Opinion: Perhaps the best salient point ever

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In case you were wondering who most of us are dealing with as the leader of the free world, consider this passage from the Wall Street Journal last week: “In the 1944 film ‘Gaslight,’ a con artist manipulates his new wife psychologically to make her doubt her own sanity in a scheme to steal her inheritance. That’s increasingly the way to understand President (Barack) Obama ’s behavior toward Congress and especially the tax increase he floated in Tuesday’s State of the Union (Address). The only plausible rationale is that he thinks he can gain politically by driving Republicans nuts. Mr. Obama’s income-redistribution themes are familiar, though they are amusingly detached from the reality of the largest GOP majority in Congress since 1949. To Republicans who listened agog, remember: “It’s not about you; it’s about him.” Brilliant! Could it possibly be any clearer?

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Also, consider this: Obama in one corner, a potential two-thirds Senate majority opposed to his position on Iran in the other. This could be good (or bad) theatre. In his State of the Union Address last week, the president said he would veto sanctions on Iran, because they “will all but guarantee that diplomacy fails, alienating America from its allies, and ensuring that Iran starts up its nuclear program again.” Twelve Democrats in the Senate previously co-sponsored legislation for sanctions. If that continues, the Senate would be so close to a majority that it would take one additional vote to seal it – if all 54 Republicans stand behind it. Keep in mind the president has vetoed only two bills in six years; neither was overridden. Keep watching.

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Lest you believe Hillary Rodham Clinton doesn’t favor her connections in the banking world, she recently delivered a speech co-hosted by the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. Yes, it’s the same bank that is being investigated by the United States for helping wealthy Americans stash money in the bank’s Caribbean accounts to avoid paying federal taxes. Some might call that unmitigated gall. We’re among the “some.”


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