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Mark Caserta: Hillary’s October surprises may cost her the election

4 Nov

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Mark Caserta: Free State Patriot editor

Last week may well have been the “perfect political storm” that will be credited for costing Hillary Clinton the presidency.

While presumptuous reporting from multiple news sources seemingly had Hillary picking out drapes for the White House East Wing and speech writers preparing her inaugural address, the last act in this political theater had not yet closed.

There would be two final October surprises.

“I will sign a universal health care bill into law by the end of my first term as president that will cover every American and cut the cost of a typical family’s premium by up to $2,500 a year.”

But this was just more Obama hyperbole about his signature healthcare plan simply to get elected.

As enrollment is set to begin Nov. 1, the Obama administration announced last Monday that premiums are expected to rise an average of 25 percent across 39 states served by the federal exchanges. Some states, such as Arizona, will see premiums jump by as much as 116 percent!

Now, it doesn’t matter how the administration and the liberal media attempt to spin this revelation, this is a far cry from what we were promised. And while progressive pundits claim government subsidies will help ease the pain, the taxpayer will surely be left holding the tab.

And then there’s the never-ending-story of Hillary’s “emailgate.”

Also, last week, much to the chagrin of the Clinton campaign, the liberal media and even Attorney General Loretta Lynch, FBI Director James Comey announced he was reopening the investigation into Hillary’s jaded tenure as Secretary of State and her apparent misuse of classified information.

Apparently, as the FBI was conducting what they thought was an unrelated investigation, they uncovered more Clinton emails.

While investigating the 2013 “sexting” scandal of disgraced New York Congressman, Anthony Weiner, the department discovered emails “tethered” to Hillary Clinton’s private email server via Weiner’s wife, Huma Abedin, one of Clinton’s top aides, with whom he is separated.

You may recall the scandal in which Weiner, aka “Carlos Danger,” allegedly sent lewd pictures to women, ruining his political career. Apparently during the FBI probe, investigators discovered Weiner’s wife had used the same laptop to send emails to her boss, Hillary.

In the wake of Director Comey’s prior decision not to recommend criminal charges against Hillary for her mishandling of classified information, one can only speculate as to what the FBI uncovered in these emails. But it must have been enough for Comey to eat “humble pie” and reopen the investigation.

So, with just four days to go before the election, one must wonder if voters are willing to take a chance on a candidate who may be spending her first term under investigation, or worse, under indictment.

Or if they’re prepared to “Make America Great Again.”

Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

Doug Smith: The Long National Nightmare of the Clintons

3 Nov

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Doug Smith:  Author, historian and lead contributor to Free State Patriot

 

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There are things in politics which I can understand, even while disagreeing. For instance, I understand that liberals have a certain world view which involved bigger, more intrusive government than conservatives like me. So it follows logically that my friends on the left will prefer more liberal politicians than I will.

What I can never get my arms around is who they choose, and the unending, cult-like love affair with the Clintons. I recall that the Senate and House GOP leaders went to Nixon when it became obvious that Watergate was not going away and said “ Mr. President, it’s time for you to go. “ And Nixon went.

I also recall the Democrats of Capitol Hill holding hands, singing Kum By Ya and professing their belief in Bill Clinton’s veracity. Before he had to admit he lied. The list of Democrats who have fallen on their swords, (figuratively, let’s not go into   the dozens who have committed suicide under questionable circumstances) is impressive. In medieval times it was more common for knights to ride into mortal danger to protect the king. For the last 30 years, everyone knows the only thing worse than being an enemy of Bill is being a friend of Bill who becomes inconvenient.

Time and again, Democrats and Liberals have found themselves defending the indefensible, all for the sake of keeping William J and Hillary R Clinton in the clover and out of the slammer. We are faced with the hilarious spectacle of avowed feminists reacting to one of his serial abuses of women by saying “ If he gets elected, I d ( perform oral sex on him). “, or POTUS being asked, and answering , what kind of underwear he wears.

Dems cheerfully tramp into the sewers of our culture, ignoring the infiltration of sex acts into middle schools because “ President Clinton said its not really sex”, the smearing of women, the unending , nauseating stream of sleaze, perversion, and corruption flowing from the nation’s First Couple of the Gutter.

Even now, with thunderous echoes of corruption and bribery that threatens the security of the nation, the reemergence of Bill and the Bimbos, the political whoring, (although, at a million or more a pop, you gotta give them points for something, brass?) , the deals which directly sold US energy and weapons capabilities to Russia and Putin, where is the principled Democrat to say “ Madam Secretary, it’s time for you to go, and for God’s sake, take Bubba with you?”

Nowhere, it seems.

So, once again, I understand that liberals want liberals. I fail to understand why anybody wants Hillary Clinton. Their arguments for her are specious at best. Unable to defend her actions, they resort to the weakest of arguments:

Everyone does it.

It s not a big deal.

It s just because she s a Democrat.

It s just because she s a woman.

Nonsense. Reagan and Bush 43 would find fault with those arguments. As would Cap Weinberger, Scooter Libby, Tom DeLay, Rick Perry, Scott Walker. All men. All Republicans. All charged with crimes, called Hitler, ultimately exonerated, but damaged politically by the process. In none of those cases were there actual crimes involved, as in Hillary and crew.

Hillary and Bill Clinton are uniquely and disturbingly corrupt, greedy, and ruthless. Any Republican, and frankly most Democrats, would have faded from public view decades ago, either from shame, or by force from the Party leadership.

Billery, however, are utterly without shame, and they have the unique ability to control or coerce the Democrat party to the point where there is no scandal, no immorality, no corruption, no crime that they are not willing to swallow to defend these historically warped, corrupt, and bent individuals and permit them all the power, and influence, and money they desire.

But that is a zero sum game, for Democrats like Donna Brazile will continue to fall on the sword for them, mores and standards will continue to be lowered or destroyed for them, and all that they touch; the party, their sycophants, the government, and the country, will be sullied by their presence and influence, and nothing will ever be enough for them. They are so utterly avaricious that they will always want more, and consider it their due that others take the bullet for them.

Jerry Ford said, when he pardoned Nixon, Our long national nightmare is over. He had no idea. The Clintons manage their pardons in advance, and go on to corrupt more and gather more to themselves. As the festering cess-pile that is their legacy grows ever higher and threatens, at last, to collapse on them, the refuse to fade away, unless dragged off the national stage.

Hillary is not under criminal investigation because she has a vagina. It is because she utterly lacks a conscience. Just as the long corrupt reign of John Plantagenet sullied and enraged England, till he was forced to sign the Magna Carta, so the Clintons have been the long , growing nightmare of American culture and politics for 30 years.

Some of us wait to wake up and say, Oh Finally, they are gone.

Others will wake up, a little embarrassed, and say, Wow, really? How did I not see that part of them?

Some, sadly, even after they are gone, will sleep in that long dream till the Trump of Doom.

Mark Caserta: Trump’s contract with America offers nation hope and justice

29 Oct

What have you got to lose?

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Mark Caserta: Free State Patriot editor

  • Oct 28, 2016

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It may well be referenced as the modern-day “Great Awakening,” a movement that swept the country and revitalized our nation’s government in an unprecedented manner.

On Oct. 22, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Donald J. Trump delivered his revolutionary “contract with America” in which he laid out his first 100-day plan as president to “Make America Great Again!”

“Change has to come from outside this broken system,” Trump declared. “The fact that the Washington establishment has tried so hard to stop our campaign is only more proof that our campaign represents the kind of change that only arrives once in a lifetime.”

Here are a few of the key elements of Trump’s contract with America.

On Trump’s first day in office, he’ll “propose a constitutional amendment to impose term limits on all members of Congress.”

Conservatives agree we have to rid Washington of politicians who place career ahead of representing the American people as designed by our Founding Fathers.

Also, on his first day, Trump will “cancel every unconstitutional executive action, memorandum and order issued by President Obama” and “restore security and the constitutional rule of law.”

This measure will have a sweeping effect in returning our nation to saneness by subverting measures taken by this president bypassing our representation and propagating his own personal, socialist ideology.

Additionally, Trump will “begin the process of selecting a replacement for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia from one of the 20 judges” on his list “who will uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

Protecting the Supreme Court from becoming unhinged with liberal judges who legislate from the bench is paramount to our nation’s future. Remember, this is a lifetime appointment and carries tremendous responsibility.

Regarding jobs, Trump pledges to “lift restrictions” on “job-producing American energy reserves, including shale, oil, natural gas and clean coal.” He’ll also “lift the Obama-Clinton roadblocks and allow vital energy infrastructure projects, like the Keystone Pipeline, to move forward.”

This is great news for jobs in our area. Imagine our state economically if the nation begins leveraging the vast energy resources we have available.

Regarding illegal immigration, Trump will begin “removing the more than 2 million criminal illegal immigrants from the country” and “suspend immigration from terror-prone regions where vetting cannot safely occur.”

Finally, Donald Trump plans to fully repeal and replace Obamacare with viable health care which will include health savings accounts and “the ability to purchase health insurance across state lines.”

Obamacare has been a wrecking ball to our economy. Trump will succeed where liberals and the feckless GOP establishment have failed.

Hillary Clinton literally offers continued corruption and failure.

And even possible criminal indictment!

Trump’s contract with America lights a path of hope and justice for our nation.

 

Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

Mark Caserta: Savvy leadership can avoid another Cold War

21 Oct

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Mark Caserta:  Free State Patriot Editor

For nearly eight years, the Obama administration has utilized what has become a signature approach of appeasement and contriteness in dealing with world leaders. And Hillary Clinton’s symbolic “reset” with Russia, as secretary of state, has been met with aggression unlike anything we’ve seen since the Cold War of the mid to late 1900s.

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A recent FoxNews.com column by Judith Miller suggests that Putin is executing a “clearly defined strategy” to “undermine the West and liberal democracy.”

The column cites experts’ examples of recent actions such as “sophisticated cyberattacks,” “devastating air strikes on hospitals and relief convoys in Aleppo” (despite a U.S. Russian cease-fire) and Putin’s seemingly systematic attempt to “destroy Europe, divide NATO, and restore Russian power and global influence.”

Frankly, the Obama administration is dangerously outmatched in dealing with tyrannical leaders such as Vladimir Putin. Obama’s nave attempts to “talk” other nation’s leaders into submission has been an embarrassing disaster.

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In stark contrast, Ronald Reagan understood the concept of achieving peace through strength.

Upon entering office, Reagan determined the U.S. military, under previous administrations, had become worn and antiquated. He saw America as the last stand for Democracy and believed in establishing a position of power to squelch communism.

In March 1983, the “great communicator” spoke on defense and national security and portrayed his vision for protecting the homeland.

“Let me share with you a vision of the future which offers hope,” Reagan said. “It is that we embark on a program to counter the awesome Soviet missile threat with measures that are defensive. Let us turn to the very strengths in technology that spawned our great industrial base and that have given us the quality of life we enjoy today.”

He proceeded to lay out his vision for a Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) which became known as “Star Wars.” The anti-missile system would be a space and ground-based weapons system designed to intercept intercontinental ballistic missiles launched toward the U.S.

While SDI was never fully implemented, Reagan’s leadership as commander-in-chief and his tenacious approach to defeating communism helped influence the collapse of the Soviet Union and end the Cold War.

The U.S. is a prize target for many rogue nations. Ambitious leaders across the globe have waited for Americans to embrace weak leaders like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. They know they’re strategically challenged and can be easily out-maneuvered.

It’s time for the U.S. to once again take its place as the world leader of democracy. Tyrants must understand that while the U.S. is hopeful for peace, we will be resolute in defending freedom.

When you’re the United States of America, the only way to ensure peace is to have a military strong enough we’ll never have to use it.

But you must also have a savvy leader, like Donald Trump, with the determination and backbone to leverage it.

Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

Doug Smith: Xanadu is not real

19 Oct

doug smith

Doug Smith:  Author, historian and lead contributor to Free State Patriot

 

But the choice is very, very real

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”God save thee Ancient Mariner, from fiends that plague thee thus! Why lookst thou so?

With my crossbow I shot the albatross.”

 

I’ve always loved that bit of verse, especially now that I am both ancient, and once a mariner. But if I may put it in modern English:

What’s wrong with you, buddy?

I really screwed up.

So, in an effort to avert an albatross around the necks of many people permit me a bit of common sense reasoning.

There are 2 choices before America right now for the direction of the next 4 years, and the vibrations for the next 20.

Only 2

Those who suddenly discover, after years of caving in to Obama that Principle matters more than winning, are living in Poe s Opium induced Xanadu. In politics, if you don’t win, you don’t get to “principle”. But the “Feel the Johnson” crowd, the Never Trump crowd, the plague on both your houses crowd, is living the Never Utopia reality. We can say both of them are awful people, and we don’t want any of them. Therefore, we will

Never vote for Trump, even though Hillary is awful.

Vote for Hillary, even though Hillary is awful. After all, she has lots of experience at being awful.

Vote for Johnson, because This could finally be the year of the 3rd party. (Einstein had something to say about doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different result.)

All of them still ignore the most basic realities of the situation. Hillary IS truly awful. And no matter what you all think or dream, grab onto this:

Either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump WILL be the next President.

Now, my assessment of Trump has not changed. He is an ass. He is arrogant, brash, crude, and slow to change. I would not care to have a beer with him. I don’t particularly like him, and I am sorry the GOP, (my party since Reagan,) created him, and nominated him. We had better choices available,   but the GOP leadership helped create the conditions, and their Keystone Cops primary season antics did not help.

So, we have Trump.

Hillary Clinton has a 30 year track record of paranoid secrecy, disdain, shady or criminal avarice, and an easily demonstrated adherence to the most radical Leftist ideologies; the same ones which have ruined or murdered millions in misery in the 20th Century. But she is hard invested in the Left which loves Castro, Che, and the Soviet Union. She is, and has been comfortable with terrorists and despots. The image of her hugging Yasser Arafat is hard to ignore.

Harry Truman once said “There is no way to get rich in politics unless you are a crook. “

Hillary went from “broke leaving the White House” to being worth $300 million dollars. There is nothing not for sale with her, from access, to deals, to bills, to arms, to national security. Her words paint her an advocate of the little guy. Her actions paint her as available to the highest bidder.

She will push hard to the Left; ignore Law and Constitution, because she thinks she is above the law, and immune to penalties. She will seek to rule, not govern.

Will she bring on the end of the Republic? The Oracle at Delphi has not revealed that one to me.

Will she continue us in a dangerous and damaging direction, on the way to 40 trillion in debt?

Well. One need not be Einstein or the Oracle to see that coming.

If you are a voter in America, you ARE going to make a choice between now and my birthday, Nov 8.

You are going to hold your nose, along with me, and vote for Trump, for all the reasons you already know, that he will not do what Hillary does, to the extent she does, or sell the White House furniture and rent the Lincoln Bedroom. Will he be a great President? Probably not. Will he be better than Hillary? Without a doubt.

Or, you are going to do anything else at all, vote for Hillary, stay home, vote for a 3rd party, write me in because you are just overcome with my wisdom, and you will be contributing to the awfulness that is Hillary. We are very close to a lost decade. Hillary will ensure it, and perhaps stretch it out to 2.

So don’t fool yourself. You ARE going to vote for Trump, or you ARE going to vote for Hillary. One way or another. Put down the opium pipe. Hillary has a plan. She won’t let you in on it, but peer over her shoulder at her leaked emails and you ll see it. It is not a pretty picture for you.

If you are a conservative and sit home in a self-righteous snit because Trump is not pure, you are helping Hillary.

And if they are both that bad, well impeach Hillary and you get Kaine, who is no prize either. Impeach Trump; you get Pence, who is a fairly decent guy and a successful Governor. We might just stumble into a good solution.

But brother, Hillary isn’t it!

 

 

Mark Caserta: Two liberal lies leading up to the election.

16 Oct

Liberals don’t want you to know this.

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Mark Caserta: Free State Patriot Editor

hillary and trump

Two quick important points to share:

#1: Don’t pay any attention to the polls. Liberals want you to believe “It’s all over” and Trump will lose in a landslide. All you need to do is look at what just happened in Britain and David Cameron. The polls can and are being manipulated in a variety of ways.

#2: Liberals also want you to believe Russia is behind the cyber attacks on Hillary’s illegal server because they want you to believe Russia wants Trump to win. Really? So ask yourself, “Who would Vladimir Putin rather negotiate with, Crooked Hillary or Donald Trump?

Just keep moving forward to take back our nation and ignore the crooked liberal media.

We can win this. We must win this.

And I believe we will.  Let’s take this thing to the house!

Mark Caserta: For this election, stay focused on what really matters.

15 Oct

 

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Mark Caserta: Free State Patriot Editor

 

I’m not sure what sort of America, my Grandson, Elias and my new Granddaughter will have after this election.

I have the utmost confidence that they will constantly be under God’s Hand of protection and favor, but it can be a very different world if we make the wrong decision.

This election will determine if America will be the nation our founding fathers gave us or one in which we allow the progressive movement to fundamentally transform it into a nation void of principles and morality.

If Hillary wins, we will lose the Supreme Court for a generation. If for no other reason, I vote for Trump.

Here are some issues on which we must stay focused:

Voting for Clinton is a vote for abortion on demand, including partial birth abortion.
Voting for Clinton is a vote for open borders where ISIS can easily penetrate.
Voting for Clinton is a vote for ending the coal industry and higher electricity prices.
Voting for Clinton is a vote against religious freedom.
Voting for Clinton is a vote against your right to carry a gun.
Voting for Clinton is a vote for Common Core.
Voting for Clinton is a vote for expanding Obamacare so it explodes and we will all have government funded healthcare.
Voting for Clinton is a vote allowing Islamic Terrorism to expand and grow.
Voting for Clinton is a vote emboldening Iran, North Korea, China and Russia to challenge U.S. sovereignty.
Voting for Clinton is a vote against Israel.

Voting for Clinton is all this and more.

I’m voting for Trump to protect my grandchildren and thier children as well.
And for those Christians whe won’t get involved and do the right thing, you will own the results, as plain as the nose on your face, you will absolutely own the results.

STAY FOCUSED ON THE REAL ISSUES AND DO NOT BE DISTRACTED BY THINGS THAT DON’T MATTER AT THIS POINT.

Use this vote to defend our nation against the liberal enslaught against everything we stand for.

And convince others to do the same. Feel free to share the facts if you feel led to do do.

May God ultimately have control in this election. I speak defeat over election fraud and over any enemy attacks on the electoral process. And may Christians be God’s hands on earth in bringing forth His ultimate Will.
Give us wisdom where we lack it and give us the fortitude to prevail.

Amen

 

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Mark Caserta: Regarding Hillary Clinton, actions speak louder than words

14 Oct

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Mark Caserta: Free State Patriot Editor

CLOUD

It will go down as one of the darkest moments in our nation’s history, literally 13 hours of hell on earth.

And despite liberals trying to bury this story, millions of Americans will take the facts of Benghazi and Hillary Clinton’s lies with them to the polling booths.

On Sept. 11, 2012, Islamic militants launched an organized attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya. Attackers set fire to buildings and launched mortar rounds at the CIA compound, killing U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens, Information Officer Sean Smith, and two CIA operatives, Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods, former Navy Seals.

In my opinion, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are guilty of not only refusing to provide military assistance, but for attempting to cover up the details.

Outmanned and certainly outgunned, Ambassador Stevens was said to have retreated to a place security officers called a “safe area” during the first round of attacks. But apparently it was anything but safe.

Outside a crowd of angry militants gathered, banging on the fortified safety gate of the bunker-like villa. Multiple news agencies reported the complex was doused with diesel fuel and an immense fire was started, trapping Ambassador Stevens and Sean Smith inside.

Ambassador Stevens and Sean Smith died in this first round of attacks.

CIA timeline provided to the Washington Post and other news organizations confirms Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods were attempting to defend the area from the roof of the CIA facility.

Doherty and Woods were killed in the second round of attacks, reportedly seven hours after the White House was initially notified.

According to the Select Committee on Benghazi report, no military assets were sent to Benghazi and nothing was en route to Libya at the time the last two Americans were killed almost eight hours after the attacks had begun.

Following the attack, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and surrogates fiercely condemned an “inflammatory” viral video multiple times for inciting the attack and even spent a reported $70,000 on television ads in Pakistan condemning it.

But the Obama administration knew these were terrorist attacks on the consulate and for several days continued to falsely blame the video. Many, including myself, believe it simply didn’t fit the Obama narrative that Osama bin Laden had been killed and Al Qaeda had been “decimated” under his watch.

Hillary Clinton’s actions as Secretary of State betray her heart when it comes to America.

MONICA 3

For you see, it wasn’t Obama’s legacy with which she was concerned, it was hers. And facts be damned when it comes to her vying for the presidency.

Hillary refused to take action to save American lives.

And actions speak so much louder than words, don’t they.

Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

Mark Caserta: Politicians must learn to put people ahead of politics, power

7 Oct

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Mark Caserta: Free State Patriot Editor

Barack Obama

Last week, I asked the question, “After eight long years of Obama, are you better off?”

For anyone willing to be intellectually honest, the question was a rhetorical one. Frankly, our nation has never been in worse condition. Yet, from the bowels of the progressive prevaricators, we received a deluge of rebuttal.

Liberals leveraging their lexicon of lies continue to try to convince hurting Americans not only are they better off, but frankly should be happy the “anointed one” rode in on his golf cart in 2008 to rescue them from supervillain “Gru” W. Bush and his little red minions.

But, for those just now paying attention to the upcoming election, let’s look at the facts.

Jobs are arguably the primary indicator for our economy, and their availability is “deplorable.”

Liberal Democrats have consistently tried to mislead Americans into believing the job situation is improving when in fact it’s growing increasingly worse. The Obama administration continues to exploit bogus unemployment numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

Most people don’t realize the ambiguity of the unemployment numbers. These statistics aren’t derived by actually counting unemployed individuals. They’re gathered from a survey called the Current Population Survey (CPS).

Each month, the government conducts the CPS by contacting 60,000 eligible sample households and asking about their “labor force activities” (job holding and job seeking) or non-labor force status of the household’s members. These interviews are supposedly conducted either in person or over the phone. The survey responses are then “weighted,” or adjusted to independent population estimates from the Census Bureau, for the final estimates.

The malleability of these statistics is troubling, especially leading up to this presidential election!

And the current unemployment rate of 4.9 percent is inaccurate since it drops from the equation those who are currently neither working nor looking for work. The U-6 total unemployed number reported by the BLS is actually 9.7 percent. But I believe it’s much higher.

Even this number doesn’t account for individuals driven from their 40-hour work week by Obamacare’s employer mandate and are working multiple jobs to survive.

Furthermore, our nation’s labor force participation rate, at 62.8 percent, is at a 38-year low with a record 94.7 million Americans out of the labor force, according to the BLS.

In December 2008, before the coronation of Barack Hussein Obama, the number was 65.8 percent.

It gets worse.

The real median household income for the United States has decreased from $57,211 in 2008 to $53,657 in 2014. And with soaring prices, even this number isn’t comparing apples to apples.

Tragically, nearly 45 million people are now participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program compared to 30 million pre-Obama, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Even so, liberal Democrats tell us we’re better off.

We need honest leaders, with business acumen, who know how to create good-paying jobs.

But they must first be willing to put people ahead of politics and power.

Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

Mark Caserta: After eight long years of Obama, are you better off?

30 Sep

Well, the president says you are.

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Mark Caserta: Free State Patriot Editor

9.30.16

lie 2

 

The Obama administration has been at our nation’s helm for nearly eight years. So, are you any better off after two presidential terms of liberal policies?

Well, Barack Obama says you are.

In his speech at the recent Democrat convention in Philadelphia, the president spoke of his efforts to end the war in Iraq and bring justice to those who would terrorize the American people.

“We brought more of our troops home to their families, and we delivered justice to Osama bin Laden,” the president said before supporters. He went on to suggest that “through diplomacy,” he was able to shut down Iran’s nuclear weapons program.

Yet, as reported by many news publications, including the New York Times, the United States has re-deployed as many as 560 more troops to Iraq to help retake Mosul from ISIS. I believe this is only the beginning of a much-needed surge to retake areas lost due to Obama’s telegraphed exit of Iraq.

And as far as Osama bin Laden’s death, do you feel any safer?

FBI Director James Comey has repeatedly told Americans he has over a thousand “ISIS related” investigations ongoing in all 50 states. And we recently saw what I believe was a “test run” of coordinated attacks on the U.S. with the bombings in New York and New Jersey and the recent stabbing spree in a Minnesota mall.

Does anyone really believe the timeline of these attacks was simply coincidence? We must prepare for them on a larger scale.

And the president’s negotiations with Iran have far from “shut down” Iran’s nuclear program.

Not only has Obama helped fund Iran’s nuclear armament, his timid approach has emboldened Iranian leaders to “thumb their noses” at the U.S. and test launch nuclear-capable missiles in defiance of a United Nation Security Council resolution, as reported in a March 2016 column in Reuters.

In his speech, Obama also told Americans, “By many measures, our country is stronger and more prosperous than it was when we started.”

This president has a unique interpretation of success. Take Obamacare for example.

But as we’ve seen, Obamacare is collapsing beneath its own weight of false promises and impotent planning.

As reported in a Heritage Foundation column written by Edmund F. Haislmaier, senior research fellow for the Health Policy Studies Center, Affordable Care Act Exchange participation by insurers continues to decline. He writes there are now 287 exchange-participating insurers, compared with 307 in 2015. Major insurers like Aetna and UnitedHealth Group have already made plans to abandon the president’s failing initiative.

And premiums have gone through the roof for many fortunate enough to still have coverage!

Progressive policies have caused the U.S. to decline in nearly every single metric. And we are surely no better off under liberal rule.

Hillary Clinton brings the exact same package to the presidency – only worse.

Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.