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The absolutely outstanding article by Diana Mahabir-Wyatt in the Express of July 21 should be required reading for all those persons who are so quick to berate Venezuela because they are of the view that the problem in the country is caused by socialism. Ms Mahabir-Wyatt was careful to note the statement by the eminent professor that there are many countries which follow the socialist path but have succeeded in providing a very high standard of living for their people. The reason for this is the maturity of the society, that the citizenry expect and accept that the State apparatus will work to their benefit. There is little interference by outside forces, maybe because of the distance from the superpower. But no, that cannot be the reason, because they are strategically located to be of use to the USSR, and as a result would have been coveted as satellites. So it cannot be simply location. The only undeniable reason for socialism not to succeed is the lure of money. Socialism attempts to afford a more egalitarian division of the wealth of the country while maintaining the rights of the individual.

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Don't blame socialism for Venezuela's woes* - Trinidad & Tobago Express

Jeffrey A. Rendall | 7/26/2017

The air was so thick you could cut it with a knife on Monday afternoon as leading Democrat politicians ventured outside the Washington Beltway to a public park in nearby Berryville, Virginia (in Rep. Barbara Comstocks 10th District) to reveal their new agenda aimed at winning back at least some of the traditional Democrats who dumped the party to vote for Donald Trump and Republican congressional and Senate candidates last November.

The sight of men and women in suits and button down shirts must have appeared awful strange to those park visitors who werent aware ahead of time that a gaggle of ruling class Democrats would be showing up to try, once again, to rebrand themselves into the champions of the common man.

Seeing Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer (and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, et al.) pontificating outdoors in the intense glare of the Virginia summer would be humorous under most circumstances but on Monday it was absolutely side-splitting laughable not only because they were sweating like the common man in direct sunlight but also because what they were trying to pitch wasnt all that fresh and wouldnt be spared from overexposure no matter how many layers of sunscreen were applied.

In all, it was just the latest Democrat bash on American individualism and capitalism.

Susan Ferrechio of the Washington Examiner reported, The Better Deal agenda regurgitates many of the old Democratic ideas of raising the minimum wage, increasing spending on infrastructure and penalizing companies that move overseas.

But it also emphasizes breaking up big companies such as airlines and cable companies and goes after the pharmaceutical industry with a requirement that companies justify their prices to consumers who are struggling to pay for medication.

Old-fashioned capitalism has broken down to the detriment of consumers, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Monday...

Old-fashioned capitalism has broken down, Chuck? Nonsense. If anything, old-fashioned capitalism has been weighted down by tens of thousands of pages of the federal register and a collection of politicians from both parties who believe a laissez-faire economic system needs to be fixed or transformed rather than lightly monitored to ensure fairness and a level playing field for all participants in the marketplace.

The truth is, capitalism would work swimmingly if given the chance. Neither party especially Democrats would stoop to offering people the trust and opportunity to make their own economic choices. If you dont believe it, just look at Obamacare. The best health system in the world is collapsing because most or all of the capitalism has been removed from it.

We wont address the Republicans recent failures to deal with Obamacare in this space right now were focusing on the wretched Democrats and their hopeless party remake.

The Democrats attempt to rebrand themselves as heroes to the struggling isnt going to convince anyone with common sense or knowledge of history to give them another try. A snake periodically sheds its skin, but its still a snake. A chameleon lizard changes colors but its still a chameleon lizard. A Democrat can claim he or she is for middle class families and helping people improve their economic situations but at the core he or she is still... a socialist.

Lets not forget Hillary Clinton tried to heap the same better deal sell-job on Americans last year just as Pelosi, Schumer and Warren (et. al) did in Virginia a couple days ago and it turned people off. The problem is the Democrats just emerged from two terms of Obama, including a couple years of complete Democrat congressional control, and their better deal agenda didnt improve things for anyone.

The message might enjoy at least a token bit of credibility if it werent articulated by the same liberal leadership thats become the figurehead of the post-Obama Democrat Party. Is anyone seriously going to believe Schumer and Pelosi have changed their thinking on empowering Americans to succeed? Hardly. By all appearances Democrats are solely interested in restraining people who have ideas in order to secure goodies for their dedicated followers.

Theyre redistributionists of the highest order.

Further, contrast the Democrats gloomy anti-freedom and liberty message with that of candidate Trump last year. The Democrats relentlessly blast successful Americans (the rich) in order to lure the weak-minded and uninformed into supporting them. Trump attacked the unfairness of the system the elites stole from the people and the elites themselves to appeal to Americans displaced by decades of broken federal promises (like not enforcing the immigration laws and trade deals that sent their jobs overseas and using the political system to enrich themselves).

Democrats want more rules, more regulations and more federal bureaucrats looking over the shoulders of people doing business in order to dictate equity in the workplace. It wont succeed. Most Americans simply want to be left alone, not to be placed in the shackles of more central planning and command control located in the far off Capitol.

Understandably, Republicans were less than impressed by the Democrats display of America/capitalist-bashing.

Pete Kasperowicz of the Washington Examiner reported, Democrats announced their new Better Deal campaign, which will focus on helping average Americans instead of the rich and special interest groups.

But AshLee Strong, [Speaker Paul] Ryan's press secretary, noted that Republicans came out with the Better Way campaign last year.

Have you seen this creative, innovative, totally unique Better Deal messaging campaign ... the Democrats unveiled this morning for the 2018 cycle, she asked in an email that was interspersed with links to the GOP's Better Way website.

Instead of suggesting were seeing a fresh coat of paint on the same old Democrat socialist ideas, however, the Republican leadership seems to be taking offense at the minority partys ostensible stealing of their own marketing strategy.

Therein lies the problem the ideas themselves arent being attacked as much as the Republicans object to the Democrats perceptible plagiarism. The GOP has its own host of impotence issues, mostly having to do with the establishment party leadership not really standing for anything and a lasting image problem with the voters who rightly see that Republicans are great in the opposition but cant enact a conservative agenda once theyre handed the quill and ink to write up laws.

In the end it doesnt really matter whether either party calls their program a Better Deal or a Better Way if they wont assume the necessary political risks to actually pass laws or cut the budget or stand up for a set of principles beyond whatever it takes to win a majority or get them through the next election.

Both parties are capitalism bashers in their own specific ways. Where the free market is concerned, politicians want to tinker with the entire engine to fix a few bad spark plugs.

Its also to these politicians personal advantage to attack the very foundations of the American economic system. After all, theres always a reason why someone succeeds and others dont, and theyre more than happy to supply the cause. Its much easier to point the finger at someone else rather than taking responsibility for ones failures. Your gain is my loss; its the basis for their governing philosophy. Their reason for existence is to make the underachievers of the world feel empowered.

And just when the Democrats appeared to be taking responsibility for their poor electoral plight in recent times, they resort back to their old tricks again.

Tyler ONeil of PJ Media reported, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told The Washington Post that Democrats should blame themselves for losing last November, rather than pinning their defeat on former FBI Director James Comey or the Trump campaign's supposed collusion with Russia. In a tweet Monday morning, President Trump heartily agreed.

When you lose to somebody who has 40 percent popularity, you don't blame other things Comey, Russia you blame yourself, Schumer told the Post. So what did we do wrong? People didn't know what we stood for, just that we were against Trump. And still believe that.

After seeing Mondays press event with a group of them wilting from exposure to the blistering Virginia sun its not at all clear the Democrats stand for anything apart from what they did yesterday or last week or last month or last year.

Their underlying message is all the same and can be summed up as thus: We know more than you and the American people cant be trusted to make decisions on personal financial matters or handling their own money.

Chuck Schumers right: American capitalism does need a reexamination. But the Democrats shouldnt be surprised when the people demand more of it, not the warmed-over rebranded Better Deal theyre offering to move attention away from their latest ploy to foster socialism.

Link:
Outsiders vs. Insiders: Democrats' 'Better Deal' is socialism repackaged in naked populist form - ConservativeHQ

The IRS has finally agreed to a process for deciding on the last remaining nonprofit application that was snared in the Obama administrations tea party targeting, more than four years after the illegal singling-out of conservative groups for special scrutiny was first revealed.

In court filings this week, the IRS acceded to rules governing how the tax agency will decide whether to grant nonprofit status to the Texas Patriots Tea Party, which has been awaiting a decision for years.

The agreement doesnt mean the group will be approved, but it sets up a process for making a decision.

This does provide a path forward for TPTP, said Edward Greim, a lawyer representing the group, as well as hundreds of other tea party organizations that have banded together in a class-action lawsuit against the IRS. We will be watching the IRS closely to ensure that TPTP does in fact receive fair processing.

Nearly 500 groups applying for tax-exempt status from 2009 to 2013 were subjected to intrusive scrutiny by the IRS based on perceived political activity. Most of those groups came from the conservative side of the spectrum. Investigators said organizations with words such as tea party or patriots were automatically flagged.

Once singled out, groups faced intrusive questions about their political beliefs, their affiliations with fellow tea party organizations, how they came up with their names, and their members political activity and donation histories.

Of the groups targeted, the TPTP is the last one awaiting processing.

Applications for several other groups were processed late last year. One of them, the Tri-City Tea Party, won approval in April, and the Albuquerque Tea Party won approval this month. Albuquerque activists had been waiting more than seven years.

In the case of the TPTP, the sides had been arguing over the latest set of questions from the IRS the third iteration submitted late last year.

Under an agreement submitted to a federal court in Cincinnati this week, the TPTP will submit one final set of answers describing political candidates and educational speakers who have been invited to address the group.

The IRS agreed not to penalize the group for the words tea party in its name. The IRS also vowed not to consider the ideology of the groups members.

The IRS also said it will process the TPTPs application as of 2013, meaning it cannot deny the groups application because of the continuing fight over information.

The agreement was reached on the sidelines of the class-action lawsuit.

Judge Michael R. Barrett renewed his ban last week on release of testimony of Lois G. Lerner and Holly Paz, two former IRS employees who were at the center of the targeting controversy.

Each has been deposed in the lawsuit but complained that the release of their testimony would spark another round of threats to their safety.

Judge Barrett said that only attorneys and a small group of plaintiffs who are sworn to secrecy will have access to the transcripts.

A full trial is slated for February.

Meanwhile, two top House Republicans have asked the Justice Department to reopen a criminal investigation into Ms. Lerner.

The Obama administration cleared her of wrongdoing, saying that instead of being the problem, Ms. Lerner took steps to curtail the targeting when she learned of its full extent.

Continue reading here:
IRS finally agrees to clear last tea party case - Washington Times

The new U.S. special envoy to Ukraine negotiations announced the Trump administration is actively considering sending arms to Kievs forces so they can defend themselves against pro-Russian separatists.

Defensive weapons, ones that would allow Ukraine to defend itself, and to take out tanks for example, would actually help, Kurt Volker, the U.S. special representative for Ukraine negotiations, told the BBC in an interview Tuesday, noting such a move could change Moscows approach in the region, where the United Nations estimates more than 10,000 people have been killed since April 2014. Im not predicting where we go on this but I think that argument that it would be provocative to Russia or emboldening of Ukraine is just getting it backwards.

The conflict in Ukraine, which began in 2014 following the public ouster of then-Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, flared when Russia moved to annex Ukraines Crimean Peninsula. Moscow has since been accused of backing Russian separatists in the eastern part of the country against government forces, though it has denied direct involvement. Despite reaching a ceasefire in February 2015, the terms of the agreement have been far from fulfilled. Indeed, the U.S. State Department condemned last week what it called the deadliest one-day period in 2017 after eight Ukrainian soldiers were killed in 24 hours.

Russia had long viewed Crimea as part of its territory (the region was gifted in 1954 to Ukraine by former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev), and Ukraine as part of its sphere of influence. The pro-Western government in Kiev has angered Moscow, and at least some of its actions in the country can be attributed to Russias regional status.

Though the U.S. has maintained its opposition to Moscows cross-border activity, it has stopped short of providing lethal arms to Ukraine. Steven Pifer, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine during the Clinton administration, told me this policy was due in large part to President Obamas opposition to providing lethal aid in fear of escalating the violence. People were not two years ago going to say We like the idea, because they knew it was a presidential decision and they knew the president was cautious, Pifer said. In this case, I dont think President Trump has taken a position, so they may feel they have a little bit more leeway.

Trump has offered little specificity on his stance over the Ukrainian conflict, but he hasnt formally ruled out providing arms either. Trump called on Moscow to cease its destabilizing activities in Ukraine and elsewhere during his visit to Poland earlier this month, and told Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko last month during his visit to Washington that the crisis is one weve all been very much involved in. But where Trump hasnt been specific, others in the government have. In an address this month to the Senate Armed Services Committee, Air Force General Paul J. Selva, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said lethal defensive aid to Ukraine is more than just a military recommendation, adding: This will be a policy choice on whether or not were going to give the Ukrainian government the tools they need to defend themselves against what we believe to be a Russian-supported insurgency movement in the Donbass, referring to the region in eastern Ukraine.

More than just giving Ukrainian forces a means to defend themselves, Pifer said the arms could serve as a way to compel Moscow toward a political resolution to the conflict. Nobody on the Ukrainian side suggests to us that they were going to use the force to drive the Russians and the separatists out of Donbassthey know they cannot beat the Red Army, he said, referring to the Russian military. The advantage ... is giving them better ability to raise the cost to the Russians and the separatists of further aggression.

The Russians may not see it that way. Though Volker insisted that arming Ukrainian forces would not be seen as a provocation, Moscow is unlikely to look on the move as kindly either. There is a risk the Russians choose to escalate, and I think its a risk we have to acknowledge, Pifer said, noting that as long as the Russians are disinclined to resolve the conflict, it could remain at a standstill.

It hasnt yet reached the point where theyre looking for a way out, he added. Weve got to somehow figure out a way to change the calculation in the Kremlin.

Here is the original post:
Will US Arms Resolve the Conflict in Ukraine? - The Atlantic

BBC News

How long until Ukraine is hacked again? BBC News When the attack came, it took hold quickly and brought a screeching halt to many businesses across Ukraine. "None of the computers or machines worked except for the General Electric-powered machines like the MRIs [magnetic resonance imaging]," ... and more »

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How long until Ukraine is hacked again? - BBC News