Posts on Friday, September 29, 2023
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee held the first hearing Thursday in the chamber’s impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden into the litany of disturbing facts showing a life of corruption and ruin inside his family led by his son Hunter and brother Jim. Naturally, the major broadcast networks of ABC, CBS, and NBC used their flagship Thursday night and Friday morning news shows to insist there’s nothing to see here.
ABC’s World News Tonight anchor David Muir framed Republicans Thursday as though the party writ large was unconcerned with the possible government shutdown: “Meanwhile, as millions brace for a shutdown,
The dramatic indictment of Sen. Bob Menendez on federal indictment charges raised a slew of questions about the New Jersey senator’s political future in Washington, as calls for Menendez’s resignation proliferate among his Democratic colleagues in the Senate.
But for New Jersey, the indictment raised a different question: Why can’t the Garden State shake its reputation as one of the corruption capitals of the U.S.?Of course, that reputation is partly the product of Hollywood hype, with films like On the Waterfront and TV shows like The Sopranos depicting the state as a hotbed of political duplicity and deceit.
Eye on Politics: Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson
becomes a Republican, prompts backlash
and praise replies
becomes a Republican, prompts backlash
and praise replies
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson is facing calls to resign after he announced he's becoming a Republican. Some of Attorney General Ken Paxton's former top deputies say they'll keep pursuing their whistleblower lawsuit against the state. And a judge has declared the state's new law limiting drag shows unconstitutional.
Jack Fink breaks down these stories and more in the latest edition of Eye on Politics (original air date: Sept. 28).Every week, CBS News Texas political reporter Jack Fink breaks down some of the biggest political stories grabbing headlines in North Texas and beyond.
Say what you want about President Trump, the business-magnate-turned-president always did understand the art of the deal.
So when a migrant surge in 2019 migrant inundated U.S. borders from the south, Trump showed Mexico he meant business by shutting the U.S.-Mexico border as leverage in order to cut a deal with them to stop the migrants.President Trump's threats to close the border have slowed cross-border commerce at the country's busiest port of entry, despite his comments Thursday indicating he intended to give Mexico a year to stop the flow of migrants to the U.S.
The lawsuit claims the 2018 and 2022 state constitutional amendments regulating the times, places, and manner of federal elections are legally null and void.
The U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 4 (the Elections Clause), requires the state legislature to regulate the times, places, and manner of federal elections. However, Michigan’s constitutional amendments (Proposal 3 of 2018 and Proposal 2 of 2022) bypassed the state legislature and, in doing so, usurped the legislature’s federally mandated constitutional authority.
Michelle Obama enjoyed a star-studded day out on sea off the coast Italy alongside a shirtless Tom Hanks and a slew of other famous faces.
The former First Lady, 59, who has spent the last few weeks enjoying a European vacation without her husband Barack, was pictured taking a boat ride with a dazzling array of A-listers including Tom and his wife, Rita Wilson, as well as acclaimed director Steven Spielberg, and his spouse, Kate Capshaw.
The group was seen exiting Steven's $250 million superyacht together near Portofino, getting onto a smaller vessel, which took them out for a day of snorkeling.
Donald Trump Jr. is aggressively calling out establishment Senate Republicans over advocacy for continued aid to Ukraine.
Trump Jr. took to X, formerly Twitter, to rip Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD), Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), and Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL). It comes as the Senate’s proposed stop-gap bill to fund the government would also ship $6.1 billion to Ukraine.
“Stopping the Senate’s plan to send billions more to Ukraine is Don’s number one policy priority right now, and he plans on calling out every pro-Ukraine senator one by one in the most aggressive ways possible,”
The U.S. Department of Justice announced criminal charges on Friday against a contractor with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) who is accused of stealing the tax returns of former President Donald Trump and distributing the material to the media.
Federal law enforcement officials announced the charges against 38-year-old Charles Edward Littlejohn, who was a contractor with the IRS from 2018 to 2020. The company that Littlejohn was working for was not identified and it was not clear “why a contractor had access to sensitive taxpayer information that is supposed to be protected by numerous legal and procedural safeguards,” The New York Times added.
The Biden administration announced its latest regulatory action targeting home appliances late Friday, this time targeting popular home gas-powered furnaces. The Department of Energy (DOE) said the energy efficiency regulations would slash household utility costs by $1.5 billion on an annual basis while reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the residential sector. The proposal, according to the agency, require non-weatherized gas furnaces and those used in mobile homes to achieve a far higher level of efficiency than cheaper models on the market. "At the direction of Congress, DOE is continuing to review and finalize energy standards for household appliances, such as
President Trump is delivering remarks to the California GOP. Trump’s afternoon speech at a state Republican Party convention in Anaheim comes two days after he bypassed the second GOP debate held at Ronald Reagan’s presidential library northwest of Los Angeles, signaling again that he sees no need to appear side-by-side with lesser-known contenders. Livestream Links Below.
Club For Growth Cries Uncle – McIntosh
Tells Donors No Attack Effort Against
Trump Is Working replies
Tells Donors No Attack Effort Against
Trump Is Working replies
It is important, VERY IMPORTANT, to remember the Club for Growth (CfG) is the Ron DeSantis career financial vehicle. Ever since his first steps into Congress, CfG has been the primary financial sponsor for the now Florida Governor. There is no moment in the political career of DeSantis where CfG does not exist.
(snip) David McIntosh has been the source of DeSantis’ career guidance for a decade. (snip)
CfG has also opposed Donald Trump for his “America First” economic plan from the moment they realized Trump was serious about economic nationalism, control over immigration, (snip)
That is the appropriate context for a memo written by David McIntosh
It is finally really happening, it seems.
The Democrats have dug their own grave by forcing the only true populist candidate on their ticket out of the primary and into direct competition with incumbent Joe Biden (or whichever puppet they replace the current puppet with) in the general election. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been threatening — due to maltreatment from his own party, including being viciously smeared with every pejorative under the sun — to vacate the Democrat Party plantation and plot his own third-party run as an independent.
Here’s what he said a couple of weeks ago during a Forbes interview:
A jury on Friday found former Loudoun County superintendent Scott Ziegler guilty of retaliating against a teacher for cooperating with Virginia’s grand jury probe into the district’s alleged mishandling of sexual assault cases.
Ziegler wrongfully terminated a teacher who had informed investigators about a sexual assault that happened in her classroom, the jury concluded. After teacher Erin Brooks told prosecutors, sent by Virginia attorney general Jason Miyares, about the incident, Ziegler fired her for working with the grand jury. The probe, mandated by Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin,
Army Gen. Mark Milley delivered a full-throated defense of democracy and not-so-subtle swipes at former President Donald Trump during a packed ceremony on Friday as he closed out his four, often tumultuous years as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Under cloudy skies at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Milley never mentioned the former president by name. But he practically shouted on two different occasions that the U.S. military swears to protect the Constitution 'against ALL enemies, foreign AND domestic.'
'We don't take an oath to a king or a queen or to a tyrant or a dictator. And we don't take an oath to a wannabe dictator,' he said.
Trump looks to set up a California primary
victory with a personal pitch to Republican activists replies
victory with a personal pitch to Republican activists replies
Anaheim, Calif.—Donald Trump will make a personal pitch Friday to California Republicans in a bid to solidify his support in a GOP presidential contest he has dominated for months, while Ron DeSantis and other rivals get another chance to break the front-runner’s momentum with time fast vanishing to reorder the race.Trump’s afternoon speech at a state Republican Party convention in Anaheim comes two days after he bypassed the second GOP debate held at Ronald Reagan's presidential library northwest of Los Angeles, signaling again that he sees no need to appear side-by-side with lesser-known contenders.
The Wall Street Journal published an interactive Biden family tree map on Friday, highlighting the alleged influence peddling scheme of “how Joe Biden’s kin profited off the family name” with the use of the “big guy” alias.
Frank Biden, President Joe Biden’s youngest brother, was “hired by the Illinois-based industrial manufacturing firm Federal Signal Corp. to help connect the company with Florida lawmakers,” the Journal reported. “During a weekly call, Frank Biden, 69 years old, would frequently interrupt the meeting and say he had to take a call from ‘the Big Guy,’ as he put it.”
The United States House of Representatives has approved an additional $300 million aid for Ukraine. The decision came late Thursday night with a 311-117 vote.
The aid for Ukraine was initially part of a larger Pentagon funding bill for the fiscal year 2024.
House GOP leaders, including Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), had initially planned to hold a separate vote on the Ukraine aid. The decision to separate the aid came after Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and a group of conservative Republicans sank a procedural vote to advance the Pentagon funding bill, The Hill reported.
With former President Donald Trump far ahead of his GOP opponents in the polls and refusing to participate in the debates, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said there’s no point in having a third GOP debate.Appearing on “The Ingraham Angle,” the Fox News contributor relayed a conversation he had with pollster Matt Towery, who told him that based on what he observed during Wednesday’s debate, the "race is over":
“Donald Trump will be the nominee, they might as well quit having the various debates
This is believed to be the moment Russian forces shot down their own £80million fighter jet in an act of friendly fire in Ukraine.
The supersonic SU-35, which is one of the Kremlin's most advanced aircraft, burst into flames over the city of Tokmak in the Zaporizhzhia region.
Pro-war channels in the country acknowledged that a warplane was destroyed by a Russian S-300 air defence system, with the pilot believed to have been killed in the process.
Heavy rains overnight in the northeastern United States left parts of New York City under water on Friday, partially paralyzing subways and airports in the country’s financial capital.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) declared an official state of emergency for the city, Long Island to the east, and the Hudson River valley to the north, warning people to not travel on flooded roads.Images from around New York showed cars half-submerged and traffic snarled, with some major roads completely blocked.
The massive New York subway system was also hit by the flooding, with several lines closed in Brooklyn.
Torrential rain caused flooding that forced rescues, closed roads, disrupted subway service and overwhelmed basements in the New York City area as “dangerous and life-threatening” rainfall surged across the concrete expanse on Friday.
A month’s worth of rain – more than 4 inches – fell over parts of Brooklyn in just three hours. Intense rainfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour were falling across the region, and the National Weather Service warned totals exceeding 8 inches “are increasingly likely” in parts of the tri-state area. A widespread 2 to 5 inches had already fallen across the the New York City area since midnight, with much more to come, despite
fan was denied entry into a baseball game Wednesday night after he tried to get in with his emotional support pet.
But this pet wasn’t an emotional support dog or cat. It was an alligator.
The fan, identified as Joie Henney by the Philadelphia Enquirer, has Wally the alligator to help him battle depression.
Henney attempted to take Wally with him as he entered Citizens Bank Park to watch the Phillies take on the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overruled a lower court decision to block Idaho’s abortion ban Thursday, according to court documents.
U.S. District Court Judge for the District of Idaho B. Lynn Winmill, who was appointed by former President Bill Clinton, ruled in August that the law could stop doctors from referring patients to abortion clinics in other states in an emergency due to fear of prosecution. A panel of judges appointed by former President Donald Trump, however, determined that the state’s case to uphold the ban was likely to succeed
Katie Porter, the Democratic congresswoman running for U.S. Senate in California, said Republican women do not count as women when it comes to achieving gender equality in Congress.
"To me, equality is not electing Joni Ernst‚" the Democrat told the Washington Post, referring to the female GOP senator from Iowa. "Like, that’s not helping."
It's funny Porter should mention equality in Congress because she is currently trying to prevent a black woman from being elected to the Senate. Her opponent in the Democratic primary, Rep. Barbara Lee (D., Calif.), would be the first (fully) African American to represent California in the upper chamber.
A band of House conservatives on Friday voted down a GOP bill to avoid a government shutdown.
The vote marked a significant — and embarrassing — defeat for Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as a shutdown this weekend appears increasingly inevitable. Twenty-one Republicans joined Democrats in opposing the legislation, bringing the final tally to 198-232.
The GOP lawmakers who voted against the bill were: Reps. Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Dan Bishop (N.C.), Lauren Boebert (Colo.), Ken Buck (Colo.), Tim Burchett (Tenn.), Eric Burlison (Mo.), Michael Cloud (Texas), Eli Crane (Ariz.), Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Paul Gosar (Ariz.), Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Wesley Hunt (Texas), Nancy Mace (S.C.), Mary Miller (Ill.), Cory Mills (Fla.),
A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld Tennessee and Kentucky’s bans on gender-related medical interventions, such as puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and gender surgeries on children.
The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 to reject a challenge to the laws from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and families of trans-identifying children.
(snip) The ACLU called Thursday’s ruling a “devastating result” and promised to take further action.
Following the bloody stalemate of the Battle of the Wilderness in the Spring of 1864, Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant dispatched a New York Tribune reporter to Washington with a message for President Abraham Lincoln. "He told me I was to tell you, Mr. President, that there will be no going back," the correspondent reported.
If our Republic, as it was before the Civil War, is to remain standing, President Donald Trump must not relent in the face of withering fire from all sides. Similar to Lincoln's instructions to Grant ahead of the Siege of Petersburg, Virginia
For more than two hours on a Sunday afternoon, the Rev. Gustavo Castillo led the Pentecostal congregation he’s been growing in this Minneapolis suburb through prayer, Scriptures, rousing music and sometimes tearful testimonials.
But it all may end soon. A sudden procedural change in how the federal government processes green cards for foreign-born religious workers, together with historic highs in numbers of illegal border crossers, means that thousands of clergy like him are losing the ability to remain in this country.
“We were right on the edge of becoming permanent residents, and boom, this changed,” Colombia-born Castillo said as his wife rocked their 7-month-old boy, a U.S. citizen by birth.
The death of Sen. Dianne Feinstein places Gov. Gavin Newsom under intense pressure to quickly name a replacement as a bitterly divided Congress votes on a spending plan in the coming hours to avert a government shutdown. Newsom had hoped to avoid the politically charged decision of selecting a second senator. But he will need to move swiftly as a budget standoff has the government on the verge of shutting down, and Senate Democrats could need every vote. The timing of Feinstein’s death — four months before a primary but more than a year before the end of her term
Bankruptcies are rising for the first time in years as more Americans feel the pressure of declining economic conditions without the reprieve of President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 pandemic-era aid programs.
Americans filed more than 39,000 personal bankruptcy cases in August 2023, up 18% year-over-year, with bankruptcies beginning to spike after reaching record lows in 2021 and 2022, with the number of filings rising for all chapters for the first time year-over-year since 2010, according to data from the U.S. Courts. The number of bankruptcies is rising as Americans are increasingly burdened by high interest rates and falling real wages,
Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein has died at the age of 90 after a long struggle with health issues and a distinguished political career that saw her break many gender barriers.
She passed away Thursday night at her Washington D.C. home, according to her office. She had voted that morning in the Senate.
'There are few women who can be called senator, chairman, mayor, wife, mom and grandmother,' her chief of staff James Sauls said in a statement. 'Senator Feinstein was a force of nature who made an incredible impact on our country and her home state.'
General Mark Milley, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is departing from the highest-ranking military position in the country at midnight on Sept. 30 and will be replaced by Biden-appointed nominee Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr.
Milley received a clapout as he left the Pentagon on Thursday for the last time.
WATCH: (X Video) Milley’s career, which began in 2019 under the administration of former President Donald Trump, was marred by a series of chaotic events, military disasters, and massive corruption.
Higher gasoline prices forced Americans to spend more in August and pushed up the Federal Reserve’s main measure of inflation, providing more evidence that the path to lower inflation is unlikely to be a smooth one.
The personal consumption expenditure price index, which the Fed uses in its official inflation target of two percent and the publicly released projections of policymakers, rose by 0.4 percent, twice the pace of the prior month. The increase was in line with economist expectations. Higher energy costs were the driver of inflation in August. Core prices, which exclude food and energy, rose by a more moderate 0.1 percent in August.
A senior executive at U.S. risk advisory firm Kroll has been barred from leaving the Chinese mainland, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
Hong Kong-based managing director Michael Chan is assisting an investigation into a case dating back a few years, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter, adding that neither Kroll nor Chan were the target of the investigation.
Chan traveled to the mainland in July and subsequently informed his employer that he couldn't leave, the report said. Chan is a Hong Kong passport holder, can move freely in mainland China and is still working, the report added.
Annals of Senescence
replies
Alex Thompson reports that President Biden is working on a critical project for his re-election bid: Make sure he doesn’t trip. Thompson’s Axios scoop runs under the headline “Biden team’s don’t-let-him-trip mission.”
The Biden team is worried that one more public tumble might convince voters that Biden is not up to the job. I believe that voters already come to that view, and with good reason. The physical manifestation of his senescence corresponds with his visible limitations of speech and understanding. He makes 80 look like the new 100.
Thompson’s scoop has more than enough material to work up a Saturday Night Live routine:
With a physical therapist, Biden has been doing exercises
The federal government warned its employees a shutdown is imminent as the House passed three out of four Republican appropriations bills late Thursday evening with about 48 hours left to go until the government runs out of money.
As a result of the late-night votes, the State Department, Department of Defense, and Department of Homeland Security were funded for the next fiscal year, although the agricultural spending bill failed to pass. The House previously passed an appropriations bill for military construction and veteran affairs in July, bringing the approved total to four out of 12 bills.
Senator Dianne Feinstein has died at 90 years old, ABC7 Insider Phil Matier has confirmed. Her career was one of many firsts. She was the first woman president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, the first woman mayor of San Francisco, and one of two of the first women elected to the U.S. Senate from California.
"Dianne Feinstein, right from the start, was an icon for women in politics," said former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Senator Chuck Schumer adds, "She's a legend. A legend in California as the first woman senator. A legend in the Senate. She was the leader on so many different issues."
A former federal prosecutor who handled cases related to the Jan. 6, 2021, disturbances at the U.S. Capitol is set to appear in a court again — this time, as a defendant.
Patrick Douglas Scruggs, 38, is facing three felony charges in Florida after what prosecutors are describing as a violent road rage assault in Tampa.
Scruggs formerly worked for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Tampa, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Scruggs is accused of breaking the window of a driver who collided with him on the Interstate 275 — allegedly going on the stab the victim numerous times with a pocket knife, according to WTVT-TV.
Bring back the chaos then
replies
Less than a month after President Trump’s inauguration, Time magazine rolled out the Democrat-RINO message of a chaotic White House. Its proof was as thin as the hair atop John Fetterman’s head.
Time reported, “Federal judges in four courts froze a hastily issued Executive Order barring certain immigrants from entering the country. Intelligence officials leaked descriptions of classified intercepts in a winning attempt to force Trump to fire his National Security Adviser, Michael Flynn, who had misled the nation about his ties with a Russian diplomat. (Snip)
That was not chaos. That was sabotage by the deep state and its seditious resistance. The leaks were illegal and impossible to fact-check.
A COVID Tyrant For President?
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When recently asked if he was going to run for president next year, California Gov. Gavin Newsom wouldn’t rule it out. This is no big news, since we’ve been hearing for some time that he will rescue the faltering Biden-Harris regime. But it is distressing. In addition to driving people from his state with policies that become more deranged with every passing year, Newsom was a malevolent pandemic warrior who should have been punished for his offenses. Voters deserve to know just how vicious he was – and that he remains unrepentant.
It would be hard to argue that any another state mistreated its citizens more than California.
New York Democrats are planning to distribute flyers at the US-Mexico border telling illegals to “consider another city.”
On Wednesday, Mayor Eric Adam’s office announced this plan to “combat misinformation at the border.”
The flyers will be in both Spanish and English and will warn the illegals that New York City is the most expensive city in the world so they will be better off somewhere else.
How interesting that a sanctuary city run by Democrats who have been all for illegal immigration is now troubled by the flood of illegal aliens. Leftist ideas sound compassionate coming from those Democrat leaders until it’s at their front door.
Eye on Politics: Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson
becomes a Republican, prompts backlash
and praise replies
becomes a Republican, prompts backlash
and praise replies
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson is facing calls to resign after he announced he's becoming a Republican. Some of Attorney General Ken Paxton's former top deputies say they'll keep pursuing their whistleblower lawsuit against the state. And a judge has declared the state's new law limiting drag shows unconstitutional.
Jack Fink breaks down these stories and more in the latest edition of Eye on Politics (original air date: Sept. 28).Days after Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson announced that he's becoming a Republican in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Dallas County Democratic Party Chair Kardel Coleman went to a City Council meeting and called on the mayor to resign.
Elon Musk has entered the chat regarding illegal immigration. The Tesla founder and billionaire entrepreneur decided to see first-hand what our own Julio Rosas, Katie Pavlich, and Guy Benson have witnessed: complete lawlessness at the southern border.
We have illegal aliens planting literal flags on our soil. The Border Patrol cannot do their jobs, hamstrung by the Biden administration. And, as you know, contrary to the lies Biden officials have said on the record, the border is not secure. Millions have poured into the country, some of whom have been on terror watch lists.
While prevalent it remains one of the most perplexing realities of our contemporary media complex; journalism outlets that exist under the 1st Amendment frequently engage in actions to limit free expression. It had been something that percolated subtly until the pandemic arrived, and then it almost became a contest to see which outlets could stifle the most narratives and questions regarding the outbreak and shutdowns.
Updated: What's Going on in Arizona? Here's
Why 4th in Line Had to Step in As 'Acting Governor' replies
Why 4th in Line Had to Step in As 'Acting Governor' replies
On Thursday, the Arizona Republic reported that Hobbs "was in Washington D.C. Wednesday for a meeting about border issues with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas following a week-long visit to Taiwan, an important Arizona trade ally. She flew back to the state Thursday to meet with President Joe Biden, who arrived Wednesday night for a visit that promoted his campaign messages."The report not only sought to address "an erroneous news report" from Fox News about Hobbs, which was later corrected, but sought to downplay the speculation about where Hobbs was. "Hobbs didn't disappear,"
Katie Hobbs is stepping down temporarily as governor of Arizona this evening, state treasurer Kimberly Yee has revealed.Yee, a Republican, will serve as acting governor until mid-morning on Friday. The reason has not been released and Hobbs has not commented on the move.
In a statement on X, formerly Twitter, Yee said she was "pleased to step into this role." Newsweek has reached out to the governor's office by email.The announcement has prompted intense speculation on social media, as well as mockery from the campaign of Kari Lake, the Republican who lost to Hobbs last November. Lake has refused to concede defeat and insists the election was rigged against her,
Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the ranking Democrat member of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, appeared to have a short memory Thursday when he argued Republicans should have a full floor vote before beginning an impeachment inquiry.
The Oversight Committee began its first impeachment inquiry hearing into President Joe Biden’s alleged public corruption and bribery concerning payments from overseas interests.
“We’ve had to slide awkwardly into a House impeachment process without the benefit of the floor vote that Speaker [Kevin] McCarthy insisted was absolutely imperative and necessary when Donald Trump was impeached,” Raskin said in his opening remarks.