Sunday, August 31, 2014
Saturday, August 30, 2014
GUEST COLUMN: Newspapers are still here and still making money
By Caroline Little
Guest columnist
The sky is always falling and newspapers are always dying.
For more than a decade, that has been a common and constant refrain. While working at washingtonpost.com, the Guardian US, and now, the Newspaper Association of America, I have been asked frequently about the state of the industry as people search for the worst.
Though newspaper media is enjoying the largest audiences ever as well as continuing to play a unique and critical role in our communities, there is one fact that always tends to be obscured or outright ignored — newspapers are still making money and newspapers remain a good investment.
A year ago at this time, John Henry and Jeff Bezos made high-profile acquisitions of The Boston Globe and The Washington Post, respectively, which confirmed that newspapers are viable investment options with the ability to grow. Earlier this month, The Washington Post announced record web traffic for July as well as hiring more than 60 people in the first seven months of the year.
A company hiring 60 people in seven months sounds like a healthy one to me.
This summer, the newspaper industry has seen a wave of spin-offs, with Tribune and Gannett both forming publishing-only companies. E.W. Scripps and Journal Communications spun their combined publications off into a new company, Journal Media Group. This is an exciting time for the newspaper industry as these companies will now devote their undivided attention to their publications.
However, as with the investments last year, these spin-offs have been spun into more gloom and doom for the industry. It is simply not accurate.
In fact, buried in the depths of one particular article that signaled the death of newspapers is this gem of a sentence: “Newspapers continue to generate cash and solid earnings.” Think about that for a moment — an industry that generates cash and solid earnings is on its death bed? I refuse to accept that.
What is true is our industry’s business model has changed dramatically in the past half-dozen years. In 2007, 80 percent of newspaper media revenue was generated from advertising. In 2013, less than half of total revenue (46 percent) was from advertising in the daily and Sunday print newspaper. Revenue from readers paying for print and digital news and information accounted for nearly three out of 10 revenue dollar, up from less than two in 10 in 2007. Income from new, non-traditional sources is now rising rapidly.
What is also true is that the public’s thirst for news keeps rising.
Data from the digital measurement firm comScore show that 161 million people visited newspaper websites in the month of March. We are witnessing audience increases across the country, from the aforementioned Washington Post to The Times-Picayune, which announced 5.6 million unique visitors to NOLA.com this July.
There is more demand than ever for news and journalism. There are also more competitors. There was no BuzzFeed or Facebook or Huffington Post 15 years ago. New digital channels offer consumers a dazzling array of options, all of which compete for time and attention. And advertisers face challenges in trying to catch up to these fragmenting audiences.
In my three years as CEO of NAA, I have witnessed an amazing transformation. Newspaper companies look drastically different in 2014 compared to 2011. There has been an increased focused on digital properties. Newspaper reporters and columnists have taken advantage of Twitter to build brands and large readerships. Innovation on the design side has led to beautiful works of long-form journalism include “The Unforgotten” by the Boston Globe and “Breaking Ball” from The Wall Street Journal that ran in July. Newspaper companies are using the power of their brands to create new, non-traditional streams of revenues from event hosting to digital marketing.
The evolution of the newspaper industry continues every day. The explosion of mobile readership thanks to smartphones and tablets have caused newspapers to create new mobile strategies. There is increasing demand from readers for more targeted content, which has given rise to niche sites and blogs developed by newspapers devoted to special areas of interest, such as food, high school sports and fashion.
For me and many in the newspaper industry, it is a fascinating and exhilarating time. We are in the midst a dramatic, historic shift for an industry that has been around as long as the United States of America.
The world has changed and newspapers have changed. The notion of what a newspaper company is should change for the general public. It is no longer simply about print. It is about all platforms. People don’t think, “I’m reading the newspaper” when scrolling through nytimes.com but they should.
Despite all the changes, one thing remains the same — newspapers still make money.
Caroline H. Little is president and CEO of the Newspaper Association of America, the industry’s largest trade organization.
Guest columnist
The sky is always falling and newspapers are always dying.
For more than a decade, that has been a common and constant refrain. While working at washingtonpost.com, the Guardian US, and now, the Newspaper Association of America, I have been asked frequently about the state of the industry as people search for the worst.
Though newspaper media is enjoying the largest audiences ever as well as continuing to play a unique and critical role in our communities, there is one fact that always tends to be obscured or outright ignored — newspapers are still making money and newspapers remain a good investment.
A year ago at this time, John Henry and Jeff Bezos made high-profile acquisitions of The Boston Globe and The Washington Post, respectively, which confirmed that newspapers are viable investment options with the ability to grow. Earlier this month, The Washington Post announced record web traffic for July as well as hiring more than 60 people in the first seven months of the year.
A company hiring 60 people in seven months sounds like a healthy one to me.
This summer, the newspaper industry has seen a wave of spin-offs, with Tribune and Gannett both forming publishing-only companies. E.W. Scripps and Journal Communications spun their combined publications off into a new company, Journal Media Group. This is an exciting time for the newspaper industry as these companies will now devote their undivided attention to their publications.
However, as with the investments last year, these spin-offs have been spun into more gloom and doom for the industry. It is simply not accurate.
In fact, buried in the depths of one particular article that signaled the death of newspapers is this gem of a sentence: “Newspapers continue to generate cash and solid earnings.” Think about that for a moment — an industry that generates cash and solid earnings is on its death bed? I refuse to accept that.
What is true is our industry’s business model has changed dramatically in the past half-dozen years. In 2007, 80 percent of newspaper media revenue was generated from advertising. In 2013, less than half of total revenue (46 percent) was from advertising in the daily and Sunday print newspaper. Revenue from readers paying for print and digital news and information accounted for nearly three out of 10 revenue dollar, up from less than two in 10 in 2007. Income from new, non-traditional sources is now rising rapidly.
What is also true is that the public’s thirst for news keeps rising.
Data from the digital measurement firm comScore show that 161 million people visited newspaper websites in the month of March. We are witnessing audience increases across the country, from the aforementioned Washington Post to The Times-Picayune, which announced 5.6 million unique visitors to NOLA.com this July.
There is more demand than ever for news and journalism. There are also more competitors. There was no BuzzFeed or Facebook or Huffington Post 15 years ago. New digital channels offer consumers a dazzling array of options, all of which compete for time and attention. And advertisers face challenges in trying to catch up to these fragmenting audiences.
In my three years as CEO of NAA, I have witnessed an amazing transformation. Newspaper companies look drastically different in 2014 compared to 2011. There has been an increased focused on digital properties. Newspaper reporters and columnists have taken advantage of Twitter to build brands and large readerships. Innovation on the design side has led to beautiful works of long-form journalism include “The Unforgotten” by the Boston Globe and “Breaking Ball” from The Wall Street Journal that ran in July. Newspaper companies are using the power of their brands to create new, non-traditional streams of revenues from event hosting to digital marketing.
The evolution of the newspaper industry continues every day. The explosion of mobile readership thanks to smartphones and tablets have caused newspapers to create new mobile strategies. There is increasing demand from readers for more targeted content, which has given rise to niche sites and blogs developed by newspapers devoted to special areas of interest, such as food, high school sports and fashion.
For me and many in the newspaper industry, it is a fascinating and exhilarating time. We are in the midst a dramatic, historic shift for an industry that has been around as long as the United States of America.
The world has changed and newspapers have changed. The notion of what a newspaper company is should change for the general public. It is no longer simply about print. It is about all platforms. People don’t think, “I’m reading the newspaper” when scrolling through nytimes.com but they should.
Despite all the changes, one thing remains the same — newspapers still make money.
Caroline H. Little is president and CEO of the Newspaper Association of America, the industry’s largest trade organization.
Friday, August 29, 2014
Guest Column: The U.S. interest in Cyprus: ‘Trust, but verify’
Guest columnist
In the past two months, we have witnessed unprecedented engagement on the Cyprus issue by the Obama Administration, namely, Vice President Joe Biden. I have never seen anything like it in my 27 years of advocating for Cyprus with the American Hellenic Institute. The vice president’s visit to Cyprus was historic. It was the first time in 52 years a sitting vice president visited there.
Folks who follow the Cyprus issue know Biden is no stranger to Cyprus. He is probably the most well-educated and well-versed public official on the nuances of the Cyprus issue. For this result, credit must be given to the Greek American community’s grassroots.
Without Biden’s strong support through the many years as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations committee (along with Sen. Paul Sarbanes) who knows where this issue would be today. Furthermore, we certainly would not have been as successful in having Congress impose an arms embargo on Turkey immediately following Turkey’s invasion were it not for his assistance at the time.
This year, Cyprus received high-level visits from U.S. Department of State Assistant Secretary Victoria Nuland in February; and just two weeks ago, on the heels of the vice president’s visit, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Amanda Sloat and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and NATO Policy James Townsend.
What does all this mean?
The only plausible explanation is that Cyprus now has the potential to be a major energy supplier for Europe and beyond. This is a game changer. However, as long as the Cyprus issue remains
unresolved, it will compromise how this energy will be fully developed, and more importantly, how it will be exported. Biden underscored this point when he spoke at the 2014 Clergy Laity Congress in Philadelphia. He said: “The exciting discoveries of natural gas and oil offshore in Cyprus and Israel, as well as potential discoveries in Greece and Lebanon, have an opportunity to position the region as a global energy hub, and we have no bones about it from the very beginning. And under international law, Cyprus owns access to these valuable fields within the region.”
But exporting it out of the region is important. The United States and others would prefer that it be piped through Turkey. This will never happen because it would have to go through Cyprus’s Economic Exclusive Zone (EEZ) and without a settlement, it’s a non-starter. Therefore, energy has been the number one catalyst for increased U.S. engagement, making Cyprus a strategic partner of the U.S.
In Philadelphia, Biden added: “…Cyprus … has become a genuine, strategic partner. That’s what’s basically changed; it’s become a genuinely strategic partner of the USA.”
For the United States to benefit fully from this strategic relationship Cyprus needs to be free and united. A settlement must be reached that is just and viable, incorporating the norms of democratic principles. The United States can go a long way to make it happen. The vice president has started.
In Cyprus, he stated: “The matter of the fact is that the Government of Turkey, in my view, is coming to understand, not for any noble reasons, but for practical reasons, that the status quo on the island does not benefit them economically, militarily and politically. And there is significant potential benefit for Turkey in a bizonal, bicommunal federation.”
Biden’s remarks at the Clergy-Laity Congress demonstrated his further, active engagement on the issues. There, he stated he raised the issues in conversations with Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan. There, he also stated publicly that Turkish troops should be removed from Cyprus. “I opened up and made clear the U.S. position that although it was a Cypriot negotiation, there was and is and can only be one government, one Cypriot, Greek Cypriot government, on the island, with no Turkish troops on the island,” he said.
In the past, Turkey has manipulated the negotiations through the Turkish Cypriot leader. Turkey’s interests on Cyprus are not the same of the people of Cyprus. Unfortunately, not much progress has been made as evidenced by the lack of movement on confidence-building measures. This is reality. Biden and the State Department would be wise to understand it. While it’s extremely important for negotiations to proceed, they cannot succeed if the Turkish Cypriots will continue to take their instructions from Ankara and the political will is absent.
Therefore, the United States government must continue to put open pressure on Turkey. As a community, we must do our part to remind policy makers of Vice President’s Biden’s encouraging remarks. Because as historic and important as the recent flurry of comments and visits have been, we need to be vigilant and adopt President Reagan’s slogan, “Trust, but verify!”
Nick Larigakis is president of the American Hellenic Institute, a non-profit Greek American think tank and public policy center that works to strengthen relations between the United States and Greece and Cyprus, and within the Greek American community.
Thursday, August 28, 2014
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Monday, August 25, 2014
Sooner rather than later, U.S. will have to confront ISIS
Middle East expert Trudy Rubin, a longtime Obama supporter, is not happy with Obama's feckless response to the growing ISIS threat.
Worldview: Sooner rather than later, U.S. will have to confront ISIS
Worldview: Sooner rather than later, U.S. will have to confront ISIS
Ryan Costello Earns Endorsement of Pa. Small Business Group
From the Ryan Costello for Congress campaign:
READING, PA – National and state leaders of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), which represents 15,000 small businesses in Pennsylvania, joined Ryan Costello at a small business in Reading, PA, today to announce the organization’s endorsement of his campaign for Congress in Pennsylvania's 6th District. The announcement was made at Goodman Vending Services, a small family business located in Reading that employs 75 people."NFIB is a leading voice on behalf of the nation's small businesses, which are one of the major drivers of our economic and job growth," said Ryan Costello, who currently serves as Chairman of the Chester County Board of Commissioners. "I am honored to have the support of an organization that advocates for and champions small business. If elected, I will work to implement policies that promote job creation, reduce barriers to economic growth, and cut bureaucratic red tape that saps the resources of small businesses and inhibit their ability to expand and hire new workers."
"When he was a Chester County Commissioner Ryan balanced budgets, cut government spending, and reduced the size of county government all while making investments in open space," said NFIB Executive State Director Kevin Shivers. "It's policies like that which make small businesses feel more confident about expanding and hiring. Government must live within its means and keeps tax rates low. We need that same mindset in Washington, D.C. where an out of control federal budget deficit has small businesses nervous about their economic future and potential for growth. That's why we support Ryan Costello for Congress."In Chester County, Costello is co-chairing a public-private partnership, VISTA 2025, an effort to develop a strategy that will guide economic development efforts for Chester County for the next 10 years while balancing progress and preservation. Costello is working closely with the Chester County Economic Development Council and other community and business leaders on the comprehensive strategy, which is designed to position the county for future growth. The effort underscores Costello’s commitment to retaining and attracting businesses, which will in turn support job growth in the county.The endorsement of Costello was made by NFIB's SAFE (Save America’s Free Enterprise) Trust, the association’s political action committee. NFIB is the nation's leading small business association, with offices in Washington, D.C. and all 50 state capitals. Founded in 1943 as a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, NFIB gives small and independent business owners a voice in shaping the public policy issues that affect their business. NFIB's powerful network of grassroots activists sends their views directly to state and federal lawmakers through our unique member-only ballot, thus playing a critical role in supporting America’s free enterprise system.Family owned and a recipient of national awards, Goodman Vending and Food Service provides vending, coffee and food service. Founded in 1946, it has grown to be one of the region's largest independent vending companies, serving Berks, Dauphin, Lancaster, Lehigh, Lebanon and Schuylkill counties and surrounding areas.
Feds Creating Database to Track 'Hate Speech' on Twitter
Judging from Obama's use of government agencies to go after political opponents, "hate speech" probably translates to anyone who opposes Obama's policies.
Feds Creating Database to Track 'Hate Speech' on Twitter
Feds Creating Database to Track 'Hate Speech' on Twitter
Sunday, August 24, 2014
Saturday, August 23, 2014
Friday, August 22, 2014
Thursday, August 21, 2014
GUEST COLUMN: Jedis, DREAMers and Tax Schemers
By Lowman S. Henry
Guest columnist
It could be labeled a Jedi mind trick, or perhaps double speak worthy of a George Orwell novel. President Obama and the Left have raised to an art form the ability to name a policy initiative the exact opposite of what it actually is, thus making opponents look bad for opposing it.
The “Affordable” Health Care Act which has resulted in higher health care costs; and the proposed “DREAM” Act that supposedly would solve the nation’s immigration crisis, but actually would simply grant amnesty to lawbreakers are but two examples. In recent weeks the president and his minions have been touting “economic patriotism.”
Setting aside the obvious irony of the Obama Administration posing as patriotic, it is safe to assume most Americans would not want to be viewed as unpatriotic. On the face of it “economic patriotism” would sound like the latest version of a “buy American” campaign, or a push to patronize your local small business. In actuality it is part of the administration’s effort to demonize corporations for trying to lower their tax burden and maximize profits.
Taken a step further, as individuals we would be viewed as economically unpatriotic if we took our home mortgage deduction, child tax credit or charitable giving deduction because we are depriving the federal treasury of the funds it needs to finance the President’s big government agenda. So, stop waving that flag and start finding ways to maximize the amount of money you fork over to the IRS every April.
What has set the president’s patriotic heart aflutter is the growing trend of large U.S.-based corporations merging with partners overseas and locating their corporate headquarters in nations with more favorable corporate tax rates, a practice known as corporate inversion. This is totally legal and what would be expected in a free market system. But the president has determined that legal or not, it is - in his opinion - wrong. And, he having a pen and a phone is the final arbiter of all things legal and moral.
Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew got the debate started by asking congress to outlaw corporate inversion. In highly inflammatory language he proclaimed corporations “seek to shift their profits overseas to avoid paying their share of taxes while benefiting from the United States without paying a dime.”
That, of course, is absurd. Both foreign and domestic corporations are subject to the U.S. corporate income tax. The problem is the United States sports a 35% corporate tax rate, the highest rate among the world’s 34 most industrialized nations. And this gets to the heart of the matter. Scott Eastman of the Tax Foundation explains: “The U.S. is one of only six developed nations with a ‘worldwide’ tax system that subjects its domestic corporations to double taxation. Income earned by American corporations abroad is taxed once by the nation in which it was earned, and again when the income is back within our borders.”
It is both the structure of American tax policy and the excessively high tax rate that makes it attractive for corporations to headquarter elsewhere. Consider that Japan is in the process of lowering its corporate tax rate to 25%. Thus, an American corporation that executes an inversion with a Japanese partner will immediately realize a 10% decrease in its tax obligation simply by virtue of that move alone.
Rather than demonizing American companies that are simply reacting to the nation’s oppressive corporate tax policies the Obama Administration should be working with congress on reforming the system. Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have been pushing for such comprehensive reform, but as with virtually all GOP initiatives it has been met with a stone wall of opposition from the White House.
In the meantime, recovery from the Great Recession continues to lag as it will until and unless the underlying disincentives for business investment and growth contained within U.S. tax policy are changed. And no amount of name calling by the president and the treasury secretary will change that fact.
Lowman S. Henry is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research Inc., a non-profit educational foundation based in Harrisburg, PA, and host of the weekly Lincoln Radio Journal. His e-mail address is lhenry@lincolninstitute.org
Guest columnist
It could be labeled a Jedi mind trick, or perhaps double speak worthy of a George Orwell novel. President Obama and the Left have raised to an art form the ability to name a policy initiative the exact opposite of what it actually is, thus making opponents look bad for opposing it.
The “Affordable” Health Care Act which has resulted in higher health care costs; and the proposed “DREAM” Act that supposedly would solve the nation’s immigration crisis, but actually would simply grant amnesty to lawbreakers are but two examples. In recent weeks the president and his minions have been touting “economic patriotism.”
Setting aside the obvious irony of the Obama Administration posing as patriotic, it is safe to assume most Americans would not want to be viewed as unpatriotic. On the face of it “economic patriotism” would sound like the latest version of a “buy American” campaign, or a push to patronize your local small business. In actuality it is part of the administration’s effort to demonize corporations for trying to lower their tax burden and maximize profits.
Taken a step further, as individuals we would be viewed as economically unpatriotic if we took our home mortgage deduction, child tax credit or charitable giving deduction because we are depriving the federal treasury of the funds it needs to finance the President’s big government agenda. So, stop waving that flag and start finding ways to maximize the amount of money you fork over to the IRS every April.
What has set the president’s patriotic heart aflutter is the growing trend of large U.S.-based corporations merging with partners overseas and locating their corporate headquarters in nations with more favorable corporate tax rates, a practice known as corporate inversion. This is totally legal and what would be expected in a free market system. But the president has determined that legal or not, it is - in his opinion - wrong. And, he having a pen and a phone is the final arbiter of all things legal and moral.
Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew got the debate started by asking congress to outlaw corporate inversion. In highly inflammatory language he proclaimed corporations “seek to shift their profits overseas to avoid paying their share of taxes while benefiting from the United States without paying a dime.”
That, of course, is absurd. Both foreign and domestic corporations are subject to the U.S. corporate income tax. The problem is the United States sports a 35% corporate tax rate, the highest rate among the world’s 34 most industrialized nations. And this gets to the heart of the matter. Scott Eastman of the Tax Foundation explains: “The U.S. is one of only six developed nations with a ‘worldwide’ tax system that subjects its domestic corporations to double taxation. Income earned by American corporations abroad is taxed once by the nation in which it was earned, and again when the income is back within our borders.”
It is both the structure of American tax policy and the excessively high tax rate that makes it attractive for corporations to headquarter elsewhere. Consider that Japan is in the process of lowering its corporate tax rate to 25%. Thus, an American corporation that executes an inversion with a Japanese partner will immediately realize a 10% decrease in its tax obligation simply by virtue of that move alone.
Rather than demonizing American companies that are simply reacting to the nation’s oppressive corporate tax policies the Obama Administration should be working with congress on reforming the system. Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have been pushing for such comprehensive reform, but as with virtually all GOP initiatives it has been met with a stone wall of opposition from the White House.
In the meantime, recovery from the Great Recession continues to lag as it will until and unless the underlying disincentives for business investment and growth contained within U.S. tax policy are changed. And no amount of name calling by the president and the treasury secretary will change that fact.
Lowman S. Henry is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research Inc., a non-profit educational foundation based in Harrisburg, PA, and host of the weekly Lincoln Radio Journal. His e-mail address is lhenry@lincolninstitute.org
Is that Tom Wolf behind the wheel?
Millionaire Democrat Tom Wolf keeps saying there's no public pension crisis in Pennsylvania even though pensions for teachers and government workers are nearly $50 billion in the red.
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Gallup: 76% Not Satisfied With Way Things Are Going Under Obama
After 5 full years of Obama policies, nearly 8 in 10 Americans are not satisfied with the way things are going in this country, according to a new Gallup survey. The other two people probably work for the Obama Administration.
Satisfaction With the United States | Gallup Historical Trends
Satisfaction With the United States | Gallup Historical Trends
Obama's secret raid in Syria to free American hostages failed
Shades of Jimmy Carter and the botched rescue mission of American hostages in Iran.
Obama's secret raid in Syria to free American hostages failed | TheHill
Obama's secret raid in Syria to free American hostages failed | TheHill
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
Monday, August 18, 2014
Guest Column: The Current U.S. Interest in Cyprus: 'Trust, but Verify'
By Nick Larigakis
Guest columnist
In the past two months, we have witnessed unprecedented
engagement on the Cyprus issue by the Obama Administration, namely, Vice
President Joe Biden. I have never seen anything like it in my 27 years of
advocating for Cyprus with the American Hellenic Institute. The vice
president’s visit to Cyprus was historic. It was the first time in 52 years a
sitting vice president visited there. He also hosted two off-the-record
meetings at the White House with leaders of the Greek American community. One
was a pre-trip briefing and the second a post-trip debriefing. I had the
privilege to attend them.
Folks who follow the Cyprus issue know Biden is no stranger
to Cyprus. He is probably the most well-educated and well-versed public
official on the nuances of the Cyprus issue. For this result, credit must be
given to the Greek American community’s grassroots. For example, it was the
then American Hellenic Institute Public Affairs Chairman Dr. Dean C. Lomis,
along with members of AHI-Delaware back in 1974, who met with Biden to educate
him about the conflict and who have been keeping him informed ever since.
Without Biden’s strong support through the many years as
chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations committee (along with Senator Paul
Sarbanes) who knows where this issue would be today. Furthermore, we certainly
would not have been as successful in having Congress impose an arms embargo on
Turkey immediately following Turkey’s invasion were it not for his assistance
at the time.
This year, Cyprus received high-level visits from U.S.
Department of State Assistant Secretary Victoria Nuland in February; and just
two weeks ago, on the heels of the vice president’s visit, Deputy Assistant
Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Amanda Sloat and Deputy
Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and NATO Policy James Townsend.
What does all this mean?
The only plausible explanation is that Cyprus now has the
potential to be a major energy supplier for Europe and beyond. This is a game
changer. However, as long as the Cyprus issue remains unresolved, it will
compromise how this energy will be fully developed, and more importantly, how
it will be exported. Biden underscored this point when he spoke at the 2014
Clergy Laity Congress in Philadelphia. He said: “The exciting discoveries of
natural gas and oil offshore in Cyprus and Israel, as well as potential
discoveries in Greece and Lebanon, have an opportunity to position the region
as a global energy hub, and we have no bones about it from the very beginning.
And under international law, Cyprus owns access to these valuable fields within
the region.”
But exporting it out of the region is important. The United
States and others would prefer that it be piped through Turkey. This will never
happen because it would have to go through Cyprus’s Economic Exclusive Zone
(EEZ) and without a settlement, it’s a non-starter. Therefore, energy has been
the number one catalyst for increased U.S. engagement, making Cyprus a
strategic partner of the U.S.
In Philadelphia, Biden added: “…Cyprus…has become a genuine,
strategic partner. That’s what’s basically changed; it’s become a genuinely
strategic partner of the USA.” There are other areas that are also defined as
strategic, and Biden continued, “On the issue of counter-terrorism, Cyprus is
an essential link to our war on terrorism. Essential Partner! That is no
hyperbole; that is absolutely true. Counter-terrorism is an area of strategic
partnership, and preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction,
including the removal of serious chemical weapons and the prevention of
re-acquiring the nuclear weapons, little Cyprus has taken on an outsized role
in our pure national interest in our strategic relationship. But it’s not just
a strategic partnership; it’s a growing strategic partnership.”
For the United States to benefit fully from this strategic
relationship Cyprus needs to be free and united. A settlement must be reached
that is just and viable, incorporating the norms of democratic principles. The
United States can go a long way to make it happen. The vice president has
started.
In Cyprus, he stated: “The matter of the fact is that the
Government of Turkey, in my view, is coming to understand, not for any noble
reasons, but for practical reasons, that the status quo on the island does not
benefit them economically, militarily and politically. And there is significant
potential benefit for Turkey in a bizonal, bicommunal federation.”
Biden’s remarks at the Clergy-Laity Congress demonstrated
his further, active engagement on the issues. There, he stated he raised the
issues in conversations with Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan. There, he also
stated publically that Turkish troops should be removed from Cyprus. “I opened
up and made clear the U.S. position that although it was a Cypriot negotiation,
there was and is and can only be one government, one Cypriot, Greek Cypriot
government, on the island, with no Turkish troops on the island,” he said.
As extremely important as these comments are, it would be
helpful to see additional signs that the vice president’s statements are the
administration’s policy. Signs Turkey will cease its intransigence on these
issues and play a constructive role would also be welcomed. Turkey has not
shown it’s willingness to do this. In the past, Turkey has manipulated the
negotiations through the Turkish Cypriot leader. Turkey’s interests on Cyprus
are not the same of the people of Cyprus. Unfortunately, not much progress has
been made as evidenced by the lack of movement on confidence-building measures.
This is reality. Biden and the State Department would be wise to understand it.
While it’s extremely important for negotiations to proceed, they cannot succeed
if the Turkish Cypriots will continue to take their instructions from Ankara
and the political will is absent.
Therefore, the United States government must continue to put
open pressure on Turkey. As a community, we must do our part to remind
policymakers of Vice President’s Biden’s encouraging remarks. Because as
historic and important as the recent flurry of comments and visits have been,
we need to be vigilant and adopt President Reagan’s slogan, “Trust, but
verify!”
Nick Larigakis is president of the American Hellenic
Institute, a non-profit Greek American think tank and public policy center that
works to strengthen relations between the United States and Greece and Cyprus,
and within the Greek American community.
Sunday, August 17, 2014
Bus Drivers Collects $80K in Overtime
NEWS ITEM: The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported on Saturday that six of the eight
highest-paid transit agency employees were drivers, some earning more
than $80,000 in overtime.
Further misadventures of Obama's deleted administration
Nixon may have had an 18-minute gap on a tape, but Obama and his minions have deleted thousands of incriminating emails from the most corrupt administration in US history.
Further misadventures of Obama's deleted administration | Human Events
Further misadventures of Obama's deleted administration | Human Events
Saturday, August 16, 2014
New Press Secretary for PA Democratic AG Kane Quits Already
This story keeps getting weirder and weirder. Pa. Democratic AG Kathleen Kane's new press secretary quits even before he starts his new job.
Columnist Chris Kelly to remain at paper - News - Citizens' Voice
Columnist Chris Kelly to remain at paper - News - Citizens' Voice
Friday, August 15, 2014
Scarborough: Obama Just Doesn't Give A Damn
I'm not a big fan of Joe Scarborough, but he's right about Obama: He just doesn't give a damn about middle class Americans.
Scarborough: Obama Just Doesn't Give A Damn
Scarborough: Obama Just Doesn't Give A Damn
'Americans have lost a lot of confidence and replaced it with fear'
James Pethokoukis of the American Enterprise Institute on the continuing economic malaise following six years of disastrous policies under Barack Obama:
Americans have lost a lot of confidence and replaced it with fear and concern that if something goes wrong things will get even worse. People no longer have that feeling that if they fall down they can pick themselves back up. And I think that's expressed inEconomist: 'Americans have lost a lot of confidence and replaced it with fear'
the expectation variables. The economy needs to put in stronger numbers for people to feel that they are on more solid ground. And it's fair to say that the politician simply don't get it and don't accept the blame for their contribution to this difficult situation. I was not very optimistic about what the Michigan index would do this week. But the survey managed to come in bellow my expectations. It's a very depressing report.
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Condemns Violence Against Christians
His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Batholomew, leader of the world's 300 million Orthodox Christians, condemns the persecution of Christians in Iraq and Syria: "We will not remain indifferent or silent before such irrational persecution, cultural intolerance and appalling loss of life, especially when it is caused by religious hatred and racial hostility. The targeting of tens of thousands of Christians (including Arameans, Chaldeans, and Assyrians) and other religious minorities (including Turkmens, Yazidis, and Kurds) can never be justified in the name of any religious creed or conviction."
Statement by His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on the Present Violence in Iraq — Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
Statement by His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on the Present Violence in Iraq — Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
Pinocchios for latest Tom Wolf attack ad
Millionaire Democrat Tom Wolf is a one-trick pony whose entire campaign for Pennsylvania governor is targeted to unionized teachers. The real culprit with education spending in Pennsylvania is a pension crisis that only one candidate, Gov. Tom Corbett, is trying to address.Wolf has even said there is no pension crisis, which shows he's not serious about solving problems.
Pennsylvania's public school staffing at 10-year low
Pennsylvania's public school staffing at 10-year low
Thursday, August 14, 2014
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
Guest Column: Jedis, DREAMers and Tax Schemers
Guest columnist
It could be labeled a Jedi mind trick, or perhaps double speak worthy of a George Orwell novel. President Obama and the Left have raised to an art form the ability to name a policy initiative the exact opposite of what it actually is, thus making opponents look bad for opposing it.
The "Affordable" Health Care Act which has resulted in higher health care costs; and the proposed "DREAM" Act that supposedly would solve the nation's immigration crisis, but actually would simply grant amnesty to lawbreakers are but two examples. In recent weeks the president and his minions have been touting "economic patriotism."
Setting aside the obvious irony of the Obama Administration posing as patriotic, it is safe to assume most Americans would not want to be viewed as unpatriotic. On the face of it "economic patriotism" would sound like the latest version of a "buy American" campaign, or a push to patronize your local small business. In actuality it is part of the administration's effort to demonize corporations for trying to lower their tax burden and maximize profits.
Taken a step further, as individuals we would be viewed as economically unpatriotic if we took our home mortgage deduction, child tax credit or charitable giving deduction because we are depriving the federal treasury of the funds it needs to finance the President's big government agenda. So, stop waving that flag and start finding ways to maximize the amount of money you fork over to the IRS every April.
What has set the president's patriotic heart aflutter is the growing trend of large U.S.-based corporations merging with partners overseas and locating their corporate headquarters in nations with more favorable corporate tax rates, a practice known as corporate inversion. This is totally legal and what would be expected in a free market system. But the president has determined that legal or not, it is - in his opinion - wrong. And, he having a pen and a phone is the final arbiter of all things legal and moral.
Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew got the debate started by asking congress to outlaw corporate inversion. In highly inflammatory language he proclaimed corporations "seek to shift their profits overseas to avoid paying their share of taxes while benefiting from the United States without paying a dime."
That, of course, is absurd. Both foreign and domestic corporations are subject to the U.S. corporate income tax. The problem is the United States sports a 35% corporate tax rate, the highest rate among the world's 34 most industrialized nations. And this gets to the heart of the matter. Scott Eastman of the Tax Foundation explains: "The U.S. is one of only six developed nations with a 'worldwide' tax system that subjects its domestic corporations to double taxation. Income earned by American corporations abroad is taxed once by the nation in which it was earned, and again when the income is back within our borders."
It is both the structure of American tax policy and the excessively high tax rate that makes it attractive for corporations to headquarter elsewhere. Consider that Japan is in the process of lowering its corporate tax rate to 25%. Thus, an American corporation that executes an inversion with a Japanese partner will immediately realize a 10% decrease in its tax obligation simply by virtue of that move alone.
Rather than demonizing American companies that are simply reacting to the nation's oppressive corporate tax policies the Obama Administration should be working with congress on reforming the system. Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have been pushing for such comprehensive reform, but as with virtually all GOP initiatives it has been met with a stone wall of opposition from the White House.
In the meantime, recovery from the Great Recession continues to lag as it will until and unless the underlying disincentives for business investment and growth contained within U.S. tax policy are changed. And no amount of name calling by the president and the treasury secretary will change that fact.
Lowman S. Henry is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research Inc., a non-profit educational foundation based in Harrisburg, PA, and host of the weekly Lincoln Radio Journal. His e-mail address is lhenry@lincolninstitute.org.
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
Obama-backed incumbent Hawaii governor out in historic upset
An Obama endorsement appears to be the kiss of death for any political candidate these days.
Incumbent Hawaii governor out in historic upset | Human Events
Incumbent Hawaii governor out in historic upset | Human Events
Monday, August 11, 2014
More lost emails — When will Democrats have enough?
Twenty different Obama administration officials have lost or destroyed a portion of their email traffic, according to The Hill newspaper.
That's not bad luck or incompetence. It's a criminal conspiracy.
More lost emails — When will Democrats have enough? | TheHill
That's not bad luck or incompetence. It's a criminal conspiracy.
More lost emails — When will Democrats have enough? | TheHill
Federal Agencies Spending Millions to Support Unions
Taxpayers spent more than $150 million to aid federal unions, according to a new report.
Federal Agencies Spending Millions to Support Unions
Federal Agencies Spending Millions to Support Unions
Sunday, August 10, 2014
Saturday, August 09, 2014
Obama Now Blames Iraq For Keeping His Campaign Promise To Withdraw US Troops From Iraq
At a Saturday morning press conference, Obama said he wanted to keep 10,000 troops in Iraq but the Iraqi government said no. But in this debate with Mitt Romney from 2012, Obama said he didn't want to keep any US troops in Iraq. Was he lying then or is he lying now? Is Obama capable of telling the truth? (At least he didn't blame George W. Bush this time.)
Obama's America: 1 out of 4 Families 'Just Getting By'
Not exactly the "hope and change" you were expecting?
One out of Four Families 'Just Getting By' | Truth Revolt
One out of Four Families 'Just Getting By' | Truth Revolt
Friday, August 08, 2014
Evidence is Clear: Obama's Cash for Clunkers Was Huge Boondoggle
boon·dog·gle
ˈbo͞onËŒdägÉ™l,-ËŒdôgÉ™l/
North Americaninformal
noun
noun: boondoggle; plural noun: boondoggles
- 1.work or activity that is wasteful or pointless but gives the appearance of having value."writing off the cold fusion phenomenon as a boondoggle best buried in literature"
- a public project of questionable merit that typically involves political patronage and graft."they each drew $600,000 in the final months of the great boondoggle"
verb
verb: boondoggle; 3rd person present: boondoggles; past tense: boondoggled; past participle: boondoggled; gerund or present participle: boondoggling
- 1.waste money or time on unnecessary or questionable projects.
GUEST COLUMN: The Shocking Price of the Affordable Care Act
By Congressman Joe Pitts
US Rep. Joe Pitts is a Republican who represents Pennsylvania's 16th Congressional District in Chester, Berks and Lancaster counties.
The
law was sold to Americans as a plan to save money on health insurance.
However, the way it works out is that some save, while others pay a
whole lot more. Plans on the new federal exchanges
are generally more expensive than equivalent coverage available before
the law.
A
detailed county-by-county analysis by researchers at the Manhattan
Institute found that individual market premiums have increased by an
average of 49 percent across the country from 2013
to 2014.
Right
now, health insurers are setting their rates for the next year. So far,
there is little information about the premium costs in most states for
2015. Florida is the first state to provide
information about what consumers will be paying.
According
to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, premiums for plans on
the Obamacare exchanges will increase by an average of 13.2 percent. The
most popular plan in the state, Florida
Blue, plans to raise their rates by 17.6 percent. Big government
subsidies will help some, but not all, consumers afford these increases.
Over
the coming months, other states will announce rate changes, including
Pennsylvania. Many families are going to be shocked to find how much
more money in their budget will be going to health
care next year.
Recently,
we got another shock when the Government Accountability Office issued
their report on the total mess that is Healthcare.gov. Everyone knows
that Healthcare.gov was a disaster at its
launch, but even though the consumer side of the website works
relatively well now, behind the scenes parts of the site still aren’t
built.
Government
information technology programs are frequently disasters. In recent
years, agencies from the IRS to Social Security to the Department of
Defense have spent billions of dollars on
computer systems that never worked properly.
Healthcare.gov
is just another disaster to add to the list. According to the GAO,
government managers were primarily at fault. Work on the website started
without essential information like
how many states would participate or how many enrollees would need to
be served. Compounding this error, the contracts for the site were
constructed in a way that the government paid regardless of whether the
system worked.
In
September 2011, Healthcare.gov was expected to cost $56 million. By
2014, the bill had ballooned to $209 million. The cost for the data hub
had increased over time from $30 million to $85
million.
Last
year, in the midst of the disaster, the government tried to blame
contractors and fired the principle company building Healthcare.gov. A
new contract with a new company was signed for
$91 million, but this has already grown since the beginning of the year
to $175 million. No telling how much it will be before work is
completed.
The
cost of final price shock is still somewhat unknown. The Affordable
Care Act contains a so-called risk corridor provision. The provision is
meant to smooth out insurers’ losses from new
health plans on the Obamacare insurance exchanges. The risk corridor
procedure typically reduces payments to plans that are doing better than
projected and increases payments to those who are doing worse.
If
this is done in a budget neutral fashion, it doesn’t hurt taxpayers.
However, under Obamacare there may a whole lot of losers and few
winners. There is great concern that the administration
will use the risk corridor provision to give almost every health
insurer increased payments—essentially bailing out the industry. Before
the end of the year, we could see what the bill to taxpayers will be.
There
are some things only the government can do, such as defending our
nation. Running health care is a tremendous task, and even the smartest
people in the Obama administration have failed.
Government isn’t the answer and Obamacare needs to go.
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