Weak Republicans Support Obama Fast Track Trade Bill

Congressional Republicans are celebrating because they believe they have enough votes to send a fast track trade bill to Obama’s desk. The Democrats in Congress are largely outraged. It’s been amusing to watch Obama treat them like he’s treated Republicans for so long. He’s spent six years calling Republicans by their first name, a cheap display of dominance. The Democrats are crying sexist because Obama talked down to Sen. Warren by calling her Elizabeth. Obama knows best and if you disagree with him he’ll treat you like a naughty school child. Democrats pretended that wasn’t the case, now they’re getting a taste of what it’s like to be on Obama’s bad side. Let’s face it, it’s great fun to watch them turn on Dear Leader.

This country has given the President fast track trade negotiating power for decades. Every six years the status is up from renewal. Interestingly six years ago none of the Democrats objected to granting the President such powers. Today they’re suddenly concerned about losing American jobs via major trade deals. Perhaps their opposition is a sign that they aren’t very confident in Hillary Clinton’s ability to win the White House. After all, this fast track bill would cover the entire first term of the next President. Their loud opposition suggests that they’re perhaps quite concerned that the next President will be a Republican.

Having said that the Democrats actually have at least one legitimate reason to oppose this bill. In fact conservatives ought to be agreeing with them and supporting them on their one legitimate reason. Obama has negotiated a Pacific trade agreement that is currently under lock and key. Members of Congress are the only ones allowed to look at the proposed deal and even they aren’t allowed to make photocopies of the 2,000 page proposal. They’re also not allowed to take notes and they’re required to agree not to disclose what is in the agreement. This is a significant problem for a country that has historically had robust public debate over everything, including trade agreements. The secrecy is disturbing, it makes one wonder what Obama is keeping from the American people.

Republicans in Congress should refuse to support the fast track bill so long as Obama refuses to release the Pacific trade agreement in full to the general public. Republicans should support a Democrat amendment (or offer one themselves) that requires the President to release to the general public any proposed trade agreement. Congress should also pass an amendment requiring 14 days to pass between the release of any proposed agreement and a vote in Congress concerning said agreement. If we’re going to have a monarchy that behaves secretively and without concern for the desires of the public, then we ought to simply crown someone King. Otherwise, the public has a right to know what their government is negotiating. There should not be 2,000 page trade agreements under lock and key.

The Republicans perhaps shouldn’t be so quick to support this fast track bill. What is the GOP getting in return? If Obama isn’t forced to give something up for a power he clearly wants, then the GOP will have squandered an opportunity. Despite a massive victory in the 2014 midterms, this is the weakest Congress any of us have ever seen. They are completely incapable of challenging the President on anything, they aren’t even capable of forcing the President to negotiate for something when he needs the Republicans because his own party has abandoned him. John Boehner and Mitch McConnell are two of the weakest leaders this nation has ever seen. Obama needs them right now, why aren’t they leveraging that to get something they want done? In the alternative, after six years of Obama attacking them, mocking them and childishly declaring he won, why don’t the Republicans tell Obama to jump off a cliff and join the Democrats in opposition? The answer is simple, Boehner and McConnell are weak.

Will Ted Cruz Make A Good President?

I want to like Ted Cruz. He has all the right views from Obamacare to taxes to amnesty to Federal spending. He’s a gifted speaker, his speech yesterday was given without a teleprompter. He appeared genuine, frankly it appeared as though he had written the speech himself. The left hates Cruz, which of course makes him all the more likable. John McCain has called him a wacko bird, which again makes Cruz more likable. Anyone who annoys McCain must be good. Lost in the euphoria conservatives are having over Cruz is an objective look at whether Cruz will actually make a good President. Let’s face it, there isn’t a lot of evidence out there that Cruz is capable. Yes, he has all the right views but is he capable of governing effectively with those principles he claims?

Ted Cruz has as much experience today as Barack Obama did in 2007. Both entered their first Presidential race with zero executive governing experience. Both of them had just over two years of experience in the Senate before announcing their candidacy. Neither of them accomplished anything legislatively in the Senate, neither authored a single bill which made it through the chamber much less Congress. Ted Cruz is the conservative version of Barack Hussein Obama, he even has the birther crazies going wild because he was born in Canada.

Obama would have been much worse, from a conservative standpoint, had he been experienced heading into the White House. During his first year he had a filibuster proof majority in Congress and failed to get more than a watered down Wall Street bill and a Stimulus bill passed. He failed to pass an amnesty bill, he failed to pass a tax increase, he failed to pass Cap & Trade, he failed to close Guantanamo. The President wanted single payer socialist healthcare, he had to settle for Obamacare. Had Obama been more experienced, he’s likely to have figured out how to pass most of his agenda. From a managerial standpoint, his agencies are a mess. They had three years to put together a website for Obamacare and the administration failed miserably. Obama had no idea there was a problem until after the website went live. Obama came into office promising to clean up the VA, six years later nothing has changed. Much of this is due to the President’s inexperience. Obama’s lawless unilateral actions today are directly traceable to his legislative inexperience and lack of skill.

What evidence is there that Ted Cruz will do a better job than Obama? Yes, we can always fall back on Cruz having the right principles. However if he isn’t capable of implementing those principles, what good is he to the conservative cause? The question for conservatives today is what evidence is there that Cruz will be effective managing the executive branch? Objectively there isn’t much evidence out there that he’s capable of doing much of anything other than give a good speech. A President has to be more than that though. There is a lesson to be learned from Obama’s nomination, it simply isn’t wise to nominate someone who doesn’t have much experience.

On a more subjective note, don’t you wonder about the motivations of someone who thinks that after two years in the Senate he’s qualified to be President? After eight years of watching Obama, it’s clear he’s a narcissist. That probably should have been obvious from the moment he announced his candidacy. Only a narcissist would think he’s qualified to run for President with so little experience. Cruz is in the same boat. While it’s nice to believe his motivations are pure and Constitutional, we’re only fooling ourselves if we truly believe it. Cruz is arrogant enough to believe that despite his inexperience and lack of accomplishment he should be elected President. Considering all the conservative jumping on the Cruz bandwagon, it appears we’ve learned little from the mistake of Obama.

Netanyahu’s Victory Changes Nothing

Benjamin Netanyahu won yesterday’s election in Israel. Polling last week seemed to indicate that the election was a dead heat. In reality, Netanyahu’s party won handily. There have been some allegations made that President Obama has been helping to fund Netanyahu’s opposition. Whether that is true remains to be seen. Congress should investigate whether tax money was used to fund the Netanyahu opposition. Ultimately even if Obama did send money to Israel’s leftists it didn’t change the result. If anything it may have riled some Israelis enough to get them to vote for Netanyahu’s party. It’s clear at this point that Israel supports Netanyahu’s position regarding Iran and a Palestinian state.

While it was nice to see Netanyahu win, his victory changes nothing. President Obama isn’t going to suddenly give up negotiating with Iran because Netanyahu won. Obama isn’t going to change his plans concerning Iran or Israel because Netanyahu was re-elected. Obama will remain an opponent of Israel being the only middle eastern nuclear power. This is why he will continue to push for a deal with Iran that would allow the Iranians to check Israel with its own nuclear weapons. Obama would do this whether Netanyahu was elected yesterday or not. The only difference is that Netanyahu will stamp his feet louder than Issac Herzog would have.

Obama isn’t anti-Semitic, though antisemitism has often been supported by the left. Obama is a true American leftist, one who applies left-wing Cold War principles to modern international conflicts. It was the left that argued that the United States shouldn’t be the only nuclear power. They supported a nuclear Soviet Union because they believed it would serve as a check on the power of the United States. Obama has simply applied this reasoning to regional conflicts such as the the Arab world in the middle east against Israel. It has long been understood that Israel is the only nuclear power in the region. Obama believes that makes Israel too powerful and that its power needs to be checked by another nuclear regional power. In this case, he views Iran as a potential check on Israel.

The problem with Obama’s position is that it assumes that the Iranians will behave like the Soviet Union or like China and North Korea in the far east. The communists may have been bombastic and extreme in their threats but they rarely got to the point where they actually considered using their nuclear weapons. The Soviets understood that if they used their nuclear weapons against the United States, we would fire our weapons against them. At the end of the day, the Soviets preferred to live. Iran’s thinking is completely different from the atheist Soviets. Iran actually believes that if they attack and destroy Israel they’re doing the will of their false god Allah. If they die in the process, they believe their false god will reward them.

Obama really believes that Iran won’t attack Israel if they were to obtain nuclear weapons. He’s almost certainly wrong in this assumption. The problem is that his base position is faulty. The notion that evil empires and nations should militarily be on the same playing field as their free opposition is ludicrous. Yet this is the classic left-wing position held throughout the nuclear age. When we had nuclear weapons and the Soviets didn’t, they left demanded we give up our weapons or provide our “allies” with nuclear technology. When the Soviets couldn’t keep up with us in the production of weapons, then the left demanded we simply give up all our weapons. Obama doesn’t want Israel to dominate the region, he opposes dominate countries. His error is that he believes like the Soviets the Iranians love life more than death. In that, Obama has a fundamental misunderstanding of both Islam and the Iranians.

Netanyahu’s re-election doesn’t change anything about Obama’s world vision or his position on Iran. Netanyahu is, frankly, powerless to stop Obama. His speech to Congress did absolutely nothing to change Obama’s position. If anything it only resulted in Obama digging his heals in, refusing to budge. Sure, Republicans were excited by his speech. So were Christians who subscribe to ridiculous pre-millenial end times positions that hold modern Israel as the heir to ancient Israel. For the next two years Republicans in Congress are near powerless to stop Obama’s foreign policy goals, including negotiations with Iran. Netanyahu can lobby the next President but the whole world has to deal with another 22 months of Obama. In that, Obama is free to cut a deal with Iran that gives that nation time to create a nuclear weapon. Israel needs the United States to stop Iran and for at least the next 22 months Israel will not have our help. Netanyahu has made a very powerful enemy out of Obama, his re-election will only push Obama further away from Israel.

Democrats Push Government Internet Takeover

The FCC is preparing to take the internet down the pathway of Europe. The Europeans have been treating the internet like a public utility for quite some time. The end result has been slower service, less broadband reach and significantly less broadband investment. The Democrats on the FCC are prepared to regulate the internet like a utility, largely under the cover of darkness. They’re preparing to vote on 322 pages of regulations, none of which have been seen by the general public. This massive takeover of the internet will be done without public comment, despite the Democrats claims that the public commented last summer. The Democrats won’t be delaying the vote because any delay could derail their plans.

Obama claimed he would have the most transparent administration in history. In reality he’s pushing a massive regulatory takeover of the internet without any public involvement. It isn’t clear what the details of these regulations will be yet we know they will have a profound impact on the internet. We know this because the internet in the United States operates without any significant government involvement. Broadband networks are built and paid for privately without any input from the government. Free enterprise on the internet has transformed business in a matter of a couple of decades. Now the Democrats want government to step in and regulate something that is clearly working best without the state.

There are two reasons why Obama and the Democrats want to regulate the internet. Their first and primary reason is control. Margaret Thatcher once said that socialists love to cry power to the people but in reality their battle cry is power to the state. The Democrats will pretend like regulating the internet is something the people in this country are demanding and something that will benefit us. In reality the government regulating the internet only gives power to the state. Right now the government has almost no control over the internet. The end result of that is that broadband is fast and its reach extends quite far in this country. However lack of regulation has left the government on the outside of the most important business and political tool in the country. The Democrats desperately want power in the hands of the state.

Their second reason is that with the government in control of the internet they will have an easier time regulating speech. Make no mistake, the FCC’s takeover of the internet (without Congressional authorization of course) goes hand in hand with the FEC’s desire to regulate political speech on the internet. There are FEC commissioners out there who want the government to limit political speech before elections and force websites to silence themselves or face massive fines. With the government in control of the internet, they’ll have a much easier time regulating speech. They can do this either directly or indirectly. Government control of the internet likely means slower broadband, which means video political advertising will be a thing of the past. People aren’t going to wait for videos to load if broadband is slow. That’s a way to indirectly regulate political speech.

The Democrats want to claim we are a free nation and a free people. If this is so, how can the government create 322 pages of regulations without notifying the people what is in these regulations in advance? Beyond that, there is no law that gives the FCC the power to regulate the internet in any manner much less via so-called net neutrality. If the people want the government to regulate the internet they ought to lobby Congress to pass a law. Instead, the FCC is creating law out of thin air. Worse, they aren’t going to tell us what their laws are going to be until after they’ve already voted on them. The Obama administration has taken this nation to the point where government simply dictates to us and the public shrugs its shoulders and doesn’t care. Obama has taken the United States down the pathway of Europe in terms of mentality. Now he and the Democrats will be taking us down the pathway of Europe on the internet.

What Is Obama’s ISIS Strategy?

Charles Martel and the Holy Roman Empire kept the Muslims out of Europe on two separate occasions. Today Europe has all but abandoned its Christian past and has allowed Muslims to come unfettered into their countries. ISIS is busy chopping the heads off of Egyptian Coptic Christians in Libya, putting that group on the doorstep of Europe. Meanwhile in Europe has been subjected to one Muslim terrorist attack after another. European Jews don’t have socialists with Hitler sympathies to fear, they have Muslims to fear. A synagogue in Denmark was attacked over the weekend leaving one dead. In the Paris attacks last month, a Jewish grocery store was attacked. Apparently in Paris Jews can’t walk the street without Muslims sneering at them or threatening them.

Meanwhile here in the United States President Obama wants to whine about supposed Christian atrocities over the course of 2,000 years. He’s engaging in a cheap debate tactic, trying to deflect scrutiny of Muslim terrorism by talking about the Crusades, which happened centuries before America was even discovered. Obama displays a fundamental ignorance of history, the Crusades were not fought to destroy Islam but to protect Christians in Jerusalem who were being attacked and murdered by Jihadist Muslims. In its very essence, the Crusades were a defensive war meant to protect Christians. They devolved over time from a noble cause to something less so. However that doesn’t change what the intent of the Crusades was. It also doesn’t change what Muslim terrorism is today.

Despite not wanting to talk about Muslim terrorism, President Obama wants a war authorization against ISIS. After all these years of ISIS threats, the President has finally gotten around to wanting to do something about it. Congress, however, should not grant him any war powers until he can present a clear strategy. Obama created the conditions for the rise of ISIS by leaving Iraq early. He’s aided and abetted ISIS in Syria by threatening to attack Assad. He’s also aided them by supporting the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and by supporting the overthrow of Gaddafi in Libya. Now all of a sudden Obama has determined that ISIS is dangerous so he wants a war authorization. Perhaps the President could explain to Congress and the public why he called ISIS the “jv team” just a year ago. Has Obama suddenly determined ISIS has made varsity?

Obama doesn’t have a clear plan of attack against ISIS. It appears that he has no intention of using ground troops. How in the world does he expect to defeat an organization like ISIS, which controls much of Iraq and other territories, without using ground troops? Right now the President is relying upon Jordan, which appears to be the only nation on the offensive against ISIS. Jordan has a small, relatively unsophisticated military. In fact, most of our allies in the middle east have small, relatively unsophisticated military’s. Obama has historically refused to take the lead on any international military operation. Is his plan for the United States to lead from behind while unsophisticated and small nations lead the way against ISIS? That strikes even casual observers as a recipe for wasted time and money.

ISIS has been on the march trying to create a caliphate ever since Obama abandoned Iraq. They’ve increased the amount of territory they control. Worse, they’ve gained power and prestige in the Muslim world. They’re on the doorstep of Europe, maybe not to conquer but at least to create mayhem and fear. The problem is that the more attacks they pull off in Europe the more desirable they appear to Muslims living in Europe. President Obama has no strategy for dealing with ISIS. He wants a war authorization but he has no plan and no real stated goals. It appears his only desire is to not use ground troops. Congress should refuse his request. Without a clear strategy, American lives and treasure should not be risked. Especially so when our President apparently believes the enemy is the “jv team.” While we have known all along ISIS was anything but the jv team, the administration needs to explain itself. Why should Congress trust Obama with war power against ISIS when he doesn’t even respect their strength?

Obamacare Costs Continue To Increase

Millions of Americans are about to get their first taste of the Obamacare tax. Last year the tax penalty for failing to buy private health insurance is $95 or 1% of income, whichever is greater. Because the media hyped the $95 end of the tax, millions of people are unaware that their taxes are more likely to increase far more. The tax increases to $325 or 2% this year, it increases further in 2016. For many taxpayers, it’s going to be a rude awakening when they discover that Obamacare is going to cost them in tax much more than they originally anticipated. That is of course to say nothing of the absurdity of the Federal government creating tax penalties for failing to purchase products from private companies.

With Obamacare it only gets worse. Not only are millions going to be stuck paying more in taxes, many people are expected to lose their insurance. By 2021 the CBO estimates that 10 million will lose their employer based insurance. That subjects 10 million people to the choice of paying the obnoxious Obamacare tax or paying through the nose for health insurance that really isn’t all that great. Remember when the President suggested Obamacare would cut premiums by $2,500 per family? In reality not only has Obamacare increased premiums by more than $2,500, it’s doubled deductibles. In the end, Obamacare policies offer individual market consumers fewer choices, cost more in both premium and deductible and the coverage isn’t all that great. Because employers are dumping healthcare policies because they cost too much, in addition to cutting hours to avoid the employer mandate, more Americans are being subjected to the Obamacare individual market and the taxes and problems it has created.

Perhaps the worst part of all of this is that over the next decade Obamacare is going to cost taxpayers $50,000 per insured American. The cost has already doubled from Obama’s claim of $900 billion in 2009 to the CBO’s estimate of over $1.9 trillion today. All of the Obamacare taxes won’t come close to paying off the government’s end of this massive boondoggle. Taxes will cover less than $700 billion of the $1.9 trillion cost, leaving over $1.2 trillion in deficit spending. Tens of millions will still be without insurance, Obamacare isn’t even making a dent in the ranks of the uninsured.

Obamacare isn’t about insuring the uninsured, it’s about control and dependency. On one hand, the government is controlling every aspect of health insurance. The Federal government has decided what goes into every single Obamacare policy and have limited choices as a result. Sure, you might get to pick an insurance company and their prices may vary based on doctor network size but it’s the Federal government that determines what your coverage will be. You have no choice to opt out of coverages you don’t want, men for example must buy maternity coverage. Obamacare also creates dependency by offering subsidies to practically everyone. In doing this, the government is creating the expectation that it should be the ultimate provider of health care. Obamacare is setting the stage a generation from now for socialist single payer, which is something Obama couldn’t even pass with a Democrat super majority in Congress. It’s coming though, the stage is set.

Obamacare has done nothing but create havoc in the health insurance market. It’s created numerous problems for Americans who already had insurance (read: the overwhelming majority of Americans). It’s increased costs for individuals and employers, the latter of which can opt out by reducing the hours of employees. The unintended consequences ought to be clear. Like most fascist/socialist government programs, Obamacare has doubled in cost in a matter of years. It’s making people who would otherwise not dream of looking to the government for anything dependent on the state for subsidies to pay for health insurance that the government is responsible for increasing the price of. The system wasn’t broken when Obama took office, his administration has nearly destroyed the health insurance market. What are the Republicans going to do about it? A wise gambler would place his money on the GOP not doing very much.

Republican Cowards Cave On Abortion

The new Republican Congress is weak and has almost no unity. What their message or agenda is changes almost daily. You would think though that Republicans could be counted on to defend the rights of the unborn. You would even like to think that Republicans could successfully present a case against infanticide. Unfortunately, the Republicans can’t even get behind a bill that would ban infanticide. House Republicans proposed a bill that would ban the abortion of babies over 20 weeks. Such a ban is popular among the general public. They even allowed for an exception for rape and incest, which while popular among the general public still results in the murder of an innocent baby. Unfortunately the Republicans caved to the war on women crowd because the bill required that a rape be reported to the police. Apparently that’s asking too much of a woman seeking to murder her baby. Afraid of the Democrats crying war on women, the GOP withdrew the bill.

It is utterly absurd to not require the reporting of a rape to police in order to qualify for an exception to a 20+ week abortion ban. In fact, the reporting requirement should require the rape be reported within 2 weeks of the alleged rape. The reason to make such a stringent requirement is clear. Abortion mills aren’t exactly known for morality. These are, after all, places where women go to have their babies murdered. When people are already engaged in murder, a little lying doesn’t matter a whole lot. Without the reporting requirement, every woman desiring an abortion after 20 weeks will simply be told by the murdering clinic to claim rape. As such, the number of abortions over 20 weeks wouldn’t be reduced by one. With the reporting requirement, at least women would have to go through the process of reporting a rape. If they file a false police report, at least they could be prosecuted for it.

Rather than defending the lives of the unborn, the Republicans are concerned with false optics. The Democrats are going to cry war on women whether the Republicans pass the bill as written or not. Rather than boldly leading, the Republicans are cowering over Democrat threats. Worse, they’re listening to consultants and campaign wizards, who haven’t exactly done a good job for the GOP on the national stage in the last decade. What the Republicans really have done is show their weakness to the entire country. Worse, they showed their weakness to the Democrats. It’s clear the GOP is afraid of the war on women narrative. After years of Democrats crying war on women and the media echoing the claim, the Republicans are terrified of being accused of hating women.

The entire war on women claim is of course utterly absurd. The majority of women are pro-life. The majority of women support banning abortions after 20 weeks. The Republicans have never elected more women to the House and Senate than they did in 2014, this despite the war on women drumbeat from the Democrats and press. Nevertheless, when the Democrats start crying war on women, the Republicans cave. Apparently they’ll even cave over a core base issue such as abortion. If the Republicans aren’t willing to pass a 20 week abortion ban under a certain veto from Obama, what are they willing to do on this issue? We’re getting to the point where it’s legitimate for base Republicans to wonder whether the party is pro-life or committed to the pro-life position. If Republicans are unwilling to defend the rights of the unborn, why are pro-life conservatives wasting their time voting Republican?

Abortion is another in a long line of issues wherein the Republican Party has abandoned its base. They’ve abandoned the base on spending and taxes, having done nothing to curb the growing national debt which is up $7.5 trillion since Obama took office. The GOP has abandoned the base on immigration, refusing to defund Obama’s unilateral and unconstitutional amnesty executive orders. Now they’re abandoning the base over abortion, all because they’re afraid of Democrats crying war on women. At what point do conservatives say enough is enough? We’re getting to the point where conservatives are beginning to give up on the GOP. Conservatives sunk Mitt Romney in 2012, the GOP acts as though they don’t realize it. How many elections must the Republicans lose before they listen to their conservative base? If they cannot or will not defend the rights of the unborn, we might get an answer sooner rather than later.

Obama’s Middle Class Economics A Disaster

President Obama believes that “middle class economics” work. This meaningless tag line must have been popular in focus groups. What exactly qualifies as “middle class economics”? Based on the President’s State of the Union speech and the lead up to it, it apparently entails a bunch of big government programs provided to the middle class for “free.” Unlike the lower classes, who pay very little in taxes, the middle class likely isn’t fooled by the ruse of “free.” Most in the middle class understand that free means taxes are increased, likely on them. While the President offered a few middle class tax cuts, mostly in the form of tax credits for two parent working families, the fact is that all of his proposed programs will cost a fortune. The middle class isn’t so foolish as to believe that only the wealthy will pay for them.

If we look at Obama’s track record over the last six years we have to wonder what exactly he’s done to help the middle class. Real wages are down around $3,000 since he took office. Meanwhile healthcare costs have increased $4,000 per family. That’s a $7,000 hit for the middle class. Obviously, Obamacare isn’t working for us. Workforce participation hasn’t been as low as it is today since the stagflation 70’s. We currently have 27 million Americans between 18-65 who are not employed. Considering that compared to the 70’s substantially more women are working today, these numbers are horrible. This group of 27 million isn’t a bunch of housewives, they’re people who largely want to work but cannot find jobs. The Obama economy has left them behind.

When Obama took office around 32 million Americans were on food stamps. Today there are over 46 million eating off the taxpayer. In August 2008, the month prior to the beginning of the recession, there were just over 29 million people on food stamps. What about the Obama economy has helped people get off the dole? This President has overseen a substantial increase in the number of people receiving social security disability. SSD has been the place to go for the long term unemployed. People who cannot find a job are suddenly declared disabled. Depression and obesity have made thousands so disabled they cannot work according to the government. In reality, SSD is a dumping ground for middle class people who can no longer find work even though the great recession allegedly ended years ago.

You would think after all these years the economy would actually pick up steam, wages would increase and welfare recipients would decrease. Not under Obama. We lost millions of jobs during the first two years of his administration. The economy is now creating just a few more jobs than population increases. Keep in mind, the economy adds each month about 150,000 new people to the labor market thanks to population growth alone. When the government brags about 200,000 jobs created in a month, that only makes a dent of 50,000 in the number of unemployed. With millions of jobs lost in the recession, the miniscule job growth of the last year has barely made a dent. The number of people on food stamps suggest that the economy isn’t rolling for the middle class at all. The fact that wages haven’t increased for the middle class suggest that Obama has no idea what sort of middle class economics work.

While the President cynically offers welfare programs and tax increases that he knows won’t pass Congress, the middle class suffers. The truth is that Obama has never cared about the middle class or our problems. After all these years, he’s suddenly concerned about the middle class but not so much as to offer any realistic solutions. Wages are down thanks to Obama’s incompetent economic policies. Health care costs are up thanks to Obama’s fascist healthcare law. Taxes are up thanks to Obama’s love of tax increases. The national debt is up $7.5 trillion since Obama took office. It’s the middle class who will suffer when the national debt bubble bursts. Obama’s solution is to make the middle class just like the lower class: Slaves to the state. He wants us dependent on “free” college education, “free” food and tax credits that benefit only families where a wife works outside the home. Obama doesn’t know the first thing about economics, much less the middle class.

GOP Already Losing 2016

The Republicans won the 2014 midterms in a landslide. They have the most House seats since World War Two and they won the Senate. We’re two weeks into the new term and the Republicans are already losing to Obama and the Democrats. What is the Republican agenda? Rather than having bills up and ready to go, the Republicans have dithered. Rather than taking the fight to the Democrats in the Senate, McConnell is balking at the House’s effort to defund executive amnesty. Keystone XL should have been a simple bill to pass onto the President, it still hasn’t happened. What the Republican agenda looks like for the next week, month or six months is anyone’s guess. Leadership hasn’t laid out what their plans are for the year. Given the opportunity to show the country they can govern, the Republicans have promptly failed.

Meanwhile Obama has a very clear agenda. He started late last year with his executive amnesty action and his attempt to normalize relations with Cuba. Since the Republicans took over Congress last week, the President has outlined three new entitlement programs or laws. He has proposed funding two years of “free” community college that will cost at a minimum $60 billion. He’s proposing Federalization of broadband internet, taking power away from the states. Today the President is proposing a law which would require employers to pay employees for medical leave. One can only imagine what sort of entitlement programs the President will offer at his State of the Union speech on Tuesday night. If the last week and a half is any indication, he’ll be offering an ambitious agenda of big government programs.

While the President is playing offense, the Republicans have no idea what they’re doing. The House and Senate aren’t on the same page and as such they’re making it easy for the President to control the media narrative. Obama has little to no chance of getting most of his agenda through Congress, in fact progressive Democrats have to be wondering where this Obama has been for the last four years. Nevertheless, Obama has regained control of the media narrative. He appears to have regained control over his presidency. How long this lasts is anyone’s guess. The President’s grand jobs bill fizzled quickly in 2011 despite a successful campaign style roll out. Obama has a tendency to give up quickly and move onto other issues. He also hates Republicans, so perhaps his hatred will fuel his desire to push an agenda.

By not having any agenda whatsoever Congress is hurting the chances of the Republican nominee in 2016. If Republicans cannot govern in Congress, why would anyone expect a Republican could govern from the White House? Beyond that, what do Republicans stand for anymore? The House and Senate can’t seem to decide and if they cannot or will not be unified behind an agenda why would the public back Republicans in the next election? It appears that the Republicans are simply against Obama and if they aren’t against him they’re in favor of keeping their individual positions and power within Congress. Obama is gone in two years, he’s a lame duck. His agenda roll out the last two weeks is only a short term agenda for him personally. It will have long term consequences though because his clear and concise agenda stands in stark contract to the muddled and competing agendas in the Republican Congress. To say nothing of the competing philosophies of the Republican Presidential candidates, which will be on fully display in the relatively near future. Obama is managing to control the narrative in the 4th quarter of his Presidency. Thankfully he wasted the 2nd and 3rd quarters.

Dishonest Republicans Propose Gas Tax Increase, Might As Well Support Obama’s Community College Entitlement

The President is set to announce plans to increase the welfare gravy train. This time he wants to make two years of community college free. The cost is unknown at this time though the administration acknowledges it would be significant. After spending $10,000 or more a year per student per year on mediocre government schools, Obama wants taxpayers to further fund mediocre community colleges. College tuition at four year schools has increased dramatically because of the influx of free money via student loans. The cost of “free” community college may be low today but once schools stop chasing students around for money their costs will increase just like four year colleges. Suddenly community colleges will need to double the size of their administration and build more buildings. The quality of education will still be poor but it will be “free.”

You would like to think this proposal would be dead on arrival in the new Republican Congress. Perhaps it will be considering it comes from Obama. However you might also think that tax increases would be off the table in the new Republican Congress. Unfortunately that appears to be wrong. Rep. Inhofe and Sen. Hatch are seriously considering increasing the gas tax. Even worse, they’re engaged in Alinsky style word manipulations. You see they don’t call it a tax but rather call it a “user fee.” If Beltway Republicans want to know why the GOP base hates them and Congress it’s because of nonsense like this. When gas prices are artificially low they propose tax increases and then have the audacity to claim they’re not taxes but fees.

Republicans weren’t elected to increase taxes. They also weren’t elected to expand the welfare state. Obama’s community college proposal likely isn’t very serious. He’s playing political games, likely in response to his party losing ground with young people. Apparently he believes offering them a new welfare program might increase Democrat votes in 2016. Of course Obama isn’t much interested in anyone but himself so perhaps he views this as a matter of legacy. One wonders where this proposal has been all these years. He must know that it’s unlikely the Republican Congress will pass a bill creating a massive new entitlement. Or maybe Obama has figured out how weak these Republicans are. If the GOP is seriously considering a gas tax increase why wouldn’t they consider creating a massive new entitlement program with Obama?

What exactly have the Republicans done in the last four years? They haven’t cut spending at all, in fact spending has increased since the Republicans took control of the House in 2011. They haven’t done anything to roll back Obamacare. The purse strings are controlled by the House but House Republicans continue to fund Obamacare. Given the chance to stop Obama’s executive amnesty last month, the Republicans promptly funded it until October. The Republicans are afraid of another government shutdown, despite the fact that they won in a landslide just a year after the last shutdown. What are they afraid of in a shutdown anyway? Last time 83% of the government was considered so essential that it continued functioning despite the shutdown. New we’re looking at a Republican Congress with no agenda other than increasing the gas tax which they insultingly call a user fee.

Free community college will be a disaster for taxpayers just like easy college loans have been a disaster for college students. Free money for government schools has always created problems, we need to look no further than the nations k-12 government schools. Raising the gas tax would be a disaster for most Americans. Just when we’re getting a little relief at the pump, greedy Washington politicians want to increase taxes. They of course will be nowhere to be found when consumers want a gas tax cut when the price at the pump is over $4, which is likely to happen sometime in the next few years. If Republicans are going to increase taxes, they might as well support all of Obama’s ridiculous entitlement proposals. If the Republicans are going to be a party that supports bigger government, they might as well go all the way. Instead, the Republicans are dishonest with voters. They pretend to believe in tax cuts, spending decreases and limited government. Then their first week in the new term they’re proposing tax increases and refuse to cut spending. No wonder voters hate Republicans and Congress.