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Freedom House describes internet rights in decline

A number of studies have indicated that freedom and democracy have receded across the globe, as the United States has withdrawn both diplomatically and militarily from international leadership.

Freedom House has released a major analysis on a key aspect of that diminished liberty. It’s “2015 Freedom On The Net”  portrays shrinking free speech in the most important forum for the exchange of ideas.

The following excerpts outline the key points of the report:

Internet freedom around the world has declined for the fifth consecutive year, with more governments censoring information of public interest and placing greater demands on the private sector to take down offending content.

State authorities have also jailed more users for their online writings, while criminal and terrorist groups have made public examples of those who dared to expose their activities online. This was especially evident in the Middle East, where the public flogging of liberal bloggers, life sentences for online critics, and beheadings of internet-based journalists provided a powerful deterrent to the sort of digital organizing that contributed to the Arab Spring.

In a new trend, many governments have sought to shift the burden of censorship to private companies and individuals by pressing them to remove content, often resorting to direct blocking only when those measures fail. Local companies are especially vulnerable to the whims of law enforcement agencies and a recent proliferation of repressive laws. But large, international companies like Google, Facebook, and Twitter have faced similar demands due to their significant popularity and reach.

Surveillance has been on the rise globally, despite the uproar that followed the revelation of mass data collection by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) in 2013. Several democratic countries, including France and Australia, passed new measures authorizing sweeping surveillance, prompted in part by domestic terrorism concerns and the expansion of the Islamic State (IS) militant group. Bans on encryption and anonymity tools are becoming more common, with governments seeking access to encryption backdoors that could threaten digital security for everyone. Evidence that governments with poor human rights records are purchasing surveillance and malware technologies from Western companies like Hacking Team has fueled suspicions that these tools are being used to crack down on political dissidents.

Tracking the Global Decline

Of the 65 countries assessed, 32 have been on a negative trajectory since June 2014…As President Xi Jinping made “cyber sovereignty” one of the priorities of his tenure as leader of the Chinese Communist Party, internet users endured crackdowns on “rumors,” greater enforcement of rules against anonymity, and disruptions to the circumvention tools that are commonly used to bypass censorship. Though not entirely new, these measures were implemented with unprecedented intensity. Google, whose services were frequently interrupted in the past, was almost completely blocked. Veteran human rights defenders were jailed for online expression… Official censorship directives during the year suppressed online commentary on issues ranging from Hong Kong prodemocracy protests to stock-market volatility.

Some of this culture even djpaulkom.tv cialis sale sustain until this modern society. Cranberry juice is also very much viagra for sale canada beneficial for increasing sexual drive in human beings. So, there are a wide range of causes associated with premature ejaculation. generic tadalafil tablets djpaulkom.tv People across the world are facing this issue since long. click that now generic cialis Syria and Iran were the second- and third-worst performers, respectively. Activists, bloggers, and citizen journalists in Syria continue to risk death at the hands of armed factions from across the political spectrum. In Iran… major improvements to civil liberties remain blocked …

Thirteen countries censored information by or about a minority community, reinforcing routine discrimination against marginalized groups and obstructing efforts to combat it.

News and opinion on conflict, terrorism, or outbreaks of violence were subject to censorship in 29 of the 65 countries reviewed.

FREEDOM ON THE NET 2015

Several international firms such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter publish transparency reports that reveal the number of requests they receive each year and their compliance rate. Requests to Twitter from courts and government agencies around the world, for example, skyrocketed from 6 to 1,003 in the three years it has released data. Although companies in many developing markets are not very transparent about such data, interviews conducted by Freedom House indicate that requests are indeed increasing.

Governments are choosing content removal over blocking and filtering for several reasons. With the exception of highly authoritarian states such as China, Iran, and Cuba, most governments do not have complete control over the ICT market or internet infrastructure in their countries, meaning blocking must be implemented by multiple internet service providers (ISPs), with inconsistent results. Undeterred by the global public backlash against the NSA practices revealed in 2013, governments in 14 of 65 countries passed new laws to increase surveillance over the past year…

CONCLUSION

In many ways, the past year was one of consolidation and adaptation of internet restrictions rather than dramatic new declines. Governments that had already greatly expanded their arsenal of tools for controlling the online sphere—by disrupting ICT networks, blocking and filtering content, and conducting invasive surveillance—are now strengthening their application of these methods. As blocking has become less effective, more governments have shifted to censoring content through removal requests or more forceful, coercive tactics. And as savvy internet users increasingly turn to encryption and anonymity tools to protect their rights, government officials across the political spectrum are seeking to undermine these obstacles to surveillance, potentially making the internet less secure for everyone. It remains to be seen whether repressive efforts will be sustainable in the long run.

The global struggle for internet freedom led to several positive achievements over the past year, raising the possibility of greater advances in the future. Digital activism has been and remains a vital driver of change around the world, particularly in societies that lack political rights and press freedom. The greatest gains, however, have been made through legislative changes or judicial decisions, indicating that countries with meaningful political debates and independent judiciaries have a distinct advantage in safeguarding internet freedom over their more authoritarian counterparts…

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Lack of work requirment causes food stamp enrollment growth

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as Food Stamps) provides benefits to low-income households to help them purchase food. Recipients of SNAP benefits increased from 26 million in 2007 to over 40 million in 2010. The average number of recipients in 2014 exceeded 46.5 million people.

While a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report  notes that “The primary reason for the increase in the number of participants was the deep recession from December 2007 to June 2009 and the subsequent slow recovery” other analyses conclude that the Obama Administration’s relaxing of the legal requirement that participants must be actively seeking or training for work played a large part.

The Foundation for Government Accountability’s (FGA) new study on the SNAP program concludes that restoring work requirements will resolve the fiscal challenge brought about by the program’s explosive growth.

The study notes that “the food stamp program is one of the largest and fastest-growing welfare entitlements in the federal budget. Total enrollment reached a whopping 48 million in 2013, one of many record highs plaguing the program. Skyrocketing enrollment has led federal spending on food stamps to more than quadruple since 2000, reaching another record-high of nearly $80 billion in 2013.”

According to the analysis, a key reason for the extraordinary growth “is the recent explosion of enrollment among able-bodied childless adults. Although federal law requires these adults to work in order to receive food stamps, the Obama administration has awarded an unprecedented number of waivers to states, allowing able bodied childless adults to receive taxpayer-funded food stamp benefits without working at all.” The report concludes that “Governors should just decline to renew the federal waivers that have eliminated work requirements for able-bodied childless adults on food stamps. Doing so would reduce welfare enrollment, save federal taxpayer dollars, lift more people out of poverty, increase self sufficiency, and spur economic growth.”

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“Under the guise of providing states greater “flexibility” in operating their welfare programs, the Obama Administration …claims the authority to weaken or waive the work requirements that are at the heart of welfare reform. But Congress intended that those requirements be absolutely mandatory in all instances and specifically withheld any authority to weaken or waive them…The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 stands as perhaps the most important entitlement reform in the nation’s history, chiefly because of its core requirement that able-bodied parents eligible for welfare assistance work, search for work, or train to work. Its centerpiece…is Section 407, ‘Mandatory Work Requirements,’ which sets out an absolute requirement that state welfare programs achieve specific work-participation rates or forfeit federal funding…Even after President Bill Clinton twice vetoed welfare reform legislation, Congress refused to budge on the core requirement of Section 407, insisting on strong work incentives to discourage abuses and to help lift recipients off of welfare and out of poverty. And it worked: Employment surged, caseloads dropped, and child poverty plummeted…[The Obama Administration] argues that Section 1115, which provides waiver authority for states to establish demonstration projects, authorizes it to approve state programs that ‘test approaches and methods other than those set forth in section 407,’including different ‘definitions of work activities and engagement.’ In this way, states could evade Section 407’s work-participation requirement without sacrificing federal funding. But the Obama Administration’s claim that it may weaken or waive work requirements is contrary to law. Section 407 establishes a stand-alone requirement for state welfare plans that brooks no exceptions, befitting its status as the core component of the 1996 reform. It is also absent from the list of requirements that may be waived under Section 1115. Indeed, to eliminate any possible ambiguity as to whether the work requirements could be waived immediately following passage of the 1996 reform, a separate provision specifically states that waivers ‘shall not affect the applicability of section [407].’”

The President’s rejection of the work requirement has been a bone of contention with Congress for some time. In 2013, The House voted to block the Obama administration’s ignoring of the requirement, but failed to get the Democrat-controlled Senate to go along with the legislation.

The Food Research and Action Center reports that “Snap participation increased by 14,869 from May to June in 2015, but decreased by 985,640 from the prior year.

One possible reason for the decrease may be the reinstatement of work requirements by several states. In Maine, a dramatic drop from about 12,000 to 2,500 in adults who aren’t disabled and don’t have children at home was reported this year after the state imposed a requirement to either work part-time for twenty hours each week, enroll in a vocational program, or volunteer for a minimum of twenty-four hours per month.

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America, fundamentally transformed

The breathtaking changes that have occurred in the United States since 2008 have left America substantially altered, fulfilling the vision President Obama stated in his pledge to “fundamentally transform” the nation.

The new direction is not all attributable to the White House, as many facets of it have long been the goals of those advocating what they consider a “progressive” agenda. Congress also bears significant responsibility.  The first portion of the Obama Administration enjoyed a totally Democrat Congress that shared a similar vision. Republicans, who took control in the House in January of 2011, proved incapable of overcoming the ability of the Democrat Senate and the Executive Branch to set the agenda.

During the tenure of the current Administration, the movement to dramatically transform America’s priorities and even the way it is governed, replacing legislation with executive action, has reached its highest point, exceeding the expectations of both those supporting and those opposing the political, economic, and even cultural revisions of the past several years.

Since 2009, the use of executive action, as opposed to legislation, has been a significant departure from past practice.  While prior presidents made use, on some occasions extensively, of executive orders, the use of this practice in very fundamental and questionable areas by President Obama has marked a new high in White House power.  This has been true in matters both foreign and domestic.  While the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned some the President’s actions, Congress has largely failed to confront the many questionable acts of the current Executive Branch.

The effect of the recent revolt by Congressional conservatives following the Republican capture of the Senate last November remains to be seen, but the budget deal agreed to by the outgoing Republican moderate leadership makes no inroads in the White House’s ambitious transformative agenda.

The areas in which former priorities have been replaced are significant.

The U.S. has engaged in deficit spending for decades, but the near doubling of the federal debt under President Obama is unprecedented, particularly since all those dollars spent have not gone to any structural purpose. The economy remains in the doldrums, America’s infrastructure remains deficient, the military is underfunded, the poverty rate remains unaffected and a host of important needs remain unmet. Even the popular NASA manned space program was interrupted by the White House, and essentially mothballed until the next decade.

The stripping of funds from what have generally been considered nonpartisan programs and diverting them to pay for social welfare efforts can be seen even in relatively smaller areas, such as cutting spending on the Crime Victims fund and using it for other purposes.

Taxes, in several different areas, have risen.  The increased revenue, which has brought in record amounts, has been used to support a vastly increased entitlement agenda.

Current and prospective social security recipients and those who have savings have lost ground.  Funds that could have been used to replenish revenue unwisely taken from monies gleaned from social security paycheck charges over many, many years have instead been used to dramatically expand entitlement benefits, most notably in the food stamp (SNAP) program.
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The Federal Reserve’s continuing (since 2008) zero-interest rates have resulted in the loss of revenue from those who have savings to those on the other end of the economic scale.  While the Federal Reserve is not under the control of the White House, its leadership appears to support some key Executive Branch goals. The Fed’s zero interest rates attempt to mask the inflationary effects of massive Washington spending on nonessential areas.

The former emphasis on business and employment growth has been replaced. Onerous regulations and increased costs from the Affordable Care Act have served to keep enterprises from investing and hiring.  Small to medium size companies have been the most substantially affected.

While increased energy resources from private sector efforts in hydrofracking and other methods have benefited the goal of taking the U.S. away from dependence on foreign sources for energy, the Administration’s refusal to open up federal lands for energy exploitation and its dramatically increased environmental regulations will serve to diminish that gain, reflecting a substantially different goal than the drive towards energy independence.

The goal of providing increased employment particularly to those on the lower end of the pay scale has been replaced by an emphasis on assisting illegal aliens, who have entered the nation in stunning numbers since President Obama’s election, and who now occupy many of the positions once held by U.S. youth and others seeking entry level positions. The overwhelming bulk of the small restoration of job numbers since the Great Recession has not gone to American citizens.

The Clinton Presidency’s opening up of greater trade relations with China continues to severely damage the U.S. manufacturing sector and the crucial jobs it provides.  Neither President Bush nor President Obama moved to address that crisis.

The historic drop in violent crime over the past decades is showing signs of reversal. A less supportive attitude by the White House of law enforcement personnel and an increase in racially tinged comments about the relationship of the minority community with the police from the Oval Office has been a significant factor.

Under the current Administration, a totally unexpected move away from First Amendment rights is a change of historic proportions. Attempts to place federal monitors in newsrooms, the use of federal agencies such as the IRS to attack political opponents, and allowing international control of the internet in a manner that will lead to censorship is a truly radical departure from all past practices. Obamacare’s disregard of religious conscience issues also weakens what was once a bedrock and widely supported right.

Clearly, the most substantial transformation has been in national security and foreign affairs. Traditional allies such as the United Kingdom and Israel have been estranged as the White House made dramatic overtures to Russia, Cuba and the Islamic world, and paid little attention other than a few symbolic gestures to Chinese aggression and its ramped up militancy in the Pacific. Cuts to the defense budget, which is substantially smaller now than when Mr. Obama took office, now places the U.S. at the greatest risk than at any time since the end of World War II.

It remains to be seen whether the President’s fundamental transformations will endure, or whether a change in the White House in 2016 will undo them.

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Obama’s immigration strategy hit by Court

Yesterday’s ruling from the 5th circuit refuting President Obama’s drive to enforce executive actions giving semi-legal status as well as work permits to a vast number of illegal immigrants is the latest volley against an increasingly aggressive move to radically change the balance of power in American elections.

The battle lines in this fight for dominance of the American political scene have been drawn and the fight is becoming increasingly intense. On the one hand are most states, local law enforcement officials, and voter integrity groups that seek to insure that only U.S. citizens vote. On the other are progressives who, noting that after the once popular Barack Obama leaves office American voter patterns will return to a more conservative path, seek to bring a new group of voters, legally or illegally, to the ballot box to improve their future electoral chances.

The New York Times reports that “a group of former aides to President Obama and President Bill Clinton is pledging to counter by spending up to $10 million on a push to make voter registration automatic whenever someone gets a drivers’ license.” The drive is managed by an organization called iVote. The new voters targeted are young, poor and in many cases aliens, groups that vote solidly Democrat.

Attaching voter registration to drivers’ licenses is the most expeditious way of getting aliens, legal and illegal, unlawful access to the ballot box. Attempts are geared towards getting the new illegal voters registered in time for the 2016 election. The numbers that would be included in this measure are overwhelming.  In California alone, up to 500,000 licenses have been given to illegal immigrants.

In September, the Times also reports, “White House officials announced the start of a nationwide campaign …to encourage legal immigrants to become American citizens, which could add millions of voters to the electorate in time for the presidential election next year.”

National Review notes that “Even if a tiny fraction [of immigrants] vote, they easily could tip an election. A notable number of legal immigrants already vote illegally in elections. A recent Cooperative Congressional Elections Study calculated that 6.4 percent of non-citizens in the U.S. voted in 2008 and 2.2 percent of them did so in 2010.”
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Even as the U.S. remains mired in unprecedented debt that has nearly doubled during the Obama Administration, the White House continues to encourage increasing numbers of needy immigrants to enter America, and avoids deporting illegal arrivals. The fact that many vital needs of the U.S. population remain unfunded appears not to deter the effort to lure new residents who will become dependent–but vote Democrat.

Breitbart  notes that  “The Obama administration has released an updated welcome guide for new immigrants in the U.S. featuring detailed sections about obtaining public benefits including food stamps, welfare, and Obamacare…Titled the “Welcome to the United States: A Guide for New Immigrants” the publication is available in 14 languages: Arabic, English, French, Haitian Creole, Korean, Portuguese,Russian, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, Urdu, Vietnamese, and two varieties of Chinese. The guide offers detailed information on the expectations and rights of a permanent resident, tips on settling in the U.S., employment advice, and available public benefits. It also highlights reasons to become a citizen.”

The proportion of immigrants to the general population in many areas is at near-historic levels. The New York Daily News reports that NY State comptroller Thomas DiNapoli found that “Immigrants…account for 37% of the city’s population, the largest share in 100 years. The city’s immigrant population — 3.1 million — has more than doubled since 1970… immigrants account for 43% of the city’s workforce, up from 31% in 1990.”  That figure, at a time when unemployment remains high, is a major affront to the many Americans that are urgently seeking employment.

Politico  Outlines how immigrants can swing the election even without casting unlawful votes:

“Legal immigrants—along with other noncitizens without the right to vote—may pick the 2016 presidential winner. Thanks to the unique math undergirding the Electoral College, the mere presence of 11-12 million illegal immigrants and other noncitizens here legally may enable them to swing the election from Republicans to Democrats…The census counts illegal immigrants and other noncitizens equally with citizens. Since the census is used to determine the number of House seats apportioned to each state, those states with large populations of illegal immigrants and other noncitizens gain extra seats in the House at the expense of states with fewer such ‘whole number of persons.’ This math gives strongly Democratic states an unfair edge in the Electoral College.”

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As Arctic threat increases, U.S. plans to cut regional defense

Russia is developing a powerful new Arctic military force. According to the military newspaper Stars and Stripes A new Russian Arctic command will include four new Arctic brigades, 50 airfields by 2020, increased long-range air patrols by Russian bombers and a total of 40 conventional and nuclear icebreakers, with 11 more planned.

The BBC  reports that Russia is developing a new naval infrastructure in the region. In addition to a new air defense base on Sredniy Island, five island bases are being built by 1,500 workers – at Alexandra Land, Rogachevo, Cape Schmidt, Wrangel and Kotelny.

During the summer, according to Defense News, Russia launched military exercises in the region that included over 1,000 soldiers, 14 aircraft and 34 special military units.

Nations are taking note. International Business Times reports that Norway, a NATO member, in response to the Russian military buildup, is building its Arctic defense.

“Our neighbor in the east has built up its military capacity, also in areas close to us,’ said Admiral Haakon Bruun-Hanssen of Norway’s navy. ‘They have shown that they are willing to use military force to achieve political ambitions.’ The publication notes that ‘Other European countries also have embarked on modernizing their defense capabilities amid uncertainty over Russia. Poland has begun a military modernization program at a cost of more than $35 billion. Poland and Sweden signed a military cooperation agreement in September that also cited Russian military fears. Sweden said it had increased its own military spending by 11 percent.”
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In light of all this, it is strange that the United States is considering weakening its tiny presence in the region even further.

According to Stars and Stripes, the Army’s only extreme-cold weather airborne brigade, the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, “is slated to be cut under the Army’s plan to trim its force to 450,000 soldiers by 2017, a decision that would eliminate 59 percent of the Army personnel assigned there… If the brigade is cut, the military will lose one of its critical Arctic and Pacific rapid response assets, which has raised questions whether this is the right time to reduce this capability. Since 2010, the Army has seen its budget shrink from $144 billion to a requested $126 billion for 2016. In the same time, the Army reduced its force from 566,000 in 2010 to 490,000 in 2015, according to Defense Department figures… The brigade isn’t only the sole extreme cold weather brigade in the Army; it’s also the Army’s only airborne brigade in U.S. Pacific Command. The unit can reach most places to conduct a forced entry in the Pacific, and some European locations, in nine hours or less.”

In a letter to the Pentagon submitted by Senators Lisa Murkowski and Senator Dan Sullivan and Rep, Don Young, the three Alaska congressional members noted that “In Cold-War Like fashion, Russia has dramatically increased its Arctic-based military presence, creating a new Northern Command, reopening numerous foreign Soviet air and sea bases, building new ice breakers, and forming four new combat brigades in the Arctic.  In fact, according to testimony given earlier this year by Admiral William Gortney, commander of U.S. Northern Command, ‘Russian heavy bombers flew more out-of-area patrols in 2014 than at any time since the Cold War.’ Further, Russia recently launched a massive, five-day Arctic training event, involving 38,000 servicemen, more than 50 ships and submarines, and 110 aircraft.  Taken as a whole, we are greatly concerned about Russian show of military force and we believe that the United states must begin to rapidly bolster our Arctic capabilities and force structure.”

Other than calling for the acquisition of several additional icebreakers, the White House attitude towards the region continues to be that expressed in its 2013 Arctic Strategy document:  “The Arctic region is peaceful, stable, and free of conflict.”

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New job numbers indicate poor recovery from recession

Yesterday’s job numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics demonstrate that America has yet to truly emerge from the Great Recession.

Despite White House claims, the nation still has not recovered from that greatest economic challenge since the Great Depression of the 1930’s. Government policy, which has hamstrung the free market, is largely to blame.

The White House continues to allege that much progress has been made, but a clear examination of key financial factors demonstrates otherwise.

EMPLOYMENT

The latest employment statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)  indicates that less than half the monthly number of jobs that should have been created to truly lessen the recession’s impact was in fact created.  In addition, many of those jobs replacing those lost provided far lesser pay, and many went to immigrants as opposed to U.S. citizens who balked at the low pay levels. The percentage of people in the work force continues at near 40 year lows, and the number of long-term unemployed workers is at near historic highs.

The BLS released these notes yesterday: “Both the unemployment rate …and the number of unemployed persons … were essentially unchanged in October. Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates…showed little or no change in October. The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was essentially unchanged …These individuals accounted for 26.8 percent of the unemployed in October…The civilian labor force participation rate was unchanged at 62.4… The employment-population ratio, at 59.3 percent, changed little in October and has shown little movement over the past year…Among the marginally attached, there were 665,000 discouraged workers in October, little changed from a year earlier.”

Ian Murray of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI)  provides a worrisome analysis of the BLS report:

“… the American economy remains on life support. The unemployment rate, number of long term unemployed, and labor force participation rate are all essentially unchanged. The recovery from the great recession has been anemic… The size of the hole we are in can be seen by comparing where we are now in terms of jobs from where we would have been had the post-recession recovery followed the trajectory of past recoveries. We are now 6 million jobs behind where we should be, according to Congress’ Joint Economic Committee. The economy would need to add 516,000 jobs a month to match the pace of the average recovery at this stage. So what is different this time?

“One answer that has gotten too little attention is that the rate of regulation over the economy has increased over the past decade, including since the great recession began. Regulation has its costs—CEI’s Wayne Crews estimates the total annual burden of regulation on the economy at about $1.9 trillion. That number could support a lot of jobs….Meanwhile… the Department of Labor and National Labor Relations Board are pursuing a policy of further restrictions on employment conditions…When the nation went into recession in the early 1980s, high taxes were the largest supply-side problem to creation of new jobs. President Reagan worked with Congress to cut taxes significantly, and the result was the Reagan boom. Clearly, overly burdensome regulation is the largest supply-side problem today. A responsible President who cares about employment prospects would be working with Congress to cut regulations significantly, not imposing more of them.”

If he feel shy asking about the medicine, he can go online to cheap viagra samples or any other medicine yet there are many things which you should know if a certain process fit your routine. Have you been thinking about using Sildenafil Citrate to cheapest generic levitra help with ED (erectile dysfunction) and as a tanning agent to help prevent skin cancer. Many order levitra without prescription online sites even have online experts to answer your queries related to particular diseases. As tadalafil cialis the researchers said, “A diagnosis of a hormonal imbalance confirmed. The Century Fund  outlines three reasons why the job market is actually worse than federal statistics indicate:

“The ratio of workers to non-workers is nearing an all-time low. Part of the drop in headline unemployment numbers is explained by the fact that many have just given up on looking for work entirely…

“The share of long-term unemployed…People who are out of work for more than twenty-six weeks can sometimes end up permanently unemployable…

“Many who are working are underemployed. The unemployment rate is silent on those who have part-time jobs but would prefer full-time jobs…”

Other factors demonstrate the failure to adequately emerge from the Great Recession. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported last week that first-time home buyers, a significant indicator of a healthy economy, has “declined to the lowest level in almost three decades…the third straight annual decline.” WSJ also reports that the minimal 1.5% growth in the economy from July through September “marked a deceleration from the second quarter of 2015” indicating that the economy is heading in the wrong direction.

Rather than stimulate the private sector, the White House has pursued a path of heavy government spending, beginning with the failed “stimulus” package that cost taxpayers almost $800 billion but failed to make a significant dent in the economy’s pace.

CNS  reports  “The federal government took in a record of approximately $3,248,723,000,000 in taxes in fiscal 2015 …That equaled approximately $21,833 for every person in the country who had either a full-time or part-time job in September.” The increased revenue comes from additional taxes, not increased economic activity, and represents money taken from the private sector that could have been used to create jobs.

Despite that enormous sum removed from the private sector where it could have created employment, Washington remains mired in debt.  The Washington Times Notes that “…Mr. Obama’s spending agreement with Congress will suspend the nation’s debt limit and allow the Treasury to borrow another $1.5 trillion or so by the end of his presidency in 2017. Added to the current total national debt of more than $18.15 trillion, the red ink will likely be crowding the $20 trillion mark right around the time Mr. Obama leaves the White House. When Mr. Obama took over in January 2009, the total national debt stood at $10.6 trillion. That means the debt will have very nearly doubled during his eight years in office, and there is much more debt ahead with the abandonment of “sequestration” spending caps enacted in 2011.”

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Defense budget cut again

Congress and the President appeared to have reached an agreement  on the 2016 defense budget. According to our preliminary calculations, the fiscal year 2016 budget is at a near-historic low, representing about 14 percent of total federal discretionary and nondiscretionary outlays. The 2016 defense budget is $177 billion lower than its 2010 counterpart.

According to a report just filed by Defense News , the 2016 defense bill has been slashed  by $5 billion to comply with the budget deal between Congress and the president, including $2.6 billion in “adjustments” to acquisition programs. The total package now comes in at $607 billion, down from the original $612 billion for the 2016 fiscal year.

Breaking Defense outlined the cuts, which run the gamut from mundane items such as fuel purchases to yet another blow to America’s shrunken navy, and cost-cutting on strategic weapons programs as well as on force readiness.  Research into new weapons appears also to have taken a hit.

The cuts come at a time when spending by Russia and China has increased dramatically, and increased threats are presented by Iran, North Korea, and terrorist organizations. Russia has, for the first time, a lead over the U.S. in strategic nuclear weapons, and a ten to one advantage in tactical nuclear weapons.  China already has more submarines than the U.S. Navy, and will have a larger force overall within five years. Beijing also has sophisticated anti-ship missiles that America does not, and which the American fleet has no defense against.

The cuts continue the dramatic shrinking of America’s armed forces, which are barely at a shadow of the strength possessed as recently as 1990. The Navy is the smallest it has been since before World War 1, the army, which by the end of the year will be smaller than North Korea’s, is the smallest it has been since before World War 2, and the Air Force is the smallest it has ever been.  In the past, the drastic cuts were attributed to the downfall of the USSR, but under Putin, Russia has returned to cold war strength.  China has become a major superpower. North Korea possess nuclear weapons and will soon mount them on missiles that can reach the U.S.  Terrorist groups control more territory, money and influence than ever. Russia, China, and terrorist organizations have become active in Latin America.

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A total of $690 million in cuts to the Air Force long range bomber program is illustrative of how U.S. forces are being challenged by antiquated equipment. Currently, the Air Force only has 20 truly modern bombers.   It should be remembered that the B-52’s are so old, the grandfathers of some of today’s pilots flew the very same aircraft—not the same model, the very same plane- their grandchildren now occupy. The B-1 program of the 1970’s was cancelled before many were built, and the Reagan-era  B-2 purchase was slashed from over 100 to the current 20.

A unique feature of the 2016 defense appropriations was the threatened veto by President Obama over the Guantanamo Bay issue.  The White House has threatened to veto the defense appropriations bill if Congress didn’t submit to his plans to close the on-site prison that houses terrorists, some of whom have been released and now again engage in terrorist activities. This marks the very first time that any President has used his veto power over a defense bill on an issue that has nothing to do with defense spending. It is an indication of the lack of importance the current White House attaches to national security.

The Navy has received the fewest cuts.  While there has been very little coverage in the media about the shrinking American armed forces, China’s aggressive maritime policy and the spectacular growth of its navy, which will be larger than America’s within five years (and currently has more submarines) and its advanced weaponry (including the DF-21 missile, with technology the U.S. hasn’t yet attained) has made the public conscious of the growing threat.  However, the American Navy remains at a dangerously low level, down from 600 ships in 1990 to the current 254, and there is nothing in the new budget that demonstrates any determination to return to a safe level.

 

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Federal environmental studies challenged for poor science, lack of transparency

A battle between the House of Representatives and a federal agency is raising the central issue of the balance of power within Washington, as well as the scientific basis of the numerous dire claims of man-made climate change that are increasingly being used by the White House to increase its power and alter much of the way Americans do business, grow food, and obtain energy.

Civil libertarians have grown increasingly wary of the extent to which unelected agency personnel are exercising legislative-like powers with very significant and wide-ranging effects on everyday life within the nation.

The conflict between Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), chair of the House Science Committee, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is bringing the issue to a head. The Hill , which reported the issue, noted that the agency has refused to give Congress the detailed information requested on a controversial climate change study. Highlighting the argument is a study that concluded there has not been a 15-year “pause” in global warming, prepared with NOAA assistance.

NOAA’s excuse of “confidentiality” and “protecting the integrity of the scientific process” appears to be little more than a smokescreen to prevent the legislative branch from fully reviewing the data, which may prove embarrassing to the Obama Administration’s quest for increased economic and regulatory authority based on an extreme view of climate change. NOAA’s argument also fails to address the right of the legislative branch to review any studies performed by an agency, barring extraordinary circumstances.

Rep. Smith was forced to issue a subpoena, which NOAA has yet to fully comply with. This is the latest duel between the Texas Republican and Obama Administration officials. In 2014, Rep. Smith stated that the EPA was not being candid about climate change. In a letter to the EPA sent on August 13, he wrote:

“For too long the Environmental Protection Agency has hidden the truth from the American people.  In order to regain public trust, the agency should rely on robust, objective and well-grounded technical analysis of its climate regulations. Flaws in recent EPA analyses amplify concerns about the real impacts of these regulations. Americans deserve an opportunity to see the facts.”

He stressed the findings of the Government Accountability Office, which released a report highlighting a pattern of shoddy EPA analysis. It was revealed that EPA relied on decades old data and ignored important factors.  The independent watchdog warned that “EPA cannot ensure that it’s [analysis] provide the public with a clear understanding of its decision making.” Chairman Smith wrote that “Credible analysis is critical to a well-informed debate concerning climate change and energy policy choices now before American people. EPA’s incomplete modeling disregards a number of technical, regulatory, and economic realities. Americans deserve the bottom line: what does it cost and what will we get for the money?” The letter calls on EPA to provide comprehensive analysis that takes real-world contingencies into account rather than rely on models and science that are hidden from the public.

Rep. Smith is not alone in his criticism of the EPA. A watchdog site, EPAFACTS.org, noted in 2014 that:

“The National Academies, a primarily government funded 6,300 member organization of the country’s top scientists, published a report … denouncing the EPA for its use of bad science to justify its conclusions. The National Research Council (NRC), one of four organizations that makes up theNational Academies (the other three being the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine), found a litany of deficiencies across multiple offices that undermines EPA’s claims of scientific integrity.

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Lack of transparency – “The lack of transparency and the inconsistencies raise questions about the quality of the approaches used.”

Lack of consistency – “Inconsistencies were found in the methods used to identify studies for consideration.”

Insufficient documentation – “EPA’s evaluation provided insufficient documentation of the analyses that led to the conclusions.”

Failure to justify conclusions – “EPA’s conclusions are not well supported… A higher standard of evaluation is required.”

Improper use of scientific method – “No clear description of a strategy or criteria for assessing the studies used in the evaluation… Methods that provide a more systematic approach and greater transparency are necessary.”

The fight on Capitol Hill comes as 26 states file suit against the EPA’s new power plant regulations, which would affect the coal industry particularly hard. Those opposing the measures cite the major cost increases that would result, as well as the important questions of where alternate sources of energy would come from if coal is eventually driven out of the U.S. power equation.

Some environmentalists are concerned that increased use of solar and wind, even though they could replace only a small fraction of the power coal provides, brings other detrimental effects.  The Save the Eagles organization 1.4 million birds annually could be killed by expanded use of wind turbines.

The Union of Concerned Scientists  notes that “larger utility-scale solar facilities can raise concerns about land degradation and habitat loss… The PV cell manufacturing process includes a number of hazardous materials, most of which are used to clean and purify the semiconductor surface. These chemicals, similar to those used in the general semiconductor industry, include hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, nitric acid, hydrogen fluoride, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, and acetone…”

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Federal land ownership, violating federal law

A key example of the federal government ignoring its own laws can be seen in the dispute over the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Congressional authorization for the program ended September 30.

The basic premise of the program has broad bipartisan support.  It commits some funds, about $900 million annually, from royalties from offshore oil and gas exploitation to preserving natural resources and unique land areas for the recreational use and preservation.

The dispute arises in the manner in which the funds are used, and how Washington’s heavy hand abuses the program.  Originally, notes the Wall Street Journal, six out of every ten dollars gleaned from the royalties were to be set aside for use by the states in furtherance of conservation goals.  However, in the past year, over 80% of the cash was waylaid by the federal government, which has a shoddy record in maintaining the properties under its control. The states have their share of offenses, as well. They frequently use the program to engage in highly questionable exercises of eminent domain, violating the property rights of private landowners.

The larger issue behind the debate is the overwhelming federal ownership of massive portions of America’s land. Washington already owns about 30% of all U.S. lands.  In many western states, according to Adam Freedman who writes about states’ rights in his book “A Less Perfect Union,” the amount of federal ownership is so high that the federal government substantially deprives the states and the citizens of those states’ effective self-government. According to a Big Think study federal ownership in the west is massive: Nevada, 84.50%; Alaska, 69.10%; Utah, 57.40%; Oregon, 53.10%; Idaho, 50.20%; Arizona, 48.10%; California, 45.30%; Wyoming, 42.30%; New Mexico, 41.80%; Colorado, 36.60%.

There is little reason to assume, given its poor management record, that the federal government is a better steward of these lands than the people of the respective states.  A 2014 Rasmussen poll  found that thirty-six percent (36%) of American Adults believe the federal government owns too much property in this country, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Just 11% think the government doesn’t own enough. Thirty-eight percent (38%) consider the amount of land owned by the federal government to be about right. Fifteen percent (15%) are undecided.

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There have been unsuccessful attempts to confront Washington. Supporters of the “Sagebrush Rebellion” of 1979, as noted in Forest History, noted that supporters believed “excessive federal control and regulation of the western public domain stripped people and states of their rights—rights to graze cattle on the public domain, rights to mine it, rights to generate tax base from it… To reverse the trend, to regain lost ‘rights,’ the Sagebrush Rebellion attempted two things: in the short run, improved, “fairer” federal management of the public domain, and in the long run, cession of federal lands to the states in which they lay. In the end, it got neither…”

In 2014, a “Second Sagebrush Rebellion” took place. The International Business Times describes the movement: “The Bureau of Land Management sent a long overdue letter to Nevada cattle rancher Cliven Bundy informing him that his 900 cows would be impounded and he would have to pay $1.2 million in fees for grazing on federal land without payment since 1993. When officials held true to their threat … Bundy made some threats of his own, propelling the spat onto the national stage…The way Bundy frames the argument, the fight is about states’ rights and the feeling some in the West have that the federal government is oppressing their privilege to mine, log and farm on American soil…This ideology recently gained some ground in Arizona with Proposition 120, the Arizona Declaration of State Sovereignty Amendment, which declared ownership of ‘sovereign and exclusive authority and jurisdiction over the air, water, public lands, minerals, wildlife and other natural resources within [the state’s] boundaries.’ The controversial 2012 ballot measure, backed by Republicans in the state legislature, would have essentially transferred control of parks like the Grand Canyon from the federal government to the state if it had passed, which it didn’t….Federal land was never actually meant to exist in the early days of the United States. It was seen as an asset to be distributed for the growth of the economy…”

The legal problem with vast federal land ownership is substantial. Following a states’s admission to the union, to insure that it is placed on an equal footing with existing states, federal land is to be sold expeditiously, with 5% of the proceeds going to the new state government.

Freedman describes what has happened instead: “Predictably, once Congress created federal bureaus whose very existence depended upon federal land ownership, the government lost all interest in selling the land…in 1976, Congress gave up the pretense that it was ever going to sell its western possessions by passing the Federal Land Policy and Management Act.”

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Free speech under assault on multiple fronts

For what may be the first time in modern U.S. history, there is a serious question about the survival of the First Amendment. From college campuses to federal agencies, the once universally accepted support for unfettered free speech (with the usual exceptions of calls for immediate violence, or creating a presently hazardous situation) is being questioned. Opposition political organizations, writers and commentators are feeling the chill.

One example: Campus Reform  Recently described a disturbing incident at Wesleyan college, where the Student Assembly voted unanimously to cut funding for Argus, the student newspaper, following its printing of an article critical of the radical Black Lives Matter organization.

The problem is not confined to academia.  Indeed, far more serious are the actions of the White House, which has sought to place Federal Communications Commission regulators in newsrooms, and has used the Internal Revenue Service to attack organizations opposed to the President.

Presidential contender Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) believes that even greater threats both to free speech and entrepreneurship are in the offing, thanks to attempts to regulate the internet. In a Washington Post op-ed, Cruz stated that  “the threats from Washington to stifle freedom, entrepreneurship and creativity online have never been greater. Washington politicians want … more and more control over our speech.”

In a statement reported in the Blaze, Cruz worried that “the threats to free speech, under big government statists, have never been greater … I think we cannot overstate these threats.”

Civil libertarians are worried that the President’s move to transfer control of the internet to an international organization influenced by Russia, China and other totalitarian states will lead to censorship. In May, outgoing House Speaker John Boehner, quoted in Newsmax, stated “Overzealous government bureaucrats should keep their hands off the Internet… three [commissioners] appointed by President Obama approved a secret plan to put the federal government in control of the Internet.”

A number of the special order viagra online speakers who said something at this function were Mr. Drugs are combined so that there are few overlapping generic sildenafil india side effects, to make the treatment more tolerable. The doctor usa viagra store diagnoses and treats various conditions and oftentimes on a routine basis. Numerous men experience it while the time of buy viagra 100mg stress. Government assaults on free speech and the conduct of free elections are not restricted to Washington. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, who has had to fight off recall petitions spurred by Democrats angered over his tough stance against government unions have used a secretive state process known as “John Doe” investigations to essentially harass his campaign. Under the bizarre legal weapon, citizens are compelled to produce evidence for what may be specious reasons at the discretion of prosecutors, and are forbidden to speak publicly about the process.

Legislators have enacted legislation reforming the practice, according to Madison.com. The reform law limits use of the process “to the most severe felonies and some violent crimes, meaning campaign finance and ethics violations could no longer be subject to a John Doe. Prosecutors have used John Doe provisions to investigate Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign twice.”  Despite intensive investigations, no serious violations have been found in Walkers’ campaigns, leading to the well-founded belief that the process was used solely to intimidate the Governor’s supporters.

A further incursion into the extent of free speech protections comes from the growing support for laws that would prohibit so-called “Hate Speech.” A Yougov.com   study notes that “ research shows that many Americans support making it a criminal offense to make public statements which would stir up hatred against particular groups of people. Americans narrowly support (41%) rather than oppose (37%) criminalizing hate speech.”

The problem, of course, is in defining what hate speech is.  Is a statement, such as that in the student newspaper Argus, criticizing the radical Black Lives Matter organization, hate speech? Would a statement opposed to allowing large numbers of essentially un-vetted Syrian refugees into the U.S. be hate speech? Experience with this type of legislation in other nations has proven to result in serious infringements on free speech.

Mark Steyn, a Canadian who has been critical of Islamic extremists, has been subjected to three complaints of “hate speech” in his country.  In a National Review  article he wrote: “the Canadian establishment seems to think it entirely natural that the Canadian state should be in the business of lifetime publication bans, just as the Dutch establishment thinks it entirely natural that the Dutch state should put elected leaders of parliamentary opposition parties on trial for their political platforms, and the French establishment thinks it appropriate for the French state to put novelists on trial for sentiments expressed by fictional characters. Across almost all the Western world apart from America, the state grows ever more comfortable with micro-regulating public discourse—and, in fact, not-so-public discourse: Lars Hedegaard, head of the Danish Free Press Society, has been tried, been acquitted, had his acquittal overruled, and been convicted of ‘racism’ for some remarks about Islam’s treatment of women made (so he thought) in private but taped and released to the world… Note that legal concept: not ‘illegal’ or ‘hateful,’ but merely ‘disparaging.’

Taken individually, any of these areas, FCC overreach, internet regulation, academic suppression of student speech, IRS intimidation, or the banning of undefined hate speech, presents a worrisome threat to free speech.  Taken as a whole, it must be seen as a wholescale assault on the most basic of American, indeed, human rights, that must be taken very seriously.