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Once more, with VIGOR! for the “LightBringer”: “Fine for me but not for thee”

SHOT: Obama defends Paris climate accord as Trump mulls ditching it

Former US President Barack Obama praised his administration’s record on climate change Tuesday, just as the Trump administration struggles with an internal rift over whether to pull out of the Paris climate accord.  The Paris Agreement was in part brokered by Obama and was seen as a major breakthrough after the previous accord, the Kyoto protocol, failed to include the US and China, the world’s two biggest polluters.

At a summit in Milan, Italy, focused on climate change and food availability, Obama defended the Paris Agreement and said that the US must show leadership and not “sit on the sidelines.” “During the course of my presidency, I made climate change a top priority because I believe that of all the challenges that we face, this is the one that will define the contours of this century, more dramatically perhaps than any other,” Obama said at the Seeds & Chips summit.

“We have been able to bring our emissions down even as we grow our economy. The same is true in many parts of Europe,” he said.

He fails to mention that he did everything he could to stop fracking which is, in no small part, responsible for much of US smaller emissions.  That, and his policies strangled our economy.

CHASER: Barack Obama Jets to Milan to Deliver Climate Change Speech

…After the ex-president enjoyed his flight to the famous Italian city, he hopped in an SUV in a 14 car convoy direct to his hotel

What, he couldn’t do the “climate change” responsible thing and

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SHOT: California: Hey, maybe communism isn’t so bad after all

EMphasis mine, reformatted: SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Being a communist would no longer be a fireable offense for California government employees under a bill passed Monday by the state Assembly.  Lawmakers narrowly approved the bill to repeal part of a law enacted during the Red Scare of the 1940s and ’50s when fear that communists were trying to infiltrate and overthrow the U.S. government was rampant. The bill now goes to the Senate. It would eliminate part of the law that allows public employees to be fired for being a member of the Communist Party. Employees could still be fired for being members of organizations they know advocate for overthrowing the government by force or violence.

Heck, as we have pointed out before, what’s the difference between the Democrat and Communist USA platforms anyways? Given the results in California, they already have infiltrated with D’s after their names in that single Party rule State.

CHASER: A Hundred Years of Communism.

…Stalin killed so many people in the Great Purge that

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“The AHCA repeals fewer than 10 percent of the provisions in the Affordable Care Act. It is an amendment to the ACA that deliberately maintains Obamacare’s framework.”

A bait and switch?  Like I’ve said before, THIS was the best that the Republicans in DC could do after 7 years and tens of “REPEAL IT!!” votes?  They voted to “kill the King” – I’m not sure what the House passed could even be categorized as a “flesh wound” (H/T to Monty Python) – maybe a small slice with a kitchen knife dicing onions.  US Rep Amash, a libertarian / Freedom Caucus member had a statement that pretty much says the same thing (emphasis mine):

This is not the bill we promised the American people. For the past seven years, Republicans have run for Congress on a commitment to repeal Obamacare. But it is increasingly clear that a bill to repeal Obamacare will not come to the floor in this Congress or in the foreseeable future.

When Republican leaders first unveiled the American Health Care Act, a Democratic friend and colleague joked to me that the bill wasn’t a new health care proposal; it was plagiarism. He was right.

The AHCA repeals fewer than 10 percent of the provisions in the Affordable Care Act. It is an amendment to the ACA that deliberately maintains Obamacare’s framework. It reformulates but keeps tax credits to subsidize premiums. Instead of an individual mandate to purchase insurance, it mandates a premium surcharge of 30 percent for one year following a lapse of coverage. And the bill continues to preserve coverage for dependents up to age 26 and people with pre-existing conditions.

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“Tennessee state Sen. Mark Green (R), President Donald Trump’s nominee for Army secretary, strongly believes that citizens should be armed ? and not just with any ol’ guns. They should be able to possess whatever weapons the military has, because an armed citizenry is the “ultimate checks and balances” against the federal government.

“The Second Amendment, while it allows citizens to protect themselves from other citizens, goes well beyond just allowing us to defend ourselves from a criminal,” Green said at a pro-gun rally in 2013.

“The men who penned and ratified this document gave us the right to keep and bear arms as an ultimate checks and balances against the federal government,” he added. “When considering magazine size and weapon type, comments like, ‘You don’t need a 10-round magazine to hunt deer’ completely misses the point of the Second Amendment.”

The Tennessee state senator also said that “the citizenry should be allowed to maintain whatever weapon the federal government has. If they can have an aircraft carrier, I ought to be able to have an aircraft carrier.”

Woo-hoo!

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The anti-gun folks keep saying that there is no such thing as good guy with a gun that stops bad people.  I think that the people in this Texas restaurant would disagree:

Police in Arlington, TX are praising the swift action of a concealed carry permit holder who stepped up to eliminate a threat in a local restaurant Wednesday night.

Authorities say the gunman walked into Zona Caliente, in the 6500 block of South Cooper Street, about 6:15 p.m. and fatally shot 37-year-old Cesar Perez of Duncanville, the bar’s manager, Arlington police spokesman Christopher Cook said. Authorities later found two loaded guns and two knives on Jones, Cook said.  “We do believe he had the capacity to do much greater harm,” Cook said.

According to the Arlington Voice, the manager of the Zona Caliente Sports Bar and Grill, 37-year-old Cesar Perez, was shot dead by James Jones, 48, of Grand Prairie. Witnesses say Jones was acting very oddly when he confronted Perez. “When the suspect came in, he walked up to the bar and started yelling,” said police spokesperson Lt. Christopher Cook. “Customers said he was yelling incoherent and strange things.” With no warning, Jones drew his gun and fatally shot Perez. Police cannot establish any connection Jones may have had with the restaurant manager.

It was then that an unidentified man police are calling the “Good Samaritan” told his wife to get down, and drew his own concealed firearm. The “Good Samaritan” then opened fire on Jones, and hitting him.

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EXECUTIVE ORDER
PROMOTING FREE SPEECH AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, in order to guide the executive branch in formulating and implementing policies with implications for the religious liberty of persons and organizations in America, and to further compliance with the Constitution and with applicable statutes and Presidential Directives, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. Policy. It shall be the policy of the executive branch to vigorously enforce Federal law’s robust protections for religious freedom. The Founders envisioned a Nation in which religious voices and views were integral to a vibrant public square, and in which religious people and institutions were free to practice their faith without fear of discrimination or retaliation by the Federal Government. For that reason, the United States Constitution enshrines and protects the fundamental right to religious liberty as Americans’ first freedom. Federal law protects the freedom of Americans and their organizations to exercise religion and participate fully in civic life without undue interference by the Federal Government. The executive branch will honor and enforce those protections.

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“Here’s a nugget that encapsulates the health insurance industry, despite all the noise surrounding the future of the Affordable Care Act: In the first quarter of this year, Aetna collected more premium revenue from government programs (namely Medicare and Medicaid) than it did from commercial insurance for the first time ever.

Why this matters: Most people get their health coverage from their employer, and that historically has been the bread and butter of the insurance industry. But the aging population and expansion of Medicaid managed care means insurers are investing more time and money in the lower-margin (but still lucrative) government programs. Aetna, in particular, has invested heavily in Medicare Advantage.”

With this sluggish growth, government is becoming a more and more of a role in “setting of the economy”.  

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