How Obama Is Transforming America S Military From Superpower To Paper Tiger

Barack Obama has made it clear that he thinks the world would be a better and more peaceful place if the United States were too weak to affect the course of events. Obama, along with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, has slashed missile defense, ...

Barack Obama has made it clear that he thinks the world would be a better and more peaceful place if the United States were too weak to affect the course of events. Obama, along with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, has slashed missile defense, dramatically reduced investment in future military technologies, and broken promises to our allies. In addition, Obama is transforming our military into a politically correct force that no one will want to join. In this incisive Broadside, Jed Babbin analyzes Obama’s military strategy and shows how he has pursued a consistent course of action that defines him and his overriding objective – to reduce America from a superpower to a paper tiger. These are not the policies of a president who wants America to be strong, safe, and secure. But they are the policies that define Barack Obama. ENCOUNTER BROADSIDES: a new series of critical pamphlets from Encounter Books. Uniting an 18th-century sense of political urgency and rhetorical wit (think The Federalist Papers, Common Sense) with 21st-century technology and channels of distribution, Encounter Broadsides offer indispensable ammunition for intelligent debate on the critical issues of our time. Written with passion by some of our most authoritative authors, Encounter Broadsides make the case for liberty and the institutions of democratic capitalism at a time when they are under siege from the resurgence of collectivist sentiment. Read them in a sitting and come away knowing the best we can hope for and the worst we must fear.

Over the last two months, the COVID-19 pandemic has thrown a robust American economy into disarray, completely shutting down major business sectors and putting millions of people out of work overnight. With so much at stake and with all options seemingly on the table, it is crucial that we commit ourselves to the long-term goal of restoring the sorts of free-market policies that led to the Trump Economic Boom prior to the China Virus crisis. Although massive government interventions that Barack Obama pursued following the Great Recession might presently appear beneficial or even essential, a return to Obama’s “new normal” of stagnant growth would lead to disastrous and persisting economic damage. We must instead return, as soon as is safely possible, to the Trump model of economic prosperity that produced the strongest labor market in modern history.

As we begin the process of reopening our economy, it is critical that we get back to work. The economic shutdown was intended to slow the spread of a lethal virus, not to permanently sacrifice our freedoms—and certainly not to expand government power and “fundamentally transform” America. During the shutdown, we’ve learned what that transformed America would look like, and it is ugly. With millions of people out of work and dependent on government—lacking the dignity of a job, the security of a paycheck, or the opportunity for a better future—depression and despair are creating an “epidemic within the pandemic” of suicides and drug and alcohol addiction. While there are risks, if we follow safety protocols and protect the vulnerable, we can safely reignite our economy as we undo the lockdown, eliminate policies that discourage work and enact policies that encourage hiring and growth. It’s time to reject the transformation to permanent government dependence and return instead to individual freedom and prosperity.

The People’s Republic of China and the United States are today at war. It is being fought with the use of information, politics and finance. The Chinese believe that, as in all war, it would be better to win without engaging the enemy on the battlefield or having to resort to the likes of nuclear weapons if it can be avoided. To achieve this, China has engaged in a decades-long campaign to manipulate and corrupt America’s ruling elite. This Broadside describes the degree to which Chinese influence has penetrated American society and what will be required to prevent Communist China from winning the struggle in which we find ourselves today.

In January 2015, Muslim terrorists massacred cartoonists and writers at the Paris offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, proclaiming to be avenging Islam’s prophet. The rampage, which included the murders of hostages at a kosher market, prompted global leaders and throngs of citizens to rally in support of free expression. But was the support genuine? In this Broadside, Andrew C. McCarthy explains how leading Islamists have sought to supplant free expression with the blasphemy standards of Islamic law, gaining the support of the U.S. and other Western governments. But free speech is the lifeblood of a functioning democratic society, essential to our capacity to understand, protect ourselves from, and ultimately defeat our enemies.

During the 1980s and 1990s, European economies went through a period of slowing economic growth and high unemployment, what some economists described as “secular decline.” On the other side of the Atlantic, the United States enjoyed a robust recovery during those years by reducing taxes, eliminating regulations on business, and tightening monetary policy. Now, after two decades of subpar growth, the question is whether or not the American economy has entered into its own era of secular decline. This Broadside examines this troubling development, recognizing that there are no easy solutions to the problem. Lacking workable solutions, Americans will have to adjust to a future of slow economic growth, with all that implies for inter-generational progress, American strength abroad and political conflict at home.

The Democratic Party has changed beyond recognition. Once the party of anti-communism and tax-cutting under President Kennedy, it is now dominated by a surging socialist movement and led by a presidential candidate who vows to “transform” America. On a near-daily basis, the Democrats are issuing radical proposals to socialize medicine, industry, and higher education. So how can the Democrats win elections when their agenda is so far to the left of the American people? That’s easy—it’s because the means of public debate are being manipulated. In Countdown to Socialism, Congressman Devin Nunes exposes the nexus between the Democratic Party, the mainstream media, and the social media corporations. These three entities cooperate to blast out the Democrats’ message and downplay their extremism while suppressing and censoring conservative points of view. Tens of millions of Americans are only seeing one side of the debate. The information they get from newspapers and social media is not “news”—it’s contrived content designed to help one political party and punish its opponents. In the run-up to the most consequential election of our lifetime, read this book to learn how your information is being skewed and regulated to force America onto the path to socialism.