Tuesday, February 11, 2020
Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security: Trump's Proposed Budget Slashes Entitlements—and Campaign Promises
https://www.newsweek.com/medicare-medicaid-social-security-trumps-proposed-budget-slashes-entitlements-campaign-1486595
President
Donald Trump has vowed over the course of his presidency not to cut
federal spending for entitlement programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and
Social Security. But his $4.8 trillion budget proposal for fiscal year
2021, unveiled Monday, seeks to do just that.
The White House
budget, which is a proposal that congressional appropriators can choose
whether to take into consideration when it's offered by the
administration each year, would cut billions from the three major
safety-net programs over the next decade. It's unclear in what way and
by how much the slash in funding to agencies that oversee the programs
would affect recipients' benefits.
In Extraordinary Step, Justice Dept. to Lower Recommended Prison Time for Roger Stone: AP Source
https://time.com/5782201/roger-stone-prison-recommendation-change/
The Justice Department will take the extraordinary step of lowering the
recommended prison time for Roger Stone, an ally of President Donald
Trump, a federal official said Tuesday, just hours after the president
condemned the recommended sentence as “very horrible and unfair.”
Federal prosecutors also recently softened their sentencing position
on former national security adviser Michael Flynn, saying that they
would not oppose a probation of punishment after initially saying that
he deserved up to six months in prison for lying to the FBI. The Flynn
prosecution is also being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s office in
Washington.
response to Giyus Banos
Maybe if we eased up a little regarding the boys we could gain some leverage to save the girls
BSD
Rabbi ...,
A darhoibeneh Chamisha Asar beShvat,
I agree we must look inward.
I
think we ought start by identifying the somewhat pervasive rot in the
frum/chareidi world that's at the root of the government crusade against
the girls. The government couldn't possibly dare to embark on this
persecutory Giyus Banos program without hefty Chareidi betrayal from
within.
1
I'm referring to the elevation of power-grabs from an art form to an addiction, by some frum askonim.
2.
Not to mention the pervasive worship of government money.
3.
Then
you have the unhinged, "blind as a bat," Kool-Aid devotionalism - to
various intrepid "frum" party hacks, political climbers who unabashedly
deny the very existence of Giyus Banos, because it's only being
perpetrated against girls other than "unzereh..." (And then they have
the azus to brand that cultism as "Daas Torah." )
4.
Then
you have frum people out there being bodaik the tzitzis of every girl
arrested, and some more satanic ones even being mozti la'az on the
incarcerated and persecuted girls*, claiming that they're not "frum."
(My father reminded me that "FRUM" sometimes stands for "Fill mit
Rishus, U'vainig Mitzvos.")
[*Sounds similar to what Reb Elchonon Wasserman speaks about in Kovetz HeOros, Agada 10, regarding Zera Amalek, see there.]
5.
Then you have a large crowd of useful idiots in the frum world who
serve as consumers of this nonsense, perhaps out of convenience.
6.
Compound that with the common cowardice of many functionaries/Rabbonim,
and others, who see the truth - but are too afraid or apathetic to
speak out when girls are being abused in the Army, in jail, in court,
and by frum slanderers.
So is it a surprise?
So if we deal with that, I think we're well taken care of.
PS
Btw, the aforementioned corruptiles eased up on the boys long ago; they
beat you to the idea. It's just that they didn't intend to help the
girls either - having abandoned them too ... in favor of the finer
things in life...
THIS is, in part, what I
meant when I mentioned to you, a few years ago, that one thing that
scares me more than an Israeli government filled with Chilonim is
an Israeli government filled with Chareidim...
I
do agree that broader Israeli society needs to see frum people caring
about people other than themselves. I think the dealing w/ the
aforementioned issues will address that, in part.
We as individuals need to set an example by not emulating the aforementioned.
Marie Yovanovitch: These are turbulent times. But we will persist and prevail.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/02/06/marie-yovanovitch-ukraine-ambassador-american-institutions-need-us/
When
civil servants in the current administration saw senior officials
taking actions they considered deeply wrong in regard to the nation of
Ukraine, they refused to take part. When Congress asked us to testify about those activities, my colleagues and I did not hesitate, even in the face of administration efforts to silence us.
'Proud' Retired General Responds to Lindsey Graham's Vindman Attack: 'We Thought You Guys Were Rock Stars…Where Are You Now?'
https://www.newsweek.com/retired-general-responds-lindsey-graham-alexander-vindman-attack-rock-star-1486644
Retired Brigadier General Peter Zwack was responding to Graham's appearance on CBS' Face the Nation
show Sunday, in which the South Carolina senator said Vindman's removal
was "justified" and suggested the NSC staffer could no longer "be
effective" in his role. Vindman was a key witness in Trump's impeachment
and detailed alleged wrongdoing by the president.
Zwack told CNN
on Monday that Graham's argument was "ridiculous" and described
Vindman—who he once supervised—and other NSC staff who testified as
"great Americans." As a "proud" retired member of the intelligence
community, Zwack joked that he is "a card-carrying member of the deep
state."
Sheldon, Miriam Adelson to spend $100 million for Trump re-election bid
https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Sheldon-Miriam-Adelson-to-spend-100-million-for-Trump-re-election-bid-617187
The Guardian on Monday quoted three Republican fundraisers it did not
name as saying that the couple, known for their generosity to
Republicans, pro-Israel causes and medical research, was ready to spend
nearly the same amount, $124 million, as they did in the 2016 cycle. One
of the Guardian’s sources said it could reach $200 million.
In New Hampshire, Democratic Voters Are Paralyzed by Fear of Making the Wrong Choice
https://time.com/5781797/new-hampshire-democratic-primary/
If Sanders wins here, will he be unstoppable? And if so, then what?
The party mandarins are sure he’s a disaster in the making, a recipe for
re-electing Trump—that American voters will never go for a 78-year-old
democratic socialist with an expensive, disruptive agenda. That, in the
words of the celebrity consultant James Carville, who’s been stumping in
New Hampshire for the long-shot moderate Michael Bennet, “we don’t have
time for left-wing fantasies in this country.”
It’s a weird moment for a party that for three years has poured its energy into fighting Trump at every turn. Suddenly, the Democrats seem gripped by a low-grade panic, confronting the reality of a difficult primary with no consensus to be had. Somehow, up against a president they regard as a joke, a failure and a threat to the republic, they’re all flogging unity while running in different directions. A field that began with an embarrassment of riches—a record-setting 25 major candidates, including many truly big-time resumes—is now down to this odd lot of flawed hopefuls. Partisans find themselves seized by the paralyzing fear of making the wrong choice—or the sense that the right one doesn’t exist.
It’s a weird moment for a party that for three years has poured its energy into fighting Trump at every turn. Suddenly, the Democrats seem gripped by a low-grade panic, confronting the reality of a difficult primary with no consensus to be had. Somehow, up against a president they regard as a joke, a failure and a threat to the republic, they’re all flogging unity while running in different directions. A field that began with an embarrassment of riches—a record-setting 25 major candidates, including many truly big-time resumes—is now down to this odd lot of flawed hopefuls. Partisans find themselves seized by the paralyzing fear of making the wrong choice—or the sense that the right one doesn’t exist.
Why are there few Torah giants today? Rabbi Sternbuch explains
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/275845
Edah Haharedit Rabbinical Court Judge Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch addressed
in his lesson the reason for the small number of great Torah scholars
in our generation, attributing this phenomenon to the absence of
continuous diligence in Torah study.
"I heard from the great Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer that the world is
wondering and asking why it is that our portion has worsened in that
Torah giants don’t emerge from among our ranks as they did from the
students of the Volozhin Yeshiva,” he said in a lesson delivered to
students in Modi'in Illit, according the the haredi website JDN.
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