Daily Archives: April 10, 2017

Bill would legalize internet gambling in Michigan, but only inside … – Crain’s Detroit Business

Posted: April 10, 2017 at 3:13 am


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Greyhound activists join Florida’s gambling fight – The News-Press

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Alexandra Glorioso, USA TODAY NETWORK - Florida Published 9:14 p.m. ET April 8, 2017 | Updated 15 hours ago

Greyhounds break from the starting box at Naples-Fort Myers Greyhound Track. Teh facility says a state requirement that it run 3,200 races per year to keep poker room and simulcast wagering licenses costs $2 million per year in losses(Photo: NEWS-PRESS STAFF PHOTO/JACK HARDMAN)Buy Photo

TALLAHASSEE - Floridas high-stakes fight over gambling features powerful forces clashing, including the Seminole tribe, Disney World and 12 owners of race tracks.

And then theres GREY2K, a national advocacy group with less muscle but no less fight championing the cause of greyhounds. This years battle over gambling offers the greyhound group a rare opportunity to accomplish its goal: eliminate dog racing now held to justify card games in Florida.

Florida began its foray into a complicated gaming system in 1931 when it legalized betting among ourselves, or pari-mutuels, in the form of live events such as jai alai matches, and horse and greyhound racing. Since then, every step to expand gambling across the state has been legislatively linked to these live events.

In an attempt to renegotiate a 2010 agreement with the Seminole tribe and bring in $3 billion to state coffers, House and Senate leaders are pushing gambling bills that represent wildly different ideas about gaming in Florida.

The House bill, H 7037, run by Rep. Mike La Rosa, a chair of the tourism and gaming subcommittee from St. Cloud, cracks down on gambling laws entangled in a series of federal and state lawsuits by forbidding slot machines in eight counties including Brevard, Lee and St. Lucie that have approved them. It also ties greyhounds to gambling until the contract expires in 2036.

The Senate bill, SB8, sponsored by Sen. Bill Galvano, a chair of the education subcommittee from Bradenton, broadly expands gambling by allowing any county that has approved slot machines to have them and unbinding live events from card rooms, including greyhound racing.

The tribe argues both plans dont go far enough.

Some Republicans say GREY2K could benefit this year from the intricate chess game of ideology, lawsuits and special interests, and successfully disconnect greyhound racing from card games.

It would completely depend on the details, said La Rosa. But he acknowledged, its something that could be discussed.

Galvano said he was not interested in taking La Rosa up on a slot machine-live-events trade but did call greyhound racing a dying industry.

About GREY2K, he said, They are effective, but its an easy sell.

GREY2K is a national nonprofit co-founded by Carey Theil that works towards outlawing greyhound racing. Theil said he started working in Florida during its legislative sessions in 2012.

His political argument is simple: Tracks shouldnt be forced to race dogs up to 16 times a day so that gambling facilities can have card rooms. The races no longer attract crowds and the tracks are losing money.

As evidence, he referenced financial reports from the state that show race tracks operating at a combined $31.2 million loss in 2015. In addition, the number of days for live racing, which includes greyhounds, has declined by nearly 39 percent since fiscal year 2007, according to the last annual report released by the states Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

Theil said his organization does contribute to political campaigns but in the tens of thousands of dollars compared to other groups battling in the gambling fight that give in the six figures every cycle.

His tactics have frequently aligned him with Senate moderates who want to expand gaming and pitted him against House conservatives who link live events to card rooms as a political strategy to limit gambling in the state.

Theils biggest political adversary is Jack Cory, a lobbyist who said he represents all of the dog people. Cory considers Theil a political opportunist who has very little real involvement with animals.

Cory argues the greyhound racing industry provides a stable, profitable income with less up-front investment than horses for blue-collar dog breeders, farmers and trainers. He sees himself as a natural enemy to race track owners, whose buildings he refers to as ugly, whose tracks he frequently criticizes as unsafe and who he says are too greedy. Track owners keep 19 to 30 percent of prize money for races while Corys clients split about 4 percent, he said.

From Corys perspective, Theil is really just giving race track owners who already have a monopoly on one industry the political edge to become even more profitable.

Cory said the state monitors racing statistics and financials from live betting but does not do the same for betting from computers or telephones, which are reaping huge profits for track owners but arent reported and are currently illegal under state law.

The financial reports to the department are self reporting and are fake reports because they are reporting by millionaires that want to become billionaires by having casinos, Cory said.

Ron Book, the lobbyist for the Naples-Fort Myers Greyhound Track in Bonita owned by the Havernick family, said greyhound racing isnt profitable period, and the racetracks he represents arent engaged with track betting by phones or computers.

I will not dignify made up ignorant commentary by Mr. Cory who makes things up to suit his interests, Book said.

Book supports the Senate bill and said the Havernick family wants slots, cards and would love to continue limited racing for Naples-Fort Myers.

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The Future Of Online Gambling Under Attorney General Jeff Sessions – Forbes

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The Future Of Online Gambling Under Attorney General Jeff Sessions
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Luminescent signboards flashed across the streets and alleyways as colossal skyscrapers soared upwards to speak with the heavens. The jingle of coins and the rumbling of roulette wheels approached the ear from all directions. Inside, you could hear the ...

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For gambling advocates, Raiders’ relocation offers opportunity – Las Vegas Review-Journal

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Concerns about Sin Citys temptations have kept the NFL out of Las Vegas for years, but the relocation of the Oakland Raiders represents a shift in approach that some gaming industry experts say could beckon a new era in sports gambling.

A 1992 federal law banned sports betting in all states except Nevada. In recent years, however, gaming advocates and some states have argued in federal court that the law should be revised to allow legal sports betting elsewhere. The impending arrival of an NFL franchise in Las Vegas gives gaming advocates a chance to use the city as an incubator an opportunity to test whether a professional football team can operate in proximity to sports books.

The multimillion-dollar question: Will the Raiders relocation validate or alleviate concerns about match fixing, game throwing and other forms of cheating?

The question is whether the presence of a franchise in a place where gambling has been legal makes it more likely there will be match fixing, said Jennifer Rodgers, a Columbia University law professor who teaches a class on corruption in sports and serves as the executive director of the universitys Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity. That, I think, has been the NFLs reason for staying away they didnt want to be associated with that, and they didnt want to open their players up for contamination.

Regulation as risk reduction

Rodgers said sports betting concerns lessen, rather than increase, when gambling is regulated.

Match fixing is really a problem when its tied to illegal black market gambling, Rodgers said. They have regular sports betting highly regulated and highly scrutinized. Those casinos have very sophisticated fraud and gambling detection tools.

The chairman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board said the states decadeslong history of regulating gambling would ease the NFLs transition into the Las Vegas Valley. The reason is simple: The systems already are in place.

With respect to the NFL, I think our interests collectively are the same, Chairman A.G. Burnett said. We want to ensure integrity with the sport. We want to ensure that theres no black eye on the state or the gaming industry in any way.

Burnett said sports book operators know their gaming license is on the line, and theyre all equally good in ascertaining when somethings amiss.

When sports betting is legal, Burnett said, regulators can monitor the line, spot problems and respond accordingly. The Gaming Control Boards enforcement division works regularly with the FBI, the Justice Department, and other state, local and federal law enforcement agencies to stop any suspicious activity.

A cultural destigmatization of gambling in recent years already has resulted in some changes in Nevada. For example, the Gaming Control Board signed a memorandum of understanding with the International Olympic Committee a few years ago that allows them to share information, and Burnett said he envisioned a similar relationship with professional sports leagues. He said the enforcement division has been engaged in general discussions with the NFL as it prepares for the move.

The Gaming Control Board has experience regulating sports betting on local teams, with UNLVs campus so close to the sports books. Meanwhile, the NBA Summer League has been in Las Vegas for more than a decade, and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has in recent years become an outspoken advocate for legal sports betting.

The first test of how the system works with a professional, major league franchise will come when the NHL expands to Las Vegas in October.

Shift to sports betting

If the Raiders and the gaming industry together can execute a smooth transition to Las Vegas, some industry professionals say that could represent the first step toward legal sports betting in other states.

People from all corners are recognizing sports betting is a big popular pastime, Burnett said.

While NFL owners last week embraced a move to Las Vegas, the league has, as recently as 2012, fought other states that launched challenges against the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, the 1992 law known as PASPA.

The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last year upheld PASPA in response to a legal challenge filed by New Jersey. State officials had sought to legalize sports betting amid declining gaming revenue in Atlantic City.

One of New Jerseys staunchest legal opponents in its push to operate sports books at its casinos was the NFL, among other major sports leagues. But the leagues embrace of a move to Las Vegas could change the national landscape on that issue.

What I think it will do for sports gambling is highlight that a professional sports organization can operate in a regulated sports wagering environment, just like many sports do in the United Kingdom, said Jennifer Roberts, associate director of the International Center for Gaming Regulation at UNLVs Boyd School of Law.

The time could be ripe for a shift, as the NFL has been inching toward the sorts of activity it eschewed for decades.

I think the fact that you have so much gambling in other places makes the stigma less, said David Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research at UNLV. Most NFL cities have a casino within driving distance.

Schwartz also said the leagues embrace of fantasy sports undercuts its opposition to sports betting.

They say that theyre still opposed to it, but a lot of teams have sponsorship deals with daily fantasy sports sites, he said.

Contact Jenny Wilson at jenwilson@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710. Follow @jennydwilson on Twitter.

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Vehicle covered with anti-Muslim slurs in Rundle; police say hateful … – Calgary Herald

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Published on: April 7, 2017 | Last Updated: April 7, 2017 6:02 PM MDT

Infiniti SUV was spray-painted with anti-Islam phrases early Thursday, April 6, 2017 in the 2200 block of 48th Street N.E. Calgary Police Service

Calgary police believe the owners of an SUV found covered in hatefuland anti-Muslim graffiti in Rundle Thursdaywere targeted based on their ethnicity.

Early Thursday morning, a grey Infiniti SUV parked in the 2200 block of 48th Street N.W. was sprayed with racist phrases mentioningIslam and people from the Middle East,police said in a release Friday.

The vehicle was also scratched with a key and the windows weresmashed.

Senior Const. Craig Collins, hate crimes coordinator with the Calgary Police Service, said it is believed the owners of the SUV a Syrian family who live atthe house where the vehicle was parked were the targets of the graffiti and investigators are treating the incident as a hate crime.

This isnt a victimless crime, thats not how the police service sees it, Collins said. Its a heinous crime which not only targets the individual, but sends a really impactful message into the community and it sends a message of fear.

Collins said graffiti targeting certain people based on ethnicity or religion has been occurring more regularly in Calgary.

We are seeing an increase and some of that is likely due to recent high-profile media incidents, Collins said. I think theres a misconception that its just graffiti and we need to put the message out its not a mindless act, its a personal attack on somebody.

Police said there have been six investigations into hateful graffiti launched this year, including a recent case in Ranchlands Park.

When people are targeted with vandalism and hateful messages, it has a big impact on how safe they feel in the community, Collins said.

These are not minor offences. We take it very seriously and will pursue the people responsible to try to prevent other families from being victimized in the same way, simply because of their ethnicity or religion.

Police urge anyone with information related to this incident or anyone who finds hateful graffiti around the city to call the non-emergency line at 403-266-1234, or contact Crime Stoppers annonymously at 1-800-222-8477.

If you see something report it, Collins said. Make a difference.

mpotkins@postmedia.com

With files from Ryan Rumbolt

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Failed Immigration Enforcement Leads To Tragedy | The Daily Caller – Daily Caller

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On Monday, April 3rd, President Donald J. Trump declared this week to be National Crime Victims Rights Week to bring awareness to the negative sometimes fatal impact crime has in our communities.

In many cities and towns across the country, criminal activity and violence has steadily risen over the past several years. It seems that in this day and age, you cannot watch the local news without hearing several tragic stories of shootings, robberies and assaults affecting your neighbors and friends.

President Trump recognizes that along with every crime committed there is a victim an innocent person whose life has been permanently scarred.

I am pleased that this Administration is bringing attention to the victims of crime, along with taking proactive steps to prevent such crimes.

Just a few weeks ago, national news broke on how two illegal aliens from Central America raped a 14 year-old young girl in the boys bathroom of a public high school in Rockville, Maryland. These two young men, Henry Sanchez-Millian, an 18-year-old from Guatemala, and Jose Mantano, a 17-year-old from El Salvador, came across the southern border last year as unaccompanied minors, and were released under Obama Administration policies to join relatives in Maryland.

Just a few hours away in Bedford County, Virginia, three male illegal aliens affiliated with the extremely violent MS-13 Salvadoran gang, were charged last week with second-degree murder for the death of 17-year-old high school senior Raymond Wood.

One of the young men, Jose Corea-Ventura, was already wanted in connection with the murder of a young man in Montgomery County, Maryland.

Last week Marco Perez-Geronimo, another illegal alien, was arrested on first-degree murder charges for allegedly beating his girlfriend to death in January. Had he been deported, this young woman would be alive today.

The governments failure to secure our border and deport criminal aliens has a direct impact on the safety of Americans. In too many cases, criminal aliens have simply not been deported because their home country refuses to take them back. This is absolutely unacceptable.

President Trump addressed this issue in one of his first Executive Orders by instructing the State Department to withhold the issuance of new visitor visas for those from countries that do not take back their criminal alien citizens.

My bill, H.R. 82, The Criminal Alien Deportation Enforcement Act, would codify the Presidents actions into law and also withhold foreign aid from countries that refuse to take back their citizens. This common-sense bill would ensure that countries benefiting from the goodwill of America hold up their end of the bargain to take back their criminal aliens.

National Crime Victims Rights Week is an opportunity to highlight what happens when our immigration laws are not enforced, including the harmful policies of sanctuary cities.

For the sake of these victims and their family members, it is crucial that we secure our border, deport criminal aliens and assist the victims of crimes.

I support President Trump in his efforts to achieve these goals, and specifically applaud him for establishing a special office to assist victims of crimes committed by illegal aliens. The Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) will help those harmed by criminal aliens and demonstrates that failed immigration enforcement is not a victimless crime.

True to the offices name, these individuals will finally have a voice with which to tell their stories. There are many who, in the name of political correctness, seek to silence these victims. But there is too much at stake in our great nation for that to let them succeed.

It is my hope that more legislators, from both sides of the aisle, will also support victims of crimes committed by criminal aliens and accurately diagnose the root of the problem, which is failed immigration enforcement. We should all be thankful that we have a President willing to stand up for all Americans.

Congressman Brian Babin serves the people of Texass 36th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives.

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Trump Administration Embraces Ayn Rand’s Disdain for the Masses – Newsweek

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This article originally appeared on The Conversation.

Donald Trumps secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, hassaidAyn Rands novel Atlas Shrugged is his favorite book. Mike Pompeo, head of the CIA,citedRand as a major inspiration. Before he withdrew his nomination, Trumps pick to head the Labor Department, Andrew Puzder,revealedthat he devotes much free time to reading Rand.

Such is the case with many other Trump advisers and allies: The Republican leader of the House of Representatives, Paul Ryan, famouslymadehis staff members read Ayn Rand. Trump himself has said thathes a fan of Randand identifies with Howard Roark, the protagonist of Rands novel, The Fountainhead, an architect who dynamites a housing project he designed because the builders did not precisely follow his blueprints.

As a philosopher, I have often wondered at the remarkable endurance and popularity of Ayn Rands influence on American politics. Even by earlier standards, however, Rands dominance over the current administration looks especially strong.

Recently, historian and Rand expertJennifer Burnswrote how Rands sway over the Republican Party isdiminishing. Burns says the promises of government largesse and economic nationalism under Trump would repel Rand.

That was before the president unveiled his proposed federal budget thatgreatly slashesnonmilitary government spendingand before Paul Ryans Obamacare reform, which promised tostrip health coveragefrom 24 million low-income Americans and grant the rich a generous tax cut instead. Now, Trump looks to be zeroing in on a significant tax cut for the rich and corporations.

These all sound like measures Rand would enthusiastically support, in so far as they assist the capitalists and so-called job creators, instead of the poor.

Though the Trump administration looks quite steeped in Rands thought, there is one curious discrepancy. Ayn Rand exudes a robust elitism, unlike any I have observed elsewhere in the tomes of political philosophy. But this runs counter to the narrative of the Trump phenomenon:Centralto the Trumps ascendancy is a rejection of elites reigning from urban centers and the coasts, overrepresented at universities and in Hollywood, apparently.

Liberals despair over the fact that they are branded elitists, while, as former television host Jon Stewartputit, Republicans backed a man who takes every chance to tout his superiority, and lords over creation from a gilded penthouse apartment, in a skyscraper that bears his own name.

Clearly, liberals lost this rhetorical battle.

How shall we make sense of the gross elitism at the heart of the Trump administration, embodied in its devotion to Ayn Randelitism that its supporters overlook or ignore, and happily ascribe to the left instead?

Ayn Rand, Russian-born American novelist, is shown in Manhattan with the Grand Central Terminal building in background in 1962 AP

Ayn Rands philosophy is quite straightforward. Rand sees the world divided into makers and takers. But, in her view, the real makers are a select fewa real elite, on whom we would do well to rely, and for whom we should clear the way, by reducing or removing taxes and government regulations, among other things.

Rands thought is intellectually digestible, unnuanced, easily translated into policy approaches and statements.

Small government is in order because it lets the great people soar to great heights, and they will drag the rest with them. Randsayswe must ensure that the exceptional men, the innovators, the intellectual giants, are not held down by the majority. In fact, it is the members of this exceptional minority who lift the whole of a free society to the level of their own achievements, while rising further and ever further.

Mitt RomneycapturedRands philosophy well during the 2012 campaign when he spoke of the 47 percent of Americans who do not work, vote Democrat and are happy to be supported by hardworking, conservative Americans.

In laying out her dualistic vision of society, divided into good and evil, Rands language is often starker and harsher. In her 1957 novel, Atlas Shrugged, shesays,

The man at the top of the intellectual pyramid contributes the most to all those below him, but gets nothing except his material payment, receiving no intellectual bonus from others to add to the value of his time. The man at the bottom who, left to himself, would starve in his hopeless ineptitude, contributes nothing to those above him, but receives the bonus of all their brains.

Rands is the opposite of a charitable view of humankind, and can, in fact, be quite cruel. Consider her attack on Pope Paul VI, who, in his 1967 encyclicalProgressio Populorum, argued that the West has a duty to help developing nations, and called for its sympathy for the global poor.

Rand was appalled; instead of feeling sympathy for the poor, shesays

When [Western Man] discovered entire populations rotting alive in such conditions [in the developing world], is he not to acknowledge, with a burning stab of prideor pride and gratitudethe achievements of his nation and his culture, of the men who created them and left him a nobler heritage to carry forward?

Why doesnt Rands elitism turn off Republican voters or turn them against their leaders who, apparently, ought to disdain lower and middle class folk? If anyonelike Trumpidentifies with Rands protagonists, they must think themselves truly excellent, while the muddling masses, they are beyond hope.

Why hasnt news of this disdain then trickled down to the voters yet?

The neoconservatives, who held sway under President George W. Bush, were also quite elitist, but figured out how to speak to the Republican base, in their language. Bush himself, despite his Andover-Yale upbringing, waslaudedas someone you could have a beer with.

Trump has succeeded even better in this respecthe famously tells it like it is, his supporters like tosay. Of course, as judged by fact-checkers, Trumps relationship to the truth is embattled and tenuous; what his supporters seem to appreciate, rather, is his willingness to voice their suspicions and prejudices without worrying about recriminations of critics. Trump says things people are reluctant or shy to voice loudlyif at all.

This gets us closer to whats going on. Rand is decidedly cynical about the said masses: There is little point in preaching to them; they wont change or improve, at least of their own accord; nor will they offer assistance to the capitalists. The masses just need to stay out of the way.

The principal virtue of a free market, Randexplains, is that the exceptional men, the innovators, the intellectual giants, are not held down by the majority. In fact, it is the members of this exceptional minority who lift the whole of a free society to the level of their own achievements

But they dont lift the masses willingly or easily, shesays: While the majority have barely assimilated the value of the automobile, the creative minority introduces the airplane. The majority learn by demonstration, the minority are free to demonstrate.

Like Rand, her followerswho populate the Trump administrationare largely indifferent to the progress of the masses. They will let people be. Rand believes, quite simply, most people are hapless on their own, and we simply cannot expect much of them. There are only a few on whom we should pin our hopes; the rest are simply irrelevant. Which is why shecomplainsabout our tendency to give welfare to the needy. She says,

The welfare and rights of the producers were not regarded as worthy of consideration or recognition. This is the most damning indictment of the present state of our culture.

So, why do Republicans get away with eluding the title of elitistdespite their allegiance to Randwhile Democrats are stuck with this title? I think part of the reason is that Democrats, among other things, are moralistic. They are moreoptimisticabout human naturethey are more optimistic about the capacity of humans to progress morally and live in harmony. Thus, liberals judge: They call out our racism, our sexism, our xenophobia. They make peoplefeel badfor harboring such prejudices, wittingly or not, and they warn us away from potentially offensive language, and phrases.

Many conservative opponents scorn liberals for their ill-founded nave optimism. For in Rands world there is no hope for the vast majority of mankind. Sheheaps scornon the poor billions, whom civilized men are prodded to help. The best they can hope for is that they might be lucky enough to enjoy the riches produced by the real innovators, which might eventually trickle down to them in their misery. To the extent that Trump and his colleagues embrace Rands thought, they must share or approach some of her cynicism.

Firmin DeBrabander is Professor of Philosophy, Maryland Institute College of Art.

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Prentiss Smith: Paul Ryan ought to be ashamed, should work to fix … – USA TODAY

Posted: at 3:12 am

Prentiss Smith 11:01 a.m. ET April 8, 2017

Prentiss Smith(Photo: Courtesy photo)

Obamacare is the law of the land, and its going to remain the law of the land for the foreseeable future. Those are the words of the second most powerful politician in Washington D. C., Speaker of the House of Representatives, Paul Ryan. Mr. Ryan, who reluctantly became Speaker of the House when no one else wanted the job, has staked his political reputation on repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act or as it is widely known, Obamacare.

Ryan, a self-described Ayn Rand devotee, has been described as a policy wonk, which is political speak for someone who gets into the nuts and bolts of policymaking. He is also a devout Catholic, which makes his devotion to an atheist like Ayn Rand all the more troubling. It is well known in Washington that he wants to privatize Social Security and Medicare and block grant Medicaid back to the states, which many people believe would leave a lot of Americans vulnerable. He ought to be ashamed of himself, but he is not. He should work to fix the Affordable Care Act/Obamacare.

And who is Ayn Rand you might ask, and why is she relevant in this discussion. Ayn Rand was a self-described atheist and the Russian born author of Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead, both of which became best selling novels for her. She is relevant because of her political influence on conservative politicians and intellectuals like Paul Ryan, who adhere to her belief that the government should not be in the business of helping Americans who may fall on hard times. She often railed against Social Security and Medicare because she believed they were a precursor to Socialism and Communism, which she abhorred. Paul Ryan has said that her writings are required reading for his incoming staff members. There is little doubt that she would have been against the Affordable Care Act/Obamacare as is Paul Ryan

Yes, the Affordable Care Act/Obamacare is a flawed, and yes, the premiums and the deductibles are too high under the law, but the reality is that millions of Americans have signed up for it, and they don't want it taken away. They want it fixed. They don't want millionaire politicians like Paul Ryan and his Republican cohorts to take it away from them, even though it is flawed. That is the message that he and his fellow lawmakers received from millions of Americans who have benefited from the law. Mr. Ryan lost this round, but he is still bound and determined to eliminate the bill, and throw millions of Americans off the healthcare rolls.

As I said earlier, they all should be ashamed of themselves, but they are not because they have no idea what regular Americans must go through when they can't take their children to the doctor or when an elderly widower can't afford to buy medicine or when someone who has a pre-existing condition can't get healthcare because of that condition.

U. S. Congressmen and Congresswomen are paid a minimum of 15,000 dollars a month. Each one of them also receive millions of dollars for staff and other perks that go along with being a U. S. Representative. They have the best health care in the country that is supplemented by you and me, which is why they should be the last people trying to keep people from having access to affordable health care.

A person's wealth should not determine whether one can take a sick child to the doctor, but it does. In other words, a persons wealth should not be the determining factor for any American to get medical care. Access to affordable healthcare is vitally important to all Americans. It is the number one issue that parents deal with when raising their children. Millionaire politicians like Paul Ryan and his Republican cohorts, who have the best healthcare in the world, should not be following the ideology of a mean-spirited atheist like Ayn Rand, who ultimately had to use the same Social Security and Medicare that she railed against for so many years. Her hypocrisy and the hypocrisy of Paul Ryan, who also received Social Security payments when his father died, shows that everybody falls on hard times sometimes, and may need a hand up. Mr. Ryan should be ashamed of himself for what he is trying to do with all the safety net programs that millions of working class Americans depend on in this country, but he is not.

Whether some politicians, and we all know who they are, can understand it or not, most people believe healthcare is a right and not a privilege. Many Americans know that it is the worst thing in the world when they can't take their baby to a doctor when he or she is sick. Many Americans know what it's like to lose everything they own because they had to file bankruptcy over medical expenses. It is a sad commentary when an elderly person must make a choice of whetherto buy their medicine or buy food. America is the richest country in the world, and we can do better by our people. These same politicians, and we all know who they are, should stop their war against the Affordable Care Act, and fix it. And thats my take. smithpren@aol.com

PRENTISS SMITH:Democrats should put country first, help break fever of hyper-partisanship

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Is Liberty Worth Fighting For? Rethinking Libertarian Foreign Policy – Being Libertarian (satire)

Posted: at 3:11 am

Editors note: The following article was submitted before the Trump administrations decision to attack Syrian military targets.

Libertarians are, as we all know, anti-war. And for very good reasons, even the good wars can have terrible consequences such as the Japanese-American internment camps during WWII. War has long been an excuse by governments to clamp down on the rights of its citizens, or even to remove political opponents outright. And then you have the horrors of actual combat: countless soldiers killed in conflicts they dont understand, countries destroyed, displaced nations of people and ruined economies. Anything short of an extreme aversion to starting wars is outright irresponsibility.

But not everyone cares about those consequences. North Korea invaded South Korea, and dictators use machine guns on protestors. Time and again, the enemies of liberty have proven more than willing to resort to violence to gain and keep power.

And yet, how do most libertarians respond to Bashar al-Assads atrocities, such as massacring 13,000 of his own people in a single prison? The better of us say not my problem. The worst of us hope he succeeds, and criticize Western governments supporting Syrians trying to oust him. After all, they say, hes better than ISIS right? That the various factions in Syria are currently fighting over ISISs corpse shows that assessment is also so, so wrong.

To me, the libertarian debate about Syria should be do we support the FSA or SDF more? I should never have had to make a case against a murderous authoritarian dictator to libertarians. It was this issue which first got me questioning the libertarian perspective on foreign policy. After a while, I realized that we are in fact more anti-war than pro-liberty. Ive already made the case for why we should be anti-war, but then we are also anti-taxes. Very few of us support actually abolishing taxation (despite it being theft, of course). We simply have a very healthy skepticism about it; I propose the same response to war.

Hearing libertarians talk about why we shouldnt be fighting for liberty abroad (or supporting freedom fighters), I get the vibe of A single American life or dollar is too high a cost to pay in a conflict that doesnt directly affect us. It is often heavy with implication that the liberty of people in our nation is worth more, much more, than the liberty of those abroad. If that sounds familiar its because weve heard this before.

Libertarians and nationalists have the exact same foreign policy for nearly identical reasons. If thats not raising alarm bells for you, it should. We are completely opposed to them. Nationalists are, I firmly believe, one of the greatest threats to liberty that we currently face. Ignoring the cause of liberty abroad is distinctly un-libertarian because it is anti-liberty and a better libertarian case can be made for globalism (and global thinking) than isolationism or America-Firstism.

Something else I hear rather frequently is that our interventions dont work. I believe this is mistaken, or at least relatively so. For those who lament that the Middle Eastern countries weve intervened in are not yet democratic paradises, I implore you to look at South Korea. After the US and UN fought and bled to keep it free, going up against the massive Chinese army and sometimes the Soviet air force, it took a long time to see a return on that investment. The country was even a dictatorship for some time, and the economy took decades to significantly improve. Now, the Korean peninsula is a testament to the superiority of capitalism and the recently impeached president is proof of how strong its democracy is.

I often hear people talk about the disaster that the Libyan intervention was, but I believe this is a poor assessment. Handily, we have a perfect example of what would be happening right now if Gaddafi hadnt been deposed early on: Syria. Endless parallels exist: largely non-ideological authoritarian dictators, countries drawn up with arbitrary lines, the exact same pro-democracy/liberal/libertarian movement demanding reformsI could go on for ages. Libya isnt in great shape; the situation there is volatile and precarious. But Islamists have been almost eradicated militarily, whereas in Syria they are well established within both regime and rebel forces. There are also the death toll and humanitarian situation, which is many times worse in Syria. If it werent for the intervention, Libya would be what Syria is now and with an intervention, the current situation in Syria could have been avoided.

It is for these reasons that I believe we libertarians need to craft our own foreign policy. We need a departure from the anti-liberty policies of isolationist nationalists, but nowhere near the war hawkishness of the neocons. So, what should this foreign policy look like? I have a few ideas.

There is no weapon or wall that is more powerful for American security than America being envied, imitated and admired around the world. Garry Kasparov

Ive focused fairly heavily so far on war and conflict, but foreign policy encompasses so much more than that. Another area where we should depart from the nationalists is our approach to intergovernmental organizations such as the UN and NATO. As libertarians, we need to be wary about them gaining too much power, but without ignoring the immense good they can do. The UN does a lot of fantastic humanitarian work, and both organizations are very useful for reducing or averting conflict amongst their members, and, in NATOs case, deterring Putins imperialism.

Another area of use is foreign aid, be it financial, arms, supplies etc. With the exception of humanitarian aid, only giving them to non-authoritarian countries incentivizes peaceful reforms. During the latter part of the Obama administration, he tried to provide support to some of the remaining Communist countries in Southwest Asia, to turn them into allies against China. I propose doing the opposite, supporting capitalist and democratic countries in the Pacific region. Spurning countries that compromise our values gives people in oppressive countries something to strive for. Despite obviously not being an-cap friendly, these strategies can help reduce war and improve global liberty at relatively little cost.

As I have stated, war can only be a last resort. At present, one of my greatest concerns is the potential for a war with Iran. While Iran is a brutally authoritarian theocracy, I believe peaceful reform is possible, and the mere existence of an authoritarian government is not justification for starting a war. Iraq is a superb example. The US invasion was completely unjustified, and care needs to be taken to ensure that the mistake is not repeated. Despite Saddam Hussein being a ruthless dictator with a penchant for invading other countries as well as crimes against humanity, that simply wasnt enough in and of itself to warrant foreigners starting a war.

Almost ten years after the Iraq invasion, the Arab Spring occurred and added a layer of complexity to the dynamic of the Middle East which libertarians have abjectly failed to address. We saw Western bombs and arms used in wars against Arab dictators, and sure enough, there were similarities to Iraq. But the Arab Spring wasnt an unprovoked invasion motivated by, at best, incompetence; it was a grassroots, peaceful, pro-democracy, even libertarian, movement demanding reforms from dictatorial regimes across the Arab world. We libertarians should have been as proud and happy about this movement as unsurprised when the governments responded to the protestors with machine guns instead of reforms. Instead, when the people returned with weapons of their own to fight for their rights and liberties, we completely turned against them. The only concept more foreign to us than liberty or death is helping them achieve liberty and avoid death. Some even talk about how these tyrants are the best hope for stability in the region and that overthrowing them is that last thing we should want.

So, what should we have supported doing in response to these wars? I would like to refer back to the American Revolution, one of the most celebrated historical events by American libertarians. Like the Arab Spring, it started with a largely peaceful and political libertarian movement, and spiraled into war when the government cracked down. It had a grassroots movement, political support, and former military personnel like Washington. However, what is often overlooked is the American Revolution would have been a failure if not for large quantities of French arms, money, and the direct assistance of their navy. This is exactly what I propose. No starting wars, avoiding boots on the ground at all cost. But should it come to war, and a popular movement tries to depose an authoritarian government, providing support would be remarkably easy and cheap for us and makes all of the difference for them. This includes providing arms, air support, logistics and supplies. Doing our utmost to screen the recipients of arms is also incredibly important. Just as I am adamant that supporting authoritarian regimes to fight terrorism is not worth it, the inverse in true as well.

Tyranny or terrorism? Neither, always neither. If you condone, excuse, or normalize either, then you are NOT a voice for liberation. Iyad el-Baghdadi, self-proclaimed Islamic Libertarian and Arab Spring activist.

* Caleb Horner is a college student and a relatively new member of the liberty movement. He loves to explore history, politics, philosophy and economics in his spare time.

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Is Liberty Worth Fighting For? Rethinking Libertarian Foreign Policy - Being Libertarian (satire)

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Donald Trump’s libertarian supporters across the world desert him over Syria air strikes – The Independent

Posted: at 3:11 am

Donald Trump's cruise missile strike against a Syrian airbase has prompted criticism froma series of his high-profilelibertarian supportersat home and abroad.

International figures including far-right French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen and long-term Trump ally Nigel Farage broke ranks to condemn an attack Ms Le Pen called "horrible".

The attack also estranged figures across the American isolationist and libertarian right, including veteran senator Rand Paul andalt-right figurehead Richard Spencer.

US air strikes: Nigel Farage turns on Donald Trump over Syria bombings

In a television interview with BFM TV, Front National's Marine Le Pen said: "Trump was elected by announcing that the United States would no longer be the policeman of the world, would no longer interfere.

"The facts are appalling in Syria. It takes an international commission to conduct an independent investigation."

Ms Le Pen, currently slated to finish a distant second in the French Presidential election on a far-right anti-immigration ticket, also cast doubt on MrTrump's motivation for the bombings.

The President said he hoped the strikes would "prevent and deter the use of deadly chemical weapons" like those allegedly used by the Syrian Arab Army to kill over 80 people near rebel-held Idlib. But Ms le Pen compared this explanation to the non-existent weapons of mass destructionused to justify the US invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Former Ukipchief Nigel Farage has been even closer to the new US President than Ms Le Pen. Mr Farage spoke at the billionaire tycoon's mass rallies, and was the first British politician to visit Trump Tower after Hillary Clinton's shock defeat.

But on Friday, he said: I think a lot of Trump voters will be waking up this morning and scratching their heads and saying 'where will it all end?'

As a firm Trump supporter, I say, yes, the pictures were horrible, but I'm surprised. Whatever Assad's sins, he is secular."

Pro-Trump politicians in Italy have also criticised the strikes, with Northern League leader Matteo Salvini describing the assault as "a bad idea, big mistake, and a gift to Isis" in a Facebook post.

And the shift against President Trump was even starker at home. Writing for Fox News, leading libertarian Senator Rand Paul fiercely condemned the "unconstitutional rush towards war".

Though they played golf together last weekend, the President has previously described Senator Paul as "truly weird" and "a spoiled brat without a properly functioning brain", and has never had the full support of the man he defeated in the Republican primary race.

But Mr Trump has also reportedlysparred withright-hand man Steve Bannon over the decision to bombard a Syrian airbase with cruise missiles.

"Steve doesn't think we belong [in Syria]," an aide to the chief strategist told NY Magazine.

The President is reportedlyconsideringsacking Mr Bannonas chief strategist, with his about-face on Syrian intervention just the latest issue to drive a wedge between the two politicians.

Media figures previously sympathetic to Mr Trump have also queued up to blast him for the assault which left fifteen Syrian soldiers and civilians dead, including four children.

Anne Coulter has been one of Mr Trump's staunchest supporters on the Fox News circuit, but the conservative pundit wrote on Twitter: "Those who wanted us meddling in the Middle East voted for other candidates.

Trump campaigned on not getting involved in Mideast. Said it always helps our enemies & creates more refugees. Then he saw a picture on TV.

White nationalist Richard Spencer, who coined the phrase "alt-right", said his support for President Trump was now deadin the water, while influential blogger Paul Joseph Watson also announced he was stepping off the "Trump train".

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Donald Trump's libertarian supporters across the world desert him over Syria air strikes - The Independent

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