News

Speaker candidate Kevin McCarthy vows to repeal Obamacare, defund Planned Parenthood

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Well, this is unexpected good news.

The Daily Signal reports.

Excerpt:

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy further separated himself from outgoing Speaker John Boehner Tuesday night, vowing to fight to the end for conservative policies if he takes the chamber’s top seat.

Fox News’ Sean Hannity pressed McCarthy hard on conservative frustration that accelerated Boehner’s demise, repeatedly pointing to the House’s failure to unravel Obamacare despite holding majorities in both chambers and its “power of the purse” authority.

“You voted 50 times to repeal Obamacare, but there’s a constitutional power you guys have that you don’t use, and it seems all Obama has to do is mention, ‘We’re going to shut down the government and blame Republicans,’” Hannity said.

McCarthy promised a different course should he clinch the speakership in October.

He committed to pursue the string of battles conservatives have waged against congressional Democrats and President Barack Obama, including defunding Obamacare, Planned Parenthood, and executive “amnesty” and stopping the Iran nuclear agreement.

He did not detail specifics but said he would lead the fight with a “strategy” and a greater inclusion of the conservative lawmakers who helped topple Boehner from the speakership.

“Every Republican should have a voice here, and that’s going to be the fundamental difference: I believe in the bottom-up strategy,” McCarthy said.

This is not the first report I heard about his outreach to the most conservative Republicans when he was majority leader. Even the so-called Freedom Caucus that forced the more liberal Boehner to resign seemed to be OK with the conservative credentials of Kevin McCarthy.

The ultra leftist New York Times has more in this article from June 2014, when they were writing about his role as majority leader:

When he was the leader of Republicans in the California State Assembly — an ideologically diverse group of lawmakers often choleric toward both Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Democrats who controlled the Legislature — Kevin Owen McCarthy was known as the guy who could help bring a bill across the finish line. Gently, almost as if no one could see it.

[…]Politically obsessed (Mr. McCarthy is known for lugging the 1,883-page Almanac of American Politics to read on his almost weekly flights back to California) and manically social (he cannot seem to eat dinner in Washington with fewer than eight guests), Mr. McCarthy is likely to be more focused on deal-making and elections than on pushing proscriptive policy from on high, as Mr. Cantor did.

[…]He keeps in close contact with other Republicans through phone calls, dinners and a strategically placed basketball hoop in his office that encourages drop-ins. “He understands how important family is,” said Representative Renee Ellmers, Republican of North Carolina. “If our spouses are coming to Washington, he wants you to know he has an open door for them, too.” He has the same policy for lawmakers who want to air a grievance, and has a good ear for knowing what their requirements are, reasonable or not, to get to yes on a bill.

So, he’s not primarily a policy guy or a news media guy, he’s a consensus builder. He seems to know how to talk to lots of people and get legislation passed. He seems to be very friendly with everyone, even Democrats. He’s had to work with Democrats a lot. And he comes from a modest background. The only question is whether he wants to pass what the conservative wing of the party wants. What the grassroots voters want. His statements on Hannity make me optimistic.

News

Report evaluates the claim that Planned Parenthood videos were highly edited

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Hillary Clinton and Planned Parenthood
Hillary Clinton and Planned Parenthood

The Daily Signal reports.

Excerpt:

A forensic analysis of undercover videos about Planned Parenthood’s abortion practices are “authentic and show no evidence of manipulation or editing,” according to a report released Tuesday by Alliance Defending Freedom.

The analysis was completed by Coalfire, a digital security and forensics firm that has worked on civil and criminal investigations. The firm had access to all audio and video investigative footage recorded by the Center for Medical Progress.

“The Coalfire forensic analysis removes any doubt that the full length undercover videos released by Center for Medical Progress are authentic and have not been manipulated,” said Casey Mattox, senior counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom. “Analysts scrutinized every second of video recorded during the investigation and released by CMP to date and found only bathroom breaks and other non-pertinent footage had been removed.”

According to the report, the videos only omit footage irrelevant to the allegations such as bathroom breaks.

[…]The Daily Signal previously reported that the firm hired by Planned Parenthood, Fusion GPS, has ties to the Democratic Party, including an effort to expose a group of eight private citizens who donated to a super PAC supporting former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign.

How did Cecile Richards respond to the two audits? By saying that “everyone” agrees that the videos were highly edited. This is how politicians talk. “Everyone agrees” but they can’t give an example of who is included in the everyone who agrees. Right now, I’m looking at the scoreboard, and it’s 2-0, with Planned Parenthood trailing. Our side has two reports, your side has none. You’re entitled to your own opinions, Cecile Richards, but not your own facts.

Meanwhile, Richards had to admit today under questioning that she lied about Planned Parenthood doing mammograms.

Excerpt:

Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards stated “we do not have mammogram machines at our health centers” and “if you need a mammogram, you’re referred to a radiological clinic, and that’s what we do at Planned Parenthood” during testimony before Congress on Tuesday.

Richards was asked, by Representative Rep. Mia Love (R-UT) “in the annual report, Planned Parenthood’s annual report, says that you are providing over 489,000 breast cancer screenings, and you’ve stated that none of your clinics actually have the mammogram machines. How many of the — how many of your affiliates have those mammogram machines?”

Richards responded, “Well our health centers are part of our affiliates. We have more than 650 health centers. So an affiliate is simply the corporate structure for those health centers.”

Love then cut in to ask “how many of them have mammogram machines?”

Richards answered, “An affiliate isn’t a health center. … I think I spoke earlier, we do not have mammogram machines at our health centers. And we’ve never stated that we did. As I think has been — was mentioned earlier, for women who go for a breast exam, just as I got for my annual, you get a breast exam, and if you need a mammogram, you’re referred to a radiological clinic, and that’s what we do at Planned Parenthood.”

They don’t do mammograms. They do born-alive abortions, where they cut into the living babies to harvest their organs for profit.

Regarding the myth that abortion is “only 3% of what we do“, Cecile Richards also admitted:

Planned Parenthood has long maintained that abortion is only a small part, 3% is typically the number the pro-aborts use, of its business.

[…]Yesterday, under questioning by Representative Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY),  Richards admitted that a staggering 86% of non-government revenue and revealed Planned Parenthood for what it is: an organization devoted to increasing the number of abortions in the United States.

Yes, it’s amazing what sorts of interesting facts come out when a person is under oath, and criminally liable for lies. Then suddenly we find out that everything we’ve been told about Planned Parenthood from the mainstream media was lies.

Every Democrat voter is on board with what Planned Parenthood is doing, because this is a big part of what the Democrat Party stands for. It’s not a bug, it’s working as designed.

News

Which candidate for Speaker of the House is the most conservative?

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Republican Speaker John Boehner
Republican Speaker John Boehner

I waited a couple of days to write about Speaker Boehner stepping down. I was supportive of him for a while, but even with the majority, nothing was getting done. I wanted to see bills passed that were popular with the American public, that would be voted against by Democrats, and vetoed by Obama. That would have made clear where Democrats stood. It turned out that he was more liberal than I thought.

Right now, there are 4 announced candidates to replace Boehner:

Kevin McCarthy, who is very similar to Boehner, maybe a bit more conservative. He would be a continuation of Boehner’s “do nothing” legacy. According to the American Conservative Union, he has a lifetime rating of 90.43, and his most recent rating was 72, and prior to that 86. 100 is considered a perfect score. McCarthy IS considered good enough by Tea Party conservatives, but they would like someone better if they can get the votes.

Dan Webster is another moderate Republican who is running. I don’t know much about him. According to the American Conservative Union, he has a lifetime rating of 81.11, and his most recent rating was 72, and prior to that 88. Not good enough.

Tom Price, is an ideas man in the vein of Paul Ryan. He has been endorsed by Paul Ryan and Jeb Hensarling – two gurus on economic policy. According to the American Conservative Union, he has a lifetime rating of 96.89, and his most recent rating was 92, and prior to that 100. He’s my first choice.

Steve Scalise, who is a decent candidate, but he made the mistake of giving a speech to some weird racist group billions of years ago. A terrible mistake, because it is always being used against him no matter how sorry he says he is. Well, the truth is that you can be Obama and have a racist, America-hating pastor, but Republicans don’t get forgiveness for their mistakes. According to the American Conservative Union, he has a lifetime rating of 98.00, and his most recent rating was 100, and prior to that 100.

So, we have two good candidates. Price is my pick because we don’t need a conservative purist bomb-thrower, we need a conservative purist policy wonk who can craft policies that get votes from Republicans AND moderate Democrats. Things that get moved, things that get signed. Things that solve problems.

There is some effort to draft Trey Gowdy, because of what a great job he’s done on the Benghazi hearings.

The leftist Washington Post explains:

Whispers are everywhere that South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy will enter — or be drafted into — the race to be House majority leader, the second most powerful job in the Republican-controlled House. And Republicans (at least those in Washington) should be rooting like crazy for that to happen.

Here’s why: As I noted yesterday, changing out John Boehner as speaker for Kevin McCarthy as speaker (McCarthy is currently the majority leader) isn’t much of a change. Yes, McCarthy is younger and might be slightly more well-regarded among the younger and more conservative elements of the party than was Boehner. But  that’s not saying much. And no one would mistake McCarthy as of the tea party base. He’s an institutionalist who is likely to face lots of the same challenges that led Boehner to call it quits.

At the moment, the choices to replace McCarthy as majority leader are Rep. Tom Price (Ga.) and Rep. Steve Scalise (La.). Scalise is currently  majority whip; Price is the chair of the Budget Committee. Both are well-liked by conservatives — and got their starts from the conservative sinecures within the GOP conference. But both are already in prominent positions and neither is all that skilled as a television performer — a trait considered essential to jobs in leadership these days. (Scalise was also recent enmeshed in a controversy over his having appeared in front of a white supremacist group in the past.)

Gowdy is all the things Price and Scalise are not. He’s a regular — and a star — on Fox News Channel thanks to his job as chairman of the House select committee investigating the attacks in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11, 2012. He’s seen as the latest (and best) iteration of the tea party movement in Congress, someone who is committed to core conservative principles but is also adept at knowing which levers of power to pull when. (Gowdy is a former federal prosecutor.)

“If you want the best person to make the Republican case, if you want the best person to talk about why conservatism is the right answer for America, Trey Gowdy is our best foot forward,” Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz said during an interview on Fox News Channel on Tuesday morning.

But so far, Gowdy’s not biting. His lifetime rating is 98.67, this year he is 100, last year he had 100. It’s hard to say who I like better… Price or Gowdy. I’d have to give the edge to Gowdy, because I think we need a fighter to inspire the base. Later on, with a Republican president, we can have good ideas then.