NEWS AND OPINION:
Here’s a question to ponder. “Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: No country has ever prospered that failed to put its own interests first. Both our friends and enemies put their countries above ours and we, while being fair to them, must do the same.”
Rasmussen Reports posed this inquiry to 1,000 likely voters. The statement is actually from Republican presumptive nominee Donald Trump, delivered word-for-word during his recent foreign policy speech in the nation’s capital. The pollster found that 60 percent of voters agree with him.
“Donald Trump has rattled some in the national security hierarchy of both major political parties with his call for returning to an ’America First’ foreign policy. Most voters agree the United States has not been putting its own interests ahead of others and should reverse course,” the pollster notes.
MORE THAN THE ’NATIVE HOUSEHOLD’
Welfare use is higher among immigrant households than among U.S. citizens in need, according to a new analysis from the Center for Immigration Studies. Based on an analysis of current U.S. Census data, the research found that the average household headed by an immigrant used more than $6,200 a year in total welfare benefits like cash, food and Medicaid — 41 percent more than a “native household.”
The breakdown: Immigrant-led households consume 33 percent more cash welfare, 57 percent more food assistance and 44 percent more Medicaid dollars than the average native household. Housing costs are about the same for both groups. The organization has also determined that 51 percent of immigrant-headed households used at least one welfare program. At $8,251, households headed by immigrants from Central America and Mexico have the highest welfare costs of any region the study found — 86 percent higher than the costs of native households.
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“Immigrants are such heavy users of welfare not because they don’t work, but because, on average, they have little education and thus earn low wages,” says Mark Krikorian, executive director of the nonprofit research group. “If we continue to permit large numbers of less-educated people to move here from abroad, we have to accept that there will be huge and ongoing costs to taxpayers.”
AND IN SUMMATION
“President Obama’s foreign policy team — Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Samantha Power, and Susan Rice — are, like him, without foundation in foreign affairs or military matters but they don’t care. The policies they push are Obama’s and reflect their own egos, not America’s interests,” notes Jeb Babbin, a Defense Department official during the George H.W. Bush administration, and now an American Spectator columnist.
“Obama’s foreign policy is dangerous because it’s based on nothing more than the egos of people who haven’t the wit or wisdom to deal with anything other than their own egos,” he adds.
MEGYN AND DONALD MOMENT
Fox News Channel host Megyn Kelly debuts a new one-hour prime-time special on Fox’s broadcast network a week from Tuesday; among other things, it showcases her personal interview with Donald Trump. The pair have shared eight months of public acrimony after disagreeing mightily at the first GOP debate in August. Is there peace at last? Maybe. Maybe not.
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Ms. Kelly shared a 30-second preview of the interview during an appearance on ABC on Monday, asking Mr. Trump if his anger with her was “real or a strategy.” He revealed some guarded admiration for his female foe, but suggested the feud could reignite.
“I’m a real person. I don’t say, ’Oh, gee I’m angry tonight, but tomorrow you’re my best friend.’ This could happen again to us, even in this particular interview,” Mr. Trump said. “I have great respect for you — that you were able to call me and say, ’Let’s get together, let’s talk.’ I would not have done that.”
ANOTHER SIDE OF MICHAEL SAVAGE
Talk radio host Michael Savage has written a surprising new book. “Teddy and Me: Confessions of a Service Human” arrives Tuesday, chronicling the man’s very fine friendship with Teddy, an 11-pound, 11-year-old poodle who is with him during every daily broadcast.
The gray, fuzzy pup has much wisdom and perspective according to Mr. Savage, who says Teddy “has always been my friend, and always been there for me.”
There are many endearing photos in the slim book, which only runs 128 pages. The author, however, has included previously private personal vignettes that help explain why 10 million weekly listeners tune in to hear him each day. Mr. Savage reveals he has a true calling for his profession, dating back to an early childhood in the Bronx. He became very “articulate” in order to communicate with his severely disabled younger brother — and as a way to comfort his bereft mother.
“I became an entertainer for my mother. I would imitate people. I would put on faces. I would make sounds and noises and I’d wipe the tears away,” Mr. Savage recalls, noting that he relished speaking before a crowd even as a 6-year-old.
“When I spoke with such a clear voice and wasn’t afraid, the little pipsqueak that I was, and the crowd listened to me, I enjoyed the power, and I discovered something. I discovered I could move audiences and that means I can change people’s fates, as I learned later in life,” he says, characterizing this ability is both a gift and a burden.
“Teddy and Me” — the author’s 26th book — was published by Center Street, the conservative imprint of Hachette Book Group.
POLL DU JOUR
• 41 percent of Americans say the U.S. does “too much” in trying to solve global problems; 44 percent of Republicans, 43 percent of independents and 36 percent of Democrats agree.
• 54 percent of Donald Trump supporters and 34 percent of Hillary Clinton supporters also agree.
• 28 percent overall say the U.S. does “the right amount” to solve these problems; 17 percent of Republicans, 23 percent of independents and 42 percent of Democrats agree.
• 12 percent of Trump supporters and 45 percent of Clinton supporters also agree.
• 27 percent overall say the U.S. does “too little” to solve the problems; 33 percent of Republicans, 30 percent of independents and 19 percent of Democrats agree.
• 29 percent of Trump supporters and 17 percent of Clinton supporters also agree.
Source: A Pew Research Center poll of 2,008 U.S. adults conducted April 12-19 and released Monday.
• Chatter and noise to jharper@washingtontimes.com.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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