In Case You Missed It

Last week the Secretary of Health and Human Service, Sylvia Mathews, testified on Capitol Hill before the House Ways and Means Committee. She was there to warn Congress, on behalf of Obama, that the Administration had no "Plan B" in the event the Supreme Court this month disallows subsidies to those in the federal exchange - which would be most enrollees in Obamacare. (The pending case is King vs. Burwell.)

Said Ms. Mathews: "If the court says that we do not have the authority to give subsidies, the critical decisions will sit with the Congress and states and governors to determine if those subsidies are available." Well, Ms. Mathews, that happens to be exactly how our system is supposed to work. Congress can amend the ACA; and failing that, states without exchanges can decide to establish one in order to get the subsidies for their residents.

Meanwhile, Ms. Mathews' boss was busy warning the Supreme Court to "play it straight" in interpreting the law. Said Obama: "This should be an easy case. Frankly, it probably shouldn't even have been taken up" by the court. So, what is all this warning of the other two branches of government by the Executive branch really all about?

First, it is pure Obama, showing once again his contempt for our system of government, and his contempt for the other two branches. Recall his berating of the Justices while they sat in front of him at an earlier State of the Union address, following the Court's decision in Citizens United. Second, is the political element. Obama and his people are making it clear who they will blame - the Republicans - if the Court does not rule as he has decided they should. The Republicans not only control Congress, but most states without an exchange are run by Republican governors.

The former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Ret. Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, also testified before Congress last week. According to Flynn, the pending Iranian nuke deal "only makes sense" if there is a "wider reconciliation" with Iran - which he called "wishful thinking" absent a regime change.

Said Flynn: "Iran has not once - not once - contributed to the greater good of the security of the region." Although he did note that Iran did aid in the killing of Americans in Iraq. Further, Flynn added that Iran has "every intention" of building a nuke; and he called the frequently verbalized threat to destroy Israel "very real."

Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest, speaking for Obama, said this: "We are deeply troubled by the politically motivated sentences that have been handed down against former President Morsi and several others by an Egyptian court today." Morsi, of course, won the Egyptian election after Mubarek was thrown out. After engaging in his own dictatorial rule, and threatening to end Egypt's longstanding peace agreement with Israel, Morsi was himself thrown out and replaced by military leader al-Sisi.

Obama supported Morsi, the former head of the terrorist group the Muslim Brotherhood. The Brotherhood, in turn, supports Hamas, the Muslim Student Association in this country, and other nefarious groups. Now Morsi has been given the death penalty for crimes against the Egyptian people. Obama is "deeply troubled" by this. When did we last hear how "deeply troubled" he was by the deaths of countless Christians throughout the Middle East at the hands of radical Muslims? When was he "deeply troubled" by P.A. leader Abbas saying that not one single Jew may live in any new Palestinian state?

Which brings me to my next topic. France once again has a UN Security Council proposal to create a Palestinian state on the so-called 1967 borders. (See many earlier posts regarding the absurdity of such a proposal.) In any event, the French proposal would also recognize Israel as a Jewish state. And there's the rub. Abbas says he will have nothing to do with it. In the past, the US has vetoed such resolutions. Now, however, Obama has such intense dislike of Netanyahu and Israel, that he is threatening to withhold a veto.

So Abbas has shown yet again that the Palestinians have no desire for a peaceful two-state solution. Rather, as they have said repeatedly, they want a single Muslim state - and preferably with all the Jews either kicked out or killed.

I almost cannot wait to see how Obama is going to blame Netanyahu and Israel for yet another refusal by the Palestinians to make peace.