Friday, December 12, 2014
From: Gary L. Bauer
Cromnibus Passes
After a day of drama, the House of Representatives passed the so-called “cromnibus” spending bill last night by a margin of 219 to 206, thus narrowly avoiding a government shutdown. Sixty-seven Republicans voted against it, while 57 Democrats voted for it.
Few conservatives are happy with this bill. Rep. Jim Moran, a left-wing Virginia Democrat, rallied support for the bill, saying, “We got virtually everything that the Democrats tried to get.” That doesn’t exactly leave conservatives with warm and fuzzy feelings.
But then Moran conceded, “What’s going to happen next year is that we’re going to lose all of the money that was put into Democratic priorities.” Moran’s point was that Democrats should take what they could get while they still could. Yesterday’s hodgepodge represented the dying breath of a divided Congress — the last time that Senate Democrat Leader Harry Reid could make demands.
If you’re among the many conservatives upset with John Boehner, here’s an early Christmas gift: Nancy Pelosi was furious that this bill passed. She went to the House floor and blasted the bill as “blackmail,” saying she was “heartbroken” by it.
But it wasn’t Speaker Boehner or Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell who broke Nancy Pelosi’s heart. No, Pelosi was “enormously disappointed” in Barack Obama.
The media love to obsess over splits in the Republican Party. But there are deep divisions among Democrats and there is every reason to believe they will only get worse over the next two years.
Obama’s Unpopular Agenda
Here’s why Democrats may continue to struggle: President Obama and his agenda remain deeply unpopular. The latest Fox News poll finds that Obama’s approval rating stands at 42%. That’s not bad compared to some of his key initiatives. For example:
- 38% of registered voters approve of Obama’s handling of health care, while 58% would repeal Obamacare if they could.
- 37% approve of Obama’s handling of foreign policy, and only 32% of voters support Obama’s plans to close the terrorist detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Fifty-six percent support keeping Gitmo open.
- 36% approve of Obama’s handling of immigration. Sixty percent of voters disapprove of Obama bypassing Congress and issuing an executive order granting amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants.Moreover, 68% are concerned that Obama’s abuse of power “may be permanently altering” our system of checks and balances, while 74% believe his executive amnesty will encourage more illegal immigration.Establishment Candidate Emerging?While much of the media speculation about 2016 focuses on Hillary Clinton, Politico reports today that Mitt Romney appears increasingly interested in making another run at the White House.
Wall Street executives who recently met with the former Massachusetts governor say that Romney “does not think much of the current [GOP] field” and “still views himself as the leader of the establishment wing of the Republican Party.”
Romney reportedly encouraged these donors “not to commit to a candidate.” One executive said, “I came away from the conversation with the distinct impression that he was running.”
Meanwhile, the political left is growing increasingly restless. It’s no secret that the hard-core liberal base of the Democrat Party isn’t happy about all the talk of Hillary Clinton’s “inevitability.” After all, that same crowd denied her the nomination in 2008, and it is desperately looking for a credible progressive challenger.
Moveon.org is launching a major effort to draft Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. In a not-so-subtle hint to the Clinton camp, hundreds of former Obama staffers have publicly expressed their preference for Warren.
Some speculate that Warren unofficially kicked off her presidential campaign this week. After all, it wasn’t Hillary Clinton or even Nancy Pelosi who started the left’s insurrection against the “cromnibus.” It was Warren.
Iranian General: “Obama’s Bluffing”
The world becomes a very dangerous place when America’s enemies conclude we are no longer a serious nation. The atrocities of 9/11 happened after Osama bin Laden watched the Clinton Administration and determined that U.S. troops were “paper tigers” who “after a few blows, ran away in defeat.”
Our enemies have watched Obama draw redlines and then back away from them. Putin decided to test the limits of Obama’s promised “flexibility” by seizing Crimea. Now he’s sending tanks into Ukraine and bombers into the Caribbean.
And if the latest comments of an Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander are any indication, things could get much worse in the year ahead. During a recent interview, Hossein Salami said, “The enemy can no longer even think about a military option. When senior U.S. officials use the term ‘military option,’ it is only for psychology purposes. It is an outdated bluff.”
If the Iranians have concluded that Obama is bluffing, that there is no credible threat of military force from the United States, then the nuclear negotiations are a complete waste of time. All they have produced so far is an agreement to talk for another seven months — giving the mullahs seven more months to advance their nuclear ambitions.
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