Tuesday, September 20, 2022

Iran Vindictiveness. A Democrat Defects/Misguided Optimism? Nimby's Rule. Challenge My Facts. Benefits And Humor.

Subject:  The Ballad of Martha’s Vineyard… – CITIZEN FREE PRESS
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Biden eager to return to Iran nuclear deal out of 'vindictiveness'
Former Sec. of State Mike Pompeo tells Israel Heritage Foundation Biden striving to re-enter Obama-era deal to spite Trump for undoing it.


Speaking to those in attendance at the Israel Heritage Foundation event in New York City on Sunday, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke about the work the Trump administration did to develop the relationship between the United States and Israel.

"As you read the Bible, old and new testament, there's lots of talk about discipline, about faithfulness, about commitment, about a set of understandings, about the things we know are right and true,” Pompeo said. “If you look back at the list of the works that we did for four years to develop the relationship between the United States and Israel, they all stem from that central understanding of doing right and duty, and of doing the things you know to be true.”

“I heard someone say the other day that ‘Mike, it was fantastic that you recognized the fact that Israel is the rightful Jewish homeland including Judea and Samaria but of course this is just a fact. For a long time our government and to this day many governments in the world, and indeed today even in the United States – there’s the sense somehow that Israel conceptually doesn’t have a right to exist, that the Jewish people don’t have this as their homeland.”

“I had the incredible privilege three months ago to travel to a handful of places in Judea and Samaria, which I had not been able to get to before. I stood there between the Tomb of Abraham and the Tomb of Sarah. It is not possible to stand in that place without understanding that this is the Jewish homeland that G-d brought his tribes to this place and the fact that the world doesn’t recognize this is indecent and immoral and something that I am confident that G-d will hold us accountable for. It is an incredible privilege to have been a small part of an administration that understood that and that worked for it tirelessly, certainly for America’s own interest, its own security interest, certainly for Israel's interests, its own security interests, but perhaps most importantly because it was decent and right and it was our duty and to be disciplined in our faith, my faith as a Christian, and the faith of Jews.”

“We took a lot of heck for it, from all the places you’d expect. The New York Times had a field day. Even in our own administration, there were those who thought recognizing Jerusalem as the rightful capital of Israel is dangerous. But of course when you do what G-d commands, when you do the things that are right, then G-d will smile upon you.”

“When one understands duty, and one is disciplined and one is faithful, I am convinced that G-d will continue to watch over us,” Pompeo added.

He also spoke about the energy crisis, especially in Europe, describing denying energy to people as “fundamentally indecent.”

“There will be people whose lives are impacted [this winter] perhaps not as much here in the United States but more in Europe. There is real risk to these people that they won't be able to do the most basic things including feed their family and heat their home this winter. We all understand that getting this right is simple and decent and indeed it is our duty.”

Pompeo described his four years serving in the Trump administration, first as the director of the CIA and then as the secretary of state, as an “incredible privilege.”

“What we did each day was an attempt to be right and decent,” he recalled. “We did not get it right every day but we demonstrated to the world that good partners like the United States and Israel can deliver security not only for our two nations but for people all across the world. I’m deeply proud of the work we did. I was blessed to have been a small part of it.”

In answer to the question about why Biden appears so eager to agree to a new nuclear deal with Iran, he responded:

“I think in the end part of this is vindictiveness, I think part of this is President Obama did this, it was his signature accomplishment of his second term and so there’s this sense that Trump undid it, I want to go do it again,” he said.

“I also think though there's something deeper, and I think this is what not only Israeli leadership today but leadership throughout the Arab world understands. I think the Biden administration believes that Iran can be a force for stability in the region. I think that's crazy, I can’t understand that logic, but as you stare at their policies, you watch that they're prepared to give them some trillion dollars in wealth to create and continue their terror campaign it can only be because they believe somehow that there should be a balance between the Shias and the Sunnis, a balance between the Muslims and the Jews.”

He added: “The truth of the matter is anyone who stares at this – and this is not political – anybody who stares and just does the math on who it is that presents continued risk, not only to Israel but to the Arab Muslims to the world, it's pretty straightforward.”

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Democrat Josh Shapiro Defects on School Choice
By Corey DeAngelis


Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro has quietly endorsed private school choice. His campaign website calls for “adding choices for parents and educational opportunity for students and funding lifeline scholarships like those approved in other states and introduced in Pennsylvania”—language that was absent as of Sept. 7, according to the Internet Archive.

The Lifeline Scholarship bill is an education savings account program that would give families with children assigned to failing public schools the power to reallocate their children’s state education dollars. They could spend that money on any approved education expense, including private-school tuition and fees, tutoring, instructional materials, and special-needs educational services.

Republican state Rep. Clint Owlett introduced the Lifeline Scholarship bill, which passed the GOP-led Pennsylvania House in April 104-98, with only one Democrat in favor. The bill then passed the Senate Education Committee in June on a party-line 7-4 vote. The bill has since stalled, perhaps because Senate leadership expected a veto from Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, who has vetoed other school-choice bills.

Some Democrats, such as Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, have backed charter schools, but as far as I am aware, Mr. Shapiro is the first statewide candidate in his party to support private-school choice. It’s smart politics. Earlier this summer, a survey by the American Federation of Teachers found Republicans leading on education in battleground states including Pennsylvania.

The latest Morning Consult polling shows that 77% of Pennsylvania parents with children in school support education savings accounts. The latest RealClearOpinion Research polling shows 72% of American voters support school choice, with supermajority support among Democrats as well as Republicans and independents.

Mr. Shapiro attended private schools, as do his children. By supporting the expansion of options for less-advantaged families, he’ll pre-empt Republican accusations of school choice hypocrisy. Pennsylvania parents are already accustomed to school choice. More than 60,000 state scholarships are awarded to K-12 students to attend private schools in the state each year.

Once parents get school choice, they fight hard to keep it. And while Republicans are leading the charge in Pennsylvania as elsewhere, Mr. Shapiro’s shift in policy may be a first step toward bipartisan support for school choice. Parents and children will benefit if others in his party follow his lead.

Mr. DeAngelis is a senior fellow at the American Federation for Children.

 And:

Why Democrats’ midterm optimism could be misguided
BY DOUGLAS E. SCHOEN, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR

As Democrats voice growing confidence about their midterm election prospects, two trends suggest that the party’s newfound sense of optimism may be misguided. 

Taken together, unrelenting inflation and the potential for a 2020-like polling error that overestimates Democrats’ strength could indicate that the Democratic Party is in a more fragile position than most in the media are currently acknowledging or appreciating. Earlier in the year, a red-wave midterm election — on par with 1994, when Republicans gained 54 U.S. House seats and flipped control of both houses of Congress — seemed almost inevitable.

But since mid-June, Democrats’ position has been strengthened by declining gas prices, the national backlash to Roe v. Wade being overturned and GOP candidate-quality issues in key Senate races. As things stand, Democrats are now favored to retain control of the Senate and are expected to just narrowly lose the House.

However, the release of the worse-than-expected August inflation report this week — which showed that food, housing and healthcare costs continued to soar last month — served as a pointed reminder that the economy still poses a significant threat to Democrats’ chances in November.

Reacting to August’s inflation data — and to the increasing possibility of a severe economic downturn in the U.S. — stocks fell to their worst day since June 2020 last Tuesday.

Just as inflation is a palpable economic trend that directly impacts Americans’ daily lives, the stock market is a visible statistic that many use as a barometer for the health of the overall economy.

Thus, given the renewed national focus on rising prices and the sinking stock market, it is difficult to envision a scenario in which voters’ economic anxieties don’t translate into a referendum on Democratic leadership in November. 

Though, it does remain to be seen whether Republicans, whose midterm message has become increasingly erratic, will be able to use this latest economic news fully to their advantage.

The same day that the inflation report was released, GOP Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) introduced a national abortion ban bill. This ultimately could buoy Democrats’ efforts to shift voter focus away from their greatest vulnerability — the economy — and toward protecting abortion rights, an issue that has helped Democrats climb in the polls.

That being said, Democrats’ strength in polls may actually be overstated.

In a column for the “New York Times” last week, political analyst Nate Cohn cautioned that “the same polling warning signs are flashing again,” as Democratic Senate candidates are outpacing expectations in the same places where the polls overestimated Joe Biden in 2020, most notably in Wisconsin.

His analysis finds that there is a consistent link between the strength of Democratic Senate candidates today and polling error in the 2020 presidential election. While Cohn is careful to note that we cannot immediately decipher why this is — or if this will translate to a similar polling error in the 2022 election — he does cite the problem of non-response bias since the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade as a potential cause. 

Put another way, if poll respondents in key swing states — like Wisconsin — are meaningfully more liberal or Democratic than those who are not answering polls, this could suggest that Democrats’ current public polling lead in those states could be significantly overstated.

If the polls end up being just as wrong as they were in 2020, per Cohn’s analysis, Democrats will end up losing Senate races in Wisconsin, North Carolina and Ohio, which they are currently favored to win. Democrats would still likely win Pennsylvania and Arizona; however, control of the Senate would come down to two states: Nevada and Georgia. 

To be sure, many pollsters — including my firm — are making strides to deal with the challenges associated with non-response bias to avoid overstating Democrats’ current support levels.  

Even if the polling error this year is less than in 2020, it would still be a mistake for Democrats to grow complacent — or worse, to be overconfident — based on their apparent lead, especially given the recent pessimistic economic news. 

In the final weeks of the campaign, Democrats need to make a concerted effort to demonstrate fiscal prudence and discipline as the rising cost of living continues to weigh on American families. The party needs to show voters how they have worked — and will continue to work — to lower costs for American families, secure America’s energy independence and avoid additional tax increases.

In addition to doubling down on efforts to rally their base around the issue of abortion rights, speaking to voters’ economic anxieties and frustrations —  especially in swing states — is absolutely critical in order for Democrats to have a fighting chance at keeping control of the Senate and cutting their losses in the House.

Douglas E. Schoen is a political consultant who served as an adviser to President Clinton and to the 2020 presidential campaign of Michael Bloomberg. His new book is “The End of Democracy? Russia and China on the Rise and America in Retreat.”
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NIMBY Hypocrisy rules the Democrat Party - what's new?
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Seize the Border, GOP
By Miranda Devine


As Ron DeSantis points out, there were more journalists in Martha’s Vineyard last week than ever have gone to the southern border to report on the humanitarian catastrophe of Joe Biden’s open border.

It’s the ugly truth, to the eternal shame of American journalism.

The New York Times listed no fewer than 14 bylines on its hysterical Martha Vineyard coverage. The Washington Post featured six bylines on a single story.

DeSantis was declared “cruel,” “inhumane” and guilty of “human trafficking.”

But when it came to the hundreds of secret migrant flights the Biden administration has been sending in the dead of night from the southern border to White Plains airport in Westchester for at least 14 months, crickets.

As more than 8,500 illegal migrants flood over the border every day, Joe Biden has created a historic crisis with ramifications that will echo for generations. Yet it has been pretty much ignored by the mainstream media, with a few honorable exceptions, like Bill Melugin at Fox News.

That is, until DeSantis sent a single planeload of illegals to the elite stomping ground of Martha’s Vineyard, where 87% of people voted for Joe Biden. Naturally they had declared the island a “sanctuary” for illegals, but only theoretically. In practice, they freaked out, called in the National Guard and deported them as fast as they could off the island, into a military camp in Cape Cod.

Gov. Ron DeSantis made it known there were more journalists in Martha's Vineyard last week than ever due to the recent transporting of migrants to the island. AP

President Biden branded the Florida governor “un-American” and “scrambled” to get his Cabinet together to stop more illegal aliens being relocated to Democrat sanctuary cities. Disgraced former FBI figures like Russiagate’s Andrew Weissman salivated about siccing the DOJ onto “cruel” DeSantis.

But what DeSantis did was not cruel. The migrants loved the Vineyard. What is cruel is luring millions of people from around the world to play Biden’s version of the Squid Game: a lethal journey where they have to place their lives and savings in the hands of vicious criminal people smugglers and child-raping cartel members for a chance of a future in America — by first breaking our laws.

What DeSantis did was not human trafficking, unless that’s what you also call what Biden has done flying illegals around the country after midnight to avoid bad optics at the border.

But now that national media attention is on the border, Republicans have an opportunity to exploit an issue where they have the most advantage over Democrats electorally, an issue which appalls decent Americans, and which is such a hot potato that the Dem-enabling media have buried it.

Republicans may not be able to help being outspent 10 to one by the party of Wall Street and Silicon Valley and the mega-rich, but they should be more proactive in using Biden’s failures against his party.

Here’s the plan

To the rescue comes Stephen Miller, former Trump adviser and founder of America First Legal, who has fashioned the ultimate razor-sharp strategy for the GOP.

With seven weeks to the midterms, Republicans can focus the attention of the country on Biden’s border crisis by staging a dramatic showdown in Washington DC over the federal budget.

The usual process would see Congress pass a stopgap measure known as a continuing resolution, or “CR,” this month to fund the government by maintaining or slightly tweaking spending levels for federal agencies. In December, after the midterms, Miller says the lame-duck Congress would then simply “ram through a full, year-long spending bill locking in every crisis afflicting the country, including the border.”

Even if Republicans were to win the House and/or Senate, the border crisis could not be resolved for at least a year, during which time an additional four million illegal migrants would cross the border.

Miller’s plan is for the GOP to refuse to pass the spending bill without an amendment to stop Biden releasing more illegal aliens into the United States.

Since spending bills are usually passed in the Senate by a backroom deal in which minority leader Mitch McConnell delivers 15 Republican votes to his Democrat counterpart Chuck Schumer, forcing the border amendment would require six of those 15 Republican senators to defy him.

Immigrants gather with their belongings outside St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Edgartown, Mass. in Martha's Vineyard. AP

“McConnell serves at their pleasure and if 26 out of 50 [GOP senators] want their will to be imposed they have the power. They should make clear to McConnell there should be no deal” without the border amendment, Miller says.

Next would be a vote on the amendment right before the midterms which would discomfit so-called Democrat “moderate” Senators such as Mark Kelly and Patty Murray.

“The media will be caterwauling about the imminent government shutdown which will increase attention on the fact that these far-left open-border Senate Democrats are not the moderates they pretend to be,” Miller says.

The last part of Miller’s plan is crucial. When Democrats refuse to support the border amendment, you offer them a way out of their pain before the midterms: they can pass a spending resolution which expires in February. This way the new Republican Congress will not be trapped into funding Biden’s border disaster.

This way, every Republican goes to the American people with a clear choice in November, says Miller.

“If Democrats control Congress, you will have two more years of open borders. If we control it, we will shut this [border disaster] down come February and save this country. You turn the election into a referendum on Biden’s border catastrophe.”

It’s astonishing that it took a former Trump official to articulate a coherent strategy to hang the border disaster around Biden’s neck along with every Democrat seeking election.

Control the narrative

At a time of unprecedented villainy and incompetence from the Democratic-controlled Congress and White House, the Republican leadership seems to be floating in a sea of blancmange.

The latest NBC poll finds Republicans hold an all-time high advantage of 36 points over the Democrats on handling border security, followed by a 23-point edge on dealing with crime and a 19-point advantage on the economy.

The fact that the poll also shows that voters are split evenly in preferring Republicans or Democrats to control Congress is a shocking indictment of the GOP’s failure to seize the narrative that Biden has gifted them on a silver platter.

Miller has shown them the way.
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Some interesting articles in ISRAPUNDIT:-
Now they come before the voters and ask to have their positions supported. 

They are a threat to everything America represents.  They seek chaos because they know a nation divided cannot stand. This is why they cleverly oppose established beliefs knowing doing so stirs emotions and begets enrage.

If these radical leftists are allowed to remain in control and hold the reigns of government our days of a healthy republic are numbered. Yes, that is what these mid-terms are all about - plain a simple.

The survival of America is literally at stake and I know that sounds dramatic and  self-serving since I oppose everything the radical Democrat Party stands for from lawlessness to open borders etc.. 

You were fooled into believing Biden was a benign uncle type just as you were Obama as a red blooded American. Now you are being told "Brandon" is a successful president when everything he has done stands in bleak/naked opposition. This is why he attack Trumps because his Party cannot support Biden's failed accomplishments.

Mother Hubbard's, cupboard may be empty but everything in "we the people's" costs more because Biden decided being green was better than being energy independent which  ignited inflation which is going to increase as The Fed raises interest rates which will probably throw us into, what we hope is no more than a mild recession, which could result in job losses. That is the domestic scene which Biden denies exists. 

On the foreign side, Biden left American citizens and Afghans, who helped us, stranded while 13 Marines were killed in an evacuation he was warned not to execute. He also seems to favor China possibly because he and his family are the recipients of largess since his son, Hunter, is an investor in Chinese companies. However, The FBI has chosen not to pursue an investigation of corrupt practices not only regarding China but also Ukraine.

Biden continues pursuing reinstating Obama's Iran Deal (see above), has kept our borders open so illegal immigrants are flooding our country along with deadly drugs which are killing American citizens.  Drug Cartel heads are raking in billions and engaging in sex trafficking. 

Meanwhile, Biden ignores all of this but has time to accuse half of America they are dangerous fascists while criminals roam our streets.

Once again, if I have overstated "facts" please challenge me for doing so.

If you choose to vote for Democrats then you endorse everything I have enumerated. That is what I discussed in a previous memo. You cannot parse through a vote. It is an all or nothing deal.

What your beloved president is doing is trying to scare you.  He is testing whether you are rational or emotional and he is betting on the latter because that is what got him elected.
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I take no comfort that 54% of Americans are more concerned about leftists while 45% fear Maga Hatters.  As Biden and the "lefties" dilute our nation's population, through illegal immigration and other techniques, the creep of Socialism will accelerate.
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Majority of Americans More Concerned about ‘Socialist Left’ Than ‘MAGA Republicans’: POLL By Brittany Bernstein
Posted By Ruth King


Fifty-five percent of Americans are more concerned about the “Socialist Left” than they are about “MAGA Republicans,” according to a new Harvard-CAPS Harris poll.

The poll asked respondents: “Are you more concerned about the Socialist left in America and the power they are gaining or more afraid of MAGA Republicans and the power they are getting?”

Just 45 percent of respondents said they are more concerned with “MAGA Republicans.”

The poll also asked voters: “Do you think there are tens of millions of dangerous MAGA Republicans backing violence and trying to overthrow the constitution or is that a gross exaggeration and distortion?”

Most voters (54 percent) believe the number of “dangerous MAGA Republicans” is “grossly exaggerated.” Forty-six percent said there are tens of millions of dangerous MAGA Republicans, including 73 percent of Democrats, 20 percent of Republicans and 42 percent of independents.

The poll was conducted September 7 and 8, one week after President Biden gave a speech in Philadelphia saying former president Donald Trump and the ‘MAGA Republicans’ represent “an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.”

“Now I want to be very clear up front not every Republican, not even the majority of Republicans are MAGA Republicans,” Biden said in his remarks, which were touted as a “soul of the nation” address.

He added: “Not every Republican embraces their extreme ideology. I know because I’ve been able to work with these mainstream Republicans. But there’s no question that the Republican Party today is dominated, driven, and intimidated by Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans and that is a threat to this country.”

Fifty-six percent of voters opposed the speech Biden gave, the Harvard-CAPS Harris poll found. Sixty-percent called the speech divisive, while just 40 percent said the speech helps unite the country and move it forward.

Fifty-four percent said the speech was just fear-mongering and 46 percent said the fears are justified.
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Benefits for Seniors
US Government COVID Benefits for seniors.
 
I had no idea we could receive extra benefits! We all qualify.
 
Just in case you were not aware, below is a link to information on what Congress has done and is going to continue to do for all seniors for staying home during this crisis. The government grant is presently accessible to all seniors 65 and older. 
Read the full article for information on how to claim your benefit

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Now for a little humor. Who pays the bill for "The Last Supper?" 

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