Obama's Final Flurry

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Then, there’s the reckless decision by Obama and his ambassador to the United Nations (Samantha Power) of abstaining on a Security Council measure condemning settlement activity.  By not using the U.S. veto, it allowed the resolution to pass.

“The things he’s done this week will be turned around,” former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said of Obama on “Fox News Sunday.” “He’s in this desperate frenzy.”

But Democrats are urging the outgoing president to pursue further actions, as the administration weighs its next steps.

Obama will likely unconstitutionally use executive actions to pardon millions of illegal aliens, and provide more clemency for nonviolent drug offenders and others.  I am also thinking he will double-down on his big F-You against Israel and recognize a Palestinian state before leaving office.

In a New York Times op-ed, Jimmy Carter urged Obama to stand against Israel, writing, “The simple but vital step this administration must take before its term expires on Jan. 20 is to grant American diplomatic recognition to the state of Palestine.”

Obama’s final plans reportedly include as many as 98 regulations classified as “economically significant,” meaning each would cost the economy $100 million through compliance and consumer impact.

According to an analysis by the conservative American Action Forum, based on the Federal Register agenda, the administration is eyeing $44.1 billion in “midnight regulations” – or rules pushed in the final two months of an outgoing administration.

By late November, the EPA announced stronger greenhouse gas emission standards, pushing 54.1 miles-per-gallon fuel efficiency standards for cars and light trucks for model years 2022-2025. In mid-November, the Interior Department finalized a rule to cut methane emissions during oil and natural gas production on federal lands.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services plans to make it easier for employers to sponsor highly skilled immigrants in the country; the Education Department is working on student debt relief at for-profit colleges; and on the financial services side, the Federal Reserve and the Securities and Exchange Commission are working on matters such as executive pay and mutual fund management.

– Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary