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"I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened"
Featuring:
When Bootleggers and Bapitst converge
George F. Will
"Know who you are standing with"
"Show me your friends and I'll show you your future"
~~~lll~~~
Does it matter? - The Clinton campaign is dismissive of the claims, saying that such connections don’t amount to a conspiracy. But in light of the more than 30,000 emails that Clinton destroyed from her time as secretary of state, their case for multiple beneficial coincidences is hard to prop up. And the stakes here are sky-high. Here’s how the NYT put it: “‘Should we be concerned? Absolutely,’ said Michael McFaul, who served under Mrs. Clinton as the American ambassador to Russia but said he had been unaware of the Uranium One deal until asked about it. ‘Do we want Putin to have a monopoly on this? Of course we don’t. We don’t want to be dependent on Putin for anything in this climate.’”
[Liberal Democrats in the Senate scored a small victory against President nObama’s bid on free trade legislation. The fight will continue as the legislation advances.] -Fox News
[Liberal Democrats in the Senate scored a small victory against President nObama’s bid on free trade legislation. The fight will continue as the legislation advances.] -Fox News
Never mind… - Which Senator said the following in an indignant 2004 floor speech touting their opposition to gay marriage? “[Marriage is] the fundamental bedrock principle that exists between a man and a woman, going back into the mists of history as one of the founding, foundational institutions of history and humanity and civilization, and that its primary, principal role during those millennia has been the raising and socializing of children for the society into which they are to become adults.” Was that Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa.? Nope. As Philp Klein reminds us, that was Sen. Hilly Clinton, D-N.Y. -Fox News
WITH YOUR SECOND CUP OF COFFEE
In a town where people get married and divorced in a matter of hours with Elvis as the only witness few things have staying power, but the iconic sign that welcomes people to Sin City is one of them. The ‘Welcome to Las Vegas’ sign, with its bright lights and classic glamour was designed by Betty Willis in the late 1950s. Willis said in past interviews the sign needed to be as flashy and fabulous as the town it represented. She never copyrighted the sign insisting it belong to the public. In 2009, her work was marked on the National Register of Historic Places. Willis died last Sunday at the age of 91 of natural causes. -Fox News
In a town where people get married and divorced in a matter of hours with Elvis as the only witness few things have staying power, but the iconic sign that welcomes people to Sin City is one of them. The ‘Welcome to Las Vegas’ sign, with its bright lights and classic glamour was designed by Betty Willis in the late 1950s. Willis said in past interviews the sign needed to be as flashy and fabulous as the town it represented. She never copyrighted the sign insisting it belong to the public. In 2009, her work was marked on the National Register of Historic Places. Willis died last Sunday at the age of 91 of natural causes. -Fox News
RUBIO SURGES TO TOP OF Q POLL AFTER LAUNCH
The latest GOPer to join the race for the 2016 nomination is off to a strong start. Sen. Marco Rubio tops the list in the latest Quinnipiac Poll with 15 percent of primary voters believing him to be the best candidate to beat Hilly Clinton. Rubio leads by a narrow margin, however, with his fellow Floridian Jeb Bush coming in at 13 percent, and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker coming in at 11 percent. Unfortunately for Bush, he does top another, less optimistic category. According to the poll, 17 percent of primary voters will ‘definitely not support him.’ Struggling New Jersey Governor Chris Christie sits high on that list as well at 16 percent. Hilly Clinton beats any other potential Democratic nominees, and leads in a general election matchup against all GOP candidates, but only by a 45-43 margin against Rubio. -Fox News
The latest GOPer to join the race for the 2016 nomination is off to a strong start. Sen. Marco Rubio tops the list in the latest Quinnipiac Poll with 15 percent of primary voters believing him to be the best candidate to beat Hilly Clinton. Rubio leads by a narrow margin, however, with his fellow Floridian Jeb Bush coming in at 13 percent, and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker coming in at 11 percent. Unfortunately for Bush, he does top another, less optimistic category. According to the poll, 17 percent of primary voters will ‘definitely not support him.’ Struggling New Jersey Governor Chris Christie sits high on that list as well at 16 percent. Hilly Clinton beats any other potential Democratic nominees, and leads in a general election matchup against all GOP candidates, but only by a 45-43 margin against Rubio. -Fox News
THE JUDGE’S RULING
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is a honorable organization intent on seeing justice served, right? Not necessarily. Fox News’ Chief Judicial Analyst JudgeAndrew Napolitano writes in his column this week that there have been several instances FBI agents have broken in the law, and yet have not been held responsible. Read here. -Fox News
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is a honorable organization intent on seeing justice served, right? Not necessarily. Fox News’ Chief Judicial Analyst JudgeAndrew Napolitano writes in his column this week that there have been several instances FBI agents have broken in the law, and yet have not been held responsible. Read here. -Fox News
1.
Liberal Says We Have “American Amnesia” on Slavery
(totalconservative.com) - The revelation that actor Ben Affleck tried to pressure PBS to hide his familial connections to slavery in a documentary they were doing caused a predictable amount of controversy...Some have taken issue with PBS’ decision to censor the documentary – Finding Your Roots – to make the star happy, and some have blasted Affleck for trying to cover up a nasty part of his own history. And some have taken complete leave of their senses in an attempt to draw a larger lesson from the scandal. Some like Demos President Heather McGhee, who got up on the highest horse she could find when she joined Alex Wagner on MSNBC Wednesday. “It is not actually surprising to me that Ben Affleck wanted to do this, because we do not, as a country, in our culture, have any collective acknowledgement that slavery happened, that it built our economy, and that every single one of us around this table – we all, as people living and working in this economy, and this democracy, are shaped by the legacy of racism in this country.” She went on to say that it “makes sense to me that someone who’s sort of in the mainstream of our popular culture would feel like there’s no sort of safe room for him to even talk about it, because it’s an American amnesia and denial that we need to move past.” One can only conclude that Heather McGhee lives in some alternative-universe version of the United States where one can even casually mention American history without someone sqwaking about slavery. One where the topic of racism is never brought up. Where the citizens all walk around and talk about how great it is that we have a history without any mistakes. Because back in the real world, she makes no sense at all. http://totalconservative.com/liberal-says-we-have-american-amnesia-on-slavery/
2.
Gowdy Explains Benghazi investigation could of been done sooner
(Kelly Cohen) - Rep. Trey Gowdy is not pleased with the federal government. The South Carolina Republican and chairman of the Select Committee on Benghazi believes the investigation into the Sept. 11, 2012, terrorist attack would be done "much sooner" than 2016 had the government been more cooperative to document requests...Specifically, President nObama and Secretary of State hanoi John Kerry could have helped speed the process up, he said. "If they send a message to the folks that are reviewing our document request, give these folks what they need to complete their report or give them a legal reason why you're not going to, but quit playing this game about asking for priorities and 'what do you need first?' and 'are you sure you really need it?' " he said Wednesday on Fox News. Give 'em what they ask for — this would be done much sooner than 2016 if they'd do it." http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/trey-gowdy-benghazi-investigation-done-much-sooner-with-help-from-obama-kerry/article/2563505?custom_click=rss3.
Palestinians Vote for Iran's New Ally: Hamas
(Khaled Abu Toameh) - Hamas's crushing victory in the April 22 student council election at Bir Zeit University shows that the Islamist movement continues to maintain a strong presence in the West Bank...Hamas supporters on campus won 26 seats, compared to 16 for their rivals in the Fatah faction, headed by Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas. The results of the election mean that Bilal Barghouti, who is serving 16 life terms in prison for his role in a series of suicide attacks against Israel, has become the "Honorary Chairman of the Bir Zeit University Student Council." http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/5622/palestinians-vote-hamas
4.
Intelligence Confirms ISIS is within Miles of U.S. Border
(teapartyupdate.com) - President nObama might already be aware of this, but he certainly isn’t doing anything to work against it...Apparently ISIS has set up shop just a few miles south of the U.S. border with New Mexico. According to Mexican intel, they plan on using railways into the U.S. as possible points of entry so they can carry out terrorists attacks on U.S. soil. Judicial Watch has the entire story here, http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2015/04/isis-camp-a-few-miles-from-texas-mexican-authorities-confirm/ but this is an excerpt giving you an idea of what we’re up against. http://teapartyupdate.com/intelligence-confirms-isis-is-within-just-miles-of-u-s-attack-is-imminent/
5.
Hilly Demands That Religious Beliefs Be Changed
(moonbattery.com) - Someone get word to the Pope; yesterday Shrillary proclaimed that Christian thinking has to be changed regarding the moral propriety of sacrificing innocent life to convenience... “Reproductive health care” is a euphemism for the killing of inconvenient children, preferably at public expense. Religious beliefs have to be changed. The imperiousness of this horrid woman continues to defy comprehension. You can see why the most conspicuously corrupt public figure of our age would want to change cultural codes and religious beliefs. If we can alter them to make killing our own children okay, then taking bribes and even committing treason may soon be culturally and morally acceptable too. When we have been fundamentally transformed into rejecting the notion of right and wrong, we will deserve the “leadership” offered by Democrats. http://moonbattery.com/?p=57797
6.
General: China Space Threat Drives U.S. Space Warfare Buildup
(Bill Gertz) - China’s growing space warfare capabilities are prompting the Air Force to develop military space weapons to protect U.S. satellites and shoot down enemy systems...the commander of the Air Force Space Command said in an interview that will air on Sunday. “It’s a competition I wish wasn’t occurring, but it is,” Air Force Gen. John Hyten, the space commander, tells CBS News. “And if we’re threatened in space, we have the right of self defense and we’ll make sure we can execute that right.” Asked if those defenses will involve military force, Hyten states: “That’s why we have a military … I’m not NASA.” http://freebeacon.com/national-security/general-china-space-threat-drives-u-s-space-warfare-buildup/
7.
Angelina Jolie Addresses UN Security Council
(rickwells.us) - While her heart certainly seems to be in the right place and her intentions sincerely based upon bringing relief to the horrible plight of people in war-torn Syria, Angelina Jolie has her work cut out for her in seeking humanitarian action from the United Nations...That’s just their cover story, they’re really not interested in the plight of common, “insignificant peasants.” She exposes the hypocrisy of this parasitic organization early in her remarks, stating “The purpose of the UN is to prevent and end conflict; to bring countries together, to find diplomatic solutions and to save lives.” While some of those situations may occur as the incidental result of expanding and solidifying power by the global controllers who created the UN, those ideals are not its purpose. The converse is much more common, that their sponsorship of authoritarianism in the name of stability has exactly the negative impacts that Jolie describes in her testimony. Jolie says, “Responsibility for the conflict lies with the warring parties inside Syria, but the crisis is made worse by division and indecision within the international community, preventing the Security Council from fulfilling its responsibilities.” http://www.rickwells.us/angelina-jolie-addresses-un-security-council-urges-diplomats-to-do-their-jobs-situation-critical/
8.
Clinton Foundation Funding - Will Foreign Donations Derail Hilly?
(nicedeb.wordpress.com) - I keep saying that I won’t blog about Hilly because I’d rather spend time on consequential matters – and since she’s not going to be the Democrat nominee, why waste my time?...But the HRC meltdown continues in epic fashion – or as Fox News’ Jason Riley says, “she’s stumbles quite regularly.” Let’s face it – there is some entertainment value to all this. So – on Special Report, tonight Kirsten Powers expressed her opinion that since Democrats really like Hilly Clinton, she’ll likely be the nominee. By “Democrats”, it wasn’t clear if she was referring to rank and file Democrats or Dems who hold public office. I assumed she meant Dems in office – because I don’t sense a groundswell of excitement about Hilly Clinton among the nation’s Democrats. I think the grassroots would really like to see a fresh face. Again, that MSNBC poll – just wow. https://nicedeb.wordpress.com/2015/04/24/oh-hillary/
9.
Col Ralph Peters – Reflexively Anti-American Critics Of Drone
(rickwells.us) - The odd speech by “president” nObama may have been an awkward attempt to clear the path for ending or restricting the only effective method still under use by our nation in the war on terror, the drone program....What he went out of his way to label as a tragic mistake may have been a mistake but it was far from a tragedy for those outside of the immediatefamily of the victims. They were people who had, of their own choosing, put themselves in harm’s way to begin with. Yet it’s enough to provide the focal point for a new leftist outrage which could quickly be followed by more restrictive rules of engagement, removing the only true remaining threat to the expansion of terrorism over the course of the next two years. Colonel Ralph Peters addresses the already vocal chorus of those engaged in the propaganda aspect of the anti-drone operation. He notes that “When we kill these terrorist masterminds, it saves an untold numbers of innocent civilians.” He says, “The real story here isn’t two hostages accidentally being killed by a U.S. drone strike, the real story that the media ignore is how incredibly revolutionary this has been; how little collateral damage there is, how few innocent people have been killed.” http://www.rickwells.us/col-ralph-peters-reflexively-anti-american-critics-of-drone-program-offer-no-practical-alternative/
10.
Brooklyn College Students Shout “Free Palestine!” at Jews
(pamelageller.com) - David Wood captured some of the frenzied Muslim mob and their leftist lapdogs bullying and harassing the Jews leaving my talk at Brooklyn College on Wednesday...Hundreds of people (from as far away as Yemen) have written me, shocked at what they saw on the video. But the video doesn’t communicate the wildness and lawlessness in that room. I am the only one with the mic during the speech, so what was going on in the audience is barely audible. The terror designated group CAIR demanded “protection” for these savages when my talk was announced. There is now a petition by these goons and nazi-like thugs to “ban hate speech” at Brooklyn College. ttp://pamelageller.com/2015/04/video-brooklyn-college-students-shout-free-palestine-at-jews-after-pamela-geller-speech.html/
When Bootleggers and Bapitst converge
George F. Will
King James might have been less censorious about “vaping,” which almost certainly is less harmful than inhaling chemicals produced by the combustion of tobacco. Users of e-cigarettes inhale vapors from electronic sticks containing a liquid with nicotine , which is addictive and perhaps particularly unhealthy for adolescent brains. Between 2013 and 2014 the use of e-cigarettes by middle and high school students tripled, and now it exceeds that cohort’s use of traditional cigarettes. E-cigarettes, sometimes flavored to tempt the immature (“Unicorn Puke,” “Stoned Smurf,” “German Chocolate Beefcake”), might be “gateway drugs,” leading to tobacco cigarettes. Currently, however, e-cigarettes often are substitutes for them. So, prepare for regulations combining high-mindedness and low cunning.
E-cigarettes raise public health issues but also illustrate the unhealthy process by which public policy often is made. They illustrate a familiar phenomenon, the cooperation between “bootleggers and Baptists,” meaning merchants and moralists — those motivated by profits and those motivated by social improvement.
In 1983, Bruce Yandle, then a Clemson University economist who now is at George Mason University’s Mercatus Center, had an epiphany: Regulations often come from a counter intuitive convergence of pressures from two groups, the earnestness of one providing cover for the other’s avarice. In his example, Baptists wanted laws closing liquor stores on Sundays to promote piety, and bootleggers wanted such laws to create an unserved market.
Today, New York has the highest state cigarette tax ($4.35 per pack — plus a $1.50 New York City tax) and North Carolina has the sixth-lowest (45 cents), so naturally Interstate 95 is a corridor for smuggled cigarettes, which in 2013 were nearly 60 percent of New York’s cigarette market. Proclaiming morality while practicing cupidity, states have tried to hit the sweet spot of cigarette taxes — high enough to maximize revenue without excessively discouraging smoking. States addicted to tobacco taxes need a large and renewable supply of smokers, so they wince whenever an e-cigarette displaces a traditional cigarette. As Yandle and three colleagues explain in the current issue of Regulation magazine, state governments are now bootleggers masquerading as Baptists, and many are in a bind.
In 1998, acting on the dubious proposition that smoking costs governments substantial sums (actually, cigarettes are one of the most heavily taxed consumer products, and one in three smokers who begin the habit in childhood dies prematurely, before fully collecting government medical, pension and nursing home entitlements), the tobacco companies agreed to pay 46 states $206 billion over 25 years. Some states, impatient to spend their windfall, securitized the future revenue in tobacco bonds. Now, as vaping supplants some smoking, there is a new cadre of bootleggers — the holders of tobacco bonds. They are supposed to be paid from a revenue stream from smokers (disproportionately low-income and low-information people), so they will urge regulations that discourage e-cigarettes. Or that bring e-cigarettes under the 1998 agreement, perhaps by declaring them “tobacco products” because the nicotine can come from tobacco.
In exchange for the big cigarette companies’ payments, the 1998 agreement gave them tobacco marketing restrictions, which they welcomed. The restrictions impede the entrance of new competitors into the field and hinder smaller companies from using cigarette advertising for its primary purpose, which is not to create new smokers but to capture a larger market share of existing smokers.
E-cigarettes can expect similar bootlegging regulations, couched in moralistic cadences. Also, manufacturers of nicotine-replacement therapies (e.g., nicotine patches and gum) will be bootleggers seeking regulations that will discourage people from thinking e-cigarettes are a relatively safe way to enjoy nicotine.
Yandle’s “bootleggers and Baptists” hypothesis is given many illustrations, from environmental regulations to nObamacare, in a new book of that title, co-authored with his economist grandson, Adam Smith. Yandle’s hypothesis expands “public choice” theory, which demystifies and de-romanticizes government by applying economic analysis — how incentives influence behavior — to politicians and bureaucrats. It rebuts the fiction that such officials are more disinterested than actors in the private sector. Yandle does the same thing regarding many of those who seek regulations. Life would be sweeter if people would forgo the pleasures of inhaling smoke and vapors that do not improve the air, which is plentiful and untaxed. And government would be better if more people were clear-eyed about how Baptists and bootleggers collaborate.
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