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ANALYSIS/OPINION:

Two weeks ago, a deranged gunman, nourished on leftist hate and rage against conservatives, went to a baseball field with the intent of assassinating Republican congressmen.

That same morning, this column was unfortunately prescient in focusing on the imagery of violence against President Trump, and how the liberal loathing of the president has entered the realm of lethal fantasies. A few hours later, it shifted from fantasies to reality.

Armed with two firearms, he entered the field firing off at least 50 shots before two heroes from House Majority Whip Steve Scalises security detail shot the attempted assassin dead. Mr. Scalise, former congressional aide Matt Mika, the two Capitol Hill police, and a staff member of Rep. Roger Williams, were wounded.

By Gods grace and the genius of medical teams, Mr. Scalise had gone from critical, to serious and exactly a week later, was upgraded to fair condition. Mr. Mika who had been shot several times, was released from the hospital this past Friday.

But if you had gone out of town prior to that awful June 14 morning and unplugged to get away from it all and returned a week later, you would never know it happened. If you turned on broadcast evening news or looked at the Google News page to catch up, you would be unaware that an attempted assassination of so many Republicans ever occurred.

Six days after the assault, Sean Davis, co-founder of The Federalist, and his team reported on the medias attempted disappearance of the atrocity. In addition to coverage at the online magazine, Mr. Davis tweeted these facts, with screenshots of the media outlets to which he referred: Six days after [Gabrielle] Giffords was shot, CNN had 8 stories above the fold about the shooting. Today? Not a single story on last weeks massacre. And this: Now compare The Washington Post six days post-Giffords (Giffords was #1 topic) to The Washington Post today: zero stories on the shooting, and The number one news topic on Washington Posts website 6 days post-Giffords? Giffords. Six days post-Alexandria? Phoenix is hot in June.

The Federalist reported, More use of the Wayback Machine shows the same trend for The New York Times website front page. One week after the attack on Giffords, five stories front-page. One week after the attack on Scalise, what to cook this week and how to get jobs for the wives of jihadis. Nothing on Scalise. Not even on gun control.

But this isnt surprising, its typical for liberals. Democrats and their weasels in media have perfected the art of denial and lies. During Barack Obamas eight years as president, obfuscating was standard operating procedure when facing facts was bad news for Democrats and reality exposed them for the frauds that they are.

ISIS? A JV team. Benghazi? A YouTube video. Obamacare? You can keep your plan, doctor and hospital. The IRS? Not even a smidgen of corruption. The economy? Shovel-ready jobs and summers of recovery.

But its not just the media thats decided to pay no mind to the attempted massacre of Republicans by a volunteer for Sen. Bernie Sanders and fan of TV host Rachel Maddow. Mr. Obama is demonstrating for all of his fans that ignoring it is the way to go.

The newly former president is a man who oversaw a Democratic domestic agenda reliant on dividing Americans against each other and the demonizing of Republicans as reprobate sexists, racists and homophones. His international agenda involved empowering this nations enemies and marginalizing our friends, and whispering to the Russians that hed have more flexibility after his re-election.

That same man has decided to say nothing publicly about attempted mass murder of congressional members.

Instead, Mr. Obama called Sen. Jeff Flake who was also at the baseball diamond but was fortunately unhurt. Politico did a whole story on how the former president reached out to Mr. Flake but did so as a friend. Oh, he also told Mr. Flake to tell everyone else he was sending them prayers and wishes.

So, Barack Obama, who is never at a loss for words and has spoken up many times in the past few months here at home and abroad against the current president and the Republican agenda, calls up the one guy he likes personally who survived a massacre. Everyone else? Meh.

Even more shocking is the fact that Mr. Obama has said nothing publicly about the violence. For a man who was supposedly so committed against gun violence, as an example, its bizarre the one time he grows silent is when the victims are people he apparently doesnt like.

Not only has Mr. Obama not condemned the violence, he hasnt issued any kind of a plea to liberals and liberal leadership to tone down the hate and rage against Mr. Trump and the Republicans.

Is the great orator just too busy vacationing, or is Mr. Obamas refusal to publicly condemn a mass assassination attempt a message in itself? If so, we should all be alarmed.

Tammy Bruce, author and Fox News contributor, is a radio talk show host.

Go here to see the original:
The alarming indifference of liberals - Washington Times

The tribunal members are paid up to $360,000 per year.

A failed Liberal candidate and a lifetime member of the Sydney University Liberal Club are among those who've been appointed to high paying jobs at an independent tribunal that had recently been purged by attorney-general George Brandis.

The names of the appointments to the powerful Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) were released on Wednesday, after news broke that several members of the tribunal would not have their contracts renewed.

Late last year BuzzFeed News revealed some of the Liberal party connections to those on the AAT the independent body of review for important government decisions around freedom of information requests, disability and veterans' appeals, child support arrangements and refugee applications.

Some of the jobs are full-time, others part-time, with tribunal members paid up to $360,000 a year. Both Labor and Liberal governments have attracted controversy in the past for appointing political allies to the tribunal.

Brandis announced 64 new appointments and reappointments to the tribunal on Wednesday, including a new president, Justice David Thomas from Queensland.

Among them is the National Australia Bank's senior government relations manager and part-time Spectator columnist Justin Owen, who is listed as a lifetime member of the Sydney University Liberal Club.

As reported by the Australian Financial Review last year, Owen took time off from his day job to campaign for Brexit in the UK, then wrote an essay for the Spectator called "Nude at 40,000 feet".

Failed New South Wales Liberal senate candidate and senior party official Hollie Hughes was named to sit for seven years on the tribunal.

As was Nora Lamont, the deputy mayor of the Victoria council of Maroondah, who wrote in a 2010 Facebook post: "I am a current member of the Liberal Party".

There's also barrister Rodrigo Pintos-Lopez, whose CV includes time as in-house counsel for Victorian Liberal premier Ted Baillieu, and consultant Helen Moreland, who once worked for Tony Abbott.

George Hallwood who was thanked in a South Australian Liberal MP's maiden speech for running a local Liberal party branch picked up a seven year term on the tribunal.

Several AAT members with Liberal connections were reappointed to their positions for another seven years, including Scott Morrison's former chief of staff Ann Brandon-Baker; former Tony Abbott staffer Helena Claringbold; and failed Liberal Party candidate Nick McGowan.

The full list of 64 new appointments and reappointments to the tribunal can be found here.

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George Brandis Taps Fellow Liberals For High Paying, Independent Tribunal Jobs - BuzzFeed News

Conservatives and liberals in Wisconsin both see hope in Republican Sen. Ron Johnson's steadfast refusal to back the current version of the GOP Senate health care bill.

Although they disagree with the reasons for his opposition, liberals see Johnson's stand as a chance to sink the entire Republican effort to kill the existing health care law enacted under former President Barack Obama.

The senator's fellow conservatives, including Gov. Scott Walker, are praising his attention-grabbing opposition to the bill and are urging him to seek changes to ensure Wisconsin wouldn't be penalized for rejecting federal money to expand Medicaid.

It's an unusual position for Johnson, who typically toes the party line. But his supporters are confident that when it comes time to vote on whether to replace the Affordable Care Act, Johnson's longtime distaste for the law also known as Obamacare will prevail.

"I'm going to give him some breathing room," said Kathy Kiernan, a retired Republican voter from Richfield. "I hope he can make things better. I'm holding my fire on this."

Republican Rep. Sean Duffy, of Wisconsin, expects that Johnson will vote to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act "when he is comfortable with the bill."

With a slim 52-member majority, Johnson could prove to be a pivotal vote as Senate Republicans try to pass the bill as soon as this week. Johnson is one of four Republican senators who oppose the current bill and among five who oppose starting debate on it this week. Johnson has insisted that more time is needed and that he wants to improve the bill, not kill it.

Still, liberals see Johnson's current position as a chance for them to bury the Senate's bill, which Congress' nonpartisan budget office said would leave 22 million more people uninsured by 2026.

"People should do their due diligence to convince Ron Johnson that they can't fix this bill," said Scot Ross, leader of a liberal advocacy group One Wisconsin Now. "It's an opportunity to try and stop it and everyone should be taking advantage of it."

So far, they are.

Numerous groups, including those representing doctors, the disabled and nursing homes, are urging their members to call, email or stop by Johnson's district offices to tell their stories and urge him to protect Medicaid.

"There are people from all over the state who are calling and telling me his voicemails are full, they'll call tomorrow," said Lisa Pugh, director of The Arc Wisconsin, which advocates for people with disabilities.

Johnson's spokesman didn't immediately know how many voters had contacted his office about the bill. Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin's office said it has been contacted 25,000 times this year by people who opposed either the House or Senate health care bills, with only 750 in support.

Sean Sullivan, Kelsey Snell and Juliet Eilperin

"We should protect the care people have today and work to make it more affordable, but the Senate plan will make families pay more for less care and increase the number of people who are uninsured," Baldwin said in a statement. "We should be working together to make things better, not worse."

Johnson supports the Senate bill's Medicaid cuts, which liberals and moderate Republicans oppose. But he has criticized the measure for the increased federal funding it would put toward subsidies for people buying coverage. He also said it wouldn't eliminate enough of Obama's regulations on insurers, including protections for consumers with pre-existing medical conditions. Johnson called it "wimpy reform" on Monday.

Walker like groups representing the state's doctors and hospitals opposes the current bill because it would penalize Wisconsin, which has turned down nearly $700 million in federal Medicaid expansion money, and lock in a system of funding disparity between expansion and non-expansion states.

Johnson, who spent his career helping to start and run a plastics manufacturing company, was one of the most strident critics of Obamacare, making its repeal a key plank of his 2010 and 2016 campaigns. He promised not to seek a third term, which might be freeing him to speak more candidly than he would have otherwise.

Kiernan said Johnson's opposition to Obamacare was a big reason why she supports him, but she also trusts his judgment that he needs more time to work on improvements to the bill and won't ultimately sink it.

"I think he wants it all to work out in the end, I truly do," Kiernan said.

Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan, who represents south-central Wisconsin and is one of the most liberal members of Congress, issued rare praise for Johnson on Tuesday and held out hope that his opposition would lead to improvements.

"There will be a tremendous amount of pressure put on him," Pocan said. "We've had some mavericks from Wisconsin before. Let's see if he can hold out this week."

Go here to see the original:
Wisconsin liberals, conservatives see hope in senator's health care stance - Chicago Tribune

The B.C. Liberals, facing defeat in the legislature, will release financial year-end numbers Wednesday before the auditor generals office has had a chance to sign off on them.

The B.C. NDP and B.C. Green Party characterized the move as the last gasp of a dying government

But Finance Minister Mike deJong defended the decision to release the 2016-17 figures, saying the government issues financial updates all the time.

I dont think theres anything unusual with that, he said. Im not trying to present something as something theyre not. They are a summary of what has taken place and also an update on what has taken place in 2017.

So I should think people would be very interested to know how weve done.

Auditor general Carol Bellringer said her office is still reviewing the statements and called it unusual for the government to release the numbers before they have been certified by her office.

On a quarterly basis its not unusual, but I dont know that theyve ever done it at year-end before, she said in an interview. I mean, its obviously not being introduced as a new practice; its being introduced because of the timing around the situation the governments in.

Bellringer was unable to say how much the numbers will change by the time they are certified. Theres quite a few things were still talking to them about.

De Jong said the auditor generals office will be in a position to certify the numbers next week, but Bellringer said no date has been set. Until we know everything thats going to unfold over the next two weeks, we dont know when were going to release our opinion.

De Jong acknowledged that somebody other than him may be handling the file by then anyway.

The NDP and Green Party are expected to defeat the Liberals in a vote of non-confidence on the throne speech set for Thursday afternoon. Once that happens, Lt.-Gov. Judith Guichon will either call another election or ask the NDP to form a minority government and seek the confidence of the house.

No party won a majority of seats in the May 9 election but the 41 NDP MLAs and three Greens have signed an accord to topple the 43 Liberals led by Premier Christy Clark and replace her with NDP Leader John Horgan.

The Liberals tried to avoid defeat last week with a throne speech that borrowed heavily from the NDP and Green campaign platforms and promised dozens of new programs not included in Februarys budget.

De Jong and Clark said the proposed spending spree was possible because the provincial economy is performing better than expected.

The NDPs Carole James, MLA for Victoria-Beacon Hill, portrayed the rushed release of the provinces financial picture as a desperate ploy by the Liberals. This is another game, another tactic, another distraction by a premier who wants to hang onto power for herself, not for the public.

James said shell wait to see the numbers. If they are as positive as the finance minister is claiming, then Ill be looking forward to the B.C. Liberals support for our entire platform, she said.

Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver predicted that the Liberals will trumpet the provinces strong economic performance while ignoring the factors behind it.

The game will be, Look at the economy, rah, rah rah, he said. But frankly . . .this is all coming from the construction industry in Vancouver and an out-of-control real estate sector. The subtext wont be there.

De Jong stirred controversy elsewhere Tuesday by tabling a letter in the legislature that asks Speaker Steve Thomson to clarify the role that he or his replacement will play in the event of tie votes.

Thomson, Liberal MLA for Kelowna-Mission, was acclaimed to the post last Thursday.

De Jong said his analysis shows that when legislation gets to third reading and there is a tie, unless its a confidence motion, the Speaker is bound to vote against the bill.

That makes passage of a bill very, very . . . well, it makes it impossible in that case, he said.

De Jong said the issue is critical because a reconfigured parliament under an NDP minority government could result in tie votes on a regular basis.

The Liberals have suggested that Thomson will resign as Speaker if the government falls, leaving the subsequent NDP government to find a replacement from within its ranks. In that scenario, the government and Opposition sides of the house will have 43 MLAs apiece, requiring the Speaker to break ties.

The NDPs Mike Farnworth dismissed de Jongs letter as more games-playing by the Liberals. He fired off his own letter to the Speaker, arguing that de Jongs requested ruling exceeds the Speakers authority.

Farnworth said in an interview the rules are clear that a Speaker can cast a deciding vote. Has it been used very often? No. But then we are not usually in a minority government situation, but the provision is there, he said. I feel quite confident that the existing standing orders will allow a government to function. Will it be challenging making sure all the numbers are there for when the required votes are in place? Of course.

Weaver accused de Jong and the premier of setting traps and trying to create uncertainty in order to trigger an election that nobody wants.

He called it extraordinary that de Jong would ask Thomson, who has been in the Speakers job fewer than three days, to make a constitutional ruling.

Its very odd that you would elect a Speaker, who you say is going to step down, to come up with a ruling that wont apply to him in the role of Speaker, because hell step down. I mean, this is just a game for the B.C. Liberals.

lkines@timescolonist.com

Original post:
BC Liberals rush to release financial books, NDP see a ploy - Times Colonist

As of now, Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., plans to cast the same vote on Senate Republicans' healthcare legislation as every single member of the Democratic Party. Despite that, Democrats are attacking him anyway.

Parroting his peers across the aisle, Heller said of the bill last Friday, "I cannot support a piece of legislation that takes insurance away from tens of millions of Americans and hundreds of thousands of Nevadans." That line could be ripped from straight from a speech given by any Senate Democrat.

Nevertheless, as Politico highlighted, several powerful liberal organizations responded by blasting Heller as "cowardly" and "utterly spineless." EMILY's List called Heller's opposition to the bill "entirely self-serving." American Bridge PAC accused him of making "a craven attempt to save his political career."

After demanding Republicans oppose the bill because it leaves people uninsured, they are slamming a Republican for opposing the bill because it leaves people uninsured. There is, perhaps, no more transparent an illustration of how Democrats are using the legislation as a political football.

If they believe Republicans should oppose the bill, why are they attacking a Republican for opposing the bill? If opposing the bill is moral, as they say, why is it immoral for Heller to oppose the bill? Because there is political capital to be gained.

Of course, both parties are currently and have been playing partisan politics with healthcare reform for years. But for all the Democratic rhetoric about the people they believe will suffer under the Republican plan, most members of the party express little sympathy for the people currently suffering under their own plan. It's easier to wax dramatic about the future than take responsibility for the problems they created in the present.

Heller is vulnerable in 2018, making his seat an attractive target for Democrats. Nevada has been inundated with ads from both sides pressuring Heller to either support or oppose his party's healthcare legislation.

The reactions of these outside groups are just another reminder that for all their dramatic spin about potential suffering (which conveniently glosses over all the current suffering) Democrats would prefer to unseat Republicans than admit Obamacare has failed and work to fix the system.

Emily Jashinskyis a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.

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Liberals attack Republican Sen. Dean Heller for opposing a bill they want him to oppose - Washington Examiner