"The evidence suggests very strongly that the left-wing, Democratic claques that run a great many American cities -- particularly the poor and black cities -- are not capable of running a school system or a police department. They are incompetent, they are corrupt, and they are breathtakingly arrogant. Cleveland, Philadelphia, Detroit, Baltimore -- this is what Democrats do.

"And the kids in the street screaming about 'inequality'? Somebody should tell them that the locale in these United States with the least economic inequality is Utah, i.e. the state farthest away from the reach of the people who run Baltimore.

"Keep voting for the same thing, keep getting the same thing."

"You don't have to be a conspiracy theorist to know that foreign companies and countries expected something in return for donating to the Clinton foundation rather than the countless other charities not connected to the U.S. presidency.

"You don't have to be a lawyer to know the Clintons violated ethics rules.

"You don't have to be a historian to know their ethical blind spot has decades-old roots.

"You don't have to be a political scientist to know this behavior contributes to the public's declining trust in its leaders.

"But to believe this is just about the actions of a book author, the mainstream media, and the Republicans, it helps to be a Clinton."

"In a closed-door meeting with Jewish Donors Saturday night, former President George W. Bush delivered his harshest public criticisms to date against his successor on foreign policy, saying that President Barack Obama is being naive about Iran and the pending nuclear deal and losing the war against the Islamic State.

"One attendee at the Republican Jewish Coalition session, held at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas with owner Sheldon Adelson in attendance, transcribed large portions of Bush's remarks. The former president, who rarely ever criticizes Obama in public, at first remarked that the idea of re-entering the political arena was something he didn't want to do. He then proceeded to explain why Obama, in his view, was placing the U.S. in 'retreat' around the world. He also said Obama was misreading Iran's intentions while relaxing sanctions on Tehran too easily. ...

"Bush said that Obama's plan to lift sanctions on Iran with a promise that they could snap back in place at any time was not plausible. He also said the deal would be bad for American national security in the long term: 'You think the Middle East is chaotic now? Imagine what it looks like for our grandchildren. That's how Americans should view the deal.'"

"The routine problem with those who'd deny us the use of drones is that they don't offer practical alternatives. Contrary to the blather from the left that 'there's no military solution' to global jihad, the cold fact is that there's only a military solution -- and it will take a great deal of time and bloodshed.

"Two millennia of apocalyptic and messianic insurgencies around the world demonstrate -- without exception -- that killing faith-addled fanatics is the only approach that works. ...

"The true immorality would be for us to lose."

"The nationwide scandal last spring over manipulated wait times at Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals led to the ouster of the secretary of veterans affairs and vows from the new leadership that people would be held accountable.

"Then in February, the new secretary, Robert A. McDonald, asserted in a nationally televised interview that the department had fired 60 people involved in manipulating wait times to make it appear that veterans were receiving care faster than they were. In fact, the department quickly clarified after that interview, only 14 people had been removed from their jobs, while about 60 others had received lesser punishments.

"Now, new internal documents show that the real number of people removed from their jobs is much smaller still: at most, three."

"Buried in a massive Pew study on the public's feelings about data and open government is this amazing nugget: Just 23 percent trust the federal government to do the right thing 'at least most of the time.'

"Twenty three percent! That's unpopularity-of-Congress territory. Journalist-trust territory! Donald Trump's approval ratings look down on those numbers! ...

"[T]he fact that so few Americans believe the federal government gets it right most of the time presents a massive challenge for any elected official who is part of the government leviathan. If people don't fundamentally trust that you will do the right thing(s) for them, it's almost impossible (or close to it) to connect with them on any level. That's politics 101."

"Since the Obama recovery began in the second quarter of 2009, public and private projections of economic growth have consistently overestimated actual performance. Six years later, projections of prosperity being just around the corner have given way to a debate over whether the U.S. has fallen into 'secular stagnation,' a fancy phrase for the chronic low growth seen in much of Europe.

"This is just another in a long line of excuses. America'€™s historic ability to outperform Europe is well documented; we call it American exceptionalism. It has always been based on the fact that the U.S has had better, more market-driven economic policies and our economy therefore worked better. But, as the U.S. economy is Europeanized through higher taxes and greater regulatory burdens, American exceptionalism is fading away, taking economic growth with it. ...

"With better economic policies America was like the fabled farmer with the goose that laid golden eggs. He kept the pond clean and full, he erected a nice coop, threw out corn for the goose and every day the goose laid a golden egg. Mr. Obama has drained the pond, burned down the coop and let the dogs loose to chase the goose around the barnyard. Now that the goose has stopped laying golden eggs, the administration's apologists -- arguing that we are now in 'secular stagnation' -- add insult to injury by suggesting that something is wrong with the goose."

"'Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich,' by Peter Schweizer -- a 186-page investigation of donations made to the Clinton Foundation by foreign entities -- is proving the most anticipated and feared book of a presidential cycle still in its infancy.

"The book, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times, asserts that foreign entities who made payments to the Clinton Foundation and to Mr. Clinton through high speaking fees received favors from Mrs. Clinton'€™s State Department in return.

"'We will see a pattern of financial transactions involving the Clintons that occurred contemporaneous with favorable U.S. policy decisions benefiting those providing the funds,' Mr. Schweizer writes."

"2016 is already shaping up as the most unusual open-seat presidential race in our time: one candidate fixed and foregone, the other yet to emerge from a wild race of a near-dozen contenders with none exceeding 20 €‰percent.

"So brace yourself for a glorious Republican punch-up, punctuated by endless meta-coverage of the Democrats' coronation march. After which, we shall decide the future of our country. Just the way the Founders drew it up."

"Democrats and Republicans in Congress are both claiming victory by cornering President Barack Obama to sign an Iran bill he didn't want.

"But the White House says that misses the point: The final legislation was narrowed enough that it's not going to stand in their way or do anything to upset the ongoing negotiations in Switzerland.

"And interviews with Democratic lawmakers suggest there's slim chance that they'd be willing to go any further to scuttle a nuclear deal.

"While Capitol Hill now has an avenue to block Obama from lifting legislative sanctions on Iran -- a precondition of any agreement to curb its ability to build a bomb -- now that they feel they've asserted constitutional prerogatives, Democratic senators are moving away from a confrontation."