TheFrontPageCover
~ Featuring ~
The Big Picture of Trump's Rallies
Nate Jackson
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Trump’s lightweight alternative
to Medicare for All
by James C. Capretta
{ aei.org } ~ President Trump and senior officials in his administration have been signaling for several months that they would release an updated GOP health-care plan... presumably to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) — which the president still criticizes as a “disaster.” Last week, the president gave a campaign-style speech denouncing Medicare for All and announcing a new executive order (EO) on improving Medicare. If the EO is the administration’s much-hyped health-care “plan,” it is a surprisingly lightweight offering. The EO tasks the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) and officials in the White House with producing several deliverables focused mainly on expanding options in Medicare Advantage (MA), which is the private insurance alternative to Medicare’s government-managed fee-for-service (FFS) option. HHS is to propose regulations within a year to make it easier for Medicare beneficiaries to use medical savings accounts (Medicare’s version of health savings accounts) in conjunction with MA offerings and to facilitate cash rebates to MA enrollees when selecting options with particularly low premiums. HHS is to suggest regulatory changes to make it easier for MA plans to offer innovative supplemental benefits, including telehealth services. Working with the Council of Economic Advisers and others in the White House, HHS is to recommend how payment rates for medical services paid by the traditional FFS program could be tied more closely to the market rates paid by MA plans. To provide more flexibility for MA plans, HHS is to recommend changes that scale back network adequacy requirements in states that limit provider competition and to account for the benefits of telehealth services. The agency is to look for ways to allow MA plans to speed adoption of innovative medical technology and practices. HHS also is to provide beneficiaries with “better” quality and cost data. The EO uses general language throughout so it is difficult to know for sure what some of these administrative actions will mean. Overall, however, it is clear that what is called for are steps allowed under current law. As such, the changes are likely to be incremental and gradual....
Iran is pushing Iraq to the brink
Iraqis are fighting back
by Behnam Ben Taleblu
{ fdd.org } ~ Protesters in Iraq are fighting against government corruption and Iran’s malign influence, which is built on hard power, not public good will. Tehran has a lot to lose... “Iran and Iraq are two nations whose hearts & souls are tied together,” tweeted Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Sunday, as protests raged in neighboring Iraq. Alleging that the protests are a foreign plot, Khamenei continued, “Enemies seek to sow discord but they’ve failed & their conspiracy won’t be effective.” Khamenei’s response is proof of panic. Iraq is a pivotal part of Iran’s political project in the Middle East, and a friendly government in Baghdad cannot afford to be lost. The protests, which began over a week ago, aimed at government corruption and mismanagement, have quickly morphed into what The Washington Post termed “a revolt against the entire system.” The system in question is the post-Saddam political order, which has endured oscillations in America’s military footprint, the rise and fall of ISIS, and renewed aspirations for Kurdish autonomy. But it has also been subject to – and fared far poorer against – one constant for the past 16 years: Iranian encroachment. Today, Iraq is home to countless pro-Iran politicians, as well pro-Iran Shia militias, many of whom profess loyalty to Iran over Iraq and have fought and bled on Iran’s behalf in Syria. Some of these militias constitute a pro-Iran bloc in the Iraqi parliament. This bloc has been at the forefront of carrying out Iranian interests, most recently, seeking to use Israeli strikes as a reason to evict American forces. Iran pays close attention to Iraqi factional politics, and retains a key interest in government formation efforts. And strategically, Iraq constitutes the first country in Iran’s “land corridor” to the Mediterranean, a contiguous strip of geography connecting a constellation of groups termed the “Axis of Resistance” that Iran supports....
Terror Attacks in France: A Culture of Denial
by Alain Destexhe
{ gatestoneinstitute.org } ~ On October 3, 2019, a knife-wielding Muslim employee of the Paris Police Department Intelligence Directorate stabbed to death four other employees at police headquarters in the center of Paris... before a trainee police officer shot and killed him. While it was not the deadliest terror attack France has experienced in recent years, the fatal stabbings that took place at the Paris police headquarters were perhaps the most worrisome. Its author a French public servant employed by the police, its highly sensitive target, and the catastrophic handling of the aftermath of the attack reveal the failure of the French institutions. As it was the case for all recent terror attacks, French media and authorities first tried to downplay what happened. The attacker was initially described through potentially mitigating factors, such as his handicap the killer is partly deaf and mute. It took 24 hours before it was eventually revealed that he was an Islamist militant who had carefully planned his attack. That a radicalized militant had been able to remain undetected in a critical security institution for years sent shockwaves throughout the country. Members of the parliamentary opposition asked for the resignation of Home Affairs Minister Christophe Castaner, who at first had said that the attacker "had never shown any warning signs or behavioral difficulties." For the record, this "very normal behavior" included cutting down to a bare minimum communication with women he had for months being avoiding all women but his wife, attending a notoriously radical mosque, and having a phone full of Islamist contacts. His colleagues reported that already in January 2015, he had cheered the murderous Islamist terror attack on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in front of other police employees. In many countries, a mistake of this scale would be enough for a government minister to resign, but not in France. The whole picture of the attack, which is still not clear, demonstrates an incredible failure of internal control inside the French police. The French Parliament is now asking how the murderer managed to fly under the radar when everything in his behavior clearly signaled an increasing radicalization... https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15019/france-terrorism-denial.
Iranian Supreme Leader Orders
Construction of Advanced Weaponry
by Adam Kredo
{ freebeacon.com } ~ Iranian supreme leader ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered the country's fighting forces to construct cutting-edge military technology... to take on the United States and other nations that the ruler described as god's enemies. Khamenei, in a speech Sunday at an Iranian military academy in Tehran, decreed that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, or IRGC, the country's paramilitary fighting force, should immediately begin production on the "most state of the art weapons," according to reports on his comments carried in Iran's state-controlled press. The supreme leader blamed the United States for increased tension between the two countries. The United States has placed harsh sanctions on Tehran for rapid escalation of its nuclear program in direct violation of the landmark nuclear accord. Khamenei "called on Iranian experts to increase efforts to invent and build more home-made arms," according to Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency. "The military equipment of the IRGC must be advanced and up-to-date; you should invent and manufacture them yourselves," Khamenei was quoted as saying. He based his edict on verses from the Quran, the Muslim holy book. "Today, the IRGC is dignified both inside and outside the country, thanks be to god. The enemies have contributed to creating this dignity," Khamenei said. "With violent, aggressive, and hostile behavior, the Americans increased the dignity of the IRGC. The enemies of god show hostility to god's servants, and this hostility makes god's servants more reputable and estimable."... https://freebeacon.com/national-security/iranian-supreme-leader-orders-construction-of-advanced-weaponry/?utm_source=Freedom+Mail&utm_campaign=04d43d8e6f-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_10_14_08_58_COPY_251&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b5e6e0e9ea-04d43d8e6f-45611665 .
Report: IG Report Delayed Release –
Ongoing “Classification Review”
by sundance
{ theconservativetreehouse.com } ~ Maria Bartiromo had initially reported the IG report on the Carter Page FISA situation was going to be released around the end of this week... Ms. Bartiromo is now reporting a delay: It’s the “classifications being made” part that raises concern. President Trump granted Attorney General Bill Barr with declassification authority on May 23rd, 2019, so that any classification issues could be minimized and maximum transparency afforded. WHITE HOUSE: (MAY 23rd) “Today, at the request and recommendation of the Attorney General of the United States, President Donald J. Trump directed the intelligence community to quickly and fully cooperate with the Attorney General’s investigation into surveillance activities during the 2016 Presidential election. The Attorney General has also been delegated full and complete authority to declassify information pertaining to this investigation, in accordance with the long-established standards for handling classified information. Today’s action will help ensure that all Americans learn the truth about the events that occurred, and the actions that were taken, during the last Presidential election and will restore confidence in our public institutions.”....
Guided-missile Destroyer USS Porter
Operates Black Sea, Visits Ukraine
By Sam LaGrone
{ news.usni.org } ~ Guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG-78) is operating in the Black Sea as part of the Navy’s ongoing presence operation in the region... Turkey-based ship spotters posted on social media on Saturday. The warship pulled into Odesa, Ukraine on Sunday for a port visit. “The ship will host five Ukrainian officers as it pulls into Odesa to observe sea-and-anchor operations. These operations enhance regional maritime stability, combined readiness and naval capability with our NATO allies and Black Sea partners,” read a statement from U.S. 6th Fleet. Porter is the seventh U.S. Navy ship to operate in the Black Sea this year. “In July, USS Carney (DDG-64) participated in exercise Sea Breeze 2019 and conducted maritime interoperability training with Standing NATO Maritime Group Two in the Black Sea. In April, USS Ross (DDG-71) conducted maritime training with Bulgaria and Georgia, and a replenishment-at-sea with Turkey,” read the statement. “In February, USS Donald Cook (DDG-75) conducted maritime interoperability training with the Turkish Yavuz-class frigate TS Fatih (F 242) and conducted a port visit to Odesa, Ukraine. In January, Donald Cook and USS Fort McHenry (LSD-43) conducted port visits to Georgia and Romania, respectively. The four U.S. destroyers in Rota are part of the U.S. phased European adaptive approach to ballistic missile defense that pairs the capabilities of the destroyers with Aegis Ashore BMD stations in Poland and Romania. The Navy has stepped up its presence in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea since the 2014 invasion of Crimea by Russia... https://news.usni.org/2019/10/14/guided-missile-destroyer-uss-porter-operates-black-sea-visits-ukraine?utm_source=USNI+News&utm_campaign=4e6931683a-USNI_NEWS_DAILY&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0dd4a1450b-4e6931683a-231491269&mc_cid=4e6931683a&mc_eid=3999f18767 .
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The Big Picture of Trump's Rallies
Nate Jackson: “Watching the President in [his rallies], I can’t help but think he needs to do a lot more of these,” says Erick Erickson. “Get him out of the White House, away from the TV, and with the crowds that love him. He feeds off their energy. He is deeply entertaining and funny on the stage. He drives the media crazy. … He needs to do more of these.”
Erickson has a good point. President Donald Trump is a crowd pleaser and a man who loves connecting with people from the stage. His television persona gave Americans a familiarity with him long before he ran for president that made voters amenable to his brand of populism, and he played to that strength in “yuge” rallies across the nation in 2016. It will be a necessary part of his 2020 campaign, too.
He doesn’t speak like a polished politician, rattling off the same old list of policy proposals. Instead, he hits his opponents with broadsides that connect with supporters. For instance, in a Louisiana rally Friday, he declared, “[Democrats have been] trying to stop us for more than three years with a lot of crap. They know they can’t win on Election Day so they’re pursuing an illegal, invalid, and unconstitutional bulls—t impeachment.” That’s salty language, but somehow it works for Trump — because he’s right on the merits.
Not only do Trump’s rallies inspire his supporters, they infuriate his detractors. Gary Bauer writes of last Thursday’s rally in Minneapolis, “Sadly, there was violence after the rally ended. MAGA hats were burned. Trump supporters were assaulted. Leftists waved the flag of communist China. Police officers had to create a path for cars to leave because demonstrators were attacking vehicles in the parking garage. It was a striking contrast. Inside the Target Center, Trump praised our brave men and women in uniform, our soldiers, and police officers. He defended our flag and our country. Outside, the left-wing radicals, the activist base of the Democrat Party, were attacking cops, burning flags, yelling their hatred for America, and assaulting conservatives.”
Furthermore, for those paying attention, that highlights the gross double standard of the mainstream media. Bauer notes, “If, after any speech by a leading Democrat, a mob formed outside and began punching people and attacking cars, every network would be running the footage non-stop. Every Republican would be forced to condemn it on the record. But no elected Democrat … will be asked to condemn what happened on the streets of Minneapolis.”
The more Americans are exposed to the radicalism of the Left, the more Trump’s quirks and idiosyncrasies seem like the sane choice in 2020. ~The Patriot Post
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