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Politics : Liberalism: Do You Agree We've Had Enough of It? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (206306)	1/29/2018 9:10:40 AM
From: FJB	2 Recommendations Recommended By locogringo TideGlider Respond to of 224748

*Generations of Philadelphia families are in prison together...*

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (206306)	1/29/2018 10:00:29 AM
From: FJB	1 Recommendation Recommended By TideGlider Respond to of 224748

Inside the mind of Leonard Leo, Trump’s Supreme Court right-hand man. - WINNING. HOPE WE GET ANOTHER SC APPOINTMENT SOON. He’s been called the “judicial puppet master,” “Trump’s Supreme Court whisperer,” and the “conservative pipeline to the Supreme Court.” He has played roles big and small in the confirmations of four of the nine U.S. Supreme Court justices, including the most recent, Justice Neil Gorsuch. ... “There are lots of countries around the world that have very long enumerations of rights, social and economic rights, political rights, civil rights. The Soviet Union had a Bill of Rights that was multiples longer than ours. Most of these countries around the world sign on to lots of [United Nations] charters that contain fundamental rights and other freedoms,” Leo said. “But at the end of the day, those are parchment barriers without serious limitations on government powers that can be enforced. And that’s what I came to realize, that the structural Constitution was the genius of the American founding and was ultimately going to protect our freedom and our dignity as people. “That’s why I wanted to get involved,” he said of his decision to work at the Federalist Society. “I felt that was an important enterprise, and that this was the institution that was really promoting that idea in a way that no other institution had or was going to.” Leo accepted the job offer 26 years ago, and today, serves as the organization’s executive vice president. ...

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (206306)	1/29/2018 10:42:40 AM
From: FJB	6 Recommendations Recommended By DeplorableIrredeemableRedneck locogringo Oblivious Sedohr Nod TideGlider and 1 more member Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 224748

First Tax Cuts Are Hitting Paychecks And They’re So Good Some People Think It’s A Glitch January 29, 2018, 6:47 am by Jim Hoft

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (206306)	1/29/2018 11:05:01 AM
From: FJB	3 Recommendations Recommended By DeplorableIrredeemableRedneck TideGlider tonto Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 224748

SURVEY: SALES UP FOR COMPANIES -- AND SO ARE WAGES... Consumer Spending Rises...

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (206306)	1/29/2018 12:26:38 PM
From: FJB	1 Recommendation Recommended By TideGlider Respond to of 224748

Seven potential terrorists a day try to enter the U.S.: DHS chief washingtontimes.com Members of U.S. Homeland Security’s Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response (VIPR) unit monitor a section of Penn Station on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2014, in New York. Federal and local authorities have studied intelligence about recent attacks on mass transit in ... more > By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times - Monday, January 29, 2018 Homeland Security will demand more information from applicants from high-risk countries before accepting them as refugees, Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen announced Monday as she defended President Trump’s steps on immigration and visitor screening. Ms. Nielsen also highlighted a recent report that found the government weeds out an average of seven travelers each day — 50 a week — who are on the terrorist watch-list yet still try to enter the U.S. Speaking at the Wilson Center, the new secretary also asked for support for Mr. Trump’s border wall and his broader immigration plans, as part of ongoing discussions on Capitol Hill on a deal to legalize illegal immigrant “Dreamers.” “We cannot let this moment slip away. Now is the time,” she said. “We cannot afford to kick the can down the road any farther.” Ms. Nielsen said past administrations had not been as strenuous in attempting to weed out would-be terrorists as the current one, and pointed to a string of attacks dating back five years — to the heart of the Obama administration. And she again cited a controversial administration report that found of more than 500 people convicted of terrorism-related crimes in U.S. courts since 2001, three-quarters were foreign-born. She said that was a reason to stiffen controls on who’s admitted. In terms of refugees, she said applicants will face more screening if they come from “high-risk” countries. She didn’t describe the changes, but said they will be beneficial. “These changes will not only improve security but importantly they will help us better assist refugees fleeing persecution,” she said.

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (206306)	1/29/2018 12:44:20 PM
From: FJB	9 Recommendations Recommended By DeplorableIrredeemableRedneck locogringo lorne Oblivious rayrohn and 4 more members Respond to of 224748

MCCABE RESIGNING!!!! SWAMP DRAINING... FBI CORRUPTION BEING ROOTED OUT BY OUR GREATEST PRESIDENT.

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (206306)	1/29/2018 1:02:00 PM
From: lorne	2 Recommendations Recommended By rayrohn TideGlider Respond to of 224748

comrade, you truly are a very sad and unfeeling critter, no offence but you come across as not being very bright, but I suppose the majority of rank and file democrouts are like that, a prerequisite for membership in the saul alinsky party. the democrouts own you, you are their slave.

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (206306)	1/29/2018 1:02:41 PM
From: FJB	3 Recommendations Recommended By DeplorableIrredeemableRedneck rayrohn TideGlider Respond to of 224748

Todd Starnes: If Pelosi Brings Illegal ‘Dreamers’ to State of the Union, President Trump Should Bring ICE Agents!!! -- DAMN RIGHT. THE LIBERTY DAILY

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (206306)	1/29/2018 1:49:14 PM
From: FJB	4 Recommendations Recommended By DeplorableIrredeemableRedneck Oblivious rayrohn TideGlider Respond to of 224748

How devastating must the House Intel report be if the FBI director went from threatening to resign if McCabe was removed to forcing McCabe out after viewing the report? — Sean Davis (@seanmdav) January 29, 2018

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (206306)	1/29/2018 5:23:21 PM
From: FJB	4 Recommendations Recommended By DeplorableIrredeemableRedneck Investor Clouseau rayrohn TideGlider Respond to of 224748

WHISTLEBLOWERS CONFIDENT MORE RESIGNATIONS TO COME!!! THE SWAMP IS BEING DRAINED KENNY. WE MIGHT SEE SOME OBONZO CRIMINALS ACTUALLY GO TO PRISON. Latest: sources in bureau telling me whistleblowers feel confident more resignations to come. https://t.co/yKN1XtV9LO — Sara A. Carter (@SaraCarterDC) January 29, 2018

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (206306)	1/29/2018 9:25:41 PM
From: FJB	5 Recommendations Recommended By DeplorableIrredeemableRedneck GUNSNGOLD lorne rayrohn TideGlider Respond to of 224748

YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHING YET KENNY. THE OIG REPORT IS GOING TO MAKE THE NUNES MEMO, LOOK LIKE A LOVE LETTER. THIS IS THE END OF CORRUPTION AT THE FBI, AND DOJ. TIME TO THANK TRUMP AGAIN... NEW: Internal communication sent to FBI officials by FBI Director Christopher Wray links Deputy Director Andrew McCabe’s early departure to results of an upcoming OIG investigation, CBS News confirms; says FBI must perform at the highest standards. — CBS News (@CBSNews) January 29, 2018

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (206306)	1/29/2018 9:54:49 PM
From: FJB	2 Recommendations Recommended By DeplorableIrredeemableRedneck TideGlider Respond to of 224748

INSPECTOR GENERAL HOROWITZ HAS 450 PEOPLE WORKING FOR HIM. HE KNOWS 100X WHAT THESE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DO. "I think it's naive to think this is just the #FBI and just the Department of Justice. I think this memo will also address some others potentially within the intelligence community." 💥Jason Chaffetz Talks IG - Drops Memo Bombshell! "It's thinks it's naive to think this is just the #FBI and just the Department of Justice. I think this memo will also address some others potentially within the intelligence community." #ReleaseTheMemo pic.twitter.com/fwCHZno7Qw — TrumpSoldier (@DaveNYviii) January 30, 2018

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (206306)	1/29/2018 10:53:46 PM
From: FJB	2 Recommendations Recommended By lorne TideGlider Respond to of 224748

CRIMINAL, CORRUPT, INCOMPETENT. These are the words Americans think of now when they hear FBI. ------------------------------------------------------------ http://thehill.com/opinion/criminal-justice/371206-golden-boy-robert-muellers-forgotten-surveillance-crime-spree Golden boy Robert Mueller's forgotten surveillance crime spree When Robert Mueller was appointed last May as Special Counsel to investigate Trump, Politico Magazine gushed that “ Mueller might just be America’s straightest arrow — a respected, nonpartisan and fiercely apolitical public servant whose only lifetime motivation has been the search for justice.” Most of the subsequent press coverage has shown nary a doubt about Mueller’s purity. But, during his 11 years as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Mueller’s agency routinely violated federal law and the Bill of Rights. Mueller took over the FBI one week before the 9/11 attacks and he was worse than clueless after 9/11. On Sept. 14, 2011, Mueller declared, “The fact that there were a number of individuals that happened to have received training at flight schools here is news, quite obviously. If we had understood that to be the case, we would have — perhaps one could have averted this.” Three days later, Mueller announced: “There were no warning signs that I’m aware of that would indicate this type of operation in the country.” His protestations helped the Bush administration railroad the Patriot Act through Congress, vastly expanding the FBI’s prerogatives to vacuum up Americans’ personal information. Deceit helped capture those intrusive new prerogatives. The Bush administration suppressed until the following May the news that FBI agents in Phoenix and Minneapolis had warned FBI headquarters of suspicious Arabs in flight training programs prior to 9/11. A House-Senate Joint Intelligence Committee analysis concluded that FBI incompetence and negligence “contributed to the United States becoming, in effect, a sanctuary for radical terrorists.” FBI blundering spurred the Wall Street Journal to call for Mueller’s resignation, while a New York Times headline warned: “ Lawmakers Say Misstatements Cloud F.B.I. Chief's Credibility.” But the FBI was off and running. Thanks to the Patriot act, the FBI increased by a hundredfold — up to 50,000 a year — the number of National Security Letters (NSLs) it issued to citizens, business, and nonprofit organizations, and recipients were prohibited from disclosing that their data had been raided. NSLs entitle the FBI to seize records that reveal “ where a person makes and spends money, with whom he lives and lived before, how much he gambles, what he buys online, what he pawns and borrows, where he travels, how he invests, what he searches for and reads on the Web, and who telephones or e-mails him at home and at work,” the Washington Post noted. The FBI can lasso thousands of people’s records with a single NSL — regardless of the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition of unreasonable warrantless searches. The FBI greatly understated the number of NSLs it was issuing and denied that abuses had occurred, thereby helping sway Congress to renew the Patriot Act in 2006. The following year, an Inspector General report revealed that FBI agents may have recklessly issued thousands of illegal NSLs. Shortly after that report was released, federal judge Victor Marrero denounced the NSL process as “the legislative equivalent of breaking and entering, with an ominous free pass to the hijacking of constitutional values." Rather than arresting FBI agents who broke the law, Mueller created a new FBI Office of Integrity and Compliance. The Electronic Freedom Foundation, after winning lawsuits to garner FBI reports to a federal oversight board, concluded that the FBI may have committed “tens of thousands” of violations of federal law, regulations, or Executive Orders between 2001 and 2008. Mueller was a front-and-center Bush cabinet member when the president, scorning a unanimous 1972 Supreme Court ruling, decided he was entitled to impose warrantless wiretaps on Americans. At an April 2005 Senate hearing, Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) asked Mueller: “Can the National Security Agency, the great electronic snooper, spy on the American people?" Mueller replied: "I would say generally, they are not allowed to spy or to gather information on American citizens." Mueller presumably knew his answer was at least misleading if not blatantly deceptive. Nearly nine months later, the New York Times revealed that Bush had unleashed NSA to illegally wiretap up to 500 people within the U.S. at any given time and peruse millions of other Americans’ emails. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales responded to the uproar by asserting that “the president has the inherent authority” to order such wiretaps. Mueller had no trouble with that dictatorial doctrine — even though the same claim spurred one of the articles of impeachment crafted against President Nixon. Mueller’s biggest coup against privacy occurred with Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which entitles the FBI to demand “business records” that are “relevant” to a terrorism or espionage investigation. In 2011 testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee, Mueller “ suggested the FBI interpreted (Section 215) narrowly and used it sparingly,” the ACLU noted. But Mueller was the point man for the Bush administration’s bizarre 2006 decision (perpetuated by Obama) that all Americans’ telephone records were “relevant” to terrorism investigations. Several times a year, Mueller signed orders to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, swaying it to continually renew its order compelling telephone companies to deliver all their calling records (including time, duration, and location of calls) to the National Security Agency. On June 5, 2013, leaks from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden blew the lid off this surveillance regime. Federal judge Richard Leon slammed that records roundup as “ almost Orwellian... I cannot imagine a more indiscriminate and arbitrary invasion than this systematic and high-tech collection and retention of personal data on virtually every single citizen for purposes of querying and analyzing it without prior judicial approval.” Mueller sought to dampen the Snowden uproar by testifying to Congress that the feds could not listen to Americans’ calls without a warrant for that “ particular phone and that particular individual.” But NSA employees had broad discretion to vacuum up Americans’ info without warrants, and NSA's definition of terrorist suspect was so ludicrously broad that it includes " someone searching the web for suspicious stuff." If Mueller’s team finds clear evidence that Trump colluded with Russia in his 2016 presidential campaign, any abuses Mueller sanctioned as FBI director will be irrelevant. But if Mueller’s case relies on his halo instead of smoking guns, then Americans should pay more heed to Mueller’s record than to his press clips. Gravitas is no substitute for fidelity to the Constitution. James Bovard is a USA Today columnist and the author of 10 books, including “ Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty” (St. Martin’s Press, 1994).

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (206306)	1/30/2018 4:28:26 AM
From: FJB	3 Recommendations Recommended By DeplorableIrredeemableRedneck relewis TideGlider Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 224748

Why aren't the Democrats horrified by the corruption at the FBI and DOJ? americanthinker.com It is becoming clearer by the day, after over a year of investigations, that the Obama administration did indeed weaponize the DOJ, the FBI, the CIA, the ATF, the IRS and the NSA. Over those eight years, each of the above agencies was transformed into an arm of the Democratic Party tasked with crippling the opposition and abrogating the Constitution. Since all of the mainstream media already were arms of the DNC, it is well and truly a miracle that Donald Trump prevailed throughout his campaign to win the election, as the entire DC bureaucracy and media were aligned against him. Most of them still are. Those law enforcement institutions in which Americans have put their trust and faith for many decades have been thoroughly compromised by a group of bad actors at the top, self-appointed arbiters of electoral politics. Besides sullying the reputations of their institutions, this "secret society" of persons who believe themselves to be above the law has lethally betrayed the rank and file employees of those agencies. The public has seen only a fraction of the material that, according to those who have seen it, proves higher-ups at the DOJ and FBI colluded to clear Hillary Clinton of any responsibility for her many crimes. These operatives knew she had ignored all the rules regarding classified material by having her own private server. They likely all knew the Clinton Foundation was nothing but a pay-to-play outfit to enrich the Clintons (only 6% of its funds went to charity). And this bunch still thought she was qualified to be President, this woman with a forty-year history of lying, cheating and scheming! Are there no essential values among these persons privileged to wield power over the rest of us? In collusion with the Clinton campaign, the DNC, the FBI and DOJ worked together to produce and then use fabricated opposition research to obtain FISA warrants to spy on possibly hundreds of people connected to the Trump family and campaign. They did this to bring him down by any means necessary. As many people have observed, this is the stuff of the former Soviet Union and third-world dictatorships. Information is being released in dribs and drabs, but enough has been made public for all to know that this is the biggest political scandal in American history. The Republicans want to release a memo that is a summary of what the House Intelligence Committee has seen so far. This memo is based solely on documents provided to the committee by the FBI and the DOJ. The Democrats are fighting the release of said memo. The ever-obsessed Adam Schiff is determined that no member of the public be allowed to see what our elected representatives have already seen. We are apparently too stupid to grasp the complexities of this summary. Schiff still believes the fabricated Trump/Russia collusion narrative, even though he has seen the documents and texts from Strzok saying there is "no there there" ten months into this scam investigation. Schiff has invested so many television hours in pushing his version of events, the one he so fervently wants to be true, that he can't let go of it even as it is revealed to be a malicious plan by a group of arrogant civil servants, all of them Democrats. What is so distressing is that no elected Democrat, not one, has expressed shock or concern that these agencies have been so corrupted. Given what we know so far, every member of Congress and every member of the press should be equally horrified. This level of criminality should offend everyone, every citizen and every elected official. But to the left, it's just another dust-up created by those rascally Republicans. Use our law enforcement agencies to destroy a campaign and/or to bring about the impeachment of a President? "So what" seems to be the attitude on the left. The Constitution be damned. Among these culprits, who include Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Brennan, James Clapper, Susan Rice, Samantha Power, Andrew McCabe, James Comey, Rod Rosenstein, Lisa Page, and Peter Strzok, there is no honor, no respect for the law, the truth or the American people. Shouldn't the Democrats be as angry about this as Republicans? Has their hatred for Trump so impaired their judgment that they have sacrificed their integrity, their respect for ethics and the law? How else to explain their full engagement in the cover-up, fueled by their wholesale denial of the facts? Once DOJ IG Michael Horowitz's report is released, and if the FISA memo is made public, much more will be clear to everyone. One has to wonder how the Democrats will recover their lost dignity. Their many months-long defense of the indefensible will have done significant damage to their brand unless Democrat voters are as unscrupulous, as unconcerned about honor and ethics as their elected representatives have proven to be.

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (206306)	1/30/2018 4:53:45 AM
From: FJB	2 Recommendations Recommended By DeplorableIrredeemableRedneck TideGlider Respond to of 224748

Cold winters are testing the limits of US energy grid thehill.com © Getty Images The arctic air that has frozen the northeastern U.S. over the first weeks of 2018 has prompted New Englanders to crank up the heat and New England’s utility companies to scramble for fuel. This season’s above-average heating and electricity demand has tested grid reliability at a time when the topic has had particular political salience. Most reporting on the matter has lauded the resilience the grid has shown, but a fuel-security analysis performed by the group that oversees New England’s power system delivers a pessimistic chill. ISO New England’s analysis reveals that in winters to come fuel insecurity will plague the region. Insecurity despite abundance What makes ISO New England’s report so tragic is that the United States is now a veritable world energy superpower. Ten years ago, concerns about energy prices and fuel security were a standard element of the national zeitgeist. But a decade removed from the oil price peak of $147 per barrel in July 2008, our national concern over resource depletion has been rendered moot. Spurred by the high prices of the mid-2000s, American companies embarked upon nothing less than a domestic energy renaissance. Since 2005, oil production in the United States has increased by 50 percent, oil exports have seen a tenfold increase, and oil imports have fallen by a quarter. More critically for electricity, however, have been the gains made on the concomitant natural gas front. Natural gas production has soared over the past decade by 50 percent and in late 2017 the United States became a net-natural gas exporter — meaning that America now sells more to foreign countries than it buys from them. Given the positive developments that have left markets awash with energy resources, one would expect American utility companies would be well-positioned to meet the needs of their customers. Instead we are now being warned by ISO New England that in future winters utilities will be unable to meet demand during bouts of frigid weather. The group’s projections in almost every future scenario forecast the implementation of rolling blackouts — the sequential disconnection of blocks of customers from power — to protect the grid from outright disaster. Though the resources are close at hand, a combination of laws and regulations has made New England dependent upon natural gas, yet unable to access all that it needs. While the presence of natural gas in New England’s electricity fuel mix has grown from 18 percent in 2000 to 45 percent in 2017 to an anticipated 56 percent in 2025, New England’s ability to receive natural gas has not kept pace. Pipeline paucity On Jan. 23, ISO New England CEO Gordon van Welie testified before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee that, “when it gets cold the region does not have sufficient gas infrastructure to meet demand for both home heating and power generation.” It is a theme van Welie has conveyed since at least 2013. The pipeline constraints to which he points have at times caused New England to have the most expensive spot natural gas prices in the world — including this January. At the barricade preventing the transport of gas from the abundant reservoirs of Pennsylvania and West Virginia to New England is the state government of New York. Cursed by geographic happenstance, New England needs New York’s consent to receive gas from the Marcellus Shale. But New York politicians and regulators headed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo refuse to grant it whenever possible. In addition to a hydraulic fracturing ban, New York politicians have put the brakes on pipeline projects through their permitting power, blocking the Constitution and Northern Access pipelines outright. New England, for its part, is not much better. In the summer of 2017 the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court nixed a pipeline cost-sharing proposal that would have helped to reduce stress on the grid during a harsh winter like New England is experiencing now. The hostility to pipelines is so pervasive in the northeast that ISO New England takes that bleak view that “no new incremental gas infrastructure will be built to serve power generation.” The Jones Act With state governments blocking new pipeline construction to bring in affordable shale gas, New England buys liquefied natural gas (LNG) transported by sea. Since the United States is now an LNG exporter, New England would seem to have a reliable option. But domestic shipping of LNG is made impossible by the obtuse Merchant Marine Act of 1920 — commonly called the Jones Act. The Jones Act mandates that only American-built, -owned, -crewed and -flagged vessels can participate in maritime shipping between domestic ports. The alleged purpose of the Jones Act is to improve national defense. While that may have made sense to lawmakers with the specter of German U-boats fresh in their memories, the Jones Act’s only effect today is that it drives up prices for consumers and protects a special interest group. The Congressional Research Service has found that the Jones Act results in American vessels operating at twice the cost of comparable foreign ships. There are no Jones Act-compliant LNG ships at this time and New England therefore contracts with importers from around the Atlantic. While Trinidad and Tobago is the largest supplier, this month the Everett LNG import terminal is due to receive Russian gas produced by Yamal LNG, a facility subject to U.S. financial sanctions. The cold truth In 2013, van Welie sounded the alarm, informing the Senate that New England was becoming more reliant on natural gas for power generation without investing in natural gas supply infrastructure. Sadly, ISO New England’s message has gone unheeded and insidious laws and regulations continue to harm the region. The result is that despite unprecedented domestic energy production, New Englanders will soon find themselves out in the cold. Jordan McGillis is a policy analyst at the Institute for Energy Research, a nonprofit focused on free-market energy and environmental research and policy.