The 7 Biggest Conservative Wins of 2017

Townhall.com ^ | December 30 | Erika Haas

[SkyPilot]

Here is one story. It is the Washington Post, yes, but it does contain exact quotes from Paul Ryan:

Ryan says Republicans to target welfare, Medicare, Medicaid spending in 2018

We're going to have to get back next year at entitlement reform, which is how you tackle the debt and the deficit,” Ryan said during an appearance on Ross Kaminsky's talk radio show. "... Frankly, it's the health care entitlements that are the big drivers of our debt, so we spend more time on the health care entitlements — because that's really where the problem lies, fiscally speaking.” Ryan said that he believes he has begun convincing President Trump in their private conversations about the need to rein in Medicare, the federal health program that primarily insures the elderly. As a candidate, Trump vowed not to cut spending on Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid. (Ryan also suggested congressional Republicans were unlikely to try changing Social Security, because the rules of the Senate forbid changes to the program through reconciliation — the procedure the Senate can use to pass legislation with only 50 votes.)

[nickcarraway]

Gorsuch was between O’Connor and Souter in his first year. Way behind Roberts.

[nickcarraway]

ACA is alive and well, and stronger than ever.

[Magnum44]

I’m concerned with American citizens not some foreign power that is a questionable ally.

Perhaps if the US wasn't such a capricious and questionable ally to Israel, then they would not have to be similarly questionable. In addition to that, we should be looking to be on God's side, not expecting God to be on our side. (Yes, that's an analogy)

[Neoliberalnot]

Here’s my issue, Israel claims to be an ally yet has never fought beside the US. They did however massacre the USS Liberty in 1967. On the other hand, several countries have fought with the US including the Brits, Aussies, S Korea, and the list goes on. This is beside the point that Israel receives more US taxpayer aid per capita then any other country on the planet. This is not what I expect of a true ally.

[Magnum44]

In the interest of keeping other allies from leaving the fold (the Arab nations that were part of the coalition against Saddam for example) Israel is often quietly asked to 'opt out' for the greater goal.

Regarding the Liberty incident, from public sources:

Israel apologized for the attack, saying that the USS Liberty had been attacked in error after being mistaken for an Egyptian ship. Both the Israeli and U.S. governments conducted inquiries and issued reports that concluded the attack was a mistake due to Israeli confusion about the ship's identity, though others, including survivors of the attack, have rejected these conclusions and maintain that the attack was deliberate.

At least they claimed it was an error.

[Neoliberalnot]

Call me the odd ball out, but I side with the US citizen soldiers that were on that ship over a foreign power. This is from
uss liberty veterans association

USS LibertyON JUNE 8, 1967, while patrolling in international waters in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, USS Liberty (AGTR-5) was savagely attacked without warning or justification by air and naval forces of the state of Israel. Of a crew of 294 officers and men (including three civilians), the ship suffered thirty four (34) killed in action and one hundred seventy three (173) wounded in action. The ship itself, a Forty Million ($40,000,000) Dollar state of the art signals intelligence (SIGINT) platform, was so badly damaged that it never sailed on an operational mission again and was sold in 1970 for $101,666.66 as scrap.

At 1400 hours, while approximately about 17 nautical miles off the northern Sinai coast and about 25 nautical miles northwest of El Arish, USS Liberty’s crew observed three surface radar contacts closing with their position at high speed. A few moments later, the bridge radar crew observed high speed aircraft passing over the surface returns on the same heading. Within a few short moments, and without any warning, Israeli fighter aircraft launched a rocket attack on USS Liberty. The aircraft made repeated firing passes, attacking USS Liberty with rockets and their internal cannons. After the first flight of fighter aircraft had exhausted their ordnance, subsequent flights of Israeli fighter aircraft continued to prosecute the attack with rockets, cannon fire, and napalm.

During the air attack, USS Liberty’s crew had difficulty contacting Sixth Fleet to request assistance due to intense communications jamming The initial targets on the ship were the command bridge, communications antennas, and the four .50 caliber machine guns, placed on the ship to repel boarders. After the Israeli fighter aircraft completed their attacks, three Israeli torpedo boats arrived and began a surface attack about 35 minutes after the start of the air attack. The torpedo boats launched a total of five torpedoes, one of which struck the side of USS Liberty, opposite the ship’s research spaces. Twenty-five Americans, in addition to the nine who had been killed in the earlier air attacks, were killed as a result of this explosion.

Sixth Fleet Abandons USS Liberty Under Fire.
DoD Approves Of Their Action

USS LibertyThe Department of Defense Law of War Program (DoD Directive 2311.01E – formerly DoD Directive 5100.77) provides that “All reportable incidents committed by or against U.S. personnel, enemy persons, or any other individual are reported promptly, investigated thoroughly, and, where appropriate, remedied by corrective action.”

On June 8, 2005 the USS Liberty Veterans Association submitted A Report of War Crimes Committed Against the USS Liberty, June 8, 1967 to the Department of Defense in accordance with the DoD Law of War Program.

The War Crimes Report we filed lists allegations of acts committed during the attack on our ship, including:

The jamming of our radios on both US Navy tactical and international maritime distress frequencies;
The use of unmarked aircraft by the forces attacking the USS Liberty;
The deliberate machine gunning of life rafts we had dropped over the side in anticipation of abandoning ship; and
The recall of two flights of rescue aircraft that had een launched from Sixth Fleet aircraft carriers. After those flights were recalled, Sixth Fleet personnel listened to our calls for help as the attack continued knowing they were forbidden to come to our assistance.
The Department of Defense has unilaterally waived its obligation under the Department of Defense Law of War Program by refusing to investigate the allegations contained in the War Crimes Report. The Department of Defense has also refused to provide a speaker to address the crew of the USS Liberty and explain their actions with regard to the War Crimes Report.

[papertyger]

Call me the odd ball out, but I side with the US citizen soldiers that were on that ship over a foreign power. This is from uss liberty veterans association

Sounds like the beginning of "fake news" to me, and a thread-bare excuse for jew-haters.

The Liberty was a war ship in a war zone.

What do they think an attack is supposed to look like?

[Neoliberalnot]

You can look it up for yourself instead of resorting to the race pimping name calling. Nice that you side with a foreign power over our own soldiers. There are live interviews available of those that were on that ship. They have a different story to tell. You weren’t there, they were.

[Magnum44]

I don't call you an odd ball out. I was only a youngster at the time so its hard for me to judge.

My point to the other poster was that Israel is our ally, that they provided during the cold war and still provide a deep water port in the Eastern Med that is of strategic importance, and while the could have (and had rights to) jump into the Gulf War, they sat patiently by per our wishes, while Saddam shot SCUDS at Jerusalem, helping us keep the coalition intact.

My other point in an earlier post is that we cant point fingers at other 'allies' and call them fickle when we do things like elect leaders who love the sound of muslim prayer calls in the morning every other election. That's just an example. Our electorate has too short of an attention span and gets distracted by the ...squirrel...and cant seem to remember what its own citizens sacrificed only a few decades ago so that they can walk around with their iphone ear buds in oblivious to the real world.

[papertyger]

Nice that you side with a foreign power over our own soldiers.

Same old jew-hating double-talk.

You seem to forget the United States Government sided with the Israelis, too. And I think they probably knew a little more about what was going on behind the scenes than the ship's cook.

But it's not like your kind really needs a legitimate excuse, anyway. "Birds of a feather," and all. Just don't think anyone with a brain is really conflicted by your 60-year-old "patriotism," act.

[remember]

> Ryan says Republicans to target welfare, Medicare, Medicaid spending in 2018

The trouble is, Ryan and the Republicans have lost all credibility on the reforming entitlements now that they've passed a large tax cut. Any reform will be rightly seen as just a way to pay for their tax cuts. The Democrats will have to be fully on board with any changes.

It is certainly true that the U.S. will face budget challenges. Following is a projection from the Congressional Budget Office(CBO):

If these projections turn out to be accurate, there will be pressure on all spending. But there will also be pressure on taxes. The current tax cut will likely mean that they will just have to be raised that much more later.

[rbmillerjr]

CBO is Dem talking points. Revenues increase when you cut taxes.

They are always wrong.

[Neoliberalnot]

Yep, that’s it, I don’t side with the Arab Semites either.

[papertyger]

Yep, that’s it, I don’t side with the Arab Semites either.

Oh really?

Do you see anyone else grinding their teeth over sixty year old tragedies?

[Neoliberalnot]

Ah, there is a veterans organization devoted to telling the story of the intentional attack. I’d say they just might be grinding their teeth. Are you still grinding your teeth over 911? Here’s the link for you.

https://www.usslibertyveterans.org/

[papertyger]

Ah, there is a veterans organization devoted to telling the story of the intentional attack. I’d say they just might be grinding their teeth.

After sixty years, I doubt they have any teeth left to grind. I further doubt without the likes of you looking for a "beard," their website would get less traffic than the Rachel Corrie Memorial.

Nevertheless, why would they (or you) think that a determined attack (which it obviously was) couldn't be a mistake? No, not an "oops, I dropped a bomb" mistake, but a "we designated a wrong target" mistake?

It's not like both can't be true. Why are you determined to find the Israelis guilty of some kind of malfeasance?

[remember]

From what I can tell, no serious economic study has ever claimed that revenues increase when you cut taxes. I've posted links to the studies that I've been able to find at this link. Even among the conservative economists listed there, the most that they estimate that is recouped of the lost revenues is about a third for labor taxes and a half for taxes on capital. If you know of a serious economic study that purports to show the revenues increase when you cut taxes, please post a link to it. I'll try to paste the studies at the aforementioned link that say otherwise:

Estimates of the Percent of Revenue Cost Recouped after Tax Cut

Labor  Taxes	Capital  Taxes	Author (s)	Title	Date	Notes
17-25*		Lindsey, Lawrence	Individual Taxpayer Response to Tax Cuts 1982-1984 with Implications for the Revenue Maximizing Tax Rate	11/86	* 1982-1984
33*		Lindsey, Lawrence	The Growth Experiment	10/91	* according to  Bartlett
17	50	Mankiw, Gregory  Weinzierl, Matthew	Dynamic Scoring: A Back-of-the-Envelope Guide	12/04
-5 to  32*		Congressional Budget  Office	Analyzing the Economic and Budgetary Effects of a 10 Percent Cut in Income Tax Rates	12/01/05	* for 2nd 5 years
< 10*		Treasury Department	A Dynamic Analysis of Permanent Extension of the President’s Tax Relief	7/25/06	* according to  CBPP
30*		Foertsch, Tracy  Rector, Ralph A.	A Dynamic Analysis of the 2001 and 2003 Bush Tax Cuts: Applying an Alternative  Technique for Calibrating Macroeconomic and Microsimulation Models	11/22/06	* 295.5 /&nbsp991.9
39*		Auten, Gerald  Carroll, Robert  Gee, Geoffrey	The 2001 and 2003 Tax Rate Reductions: An Overview and Estimate of the Taxable Income Response	9/08	* reduction in  top 2 rates
32	51	Trabandt, Mathias  Uhlig, Harald	How Far Are We From The Slippery Slope? The Laffer Curve Revisited	4/10