Sorry Media, Shouting "Allahu Akbar" Is Significant.

God is great.

That’s all that “Allah Akbar” means.

It’s actually a rather nice sentiment. I tend to agree, God is great!

It’s a phrase that is said by Muslims everywhere at least five times a day during their daily prayers.

They say it when their football team turns the game around.

Or when they see a newborn baby.

They literally say it all the time.

In fact, the expression is so commonplace that it is considered rather unnoteworthy.

Except when a radical Muslim uses it before they commit unimaginable atrocities. That was the case earlier this week when an Islamic extremist attacked and killed 8 people in New York City.

It’s not an isolated case.

The men who carried out the attack on the French newspaper Charlie Hebdo in 2015 shouted it during their slaughter.

And the phrase cut through the air as a British soldier was run down near military barracks in 2013 and then hacked to death.

It’s a shame that a handful of terrorists have hijacked such a profound, yet simple prayer and conditioned us to fear those two words.

The Muslim community has come out and condemned the New York City attack. But they have to make their voice louder.

The God that Sayfullo Saipov praised before running over 20 people is not the God they pray to.

It’s not the God I pray to.

Allahu Akbar. God is great. But any violence done in God’s name is a twisted lie.

The Coming Democratic Civil War.

Civil War has come to the Democratic Party. Former interim DNC chair Donna Brazille dropped a bombshell yesterday when she revealed that the Clinton Campaign, through internal corruption and unethical finances, wielded near complete control over the DNC. She went on to describe how the Obama campaign had left the party bankrupt and in shambles. The Hillary campaign stepped in and began to pay off the millions in debt, but for a price. Brazille alleges that Hillary had quote:

“the right of refusal of who would be the party communications director, and it would make final decisions on all the other staff. The DNC also was required to consult with the campaign about all other staffing, budgeting, data, analytics, and mailings.”

Keep in mind, Hillary and her campaign were wielding this power over the DNC long BEFORE she got the nomination. So Brazille is saying that both Trump and Bernie Sanders were right. The system was rigged in Hillary’s favor.

Let’s forget the fact that HIllary Clinton beat Sanders by nearly four million votes. That’s about 55% of the vote with a 12-percentage point gap. If that were to happen in a general election we’d be calling it a landslide. But forget all that for a second. Here we have Donna Brazille, who tried to rig a debate FOR HILLARY, is NOW saying Hillary rigged the primary against Bernie. Not only did she blast Hillary, she also made critical remarks regarding Obama, claiming his campaign basically destroyed the party. What are the Democrats doing?

The New Yorker ran an article a day before all this came out, saying there was a big divide within the Party on how to move forward. There are new leaders stepping forward amongst the Democrats and they’re beginning to push back against the establishment. Were Brazille’s remarks part of an opening salvo aimed at overturning the current leadership?

There’s a new Democratic base growing and this information is going to severely piss them off. This new base is listening to people like Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris. They want free healthcare, free college and high minimum wage. They’re sick of the middle and want a hard turn to the far left. A recent poll found that nearly half of the millennials in the country prefer to live in a Socialist state over a capitalist.

This quiet Civil War just went public, and the winners may take the words “fundamental transformation” to a whole new level.

Is This Tax Plan a Game Changer?

Will we ever see a truly innovative tax plan in America?

We’re ten months into a year in which Republicans control the House, Senate, and White House. Remind me, which legislative goals have they accomplished again?

There was the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch. Then there was basically nothing except the botched effort to overhaul health care.

President Trump and Republicans in Congress are desperate for something they can hang their hats on because the clock is ticking on 2017 and they need a win. Tax reform! Surely that’s the ticket. They’ve been talking about fixing our overcomplicated tax code for years. This is their big chance.

First, they need a catchy title for the bill. “Tax Cuts & Jobs Act.” Okay. Low score for originality, but it’s the substance that counts, right? How about the subtitle? MORE jobs, FAIRER taxes, BIGGER paychecks. Now we’re onto something. But how are they going to do those things exactly?

The House Republican tax plan came out yesterday and it is mostly like everything else Congress has slapped together this year – underwhelming. Your eyes glaze over as you read the plan, waiting to get to the really good stuff until you realize, that’s it? That’s the best you could come up with?

In the press conference announcing the plan, Paul Ryan called it, “Real relief for people in the middle.” I guess there is some relief. Maybe. The new family credit expands the tax credit from $1,000 to $1,600 per child. Overall, it does look like most Americans will pay a little less in taxes with this plan, but it really depends on several factors.

So far, the only thing that jumps off the page as a potential game-changer is reducing the corporate tax rate from 35% to 20%. That one could actually help American companies compete better on the world stage. It could create more jobs. It might even attract more foreign companies to set up shop in the U.S.

Other than that, the “Tax Cuts & Jobs Act” is about as uninspired as its title. It’s a slight improvement, just nothing innovative.

Then again, Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi don’t like the plan, so it can’t be that bad.

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