Obama shows mixed results in delivering on State of the Union promises

Close Guantanamo. End the Iraq war. Tax the rich. Increase nuclear power. Drill for oil in the Atlantic.
President Obama called for all these initiatives and more in previous State of the Union speeches. Some came to pass; others did not. 
Tuesday's State of the Union address is likely to be similar in scope -- filled with political wish-list items, some strikingly ambitious considering Congress is now controlled by Republicans. But when a president makes such pledges -- be it to add a million jobs, to freeze spending or to cut red tape -- should taxpayers believe the claims or dismiss them as political hype? 
A look back at his past addresses may help answer that question. 
2009
Renewable energy: In 2009, the president said his economic recovery plan would "double the nations' supply of renewable energy in the next three years." 
That didn't quite happen. The share of renewable power in the U.S. increased from 10.62 percent in 2009 to 12.6 percent in 2011, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. 
Deficit reduction: Obama also pledged to "cut the deficit in half by the end of my first term in office." On that count, he eventually did -- though it took a year longer than he promised. The deficit fell to $680 billion in 2013 from $1.41 trillion in 2009. 
College graduation rates: "By 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world," Obama said in 2009, when just 41 percent of  Americans graduated from college. That number now stands at 43 percent, a two-point gain in six years and one of the slowest growth rates in the world, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. It ranks the U.S. behind Russia, South Korea and Canada. The College Board ranks the U.S. 12th out of 36 countries. 
He also planned to close the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay and open universal tax-free savings accounts for all Americans. Both efforts failed to fly in Congress. 
2010
Nuclear power: In 2010, the president promised to "build a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants in the U.S." That didn't happen. 
Program cuts: "We will continue to go through the budget line by line to eliminate programs that we can't afford," the president told Congress in 2010. That, too, didn't materialize.
The Congressional Budget Office outlined $100 billion in useful spending cuts in 2009. The Office of Management and Budget identified wasteful and non-performing programs totaling another $100 billion in 2013. The Government Accountability Office identified $37 billion in duplicative programs in 2011.
Spending freeze: "Starting in 2011, we are prepared to freeze government spending for three years," the president told Congress in 2010. For the most part, that happened. The federal budget remained about $3.5 trillion during that period. 
A promise to "change the tone of our politics" was not as successful. Polls show an increase in partisanship among voters and many blame the president, whose latest Gallup approval ratings hover around 45 percent. 
He also famously said ObamaCare "would preserve the right of Americans who have insurance to keep their doctor and their plan." That wasn't true.
But Obama did promise to regulate the banks, reform federal student aid and increase taxes on the rich. All became law. 
2011 
Immigration: "We should take on, once and for all, the issue of illegal immigration," Obama said in 2011.
While he never convinced Congress to pass immigration reform, Obama acted alone, passing a series of executive actions on immigration last November. 
Tax reform: In 2011, Obama said the U.S. should "simplify the individual tax code," but he did nothing to push the issue. On Tuesday night, he is expected to call for more taxes on the top earners, on investments and inheritances. 
2012
Outsourcing punishment: In 2012, the president promised to "stop rewarding businesses that ship jobs overseas." That effort went nowhere as the White House did not pursue corporate tax reform in Congress, even though the president said it remained a priority in his 2013 and 2014 State of the Union speeches as well. 
Regulation elimination: In 2012, the president said, "I've ordered every federal agency to eliminate rules that don't make sense." The White House says it followed through, eliminating dozens of outdated rules, governing everything from the handling of spilled milk to warm air hand dryers.
However, the 2013 Federal Register contained 78,891 pages, 70 new laws and 2,898 new rules, according to a study by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, which says U.S. households "pay" $14,768 annually in hidden taxes from unnecessary regulations.
Obama also wanted to "cut through the maze of confusing training programs" to reduce government waste and duplication. According to the Government Accountability Office, the federal government spends $18 billion a year on 47 overlapping job training programs.
Oil and gas drilling: In response to higher gas prices, in 2012 the president said, "Tonight I'm directing my administration to open more than 75 percent of our potential offshore oil and gas resources." He did, but the statement is misleading, since the Atlantic Ocean, and most of the Pacific and Alaskan waters, remain off limits. According to the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Management, 85 percent of the Outer Continental Shelf in the lower 48 states is not open for exploration or drilling, including 45 percent of the Gulf of Mexico. 
2013
Al Qaeda: In 2013, Obama said, "The organization that attacked us on 9/11 is a shadow of its former self." A year before, he said, "Al Qaeda operatives who remain are scrambling, knowing that they can't escape the reach of the United States of America." In 2009, he said "We will forge a new and comprehensive strategy ... to defeat Al Qaeda and combat extremism."
Despite U.S. efforts, including stepped-up drone strikes, many argue Al Qaeda and particularly its affiliates are more powerful today, not less. Even in the Middle East, voters tell Pew Research, Islamic extremism, including Al Qaeda and its affiliates, are a growing threat. 
Health spending: In 2013, the president lobbied for support for ObamaCare, promising to "bring down costs by changing the way our government pays for Medicare." He did. Medicare spending slowed from 7.7 percent to 5.3 percent, according to a new report by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
A State of the Union speech is a mix of policy and politics, aspirations and accomplishments. After six years in office, Obama has overseen an improving economy -- though middle class wages remain flat. Proposals for corporate tax reform and universal preschool remain in limbo.
While there is partisanship and disagreement on almost every issue, this 2013 statement could be the exception. "Our government shouldn't make promises we cannot keep, but we must keep the promises we've already made," Obama told Congress.
Nevertheless, Tuesday's address may include many promises even he knows cannot be kept.

Japan PM vows to save hostages purportedly threatened by ISIS

 Japan's Prime Minister vowed Tuesday to save the lives of two Japanese hostages threatened with beheading in an online video purportedly released by the Islamic State terror group. 
In the video, identified as being made by the Islamic State group's al-Furqan media arm and posted on militant websites associated with the extremist group, a militant threatened to kill the men unless a $200 million ransom was paid within 72 hours. If confirmed to be from Islamic State, better known as ISIS, the video would mark the first public demand for ransom from the group in exchange for the release of captives. 
Speaking in Jerusalem, Abe called on ISIS to immediately release the hostages, saying that "their lives are the top priority." Abe is in the midst of a six-day visit to the Middle East, accompanied by more than 100 government officials and presidents of Japanese companies.
In the video, the two men, identified by ISIS as Kenji Goto Jogo and Haruna Yukawa, appear in orange jumpsuits like other hostages previously killed by ISIS, which controls a third of Iraq and Syria. The militant who threatens them speaks in a British accent and resembles a militant involved in other filmed beheadings. 
"To the prime minister of Japan: Although you are more than 8,500 kilometers (5,280 miles) from the Islamic State, you willingly have volunteered to take part in this crusade," the knife-brandishing terrorist says. "You have proudly donated $100 million to kill our women and children, to destroy the homes of the Muslims."
Japan's Foreign Ministry's anti-terrorism section has seen the video and analysts are assessing it, a ministry official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of department rules.
Speaking in Tokyo, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga declined to say whether Japan would pay the ransom.
"If true, the act of threat in exchange of people's lives is unforgivable and we feel strong indignation," Suga told journalists. "We will make our utmost effort to win their release as soon as possible."
In August, a Japanese citizen believed to be Yukawa, a private military company operator in his early 40s, was kidnapped in Syria after going there to train with rebel fighters, according to a post on a blog he kept. Pictures on his Facebook page show him in Iraq and Syria in July. One video on his page showed him holding a Kalashnikov assault rifle with the caption: "Syria war in Aleppo 2014."
"I cannot identify the destination," Yukawa wrote in his last blog post. "But the next one could be the most dangerous." He added: "I hope to film my fighting scenes during an upcoming visit."
Yukawa's father, Shoichi, who lives in Chiba, just outside Tokyo, expressed shock over the news in an interview with Japanese public television station NHK.
"I don't understand this," he said. "I'm quite confused."
Goto is a respected Japanese freelance journalist who went to report on Syria's civil war last year and knew of Yukawa.
"I'm in Syria for reporting," he wrote in an email to an Associated Press journalist in October. "I hope I can convey the atmosphere from where I am and share it."
ISIS has beheaded and shot dead hundreds of captives -- mainly Syrian and Iraqi soldiers -- during its sweep across the two countries, and has celebrated its mass killings in extremely graphic videos. A British-accented jihadi also has appeared in the beheading videos of slain American hostages James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and with British hostages David Haines and Alan Henning.
The group also holds British photojournalist John Cantlie, who has appeared in other extremist propaganda videos, and a 26-year-old American woman captured last year in Syria while working for aid groups. U.S. officials have asked that the woman not be identified out of fears for her safety.
Though the militant in the video links the ransom demand to the Japanese funding efforts to counter ISIS, it comes amid recent losses for the extremists targeted in airstrikes by a U.S.-led coalition. Its militants also recently released some 200 mostly elderly Yazidi hostages in Iraq, fueling speculation by Iraqi officials that the group couldn't support them.
This is Abe's second Mideast hostage crisis since becoming prime minister. Two years ago, al-Qaida-affiliated militants attacked an Algerian natural gas plant and the ensuing four-day hostage crisis killed 29 insurgents and 37 foreigners, including 10 Japanese who were working for a Yokohama-based engineering company, JCG Corp. Seven Japanese survived.

Fracking Cartoon

Army commanders order removal of 'God and country' recruiting sign

An Army recruiting station has been ordered by higher ups to shelve a sidewalk sandwich board with the wording "On a mission for both God and country.”
The order went out Friday to a recruiting station in Phoenix that had been displaying the outdoor sign since at least October.  The sign board also shows an image of a Special Forces patch and Ranger, Airborne and Special Forces tabs.
An inquiry from Army Times to the U.S. Army Recruiting Command prompted the sandwich board’s immediate removal.
The command’s spokesman told the paper the sign’s text was changed by “local recruiting personnel” but without clearance from command headquarters.
“Had the process been followed, the copy shown would not have been approved,” spokesman Brian Lepley said.
On Thursday, the head of the atheist group Military Religious Freedom Foundation called the sign the “Poster of Shame.”
In an online post, the group’s Mikey Weinstein called the display a “stunning, unconstitutional disgrace,” Army Times reported.
“The Military Religious Freedom Foundation is delighted the Constitution has been adhered to by the U.S. Army Recruiting Command,” Weinstein said after the sign’s removal.
It appears that prior to being changed the sandwich board read: “We don’t call for reinforcements. We make them.”

US-built Ebola treatment centers reportedly sit empty in Liberia

Several treatment centers built by U.S. troops and meant to receive Ebola patients are sitting empty or nearly empty in the West African country of Liberia, according to a published report. 
The Washington Post reports that the worst of the deadly outbreak appeared to have passed before the first treatment centers were even completed. A Liberian government official tells the Post that the centers were built "too late."
"If they had been built when we needed them, they wouldn't have been too much," the official, Moses Massaquoi, said. 
President Barack Obama dispatched 3,000 troops to West Africa as part of a $750 million plan to fight the spread of the Ebola virus. However, the Post reports that the response from the U.S. and the international community has far outstripped what was necessary. As an example, the Post cites one treatment center where only 46 patients have been admitted since it opened Nov. 18. In Liberia's capital, Monrovia, there are seven Ebola treatment centers. According to the Post, three of those will temporarily suspend operations, while a fourth will close completely. 
The sparsely populated centers are a positive sign that the worst of the outbreak may have passed. The World Health Organization (WHO) says that the outbreak has claimed over 8,400 lives, most of them in Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone. But for the week ending Jan. 11, WHO said Guinea reported its lowest weekly total of new Ebola cases since mid-August. Liberia had its lowest total since the first week of June and no confirmed new cases for the final two days of the week.
All schools in Guinea, which were closed due to the outbreak, are to reopen on Monday, while in Liberia, the schools are reopening "next month," the Liberian Embassy's Charges d'Affaires in Ghana, Musu Ruhle, told the Associated Press. 
The WHO says there are now enough beds to isolate and treat Ebola patients, but not all are in the hotspots where the disease is spreading fastest. The U.N. estimates that the number of scientists needed to track the outbreak must be tripled.
One place where the outbreak appears to be less contained is Sierra Leone, where at least 16 new cases were reported last week and schools will remain closed until further notice. 
U.N.'s Ebola chief, Dr. David Nabarro, cautioned Thursday that despite the gains "there are still numbers of new cases that are alarming, and there are hotspots that are emerging in new places that make me believe there is still quite a lot of the disease that we're not seeing."

Ted Cruz says 'Democrats will win again' if GOP picks moderate candidate in 2016

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, predicted late Sunday that Democrats would keep the White House in 2016 if Republicans selected a moderate nominee next year.
Speaking at the South Carolina Tea Party Conventions in Myrtle Beach, Cruz, himself a possible presidential candidate, referred disparagingly to political consultants as "Washington graybeards ... telling us about the mushy middle." Cruz has previously used the term when discussing former Massachusetts governor and 2012 nominee Mitt Romney, who is widely rumored to be considering a third run for the highest office in the land.
"If we nominate another candidate in the mold of [1996 nominee] Bob Dole or [Arizona Senator and 2008 nominee] John McCain or Mitt Romney," Cruz said Sunday, "The same people who stayed home in 2008 and 2012 will stay home in 2016 and the Democrats will win again. There is a better way."
Cruz's comments echoed criticism of Romney made by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who visited two early primary states, New Hampshire and Nevada, over three days last week. 
"If we try the same thing again we might get the same result," Paul said. "So maybe we need to keep lookin'."
Romney says he has not formally decided whether to join the 2016 race. In a speech Friday at the Republican National Committee winter meeting in San Diego, he said only that he was "giving some serious consideration to the future." 
However, sources close to Romney have told Fox News that he has been been calling former aides, donors and supporters from his 2012 campaign -- as well as GOP leaders and insiders in the vital state of New Hampshire. One longtime adviser who has spoken to Romney in the last few days told Fox News it is "very likely" the 2012 Republican presidential nominee will announce a 2016 campaign for president in the next three to four weeks.
Another possible target of Cruz's remarks Sunday, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, is likely to join Romney in making a bid for the White House, according to Fred Malek, finance chairman for the Republican Governors Association. 
"They've taken this forward a lot faster and a lot further than I would have imagined," Malek told Fox News Tuesday. "And I don't think they would have done that unless they have a serious intent on moving ahead." Malek went on to say that he guessed there was an "80 percent chance" Romney would join the race.
Romney is scheduled to speak Monday in Indian Wells, Calif. at the kickoff of the 2015 "Desert Town Hall Speaker Series," which has drawn headliners ranging from former presidents George Bush and George W. Bush, former Vice President Dick Cheney, former Senator Bill Bradley, and other luminaries.

NSA program reportedly helped US gather evidence against North Korea in Sony hack

A program implemented by the National Security Agency to help the U.S. and its allies track the computers and networks used by North Korean hackers was critical in gathering information that led Washington to conclude Pyongyang was behind last year's cyberattack on Sony Pictures.
The New York Times reported late Sunday that the NSA began placing malware in North Korean systems in 2010. Originally, the purpose of the surveillance was to gain insight into North Korea's nuclear program, but the focus shifted after a large cyberattack on South Korean banks and media companies in 2013. 
In the case of the Sony Pictures hack, which knocked nearly the entire company's system offline, investigators believe that the North had stolen the "credentials" of a Sony systems administrator, which enabled them to spend two months familiarizing themselves with Sony's network and plotting how to destroy files, computers, and systems. The attacks themselves, which Sony first reported to the FBI Nov. 24, are widely considered to be in retaliation for the release of "The Interview," a comedy that features an assassination attempt against Kim Jong Un. Pyongyang has repeatedly denied any involvement in the Sony hack.
Skeptics have cast doubt on the official story that North Korea was behind the Sony hack, with many suggesting a disgruntled current or former Sony employee was responsible. Earlier this month, FBI director James Comey said U.S. investigators were able to trace emails and Internet posts sent by the Guardians of Peace, the group behind the attack, and link them to North Korea.
Comey said most of the time, the group sent emails threatening Sony employees and made various other statements online using proxy servers to disguise where the messages were coming from. But on occasion, he said, they connected "directly," enabling investigators to "see that the IP addresses that were being used to post and to send the emails were coming from IPs that were exclusively used by the North Koreans."
A senior military official told The Times that the evidence against North Korea that was presented to President Barack Obama was so compelling that he "had no doubt" the Communist regime was responsible. The White House has imposed new economic sanctions against North Korea as a response to the cyberattack. 
The Times report quotes a North Korean defector as saying that country's military first displayed interest in hacking in 1994, when it sent 15 people to a Chinese military academy to learn the practice. Two years later, the Reconnaissance General Bureau, Pyongyang's primary intelligence service, created Bureau 121, a hacking unit that has a substantial representation in the northeast Chinese city of Shenyang. 
South Korea's military claims that the North has a staff of 6,000 hackers dedicated to disrupting the South's military and government. That estimate is more than double an earlier projection made by that country's Defense Ministry.

Hillary Cartoon

Clinton clearing primary field for potential 2016 run could leave her vulnerable

Mrs Hillary Benghazi Clinton

Hillary Clinton appears to have scared away much of the competition should she seek the Democratic nomination for president in 2016. But her early and practically all-encompassing effort also presents the potential liability that she will sail through the primary season largely untested for the bare-knuckled general election. 
And it could deny Democrats the chance to define themselves to Americans, strategists say.
“It's not good for a party because the Democratic Party needs a real debate about what it's for, who it's for, what it's about and where we'll take the country,” says Dennis Kucinich, a former Democratic congressman, presidential candidate and a Fox News contributor.
The 67-year-old Clinton plans to make an official announcement in early 2015, leaving some doubt about whether she will indeed run. But her frontrunner status is unquestionable.
She has roughly 62 percent of the likely vote and leads all potential Democratic challengers by a numbing 49.5 percentage points.
And those numbers combined with an ambitious public-speaking schedule and the fundraising and cheerleading group Ready for Hillary are making it difficult for potential primary challengers to raise money.
In addition, Clinton’s most formidable, likely primary challenger now, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, insists she’s not running, leaving the Democratic field so wide open that 73-year-old Bernie Sanders, an independent and junior senator from Vermont, is now fourth behind Clinton, Warren and Vice President Biden, according an averaging of polls by RealClearPolitics.com  
“I think you miss the chance to vet ideals,” says Richard Fowler, a Democrat and host of the progressive-leaning “Richard Fowler Talk Show.” “I think that's what elections are about. Elections are about ideals and how ideals … would then turn into policy that will then turn into how we govern.”
Clinton, a former first lady, secretary of State and New York senator, hasn’t been in a campaign-style debate since 2008, when she lost the Democratic presidential primary to President Obama, then a freshman Illinois senator.
Still, a relatively easy 2016 primary, if Clinton indeed runs, would likely save her from the pummeling she took last time.
“You’re likeable enough, Hillary,” Obama said on stage to Clinton, who was the early Democratic frontrunner in that race, too.
Among the tough questions she will likely face, and needs to answer well, include what she knew about security at the U.S. outpost in Benghazi, Libya, in which four Americans were killed in a 2012 terror attack.
Clinton, who is worthy millions of dollars, also will likely have to make a strong case that she will champion the country’s poor and working class, after saying on her 2014 book tour: “We came out of the White House not only dead broke, but in debt.”
“Hillary Clinton, I think, has proven that when you're off the trail for a while, you come back rusty,” said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics. “She certainly came back rusty on that book tour.”

Despite horrors of Paris, Obama continues to free terror suspects from Guantanamo

While 40 world leaders marched in Paris to show solidarity against terrorist attacks, Obama not only skipped the event, he remains determined to free as many Al Qaeda, Taliban and affiliated jihadists from Guantanamo as possible.
Just this week he released five Yemenis, four to Oman and one to Estonia, despite their front-line service against U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan and Pakistan. At least one is suspected of serving as a bodyguard to Usama bin Laden.
Like everyone else, Mr. Obama is aware that the Paris massacres aren’t the first mass casualty attacks carried out by extremists determined to kill Christians, Jews and any Muslims who stand in their way of power. 

Ex-Gitmo men have become leaders of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan and Ansar Al-Sharia in Libya. One became a suicide bomber in Iraq. They’ve killed Americans and our allies in each place, most notably in Benghazi.  Between 20 and 30 have reportedly joined the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

Madrid, London, Istanbul, Mumbai, Nairobi and Bali — let alone Washington, D.C., and New York on 9/11 — have been rocked for over more than a decade by large-scale terror attacks carried out by those shouting “Allah Akhbar,” Arabic for “God is Great.” Canada, Australia, Belgium, The Netherlands and Bulgaria have suffered through smaller attacks.
And in places like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Yemen and Somalia, deadly terrorist attacks on civilian and military targets happen practically every week.
Mr. Obama also knows that nearly one in three former Gitmo detainees are confirmed or suspected of returning to terrorism. 
Ex-Gitmo men have become leaders of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan and Ansar Al-Sharia in Libya. One became a suicide bomber in Iraq. They’ve killed Americans and our allies in each place, most notably in Benghazi.  Between 20 and 30 have reportedly joined the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
Yet Mr. Obama continues to free them. 
Mr. Obama believes the fight against Al Qaeda and affiliates is law enforcement action, not a war. Incredibly, he can’t even bring himself to say that we’re defending ourselves against “radical Islam.”
He doesn’t believe enemy combatants should be held without a trial, and he has pushed to extend full constitutional protections for foreign terror suspects on American soil, even those trying to kill countless Americans. 
To his left-leaning political base, Guantanamo represents the Bush administration’s so-called “overreach.” America’s enemies, both foreign and domestic, typically portray detainees as the victims — practically modern versions of Che Guevara, simply fighting the power. 
As Mr. Obama continues to release detainees in an effort to go around Congress and shutter Gitmo by emptying it, Americans ought to know more about who left in 2014.
Five were top Taliban leaders exchanged for a reputed Army deserter; four have suicide operations training; two explicitly said they’ll return to terrorism. Ten were at Tora Bora, Bin Laden’s last stand in Afghanistan. One was arrested for possession of Stinger missiles and uranium “which detainee’s recovered documents indicate was intended for use in a nuclear device,” according to his file. 
Considering how dangerous these men are, why would any American official release them?
They say Guantanamo hurts America’s reputation. Well, if/when another country loses 3,000 people in one single terrorist attack, we’ll see how they react.
They say we must live by our values and the rule of law. Yet during wartime, America has always kept enemy combatants locked up. And isn’t protecting the public an important value?
They say Guantanamo is too expensive per detainee, citing wildly inflated costs as those troops guarding them would just be deployed elsewhere. Even so, how expensive was 9/11? What is the price tag on the lives of Americans killed? With the State Department just issuing a $5 million bounty on an ex-Gitmo Saudi who is now a top Al Qaeda leader, we know exactly how costly that is.
And finally, they say the detainees should be brought to the U.S. mainland, and that no one has ever escaped Supermax. Well, they don’t have to escape if left-wing activist judges let them out. Which is Mr. Obama’s little secret on Gitmo.  
Americans should be outraged at how Mr. Obama is placing his far-left ideology and an ill-advised campaign promise over our lives. 
Congress should act to stop this madness before more Americans are killed.