Daily Archives: 11 September 2013

An Outcome of Obama’s Foreign Policy

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Much of foreign policy centers on perception.  Fox News asked a few questions of Americans about that perception.  On the question

Compared to five years ago, do you think the United States is more respected around the world today, less respected today, or about the same?

The More Respected/Less/About the Same numbers are 14%/48%/36%.  This is down sharply from just a year ago (which asked the question compared to four years prior to that, so the two questions used the same baseline year of 2008); those numbers were 29%/37%/32%.

The perception of loss of respect runs across party lines.  Democrats view us as less respected today by 25%/27%/46%.  Independents’ numbers are 9%/51%/39%.

Consistent with this, Americans’ approve/disapprove numbers concerning Obama’s performance on foreign policy are 39%/54%, down from 49%/44% a year ago.

It’d be interesting to see the results of a Fox News (or Rasmussen, or other reputable polling outfit) poll asking similar questions of the citizens of other nations.

The Danger of Accepting Federal Money

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…made manifest.

Labor Secretary Thomas Perez…threatened to cashier federal grants for 83 local transit agencies because he claimed California’s pension reforms violate the Federal Transit Act, which requires the Labor Department to certify that “protective” arrangements are made for workers (i.e., the Teamsters) before the feds dole out dough.  Nearly $2 billion in federal funds are at stake this year alone.

And there’s this:

In July, HUD published…”Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing” in the Federal Register…a sweeping set of land-use regulations…. The agency wants the power to dismantle local zoning so communities have what it considers the right mix of economic, racial and ethnic diversity.  A finding of discriminatory behavior, or allegations of discrimination, would no longer be necessary.  HUD will supply “nationally uniform data” of what it thinks 1,200 communities should look like.

Local governments will have to “take meaningful actions to further the goals identified.”  If they fail to comply, HUD can cut federal funding.

Of course, if the States weren’t addicted to Federal handouts, the Feds’ pushers wouldn’t be able to make such threats, much less have this control over a State’s internal affairs.