette purchasing operation disguised as a tobacco distributor, all allegedly in an effort to generate black market currency with which the ATF could then use to fund its other off-books operations.
The arrangement U.S. Tobacco had with Big South created an internal conflict of interest. Not knowing that Big South was actually a cigarette-running ATF operation, the parent company turned in the distributor to the Justice Department for investigation. But apparently, since the ATF is a part of the Justice Department, nothing happened as a result of the case. However, a federal judge, after discovering ATF’s involvement within Big South, added the federal government as a defendant in U.S. Tobacco’s case against Big South.
Since the company filed a complaint with the Justice Department, instead of finding a resolution, U.S. Tobacco said they then became the target of a Treasury Department inquiry. In other words, it appears as though the federal government is punishing the cooperative of small-time farmers, for seeking damages they say they’ve sustained as a result of the federal government’s involvement in their tobacco business. The amount of money lost, the parent company claims, amounts to 24 million dollars.
Big South, the Times writes, isn’t your typical distributorship. “Its assets included more than two dozen vehicles, including expensive S.U.V.s and a fleet of Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Lexus and Jaguar sports cars,” the Times describes. Carpenter and Small, Big South’s owners, weren’t hapless participants in the ATF’s scheme. According to heavily redacted documents related to the case, writes the Times, they’ve been serving within the government across various agencies, for years, yet their true employer remains an enigma.
Stuart Thompson, U.S. Tobacco’s CEO, began to question the financial movements at Big South in 2012 when he took over the company. That’s when he met Brandon Moore, Big South’s warehouse manager, who was ready to tell Mr. Thompson all he knew. According to the Times:
The arrangement began to break down in late 2012, when Mr. Thompson joined U.S. Tobacco as the chief financial officer. He was curious why his warehouse was placing so many orders for a brand of cigarette that competes against U.S. Tobacco. He could not get a straight answer, the company said in court documents.
In March 2013, Mr. Moore picked up the phone, called Mr. Thompson and explained what was happening. “I did what I did because of the ethics of it,” Mr. Moore said recently. “What was happening there was wrong.”
Once U.S. Tobacco discovered the bookkeeping irregularities, it reported them to the Justice Department, which investigates white-collar crime and government misconduct. Records show that the Justice Department, which includes the A.T.F., investigated some aspects of the case but no charges were filed.
“We voted unanimously to give everything we had to the government,” said Charlie Batten, a U.S. Tobacco board member whose family has worked the same North Carolina soil for generations. “We thought they would take it and run with it. What happened was, they’ve fought us tooth and nail.”
Because of the sealing order, Mr. Thompson, Mr. Batten and others are prohibited from discussing what happened to the money — even with their own farmers.
Even with the revelations the ATF was running an illegal operation inside of their company, and with the Justice Department being aware, U.S. Tobacco has been unable to divorce itself from Big South. That’s because the federal government now wants its tax revenue from all of the secret tobacco transactions the ATF initiated at Big South. “Those secret tobacco sales, it turns out, should have been taxed. And the government wants its money,” writes the Times. (For more from the author of “ATF Caught Red-Handed Stealing Money From Small Farmers to Fund Rogue, Off-Books Operations” please click HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/6355351769_766503f534_b.jpg7681024Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2017-02-28 22:10:182017-03-04 21:50:37ATF Caught Red-Handed Stealing Money From Small Farmers to Fund Rogue, Off-Books Operations
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, members of Congress, the first lady of the United States, and citizens of America.
Tonight, as we mark the conclusion of our celebration of Black History Month, we are reminded of our nation’s path toward civil rights and the work that still remains. Recent threats targeting Jewish community centers and vandalism of Jewish cemeteries, as well as last week’s shooting in Kansas City, remind us that while we may be a nation divided on policies, we are a country that stands united in condemning hate and evil in all its forms.
Each American generation passes the torch of truth, liberty, and justice—in an unbroken chain all the way down to the present.
That torch is now in our hands. And we will use it to light up the world. I am here tonight to deliver a message of unity and strength, and it is a message deeply delivered from my heart.
A new chapter of American greatness is now beginning.
A new national pride is sweeping across our nation.
And a new surge of optimism is placing impossible dreams firmly within our grasp.
What we are witnessing today is the renewal of the American spirit.
Our allies will find that America is once again ready to lead.
All the nations of the world—friend or foe—will find that America is strong, America is proud, and America is free.
In nine years, the United States will celebrate the 250th anniversary of our founding—250 years since the day we declared our independence.
It will be one of the great milestones in the history of the world.
But what will America look like as we reach our 250th year? What kind of country will we leave for our children?
I will not allow the mistakes of recent decades past to define the course of our future.
For too long, we’ve watched our middle class shrink as we’ve exported our jobs and wealth to foreign countries.
We’ve financed and built one global project after another, but ignored the fates of our children in the inner cities of Chicago, Baltimore, Detroit—and so many other places throughout our land.
We’ve defended the borders of other nations, while leaving our own borders wide open, for anyone to cross—and for drugs to pour in at a now unprecedented rate.
And we’ve spent trillions of dollars overseas, while our infrastructure at home has so badly crumbled.
Then, in 2016, the earth shifted beneath our feet. The rebellion started as a quiet protest, spoken by families of all colors and creeds—families who just wanted a fair shot for their children, and a fair hearing for their concerns.
But then the quiet voices became a loud chorus—as thousands of citizens now spoke out together, from cities small and large, all across our country.
Finally, the chorus became an earthquake—and the people turned out by the tens of millions, and they were all united by one very simple, but crucial demand, that America must put its own citizens first … because only then, can we truly Make America Great Again.
Dying industries will come roaring back to life. Heroic veterans will get the care they so desperately need.
Our military will be given the resources its brave warriors so richly deserve.
Crumbling infrastructure will be replaced with new roads, bridges, tunnels, airports and railways gleaming across our beautiful land.
Our terrible drug epidemic will slow down and ultimately, stop.
And our neglected inner cities will see a rebirth of hope, safety, and opportunity.
Above all else, we will keep our promises to the American people.
It’s been a little over a month since my inauguration, and I want to take this moment to update the Nation on the progress I’ve made in keeping those promises.
Since my election, Ford, Fiat-Chrysler, General Motors, Sprint, Softbank, Lockheed, Intel, Walmart, and many others, have announced that they will invest billions of dollars in the United States and will create tens of thousands of new American jobs.
The stock market has gained almost three trillion dollars in value since the election on November 8th, a record. We’ve saved taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars by bringing down the price of the fantastic new F-35 jet fighter, and will be saving billions more dollars on contracts all across our Government. We have placed a hiring freeze on non-military and non-essential Federal workers.
We have begun to drain the swamp of government corruption by imposing a 5 year ban on lobbying by executive branch officials –- and a lifetime ban on becoming lobbyists for a foreign government.
We have undertaken a historic effort to massively reduce job?crushing regulations, creating a deregulation task force inside of every Government agency; imposing a new rule which mandates that for every 1 new regulation, 2 old regulations must be eliminated; and stopping a regulation that threatens the future and livelihoods of our great coal miners.
We have cleared the way for the construction of the Keystone and Dakota Access Pipelines — thereby creating tens of thousands of jobs — and I’ve issued a new directive that new American pipelines be made with American steel.
We have withdrawn the United States from the job-killing Trans-Pacific Partnership.
With the help of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, we have formed a Council with our neighbors in Canada to help ensure that women entrepreneurs have access to the networks, markets and capital they need to start a business and live out their financial dreams.
To protect our citizens, I have directed the Department of Justice to form a Task Force on Reducing Violent Crime.
I have further ordered the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice, along with the Department of State and the Director of National Intelligence, to coordinate an aggressive strategy to dismantle the criminal cartels that have spread across our Nation.
We will stop the drugs from pouring into our country and poisoning our youth — and we will expand treatment for those who have become so badly addicted.
At the same time, my Administration has answered the pleas of the American people for immigration enforcement and border security. By finally enforcing our immigration laws, we will raise wages, help the unemployed, save billions of dollars, and make our communities safer for everyone. We want all Americans to succeed –- but that can’t happen in an environment of lawless chaos. We must restore integrity and the rule of law to our borders.
For that reason, we will soon begin the construction of a great wall along our southern border. It will be started ahead of schedule and, when finished, it will be a very effective weapon against drugs and crime.
As we speak, we are removing gang members, drug dealers and criminals that threaten our communities and prey on our citizens. Bad ones are going out as I speak tonight and as I have promised.
To any in Congress who do not believe we should enforce our laws, I would ask you this question: what would you say to the American family that loses their jobs, their income, or a loved one, because America refused to uphold its laws and defend its borders?
Our obligation is to serve, protect, and defend the citizens of the United States. We are also taking strong measures to protect our Nation from Radical Islamic Terrorism.
According to data provided by the Department of Justice, the vast majority of individuals convicted for terrorism-related offenses since 9/11 came here from outside of our country. We have seen the attacks at home -– from Boston to San Bernardino to the Pentagon and yes, even the World Trade Center.
We have seen the attacks in France, in Belgium, in Germany and all over the world.
It is not compassionate, but reckless, to allow uncontrolled entry from places where proper vetting cannot occur. Those given the high honor of admission to the United States should support this country and love its people and its values.
We cannot allow a beachhead of terrorism to form inside America — we cannot allow our Nation to become a sanctuary for extremists.
That is why my Administration has been working on improved vetting procedures, and we will shortly take new steps to keep our Nation safe — and to keep out those who would do us harm.
As promised, I directed the Department of Defense to develop a plan to demolish and destroy ISIS — a network of lawless savages that have slaughtered Muslims and Christians, and men, women, and children of all faiths and beliefs. We will work with our allies, including our friends and allies in the Muslim world, to extinguish this vile enemy from our planet.
I have also imposed new sanctions on entities and individuals who support Iran’s ballistic missile program, and reaffirmed our unbreakable alliance with the State of Israel.
Finally, I have kept my promise to appoint a Justice to the United States Supreme Court — from my list of 20 judges — who will defend our Constitution. I am honored to have Maureen Scalia with us in the gallery tonight. Her late, great husband, Antonin Scalia, will forever be a symbol of American justice. To fill his seat, we have chosen Judge Neil Gorsuch, a man of incredible skill, and deep devotion to the law. He was confirmed unanimously to the Court of Appeals, and I am asking the Senate to swiftly approve his nomination.
Tonight, as I outline the next steps we must take as a country, we must honestly acknowledge the circumstances we inherited.
Ninety-four million Americans are out of the labor force.
Over 43 million people are now living in poverty, and over 43 million Americans are on food stamps.
More than 1 in 5 people in their prime working years are not working.
We have the worst financial recovery in 65 years.
In the last 8 years, the past Administration has put on more new debt than nearly all other Presidents combined.
We’ve lost more than one-fourth of our manufacturing jobs since NAFTA was approved, and we’ve lost 60,000 factories since China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001.
Our trade deficit in goods with the world last year was nearly $800 billion dollars.
And overseas, we have inherited a series of tragic foreign policy disasters.
Solving these, and so many other pressing problems, will require us to work past the differences of party. It will require us to tap into the American spirit that has overcome every challenge throughout our long and storied history.
But to accomplish our goals at home and abroad, we must restart the engine of the American economy — making it easier for companies to do business in the United States, and much harder for companies to leave.
Right now, American companies are taxed at one of the highest rates anywhere in the world.
My economic team is developing historic tax reform that will reduce the tax rate on our companies so they can compete and thrive anywhere and with anyone. At the same time, we will provide massive tax relief for the middle class.
We must create a level playing field for American companies and workers.
Currently, when we ship products out of America, many other countries make us pay very high tariffs and taxes — but when foreign companies ship their products into America, we charge them almost nothing.
I just met with officials and workers from a great American company, Harley-Davidson. In fact, they proudly displayed five of their magnificent motorcycles, made in the USA, on the front lawn of the White House.
At our meeting, I asked them, how are you doing, how is business? They said that it’s good. I asked them further how they are doing with other countries, mainly international sales. They told me — without even complaining because they have been mistreated for so long that they have become used to it — that it is very hard to do business with other countries because they tax our goods at such a high rate. They said that in one case another country taxed their motorcycles at 100 percent.
They weren’t even asking for change. But I am.
I believe strongly in free trade but it also has to be FAIR TRADE.
The first Republican President, Abraham Lincoln, warned that the “abandonment of the protective policy by the American Government [will] produce want and ruin among our people.”
Lincoln was right — and it is time we heeded his words. I am not going to let America and its great companies and workers, be taken advantage of anymore.
I am going to bring back millions of jobs. Protecting our workers also means reforming our system of legal immigration. The current, outdated system depresses wages for our poorest workers, and puts great pressure on taxpayers.
Nations around the world, like Canada, Australia and many others –- have a merit-based immigration system. It is a basic principle that those seeking to enter a country ought to be able to support themselves financially. Yet, in America, we do not enforce this rule, straining the very public resources that our poorest citizens rely upon. According to the National Academy of Sciences, our current immigration system costs America’s taxpayers many billions of dollars a year.
Switching away from this current system of lower-skilled immigration, and instead adopting a merit-based system, will have many benefits: it will save countless dollars, raise workers’ wages, and help struggling families –- including immigrant families –- enter the middle class.
I believe that real and positive immigration reform is possible, as long as we focus on the following goals: to improve jobs and wages for Americans, to strengthen our nation’s security, and to restore respect for our laws.
If we are guided by the well-being of American citizens then I believe Republicans and Democrats can work together to achieve an outcome that has eluded our country for decades.
Another Republican President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, initiated the last truly great national infrastructure program –- the building of the interstate highway system. The time has come for a new program of national rebuilding.
America has spent approximately six trillion dollars in the Middle East, all this while our infrastructure at home is crumbling. With this six trillion dollars we could have rebuilt our country –- twice. And maybe even three times if we had people who had the ability to negotiate.
To launch our national rebuilding, I will be asking the Congress to approve legislation that produces a $1 trillion investment in the infrastructure of the United States — financed through both public and private capital –- creating millions of new jobs.
This effort will be guided by two core principles: Buy American, and Hire American.
Tonight, I am also calling on this Congress to repeal and replace Obamacare with reforms that expand choice, increase access, lower costs, and at the same time, provide better Healthcare.
Mandating every American to buy government-approved health insurance was never the right solution for America. The way to make health insurance available to everyone is to lower the cost of health insurance, and that is what we will do.
Obamacare premiums nationwide have increased by double and triple digits. As an example, Arizona went up 116 percent last year alone. Governor Matt Bevin of Kentucky just said Obamacare is failing in his State — it is unsustainable and collapsing.
One third of counties have only one insurer on the exchanges –- leaving many Americans with no choice at all.
Remember when you were told that you could keep your doctor, and keep your plan?
We now know that all of those promises have been broken.
Obamacare is collapsing –- and we must act decisively to protect all Americans. Action is not a choice –- it is a necessity.
So I am calling on all Democrats and Republicans in the Congress to work with us to save Americans from this imploding Obamacare disaster.
Here are the principles that should guide the Congress as we move to create a better healthcare system for all Americans:
First, we should ensure that Americans with pre-existing conditions have access to coverage, and that we have a stable transition for Americans currently enrolled in the healthcare exchanges.
Secondly, we should help Americans purchase their own coverage, through the use of tax credits and expanded Health Savings Accounts –- but it must be the plan they want, not the plan forced on them by the Government.
Thirdly, we should give our great State Governors the resources and flexibility they need with Medicaid to make sure no one is left out.
Fourthly, we should implement legal reforms that protect patients and doctors from unnecessary costs that drive up the price of insurance – and work to bring down the artificially high price of drugs and bring them down immediately.
Finally, the time has come to give Americans the freedom to purchase health insurance across State lines –- creating a truly competitive national marketplace that will bring cost way down and provide far better care.
Everything that is broken in our country can be fixed. Every problem can be solved. And every hurting family can find healing, and hope.
Our citizens deserve this, and so much more –- so why not join forces to finally get it done? On this and so many other things, Democrats and Republicans should get together and unite for the good of our country, and for the good of the American people.
My administration wants to work with members in both parties to make childcare accessible and affordable, to help ensure new parents have paid family leave, to invest in women’s health, and to promote clean air and clear water, and to rebuild our military and our infrastructure.
True love for our people requires us to find common ground, to advance the common good, and to cooperate on behalf of every American child who deserves a brighter future.
An incredible young woman is with us this evening who should serve as an inspiration to us all.
Today is Rare Disease day, and joining us in the gallery is a Rare Disease Survivor, Megan Crowley. Megan was diagnosed with Pompe Disease, a rare and serious illness, when she was 15 months old. She was not expected to live past 5.
On receiving this news, Megan’s dad, John, fought with everything he had to save the life of his precious child. He founded a company to look for a cure, and helped develop the drug that saved Megan’s life. Today she is 20 years old — and a sophomore at Notre Dame.
Megan’s story is about the unbounded power of a father’s love for a daughter.
But our slow and burdensome approval process at the Food and Drug Administration keeps too many advances, like the one that saved Megan’s life, from reaching those in need.
If we slash the restraints, not just at the FDA but across our Government, then we will be blessed with far more miracles like Megan.
In fact, our children will grow up in a Nation of miracles.
But to achieve this future, we must enrich the mind –- and the souls –- of every American child.
Education is the civil rights issue of our time.
I am calling upon Members of both parties to pass an education bill that funds school choice for disadvantaged youth, including millions of African-American and Latino children. These families should be free to choose the public, private, charter, magnet, religious or home school that is right for them.
Joining us tonight in the gallery is a remarkable woman, Denisha Merriweather. As a young girl, Denisha struggled in school and failed third grade twice. But then she was able to enroll in a private center for learning, with the help of a tax credit scholarship program. Today, she is the first in her family to graduate, not just from high school, but from college. Later this year she will get her masters degree in social work.
We want all children to be able to break the cycle of poverty just like Denisha.
But to break the cycle of poverty, we must also break the cycle of violence.
The murder rate in 2015 experienced its largest single-year increase in nearly half a century.
In Chicago, more than 4,000 people were shot last year alone –- and the murder rate so far this year has been even higher.
This is not acceptable in our society.
Every American child should be able to grow up in a safe community, to attend a great school, and to have access to a high-paying job.
But to create this future, we must work with –- not against -– the men and women of law enforcement.
We must build bridges of cooperation and trust –- not drive the wedge of disunity and division.
Police and sheriffs are members of our community. They are friends and neighbors, they are mothers and fathers, sons and daughters – and they leave behind loved ones every day who worry whether or not they’ll come home safe and sound.
We must support the incredible men and women of law enforcement.
And we must support the victims of crime.
I have ordered the Department of Homeland Security to create an office to serve American Victims. The office is called VOICE –- Victims Of Immigration Crime Engagement. We are providing a voice to those who have been ignored by our media, and silenced by special interests.
Joining us in the audience tonight are four very brave Americans whose government failed them.
Their names are Jamiel Shaw, Susan Oliver, Jenna Oliver, and Jessica Davis.
Jamiel’s 17-year-old son was viciously murdered by an illegal immigrant gang member, who had just been released from prison. Jamiel Shaw Jr. was an incredible young man, with unlimited potential who was getting ready to go to college where he would have excelled as a great quarterback. But he never got the chance. His father, who is in the audience tonight, has become a good friend of mine.
Also with us are Susan Oliver and Jessica Davis. Their husbands –- Deputy Sheriff Danny Oliver and Detective Michael Davis –- were slain in the line of duty in California. They were pillars of their community. These brave men were viciously gunned down by an illegal immigrant with a criminal record and two prior deportations.
Sitting with Susan is her daughter, Jenna. Jenna: I want you to know that your father was a hero, and that tonight you have the love of an entire country supporting you and praying for you.
To Jamiel, Jenna, Susan and Jessica: I want you to know –- we will never stop fighting for justice. Your loved ones will never be forgotten, we will always honor their memory.
Finally, to keep America Safe we must provide the men and women of the United States military with the tools they need to prevent war and –- if they must –- to fight and to win.
I am sending the Congress a budget that rebuilds the military, eliminates the Defense sequester, and calls for one of the largest increases in national defense spending in American history.
My budget will also increase funding for our veterans.
Our veterans have delivered for this Nation –- and now we must deliver for them.
The challenges we face as a Nation are great. But our people are even greater.
And none are greater or braver than those who fight for America in uniform.
We are blessed to be joined tonight by Carryn Owens, the widow of a U.S. Navy Special Operator, Senior Chief William “Ryan” Owens. Ryan died as he lived: a warrior, and a hero –- battling against terrorism and securing our Nation.
I just spoke to General Mattis, who reconfirmed that, and I quote, “Ryan was a part of a highly successful raid that generated large amounts of vital intelligence that will lead to many more victories in the future against our enemies.” Ryan’s legacy is etched into eternity. For as the Bible teaches us, there is no greater act of love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. Ryan laid down his life for his friends, for his country, and for our freedom –- we will never forget him.
To those allies who wonder what kind of friend America will be, look no further than the heroes who wear our uniform.
Our foreign policy calls for a direct, robust and meaningful engagement with the world. It is American leadership based on vital security interests that we share with our allies across the globe.
We strongly support NATO, an alliance forged through the bonds of two World Wars that dethroned fascism, and a Cold War that defeated communism.
But our partners must meet their financial obligations.
And now, based on our very strong and frank discussions, they are beginning to do just that.
We expect our partners, whether in NATO, in the Middle East, or the Pacific –- to take a direct and meaningful role in both strategic and military operations, and pay their fair share of the cost.
We will respect historic institutions, but we will also respect the sovereign rights of nations.
Free nations are the best vehicle for expressing the will of the people –- and America respects the right of all nations to chart their own path. My job is not to represent the world. My job is to represent the United States of America. But we know that America is better off, when there is less conflict — not more.
We must learn from the mistakes of the past –- we have seen the war and destruction that have raged across our world.
The only long-term solution for these humanitarian disasters is to create the conditions where displaced persons can safely return home and begin the long process of rebuilding.
America is willing to find new friends, and to forge new partnerships, where shared interests align. We want harmony and stability, not war and conflict.
We want peace, wherever peace can be found. America is friends today with former enemies. Some of our closest allies, decades ago, fought on the opposite side of these World Wars. This history should give us all faith in the possibilities for a better world.
Hopefully, the 250th year for America will see a world that is more peaceful, more just and more free.
On our 100th anniversary, in 1876, citizens from across our Nation came to Philadelphia to celebrate America’s centennial. At that celebration, the country’s builders and artists and inventors showed off their creations.
Alexander Graham Bell displayed his telephone for the first time.
Remington unveiled the first typewriter. An early attempt was made at electric light.
Thomas Edison showed an automatic telegraph and an electric pen.
Imagine the wonders our country could know in America’s 250th year.
Think of the marvels we can achieve if we simply set free the dreams of our people.
Cures to illnesses that have always plagued us are not too much to hope.
American footprints on distant worlds are not too big a dream.
Millions lifted from welfare to work is not too much to expect.
And streets where mothers are safe from fear — schools where children learn in peace — and jobs where Americans prosper and grow — are not too much to ask.
When we have all of this, we will have made America greater than ever before. For all Americans.
This is our vision. This is our mission.
But we can only get there together.
We are one people, with one destiny.
We all bleed the same blood.
We all salute the same flag.
And we are all made by the same God.
And when we fulfill this vision; when we celebrate our 250 years of glorious freedom, we will look back on tonight as when this new chapter of American Greatness began.
The time for small thinking is over. The time for trivial fights is behind us.
We just need the courage to share the dreams that fill our hearts.
The bravery to express the hopes that stir our souls.
And the confidence to turn those hopes and dreams to action.
From now on, America will be empowered by our aspirations, not burdened by our fears –-
inspired by the future, not bound by the failures of the past –-
and guided by our vision, not blinded by our doubts.
I am asking all citizens to embrace this Renewal of the American Spirit. I am asking all members of Congress to join me in dreaming big, and bold and daring things for our country. And I am asking everyone watching tonight to seize this moment and —
Believe in yourselves.
Believe in your future.
And believe, once more, in America.
Thank you, God bless you, and God Bless these United States.
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/5440603914_97c06d6eaa_b-2-1.jpg6831024Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2017-02-28 19:55:212017-02-28 19:55:30Watch Trump’s Address to a Joint Session of Congress
Why are “giant fountains of lava” suddenly pouring out of some of the most dangerous volcanoes on the entire planet, and why are so many long dormant volcanoes suddenly roaring back to life? The spectacular eruption of Mt. Etna in Italy is making headlines all over the world, but it is far from alone. According to Volcano Discovery, 35 major volcanoes either are erupting right now or have just recently erupted, and dozens of others are stirring. So what is causing this upsurge in volcanic activity? Is something strange happening inside the Earth?
According to the USGS, magma is “molten rock underground”, and lava is molten rock “that breaks through the Earth’s surface”. Right now, something is pushing magma up through the crust of the Earth at a number of key spots around the planet. On the island of Sicily, the “giant fountains of lava” that are coming out of Mt. Etna can be seen 30 kilometers away…
Giant fountains of lava could be seen sprouting from the volcano, located on the isle of Sicily, as far away as Catania, around 30 kilometres away, and the resort town of Taormina.
The Meteorological Observatory in Nunziata said: “You can clearly see the lava fountains, although currently modest, as it escapes from the crater in the southeast.”
An orange air alert has been issued, meaning that airspace will remain open but authorities will continue to monitor the situation.
On the other side of the world, a constant stream of molten rock has been springing out of Guatemala’s “Volcano of Fire” since February 25th…
Guatemala’s Volcano of Fire erupted Saturday (Feb 25), spewing lava and sending up plumes of ash that rained down on nearby communities and could eventually reach the capital, civil protection authorities said.
The Volcan de Fuego, one of the country’s three active volcanoes, is located about 45km southwest of the capital Guatemala City. It was the volcano’s second eruption this year.
And in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, a “firehose of lava” has been pouring out of the Kilauea Volcano since December 31st.
Meanwhile, a number of large volcanoes that have been dormant for a very long time all over the world have started springing back to life.
For instance, the only active volcano in India has suddenly started “spewing lava and ash” after being silent for 150 years…
Barren Islands volcano, India’s only active volcano, is reportedly spewing lava and ash after a gap of 150 years. It erupted for about four hours in January, scientists from the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) claimed.
The volcano is situated in Barren Islands in the Andaman & Nicobar archipelago. Some unsubstantiated reports even claim that it is South Asia’s only active volcano.
Its first recorded eruption dates back to 1787. Since then, the volcano has erupted more than ten times, including the one this year.
At one time scientists would speak of “dead volcanoes”, but now we learning that it really isn’t safe to speak of any volcano as being completely “dead”. So many of these long dormant volcanoes are roaring back to life, and why this is suddenly happening now is puzzling many of the experts.
And as you have seen, this isn’t isolated to just one or two geographic regions. It literally is happening all over the globe.
Last month, Indonesia’s Mount Sinabung in the southern hemisphere erupted seven times in the space of a single day, and meanwhile authorities in the northern hemisphere were warning us that four of Iceland’s biggest volcanoes are preparing to erupt.
Indonesia and Iceland are about as far apart as you can get, and yet they are both being affected by this worldwide phenomenon.
Without a doubt, something definitely appears to be causing a significant increase in worldwide seismic activity.
Let’s talk about earthquakes for a moment. A website known as the Big Wobble recently published an article that included two extraordinary maps. The first map showed the number of major earthquakes from January 1900 to January 1917, and the second map showed the number of major earthquakes from January 2000 to January 2017. The difference between the two maps was startling to say the least.
It is becoming extremely difficult to deny that something is happening to the crust of our planet, and many are becoming concerned about what we could soon experience if the level of seismic activity continues to rise.
We already talked about Mt. Etna, but a much greater threat in Italy appears to be awakening under the city of Naples. A massive supervolcano known as “Campi Flegrei” is close to a “critical state”, and if it erupts the consequences will be beyond catastrophic. The following comes from National Geographic…
A long-quiet yet huge supervolcano that lies under 500,000 people in Italy may be waking up and approaching a “critical state,” scientists report this week in the journal Nature Communications.
Based on physical measurements and computer modeling, “we propose that magma could be approaching the CDP [critical degassing pressure] at Campi Flegrei, a volcano in the metropolitan area of Naples, one of the most densely inhabited areas in the world, and where accelerating deformation and heating are currently being observed,” wrote the scientists—who are led by Giovanni Chiodini of the Italian National Institute of Geophysics in Rome.
If that supervolcano were to fully erupt, millions could die, the skies in the northern hemisphere would be darkened for months and the resulting “volcanic winter” would cause famines all around the globe.
And the same things could be said about the supervolcano that is awakening in North Korea too.
In the United States, we should be watching the volcanoes on the west coast for signs of trouble, and my regular readers know that I am particularly concerned about Mt. Rainier. There is an eruption of Mt. Rainier in “The Beginning Of The End“, and it is in there for a reason.
Someday Mt. Rainier will erupt, and the horror that this will mean for the Northwest is beyond anything that I could put into words for you right now.
We live at a time when our planet is becoming increasingly unstable, and a major natural disaster could change all of our lives in a single moment.
Just because our lives have been somewhat “normal” for an extended period of time does not mean that they will always be this way, and those that are ignoring the rumblings of our planet do so at their own peril. (For more from the author of “Is Something Strange Happening Inside the Earth?” please click HERE)
If you wanted to destroy Donald Trump’s presidency, what advice would you give him? Let’s see. He ran as the candidate of the people against self-perpetuating elites; as a pro-life constitutional conservative who would appoint justices like Scalia; and as a tough negotiator who knew how get the best deal for his voters.
So if your goal was to ruin and humiliate President Trump, to split him from his voters and make him a virtual lame duck in his first year in office, you’d want to set a trap that if he triggered it, would expose all three of those claims as empty campaign rhetoric. You’d want to prove that Trump actually fawns on elites and betrays the people; that he was lying about his views on the Constitution and abortion; and that he’s really a gullible sap, in way over his head, who will trade the people’s birthright for a moldy mess of pottage.
Senate Democrat Offers a Suicide Move for Trump
And now there’s a Democratic senator who has exactly the plan to accomplish all that. As CNN reports:
Sen. Tom Udall has an idea that could place both Judge Neil Gorsuch and Judge Merrick Garland on the Supreme Court at the same time.
The Democrat from New Mexico presented the plan Monday morning to Gorsuch, President Donald Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court, as well as to Gorsuch’s team of White House aides and former Sen. Kelly Ayotte, who’s been attending Gorsuch’s meetings with senators.
His proposal is for Trump to meet privately with Supreme Court justices who are interested in retirement. If one of those justices decided they would be willing to retire, and if Trump promises to nominate Garland, President Barack Obama’s unconfirmed former SCOTUS pick, in their place, then the retiring justice would submit a letter of resignation contingent on that promise.
Then, both Garland and Gorsuch would be voted on simultaneously….
Republicans need eight Democrats to cross over and vote for Gorsuch in order to avoid a Democratic filibuster. Republicans can get around that rule by invoking the so-called “nuclear option,” requiring only a majority to move ahead with voting for the nominee. Udall said he doesn’t support changing any Senate rules.
I bet he doesn’t.
The sheer impudent gall of a Democratic senator proposing such a preemptive surrender for President Trump is almost astounding. After seven years of Barack Obama proposing far-left judicial activists to the Court, and the Republican Senate meekly confirming each of them, in his final months in office he responded to the death of Justice Antonin Scalia by picking Merrick Garland, a firm believer in the fetish of a “living Constitution.” What that phrase really means is that the Constitution’s words are dead as doornails, and may be safely ignored, in favor of what five Harvard or Stanford grads decide the Founders would have written if they were alive today — and went to the “right” schools and held all the “right” opinions.
Aren’t the American People Good Enough to Vote on Laws?
The “living Constitution” amounts, in fact, to a permanent sitting Constitutional convention controlled by the left, plucking one issue after another out of the grubby hands of “deplorable” voters, and enshrining their own policy preferences and moral views as virtual dogma — carved in stone, like Roe v. Wade or Obergefell v. Hodges. Then any federal, state or local law can be summarily invalidated, if it violates the maxim made up by those five justices, and scrawled between the lines of our founding document.
If Trump accepted Udall’s “deal,” he’d be throwing away a crucial vote, most likely the deciding vote, on the U.S. Supreme Court, essentially giving Barack Obama a do-over appointment to the Court. Why would Udall believe for a second that Trump would roll over like that? Perhaps it is the long years Udall spent in the U.S. Senate, where the GOP did indeed let Democrats walk all over them, playing the Court nominations game like the Washington Generals — you know, the hapless team that suits up and lets itself get creamed by the Harlem Globetrotters.
Does Udall think Trump went through all the abuse and media frenzy, that he’s enduring the worst vilification in the history of American politics, to let Chuck Schumer and company steamroller him on his legacy? Because a key part of what Trump leaves behind will consist in his appointments to these lifetime positions on SCOTUS. If Trump were to hand the Democrats a free seat on that Court, just to avoid having to trash the cheap procedural trick called the judicial filibuster, he might as well build his wall to Mexico with missing sections every five miles, or let the Chinese government write up all of our trade deals. Why not give the U.N. control over America’s handling of refugees, while we’re at it?
Trash the Fake Filibuster
In fact, what Trump really needs to do is to let the Democrats filibuster Gorsuch, and force the GOP to tear up the filibuster. That will give him total freedom of action on his next Court appointment. He can tell Chuck Schumer and company to go fly a kite, and appoint Steve Bannon if he wants to. (Not a bad idea, come to think of it.) Why would Trump throw away that kind of power? Why betray the pro-life voters who elected him?
Sen. Udall seems to have missed what happened in the 2016 election. He thinks that Jeb! or Kasich was elected, someone who will trade away crucial points of principle in order to be well-liked. (Notice how the left is now rehabilitating George W. Bush, once he’s harmless and powerless.) Trumps knows that the left hates him. He has learned to take their lemons and make them into Trump brand lemon vodka. If he were to cave on the Court as Udall is suggesting, Trump might as well go back to running casinos. At least there, the House always wins. (For more from the author of “How Trump Could Become a Lame Duck Right Now: Fall Into Udall’s SCOTUS Trap” please click HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/Donald_Trump_haircut_Laconia_by_Michael_Vadon_July_16_2015_cropped.jpg21112228Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2017-02-28 19:04:032017-02-28 19:04:03How Trump Could Become a Lame Duck Right Now: Fall Into Udall’s SCOTUS Trap
