[OPINION] Hillary Clinton’s flaws are being obscured by Trump-smoke

Aug. 28–If nothing else, Donald Trump is proving to be a fabulous smokescreen for Hillary Clinton.

While the real estate mogul bloviates and offends large swaths of the American public, Clinton rides on as the front-runner in the Democratic presidential primary, Trump-smoke obscuring her own significant flaws.

Just yesterday, for example, at a campaign stop in Ohio, Clinton absurdly compared several GOPpresidential candidates’ “extreme views about women” to the views of terrorist groups.

She said: “Now, extreme views about women, we expect that from some of the terrorist groups. We expect that from people who don’t want to live in the modern world. But it’s a little hard to take coming from Republicans who want to be the president of the United States.”

I happen to share Clinton’s views on abortion and other women’s health issues, but that’s an uncalled for and offensive comparison to make. The Republican National Committee swiftly called for an apology, saying in a statement: “For Hillary Clinton to equate her political opponents to terrorists is a new low for her flailing campaign. She should apologize immediately for her inflammatory rhetoric.”

I agree. And don’t say, “But look at all the offensive things being said on the Republican side.” That doesn’t matter. Two wrongs — or 20 wrongs, or whatever — don’t make a right.

Clinton has every opportunity right now, with the Republican candidates flailing about trying to manage Trump’s xenophobic squawking, to keep to the high road. Comparing your opponents to terrorists is as low-brow as it is inaccurate.

Of course there are other issues as well. Clinton has been dismissive of the legitimate questions and concerns surrounding her use of a private email server during her time as secretary of state, seemingly missing the fact that for some of us it’s not the legality of what she did but rather the overall air of dodginess.

She has repeatedly made light of the situation, once saying she started a Snapchat account because the “messages disappear all by themselves” and, when talking about whether her private server was wiped clean, saying, “What? Like with a cloth or something?”

She seems to be dialing back the cavalier attitude now, but the damage has already been done, and it appears substantial. A Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday found this: “‘Liar’ is the first word that comes to mind more than others in an open-ended question when voters think of Clinton.”

And 61 percent of respondents say Clinton “is not honest and trustworthy,” a record low for her.

That’s a rather pitiful starting point for the person many Democrats seem to believe is their most qualified candidate.

It’s easy to look at the chaos in the GOP primary and say, “Wow, is that really the best they can do?”

But if you peer through the dust Trump keeps stirring up, you can get a look at the lackluster Democratic primary and say the same thing.

rhuppke@tribpub.com

Via: Daily Witness

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[OPINION] On immigration, Kasich just as extreme as Trump

A resident of Summit County, Isabel Framer is a Latina community activist whose expertise springs from her work in language access in the justice system.

It’s a sad state of affairs in the Republican Party today when the candidates are falling all over themselves to out-Trump one another on the issue of immigration. The GOP’s anti-immigrant xenophobia has gone so far, the candidates are now attacking families and innocent children. The Republican outrage du jour concerns “birthright citizenship,” which is a right guaranteed under the 14th Amendment to “[a]ll persons born or naturalized in the United States.”

Donald Trump, Chris Christie, Rand Paul, Rick Santorum, Bobby Jindal, Ben Carson, Lindsey Graham ... nearly half of the GOP field have come out recently in favor of amending the U.S. Constitution or passing legislation to take away citizenship rights from children who are born in America. Early last week Scott Walker voiced his support for ending birthright citizenship, then seemed to reverse course and now is claiming he won’t take a position on the issue. Meanwhile, Jeb Bush says folks should “chill out a little bit” with criticism of his use of the derogatory term “anchor babies.”

One of those who has seemed slightly less offensive with his comments has been John Kasich. However, a quick look at Kasich’s record reveals he has been just as extreme as Trump and the rest of the GOP. In the early 1990s, Kasich was on the leading edge of anti-immigrant fever as a co-sponsor of legislation to end birthright citizenship. The former Fox News host continued his support for this policy during his 2010 run for governor.

CINCINNATI.COM

Kasich defends immigrants as ‘contributing significantly’

Now that Kasich is running for president – against a field that offers him no room to maneuver on the right – he’s trying to sing a different tune on immigration. While Kasich says he wouldn’t take a path to citizenship off the table, he has also said he opposes it. Kasich added, “I don’t favor citizenship because, as I teach my kids, you don’t jump the line to get into a Taylor Swift concert.”

Many immigrant families have been working for decades, waiting to come out of the shadows as Republicans have failed to act, but Kasich thinks that’s somehow equivalent to teenagers cutting the line for a concert.

Now let’s take a look at Kasich’s actual record as governor on the issue of immigration. Ohio is one of the states challenging President Obama’s executive actions that have deferred action for young people who arrived in America as children and parents of U.S. citizens. To date, Kasich has stood on the sidelines while Attorney General Mike DeWine joined a lawsuit against Obama’s executive orders.

CINCINNATI.COM

Kasich clear on immigration, less on Common Core

Kasich loves to talk about balancing budgets, but he’s ignoring a real benefit for Ohio taxpayers from deferred action. This process, which requires undocumented immigrants that qualify for the program to register, undergo background checks and pay taxes, would bring in an additional $41 million in revenue for the state of Ohio. Add to that the fact that earlier this year a study by UCLA found Ohio was the worst state in the country for promoting the health and well-being of undocumented immigrants.

So ultimately, actions speak louder than words, and Kasich’s actions shouldn’t fool anyone that he’s suddenly a moderate on immigration. If Kasich wanted to do something about immigration, he could pick up the phone and tell DeWine to drop his ridiculous lawsuit. He could make it easier for immigrants in Ohio to access health care and higher education and obtain legal documents. Until then, I’ll view Kasich as a flip-flopping opportunist who can’t be trusted.

Via: CIncinnati.com

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[OPINION] Let's see even more GOP alternatives to Obamacare

This week, another GOP contender for president released a plan for replacing Obamacare — demonstrating again that yes, there are Republican alternatives.

As with the plan proposed earlier this year by Florida Senator Marco Rubio, the main feature of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's plan to change the pre-Obamacare status quo is a refundable tax credit for those who buy insurance outside their workplace. This is designed not only to ease the transition away from an Obamacare system laden with mandates and subsidies that drive up the cost of care, but also to make insurance affordable for more people than it was before Obamacare.

Some conservatives object that this sounds too much like Obamacare's tax-code-based insurance subsidy. They are right to make their voices heard, but the idea that this proposal is "Obamacare Lite," or even a step in the wrong direction, is preposterous. In fact, the idea of a tax credit had currency in conservative circles when Obamacare was still just a bad idea. More importantly, the subsidies that currently make Obamacare's sky-high premiums more palatable for consumers are not even one of the messy program's bigger problems.

The biggest single problem with Obamacare is its abridgment of human freedom — its unprecedented requirement that every American obtain insurance as a condition of existing, under penalty of fine, and likewise that every employer enter the insurance business or face a penalty.

But the main practical problem with Obamacare so far has been how badly it messed up the insurance market for millions of Americans in the individual and small group markets. These are people who were perfectly happy with what they had, and must now pay more for an inferior product. The additional (often unnecessary) coverage mandates and elimination of all underwriting either caused monthly premiums to skyrocket or caused insurers to jack up deductibles and skimp on their provider networks in order to make their premiums seem like a good deal — in many places, both of these things occurred.

The result is that many Americans who were previously happy with their coverage suddenly find themselves paying substantially more for policies they either cannot use or cannot afford to use.

Walker's and Rubio's plans, as well as that of Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, would undo that crucial part of damage from Obamacare, allowing insurers to tailor plans (no more forced maternity coverage for 70 year-olds) and permit more flexible arrangements like miniature plans. They would also break the state regulatory monopoly on insurance licensing, so that New Jerseyans can buy plans that sell in Iowa for a fraction of the prices they must currently pay. This already makes all of their plans superior not only to Obamacare, but also to what existed before it.

But each also has a mechanism for making insurance more available than it was previously. Walker and Rubio have chosen a tax credit system. Jindal has gone the more ideologically pure route of a deduction, which would not subsidize anyone who does not pay taxes. But the conceptual difference between the two is smaller than you might think. Payroll taxes are taxes too. A refundable credit effectively gives all workers a break on them — including those too poor to pay income taxes but too rich to qualify for Medicaid.

Everyone in the Republican field agrees on Obamacare repeal. Conservative tastes will differ on the precise details of the replacement. But it's healthy for the candidates to show their work and demonstrate their commitment to repeal by presenting real plans for replacement that can always be improved upon later. Walker has done the right thing here, and all other candidates who haven't done so yet should follow suit.

Via: Washington Examiner

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[OPINION] Stories such as Ferguson are difficult to discuss as news, not opinion

By far the story I’ve spoken with readers about the most this week was the centerpiece of the Sunday print edition. It was a look at how the U.S. has changed in the year since the death of Michael Brown in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson.

It included a variety of voices and data, and explored such uneasy topics as attitudes toward law enforcement among different racial groups. Some of those quoted were positive, and others negative.

The most common complaint was voiced by one emailer today:

“To say that Michael Brown was ‘…the unarmed black 18-year-old shot by white police officer Darren Wilson...’ is like saying Donald Trump is running for president. There is an awful lot that is unsaid. The facts of the Michael Brown shooting should not be ignored.”

I can’t argue with that though Brown’s death was really the taking-off point for the story. It didn’t attempt to recount the incident, which has been done ad nauseum over the past year.

But that goes two ways. Many of the readers I spoke to wanted the story to underline that Michael Brown had been seen on security footage strong-arming a convenience store clerk, and that he had alleged, but unproven, juvenile criminal records.

None of this information is new of course. But on the other hand, telling the “whole story” also means that facts about Darren Wilson that his supporters may be uncomfortable with as well should be included, including details about his attitudes on race from a recent New Yorker interview that many critics have found troubling.

This is one of those news events where I’ve felt readers really end up discussing their feelings about the case, rather than the journalism surrounding it. We all tend to impose good guy/bad guy thinking on these stories, where the truth often is that both sides bore at least some culpability in the outcome.

The one knock against this story and others like it is one I haven’t heard from readers, but I’ve thought myself: People on all sides of the issue are making some pretty big leaps in lumping too many incidents together when they really share very little in common.

The death of Trayvon Martin at the hands of a civilian has very little relationship to the question of others who have died in altercations with police officers. Those are matters of public policy and safety, while Martin’s death — while undeniably tragic — was caused by a private citizen, and really never should have become international news.

And further, the individual cases of other black people while in fights with police or under arrest are themselves disparate. I’ve argued many times that news events aren’t fiction, and there’s no such thing as symbolism or other narratives techniques there. It cheapens each of these people’s stories to weave them into an imaginary storyline, and journalists should be careful about drawing any parallels.

Via: Kansas City Star

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Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/public-editor/article31136117.html#storylink=cpy

[OPINION][VIDEO] Hillary Clinton, what are you thinking? We don't need another education subsidy

If elected president, Hillary Clinton has promised to spend $350 billion to make college "more affordable." The U.S. already has an $18 trillion debt (and growing by the day), but Clinton wants to add to it. That's not affordable.

Too many young people are graduating from universities unable to find jobs, or are underemployed. Slate.com references a 2014 study of youth joblessness by the Economic Policy Institute. It found "...roughly 8.5 percent of college graduates between the ages of 21 and 24 were unemployed. That figure is based on a 12-month average between April 2013 and March 2014, so it's not a perfect snapshot of the here and now. Still, it tells us that the post-collegiate job market, just like the rest of the labor market, certainly isn't nearly back to normal. (For comparison, the unemployment rate for all college grads over the age of 25 is 3.3 percent, which is also still higher than normal.) More worrisomely, the EPI finds that a total of 16.8 percent of new grads are 'underemployed,' meaning they're either jobless and hunting for work; working part time because they can't find a full-time job; or want a job, have looked within the past year, but have now given up on searching."

The problem isn't just at the university level; it's at the jobs level where Obamacare, higher taxes and overregulation have reduced incentives to hire people, or forced many to accept part-time work.

When I entered American University as a freshman in 1960, tuition was $450 a semester. Today you probably can't get out of the bookstore for that amount. I received no federal subsidies. My father paid for the first year and I paid for the rest by working and getting a small student loan from the bank, which I quickly repaid.

Via: Fox News

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Downtown Boston and the Price we pay for Crumbling Roads

It was September again and time for my bi-yearly trip home to Boston.  When I visited two years ago after a long absence I went with an open mind.  The Big Dig was almost finished and it was time to take a ride through it for the first time. To say I was mildly disjointed would be an understatement that compares with putting a band aid on a severed limb.  There had already been a motorist killed in one of the tunnels a few years back when the alleged state of the art constuction caused a piece of the ceiling to collapse. And we won't even discuss the massive leaks that are pouring millions of gallons of water into the main tunnel, which now brings me to the main topic, "infrastructure".

The road and bridges around the Boston area have always been an Achilles heals of sorts with the foot deep potholes, exposed rebar, rusted and rotting steel bridges and one of my old time favorites "Rotaries”.  For those of you who don't know what a rotary is I will try to explain. It is a circular island with a road around it that is fed cars from four or more points that converge into a one or two lane circle to which you fight or merge with other oncoming traffic and then exit when you have reached your exit point from this circular monstrosity.  Too much for you to understand?  Google "Rotaries" and see for yourself.  Just for the record, we “stole” the idea from Europe where they are known as “Roundabouts”

Viewing the aforementioned bridges and tunnels, you have to wonder with all the traffic that travels over, under, around and through them, how they have stayed in place for all these years. I think that it has something to do with the road gods that protect us from the potential projectiles that could fall down upon us or drop from below us but I could be wrong.  I am still a little mystified about the gravity thing but you get my point.

Recently, President Obama decided to make a campaign stop alongside a bridge that connects Kentucky and Ohio, and which also happens to be the home states of House Speaker Boehner and Senate Minority Leader McConnell.  This was not a coincidence. This so called stunt was staged to bring home the point that this piece of our infrastructure was in need of replacement. It was also part of his appeal to sell his $447 billion dollar jobs bill that will put Americans back to work. The bizarre part of this story is that there are no funds in this bill to replace "this particular bridge" which by the way is going to be replaced by 2021. (That’s ten years folks).

We all know that the infrastructure is in this country is in critical need of repair. This is a no brainer.  But we have to think back to the stimulus bill in 2009 that what supposed to do the same thing, yet only 6% of this $900 Billion bill was used for this purpose.  With this kind of money you could have fixed a lot of roads and bridges.  What happened to this money?  Why are we doing this dog and pony show again?

Now I return back to the Boston problem.  I don't know if the President is aware of the goings on around Boston being that it is one of his bedrock blue states but be rest assured that he will probably win Massachusetts in 2012 so why bother visiting.  But unlike Ohio being a swing state, he will probably be spending lots of time there. I would like to invite President Obama to Boston a take a ride through the Central Artery Tunnel and see what $15 billion buys.  Let’s see if I can remember all the highlights:  Falling ceilings, falling and rusting light fixtures, water leaks, Icebergs (reserved for winter driving), sinkholes, and who knows what else.  If it were up to me "Tunnelgate" would be an appropriate name for this disaster in the making. It will probably be a couple more years before I get to make this trip again from Southern California to see what two more years of inaction looks like.  But I will come with an open mind again and hope for the best that the area is still in the upright position.  For now it's back to the land of sun, surf and liberal indignation on the left coast which shares the same distinction of the other blue state on the right coast.

September 11, 2001 - The Day that changed Everyone

It started out as a normal Tuesday morning.  I was at work and had gone out of the office to run an errand. When I returned to work, I was informed by a co-worker that a small plane had crashed into one of the Towers at the World Trade Center.  I thought about what I had just heard, turned to him and said that this was the start of something, not even knowing what would transpire over the next couple of hours.  He turned to me and just gave me one of those ‘you’re crazy’ looks. I proceeded to my office to check it out on the internet.  I did not know why I had made this comment but something inside told me that this was going to be a day that would change history.  Trying to get on the internet that morning proved difficult at best.  The log on was slow and much delayed.  When I finally got more information, it turned out to be a passenger plane that had flown into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.  The second plane had not yet hit.  Shortly after refreshing the page, the news reported that a second plane had crashed into the South Tower.  This was no accident.  One maybe but not two within minutes of each other.

I continued scouring the news sites to see what other information would be forthcoming.  At this moment the report of a plane slamming into the Pentagon appeared on the Fox News web site. This day was becoming a day to remember.  The fourth and what turned out to be the final crash happened in Western Pennsylvania. 

What makes this day special for me was that I was working in Berlin, Pennsylvania and the crash of United Flight 93 was no more than 10 miles away.  Why Pennsylvania and why an old abandoned strip mine in Shanksville, PA?  As more details started to emerge the picture was getting clearer and clearer. The United States was being attacked by terrorists who had hijacked three other planes and flew them into pre-targeted locations.  All except United Flight 93.

The passengers of Flight 93 were aware of the events that were unfolding that day in New York and Washington.  At approximately 10:03 AM, Flight 93 was no more. The story that would unfold was one of bravery by the 40 people who gave their lives to save others. They took matters into their own hands no matter what the consequences. 

As I watch the Flight 93 dedication today my memory goes back to the first time that I visited the sight. Hundreds of people were coming and going.  Some were leaving personal items on the makeshift memorial.  Others including myself were just standing around with tears in our eyes.  It was a moving experience. I continued to stroll about the gravel covered area reading the personal notes and remembrances that were left by people from all over the world. 

The last time I visited the site was in October 2004 prior to moving to California, promising myself to visit again. It was as moving on that visit as it was on my first of many visits starting in October 2001.  As I looked out to the area where the plane crashed, I cannot imagine what it was like to be on the plane. They were all heroes.  We are now ten years later and as a nation will never forgot the events that unfolded in New York City, Washington DC, and Shanksville PA. It is a day that will live in the minds of all of us.  I dedicate this column to the lives lost and the lives that were changed on September 11, 2001. 

Don’t Give Up the Fight – It’s Only ours to Lose

When I read polls that say that the Democrats are ahead in the recent Generic Congressional Ballot 51% to 44%, I am angry, disturbed and confused.  It was not too long ago that this country was railing against the out of control spending when the democrats controlled both houses of congress.  Now that we have taken control of the House of Representatives, with the Senate and the White House on the horizon, we are on our way to restoring fiscal sanity to our bloated government.  It is not going to happen overnight.  We are still up against a Democratic Senate and White House.

While it is true that the Tea Party has had a profound effect on what is currently happening in Washington we still have a long way to do.  But if we are going to do it right we have to show patience in the long term, not just with one piece of legislation that we do not totally agree with. I am speaking about the debt deal that was just passed.  It may not be what we wanted but it is the first step of many that have to be taken to prevent things from getting worse. 

It pains me in ways that I cannot express to see that people are already bailing on the republicans and the Tea Party, and what makes it worse, they think that the democrats can do a better job fixing the economy.  Most people have short attention spans when it comes to politics, but now is not the time to be ignorant. We must act and not react every time something does not go our way. We have to fight each battle and if we lose one, we have to keep on fighting and never give up. 

Let me give you a few facts about the democrats to refresh your memory.  We were promised that the stimulus was supposed to drop the unemployment rate below 8%.  It is now 9.1%. That’s $800 billion flushed down the toilet of democracy.  We were told that we have to pass ObamaCare to “Find out what is in it”.  We found out that the bill is going to cost an additional $50 billion a year because the CBO only factored in single coverage and not family coverage. Do you think the democrats knew what they were doing?  They knew all too well.  Do you get the picture?

Think about it.  Do you really want to re-install Nancy Pelosi or any Democrat as Speaker of the House?  Do you really want to go back to the lack of transparency that has followed this administration since 2009?  Do you really want a government that cares more about their own self-interests than the interests of “We the People”?  If the answer is no to all these questions, it is time to rethink what you want from your elected officials. If you don’t like the republican you elected to office in 2010, go find another republican who will do the job.  Don’t give the keys back to the Democrats.  It is up to you and only you to do what is right to get this country on track.  Don’t ever give up the fight. Let’s get back the America we are all proud of.