Tag: failure generation

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Connecticut Obamacare Co-Op Going Out of Business

obamacare_theridgewood blog

by DR. SUSAN BERRY7 Jul 20161,103

Connecticut’s Obamacare health insurance co-op is being placed under state supervision because of its status as financially “unstable,” leaving 40,000 individuals on the hunt for new insurance plans.

HealthyCT – a nonprofit health insurance plan set up under President Barack Obama’s signature health care reform, is one of 23 original Obamacare co-ops and the 14th to fail since they began selling their health insurance plans on the Obamacare exchanges.

Obamacare exchange Access Health CT CEO Jim Wadleigh released a statement following the announcement from Connecticut Insurance Department regulators that HealthyCT would no longer be permitted to sell plans in Connecticut.

We have just learned from the Connecticut Insurance Department that insurance company HealthyCT has been ordered to stop writing new policies in Connecticut effective immediately. As a result, Access Health CT will no longer be selling healthcare coverage offered by HealthyCT on the exchange. We realize that this will cause some concern for customers who purchased a HealthyCT plan via AHCT and we are committed to making sure they receive the help they need to find new coverage.

https://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/07/07/connecticut-obamacare-co-op-going-business/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social

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How the World Fell Out of Love with Obama

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In countries key to the president’s legacy, people express profound disappointment in a man from whom they expected great things.

By NAHAL TOOSI

Back in 2008, the same qualities in the 47-year-old senator from Illinois that excited U.S. voters enthralled people around the globe. He was a fresh face and a compelling orator. He had spent his childhood in the Asia-Pacific, and his skin color alone made billions of people feel a connection with him. Perhaps most importantly, he was not George W. Bush, the president who invaded Iraq. Obama promised “hope” and “change” and people believed he could deliver—that he would end wars in Muslim countries, improve America’s standing on human rights, even alleviate global poverty. “Yes we can!” shouted The Age, an Australian newspaper, when he won office. Just months later, the rookie president was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, a nod more to his promise than to anything he had accomplished.

Obama’s overseas poll numbers were stratospheric in those early days. In countries like France and Germany, more than 90 percent of people surveyed by the Pew Research Center expressed confidence that Obama would “do the right thing regarding world affairs.” Even in some Middle Eastern countries, where U.S. presidents are rarely liked, nearly half of the populace had high expectations for Obama.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/07/barack-obama-world-popularity-cuba-egypt-ukraine-bbc-documentary-214032#ixzz4E0hrfmBh

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How Obama Lost the Mideast to Putin

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Vision, strategy, and courage might have prevented the disaster we see today in Syria. But those elements were nowhere to be found.

LONDON — The Middle East is in flames. Just as Iraq was President George W. Bush’s catastrophic legacy, Syria will be Obama’s. Bush’s sins of commission wrought no less chaos than Obama’s sins of omission. If the Stop the War lobby’s primary motive was to avoid civilian casualties, then by any standard they should slither away shamefully into voluntarily redundancy.

By latest human rights accounts, Syria’s five-year civil war has left 470,000 dead. To add to our disgrace, we don’t even know how accurate these figures are because—as if in despair—the United Nations gave up collecting statistics 18 months ago. Syria has spiraled into the biggest humanitarian, political and security challenge of our time. The Cuban Missile crisis of 2016.

Last week in Munich, the “well-meaning but under-powered” U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry optimistically announced a temporary ceasefire, leading up to UN-brokered peace talks scheduled for Feb. 25. Onlookers meanwhile, wondered what sort of “cessation of hostilities” allows Russia to continue hostilities, and questioned whether depressing realities on the ground truly reflect Kerry’s sleight of hand.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/02/23/how-obama-lost-the-mideast-to-putin.html

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Obama’s economy: The fierce debate

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By Peter Schroeder and Jordan Fabian – 02/10/16 06:00 AM EST

Seven years after President Obama’s inauguration, the debate about whether he saved the economy or held back its recovery is in full swing.

Obama has been taking a final-year victory lap, touting a national unemployment rate that has fallen to 4.9 percent as the latest sign of success for his economic stewardship.

Yet critics in Obama’s orbit, including Democratic congressmen and a former member of his Cabinet, suggest more could have been done if Obama had worked harder with lawmakers and members of his administration.

Rep. Collin Peterson (Minn.) — one of two Democrats still in office out of the 11 who voted against the stimulus
legislation — said the White House made zero effort to bring him, or other centrist Democrats, on board in the fight over the stimulus.

“They just wrote us off, I think,” he said. “I can’t even tell you who in the administration is supposed to be lobbying me.”

It’s a criticism of Obama that has remained steady for his entire presidency: He doesn’t work well with others, whether they are Republicans or Democrats, who disagree with him.

“This is very much a my-way-or-the-highway White House, and this is a president who would rather win the argument than get something done,” said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, head of the American Action Forum and the top economic adviser to Obama’s Republican opponent in 2008, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.).

Obama allies say such criticism is unfair and blame Republicans for failing to work with Obama since day one.

“There’s no question that had Congress enacted the president’s economic proposals, the economy would be in a stronger position today,” said Alan Krueger, a Princeton economist who was a top economic adviser to Obama.

https://thehill.com/policy/finance/economy/268856-obamas-economy-the-fierce-debate

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America’s Economic Freedom Has Rapidly Declined Under Obama

Obama-Golf

Anthony B. Kim / @AKFREEDOM / January 31, 2016

Millions of people around the world are emerging from poverty thanks to rising economic freedom. But by sharp contrast, America’s economic freedom has been on a declining path over the past decade.

America’s declining score in the index is closely related to rapidly rising government spending, subsidies, and bailouts.

According to the 2016 Index of Economic Freedom, an annual publication by The Heritage Foundation, America’s economic freedom has tumbled. With losses of economic freedom in eight of the past nine years, the U.S. has tied its worst score ever, wiping out a decade of progress.

The U.S. has fallen from the 6th freest economy in the world, when President Barack Obama took office, to 11th place in 2016. America’s declining score in the index is closely related to rapidly rising government spending, subsidies, and bailouts.

Since early 2009:

Government spending has exploded, amounting to $29,867 per household in 2015.
The national debt has risen to $125,000 for every tax-filing household in America—a total over $18 trillion.
The government takeover of health care is raising prices and disrupting markets.
Bailouts and new government regulations have increased uncertainty, stifling investment and job creation.

This is not something to take lightly. Economic freedom is the foundation of U.S. economic strength, and economic strength is the foundation of America’s high living standards, military power, and status as a world leader. The perils of losing economic freedom are not fictional.

It is painfully clear that our economy has been performing far below its potential, with individuals, families, and entrepreneurs being squeezed by the proliferation of big-government bureaucracy and regulations.

As documented by the index, and by other scholars, America’s economic freedom has been declining at an alarming pace.

Indeed, as The Wall Street Journal recently summed it up succinctly, Obama is “a champion when it comes to limiting economic freedom, and American workers have the slow growth in jobs and wages to prove it.”

Not surprisingly, our economic dynamism and innovative capacity have been measurably reduced.

Not surprisingly, our economic dynamism and innovative capacity have been measurably reduced. Self-inflicted wounds include:

The U.S. has the highest corporate tax rate in the developed world. This has driven new jobs to other, more competitive nations and has meant fewer jobs and lower wages for Americans.
The overall annual cost of meeting regulatory requirements has increased by over $80 billion since 2009, with more than 180 new regulations in place. In terms of ease of starting a new business, analyzed by a recently published World Bank report, the U.S. is ranked shockingly low at 49th, trailing countries such as Canada, Georgia, Ireland, Lithuania, and Malaysia.

No wonder the labor force participation rate has remained at near record lowsafter more than five years of steady decline.

Worse, vibrant entrepreneurial growth has been stymied by greater policy uncertainty and mounting debt. And a disturbing trend toward cronyism has gravely eroded the rule of law and distorted our free-market system.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, keynote speaker of the official release of the 2016 Index, recently stated:

It’s been almost seven years since the Obama “recovery” began, and our economy is barely out of neutral. Why does America have to settle for this?

Restoring economic freedom is prerequisite to revitalizing and brightening America’s future. 2016 is the year to reaffirm the principles of limited government, free enterprise, and rule of law so that we can reconstitute an America where freedom, opportunity, and prosperity flourish.

The time to act is now.

 

https://dailysignal.com/2016/01/31/americas-economic-freedom-has-rapidly-declined-under-obama/

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Rep. Garrett Responds to President Obama’s State of the Union Address Once Again takes Iran Nuke Deal to Task

scottgarrett2_theridgewoodblog

January 13th 2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ,  Rep. Scott Garrett (NJ-05) issued the following statement after President Obama delivered his final State of the Union address:

“Tonight’s State of the Union address seemed like a victory lap for the president, but for many Americans victory is still nowhere in sight. The six million people still looking for full time employment haven’t seen victory. Neither have those who lost their health care or preferred doctor because of ObamaCare. Or the future generations who will be burdened with debt because of the reckless spending of this administration.

“We must work hard to unleash the American spirit so everyone can pursue their dreams. That means meaningful reforms that reduce regulatory burdens, fix the broken tax code, and rein in the national debt. These are solutions that will empower Main Streets in New Jersey, not bureaucracies in Washington, D.C.

“Additionally, I was troubled by only one fleeting mention of the nuclear deal with Iran and nothing about the U.S. Navy vessels and their crews that are being held captive by Iran. This deal is fundamentally flawed and Iran cannot be left on a path to obtain nuclear capabilities in a few short years.

“If the president wants to work on cutting red tape and regulations, I invite him to join the House Financial Services Committee in looking at the 400 new rules imposed by Dodd-Frank and their massive compliance costs that are being passed along to hardworking families. If he wants to put the American people first, I encourage him to look at the ObamaCare repeal bill that would put health care back in the control of the American people that he vetoed last week. And if he’s serious about the future of America, please Mr. President, deliver a budget next month that actually balances to preserve prosperity for our children and grandchildren.

“We can do better, and this year the House will continue to put forward ideas and legislation that put Americans in the driver’s seat to recovery. I invite the president to join us.”

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Rep. Garrett Says what we all think , Obama’s SOTU Addresses are like Failed New Year’s Resolutions

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Jan 12, 2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Scott Garrett (NJ-05) issued the following statement before President Obama’s final State of the Union address this evening:

“Like a bad New Year’s Resolution, for the past six January’s President Obama has come before Congress and the American people and delivered a State of the Union address that promises that this year things will be different. But despite all of the president’s words and promises, our economy continues to struggle, the national debt threatens the future of our country, and the nuclear deal struck with Iran and lack of a clear strategy against ISIS make the world a more dangerous place for the United States.

“Tonight is a chance for the president to leave the rhetoric and failed policies behind him and come to Capitol Hill with something new. Hardworking Americans deserve an outline for a people first, pro-growth economy, a real plan to balance the budget, a strategy to protect the United States, and an emphasis on the rights and liberties granted by the Constitution. Those are 2016 resolutions that everyone can get behind.”

Rep. Scott Garrett is a senior member of the House Budget Committee and Chairman of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government-Sponsored Enterprises.

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Poll: Obama Has Failed on Every Issue

Obama-Golf

Americans Obama has become Obummer

by MIKE FLYNN9 Jan 20161,559

A new poll from FoxNews finds voters souring on President Obama’s tenure in office, as his presidency enters its final year. President Obama entered office in 2009 with some of the highest approval ratings recorded in modern politics. He prepares to leave office with every poll finding his approval rating underwater.

This isn’t simply the weariness of voters with a President entering his eighth and final year, but a growing sense that he has failed on every major issue and leaves office with America weaker than when he arrived.

In this latest Fox poll, 61 percent of voters say they are unhappy with the direction of the country. Only 38 percent say they are largely satisfied. This is consistent with most other recent polls. A CNN/ORC poll last week found that 75 percent of Americans were “dissatisfied” with the governing of the country, with 69 percent at least “somewhat angry” about the situation.

Only 23 percent of Americans describe the economy as “good” or “excellent” in the Fox poll. More than three-out-of-four Americans, 76 percent, describe the economy as “fair” or “poor.” Just 27 percent say America is strong and confident today.

There isn’t simply an ennui that has settled over the body politic. Rather, the voters believe that Obama has failed on very specific issues. On “improving health care,” 53 percent of voters say Obama has “mostly failed.” Stimulating the economy? Fifty-one percent say Obama has failed.

A strong majority, 58 percent, say Obama has failed in “making the country safer.” Sixty percent say he has failed to “improve America’s image around the world.” Two-thirds of voters, 65 percent, say Obama has failed to “handle ISIS.” A similar number, 62 percent, say he has failed to “handle illegal immigration.”

Perhaps most disappointing, given the promise that swept him into office, 59 percent say Obama has failed to “improve race relations.” The same number also believe he has failed to run a “transparent administration.”

Presidents are often eclipsed in their final year in office, as the political world turns its attention to the campaign for the next President. The “best and the brightest” in any Administration have long departed for a calmer, or in many cases more lucrative, life after government. Even in Congress, the political debates and discussions turn to policies and budgets that stretch beyond a President’s tenure.

Traditionally, Presidents devote their time to foreign policy, striving to solidify their legacy as a global statesman. In this case, however, President Obama is constricted by a series of world events that raise more questions about his culpability, rather than leadership. Obama’s unconventional pivot to the divisive issue of gun control last week is indicative of his weak hand in global affairs.

 

https://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/01/09/poll-obama-has-failed-on-every-issue/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social

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Obamacare Is Now on Life Support

obamacare_theridgewood blog

By Edward Morrissey
December 10, 2015

Democrats gained the political muscle to push the Affordable Care Act (ACA) through Congress on three basic arguments.

First, they argued that the United States had too many uninsured people, with estimates ranging from 30 million to 45 million.

Second, the rise in costs for health care outstripped inflation, and the market required an intervention that would bend the cost curve downward.

Third, Democrats claimed that insurance companies made too much profit and shorted most consumers on care, while those with generous health plans – so-called “Cadillac plans” – drove up utilization rates and costs for everyone else.

The only solution for these ills was a massive government intervention, complete with mandates for all participants in the market, including providers, insurers, and consumers. Once government ran this market, Democrats promised, consumers would see their premiums decrease (by $2,500 a year, according to Barack Obama), insurers would gain access to vast numbers of new consumers who couldn’t get insurance before, and the lifting of cost burdens would spark a job-creation surge that would lift the economy.

Such were the promises of Obamacare five years ago. The reality began looking much different in the fall of 2013, when the first open-enrollment period turned into a disaster. Millions of insurance policies were canceled even though the health care exchanges failed to work properly.

In 2014, premiums spiked, and then in 2015 they exploded again along with deductibles so high that many decided not to be insured at all. Over half of Obamacare’s co-ops collapsed this year, most of them this fall, and now the providers who took their clients may end up stuck with the bills.

“Health care providers could get stuck with unpaid bills in a half dozen states where co-op plans have collapsed,” reports Politico Pro’s Paul Demko. “That’s because there’s no financial backstop in those states if the failed nonprofit startups backed by Obamacare loans run out of money before paying off all of their medical claims.” The failure of the co-op Health Republic Insurance of New York left $165 million in unpaid bills, and a survey showed 64 percent of New York providers waiting for payment. Had a private-sector insurer defaulted in a similar manner, these providers would have been compensated from a guaranty fund set up by the industry.

Obamacare co-ops had no such backstop, and more than 600,000 Americans will have to find insurance that is more expensive or do without.

Still, as bad as the news has been over the past five years, the remaining illusions were shattered by the CBO and the White House itself this week. Obamacare didn’t make much of a dent in the uninsured rate, it has forced costs to rise faster than before, and it will kill millions of jobs that otherwise would be created.

“The labor force is projected to be about 2 million full-time-equivalent workers smaller in 2025 under the ACA than it would have been otherwise,” the CBO concludes in the latest analysis of Obamacare’s impact on the economy. Much of the reason — the CBO puts it at 75 percent — comes from the net increase of effective tax rates on labor, which will incentivize potential workers to stay out of the work force. Democrats claim that this is a feature rather than a bug, as people can choose not to work. However, even with that rose-colored glasses view, it means that the rest of the taxpayers will have to subsidize the health care of those who opt out, whether happily or unhappily.

The depressing impact on job growth is not the only illusion shattered, either. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) published a study on Obamacare’s impact on costs and on reducing the numbers of uninsured — and it fails on both counts. The CBO estimated after the passage of Obamacare that the number of uninsured would drop 19 million by 2014 from a 2010 benchmark. Instead, it has only dropped 12.6 million. As Avik Roy points out at Forbes , the 2010 level of uninsured was artificially high due to the impact of the Great Recession. Using 2008 as a benchmark, the number of uninsured has dropped by only 6.7 million.

https://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Columns/2015/12/10/Obamacare-s-Condition-Has-Gone-Critical-Life-Support

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$20 trillion man: National debt nearly doubles during Obama presidency

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By Dave Boyer – The Washington Times – Sunday, November 1, 2015

When President Obama signs into law the new two-year budget deal Monday, his action will bring into sharper focus a part of his legacy that he doesn’t like to talk about: He is the $20 trillion man.

Mr. Obama’s spending agreement with Congress will suspend the nation’s debt limit and allow the Treasury to borrow another $1.5 trillion or so by the end of his presidency in 2017. Added to the current total national debt of more than $18.15 trillion, the red ink will likely be crowding the $20 trillion mark right around the time Mr. Obama leaves the White House.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/nov/1/obama-presidency-to-end-with-20-trillion-national-/

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Iran’s supreme leader mocks Obama with letter warning some of the ‘other’ countries that signed his nuke deal ‘are not trustworthy’

Death-to-America

It’s not us, it’s the Chinese! Iran’s supreme leader mocks Obama with letter warning some of the ‘other’ countries that signed his nuke deal ‘are not trustworthy’

Stunning jiu-jitsu move just 8 minutes after Obama’s press conference has Ayatollah Khamenei cautioning Obama to watch the P5+1 nations carefully
Most American critics of the nuclear bargain with Tehran charge that it’s Khamenei who can’t be trusted to hold up his end
Russia, China, France, the UK, Germany and the European Union all inked the deal with the US and Iran
Khamenei said Obama should be ‘concerned about possible violation of commitments by the other parties’
‘You are well aware that some of the six states participating in negotiations are not trustworthy at all,’ he wrote in a letter posted on Twitter

By DAVID MARTOSKO, US POLITICAL EDITOR FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

PUBLISHED: 17:29 EST, 15 July 2015 | UPDATED: 17:53 EST, 15 July 2015

Just eight minutes after President Barack Obama wrapped up a White House press conference he called on Wednesday to defend a day-old nuclear deal with Iran, the Islamic republic’s supreme leader used Twitter to tweak him.

In a short letter to Obama that he posted on Twitter, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei wrote that it’s partner nations like China and Russia who should be watched carefully – not Iran – to make sure they honor the terms of the landmark bargain.

‘You are well aware that some of the six states participating in negotiations are not trustworthy at all,’ Khamenei wrote in a stunning rhetorical act of jiu-jitsu.

The agreement, signed by Iran, the U.S., Russia, China, France, the United Kingdom, Germany and the European Union, seeks to limit Tehran’s aggressive nuclear program in exchange for dropping a series of crippling economic sanctions.

Read more: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3163029/Iran-s-supreme-leader-mocks-America-letter-Obama-warning-countries-signed-nuke-deal-not-trustworthy.html#ixzz3g0ONMnAN

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FBI says Dylann Roof should not have been cleared to purchase a weapon

DylannStormRoof_theridgewoodblog

By Pamela Brown, Evan Perez and Don Lemon, CNN

(CNN)Dylann Roof, the man who allegedly killed nine people in a Charleston church last month, should not have been able to buy a gun used in the slaughter, the FBI has now determined, contradicting earlier assertions that the background check was done properly, a law enforcement official tells CNN and FBI’s director told reporters in Washington.

FBI Director James Comey told reporters Friday “this rips all of our hearts out” and “we are all sick this happened.” He said he concluded the mistake had been made Thursday night after reviewing the latest information.

What we know about Roof, as told in photographs

Within days after the shooting, agents on the ground knew something was amiss and suspected that Roof’s arrest record should have prohibited the gun purchase, according to law enforcement officials.

Officials began a review, as is common after major shootings. About a week after the shooting, examiners officially denied the Roof application.

Comey said the FBI made the error due to a breakdown in the background check system and confusion with paperwork between the FBI, local police departments and county jurisdictions.

https://www.cnn.com/2015/07/10/politics/dylann-roof-fbi-gun-south-carolina/

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Fewer ‘extremely proud’ to be American

flagpole3_theridgewoodblog-

By Ian Swanson

Fewer people are “extremely proud” to be American, according to new polling from Gallup.

The pollster finds that 54 percent are “extremely proud” to be American, which is down from around 70 percent between 2002 and 2004. The percentage may have jumped in those years after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Gallup released the new numbers just before the July 4 holiday.

Twenty-seven percent said they are “very proud” to be American, 14 percent say they are “moderately proud,” 4 percent are “only a little proud” and 1 percent say they are “not at all proud.”

https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/246833-fewer-extremely-proud-to-be-american

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“The United States’ influence and prestige and respect in the world is probably lower now,” Jimmy Carter says.

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Obama’s ‘Minimal’ World Leadership Brings Jimmy Carter, Chris Christie Together

Ken McIntyre / @KenMac55 / July 01, 2015 /

In a rare alignment of two very different politicians, Jimmy Carter and Chris Christie agree in their belief that America is less respected in the world than it was when President Obama took office in 2009.

“I can’t think of many nations where we have a better relationship than when we did when [Obama] took over,” Jimmy Carter says.

Christie, the two-term New Jersey governor, zinged Obama on foreign policy in some of the most well-received lines of his announcement Tuesday morning that he will seek the Republican nomination for president.

“After seven years I heard the president of the United States say the other day that the world respects America more because of his leadership,” Christie said. “This convinces me it is the final confirmation that President Obama lives in his own world, not in our world.”

It was a big applause line.

Not so much when Carter, the Democrat who served one term as the 39th president, said something similar last week in a public event—video of which began to surface late Tuesday.

America’s “influence and prestige and respect in the world is probably lower” than seven years ago, he said.

“The United States’ influence and prestige and respect in the world is probably lower now,” Jimmy Carter says.

Carter, 90, seemed to stun into silence a standing-room-only crowd at an Aspen Institute gathering in Aspen, Colo., when he said he “can’t think of many nations in the world where we have a better relationship now than when we did when [Obama] took over.”

When Aspen Institute CEO Walter Isaacson asked Carter to assess Obama’s “success or failures on the world stage,” Carter replied:

On the world stage, I think they’ve been minimal. I think he’s done some good things domestically, like the health program and so forth. But on the world stage, just to be as objective about it as I can, I can’t think of many nations in the world where we have a better relationship now than when we did when he took over.

You know, if you look at Russia, if you look at England, if you look at China, if you look at Egypt, and so forth—I’m not saying it’s his fault, but we have not improved our relationship with individual countries. And I would say that the United States’ influence and prestige and respect in the world is probably lower now than it was six or seven years ago.

During his off-the-cuff announcement remarks, Christie also criticized Obama for “weak and feckless foreign policy” and warned his audience not to “turn it over to his second mate, Hillary Clinton.”

Carter reiterated that he doesn’t “blame” Obama because “it’s been circumstances that have evolved.”

The former president and Georgia governor repeated praise for John Kerry, whom Obama chose to succeed Clinton as secretary of state.

To applause, Carter called Kerry “outstanding” and “one of the best secretaries of state we’ve ever had.” He later said Kerry is “very courageous and innovative and dynamic.”

The Washington-based Aspen Institute is an educational and policy studies organization with a mission “to foster leadership based on enduring values and to provide a nonpartisan venue for dealing with critical issues.”

Isaacson’s hour-long conversation with Carter and his wife, former first lady Rosalynn Carter, took place June 23. In this video from C-SPAN, Carter’s remarks on Obama and the world stage begin at the 19-minute mark.

 

https://dailysignal.com/2015/07/01/obamas-minimal-world-leadership-brings-jimmy-carter-chris-christie-together/

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America’s Founding Principles Are in Danger of Corruption

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Gary Hart
June. 26, 2015

Welcome to the age of vanity politics and campaigns-for-hire. What would our founders make of this nightmare?

Four qualities have distinguished republican government from ancient Athens forward: the sovereignty of the people; a sense of the common good; government dedicated to the commonwealth; and resistance to corruption. Measured against the standards established for republics from ancient times, the American Republic is massively corrupt.

From Plato and Aristotle forward, corruption was meant to describe actions and decisions that put a narrow, special, or personal interest ahead of the interest of the public or commonwealth. Corruption did not have to stoop to money under the table, vote buying, or even renting out the Lincoln bedroom. In the governing of a republic, corruption was self-interest placed above the interest of all—the public interest.

By that standard, can anyone seriously doubt that our republic, our government, is corrupt? There have been Teapot Domes and financial scandals of one kind or another throughout our nation’s history. There has never been a time, however, when the government of the United States was so perversely and systematically dedicated to special interests, earmarks, side deals, log-rolling, vote-trading, and sweetheart deals of one kind or another.

What brought us to this? A sinister system combining staggering campaign costs, political contributions, political action committees, special interest payments for access, and, most of all, the rise of the lobbying class

https://time.com/3937860/gary-hart-america-corruption/