Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review are pleasantly stunned to see a fixture in the foreign policy establishment turn on President Obama and demand major changes in his national security team. They also react to Pope Francis saying there should be limits on how offensive people should be when talking about religion. And they discuss the temporary ban on cheese at City Hall on Bainbridge Island, Washington.
‘I Blame Jimmy Carter for What Happened in Paris’
Former President Jimmy Carter says terrorists like the ones in Paris last week are motivated in large part by Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians, but Middle East expert Dr. Mike Evans not only says Carter is wrong but that Carter himself bears a great deal of responsibility for the rise in Islamic radicalism that played out in the French capital last week.
On Monday, Carter appeared on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.” After Stewart contended that terrorists only use Islam as a cloak, Carter suggested Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians was a highly motivating factor for terrorists.
“One of the origins for it is the Palestinian problem, you know, and this aggravates people who are affiliated any way with the Arab people who live in the West Bank and Gaza, what they’re doing now (and) what’s being done to them,” said Carter.
Evans is having none of that explanation.
“It’s not about the Palestinians. It’s about terror and Carter’s weak liberal left policies that accommodates terror,” he said.
If Carter is looking to assign blame to influences beyond the terrorists who murdered people in France, Evans says Carter needs to take a long look in the mirror.
“I blame Jimmy Carter for what happened in Paris, France. I blame Jimmy Carter, because he began it all with his liberal left policies in Iran,” said Evans, who is also author of “Jimmy Carter, the Liberal Left and World Chaos.
“He needs to take responsibility because the terror we’re experiencing today,” said Evans. “This man was the chief architect of everything that fueled and fed terror and he still is.”
Evans says Carter’s diplomatic activism paved the way for a regime change in Iran that ushered in radicals more responsible for terrorism than any other government.
“It was Jimmy Carter himself, who used (then-Secretary of State) Cyrus Vance to negotiate what’s called the Algerian Accords. He told Iran, ‘If you do what I want you to do, I will give you $7.9 billion,’ which he did by the way. He transferred it to the Bank of England from the Federal Reserve and signed the Algerian Accords. What am I talking about? I’m talking about the overthrow of the Shah of Iran,” said Evans.
The Algerian Accords were signed on Carter’s last full day in office as part of his last-ditch attempt to free the 52 Americans held hostage at the U.S. embassy in Iran.
Evans says personal conversations with two key figures also shed light on Carter’s role in the rise of radicals in Iran and his unwillingness to see and hear the warnings.
He says Farah Pahlavi, the widow of the deposed Shah, expressed her husband’s grave concerns about Carter’s foreign policy.
“When Jimmy Carter met with them, her husband said to her, ‘He wants the political prisoners released. He wants freedom of the press. He wants a terrorist by the name of Khomeini to be the head of this country. If Carter succeeds, Iran will be overthrown, the Russians will invade Afghanistan, Iraq will invade Iran and who knows what hell will come upon the earth?'” said Evans.
According to Evans, Carter was also strong urged by then-French President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing to end his desire to see Khomeini rule Iran, but he says Carter would not listen and ultimately played a leading role in the erosion of support for the Shah in the West.
“[Giscard d’Estraing] said, ‘At the Guadalupe Summit, Mr. Carter came. I told him Khomeini’s a terrorist. He said, ‘No, no, no. He’s going to be a Gandhi-like figure. We’re going to bring him into Iran and we’re going to get the Shah out,'” said Evans.
Evans says the former French president also referred to Carter as “a bastard of conscience.” The Guadalupe Summit was in January 1979. Two weeks later the Shah left Iran. Two weeks after that, Khomeini returned triumphantly to Iran. In early November, the hostage crisis began at the U.S. embassy and for decades the State Department has declared Iran to be the number one state sponsor of terrorism.
The way Evans sees it, President Obama is cut from the same ideological cloth as Jimmy Carter.
“Unfortunately, Obama is Carter on steroids. He buys into the Carter ideology that these people are victims and that the perpetrators are us. He won’t say it, but that’s what he believes,” said Evans.
Obama is taking a great deal of heat for failing to appear at the unity rally in Paris on Sunday.
“He was simply saying to the Muslim world, ‘I feel your pain. I understand the hurt and the injustices done to you.’ That’s what he was fundamentally saying. He was giving a liberal left excuse for what happened. Shame on him,” said Evans.
Three Martini Lunch 1/14/15
Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review are glad to see the 2016 presidential field starting to take shape and some candidates deciding not to run. They also groan as Al Qaeda in Yemen takes credit for the Paris terrorist attack. And they scold Virginia voters for re-electing an admitted sex offender.
‘They’ve Basically Set up Their Own Little Country’
Radical Muslim terrorist group Boko Haram is taking its persecution of Christians and other Muslims to a new level with the recent slaughter of some 2,000 people, but Voice of the Martyrs says Christians are rock solid in their faith and even evangelizing the terrorists while the Nigerian government does little to stop the carnage.
Best known in the U.S. for its brazen abduction of hundreds of schoolgirls last year, Boko Haram is now believed to have committed by far its most heinous atrocities to date in its massacre of two thousand people in and around the village of Baga, Nigeria.
“Those are unconfirmed reports. The police and the Nigerian military can’t even get into the village to bury the dead and to evaluate the situation. Boko Haram has made it so dangerous. There are reports that one village was basically destroyed. All the people they could get there, they killed. They burned down all the huts in the village, so it is basically gone completely,” said Voice of the Martyrs Director of Media and Public Relations Todd Nettleton.
The population of Nigeria is effectively split between Christians and Muslims. Christians dominate the southern part of the country, while Muslims are in the north. Nettleton says the terrorist group effectively runs the northeast part of the country.
“They have actually gone so far as to declare a caliphate, very similar to what the Islamic State has done in Syria and Iraq. They’ve said, ‘We’re going to run this territory according to Sharia Law. I’m the caliph. I’m the leader of this part of the country. They basically have set up their own little country,” said Nettleton, who believes Boko Haram admires and emulates what the Islamic State forces are doing in the Middle East.
He says there are tremendous similarities between the two terrorist groups and Boko Haram is every bit as violent as their counterparts in Iraq and Syria.
“Most of the time the Islamic State has told the Christians, ‘You have to go or you will be killed,’ so they’re giving them an opportunity to leave. Boko Haram seems to be going more directly towards violence. We haven’t heard the opportunity where they’ve announced, ‘The Christians have to leave or they will be killed.’ They simply go in. They’ve attacked churches, they’ve killed pastors and other Christians in Northern Nigeria,” said Nettleton.
As evidenced by the slow response to the recent slaughter in Baga, Nettleton says the government has done very little to push back against Boko Haram.
“So far, the Nigerian government has not been able to stop them. They have not been able to respond militarily or police-wise,” he said.
And why not?
“There are very different stories. There are some who say the government just doesn’t want to do this. There are others who say that the government can’t, they don’t have the capabilities. I even heard from some who said, ‘If this Christian president is deposed and a Muslim president comes into power Boko Haram will go away because what they really want is for a Muslim to be in charge of the country,” said Nettleton, noting that Boko Haram is a major issue in the upcoming election between incumbent Goodluck Jonathan and his Muslim challenger.
“They both say, ‘Elect me. I can handle Boko Haram. I will get this problem solved,'” said Nettleton. “We’ll see which one the voters believe.”
Nettleton says the decision to attend church is far different than the one we make in the U.S.
“Even to hold a church meeting in the area controlled by Boko Haram is an act of incredible courage because you realize, ‘If I go to church on Sunday, I’m going to be at a place that’s going to be targeted and I’m going to paint a target on my own shoulders,” he said.
Despite the years of intense Boko Haram persecution, Nettleton says the courage and faith of Christians there remains very strong.
“They do keep following Christ. They do keep meeting together with other believers and some even continue to evangelize. They continue to share their faith with the people around them, which is pretty amazing that they would do that under such risks,” he said.
He says the faithfulness and boldness of persecuted believers has even led to heart changes among some terrorists.
“We have met former radical Muslims in Nigeria who even attacked and killed Christians, who then came face to face with Jesus Christ and are now serving Him faithfully. They’re reaching out to fellow Muslims, sharing the gospel and inviting them to know Christ. These people, even as they’re committing these atrocities, are not beyond the reach of God’s grace. We can be part of the battle for their souls by getting on our knees and praying for them,” said Nettleton.
Voice of the Martyrs is very active in Nigeria. Programs include medical care for those injured, Bibles for believers, counseling and training for pastors and assistance for the many Christian widows there.
“We need to understand this is a spiritual battle. Because it’s a spiritual battle, we can be involved in the fight, even from 10,000 miles away. We can get on our knees. We can pray for the nation of Nigeria. We can pray for our Christian brothers and sisters there and pray that God would move,” said Nettleton.
Three Martini Lunch 1/13/15
Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review are encouraged to see more Senate Democrats getting behind the Keystone XL Pipeline and putting President Obama in a more and more difficult position. They also groan as President Obama is now vowing to veto five different pieces of legislation. And they they rip Jimmy Carter for suggesting terrorists lash out because of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians.
‘The President Is Out of Excuses’
House Energy and Commerce Committee Vice Chairman Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee) says President Obama is out of excuses for not supporting the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline and predicts supporters of the project may find enough votes to override the expected Obama veto.
On Friday, the House of Representatives voted 266-153 to authorize the pipeline. The Senate is expected to follow suit in the coming days. Friday’s vote came the same day the Nebraska Supreme Court threw out what may be the final legal hurdle to the pipeline. The State Department green-lighted Keystone in 2012 after years of review.
“The president is out of excuses,” said Blackburn. “It’s time for him to sign this. It has wide, wide bipartisan support in the House.”
Blackburn believes the real reason for Obama’s intransigence is his fidelity to the environmental lobby.
“I think it has to do with his friends who are active in the environmental community. They’ve invested heavily in alternative energy sources, primarily wind and solar. But that doesn’t work in every state in the country. Wind and solar [are] not predictable. They are a very small part of our nation’s energy supply,” said Blackburn.
The Senate is expected to approve Keystone soon. If Obama makes good on his veto threat, Blackburn thinks the president may surprised by what Congress does next.
“I think what you would see is we have the ability to override a veto if he moves forward with the veto. We’re all looking forward to the Senate vote,” she said.
An override would be a tall order in either chamber, since two-thirds of the House and Senate would need to back Keystone to force it past the president. Vote counters in the Senate believe GOP leaders can find the six Democrats needed to pass the original bill, but lining up 13 Democrats to reject an Obama veto may be hard to find. In the House, 290 votes are needed to override a veto if all members are present.
Blackburn says the benefits of Keystone should be obvious, particularly when it comes to energy independence and job growth.
“It does increase the nation’s oil supply and it does move us further along the path to energy independence. That’s the goal that we all share and are working toward. Another thing it does is the jobs. Twenty thousand jobs will be created by the pipeline,” said Blackburn, who says Keystone would also provide business owners with some desperately needed certainty.
“If you reduce the cost of doing business because you are aiding our nation’s energy security policy, which gives businesses that deal in logistics or transportation or packaging with plastics and polymers which come from crude oil, you give them a more solid and predictable foundation that they can do their pricing on,” said Blackburn.
Despite the apparent end to the legal battle over Keystone and his own State Department approving the project, Obama remains firmly opposed. While Blackburn attributes this to the influence of environmental lobbyists, Obama argues the pipeline will move Canadian oil to the U.S. gulf coast for refining and much of the final product will be exported to other countries.
Blackburn says there are still major economic incentives to approve the plan.
“Yes, it is Canadian oil but it’s coming into our ports to be refined. What it will help do is to get down the costs of oil and also (help) the ready supply for our businesses,” said Blackburn.
Blackburn says more energy gives another powerful geopolitical tool to help beleaguered allies.
“A great example of that is what’s happened in Europe and how they have had to depend on Russia. Look what Russia has done to them. We would like for our allies to be able to do business with that. It’s short-sighted not to want that,” she said.
The number two Republican on the Energy and Commerce Committee is also dismissing rumblings on Capitol Hill and beyond that a hike in federal gasoline taxes may be needed to replenish the Highway Trust Fund in order to address infrastructure needs around the nation. She says that dog won’t hunt with her.
“I am completely opposed to raising the gas tax. It’s the wrong step. What you need to do is clean up what the transportation trust fund is used for. Right now, it’s going to paths in parks and bike paths and museums, you name it. There’s about 30 percent of that fund that has other uses,” said Blackburn. “I think it’s time for us to just clean that up.”
Three Martini Lunch 1/12/15
Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review scold the Obama administration for sending no high-ranking officials to the massive Paris rally denouncing radical Islamic terrorism. They applaud Jake Tapper and others in the media for calling out the administration on the blunder. And they discuss Jim’s new piece on the connection between Ben Carson and a Texas supplement company embroiled in legal troubles.
Stuck in the Middle East Too
Barack Obama campaigned heavily on his opposition to the Iraq War and vowed to end it. But just two years after pulling out U.S. forces, Iraq is once again in turmoil due to the rise of ISIS. The Capitol Steps bring Obama and George W. Bush together to discuss their challenges in Iraq.
Driving Towards a Gas Tax Hike?
Congress is desperately searching for money to replenish the Highway Trust Fund, but National Taxpayers Union President Pete Sepp is urging key Republicans to back away from a hike in the federal gas tax to provide the needed revenue.
In an unusual twist, it is Republicans publicly toying with the idea of higher taxes, while Democrats are mostly opposed to it. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) and Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) say they are open to gas tax increases and further state that Americans shouldn’t view such a move as a tax hike but more like a “user fee.”
The federal gasoline excise tax is 18.4 cents per gallon, while the rate for diesel is 24.4 cents per gallon. The last gas tax increase came as part of the Clinton administration increases in 1993 and it is not indexed to inflation. The notion of raising the federal rate is gaining some traction as a result of plummeting gasoline prices in the U.S. over recent months.
Both Inhofe and Hatch insist all options are on the table to supply money for the Highway Trust Fund and they are not demanding a tax increase. Sepp says recent reports are probably just testing the public reaction to the idea of higher taxes.
“I think that this is largely, so far, a trial balloon, an attempt by Republican lawmakers to see just how far they may be able to push the tax increase envelope,” said Sepp.
What is behind the parties’ role reversals on this issue? Sepp says Republicans may see the gas tax differently than other rates Americans must pay.
“Perhaps they believe that because the gasoline tax and diesel fuel tax is a levy on the consumption of a good or service, that’s better than doing something like an income tax increase. Well, from an economic standpoint, a consumption tax would probably cause less economic damage than an income tax increase. But the damage would still be there,” said Sepp.
Sepp contends that logic is flawed on multiple levels. First, he says officials in Washington warm up to ideas like higher gas taxes based on deeply flawed assumptions, like all of the money will go to the right place.
“The only problem is throwing more money at some of these projects by the federal government doesn’t necessarily translate into reduced congestion or fewer potholes. There are a mound of port barrel projects that often get funded in highway bills. We also have a severely inefficient distribution of the funding,” he said.
In addition, he says higher gas taxes would definitely be a blow to consumers.
“Although it’s buried in the price of a gallon of gas, it’s still something that many people will feel almost immediately when they fill up at the pump every week,” said Sepp, noting that the financial toll doesn’t end when you leave the gas station.
“If diesel fuel taxes increase, there will be a ripple effect in other kinds of goods and services and their prices. So many of the things that we buy, whether it’s toys or food or pizza delivery for that matter are provided through vehicles that run on gasoline or diesel fuel,” said Sepp.
There’s also the concern about fuel prices rising again. Sepp says the U.S. is enjoying the fruits of an energy revolution, but if Congress decides to raise taxes on oil companies or the Environmental Protection Agency applies additional regulations on energy exploration, prices could reverse course. He says some responsible work by Congress would do a lot of good.
“We can’t necessarily count on good, low energy prices until we get a stable energy policy out of our federal, state and local governments, who recognize the value of good, abundant, affordable energy,” said Sepp.
Syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer’s latest opinion piece calls for increasing the federal gasoline tax by a dollar per gallon but offsetting is with cuts in FICA taxes. He theorizes such a move would provide plenty of transportation funding for the government while taxpayers break even and maybe even save more money if they make conserving fuel a priority.
Sepp says the biggest problem with that idea is Washington’s penchant for going forward with the tax increase while the tax cut somehow gets left on the side of the road. He says there would have to be strict assurances that all parts of the deal would be honored.
But even then Sepp says lawmakers are missing out on better, free market ways to improve our national infrastructure. He endorses tolls on more roads and considers that a more accurate consumption tax than raising the gas tax. Sepp says another simple adjustment that could preserve infrastructure and improve traffic flow would be passing the Safe and Efficient Transportation Act.
“What this would do is allow states to have heavier trucks on their roads, not bigger trucks but heavier trucks with a fifth axle to distribute the weight and minimize pavement damage. What you do by allowing heavier trucks is you allow more efficient loads to be put on them. When that happens, you have fewer trucks on the road. In the end you get less congestion and less repair needs on many roads around the country,” said Sepp.
And what will happen with the “trial balloon” testing the viability of a gas tax increase? Sepp that’s up to the taxpayers.
“Hopefully, the American people will push back and say, ‘Look, we want to do something about our infrastructure problems too. Why don’t you take a look at the spending first, as well as alternatives to taxation,'” said Sepp.
Three Martini Lunch 1/9/15
Greg Corombos of Radio America and Jim Geraghty of National Review are glad to see the Nebraska Supreme Court remove the last major hurdle to approving the Keystone XL Pipeline, although they assume President Obama will still find some reason to reject it. They’re disappointed as key Senate Republicans say they are open to raising gasoline taxes. And they sigh as the Ames Republican Straw Poll survives another cycle.