GEE: I Wonder Why Hillary Won’t Talk About the Economy?

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At the end of the day, in virtually every poll, the top issues are the economy, jobs, and wages. This is what Americans truly care about. Bread and butter issues. All the social justice worker stuff is low hanging fruit. Man-induced climate change is typically last or next to last. Most of the things Hillary talks about are low ranking issues.

Why? Because it’s rather hard to make the case to keep doing the same things that have left the economy crippled.

The new GDP numbers are terrible. No wonder Hillary won’t talk about the economy

We got revised GDP numbers from the Commerce Department on Friday and the economy actually did slightly WORSE than originally estimated. Growth was 1.1 percent in the second quarter of this year and less than 1 percent for the first six months of 2016. The business sector of the economy has sunk recession territory. Profits are srinking (down 2.4 percent last quarter) so how long can the stock market rise?

The consumer is keeping the economy out of negative territory, but that’s only because we are spending more than we are earning.

How long can that go on? About as long as the housing bubble could inflate without bursting.

For years the polls have shown that Americans are hyper-concerned about the economy and job security. That was when the economy was growing at a meek 2 percent. Now at 1 percent, we aren’t just treading water, more families are being plunged underwater.

Where’s all the growth under Obama’s economic policies? At the top.

The Democrats who keep saying how well the economy is doing seem to be living in an alternative universe. And that’s probably because so many of the leftwing pundits and economists live and work in Washington DC, which really is doing just fine – thank you. DC is booming thanks to the tribute taxpayers from real America send each month to the capital. Three of the five wealthiest counties are around DC. That tells you everything about who is getting rich off liberal government expansion policies.

For all the caterwauling from Democrats about the rich getting rich during the George W Bush era, they don’t seem to have the same zeal to attack the Democratic Party policies that are truly helping the rich at the expense of the lower and middle classes. Not too mention policies that simply hurt the lower and middle classes while growing the size of the federal government.

Hillary says that what the economy really needs now is a tax increase. Crazy. A new study by the National Center for Policy Analysis says that Hillary’s economic plan will eventually shave 1 percent off GDP. That would technically sink the economy down to zero growth.

Interestingly, for a woman making so much money off of speeches and such, she refuses to cut a check to the IRS to match the tax increase she wants on “the rich.” For a goodly chunk of “the rich” raising the income tax level will do little, since their money is so often made off of capital gains. Hillary’s would be directly filed as income. Guess she doesn’t want to pay her fair share voluntarily.

Her jobs plan would kill hundreds of thousands of jobs. Her energy plan would likewise kill lots of jobs and increase the cost of living for Americans. The aforementioned tax plan would reduce the GDP by 1%, meaning zero growth. The Obama/Democrat economic policies have created the worst economic recovery of all time. Manufacturing has not come back. Good paying jobs are getting harder and harder to find. Want to flip a burger or pour coffee? Good news. Base level jobs have grown. But, thanks to Obamacare, hours will be tightly controlled.

Trump must hammer Hillary and Obama on these abysmal economic developments. What is needed? Tax cuts. Deregulation. American energy production. Repeal of Obamacare. He should talk about little else if he wants to win.

Sage advice. If Trump wants to win, he needs to spend the bulk of his time talking about the economy, jobs, and wages. All the distractions and personal attacks need to be minimized. And all the gaffes need to be minimized, so that he can get his economic ideas out into public.

You know what else is low hanging fruit? Illegal immigration. The same polls that show things like ‘climate change’ as utterly unimportant when stacked up against real issues also show that dealing with illegal immigration is also not all that important. So, he needs to minimize discussion of illegal immigration, and mostly discuss it in terms of the economy and jobs. Attack Hillary and Democrats on their ideas/policies from an economic point of view. ‘Climate change’? Discuss how this will harm people’s livelyhoods and cost of living. The over the top spending, rising deficit, horrific government debt, out of control regulations. Discuss them, and make them personal to citizens.

Bill Clinton’s advisor had an internal message for his people “The economy, stupid”, which morphed to “it’s the economy, stupid.” Yes. He’s right. People are going to care about what effects them. A second, less know internal saying was “change vs more of the same.” This is what Trump needs to do. The economy and “do people want to continue doing what hasn’t worked?” The primaries are long over. The general election is coming up fast. Hit Hillary and Obama on the subjects that people care about. (For more from the author of “GEE: I Wonder Why Hillary Won’t Talk About the Economy?” please click HERE)

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Bible at Air Force Base Infuriates Atheist

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A Bible that an Air Force officer kept on his work desk at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado has infuriated a group opposed to allowing military members to exercise their faith in public.

WND reported last week that the Air Force removed the Bible from the desk of Maj. Steve Lewis of the 310th Space Wing after a complaint from the Military Religious Freedom Foundation.

The organization claimed the Bible’s presence violated Air Force policy and the U.S. Constitution.

At the time, Mikey Weinstein, president of the group, said, “The 310th ‘Space’ Wing is NOT called the 310th ‘Space For My Personal Proselytizing Christian Bible Shrine’ Wing for a damn good reason” . . .

He immediately lashed out with a letter to the Department of Defense’ inspector general, Glenn Fine, as well as Defense Secretary Ash Carter, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford Jr., Air Force Secretary Deborah James, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein and others. (Read more from “Bible at Air Force Base Infuriates Atheist” HERE)

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What Are Republicans Planning to Make Their End-Of-The-Year Focus? Fulfilling Obama’s Jailbreak Agenda

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Republicans are often dubbed “the stupid party” because they excel at self-immolation. However, there comes a point when their ability to self-immolate at the perfect time in the most precise fashion is so devastatingly consistent that it’s hard to believe they are not geniuses.

The September congressional session is the final opportunity for Republicans to harness the platform given to them in the 2014 elections – control of both houses of Congress – and utilize it as the closing argument against Obama and Hillary headed into November. With a bleak outlook in the presidential and Senate races, Republicans must use September to change the narrative away from Donald Trump’s personality to a focus on critical issues people care about. They have the FY 2017 budget bill as the perfect vehicle to challenge Obama on his outrageous and dangerous policies, which are opposed by the vast majority of voters.

The opportunities are endless. Republicans could use legislation, floor speeches, committee hearings, and the “must-pass” budget bill to focus attention on Obama’s treasonous alliance with Iran, his plan to increase refugee-intake in October, the collapse of Obamacare, or stopping Obama’s giveaway of internet domains to an international tribunal controlled by Russia, China, and Iran.

Sadly, there are no plans to focus on those issues. What do they plan to focus on instead? Jailbreak legislation. Because, why focus on 80-20 winning issues that are critical to our national security when…you could further cement Obama’s jailbreak legacy?

You heard that right. The closing argument for Republicans this election will be to end the congressional session by consummating Obama’s #1 remaining legacy item of mass jailbreak – all at a time when crime is rising in many major cities for the first time in over two decades and most swing voters in the suburbs are generally concerned about safety and security more than ever before. Haven’t Republicans watched the disaster of California’s Prop 47, which implemented a similar scheme on a state level, and has led to record low arrests and rising crime?

Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis. (F, 53%) and Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La. (D, 64%) have spent the entire recess scoring points for Obama by ginning up support on their side for a jailbreak effort in September. Yesterday, Scalise held a meeting with dozens of congressional staffers to plot a strategy and messaging on legislation to cut sentencing for federal prisoners and grant the extremely liberal federal judges more latitude to free prisoners, a prerogative the courts have already grabbed for themselves.

According to my congressional sources familiar with the meeting, leadership aids discussed how to message jailbreak as a conservative initiative, much like they did with the Gang of Eight immigration bill. Although the details are still in flux, staff at the meeting discussed packaging a bunch of “prison reform” bills into one giant bill. Much like the Gang of Eight legislation, they plan to dangle a few conservative talking points embodied in some notional provisions conservatives might like in order to sell the broader pro-criminal tenor of the package as an all-or-nothing proposition. Using the same Orwellian approach of Mark Zuckerberg to allure conservatives into backing amnesty, leadership staff showed a power point presentation selling the effort as being pro law enforcement, enhancing public safety, and supporting victims of crime.

[Several months ago, I published a report debunking all of the “conservative” talking points in support of this effort, which can be viewed here. Also, my analysis about the details of the original Senate bill can be viewed here.]

As always, the political barometer of these people was as uncalibrated as Dick Morris’s political predictions. They evidently feel that suburban voters are about to march on Washington and demand: “give us looser sentencing and prison reform or give us death!” One of the staffers at the meeting fantasized how election-year politics—particularly the impact that passing criminal justice ‘reform’ will have on “independents and folks like that”—will somehow benefit Republicans in the election.

At one point the staff indicated that the Chairman’s bill is actually a step in the right direction for fighting drug trafficking because of the heroin/fentanyl provisions—regardless of the fact that the bill reduces penalties for all heroin traffickers across the board and makes them retroactive. Also, according to my sources, there was no discussion of the fact that their legislation reduces sentences for illegal alien drug traffickers, lets them out early and does nothing to ensure they’re deported.

During a discussion about the number of federal felons who would be released, staffers conceded that “we don’t know exactly how many offenders are eligible” under the House Judiciary Committee bill. This, at a time when Obama is already commuting a record number of sentences and the U.S. Sentencing Commission is already planning early release for up to 46,000 drug traffickers. To begin with, there are only 165,000 prisoners actually housed in federal prisons (roughly 40,000 more are federal inmates in other facilities), and only about half of those were convicted for drug offenses. Further, a large percentage of them are illegal aliens and should be deported. For Congress to exacerbate this with further legislation at this time in history defies common sense.

So where is this emergency coming from? What happened to the emergency over America’s sovereignty, security, refugees, Obamacare, and Iran?

Follow the money. When George Soros and the Koch brothers both want the same thing, you better believe the liberal politicians in both parties will move heaven and earth to get it done. According to recently leaked documents by WikiLeaks, Soros’s Open Society Foundation “remains among the largest contributors of philanthropic dollars to reform strategies specifically targeted to reducing incarceration.” The documents reveal that Soros was concerned the story about Wendell Callahan, who twice benefited from changes in federal sentencing guidelines and upon his release murdered three people in Columbus, would hurt their PR effort.

They also named the Koch brothers as a big backer of the effort. The Koch brothers have gone full-throated Obama for the pro-criminal agenda.

This is just one more example of why the Republican Party is broken on such a systemic level that there is no way to fix it through conventional means. Instead of using all of their political capital to fight the other side’s agenda with equal and opposing force, they use their resources to give voice and cover for some of the worst and most unpopular policies of the Left…in the middle of a big election. Heck, with the party nominee now backing amnesty, they should just spend September passing the Gang of Eight bill.

Once the dust has settled from this election on November 9, it will become abundantly clear that conservatives must look beyond the Republican Party once and for all. (For more from the author of “What Are Republicans Planning to Make Their End-Of-The-Year Focus? Fulfilling Obama’s Jailbreak Agenda” please click HERE)

Watch a recent interview with the author below:

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Clinton Foundation Witness Removal Vehicle

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Biff Spackle offers this exclusive (to you, at least) photograph of the Clinton Foundation’s Witness Removal Vehicle:

160826-witness-protection

Backstory: here. (For more from the author of “Clinton Foundation Witness Removal Vehicle” please click HERE)

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Amid Voter ID Battles, Here Are 7 Things the Government Requires IDs For

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As federal courts wrestle with voter ID laws in several states just months before a national election, there is considerably less attention being brought to other constitutional rights that require ID.

Proponents of voter ID have argued that retailers require ID to buy liquor, M-rated video games, prescriptions, or even nail polish.

But these arguments aren’t really applicable to voter ID, said J. Christian Adams, general counsel for the Public Interest Legal Foundation, and a former Justice Department attorney, who supports voter ID and other election integrity laws.

“Tell me where in the Constitution does it talk about the right to buy liquor or rent a car?” Adams told The Daily Signal in a phone interview. “The Constitution does guarantee the right to use firearms, and ID is always required to purchase a firearm. If you talk about buying liquor, the left will shred that argument. If you talk about ID when buying a gun, it boxes them in.”

Here are seven common situations that require an ID.

1. Welfare Benefits

While there is no constitutional right to welfare benefits, the Supreme Court held in the case of Goldberg v. Kelly that welfare recipients are entitled to due process with a hearing before benefits can be terminated.

Nevertheless, several states require some type of proof of identity to collect welfare. The states of Massachusetts and Missouri require a photo ID on the electronic benefit cards used for purchases under food stamps or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families expenditures. The EBT cards in Kansas include a photo if a participant agrees, but isn’t required, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

New York City has a municipal ID program. The city’s website says residents will need an ID to “get a job,” “cash a check,” “open a bank account,” “enter a government building,” and, further, says, “To be eligible for some public benefits you need to prove your identity, age and residence.”

2. Registration for Buying Guns

Laws vary by state and even by municipality on buying a firearm.

The District of Columbia, the point of dispute in the landmark Heller Supreme Court decision that determined every American has the right to bear arms, still has very strict gun control laws.

It requires residents to register those guns. Gun owners must also obtain a gun license for any shotgun, rifle, or handgun. The District of Columbia city government prohibits the sale of handguns, but allows restricted sales on rifles and shotguns.

In another example, New York City allows the selling of handguns, but with stricter rules than New York state. To buy a gun in the city, an individual must appear in person to fill out a 17-page handgun purchase authorization form to qualify for a purchase license. The form costs $340 and $89.75 for fingerprinting. The New York Times wrote that applicants “must provide an original Social Security card, birth certificate, two recent color photographs and other documents.”

The application also requires individuals to explain employment dismissal and health history in addition to the background check that all gun buyers go through.

3. Petition Your Government

It isn’t just the Second Amendment that is subject to ID scrutiny. First Amendment freedoms sometimes require some identification, said Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation, and a former Justice Department attorney.

“The First Amendment guarantees the right to petition your government, but anyone who wants to meet with a Department of Justice official has to show a government-issued photo ID to get into the Department of Justice building for the meeting,” von Spakovsky told The Daily Signal.

The right to peacefully petition on Capitol Hill—beyond writing or calling a congressional office—generally requires becoming a registered lobbyist. States have various requirements for registered lobbyists as well.

4. Right of Assembly

Further, many municipalities require permits to hold protests or rallies in a public space under certain circumstances. This process varies based on the city, but requires some paperwork by the organizers.

5. Right to Marry

Official ID for obtaining a marriage license is nearly universal across states, said von Spakovsky. He noted that under the 1967 Loving v. Virginia ruling by the Supreme Court, marriage is a fundamental right.

Today, the state at the center of that case requires photo ID. Fairfax County, Virginia, near the District of Columbia, states that requirements to get a marriage license include a “valid photo identification (a valid driver’s license with picture, passport, or military identification).”

And, New York City’s website states, “You and your prospective spouse must have one form of proper identification in order to apply for a Marriage License.” The options include a driver’s license, active military ID card, passport, or permanent resident card.

6. Freedom of Movement

While the right to board an airplane isn’t spelled out in the Constitution, von Spakovsky said the right to travel could be broadly considered a basic public accommodation and a freedom of movement issue, even though the Transportation Security Administration requires photo ID for everyone boarding a plane.

Freedom of movement is recognized under the privileges and immunities clause of the Constitution. The Supreme Court held in 1869 that this protected the rights of citizens, the “right of free ingress into other states, and egress from them.”

“The 1960s civil rights movement was in part about the fundamental right to travel on trains and public buses,” von Spakovsky said.

7. Public Accommodations

Opponents of voter ID laws contend that it’s difficult for minorities to obtain ID for voting. This could reasonably extend to public accommodations, von Spakovsky said.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits businesses such as restaurants and hotels from denying service on the grounds of race, color, religion, or national origin.

“I can’t remember when I checked into a hotel and they didn’t ask me for photo ID,” von Spakovsky said.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which is involved in current litigation against voter ID laws in states such as North Carolina, Kansas, and Texas, told The Daily Signal Wednesday that no one is available to comment regarding these other civil liberties that require some type of ID. (For more from the author of “Amid Voter ID Battles, Here Are 7 Things the Government Requires IDs For” please click HERE)

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Companies Are Raising Wages Without a Government Mandate

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According to recent reports, companies are giving wide swaths of their workforces raises without the government dictating it. Some of the companies that have done this in recent weeks include McDonald’s, Wal-Mart, Gap Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Starbucks.

Starbucks announced its workers would get at least a 5 percent raise this year. JPMorgan Chase is increasing the wages of its lowest-paid workers to $12 per hour.

One factor that may be causing companies to raise wages is the reduction in the number of unemployed persons per job opening. That ratio, now hovering near 15-year lows, and declining since 2009, is only 1.4 unemployed persons per job opening.

With such a small pool of unemployed workers to draw from, companies have to make it more desirable for workers to accept positions, and not jump ship to another company offering higher wages. In other words, the smaller the ratio of unemployed persons per job opening, the more competition there is among employers to retain workers and the higher wages will be.

With companies raising wages on their own in response to market forces, it might be useful to rethink the current craze to raise the minimum wage. California, New York, and the District of Columbia have recently passed bills to raise their minimum wages to $15 per hour. A bill has been introduced in Congress by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 per hour.

Heritage Foundation research fellow James Sherk noted in a recent issue brief, “Researchers have paid little attention to the state-by-state impact of a $15-per-hour minimum wage. Such a measure was so far from the policy mainstream that few economists bothered considering it.”

Sherk conducted a state-by-state analysis and found that a $15 per hour minimum wage requirement nationwide would cost approximately 9 million jobs. Other reports finding minimum wage increases harm workers—especially the low-skilled workers they are designed to protect—exist here, and here.

Sustainable employment occurs when workers are compensated fairly for their productivity compared to others in the workforce. The recently reported pay increases show this process at work. Government interference, in the form of minimum wage laws or other restrictions, just gets in the way and may, as recent studies are confirming, actually hurt those it is intended to help. (For more from the author of “Companies Are Raising Wages Without a Government Mandate” please click HERE)

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Obama’s Transgender Student Bathroom Policy Blocked by Judge

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The Obama administration was barred by a judge from enforcing a directive that U.S. public schools allow transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms according to their gender identity.

A federal judge in Fort Worth, Texas, on Sunday sided with Texas and 12 other states that argued the administration’s policy usurps local control and threatens students’ safety and privacy.

The use of public bathrooms and locker rooms by transgender people has become the latest front in civil rights struggles between social conservatives and the administration following battles over same-sex marriage and military service by openly gay members of the armed forces in which President Barack Obama has sided with gay-rights advocates.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor came after the U.S. Supreme Court on Aug. 3 temporarily blocked an order that would let a transgender student use the boys’ bathrooms during his senior year at a Virginia high school.

In that case, the justices granted a request from the Gloucester County school board, which said the lower court order would have caused “severe disruption” when school started in September and likely prompted parents to transfer their children to other institutions. The district said boys’ restrooms were reserved for students who were “biological” males. (Read more from “Obama’s Transgender Student Bathroom Policy Blocked by Judge” HERE)

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Trump Makes Minnesota Ballot at Last Minute

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Donald Trump will appear on the ballot in Minnesota, after a last-minute scramble by state Republicans who discovered Wednesday that their nominee was not yet on the ballot.

The party had until Monday to submit the names of 10 electors and 10 alternate electors — the people who will officially cast Minnesota’s votes for president — to the Secretary of State.

“We just received the last item. We were waiting for a pledge from one of the alternate electors. The filing is complete and the Republican ticket should be listed on our site shortly,” Secretary of State spokesman Ryan Furlong said in an email Thursday afternoon.

A sample ballot produced on the Secretary of State’s website Thursday morning showed third party candidate Evan McMullin and candidates for many other parties on the ballot, including former Democratic candidate Roque “Rocky” De La Fuente, now with the American Delta Party — but no Trump. (Read more from “Trump Makes Minnesota Ballot at Last Minute” HERE)

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How U.S. Nurtures Jihadists on Its Own Soil

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Maine Gov. Paul LePage is seeking sweeping changes in the way refugees are awarded welfare benefits after he blew the whistle on an “embarrassing” situation in his own state.

An Iranian refugee left Maine to fight for ISIS while he and his family received food stamps and other benefits for four years.

LePage is calling for an audit of all taxpayer-funded payouts to refugees in his state and nationwide, the Boston Herald reported in an article titled, “Welfare for ISIS: The outrageous case of Iranian refugee Adnan Fazeli.”

Fazeli, 38, came to Freeport, Maine, in 2009 and was killed last year on the battlefield in Lebanon after abandoning his wife and three kids to join the terror army, according to federal court documents unsealed this week and disclosed by the Herald.

The family’s food stamps and welfare checks were cut off in 2013, Maine officials told the Herald, after Fazeli left the state for Turkey in his quest to join ISIS. (Read more from “How U.S. Nurtures Jihadists on Its Own Soil” HERE)

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Clinton Hits New Roadblocks in Campaign for White House

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Hillary Clinton has hit a rough patch at a critical time in the race for the White House.

A new batch of 14,900 emails found by the FBI is threatening to throw her off message, and the drip-drip release of emails will be something to contend with through Election Day.

Clinton’s campaign is also facing new questions about the Clinton Foundation after separate emails were released that showed a foundation official seeking time with Clinton for a donor.

Days later, the Associated Press ran a story, which the Clinton campaign has repeatedly attacked, detailing links between Clinton Foundation donors and meetings with former Secretary of State Clinton.

If that weren’t enough, a lingering GOP perjury threats looms over Brooklyn, as House Republicans have promised action this fall. (Read more from “Clinton Hits New Roadblocks in Campaign for White House” HERE)

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