RUTHFULLY YOURS

That Europe depends on Mario Draghi and the European Central Bank (ECB) to combat deflation and to drag the EU into more rapid economic growth is a manifestation of political dysfunction – an inability to implement fiscal reform has meant dependency on monetary policy. On Thursday, Mr. Draghi said he hopes the measures he has taken will give time for the “structural reforms” he has advocated in the past. Europe’s political leaders, however and like ours, are caught in the web of unrealistic promises regarding healthcare and pensions. Like politicians going back several decades, they have chosen to leave the hard choices for future generations.

Typically, sharp and deep recessions have been followed by complementary sharp and steep recoveries. Stephen Moore wrote in the June issue of The American Spectator: “…if our economy had grown as fast under Obama as it did during the first five years of the Reagan recovery, American GDP would be more than $2 trillion larger today.” But not this time. In part that was because the fiscal crisis necessitated consumer and financial institution deleveraging. But, slow growth has also been a consequence of a failure to enact tax and regulatory reform. In fact, in the U.S. taxes have risen and regulation has become more severe. According to the Americans for Tax Reform, there have been 21 federal tax hikes since Mr. Obama took office. The Federal Register of Regulations shows 13,000 final rules that were published between 2009 and 2013.

In the U.S., fear of rising deficits obscured the necessity for tax reform. Lobbying by special interests, along with ObamaCare and a more aggressive EPA, killed any possibility of regulatory reform. Because central bankers were willing to attempt innovative and creative means of addressing the financial crisis, politicians were able to duck behind the skirts of their non-elected, central banker brethren. The failure, in 2010, of the Simpson-Bowles Commission is exhibit A.

The Federal Reserve (and the Treasury) took drastic measures at the height of the crisis in the fall of 2008. TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program), a Treasury plan, was initially aimed at removing low-quality, non-performing loans from the balance sheets of banks. Besides lowering rates to near zero on December 16th of that year, the Federal Reserve began engaging in quantitative easing – the direct purchasing of Treasuries and mortgage securities, the purpose being to keep longer term rates down. Last Friday Mario Draghi had the ECB cut its main refinancing rate from 0.25% to 0.15%. He also said the bank would charge banks 10 basis points for parking cash at the Central Bank. The ECB also announced a “funding for lending” program (TLTRO) – a tool designed to encourage bank lending. Finally, they announced a plan to buy asset-backed securities, an asset category not widely used in Europe.

http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/detail/extreme-option-for-extreme-times?f=puball

Extreme turbulence in the Middle East provides an opportunity for Israel to assert its right to annex Samaria, Judea and East Bethlehem.

Secretary of State John Kerry heads to Jordan for a meeting with Palestinian Authority Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas finalized a Unity Government with Ismail Haniyeh leader of the terrorist group Hamas of Gaza; which kills Israeli civilians in suicide bombings and continued missile attacks. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemns the Unity Government and urges the international community not to recognize the entity which was announced on June 1st. The Unity Government violates OSLO principles.

King Saul ruled the Kingdom of Israel in 1020 BC in the area known in recent times as Palestine. Subsequently it was ruled by Babylonians, Persians, Macedonians, and Romans. Jews revolted under leadership of Simon bar Kokhba but defeated by Emperor Hadrian who named it Syria Palestina. Killed and persecuted, Jews did not abandon the area.

During WW I the Ottoman Empire ruled Palestine. A letter from the British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Lord Rothschild in 1917 announced that it favored the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine. The League of Nations entrusted the United Kingdom with the Palestine Mandate in 1922.

Winston Churchill produced a two state solution. He wrote the 1922 White Paper re-asserting the Balfour Declaration within the Palestine Mandate. Churchill created Transjordan for Palestine Arabs and split the Mandate area at the Jordan River to establish the Emirate. The Jewish homeland was west of the River, to the Mediterranean; Arabs were not required to leave. Britain remained Civilian Administrator of both areas. Arabs resisted British Rule; bloodshed continued until the start of WWII.

Germany bombed Tel Aviv and Haifa, Italy invaded, and Rommel came north towards the Suez Canal. Jews formed the Palmach, a highly trained unit of the Haganah to fight. Arab leaders saw German victory as a way of taking the Jewish Homeland from Britain and the Jews. Heinrich Himmler enlisted the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Mohammad Amin Al Husseini, who assisted Hitler’s efforts.

http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/detail/the-presidents-prisoner-exchange?f=puball#ixzz34EHC1qsE

For a considerable period I have argued that President Obama’s foreign policy was feckless, a function of inexperience and amateurish advisement. The overarching goal of removing the U.S. from harm’s way seemed absurd since even if you want to avoid war, it sometimes has a way of finding you. But there is logic in a foreign policy position that avoids overreaching.

However, I now believe I was wrong. Based on the diplomatic trade of one American, an apparent deserter and critic of national policy, for five terrorists who have killed Americans and have vowed to kill more, I now hold the view that this president is malevolent, that his hatred for the United States takes the form of “high crimes and misdemeanor.”

Without providing Congress with the “required” 30 days notice before releasing prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, the president acted, claiming “unique and exigent circumstances.” The real story lies in a president who thinks of himself above the law. For him Congress is irrelevant.

The presidents’ pursuit of Sergeant Bergdahl led directly to the loss of six Americans in Afghanistan, even though the president asserts “we do not leave Americans on the battlefield.” Do we retrieve deserters? This incident that now puts American lives at risk across the globe is worse than lawlessness; it is a violation of trust that imperils innocent life. If ever there was time to consider the exquisitely made arguments in Andrew McCarthy’s book, Faithless Execution: Building The Case for Obama’s Impeachment, it is now. This president does not abide by the rule of law. He is the law and a dangerous law at that.

This “deal” is seemingly timed to push the V.A. (Veterans’ Administration) scandal off the front page. Better to have a new scandal, rather than a developing old one. But it is increasingly difficult for this administration to either admit to having made a mistake or avoid making new ones.

http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/detail/middle-eastern-men-are-getting-drivers-licenses-with-hispanic-names?f=must_reads

PoliceOne Critical Alert

PoliceOne warns officers that people of middle eastern ethnicity are changing their names or presenting themselves as hispanics in order to disguise their ethnicity and better blend into their communities. While this has been common practice among immigrants in the past, it presents a technique that possible terrorists or members of sleeper cells could use to escape notice.

The Texas Department of Public Safety informed the San Antonio Division Joint Terrorism Task Force that individuals of Middle Eastern descent are obtaining new Texas driver’s licenses with Hispanic surnames.

Approximately 20 individuals of Middle Eastern origin are utilizing the Travis County (Austin, Texas) District Court each week to change their names and driver’s licenses from Middle Eastern to Hispanic surnames.

The process involves submitting a form and fingerprints to the District Court. The Austin JTTF is investigating the applicants and application process with the Texas Department of Safety and investigators from the Travis County District Attorney’s office. At this time it is unknown as to how widespread these driver’s license changers are.

San Antonio has multiple concerns about these driver license changes. Foremost is the change in identity and ability to mingle in the predominantly Hispanic community without arousing suspicion, because of their darker skin tone, resembling local Hispanics.

Second is the lack of security afforded the fingerprint cards, allowing the possibility of substitution by individuals of concern by individuals who would not arouse suspicion. These driver license changes may not be limited to Hispanic surnames but might involve common names or other ethnicities.

Considering the current threat reporting and the frequent presence of President Bush within the State of Texas, San Antonio would like to determine how widespread this practice of driver’s license change is in border states and nationwide.

San Antonio Division will focus on determining the true identity, background and reason for those individuals of Middle Eastern descent who have changed their identity to Hispanic.

If you have any questions regarding the information in this report, please call El Paso I.C.A.T., 915-872-5775.

Source: Tucson Intelligence Unit; Texas Dept. of Public Safety; Austin, Tex. JTTF

This week’s Glazov Gang was guest-hosted by Superstar Josh Brewster and joined by titans Nonie Darwish, author of “The Devil We Don’t Know,” Michael Hausam, a conservative writer and activist, and Karen Siegemund, founder of Rage Against the Media.

The Gang discussed: Obama’s New Bow to the Islamic World, analyzing who the Radical-in-Chief really wants to be admired by the most.

The dialogue occurred within the context of Why Obama Did the Prisoner Swap.

Don’t miss it:

http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/frontpagemag-com/obamas-new-bow-to-the-islamic-world-on-the-glazov-gang-2/

After presiding for six years over a war in which over 1,600 Americans were killed fighting the Taliban, Obama did not mention the enemy during his West Point Commencement Address.

That wasn’t unusual. Obama has a curious habit of avoiding the “T-word” in his official speeches. Even when delivering his Rose Garden speech about Bergdahl’s return, the Taliban were never mentioned.

Obama’s mentions of the Taliban vary by context. When speaking to the military he might say that the United States is at war with the Taliban. In international diplomatic settings however he emphasizes that the conflict is really a civil war between the Taliban and the Afghan government with the United States there to act as a stabilizing force.

The President of Afghanistan claimed that Obama had told him, “The Taliban are not our enemies and we don’t want to fight them.”

Joe Biden had expressed similar thoughts, stating, “The Taliban per se is not our enemy. That’s critical.” White House spokesman Jay Carney awkwardly defended Biden by arguing that the United States was fighting the Taliban, but was there to defeat Al Qaeda.

Al Qaeda in Afghanistan however had already been defeated by Bush.

During the campaign and once in office, Obama had proposed outreach to the “moderate” Taliban. Biden estimated that only 5% of the Taliban were incorrigible while 70% and then another 25% could be reasoned with.

According to Biden, these Taliban were expected to end all ties with Al Qaeda, accept the Afghan constitution and offer equal treatment to women. Obama issued the same demand last year. The Taliban who hold strict religious beliefs about the evils of democracy and the inferiority of women did not rush to take Obama and Biden up on their offer.

A catalog of government lawlessness is more discomforting to contemplate when the catalog is contemporary. We are all familiar with tales of mischief, corruption and abuse of power from other ages and in other places. We call it history. But the new book Obama’s Enforcer by Hans von Spakovsky and John Fund documents the rank lawlessness that has saturated Eric Holder’s Justice Department, and thus, the Obama presidency.

Von Spakovsky and Fund’s book releases June 10. It details the radical nest that the Justice Department has become. Their book echoes what I still hear from Justice Department employees across the Department still stuck working for a lawless radical attorney general: you simply cannot believe what is happening inside DOJ.

Eric Holder is Obama’s enforcer. The authors catalog Holder as an enforcer for a progressive gang spanning across all agencies of the federal government. Obama’s enforcer has successfully turned the power and prestige of the Justice Department into a radicalized agency for fundamental change. Holder is the enforcer that has used his power to turn America away from post-racial possibilities and toward race-obsessed legal policies. According to the authors, Holder is the single most important change agent inside the single most important change agency.

The book also covers territory never before touched – namely, why is Holder so radicalized?

I’ve worked at the Justice Department, written a New York Times bestseller about the DOJ, and never discovered what the authors reveal: how Holder’s wife played a central role in turning Holder into a racialist radical.

The authors secured an interview with one of Holder’s old buddies – Craig Donsanto. Donsanto was a lawyer at the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section. Donsanto worked with Holder early in Holder’s DOJ career and spent many long days travelling with Holder on DOJ business. What Donsanto shares might explain Holder’s radicalism about race, most famously on display when he described “my people” before a committee of Congress.

Holder “changed” after his marriage, says Donsanto. Holder himself admitted that his wife has an “edge” that he doesn’t have because he “never saw the reality of racism or felt the insecurity that comes with it.”

I WOULD LOVE TO WRITE ABOUT THE 100 WAYS MY OWN LIFE IMPROVED SINCE DAVID HORNIK MOVED TO ISRAEL AND BECAME THAT NATION’S ARTICULATE, STEADFAST, DEPENDABLE AND PRINCIPLED JOURNALIST…..A ROSE AMONG THE LEFTIST THORNS IN ISRAEL’S MEDIA, I DEPEND ON DAVID’S COLUMNS FOR TRUTH, SANITY AND ZIONISM….RSK

1. I put my money where my mouth is.

In my twenties in the U.S., I became intensely “pro-Israel.” I avidly followed its affairs, wrote letters to the editor, even got on the phone to solicit funds for it. I spoke of “the Israelis” as a race of ideal people, heroes; but that was guilt talking. I had to be honest with myself: what I was doing was not enough.

Now I’m here; I’m not just an observer or a fan from afar, but a player. Whatever happens here, for good or bad, happens to me. I walk the walk. I’m morally at peace with myself.

2. I get to watch Israel grow.

Thirty years ago, when I came here, Israel was still in some ways a sleepy socialist backwater. The population stood at four million. Inflation was triple-digit, and public services were so sluggish that it took years—years—to get a phone from the state-owned telephone company.

Today the population stands at eight million. Israel is a world-recognized, high-tech and economic dynamo, ranking 16th of all countries on the Human Development Index. Living here these 30 years has been like watching a confused, shy, awkward kid grow into a confident young master of his fate.

3. I’m in the Land of Abraham.

Eretz Yisrael, the land to which God directed Abraham, the land that was the focus of yearning for two millennia of dispersion. Jews in places like Russia or Poland would cherish an orange from the Land of Israel almost like a sacred object. As I was growing up in upstate New York, images came to me from this land of happy people working and dancing in fields. They were romanticized images, but not totally.

Now I live in it; it’s my daily ambience. But I don’t get used to it; I watch its seasons and hues, its parched summers and moody winters, with an ongoing sense of wonder. Leave it? Unthinkable.

4. I’m always learning Hebrew.

I’ve seen those studies that say learning a language is one of the best exercises for the brain, a way to keep it young. I came here at 30 knowing very little Hebrew, and have been learning it ever since and always will be. By now I’ve conquered quite a lot of the territory—but there’s always more lying ahead.

And Hebrew is not just, of course, “a language.” It’s the language that Abraham, Joseph, Moses, and David speak in the Bible, the rich ore of Jewish culture for thousands of years, now chattered at every street corner in the old-new land.

5. I got to serve in the Israeli army.

At the time I immigrated, even (male) immigrants at my age were supposed to serve. At 33, I did two months of basic training for the Artillery Corps in the broiling sun. Then another two months in an artillery base on the Golan Heights, to learn how to operate the big guns there.

For the 12th time in 36 years, the winner of both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness has failed to win the Belmont Stakes. But another opportunity also disappeared in the homestretch for California Chrome this year. That was the possibility that for the first time ever, a triple crown-winning horse and its jockey, owners, and trainer might have made a White House Rose Garden appearance.

After the disastrous photo op the president held with the parents of deserter Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, for whom he had traded (without the required notification to Congress) five of the nastiest [1] Guantanamo prisoners to the Taliban (or at least temporarily to Qatar for a bit of safekeeping), the president might have welcomed the chance for some light-hearted celebration at the next Rose Garden event. The country’s sports-fan-in-chief — a job he fills more easily and more capably than commander-in-chief — might have enjoyed the opportunity to shatter the thoroughbred glass ceiling at the White House.

Having the Rangers, Kings, Heat or Spurs for a White House visit (or, in some cases, repeat visit) would be pretty routine at this point. Think, on the other hand, of the diversity celebration that would have been on display with California Chrome’s owners, a trainer named Sherman, a jockey named Espinoza, an African American president, and a dark-horse winning thoroughbred (Lipizzaners would not be so welcome [2]).

No president has inserted himself more into popular-culture venues than Barack Obama. The president now makes a regular interview appearance on Super Bowl Sunday to the nation’s largest annual television audience, offers up his NCAA brackets to CBS broadcasters who treat them as the equivalent of messages from Delphi, shows up regularly for sporting events in the Washington area, and by his own admission watches a lot of games on TV (as well as ESPN’s Sports Center nightly). The president has joked, perhaps wistfully, of his desire to start a career at ESPN after his White house playing days are over.

No administration has been as social-media savvy. And never has an administration cared so much about participating in this new communications environment, with cabinet members and aides regularly tweeting their instant reactions and heartfelt “feelings” about this and that (e.g., “Putin invading Crimea is really not good at all” or “Donald Sterling must go, solidarity with the Clippers”). The president himself has regularly appeared on lowbrow television programs like The View and offered himself or Michelle up for interviews with women’s magazines or People. Press conferences have been rare and, until recently, easy-going affairs with journalists eager not to offend.

The first few days of rolling out my new book, Faithless Execution, have been exhilarating, with few things more gratifying and humbling than the wonderful review by one of my very favorites, PJ Media’s own Roger Simon.

It has been uplifting to see how many people really are alarmed—rather than indifferent, as I worried—to the problem of rampant presidential lawlessness. People really do grasp that the separation of powers, which is so threatened by President Obama’s usurpation of the powers of the states and other federal departments, really is the key to protecting our liberties. Too much accumulation of power in one government official’s hand—particularly, the Framers observed, the joining of the legislative and executive power in a single department or person—is the road to tyranny.

When people grasp that, they similarly grasp that presidential lawlessness is not a conservative versus liberal issue, nor Republican versus Democrat. It is a question of whether we still aspire to be a republic under the rule of law instead of subjects under presidential whim. If they are not knocked down, the precedents that President Obama is setting for imperial executive power will be available for exploitation by every future president, regardless or party or ideological orientation. That ought to frighten all Americans, not just opponents of the current president’s policies.

I make a sustained attempt in the book to explain that impeachment—the ultimate constitutional response to presidential lawlessness—is a political remedy, not a legal one. You can have a thousand impeachable offenses, but if there is not a strong public will that the president be removed, impeachment is a nonstarter. The political case for removal is the one that is uphill. Establishing the legal case for impeachment—i.e., demonstrating that high crimes and misdemeanors have been committed—is the easy part.

That is because “high crimes and misdemeanors,” a term of art the Framers borrowed from British law, does not refer to penal statutes defining what we commonly think of as crimes and misdemeanors. They are, as Hamilton put it, the “political wrongs of public men”—breaches of fiduciary duty by high officials in whom great public trust is reposed. The concept is much more resonant of the military code of justice than penal laws, embracing such offenses as dereliction of duty (such as a commander-in-chief who replenishes Taliban enemy forces in wartime) and the violation of an oath (such as the oath to preserve the Constitution and faithfully execute the laws).