Obama Advisor Susan Rice’s Unmasking Material is at the Obama Library

Your Judicial Watch performed a massive public service this week.  We exposed how key Obama spying scandal documents, including the infamous Susan Rice unmasking records, were moved to the Obama Presidential Library.

The National Security Council (NSC) informed us by letter on May 23, 2017, that the materials regarding the unmasking by Obama National Security Advisor Susan Rice of “the identities of any U.S. citizens associated with the Trump presidential campaign or transition team” have been removed to the Obama Library.

The NSC will not fulfill our April 4 request for records regarding information relating to people “who were identified pursuant to intelligence collection activities.”

The agency also informed us that it would not turn over communications with any intelligence community member or agency concerning the alleged Russian involvement in the 2016 presidential election; the hacking of DNC computers; or the suspected communications between Russia and Trump campaign/transition officials.  Specifically, the NSC told us:

Documents from the Obama administration have been transferred to the Barack Obama Presidential Library.  You may send your request to the Obama Library.  However, you should be aware that under the Presidential Records Act, Presidential records remain closed to the public for five years after an administration has left office.

http://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/weekly-updates/weekly-update-obama-advisor-susan-rices-unmasking-material-obama-library/ 

Sealing and transfer of Susan Rice records angers House committee investigating ‘unmasking’

House intelligence committee sources say career officials at the National Security Council are slow-walking the delivery of subpoenaed records on former National Security Adviser Susan E. Rice’s handling of classified information and the “unmasking” of Trump campaign workers — material from the Russian hacking probe that middle-level NSCmanagers claim was transferred to President Obama’s library and could “remain closed to the public for five years.”

One source, speaking only on the condition of anonymity, called the transfer curious and appeared to reflect an effort by former administration officials to obscure evidence on whether Ms. Rice and other top officials in the Obama White House illegally tried to identify which Trump campaign and transition aides had been caught up in the U.S. intelligence intercepts of Russian interference in the presidential race.

The two high-level intelligence committee sources told The Washington Times that they are confident the panel’s investigators, despite the delays, will eventually get their hands on the records shipped to a heavily secure archive for Mr. Obama’s yet-to-be-built presidential library.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jun/22/susan-rice-records-intelligence-committee-wants-ar/ 

Congress Needs to Forget Trump and His Tweets and Pass the Big Bills

Democrats want to derail any positive activity by the Republican Congress by investigating a phantom Russian crime.  But why do people like Majority Leader McConnell (R-KY) step in front of a microphone and say, “I’m not a fan of the daily tweets.”  The man who most people say is the smartest guy in the Nation’s Capital should know they are nothing but a distraction.  Pass at least some of the big stuff that Republicans want done and put them on Trump’s desk for signature.

From the time Mr. Trump became the Republican Party’s nominee, I almost totally discounted him in the legislative process.  It is not that I disagree with him on major policy issues.  Mr. Trump has it correctly on such issues as ditching Obamacare, major tax reform and simplification, shutting down illegal immigration in all forms and then revamping the current immigration system, and updating major elements of our infrastructure -- like our sadly outdated air traffic system.  President Trump has all those right plus many more, but that does not matter.  What he has is a pen.

At a news conference on June 13th, Speaker Paul Ryan stated “Look at what we are doing this week; we found out three years ago veterans were dying on these waiting lists that were occurring in Arizona then all around America.  So we uncovered a scandal.  No one realized we could not even bring accountability to the VA.  They could not even fire people who were grossly negligent in their jobs.  So, what are we doing today?  We are fixing this problem.  What did we do last week?  We passed the Choice Act, we repealed and replaced Dodd-Frank.  Ended too Big to Fail, ended bailouts, and brought needed regulatory relief for community banks to help small businesses get credit and grow.  What are we working on next week?  The skills gap.  So people can get the skills they need to get good jobs.”  

https://townhall.com/columnists/brucebialosky/2017/06/25/untitled-n2344991

Health Care Bill Would Rescue ObamaCare and Take Democrats off the Hook

Senate Republicans have released their supposed ObamaCare-repeal bill, the “Better Care Reconciliation Act.” Like its counterpart, the House-passed “American Health Care Act,” the Senate bill would not repeal ObamaCare. Indeed, it’s not even fair to call it a partial repeal or “ObamaCare-lite.”

The Senate bill fails to repeal ObamaCare’s major provisions. Its purported repeal and reform provisions, particularly those tied to Medicaid, are phony. Indeed, the bill would actually expand ObamaCare in significant respects.

Let’s start with what it will do to the cost, quality and stability of private health insurance.

ObamaCare’s “community rating” price controls are causing premiums to rise, coverage to get worse for the sick and insurance markets to collapse across the country. The Senate bill would modify those government price controls somewhat, allowing insurers to charge 64-year-olds five times what they charge 18-year-olds (as opposed to three times, under current law).

But these price controls would continue to make a mess of markets and cause insurers to flee. The bill would also preserve other ObamaCare mandates and regulations that contribute to higher premiums.

On top of that, the Senate bill wouldn’t even repeal the parts of ObamaCare Republicans claim it would. On paper, it would repeal ObamaCare’s expansion of Medicaid — but not until 2024.

https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/health-care-bill-would-rescue-obamacare-take-democrats-hook 

Supreme Court Deals Blow to Property Rights

When governments issue regulations that undermine the value of property, bureaucrats don't necessarily have to compensate property holders, the Supreme Court ruled Friday.

The court voted 5-3, in Murr V. Wisconsin, a closely watched Fifth Amendment property rights case. The case arose from a dispute over two tiny parcels of land along the St. Croix River in western Wisconsin and morphed into a major property rights case that drew several western states into the debate before the court.

Chief Justice John Roberts, in a scathing dissent, wrote that ruling was a significant blow for property rights and would give greater power to government bureaucrats to pass rules that diminish the value of property without having to compensate property owners under the Firth Amendment's Takings Clause.

"Put simply, today's decision knocks the definition of 'private property' loose from its foundation on stable state law rules," Roberts wrote. The ruling "compromises the Takings Clause as a barrier between individuals and the press of the public interest."

Donna Murr, in a statement provided by the Pacific Legal Foundation, the libertarian law firm that represented the family in the case, said her family was disappointed by the result.

"It is our hope that property owners across the country will learn from our experience and not take their property rights for granted," Murr said. "Although the outcome was not what we had hoped for, we believe our case will demonstrate the importance of taking a stand and protecting property rights through the court system when necessary."

http://reason.com/blog/2017/06/23/supreme-court-deals-blow-to-property-rig 

The American Presidency in Paralysis

Is the next vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court sooner or later?

Liberals despair. Trump’s “progressive” critics, long champions of a strong presidency, notably Barack Obama’s robust executive power, are abruptly born-again skeptics. What’s to worry? Trump’s Neil Gorsuch remains a constitutionalist who would challenge an imperial presidency. But Democrats don’t want to challenge this president; they want to destroy him.

The crisis is not that Trump will fill another vacancy on the Supreme Court, or the myriad openings throughout the federal judiciary, or the major unfilled positions throughout the executive branch that also require U.S. Senate confirmation. The scandal is that Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer and his co-conspirators are sabotaging not the Trump presidency, but the office itself. Where are the political science professors and other do-gooder academics? Could they be in a “safe space”?

Trump was barely inaugurated when demagogues like (the ethics-challenged) Maxine Waters urged impeachment. If there is an Administration “cover-up” — it may be without a crime! Meanwhile, the mainstream media ignore that the democratic process is disrupted, not by Russians and Putin, but by Senate Democrats and Schumer who will not allow this elected president to govern.

https://spectator.org/the-american-presidency-in-paralysis/ 

Chicago Police unable to control thousand-strong gang party lasting hours

At last we know why Chicago’s homicide level is so out of control: Gangs, not police control the streets. The gangs know it; the police know it; and now, thanks to DNAinfo.com/Chicago, we know it.  A week ago, Chicago street gangs held a huge party in a park, with a thousand people attending, some brandishing firearms, terrifying neighbors for hours. The police sent 25 squad cars, yet were outnumbered and unable to really do anything.  Stephanie Lulay wrote:

 A raucous and "very dangerous" gang party that brought 1,000 people to a Near West Side park late Sunday was so out of control, Chicago police struggled to shut it down, one alderman said. 
Despite calling for police and politicians to address notoriously loud and sometimes violent gang parties for years, neighbors living near Touhy-Herbert Park report that this weekend's massive all-night party that spilled over into the streets was worse than ever. (snip)
One area neighbor called the out-of-control party "Armageddon." 
"Sheer madness, chaos, bedlam, insanity!!!!!" she wrote on Facebook. "It was literally like '[a] calling in the National Guard and SWAT team' situation. It was a party riot." 

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2017/06/chicago_police_unable_to_control_thousandstrong_gang_party_lasting_hours.html#ixzz4l1fJL7xO