Good morning! Here is your news briefing for Friday January 24, 2020.
THE DAILY SIGNAL
| Jan 24, 2020 |
| Happy Friday from Washington, where the 47th annual March for Life musters today in opposition to abortion on demand. Two lawmakers would mandate hospital access for abortion doctors. Rachel del Guidice reports. House prosecutors try to convince the Senate to remove President Trump for abuse of power. Fred Lucas has details. Plus: the future of historically black colleges and universities, the peril posed by birth tourism, and women who stand for the sanctity of life. Eighty-five years ago today, canned beer debuts in Richmond, Virginia. Enjoy the weekend. |
| NEWS7 Highlights From Day 3 of the Trump Impeachment TrialBy Fred Lucas House Democrats argued that a crime isn’t necessary to remove a president from office and doubled down on their defense of Joe and Hunter Biden.MoreCOMMENTARYHow the ‘Birth Tourism’ Industry Hurts the USBy Lora Ries U.S. citizenship makes a child eligible for free public education and loan programs, government food assistance, Medicaid, and other welfare programs.MoreNEWSDeVos Hails Trump’s ‘Partnership’ With Historic Black SchoolsBy Ken McIntyre Historically black colleges and universities “are cultural institutions with storied legacies that are unique and remarkable,” Secretary DeVos said at The Heritage Foundation.MoreNEWSExclusive: Biggs, Kennedy Bills Would Require Hospital Admitting Privileges for AbortionistsBy Rachel del Guidice “Women deserve to have doctors and medical professionals who can provide quality care and quickly address any complications that may arise,” says Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz.MoreNEWSForum on Historic Black Schools Opens With a Personal StoryBy Allison Schuster Kay C. James recalls the hostility she encountered as part of the first class to integrate a middle school in Richmond, Virginia. “I had to walk past dogs, and police officers, and screaming parents saying, ‘We don’t want you here,’” she says.MoreCOMMENTARYHow the March for Life Highlights the Value of Women’s VoicesBy Abigail Moreno-Riano I’m going to the March for Life because it is also the centennial anniversary of the 19th Amendment. It’s a monumental year to remember that we are not marching without influence, nor without the ability to truly change the culture.MoreANALYSISWhat the Trump Administration Is Doing to Boost Historically Black CollegesBy Rachel del Guidice Education Department official Leonard Haynes discusses how to make HBCUs more competitive.MoreCOMMENTARYPro-Life Women Stand in the Shoes of Early SuffragistsBy Grazie Pozo Christie The first feminists felt keenly that abortion was not an act of liberation, but of coercion. Abortion did not empower women, but degraded them, treating their fertility as a defect and their sons and daughters as disposable.More | ||
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THE EPOCH TIMES
“When you are offended at any man’s fault, turn to yourself and study your own failings. Then you will forget your anger.” EPICTETUSGood morning, Seven more cities in China were quarantined as a new SARS-like virus spread to most parts of the country. In Wuhan, the city at the epicenter of the outbreak, prices for basic goods are surging and hospitals have reportedly reached capacity. Read the full story here. Hawley: ‘We Must Call Hunter Biden, We Probably Need to Call Joe Biden’ Tennessee Gov. Introduces New Bill Banning Abortions Where Fetal Heartbeat Is Detected No Bipartisan Talks on Impeachment Trial Witnesses Are Happening: Schumer Soleimani’s Successor Faces Same Fate If He Kills Americans: US Envoy to Iran Virginia’s state Senate passed a “red flag” bill days after a massive gun rights rally opposing the legislation drew at least 22,000 Second Amendment advocates from across the country. Gun rights groups decried the move. Read moreA key swing-vote Republican senator told reporters she was offended by a claim levied by one of the House impeachment managers that Republicans are engaging in a “cover-up” during the trial against President Donald Trump, and questioned why Democrats didn’t go to the courts to obtain more evidence. Read moreThe former top Pentagon policy official for Asia says the recent Taiwan presidential election allowed the “young democracy” to send “important messages” to the region. Read moreA father and daughter have filed a class-action lawsuit against the Transportation Security Administration and the Drug Enforcement Administration, claiming that authorities seized the father’s life savings at Pittsburgh International Airport without any legal justification. Read moreThe U.S. government said that women traveling to the United States primarily to give birth for the purpose of getting their child U.S. citizenship is no longer permissible. Read moreDozens of world leaders descended upon Jerusalem on Jan. 23 for the largest-ever gathering focused on commemorating the Holocaust and combating modern-day anti-Semitism—a politically charged event that has been clouded by rival national interpretations of the genocide. Read more See More Top StoriesCivil Rights and the Second Amendment By Jeremy Stalnecker This week each year we as a nation stop to celebrate the birth of the 20th-century civil rights icon, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King was a man who understood that in the United States equality, and more importantly freedom… Read moreWill Impeachment Dominate Trump’s Second Term? By Roger L. Simon Given the hatred meter hovering around 25 on a scale of 1 to 10, will impeachment be renewed in President Donald Trump’s second term, possibly even dominate it? Read more See More OpinionsChina Is Not the World’s Largest Economy By Valentin Schmid (March 2, 2015) In 2011, most people still thought China, as a nation, had less debt than Europe or the United States because of its relatively low government debt levels. Then came Fraser Howie’s seminal book “Red Capitalism,” one of the first books to expose… Read moreJust how big an issue is voter fraud in America? And how does it happen, despite the safeguards? What exactly are “ghost voters”? And how does ballot harvesting actually work? And, in the eyes of Adrian Norman, what policies need to be put in place to ensure free and fair elections in America? Voter Fraud: Exposing Fraud & Closing Loopholes—Adrian Norman | American Thought LeadersCopyright © 2020 The Epoch Times, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in to receive newsletter communications from The Epoch Times. Our mailing address is: The Epoch Times229 W. 28 St.Fl. 5New York, NY 10001 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can unsubscribe from this list or remove my account. |
DAYBREAK
| Your First Look at Today’s Top Stories – Daybreak InsiderHaving trouble viewing this email? View the web version.SPONSORED BYDaybreakInsider.com @DaybreakInsiderFRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 20201.Byron York: GOP Could Call Hunter Biden And quite possibly Joe Biden (Washington Examiner). But Kimberly Strassel says Chuck Schumer is “doing a masterful job of unifying Republicans, encouraging them to vote next week to ignore his witness demands and expeditiously acquit President Trump” (WSJ). Of the media, David Harsanyi explains “The same people who spent years passing along every falsehood and selective leak the California congressman gave them to fuel the Russia-collusion hysteria, and the same people who still accept his allegations — knowing his long history of fabrications — without much skepticism, spent yesterday pretending that Schiff was a modern-day Cicero” (National Review). Then comes this large chunk of irony: Three of the House impeachment managers presiding over the impeachment trial in the Senate claimed that if the Senate votes to acquit President Trump, it would lead to the belief that the process was “rigged” (Washington Examiner). While Senators running for president are mired in an impeachment mess, Trump has moved on to the campaign trail (Washington Times). 2.Buttigieg Catching Heat for Cancelling Fundraiser Over Stripper Pole Which he wanted removed before the fundraiser at a gay nightclub (Free Beacon). Meanwhile, a closer look at Bernie Sanders’ sudden surge in the polls (National Review). Sanders is dominating the college vote (Chegg Media Center). Ah, but there’s talk that Obama may publicly say Sanders is unfit (Fox Business). Camp Sanders called the police on Project Veritas (Daily Wire). And Elizabeth Warren was confronted by a voter who challenged her desire to forgive student debt for those who racked it up but burn those who “did the right thing” and paid it off (Fox News). Advertisement3.Supreme Court Split Over Case on Public Funding for Religious Schools But it appears Stillwater Christian School has the five votes needed to give religious institutions a big win. WSJ 4.At Least Three Chinese Cities in Lockdown Over Deadly Virus At least 25 are now dead (CBS News). And there is apparently a case in New Jersey (NJ). A Texas student has been quarantined (NY Times). 5.Lanhee Chen: There is no “Moderate” Public Option He concludes “Politicians like Messrs. Biden, Buttigieg and Bloomberg like to market the public option as a less dramatic and cheaper alternative to Medicare for All. That’s far from the whole story. A politically realistic public option would produce dramatic fiscal costs and harm the U.S. health-care system. Policy makers may yet find the middle ground in health reform, but a government-run public option isn’t it.” WSJ Advertisement6.Property Owners in Oakland Can No Longer Find Out if Renters are CriminalsThe city council passed a measure banning background checks. Hot Air 7.Witnesses Testify in Weinstein Trial Actress Annabella Sciorra told of the time he raped her nearly 30 years ago. ABC News 8.Police Tase K9 After It Bit a Cow And the policeman who had to tase his own dog was then kicked by the cow. It was that kind of day. WSPA AdvertisementCopyright © 2020 DaybreakInsider.comSUBSCRIPTION INFO This newsletter is never sent unsolicited. It is only sent to people who signed up from one of the Salem Media Group network of websites OR a friend might have forwarded it to you. We respect and value your time and privacy. Unsubscribe from The Daybreak Insider OR Send postal mail to: The Daybreak Insider Unsubscribe 6400 N. Belt Line Rd., Suite 200, Irving, TX 75063 Were you forwarded this edition of The Daybreak Insider? Get your own free subscription Copyright © 2020 Salem Media Group and its Content Providers. All rights reserved. |
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
| Friday, January 24, 2020 |
| House Democrats conceal testimony of 18th witness from Trump teamDemocrats clamoring for more witnesses at President Trump’s impeachment trial are concealing one of those questioned in the House investigation, … more |
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| Lessons learned by the royal formerly known as Prince Harry Killing an unborn human being is not health care A post-Roe America is a pro-life America |
| Politics Read More > |
| Milk and candy: Arcane rules for impeachment trial hit trapped senators hard Trump vows to ‘save’ Social Security, not cut it Elizabeth Warren pledges to incorporate diversity into her Cabinet |
| Special Reports for Times Readers Special Report – Infrastructure 2019Special Report – Energy 2019Special Report – Free Iran Rally 2019 |
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| Capitals’ division chock full of playoff contenders at All-Star break Antetokounmpo, LeBron named NBA All-Star captains Beal scores 36 as weary Wizards down Cavaliers |
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THE SUNBURN
| The Florida Conference of Black State Legislators (FCBSL) is partnering with the Florida Legislative Black Caucus to host a two-day information and celebration event Thursday and Friday. Activities include a free public Chairman’s Welcome reception at 6 p.m. Thursday at downtown Tallahassee’s Doubletree Hotel.The Florida Conference of Black State Legislators (FCBSL), partnering with the Florida Legislative Black Caucus, is hosting a two-day information and celebration event.At noon Friday, the Annual Kershaw-Cherry Legislative luncheon will be at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center at 505 W. Pensacola St. The keynote speaker is retired Army Lt. General Gwendolyn Bingham, who was deployed to Kuwait and Afghanistan in 2010 in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.Bingham broke barriers as she served the country with distinction throughout a 30-year career in the U.S. Army. She has received numerous awards, including the 2019 White House Correspondents “Be Fearless” award.The Civic Center also will be the site of the Annual Scholarship Gala Celebration at 8 p.m. With the theme Harlem Nights, dress for the evening is period or cocktail attire.For tickets to the luncheon and scholarship gala, visit the event website.___Please read my latest blog post — “Should Margaret Good run for reelection? It’s a no-brainer” — When Good won the special election for House District 72 two years ago, it made national news. It was evidence that the “blue wave” might just hit Florida. Though she’s still eligible to run for another three terms in the state House, Good has her eyes on Florida’s 16th Congressional District. To many, myself included, it’s a fool’s errand. Incumbent Rep. Vern Buchanan has held the seat for more than a decade. In fact, CD 16 may be more of a stretch for Democrats this cycle. At least that’s what new polling shows with the ultra-popular Buchanan up 20 points. Simply put, Good’s aspirations aren’t realistic.___Check out this op-ed, which popped exclusively on FloridaPolitics.com late last night:“Setting the record straight on disaster recovery funding in Florida” via Ken Lawson for Florida Politics — When I met with Gov. Ron DeSantis about taking on the role as Executive Director of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, he told me helping Floridians recover from Hurricanes Hermine, Matthew, Irma and Michael were my No. 1 priority. I took this order seriously. What did we learn? We learned that after a storm, many of the dedicated, hardworking individuals who are responsible for long-term recovery efforts at the local level are also doing several other jobs and wearing multiple hats. We found that many communities did not have the capacity to administer the enormous amount of funding coming to our state. Accordingly, our team is providing ongoing technical assistance to these communities who are administering the funds locally.Ken Lawson and his team are working on long-term hurricane recovery.That op-ed is in response to …Florida slow to distribute disaster recovery cash — The DEO has been sitting on nearly $900 million in disaster recovery block grants that were approved by the federal government over the past three years, Arek Sarkissian of POLITICO Florida reports. Of the $891.5 set aside, just $29 million had been used as of Jan. 1. Most of that money went to a consulting firm tasked with helping DEO navigate the grants. The funds are separate from the $735.5 million in disaster recovery grants the state expects to receive in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael. The lack of disbursement has led some local leaders to ask DeSantis if they can manage the money rather than housing it under DEO. |
| Today’s Sunrise VISIT FLORIDA is looking for support in the legislature. The state will abolish the tourism marketing agency later this year if lawmakers don’t act.Also, on today’s Sunrise:— Headed for the House floor after clearing all its committees is a bill to increase penalties for bear poachers.— Also House-floor-bound is a bill that says insurance companies cannot get access to your genetic code.— Republican leader Dane Eagle — in his term-limited last year in the House — tells Sunrise his job is a bit like herding cats. He’s currently running for a seat in the U.S. House, where we’re sure it’s nothing like that.— An automotive edition of Florida Man features a carjacker armed with a lighter and a DUI suspect busted with a load of poop in his pants.To listen, click on the image below: |
| Days until Annual Red Dog Blue Dog Celebrity Bartender Benefit — 4; New Brexit deadline — 7; Super Bowl LIV in Miami — 9; Great American Realtors Day — 10; Iowa Caucuses — 10; Eighth Democratic presidential debate in Manchester — 14; Capitol Press Corps press skits — 17; New Hampshire Primaries — 18; Pitchers and catchers begin reporting for MLB Spring Training — 18; South Beach Wine and Food Festival — 26; Ninth Democratic presidential debate in Las Vegas — 26; Roger Stone’s sentencing — 27; Nevada caucuses — 29; “Better Call Saul” Season 5 premiers — 30; 10th Democratic presidential debate in Charleston — 32; South Carolina Primaries — 36; Super Tuesday — 39; Last day of 2020 Session (maybe) — 49; Florida’s presidential primary — 53; “No Time to Die” premiers — 73; Florida Chamber Summit on Prosperity and Economic Opportunity — 112; “Top Gun: Maverick” premiers — 154; Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee begins — 171; Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” premiers — 175; 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo start — 182; Florida primaries for 2020 state legislative/congressional races — 207; First Presidential Debate in Indiana — 249; Republican National Convention begins in Charlotte — 213; First Vice Presidential debate at the University of Utah — 257; Second Presidential Debate scheduled at the University of Michigan — 265; Third presidential debate at Belmont — 272; 2020 General Election — 284. |
| Top story “House athlete pay plan would include ‘Bill of Rights’” via News Service of Florida — Athletes at Florida universities and colleges would get a “bill of rights” guaranteeing financial aid and health coverage as part of a House draft proposal intended to allow athletes to cash in on their names and images. The plan, released by the House Commerce Committee, outlines potential compensation for “name, image, likeness or persona” but maintains that pay for on-field performance would remain prohibited. “It’s really a bill of rights, and it’s focused on their time while in school,” Commerce Chairman Mike La Rosa said. The idea of allowing off-field compensation for college athletes has drawn support from DeSantis, a former college baseball player. |
| Dateline: Tally “In eye of legislative storm, VISIT FLORIDA seeks to rally support” via AG Gancarski of Florida Politics — DeSantis and Bill Galvano want to keep it around, a point they made during “Tourism Day” this week. House Speaker José Oliva is unconvinced. And VISIT FLORIDA CEO Dana Young notes that the last cut, to a $50 million annual budget, is still being processed by the agency. Under the microscope, the board convened at the Hotel Duval, a short walk from the Capitol. Despite the doom and gloom of the news cycle, the mood mixed practiced optimism with the reality that funding is not assured. Young was pointing out growth sectors in pitches to legislators, noting that increases in everything from “millennial adventure seekers” to Canadians and international visitors mean more revenue for the state.Ron DeSantis speaks at Florida Tourism Day. Image via Dana Young/Twitter.Assignment editors — DeSantis will make a major announcement, 9:30 a.m., Baker Park, Eva Sugden-Gomez Center, 50 Riverside Circle, Naples.Assignment editors — First Lady Casey DeSantis will hold a news conference to highlight the Department of Education Reading Scholarships and announce several pilot programs, 8:45 a.m., Leroy Collins Leon County Public Library, 200 West Park Avenue, Tallahassee.“’I am a solid no.’ Florida GOP chairman shuns bill to expand gun background checks amid conservative backlash” via Skyler Swisher of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel — State Sen. Joe Gruters doubts the measure has the votes it needs to pass, despite getting support from Republican Senate President Galvano. “I am a solid no,” Gruters said. “We’ll see what happens, but in its present form, I would expect it will have a very hard time moving through the process.” His comments come as conservatives and gun-rights supporters are on the defensive in Florida and other states where guns are being debated. Galvano has thrown his support behind a bill that seeks to close the so-called gun show loophole. That provoked a barrage of criticism from NRA lobbyist Marion Hammer, Donald Trump Jr., Parkland parent Andrew Pollack, Rep.Gaetz, and other members of Galvano’s party.Florida Republicans to vote on E-Verify — Republican Party of Florida leaders will vote Monday on whether to support implementing E-Verify in Florida, Matt Dixon of POLITICO Florida reports. RPOF Chair and Sarasota Sen. Gruters has called for county chairs to meet and asked them to vote for a resolution supporting E-Verify, a priority of DeSantis. Republican lawmakers are divided on whether to implement the system to checks the immigration status of job seekers. Some Republicans, including Gruters, are pushing legislation that would only require the use of E-Verify for public employers.“Issue of parental consent for minors creates rift among House Democrats” via AG Gancarski of Florida Politics — House Democratic leader Kionne McGhee announced the caucus would not take a position this week on the fast-moving bill. The measure (HB 265) would require parental consent before minors could undergo abortion procedures. Rep. Kim Daniels is co-sponsoring the bill for the second straight year. Daniels, an evangelical, said personal experience led her to that position, one that she believes should be respected in the “big tent” of the Democratic Party. Daniels had an abortion at the age of 15, without her mother’s consent. It was botched. Daniels, with fellow Democratic Rep. James Bush III, said there could ultimately be six or seven Democrats who share her position, which is that minors should have parental consent for abortions. |
| Legislation “DNA privacy proposal heads to House” via The Associated Press — Legislation to bar insurance companies from using home genetic testing kits in making underwriting decisions is headed to the House floor, after a panel voted unanimously in favor of the proposal. The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Chris Sprowls has called the measure a matter of privacy over a person’s genetic code amid the growing popularity of over-the-counter DNA kits. Some companies market their tests as a way to discover genetic markers associated with certain conditions and diseases. The proposal seeks to outlaw life, disability and long-term care insurers from denying policies or setting premiums based on markers that might be discovered through DNA home kits. A marker does not necessarily mean a person will develop the corresponding disease.Chris Sprowls’ DNA privacy bill is hitting the House floor.“’Parents Bill of Rights’ wins bipartisan backing in first House stop” via Jeffrey Solochek of the Tampa Bay Times — A bipartisan majority offered its strong support for legislation deemed the “Parents Bill of Rights” by sponsor Rep. Erin Grall. With HB 1059, Grall aims to create a new chapter of state law that has a core goal of describing parents’ fundamental rights to control their children’s education, health care and other aspects of upbringing. It stresses that the government may not infringe upon such rights without “demonstrating that such action is reasonable and necessary to achieve a compelling state interest” in a very narrow way. The bill would require, among other things, school district procedures for parents to opt their children out of lessons and materials they find objectionable. |
| Today in Capitol House PreK-12 Appropriations Subcommittee, 8 a.m., Reed Hall, House Office Building.Happy Physician Anesthesiologists Week — DeSantis’ official proclamation recognizes the role of physician anesthesiologists “as a medical doctor who specialize in anesthesia care, pain management and critical care medicine.” Additionally, the Governor outlined the importance of Physician Anesthesiologists Week as “an opportunity to recognize the significant role physician anesthesiologists play in Florida’s health care system and the impact they make in our families and communities.” |
| Statewide Assignment editors — Attorney General Ashley Moody will host a news conference, along with Miami-Dade County officials and authorities, regarding anti-human trafficking efforts ahead of Super Bowl LIV, 2:45 p.m., Port of Miami-Terminal E, 1265 N. Cruise Blvd., Miami.“Nine Supreme Court nominees sent to DeSantis” via the News Service of Florida — They are: John Couriel, an attorney with the Miami firm Kobre & Kim; Renatha Francis, a Palm Beach County circuit judge; Jonathan Gerber, a judge on the 4th District Court of Appeal; Jamie Grosshans, a judge on the 5th District Court of Appeal; Norma Lindsey, a judge on the 3rd District Court of Appeal; Timothy Osterhaus, a judge on the 1st District Court of Appeal; Eliot Pedrosa, a Miami-Dade County attorney who is United States executive director of the Inter-American Development Bank; Lori Rowe, a judge on the 1st District Court of Appeal; Meredith Sasso, a judge on the 5th District Court of Appeal.“Supreme Court finalist from PBC couldn’t take job for six months” via Jane Musgrave of the Palm Beach Post — Circuit Judge Francis, along with 4th District Court of Appeal Judge Gerber, were among nine candidates a committee selected for Gov. Ron DeSantis to consider for two vacancies on the state’s highest court. Unlike Gerber, who previously served on the county’s circuit bench, or any of the other candidates from throughout the state, Francis can’t immediately join the court. According to the Florida Constitution, a Supreme Court justice must have been a member of the Florida Bar for 10 years.Renatha Francis, a Jamaican American judge for the Palm Beach County Circuit Court, is on the shortlist for Florida Supreme Court. Image via Jamaica Beacon.“Justices back away from major death penalty ruling” via News Service of Florida — The Florida Supreme Court said Thursday that unanimous jury recommendations are not necessary before death sentences can be imposed, as justices backed away from a 2016 decision that revamped the state’s capital-punishment system. The 4-1 ruling offered a clear picture of how much the Supreme Court had changed since last January when a conservative majority took control after the retirements of longtime justices Barbara Pariente, R. Fred Lewis and Peggy Quince. Thursday’s majority opinion said the court “got it wrong” in 2016 when it required changes such as unanimous jury recommendations on death sentences. The 2016 ruling came as judges, lawyers and state leaders tried to move forward after the U.S. Supreme Court had found Florida’s death-penalty system unconstitutional.“Human trafficking continues to be a growing problem in Florida” via Kelsey Sunderland of WFLA — The St. Petersburg Police Department announced the establishment of a regional human trafficking task force after the agency received a $741,556 federal grant. Data from the U.S. State Department reports an estimate of between 18,000 and 20,000 human trafficking victims each year. Last year’s 767 reports of human trafficking led to the identification of 1,771 victims, 506 traffickers, and 306 trafficking businesses. More than a fifth of human trafficking victims in Florida are children, and the majority are female. According to a study of the U.S. Department of Justice, human trafficking task force cases, 83% of sex trafficking victims identified in the United States were U.S. citizens. |
| Mother nature “DeSantis called on to block another Everglades oil drilling plan” via David Fleshler of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel — Environmentalists called on DeSantis to step in to stop another oil drilling plan in the Everglades, one potentially much bigger than the one he halted last week with the announcement of a land buyout in western Broward County. A letter to the Governor urged him to stop a Texas company’s oil exploration activities at Big Cypress National Preserve, a land of forest and swamp on the northwest border of Everglades National Park. Burnett Oil Co. holds state and federal permits to look for oil across 110 square miles of the preserve by using heavy trucks that vibrate metal plates against the ground to detect the presence of oil.Oil drilling has been going on for years at Big Cypress National Preserve. Image via National Park Service.“Brevard County Commission rejects loosening rules designed to protect wetlands” via Dave Berman of FLORIDA TODAY — After a 1½-hour discussion, commissioners voted unanimously to direct the county’s Natural Resources Management Department to study two related matters further, and report their findings to commissioners later this year. Commissioner Kristine Isnardi left the possibility open for wetlands rules changes in the future — at least for parts of the county. Isnardi said she believes the current rules sometimes interfere with people’s property rights. “Obviously, there needs to be some changes made,” Isnardi said. “I definitively think that we need to fix this wetlands code.”“Sarasota County to Siesta Key couple: Tear down beach barrier” via Carlos Munoz of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune — The Sarasota County Environmental Protection Division told Michelle and Greg Olson in a letter that their rope fence installed in December and a rock barrier that has been in place since 1974 violates county codes. Since buying a $3.5 million home on the beach in May 2017, the couple has called police 120 times to report criminal mischief on their property near Siesta Key Beach Access No. 1. Footage taken from August to December 2019 shows late-night partying, people urinating and vandalizing their property, and having sex on the beach behind their home — an area they claim is private property. |
| Peachy “John Roberts comes face to face with the mess he made” via Dana Milbank of The Washington Post — Roberts’s captivity is entirely fitting: He is forced to witness, with his own eyes, the mess he and his colleagues on the Supreme Court have made of the U.S. political system. As representatives of all three branches of government attend, the living consequences of the Roberts Court’s decisions, and their corrosive effect on democracy, are plain to see. Ten years to the day before Trump’s impeachment trial began, the Supreme Court released its Citizens United decision, plunging the country into the era of super PACs and unlimited, unregulated, secret campaign money from billionaires and foreign interests. The consequences? Falling confidence in government, and a growing perception that Washington had become a “swamp” corrupted by political money, fueled Trump’s victory.The chickens are coming home to roost for Chief Justice John Roberts.“Matt Gaetz sees ‘brush back’ in being kept off Donald Trump’s impeachment team” via Melanie Zanona and Marianne Levine of POLITICO — Gaetz was in the mix to become one of Trump’s impeachment advisers to assist the White House with messaging and strategy throughout the Senate impeachment trial. But Gaetz did not make the final list. Gaetz is unsure why. “I don’t know why it would serve someone in the White House to manufacture a divide between the president and one of his best communicators during impeachment,” Gaetz said. When asked to respond, legislative affairs director Eric Ueland mentioned Gaetz’s support for a House resolution to halt further U.S. military action against Iran. Gaetz had also lobbied some of his fellow House Republicans to back the measure after Democrats added one of his amendments.“Florida AG Ashley Moody adds her name to letter urging Senate to reject Donald Trump’s impeachment” via Skyler Swisher of the Orlando Sentinel — Moody joined 20 other attorneys general from states that Trump won in 2016, writing that the “impeachment proceeding threatens all future elections and establishes a dangerous historical precedent.” “This partisan political effort undermines the democratic process, both now and in the future,” the letter sent to Senators reads. “The House unilaterally rewrites the constitution, without the people’s consent to amend it. It weaponizes a process that should only be initiated in exceedingly rare circumstances and never for partisan purposes.” |
| D.C. matters “Donald Trump administration finalizing Medicaid block grant plan targeting Obamacare” via Dan Diamond of POLITICO Florida — CMS Administrator Seema Verma plans to issue a letter soon explaining how states could seek waivers to receive defined payments for adults covered by Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion. An announcement is tentatively slated for the end of next week, more than one year after Verma and her team began developing the plan. Capping Medicaid spending, even among just Obamacare’s expansion population, would be a major transformation of how the federal government finances the safety net health care program that has grown to cover about 1 in 5 Americans. The plan is guaranteed to enrage critics and invite attacks from Democrats in an election year.“Secretary of State Mike Pompeo targets Venezuelan, Cuban regimes amid Florida visit” via Stephen Lemongello of the Orlando Sentinel — Pompeo called the Venezuelan political situation “a crisis of historic proportions” shortly before he sat down with DeSantis in Miami. But Pompeo gave no hints about whether the Trump administration would grant Venezuelan refugees temporary protected status, or TPS in a phone interview. “I had the opportunity to meet with President Guaidó just this past week,” Pompeo said of opposition leader Juan Guaidó, recognized by the U.S. and other nations as Venezuela’s president over socialist Nicolás Maduro. “I’ll share with [the roundtable] the conversations that I had with him and how it is that the United States can work to create opportunity for the Venezuelan people … [and] convince Maduro that it’s time to go.”Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Ron DeSantis held a roundtable discussion with Venezuelan exiles. |
| 2020 “RNC will flood battleground states with staffers to boost Donald Trump” via Alex Isenstadt of POLITICO — With the new wave, the committee will have over 600 staffers spread out across the nation. Party officials, who noted they had already knocked on a million doors, said the canvassers would be promoting GOP candidates up and down the ballot. Republicans, who are expected to spend in seven figures to fund the deployment, are capitalizing on a vast resource advantage over Democrats. Through November, the RNC had seven times as much cash on hand as its Democratic counterpart. Trump is developing a behemoth of a political operation: The reelection effort and the Republican National Committee raised a combined $463 million in 2019 and had nearly $200 million on hand going into this year.Tweet, tweet:“As Trump heads to Doral, Florida Republicans send a message on climate change” via Bruce Ritchie of POLITICO Florida — With the 2020 election gearing up, some Florida Republicans are saying the party should emulate its state leaders, who have begun to address climate change, and even some Republicans in Congress, who are developing a strategy to appeal to voters worried about the environment. “To ignore the issue and call it a hoax when in fact, Republican leaders in Florida are beginning to broach the issue seems very out of step,” said Susan Glickman, Florida director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, who helped pull together the loosely organized effort. On Wednesday, former Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Colleen Castille published an op-ed in the Tallahassee Democrat encouraging her fellow Republicans nationally to follow Florida’s lead.“Why Joe Biden’s rivals can’t break his lock on black voters” via Laura Barrón-López of POLITICO — The reluctance to consider candidates other than Biden was borne out in interviews with dozens of black voters in South Carolina over the Martin Luther King holiday weekend and is confirmed in polling. Time and again, African American voters said it isn’t that they don’t like Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren. But they know what they’re getting with Biden, who has a relationship and familiarity with black voters, especially older black voters, that extend beyond his time as Barack Obama’s No. 2. And they’re wary that the two progressives can deliver the sweeping remake of the government they’re selling.“Kamala Harris is said to be weighing an endorsement of Biden” via Jonathan Martin of The New York Times — Such a move could lift Biden’s campaign and perhaps do even more to enhance Harris’s chances of becoming vice president, but it could also anger her liberal base in California. An endorsement by Harris, if she wades into the primary race at all, would be unlikely to happen until after the Senate impeachment trial. “Sen. Harris remains focused on the ongoing impeachment trial of President Trump,” said Chris Harris, a spokesman for the Senator. “No decisions have been made about whether she will endorse, which candidate, nor when an endorsement decision will be made.”Kamala Harris is considering a Joe Biden endorsement.“Billionaire Mike Bloomberg tries on economic populism” via Sally Goldenberg of POLITICO — Gone are the strident defenses of the rich for their contributions to the economy, and the spats with working-class unions that came to sculpt Bloomberg‘s public persona during his three terms as New York City mayor. In their place, he is making assertions that sound more like Bernie Sanders than Wall Street’s defender in chief. “Too much wealth is in too few hands, and too few places as well. We have an economic inequality that’s distributed unfairly across this country,” he declared in a speech in Chicago. And during a trip to Tulsa, Oklahoma, he said the next president must “make the issue of economic inequality a top priority.”What Kevin Cate is reading — “Does Tom Steyer have real momentum or just a ton of money?” via Evan Halper of the Los Angeles Times — As a campaigner, his personal politicking is uneven, and he is prone to rambling. His one viral moment came when Steyer was caught on camera post-debate, awkwardly trying to greet rivals Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Steyer knows something about organizing in minority communities. In the years before running for president, he built a national advocacy machine that galvanized community activists, registered young voters, and persuaded Californians to raise billions in taxes — all to advance the causes of social justice, action against climate change, and affordable health care. Although Washington insiders generally dismiss his recent momentum as likely to be short-lived, some of this area’s political denizens aren’t so sure.“Black lawmakers’ presidential endorsements are the most spread-out they’ve been in recent history” via Eugene Scott of The Washington Post — Black lawmakers — and some rather high-profile ones — are making headlines for the diversity of their support, raising the question: What impact could this have on the black electorate? Seeing black lawmakers come out to support an array of candidates — particularly those who don’t have much backing among black voters — has the potential to encourage black voters, arguably the most influential voting bloc on the left, to consider candidates they may have previously overlooked. The endorsements have been more widely spread in 2020 for a couple of reasons. The candidate field — initially more than 25 candidates — and the CBC — now more than 50 members — are among the largest in Democratic primary history.“Tech companies volunteered to beef up presidential campaigns’ cybersecurity” via Alexa Corse of The Wall Street Journal — They join a growing number of firms offering protection on a nonpartisan basis, a trend that has gained steam in the past 18 months or so since federal regulators eased rules to make such offers permissible under campaign-finance laws. The Federal Election Commission made policy changes after urging from nonprofits and technology companies, including Microsoft Corp. Campaigns have struggled to make their information more secure in part because of budget pressures and the fast-moving nature of a campaign. “Any dollar that a campaign spends on extra levels of cybersecurity is a dollar they’re not spending on voter contact and getting their candidate elected,” noted Matt Rhoades, campaign manager for Republican Mitt Romney in 2012. |
| The trail “’Keep Our Constitution Clean’ nears signature requirement” via Drew Wilson of Florida Politics — As of Wednesday afternoon, political committee Keep Our Constitution Clean had 686,029 verified petition signatures. The signature tally has climbed quickly this month, with more than 100,000 signatures verified in the past two weeks, though it still needs about 80,000 more to go before voters. Amendment sponsors must gather 766,200 signatures to make the ballot, a number pegged to 8% of votes cast in the most recent presidential election. The deadline for the remaining signatures to be verified is Feb. 1. Keep Our Constitution Clean’s proposal would require future amendments be passed by voters twice before inclusion in the Florida Constitution.“Congressional candidate Gavin Rollins, consultant Tim Baker offer conflicting accounts of split in CD 3” via AG Gancarski of Florida Politics — The Republican race to replace Rep. Ted Yoho in Florida’s 3rd Congressional District continues to have a compelling narrative. The latest news item started with a POLITICO item this morning: the parting of the ways between a candidate and his high-profile consultants. “Less than three weeks after announcing his campaign for the 3rd Congressional District … Rollins’s key consultant team members have left his campaign. That includes general consultant Tim Baker, fundraiser Kevin Hofmann, and communications adviser Erin Isaac,” the tout sheet declaimed. Rollins avoided such narrative detail in a text: “Our campaign did not have any official contract with Data Targeting, and we decided not to hire them for consulting services, but we wish them well.”Gavin Rollins (pictured) and consultant Tim Baker have parted ways.“Charlie Crist campaign brings solid Q4, with $2.8M on hand” via Janelle Irwin Taylor of Florida Politics — St. Petersburg Democrat Crist took in more than $372,000 in the fourth quarter for his reelection bid, lifting his campaign cash on hand to $2.8 million. The Cook Political Report rates Florida’s 13th Congressional District as “solid blue.” “We’re doing the people’s work in Washington to reduce the cost of health care, protect our environment and social security, and care for our veterans,” Crist said in a statement. “This outpouring of support will help us continue that work and communicate a positive vision for the future of Pinellas County.”“Dan Severson closes 2019 with $103K cash on hand” via Jacob Ogles of Florida Politics — Severson started 2020 with six figures for his run to succeed U.S. Rep. Francis Rooney. Most of that comes out of pocket. The former Minnesota state Representative reported a $101,500 candidate loan, the bulk of the $107,531 in total receipts. He also put in $1,681 through a candidate contribution to his own campaign. “This is an important race, and I am making an investment in the people of Southwest Florida,” Severson said at the time.“Miami-Dade Mayor links congressional rollout to Donald Trump. First a tweet, then a handshake.” via Douglas Hanks and David Smiley of the Miami Herald — Carlos Giménez greeted Trump at Miami International Airport in a high-profile welcome arranged by the White House as the Republican Mayor runs for Congress three years after saying he was voting for Hillary Clinton. Gimenez was at the bottom of the stairs and shook Trump’s hand when the president stepped off Air Force One at 5:40 p.m. at the county-run airport on his way to a Republican event booked at the president’s Doral golf resort. Gimenez’s official welcoming role for Trump came hours after he thanked Trump on Twitter while announcing his entry into the Republican primary for the District 26 seat held by one-term Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell. |
| Local “Former Jacksonville Mayor Jake Godbold has died” via Andrew Pantazi, Mark Woods, Nate Monroe and Steve Patterson of the Florida Times-Union — Godbold, who rose from a poor childhood in public housing on the city’s Northside to the pinnacle of power in City Hall, whose populist 1980s administration permanently transformed the city with high-profile development projects, parks, festivals and other initiatives, and whose acid tongue far outlived his political career and continued to shape politics for decades, died. Godbold, a former City Council president, became Mayor in 1978 after then-Mayor Hans Tanzler resigned. He was reelected a year later and served as Mayor until 1987. “Jacksonville just lost its best friend,” longtime political adviser Mike Tolbert said, “and so did I.”Former Jacksonville Mayor Jake Godbold has passed.“Ethics commission seeks to strengthen oversight powers in wake of JEA experience” via David Bauerlein of the Florida Times-Union — The Jacksonville Ethics Commission moved to solidify Ethics Director Carla Miller’s oversight of city business dealing after she faced resistance in monitoring what went on inside closed-door negotiating meetings over the potential sale of JEA. Miller recounted to the commission that she wasn’t sure until just before her flight took off last month to Atlanta, where JEA held several days of meetings with bidders, that JEA would allow her to sit in on the meetings. She told the commission that City Council President Scott Wilson was ready to bring emergency legislation before council to ensure she could take notes at the meeting. “That was a fight,” Miller said.” … It should not happen ever again.”“Political consultant unfazed by JEA investigation” via Jim Piggott of News4Jax — Tim Baker is a political consultant who worked on Mayor Lenny Curry’s campaigns and whose name was recently attached to the JEA saga. JEA has said that former CEO Aaron Zahn considered hiring Baker to help with a potential sale, that did not happen. Speaking with News4Jax, Baker said he’s not worried about the council’s investigation. “I am a private citizen of Duval County, and I am not worried about myself whatsoever,” Baker said. Incidentally, the man leading the special committee is Council Member Rory Diamond, a former federal prosecutor who hired Baker to run his campaign when he ran for City Council in 2019.“St. Johns County Commission still wants to buy JEA assets in its county” via David Bauerlein of the Florida Times-Union — The Commission voted to negotiate to buy JEA’s water and sewer system assets within the northern part of the county where JEA has about 35,000 customers. JEA opened the door for St. Johns County to purchase those assets when JEA put the county on notice that it needed to decide if it would exercise a right to purchase that piece of JEA’s service territory. The trigger was a provision in a 1999 agreement that allowed JEA to provide water and sewer service across a fast-growing swath of St. Johns County. In exchange for getting the right to that service territory, JEA agreed that if JEA decided to sell the utility, St. Johns County would have the right of first refusal.What Ben Diamond is reading — “Consolidation concerns linger at USFSP” via Margie Manning of St. Pete Catalyst — There’s still a tremendous amount of anxiety about consolidation, according to a report at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg campus board meeting. Concerns about equity and organizational responsibilities linger, Raymond Arsenault, a history professor and president of the USFSP Faculty Senate, told campus board members. Board members also heard some encouraging numbers about student success, and got an update on construction projects on campus. USF President Steve Currall initially proposed a plan that was met with harsh criticism from St. Petersburg leaders and many USFSP faculty. He later revised it to retain some of the authority for regional chancellors on each campus.Who knew Scientologist could hack — “Tampa Bay Times hit by ransomware attack” via Malena Carollo of the Tampa Bay Times — “Fortunately we have a lot of plans for systems that go down, and we’re putting those in motion,” Times chief digital officer Conan Gallaty said. The Times planned to publish Friday’s edition with earlier deadlines. Ransomware infects machines through a variety of methods, such as malware hidden in targeted emails or by exploiting software vulnerabilities. It’s unclear how the attack on the Times was carried out, Gallaty said, but he does not believe the news organization was specifically targeted. “The focus for us is to fully recover and then work on further preventive measures,” he said. No data was breached. |
| Top opinion “Impeachment doesn’t require a crime” via The National Review editorial board — Attempts to impeach presidents have thus frequently combined charges of crimes with charges of noncriminal abuses. A categorical denial of the latter class of charge would do violence to the Constitution and one of its checks on presidential misconduct. Republicans would be better off arguing that in this case, the President’s behavior, while objectionable, should be left, as scheduled, to the judgment of the voters directly — an argument that already has the support of most voters in polls and accords with Senate Republicans’ actual beliefs. There is no need for constitutional contortions. |
| Opinions “Trump’s trade deal with China is a great deal for Florida. Here’s how” via Wilton Simpson for the Bradenton Herald — With stronger protections for American companies in regard to intellectual property, a $200 billion commitment to purchase American goods and services — $32 billion of agriculture products alone — and a reduction in non-tariff barriers for the U.S. agriculture market means even more growth, opportunity, and prosperity for an already booming economy. But good news for the American people doesn’t end there. The Senate just passed the successfully negotiated U.S.-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade deal that will see the creation of over 176,000 new jobs for blue-collar workers and an additional $68 billion added to our economy. Together Florida has an estimated 232,000 jobs from exported goods and manufactured products. An increase in that would provide local jobs and continue to boost the economy.“Lawmakers should encourage strengthening our homes” via Bill Newton for the Palm Beach Post — After the devastation of Hurricane Michael, University of Florida professor David Prevatt surveyed the damage and wrote a report about the impact on Florida homes. Stronger building codes work, but even newer homes were damaged in Michael’s fierce winds. Surprisingly, some homes survived almost undamaged. Habitat for Humanity had built several homes that exceeded building codes by simply adding strategically placed nails, some small metal connectors, and window shutters that created a sealed package. That inexpensive change was enough that the homes withstood Michael’s 150-mph winds, well beyond the 120-mph required by Florida’s current codes. How to protect our homes from the unknown? Stronger building codes. We know they work, but getting there is complicated. |
| Movements Spotted — Florida man Rick Wilson’s new book “Running Against the Devil” debuting at No. 3 on The New York Times print and eBook nonfiction bestseller list. |
| Listen up Battleground Florida with Christopher Heath: Fresh off a trip to Tallahassee, WFTV education reporter Michael Lopardi joins the podcast to discuss the push for teacher pay raises and why the fight for more money may not get resolved even with the backing of the Governor.Dishonorable Mention: State Rep. Chris Latvala, activist Becca Tieder, former Tampa Bay Times Columnist Ernest Hooper, and communications expert Dr. Karla Mastracchio discuss politics and culture. Latvala had welcomed the Reverend Al Sharpton for an interview discussing teacher salaries while they were both in Tallahassee. This caused a lot of negativity on Twitter. CongressmanGaetz fired a negative tweet toward Latvala about this meeting and sparked a Twitter fight that resonated across the state and nation. Was he trying to fuel divisiveness? Tieder talks about her time on the #BestCoast. What needs to happen to discuss more about common ground and less about dividing us? The hosts talk about dependency on mobile devices and the Apple/Android battle.Gradebookfrom the Tampa Bay Times with hosts Marlene Sokol and Jeffrey Solochek: Superintendent searches serve to remind us of the key role that a chief executive plays in leading a school district to success. Everyone wants a “unicorn” — that unique someone who can do it all. But it’s not always easy to find that person, as politics, loyalties, and other agendas can interfere. All that came into play as Hillsborough County, the nation’s seventh-largest school system, looked for its next leader. And it’s at issue in Pasco County, which elects its superintendent, as well. Sokol and Solochek discuss superintendent appointments and elections, and why they matter.Inside Florida PoliticsfromGateHouse Florida with hosts John Kennedy and Zac Anderson: The president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., lashed out at Republican Florida Senate President Galvano recently over the issue of gun control. Anderson and Kennedy discuss the GOP feud over guns, along with some priority legislation for DeSantis that began moving through the Legislature this week.REGULATED from hosts Christian Bax and Tony Glover: We told you back in May that 2020 would be a busy year for legislative proposals that affect the alcoholic beverage industry in Florida, and here we are! Bax and Glover team up to discuss the ten alcohol-related bills that have been filed at the Florida House and Senate, whether dogs or cats are better bar patrons, and the leading candidate for our 2020 Regulator of the Year award. |
| Weekend TV Facing South Florida with Jim DeFedeon CBS 4 in Miami: The Sunday show provides viewers with an in-depth look at politics in South Florida, along with other issues affecting the region.Florida This Week on Tampa Bay’s WEDU: Moderator Rob Lorei hosts a roundtable featuring Creative Loafing Tampa editor-in-chief Ray Roa; Tara Newsom, attorney and professor at St. Petersburg College; Patrick Manteiga, editor and publisher of Gaceta; Clearwater Mayor George Cretekos.In Focus with Allison Walker-Torres on Bay News 9: A discussion of student-athletes and whether they should profit from their image or likeness. Joining Walker-Torres are state Sen. Randolph Bracy and state Rep. Byron Donalds.Political Connections on CF 13 in Orlando and Bay News 9 in Tampa/St. Pete: This week’s show will feature a one-on-one interview with St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman; state Sen. Janet Cruz will discuss education; Bay News 9 political reporter Mitch Perry will speak with candidates in Clearwater looking to serve on the City Council.The Usual Suspects on WCTV-Tallahassee/Thomasville (CBS) and WJHG-Panama City (NBC): Host Gary Yordon talks with pollster Steve Vancore and Jack Levine from the 4Generations Institute.This Week in Jacksonville with Kent Justiceon Channel 4 WJXT: A tribute to former Jacksonville Mayor Godbold (1978-1987) who died Thursday: Former Mayor Alvin Brown (2011-2015); Tom Wills, WJXT news anchor and a personal friend to Godbold; author Chris Hand, who was former Chief of Staff to Brown. |
| Aloe “The biggest celestial event of the year could happen tomorrow” via Marina Koren of The Atlantic — Sometime this week, you might walk outside in broad daylight, look up at the sky, and see a luminous orb as bright as a full moon. Only it wouldn’t be the moon. It would be something far more explosive: the dazzling aftermath of a cataclysm hundreds of light-years away. You’d be seeing the light from a supernova — the final, powerful flash of a dying star. Or … you might see the regular old sky. Supernovas are nearly impossible to predict. But astronomers have recently started discussing the rare possibility with a bit more enthusiasm than usual, thanks to some odd behavior elsewhere in the Milky Way.The constellation Orion.“Universal: Nintendo will be a game-changer like Harry Potter at theme parks” via Gabrielle Russon of the Orlando Sentinel — “Based on our research, (Nintendo) is one of the biggest potential drivers of attendance that you could have of any intellectual property,” said NBCUniversal chief Steve Burke during a Comcast fourth-quarter earnings call. “It’s up there with Harry Potter. … Nintendo is very rarefied air.” Comcast is building Super Nintendo World in Japan that’s set to open this summer; the brand will also be coming to Universal parks in California and the third gate under construction in Orlando that opens 2023. Burke called the Japanese park “spectacular from a creative standpoint. It’s really unbelievable.” New smart wristbands will let Japan parkgoers interact with Super Nintendo World and get digital coins, similar to playing a video game.“FAMU’s marching 100 wins $25,000 HBCU challenge award from rapper Young Thug” via Byron Dobson of the Tallahassee Democrat — During rehearsal at Bragg Stadium, it was announced the Marching 100 won the “‘Hot’ Battle of the Bands Challenge,” a digital campaign announced last fall by Atlanta rapper Young Thug and music executive Kevin Liles. The win means FAMU’s music department and band program will receive a $25,000 donation from Young Thug’s record label, Young Stoner Life Records, and Liles. The challenge invited all historically black colleges and university marching bands to produce a short video and share it on social media, showcasing their school spirit and talent with their best rendition of “Hot” recorded by Young Thug, Gunna and Travis Scott and featured on Thug’s “So Much Fun” album. |
| Super Bowl’ing “By renting their homes, locals will make $24 million as the Super Bowl comes to town” via Martin Vassolo of the Miami Herald — About 61,000 guests will fill Airbnb rooms in South Florida during the Big Game week of Jan. 27 to Feb. 3. With rooms going for an average of $170 per day in Miami-Dade County and $118 in Broward County, there’s definitely big money in renting out your home or apartment. So far, renters are on track to make $23.6 million during the week of the Super Bowl. And about 75% of units in Miami-Dade and Broward counties are already booked.“New Budweiser Super Bowl ad is anything but typical” via Gary Mills of the Florida Times-Union — Directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow (“The Hurt Locker,” “Zero Dark Thirty”), the spot pulls at the viewer’s heartstrings, much the same way the iconic brewer’s Super Bowl ads of past have — but without the Clydesdales, puppies and sentimental storylines. As the number of craft breweries continues to explode across the country, Budweiser celebrates its “typical American beer” label in the new ad. “We are proud to refer to Budweiser as a ‘typical American beer’ in this spot, as it is a badge of honor for us,” said Ricardo Marques, VP Marketing Core & Value brands at Anheuser-Busch.To view the ad, click on the image below: |
| Happy birthday Best wishes to our man in South Florida, Alex Dominguez, as well as Dana Loncar, and ace photographer Scott Keeler. An early shoutout to a man in full, Gus Corbella of Greenberg Traurig. |
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THE FLIP SIDE
| View this email in your browser Friday, January 24, 2020Davos“The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) kicked off on Tuesday in the ski town of Davos… Greta Thunberg and U.S. President Donald Trump dominated as they both attempted to frame arguments around climate change… Trump backed a tree planting initiative and dismissed the ‘perennial prophets of doom’ on climate change.’” Reuters “U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told Greta Thunberg on Thursday she should study economics, a jibe which prompted the climate activist to say she did not need a degree to know the world was not meeting its climate targets.” ReutersFrom the LeftThe left applauds the focus on climate change and economic inequality, but worries that attendees will not match their words with actions.“For companies to convince people around the world, especially the young, that capitalism is viable, business leaders need to show that they’re making hard decisions… Already there are concerns that new lower estimates for global growth by the I.M.F. could undermine some corporate commitment to climate-change initiatives… In its embrace of both Mr. Trump and Ms. Thunberg, the Davos set seems to want it all: lower taxes and a climate-friendly agenda. But that dance is increasingly straining the patience, and trust, of the rest of the world.” Kevin J. Delaney, New York Times “Without some way of distinguishing real change from cheap talk, cynics will continue to see [the WEF] as a grand exercise in hypocrisy. Or, perhaps, an excuse for governments not to do their job, because, hey, I was at Davos and the private sector told me they’ve got it all taken care of. The remaking of capitalism is an important and fragile undertaking, because it is hard to be the nice guy if your competitor is still playing by the old rules. That’s why, without some carrots and sticks, stakeholder capitalism will always be at risk of being a fad, an appeasement, as opposed to the deeper transformation it might become.” Tim Wu, New York Times “It’s hard to see how [the current] pace of earnings growth — and the return from stocks by extension — is sustainable if companies decide that shareholders are no longer their only concern. Sure, some efforts to broaden the base of stakeholders may contribute to future growth, or at least not detract from it. Germany, for example, has a decades-old tradition of co-determination in which workers are represented on corporate boards, and German companies have generated higher earnings growth than their U.S. counterparts since Germany enacted co-determination in 1976… “But the scale of the problems contemplated at Davos this week is likely to require more drastic intervention… There will be no shortage of observers calling the gathering at Davos an empty gesture this week, but the billionaires are right about one thing: Ignoring inequality and climate change is no longer an option. Now let’s see who’s willing to pay for it.” Nir Kaisser, Bloomberg Opinion The harsher critics posit that, “Quite often, and certainly when Trump first entered the White House, the tension between him and the Davos crowd was pitched as a great first-principles clash between reactionary nationalism and multicultural globalism. But in truth, this was largely a war between intellectual fads — one that hid a far more important commonality between Trump and the Davos set. Namely, both sides share a basic assumption that business leaders and wealthy investors (which of course includes the Davos elites themselves) are the most important and valuable participants in economic life… “The Davos crowd may grate at Trump’s nationalist rhetoric; they may be horrified by his reactionary cultural stances; they may even disagree with him on climate change. But at the end of the day, they know who will defend their place atop the mountain.” Jeff Spross, The Week Regarding the Treasury Secretary’s comment about Greta Thumberg, “A good question for Mnuchin and other Republican Party policymakers probably is: Why don’t you listen to what economists have to say about climate change… For economists, the gold standard of climate policy continues to be the idea of taxing carbon dioxide emissions. That was the point of a January 2019 letter signed by thousands of PhD-wielding economists, including more than two dozen Nobel laureates, all four living former Federal Reserve chairs, and Treasury secretaries and Council of Economic Advisers chairs from both parties… “If you are going to run around the world lecturing people about the need to take economics classes, you should familiarize yourself with the baseline consensus in the economics profession… “It would genuinely be an incredibly constructive step for Mnuchin and other GOP leaders to do what they’re suggesting Thunberg to do — listen to economists and espouse moderately aggressive, market-oriented solutions to the climate problem… instead, the current government is doing less than nothing to reduce emissions, even as it smugly lectures others about the need to listen to experts.” Matthew Yglesias, VoxFrom the RightThe right accuses Davos attendees of hypocrisy and criticizes Thunberg’s policy suggestions.“Marie Antoinette and her friends dressing up as shepherdesses to celebrate the simple life has nothing on the more than 100 billionaires descending, often by private jet, on an exclusive Swiss ski resort for four days of ostentatious hand-wringing about the problems of the poor and the dangers of climate change. This year an earnest young aide at registration told me that, to reduce the event’s carbon footprint, no paper maps of the town were being distributed; one could almost feel the waves of relief from the nearby Alpine glaciers at this sign of green progress… “If the WEF has a single guiding vision, it is the belief that technocratic competence plus a modicum of goodwill can find win-win solutions to the increasingly complex problems of our time. This has been true for many disputes between nations; it has been true for disputes between business and civil society. Over the decades, the WEF has sought with some success to be a place where these conversations take place. But does that logic still hold? All the panels in the world can’t stitch up the rift between the U.S. and China, integrate Mr. Putin’s Russia into the West, or even deter Turkey from acting on its neo-Ottoman aspirations.” Walter Russell Mead, Wall Street Journal Despite the attendees’ professed support for liberal causes, “‘The dirty little secret of Davos 2020 is they all need [Trump] to get re-elected,’ [Niall] Ferguson, Senior Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, told Yahoo Finance’s Alexis Christophorus, when asked if wealthy attendees are begrudgingly rooting for President Donald Trump. ‘Nobody wants to say that out loud.’… “Ferguson said the attitude marks an about-face since the last time he attended Davos in 2016. ‘Almost nobody gave him a chance of winning the nomination, much less the presidency. And then the following year, they were all in a state of trauma because he won against their expectations, and they thought that was going to be a great disaster as a result, and they’re all a great deal richer than they were back then.’” Alexis Keenan, Yahoo Finance “By the time Trump took to the podium to declare the U.S. economy ‘stronger than ever before,’ he had already secured at least one significant international accomplishment: The United States and France agreed to a cease-fire in their negotiations over taxing American digital companies… “Now other countries will need to think twice about attempting to undermine international negotiations with their own tech taxes. This dilution of tensions this week is a huge win for America. Tech companies will be safe from France’s discriminatory tax for at least the rest of the year, while the industries that would have been impacted by a 100% tax on French imports can also breathe a sigh of relief.” Mattie Duppler, Washington Examiner Regarding Thunberg’s policy suggestions, “What [she] is counseling—real zero, i.e. an immediate end to the use of all fossil fuels—would, if enacted, destroy the world’s economy overnight. What Thunberg doesn’t seem to grasp is that a significant portion of that energy goes toward things we would miss rather desperately, things like food, heat, light, etc… “Just to pick one obvious example at random from the seemingly endless pile, trucks are used to transport food from places like California’s central valley to store shelves in San Francisco and Los Angeles. What happens when there is suddenly no more diesel fuel for those trucks? You simply can’t cut off the transportation of food with no alternative on hand… What happens to the electricity that powers homes and industries (and electric cars) when power plants suddenly can’t purchase natural gas to power the turbines? About a third of US electricity generation is powered by natural gas (as of 2018).” John Sexton, Hot Air Dated But Relevant: “Greta Thunberg is the leading edge of a youth movement against climate change — including a global ‘climate strike’ last week — that is being promoted and celebrated by adults who find it useful for their own purposes… [but] There’s a reason that we don’t look to teenagers for guidance on fraught issues of public policy. With very rare exceptions — think, say, the philosopher John Stuart Mill, who was a child prodigy — kids have nothing interesting to say to us. They just repeat back what they’ve been told by adults, with less nuance and maturity.” Rich Lowry, National ReviewOn the bright side… Animal shelter desperately tries to find home for ‘World’s Worst Cat’. New York Daily NewsThe Flip Side team spends hours each night scanning the news, fact-checking, and debating one another, so your 5 minutes each morning can be well spent. If you’ve found value in our work, we welcome you to help sustain our efforts and expand our reach. Any support you can provide is greatly appreciated!Were you forwarded this by a friend? Sign up hereOur ArchivesShareTweetForwardCopyright © 2020 The Flip Side, All rights reserved. You can unsubscribe from this list here. |
THE WASHINGTON POST MORNING HEADLINES
| Sign up for this newsletterRead onlineThe morning’s most important stories, curated by Post editors. Democrats emphasize abuse-of-power charge against Trump as GOP complains of repetitionOn the impeachment trial’s second day, House lawmakers charged that President Trump’s efforts to pressure Ukraine into political investigations were what the nation’s founders sought to guard against. But many Senate Republicans remained unmoved.By Colby Itkowitz, John Wagner and Felicia Sonmez ● Read more » Analysis: What happened in Day 2 of the impeachment trial, in 5 minutesDemocrats made their case that Trump acted corruptly by trying to methodically knock down four of the president’s key defenses.By Amber Phillips ● Read more » Trump, Democrats keep their distance from GOP moderates as crucial impeachment votes loomWhite House advisers warned President Trump that outreach would not help his cause, while Democrats say there is no serious effort to privately lobby the key Republicans.By Mike DeBonis and Josh Dawsey ● Read more » Healthy young man dies of coronavirus in China; new cases in Japan and South KoreaExtensive efforts are under to stop travel and large gatherings during the Lunar New Year holidayBy Anna Fifield ● Read more » U.S. government’s science ranks grow thinHundreds of scientists across the federal government have been forced out, sidelined or muted since President Trump took office. The exodus has been fueled broadly by administration policies that have diminished the role of science as well as more specific steps, such as moving agencies away from the nation’s capital.By Annie Gowen, Juliet Eilperin, Ben Guarino and Andrew Ba Tran ● Read more » Trumpworld converts regional talk radio hosts into a loyal armyHundreds of regional radio hosts have been showered with attention from administration officials and surrogates for President Trump. While local media has long been part of national politics, Trump campaign officials have made it a central part of their strategy.By Sarah Ellison ● Read more » OpinionsWhile we’re talking about abuse of power, let’s look at the FBIBy David Ignatius ● Read more » John Roberts comes face to face with the mess he madeImpeachment Diary ● By Dana Milbank ● Read more » Has the reckless Saudi crown prince struck again?By Editorial Board ● Read more » A more assertive John Roberts would be a bad ideaBy Ruth Marcus ● Read more » Trump’s Treasury secretary just admitted the tariff rationale is hogwashBy Catherine Rampell ● Read more » Something important is happening. It’s not impeachment.By Marc Thiessen ● Read more » More NewsBloomberg gets under Trump’s skin as he ramps up ad spendingThe former New York mayor has promised to spend millions to defeat President Trump, whether or not he becomes the Democratic nominee.Campaign 2020 ● By Josh Dawsey and Michael Scherer ● Read more » How a Justice Department team exposed Nazis hiding in AmericaDecades after the war, a group of prosecutors and historians discovered the truth about a mysterious SS training camp in occupied Poland.From the Magazine ● By Debbie Cenziper ● Read more » Trump’s sanctions on Iran help fuel a new refugee crisis — in TurkeyDecades ago, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan prompted thousands of people to flee to neighboring Iran. Now, many of them are again seeking a new home, this time in Turkey, to escape the dire economic conditions fostered by President Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign.By Erin Cunningham and Mohammad Mahdi Sultani ● Read more » Annabella Sciorra testifies that Harvey Weinstein raped her: ‘It was just so disgusting that my body started to shake’The “Sopranos” actress delivered emotional testimony as the prosecution’s first witness.By Shayna Jacobs ● Read more » We think you’ll like this newsletterCheck out Lean & Fit for expert advice on how to eat right, get lean and stay fit, including curated healthy recipes every Wednesday. Sign up » |
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THE DISPATCH
The Morning Dispatch: The Iowa Caucuses Are Just 10 Days Away
Plus, updated reporting on the nuclear modernization funding battle.
| The Dispatch Staff | 16 min | 1 |
Happy Friday! With impeachment managers continuing to make the House’s impeachment case to the Senate, we thought today would be a good day to look away for a minute at the state of the 2020 election—particularly the Iowa caucuses, now less than two weeks away! But if you want a flavor of the day’s proceedings, this closing argument from Rep. Adam Schiff gives you the Democrats’ case in less than nine minutes.Justin Amash@justinamashEvery American should watch @RepAdamSchiff’s closing at Thursday’s session. January 24th 20207,250 Retweets20,544 Likes
Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories
- While the Chinese government continues to offer reassurances about the spread of the coronavirus, its actions send a very different message. Officials blocked travel to and from—and in—Wuhan, ground zero for the outbreak. Public transportation was suspended in other major cities as well, contributing to increasing anxiety among the public.
- The annual March for Life takes place today in Washington and across the country, with pro-life advocates congregating on the National Mall to demonstrate against the continued existence of legal abortion in America. President Trump plans to address the event in person, a presidential first.
- More official word of FISA malfeasance out of the Department of Justice: The DoJ has determined that at least two of the FBI’s applications to surveil former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page lacked probable cause and should not have been issued.
- The U.K, parliament approved prime minister Boris Johnson’s Brexit legislation Thursday, paving the way for the country to exit the European Union on January 31.
- President Trump’s impeachment trial continues, with the House’s impeachment managers set to wrap up their opening arguments in favor of President Trump’s removal from office today. The White House’s defense will start Saturday and extend until next Tuesday. (Mercifully, everyone involved will at least get Sunday off.)
Checking In on 2020
In the final sprint to Iowa, three of the top five Democratic contenders find themselves in the Senate chamber today drinking only water or milk.
It didn’t take a seasoned Iowa political operative to tell us that it’s not ideal to have your candidate on jury duty 10 days out from the Iowa caucus. But we went and talked to one anyway … just in case.
In our texts with that operative, David Kochel, last night, he made three interesting points.
- The impeachment trial hurts Warren and Klobuchar more than Sanders. “Bernie’s thing is self-sustaining,” he says. This makes sense if you’ve ever talked with a member of the Bernie Army. Remember his ad from 2016 that may well be the most effective political ad of the last decade? They don’t need to meet the Dear Leader over a slice of Casey’s breakfast pizza off I-80 to feel like they are part of his movement. For Warren and Klobuchar, however, the absence may well be the final blow for both despite their best efforts to stay in touch with teletownhalls and MSNBC hits.
- Biden is surging at the end in Iowa, according to Kochel. He chalked this up to a few factors: voters “who’ve been out speed dating other dates have returned to him as a safe harbor,” apprehension about Bernie Sanders among the moderates of the Democratic base, and media coverage of the impeachment trial reminding voters that Biden as the nominee must scare Trump.
- The chief unknown for Kochel is whether “Mayor Pete accomplishes what he needs in Iowa … finish ahead of Biden.” And if there’s anyone who is looking at this impeachment trial like manna from heaven, it has to be Pete Buttigieg who is making the most of it, barnstorming the state from Orange City to Council Bluffs.
The DNC doesn’t want to repeat its 2016 mistakes.
The DNC just announced “‘Battleground Build-Up 2020,’ a new, multimillion dollar investment starting in six battleground states (AZ, FL, MI, NC, PA and WI).” Press releases like this from the national parties are both common and usually less than meets the eye with very few specifics. But two things jumped out at us:
- Where’s Georgia? Democrats have long pitched high-dollar donors to spend big in states like Georgia and Texas. In 2018, both sides went in big in Georgia’s gubernatorial race, spending a combined $100 million only to see Republicans squeak out the narrowest of wins. But demographics are destiny, Democrat fundraisers argue, and states like Georgia are now on the verge of tipping for good … if we can just get that check now, ma’am. So it is noticeable that with limited resources headed into 2020, the DNC isn’t targeting Georgia as part of its “battleground” effort.
- The DNC’s money deficit at this point is hard to overstate. As of the end of last quarter, the RNC “had seven times as much cash on hand as its Democratic counterpart.” Combined with the Trump campaign, the GOP has $200 million at its disposal to start spending. At its winter meeting, RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel announced the committee would have a total of 600 staff across 18 states, including a new “seven figure” investment in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, New Mexico, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Arizona, Georgia and Texas.
We’re looking at the wrong voters.
This tweet by former Kamala Harris campaign spokesman Ian Sams struck us as spot on:Ian Sams@IanSamsI understand the appeal of the elusive Obama/Trump voter, but every now and then it’d be nice for one of these long in-depth stories to center on the millions of people in places like Philadelphia, Milwaukee or Detroit who voted for Obama in 2008/12 and then did not vote in 2016. https://t.co/BcxH0I28PAJonathan Martin@jmartNYT“Among those who previously voted for Mr. Obama and Mr. Trump, many said they are reserving judgment until they see who wins the Democratic nomination.” @McCormickJohn from Iowa’s Obama-to-Trump capital https://t.co/5v4F2O8wfYJanuary 23rd 2020343 Retweets1,952 Likes
Since 2016, focus group after focus group and think piece after think piece have taken us into the minds of the Obama/Trump voters that carried the president across the finish line in 2016. And by all accounts, they’re sticking with Trump in 2020.
But that’s not the only reason Trump won. An estimated 4.4 million Democrats who voted for Obama in 2012 stayed home in 2016. If the Democratic nominee can turn out the Obama/Nobody voters in 2020, that’s a pretty good path to 270 and low-hanging fruit that isn’t psychologically invested in the success of the Trump presidency.
All of the Democratic candidates are focusing on electability at this point in the race, but the most persuasive arguments shouldn’t be about flipping Trump voters–regardless of who they voted for eight years and a recession ago. Turnout, turnout, turnout.
Nuking OMB
On Tuesday, we brought you a story about an intra-GOP battle over funding for securing and modernizing America’s nuclear arsenal. For 30 years, the urgent calls for nuclear modernization from national security officials and nuclear weapons experts have been largely ignored. Decades of peace dividends, wars on terrorists and their sponsors, and congressionally mandated belt-tightening meant that plans to update and upgrade America’s nuclear capabilities were put off—again and again and again.
The Trump administration has increased funding for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) over the past three years. But more was needed, in the view of
Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, the under secretary of energy for nuclear security and the administrator of the NNSA. Gordon-Hagerty had requested $20 billion in funding for her agency in fiscal year 2021—an increase over 2020 funding levels, but short of what many nuclear experts believe is necessary for a long-delayed modernization effort. And yet, Gordon-Hagerty’s request was rejected and the White House budget office proposed $17.4 billion.
Gordon-Hagerty fought back. In a blistering and detailed memo to her new boss, Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette, Gordon-Hagerty argued that failing to fund NNSA at the higher amount would “seriously risk the nation’s deterrent capability and put at risk the nation’s status as a superpower. … Reductions of this magnitude bring into question our ability to provide a safe and secure and effective nuclear deterrent. At this level of funding, NNSA will need to reduce the size and composition of the stockpile almost immediately.” The challenge was not just inadequate funding in 2021, she argued, but a shortfall of more than $16 billion over the next four years.
She won support from prominent defense hawks in Congress, who wrote to President Trump last week seeking an Oval Office meeting to help Gordon-Hagerty make her case. They were granted that meeting with the president Thursday but, curiously, Gordon-Hagerty, who knows more about the details of the funding request that anyone, wasn’t invited. The administration officials present, including acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and Brouillette, argued against the higher number. It fell to Republican lawmakers—Sens. Tom Cotton, Jim Inhofe, Deb Fischer and John Cornyn, along with Reps. Liz Cheney and Mike Turner—to argue for full funding of the modernization proposal.
They were convincing. Trump approved the higher number. Gordon-Hagerty, who was on Trump’s short list of possible national security advisers after John Bolton departed the White House, prevailed in absentia.
Worth Your Time
- Writing in the Washington Post, former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb has a compelling piece about how the United States should react and respond to the growing coronavirus threat in east Asia.
- In yesterday’s Morning Dispatch, we saluted the wildly streaky career of former Giants QB Eli Manning, who retired from the NFL this week. The best piece we’ve seen on the news comes from Rodger Sherman of The Ringer: “Forget the Hall of Fame Debate. Embrace the Hall of Eli Manning.”
- If you take a bunch of senators’ phones away and stick them in the Senate chamber to hear dry legal arguments for days on end, they’ll seemingly start to think anything else is interesting. Follow along with CNN’s Mike Warren and Ted Barrett as they go on a journey of discovery with some of these senators: “Pat, did you know this? We can order milk to the Senate floor?”
- As mentioned above, the March for Life is today. In 2017, then-Utah Rep. Mia Love addressed the march and told the moving story of her own parents and the choices they faced. Try not to cry, we dare you:
Presented Without Comment
Something Fun
Even impeachment managers can get a little stir-crazy after three solid days of non-stop trial. In his remarks Thursday, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries took a minute to pause from his arguments about the necessity of subpoenaing the likes of Mick Mulvaney to argue for another subpoena that might be useful, while they were on the subject.
ABC News@ABCRep. Hakeem Jeffries: “We hope we can subpoena John Bolton, subpoena Mick Mulvaney. But perhaps we can all agree to subpoena the Baseball Hall of Fame, to try to figure out who, out of 397 individuals, one person, voted against Derek Jeter.” abcn.ws/2RnfPm8
January 23rd 2020159 Retweets755 Likes
Toeing the Company Line
- David’s Thursday French Press is a doozy: James Madison’s take on the impeachment process, the damage open carry can do to the gun rights movement, and the real implications of Espinosa v. Montana Department of Revenue on public school funding. Give it a read here!
- On the home page today, Sarah offers up a list of books you should read if you need a break from impeachment. (Somehow, one of them is still about impeachment.) And Jonah looks at the economic and cultural nationalism trends that are causing a behind-the-scenes battle in the conservative movementl.
Let Us Know
In what will almost assuredly end up being a viral marketing effort leading into a Super Bowl advertisement, Planters has killed off its beloved(?) Mr. Peanut. Molly Roberts has a wonderful obituary for the anthropomorphic legume over at the Washington Post.The Estate of Mr. Peanut@MrPeanutWe’re devastated to confirm that Mr. Peanut is gone. He died doing what he did best – having people’s backs when they needed him most. #RIPeanut January 22nd 20202,890 Retweets10,181 Likes
The gimmick has worked wonders for the brand in recent days. Our request of you: Send us the best (or worst) ad campaign or brand mascot you can think of.
Reporting by Declan Garvey (@declanpgarvey), Andrew Egger (@EggerDC), Sarah Isgur (@whignewtons) and Steve Hayes (@stephenfhayes).
Photograph of Bernie Sanders in Iowa by Scott Olson/Getty Images.
Top posts
- The Upcoming SCOTUS Term Is Going to Be NutsPlus, an early look at the new book ‘A Very Stable Genius.’The Dispatch StaffJan 201714
- Iran AttacksPlus, how we got to this point and a quick look at 2020 fundraising numbers.The Dispatch StaffJan 81611
- A Clunker of a Democratic DebatePlus, Justin Amash asks: “Is there any better time to have a president who might be not from either party?”The Dispatch StaffJan 151813
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AXIOS
Skip to contentAxios AMSubscribeBy Mike Allen
⚡ Breaking: China is restricting travel for 40 million people in 10 cities on the eve of Lunar New Year, and is struggling to contain rising public anger over its response to the coronavirus crisis. The death toll rose to 25. (Bloomberg)
1 big thing: Green swan
Climate change has, quite suddenly, become a lightning rod for business and finance leaders around the world, Axios’ Dion Rabouin and Amy Harder report.
- Climate generated the highest degree of public pressure on corporations by activists, policymakers and journalists last year, according to an analysis of 6 million tweets by High Lantern Group, provided exclusively to Axios.
- Climate mentions rose 77% over 2018.
The big picture: The world’s foremost economic institutions have begun advocating for policies cutting greenhouse gas emissions. This trend is driven by factors that include more extreme weather and greater public pressure.
- These institutions include the IMF, Bank for International Settlements, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and major central banks.
- And the official agenda at Davos this week is dedicated entirely to climate change.
What they’re saying: The Bank for International Settlements — the central bank for central banks — warned in a research paper Monday that climate change could cause “potentially extremely financially disruptive events that could be behind the next systemic financial crisis.”
2. Witness math: Dems struggle for 4
Democrats may fall short of the four Republican senators’ votes needed to bring new witnesses into President Trump’s impeachment trial, 10 senior staffers to key Senate Republicans tell Axios’ Alayna Treene and Jonathan Swan.
- The prevailing view among the aides last night was that Democrats — who would need to win over four Rs and not lose any Ds — will struggle to get more than three.
Why it matters: Calling additional witnesses — in particular Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton — appears to be the Democrats’ last hope of inserting even a slight detour into what currently seems like a straight road to Trump’s acquittal.
- Without extra witnesses, Trump’s impeachment could be over by the end of next week.
Dems’ initial targets include Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Cory Gardner of Colorado, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Joni Ernst of Iowa.
- These are senators who, for different reasons, had been seen as potentially open to hearing more evidence beyond what House Democrats gathered in their impeachment proceedings.
- But Tillis is now a no, and colleagues and aides also believe Ernst and Gardner will be.
Behind the scenes: At a private lunch yesterday, chiefs of staff to Republican senators agreed that one moment backfired on Democrats: when House Judiciary chair Jerry Nadler declared on the Senate floor that any senator who refused to vote for more witnesses would “be complicit in the president’s cover up.”
- Collins told reporters she was “stunned” by Nadler’s rhetoric, prompting her to send a note to Chief Justice John Roberts, who later admonished both sides.
Another moment that whipped up outrage in the Republican conference was Schiff’s suggestion that the 2020 election result can’t be trusted.
3. Trump team looks at short case
Jay Sekulow, President Trump’s personal attorney, during last night’s dinner recess, near the Senate subway in the Capitol. Photo: Sarah Silbiger/Reuters
President Trump’s defense team is considering using just a portion of the 24 hours they’re allowed to put on his defense, Axios’ Alayna Treene and Stef Kight report.
- Why it matters: A truncated defense would reflect a decision not to contest facts or defend Trump point by point, but rather to try to diminish the legitimacy of Democrats’ overall case and end the trial as quickly as possible.
- But if the White House moves too abruptly, it risks angering vulnerable Republican senators.
What we’re hearing: Just because Trump’s team can use up to three days to present their case doesn’t mean they will.
- Two sources familiar with the Trump team’s plans told Axios they don’t anticipate using all 24 hours.
- Instead, the team plans to adjust their arguments to what some of the more vulnerable Senate Republicans need to get them over the acquittal line.
- One aide said Trump’s lawyers are likely split their case over at least two days — partly because of TV ratings: “No one wants to watch this on their Saturday.”
One thing they all agree on is they don’t need to fill the hours just for the sake of it: House prosecutors and former President Bill Clinton’s defense team each used fewer than 12 hours during his 1999 trial.
- The bottom line: When your strategy is “concede nothing, admit nothing, apologize for nothing,” it doesn’t have to take very long.
4. Pic du jour
Photo: Chinatopix via AP
A militia member uses a thermometer gun to take a driver’s temperature at a checkpoint at a highway tollgate in Wuhan, China — a city of more than 11 million that’s closed off in an unprecedented effort to contain a deadly virus.
5. Dems’ multimedia case
Rep. Adam Schiff, the lead House impeachment manager, used archival photos yesterday to illustrate what he called more “normal” foreign-leader calls by U.S. presidents, and flashed numerous other graphics as part of his case:
Screenshot via CNN
Screenshot via MSNBC
6. Bezos hack’s shockwaves
Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios
If Jeff Bezos’ phone can be hacked, anyone’s can, Axios’ Scott Rosenberg writes.
The losers, following reports that the Amazon CEO’s phone was compromised in 2018 by a video file in a WhatsApp message from the Saudi crown prince:
- WhatsApp, the service owned by Facebook. WhatsApp originated as a privacy-oriented, fully encrypted messaging channel, and was initially embraced by activists and dissidents.
- NSO Group, the Israel-based security firm whose Pegasus tool is cited by a forensic report as the most likely culprit in the Bezos hacking. Saudi Arabia is believed to have used NSO software to spy on the WashPost’s Jamal Khashoggi and other critics. Facebook has sued the company for its role in hacking hundreds of people’s phones through WhatsApp.
- The Saudis, who may find a lot of their messages sitting unread in recipients’ inboxes.
Go deeper: Dan Primack’s Pro Rata Podcast, “The hack heard round the world”
7. Milestone: Tesla = most valuable U.S. automaker
Tesla (and SpaceX) CEO Elon Musk at Kennedy Space Center on Sunday. Photo: John Raoux/AP
Tesla overtook Germany’s VW as the world’s second most valuable carmaker behind Japan’s Toyota, Reuters reports.
- “Tesla’s stock has more than doubled in value in the last three months, with its market capitalization piercing $100 billion.”
- “The recent gains have been fueled by a surprise third-quarter profit, progress at a new factory in China and better-than-expected car deliveries.”
8. 🗳️ 2020 voting has begun
The Iowa caucuses are 10 days away, but early voting in the Democratic race is already open to millions of Americans, AP reports:
- In Minnesota, in-person early voting began Jan. 17. Vermont’s deadline to mail out its absentee ballots was the same day.
- Many of the 14 Super Tuesday states (March 3) will offer some form of early voting between now and mid-February.
Why it matters: Early voting amounts to a parallel campaign.
- Candidates have to balance Super Tuesday organizing with the demands of the first states.
9. Doomsday Clock closer to midnight
Photo: Eva Hambach/AFP via Getty Images
The keepers of the Doomsday Clock moved the symbolic countdown to global disaster to the closest point to midnight in its 73-year history, citing “existential danger” from nuclear war and climate change. (AP)
10. 🍽 1 food thing: Critic lauds dining din
N.Y. Times restaurant critic Pete Wells writes that when replying to frequent reader complaints about the decibel level when eating out, he finally “had to admit that I don’t really believe loud restaurants are a problem”:
Restaurants are loud because we’re loud. With a few exceptions, when we complain about the noise, we’re complaining about ourselves.
If you believe a restaurant’s primary function is to serve food, then it doesn’t make sense for us to respond by raising our voices. But we go out for other reasons. We go to look around, maybe to be noticed, usually to talk to the people we came with. Some of us want a drink or two … [A]nd when it all works, we respond by raising our voices.
📬 Thanks for starting your day with us. Please tell a friend about AM/PM.
POLITICO PLAYBOOK
POLITICO Playbook: The crazy week to come
By ANNA PALMER and JAKE SHERMAN
01/24/2020 05:58 AM EST
Presented by
DRIVING THE DAY
NEW POLITICO MAG SERIES — “LETTER TO WASHINGTON” … TIM ALBERTA in Birch Run, Mich.: “How the Gun Show Became the Trump Show”
PAUSE FOR A SECOND AND CONSIDER the week we’re about to have: At some point today, House Democrats will wrap up their impeachment arguments, and on Saturday, President DONALD TRUMP’S team will get its chance to begin. Trump’s lawyers get three calendar days to use up their 24 hours, so they’ll have to wrap up by Tuesday. Most people involved with the president’s impeachment strategy believe they will use part of just two days.
THAT WILL SET UP A DEBATE ON WITNESSES AND DOCUMENTS sometime Monday or Tuesday. And, potentially, a final vote next week.
TRUMP has his own counterprogramming, which includes a summit with his close ally Israeli PM BENJAMIN NETANYAHU to discuss the long-awaited peace plan captained by JARED KUSHNER. TRUMP invited Netanyahu rival BENNY GANTZ, but BARAK RAVID — an Israeli reporter who also works for Axios — reported this morning that Gantz is having second thoughts about coming. “Main reason is the feeling they are being played by Netanyahu and the White House,” Ravid wrote on Twitter. REMEMBER: TRUMP said if JARED can’t do it, it can’t be done.
ON WEDNESDAY, the president will sign the USMCA at the White House. Will he invite HOUSE DEMOCRATS, who played an integral role in negotiating the deal? If he does, will they go? And if they go, will he use the occasion to bash them for impeaching him?
BACK TO IMPEACHMENT: If the Senate votes for witnesses, then we see either dealmaking — with Majority Leader MITCH MCCONNELL and Minority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER coming to terms on a package of witnesses — or a set of contentious votes on individual witnesses, which could last some time.
IF THE SENATE VOTES AGAINST WITNESSES, this could all be over by the end of next week — just in time for the Iowa caucuses and State of the Union during the first week of February.
BTW: ALFALFA is Saturday night, and Utah GOP Sen. MITT ROMNEY — a potential vote for witnesses — is speaking.
IMPORTANT IMPEACHMENT STORIES …
— BURGESS EVERETT and JOHN BRESNAHAN: “Trump’s trial may hinge on Lamar Alexander”: “On the most important question of the trial — whether or not to subpoena witnesses — the 79-year-old Tennessee Republican is a wild-card. Privately, senior Senate Republicans expect the vote to seek witness testimony to fail, but they are watching Alexander and several other Republicans closely. And wherever Alexander comes down is almost sure to be the majority position in the Senate. …
“‘He is very well respected by the entire conference. And is close to Mitch McConnell. I’ve found Lamar to be one of the most effective members of the entire Senate,’ [Sen. Susan] Collins said of Alexander. ‘I don’t know what his position will be. I suspect that he’s waiting until he’s heard the case presented, and the questions answered for the senators. And that’s a very logical position to take.’ …
“‘I was much more optimistic last week than I am this week about winning the vote on witnesses. Because I think that pressure [from McConnell] is happening,’ said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.). ‘I thought by this week there would be a critical mass of Republicans.’”
— CNN’S MANU RAJU and JEREMY HERB: “Senate GOP uses Trump’s executive privilege threat as rallying cry against subpoenas”: “A growing number of Republicans are pointing to President Donald Trump’s threat to invoke executive privilege in order to make their case against subpoenas sought by Democrats for key witnesses and documents, a development that could bolster Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s goal of a swift end to the impeachment trial.
“GOP senators are privately and publicly raising concerns that issuing subpoenas — to top officials like acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and former national security adviser John Bolton and for documents blocked by the White House — will only serve to drag out the proceedings. Plus, many say there’s little appetite for such a time-consuming fight, given that legal battles may ultimately not be successful and could force the courts to rule on hugely consequential constitutional issues about the separation of powers between the branches of government.” CNN
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SUSAN COLLINS WATCH … on the TRUMP defense team, via Marianne LeVine: “The president’s team … has never presented its case since it did not do so in the House. … Unlike the House managers, who partially presented when the motions were being debated, the president’s attorneys chose not to do that. It’s not finished yet … so it’s difficult to judge.”
TREMENDOUS DETAIL … NYT’S NICK FANDOS: “Even From Half a World Away, Pelosi Keeps a Tight Grip on Impeachment”: “Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s motorcade was winding through Jerusalem on Wednesday, en route to a state dinner hosted by the president of Israel, when she placed perhaps the most important call of her day — to Representative Adam B. Schiff, the man leading the charge to remove President Trump from office.
“On the other end of the line, 5,900 miles away, Mr. Schiff, the top impeachment manager, was preparing to stride into the Senate chamber to begin arguing the House’s case, and the speaker wanted to compare notes before she slipped into a gathering of world leaders.” NYT
AIRING ON THE “TODAY” SHOW THIS MORNING … NBC’s KASIE HUNT interviewed Reps. ZOE LOFGREN (D-Calif.), VAL DEMINGS (D-Fla.) and SYLVIA GARCIA (D-Texas) — the three female impeachment managers. NBC
FOR SOMETHING LIGHT … “OUR CARTOON PRESIDENT,” the terrific Showtime show by Stephen Colbert and Chris Licht, debuts its new season Sunday at 8:30 p.m. The cold open is about impeachment and it’s absolutely hilarious. The world premiere — first for Playbookers — is here
Good Friday morning.
WAPO’S MIKE DEBONIS and JOSH DAWSEY: “Trump, Democrats keep their distance as GOP moderates face crucial impeachment votes”: “They are the most closely watched senators of President Trump’s impeachment trial — the moderate Republicans who might vote with Democrats to call new witnesses and subpoena unseen documents. But, a week into the trial, they are also oddly isolated.
“Trump has kept his distance after White House advisers warned him that outreach would not help his cause. Democrats say there is no serious effort to privately lobby the Republicans, with the party relying instead on public opinion and the House prosecutors to squeeze them into breaking ranks.” WaPo
PETER BAKER on NYT A1: “Now Testifying for the Prosecution: President Trump”: “The House managers prosecuting President Trump for high crimes and misdemeanors have failed so far to persuade Senate Republicans to let them call new witnesses in his impeachment trial. But in their own way, they have come up with a star witness they can bring to the floor: Mr. Trump himself.”
THE BEN TERRIS TREATMENT … “Mitch McConnell doesn’t care what you think. He just wants to win.”
JOHN HARRIS COLUMN in Davos: “Globalists Gone Wild”: “These people—even more monied and more connected than the typical Davos devotee—will depart the Swiss Alps and fly, in most cases by private jet, directly to Washington, where Alfalfa weekend is about to begin. That’s an annual black-tie gathering where current and past players in the nation’s capital invite corporate titans to join them for a black-tie dinner and satirical roasts. Beyond the dinner, at which George W. Bush and Mitt Romney are expected to attend, there is a full slate of ancillary events Friday evening through mid-day Sunday.
“Among those making the trek this year to both Davos and Alfalfa is Apple CEO Tim Cook. Same with private equity investor David Rubenstein and JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon. … The weekend after Alfalfa is the Super Bowl, which increasingly has become a magnet for high-level corporate socializing. Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon has agreed to be the disc jockey for a Sports Illustrated party at The Fontainebleau hotel in Miami.
“A couple weeks later many of the same corporate and public policy leaders at Davos will be back to Europe for the Munich Security Conference. Then comes the more techy and media-oriented South by Southwest weekend in Austin in March. In the spring, Washington is again a magnet for corporate leaders at media events like the white-tie-and-tails Gridiron Dinner, and the White House Correspondents Association Banquet, which has ballooned into 72 hours of parties. The Milken conference in Los Angeles every spring is dominated by financial types. Microsoft has a CEO summit in Seattle in May.”
Playbook PM
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MAGGIE HABERMAN and NICK CORASANITI on NYT A16: “Seeing a Bloomberg Ad on Fox News, Trump Takes the Bait”: “The ads have been everywhere, appearing when Mr. Trump catches up on television viewing in Washington and following him to Florida when he visits his new home state. But on Thursday morning, when the spending migrated to Mr. Trump’s favorite morning show on Fox News, Mr. Bloomberg’s aides all but spoke to the president through the television screen.
“The show, ‘Fox and Friends,’ aired without commentary a new ad from Mr. Bloomberg’s team that is based on reporting from a new book, ‘A Very Stable Genius,’ describing the language Mr. Trump used to excoriate military generals during a Pentagon meeting in 2017. The ad described him as ‘erratic’ and pointed to the ‘chaos’ in his administration.
“Mr. Bloomberg’s campaign manager, Kevin Sheekey, appeared on the show to unveil the ad, saying the military is an ‘institution that everyone respects. I think people want our commander in chief to respect the institution, and I think he weakens the country by attacking it.’ The ad struck Mr. Trump, with its focus on a topic he has often been concerned about — maintaining support among members of the military. So the president, who is notorious for reacting to what he sees on Fox News, did just that.”
— AP’S JONATHAN LEMIRE in New York: “Trump vs. Bloomberg: Fortunes collide in pricey knife fight”
MAGGIE SEVERNS SCOOP — “Obama fundraising chief backs Biden”: “Rufus Gifford, one of the Democratic Party’s best-connected fundraisers, is throwing his support behind Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential race, just before Biden and his rivals dive into an expensive stretch of early primaries and caucuses.
“There are few Democratic donors or operatives with fundraising networks as vast as Gifford’s, and his connections could help Biden compete with fellow frontrunners who have tapped online small-dollar donors to outraise the former vice president so far. Gifford served as the finance director for former President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign, leading the record-setting push to raise $1 billion to win a second term for Obama in 2012.”
NYT’S JONATHAN MARTIN: “Kamala Harris Is Said to Be Weighing an Endorsement of Joe Biden”: “Senator Kamala Harris is weighing an endorsement of Joseph R. Biden Jr., according to multiple Democratic officials familiar with her deliberations. Such a move could lift Mr. Biden’s campaign and perhaps do even more to enhance Ms. Harris’s chances of becoming vice president, but it could also anger her liberal base in California.
“An endorsement by Ms. Harris, if she wades into the primary race at all, would be unlikely to happen until after the Senate impeachment trial, said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. Yet she and Mr. Biden, the former vice president, have remained in contact since she exited the race and had a long conversation in the immediate aftermath of her departure.” NYT
SPOTTED: Marianne Williamson — who dropped out of the presidential race, then backed Andrew Yang in Iowa — at dinner with Des Moines Register columnist Rekha Basu at Lucca in Des Moines’ East Village.
KNOW BEFORE YOU GO … DES MOINES REGISTER: “Des Moines to clear snow from downtown streets to get ready for Iowa caucuses traffic”
ELENA SCHNEIDER in Orangeburg, S.C.: “‘On life support’: Buttigieg still struggling to break into South Carolina”: “When Pete Buttigieg holds ‘big rally type events’ in South Carolina, ‘it’s mostly white folks showing up,’ he acknowledged ruefully Thursday night. And his struggle to fix that problem has become an existential threat to his presidential ambitions.”
WHAT PAUL KANE IS READING … WAPO: “D.C. drops plan to extend streetcar line to Georgetown”
SUNDAY SO FAR …
- FOX“Fox News Sunday” (live from Des Moines): Andrew Yang … Brianne Pfannenstiel and Dave Price … Ben Domenech, Jennifer Griffin and Jane Harman. Power Player of the Week: Ian Bohen.
- NBC“Meet the Press”: Panel: Lanhee Chen, Mark Leibovich, Kristen Welker and Amy Walter.
- CNN“State of the Union”: Panel: Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Mia Love, Wajahat Ali and David Urban.
- CNN“Inside Politics” (two hours): Maggie Haberman, Julie Pace, Mike Shear, Seung Min Kim, Paul Kane, Michael Gerhardt, Ross Garber, Abby Phillip and Lisa Lerer.
- CBS“Face the Nation”: Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) … Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.). Panel: Kelsey Snell, David Nakamura, Phil Rucker and Ramesh Ponnuru.
- Gray TV“Full Court Press with Greta Van Susteren”: Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) … Kevin Cirilli.
- Sinclair TV“America This Week with Eric Bolling”: Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) … Rudy Giuliani … Corey Lewandowski … Peter Schweitzer … Ameshia Cross.
TRUMP’S FRIDAY — THE PRESIDENT will leave the White House at noon for the National Mall, where he’ll speak at the March for Life. At 3 p.m., he will meet with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and at 4:15 p.m, he will speak to mayors.
PLAYBOOK READS
AMERICA’S TOP DIPLOMAT: “For too long, we weren’t winning. Now, we have a president who is getting it done. Is anybody tired of winning yet?” State Department transcript of a very political Mike Pompeo speech in Bushnell, Fla.
FOREVER WARS — “U.S. general says troop surge in Middle East may not end soon,” by AP’s Lolita Baldor: “Over the past eight months, the United States has poured more than 20,000 additional troops into the Middle East to counter the escalating threat from Iran that peaked with the recent missile attack on American forces in Iraq.
“Despite President Donald Trump’s pledge to bring troops home, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East on Thursday said the most recent forces to enter the region could be there for ‘quite a while.’
“‘You’re here because I requested that you come,’ Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie told sailors and Marines aboard the USS Bataan amphibious assault ship, his voice booming over the ship’s loudspeaker. ‘I’m not sure how long you’re going to stay in the theater. We’ll work that out as we go ahead. Could be quite a while, could be less than that, just don’t know right now.’” AP
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WHOOPS — “HHS forgets to renew Trump’s opioid emergency declaration,” by Dan Diamond: “For nine days, the nation’s opioid crisis was no longer considered a ‘public health emergency’ after the Trump administration failed to renew a two-year-old declaration that expired last week.
“An HHS spokesperson on Thursday night said that the lapse had been corrected. ‘This was a clerical error,’ the spokesperson said. ‘The public health emergency for opioids has been renewed.’” POLITICO
CORONAVIRUS LATEST … HOUSTON CHRONICLE: “Brazos County’s health district is investigating a suspected case of the mystery pneumonia-like virus that has claimed 25 lives in China and was confirmed in the U.S. for the first time earlier this week.
“The case involves a Texas A&M University student who recently traveled from Wuhan, China, the district where the so-called 2019 novel coronavirus originated. The student went to an area hospital emergency department with mild symptoms Wednesday evening, according to the Brazos County health district.” Houston Chronicle
— SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST: “Rush is on in Wuhan to build treatment centre for up to 1,000 patients”: “Hundreds of workers have been mobilised to complete the hospital – essentially a quarantine centre, with capacity for about 1,000 patients – within six days as the disease spreads rapidly across China to all provinces and autonomous regions, with the exception of Tibet and Qinghai.
“As of Friday, China had reported 875 confirmed cases of infection and 26 fatalities. In addition, the US, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and Thailand, as well as Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan have also reported confirmed cases.” SCMP
VALLEY TALK … BLOOMBERG: “George Soros Says Facebook Is Conspiring to Re-Elect Trump,” by Katia Porzecanski and Sarah Frier: “Billionaire George Soros said that nothing is keeping Facebook Inc. from spreading disinformation and the company may be in cahoots with President Donald Trump to get him re-elected.
“‘I think there is a kind of informal mutual assistance operation or agreement developing between Trump and Facebook,’ Soros, 89, said Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. ‘Facebook will work together to re-elect Trump, and Trump will work to protect Facebook so that this situation cannot be changed and it makes me very concerned about the outcome for 2020.’” Bloomberg
MEDIAWATCH … CNN’S BRIAN STELTER: “The Democrats’ presentation of the case against President Trump is important, but so far there’s little indication that it’s been influential, in terms of opening or changing anyone’s mind. For the third straight night, the broadcast networks stuck with regular prime time programming instead of carrying the trial proceedings live.”
— OVERLOOKED … “Jeff Bezos’ Hack Inquiry Falls Short of Implicating National Enquirer,” by NYT’s Jim Rutenberg and Michael Rothfeld: “Months of reporting by The New York Times and other publications, including information that has emerged in recent days, appears to refute the notion that The Enquirer, owned by American Media Inc., received the information for the exposé from a foreign hack of Mr. Bezos’ phone.
“The hacking of an American by a foreign leader would count as an affront to national sovereignty and security under normal protocols. It also has legal implications: American Media is under the watch of federal law enforcement officials in New York, who have agreed not to prosecute the company for its role in aiding President Trump’s 2016 campaign as long as it does not break the law.”
— The NYT has named Monica Mark its new bureau chief in Johannesburg, South Africa. She previously was at Bloomberg News, The Guardian and BuzzFeed.
PLAYBOOKERS
Send tips to Eli Okun and Garrett Ross at politicoplaybook@politico.com.
SPOTTED: Jim Mattis and Focus on the Family President Jim Daly talking at the Willard InterContinental on Thursday night.
SPOTTED at the Niskanen Center’s five-year anniversary party at Sonoma Wine Bar on Thursday night: Evan McMullin, Jonathan Chait, Peter Suderman, Leslie Albanese, Jonathan Rauch, Kelsey Zahourek, Gordon Cummings, Jonathan Adler, Bruce Barlett, Michael Hirsch, Brooke Oberwetter, Jamie Kirchick, J.P. Freire, Julia Tavlas, Jenni Lim, Meghan Molloy, Soren Dayton and Emil Frankel.
TRANSITIONS — Garrett Marquis is now VP at the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation and adviser to the CEO on national security affairs. He also recently joined the advisory board for USC’s Center on Public Diplomacy. He previously was deputy assistant to the president for national security affairs at the NSC. … Rebecca Ballard is now managing director for communications, marketing and engagement at Purple Strategies. She previously was managing director at Hill+Knowlton Strategies.
ENGAGED — Ford O’Connell, a GOP congressional candidate in Florida and regular Fox commentator, and Sarah Valerio, corporate counsel at Afiniti, got engaged in Nassau, Bahamas. Pic
BIRTHWEEK (was Wednesday): Norah Wilson, the pride of Nashville, turned 26
BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: WSJ’s Byron Tau. A trend he thinks doesn’t get enough attention: “The decline of public spaces on the internet. All the dumb jokes I used to make on Twitter, I now send to some group text of three to 10 of my closest friends. And in general, this is better for everyone. The whole world doesn’t need to hear your bad joke.” Playbook Q&A
BIRTHDAYS: Eric Schultz, senior adviser to Barack Obama and CEO of the Schultz Group, is 4-0 (h/t Tom Lopach) … Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) is 69 (h/t Alex Macfarlane) … Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) is 75 … Rep. Tom O’Halleran (D-Ariz.) is 74 … Rep. Lou Correa (D-Calif.) is 62 … Alex Wong, deputy special representative for North Korea and deputy assistant secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific affairs … Elliott Abrams is 72 … former OMB Director and HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan is 54 … Paige Terryberry, deputy COS at the White House Council of Economic Advisers (h/t Rachael Slobodien) … Dax Tejera, senior producer at ABC News … Andrew Friendly … Courtney Rowe, VP of corporate communications at National Geographic Partners … Jacqui Corba, producer at CNBC … Annie Groer … The Fulcrum’s David Hawkings is 6-0 (h/t wife Betsy) … POLITICO’s Jenny Ament, Maria Harrigan and Sydney Burton … AP’s Lisa Marie Pane …
… Natalie Krings, comms director for Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) … Ian Bassin,executive director of Protect Democracy, is 44 … South Korean President Moon Jae-in is 67 … James Amen … Monica Popp, partner at Marshall & Popp … Meg Hauck, partner at Nathanson + Hauck (h/ts Whitney Houston Dinner Club) … Andrew Green, senior director of corporate affairs at Thomson Reuters … Fox News’ Rick Leventhal is 6-0 … former Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.) is 71 … Amy Kremer … Christopher Ulrich … Roger Rafson, SVP for political/issue advocacy and strategic alliances at Gen Media Partners … American University’s Matt Bennett … Mark Fields, a senior adviser at TPG Capital, is 59 … Ann O’Hanlon … Stephanie Losee … Lauren Vestewig … Bernie Merritt … Prism Group’s Christina Kanmaz … Steve Selby … Edelman’s Melanie Trottman … Shane Hand … Brian Lam is 31 … Ellen Globokar … Andrew Palombaro … Syed Ali Imran
A message from Blue Cross Blue Shield Association:
We believe everyone should have access to health care, no matter who you are or where you live. That’s why we developed proposals that will reduce premiums in the individual market by an average of 33 percent, and provide 4.2 million more people with access to affordable coverage, so they can get the care they need. Protecting people with pre-existing conditions. Reducing premiums. Broadening access to coverage and care, for the health of America.
- Anna Palmer @apalmerdc
- Jake Sherman @JakeSherman
BRIGHT
| Share with a friend you think would love this!Friday, January 24, 2020 Tennessee Governor Introduces ‘Heartbeat’ Bill to Restrict Abortion Just after the 47th anniversary of the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion throughout the country, Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee introduced new legislation that could stop abortions some abortions from happening in the state. As liberal lawmakers clamor to find legal precedent to ratify the long-beleaguered Equal Rights Amendment, that would effectively mean women should be legally considered no different than men and therefore never be required to carry a child to term, Lee is working to save lives in his state. More from Fox News: “Gov. Bill Lee proposed an ‘enhanced’ heartbeat bill that aims to block women from getting an abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected, which usually occurs about six weeks into a pregnancy before many women know they’re pregnant. Surrounded by dozens of mostly male GOP state lawmakers Thursday, Lee said the bill was ‘a monumental step forward in celebrating, cherishing and defending life.’ The bill, which is still being drafted, likely will not include exceptions for rape and incest and will require the mother to be shown an ultrasound of the fetus before they are able to receive an abortion. Lee also said physicians would not be able to perform an abortion if they are aware that the action is ‘motivated by sex, race or disability diagnosis of the child.’ A similar piece of legislation tightening women’s access to abortions was put forth last year in the state but struck down by the courts, and some lawmakers worried that Lee’s new proposal could meet the same fate.” What You Need to Know at the March for Life If you are heading to the National Mall today for the 47th annual March for Life, its important to bear some safety measures in mind. President Trump will be speaking at the rally site (near 12th and Constitution) at noon. He will be the first president, Republican or Democrat, to ever appear at the March. Rain is I the forecast for today but inclement weather has never stopped the crowds of 100s of thousands of pro-lifers from crowding the streets and fighting for the lives of the unborn. Kylee Zempel put together a great guide to prepare marchers for the day (The Federalist): “Marchers can expect heightened security at this year’s march, including magnetometers. According to a Secret Service spokesperson, individuals attending the March for Life events must enter through a security checkpoint on 14th Street, NW, between Madison Drive and Jefferson Drive on the National Mall, before making their way toward 12th Street for the rally. March organizers note that entry will not be permitted before 8 a.m., but veteran marchers recommend planning to find your spot at the rally by 11:15 or 11:30, and say to expect delays at security. According to the Secret Service spokesperson, event attendees should prepare to have their items searched.” As Trump Fights Impeachment, His Success as a Conservative Cannot be Understated More from Dave Marcus at the Federalist: “It is hard to overstate the power his appearance will have for a pro-life movement so often disappointed by Republicans in the past. So, there will be no compromise on this issue of impeachment. Outside of the Acela corridor, there is simply little or no appetite for it. The Republican voter today is more pragmatic than ever, focused on the achievements rather than the man. The question is no longer, as William F. Buckley Jr. put it, which is the most conservative candidate with the chance to win; it is rather how many solid conservative policy wins can this candidate rack up. For President Trump, that list of policy victories is extensive. No conservative can deny it. The Republican Party knows it. And they know you should never throw an effective leader under the bus for the sake of niceties, or so that people who hate you will pretend to like you, even for a moment.” Sips, Pours, and Nibbles In Hong Kong, Many Restaurants Are Literally on the Front Lines of the Protests (Eater) “The jam-packed restaurant town braces for a very different Lunar New Year in the wake of months of conflicts.” White House Holds Off on French Sparkling Wine Tariffs for Now (Wine Spectator) “Trade dispute stems from France’s tax on tech firms; larger fight over airplane subsidies continues.” Get Ready for Mardi Gras: A guide to Gasparilla Drinks, from Milk Punch to Rum Concoctions (Tampa Bay Times) “There’s a lot of history pouring into the glasses along the parade route for the brunch (and even breakfast) cocktails.” Friday Entertainment Center A great cast makes “The Gentlemen”, Guy Ritchie’s return to his crime-caper roots, worth seeing. (Globe and Mail) Obi-Wan Kenobi Series at Disney Plus Loses Writer, Seeks to Overhaul Scripts. (Variety) True-Life Drama With A-List Cast Honors Heroes Who Gave “The Last Full Measure.” (The Federalist)BRIGHT is brought to you by The Federalist.Today’s BRIGHT Editor Ellie Bufkin is a breaking news reporter at The Washington Examiner and a senior contributor to The Federalist. Originally from northern Virginia, Ellie grew up in Baltimore, and worked in the wine industry as a journalist and sommelier, living in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. A fanatic for movies and TV shows since childhood, she currently reviews movies and writes about many aspects of popular culture for The Federalist. She is an avid home cook, cocktail enthusiast, and still happy to make wine recommendations. Ellie currently lives in Washington D.C. You can follow her on Twitter @ellie_bufkinCopyright © BRIGHT, All rights reserved. www.GetBRIGHTemail.com Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list Note: By using some of the links above, Bright may be compensated through the Amazon Affiliate program and Magic Links. However, none of this content is sponsored and all opinions are our own. |
ROLL CALL
Morning Headlines
View from the gallery: Senators sit, spin and fidget during Trump trial
Thursday was the third long day in the Senate chamber of the third presidential impeachment trial in U.S. history, and the 100 senators began to find more ways to pass time while watching the second day of opening presentation from House managers. Read More…
Impeachment managers attempt to preempt Trump’s defense
Regardless of whether Democratic impeachment managers get to call witnesses in the trial of President Donald Trump, they are already making their case by using the president’s own words — and even those of a prominent Republican senator — in dramatic fashion in the Senate chamber. Read More…
Do Republicans hate or respect Adam Schiff? Maybe it’s both
To President Donald Trump and his House Republican allies, Rep. Adam B. Schiff is public enemy No. 1. But as the lead House impeachment manager makes his case against Trump in the Senate, the California Democrat has drawn some surprising compliments from a few GOP senators. Read More…Click here to subscribe to Fintech Beat for the latest market and regulatory developments in finance and financial technology.
Green card gridlock: When will Congress agree on a solution?
Sens. Mike Lee and Richard J. Durbin each blocked the other’s solution to an important but often overlooked symptom of the broken U.S. immigration system: the employment-based green card backlog. Then in December, they reached a compromise, but hurdles remain to the measure moving through the Senate. Read More…
Impeachment trial takes vulnerable senators off the campaign trail, too
The most immediate impact of the Senate trial is on the Democratic senators running for president, who are stuck in the nation’s capital less than two weeks before the Iowa caucuses. But the trial also affects vulnerable senators, and that could be especially pressing for Republicans, with control of the Senate on the line. Read More…
Mayors see historic opportunity in presidential race
Nationally, Mike Bloomberg and Pete Buttigieg have been met with some skepticism as they argue that managing a city is a good dress rehearsal for the Oval Office. But that wasn’t a problem this week when they addressed the winter meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Read More…
Fear of ICE raids during census could hamper count of immigrants
As census efforts ramp up this spring, outreach organizations fear that Trump administration officials may try to deport the immigrant communities they need to count. Read More…
Trump administration restricts U.S. travel for pregnant foreigners
The State Department issued a new rule Thursday that would make it more difficult for pregnant women abroad to obtain visas to the United States, an attempt to curb what the White House is calling “birth tourism.” Read More…
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REALCLEARPOLITICS
01/24/2020Share: Carl Cannon’s Morning NoteRocky Marriage; Federalist Ban? Quote of the Week Good morning. It’s Friday, Jan. 24, 2019, the day of the week when I unearth a quote meant to be evocative or inspiring. Today’s comes from Derek Jeter, a.k.a. “Captain Clutch,” the sublime New York Yankees shortstop elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame earlier this week.First, however, a point of personal privilege. Today marks the RealClearPolitics debut of Howard Fineman, a prominent on-air analyst for NBC and MSNBC. A former chief political correspondent and editor at Newsweek and the HuffPost, Howard will bring his considerable experience and insights to RCP readers during the campaign year.Howard and I met on our first presidential campaign as journalists, in 1984, and have been mutual admirers ever since. Raised in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood, Howard was a boyhood fan of Pirates immortal Roberto Clemente. I was born in San Francisco and idolized Willie Mays. Yet just as Clemente and Mays once played in the same outfield (in winter ball for the Santurce Crabbers in Puerto Rico), Howard and I always figured we’d work together someday, too. Although there were a couple of near misses, it never happened until now.As of this week, he’ll file regular dispatches as an RCP contributing correspondent. Howard Fineman’s first piece, as you’ll see below, suggests that the 2020 presidential faceoff between Republicans and Democrats started even before the first votes have been cast in the Iowa caucuses — this week in the well of the Senate. That story appears on RealClearPolitics’ front page, which, as always, offers an array of polls, videos, news stories, and aggregated columns from across the political spectrum. We also have original material from our own reporters, columnists, and contributors, including the following:* * *2020 Campaign Officially Begins — in Family Court. Howard Fineman likens our state of the union to a marriage on the brink: two parties with seemingly irreconcilable differences, making their cases on national TV.Rule Change Would Ban Judges’ Federalist Society Membership. Susan Crabtree has the story.A Presidential First: Trump to Speak at March for Life. Phil Wegmann reports that the president will break new ground today at the anti-abortion event.A Key Impeachment Fact: Trump Pushed Russian Disinformation. Kenneth F. McCallion contends seeking dirt on the Bidens was not the president’s most egregious transgression. Dems Can’t Take the Chance of Voters Deciding 2020 Election. Liz Harrington sees a subtext to the impeachment managers’ messaging.No Giver Is Safe: How the Left Is Poisoning Philanthropy. Karl Zinsmeister argues current culture unfairly paints wealthy donors as oppressors. The Case for National Service. In RealClearPolicy, Luke Nathan Phillips lays out his proposal.A Better Alternative to Medicare for All. In RealClearHealth, Katarina Lindley lauds a system of reforms dubbed “Health Care for You.”* * *A New Jersey native who grew up in Kalamazoo, Mich., Derek Jeter was a high school baseball star who earned an athletic scholarship to play shortstop at the University of Michigan. But when his favorite boyhood team chose him as the sixth overall pick in the 1992 amateur draft, Jeter said no to higher education and yes to the Bronx Bombers.“My office is at Yankee Stadium,” Jeter said once he became a starter. “Yes, dreams do come true.”He made his debut in late May 1995 and by the following year was ensconced as the Yankees’ shortstop — where he’d remain for 20 seasons, becoming team captain and a national icon who led the Yanks to five World Series championships.“We knew from the start that there was something special about him,” his manager for most of those years, Joe Torre, noted later. “The way he carried himself, the way he played the game. He’s just all about winning.”Jeter saved his best performances for the biggest games, while continuously comporting himself as a class act off the field. He came along at a time when that trait seemed rare. Maybe it always was.“He’s rather unique for a young man in the 1990s,” observed writer Gay Talese. “Endowed as he is with all that talent, all that money and such impeccable manners — that makes him an anachronism. In this era of boorish athletes, obnoxious fans, greedy owners and shattered myths, here’s a hero who’s actually polite, and that has to have come from good parenting. You can’t compare him to Joe DiMaggio, for DiMaggio didn’t have bad manners — he had no manners. Where have you gone, man with manners? Here you are, Derek Jeter.”Derek Sanderson Jeter’s own secret to stardom wasn’t any single thing. But he often returned to this idea: “I think it’s impossible to play this game — be successful at it — unless you’re having fun.” As I contemplate that thought this morning, it occurs to me that this advice is also applicable off the baseball diamond, to many of life’s pursuits — and it’s your quote of the week.Carl M. Cannon Washington Bureau Chief RealClearPolitics Twitter: @CarlCannon Having trouble viewing this email? | [Unsubscribe] | Update Subscription Preferences Copyright © 2020 RealClearHoldings, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email becuase you opted in at our website. Our mailing address is: RealClearHoldings666 Dundee RoadBldg. 600Northbrook, IL 60062 Add us to your address book |
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NBC
From NBC’s Chuck Todd, Mark Murray and Carrie Dann.
FIRST READ: Schiff makes his case for Trump’s removal: “He chose to believe Rudy Giuliani”
After two days of arguments, video presentations and highlighted text messages, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., closed Thursday night with his plea as to why the Senate should vote to remove President Trump from office.
Senate Television via AP
The Ukraine scandal shows that Trump will always put his personal interests above the nation’s interests, Schiff argued.
“Okay, he’s guilty. Okay, he’s guilty. Does he really need to be removed?” he said, summarizing one argument that Republicans have made, in which they concede his dealings with Ukraine weren’t right – but they don’t warrant his removal from office.
“Does he really need to be removed? We have an election coming up. Does he really need to be removed?” Schiff continued.
“This is why he needs to be removed: Donald Trump chose Rudy Giuliani over his own intelligence. He chose Rudy Giuliani over his own FBI director. He chose Rudy Giuliani over his own national security advisers. When all of them were telling him this Ukraine 2016 stuff is kooky crazy Russian propaganda, he chose not to believe them. He chose to believe Rudy Giuliani. That makes him dangerous.”
More Schiff:
“Let’s say [the Russians] start interfering in our election again to help Donald Trump. Can you have the least bit of confidence that Donald Trump will stand up to them and protect our national interest over his own personal interest? You know you can’t. Which makes him dangerous to this country.”
And he ended his argument with this:
“Can any of us really have the confidence that Donald Trump will put his personal interests ahead of the national interests? Is there really any evidence in this presidency that should give us the ironclad confidence that he would do so? You know you can’t count on him to do that. That’s the sad truth.”
Schiff has become a polarizing figure in D.C.; it’s what naturally happens to politicians who play prominent roles in our highly partisan times.
But it’s awfully hard to deny that he’s been the Democrats’ star this week.
Rebuttal time: How will the GOP respond?
After the last two days of Democratic arguments (with one more to go today), there’s now real suspense about how President Trump’s lawyers will respond.
Will they go the Devin Nunes route – and just try to muddy the waters?
Will they make a legitimate effort to rebut the Democrats’ arguments – with their own video presentations and highlighted text messages?
Or will they simply argue that the allegations – abuse of power, obstruction of Congress – don’t rise to high crimes and misdemeanors?
And after last night, will they have a response to Schiff’s argument for removal? That the president always puts his interests above the country’s?
Impeachment trial update: Last day for the prosecution
On the third and final day for the House Democratic impeachment managers to make their case against President Trump, the prosecution will focus on their second impeachment article – obstruction of Congress, per NBC’s Kasie Hunt and the NBC Capitol Hill team.
The Senate gavels in at 1:00 pm ET.
Where are we?
This past Tuesday: procedural jousting over the organizing resolution; rules passed around 2:00 am ET
This past Wednesday: prosecution opening arguments, 8 hours
Yesterday: prosecution, 8 hours
Today: prosecution, 8 hours
Saturday: White House defense, 8 hours (likely shorter)
Sunday: off
Monday: White House defense, 8 hours
Tuesday: White House defense, 8 hours
Wednesday: Senators’ questions
Thursday: Senators’ questions
Friday: Senators’ questions
Saturday: Vote on witnesses?
Sunday: off
Monday: Iowa caucuses
Tuesday: State of the Union
TWEET OF THE DAY: The Fox guarding the henhouse
2020 VISION: Harris and Biden – from debate confrontation to endorsement?
The New York Times reports that Kamala Harris is considering endorsing Joe Biden, citing “multiple Democratic officials familiar with her deliberations.”
“Democrats close to Ms. Harris said she wanted to carefully consider the potential impact of her endorsement; was mindful that two of her female colleagues, Senators Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, were still in the race; and was uneasy about the prospect of backing a candidate only to see him or her lose California.”
More: “A Biden-Harris rapprochement would represent an extraordinary turnaround in their relationship after she so memorably confronted him on the debate stage last summer. Yet their would-be alliance is less surprising on closer inspection.”
On the campaign trail today: Joe Biden stumps in New Hampshire, hitting Claremont… Pete Buttigieg holds a town hall in Durham, N.H… Julian Castro continues to campaign for Elizabeth Warren in Iowa, while Ashely Judd stumps for her in New Hampshire… Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez stumps for Bernie Sanders in Iowa City, Iowa… Andrew Yang is also in the Hawkeye State…
On the campaign trail Saturday: Biden starts his day in Salem, N.H., before heading to Iowa, where holds an event in Ankeny… AOC continues to stump for Sanders in Iowa, and the senator joins her for an evening rally in Ames… Pete Buttigieg, also in Iowa, holds town halls in Fort Dodge, Storm Lake and Carroll… And Tulsi Gabbard is in New Hampshire.
Dispatches from NBC’s campaign embeds: Michael Bloomberg made his second campaign trip to Minnesota, per NBC’s Jordan Jackson, where he talked about the president attacking him on Twitter. “I think what you see is he’s obviously worried because he thinks that, I’m sure he thinks, that I’m the one that can beat him. And that’s the only reason he would go out and attack me. Otherwise it wouldn’t make any sense whatsoever, but he has every reason to be worried because I think I know how to do that, and I think I’m going to get the nomination and have the opportunity and be the next president of the United States,” Bloomberg said.
Talking policy with Benjy
As his impeachment continues, President Trump will get a chance on Friday to address one of his most loyal constituencies: anti-abortion rights activists, NBC’s Benjy Sarlin writes.
He’s expected to become the first sitting president to speak at the March for Life in Washington, which has been held every year since 1974.
Trump speaks at 12:15 pm ET.
The president’s appearance comes at a heady time for the movement, which is hoping the president’s Supreme Court picks will allow states to put new restrictions on abortion — or even overturn Roe v. Wade and allow states to ban abortion outright. The court is currently considering a Louisiana law that would require doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a local hospital, which critics say is unnecessary and would effectively rule out almost all doctors in the state.
“There was a lot of hesitation within the pro-life movement before he took office,” March for Life’s Vice President of Government Affairs Tom McClusky told NBC News. “I think he’s won a lot of converts. He’s done what he said he would do and even beyond.”
In addition to his judicial appointments, McClusky pointed to Trump’s decision to withdraw Title X funding, which finances family planning services, from organizations that refer patients to abortion providers. Planned Parenthood dropped out of the grant program in response.
On the other side, Planned Parenthood’s leadership says they’re increasingly preparing for scenarios in which Roe v. Wade falls within the next few years. Acting President Alexis McGilll Johnson told reporters this month she fears the court could technically keep Roe in place, but gradually leave it “so gutted, it becomes meaningless,” allowing states to effectively ban the procedure.
DATA DOWNLOAD: And the number of the day is… 36 years
36 years.
That’s how long the late Jim Lehrer anchored the nightly newscast at PBS.
Lehrer died yesterday at the age of 85.
Lehrer also moderated 12 presidential debates, more than any other person in U.S. history.
THE LID: Abortion opinion
Don’t miss the pod from yesterday, when we previewed the president’s historic appearance at today’s March for Life and looked at the state of public opinion on abortion.
ICYMI: News clips you shouldn’t miss
Here’s everything you might have missed on Day Three of the impeachment trial.
Moderate Senate Republicans aren’t happy that Rep. Jerry Nadler accused senators of a “cover up.”
An app to report Iowa caucus results is causing security concerns.
Trump will hold a New Hampshire rally on the eve of the Democratic primary there.
Pete Buttigieg called Cory Booker backers to ask for their support after the New Jersey senator dropped out. Many of them weren’t happy.
Marianne Williamson is giving some support to Andrew Yang in Iowa.
Thanks for reading.
If you’re a fan, please forward this to a friend. They can sign up here.
We love hearing from our readers, so shoot us a line here with your comments and suggestions.
Thanks,
Chuck, Mark and Carrie.
ARRA NEWS SERVICE
- Virginia Gun Control Bills Firing Up Second Amendment Backers
- Pence In Jerusalem, Trump Makes History, The Schiff Show
- Denver Post Fires Writer for Stating Scientific Fact
- The Israel–U.S. Model Has Been a Resounding Success
- POTUS Popping in the Polls
- Could Things Get Worse For Democrats? Here Comes Hillary
- You Dirty Rat . . .
- Impeachment Trial Day 2: Democrats Impeach American Voters
- Deregulate The Legal Profession And Protect The Rights Of Those Who Represent Themselves In Court
- Virginia Democrats Push Legislation to Make Criticism of Government Officials a Criminal Offense
- Schiff Admits Impeachment is a Coup
- Biden Throws Blacks Another Racist Dog Biscuit
- Reality TV 2020
- How to Cripple Small Business With One Easy Law
- The Great American Story of Clarence Thomas
- Standing Guard | Why The Democratic Party Turned Against Your Freedom
| Virginia Gun Control Bills Firing Up Second Amendment BackersPosted: 23 Jan 2020 07:54 PM PSTGun rights advocates attend a rally organized by the Virginia Citizens Defense League on Capitol Square near the state Capitol building Jan. 20, 2020,by Allison Schuster: Proposed gun control legislation in the Virginia General Assembly has many Second Amendment advocates in the state literally up in arms, prompting strong pushback from gun rights groups and firearms owners. Groups including the Virginia Citizens Defense League, a pro-Second Amendment nonprofit organization, and the National Rifle Association are taking the lead in opposing enactment of a package of eight gun control measures being pushed by Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, in the Democrat-led Legislature. To protest those measures, thousands of gun rights advocates gathered Monday at the state Capitol in Richmond for the Virginia Citizens Defense League’s Lobby Day. In addition to lobbying against the bills, gun rights activists are leading efforts to encourage local government jurisdictions and officials to protect Virginians’ gun rights by declaring themselves Second Amendment “sanctuaries” and announcing their intention to refuse to enforce any state gun measures that are passed that they deem unconstitutional. The Supreme Court has held that the Second Amendment protects the right of law-abiding Americans to keep and bear arms commonly used for lawful purposes. After capturing control of the Virginia General Assembly in the November elections, Democratic lawmakers began crafting gun control bills. They include Senate Bill 70, which passed in the state Senate, mostly along party lines, on Jan. 16. The bill requires universal background checks, except for firearms transfers that occur between family members, at lawful firearms shows, within a buy-back or give-back program, in any area designed for target shooting, certain temporary transfers, and in certain other circumstances. But a 2019 study by the federal Justice Department found that most criminals don’t obtain their guns through lawful channels. That buttresses the notion that universal background checks aren’t addressing the real problem, and thus are unlikely to have any meaningful effect on the rates of gun-related crime or deaths, according to Amy Swearer, a senior legal policy analyst in the Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies of The Heritage Foundation. The Virginia Senate also passed Senate Bill 35 and Senate Bill 69 on Jan. 16, both by 21-19, entirely along party lines. The bills involve the designation of “gun-free zones” in and around public buildings and parks, and reinstituting a one-gun-a-month purchase limit that was repealed in 2012, respectively. A third bill, Senate Bill 240, involves so-called red flag gun-confiscation orders. Such orders apply to those who a court has deemed to be a threat to himself or herself or to others, for a fixed amount of time. On Tuesday, just one day after the massive pro-Second Amendment rally at the Capitol, the Senate gave it preliminary approval, and on Wednesday, gave it final approval, again on a 21-19 straight party-line vote. The NRA has been actively lobbying against these and other bills by mobilizing its members and others to defeat what the gun rights group calls Northam’s “gun-confiscation scheme.” “Gov. Northam and out-of-state billionaire allies are working to pass the strictest gun control laws in the nation, and turn hundreds of thousands of law-abiding Virginians into felons,” NRA spokeswoman Catherine Mortensen said. “We look forward to educating the public and members of the media on our positions.” “Billionaire allies” was a reference to left-wing financier and activist George Soros and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The NRA has spent the past several weeks informing Virginia residents about the gun control measures, urging them to contact their lawmakers in opposition to the bills. And in at least one case, it appears to have worked, Mortensen said. On Jan. 13, Virginia Senate Majority Leader Richard Saslaw withdrew Senate Bill 16, which Mortensen said was “the most offensive bill” to the NRA, from Senate consideration. It would have prohibited the sale, transport, possession, transfer, and manufacturing of so-called assault weapons. Those types of semi-automatic firearms, often demonized by gun control proponents, are owned by millions of American citizens and are responsible for only a fraction of gun deaths, Swearer said. At the same time, dozens of Virginia towns, cities, and counties have declared themselves Second Amendment sanctuary jurisdictions. The Second Amendment sanctuary movement in Virginia follows those in Illinois, Colorado, California, Florida, and elsewhere in the past year. The Virginia Citizens Defense League is leading the Second Amendment sanctuary movement in the state. As of Jan. 16, 136 counties, cities, and towns, covering an estimated 90% of the state, have passed resolutions declaring themselves sanctuaries. One retired law enforcement officer, Bob Chauncey, has taken to Twitter to criticize the gun control bills. He described the current actions being taken by the governor and General Assembly as “taking our Second Amendment.” That type of reaction, Swearer says, is an indication of a concerned citizenry. In other states with strict gun controls, such as New Jersey and California, compliance rates have been low. The state can pass laws, but it must rely on local police and sheriffs to enforce them. “’Gun-free’ doesn’t save lives, but carrying can and does stop crimes,” Chauncey said. “The right to have and bear [arms] is a constitutional right.” ——————- Allison Schuster is an Heritage Foundation Intern and writes for The Daily Signal. Tags: Allison Schuster, The Daily Signal, Virginia, Gun Control Bills, Firing Up, Second Amendment Backers To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
| Pence In Jerusalem, Trump Makes History, The Schiff ShowPosted: 23 Jan 2020 07:26 PM PSTGary Bauerby Gary Bauer, Contributing Author: Pence In Jerusalem Vice President Mike Pence delivered a powerful address today at the Fifth World Holocaust Forum in Jerusalem. Dozens of world leaders gathered together at Yad Vashem to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. I strongly encourage you to a take a few moments to watch the vice president’s address. As the vice president noted in his remarks, it was just three years after liberation of Auschwitz that the world recognized the right of the Jewish people to have a homeland. After witnessing the worst genocide in the history of the world, the Nazi attempt to wipe out the seed of Abraham, the world witnessed the fulfillment of God’s promise as the Jews were restored to their homeland. My friend Dr. James Dobson has often told the story of his father listening to the radio in May 1948 and saying to him, “Jimmy, the Gospel prophesies have just been fulfilled!” It surely was as it is written in Ezekiel 37: “My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel.” Sadly, yet another study has found that our general knowledge of the Holocaust is lacking. For example, only 45% of those surveyed knew that six million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust. More than one million Jews were killed at Auschwitz. More than 200,000 were children. Unfortunately, the ancient evil of anti-Semitism is once again on the rise. It takes root in every political philosophy, every cultural movement and in every nation. That’s why at a special Capitol Hill hearing on anti-Semitism held recently by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, I made the point that anti-Semitism was too dangerous to be used merely as a political cudgel. All of us must confront it wherever we find it. If anti-Semites are claiming to be conservatives, then conservatives must reject them. If progressives are embracing anti-Semitic narratives, then progressives must reject them. If an imam at a local mosque is preaching Jew-hatred, then decent Muslims attending that mosque should be the first to reject it. If your pastor says that all the blessings in the Bible have been transferred to Christians, then you should confront him for his flawed theology. In the same way, I was pleased to see that Vice President Pence urged world leaders to confront the Islamic Republic of Iran. During his address today, Pence denounced the ayatollah’s regime as “the leading state purveyor of anti-Semitism, the one government in the world that denies the Holocaust as a matter of state policy and threatens to wipe Israel off the map.” Trump Makes History Tomorrow, President Donald Trump will make history when he becomes the first president to address the March For Life in person. When I served in the White House, President Ronald Reagan addressed the March For Life remotely, and I was proud to have had a hand in drafting his remarks. In the past, we have seen Republican presidential candidates who claimed to be pro-life, but they were much more comfortable making the case for lower marginal tax rates than the sanctity of life. That has changed with the Trump/Pence team. This president wants to fight on this issue. Remember this exchange between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in the final 2016 debate? And this president is continuing to lead on this issue. He cut off federal funding to Planned Parenthood.He reinstated Reagan’s Mexico City Policy.He’s fighting the United Nation’s efforts to promote abortion.He’s appointed nearly 200 constitutionalist judges, including two Supreme Court justices.He’s fighting progressive attempts to resurrect the pro-abortion Equal Rights Amendment.And yesterday, the Justice Department filed a brief supporting Ohio’s law protecting unborn children with Down syndrome.The Schiff Show Yesterday, Rep. Adam Schiff, the lead House impeachment manager, took to the Senate floor and spoke and spoke and spoke and spoke. He talked for several hours. But as Rep. Mark Meadows put it, “We quit counting after 12 different false statements made by Adam Schiff.” This is a key point to keep in mind because the left has repeatedly lied about the president. For example, when local residents in Charlottesville, Virginia, attempted to rally in support of maintaining historical Civil War monuments, some really bad people showed up to exploit the rally. They staged a torch-light parade and chanted anti-Semitic slogans. Referring to the debate over historical moments, the president said there were good people on both sides of that issue, and he specifically stated that he was not talking about the neo-Nazis. But leading Democrats like Joe Biden and every mainstream media outlet omitted Trump’s condemnation of neo-Nazis and presented his quote as if he called the neo-Nazis “very fine people.” That’s a disgusting lie. Yet this is being told to minority communities and deepening divisions in our country. When Trump joked at a campaign rally about Russian hackers finding Hillary’s missing 30,000 emails, everyone in the crowd laughed because they knew it was a joke. But the left and its media allies continue to insist that Trump was literally asking Vladimir Putin to hack into the DNC and interfere in our election. Schiff repeated that lie on the Senate floor yesterday. During an interview about the Russia investigation, Trump once suggested that he might fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller. He said that Article II of the Constitution gives him the authority “to do whatever I want” when it comes to the personnel who work for the executive branch. Democrats have taken that statement out of context and twisted it to suggest that Trump believes he’s a dictator. Of course, the president doesn’t think he’s a dictator. In fact, he has been obstructed by unelected judges more than any president in history. Here’s the bottom line: Adam Schiff repeatedly insisted that Trump colluded with Russia, that the evidence was “in plain sight.” He insisted that the FBI acted properly when it spied on the Trump campaign. He lied about not having contact with the so-called “whistleblower.” Why would senators or the American people believe anything Adam Schiff says? The Schiff Bowl vs. The Super Bowl Initial ratings suggest that 11 million people tuned in to watch the first day of the Senate’s impeachment proceedings. That’s down by nearly three million from the opening day of the House impeachment hearings. In comparison, about 98 million people watched the Super Bowl last year. ——————- Gary Bauer (@GaryLBauer) is a conservative family values advocate and serves as president of American Values and chairman of the Campaign for Working Families Tags: Gary Bauer, Campaign for Working Families, Pence In Jerusalem, Trump Makes History, The Schiff Show To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
| Denver Post Fires Writer for Stating Scientific FactPosted: 23 Jan 2020 06:52 PM PST. . . The popular columnist criticized the AP stylebook for its leftist propaganda on gender. by Political Editors: The Rainbow Mafia strikes again, this time in Colorado, where Denver Post conservative columnist Jon Caldara was given his walking papers after he penned an article in which he criticized the Associated Press stylebook as a “progressive bias … propaganda guide.” In his article, Caldara noted how a “very sizable percentage of Americans” have rejected the mainstream media, and that this is due primarily to the MSM’s leftist bias. Of course, many journalists appear to be blind to that bias. Caldara argues that this blindness is due to a media culture that has become so “monolithically progressive” it can’t even find the political center anymore. Speaking to reporters about this reality is like “talking to an alcoholic about his drinking,” he said. The reporter “honestly can’t see the issue and will angrily suggest you are the one with the problem.” As evidence of the hard-left bent within MSM culture, Caldara points to the AP stylebook, which is a repository of “progressively loaded language.” He argues that the stylebook is not merely a “dictionary-like guide for reporters and editors.” Instead, “What it actually does is cement terminology to promote political conclusions. It declares the winners and losers in political debates.” He then observes several examples of how the AP stylebook pushes a blatant leftist agenda, including the scientifically false claim that gender isn’t binary. Caldara writes, “It’s admirable that reporters want to be compassionate to transgender individuals and those transitioning, as we all should be. But AP reporters first have a duty to the truth, or so they say. There are only two sexes, identified by an XX or XY chromosome. That is the very definition of binary. The AP ruling it isn’t so doesn’t change science. It’s a premeditative attempt to change culture and policy. It’s activism.” Well, like that alcoholic in Caldara’s insightful example, the Denver Post’s opinion editor, Megan Schrader, wouldn’t accept or even tolerate his accurate assessment of the MSM and fired him. Interestingly, Caldara was one of the paper’s most-read columnists, and now Schrader is looking to fill his position with another “conservative” writer. Following his firing, Caldara noted that Schrader “cares deeply” about those who have been victimized but his “frustration is that [Schrader] doesn’t quite understand that the speech code she’s pushing is having an opposite effect … of what she wants.” Remember when liberals were all about free speech? Those days are long gone. ——————— Political Editors at The Patriot Post. Tags: The Patriot Post, political editors, Denver Post, fires writer, for stating, scientific fact To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
| The Israel–U.S. Model Has Been a Resounding SuccessPosted: 23 Jan 2020 06:34 PM PSTPresident Donald Trump with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by Dr. Victor Davis Hanson: There are many similarities between policies implemented by the two countries. Whether by accident or by deliberate osmosis, Israel and the U.S. have adopted similar solutions to their existential problems. Before 2002, during the various Palestinian intifadas, Israel suffered hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries from suicide bombers freely crossing from the West Bank and Gaza into Israel. In response, Israel planned a vast border barrier. The international community was outraged. The Israeli left called the idea nothing short of “apartheid.” However, after the completion of the 440-mile border barrier — part concrete well, part wire fencing — suicide bombings and terrorist incursions into Israel declined to almost nil. The wall was not entirely responsible for enhanced Israeli security. But it freed up border manpower to patrol more vigorously. The barrier also was integrated with electronic surveillance and tougher laws against illegal immigration. The wall also brought strategic and political clarity. Those who damned Israel but freely crossed its borders sounded incoherent when they became furious that the barrier prevented access to the hated Zionist entity. The Trump administration is currently seeking funds to create new border walls and replace old, porous fencing in order to stem illegal immigration on the southern border. The strategy seems similar: The wall will free up manpower for better border policing. It likewise provides a certain political clarity. The United States is often criticized by Mexico and other Latin American countries. It is now being taken to task for the effort to make it more difficult to illegally enter such a supposedly unwelcome and hostile landscape. For years, Israel’s great weakness was its dependence on imported energy, while its neighboring enemies grew rich exporting oil and natural gas. Yet in the last decade, Israel has ramped up production to take advantage of its vast natural-gas reserves — to the point that it is not just self-sufficient in fossil fuels but soon will become a major exporter. Now, Israel cannot be threatened economically by either Iran or various Persian Gulf monarchies. Its economy is stronger than ever. Europeans suddenly are more accommodating, given that Israel may well become a natural-gas exporter to a fuel-hungry Europe. Like Israel, but unlike Europe, the U.S. was eager to frack and horizontally drill to tap vast new fossil-fuel reserves. The change in U.S. strategic energy independence is similarly astounding. America is now the largest producer of natural gas and oil in the world. Its output has increased world supply, dropped prices, and hurt America’s oil-exporting enemies. The relative power of Russia and Middle Eastern nations, such as Iran, over U.S. decision-making has radically diminished — along with the need to station huge numbers of American troops in the volatile Middle East. As in Israel, opponents either argued that more drilling would ruin the environment or that it would not work. They seem to be wrong on both counts. Israel’s foreign policy could be called Jacksonian. Israel allies with friends, neutrals, and former enemies whenever they share particular strategic goals. In the topsy-turvy Middle East, Israel is now sometimes a strategic partner with formerly hostile regimes in Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and other Gulf monarchies. They all share greater fears of theocratic Iran and its terrorist appendages in Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen. Apparently, much of the Arab world is no longer as interested in the Palestinian desire to destroy Israel. Many Palestinian groups are allied with a despised Iran, while many Arabs believe that Israel’s strength can sometimes be strategically useful. Current American realism is similar. The U.S. is neither isolationist nor an interventionist nation-builder. Its foreign-policy goals are to enhance its military, expand its already powerful economy, limit its strategic exposure, and bank its resulting hard and soft power to use only as a deterrent force against those who kill Americans or endanger U.S. interests. Instead of cajoling allies to join us in expeditionary wars abroad, the U.S. increasingly appears reluctant to intervene, especially in the Middle East. As a result, former critics are now becoming suppliants requesting U.S. assistance. As with Israel, the U.S. is less eager to apply political litmus tests to its occasional allies. It also seeks to avoid quagmires where its overwhelming conventional firepower can be neutralized by terrorists and urban guerrillas. The promoters of these unconventional policies, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. president Donald Trump, are both despised by their respective establishments and under constant threat of removal by their livid political opponents. Yet they both have transformed their respective countries. Their policies remind us that it is sometimes preferable to be respected rather than just be liked — and that when a nation is strong and does not beg for help, it often finds more than it needs. ———————— Victor Davis Hanson (@VDHanson) is a senior fellow, classicist and historian and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution where many of his articles are found; his focus is classics and military history. He has been a visiting professor at Hillsdale College since 2004. Hanson was awarded the National Humanities Medal in 2007 by President George W. Bush. HT National Review Tags: Victor Davis Hanson, The Israel–U.S. Model, Resounding Success To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
| POTUS Popping in the PollsPosted: 23 Jan 2020 06:21 PM PSTby Brian C. Joondeph: Watch cable news, particularly CNN or MSNBC, and hear how the “walls are closing in” on President Trump. Impeachment is underway, a solemn and sober process, celebrated by House Speaker Pelosi handing out autographed pens during the impeachment article signing ceremony. One would think she was signing landmark legislation like the Civil Rights Act given the pomp and circumstance. Meanwhile the Senate passed the USMCA trade agreement, now ready for Trump’s signature, another promise made and kept by the accidental president who has no idea what he is doing. The rube of a president also announced a trade deal with China, quite favorable to the US, fulfilling yet another campaign pledge. The stock market ticks up while unemployment ticks down, so much that the new problem is a labor shortage. From workers on unemployment lines during the Obama years we will soon have companies on employment lines, waiting for the next available worker. This is what Democrats are running against – peace and prosperity. They tell us these are not the best of times, but rather the worst of times, and that their socialistic schemes like Medicare-For-All and the Green New Deal are the solutions to problems that exist only in the minds of the far left. Even the polls are popping for President Trump. With the constant barrage of negative media coverage and the looming threat of an impeachment trial hanging over Trump’s head, his poll numbers should be tanking. But quite the opposite is happening, much to the frustration of his Democrat and media detractors. Start with Rasmussen, the most accurate pollster in the 2016 presidential election. In their Daily Presidential Tracking Poll on January 17, Trump’s total approval is at 49 percent. What was Obama’s approval number exactly eight years ago? He cruised to reelection against the hapless Mitt Romney, even though Romney was a far more formidable candidate than any of the remaining lightweights in the current Democrat field. Eight years ago, Obama’s total approval was at only 46 percent, 3 points less than the current “existential threat to civilization” in the White House. How could this be? Obama was adored by the media and treated to virtually nonstop positive reporting, quite the opposite of President Trump. Big media ignored myriad Obama era scandals and instead promoted the Sleepy Joe Biden malarkey of “Not a hint of a scandal” during their time in power. That assumes Joe remembers which president he served under as vice-president. Trump critics don’t like Rasmussen polling. We have not yet heard Rachel Maddow claim that Rasmussen is under Russian control, even though both begin with the letter “R”, but Nate Silver of the progressive FiveThirtyEight blog thinks Rasmussen is biased toward conservatives and Republicans. Then let’s get a second opinion, as we often do for medical diagnoses. Gallup hasn’t been accused of being an arm of the Republican Party or the Kremlin. They have their own Presidential Approval Ratings poll with the latest approval rating for President Trump at 45 percent. Not bad but still below 50 percent. What were the approval numbers for The One, exactly eight years ago? President Obama, in December 2011, only had a 43 percent approval, two points below Trump. To be fair, these numbers are a snapshot in time. At a similar point in their presidencies, Gallup reported George W Bush at 58 percent approval and he barely won reelection. Bill Clinton polled at 51 percent and won reelection easily. George HW Bush was also at 51 percent and lost to Bill Clinton. Ronald Reagan was at 54 percent and won a 49-state landslide reelection. Jimmy Carter was at 53 percent and got trounced in his reelection bid. Gallup surveys are based on “random digit dialing telephone samples” which may include anyone from a likely voter to someone visiting from Wakanda. Rasmussen, on the other hand, surveys “likely US voters”, a far different and more representative sample. Interestingly Gallup also notes, “Trump approval more stable than approval for prior presidents.” This means that Trump’s base isn’t going anywhere and that’s the only hope the Democrats have of beating him next November, separating Trump from his supporters. Impeachment hasn’t worked. Complaining about his tweets or how many scoops of ice cream he gets hasn’t diminished his support either. If anything, his base is growing. Trump campaign officials observe, “That roughly a quarter of those who attend his rallies identify as either a Democrat or an independent voter.” Is there anything similar on the Democrat side? How many Republicans are attending Joe Biden’s living room sized rallies? Other polling winds are blowing in Trump’s direction. Three recent polls, Emerson, Marist, and Rasmussen, show President Trump with 30 plus percent support among black voters. This doesn’t mean Trump will get 30 percent of the black vote on election day, but suppose he gets half of that. Historically GOP presidential candidates have averaged 9 percent of the black vote. Bump that to 15 percent and expect long faces and tears at CNN on election night. An axiom in life for explaining why people do things is to “follow the money”. Does “money talk” about the upcoming presidential election? Predictit, a stock market of sorts for buying shares “for or against an event taking place” is a way to “follow the money”. When buying shares in, “Who will win the 2020 US presidential election?” Trump leads the field, bigly. Trump is at 50 cents, with Biden and Sanders tied at 22 cents, Bloomberg at 7 cents and Warren and Buttigieg tied at 5 cents. Perfect, an Indian head nickel for Pocahontas. Putting money where their mouths are, investors believe Trump will win reelection. Predictit is just individual investors. What about the big money of Wall Street? They are even more bullish on Trump winning reelection, “Goldman Sachs surveyed dozens of its clients and found that 87% expect President Trump to win the election this year.” Remember that polls reflect opinion today and that the only poll that matters is on election day next November. These are also national polls and the election is decided by 50 separate state elections, not one national election. But the numbers are favorable, especially given the headwinds Trump is sailing into. The Senate impeachment will likely deflate Democrats even more. Trump knew this was coming and has planned the ultimate reality show with witnesses, revelations, declassifications, and indictments, all timed for the upcoming election season, a trap Democrats merrily strolled into. This will play out on his terms, though it is hard for so many of us to be patient, continuing to wait for promises of “pain is coming.” As the show plays out, expect his poll numbers to pop even further. Tune out the cable news naysayers and enjoy the show. ——————– Dr. Brian C. Joondeph (@retinaldoctor), M.D., MPS, is a Denver-based physician and writer. Shared by Rassmussen Reports. Tags: POTUS, Popping, in the Polls, Brian C. Joondeph, Rassmussen Reports To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
| Could Things Get Worse For Democrats? Here Comes HillaryPosted: 23 Jan 2020 03:36 PM PSTHillary ClintonAnalysis by Joe Schaeffer, LibertyNation.com: In a party struggling to define itself nationally as it seeks a standard-bearer for its 2020 challenge to an incumbent President Donald Trump, the last thing Democrats need is more Hillary Clinton. Yet that is exactly what they will be getting. Displaying the breathtaking selfishness and self-absorption that has defined the Clinton political family for decades, Hillary Clinton has collaborated on a new “nothing-was-off-limits” four-part documentary that will air on the streaming Hulu network in March. Billed as a strikingly personal presentation, the doc will drop like the proverbial turd in the punch bowl right in the middle of Dem primary voting. After a drawn-out pre-primary winnowing season that lasted through most of 2019, Democrats head into first voting in Iowa on Feb. 3 every bit as perplexed as to the direction their party will take in 2020 as they were 12 months ago. Are the old-line establishment forces hardy enough to foist a stumbling Joe Biden on a more leftist grassroots voting base? Will a more rabble-rousing progressive candidate such as Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) or Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) be able to break through and steamroll his or her way to the nomination? Does this party have anything more to offer the American people than staunch and often hysterical opposition to Trump, as exemplified in the impeachment imbroglio that will sidetrack three leading senators from the presidential campaign trail? All these questions linger and need to be answered. Rather than show respect for the clarifying process that must naturally occur, Hillary barrels into the spotlight, making it obvious once again that she refuses to let any other tree grow near her fading yet still substantial shade. Can you imagine other defeated presidential candidates from the previous election having the sheer bad taste to preen before the public as their party is in the middle of deciding who will be their captain for the next election? How much would Bill and Hillary have enjoyed dealing with a Michael Dukakis vocally declaring in 1991 that he “wasn’t going away” and would be a prominent figure throughout the 1992 campaign? Hillary is fundamentally unable to see herself as the decisive 2016 loser she was, and so her ghost will continue to haunt Dems even as a thoroughly muddled nomination process threatens to last right up to the convention itself. And so a party that desperately needs to move forward, on whatever path it chooses, will be saddled with this tired baggage of the past. That her own party’s candidates will see their already flickering stars lose even more illumination as a result seems to mean nothing to her. Whether they choose to ignore, engage, or pay lip service to this 2020 primary crasher, nothing good will come from Sanders, Warren, or Biden having to address the Hillary That Won’t Go Away. She won’t add a jot of goodwill or positive momentum to their campaigns and will only highlight each aspirant’s inability up to this point to establish a strong persona capable of claiming leadership over the party and uniting it in November. There is one other consideration to keep in mind. Hillary may very well want to see Dems head into July crippled by indecision. With no clear winner going to the convention floor, perhaps she holds out dreams of being anointed with the nomination in Milwaukee in truly old-school political-power style. Even if the Machiavellian Clintons do have this in mind, they are going about it all wrong. By constantly butting into the limelight, Hillary negates the dramatic effect of such a storyline. That role belongs to the reluctant old warrior being urged to step on the field of battle one last time. This is clearly not what we have on our hands here. Americans see a Hillary scratching and crawling to get into the game even when no one wants her to. It is, in the end, a self-defeating narrative. ——————— Source: Free Press International News Service Tags: Free Press International News Service, Joe Schaeffer, LibertyNation.com, Could Things, Get Worse, For Democrats? Here Comes Hillary To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
| You Dirty Rat . . .Posted: 23 Jan 2020 03:23 PM PST. . . While Schiff continues to lie about the whistleblower and other things, he’s about to embrace a corrupt witness Lev Parnas. Editorial Cartoon by AF “Tony” BrancoTags: AF Branco, editorial cartoon, You Dirty Rat, While Schiff, continues to lie, the whistleblower ,and other things, he’s about to embrace, a corrupt witness, Lev Parnas To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
| Impeachment Trial Day 2: Democrats Impeach American VotersPosted: 23 Jan 2020 03:13 PM PST. . . Schiff argues removal is necessary because Dems can’t trust the people to vote Trump out. by Thomas Gallatin: Adam Schiff led House Democrats in making their opening arguments Wednesday in the Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. Speaking for two hours, Schiff’s case boiled down to the supposed need to remove Trump for his “corrupt purposes.” You see, it’s not that Trump’s actions rise to the level of impeachable offenses; it’s his intentions as interpreted by Democrats that are impeachable. Orange man bad, must be removed. Furthermore, Schiff argued, “The president’s misconduct cannot be decided at the ballot box, for we cannot be assured that the vote will be fairly won.” Democrats don’t trust the American people to judge for themselves whether Trump deserves to remain in office. Schiff’s statement is Hillary Clinton’s “deplorables” comment repackaged. This is simply how Democrats think about vast swaths of America, proving that they’re not really after Trump; they’re after you, the voter. Ever since Trump defeated Clinton, Democrats have been seeking to impeach the vote of the American people. Also on Wednesday, the Senate received a letter signed by 21 Republican state attorneys general calling the Democrats’ basis for impeachment illegitimate and for it to be “explicitly rejected.” The AGs argue that the Democrats’ “corrupt motives theory is dangerous to democracy because it encourages impeachment whenever the President exercises his constitutional authority in a way that offends the opposing political party, which is predisposed to view his motives with skepticism and motivated by its own motives to regain that very office.” While this letter won’t stop the impeachment trial, it may serve Senate Republicans. As The Wall Street Journal editorial board argues, “This might take the form of a Senate resolution at the time of acquittal. The crucial point is to reject impeachment as a regular tool of partisan punishment, reserving it for genuine cases of presidential abuse.” Meanwhile, the Democrats’ push to call more witnesses is proving tricky. There has been some speculation that Democrats would be open to a deal exchanging John Bolton for Hunter Biden, but Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer quickly shot that down, saying, “I think it’s off the table.” Then he quickly spun it as Republicans wanting to use it “to smear the Bidens.” The fact of the matter is that the crux of the whistleblower’s complaint rests entirely on Trump’s legitimate request that the Bidens’ shady behavior be investigated. It’s disingenuous to claim the Bidens are not tied up in this, but that’s par for the course with these Democrats. The fact is Democrats will need the votes of at least four Republicans to get Bolton on the stand, and for those votes they will need to give those Republicans something in return. However, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is playing it smart, stating that the Senate will be open to calling only those witnesses the House itself called; no new witnesses will be considered. He also warned, “It could dramatically change the separation of powers between the House and the Senate if the Senate agrees we will conduct both the investigation and the trial of an impeachment.” In any case, as Mark Alexander has asserted for months, “What Democrats want is Republicans on the record voting against witnesses so they can perpetuate the ‘Trump is guilty and Republicans covered for him’ myth. They will then use those votes in campaign ads against a few Republicans they believe are vulnerable in November. The Demo impeachment charade has always been about retaking the Senate so that if Trump is reelected they can block conservative SCOTUS nominations. Republicans should call their bluff and seek witnesses — and Schumer and Schiff will run for cover.” Finally, as far as the House Democrats offering any new or compelling arguments against Trump, the sentiment among Senate Republicans was summed up by Wyoming’s John Barrasso, who commented, “Six hours of testimony so far today… I didn’t hear anything new at all.” That matters not because the Senate is supposed to hear new things but because nothing Democrats have presented so far merits impeachment or removal. ——————– Thomas Gallatin is a Features Editor at The Patriot Post. Tags: Thomas Gallatin, The Patriot Post, Impeachment Trial Day 2, Democrats Impeach American Voters To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
| Deregulate The Legal Profession And Protect The Rights Of Those Who Represent Themselves In CourtPosted: 23 Jan 2020 02:39 PM PSTby Richard McCarty: Republicans should support reforming the legal profession and the legal system. As it is, the legal system is pretty much of the lawyers, by the lawyers, and for the lawyers. Although we have many lawyers in this country, their services are unaffordable for many Americans. The high cost of legal services is likely the reason that an estimated 30 million people, which is nearly 10 percent of the population, go to court each year without a lawyer. Americans deserve more options than just shelling out thousands of dollars – that they may not have – for a lawyer or taking their chances representing themselves in a court system that is stacked against them. One of the reasons why legal fees are so high is because law schools are so expensive; and one of the reasons that law schools are so expensive is because of the American Bar Association’s standards for law schools. Here are just a few of the ABA’s expensive and unnecessary requirements for law schools that wish to obtain or maintain their accreditation: law degrees must take three years, all law faculty must be full-time at most law schools, professors’ teaching loads must be light, and law libraries must be filled with copious amounts of books despite the fact that most legal research is done online. By making law school unnecessarily expensive, the ABA creates a hurdle for minorities and those with low incomes. For these reasons, the Trump Administration should terminate its recognition of the ABA to accredit law schools. Furthermore, the bar exam requirement is a barrier to competition in the field of law and should be eliminated. The exam is also a waste of time: it requires months of study and memorization of a broad spectrum of laws when most lawyers specialize in particular areas of law. Although defenders of the bar exam claim that it helps ensure the quality of lawyers, the fact of the matter is that the bar exam bears very little relation to the day-to-day work of a lawyer – and passing the bar in no way means that one is a fit lawyer. The legal profession should be more like the medical and accounting professions. In medicine, paramedics, nurses, and nurse practitioners are being allowed to provide more care than they were previously allowed to provide. In accounting, non-CPAs are allowed to handle many accounting functions. Similarly, in the field of law, non-lawyers, such as paralegals, should be able to provide legal services to clients including such things as writing wills, filing for bankruptcy or divorce, and reviewing real estate contracts. To further increase competition, more states should allow lawyers to practice law across state lines. In addition, just as taxpayers can turn to TurboTax for help with their income taxes, so those in need of legal services should be able to turn to legal technology companies, such as LegalZoom, for more than just basic legal forms. One way to increase the likelihood of legal innovation would be to allow non-lawyers and investors to own law firms, which is currently prohibited in most jurisdictions. Finally, the court system should be made more friendly to pro se litigants (those who represent themselves in court). For example, courts should have instruction forms for filing documents and appearing in court, much like the IRS has instructions for filing taxes. By posting instructions online, courts could likely reduce the number of errors made by pro se litigants as well as reduce court delays. Judges found to be biased against pro se litigants should be removed. Our courts and legal profession are in desperate need of reform. In many ways, they are stuck in the past, and their arcane rules serve to keep legal costs high and make it difficult for average citizens to get justice in our courts. To address these problems, Republicans should embrace legal reform to help lower costs and give more options to those in need of legal services. ———————- Richard McCarty is the Director of Research at Americans for Limited Government. Tags: Richard McCarty, Americans for Limited Government, Deregulate The Legal Profession, Protect The Rights Of Those, Who Represent Themselves, In Court To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
| Virginia Democrats Push Legislation to Make Criticism of Government Officials a Criminal OffensePosted: 23 Jan 2020 02:28 PM PST. . . This is naked tyranny. Stalin – Tyrannyby Shane Trejo: This is naked tyranny. In the wake of the Virginia gun rights rally on Monday, Democrats in the Capitol are not slowing down their push for tyranny. They are moving a bill through the legislature that would effectively criminalize dissent against Governor Blackface Northam and other state government officials. House Bill 1627 was introduced by Delegate Jeffrey M. Bourne last week. The legislation “provides that certain crimes relating to threats and harassment may be prosecuted in the City of Richmond if the victim is the Governor, Governor-elect, Lieutenant Governor, Lieutenant Governor-elect, Attorney General, or Attorney General-elect, a member or employee of the General Assembly, a justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia, or a judge of the Court of Appeals of Virginia.” Language in the bill explicitly criminalizes free speech, in what would constitute a blatant attack on the 1st Amendment of the Constitution. “If any person, with the intent to coerce, intimidate, or harass any person, shall use a computer or computer network to communicate obscene, vulgar, profane, lewd, lascivious, or indecent language, or make any suggestion or proposal of an obscene nature, or threaten any illegal or immoral act, he is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor,” the legislation reads. The legislation makes it clear that the above provision applies directly to “the Governor, Governor-elect, Lieutenant Governor, Lieutenant Governor-elect, Attorney General, or Attorney General-elect, a member or employee of the General Assembly, a justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia, or a judge of the Court of Appeals of Virginia,” which means this legislation effectively criminalizes dissent against public officials. Tina Freitas, wife of Republican Delegate Nick Freitas, called attention to this intolerable act in a Facebook post on Tuesday night. “Wow on cue, now they are after the 1A! Dems are trying to set up special rules exclusive to the Elite ruling class, to protect themselves from criticism!” Freitas wrote. “What is considered harassment? Is Governor Infanticide/KKK Hood trying to avoid being held accountable? Are we no longer allowed to demand justice for the alleged rape victims of LG Fairfax? This is some straight up communist censorship!” she added. Virginia Democrats were not detracted by the gun rights rally on Monday in the slightest. They moved red flag laws through the legislature just a day later, and subsequently killed pro-gun bills that were introduced by Republicans. “The governor and the leadership of the democrats have declared war on law-abiding citizens and gun owners and their votes today just confirmed that that’s where we’re going,” said Philip Van Cleave, President of Virginia Citizens Defense League. Virginia patriots may have to continue organizing locally, with Sheriffs deputizing local patriots and constitutional militias being trained, as a bulwark against the treasonous usurpers leading the state legislature. ——————– Shane Trejo writes for Big League Politics Tags: Shane Trejo, Big League Politics, Virginia, democrats, legislation, makes criticism of Government Officials, criminal offense To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
| Schiff Admits Impeachment is a CoupPosted: 23 Jan 2020 01:57 PM PSTby Daniel Greenfield: The lingering question for the man on the street who doesn’t care to litigate the rights and wrongs of both sides, to find Ukraine on a map or switch rapidly between MSNBC and FOX News to figure out what’s going on, is why not wait for the election. Bill Clinton was impeached in the middle of his second term. That’s the time when it makes the most sense to impeach a president. He can’t run again, but he still has some years remaining in office. Nixon was on his second term. Johnson was an unpopular vice president who was obstructing the will of the legislature. But why impeach Trump in the sunset of his first term as an election is coming up? Rep. Schiff had an answer. It explains everything.“If not remedied by his conviction in the Senate and removal from office, President Trump’s abuse of his office and obstruction of Congress will permanently alter the balance of power among the branches of government,” the 59-year-old congressman said. Schiff accused Trump of attempting to “use the powers of the presidency to cheat in an election.” “For precisely this reason, the president’s misconduct cannot be decided at the ballot box, for we cannot be assured that the vote will be fairly won,” he said.That’s to say, Trump has to be impeached because elections that he wins are illegitimate. This isn’t an impeachment then. It’s a coup. Schiff officially laid out a case for why we can’t trust our system of elections and must instead legislatively intervene to remove an elected official. That’s a hell of an argument whose implications he hasn’t thought through. If we can’t trust the national system of elections that gave us POTUS, why should we trust elections in dinky states like California, where voters get to choose between two Democrats? If impeachment, or investigations, are a remedy for an untrustworthy system of elections, what happens to Rep. Schiff? And what does that make impeachment except a coup, a means of removing illegitimate leaders by a political faction in the government that rejects the outcome of free elections? Despite the vague Maddow claims of election hacking, there’s no meaningful evidence that the system itself has been tampered with. Instead all the claims meant to cast doubt on the outcome of the 2016 elections suggest that the electorate was tampered with through ‘fake news’ and bots and all the other nonsense. That’s to say, Schiff is suggesting that the American people can’t be trusted. The Senate is being asked to remove President Trump from office because Schiff and the Democrats don’t trust the people not to vote for him again. More than that, it’s an open expression of a defining belief in the worthlessness of the system of elections. The attack on Trump are really an attack on our political system, not just the electoral college or Facebook’s ads policies, but the legitimacy of the electorate. That’s a coup. ———————- Daniel Greenfield (@Sultanknish) is Shillman Journalism Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center and an investigative journalist and writer focusing on radical Left and Islamic terrorism. Tags: Daniel Greenfield, FrontPage Mag, Sultan Knish, Schiff Admits Impeachment, is a Coup To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
| Biden Throws Blacks Another Racist Dog BiscuitPosted: 23 Jan 2020 01:34 PM PSTby Lloyd Marcus: As usual, fake news media ignored a Democrat irresponsibly throwing a racial-hate-generating grenade into a crowd of blacks. On MLK day 2020, Joe Biden referred to Trump as “this president and his Ku Klux Klan…” This is extremely evil when you understand that Biden knows his accusation is absurd and easily proven false. Biden thought he was simply throwing the dumb black congregation a vote-winning racist dog biscuit. As a black and grateful proud American, it turns my stomach the way Democrats repeatedly pander to us, pretending race relations in America have not progressed beyond the 1950s. Irresponsibly, Hollywood, public education and fake news media join Democrats in selling black America their absurd lie that America is a hellhole of racism, overrun with white supremacists and KKK members. It is all a huge scheme to keep blacks believing they are victims, voting for Democrats to keep rabid racist white America at bay. This Democrat lie is insidiously evil and destructive when you consider that America is the greatest land of opportunity on the planet for all who choose to pursue their dreams. Not only are Democrats not concerned about strained race relations, they thrive on it. They seek to create as much racial division and hate as possible. On the anniversary of the shooting in Ferguson, Missouri, Democrat presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren despicably ran to the microphones to proclaim that black Michael Brown was murdered by a racist white cop. This is a bald-faced lie, proven untrue by evidence presented to a grand jury. Throwing her racist dog biscuit to blacks was Warren’s evil cold and calculated campaign trick to win black votes. Folks, this evil Democrat lie that Brown was shot in cold blood by a racist cop has caused many of our brave men in blue to be ambushed and assassinated across America in revenge. Warren has zero compassion for the fatherless children and widows created by the Democrats’ Brown-was-murdered lie. This serial-lying wicked woman must never come anywhere near the seat of international power. Because I am an outspoken black Christian, conservative and Republican, white Democrats have freely called me a stupid n***** all over social media for decades; even threatening my life. It is not a stretch to believe they use the same vitriolic language at their high-dollar-fundraiser cocktail parties. “We got those n*****s right where we want them.” Blacks are only 13% of the population, which means white America obviously elected Obama two times. And yet, we successfully convinced stupid blacks to believe a majority of white Americans would never vote for a black man to be leader of the free world. I have been confronted by brain-dead black Democrat loyalists who call me an Uncle Tom for rejecting the absurd Democrat narrative that somehow Obama was elected under the radar of white America. How long will Democrats get away with playing us blacks for a bunch of useful idiots every election cycle, throwing us racist dog biscuits to keep us lapping around at their feet for more as they pet us on our heads for good luck? A caller on the Rush Limbaugh radio show said conservatism is really about love. I could not agree more. I became a conservative decades ago because I embraced Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s dream that people should be judged by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin. I connected with Ronald Reagan’s call for all Americans to be the best they can be. I rejected Democrats’ message of victimhoodism, class envy, and racial hate. Democrats are more determined than ever to punish the hard work of Peter to gift the fruits of his labor to lazy trifling Paul. Insanely, they even want to give Peter’s hard-earned money to illegal aliens. Rather than relentlessly instilling hate and victim mindsets, Conservatism encourages and celebrates all Americans becoming their best. Democrats have been deceiving blacks for 50 years, throwing them racism dog biscuits. Due to their faithful monolithic voting for Democrats, blacks are suffering big-time in Democrat controlled cities; epidemic school dropouts, high incarcerations, high fatherless households, generational poverty and record-breaking black on black homicides. Meanwhile, Joe Biden is on the campaign trail claiming the most black-empowering president in U.S. history is the leader of the Ku Klux Klan. Not only does Trump have a long history of hiring, empowering, advocating, and promoting blacks, his presidency has black unemployment at its lowest in U.S. history. How many stupid blacks will stay on the Democrats’ plantation, believing Biden’s outrageous lie that Trump is a n*****-hating white supremacist? My fellow black Americans, please stop scarfing up Democrats’ racist dog biscuits. Trump is offering blacks “real” hope and change. C’mon, black brother and sister Americans. It’s time to get aboard the Trump Train. ————– Lloyd Marcus (@LloydMarcus) is an “Unhyphenated American” and an internationally renowned conservative columnist, singer/songwriter and author. He is Chairman of the Conservative Campaign Committee Political Action Committee. He is a prominent voice of the American Tea Party movement and the singer/songwriter of the ”American Tea Party Anthem.” Marcus has been on Fox News, CNN, PJTV and more. Tags: Lloyd Marcus, Biden Throws Blacks, Another Racist, Dog Biscuit To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
| Reality TV 2020Posted: 23 Jan 2020 01:12 PM PSTby Paul Jacob, Contributing Author: It shocked some, surprised virtually all — save Scott Adams — when mega-branding braggart, businessman, and reality TV star Donald “You’re Fired!” Trump slapped his way to a trifecta, winning in decades-long bastions of blue — Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin — en route to his “landslide” Electoral College win. How could a candidate viewed negatively by 61 percent of voters mere days before the election possibly win? Well, consider the alternative: Hillary Clinton’s negatives were 52 percent in that same poll. Moreover, two-thirds of voters harbored “doubts about her trustworthiness.” Entering Trump Year IV, the president’s approval rating remains under water, and, following the House impeachment, he’s being tried in absentia in the Senate. Plus, the Democrats get to choose a low-negatives/high-positives candidate to run against him. What could go wrong? Everything. Except for promising to give away free stuff to everyone, it’s all very unsettled. Even The New York Times, “in a break with convention,” if not reality, has endorsed two candidates: Senators Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar. Klobuchar? She’s stuck in seventh place in New Hampshire. Four candidates vie for the lead two weeks before Iowa and three weeks before New Hampshire: former Vice-President Joe Biden, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Senators Sanders and Warren. “Sleepy Joe” tops the latest Iowa poll while self-declared socialist Bernie leads in New Hampshire — and pushes ahead of Biden nationally. And to meet Sanders’ surge? Mrs. Clinton. Being lovable. As always. Of the current Democratic front-runner, “Nobody likes him,” Hillary sniped, channeling her inner Mean Girl. “Nobody wants to work with him, he’s got nothing done. He was a career politician. It’s all just baloney and I feel so bad that people got sucked into it.” Cluster-yuck 2020 is Reality TV at its best. This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob. —————— Paul Jacob (@Common_Sense_PJ) is author of Common Sense which provides daily commentary about the issues impacting America and about the citizens who are doing something about them. He is also President of the Liberty Initiative Fund (LIFe) as well as Citizens in Charge Foundation. Jacob is a contributing author on the ARRA News Service. Tags: Paul Jacob, Common Sense, Reality TV 2020 To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
| How to Cripple Small Business With One Easy LawPosted: 23 Jan 2020 12:51 PM PSTby Hans Bader: Anti-discrimination legislation under consideration by the Virginia state Senate would shrink the value of the state’s economy and fundamentally alter its business climate. Senate Bill 868, introduced by Sen. Adam Ebbin, D-Alexandria, would subject even small businesses to unlimited compensatory and punitive damages in discrimination lawsuits and order businesses to pay the lawyers’ bills of the workers, tenants, or customers who sue them. The bill also would let Virginia’s Attorney General sue businesses for a $50,000 fine. But if a business proves itself innocent, it would receive nothing under this bill — no reimbursement of its attorney fees. The legislation is very one-sided. If it become law, many businesses will have a powerful incentive to pay off people who make even dubious accusations of discrimination. Having to put up with that injustice will discourage people from starting a business in the first place. It will also discourage large companies for expanding into or relocating to Virginia, since plenty of other states don’t impose such onerous damages and fines on companies in discrimination cases. The Ebbin bill, co-patroned by Senator Jennifer Boysko is more extreme than, but in some ways similar to, California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). That law also provides for unlimited compensatory and punitive damages in discrimination cases, and also forces the business to pay the attorney fees of a person who successfully sues it. But it is more radical and anti-business. It also imposes civil fines, unlike California employment law. And unlike California’s law, it applies not just to employment and housing, but also public accommodations like restaurants and hotels. (California has a separate, less anti-business law banning discrimination in public accommodations. For example, that law, the Unruh Act, routinely lets an innocent business collect its attorneys fees when it wins). Comparisons to California are instructive, because the Golden State does not have a very good business climate compared to most states. In its annual ratings, the American Tort Reform Association typically rates California as having the worst or second worst legal climate in America. CNBC ranks it #50 — dead last — in “cost of doing business,” and #32 in overall business climate out of the 50 states. Businesses are more likely to leave California than to move into it, like Northrop Grumman and Nestlé, which moved to Virginia from California a few years ago. Up to 10,000 businesses have left California in recent years. Legislation like FEHA is a key reason why California has a bad business climate. It creates a constant need for businesses to pay nuisance settlements. I saw this first-hand as a young lawyer in Los Angeles. The law firm I worked at ended up repeatedly paying people discrimination settlements after it terminated them for totally non-discriminatory reasons — such as when their job became obsolete and was eliminated. (For example, computers with word processors made many legal secretaries unnecessary.) Fighting these lawsuits would have cost the law firm more than it was worth. Years ago, it cost an estimated $25,000 on average for an employer to get a very weak discrimination lawsuit it dismissed at the earliest phase of litigation (“motion to dismiss”), $75,000 to get a fairly weak lawsuit dismissed at a later phrase (“summary judgment”) and $250,000 to defeat a lawsuit that goes all the way to trial. When a business or institution loses a discrimination lawsuit, it can be ordered to pay huge sums money in attorneys fees to the plaintiff. That’s true even when the jury didn’t award the plaintiff much money because the plaintiff wasn’t really harmed. For example, a court awarded a worker over $40,000 in attorney fees even though the jury awarded her only $1 in damages, in Brandau v. State of Kansas (1999). So, fighting a discrimination lawsuit can easily cost a business hundreds of thousands of dollars. That expense could bankrupt many small businesses. It reaches any employer with more than 5 workers. When such a small business is threatened with a discrimination lawsuit, it may have little alternative but to pay off the lawyer making the threat. (Most federal discrimination laws, by contrast, cover only employers with 15 or more workers, and limit the amount of damages that can be imposed on covered businesses). Even worse is the way it awards attorney fees. Under it’s provisions, the court can only “award a prevailing plaintiff reasonable attorney fees and costs.” Not a prevailing defendant — like a business that was found not guilty by a jury. So, if the plaintiff brings a totally groundless lawsuit, and forces an innocent business to spend $250,000 defending itself, the business is not reimbursed a penny for its legal expenses.. By contrast, in California, the defendant business can be awarded its legal expenses if it shows the lawsuit was groundless. That’s because California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act provides that a business is entitled to be compensated for its lawyer bills if “the court finds the action was frivolous, unreasonable, or groundless when brought, or the plaintiff continued to litigate after it clearly became so.” (This is the same standard used by the U.S. Supreme Court in federal civil-rights cases). That standard isn’t very pro-business, because it only penalizes clearly unreasonable lawsuits. Only a tiny percentage of workers who lose lawsuits are ever ordered to pay their employers’ legal bills under it. But it does discourage at least some unreasonable lawsuits from being filed, and thus makes it harder to extort settlements from innocent businesses. SB 868 lacks even that minimal safeguard against groundless lawsuits and extortion. And it is even more extreme compared to the Unruh Act, California’s law against discrimination in public accommodations. Under the Unruh Act, businesses that win a lawsuit are entitled to recover attorneys fees in many cases, even when a lawsuit against them was not frivolous or groundless. That is a more pro-business standard than exists in California employment and housing law, and far more pro-business than what Senators Ebbin and Boysko propose. In short, SB 868 will make Virginia more anti-business in some ways than California. That is disturbing, because California’s employment laws are anti-business enough to be a drag on its economy. Researchers at the RAND Institute found that employer fears of lawsuits due to California’s anti-employer laws shrank employment in the state by 2-3%. This bill will similarly shrink the size of Virginia’s economy if it becomes law. It will also cause businesses to leave Virginia. California has a wonderful meteorological climate that limits the number of people who flee the state due to its bad business climate. Virginia doesn’t. It has hot humid summers and cold winters that make it less appealing. And it is much easier to escape. Nothing stops a business from relocating to nearby North Carolina and Tennessee. Virginia is smaller and surrounded by more states than California, making it easier to lose businesses if it adopts a hostile attitude toward businesses. Bristol, Tennessee, already attracts businesses from neighboring Bristol, Virginia, right across the border — due partly to Tennessee having no income tax. In the last election, many warned that the outcome could “turn Virginia into another California.” SB 868 is proof that the outcome might be even worse. ———————- Hans Bader, a former Competitive Enterprise Institute scholar, is an attorney living in Northern Virginia and contributor to the Jefferson Policy Journal. Tags: Hans Bader, Jefferson Policy Journal, How to Cripple, Small Business, One Easy Law To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
| The Great American Story of Clarence ThomasPosted: 23 Jan 2020 12:36 PM PSTJustice Clarence Thomasby Jarrett Stepman: Justice Clarence Thomas is famously quiet on the Supreme Court. But a new movie, “Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words,” is drawn from an exclusive interview with Thomas. Filmmaker Michael Pack shares what he learned about Thomas. Jarrett Stepman: We are now speaking to filmmaker Michael Pack. Pack is the director of the soon-to-be-released documentary “Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words.” The movie is set to come out on Jan. 31. Michael, thanks so much for joining us on The Daily Signal. Michael Pack: Thank you for having me. Stepman: First off, explain the thread of the documentary. I mean, Clarence Thomas wrote a memoir, “My Grandfather’s Son,” many years ago, but it seems that many Americans don’t know a lot about Clarence Thomas the man. Does the documentary delve into his childhood, his upbringing, his past? Pack: It does, I mean, exactly. Most Americans don’t know about it. And really the purpose of the film is to tell his whole story and to dispel the myths and fabrications that have grown up over the years. The format of the film is called “Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words” because it’s mainly Justice Thomas speaking directly to camera and telling his story from birth all the way up to today. It’s based on a three-hour interview that I conducted with Justice Thomas and Ginni, his wife. And only them. There are no other interviews. He tells his story as he sees it from the very beginning, right to camera. There are recreations, there’s archival footage, there are stills, but there’s no other interview. You hear the story from Justice Thomas because it’s a great story, and in talking to people, he was overwhelmingly the best to tell it. He’s a great storyteller with a wonderful voice. Stepman: Yeah. That really will be something, especially as Thomas is notably quiet on the Supreme Court. Getting to actually hear this from Thomas himself seems to be one of the most interesting aspects of this documentary. One thing that really struck me, certainly about Thomas’ life, is his kind of political transformation. Obviously, [he] had rich experiences growing up. [He] grew up in, at the time, [the] still-segregated state of Georgia. Obviously, some harrowing times there. But he really had a political transformation. He really was, as a young man, a man of the left, I think [he] even supported the Black Panthers and ended up as an appointee of the Reagan administration, obviously, an appointee to the Supreme Court of Republican President George H.W. Bush. Can you kind of explain that transformation? Because it seems kind of wild on its face. Pack: Well, that’s right. That’s one of the reasons it’s a great story, because it’s … not only a Horatio Alger story of going from dire poverty and segregation, as you said, to the highest court of land, but of these political, emotional, spiritual changes. And he’s very articulate about it. As you say, he was born in the South, he was born in Pin Point just outside of Savannah, Gullah Geechee area. So he grew up speaking a dialectic, a Geechee dialect, not even English. They were dirt poor. His mother worked in a crab factory. But they had a lot to eat. It was relatively idyllic. And then she moved to Savannah where she worked as a maid and took care of Justice Thomas and his brother. But she just couldn’t make ends meet. He was hungry. He was cold in the winter. She’d take him to school, he’d wander the streets. It was really dire poverty of a kind few experience and in the midst of the segregated south. So then, [when] he was about 8, she brought him to her father, his grandfather, to raise because she realized she couldn’t take care of him. And that is what turned Justice Thomas’ life around. His grandfather who was poor and nearly illiterate, but he had a small home heating oil business. He gave Thomas and his brother a decent home, discipline, hard work, values. He had converted to Roman Catholicism. He sent them to parochial school, also a segregated school, but run by Irish nuns who gave him more discipline, a great education. And that really turned his life around from the sort of drifting in poverty to this new path. And he was so successful. He wanted to study to be a priest and he entered seminary and he would’ve been one of the first African American priests in Savannah. But as you implied, or as you said, he became disenchanted with all that. It was the late ’60s, … he was watching Martin Luther King [Jr.] being shot on TV in ’68 and one of the seminarians said, “I hope that son of a b—- dies,” and that was just too much for Justice Thomas. It was just too much racism there. The church was doing too little about civil rights, and then he flipped and felt, “No, this is all wrong.” And he lost his vocation. He said he wanted to leave the seminary. When he told his grandfather, his grandfather kicked him out, the only home he had ever known and he was adrift and he became an angry black man. He saw race and racism explained everything. His grandfather was a sucker, but he was on his own, he had to go wherever he could. He happened to have a full scholarship at Holy Cross College in Worcester, Massachusetts, a Catholic school. He went up there and there he partook, as you said, in the black radicalism of the ’60s. He helped form the Black Student Union. He engaged in walkouts. As you said, he invited a Black Panther to come speak on the campus. And as Thomas said, they were supporters of everybody who was in your face, Angela Davis, Huey Newton, whomever. And then a large part of the film is Justice Thomas’ turning away from that, recapturing his faith, coming back to Catholicism, his discovery that all the programs on the left were not working, especially busing in nearby Boston and affirmative action and a lot of the ideas and anti-Americanism of the black radicalism no longer appealed to him. He sort of started to see through it and drifted to the right until, as you say, he finally went to work for the Reagan administration in the ’80s, and worked first in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Education, and then the EOC. And then finally he was nominated by George H.W. Bush for the Supreme Court and had that extremely contentious confirmation battle. But from the time he went to work for Reagan and was a public figure, he was battling people who didn’t agree with him. Civil rights leaders, people on the left, people who said, as he says in the documentary, that he was the wrong kind of black man. So it culminated in the hearing and that’s a very dramatic story and he tells it in a very moving way. And then he talks about the jurisprudence on the Supreme Court. So you’re right, it’s a very complex story. It’s hard to understand if you don’t hear it directly from Justice Thomas, which viewers will be able to do. Stepman: Of course. What made you tell this story of Clarence Thomas now? Does this have anything to do with the recent confirmation battles over Brett Kavanaugh? Did it have to do with some of his tussles with Joe Biden? Why now? Why come forward with the story at this point? Pack: Well, documentaries take a long time. We’ve been working on it for almost three years, but I have to say, it’s become more relevant. The Kavanaugh hearing happened in the middle of our production period. The #MeToo movement happened. But I think all that makes it very important to hear a Thomas’ story. The #MeToo movement likes to say that Anita Hill is its Rosa Parks, founding mother of the movement. But it’s good to look at the real story. I think your podcast is very focused on correcting the myths of history, and that’s a myth. And the same thing with the Brett Kavanaugh hearing. It was, in a lot of ways, a replay of the Thomas hearing. A lot of people noticed that on both sides. So it’s worth thinking about what it was that was replayed. I think it’s very current for the time. But I actually think it’s current beyond the time. I think Justice Thomas’ story is a great story, a great American story, and will be 20 or 30 years from now as well as now. Although I think it’s ripe for the moment, it’s beyond that. I think it’s an inspiring story of overcoming great obstacles, of resilience in the face of many, many challenges. And of somebody who could easily have defined himself as a victim and chose not to. It’s a great illustration of that path, which is maybe not adequately celebrated today. So I think although it’s of the moment, it’s beyond that. Stepman: Yeah, absolutely. And to get more [to] the connection to now modern politics, you could say one of the more interesting aspects in the movie is getting into Thomas’ confrontations and his battles in the Senate, especially with now-presidential candidate Joe Biden, who was the chairman, I believe, of the Judiciary Committee at the time. Today is actually the anniversary, the 47th anniversary, of Roe v. Wade. Obviously, Clarence Thomas has been critical of that decision. That did come up during his hearings. But there’s actually an interesting moment. I wonder if you could explain where Thomas actually talks about his battles with Biden and some of the debates over natural law jurisprudence in the Constitution. Can you kind of talk about that a little bit? Pack: Yes. Justice Thomas’ attitudes toward natural law are actually a theme of the film and his sense of how natural law and originalism inform his jurisprudence. But in the first part of the hearing, Biden asked extremely complex philosophical questions along those lines. But for Justice Thomas, it was that they were a meandering way to get him to say something about Roe and to commit himself. And I think this was the first part of the hearing. Some people don’t remember that his hearings had two parts. There was a week of very grueling testimony where the Biden inquiry came in. And also they accused him of lots of stuff—smoking marijuana, being an anti-Semite—that he had to answer that was in the press. Plus, very tough grilling. Then he felt it was over. And these senators had voted split on the committee, but sent his name forward. And then when this full Senate was getting ready to vote, the Anita Hill allegations were leaked. And then it went back to the Senate Judiciary Committee. So it’s in the first hearing that Joe Biden sort of pressed him on natural law, as Justice Thomas says, as a way to get him to say something about Roe that they could use as a reason not to confirm him. … Since you say, it’s the anniversary of Roe, many, many of the groups opposed to him had that as their explicit reason for doing it. I mean, it was a very political, very concerted effort. Stepman: Yeah. Again, there seems to be some connection, especially when you talk about the modern Kavanaugh hearings as well, that that issue seems to come up very big and play prominently. And then, of course, you get the ugliness of the accusations, the sexual assault, and, of course, the media really plays into that as well in creating that storm. So one question I think I’d like to ask is who is your intended audience of the movie? If you could sit any group of people in this country down and say, “Watch this movie,” who would it be? Pack: I really made the movie for people who don’t know Justice Thomas and don’t have their minds made up. Those are beyond just your listeners. I believe it’s convincing to people who don’t know him and have many of these misconceptions: he’s quiet, he doesn’t speak, he’s not smart, he doesn’t have many opinions, he’s not active on the court. And I think you can’t think that after you see this film. … It’s going to be in movie theaters, as you said, Jan. 31. And the people who are partisans of Justice Thomas and maybe your listeners need to go and show up and buy tickets. The people on the other side are very good at doing that. Our film is often compared or contrasted to “RBG,” about Ruth Bader Ginsburg. It did fabulously well at the box office. All of her fans … showed up. So the people who might be sympathetic to Thomas have to show up, too. It’ll be in 15 or so theaters on Jan. 31, and if people show up, it’ll be in many more. They can go to our website, JusticeThomasmovie.com, and see where it’s playing in their area. And if it’s not playing and there’s a big enough group of 30 or 40, we can make a showing in the area that they are [in]. There’s ways to sign up for that on the website. So the purpose of the film is really to bring Justice Thomas back to the prominence and respect that he deserves. And I don’t think that will happen unless there’s some groundswell out there. So I hope that your show helps create that groundswell. Stepman: Yeah, we definitely hope so, too. It’s interesting. There were some controversies at the African American museum here in Washington, D.C., that Clarence Thomas didn’t get enough of a prominent position. Obviously, you could say, at this point, [he’s] one of the greatest Americans who’s been on the Supreme Court, and has an incredible story. I think that’s inspirational, especially for young Americans who do grow up in bad circumstances. I mean, few have experienced the kind of struggles that he did as a young man and yet rose to this position and became not just a man who succeeded but is such a learned man and understanding of the law, really one of the most prominent positions in American life. It seems that a lot of young Americans, in particular, can learn from that story and create an inspiration that they can empower themselves rather than feeling like victims. Pack: Absolutely. That is really true. And we hope that beyond its time in theaters and on TV, or wherever it goes, that we’ll be able to get excerpts from it and curriculum materials into schools [for] Black History Month. There’s a lot of counter narratives to that. The 1619 Project has curriculum materials and Black Lives Matter and there’s [the] reparations movement. And we hope that our film, or parts of our film, with curriculum materials can be incorporated into every high school across America because I think it is inspiring to young people, especially African Americans, but not only. And I think it’s a counter narrative to the sort of victimhood that many put forward. I mean, it’s another way of living your life that Justice Thomas illustrates, and I think it is very inspiring. Stepman: Yeah, that’s great. That’s definitely maybe a pro-1776, a man who’s actually experienced racism and terrible things in this country yet embraces the principles that made America great to begin with. Truly inspiring story, as you said, very much counters the opinions of some at the 1619 Project that directly counters and says that are founding ideals are wrong. So absolutely an inspirational story. Michael, thank you so much for joining us. The name of the movie is “Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words.” It’s out Jan. 31 and it’s definitely going to be a must-see. Thank you so much, Michael, for joining us. Pack: Thank you. And go to that website, JusticeThomasmovie.com. Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words Official Trailer 2 Stepman: Thank you very much. ———————— Jarrett Stepman (@JarrettStepman) is a contributor to The Daily Signal and co-host of The Right Side of History podcast. Tags: Jarrett Stepman, Michael Pack, The Daily Signal, The Great American Story, Clarence Thomas To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
| Standing Guard | Why The Democratic Party Turned Against Your FreedomPosted: 23 Jan 2020 12:04 PM PSTWayne LaPierreby Wayne LaPierre: The mainstream media likes to insinuate that the NRA is a partisan organization. It isn’t. Politicians earn their grades and endorsements from us (nrapvf.org/grades) based on how they vote and on what their positions are with regard to the Second Amendment. It’s that simple. A politician’s grade has nothing to do with their party affiliation. If it seems as if the NRA is partisan today, this is because the Democratic Party is a much smaller tent than it used to be. When Barack Obama first won the presidency in 2008, for example, there was a sizeable block of Democratic members of Congress who understood that our Second Amendment freedom is a good thing that must be protected. Many of those Democrats, however, lost their seats in Congress as Obama pushed the party left. This purge of Democrats in Congress who vote for your Second Amendment rights has continued. Today, the party has pushed out almost all of it pro-freedom politicians. By 2016, in fact, the Democratic Party’s official platform, under Hillary Clinton, was more anti-Second Amendment than it had ever officially been before. All of the candidates currently fighting for the Democratic Party’s nomination for president want to ban popular semi-automatic rifles; they want to bankrupt America’s gun manufacturers by once again giving frivolous lawsuits legal cover; they want to nominate judges who don’t believe the Second Amendment is an individual right and so much more. These extreme positions aren’t even smart politics. Past polling has indicated the number of union households with guns in them in the United States goes from a low of 40% in California, to a high of 60–70–80% in states like West Virginia, Michigan and North Carolina. These gun owners in those states want their Second Amendment rights protected. When Democrats go against the Second Amendment, they go against a large part of their base. This isn’t true of the Democratic Party in every local election, and I have hope that the Democrats will come to their senses. Nevertheless, the polarization on this issue, which again is coming from the left, is not helping us. So why did the Democratic Party decide that its own party’s platform should blame law-abiding gun owners for the actions of criminals? Why did their party’s elites purposely expunge more rational opinions from their political party with regard to this constitutional issue? Here are two big reasons. First, mainstream-media outlets located in big cities along the coasts dominate the conversation on the left. These left-leaning media outlets aren’t interested in honestly investigating gun-related issues. They are instead solely focused on pushing an anti-gun narrative. They don’t host guests who can humanize the freedom side of this issue; for example, they have little interest in having a woman on who just had to use her self-defense firearm to defend herself or her children. What these media outlets are interested in is pushing gun control. One way they do this is by helping candidates who express anti-gun opinions. The other big reason is these politicians follow the money. Michael Bloomberg is a good example of the left’s deep-pocketed elites. Bloomberg has long used his $50-plus billion war chest to further restrict or outright take away your right to keep and bear arms. He is now in the race for president, and he is spending big. Whether Bloomberg wins the Democratic Party’s nomination or not, his money is a real factor in this election. Many of the Democrat’s big donors hold fundraisers in places like Beverly Hills and New York City’s Upper East Side. These far-left donors have pushed the Democratic Party further left—especially on issues like Second Amendment rights. These wealthy Democratic donors live behind walls and have armed security—they live separate, elite lives—and they look out over America and think that all those little people between the coasts should not have the Constitutional right to own a firearm nor should they be entitled to the same level of self-protection they themselves enjoy. Voters need to remind them—as they did to Al Gore in 2000 and Hillary Clinton in 2016—that American freedom should not be a partisan issue, and Americans will always stand and fight for their Second Amendment freedoms. ——————— Wayne LaPierre is NRA’s Executive Vice President and contributes to the America’s 1st Freedom. Tags: Wayne LaPierre, NRA, Executive Vice President, America’s 1st Freedom, Standing Guard, Why The Democratic Party, Turned Against, Your Freedom To share or post to your site, click on “Post Link”. Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and “Like” Facebook Page – Thanks! |
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NOQ REPORT
- Mainstream media ignores DoJ letter on FISA warrants
- Laura Ingraham has advice for insomniacs
- Video: Massive explosion in Houston
- Senator Mike Braun was absolutely correct when he said the President ‘didn’t do it’
- Timing is everything: Why the Middle East peace plan MIGHT be released before Tuesday
- Seattle shooting suspects Marquise Tolbert, William Ray Tolliver have 65 arrests, 35 convictions between them
- Unpacking Laura Ingraham’s bombshell report on Eric Ciaramella, the Bidens, and Ken Vogel
- Why Thomas Massie’s question obliterates the Democrats’ impeachment case
- Erin Perrine: Democrats are ‘trying to silence the loudest voice, which is the ballot box’
- President Trump is right to turn his attention to Mike Bloomberg
| Mainstream media ignores DoJ letter on FISA warrantsPosted: 24 Jan 2020 05:54 AM PSTYesterday’s blockbuster report that a declassified letter from the Department of Justice asserting two of the four FISA warrants used against Carter Page were unlawful should have been the topic of discussion that put non-stop impeachment news on hold. But it wasn’t. In fact, the story was widely ignored.There were bits and pieces mentioned on Fox News and a couple of the left-leaning mainstream media outlets posted articles, but it was not the topic of discussion on television that it should have been. Even the articles written about it seemed to fade into the background. Meanwhile. Google News didn’t even have articles about it in their “Top Stories” feed. Even Reuters DC reporter Brad Heath declared it was a big deal, but few of his peers listened to him.This is a big deal. The Justice Department is conceding that two of the four FISA applications it used to conduct surveillance of former Trump campaign aide Carter Page were not lawful, and it’s not defending the legality of its other two applications. pic.twitter.com/sa6Sg35iJB— Brad Heath (@bradheath) January 23, 2020This is, indeed, a big deal. It’s huge. Not only does it validate what many conservatives have been saying since the Inspector General report was released last year, but it also debunks claims by many Democrats who said the warrants were deemed appropriate in that report. They played on the ignorance of the masses to take them at their word without actually reading the report itself.With the DoJ officially on the record crying foul over two and not justifying the other two, we can expect John Durham’s investigation to be knee deep in turning the crimes alleged in the report into criminal charges. That has been the hope of many Republicans for months, ever since Attorney General William Barr announced the second “investigation of the investigators” that would follow the first, which culminated in the IG report.The Daily Wire reported the story as breaking yesterday:The Department of Justice says that the FBI under disgraced former Director James Comey should have discontinued its secret surveillance on a member of the Trump campaign during the 2016 election because it had “insufficient predication to establish probable cause.”“Thanks in large part to the work of the Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Department of Justice, the Court has received notice of material misstatements and omissions in the applications filed by the government in the above-captioned dockets,” the letter stated. “DOJ assesses that with respect to the applications in Docket Numbers 17-375 and 17-679, ‘if not earlier, there was insufficient predication to establish probable cause to believe that [Carter] Page was acting as an agent of a foreign power.’”Democrats and their media proxies can pretend to ignore this type of news for now, but when the Durham investigation yields fruit as expected, there’s no way they can stay completely silent on it. The truth is coming out bit by bit.American Conservative MovementJoin fellow patriots as we form a grassroots movement to advance the cause of conservatism. We have two priorities until election day: Stopping Democrats and supporting strong conservative candidates. We currently have 7500+ patriots with us in a very short time. If you are interested, please join us to receive updates.First Name Last Name Email Address Comments SubmitMixi.Media NewsThe post Mainstream media ignores DoJ letter on FISA warrants appeared first on NOQ Report – Conservative Christian News, Opinions, and Quotes. |
| Laura Ingraham has advice for insomniacsPosted: 24 Jan 2020 04:36 AM PSTThe impeachment debacle is going into Day 4 and it’s already painful to hear. House Managers have been presenting their “case” for two days and still have another day to continue saying nothing of substance.That alone is bad enough, but when you consider most of the talking is being done by House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff, the level of discomfort can be doubled. It isn’t just his annoying voice or pedantic rhetoric that makes it sound like white noise. It’s the passionless way in which he presents a case that he himself seems to doubt at times.Who needs a sound machine to sleep? Adam Schiff provides the best white noise out there.— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) January 24, 2020Fox News host Laura Ingraham delivered a zinger that isn’t far from the truth. Anecdotally, my sleep-fighting 2-year-old crashed hard on the couch while my wife was watching the impeachment trial. On the screen was Adam Schiff droning away.American Conservative MovementJoin fellow patriots as we form a grassroots movement to advance the cause of conservatism. We have two priorities until election day: Stopping Democrats and supporting strong conservative candidates. We currently have 7500+ patriots with us in a very short time. If you are interested, please join us to receive updates.First Name Last Name Email Address Comments SubmitMixi.Media NewsThe post Laura Ingraham has advice for insomniacs appeared first on NOQ Report – Conservative Christian News, Opinions, and Quotes. |
| Video: Massive explosion in HoustonPosted: 24 Jan 2020 04:08 AM PSTA massive explosion in northwest Houston shattered windows as far as 20-miles away just before 4:25 am on Friday. The explosion occurred around the 4500 block of Gessner Rd, a busy street with residential housing to the east and industrial businesses to the west.The explosion was so powerful, it could be seen briefly on local weather radar.In all my years, I’ve never seen this on our local radar. A giant explosion occurred just before 4:30am this morning in Northwest Houston and was felt more than 20 miles away. Radar clearly shows this brief FLASH of reflectivity from NW Houston. #explosion #Houston #Radar pic.twitter.com/6XJ5Wa5P0K— Mike Iscovitz (@Fox26Mike) January 24, 2020Explosion in NW Houston…radar picked up a return near the location at the same time #houwx #hounews pic.twitter.com/Sk8kqztPbo— Jeff Lindner (@JeffLindner1) January 24, 2020Law enforcement hasn’t identified the source of the explosion, but some reports indicate it happened at Watson Grinding and Manufacturing, CNC machining and large-scale grinding company. Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo indicated it was a “plant” that exploded.Increases flames and small explosions at plant continue per @houstonpolice airship. Please avoid exposure if at possible until further notice.— Chief Art Acevedo (@ArtAcevedo) January 24, 2020Twitter users in the area have been posting about it all morning.BREAKING: Massive #explosion of a building caught on CCTV at 4am in Houston, Texas. 2 injured.pic.twitter.com/yexoiRKpOM— Banana News 24/7 (@banana_news_247) January 24, 2020BREAKING NEWS: We are gathering more information but we know a massive explosion has been reported in northwest Houston. Some people living on Genard near Gessner and the surrounding area are being evacuated. No reports yet of injuries but lots of damage https://t.co/oNaxeevA79— Brhe Berry ABC13 (@BrheABC13) January 24, 2020Building Explosion 4500 Gessner: HPD command post at Tanner @ Gessner. All traffic avoid hot zone between Gessner, Genard, Sefani & Clay Rd. #houtraffic #hounews CC8— Houston Police (@houstonpolice) January 24, 2020photos from inside a nearby home on #neighborhood watch . Ceiling cracked, sliding doors blown in. Everyone ok. Kids were terrified, he says. #houstonexplosion #Houston #houston_explosion pic.twitter.com/sruHqiJ8MB— imaa007 (@imaa007) January 24, 2020Thoughts to all those near the #explosion. Everyone check on your neighbors, especially the elderly. Structural damage will need to be assessed on all those in area too. My ceiling fell down 2 miles away.#Allstate#SpringBranchExplosion #Houston #HoustonExplosion https://t.co/rOjeefhmbD— Seth Victoria (@Original_Seth_V) January 24, 2020I’m at Gessner and Clay in #Houston where the Watson Grinding plant had an #explosion. Rocked all of Houston. Plant worker said there were “a couple of people there”. News crews here. pic.twitter.com/Zh7uaJmKZZ— Hero 004 (@CharleyLGardner) January 24, 2020Looks like the actual explosion occurred at 4522 Steffani Lane. Check out the tanks on the side of the building. #houston #Explosion pic.twitter.com/5OHGmGnYxt— Add your name (@premo22pr) January 24, 2020Breaking: Video just into our newsroom showing the aftermath of an explosion in Houston, TX.Police say this is an industrial facility. Witnesses say the windows and walls of their homes rattled.At this hour, authorities warn of a second blast. @wpri12 pic.twitter.com/w5BPCwx2a6— Brandon Truitt (@BrandonTruittTV) January 24, 2020TAKE A LOOK: some serious damage to a NW Houston come from the massive explosion overnight. https://t.co/VCbuWp7Clc— John-Carlos Estrada (@Mr_JCE) January 24, 2020Major explosion in Northwest Houston, neat Clay & Gessner. Did you hear it this morning? HPD blocking off the “hot zone” — Clay, Gessner, Steffani, and Genard @abc13houston #breaking #houston #traffic pic.twitter.com/JTddN7NFYl— Katherine Whaley (@KatherineABC13) January 24, 2020Our thoughts and prayers go to the people of Houston who were affected by the explosion. This story is breaking and will be updated as more information is made available.American Conservative MovementJoin fellow patriots as we form a grassroots movement to advance the cause of conservatism. We have two priorities until election day: Stopping Democrats and supporting strong conservative candidates. We currently have 7500+ patriots with us in a very short time. If you are interested, please join us to receive updates.First Name Last Name Email Address Comments SubmitMixi.Media NewsThe post Video: Massive explosion in Houston appeared first on NOQ Report – Conservative Christian News, Opinions, and Quotes. |
| Senator Mike Braun was absolutely correct when he said the President ‘didn’t do it’Posted: 24 Jan 2020 03:29 AM PSTThere are times when I’m forced to do what I strongly recommend others not to do. I often scan mainstream media feeds for stories that aren’t being covered by my conservative media peers. On occasion, I’ll run across a story that progressive media reports as damaging to conservatives, and oftentimes these stories end up being ignored by the right. It’s human nature to engage in confirmation bias, and since journalists are human, we do it all the time. We’ll report stories that favor our narrative and ignore stories that are unfavorable.One story being promoted by progressive media as an “example of Republican glibness” and “another Republican Senator trapped by the President’s delusions” revolves around a Tweet Senator Mike Braun posted. Newsweek, who famously said the President was golfing while he was serving Thanksgiving food to troops in Afghanistan, ran with the headline, “Republican senator tweets video of himself saying Trump never asked Ukraine to investigate Biden, despite video showing Trump doing it.” The implication, of course, is that Braun was denying the President asked Ukraine to investigate the Bidens. Is that really what he said? Here’s the Tweet:REPORTER: So you’re saying that it’s okay for a President to ask a foreign leader to investigate a political rival and withhold foreign aid to coerce him into doing so?BRAUN: No, I’m not saying that’s okay. I’m not saying that’s appropriate. I’m saying that it DIDN’T HAPPEN. pic.twitter.com/nARMXL1KEz— Senator Mike Braun (@SenatorBraun) January 23, 2020This is a textbook example of leftist media seeing what they want to see and hearing what they want to hear. In reality, Braun’s answer to the loaded question was spot-on. He wasn’t saying the President never asked Ukraine to investigate the Bidens, a fact that was made clear on multiple occasions, including the transcript of the phone call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelensky. What he was objecting to was the the second half of the question, “and withhold foreign aid to coerce him into doing so.”It’s patently clear in or out of context that Braun was referring to the second half of the question. He said, “No, I’m not saying that’s okay. I’m not saying that’s appropriate.” He clearly wasn’t referring to the request to investigate the Bidens. That would be silly, as doing so would insinuate that all anyone has to do to avoid investigation is to run for president. Braun was obviously saying that the second half of the question posited by the reporter never happened. The President did not withhold aid to coerce Ukraine into investigating the Bidens, as Ambassador Gordon Sondland was forced to admit during the House impeachment hearings.The speed at which progressive mainstream media pounces on Republicans is only matched by the speed at which they run away from a story when their narrative blows up in their face. Senator Mike Braun corrected their false insinuation, nothing more.American Conservative MovementJoin fellow patriots as we form a grassroots movement to advance the cause of conservatism. We have two priorities until election day: Stopping Democrats and supporting strong conservative candidates. We currently have 7500+ patriots with us in a very short time. If you are interested, please join us to receive updates.First Name Last Name Email Address Comments SubmitMixi.Media NewsThe post Senator Mike Braun was absolutely correct when he said the President ‘didn’t do it’ appeared first on NOQ Report – Conservative Christian News, Opinions, and Quotes. |
| Timing is everything: Why the Middle East peace plan MIGHT be released before TuesdayPosted: 24 Jan 2020 02:37 AM PSTJournalists and pundits are still trying to learn how to interpret President Trump’s comments and Tweets over three years into his first term in the White House. Most are still struggling to do so; they haven’t quite mastered the nuances of how he answers questions and the fact that policy works-in-progress can come across as declarations of facts. It can be challenging, but some of us understand that unless he’s explicit and detailed in a response, we have to assume what he says is being considered rather than be in motion.It’s for this reason we held off on reporting that the “Deal of the Century” would be unveiled before Tuesday. Maybe it will. Maybe it won’t. Everything depends on the whether the timing of the moment is appropriate. Some have assumed that Vice President Mike Pence’s invitation for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his opponent, Benny Gantz, to visit the White House on Tuesday was a sign that the deal’s release was impending. But President Trump initially dispelled the notion as speculation in Tweet.The United States looks forward to welcoming Prime Minister @Netanyahu & Blue & White Chairman @Gantzbe to the @WhiteHouse next week. Reports about details and timing of our closely-held peace plan are purely speculative.— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 23, 2020Later, when asked on a flight to Florida about releasing the peace plan when the Israeli leaders arrived, the President said, “Sometime prior to that. Probably, we’ll release it a little bit prior to that.”The President then went on to describe the unprecedented visit in which both the Israeli Prime Minister and his competitor in the upcoming election would be visiting at the same time. Vice President Pence had been asked to invite Netanyahu. The Prime Minister suggested they invite Gantz as well.Optics on this visit will be extremely important for both countries, which is why it’s still very possible the peace plan will not be released before it. While it’s likely the plan will be revealed to the two Israelis, there’s a chance the potential for unrest from the Palestinians and the ongoing impeachment trial could delay the public release further.But releasing it now would actually be very good timing considering so much focus is being placed on impeachment at home and the election in Israel. Palestinian protests will be more muted, at least in American mainstream media. It would be released when the President’s legal team is finishing up their opening arguments. If both Israeli leaders seem poised to endorse the plan, the timing might be perfect for all involved. But if Gantz objects at all, the insertion of American politics into the Israeli election will receive some backlash.Many expect the plan to favor Israel with financial incentives to try to coax the Palestinians into accepting it reluctantly. Jerusalem and the West Bank settlements are both expected to fall under Israeli control and demilitarizing the Gaza Strip is a certainty. Palestinians have already balked at the partial plan release last year, and that was supposed to be the positive part for them. It’s unlikely they will favor the political side of the plan which is set to give Israel the security and control factors they’ve sought before considering any two-state solution.The White House has to weigh and balance all of the factors to determine whether releasing the plan now will benefit the President or not. As with everything involving the Middle East, it’s difficult to know which way the optics will go.American Conservative MovementJoin fellow patriots as we form a grassroots movement to advance the cause of conservatism. We have two priorities until election day: Stopping Democrats and supporting strong conservative candidates. We currently have 7500+ patriots with us in a very short time. If you are interested, please join us to receive updates.First Name Last Name Email Address Comments SubmitMixi.Media NewsThe post Timing is everything: Why the Middle East peace plan MIGHT be released before Tuesday appeared first on NOQ Report – Conservative Christian News, Opinions, and Quotes. |
| Seattle shooting suspects Marquise Tolbert, William Ray Tolliver have 65 arrests, 35 convictions between themPosted: 23 Jan 2020 02:18 PM PSTThere was a mass shooting in Seattle yesterday that hasn’t received a lot of attention from mainstream media, gun control activists, or Democrats in general. The reason for this is clear: It doesn’t have the right narratives or check any of the right boxes for the breathless outrage that normally follows a mass shooting of this magnitude.Marquise Tolbert and William Ray Tolliver, both 24, engaged in a bizarre series of events at the high-crime area of 3rd and Pine. They were apparently walking together towards a McDonald’s on the corner while arguing. Then, they pulled guns and, according to witnesses, engaged in a gun battle with each other. One woman was killed an seven others were injured, including a 9-year-old. Then, the two were seen running into the transit tunnel together. Both are still at large.3RD AND PINE UPDATE: Detectives have identified two suspects in yesterday’s shooting. Marquise Latrelle Tolbert (age 24, 6’1″ 200 lbs) and William Ray Tolliver (age 24, 6’0″ 145 lbs). Both men are considered armed and dangerous. Call 911 if you see them or know where they are. pic.twitter.com/vgg7Uez3zN— Seattle Police Dept. (@SeattlePD) January 23, 2020The suspects each had warrants for their arrest even before the shooting. One has been arrested at least 44 times with at least 20 criminal convictions. The other has at least 21 arrests and 15 convictions. Seattle, known for laws that hamper law enforcement’s ability to enforce the laws, has become a hub for violence despite Washington being one of the top 10 highest-rated gun control states according to pro-gun-control group Giffords Law Center.Why has this bloody, disturbing mass shooting barely cracked into the national news cycle? It misses all of the narratives gun control advocates love.The suspects are Black. Gun control advocates prefer Caucasian suspects.Both had lengthy criminal records. Gun control advocates want previously law-abiding citizens to prove their points.It occurred in a gun-free zone in the mass transit section of downtown. Gun control advocates refuse to believe gun-free zones don’t work.As felons, both suspects were already prohibited from owning or carrying firearms. Gun control advocates do not like stories proving that gun control doesn’t work.All eight victims appear to have been caught in a crossfire of a dispute instead of being targeted following a racist social media post or a manifesto being published online. Gun control advocates like manifestos.Two Black men with long rap sheets took illegally acquired firearms into a gun-free zone in a high-crime district within a far-left Democrat-controlled city and opened fire, defying all gun control laws. No wonder mainstream media won’t touch this story.American Conservative MovementJoin fellow patriots as we form a grassroots movement to advance the cause of conservatism. We have two priorities until election day: Stopping Democrats and supporting strong conservative candidates. We currently have 7500+ patriots with us in a very short time. If you are interested, please join us to receive updates.First Name Last Name Email Address Comments SubmitMixi.Media NewsThe post Seattle shooting suspects Marquise Tolbert, William Ray Tolliver have 65 arrests, 35 convictions between them appeared first on NOQ Report – Conservative Christian News, Opinions, and Quotes. |
| Unpacking Laura Ingraham’s bombshell report on Eric Ciaramella, the Bidens, and Ken VogelPosted: 23 Jan 2020 11:51 AM PSTThere’s blowback that comes from invoking the name of the alleged Ukrainian whistleblower, Eric Ciaramella. Doing so will get you silenced by YouTube, banned by Facebook, fired from Fox News, or scolded by Adam Schiff. At NOQ Report, we believe the truth is the truth. Hiding it only diminishes discourse; in today’s contentious political atmosphere, discourse is the last thing that needs to be diminished.Fox News host Laura Ingraham delivered a blockbuster segment that brought old conspiracy theories into the realm of verified facts surrounding the Obama White House, Hunter Biden, Burisma, Ukrainian officials, and a suppressed NY Times story. And at the center of it all is Ciaramella who is quickly proving to be much more than a guy who (allegedly) blew the whistle about Ukraine. It would seem he’s been involved since well before President Trump ever spoke to Ukrainian President Zelensky, which lends credence to my speculation that his complaint is as much (or more) about protecting himself as it is about protecting Joe Biden and taking down President Trump. Here’s the report by Ingraham followed by analysis:Ingraham, like all Fox News employees, is forbidden from even saying Eric Ciaramella’s name. Her segment was still easy to follow, but here’s a breakdown with commentary about what was revealed, and we’ll even insert the appropriate name.A White House meeting that Ciaramella may have had a hand in setting up on January 19, 2016, included Ukrainian prosecutors. They wanted to move forward with investigations into Burisma, the energy company that had Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, on their board. According to White House logs, Ciaramella signed in several who likely attended the meeting, including Jeffrey Cole, Anna Iemelianova, Nazar Kholodnitsky, Catherine Newcombe, Svitlana Pardus, David Sakvarelidze, Artem Sytnyk, Andriy Telizhenko, and Andris Razans.NY Times reporter Ken Vogel, who has long-said there is more to the Burisma-Biden story than we’re being told, inquired with the Department of Justice regarding the meeting.In the email, Vogel wrote, “We are going to report that [State Department official] Elizabeth Zentos attended a meeting at the White House on 1/19/2016 with Ukrainian prosecutors and embassy officials as well as … Eric Ciaramella from the NSC … the subjects discussed included efforts within the United State government to support prosecutions, in Ukraine and the United Kingdom, of Burisma Holdings, … and concerns that Hunter Biden’s position with the company could complicate such efforts.”But the story never ran. Whatever Vogel had discovered, it either turned out to be nothing (unlikely since he started the email by stating, “We are going to report that…”) or it was quashed by the editors. The email was sent a week after Joe Biden had announced he was running for president. Vogel has not answered our request for comment thus far.Democrats in the impeachment hearing are currently arguing that the reason former Ukraine Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin was fired under pressure from then-VP Joe Biden is because he was not investigating Burisma and was therefore corrupt. But their argument is disingenuous as subsequent people who filled his role also declined to investigate Burisma. When we consider Ingraham’s report into the equation, two things become clear: The Democrats’ Burisma narrative is failing and Eric Ciaramella was deeply involved outside of being the whistleblower.Whether Ciaramella is the whistleblower or not (he is), this new information makes it crystal clear that he needs to testify about the Ukraine coverup, whether as a fact-witness for the impeachment trial or by a Senate committee.American Conservative MovementJoin fellow patriots as we form a grassroots movement to advance the cause of conservatism. We have two priorities until election day: Stopping Democrats and supporting strong conservative candidates. We currently have 7500+ patriots with us in a very short time. If you are interested, please join us to receive updates.First Name Last Name Email Address Comments SubmitMixi.Media NewsThe post Unpacking Laura Ingraham’s bombshell report on Eric Ciaramella, the Bidens, and Ken Vogel appeared first on NOQ Report – Conservative Christian News, Opinions, and Quotes. |
| Why Thomas Massie’s question obliterates the Democrats’ impeachment casePosted: 23 Jan 2020 09:19 AM PSTRepresentative Thomas Massie (R-KY) isn’t your stereotypical Republican on Capitol Hill. He has no problem calling out both sides for their continuous outrageous spending and has voted against legislation his caucus generally supported if it did not meet his limited-government philosophy. This is why his Conservative Review Liberty Score is 96%, second highest among lawmakers. It’s also why his perspective on impeachment is so important. He has made it clear he puts country over party.Massey has opposed impeachment since the middle of the House hearings when it became clear there was nothing being brought to light by Democrats that rose to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors. Today, he made a point that has been made before, but perhaps never quite as simply as he did in this Tweet:If withholding foreign aid is an impeachable offense, why did Joe Biden threaten to do it?— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) January 23, 2020The similarities between what President Trump’s team did and what former Vice President Joe Biden personally did with Ukraine are striking. Both wanted something they claim was tied to corruption. Both had a perceived benefit they’d receive as a result. But where things deviate is in how it all played out. Biden got what he wanted in exchange for allowing funds to flow. President Trump received nothing and Ukraine still got their aid before the deadline.Let’s break it down point-by-point:President Trump wanted Ukraine to investigate 2016 election interference and Burisma, the company that had employed Biden’s son, Hunter. Biden wanted the prosecutor who was investigating Burisma fired.President Trump’s requests were not met. Biden’s were met immediately – in less than six hours by his telling of the story.President Trump did not receive benefits from Ukraine’s actions. The investigation into Biden’s son’s company was ended immediately, preventing prosecutors from looking into corruption that some, including respected investigative journalist John Solomon, have said paid Hunter Biden handsomely.Despite the delay, President Trump released the aid to Ukraine within the deadline. After complying to Biden’s demands, Ukraine received their billion-dollar loan guarantee.The only argument Democrats can make to justify Biden’s threat is to say he was doing it strictly because of the corruption of Viktor Shokin, the Prosecutor General that Biden had them fire. Democrats have to pretend like the tremendous benefit the Biden family received as a result of Shokin’s firing was incidental and played absolutely no part in motivating Biden’s actions.They must also pretend like it’s common practice for an American administration to call for the firing of a prosecutor in an allied nation who had no direct dealings with U.S. affairs. It has never happened in the history of the United States, but by their reckoning, there was nothing out of the ordinary. The fact that Hunter Biden was shielded from a potentially devastating investigation was just a coincidence if Democrats are to be believed.If the bar of high crimes and misdemeanors has been brought down so low to include President Trump’s so-called abuse of power, then Joe Biden should be criminally charged for his similar but fruitful actions in Ukraine. Instead, he gets a pass.American Conservative MovementJoin fellow patriots as we form a grassroots movement to advance the cause of conservatism. We have two priorities until election day: Stopping Democrats and supporting strong conservative candidates. We currently have 7500+ patriots with us in a very short time. If you are interested, please join us to receive updates.First Name Last Name Email Address Comments SubmitMixi.Media NewsThe post Why Thomas Massie’s question obliterates the Democrats’ impeachment case appeared first on NOQ Report – Conservative Christian News, Opinions, and Quotes. |
| Erin Perrine: Democrats are ‘trying to silence the loudest voice, which is the ballot box’Posted: 23 Jan 2020 08:26 AM PSTPresident Trump’s deputy communications director, Erin Perrine, joined One America News correspondent Caitlin Sinclair to discuss how impeachment has been received by the American people. In short, it hasn’t. Between the one-sided coverage by mainstream media and the unbearable rhetoric by Democrats like Adam Schiff, the net effect has actually been a positive for the Trump campaign. His popularity numbers keep rising and fundraising is through the roof.What Democrats fail to understand is their efforts to both redo the 2016 election and simultaneously subvert the 2020 election are not being received well by the people. They get pushed forward by what seems to them to be a majority based on faulty polling, but those numbers don’t jibe with what’s actually happening on the street. The informed population is annoyed and the uninformed population just don’t care.As nothing gets done on Capitol Hill thanks to impeachment, the President’s reelection campaign keeps making major strides as a result. If this is made to drag out, and there’s no reason to believe it won’t, his November victory may be secured by February.American Conservative MovementJoin fellow patriots as we form a grassroots movement to advance the cause of conservatism. We have two priorities until election day: Stopping Democrats and supporting strong conservative candidates. We currently have 7500+ patriots with us in a very short time. If you are interested, please join us to receive updates.First Name Last Name Email Address Comments SubmitMixi.Media NewsThe post Erin Perrine: Democrats are ‘trying to silence the loudest voice, which is the ballot box’ appeared first on NOQ Report – Conservative Christian News, Opinions, and Quotes. |
| President Trump is right to turn his attention to Mike BloombergPosted: 23 Jan 2020 07:27 AM PSTWhen I posted an article following Michael Bloomberg’s announcement that he was running for president, a lot of people objected to my claim that his chances were as good as Joe Biden’s or Bernie Sanders’. Some even laughed. One of my writers posted an article demonstrating how wrong I was. But it seems at least one person is starting to agree that Bloomberg is a real threat. The last two week or so, President Trump has turned his Twitter angst towards the other billionaire from New York.….and, if Republicans win in court and take back the House of Represenatives, your healthcare, that I have now brought to the best place in many years, will become the best ever, by far. I will always protect your Pre-Existing Conditions, the Dems will not!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 13, 2020Mini Mike Bloomberg ads are purposely wrong – A vanity project for him to get into the game. Nobody in many years has done for the USA what I have done for the USA, including the greatest economy in history, rebuilding our military, biggest ever tax & regulation cuts, & 2nd A!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 17, 2020Mini Mike Bloomberg doesn’t get on the Democrat Debate Stage because he doesn’t want to – he is a terrible debater and speaker. If he did, he would go down in the polls even more (if that is possible!).— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 17, 2020Now Mini Mike Bloomberg is critical of Jack Wilson, who saved perhaps hundreds of people in a Church because he was carrying a gun, and knew how to use it. Jack quickly killed the shooter, who was beginning a rampage. Mini is against the 2nd A. His ads are Fake, just like him!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 19, 2020….during his hopeless “presidential” campaign. They will remain silent! The fact is, when Mini losses, he will be spending very little of his money on these “clowns” because he will consider himself to be the biggest clown of them all – and he will be right!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 23, 2020One might note that the last Tweet makes it seem like President Trump isn’t concerned about Bloomberg winning the nomination at all. If you believe that, you probably also believe he thought Ted Cruz’s father killed JFK. The President is masterful at weaving the narrative he wants even if it’s not necessarily the narrative he believes. If he wasn’t concerned about Bloomberg, he wouldn’t be talking about him nearly as much as he is.Perhaps he or his team realize the potential that I noted earlier this month that with the massive ad buys Bloomberg is making, he’s setting himself up to earn delegates in a contested convention. Or, maybe he’s just seeing that Bloomberg is moving up in the polls and wants to stop his momentum by downplaying his potential as a nominee. Either way, Bloomberg is on his radar, and for good reason.Of all the candidates, Bloomberg has the perfect mix to attract the widest range of supporters. On guns and the environment, he’s a populist radical. On healthcare and the economy, he’s a staunch moderate. That means two things: He won’t be able to get the rabid base one usually needs in order to win, but he’ll also be more acceptable by checking off both left-wing and moderate boxes.Assuming the President is concerned, it isn’t because of Bloomberg’s popularity or policies. It’s all about the money. Bloomberg is already making a mess out of primary state advertising, driving up prices for other candidates who can’t afford to keep up with his spending. Against any other opponent, President Trump will have the money lead going into the general election as the Democrats spend most of their cash trying to beat each other. But with Bloomberg, the Republican money lead evaporates. He’s worth over $50 billion. He’ll be 78-years-old next month. What else is he going to spend his money on if not an all-in election bid?He could spend 10% of his networth and still more than double what President Trump and the GOP will likely be able to muster for the general election. That’s the only reason the President (and the rest of the GOP) would want him to not be the nominee. If it’s policy versus policy, President Trump would annihilate him. In debates, he’ll make Bloomberg look like a fool. But money goes a long way in politics, unfortunately, and Bloomberg has the potential to outspend every Democratic candidate plus the President combined.Lest we forget, Democrats have mainstream media firmly in their pocket. The President will not be able to rely solely on a thriving economy and a multitude of wins for America over the past three years. He’ll need patriots to get aggressive with our support and he’ll need to be able to match or exceed the reach of the Democrats during the general election. This is why Bloomberg is a threat. He may or may not be the biggest threat, but he’s the wildcard who would take the general election into places unknown. If he’s the nominee, we can expect him to spend a ton.The Trump campaign is right to try to stop Mike Bloomberg now instead of waiting to potentially face him in the general election. His policies are awful, but he could outspend the GOP 5-to-1 if he chooses to. That alone makes him a troubling foe.Image source: Fox BusinessAmerican Conservative MovementJoin fellow patriots as we form a grassroots movement to advance the cause of conservatism. We have two priorities until election day: Stopping Democrats and supporting strong conservative candidates. We currently have 7500+ patriots with us in a very short time. If you are interested, please join us to receive updates.First Name Last Name Email Address Comments SubmitMixi.Media NewsThe post President Trump is right to turn his attention to Mike Bloomberg appeared first on NOQ Report – Conservative Christian News, Opinions, and Quotes. |
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| January 24, 2020Featuring the latest analysis, commentary, and research from Manhattan Institute scholarsECONOMY & FINANCEPhoto: Joe Raedle/Getty ImagesThe Real Cost of Doubling the Minimum Wage“Contrary to the claims of the Times’ editorial board, the minimum wage remains a well-intentioned but wrong-headed policy for the very real problems of poverty and economic mobility.” By Jonathan Meer Economics21 January 23, 2020 Photo: katleho-Seisa/iStockTackling Our Retirement-Savings CrisisThe SECURE Act is a good step forward, but much remains to be done. By Nicole Gelinas City Journal Online January 23, 2020 NEW YORK CITY & STATEPhoto: Drew Angerer/Getty ImagesWhy Would Anyone Take Over After Andy Byford Fled the MTA?“The resignation Thursday of subways chief Andy Byford made an already-grim 2020 picture even bleaker … Over two years, the MTA has spent billions of taxpayer dollars simply getting the MTA to a semi-acceptable state of service, where it should have been if it weren’t for neglect of basic maintenance that started early during Cuomo’s tenure.” By Nicole Gelinas New York Post January 24, 2020 PUBLIC SECTORPhoto: Scott Olson/Getty ImagesLabor’s Love LostMembership in government unions falls to a 20-year low. By Steven Malanga City Journal Online January 23, 2020 URBAN POLICYPhoto: benkrut/iStockPut Me In, Coach: Midwest Cities on the RiseThese 10 cities are ready for the big time. They just need to act like it. By Aaron M. Renn Site Selection January 2020 Issue Based on a recent report PODCASTPhoto: adrian825/iStockHow Risk Fuels a Healthy EconomyAllison Schrager joins Brian Anderson to discuss how risk propels economic growth and why government efforts that go too far to mitigate risk undermine America’s economic vitality. CIVIL SOCIETY AWARDSNominations are open for the Manhattan Institute’s 2020 Civil Society Awards. This fall, four winners will each receive a $25,000 award for their efforts to keep our social fabric from fraying, assist those who need it most, and help people change the course of their lives. Nominate an outstanding nonprofit by March 20, 2020. Learn more at civilsocietyawards.com.SUBMIT A NOMINATIONCITY JOURNALCity Journal Winter 2020 Our new issue explores the needless panic over disposable plastic, Los Angeles’s epidemic of drug addiction, how the incarceration of fathers affects children, the promise of next-generation nuclear power, ideological purity tests for artists, and more. Get your print copy today! FEATURED BOOKPhoto: Manhattan InstituteDigital CathedralsToday’s global Cloud is society’s first foundationally new infrastructure in nearly a century. It is comprised of thousands of warehouse-scale computers and history’s biggest network of “information superhighways.” Powering this data behemoth consumes more energy than all global aviation. Yet, as disruptive as the Cloud has already become, we are only at the end of the beginning of what digital masons are building for the 21st century. In Digital Cathedrals, Mark Mills explores this new infrastructure through the lens of energy demand, and the implications for policymakers and regulators, who will be increasingly tempted—or enjoined—to engage issues of competition, fairness, and even social disruptions, along with the challenges of abuse of market power, both valid and trumped up.Buy NowManhattan Institute is a think tank whose mission is to develop and disseminate new ideas that foster greater economic choice and individual responsibility. 52 Vanderbilt Ave. New York, NY 10017 (212) 599-7000SUPPORT MICopyright © 2020 Manhattan Institute, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Manhattan Institute52 Vanderbilt Ave.New York, NY 10017 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list View this email in your browser |
THE HILL
| © Getty Images Welcome to The Hill’s Morning Report. At last, TGIF! Our newsletter gets you up to speed on the most important developments in politics and policy, plus trends to watch. Alexis Simendinger and Al Weaver are the daily co-creators, so find us @asimendinger and @alweaver22 on Twitter and recommend the Morning Report to your friends. CLICK HERE to subscribe! President Trump should be removed from office rather than voted out of office because he asked a foreign government to interfere in this year’s U.S. election and schemed to “extort” and “coerce” cooperation to benefit himself at the expense of U.S. national interests, House impeachment managers argued on Thursday. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who leads the Democrats’ impeachment case against the president, told senators that the available evidence, documents and witnesses show that Trump abused his powers and the trust of the American people by putting his political interests ahead of national interests before trying to hide his actions (The Hill). Schiff, in anticipation of rebuttals to come from Trump’s legal team, told Senate jurors that simply appealing to voters in November to defeat a president who succumbed to his “corrupt intent” is not enough. “A remedy in which a president can cheat is no remedy at all,” he said. Using video clips of the president’s public remarks, Schiff and his House prosecution colleagues argued that the combined evidence proves that Trump’s actions and entreaties to Ukraine, including through trusted surrogates, were “wrong,” “improper” and “damaging” to the United States and to a vulnerable U.S. ally at war with Russia. The Democrats’ opening arguments have not asserted that the president, whose constitutional powers are vast, violated specific statutes, in part because “other high crimes and misdemeanors” can encompass violations of public trust, according to constitutional scholars. Trump and White House lawyers last year ignored subpoenas and blocked testimony and document production from current and former senior White House and Cabinet officials. Schiff and his House colleagues nevertheless accused Trump on Thursday of personally ordering nearly $400 million in U.S. aid that had been approved by Congress for Ukraine to be withheld. They said Trump attempted to “extort” Ukraine’s government to announce a corruption investigation he imagined would hurt former Vice President Joe Biden, his leading Democratic rival at the time. The Government Accountability Office recently determined that the administration violated U.S. law by withholding the Ukraine aid, even temporarily. Some GOP senators have dismissed the GAO report as unpersuasive while House Democrats recently said it would be “a big part of our case” (Axios). “President Trump froze the aid,” Schiff told senators, pointedly laying out a rationale to seek testimony from additional witnesses who under oath could speak with direct knowledge about the president’s claims that he zeroed in on Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, out of concern they carried out corrupt acts in Ukraine. Some House and Senate Republicans repeat the president’s assertions about the Bidens, although the accusations are devoid of proof and contradict dismissals from current and former Trump administration intelligence and national security officials. Trump allies also believe that the time House managers have spent clearing the former vice president’s name has “opened the door” for the president’s team to highlight the work his son did for Burisma, a Ukrainian gas company, when their turn comes on Saturday. “They kind of opened the door for that response, so we’ll determine as a defense team the appropriate way to do it,” said Jay Sekulow, a lead member of the president’s legal team, on Thursday evening. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas.) (pictured below) said the House prosecutors “perhaps unintentionally threw Joe Biden under the bus” by trying to defend him earlier in the day. The Hill: Schiff tells Senate that a conspiracy theory that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 U.S. election “was brought to you by the Kremlin.” The president told reporters this week that he would welcome trial witnesses, but needed in this case to assert his executive privilege to protect national security. “This was not about foreign policy, in fact it was inconsistent with, and diverged from, American national security and American values,” Schiff countered, adding that Trump “has made it clear, he didn’t care about corruption. He cared only about himself. Now it is up to us to do something about it.” The Hill: GOP senators warned by Trump allies that seeking to call witnesses could prolong the impeachment trial for weeks. Allies of the president believe the ominous case laid out by Schiff and his team has made little headway among Senate Republicans, including Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), the foremost moderate in the GOP conference who is up for reelection. They suggest the case presented by the House managers has solidified Collins’s thinking heading in the other direction. “[Collins] is thoughtful and…she loves her constituents back home in Maine,” Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), who is working on the president’s team during the trial, told reporters during a break in proceedings. “She’s going to get to the bottom of this, and if not, she’ll ask for additional information,” he added. “I think actually my Democrat House managers are doing a good job of convincing her that they don’t have the case.” The prosecutors have one more day to lay out their case before the president’s team starts its defense on Saturday. Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) told reporters during a brief recess that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has not given any indication of when the trial will begin on Saturday. The Hill: Democrats sharpened their arguments asserting abuse of power during Thursday’s opening arguments. The Hill: Female House impeachment prosecutors suggest Americans will view the Senate trial as “rigged” if Trump is acquitted without hearing from witnesses. Chief Justice John Roberts’s admonition during the Senate impeachment trial early Wednesday in response to a verbal clash between Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) and White House Counsel Pat Cipollone occurred after Roberts received a hastily written note from Collins. The Maine Republican voted in 1999 to acquit former President Clinton on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice, and she is a potential swing vote in support of her Democratic colleagues on the question of whether to call witnesses as part of the Trump trial (The Hill). Another GOP senator viewed with caution by his colleagues on the question of adding witnesses is Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), who is retiring (Politico). The Hill: It’s Day Four of the Trump trial. Here’s what to expect. © Getty Images LEADING THE DAYCAMPAIGNS & POLITICS: Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) have found themselves locked in a war of words over their records on Social Security as they come around the turn and head down the stretch in the fight to win Iowa. As Niv Elis writes, the attacks have been hard and personal as the Biden campaign has accused Sanders of running misleading ads on positions the former senator and vice president took as recently as 2018 and as far back as 1984. For example, a campaign email from Sanders noted that “Biden lauded [former GOP House Speaker] Paul Ryan for proposing cuts to Social Security and Medicare.” However, the remarks in question came during a speech at Brookings in April 2018 where Biden was mocking the GOP position on reducing the deficit when he referenced Ryan. “Now, we need to do something about Social Security and Medicare,” Biden said, adding in a hushed, sarcastic tone to portray Ryan’s position: “That’s the only way you can find room to pay for it.” Biden’s campaign shot back against Sanders’s portrayals, calling the claims “dishonest.” “We can’t launch dishonest attacks against fellow Democrats. We have to beat Donald Trump,” one video said. “Bernie’s negative attacks won’t change the truth.” The back-and-forth comes as both candidates have staked out somewhat different positions on social security. Sanders has consistently called for expanding the entitlement programs such as social security as well as benefits, Meanwhile, Biden has also argued for an expansion of social security, though he has also frequently called for “grand bargains” that would sacrifice Republican sacred cows by raising taxes and also Democratic ones by addressing, in some form, the unsustainable elements of Social Security. While Biden’s willingness to compromise and work with Republicans is often touted as a plus by some of his supporters, progressives and Sanders supporters are far less supportive of the tactic. Meanwhile, Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) continued to be confined to the Senate chamber and unable to spend time in the first-in-the-nation caucus state, which could potentially be a make-or-break contest for some of them. Speaking to reporters, Warren indicated that she is relying heavily on the operation she has put into place over the past year in the Hawkeye State. “I took an oath of office, and that is to uphold the Constitution,” Warren said. “This is only our third impeachment in the history of the United States. I have made a commitment, and I will be here. I am, however, very happy to see that the grass-roots organization that I’ve been trying to develop for over a year now has really sprung into action.” “All I can do is my best,” Warren added (The Washington Post). The New York Times: Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) is said to be weighing an endorsement of Joe Biden. The Hill: Biden pens op-ed detailing how he would undo Trump’s foreign policy. The Senate trial also caused CNN to cancel all of its planned town halls in the caucus state that were planned for Jan. 28 and 29. Sanders, former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Andrew Yang and Tom Steyer were scheduled to appear on night one, while Biden, Warren and Klobuchar were set to participate on the second night (The Hill). The Senate Democratic trio are also being forced to rely on surrogates and their ground games to get the job done while they remain back in Washington. Warren’s campaign announced on Thursday that “Queer Eye” host Jonathan Van Ness will rally supporters on Sunday, while she has other high profile surrogates holding events across New Hampshire (Ashley Judd), South Carolina (Rep. Ayanna Pressley [D-Mass.]) and Nevada (former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro and Rep. Joaquin Castro [D-Texas]). After campaigning throughout Iowa earlier in the week, Biden will hold events in New Hampshire today and early Saturday before returning to Iowa on Saturday night. Biden is also enlisting some of his key supporters to help out in Iowa as Reps. Abby Finkenauer (D-Iowa), Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.), and Colin Allred (D-Texas) will take part in a bus tour on Saturday to stump for the former VP. The Hill: Trump to hold rally on eve of New Hampshire primary. WBUR: Sanders widens lead in New Hampshire. The Washington Post: Bloomberg gets under Trump’s skin as he ramps up spending on 2020 ads. © Getty Images IN FOCUS/SHARP TAKESWHITE HOUSE & ADMINISTRATION: On Thursday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a major rollback of Obama-era policies to protect waterways. Critics say the regulatory changes will undercut provisions of the Clean Water Act. Trump recently lauded the changes as part of a speech to farmers, a key constituency for his reelection bid (The Hill). > Trade: Experts and trade analysts say Trump’s upending of global commerce and his enthusiasm for transactional, managed trade may endure even after he’s left office (Bloomberg BusinessWeek). > State Department: On Thursday, the administration announced a crackdown on visa issuance to pregnant women living abroad who seek to travel to the United States and then give birth. The administration opposes granting U.S. citizenship to children born to women who seek temporary travel visas for that purpose. “A consular officer shall deny a B nonimmigrant visa to an alien who he or she has reason to believe intends to travel for this primary purpose,” the department said, leaving it vague how the department will establish intent (The Hill). The visas covered under the new rule, which takes effect today, impact women seeking to visit for pleasure, medical treatment or to see friends and family (The New York Times). > Federal Trade Commission & consumer protection: The FTC on Thursday announced it paid more than $1.6 million to consumers in Nevada last year related to scams and fraud complaints. The FTC said imposter scams and, in particular, government imposter scams were the most common type of fraud reported in 2019 nationwide (News3LasVegas). > Middle East: The long-awaited White House Middle East peace plan, which Jared Kushner steered and once said would be out by June 2019, will be released before Tuesday, Trump said on Thursday. The president meets with Israeli officials at the White House next week (The Hill). © Getty Images OPINIONWhat law did Donald Trump break? by Allan Lichtman, opinion contributor, The Hill. https://bit.ly/2RmSvoX No rush to judgment on Trump — it’s been ongoing since Election Day, by Bernard Goldberg, opinion contributor, The Hill. https://bit.ly/37o2SOC WHERE AND WHENHill.TV’s “Rising” program features Matt Taibbi, reporter for Rolling Stone; Daniel Marans, political reporter at HuffPost; Yvette Williams, chairwoman of the Clark County Black Caucus; and Laila Mickelwait, director of abolition for Exodus Cry. Coverage at http://thehill.com/hilltv or on YouTube at 10:30 a.m. ET at Rising on YouTube. The House meets for a pro forma session at 2 p.m. The Senate convenes today at 1 p.m. to continue the impeachment trial. The president will speak to participants at this year’s anti-abortion “March for Life” on the Mall at 12:15 p.m. (the first president to do so in person). He will meet with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at 3 p.m. in the Oval Office. Trump will speak to U.S. mayors at an event in the East Room at 4:15 p.m. Vice President Pence is in Italy where he and second lady Karen Pence will visit Vatican City and meet Pope Francis and Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin. You’re invited to The Hill’s Jan. 30 newsmaker event, “A More Perfect Union?” from 8 to 11 a.m. in Washington. Speakers include Reps. Will Hurd (R-Texas), Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) and Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.). Information is HERE. ELSEWHERE➔ Silent attackers: How far will some governments go to retaliate against critics? It happened with North Korea against Sony in 2014, and now the alleged hacking of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos‘s phone by Saudi Arabia in connection with the killing of former Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi raises new alarms among cyber experts and in the international community (The Hill). ➔ Negative interest rates: One of the most interesting global financial debates swirls around negative interest rates. They’re driving Swiss savers and investors to withdraw bank funds to store cash themselves (CNN). JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said he has “trepidation” about negative interest rates (CNBC), while Trump clashed with his top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, in the debate (the president favors negative rates while Kudlow said they don’t work) (CNBC). As CNBC explains, economists are divided over the effectiveness of negative interest rates to stimulate economic growth, and some fear such rates can keep growth subdued. ➔ Catholic Church: The Pope on Thursday moved to shift the ideological balance of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States, replacing a prominent conservative critic, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia, with Bishop Nelson J. Perez of Cleveland, a former Philadelphian (The New York Times). ➔ Cookies out of this world: Slow cooking is a culinary movement on Earth, but perhaps two hours to bake a cookie in outer space tests chefs’ patience? NASA’s experiment — using a unique “Zero G” oven to bake chocolate-chip cookies on the International Space Station — produced an interesting result, but left a few questions. Why does a cookie bake within 20 minutes on Earth but need hours on a spacecraft? And how do those cookies taste? The hunt for answers continues in a Houston-area laboratory (The Associated Press). © Twitter THE CLOSERAnd finally … Bravo to this week’s Morning Report quiz masters! It’s evident that many, many news consumers are paying close attention to an outbreak of a deadly new coronavirus — and the global race to halt its spread. Today, 35 million people in 13 cities are in lockdown to try to stave off a potential epidemic (The New York Times and Reuters). And to review U.S. preparedness, the Senate will receive a briefing next week (The Hill). Winners of our news quiz this week are: Ki Harvey, Fran Tankersley, M.R. Tofalo, Tim Aiken, Patricia Swank, Christopher W. Rogers, Daniel Bachhuber (playing along from Thailand), Manley Glaubitz, Thomas Miller, Paula Hassinger, “Itillery,” Margaret Gainer, Jim Dykstra, John Donato, BJ Ford, Dianne Smith, David Anderson, John Wheby, Allyson Foster, Dan Kostenbauder, Buzz Watkins, Michael Roberts, Julian Martinez, John Carlan, Kane Martin, John van Santen, Sarah Hall Phillips, Abby Alkire, Carol Katz, Charity Frasier, John Hayden, Rachel Tyree, Dominique Tonneas, Michael Mullen, Debi Hartmann, Caroline Fisher, Janet Liston, Marilyn Leland, Tom Werkema, “yleoandyou7” and Walter Pflaumer. They knew the virus causes pneumonia and respiratory illness. Humans contract most coronaviruses through air and surface contact transmission, but specifically how the first transmission occurred with the new virus and how so many people, including health care workers, became infected since last month continues to be under study (Nature). The epicenter of the outbreak of the new virus is in Wuhan, China. The first U.S. patient diagnosed with the new virus was hospitalized in Everett, Wash., following a trip to Wuhan. © Getty Images The Morning Report is created by journalists Alexis Simendinger and Al Weaver. We want to hear from you! Email: asimendinger@thehill.com and aweaver@thehill.com. We invite you to share The Hill’s reporting and newsletters, and encourage others to SUBSCRIBE! TO VIEW PAST EDITIONS OF THE HILL’S MORNING REPORT CLICK HERETO RECEIVE THE HILL’S MORNING REPORT IN YOUR INBOX SIGN UP HEREMORNING REPORT SIGN UPFORWARD MORNING REPORTPrivacy Policy | Manage Subscriptions | UnsubscribeEmail to a friend | Sign Up for Other NewslettersThe Hill 1625 K Street, NW 9th Floor, Washington DC 20006©2020 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc. |
CAFFEINATED THOUGHTS
| Connect: Facebook Twitter YouTubeView this email in your browser“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil,” (Ephesians 6:11, ESV).Amendment Declaring No Right to Abortion Clears Iowa Senate CommitteeBy Shane Vander Hart on Jan 23, 2020 10:05 pm The Iowa Senate State Government Committee passed an amendment to the Iowa Constitution that declares there is no constitutional right to abortion. by a 10 to 5 vote. Read in browser » National Pro-Life Group Gives Ernst and King an A, Fails Finkenauer, Loebsack, and AxneBy Shane Vander Hart on Jan 23, 2020 03:45 pm SBA List gave Joni Ernst, Steve King an ‘A’, and Abby Finkenauer, Dave Loebsack, and Cindy Axne an ‘F’ based key votes and actions taken during the 116th Congress. Read in browser » Iowa’s U.S. Senate Money Race Heading Into 2020By Shane Vander Hart on Jan 23, 2020 12:32 pm In 2019, U.S. Senator Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, outraised all of her potential Democratic challengers and has more than twice the amount of money in the bank. Read in browser » Recent Articles: Tulsi Gabbard Sues Hillary Clinton Over Russia Comments Trump Signs 2020 National Sanctity of Human Life Day Declaration President Trump is Not Building a Culture of Life 2020: A Legislative Year for Smaller Government and Smarter Solutions Biden Rises, Buttigieg Declines in IowaLaunched in 2006, Caffeinated Thoughts reports news and shares commentary about culture, current events, faith and state and national politics from a Christian and conservative point of view. Caffeinated Thoughts P.O. Box 57184 Des Moines, IA 50317 (515) 321-5077 Editor, Shane Vander Hart Connect: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.ShareTweetShareForwardCopyright © 2020 Caffeinated Thoughts, All rights reserved. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. |
CONSERVATIVE DAILY NEWS
THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
| Washington Examiner’s Examiner Today NewsletterView this as website ADVERTISEMENT HIGHLIGHTSANALYSIS: In witness debate, growing GOP focus on Hunter Biden; some press for whistleblowerTo combat climate change, House GOP aims for 1 trillion treesJoe Biden’s internet-breaking idea ‘Not just about that baby’: Inside a refuge for pregnant women in crisis Kimberly Leonard takes an in-depth look at one of the crisis pregnancy centers where mothers and children find help. ‘The other Iowa caucuses’: Trump focuses on GOP contest in bid to run up the score The Trump campaign is quietly accelerating robust field and data programs across Iowa to generate a show of force in the Feb. 3 caucuses by crushing his opponents while working the kinks out of its state political operation. ‘Somebody has to stand up to China’: Ohio pig farmers stick with Trump despite the pain of tariffsIt was one week after President Trump declared phase one of his China trade deal a “landmark,” and Jim Heimerl, one of Ohio’s biggest pig farmers, was struggling to hide his disappointment. Editorial: What Trump brings to today’s March for Life No president has ever attended the March for Life. On Friday, President Trump will become the first. ADVERTISEMENT How Warren’s ambush against Bernie Sanders backfired Elizabeth Warren has come up on the short end of her disagreement with 2020 Democratic rival Bernie Sanders, deflating the Massachusetts senator’s presidential campaign at the most inopportune moment. In Guantanamo courtroom, interrogator says he denounced abusive interrogations at CIA black sites The man widely seen as the architect of the CIA’s enhanced interrogation techniques used in the wake of 9/11 testified about the existence of what he viewed as abusive CIA interrogation operations outside his control. ‘One of the greatest moral evils’: Roman Catholic cardinal supports refusing Communion to BidenCardinal Raymond Burke reiterated his belief that 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden should not receive Holy Communion because of his “consistent record” of supporting abortion legislation. Devin Nunes: Impeachment trial makes McCarthyism look like ‘nothing’ Rep. Devin Nunes argued that the impeachment trial against President Trump is a much bigger scandal than McCarthyism. ‘It may not capture everyone’s attention’: Kamala Harris stresses entertainment isn’t ‘the standard’ for impeachmentDemocratic Sen. Kamala Harris argued that the Senate impeachment trial is not meant to entertain people but should instead “focus on facts.” House impeachment managers say Senate acquitting Trump would look ‘rigged’ Three of the House impeachment managers presiding over the impeachment trial in the Senate claimed that if the Senate votes to acquit President Trump, it would lead to the belief that the process was “rigged.” DOJ finds two Carter Page FISA orders ‘not valid’ The Justice Department concluded there was insufficient evidence to authorize the extended electronic surveillance of former Trump campaign aide Carter Page. ‘A vast moral evil’: Betsy DeVos compares abortion to slavery Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos compared anti-abortion activists to abolitionists. THE ROUNDUPChina expands virus lockdown, encircling 22 millionTrumpworld converts regional talk radio hosts into a loyal armyTrump’s trial may hinge on Lamar AlexanderADVERTISEMENT |
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THE FEDERALIST
| Your daily update of new content from The Federalist Be lovers of freedom and anxious for the fray January 24, 2020 Grassley Letter Asks Whether Taxpayers Paid Russian Agent To Help Start The Collusion HoaxBy Margot Cleveland Did Stefan Halper attempt to recruit Trump campaign officials as sources? And did he have the FBI (or another agency’s) green light to do so? Grassley’s letter raises these questions, and more. Full articleHow To Make Abortion Less Profitable For Planned ParenthoodBy Willis L. Krumholz The City Pages hit, and Planned Parenthood not liking the billboards, is not just about a disagreement over a controversial issue. It’s about money. Full articleSchiff’s Call To Invalidate A Trump Re-Election Is A Revealing Attack On VotersBy Jarrett Stepman ‘The president’s misconduct cannot be decided at the ballot box,’ Rep. Adam Schiff said. ‘For we cannot be assured that the vote will be fairly won.’ Full articleNational Review’s Impeachment Advice To GOP Senators Is Deeply NaïveBy John Daniel Davidson Admitting that Trump was wrong but he shouldn’t be impeached is a terrible idea that assumes too much goodwill from Democrats. Full articleHow A Hardworking Iowa Dad Exposed A Major Democrat Handicap In 2020By Emily Jashinsky In about 30 seconds, one man in Iowa exposed a major weakness in the Democratic Party’s 2020 strategy. The dad asked why he should work hard to pay for goodies for people who didn’t. Full articleGay Activists Attack ‘Homophobic’ Black Minister’s MLK Day SermonBy Chad Felix Greene Media pounced on the opportunity when, after Mike Pence gave a speech reflecting on Martin Luther King Jr. at Holy City Church of God In Christ in Tennessee, the pastor discussed homosexuality in part of his sermon. Full articleMarsha Blackburn Is Right: Alexander Vindman’s Military Career Doesn’t Mean He’s A PatriotBy Erielle Davidson Blackburn took to Twitter on Thursday questioning Rep. Adam Schiff’s labeling of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman as a patriot, accusing the officer of ‘badmouth[ing] and ridicul[ing] our great nation in front of Russia, America’s greatest enemy.’ Full articleThe Phase One U.S.-China Trade Deal Is A Serious Win For The United StatesBy Helen Raleigh The U.S. shouldn’t be complacent after winning the first round of the trade war. China is a formidable strategic competitor and will remain so for many years to come. Full articleHow Billie Eilish Inverts The Overdone Sex SymbolBy Libby Emmons Like Billie Eilish, Gen Z is in hiding. With all the exposure of social media, the constant barrage of attention seeking, the shallow allure of fame, kids know it’s all fake. Full article‘9-1-1: Lone Star’ Is What An Idiot From NYC Thinks Of Austin Without Ever VisitingBy Brad Jackson It’s like they went to the woke checklist to check every single box, stir in the appearance that everyone who lives in Texas is a racist pig, and spit out a terrible television show. Full article‘Just Mercy’ Questions The Notion Of Equal Justice In The United StatesBy Molly Davis The film explores race and poverty through personal stories that leave the audience to reconcile with the tragic side of American governments’ treatment of minorities and the poor. Full article‘The Gentlemen’ Takes On Oversensitive Pajama Boys With HumorBy Titus Techera Through a strange series of comic circumstances, Guy Ritchie’s new heroes band together against mysterious enemies in the first marijuana heroism movie. Full articleGQ Declares Nonviolent Richmond Gun Protest Violent After Admitting It Was NonviolentBy Tristan Justice The media has been desperate to turn what was a peaceful protest against new gun laws into a white supremacist neo-Nazi riot. Full articleBREAKING: Spy Court Admits FISA Warrants Against Carter Page Were ‘Not Valid’By Sean Davis The FISA court’s top judge wrote in a secret ruling on January 7 that at least two of the four spy warrants against Carter Page were invalid and not lawfully authorized. Full articleHere’s What You Need To Know About Attending The March For LifeBy Kylee Zempel So many people in one place can make navigating Washington confusing, especially with heightened security now that President Trump is appearing. Here’s everything you need to know about security, scheduling, transportation, and more. Full article15 Awesome Things I Saw At The Massive U.S. Gun Show Only Insiders Can AttendBy Madeline Osburn Two days surrounded by guns, ammunition, Navy SEALs, military dogs, tactical gear, camouflage, and American flags restored my faith in America. Full articleNational Review’s Dangerous Third Way On ImpeachmentBy David Marcus An editorial at National Review badly misunderstands the Republican position on impeachment and the future of the conservative movement. Full articleMSNBC Pundits Blast Dianne Feinstein: If You Can’t Sit There For Eight Hours, ‘Resign Tomorrow’By Chrissy Clark MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow and Chris Hayes blasted Senators who left the impeachment trial early, questioning their devotion to their country. Full article IMPEACHMENT AS PERFORMANCE ART It seems so odd that the strongest motivating political factors for those sitting in the Senate today largely go unmentioned by any of the cable news outlets covering the events. Have you noticed? You can be forgiven if you haven’t. The largest motivating political factor for Adam Schiff is to gain what he views as rightfully his: the much desired Senate seat of Dianne Feinstein, oldest member of the Senate (who departed from the trial early last night by almost an hour). When it seemed like Feinstein was going to retire, Schiff stood up a fundraising operation and was clearly going to run for the seat in what would be a crowded and fractious primary – but then she decided to return, and he was rebuffed. Now, Schiff wants to use the impeachment process to gain enough popularity that he is Gov. Gavin Newsom’s selection for the plum job, with unanimous backing from the Democratic base as the hero who led the charge against Trump. Read more of The Transom by signing up for a free trial today. follow on Twitter | friend on Facebook | forward to a friend Copyright © 2020 The Federalist, All rights reserved. unsubscribe from this list | update subscription preferences |
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CENTER FOR SECURITY POLICY
| Highlighted Articles/InterviewsPoland and Israel’s loss of diplomatic wisdomWurmser to head new Center program on global anti-SemitismTrump defense team should file 3 preliminary impeachment trial motionsFleitz on Fox: Trump clearly named the radical Islam enemy that Obama deniedTrump was ‘resolute’ in striking Iran terror chief – but the regime won’t stopPutin picks the man to build Russia’s high-tech police stateRussia’s new prime minister is the ideal man to replicate China’s high-tech police state to keep Vladimir Putin in power for life.In purging his government, President Vladimir Putin has promoted Mikhail Mishustin as chief of government. Widely portrayed as a hockey fan and pianist and composer, Mishustin served for a decade as head of the Federal Tax Service. He is a strong proponent of digitizing the government and embracing artificial intelligence as a government tool. Read the article by Center Vice President for Government Affairs, J. Michael Waller.Democrats in glass houses throw stones at Trump’s national security recordDemocratic House impeachment managers have repeatedly told Senators this week that President Trump endangered the country and compromised its national security. That’s a transparent lie – and with its endless repetition, the partisan falsehood is being transformed into a Big Lie. The pretext for this claim is that the withholding of U.S. military assistance from Ukraine for a few weeks imperiled our nation. While providing the Ukrainians with the means to defend themselves against Russian aggression is a good thing to do, refraining from doing so obviously would not jeopardize America’s security, let alone be an impeachable offense. After all, Barack Obama refused to do it throughout his presidency.The case could be made that many of those accusing Donald Trump of compromising our national security have actually serially done so themselves. His coming acquittal should put the spotlight on their misdeeds.This is Frank Gaffney. With Grant NewshamGRANT NEWSHAM, Senior Research Fellow at Japan Forum for Strategic Studies:What are the stakes for the US in Taiwan?Assessing the possibility of the PRC retaliating against TaiwanPossible means for a Chinese attack on Taiwan(PART TWO):Examining the naval capabilities of the ChineseHow civilian aircraft and sea vessels can be used by the PLAChina’s acquisition of Russian air defense systems(PART THREE):How the US can aid Taiwan in their conflict with ChinaHow far into Taiwan can the Chinese military reach?Why should Americans care about Taiwan maintaining their freedom?(PART FOUR):The capability of Japan to defend itself against ChinaThe prospect of a US-Japanese joint defense operationShould Japan have a nuclear deterrent?Would South Korea cut a deal with the Chinese?LIVE STREAM Thursday, January 30: Socialism and American National SecurityTWEET OF THE DAYRetweet, like, and comment!DONATEView this email in your browser Copyright © 2020 Center for Security Policy, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: 2020 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Suite 189 Washington, D.C. 20006 (202) 835-9077 Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. |
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
| VIEW IN BROWSERJANUARY 24, 2020CHICAGOTRIBUNE.COMDAYWATCH1After a young Latino leader’s suicide, a call for an end of mental health stigmaFRIDAY, JAN 24This past Christmas break, Rafael Zavala mentored his last class of students from the Southwest Side of Chicago, where he grew up. The engineering student at IIT did it hoping that the young people would be inspired to pursue degrees in science and technology despite any trouble at home or in the streets. It was Zavala’s “strong leadership, bright soul and intelligence,” that masked possible signs of what led him to kill himself Jan. 14, said his mentor and friend Claudette Soto. Those who knew and counseled Zavala say his reluctance to talk about his struggles points to larger issues among Latino young people. And they hope his death will help inspire others to seek help.2How tensions with Iran are reshaping the Iowa caucusesFRIDAY, JAN 24Recent military strikes exchanged between the United States and Iran are bringing foreign policy prescriptions and commander-in-chief credentials to the forefront for many Democratic voters in Iowa.The Tribune’s Bill Ruthhart headed due west to talk to would-be caucus-goers about how they’re assessing candidates in the wake of fresh hostilities with Iran.Candidate bios: Here’s a look at some of the Democrats trying to unseat Trump.The 2020 election race is on. Get the latest updates, analysis and opinion here. 34 struggling South Side hospitals will join forces — but some fear closuresFRIDAY, JAN 24Four financially strapped hospitals on Chicago’s South Side plan to combine into a new system and embark on a $1.1 billion plan that includes building at least one hospital and potentially closing others. The move is an effort to better serve patients on the South Side — an area that has faced greater health challenges than other parts of the city — but some are wary of possible hospital closures.Chicago’s lifespan gap: Streeterville residents live to 90. Englewood residents die at 60. Study finds it’s the largest divide in the U.S.4Cook County ethics board approves reforms as member resigns in protest of Preckwinkle’s move to replace chairFRIDAY, JAN 24The five-member Cook County Board of Ethics unanimously approved several proposed changes in an attempt to strengthen the county’s ethics law. However, the proposal came as Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle replaced current board chair Margaret “Peggy” Daley, a move that prompted fellow board member David Grossman to resign in protest. “In light of your action, it is clear that you do not welcome a Board of Ethics that is serious about its duties,” Grossman wrote to Preckwinkle. “It would simply be a waste of my time to continue in my role with the board. … You are free to fill my vacancy with someone more likely to do your bidding.”Read Grossman’s full resignation letter to Preckwinkle here. 5One cancer is almost 100% preventable. And Chicago is making a move to eradicate it.FRIDAY, JAN 24January is cervical cancer awareness month. And one Chicago group is aiming to eliminate racial disparities in cervical cancer — and wipe out the disease here altogether. Here’s what it will take.Over 2 years ago, a doctor told a former Obama staffer that he had six months to live. Today, he and his wife are part of the urgent push for an ALS cure.6New details released about Juice Wrld’s deathFRIDAY, JAN 24Rapper Juice Wrld had just stepped from the Gulfstream jet early last December and was waiting in a private hangar at Midway Airport with his girlfriend when “he let out a gasp and collapsed to the ground,” according to new details about his death released Thursday.By the time paramedics arrived, the 21-year-old rapper was still on the floor, moving and bleeding from his nose and mouth, according to a report filed by the Chicago Fire Department. Pills were scattered around him, and paramedics were told he had been given Narcan, an emergency treatment when opioid overdose is suspected.An autopsy performed on the body of the Chicago rapper determined he died accidentally from an overdose of oxycodone and codeine. 7Uniforms for the NBA All-Star Game take their inspiration from Chicago’s flag and ‘L’ trainsFRIDAY, JAN 24The interest in what NBA players wear grows with each passing year, and that extends to All-Star Weekend, when the league showcases its brightest stars and most extravagant fashion.With the 2020 All-Star Game in Chicago next month, Jordan Brand was charged with creating designs for the league’s main event and banner weekend. The move was intended to add local flavor, and the result is an eight-jersey collection that leans heavily on the city’s history.8Band of Bohemia isn’t Chicago’s best brewery — but here’s why it’s among the most essentialFRIDAY, JAN 24You might expect world-class beer from the world’s first Michelin-starred brewpub. But that’s not Band of Bohemia.Instead of conventionally great beer, Band of Bohemia aims for iconoclastic beer that transcends simply what’s in the glass. It may not scratch the post-work itch, but it does make Band of Bohemia one of the most singularly minded breweries in a nation of 8,000 breweries and counting. And in a brewery-packed city, it makes Band of Bohemia one of the most interesting — even if few people would call it one of the best.Look out, Michelob Ultra. New low-calorie light beer Saint Archer Gold is coming for you.advertisement UNSUBSCRIBE | NEWSLETTERS | PRIVACY POLICY | TERMS OF SERVICECopyright © 2020 | Chicago Tribune | 160 N. Stetson Ave., Third Floor, Chicago, IL 60601ABOUT THIS EMAIL You received this email because you are following the Daywatch newsletter. |
THE WASHINTON POST MORNING MIX
| Sign up for this newsletterRead onlineStories from all over. Andrew Napolitano appears on the “Varney & Co.” program on the Fox Business Network, in New York, Monday, April 11, 2011.Democrats have a new impeachment hero: Fox News analyst Andrew Napolitano“What is required for removal of the president?” Napolitano wrote in an op-ed. “A demonstration of presidential commission of high crimes and misdemeanors, of which in Trump’s case the evidence is ample and uncontradicted.”By Allyson Chiu ● Read more » Falling through the ice: How to survive itThe first step to surviving a fall through ice? Stay calm.By Katie Shepherd ● Read more » U.S. refuses to extradite Anne Sacoolas, diplomat’s wife charged with killing a British teen in wrong-way collisionAnne Sacoolas, wife of an American diplomat, is charged in the death of 19-year-old Harry Dunn, who died in a wrong-way crash last August.By Meagan Flynn ● Read more » Judge upholds law that led to criminal charges for woman topless in front of her stepchildrenA judge says Utah’s law singling out exposed female breasts but not male ones is justifiably rooted in “contemporary community standards of nudity.”By Hannah Knowles and Marisa Iati ● Read more » Adam Schiff’s speech reviews are in: It was ‘dazzling.’ Or was it ‘disjointed’? How about ‘second best’ ever?Some hyperbole and hyperbole about the hyperbole followed Schiff’s presentation Wednesday in the Senate trial of President Trump.By Meagan Flynn ● Read more » Mount Vesuvius eruption was so hot it turned one victim’s brain into glass, researchers sayIt’s the first time that brain tissue from any human or animal has been found preserved as glass, a forensic anthropologist said.By Teo Armus ● Read more » Two dead heroes and a stabbing on a train: Hate-crime trial forces Portland to reckon with its dark sideNo one disputes that Jeremy Christian stabbed three men on May 26, 2017, killing two of them. But the hate crime trial pits prosecutors’ theory of bias-motivated violence against the defense team’s story of undiagnosed mental health conditions.By Katie Shepherd ● Read more » We think you’ll like this newsletterCheck out By The Way for tips and guides that will help you travel better and make you feel like a local wherever you go. Delivered every Thursday. Sign up » |
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AMERICAN THINKER
| View this email in your browserRecent ArticlesIn Royal Family Drama, Harry and Meghan Look Worse and WorseJan 24, 2020 01:00 am As the drama of Harry and Meghan unfolds, it becomes ever clearer that Harry is not figure not of tragedy, but of self-interested hypocrisy. Read More… Sharyl Attkisson Speaks OutJan 24, 2020 01:00 am Former CBS investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson continues her lonely battle against illegal surveillance by the FBI and DoJ. Read More… Trump Marches for LifeJan 24, 2020 01:00 am President Trump today becomes the first U.S. President to attend the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. Read More… The Tenuous Future of the Democratic PartyJan 24, 2020 01:00 am Trump can rejoice over the fact that Democrats have not learned from their mistake of gambling all their chips on a Mueller investigation Read More… Can the Pro-Abortion Position Survive Artificial Wombs?Jan 24, 2020 01:00 am A thought experiment. Read More… Feminists May Succeed Where Blofeld Failed – Killing James BondJan 24, 2020 01:00 am Bond may soon become an effete metrosexual, a fate worse than Goldfinger and Blofeld combined could have contrived. Read More… Recent Blog Posts Thanks to Rep. Sylvia Garcia, the barn door now is open on the Bidens and the Democrats Jan 24, 2020 01:00 am Perhaps Rep. Garcia should have read Peter Schweizer’s new book Profiles in Corruption before assembling her power-point lecture in the Senate impeachment trial Read more… Democrats are trying to impeach President Trump, wayward voters, and democracy Jan 24, 2020 01:00 am Democrats accuse their opponents of the very things they themselves are doing. Read more… Interesting things are happening in Iran following Soleimani’s death Jan 24, 2020 01:00 am The Democrats were wrong when they said Soleimani’s death would strengthen the mullahs. Instead, it seems to be weakening them. Read more… Time to shut down the runaway impeachment train Jan 24, 2020 01:00 am Why won’t the defense counsel stop the runaway train? Here are some possibilities. Read more… Why the Dems might want Trump to subpoena Joe and Hunter Biden Jan 24, 2020 01:00 am If we know anything, it’s that the Dems are not stupid. There is unquestionably an ulterior motive to dang near everything they do. Read more… Fredo Cuomo beclowns himself trying to Get Trump Jan 24, 2020 01:00 am Concerning-trolling for kids is a stupid thing coming from a anchor whose network shelled out millions to young Nick Sandmann. Read more… PM Boris Johnson has made good on his promise to the British people Jan 24, 2020 01:00 am Parliament signed off on leaving the EU at the end of January and, despite EU vindictiveness, this may mark an economic resurgence in Britain. Read more… Goodbye Sammy, our patriot greyhound Jan 24, 2020 01:00 am A farewell to Sammy, who did his part. Read more… After his behavior at Davos, did Prince Charles snub Pence in Jerusalem? Jan 24, 2020 01:00 am In Davos, Prince Charles talked to Greta, demanded green taxes, and snubbed Trump. Later in Jerusalem, people asked whether he snubbed Pence too. Read more… The positive side of impeachment Jan 24, 2020 01:00 am Everybody in this country has better things to do. Read more… Transgenderism in the cage Jan 24, 2020 01:00 am Transgender craziness marches on, undeterred by reality and devoid of common sense and decency. Read more… The Church of England surprises everyone with its latest pastoral guidance Jan 24, 2020 01:00 am Who would ever have expected a left-leaning, modern, state church to come out in support of abstinence and heterosexual marriage? Read more… President Reagan and the lies of communism Jan 24, 2020 01:00 am A president who understood the evil empire and knew that you have to negotiate from a position of strength rather than weakness. Read more… How Hollywood-style propaganda can wreck a country Jan 24, 2020 01:00 am Hollywood is arguably the most prolific propaganda machine on the planet. Read more… Will an Arkansas stripper finally shut down the Schiff show? Jan 23, 2020 01:00 am Her demands for child support could expose a world of corruption from Hunter Biden that would leave Adam Schiff’s impeachment parade in flames. Read more… View this email in your browserAmerican Thinker is a daily internet publication devoted to the thoughtful exploration of issues of importance to Americans. |
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DESERET NEWS
BERNARD GOLDBERG
| A new post from Bernie.Bernie’s Q&A: Jeff Zucker, Warren vs. Sanders, NFL Concussions, and more! (1/24) — Premium Interactive ($4 members)By Bernard Goldberg on Jan 24, 2020 02:00 am Below is a sneak peek of this content! Welcome to this week’s Premium Q&A session for Premium Interactive members. I appreciate you all signing up and joining me. Thank you. Editor’s Note: If you enjoy these sessions (along with the weekly columns and audio commentaries), please use the Facebook and… CONTINUE Read More » More to read:Off the Cuff: A Democratic Impeachment Conspiracy to Hurt Sanders? (Not Exactly) Breaking News: CNN Has Become a Journalistic Embarrassment Bernie’s Q&A: Impeachment, CNN Debate Bias, the Robach Video, and more! (1/17) — Premium Interactive ($4 members) Off the Cuff: When I Interviewed George Carlin… Trump, Soleimani, and Partisan Politics … in an Election YearBecome A FanFollow on TwitterForward to a FriendWant emails sent directly to you?SIGN UP NOW In this issue:Bernie’s Q&A: Jeff Zucker, Warren vs. Sanders, NFL Concussions, and more! (1/24) — Premium Interactive ($4 members) Want to Help Spread the Word? Forward this Email!About BernieBernard Goldberg, the television news reporter and author of Bias, a New York Times number one bestseller about how the media distort the news, is widely seen as one of the most original writers and thinkers in broadcast journalism. He has covered stories all over the world for CBS News and has won 13 Emmy awards for excellence in journalism. He won six Emmys at CBS, and seven at HBO, where he now reports for the widely acclaimed broadcast Real Sports. [Read More…] Bernie’s Amazon Page follow on Twitter | friend on Facebook | forward to a friend Copyright © 2020 BernardGoldberg.com, All rights reserved. unsubscribe from this list | update subscription preferences |
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NATIONAL REVIEW
| WITH JIM GERAGHTYJanuary 24 2020Surprising Party Changes in the Past DecadeAs I head into the Winter Meeting of the (sigh, deep breath) “network of conservative groups affiliated with Charles Koch, that they would prefer people stop calling ‘the Koch Network’,” perhaps it is good to pause and look at how the two parties have changed in the past decade . . . because they have indeed changed.Is American Politics Really Realigning towards the Left Wing?The headline of Eric Levitz’s essay in New York Magazine, “The Left-Wing Realignment of American Politics Has Already Begun,” is both more accurate and less accurate than it appears.The crux of Levitz’s argument is that not only has the Democratic party moved to the left, to the point where the centrists of this primary are running on positions that would have been extremely progressive twelve years ago, but also that the 2020 edition of the Republican party is to the left of where it used to be:But a broader swath of the GOP is warming to small-bore, family-based social welfare policies … READ MORE |
| ADVERTISEMENTTRENDING ON NATIONAL REVIEW1. The Marked Individual2. The Latest Pandemic Threat3. Today’s Conservative Divide Pits Anti-State against Anti-LeftTOP STORIESARMOND WHITEJust Mercy Proves Art Is Not ActivismThree movies — “Just Mercy,” “Brian Banks,” and “Clemency” — make up the recent boom of criminal-justice-reform …NR PLUS ALEXANDRA DESANCTISFor the Love of RoeDemocrats still hang their hat on one of the most poorly reasoned Supreme Court cases in history. RICH LOWRYRemoval Would Be InsaneRemoval is a truly radical step that, if it ever came about, would do more damage to the legitimacy of our …NEWSRecording Appears to Reveal Trump Giving Order to Fire Amb. Yovanovitch: ReportA recording appears to reveal President Trump telling associates to fire former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie …WESLEY J. SMITHPressuring a Hospice to KillIn Canada, government threatens to withdraw all funding from a hospice that refuses to euthanize dying …NR STAFFHillary against EveryoneRich, Charlie, Michael, and Jim discuss Hillary Clinton’s tussle with Tulsi Gabbard and her harsh comments about …NEWSGOP Senate Staffers: Dems May Not Get Votes for Impeachment Witnesses10 senior staffers to key Senate Republicans say that flipping more than three votes will be a tall order. WHAT NR IS READINGThe Case for Nationalism: How It Made Us Powerful, United, and FreeBY RICHARD LOWRY“Makes an original and compelling case for nationalism . . . A fascinating, erudite—and much-needed—defense of a hallowed idea unfairly under current attack.” — Victor Davis HansonLEARN MOREPODCASTSEpisode 2: Little-Known Facts about… Episode 104: The Unfettered State PHOTOSCoronavirus Outbreak Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey VIDEOTrump To Attend March For… DOJ: We Overstepped By… NRPLUS ARTICLESConfused, Iran Scrambles to Figure… On the Dangers of Democracy Ready for Election Season?National Review subscribers get the most out of National Review. Don’t miss out.SEE MY OPTIONSADVERTISEMENTFollow Us & Share19 West 44th Street, Suite 1701, New York, NY, 10036, USA Your Preferences | Unsubscribe | Privacy View this e-mail in your browser. |