Conservative Blogger
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
ICE operation nets more than 1,100 arrests in five weeks
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Law enforcement officials inspect an arrested individual’s tattoos for signs of gang affiliation.
(ICE)
The resulting 1,133 arrests included: 1,001 criminal arrests; 915 gang members and associates; 239 foreign nationals from 13 countries in Central America, Asia, Europe and the Caribbean; 132 immigration violations.
“This operation is the latest example of ICE’s ongoing efforts, begun more than a decade ago under Operation Community Shield, to target violent gang members and their associates, to eradicate the violence they inflict upon our communities and to stop the cash flow to transnational organized crime groups operating overseas,” ICE Director Sarah R. Saldana said in a statement.
Agents also seized 150 firearms, more than 20 kilos of narcotics and more than $70,000, according to an ICE news release.
States' rights advocates eye convention to bypass Congress, amend Constitution
That’s just one idea being proposed by advocates of a “convention of states” to amend the U.S. Constitution.
"The American people are mad and they’re looking for a way to say, ‘No more,’” said Brooke Rollins, president and CEO of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative think tank. “Our founders, in their brilliance, gave us a tool to do that. And it’s Article V.”
Article V of the Constitution allows a minimum of two-thirds of the states to call for a convention to propose amendments, in turn going around Congress.
The push to do so has proceeded in fits and starts over the last several years, driven by a desire for states to debate a range of constitutional changes dealing with everything from campaign finance reform to balanced budgets. So far, six states have signed on — Alabama, Alaska, Georgia, Florida, Indiana and Tennessee. Indiana was the latest to sign on, approving a resolution endorsing the effort earlier this month.
But organizers would need another 28 to bring their plan to fruition, and call the convention. If they reach that level of support, states would be entering uncharted territory.
“It has never happened before in the history of the United States,” said Robert Schapiro, dean of Emory University School of Law.
In an election cycle that has defied conventional wisdom, though, supporters of a convention of states believe right now may be the very best time to try something different.
“The mood of the public is tired of business as usual,” said Buzz Brockway, a Republican state representative who sponsored Georgia’s convention of states resolution.
Brockway told Fox News he believes such a convention could achieve consensus on such issues as campaign finance reform, term limits and balanced budgets. Even if states fall short of the two-thirds supermajority needed to call for a convention to propose amendments (and the three-quarters required to ratify them), Brockway said the effort itself could encourage change.
“In the ‘80s, President Reagan actually came out and said he was in favor of a balanced budget convention,” Brockway said. “That spurred Washington to act. And they didn’t actually pass a balanced budget amendment, but they came extremely close. So, I think at the worst case, this will spur Congress to action. The best case, we’ll have actual amendments that are proposed that states can consider.”
Schapiro has doubts about how far the effort will go.
“There have been efforts before to have states call for a constitutional convention. And with regard to certain issues, states have come fairly close,” he said. “But, given the divided times which we face, and given the broad brush of these amendments, I think it’s unlikely to garner the kind of support that would be necessary actually to reach that two-thirds benchmark.”
Days after visit, Fidel Castro slams Obama, recounts history of aggression
In a 1,500-word bristling column
published in the Communist government’s official newspaper on Monday,
Castro, 89, recounts the history of U.S. aggression against Cuba.
Referring to Obama, he wrote: "My modest suggestion is that he reflects
and doesn't try to develop theories about Cuban politics."Obama did not meet with Fidel Castro but met several times with his brother Raul Castro, the current president.
Obama's visit was intended to build irreversible momentum behind his opening with Cuba and to convince the Cuban people and the Cuban government that a half-century of U.S. attempts to overthrow the Communist government had ended.
But in his column, titled "My Brother Obama," the older Castro all but mocks the U.S. president's efforts. He goes over crucial sections of Obama's speech line by line, engaging in an ex-post-facto dialogue with the American president with pointed critiques of perceived slights and insults, including Obama's failure to give credit to indigenous Cubans and Castro's prohibition of racial segregation after coming to power in 1959.
“Obama delivered a speech in which he used the most honeyed words to say: ‘It's high time to forget the past, let’s leave the past behind, look to the future, let's look at it together, a future of hope. And it will not be easy, there will be challenges, and to those we will give time; but my stay here gives me further hope of what we can do together as friends, as family, as neighbors, together,’” Castro wrote in Granma, the government’s newspaper.
“We were supposed to risk a heart attack upon hearing these words of the President of the United States. After a merciless blockade that has lasted almost 60 years? And those who have died in the mercenary attacks on Cuban ships and ports, an airliner full of passengers detonated in midair, mercenary invasions, multiple acts of violence and force?’ Castro wrote.
He added: “Nobody should be under the illusion that the people from this noble and selfless country will renounce to the glory and the rights, and to the spiritual wealth it has earned with the development of education, science and culture.”
He ends with a dig at the Obama administration's drive to increase business ties with Cuba. The Obama administration says re-establishing economic ties with the U.S. will be a boon for Cuba, whose centrally planned economy has struggled to escape from over-dependence on imports and a chronic shortage of hard currency.
“I warn you that we are capable of producing the food and material wealth we need with the effort and intelligence of our people. We do not need the empire to give us nothing. Our efforts will be legal and peaceful, because it is our commitment to peace and brotherhood of all human beings living on this planet.”
EgyptAir plane hijacked, flown to Cyprus after passenger claims to have bomb belt
The Airbus A320 landed at the airport in Larnaka, on the southern coast of the Mediterranean island, at approximately 8:45 a.m. local time (1:45 a.m. ET).
Hours after the plane landed, all but four of the plane's passengers, as well as the cabin crew, had been allowed to leave the aircraft, according to EgyptAir. The airline described the four passengers still on the plane as foreigners, but did not give their nationality.
Egyptian state television identified the hijacker as Ibrahim Samaha, a professor of veterinary medicine at Alexandria University. It was not immediately clear what his motive may have been.
Egyptian government spokesman Hossam al-Queish told the private CBC TV network that Samaha initially wanted the plane flown to Istanbul, Turkey, but was told by the captain that he did not have enough fuel for the journey.
There were conflicting reports on the number of passengers and crew on the plane. An initial statement from Egypt's aviation authority said there were 81 passengers on board and five crew members on board. A revised statement reported by state media in Cyprus said that there were 55 passengers and seven crew members on board.
A Cypriot official told the Associated Press that 56 passengers had left the aircraft after the hijacker released them.
The director of the Alexandria airport, Hossni Hassan, told the Associated Press there were 26 foreigners on board, including eight Americans, four Britons, four Dutch, two Belgians, a French national, an Italian, two Greeks and one Syrian. He said three other foreigners could not be identified.
Sky News reported that the short-haul Flight 181 took off from Alexandria at 8 a.m. Cyprus time. The hijacker contacted the control tower in Lanarka 30 minutes later and was given permission to land.
Ian Petchenik, a spokesman for flight-tracking website FlightRadar24, told the Associated Press that the flight showed no signs of distress on its route to Cyprus.
"It looks like a completely controlled flight aside from the fact it was hijacked," Petchenik said.
Reuters, citing an Israeli military source, reported that Israel scrambled warplanes in its airspace as a precaution in response to the hijacking.
The hijacking will most likely bring to the fore again the question of security at Egyptian airports, five months after a Russian aircraft crashed over Egypt's Sinai Peninsula minutes after it took off from Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. All 224 people on board were killed in the crash. Russia later said an explosive device brought down the aircraft and the extremist Islamic State group (ISIS) said it downed the plane.
Monday, March 28, 2016
Trump's daughter, Ivanka, gives birth to third child
WASHINGTON – Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump is a grandfather — again.
The billionaire businessman's daughter, Ivanka Trump, has given birth to her third child with husband Jared Kushner.
Ivanka Trump announced the birth of her son, Theodore James, on Twitter Sunday, saying that the family feels "incredibly blessed."
Donald Trump, who has frequently made mention of his daughter's pregnancy while campaigning for the Republican nomination, has not yet made any public statements on the birth of his eighth grandchild.
Ivanka is the second of three children Donald Trump had with ex-wife Ivana Trump.
After big promises, House GOP facing reality of not passing budget, and backlash
Few people in Washington think House Republicans this year will complete a budget.
That’s a little astonishing.
Republicans have batted around dozens of ideas. They’ve conducted closed door meetings. Entertained options. And still, House Republicans aren’t much closer to solving the budget riddle than they were when conversations began over the winter.
“The leadership has been on a listening tour for three months,” said Rep. Dave Brat, R-Va. “We have to go back to constituents and say we made up for the crap sandwich. Made up for the barn cleaning.”
What Brat refers to is a plan President Obama forged last fall with then-House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, to “clean the barn” for the next speaker.
Both houses of Congress approved the package, and Obama signed it into law. Only 79 House GOPers voted in favor of the measure in late October -- including new House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis.
The deal established what’s called “discretionary” spending numbers for this fiscal year and fiscal 2017, which begins in October 1.
“We are being asked to validate a spending level that the vast majority of Republicans in the House and Senate opposed months ago,” said Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio. “Let’s do a budget and spend less money. I think that’s what voters are demanding after what you’ve seen in the presidential contest. We make this stuff way too complicated.”
A brief dive into the complicated stuff:
All federal spending is allocated into two chunks. “Mandatory” spending is what the government has to spend on entitlement programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and interest on the debt.
Congress long ago passed laws that put these programs on automatic pilot. Mandatory spending consumes more than two-thirds of all federal dollars each year. That money just floats out the door without anyone raising a finger.
“Discretionary” spending is the rest. It’s discretionary because lawmakers have discretion over how much to spend and on what programs. Discretionary dollars account for the remaining third of all annual government spending.
In Boehner’s barn cleaning, the duo set discretionary spending for fiscal 2016 at $1.067 trillion. They raised it for fiscal 2017 to $1.070 trillion.
But here’s the issue: Congressional conservatives are pushing for $30 billion in reforms to mandatory spending programs. That could reduce the discretionary number to $1.047 trillion. That would make it challenging for the House to approve annual spending bills to fund the government after October 1.
Conservatives have pushed for deep cuts and reductions since Republicans claimed the House in 2010. They made minimal progress in the debt-ceiling agreement of 2011 that resulted in sequestration -- deep, required spending limitations on the discretionary side of the ledger.
But the mandatory spending side is much larger than the discretionary side. That’s why reforms to entitlements make more impact. And conservatives want proof that savings aren’t fiscal fairy dust.
“It needs to be real,” Jordan said.
What counts as “real?” A plan Obama would in fact sign into law.
“That would be pretty real,” Rep. Matt Salmon, R-Ariz., said when asked about moving a measure that would earn the president’s signature.
“It’s got to be this year,” said Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Kansas. “Real cuts that actually get signed into law.”
Conservatives think the GOP-led House has never made good on promises lawmakers made to constituents to reduce overall federal spending. Hence, that’s why they want to show they’re making amends for Boehner’s barn cleaning.
That’s why Republicans can’t cobble together the votes to approve a budget. The Republican brass needs the help of at least some of the 40-plus members who comprise the House Freedom Caucus. But there will be no budget if party divisions remain this deep.
Harley-Davidson stopped manufacturing motorcycle sidecars five years ago. Most bartenders can mix a sidecar cocktail with cognac, Grand Mariner and lemon juice. It’s unclear if House Republican leaders are devotees of Easy Rider or experienced mixologists.
But if the House will produce a budget this year, the production of budgetary “sidecars” are key to the entire enterprise.
“That’s getting warm,” said Brat of the sidecar possibilities. “We’re willing to go there.”
One sidecar option is for the House to approve a budget for fiscal 2017 at the $1.070 trillion level, but include a separate package that mines $30 billion in cuts from mandatory programs.
There is also conversation about approving a budget at a lower spending threshold -- with an agreement that Obama would sign actual spending bills into law with higher dollar figures.
Conservatives feel burned before on broad agreements. It’s customary for policymakers to commit to spending cuts but postpone the hard stuff well into the future.
Conservatives want to get away from that kind of gimmickry.
“We could have $30 billion (in cuts) over ten years with most of the savings in the ninth and tenth years,” said Huelskamp with a smirk, knowing the way Washington usually does things.
Notably, Huelskamp wasn’t endorsing punting the savings until the out years.
The House Budget Committee last week approved a budget that balances the books in a decade and slashes spending by $6.5 trillion.
Included in that budget is a repeal of ObamaCare. But keep in mind that congressional budgets aren’t binding and not signed into law. They’re aspirational.
The panel passed the budget. However, Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price, R-Ga., knew there were several GOPers who voted yes in committee who would vote no on the budget on the floor. Dave Brat and Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., voted no in committee.
There’s a problem with not doing a budget. Failing to agree to an overall topline for mandatory and discretionary spending makes it virtually impossible for lawmakers to begin approving annual appropriations bills that fund the government.
There is a parliamentary failsafe that Ryan could deploy to help initiate the appropriations bills. It’s possible the House could simply hook some language to another measure and “deem” that it passed a budget -- even if it really hasn’t.
In Congress, “deeming” a budget at least starts the appropriations process. But Ryan is ruling out such a tactic.
“No,” he said. “We need to do a budget.”
Regardless, the House Appropriations Committee prepared its first spending bill of the year a few days ago.
The committee sketched a plan to spend $81.6 billion on military construction projects and fund the Department of Veterans Affairs. The bill represents $1.2 billion less than what Obama requested but is $1.8 billion above what lawmakers spent last year.
Of course, if the House can’t OK a budget at all -- or even deem a budget -- it’s likely Congress is stuck and must approve a gigantic interim spending bill in September to avoid a government shutdown.
Only some Republicans would be likely to vote for it. The GOP leaders would probably again turn to Democrats to bail them out.
And this is precisely what got Boehner in trouble with House Republicans: leaning on Democrats all the time to do the tough stuff.
A stopgap spending bill means the military construction/VA measure gets less money -- as do all of the other appropriations bills in the big, catchall bill.
That’s because not doing a budget and relying on old spending figure kicks the total discretionary figure back to what the government is spending this year: $1.067 trillion -- a cut of $3 billion.
As former House Budget Committee chairman, Ryan is the high priest of budgets. He authored multiple fiscal blueprints that Republicans embraced. He chastised Democrats when they failed to produce budgets.
This is why Ryan and Republicans know why it’s so important to produce a budget and adopt it on the floor. This is all on them. But as speaker, Ryan can only attest to the virtues of budgeting. This fight is internal, Republicans on Republicans.
Last time, they blamed Boehner. But he isn’t here anymore.
“Once Obama leaves office, there is nobody left to blame,” Huelskamp said.
Cruz slams Obama's foreign policy after Brussels attacks, says 'enough is enough'
Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz on Sunday took aim at President Obama's foreign policy in the wake of the Brussels terror bombings, calling the president's policies a "manifest disaster" and saying the U.S. "needs a commander in chief who will lead."
Cruz has specifically targeted Obama’s plans to allows refugees from war-torn Syria into the United States and has argued that U.S. law enforcement should have more authority to “patrol and secure” Muslim neighborhoods before their residents become radicalized.
“Enough is enough,” Cruz told “Fox News Sunday.” “We need a commander in chief who will protect this nation. … This is a policy of weakness and appeasement.”
Cruz’s original comments were quickly criticized by Obama, Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton, the New York City police department and others.
And NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton wrote an op-ed in the New York Daily News on Sunday in which he said the department already patrols and secures Muslim neighborhoods but doesn’t engage in “selective enforcement” based on race or religion.
“Nor will we use the police and an occupying force to intimidate a populace or a religion to appease the provocative chatter of politicians seeking to exploit fear,” he wrote.“We already patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods, the same way we patrol and secure other neighborhoods."
Authorities have linked one of the Brussels attackers to the deadly Paris bombings in November, with ISIS claiming responsibility for both strikes.
Cruz pointed out the terror group has vowed to try to slip its fighters into the Syrian refugee program, which could increase the risk of a terror attacks on U.S. soil.
Cruz also said Europe’s immigration policies, which have allowed millions of Muslim refugees to enter the region, have created a "hotbed of racialization."
“We cannot become Europe,” he said.
Cruz said that in calling for stepped-up policing in Muslim neighborhoods he meant addressing problems by using "every tool" including law enforcement, the military abroad and the country's national security and intelligence communities.
He also condemned GOP rival Donald Trump's attack on Cruz's wife, Heidi, and a tabloid story suggesting Cruz might have had extramarital affairs.
“Attacks on a spouse have no place in politics,” Cruz said.
He added that Trump’s recent suggestion that the U.S. withdraw from NATO would be a huge mistake and shows his “lack of understanding” of foreign policy. He claimed such a move would be a “massive victory” for both Russian President Vladimir Putin and ISIS.
Sanders sweeps in Alaska, Hawaii, Washington, but too little too late?
Sen. Bernie Sanders won nearly three dozen delegates Saturday in sweeping the Alaska, Washington and Hawaii Democratic presidential caucuses, but the strong, comeback victories failed to cut substantially into front-runner Hillary Clinton’s big lead.
Sanders needs to win 67 percent of the remaining delegates and uncommitted super-delegates through June to clinch the Democratic nomination. And so far he's winning only 37 percent.
There were 162 delegates at stake Saturday -- Washington with 101, followed by Hawaii with 25 and Alaska with 16.
The Vermont senator won 55 delegates, compared to 20 for Clinton. However, more will likely be allocated to Sanders in several weeks, when the Washington state Democratic Party releases vote shares by district.
Still, Clinton still maintains a wide advantage in delegates, winning 1,243 to Sanders' 975 based on primary and caucuses to date.
Her lead is even bigger when including super-delegates, or party officials who can back any candidate they wish. Clinton has 1,712 to Sanders' 1,004, with 2,383 needed to win.
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“Our calculations are that in fact we can win the pledge delegates,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “We have the momentum. We have won five out of the six last contests in landslide fashion. … And the reason is the issues that we are talking about -- a corrupt campaign finance system, the disappearance of the American middle class, … kids graduating college $50,000 in debt.”
To be sure, Sanders had a good Saturday, which he hopes will give him some momentum as the primary-caucus season moves to the Midwest, Northeast, then to the West Coast, including California with 546 delegates at stake in June.
Sanders won Alaska 81-to-18 percent over Clinton; 68-32 in Hawaii and 73-26 in Washington, with all precincts having reported.
The self-described democratic socialist on Saturday night acknowledged his struggles in earlier contests across the South, with its strong conservative voting bloc, but struck an optimistic tone.
"We knew things were going to improve as we headed west," he said at a rally in Madison, Wis. "We are making significant inroads in ... Clinton's lead. ... We have a path toward victory."
The next Democratic and Republican primaries are April 5 in Wisconsin. Other big, upcoming primaries include Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York, Clinton’s home state.
Sanders is popular among younger and more progressive Americans but continues to struggle to connect with Hispanic and African-American voters.
He was expected to do well in Washington, considering residents of Seattle, the biggest city in the Pacific Northwest, are among the most liberal in the country and major campaign contributors.
He drew more than 10,000 supporters at an outdoor rally Friday evening in Seattle. And the state appeared to have a record voter turnout, similar to others that have helped keep alive Sanders’ insurgent campaign.
Most of Washington’s Democratic leadership endorsed Clinton, including Gov. Jay Inslee, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray and Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell.
Still, Sanders entered Saturday’s contests optimistic after winning more delegate than Clinton in three contests earlier last week -- nearly 20 in the Idaho and Utah caucuses, despite losing the marquee Arizona primary to the former secretary of state.
Sanders has done significantly better in caucus contests, now winning 10 of the last 12.
Most of his 15 primary-season wins have been in states with largely white populations and in the caucus contests, which tend to attract the most active liberal Democrats.
While Sanders faces a steep climb to the nomination, Clinton’s recent losses highlight her persistent vulnerabilities, including concerns about her trustworthiness and weak support among younger voters.
Clinton has been looking past the primary contests and aiming at potential Republican challengers.
She did not hold a public event after the Saturday’s results were announced.
But in interviews, rallies and speeches last week, she largely focused on Tuesday's deadly attacks in Brussels, casting GOP front-runner Donald Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz as unqualified to deal with complicated international threats.
Her campaign sees the April 19 contest in New York as an important one, not just because of the rich delegate prize but because losing to Sanders in a state she represented in the Senate would be a psychological blow.
She hopes to lock up an even larger share of delegates in five Northeastern contests a week later.
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