Joel B. Pollak

Joel B. Pollak - Page 281

Articles by Joel B. Pollak

Royce: Iran Deal Violates Congress’s Conditions

Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, reacted to the nuclear deal reached with Iran in Vienna on Tuesday morning by warning that the terms of the deal violated the conditions laid down by 367 members of Congress in a letter earlier this year.

Ed Royce (Win McNamee / Getty)

Iran Deal: 5 Scenarios, from Rainbows to Doomsday

On Tuesday, world powers reached a nuclear agreement with Iran after nearly two years of intense talks, and a decade of confrontation. U.S. President Barack Obama hailed the deal, and threatened to veto any attempt to stop it. The Iranian regime, too, celebrated it as a victory for diplomacy. Israel, meanwhile, panned a “terrible deal” and a “mistake of historic proportions.” So who is right?

Quds Day (Atta Kenare / Getty)

A ‘Terrible Deal’: Nuclear Agreement Reached with Iran

While President Barack Obama claimed that the deal will prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, and European Union leaders hailed a “new chapter in international relations,” Israeli leaders said that the deal will guarantee the emergence of a nuclear Iran. One Israeli opposition leader said: “We thought it was a bad deal, but it is in fact a terrible deal.” Indeed, the deal is weaker than the provisional arrangement the White House announced this past April.

SWITZERLAND-IRAN-US-NUCLEAR

Obama Writes Personal Letters to 46 Felons; No Contact with Kathryn Steinle’s Family

Nearly two weeks after 32-year-old Kathryn Steinle was murdered on San Francisco’s Pier 14 by an illegal alien and convicted felon who was released from prison earlier this year, President Barack Obama has failed to contact the victim’s family or mention her in public. Yet Obama took the time to write (and release) 46 personal letters this month to felons imprisoned for non-violent drug offenses whose sentences he has commuted.

Obama papers (Brendan Smialowski / AFP / Getty)

Full Fisking: Hillary Clinton’s Economy Speech

Former Secretary of State and U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic Party nominee for president in 2016 laid out her proposed economic policy in an address to the left-leaning New School for Social Research in New York on Monday.

Hillary Weird (Jewel Samad / Getty)

Millennial Shock: Hillary to Attack Uber, Airbnb, ‘Sharing Economy’

In a speech laying out her economic policy, Hillary Clinton is set to attack companies like Uber and Airbnb in the “sharing economy” or “contractor economy,” arguing that such companies undercut wages. Her proposed alternative is to use government regulations to guide economic activity. Previews of her speech have set off alarm bells in Silicon Valley, and are sure to surprise millennial consumers, whose loyalty to the Democratic Party has has largely been blind, and who presumed that the party of government shared their love for technology.

hillary clinton sunglasses blackberry Kevin Lamarque AP

AP: Iran Deal to Be Announced Monday

The Associated Press reports that world powers will announce a formal deal with Iran in Vienna on Monday. Though there are still minor details to be finalized, the two diplomats who spoke to the AP confirmed that a deal will be reached, though they “cautioned that final details of the pact were still being worked out and a formal agreement still awaits a review from the capitals of the seven nations at the talks.”

Javad Zarif laughs at you (Carlos Barria / AFP / Getty)

Manhunt in Mexico: Cartel Boss Guzmán Escapes Max Prison

Mexican authorities have undertaken a desperate manhunt for former Sinaloa drug cartel boss Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán after he escaped from the Altiplano maximum security prison near Mexico City. It was the second time Guzmán escaped from prison; the first was in 2001.

Guzman escape (Yuri Cortez / AFP / Getty)

Netanyahu Slams Obama, West for Violating More ‘Red Lines’ in Iran Deal

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued an angry warning Sunday about an impending nuclear deal between the world’s major powers and Iran, as negotiators drew close to a final agreement on Sunday. “We will not pay the price for this,” Netanyahu said, in a statement recalling the manner in which the West had abandoned Czechoslovakia to the Nazi regime at the Munich negotiations in 1938.

Benjamin Bibi Netanyahu (Gali Tibbon / AFP / Getty)

Kathryn Steinle, 32, Killed by Illegal Alien, Laid to Rest

Kathryn Steinle, the young woman killed last week by an illegal alien and convicted felon while she walked with her family on San Francisco’s Pier 14, was laid to rest in her home town of Pleasanton, California on Thursday.

Steinle funeral (Associated Press)

Iran Balks at Nuclear Deal on ‘Quds Day’; Obama Still at the Table

Diplomats at nuclear talks in Vienna failed to reach an expected deal on Friday, as Iran balked at signing an agreement with the Western powers on “Quds Day,” an annual day of virulent protest against the U.S. and Israel that the Iranian regime stages throughout the world.

Quds Day (Atta Kenare / Getty)

Convicted Felon Leads Obama-Backed Effort to Lobby for Iran Deal

A convicted felon who went to federal prison in 2006-7 is leading a White-House backed effort to lobby Congress to pass whatever nuclear deal emerges from ongoing talks with Iran in Vienna. Robert Creamer, who served time for fraud and tax charges, and who is married to Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), is coordinating pro-Iran efforts through the liberal Ploughshares group, which held a conference call with President Barack Obama’s aides earlier this week, as reported by Adam Kredo of the Washington Free Beacon.

Robert Creamer (Twitter)

Hillary on Emails: ‘I Didn’t Have to Turn over Anything’

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told CNN’s Brianna Keilar that she had been fully compliant with all relevant laws and regulations regarding her email during her service in the Obama administration, despite using a private email address, maintaining a private server at her New York home, selecting which emails to turn over for archival purposes, and deleting the rest.

hillaryemail

Iran Laughs at Obama: Wants Arms Sanctions Lifted, Too

As the list of Western concessions to the Iranian regime continues to grow, Iran is demanding the lifting of a worldwide arms embargo as a condition of any nuclear deal. Thus far, the U.S. is resisting, but Russia and China have already agreed in part.

Javad Zarif laughs at you (Carlos Barria / AFP / Getty)

‘San Francisco: It’s the New Rome.’

“San Francisco: It’s the New Rome.” That’s the anonymous comment overheard by Politico’s Mike Allen–or one of his sources–at the Aspen Ideas Festival, the summer gathering of the nation’s intellectual elite (and the people with enough money to be seen with them). It is an acknowledgment of the city’s new power–and its decadence.

Bay Bridge San Francisco (Frank Schulenburg / Flickr / CC / Cropped)

1776-2015: Is Our Revolution Dead?

July 4th marks the climax of the American Revolution, remembered with fireworks, family, and fun. But this year, there are three other revolutions that overshadow our own. The first is the French Revolution. Unlike the Americans, who preserved their religious

AP Photo/The Salt Lake Tribune, Scott Sommerdorf

Blue State Blues: Trump Understands the American Consumer–So the Media Hate Him

Trump is selling opposition politics to Americans who, rich or poor, enjoy greater power as consumers than they ever will as voters. The media do not understand consumer behavior, which is why so many outlets have failed. But Trump “gets it”: his companies not only provide value for investors, but good service to customers.

Blue State Blues (Breitbart)

No H8: Clarence Thomas Is a ‘Clown in Blackface,’ Says Gay Activist Takei

Star Trek celebrity and gay marriage activist George Takei told a Phoenix news station Monday that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is a “clown in blackface.” Takei was referring to Thomas’s recent dissent in Obergefell v. Hodges, the 5-4 decision in which the Supreme Court found that there is a “fundamental” right to same-sex marriage in the Constitution. “He is a clown in black face sitting on the Supreme Court. He gets me that angry. He doesn’t belong there,” Takei said.

George Takei No H8 (NoH8Campaign.com)

Report: Obama Administration Failed to Debrief American Freed from Cuba

The Obama administration has yet to question American Alan Gross about his lengthy imprisonment in Cuba–six months after he returned home in a prisoner swap that set the stage for full normalization of U.S.-Cuban relations this week, the Daily Beast reports. Though Gross spent more than five years in a Cuban prison, and could potentially provide valuable intelligence on the regime, as well as information about political prisoners, the Obama administration showed no interest.

Alan Gross (Brendan Smialowski / Getty)

Obama is Iran’s Best Negotiator (Updated)

Deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes–who lacks any prior qualifications for the post–has explained to the Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg at the Aspen Ideas Festival on Monday that the administration believes that a bad Iran deal is worth doing because political reform inside the Iranian regime is more likely with the deal than without. Or, to use Rhodes’s own words: “We believe that the kiss of the nuke deal will turn the Iranian frog into a handsome prince.”

Obama and Ben Rhodes (Reuters)

After Epic Week, Liberals Celebrate Obama’s Place in History

President Barack Obama’s poll numbers are surging, and for the usual reason: the left is happy. After a week in which the Supreme Court upheld Obamacare (again) and established same-sex marriage as a “fundamental right”; in which final negotiations on

Obama child statue (Associated Press)

Posner’s Brainless Assault on Gay Marriage Dissenters

Judge Richard Posner writes at Slate.com that the dissent by Chief Justice John Roberts in the gay marriage case is “heartless.” It is a false charge, and part of the effort to shame opposing views–about which Justice Samuel Alito warned in his own dissent.

REUTERS/JOSHUA ROBERTS

No, Obama–The Charleston Murderer Was Not Being ‘Used by God’

President Barack Obama delivered a stirring eulogy Friday for the Rev. Clementa Pinckney and eight others who were murdered in their church earlier this month by a white racist who hoped his act of terror would ignite a racial war. The first part of Obama’s remarks were a fitting and inspiring tribute to the victim, whom he knew personally. The second half was a regrettably political speech that exploited the pulpit for partisan ends–and claimed the murderer had been “used by God.”

The Associated Press

Worse than Obamacare: Housing Case Lets Feds Target ‘Unconscious’ Racism

In the Obamacare case, the Court pretended to know what was really in the minds of legislators in spite of their explicit words (and evidence of their actual intent). In Texas Housing, the Court has ruled that the federal government can decide what is really in the minds of ordinary people, whether they intend to discriminate or not.

Anthony Kennedy (Win McNamee / Getty)

California Pensions Move Closer to Divesting from Coal

California’s pension funds moved one step closer to divesting from coal on Wednesday, with an Assembly committee approving SB 185 bill by a 5-1 vote. The bill, which has passed the state Senate, moves to the floor for a vote. It is likely to pass, and Gov.Jerry Brown is likely to sign it into law, though he has opposed measures to ban fracking for oil in the state.

The Associated Press

Petraeus, Former Obama Advisers Reject Iran Deal

Several former advisers to President Barack Obama have rejected the likely terms of a nuclear deal with Iran, adding their names to an open letter that declares: “The agreement will not prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapons capability.”

Obama Petraeus (Mark Wilson / Getty)

Lawyers Grumble as Brown Appoints Another Young Obama Yalie to Bench

California lawyers are complaining after Gov. Jerry Brown announced the appointment of yet another young Yale Law School graduate with little more than Obama administration experience to the state’s appellate bench. “Baker is only 37 years old and has no judicial experience. So, he would be a typical Brown appointee to the appellate bench,” wrote legal columnist Roger M. Grace in the Metropolitan News-Enterprise in December 2014–an opinion he has since reiterated.

AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills

When Freed Slaves Cheered the Confederate Flag: A Cautionary Note

The Confederate flag was once cheered by thousands of freed slaves. It happened in 1863, when the CSS Alabama caught a Union ship off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa. The spectacle was so thrilling to the locals, particularly the Malay and

CSS Alabama (Wikipedia)

Hillary Clinton Confederate Flag Merchandise Surfaces on eBay

Hillary Clinton has managed to avoid any questions about the Confederate flag, even as her Republican rivals have faced a media onslaught since the murder of nine black congregants by a racist white gunman in a Charleston church last week. Vintage

Hillary Clinton Confederate flag (Screenshot / rocnydeals / eBay)

Nikki Haley Leaves the Door Open for Democrats’ War on History

Haley left a door ajar that the left intends to prop wide open, from now until Election Day and beyond. Emboldened by South Carolina’s quick shift—on an issue that was tangential to the horrific atrocity in Charleston—the left is eager to mount a continued campaign against the Confederacy and its symbols.

Nikki Haley Confederate flag (Joe Raedle / Getty)