Ministry of Foreign Affairs: What is Iran's game?
No group's fortunes have seen a “more dramatic turnaround” than those of “Iran and the axis of resistance,” Jay Solomon reported in the Free Press. “In early 2024, the Islamic Republic appeared on the cusp of becoming a nuclear-armed state — and its proxies appeared to control the Middle East.” Now, not so much. So “the question is what the White House will actually do in late January.” The president-elect has surrounded himself with hawks on Iran and has threatened to bomb Iran into pieces. “But he also pledged to end US involvement in Middle East wars.” Now that “direct Israeli military operations against Iran” have exposed “previously poorly understood” vulnerabilities, do Trump’s “hawks” or “those who lean toward more isolationism” have “greater influence”?
Poll: Post-Biden Democrats need a reset
“Let's face it, the Democratic Party is off the rails,” says Mark Penn on Fox News. In the 1990s, Democratic President Bill Clinton pushed to “adopt policies such as Pell Grants requiring a B average, welfare work requirements, or a balanced budget.” Under President Biden, “borders opened,” Democrats “issued massive spending bills using COVID-19 as a cover to dump trillions of dollars into climate change policies,” and the Justice Department became “an enforcer for left-wing policies.” Biden's ridiculous decision to commute “the sentences of 37 killers who committed the most heinous crimes” was further confirmation that “the Democratic Party needs to recalibrate itself.”
From left: Culture stands up and kills the Dem brand
“Embracing fair trade, a strong safety net, and taxing the rich will not solve Democrats' problem with middle America and with many working-class voters,” warns John P. Giudice of the Liberal Patriot, while the party's slogan is about stopping… Defund the police, “allow men who identify as women to compete in women’s sports,” “decriminalize border crossings,” and “crack down on climate change.” The truth is that “concerns about Democrats' positions on crime, immigration, and gender were more important than concerns about the economy” in driving swing voters to Trump. Democrats must “aggressively change” their national brand, but it will be “difficult.” The Democratic National Committee is a “weak” organization that needs a new chairman who “can act decisively to change the course of the party.”
Libertarian: Joe's self-destructive steel trick
“The decision to block Nippon Steel's takeover of US Steel is the perfect conclusion to President Joe Biden's political career,” marvels Reason's Eric Boehm. He pretends that there is “credible evidence” that the deal “threatens to impair the national security of the United States,” and yet he “ridiculously fails to detail any of that supposedly credible evidence” — “because it is ridiculous to suggest that… Nippon Steel, a publicly traded company based in a close US ally (Japan) that already operates several US steelmaking facilities, poses any kind of threat. In fact, “Nippon's agreement to purchase US Steel was accompanied by a promise to invest more than one billion dollars in renovating and modernizing the company's existing factories.” This is “a cynical and shallow decision that benefits a political ally — the heads of the United Steelworkers union, who opposed the deal despite many rank-and-file members supporting it.”
From right: The main migration tool
“President-elect Trump's commitment to mass deportations may be tough, but implementing it will require using a powerful weapon that his predecessors ignored: E-Verify,” says Hayden Ludwig of RealClearPolitics. “Employers can use the Federal Service to confirm the eligibility of employees to work in the United States.” “About 75% of the illegal immigrant population in the United States is in the labor force. Without jobs, most will leave,” and “encouraging them to self-deport is the cleanest and most effective way to get them out of the country.” But this only works when the program is universal and mandatory, as is the case in just 10 states. Bottom line: “There is no reason why President Trump and the incoming Republican Congress cannot require every employer in all 50 states to mandate its use.”
– Compiled by the Post's editorial staff
