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Quick Analysis

Russia’s Mideast goals

In the wake of the shooting down of a Russian fighter jet that, according to the Turkish government, violated Turkey’s airspace, tensions between Moscow’s forces and America’s allies have escalated to a dangerous degree,  It is an appropriate time to review what the Kremlin’s actual goals in the region may be.

Moscow’s explanation of its activities in Syria in regard to ISIS has been blunt, and strongly stated during an interview on the Rossiya television network with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev 

“After all, everyone can see that their (Western) activities in this region to combat ISIS have amounted to practically nothing, and ISIS continues to spread. Only Russia’s involvement has changed the situation.”

Paul Davis, a retired US Army military intelligence and former Soviet analyst serves as the president of the Janus consulting firm. Writing in Rudaw, he presents a different point of view:

“Russia is building a regional coalition to include Syria, Iran and Iraq…Russian fighters have tested Turkish air defenses by flying into Turkish air space. Russian have flown toward US fighters in Syria turning just outside the range of US air-to-air missiles. Elsewhere Russia has tested US and European reaction in the air and at sea…All military operations have both short term and long term goals. The short term Russian goal is twofold… First to shore up Assad and second to impose itself once again into the Middle East. Beyond this is reducing or removing United States influence, being able to sit on the oil distribution routes to Europe and the rest of the world, and continuing turmoil in the region. What then is Russia’s long term goals? First they need to consolidate the gains made in the Crimea and in Ukraine. For that to happen NATO needs to be occupied on other problems. Second they need to fix their economy which has tanked as it is dependent on oil, so causing a crisis in the Middle East has always sent oil prices soaring. Last they need the world to know they will resort to the military option if necessary and not just in the near abroad…”

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“[ISIS] has provided Moscow with the opportunity to engage in the Middle East where – despite the Kremlin’s proclamations – its interests are only indirectly related to the fight against ISIL.

The exodus of foreigners to ISIL-controlled territory has implications for the global community. As is the case with those who joined revolutionary movements in the past – including the Bolsheviks – there are a variety of motivations and reasons. Their numbers are considerable, from several hundred to several thousand a month. A few thousand are from the former Soviet Union. Several hundred are from Muslim Central Asia. Possibly several hundred have come from Muslim enclaves in the Russian heartland –– Tatarstan and Bashkiria. Still, the majority clearly is from the Russian North Caucasus, mainly Chechnya. And this benefits the Kremlin considerably, relieving it from the troubles that plagued both Yeltsin and Putin throughout most of post-Soviet history. Moreover, this exodus has provided Putin with the opportunity to engage in the Syrian venture without fear of possible repercussions.

“The freedom from jihadist worries at home provides Putin with a free hand to engage in Syrian ventures. This is why one should take his public proclamations about Russia’s active involvement in the Syrian crisis with a grain of salt: This action is not being taken out of fear of ISIL; as outlined above, ISIL has paradoxically helped Putin by destroying the North Caucasian resistance as an organised force. Rather, Russia wants to demonstrate its arrival and relevance in the Middle East. It is a message sent not just to the United States but to a much broader audience, signaling to both the Arabs in the Middle East and to Israel that – at a time when Washington’s allies in the region are concerned that the United States appears to be wavering – Moscow could be a good back-up.

“The second important aspect of the Syrian venture is the implicit appeal to Europe to readmit Russia to the West… Putin’s increasing flirtation with China and Iran reflects a desire to show the West that Moscow has other options…By engaging in Syria, Putin is trying to demonstrate to Europe that Russia could be a leading force in saving Europe and Western civilisation from the threat of violent and extremist Islamism – and that Moscow should therefore not be ostracised…What are the practical implications for these actions? On the one hand, being basically free from fear of Islamic insurrection at home and, in many ways, benefiting from ISIL as a magnet for Russian-born extremists, Moscow is confident enough to stay in the Middle East for a long time and be assured that its interests in the region are respected.”

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Cuba continues to repress dissidents, hosts Russian military

It is becoming increasingly difficult to understand the White House‘s reopening of relations with Cuba.

In addition to the renewed presence of Russian naval and intelligence facilities on the island nation and continued repression of the island’s population, the Castro regime has refused to make any significant concessions to the U.S., and indeed, has pressed baseless financial claims against America. There has been no progress on any restitution of private assets nationalized during the Cuban Revolution.

An example of the bizarre nature of President Obama’s relations with the Castro regime was seen on September 30, when a political dissident who was recently released, according to Cuban Exile Quarter attempted to escape into the U.S. embassy.  Carlos Manuel Figueroa was returned to Cuban authorities, who reportedly beat him. According to Cuban Exile Quarter, “The human rights situation in Cuba has been steadily deteriorating during the Obama administration with rising levels of violence and the extrajudicial execution of opposition leaders since 2009.  Equally concerning is the claim made by Ivan Hernandez Carrillo over twitter that Carlos Manuel Figueroa is a U.S. citizen of Cuban origin.  The claim made by the Obama administration that human rights would be a priority with the new policy on Cuba would be laughable, if it were not so tragic.”

Human Rights Watch  reports “The Cuban government continues to repress dissent and discourage public criticism. While in recent years it has relied less on long-term prison sentences to punish its critics, short-term arbitrary arrests of human rights defenders, independent journalists, and other critics have increased dramatically. Other repressive tactics employed by the government include beatings, public acts of shaming, and the termination of employment.”

This occurs despite the December 2014 announcement by President Obama that the United States would normalize diplomatic relations with Cuba and ease restrictions on travel and commerce with the island in exchange for several concessions by the Cuban government.

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Security officers virtually never present arrest orders to justify the detention of critics and threaten them with criminal sentences if they continue to participate in “counterrevolutionary” activities. In some cases, detainees are released after receiving official warnings, which prosecutors can then use in subsequent criminal trials to show a pattern of delinquent behavior. Dissidents said these warnings aim to discourage them from participating in activities seen as critical of the government.

Detention is often used preemptively to prevent individuals from participating in peaceful marches or meetings to discuss politics. In the days leading up to the summit meeting of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), for example, which took place in Havana on January 28 and 29, 2014, at least 40 people were arbitrarily detained, and 5 held under house arrest until the conference had ended…

Members of the Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White)—a group founded by the wives, mothers, and daughters of political prisoners and which the government considers illegal—are routinely detained before or after they attend Sunday mass…Even after the conditional release of dozens of political prisoners in December 2014, dozens more remain in Cuban prisons according to local human rights groups. These groups estimate that there are more political prisoners whose cases they cannot document because the government prevents independent national or international human rights groups from accessing its prisons…Cubans who criticize the government continue to face the threat of criminal prosecution. They do not benefit from due process guarantees, such as the right to fair and public hearings by a competent and impartial tribunal. In practice, courts are “subordinated” to the executive and legislative branches, denying meaningful judicial independence…The government controls all media outlets in Cuba and tightly restricts access to outside information, severely limiting the right to freedom of expression. Only a very small fraction of Cubans are able to read independent websites and blogs because of the high cost of, and limited access to, the Internet…A May 2013 government decree directed at expanding Internet access stipulates that the Internet cannot be used for activities that undermine “public security, the integrity, the economy, independence, and national security” of Cuba—broadly worded conditions that could be used against government critics.”

The Menges Hemispheric Security Symposium held in October concluded: “The powerful, fact-based and analytically rigorous interventions by …world-class authorities underscore a reality lost on most Americans:  The stakes regarding developments in Cuba and Venezuela – and, indeed, in much of the Western Hemisphere – could not be higher for the United States.  The Castro brothers’ regime is a metastasizing cancer in our region, as is its client in Venezuela.  President Obama’s much-ballyhooed rapprochement with the former is national security fraud.  His administration’s ongoing efforts to achieve a similar outcome with the latter would greatly compound that act of malfeasance.”

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America’s widening division

There have been numerous elections filled with contentious and divisive issues. However, the 2016 presidential contest is highlighted by differences so profound that they have little precedent in American politics. Unlike other discordant eras, where singular topics or approaches to crises produced sharp differences within the electorate, it is the very fabric of the nation that is being argued over.

Consider these bedrock current topics:

What is the role of the federal government? What issues involve personal choice, as opposed to those that come under the purview of elected officials, administrative agencies, and the courts? Should the U.S. have enforceable borders? What is America’s role in the world? Which nations are our friends, and which are our enemies? Should U.S. foreign policy be subordinated to the United Nations? Should international treaties have precedent over American law? Should taxpayer dollars be used for citizens, or should some portion of them be set aside for the benefit of people around the world? How sacrosanct are the protections afforded by the Bill of Rights? How closely must the Constitution be followed in areas such as the separation of powers?   What is the best economic system for the U.S., one based on a free market, or that more closely identified with socialist systems? Should campaign regulations be allowed to interfere with free speech rights?

There are a number of illustrations, clarified by the recent televised candidate debates, which exemplify the yawning gap between the growing divisions in U.S. society.

In the economic sphere, Senator Bernie Sanders openly espouses a more socialist economic system, and the other two presidential hopefuls within his party are not that different from him in their economic views.  It’s not liberalism they are espousing; it is a form of true socialism.  Their solutions involve more federal programs, higher taxation, and increased regulation.  In sharp contrast, the GOP candidates advocate reducing the role of government in the marketplace and lowering taxes.  They point to the fact that programs such as the War on Poverty have spent over a trillion dollars and have failed to reduce the percentage of Americans in poverty, and emphasize that increased regulations prevents the economy from growing, impedes success in competing with other nations, and keeps unemployment high.

Unexpectedly, the First Amendment has become a political battleground. Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) wants to amend it to eliminate the right when it comes to paid political speech. Others within the Democrat party advocate strict campaign regulations that also require limiting free speech.  Most Republicans take the opposite tack, and maintain that no limit on the First Amendment is acceptable.

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The Pew Research organization  has found that 40% of Millennials are OK with limiting speech they term offensive to minorities.  That news may be even more worrying to free speech advocates than it at first seems.  The “offensive language” referred to is not racial slurs or related derogatory comments.  In many instances, what has been termed offensive are actually little more than disagreements about issues not directly related to race at all.  Saying, for example, that All Lives Matter, rather than just Black Lives Matter, has been termed offensive by some. Again, the differences are stark. The three Democrat candidates adhere to the Black Lives Matter saying; the Republicans prefer All Lives Matter.

Beyond the contentious issue of race, the increasing use of terms such as “micro aggression”—essentially any disagreement that makes someone uncomfortable– are employed to justify free speech limitations, in any variety of areas. When combined with the potential for international control of the internet which will give influence to nations advocating censorship, there is ample reason for the concern expressed by advocates. The concept of limiting coverage under the Bill of Rights is one that leaves little room for compromise between the growing divisions in American society.

International relations have always proved divisive, and again the differences are stark, but not always divided on strict party lines. The recently withdrawn Democrat candidate Jim Webb advocated a more muscular approach, as do the majority of GOP candidates. However, Republican Rand Paul has advised lesser U.S. involvement overseas. The clearest division is how international threats are perceived, not necessarily in the best way to deter them.  Under the leadership of President Obama and in the positions taken by those Democrats who hope to succeed him, the threats from Russia, China, Iran, North Korea and Islamic extremists have been downplayed. (Hillary Clinton has identified Republicans as the enemy.) The GOP hopefuls have stressed the dangers from those nations and organizations.

Similarly, Democrats tend to favor increased international influence from multinational treaties and organizations on internal American affairs. Republicans point to the lesser rights provided to citizens around the world, and worry that international influence will diminish American rights.

U.S. citizens increasingly read different publications, watch and listen to different news programs, and quote different versions of history. How this will affect the unity of the nation is an issue all sides should be troubled by.

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Reducing incarceration will increase crime

In the aftermath of the October killing of a New York City police officer by a career criminal, outrage was expressed by many that the perpetrator was not in jail.

Despite the reality that an increase in incarceration, (rates of incarceration increased by 400% from 1970 to 2010, according to the Marshall Project) has resulted in a significantly lower crime rate for the past several decades, some continue to call for alternatives to incarceration that would allow some criminals to roam free.

In his October 17 weekly address,  President Obama reiterated several of the myths guiding the call to reverse the strategy that has lowered crime.  A White House description summarizes his comments:

“In this week’s address, the President highlighted the problems in our criminal justice system. Our country faces a vicious cycle of poverty, criminality, and incarceration that traps too many Americans and weakens too many communities. There are 2.2 million people behind bars in America today, compared to 500,000 just 30 years ago. This topic isn’t new – the President has talked about the unfairness of much of the criminal justice system since his time in the Senate. And while we’ve taken steps to address this issue, members of both parties agree that we can do more. Over the next few weeks, the President will travel the country and meet with Americans who are working to fix the criminal justice system, from law enforcement officials working to lower the crime and incarceration rates, to former prisoners who are earning their second chance. And he promised to continue to work with Congress to pass meaningful criminal justice reform that makes the system cost-effective, fairer, and smarter, while enhancing the ability of law enforcement to keep our communities safe.”

The Manhattan Institute’s Heather MacDonald writing in the Wall Street Journal, notes that America is in the midst of “the biggest de-legitimization of law enforcement in recent memory.”

Progressives incorrectly allege that the prison population is comprised in large part of nonviolent minor drug offenders. Ms. MacDonald provides more accurate statistics indicating that violent criminals and serial thieves constitute the vast majority of the incarcerated population. 87% of prisoners are in state jails. In 2013, drug offenders made up less than 16% of state prison populations. In the far smaller federal system, only 1% were imprisoned for simple drug possession, and 49% for serious drug trafficking. The next review will find that even those comparatively small numbers will be lowered even further in the aftermath of the dismantling of tough drug laws in the past few years.

The campaign against incarceration has produced a number of startling comments. A New Yorker article by Adam Gopnik typifies the progressive perspective: “How did we get here? How is it that our civilization, which rejects hanging and flogging and disembowelling, came to believe that caging vast numbers of people for decades is an acceptably humane sanction…William J. Stuntz, a [deceased] professor at Harvard Law School… startlingly suggests that the Bill of Rights is a terrible document with which to start a justice system—much inferior to the exactly contemporary French Declaration of the Rights of Man, which Jefferson, he points out, may have helped shape while his protégé Madison was writing ours.The trouble with the Bill of Rights, he argues, is that it emphasizes process and procedure rather than principles. The Declaration of the Rights of Man says, Be just! The Bill of Rights says, Be fair!”

As attitudes against incarceration harden, violent crime increases. Melanie Batley, writing for Newsmax provides a number of examples:

“A city-by-city look shows:

  • In Baltimore, shootings are up 82.5 percent, or nearly double from last year…
  • In Chicago, there have been over 900 shootings this year, a 40 percent increase, and a 29 percent increase in homicides in the first three months of the year…
  • In New York City, murders have increased 20 percent and the mayor has already announced that he will put an additional 330 cops on the street by Monday in response to the spike in homicides and shootings.
  • In Los Angeles, violent crime rates increased by more than 25 percent and the city is also deploying more officers to areas where crime is on the rise…

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And according to Townhall.com:

  • In St. Louis, there have been 55 murders this year
  • In Dallas, violent crime is up 10 percent
  • In Atlanta, homicides are up 32 percent
  • In Milwaukee, homicides have increased by 180 percent.”

The clear correlation between the increase in incarceration rates and the historic decrease in crime cannot be overlooked. To undue that success poses a true danger to the public.

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American safety, finances jeopardized

Yesterday’s passage of legislation in the House of Representatives requiring that additional security checks be completed before Syrian refugees are admitted (by a margin of 289-137, with 47 Democrats joining their GOP counterparts,) represents the growing distance between the majority of Americans and the “progressive” minority that rules and influences the nation from the White House, the board rooms of the major media, and on college campuses.

Yahoo news recently noted that  “Some of the suspects in the Paris attacks took advantage of Europe’s migrant crisis to “slip in” unnoticed, the French premier said Thursday, …”

The New York Post reports that “ISIS is infiltrating refugee camps to penetrate Europe and the United States. But … Obama dismissed the danger, doubling down on his plans to settle at least 10,000 Syrian refugees here. The White House insists Syrian refugees go through ‘extensive screening.’ That’s a deadly lie. Obama’s own intelligence experts admit screening Syrian refugees is impossible, because the FBI and Homeland Security Department have no data on Syrians — no fingerprints, arrest records, travel data — to indicate what these people did in Syria, or even whether they are who they claim to be. ‘There won’t be anything in our database,’ FBI head James Comey cautioned Congress last month. ‘So I can’t sit here and offer anybody an absolute assurance that — there’s no risk associated with this.’ But Obama’s in denial.”

The very same individuals and organizations that vehemently oppose any action on the part of the United States that could be interpreted as being the “world’s policeman” enthusiastically endorse the concept of America as being the world’s welfare agency, and admitting those who require significant financial assistance or seek to harm the American people.

Despite a national debt of over $18 trillion dollars, progressives seek to extend Washington’s largesse to everyone in need across the face of the globe—even to those that wish America ill. The fact that U.S. citizens and businesses are already paying excessive taxes—in some areas, higher than all of America’s trading partners– apparently matters little to those who see nothing wrong with increasing rates to pay for benefits to immigrants, legal and illegal, or that U.S. consulates overseas instruct potential newcomers on how to apply for welfare upon reaching American shores, even as vital domestic needs go unmet.
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Seeking to evade the will of a disapproving Congress and the majority of voters on a host of issues, the White House increasingly signs onto international treaties it calls “agreements” that don’t require Senate consent.

This is particularly true in the increasing subordination of American interests to United Nations actions, including its recent call for the U.S. to admit  23,092 Syrian refugees. Nothing is said by the mandarins of the left about the U.N.’s rampant anti-Semitism, its acceptance of corrupt governments, the major roles played by totalitarian governments, or its increasingly blatant anti-capitalism.  Examine, for example, how the U.N. uses environmental concerns as an excuse to demand a transfer wealth from the West to the third world. Review the role of dictatorial regimes in positions where they can influence the future of the internet.

With real unemployment numbers still high (despite faulty Bureau of Labor Statistics figures) and middle class wages that have been stagnant for far too long, the President continues to turn a blind eye to illegal immigration, and now seeks to allow 10,000 Syrians into the U.S., despite the fact that this is how some of the perpetrators of the recent Paris attacks entered France. It’s not just opening the borders. It’s also allowing criminal immigrants to remain within. The Associated Press reports that “The Obama administration deported the fewest number of immigrants in the past 12 months since 2006, according to new government figures…The figures also show that deportations of criminal immigrants have dropped to the lowest numbers since President Barack Obama took office in 2009, despite his pledge to focus on finding and deporting criminals living in the country illegally… Total deportations dropped 42 percent since 2012.”

As the President remains insistent on his plan to allow entry to a group that inevitably includes terrorists who will endanger the safety of the American people, he should be reminded that his constitutional duty is to the people of the nation that elected him, not to the rest of the planet. If his conscience mandates that he assist the people of the Middle East who have been ravaged by the Islamic extremism he refuses to admit even exists, he should take firmer action against ISIS and others who are the root of the crisis.

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Obama rejects reality in dealing with terrorism

Pacifism and appeasement have repeatedly failed to deter aggression. However, that has not prevented the White House from employing those bankrupt concepts in response to the threats from ISIS and other radical groups.

The pacifist practice of ignoring the former Soviet Union’s actions, from its original alliance with Nazi Germany, its occupation of Eastern Europe, the oppression of its own citizenry and its nuclear threats was both immoral and useless in ending the Cold War. By the Late 1970’s, that policy error was dramatically evident. But the majority of voters in both the Democrat and Republican Parties did not subscribe to that concept. John F. Kennedy nobly stated during his brief Administration in the 1960’s that “America would pay any price, bear any burden in the defense of freedom.” Fortunately for the U.S., President Reagan had no qualms about standing up to tyranny. He rebuilt America’s armed forces and made it clear that Washington would actively oppose Moscow, and those actions were instrumental in bringing about about the end of the U.S.S.R.

Pacifists, led by the White House, engage in a senseless policy of appeasement with Islamic extremism. This time, however, they wholly dominate the leadership of the Democrat Party as well as academia.  Their supporters in the mass media have perfected a stranglehold on much of the news.  In fact, Mr. Obama has engaged in efforts, through the FCC, internet regulation, and the like, to limit any opposition to those views. The academic left attempts to do the same on campuses across the nation. Traditional left wing views, including anti-Semitism, (remember that Hitler was a “National Socialist”) the diversion of defense spending to welfare programs (a great way to buy votes) and selective amnesia about the lessons of history (especially in school textbooks) contrive to repeat the same mistakes (that allowed fascism to rise in the 1930’s and prolonged the Cold War) in dealing with Islamic extremists.

A series of historical falsehoods have been employed to explain away the fanatic hatred and actions of ISIS, al Qaeda and others, excuses which President Obama has continuously and wrongly given credence to.

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In can be reasonably argued that the refusal to forcibly confront the Islamic extremist threat is even more irrational than the similar leftist (and isolationists in both parties) responses to Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. Those two entities posed direct threats of imminent but future war, which in the case of Germany did result in the Second World War.  Attacks by Jihadis have already begun. The assaults on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, the Boston Marathon, the Beirut barracks, the U.S.S. Cole, the Benghazi facility, Fort Hood, the London subway, the synagogue in Rome, and most recently Paris, as well as others far too numerous to mention in one article, are all evidence of a determined, active, skillful and ongoing total war. The rise of ISIS to nation-state status, thanks to the pacifism of the Obama Administration and its disastrous mistake in prematurely withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq (an error that may be repeated in Afghanistan) compounds the danger.

The Jihadis themselves have not been reticent or modest about the ambitious extent of their violent intentions. Their acts of carnage and demolition, whether in murdering large numbers of innocents, destroying historical and world heritage sites in the Middle East and elsewhere, and enslaving women as sexual rewards for their troops all point to a complete dedication to gaining a total victory that not just dominates but completely eliminates all other beliefs and forms of government.

It is simply irrational to assume that anything other than a militarily forceful response to this threat is viable.  Mr. Obama’s ongoing refusal, echoed by Democrat presidential contenders and their supporters in the media and academia, to even utter the phrase “Islamic extremist” is not just a policy disagreement with the majority of Americans.  It is a rejection of reality itself.

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New legislation addresses growing crisis in crime & homelessness from mental illness

Serious attention is finally being paid to the crisis in mental health facing the United States. Many of the worst problems affecting communities across America, including mass shootings, violence on the streets, and homelessness, are attributable to a change in the manner in which mental illness was handled by government.

Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pennsylvania), a psychologist and Co-chair of the Mental Health Caucus and a founding member of the GOP Doctors Caucus, has introduced the  Helping Families In Mental Health Crisis Act,  H.R. 2646.

According to Murphy, “More than 11 million Americans have severe schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression yet millions are going without treatment and families struggle to find care for loved ones. The federal government’s approach to mental health has been a chaotic patchwork of antiquated programs and ineffective policies across numerous agencies. Sadly, patients end up in the criminal justice system or on the streets because services are not available.”

The problem is an example of a situation made worse by federal intervention. The Heritage Foundation notes that “Fifty years ago, America began a grand experiment by transferring to the federal government the fiscal responsibility for individuals with mental illnesses. During that half-century, it has become increasingly clear that the experiment has been a costly failure, both in terms of human lives and in terms of dollars. The outcome was, in fact, clear as early as 1984, when the chief architect of the federal community mental health centers program proclaimed it to be a failure: ‘The result is not what we intended, and perhaps we didn’t ask the questions that should have been asked when developing a new concept….’ Bringing sanity to our present mental health system is dependent on one essential change: Return the primary responsibility for such services to the states…. Rarely in the history of American government has a program conceived with such good intentions produced such bad results. The patients were deinstitutionalized from the state hospitals, but most of the 763 federally funded CMHCs failed to provide services for them. The majority of the discharged patients, and those who became mentally ill after the hospitals closed, ended up homeless, incarcerated in jails and prisons, or living in board-and-care homes and nursing homes that were often worse than the hospitals that had been closed.”

Journalistsresource  reports that “According to some estimates, as much as 50% of the U.S. prison population suffers from some form of mental illness. As a consequence, each year thousands of mentally ill offenders are sent to prisons that — because of overcrowding and limited resources — are poorly equipped to treat them. They are placed in solitary confinement, subjected to punishments inappropriate for their conditions and end up serving longer sentences than the general inmate population.”

According to a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration statistic reported by the National Homeless organization,  “20 to 25% of the homeless population in the United States suffers from some form of severe mental illness. In comparison, only 6% of Americans are severely mentally ill …In a 2008 survey performed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, 25 cities were asked for the three largest causes of homelessness in their communities. Mental illness was the third largest cause of homelessness for single adults (mentioned by 48% of cities). For homeless families, mental illness was mentioned by 12% of cities as one of the top 3 causes of homelessness.”

The proposed legislation would address the nation’s broken mental health system by focusing programs and resources on psychiatric care for patients & families most in need of services.
Rep. Murphy stresses that “Nearly 10 million Americans have serious mental illness (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression); but, millions are going without treatment as families struggle to find care for loved ones. To understand why so many in need of care go without treatment, the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations launched a top-to-bottom review of the country’s mental health system beginning in January 2013. The investigation, which included public forums, hearings with expert witnesses and document and budget reviews, revealed the federal government’s approach to mental health is a chaotic patchwork of antiquated programs and ineffective policies spread across numerous agencies with little to no coordination. As documented in a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, 112 federal programs intended to address mental illness aren’t connecting for effective service delivery and ‘interagency coordination for programs supporting individuals with serious mental illness is lacking.’”

“While the federal government dedicates $130 billion towards mental health each year, the so-called “mental health system” is best described by its deficits. To name just a few:

  • There is a nationwide shortage of nearly 100,000 needed psychiatric beds.
  • Three of the largest mental health “hospitals” are in fact criminal incarceration facilities (LA County, Cook County, and Rikers Island jails).
  •  Privacy rules that frustrate both physicians and family members generate nearly 8,000 official complaints yearly.
  • For every 2,000 children with a mental health disorder, only one child psychiatrist is available.
  • The leading federal mental health agency does not employ a psychiatrist.
  • Supporters of the bill state that it “fixes the nation’s broken mental health system by refocusing programs, reforming grants, and removing federal barriers to care.”

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Among the key provisions:

  • It Empowers Parents and Caregivers by Breaking down barriers for families to work with doctors and mental health professionals and be meaningful partners in the front-line care delivery team.
  • Drives Evidence-Based Care,
  •  Creates an Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders with mental health credentials within the Department of Health & Human Services to elevate the importance of mental health in the nation’s leading health agency,
  • coordinates programs across different agencies, and promote effective evidence-based programs.
  • Further Refines Mental Health & Substance Abuse Parity.
  •  Requires the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders to make public all federal investigations into compliance with the parity law so families and consumers know what treatment they have rights to access.
  •  Establishes a National Mental Health Policy Laboratory to drive innovative models of care,i
  • Improves Transition from One Level of Care to Another
  •  Requires psychiatric hospitals to establish clear and effective discharge planning to ensure a timely and smooth transition from the hospital to appropriate post-hospital care and services.
  • Fixes Shortage of Crisis Mental Health Beds Provides additional psychiatric hospital beds for those experiencing an acute mental health crisis and in need of short term (less than 30 days) immediate inpatient care for patient stabilization.”

 

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Minimum wage hikes shown to increase unemployment

Yet another study has found that increasing the minimum wage increases unemployment.

The Empire Center for Public Policy and the American Action Forum think tanks have studied New York State’s proposed $15 an hour minimum wage, and concluded it could cost at least 200,000 jobs.

The report notes that the federal minimum wage has been set at $7.25 an hour since July 2009. In recent years, some American policymakers and labor advocates have argued for further increases in the wage at the federal, state, and local levels. On the federal level, the Obama administration and top congressional Democrats have rallied behind a proposal to raise the federal minimum to $12 per hour by 2020. Under another proposal championed by, among others, Sen. Bernie Sanders, the federal minimum would rise to $15 per hour, a level now in the process of being implemented in Seattle and a handful of other localities.

“Our report shows that a massive increase in the minimum wage would actually hurt the very low-wage, low-skill workers it is supposed to help,” said E.J. McMahon, president of the Empire Center. “The impact on job creation and employment opportunities would be substantial in every region of New York, especially upstate.”

“Pay increases for millions will come at the expense of lost employment opportunities for hundreds of thousands of people,” McMahon said. “That’s an unacceptably high price to pay for a policy that will significantly disrupt labor markets and business conditions throughout the state.”

The report notes the findings are consistent with the preponderance of economic research, which has long indicated that higher minimum wages are associated with a decline in employment.

An estimated levitra from canada of 10.9 million adult men in the UK have problems with such kind of dysfunction, and people above age of 60 have got erection failure complexities. Women feel very awkward to be physical with the partner due to pain in the viagra 20mg pelvic mass, poor lubrication. Toronto Raptors (15) – The Bosh-Bargnani combo is a difficult issue to discuss with your partner or even your doctor. viagra sale http://valsonindia.com/sample-page/?lang=it You may be eligible to take testosterone which may help with your menopausal symptoms and they may have other plan of actions to suggest when faced with a low sex drive. cialis 10 mg The findings are not surprising. A University of California at San Diego review reported that “binding minimum wage increases had significant, negative effects on the employment and income growth of targeted workers. Lost income reflects contributions from employment declines, increased probabilities of working without pay (i.e., an “internship” effect), and lost wage growth associated with reductions in experience accumulation…Over the late 2000s, the average effective minimum wage rose by 30 percent across the United States. We estimate that these minimum wage increases reduced the national employment-to-population ratio by 0.7 percentage point.”

 

The American Legislative Exchange Council reached a similar conclusion.

“Increasing the minimum wage may seem like a tool to raise low-income workers out of poverty, but it inevitably hurts the very people policymakers intend to help. When the government imposes a higher minimum wage, employers face higher labor costs and are forced to respond by decreasing other production expenses. As these employers cope with the increased costs of a mandated wage raise, they often respond by cutting the jobs available to less-experienced and less-educated employees. The result is that these individuals, who already have few employment options, find it more difficult to get a job.

“Increasing the minimum wage benefits those who already have a job at the expense of the unemployed. However, even those workers who see an increase to their wages may not feel the full benefit of higher pay, as businesses raise prices to compensate for the increase in labor costs. In particular, food prices tend to increase when the minimum wage is increased, exacerbating the problem for those who cannot find work and offsetting gains for those who can. States considering raising their minimum wage risk alienating business and harming their citizens.”

While raising the minimum wage is not a viable tool to address the problem of workers receiving wages that don’t allow for fiscal stability, the problems facing those workers remains. A more viable solution would be for governments on the federal, state and local levels to remove the numerous impediments to an expansion of economic activity, including high taxes and excessive regulations. This would encourage business growth, increasing demand for workers, and the competition for those workers would result in markedly high wages.

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FASHIONABLE FACISM: HOW PROGRESSIVE POLITICS MAKES FASCISM TRENDY

No one should be surprised at the latest acts of mob tyranny and irrationality on America’s campuses, or the growing trend towards left-wing fascism throughout the Progressive movement.

For several decades, the concepts of American constitutional government have been mocked and degraded at U.S. universities. Widely used texts such as Howard Zinn’s “A People’s History of America” have berated the entire American experience. Generations of college students have been falsely taught that their nation is evil. The Judeo-Christian ethic, which introduced civilization to the belief that each individual has value, is virtually banned from public schools.

Moderate and conservative-minded professors are not hired. Non-left wing students are harassed. University administrators prevent the expression of free speech by limiting contrary views to tiny so-called “free speech zones,” then limit even that outlet by alleging that even there, non-leftists views are punishable because they are “threatening” to progressive/fascist minded students. Not willing to tolerate objections to their socialist teachings, college progressive/fascists have invented the concept of “micro” aggressions to deter discussion about their totalitarian views.

Constitutional guarantees of free speech and free elections are, indeed, an impediment to the implementation of a “progressive” left wing agenda that rejects individual rights in favor of socialist policies that are disliked by a more traditionally-minded public that resents having the will of self-proclaimed academic “intellectuals” imposed upon it.

Campus Reform reports that “The University of Missouri Police Department sent an email to students Tuesday morning asking them to report ‘hateful and/or hurtful speech’ so that they may pursue disciplinary action. The email…instructs recipients to ‘call the police immediately’…if they witness such incidents, and to collect as much information as possible in order to help police identify the perpetrator(s).” So much for free speech!

The Federalist describes the literal shredding of the Constitution at Vassar: “A university administrator literally shredded a copy of the Constitution after an undercover activist posing as a student said that it was ‘triggering.’ ‘I realized the Constitution is kind of a trigger for me,’ the activist posting as a student told Vassar’s deputy equal opportunity czar. ‘Overall I just see it as a really oppressive document… Honestly can we just like destroy, is there like a shredder or something? Like I think it might be really therapeutic.’ [The Administrator] responded to the request by eagerly seeking out a shredder and feeding the Constitution through the metal tines herself while the traumatized co-ed stood by watching.”

The progressive/fascist movement that now dominates college campuses is radically different from the liberal activism of the past, symbolized by the “free speech” movement of the 1960’s at Berkley.

Some traditional journalistic liberal bastions are, belatedly and far too timidly, beginning to notice. New York Magazine , for instance, writes that “At the protest on Missouri’s campus… protesters surrounded and harassed Tim Tai, a photographer with the student newspaper, chanting, ‘Hey, hey, ho, ho, journalists have got to go.’ … Melissa Click, a professor of mass media working with the protest movement, calls out, ‘Help me get this reporter out of here. I need some muscle over here.’ It is possible — and, for many sympathizers on the left, convenient — to dismiss these sorts of incidents … Political correctness is a system of thought that denies the legitimacy of political pluralism on issues of race and gender… the academy is one of the few bastions of American life where the p.c. left can muster the strength to impose its political hegemony upon others. The phenomenon also exists in other nonacademic left-wing communities, many of them virtual ones centered on social media, and its defenders include professional left-wing intellectuals.”
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The resentment of a free press was observable at “Occupy” demonstrations, when reporters were harassed and threatened by participants. It is evident in the demands by leftists that those who disagree with their theories on global warming be imprisoned.

The progressive/fascist movement is, dangerously, not restricted to college campuses. It is frightening to consider its assaults on the Bill of Rights.  Last year, Senator Schumer introduced legislation that would restrict use of the First Amendment in regards to paid political speech.

There are constant calls to eliminate the Second Amendment. The Ninth and Tenth Amendments, which guarantee that the enumeration of certain rights in the Constitution doesn’t limit other freedoms, and that specifically says that rights not specifically granted to the federal government are reserved to the people and the states, are totally ignored by progressive/fascists who see an ever larger and more powerful federal government as the answer to every problem the nation faces.

After ignoring the First, Second, Ninth and Tenth Amendments, not much is left of the Bill of Rights.

Throughout President Obama’s tenure in office, Administration supporters and the liberal media have gone to great pains to ignore or excuse away stunning acts of arrogance which, if done by moderates or conservatives would have resulted in anguished complaints of “imperial presidency” and “tyranny.”  Obama’s shocking comments that he “would not wait for Congress,” that he has “A pen and a phone” which he will use in lieu of Congressional action, were not just rhetoric. They defined his, and the left’s, growing disdain for individual freedom and the democratic process.

The President, with the approval of the progressive/fascists, has used executive orders in an unlawful manner.  He has labelled international treaties as “agreements” in order to avoid the rightful role of the Senate in approving them. He has misappropriated federal agencies, especially the IRS, to attack and silence political opponents. His Justice Department has been warped into a political hatchet. He has used the Environmental Protection Agency to usurp property rights. He has demoted military advisors who provide him with honest and respectful advice that he simply refuses to listen to, in much the same manner that he is absent from national security briefings.

Keep in mind that the full name of Hitler’s Nazi organization was the “National Socialist” party.

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Ignoring Obama’s failed terrorism approach

SPECIAL NOTE:  The Jidhadist attacks on Paris, which came just as this article was being prepared, have caused over 100 deaths, according to preliminary reports. On-site observations from the Middle East  indicate that there was “jubilation” in certain quarters upon  receiving news of the devastating loss of life.  

For far too long, many have alleged that withdrawing from Iraq, as President Obama did early in his term, would reduce tensions with the Islamic World.  Similarly, it was maintained that starting to wind down activities in Afghanistan would do the same, ditto for reducing our relations with Israel.  Obviously, that policy has been repeatedly proven wrong. 

Islamic extremists do not hate the United States for what it DOES; they hate America for what is IS.  The concepts of personal freedom, religious tolerance, and equal rights for women are unacceptable to their dark age mentality. 

 

The aberrant foreign policy developed by the President and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton entails the two most devastating mistakes in U.S. international relations: the so-called “Reset” with Russia and the refusal to acknowledge the growing threat of Islamic extremism.

Clear examples of a policy based on self-delusion abound.  In a state of the Union address, Mr. Obama stated that “The shadow of the threat of terrorism has passed.” In an interview with VOX, he claimed that the level of alarm over terrorism is excessive. He described a shooting at a U.S. military base by an Islamic extremist as “workplace violence.”

Both the White House and Secretary Clinton knowingly deceived the public about the cause of the attack on Benghazi, claiming that it was the result of a video—knowing all the time that this was untrue. The failure to hold either to account for that lie, and to refuse to probe into the circumstances that led to the attack in the first place, constitutes a searing indictment of the partisanship of the American media.

These problems range from neck and purchase cialis here back pain that actually works too – non-surgical spinal decompression. This is used to maintain or achieve full erection when you need. viagra price canada is a prescription pill but still it enjoys credibility of the US citizens are uninsured and when it comes to spending on medicines it becomes a bite in to their pockets. It is something which haunts them throughout their entire sex life if it is not treated. buy generic levitra If you are taking the medicines for chest pain or the medicines for the prostrate problems, it is being advised not to take the pill three purchase generic viagra or four times before it works for a majority of the people who try it — about half stem further loss of hair, while the other half received a placebo once a day for 3 to 4 months offers the. The rise of ISIS and the growing strength of extremists can be directly attributed to the President’s stunningly misguided actions. Whether or not one supported the war to eliminate Saddam Hussein, the premature withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq created a vacuum that allowed ISIS to rise to power. His announcement of a departure date from Afghanistan caused the Taliban to regain tremendous influence, as did the President’s warped decision to negotiate with them.  Apparently, the Taliban’s brutal treatment of Afghanistan’s population, its relentless assaults on women, and its participation in the 9/11 attack on America didn’t disqualify them from being a negotiating partner of the Obama Administration. Wiser heads have now at least prevailed upon the White House to keep some U.S. forces in Afghanistan longer, in an effort to not repeat his horrible mistake in Iraq.

The President’s supporters both in politics and in the media apparently have concluded that there are only two options:  a return to massive boots on the ground or essentially ignoring, and sometimes even supporting, the depravity and threat of Islamic extremists.

Indeed, Mr. Obama’s endorsement of the Arab Spring movements, which were thinly veiled guises for extremists to topple existing Middle East regimes, was a tilt towards the worst elements in the Moslem world. It is appropriate to ask why the President endorsed the replacement of Egypt’s pro-western, pro-peace regime with one that was exactly the opposite.  Why did he oppose the “Green Revolution” in Iran, the only Arab Spring movement not to gain his favor, that sought to replace the anti-west, anti-peace hard line regime with one that was more reasonable? And above all, why did he actively involve the U.S.—despite his allergy to military involvement—in the deposing of the Gaddafi regime in Libya, which was fighting al Qaeda and the Moslem Brotherhood, and which led to the rise of influence by those forces in that nation?

The President’s action—or inaction—regarding ISIS is telling. He has authorized just enough airstrikes to allow the evening news some film of U.S. planes doing something, but not enough to in any way hinder ISIS activities.  It’s all about internal U.S. politics, and not about actually confronting terrorism. Similarly, the Administration’s recent placement of 50, yes, 50, special forces personnel on the ground is just another exercise in public relations.

Mr. Obama’s bizarre Guantanamo Bay policy is illustrative. Why has he released a number of inmates, some of whom have returned to their terrorist activities? Why, despite the success of Guantanamo Bay as a prison facility far from U.S. soil where attacks could jeopardize American civilians, has he made the closing of that facility such a priority that he threatened to veto the entire 2016 defense budget unless Congress went along with his plans?

One of the terrible results of the President’s Mideast policies has been the dramatic growth of Iranian and Russian influence and outright power in the region. If U.S. forces had not been prematurely withdrawn from Iraq, this would not have occurred. Even after that mistake was made and ISIS did rise as a result, an earlier and far more extensive use of U.S. airpower along with a limited and judicious use of ground forces against ISIS could have prevented the current disaster from occurring.

Presidents make mistakes, sometimes with the best of intentions.  But once it is clear that a mistake has been made, a correction must be made.  Despite the utter failure of his foreign policies, Mr. Obama stubbornly refuses to change course, and his supporters continue to make excuses for him. He has not been held accountable by a clearly biased media desperate to gloss over his terrible failings. Placing partisanship over the good of the nation, and in the case of Islamic extremism, the good of all humanity, is a poor choice.