Your task is to extract the thesis of an opinionated news article by selecting some of its text segments. The thesis is a summarization of what the author wants to persuade the reader of. Your answer should consist of segments of the given text. Note that you are not allowed to combine different sentences.

Input: Consider Input: Will Congress give Alibaba a green light to crush America's small businesses? I actually know something about China . I lived there and helped U.S  companies negotiate trade deals and contracts , but it was not a glamorous job . I spent my last night in China in June 1989 in a baggage X-ray machine at the Beijing Airport as tanks rolled into Tiananmen Square . Only one bus full of Japanese tourists made it to the airport the next morning , and I sneaked out of my hiding place and slipped into their lines ... unnoticed . Not long after that I watched on television as a brave young man tried to block a phalanx of tanks heading into the square . The world learned something very important that day: Get in the way of the Chinese Communist Party and you'll be crushed . The Chinese economy is now estimated by some to be larger than our own . Radio talk show host Mark Levin even predicted on his show that the U.S  would lose its technological advantage to the Chinese within 10 years . How will this happen? Will China send its tanks to New York City and invade the banks, or to Silicon Valley to steal away our intellectual property? No need to ; we're actually handing them our wealth . And ,  oddly enough, many seem pretty content about it . I'm not a protectionist , but I'm no sucker, either . Preserving free markets takes work , but what's strange is that today we're actively distorting markets to the detriment of our domestic industries . History is replete with governments working against Adam Smith's invisible hand, but always with the intention of protecting their own . We're doing the opposite . There has been a debate brewing for decades within conservative circles over whether Congress should give deference to the 10th Amendment and allow States to control their own sales tax systems, or whether they should be prevented from collecting sales taxes on goods sold online under the guise of lower taxes . In my mind there's nothing conservative or free market about protecting businesses from competition . Since online shopping became the rage a decade and a half ago , Americans have enjoyed buying items -- from home necessities to Christmas presents -- without paying sales tax . I made up my mind on this issue in the 1990s after I kept hearing some politicians assert that Internet companies must be nurtured and protected while in their infancy . There' s nothing conservative or free market about protecting businesses from competition . Amazon and eBay look extremely well nurtured after decades of special tax treatment , while mom-and-pop Main Street retailers have been forced to charge sales tax . Well, a game changer named Alibaba, a billion-dollar Chinese e-commerce marketplace that's bigger than Amazon and eBay,combined, is now entering the American market . Fresh off the largest IPO in Wall Street history and flush with cash, within two years Alibaba and its hundreds of thousands of Chinese retailers will be selling the same goods and products to Americans the same way Amazon does . It's bad enough that local stores have had to compete on a tilted playing field against American e-tailers , but extending this uncompetitive advantage to subsidized overseas giants like Alibaba could spell the end for countless American business owners . Congress has the power to change this , and the U.S  Senate has already overwhelmingly voted 69-27 to pass the Marketplace Fairness Act to close the online sales tax loophole . Even Amazon, which fought closing the sales tax loophole for years, now supports the Marketplace Fairness Act . Conservatives in the Senate were divided on this vote , my hope is state legislatures will follow conservative Gov  Scott Walker's lead in Wisconsin and pass laws offsetting any revenue increases with corresponding income tax cuts . Conservatives should be of one mind to keep taxes as low as possible , and we can also work to ensure that markets remain free and competitive . It is now up to the House of Representatives to decide if they're going to stand up for small businesses or cut them off at the knees with a wet kiss for Alibaba . If you're kissing Alibaba , you're essentially in bed with the Chinese government and its Communist Party , which cares even less about the American economy than it cared for the heroic student who stood in front of the tanks in Tiananmen Square . As a recent Wall Street Journal editorial put it :. "[N]o one in China earns or keeps such wealth or celebrity without support from the Communist Party . ... [Alibaba's Chairman Jack] Ma recently accompanied President Xi Jinping on a state visit to South Korea , and a strong IPO debut could yield billion-dollar payouts for Beijing's sovereign wealth fund and several private investment firms tied to children and grandchildren of Party leaders." Why on earth would conservatives and Republicans want to undercut the local small businesses they claim to represent in favor of an online retailing Goliath backed by the Chinese government? This would be the height of lunacy . A standard talking point for GOP leaders, office holders and candidates has been to strongly advocate for small business . If House Republicans don't close this loophole , the damage done to the GOP's relationship with one of its core constituencies could be irreparable . How many GOP incumbents want to see this ad run against them in the next election? It would be both good politics and good policy to close the loophole so everyone - including Alibaba - has to compete by the same rules . That is, after all, what a free market is all about . Dan Schneider is executive director of the American Conservative Union .

Output: Well, a game changer named Alibaba, a billion-dollar Chinese e-commerce marketplace that's bigger than Amazon and eBay,combined, is now entering the American market Fresh off the largest IPO in Wall Street history and flush with cash, within two years Alibaba and its hundreds of thousands of Chinese retailers will be selling the same goods and products to Americans the same way Amazon does


Input: Consider Input: From Ferguson to immigration: Obama's divide and conquer political strategy has failed our nation. A recent Quinnipiac poll shows support for illegal immigrants at 48 percent, a historic low . This is what the president's cynical manipulation of the Hispanic community has delivered: a hardening of American attitudes . The same distancing will likely occur between blacks and whites as the demonstrations over the grand jury decisions in Ferguson and Staten Island roll on . Whereas only recently a sizable majority of blacks and whites declared themselves comfortable with the state of race relations in the country , pictures of looting and the inflammatory rhetoric of self-interested activists like Al Sharpton will inevitably sharpen racial divides . The insistent proclamations from Attorney General Eric Holder that our justice system is biased, and the president's agreement that the law "feels like it's being applied in a discriminatory fashion," do not help . Today, Obama's well-honed political tactics of dividing and conquering-- so essential to electing a virtual nobody to the Oval Office-- have come asunder . The interest groups wooed by the president have begun to turn against him . Some feel betrayed ; others understand that their demands have isolated them from their fellow countrymen . The only group still giving the president more than a 50 percent approval rating is voters under 3 . For the rest of the poor boobs not caught up in the Obama splinter sweep-- they are eager to elect a successor who might look out for them . Turns out, those forgotten folks are actually in the majority, and just voted in a Republican Senate . According to the Quinnipiac poll, 48 percent of voters think immigrants living in the U.S  illegally should be allowed to stay . That's down from 57 percent last year, and lower than ever . Moreover ,  some 35 percent of the voting public thinks undocumented aliens should be deported -- a record high, and up from 26 percent last year . That's in spite of insistent hectoring from the White House about the moral imperative of providing a legal path for those who are here illegally . Congratulations, Mr  Obama, for ramping up opposition to immigration reform . How to deal with illegal immigrants is not the only issue on which the nation's attitudes are hardening . Last August, after the shooting of Michael Brown (but before the grand jury decision in the case), a New York Times/CBS poll surveyed voters on their attitudes about race . Asked whether race relations had improved or soured during President Obama's time in office, 35 percent of respondents said they had gotten worse , while 52 percent said they had stayed the same . Only 10 percent thought the president had had a positive impact on relations - 8 percent of whites and 17 percent of blacks . That is an impressive underachievement from our first African-American president . Overall ,  78 percent of respondents, when asked about "race relations in your community," said they were "generally good." That included 82 percent of whites and 73 percent of blacks -- a strong vote of confidence, especially from a group that was much less positive about the country as a whole, with only 47 percent saying U.S  race relations were "generally good." This split suggests that people have absorbed the narrative that our country has a race problem not from their personal experience in their own communities, but from the media or our political leaders . The most compelling aspect of that story line entails racial bias in law enforcement . Many initiatives, from decriminalizing marijuana possession to de-emphasizing tactics like "stop and frisk," have been promulgated based on the fact that more blacks than whites end up on the wrong side of the law . Holder has even dumbed down school discipline measures, arguing they constitute an example of racial bias . The Manhattan Institute's Steve Malanga sheds some welcome light on this issue . According to surveys conducted by the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics over the past 20 years, the number of confrontations between Americans and the police has declined, as has the use of force by law enforcement officials . Most important, perhaps, is that the declines were recorded not just for whites, but for all races . In 2002, 173,000 African-Americans reported a "use of force"; in 2011, that was down to 130,000 . Nearly 83 percent of blacks who were involved in traffic stops(the most numerous encounters) agreed with the statement,"When I was stopped by the police, the officers acted properly." That figure was up from 78 percent in 2002 . As for so-called "street stops," the Bureau reports,"In 2011, less than 1% of the 241.4 million U.S  residents age 16 or older were involved in a street stop" ; further ,  "no differences were observed in the percentage of non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black, and Hispanic populations age 16 or older involved in a street stop." So much for unfair profiling . Under 3 percent of police encounters involve "street stops" of an involuntary nature ; of those stopped (likely not a happy crew), two-thirds said the cops behaved "properly and respectfully." This review does not suggest a law enforcement community reviled by the African-American community, or the country . President Obama has tried to curry favor with blacks, Hispanics, women, the young and the poor by convincing them that they suffer from injustices, that they are victimized by the one percent, by law enforcement, by corporations or insurers -- or by Republicans . Americans aren't buying it . Increasingly, they see a country victimized by an incompetent president .

Output: Today, Obama's well-honed political tactics of dividing and conquering-- so essential to electing a virtual nobody to the Oval Office-- have come asunder This is what the president's cynical manipulation of the Hispanic community has delivered: a hardening of American attitudes


Input: Consider Input: Iran talks: Moving beyond 'worn out' policies. The stakes are high in the latest round of nuclear talks starting today in Geneva between Iran and the P5+1 at the deputy foreign minister level . Over the past week, US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Jawed Zarif have held long conversations in Geneva and Paris, lasting over seven hours . Both realise that more flexibility is required to avoid the break up of the talks . British Prime Minister David Cameron spoke on the subject with US President Barack Obama and the foreign ministers of France, Germany and the EU foreign policy chief all held talks separately with Zarif . Yet if both sides continue to stick to their strict red lines it is questionable whether this round of talks will be any better than the last . It may be time for more flexible red lines if failure is to be avoided . "Chances are less than 50/50," admits Obama, in a joint press conference with the British Prime Minister David Cameron when both leaders spent well over half of their press conferences spelling out what was at stake if a deal with Iran was not finalised by the June deadline . Obama explained how"the most successful, the most effective sanctions regime" had eventually led Iran to the negotiating table . He said:"If we can get a verifiable deal with the necessary assurances then that would be the best deal." Yet Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson said sanctions are a "worn out policy" and asked the White House to adopt a "logical approach" . Iran would not accept a deal that constrains its enrichment programme without the West reducing sanctions . "Now we have come to a stage in the talks that requires the other side to take its decision to enable us to move forward," said Zarif when arriving in Geneva . "There needs to be some new and comprehensive proposals." The latest directive from Iran's leader, Ali Khamenei is that officials "should take away the weapon of sanctions from the enemy" . "Even one step in retreat will lead to enemy's advance," he said . He is angered that "Americans say flagrantly that even if Iran withdraws in the nuclear issue, the sanctions will not be lifted all together and at once" . Khamenei is referring to the main point of contention; the issue of the period of curbing Iran's enrichment programme in exchange for the lifting of four sets of sanctions imposed on Iran by the UN, EU and the US . The US wants the curbing of sanctions to be in a period covering well over 10 years, closer to 20 or in "double digits" as US administration officials put it . This is to ensure Iran's breakout time is prolonged . Iran sees this as an attempt for forcing it to forego what it calls its peaceful enrichment programme . It does not accept this long period of curbing its enrichment programme without the reciprocal reduction in sanctions . It is believed that the Iranian leader could be persuaded with anything below 10 years or a timeframe in a "single digit" . "Iran is deeply suspicious of the US and the West," said Obama . Mutual distrust is at the core of the failure of the unwillingness on both side to be flexible . Khamenei still refers to the US as"enemy" and the US continues to refuse to lift sanctions fearing Iran's return to enrichment . It is not clear if western trust has taken another blow from reports that Syria is still trying to make nuclear weapons and has been getting help from Iran and North Korea . The two sides would not be able to reach an agreement especially when the US Congress is pushing daily for imposing further sanctions in support of the Israeli lobby . Republican Senator Mark Kirk and Democratic Senator Robert Menendez are finalising a bill for tougher sanctions . Senator Bob Corker is also working on a bill to ensure the congress must approve any final deal with Iran . Iran hardliners answer sanctions with the threat of enrichment . "Further sanctions will result in a vote in the Iranian parliament for continuing enrichment," said Ali Larijani, the head of Judiciary . "The enemies wanted to deprive Iran from its right to the nuclear technology and even resorted to military threats to this end." Hardline members of parliament are proposing a bill to increase the uranium enrichment programme to 60 percent . "I am not, repeat, not suggesting that we are in immediate war footing, should negotiations with Iran fail," said Obama . At the same time he made it clear he would veto any congressional attempts at new sanctions against Iran . "Hold your fire," he told the congress . "We must not jeopardise the chance" to get a verifiable deal with Iran . Although Republicans now hold a 54-46 seat majority in the Senate , it is not clear whether there would manage to get the 67 votes required in the Senate to override an Obama veto of any Iran legislation . In intensive meetings with his European counterpart, Zarif has no doubt conveyed to them that if there is no easing of the sanctions there would be little he could do back home . He has asked for "serious and brave decisions" in order to move forward . The world has heard expressions of commitments and hope from Iran and the countries P5+1 for over a year now . Yet those brave words must be coupled either with more flexibility as recommended by experts or coupled alternatively with new ideas, new methods and possibly new redlines . There is still time and several avenues are still open . For example there could be more direct involvement by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, in the form of a representative, a high calibre UN negotiator , who could add momentum to the talks and create synergy . Otherwise it is difficult to see how the negotiators can come up with a solution if they have not managed it in the past 14 months .


Output: The stakes are high in the latest round of nuclear talks starting today in Geneva between Iran and the P5+1 at the deputy foreign minister level