Secret Meeting Suggests Ex-GOP Nominee May Try Third-Party Run

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There have been rumors about former Massachusetts governor and 2012 GOP Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney jumping into the presidential race since late last year . . .

Longtime conservative stalwart William Kristol, founder of the Weekly Standard, confirmed to CNN that he met with Romney on Thursday to discuss third-party options.

Kristol, who is leading the charge to find an alternative to presumptive Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump, joins many other prominent conservatives who have pledged to not support Trump’s bid for president under any circumstances, a movement that has now become known as #nevertrump.

The meeting, Kristol said, was to gauge Romney’s thoughts about the logistics of running a strong third-party candidate, who it might be and whether or not he “might be the candidate himself” . . .

For his part, not only has Romney said he would not seek the GOP nomination, he says he will not run as a third party, either.

However, it is worth wondering whether the former Massachusetts governor will ultimately change his mind now that Trump has all but won his party’s nomination. After all, it was Romney, the last man to run for president under the Republican banner, who delivered a blistering speech in March, in which he strongly derided Trump, calling him a “phony,” a “fraud,” and that he did not have the judgment or temperament necessary to be president. (Read more from “Secret Meeting Suggests Ex-GOP Nominee May Try Third-Party Run” HERE)

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How Washington Politicians Wasted Billions Trying to ‘Invest in Our Future’

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The federal government has wasted billions on energy projects promising to usher in a new energy future.

Why? Because revolutions don’t come from the government—they come from the people, and the same holds true for energy.

Despite many attempts to force it, the next energy revolution won’t come from Washington. All Washington can do is play favorites when picking energy options (think Solyndra).

It does this through providing grants, loans, loan guarantees, mandates (like the use of biofuels), and tax subsidies to specific energy technologies—to only name of a few.

Another way in which the government intervenes in the energy market is the annual budget of the Department of Energy. Programs within the Department of Energy supposedly recognize that there’s great potential for wind, solar, fusion, geothermal, biofuels, carbon capturing technology for coal, and much more. These energy sources and technologies themselves may very well be worthy of investment, but that’s not the point. The problem is the government meddling in what is clearly not its role.

The mantra from proponents of government spending on energy is generally the same. To borrow from President Barack Obama, “Rather than subsidize the past, we should invest in the future.”

Half of that statement is correct. Taxpayers shouldn’t subsidize the past. Nor should they “invest” (read: subsidize) in the future. In fact, that’s why the market has investors: to take chances, using their own money, on promising new endeavors. From basic research to full-scale commercialization for any energy technology, every step of the way should be driven by the private sector.

Free enterprise will spur the next energy revolution, just as it has the latest oil and gas revolution that’s lowering the cost of living for Americans. Competition will provide incremental improvements in energy, for conventional natural resources and for renewable technologies.

As energy prices rise and fall, markets respond accordingly. Higher prices at the pump, for instance, incentivize companies to extract more oil and invest in technologies to produce the oil more cheaply and efficiently. Higher prices encourage exploration into alternative power sources for vehicles, whether it is biofuels, batteries, natural gas, or something entirely different.

Markets shift to more efficient and cost-competitive technologies when they make economic sense and meet consumer preferences. In the 1800s, wood was the dominant energy source for families because it was abundant and convenient. Over time, coal replaced wood because it provided more heat per pound and was easier to store and to transport.

Furthermore, the evolution of rail power from steam to diesel occurred even faster because the transition significantly reduced costs and increased productivity. Though legislation encouraged the use of diesel locomotives on a small scale, the dramatic shift mostly happened because of market forces. The cost-effectiveness and increased productivity of diesel-powered trains largely eradicated the use of steam locomotives in just over two decades.

The reality is that Washington isn’t needed to drive energy innovation, which is a difficult pill to swallow for some politicians and special interests. Because those are the folks who want to keep the money flowing to their preferred energy sources because they stand to benefit.

It’s more difficult for politicians to take credit for the successes guided by the invisible hand. But the free market will actually trigger successful investments and reward disruptive technologies, providing more choice and better options for families.

On the surface, their reasons for government funding energy projects may sound appealing to the public. For years, policymakers stressed the need to develop alternative energy sources to reduce dependence on foreign energy sources. Lately, the justification for Department of Energy spending is that America needs to combat global warming, reduce greenhouse gas emission, and be a leader in green tech.

But intentions and results are two very different things. Decades of the federal government trying to commercialize specific energy technologies have left Americans with nothing more than empty promises and squandered money.

Instead of continuing to fund energy programs almost without hesitation, policymakers should trust that the market will determine the true value of potentially innovative technologies. We know what works and what doesn’t. It’s time for Congress to stop dumping money into failed programs and expecting different results. Instead, they should live by this mantra:

A penny saved is a penny earned and a taxpayer dollar spent on energy is a taxpayer dollar wasted.

(For more from the author of “How Washington Politicians Wasted Billions Trying to ‘Invest in Our Future'” please click HERE)

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Mitt Romney Makes It Clear Where He Stands on Clinton vs. Trump

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As Americans prepare to choose their next president, Mitt Romney said Thursday neither of the likely major party nominees meets the standards he has set for giving his support.

Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee who in March declared himself part of the #NeverTrump movement in the GOP, made his comments at the American Friends of The Hebrew University dinner Thursday night.

“I don’t intend on supporting either of the major party candidates at this point,” Romney said. Donald Trump this week became the presumptive Republican nominee; Hillary Clinton is leading the race for the Democratic nod.

“I see way too much demagoguery and populism on both sides of the aisle, and I only hope and aspire that we’ll see more greatness,” he said.

Romney said he will not enter the presidential race as an independent, but he seemed to hold out hope someone else will . . .

“I think it happens to be an inflection point in our history as we go through this dramatic change economically and militarily, socially, all those things. … And I happen to think that the person who is leading the nation has an enormous and disproportionate impact on the course of the world, so I am dismayed at where we are now. I wish we had better choices, and I keep hoping that somehow things will get better, and I just don’t see an easy answer from where we are.” (Read more from “Mitt Romney Makes It Clear Where He Stands on Clinton vs. Trump” HERE)

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Obama Itches for Trump Fight

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President Obama can’t wait to take on Donald Trump.

Obama has been largely sidelined in the presidential contest, a last-year officeholder with high approval ratings who has repeatedly shown he likes to spar with political foes.

With Bernie Sanders continuing to slug it out with likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, Obama largely has to choose his openings to talk 2016.

So on Friday, when the White House announced Obama would make a statement about the economy, the president knew he’d get asked about Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee . . .

“We are in serious times, and this is a really serious job,” Obama said. “This is not entertainment; this is not a reality show. This is a contest for the presidency of the United States.” (Read more from “Obama Itches for Trump Fight” HERE)

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West Point Launches Investigation Into Raised-Fist Photo

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By Tony Lombardo. West Point is investigating a photo that shows 16 black female cadets in uniform displaying raised fists outside a U.S. Military Academy barracks.

“We can confirm that the cadets in this photo are members of the U.S. Military Academy’s Class of 2016,” said West Point’s director of public affairs Lt. Col. Christopher Kasker in an emailed statement. “Academy officials are conducting an inquiry into the matter.”While many details are unknown about the photo, the image has been shared widely in military circles, with claims the women are supporting the Black Lives Matter movement.

The raised fist is a symbol associated with Black Lives Matter, although it’s been used for centuries to symbolize resistance by a number of groups, from labor unions to suffragists to socialists to the Black Panthers.

The official Black Lives Matter website describes itself as a “chapter-based national organization working for the validity of Black life. We are working to (re)build the Black liberation movement.” It was created in 2012 following the death of Trayvon Martin. (Read more from “West Point Launches Investigation Into Raised-Fist Photo” HERE)

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Here’s EXACTLY What I’d Do to the West Point Cadets Who Took This Dishonorable Photo

By Allen West. …As reported by the Washington Times, “The United States Military Academy at West Point said Wednesday that an investigation is underway regarding a photograph that shows 16 black cadets in uniform posing with their fists in the air.

In any other times we could possibly just dismiss this as a very stupid move by these 16 female West Point Cadets, future U.S. Army Second Lieutenants. However, in the hypersensitive racial atmosphere created by the liberal progressive left, this has to be considered…and why? It’s simple, the obvious hypothetical question is what if these were 16 white male West Point Cadets from the south who took a picture in uniform with the Confederate battle flag? Yes, you know exactly what the story would be, and it would be plastered all over the mainstream media. And you know those white male cadets would be in serious danger of not graduating and receiving their commission as an Army officer.

So what shall be done, or better question, what should be done with these 16 female cadets who very soon would be leading our most precious asset, American sons and daughters?

Here’s my assessment. These young ladies must understand they’re part of a great lineage, one that began right here in Massachusetts at places like Lexington Green, Concord Bridge, and yes Breed’s/Bunker Hill. The call to arms and the ensuing answer from those men had to do with one thing: individual liberty and freedom. These young women carry on the legacy of Henry O. Flipper, the first black graduate of West Point. All he wanted was to serve his nation and be an Army officer. Thanks to him, these women can be there at West Point, and I was able to become an Army officer. Someone needs to teach them a little history and get them to understand that lesson and see contriteness in their soul. Being in charge of men and women is not something to be taken lightly and momentary lapses of reason could result in their loss of life. That’s what someone needs to get the West Point 16 to comprehend.

Then they need to make a public statement of apology to their class, and to the United States Military Academy. They worked hard over the past four years to earn that degree and commission, but they need to come the realization of just how stupid their action was…yes, it was stupid. Why? Because the 16 female cadets will be called upon to lead, and leadership isn’t based on color. They’ll be leading Soldiers of all different backgrounds. Right now, you can bet their names are already known throughout the Army. (Read more from “Here’s EXACTLY What I’d Do to the West Point Cadets Who Took This Dishonorable Photo” HERE)

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END OF THE WORLD FEARS: Mercury Transit Linked to Biblical ‘Destruction’ Prophecy

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YouTube channel The Prophetico said the way in which the planets will align in conjunction with star constellations could mean the end is near.

The planet Mercury is set to pass in front of the Sun in line with Earth on May 9 in a natural phenomenon which occurs 13 times a century . ..

The narrator begins by describing how May 6 marks the start of a new moon cycle, with it also being a super-moon – where the moon reaches its closest point in its orbit to Earth.

It goes on to say that three days later, on May 9 when the Mercury transit is in full swing, the moon is in a crescent, or sickle, state to viewers from Earth.

The number three is significant here as according to BibleStudy.org it is related to sex sins in the Bible. (Read more from “END OF THE WORLD FEARS: Mercury Transit Linked to Biblical ‘Destruction’ Prophecy” HERE)

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Army Shrinks to Smallest Level Since Before World War II

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The Army’s latest headcount shows that nearly 2,600 soldiers departed active service in March without being replaced, an action that plunges manning to its lowest level since before World War II.

During the past year the size of the active force has been reduced by 16,548 soldiers, the rough equivalent of three brigades.

Endstrength for March was 479,172 soldiers, which is 154 fewer troopers than were on active duty when the Army halted the post-Cold War drawdown in 1999 with 479,424 soldiers, the smallest force since 1940, when the active component numbered 269,023 soldiers . . .

Without congressional or Defense Department intervention, the drawdown will continue for two more years, with endstrength hitting 460,000 soldiers in 2017, and 450,000 in 2018.

The latest official demographics from the Defense Manpower Data Center shows that in addition to the 479,172 soldiers who were on active duty April 1, the Army’s reserve forces totaled 548,024 soldiers, for a total force of 1,027,196 soldiers. (Read more from “Army Shrinks to Smallest Level Since Before World War II” HERE)

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Palin Will Work to Defeat Ryan in Primary for Trump Stance

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Sarah Palin will work to defeat House Speaker Paul Ryan by backing his primary opponent in Wisconsin, the former Alaska governor told CNN’s Jake Tapper.

Palin said in an interview that airs Sunday on “State of the Union” that her decision was sparked by Ryan’s bombshell announcement to Tapper last week that he wasn’t yet ready to support Donald Trump, the Republican presumptive nominee. Palin endorsed Trump back in January.

“I think Paul Ryan is soon to be ‘Cantored,’ as in Eric Cantor,” Palin said, referring to the former Republican House majority leader who was ousted in a shocking upset in 2014 when challenger Dave Brat ran to his right in a Virginia primary. (Read more from “Palin Will Work to Defeat Ryan in Primary for Trump Stance” HERE)

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The Libertarian Statement No One Expected From Actress Reese Witherspoon

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If I asked you to name an example of a libertarian film, you’d probably offer some science fiction dystopia in which an oppressive government makes life miserable for the people. Minority Report, Equilibrium, the Giver, the Hunger Games, even the recent adaptations of Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged.

These are all good examples, but I have always considered the most effective political messages in pop culture to be the implicit ones, the ones that sneak up on you, so that you don’t even realize what the message is until you’ve already internalized it. When you hit someone over the head with a message, their natural instinct is to resist it, which I guess is pretty libertarian in itself. But when you paint a picture of a world that speaks to people’s basic desires on an instinctual level, that’s when you really reach them.

With that in mind, I’d like to offer up an example of a film hardly anyone would call political, but which may be the most libertarian movie I know. It’s an almost forgotten little gem from the late 90s called Pleasantville.

When this film popped up on my Netflix queue the other day, I had almost forgotten it existed. I hadn’t seen it since it first came out nearly 20 years ago, before I even knew what libertarianism was. But upon reviewing it, I was surprised at how well it encapsulates the basics of that philosophy without ever coming off as even slightly political.

The plot of the film is basically this: two teenagers get sucked through their TV into the world of a black and white Leave It to Beaver type show depicting an idyllic 50s neighborhood of malt shops and “aw shucks” morality. Unlike the dystopia movies mentioned above, there’s nothing sinister about the town of Pleasantville. Everything’s nice, everything’s pleasant, but the world is as limited in its realm of experiences as it is in its color palette. It isn’t what it might be, because the powers that be, in this case not so much the government as the rules of the world itself, place limits on individual freedom, or as Aldous Huxley said, the freedom to be unhappy. Husband and wives sleep in separate beds. It’s always 72 degrees and sunny, and the school basketball team never loses a game.

But when Reese Witherspoon’s slutty high school character introduces some of the local boys to sex, things begin to change. People start to have new experiences, as well as new emotions, and gradually the black and white gives way to stunning technicolor.

Not all these changes are improvements. Along with love and excitement come jealousy and anger. When the formerly blank library books begin to fill with words, the locals get exposed to new ideas, including Mark Twain’s treatment of slavery in Huckleberry Finn. For the first time ever, rain clouds darken Pleasantville’s previously sunny streets, and like Prometheus’ gift of fire to mankind, the knowledge of good and evil is not without a cost.

Of course, there are those who resist these changes, who preferred the old ways, that things always be nice and predictable and stable, but the vast majority of the population revels in their newfound freedom. They prefer danger and uncertainty to comfort and security, because the later can only exist in a pale, shadow of a world without any of the richness that makes life worth living.

This is the essence of libertarianism. We prefer freedom, for all its messiness, to the life of a bird in a gilded cage. The fact that few viewers of Pleasantville would wish to live in so limited a world shows that, deep down, most Americans prefer freedom as well, even as they vote for policies that restrict speech, gun rights, and economic liberty in the name of security. The challenge is making that mental leap between what they implicitly recognize as desirable, and what they explicitly ask of their political representatives. But as long as media is being produced that shows the benefits of freedom in spite of its dangers, the cause of liberty will not be without hope. (For more from the author of “The Libertarian Statement No One Expected From Actress Reese Witherspoon” please click HERE)

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Feds Hire Alleged Rapist Fired by Catholic School

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A former Queens biology teacher who allegedly forced an underage student to repeatedly have sex and demanded she have two abortions skirted authorities after a prominent Catholic school quietly fired him, allowing him to work for years in city public schools, officials report.

Rodney Alejandro abused the 15-year-old girl at St. Francis Preparatory School in Queens, and then went on to work for the Department of Education, a 2015 probe by the city’s Special Commissioner of Investigation charges.

First a city substitute in 1998-99, he worked from 2004 to 2010 at Robert Wagner Jr. Secondary School for Arts and Technology in Long Island City and was fired after his state license expired, officials said. He then went on to teach at a religious school in Georgia.

His reported victim, now 43 and living in Queens, declined to comment but confirmed to The Post horrendous details she published in a 2014 blog. The Post is withholding her name. (Read more from “Feds Hire Alleged Rapist Fired by Catholic School” HERE)

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