Ben Carson Continues to Prove He is not Ready for the Presidency

Given that Doctor Ben Carson is a retired neurosurgeon it is difficult to understand how lacking he is in basic knowledge about how the Federal government operates and how little he knows about American treaties.

Number 1:

When asked about what Eastern European nations should do about the fear of Russia he said they should join NATO.

Hugh Hewitt, talk radio host, asked if NATO should be willing to go to war if Russian leader Vladimir Putin attempts to do in the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia or Lithuania) what he’s already done in Ukraine.

“I think they would be willing to go to war if they knew that they were backed up by us,” Carson said. “We need to convince them to get involved in NATO and strengthen NATO.”

“Well, the Baltics, they are in NATO,” Hewitt responded. [In fact, they’ve been member states since 2004.]

After a commercial break, Carson explained that he was confused. “Well, when you were saying Baltic state, I thought you were continuing our conversation about the former components of the Soviet Union,” he said.

Carson’s views on the current Middle East turmoil are similarly confused. Read the entire Hewitt interview here:

Number 2:

In an awkward back-and-forth on NPR’s “Marketplace,” the top-tier GOP presidential candidate baffled host Kai Ryssdal by apparently conflating the debt limit with broader budgetary issues.

Ryssdal asked Carson if the US should raise the debt limit, a hot-button issue that has repeatedly generated congressional brinkmanship in recent years.

Here is the transcript:

Ryssdal: All right, so let’s talk about debt then and the budget. As you know, Treasury Secretary Lew has come out in the last couple of days and said, “We’re going to run out of money, we’re going to run out of borrowing authority, on the fifth of November.” Should the Congress then and the president not raise the debt limit? Should we default on our debt?

Carson: Let me put it this way: If I were the president, I would not sign an increased budget. Absolutely would not do it. They would have to find a place to cut.

Ryssdal: To be clear, it’s increasing the debt limit, not the budget, but I want to make sure I understand you. You’d let the United States default rather than raise the debt limit?

Carson: No, I would provide the kind of leadership that says, “Get on the stick guys, and stop messing around, and cut where you need to cut, because we’re not raising any spending limits, period.”

Ryssdal: I’m going try one more time, sir. This is debt that’s already obligated. Would you not favor increasing the debt limit to pay the debts already incurred?

Carson: What I’m saying is what we have to do is restructure the way that we create debt. I mean if we continue along this, where does it stop? It never stops. You’re always going ask the same question every year. And we’re just gonna keep going down that pathway. That’s one of the things I think that the people are tired of.

Ryssdal: I’m really trying not to be circular here, Dr. Carson, but if you’re not going to raise the debt limit and you’re not going to give specifics on what you’re gonna cut, then how are we going to know what you are going to do as president of the United States?

Number 3:

Ben Carson told Meet the Press that no Muslim should ever be president. “I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation.” The constitution specifically says that there is no religious qualification to be president. Carson doubles down by telling Wolf Blitzer on CNN he is not sure that President Obama is a Christian – and that really doesn’t matter but being a Christian seems to matter to Ben Carson.

Bill Clinton Defends His Wife Hillary

Appearing on Erin Burnett’s “Out Front” on CNN former president Bill Clinton did a good job of defending his wife Hillary on her performance as Secretary of State.

“When we look at the job that Hillary did as secretary of state, she goes down as perhaps the worst secretary of state in history,” Trump said then.

Bill Clinton pointed to his wife’s efforts to impose sanctions — getting Russia and China on board — that precipitated negotiations over the Iran nuclear deal. He said that while that deal has proven controversial, the sanctions were roundly considered a success.

“Even the Republicans admit that the sanctions on Iran were well done,” he said.

“And that was a major achievement, to get Russia and China to agree to sign off on these sanctions and enforce them,” he said. “She did that. That’s what made the talks possible, so even the people who don’t like the Iran deal, like the sanctions.”

He also highlighted her work on the new START treaty with Russia, saying that “having these two sides still committed to reducing the number of nuclear warheads and missiles, I think, is a good thing.”

He said Hillary Clinton’s efforts to expand the number of beneficiaries from the George W. Bush-era anti-AIDS program known as the “President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief,” or PEPFAR, from 1.7 million people to 5.1 million by using more generic medicines. The expanded program did not cost on additional cent.

“These are all facts, so they’re not common to the diatribe here,” Bill Clinton said.

Of course there was no discussion about Libya, Benghazi, and e-mail records.

GE says it may move up to 500 jobs overseas

When Donald Trump said “we-are-led-by-very—very–stupid–people” you probably thought he was exaggerating. The GOP lead congress refused to re-authorize the U.S. Export Import Bank on the grounds that it was helping companies that don’t need any help. This is the consequence of that very stupid decision.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

General Electric Co. may move about 500 American jobs overseas because Congress did not renew a government program that allows foreign companies to borrow money to buy U.S. products, the industrial conglomerate said Tuesday.

Authorization for the U.S. Export Import Bank was not approved by Congress, forcing it to stop lending July 1. Foreign companies use the agency to buy expensive U.S. products when bank loans are not possible.

As a result, GE says 100 jobs from a Houston plant that makes gas turbines will move to Hungary and China in 2016. The Fairfield, Connecticut, company says those countries have lending options in place for customers.

“We do not make today’s announcements lightly and in fact, have done everything in our power to avoid making these moves at all, but Congress left us no choice when it failed to reauthorize the Ex-Im Bank this summer,” said John Rice, GE’s vice chairman.

Another 400 jobs could be created in France instead of factories in South Carolina, Maine and New York if the company wins projects it is bidding on. The projects require financing, and the export credit agency in France has agreed to provide it.

GE said it’s bidding on projects valued at $11 billion that require export financing. It said it has reached agreement with the French export credit agency to provide a line of credit for global power projects. GE said the line of credit will initially support potential orders in international markets that include Indonesia.

To access the required export credit for its customers of its aeroderivatives turbines, GE will move its final assembly from the U.S. to Hungary and China. As related projects are bid and won in these two product lines, GE said it will move approximately 500 jobs from Texas, South Carolina, Maine and New York to France, Hungary and China.

The embattled and little-known banking agency has been at the center of a fight between tea party Republicans who say it’s not needed and Democrats and some Republicans — backed by manufacturers and large businesses — who say it promotes trade and helps create jobs.

The Ex-Im Bank’s principal role is to guarantee commercial bank loans to foreign businesses and governments to buy U.S. products. U.S. taxpayers would be responsible for a loan if a company operating overseas defaults on a bank loan used to buy a product made by a U.S. company.

How To Think About the Iran Deal in One Photo!

the choice between war and dishonour

Foolishly the president of the United States believes that has concluded an agreement with Iran that will deny them atomic weapons. The flaws in the agreement can be boiled down to one simple fact. The Iranians can continue to build a bomb while we are lead to believe they are not. This can be done because they can prevent inspection of suspected bomb building sites for up to 24 days. That is enough time to move their equipment to another location. What happened to our right to inspect any location at any time? That demand was sacrificed to obtain an agreement.

The argument of the administration is that this is the best we can achieve.

Remember this from history:
As Hitler continued to make inflammatory speeches demanding that Germans in Czechoslovakia be reunited with their homeland, war seemed imminent. Neither France nor Britain felt prepared to defend Czechoslovakia, however, and both were anxious to avoid a military confrontation with Germany at almost any cost. In mid-September, Neville Chamberlain, the British prime minister, offered to go to Hitler’s retreat at Berchtesgaden to discuss the situation personally with the Führer. Hitler agreed to take no military action without further discussion, and Chamberlain agreed to try to persuade his cabinet and the French to accept the results of a plebiscite in the Sudetenland. The French premier, Édouard Daladier, and his foreign minister, Georges Bonnet, then went to London, where a joint proposal was prepared stipulating that all areas with a population that was more than 50 percent Sudeten German be returned to Germany. The Czechoslovaks were not consulted. The Czechoslovak government initially rejected the proposal but was forced to accept it reluctantly on September 21.

In a last-minute effort to avoid war, Chamberlain then proposed that a four-power conference be convened immediately to settle the dispute. Hitler agreed, and on September 29, Hitler, Chamberlain, Daladier, and Italian dictator Benito Mussolini met in Munich, where Mussolini introduced a written plan that was accepted by all as the Munich Agreement.

Before leaving Munich, Chamberlain and Hitler signed a paper declaring their mutual desire to resolve differences through consultation to assure peace. Both Daladier and Chamberlain returned home to jubilant welcoming crowds relieved that the threat of war had passed, and Chamberlain told the British public that he had achieved “peace with honour. I believe it is peace for our time.” His words were immediately challenged by his greatest critic, Winston Churchill, who declared, “You were given the choice between war and dishonour. You chose dishonour and you will have war.”

So there are some things that cannot be negotiated. “Death to America” is still be heard in the streets of Tehran. The leadership of Iran are the sponsors of that cry. There is not a shred of evidence to prove the agreement will be honored. The Barack Obama legacy will be he left office with war on the horizon. I really hope and pray I am wrong!

“Peace for Our Time”

The phrase “Peace for Our Time” was spoken on 30 September 1938 by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in his speech concerning the Munich Agreement and the Anglo-German Declaration.^[1] The phrase echoed Benjamin Disraeli, who upon returning from the Congress of Berlin in 1878 stated “I have returned from Germany with peace for our time.” It is primarily remembered for its ironic value: less than a year after the agreement, following continued aggression from Hitler and his invasion of Poland, Europe was plunged into World War II.

In an exclusive interview with Thomas L. Friedman, a columnist in the New York Times, the president explains why he has no second thoughts about the accord with Iran. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/15/opinion/thomas-friedman-obama-makes-his-case-on-iran-nuclear-deal.html?_r=0

In my opinion President Obama has provided the world “Peace for Our Time.” He offers a series of explanations justifying his decision to reach a deal with Iran. The problem is that Iran has a history of supporting terrorists throughout the Middle East. The agreement does not stop Iran from obtaining conventional weapons that are used against everyone they consider an enemy. Iranians gather in their streets to yell “Death to America.” Is that the sign of a new friendlier Iran? We will live to rue the day this agreement was put in play.

“Fast Track” is the Fast Elimination of American Jobs

The Los Angeles Times argues that the ‘fast track’ bill on trade makes sense in a June 10, 2015 editorial. Pointing out that “The nation’s five metropolitan areas with the largest agricultural exports are all in California.” That is clearly a reason to support more free trade agreements that will help farmers sell their crops. However the consequence of selling those crops overseas is higher food costs for Americans.

The United States is a consumer driven economy. That is an established fact. This country has a history of making everything from cars to bed sheets. I just walked through a Macy’s department store and looked at three men’s shirts made by well known manufacturers. All three were made in other countries: Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Chile. Recently purchased towels were made in India, carving knives made in Switzerland, and a desk chair made in China. We all know that consumer tech products are made in Asia. Where does that leave the blue collar, former middle class, Americans? Unemployed! The last thing the United States needs is another free trade agreement.

Update June 13, 2015 – from my congressman:

Dear Friend,

I voted NO on the Fast Track Trade Bill this afternoon. The House stood up for American workers and voted down the package that gives the President Fast Track authority that would force into place job killing legislation such as the Trans-Pacific-Partnership.

Washingtons trade policy in the past few decades has failed the American middle. For far too long, we have seen the U.S. export jobs rather than products. We can no longer afford to continue on this path. We must abandon these failed, so-called free trade policies of the past and take a new direction that creates more jobs here at home in America. We need balanced trade. That is why I have opposed NAFTA, CAFTA, MFN for China, and a host of bad trade deals we have adopted over the last 20 years.

Thank you very much for contacting me and sharing your views, I hope to hear from you further in the future.

Sincerely,

Becoming an Expert of Foreign Affairs

Foreign Affairs is a big part of the job of President of the United States. Everyone can agree on that fact. Thus every candidate for president wants to prove he has the knowledge to do the job. So former Florida Governor Jeb Bush going overseas this week to prove his foreign policy credentials.

I traveled overseas to London and Paris is 2012. You cannot begin to know and understand those countries in a one week trip even if you met the prime minister of the U.K. and the president of France. You cannot begin to appreciate their perspective of the world. Realizing that those are two nations that do have strong ties to America, their leaders may still hold views that are substantially unacceptable to the United States. How can we expect countries with cultures that are extremely different to understand America’s viewpoint? You can’t!

So here we have Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, former Texas Governor Rick Perry, and other GOP presidential candidates trying to prove that they can effectively deal with the complications of foreign affairs.

The current Secretary of State is John Kerry. He previously served in the United States Senate, and was chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Even with that resume he has struggled to cope with the challenges that this office holds.

So Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, and the others wanting to be president will be telling us that they can do what Hillary Clinton and John Kerry could not do. Make the world better for America.

Believe that? Can I sell you the Brooklyn Bridge?

North Korea’s lessons for an Iran Deal

If you think the Iran nuclear deal is a breakthrough, said Max Boot, in contemporary.com, consider how the same approach worked with North Korea. The 1994 Agreed Framework was supposed to prevent Pyongyang from developing nukes. But North Korea cheated, developed a uranium enrichment program on the sly, and tested its first bomb in 2006.

“Today it is a full-fledged nuclear power.” Last week, Chinese experts warned that Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal is more advanced than previously feared, with an estimated 20 warheads and another 20 on the way over the next year. U.S. defense officials believe North Korea can now feasibly mount a nuclear bomb on an intercontinental ballistic missile, with enough range to hit California. “It’s not too hard to imagine, a decade from now, reading similar reports” about Iran. And whereas North Korea is “a declining, bankrupt” regime whose leadership only wants to stay in power, Iran is an “expansionist state” with oil wealth, hostility toward Israel, and a goal of exporting its Shiite Islamic revolution throughout the region. The U.S. was duped by a untrustworthy dictatorship before. Why repeat that mistake?

Presidential Contradiction

President Barack Obama continues to be a mystery to me. Both in domestic and foreign affairs he speaks words and take actions that contradict. His actions are really alarming.

He raised the troop levels in Afghanistan saying that the United States was there and we were responsible for the outcome. Then he decided to withdraw all of our troops.

“Assad must go” were Obama’s words. Use of chemical weapons was declared a red line but no troops were sent to Syria. Instead Russia provided the president with a way out of the dilemma of his own making.

Ukraine has been part of the Russian empire for over 100 years. My grandparents left Russia in about the year 1900. Actually they left Ukraine. Watch “Fiddler on the Roof.” The fear of the Jews was of the Czar of Russia. Today the United States is contemplating aid to Ukraine to fight Russia. Or are we contemplating aid?

The president has been a leading spokesman in the battle to reduce carbon emissions.

He does not want to approve the XL Pipeline. He set aside additional areas of Alaska where oil exploration will be prohibited. Now he has approved the building of an oil exploration derrick in the Bearing Sea to be built and maintained by Shell Oil.

Obama has said he is concerned about the shrinking middle class but still he wants to implement a free trade agreement that will enable more jobs to be outsourced to countries that have low paid labor that will benefit business with higher net income.

Perhaps it’s the stress of the job as president that has caused Barack Obama to pursue so many contradictory decisions. Then again there might be some conflicts of interest. No matter what the cause his decision making is making other nations uncomfortable and causing Democrats and the entire American population to wonder about the decision making process.