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Published January 23, 2017
DISCLAIMER: THE FOLLOWING "Cost of Freedom Recap" CONTAINS STRONG OPINIONS WHICH ARE NOT A REFLECTION OF THE OPINIONS OF FOX NEWS AND SHOULD NOT BE RELIED UPON AS INVESTMENT ADVICE WHEN MAKING PERSONAL INVESTMENT DECISIONS. IT IS FOX NEWS' POLICY THAT CONTRIBUTORS DISCLOSE POSITIONS THEY HOLD IN STOCKS THEY DISCUSS, THOUGH POSITIONS MAY CHANGE. READERS OF "Cost of Freedom Recap" MUST TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR OWN INVESTMENT DECISIONS.
PERKS FOR DELEGATES IN FOCUS AHEAD OF POTENTIAL GOP CONTESTED CONVENTION
Andrea Tantaros: All part of the system and all above board. So you're not technically allowed to pay these delegates, but you can offer them a nice steak and a nice glass of merlot or maybe a flight on a private jet or a weekend at a hotel or a golf resort. I don't know, maybe if a candidate owns one of those places, you know who I’m talking about, but these are allowed to go on. The problem is though and this is where it comes into question, is super PACs came into play long after FEC delegate rules, so now there's a bit of confusion; this is where you've got to have the right people in place to make sure you're not breaking the law.
Ed Henry: James baker is saying go back to the 1976 convention, Gerald Ford won in part because they were handing out tickets to a state dinner at the white house to delegates if they hang in there, so this is not new, but it stinks to high heaven. And it's not just the perks. Think about what happened this week on the democrat side. The democrats found out oh, we didn't add it right. Bernie Sanders gets one more delegate. And that might matter because even if Hillary Clinton wins all the superdelegates in Colorado, it would mean Sanders might eke out a victory. They knew this for five weeks and they didn't tell Bernie Sanders.
Juan Williams: I think there's some history here where there was an offer to the head of the Pennsylvania delegation, saying “hey, I want to make you my vice president.” That's how far you can go. So, it didn't work in that case. That was Reagan back in '76 when he was battling for it, but that's possible.
Jonathan Hoenig: There's no evidence so far in this cycle and I think the onus of proof is on people who assert the positive. That aside, there should be zero regulations when it comes to this. Campaigns are private entities. I think they can set whatever rules they want, but voters don't vote based on perks. They vote based on their values, especially the delegates. So, I don't think they're going to change their minds about their principles just because they get a free hotel room or a bottle of wine.
U2 SINGER BONO: FUND NEEDY NATIONS TO HELP DEFEAT VIOLENT EXTREMISM
Ed Henry: I think he actually is right. Part of the reason why people are joining up with ISIS and other terror groups is because they're in desperate poverty, they have no other option and these terrorists con them into coming along. Don’t get me wrong, of course we should first battle them militarily and I would assume that in the rest of his remarks, he at least had a nod to that and if he didn't, he's wrong.
Juan Williams: I think he's right in the sense that we get foreign aid for lots of reasons, so, if one of the reasons is to stop terrorism, I’d want to stop terrorism. So, the thing is, I understand your instinct is don't spend money, don't reward bad behavior. Okay, there are some people who even say they don't believe in foreign aid at all given our deficits. You don't give foreign aid to ISIS or the Taliban, but you've got to give it to people who might be attracted to that ideology.
Andrea Tantaros: If you study how they're recruiting, parents are giving their young children, baby boys, a way to ISIS recruitment camps because they see it as a badge of honor. Their son is fighting in this war. It's no amount of money because they put religion before all else. It's not a jobs problem. It’s not a climate change problem and can bono just get back to singing? Remember when he used to sing?
Jonathan Hoenig: Can we just stop kidding ourselves and calling it violent extremism. It's Islamist extremism. The principle is not driven by money or poverty. It's driven by their ideology and donating is taxing. If you want to go help the worst parts of Africa, do an Oprah Winfrey and go build a school.
COLLEGE FRATERNITY CREATES UPROAR WITH 'MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN' TRUMP WALL
Andrea Tantaros: I'm offended by the name Trump, by the name Trump 2016. I can't believe parents pay $60,000; you're getting ready to pay for your son so your kid can go to school and be offended because the name Trump is now a microgression. The students say the people doing it are fascist, but the ones trying to shut down the free speech, which I think we still have in the U.S. today, I think they’re the fascist, aren't they?
Ed Henry: Yeah, look, it all goes back to Reagan, right? Tear down this wall. Everything goes back to Reagan.
Jonathan Hoenig: This is our next generation of politicians and political advocates and insiders, they can't think. They can only lash out. And instead of being able to refute Trump, they just believe that as Andrea said, they have a right not to be offended and use force instead of the power of ideas.
Juan Williams: First of all as I understand it, the fraternity got involved in taking down the wall, but it was the football team and others who said you know with the kind of racist arguments that you hear from Trump about Mexicans are rapists and thieves and keep out all the Muslims, maybe that's what got those kids going, so I don't know. Seems to me that they were standing up for what they believe.
https://www.foxnews.com/transcript/delegates-not-voters-now-focus-of-presidential-campaigns