A Keynesian argument for defense spending? Really? Aren't you better than that?
On Friday, August 17, 2012, Beowulf wrote: > ** > > > *Norquist Repudiates Romney-Ryan on Defense* > > Posted By *Frank Gaffney* On August 17, 2012 **** > > On Monday, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his running > mate, Rep. Paul Ryan, were sharply criticized over their commitment to > reverse massive budget cuts Team Obama is making at the expense of our > military capabilities and national security.**** > > What made this attack notable – and potentially very damaging to the GOP > standard-bearers – is that it came, not from the Democrats, but from a > prominent Republican political operative, Grover Norquist. It is hard to > see how his contention that Messrs. Romney and Ryan can’t be trusted to > spend wisely on defense will help anybody but their opponents.**** > > In > remarks<http://www.c-span.org/Events/Grover-Norquist-Discusses-Role-of-Taxes-in-National-Security/10737433053/>to > the bipartisan Center for the National Interest, Norquist threw > down the > gauntlet<http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/08/13/grover_norquist_ryan_romney_wrong_on_defense_budgets>to > the Republican ticket. He declared he would fight defense spending > increases, or even relief from the next, debilitating round of cuts. These > amount to a further half-a-trillion dollars in across-the-board cuts over > ten years under what has been called a “doomsday mechanism” known on > Capitol Hill as “sequestration.” What makes matters much worse is that > these cuts come on top of nearly $800 billion in Pentagon budget reductions > already in the pipeline – a fact the anti-tax activist studiously ignores. > **** > > For a guy whose ostensible expertise is domestic economic matters, it is > doubly surprising that Grover Norquist fails to recognize another > disastrous effect these enormous reductions in defense spending will have – > on employment and communities all over the country. Estimates run as high > as 1 million jobs lost and $59 billion in direct lost earnings and $86.4 > billion in gross state product in the first year alone. (For a detailed > analysis of the impact by congressional district, see the Defense Breakdown > Reports at > www.FortheCommonDefense.org/reports<http://www.forthecommondefense.org/reports> > .)**** > > What Norquist did do, however, is directly take on the GOP ticket by > opining that “Other people need to lead the argument on how can > conservatives lead a fight to have a serious national defense without > wasting money,” Norquist said. “I wouldn’t ask Ryan to be the reformer of > the defense establishment.”**** > > The question occurs: Just who does Grover Norquist think would be better > suited to be stewards of the “defense establishment” and the national > security it is charged with providing? Having no expertise on these matters > himself, in whom does he have more confidence than the people the > Republican Party hopes will lead this nation for the next four years?**** > > Based on Grover Norquist’s past history advising the last Republican > administration (see > www.MuslimBrotherhoodinAmerica.com<http://www.muslimbrotherhoodinamerica.com/>), > several candidates come to mind, as noted in this CSPAN interview with > moderate Muslim Stephen Suleyman > Schwartz<http://www.booknotes.org/Watch/173871-1/Stephen+Schwartz.aspx> > :**** > > - Abdurahman Alamoudi: Alamoudi is a top Muslim Brotherhood operative > and al Qaeda financier with whom Grover Norquist joined forces in 1998 to > launch a Brotherhood front called the Islamic Free Market Institute. > Alamoudi’s purpose was, with Norquist’s considerable help, to run influence > operations inside the conservative movement and Republican circles, > including notably the George W. Bush 2000 presidential campaign. Alamoudi > should be available to help reorder our defenses as he is currently serving > hard time in Supermax on terrorism-related charges.**** > > > - Sami al-Arian: Al-Arian also went to federal prison, in his case for > running a designated terrorist organization, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, > from his professor’s office at the University of South Florida. But not > before Grover Norquist helped him meet with Candidate Bush in March 2000 > and subsequently extract from Mr. Bush a public commitment that, if > elected, he would work to eliminate a key counter-terrorism tool: the > confidential use of classified information in deportation proceedings > against illegal aliens (like al-Arian’s brother-in-law, Mazen al-Najjar) so > as to protect such intelligence from compromise.**** > > > - Nihad Awad: The co-founder of an aggressive Muslim Brotherhood front > and Hamas fund-raising vehicle, the Council on American Islamic Relations > (CAIR) also benefitted from Norquist’s help in gaining access to and > running influence operations against the Bush ’43 team. CAIR was listed in > 2008 as an unindicted co-conspirator in the criminal prosecution of the > Holy Land Foundation on charges of providing material for terrorism.*** > * > > > - Muzammil Siddiqi: To conclude this partial listing, Grover Norquist > could surely also call for assistance on Siddiqi, yet another top Muslim > Brotherhood leader and an influential Islamist cleric. After all, Siddiqi > owes him: Norquist aided in securing for him the role of representative of > the Muslim faith at the national ecumenical 9/11 memorial service on > September 14, 2001. The Norquist-Alamoudi team also arranged later that > month for Siddiqi to present President Bush with a Quran on the occasion of > a private meeting at the White House. Such legitimation advanced > considerably the subversive agenda Siddiqi and his comrades pursued as part > of what they call “civilization jihad” against America.**** > > Or perhaps Grover Norquist would turn to people like Trita Parsi, who even > the state-controlled Iranian media have depicted as part of the “Iran > Lobby” in America. He certainly did > before<http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/11/grover_norquist_and_the_iran_lobby.html>: > In 2007, Norquist created with the help of his Palestinian-American wife, > Samah, an anti-defense group called the American Conservative Defense > Alliance (ACDA). (Samah served on ACDA’s board of directors and as its > corporate secretary). And ACDA, in turn, was a founder of the Campaign for > a New American Policy on Iran (CNAPI). ACDA’s address was that of > Norquist’s ATR group, where CNAPI meetings were also held.**** > > By 2008, CNAPI’s coalition was made up of more than 40 groups including: > Parsi’s National Iranian American Council (NIAC), CAIR and other Islamists; > many George Soros-funded radical leftist groups; and the Norquists’ vehicle > for undermining the conservative stance on national security, ACDA. Their > common goals: to eliminate U.S. support for the democracy activists opposed > to the Tehran regime, to block economic sanctions and to prevent any > military action.**** > > All these Norquist allies could, of course, be relied upon to back him in > pressing for substantial cuts in U.S. defense expenditures. They would > presumably be happy, as Norquist put it Monday night, to join him in > getting “the Republican Party…[to] reexamine the actual defense needs and > then work from there to determine how much to spend.”**** > > To be sure, a reexamination of those requirements as defined by Barack > Obama is in order. And our defense needs should indeed determine the > resources applied to meet them. But the nation – and most especially the > Romney-Ryan campaign – can ill-afford to take advice from Grover Norquist > and his friends, especially as it would obviously be predicated on > dramatically reducing such military requirements. It would also have the > practical effect of making Obama’s ravaging of the nation’s defenses seem > responsible.**** > > At issue is not so much whether this Islamist-tied libertarian trusts Mitt > Romney and Paul Ryan to manage the nation’s national security needs. What > we need to know is whether the GOP candidates trust Grover Norquist – and > will they henceforth open their doors to him and the bad company he keeps? > **** > > *Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: Click > here<http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=david+horowitz&rh=n%3A133140011%2Ck%3Adavid+horowitz&ajr=0#/ref=sr_st?keywords=david+horowitz&qid=1316459840&rh=n%3A133140011%2Ck%3Adavid+horowitz&sort=daterank> > .***** > ------------------------------ > > Article printed from FrontPage Magazine: *http://frontpagemag.com***** > > URL to article: * > http://frontpagemag.com/2012/frank-gaffney/norquist-repudiates-romney-ryan-on-defense/ > ***** > > ** ** > > __._,_.___ > Reply to sender | Reply to group | Start a New > Topic<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/grendelreport/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJmbTQwY2poBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNudHBjBHN0aW1lAzEzNDUyMTU4Nzc-> > Recent Activity: > > > Visit Your > Group<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/grendelreport;_ylc=X3oDMTJmb2Q2c3R1BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDdnRsBHNsawN2Z2hwBHN0aW1lAzEzNDUyMTU4Nzc-> > [image: Yahoo! > Groups]<http://groups.yahoo.com/;_ylc=X3oDMTJlbGZxM2M3BF9TAzk3NDc2NTkwBGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNnZnAEc3RpbWUDMTM0NTIxNTg3Nw--> > Switch to: Text-Only, Daily Digest • Unsubscribe • Terms of > Use<http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/> > . > > __,_._,___ > -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. 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