Posts on Wednesday, May 8, 2024
President Joe Biden stubbornly refused to admit Americans' struggles with inflation might cost him the election in a rare interview Wednesday.
A growing economy could inspire confidence in Biden's leadership ahead of the election, but the issue of persistent inflation could ruin that.
Biden, who was in Wisconsin to tout his record on the economy and to announce an investment by Microsoft to build a factory, defended his handling of inflation.
Polls show voters are nervous and critical of Biden's handling of the economy and anchor Erin Burnett reminded him that grocery prices are up 30 percent.
But Biden, in his interview with CNN, claimed the polls are wrong
The Spanish word for audacity is "audacia." Perhaps the municipal officials in Denver, Colorado should practice using that language. After struggling for more than a year to shelter and feed the army of illegal migrants that have flooded into the city, Denver finally began imposing some limits on how long people could stay in the municipal intake shelters. This angered some of the migrants who were forced to leave the shelters and a group of them set up an encampment on public property as the spring weather began to improve. The encampment is located under an overpass near the railroad tracks. The Mayor's office repeatedly requested
I'm really fascinated by this question. Why is it that social surveys routinely show conservatives are more happy than progressives? Today Thomas Edsall has an opinion piece in the NY Times which looks at some of the research on this question. And what he finds is that there may in fact be a depressive aspect to modern progressivism, one that is being driven by identity politics and the spreading fixation on social justice.
The happiness gap has been with us for at least 50 years, and most research seeking to explain it has focused on conservatives. More recently, however, psychologists and other social scientists have begun to dig
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Wednesday that he would not supply offensive weapons that Israel could use to launch an all-out assault on Rafah — the last major Hamas stronghold in Gaza — over concern for the well-being of the more than 1 million civilians sheltering there.
Biden, in an interview with CNN, said the U.S. was still committed to Israel’s defense and would supply Iron Dome rocket interceptors and other defensive arms, but that if Israel goes into Rafah, “we’re not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells used.”
The U.S. has historically provided enormous amounts of military aid to Israel. That has only
During a portion of an interview with CNN set to air on Wednesday’s broadcast of “OutFront” that was aired on Wednesday’s broadcast of “The Lead,” President Joe Biden stated that no one has ever “had the run we’ve had in terms of creating jobs and bringing down inflation. It was 9% when I came into office, 9%.” But people are right to be concerned about greed from corporations.
Biden said, “[N]o president’s had the run we’ve had in terms of creating jobs and bringing down inflation. It was 9% when I came into office, 9%. But it — look, people have a right to be concerned, ordinary people.
Joe Biden on Wednesday traveled to Wisconsin to brag about his dumpster fire economy and a $3 billion investment from Microsoft in a new AI data center.
After trashing Trump during his disastrous speech at Gateway Technical College in Sturtevant, Biden made a brief campaign stop to speak with ‘supporters’ in Racine.
81 million vote recipient Joe Biden spoke to a few dozen ‘supporters’ in Racine before taking off to Chicago for a private, closed-door fundraiser.
Biden trashed Trump as he mumbled through remarks in a small venue full of hostages ‘supporters’ (the room was full of mainly media, staffers and Secret Service).
Governor Brian Kemp made a significant move on Tuesday by signing three pivotal pieces of legislation that aim to reshape Georgia’s election procedures in preparation for the 2024 presidential elections.
The new legislation, House Bill 974, House Bill 1207, and Senate Bill 189, aims to enhance ballot security, voter eligibility verification, and auditing protocols in the battleground state.
House Bill 974, amends election procedures in Georgia primarily concerning the security and auditing of ballots. Here are the key provisions of the bill:
Ballot Security: It mandates that ballots used in optical scan voting systems and ballot marking devices be printed on paper with a visible watermark security feature.
Eleven Republicans in the House of Representatives voted against the motion to table Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-GA) motion to vacate, ousting Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) from his position.
Reps. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Eric Burlison (R-MO), Eli Crane (R-AZ), Warren Davidson (R-OH), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Thomas Massie (R-KY), Alex Mooney (R-WV), Barry Moore (R-AL), Chip Roy (R-TX), Victoria Spartz (R-IN), along with Greene, were the Republicans who voted against tabling the motion to vacate.
The vote was 359-43, with seven members of the House voting present. (X) Greene’s motion to vacate came after she filed a motion to vacate Johnson from his position as speaker of the House in March.
He has grown up behind a wall of secrecy because of his mom Melania's dogged determination to shield him from the public glare.
But Donald Trump's youngest son Barron, 18, has quietly blossomed into an engaging young man who has leading conservatives purring over his charm and political acumen, DailyMail.com can reveal.
Sources tell us the strapping 6ft 7in teen who has never uttered a word in public is nonetheless a steadfast supporter of the Trump 2024 campaign behind the scenes.And – perhaps more ominously for the former President's Democratic opponents – he's also expressed an interest in following in his 77-year-old father's footsteps.
House votes overwhelmingly to save Speaker
Johnson from Marjorie Taylor Greene's
push to oust him replies
Johnson from Marjorie Taylor Greene's
push to oust him replies
WASHINGTON — Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and his allies beat back a dramatic effort by far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to oust him from power on Wednesday, ending — for now — months of threats against his speakership.
The lopsided vote to "table" or kill Greene's motion to vacate the speaker's chair was 359-43. Just 10 Republicans voted with Greene, seven Democrats voted present. There were 196 Republicans and 163 Democrats who voted to kill Greene's motion; along with the 11 Republicans, 32 Democrats voted to move forward with her motion to oust Johnson. The vote came after weeks of threats from Greene
Kim Gardner, a former St. Louis prosecutor who was backed by George Soros, is missing. The list of allegations against Gardner is long.
Authorities are trying to find her because of the ongoing investigation and also to serve her subpoenas, but she has vanished.
Unless something has happened to her, she must be in hiding. How else can her disappearance be explained?
From the Associated Press:
Auditors can’t locate former St. Louis circuit attorney to complete state audit
A state examination of the office that handles criminal prosecutions in St. Louis is being delayed because auditors can’t find former Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner,
Billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller on Tuesday blasted the Treasury and Federal Reserve for failing to slow inflation and said his overall grade of "Bidenomics" would be "F" during an interview Tuesday morning on CNBC's "Squawk Box."
"I think it’s dumb politically because it’s causing inflation and it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the average American is getting hurt by the inflation," he said.
"It seemed to me the Fed was in a perfect position. Inflation was coming down, financial conditions were tightening... To some extent, I feel like they fumbled on the five-yard line."
"Bidenomics, If I was a professor, I’d give him an F," he said.
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), a vulnerable incumbent running for reelection against Republican nominee Bernie Moreno, has been aligning himself with President Joe Biden and his politics. It may not be the smartest move, given how Ohio has become increasingly red, and the incumbent president being such an unpopular figure there. While speaking to WKYC's Stephanie Haney on the "3 Things to Know" podcast just days before Biden was inaugurated in January 2021, in comments that have recently resurfaced,
President Trump on Wednesday posted a new complaint on Truth Social against the Democrat Biden-linked attorneys who are holding him in court on bogus lawfare charges to prevent him from campaigning for president.
This is unlike anything we’ve ever seen in US history.
The Democrats are not only attempting to destroy Trump’s reputation and ruin him financially, they are wasting his time so he cannot speak to the people of America.
And the fake news legacy media outlets are ALL supporting this historic abuse.
Several dozen young people wearing light blue T-shirts imprinted with #teachclimate filled a hearing room in the Minnesota Capitol in St. Paul in late February. It was a cold and windy day, in contrast to the state’s nearly snowless, warm winter. (snip)
“What was said to me is: ‘Why are we pushing a political perspective, a political agenda?’” Minnesota Rep. Ben Bakeberg, a Republican,
Stormy Daniels’s testimony on Tuesday was such an absolute disaster that even CNN was forced to admit it.
CNN legal analyst Elie Honig said that, although Daniels’ testimony about a sexual encounter with Trump in a hotel room in 2006 was “plausible,” her responses while under cross-examination by Trump’s legal team called her credibility into question.
Referring to the moment Daniels admitted she hates President Trump, Honig said, “Her responses were disastrous.”
Adding, “That’s a big deal.”
Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL) isn’t the best on Second Amendment rights. He supports a ban on so-called assault weapons, which wasn’t the best of developments a few years ago. That’s not what we’re talking about right now. As we speak, Israeli forces have begun the initial stages of the operation to eradicate Hamas from Rafah, their last stronghold in Gaza. It’s an operation that Joe Biden opposes, not that the Israelis care—they will get this done.
And the usual suspects, like Code Pink, have maintained their campaign of harassment as if they’ll ever get the votes to stop aid and arms to the Jewish state.
From Springfield, Illinois comes ‘news’
meant to scare people into capitulating
to ‘green’ communism replies
meant to scare people into capitulating
to ‘green’ communism replies
I live in Springfield, Illinois, and last week I woke up to the following article from a local outlet:
New report finds air quality in Springfield, surrounding areas is getting worse
Taking in a deep breath of fresh spring air may have long-term drawbacks according to the American Lung Association, [snip]
The American Lung Association’s annual ‘State of the Air’ report grades exposure to unhealthy levels of particle pollution over a three-year period in different forms. Particulate matter air pollution, also known as PM2.5, comes from wildfires, wood-burning stoves, coal-fired power plants, diesel engines and other sources.
The Chinese are imposing a kind of sanction on us. They don't officially declare it, but they are delaying shipments to Israel.... In electronic products, there are tens of thousands of components, but if even one component doesn't arrive, we cannot deliver the product." — Unnamed senior figure in a factory, Ynet, December 24, 2023.
Also immensely disturbing is that "massive" amounts of advanced Chinese military equipment were found in Gaza by the IDF during its military operations there.
"[I]f you set up systems with technology for critical infrastructure, like electricity, energy, water, transport, these are tied to one another. One can be used to bring the other down." — Harel Manshari,
Rarely is a presidential candidate on a glide path to the White House, with unexpected developments known for derailing momentum.
While President Biden and former President Trump easily secured the delegates necessary to clinch their respective parties’ nominations, and the race has largely proceeded as anticipated, a game-changing situation — or two — could upend the race in the six months before November’s election.Several issues are already simmering, from global crises the White House is managing to Trump’s legal troubles.
Here are five possible twists that could shake up the presidential race in the coming months.
The teenager who was gunned down outside a swanky Soho hotel by a Citi Bike-riding gunman in a brazen daylight attack has been identified.
Mahki Brown, 16, died after being shot in the head opposite the Dominick Hotel on Spring Street shortly before 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, police said.
The teen, who lived in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, was rushed to Bellevue Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, cops added.
The shooting, which occurred opposite the Chelsea Career and Technical Education High School, may have been school-related, law enforcement sources said.
Growing up in San Bernardino, California in the 1980s was an experience that shaped me in many ways. One of the highlights of those years was playing high school football, and one of our fiercest rivals was Fontana High School. Fontana was known for having one of the toughest football teams in San Bernardino County, and our games against them were always intense and hard-fought.
But Fontana was more than just a football rival. It was a town with a long and proud history of steel production. The Kaiser steel production facility, a major employer in the area, closed its doors in 1983.
As police finally clear the anti-Israel encampment at the University of Chicago, and Northwestern University appeases its protesting occupiers, the Democratic National Convention set for August in the Windy City ticks ever closer.
Unsatiated protesters may have been cleared from some of their camps at college campuses, but the more lucrative target of national Democrats’ gathering to renominate President Joe Biden has many worried that the protests may only be getting started.
Although the two Chicago universities caved weakly to the strange demands of the anti-Israel protesters, Biden has not been well-received by the pro-Hamas youth.
Former Stormy Daniels attorney and convicted felon Michael Avenatti on Tuesday accused the porn star of engaging in “falsification of business records, wire fraud, and fraudulent transfers” to defraud former President Donald Trump out of money she allegedly received from a documentary. Avenatti’s shocking statement, released from behind bars, came as his former client took the stand to testify against Trump in his business records trial on Tuesday, in which Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsification of business records – the same charge Avenatti accuses Daniels of.
Biden’s Electric-Vehicle Hustle
replies
Joe Biden never said, “If you like your gas-powered car, you can keep your gas-powered car,” in the manner of his former boss dissembling to the American people about doctors and Obamacare. Instead, candidate Biden said the quiet part out loud to a CNN town hall in 2019. We need to “get internal-combustion-engine vehicles off the road,” he said. Once in office, he followed through with executive orders and policy changes that aimed to do just that. The White House proposed strict carbon dioxide emissions rules that would force carmakers to slash production of gas-powered vehicles over the next few years.
Will Argentina Save The West?
replies
That’s not a headline I ever expected to write, even in satire. But the current experiment in Argentina, under the presidency of Javier Milei, is perhaps grounds for hope that at some point when things get so bad, voters return to their senses. (I’m looking at you, California and Minnesota.) He may not succeed, but the attempt is certainly inspiring.
Milei gave a speech a few days ago at the Milken Institute’s annual conference. Here are some of the best parts:
For a man who has never been shy about sharing his sanctimonious opinions, former President Barack Obama has been noticeably quiet about anti-Israel anarchists’ takeover of U.S. college campuses.
On Monday, Columbia University — Obama’s alma mater — announced it will not host its university-wide commencement ceremony for this year’s graduating class. That appears to be a response to the pro-Hamas demonstrations that have engulfed the school for weeks. The announcement came days after the university (finally) permitted law enforcement to arrest participants unlawfully occupying a school building.
Whenever things don't go his way in life, Donald Trump has a tendency to rail against the "unfairness" of a "rigged" system. Sometimes, that's bruised-ego blame-shift and childish self-pity. Sometimes, he's right. The disgraceful, politically-motivated case against him in New York City falls into the latter category. The legal theory, if you can call it that, behind Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's prosecution involves resuscitating lapsed, possible misdemeanors related to bookkeeping categorizations of (totally legal) 'hush money' payments. In order to bypass a pesky 'expired statute of limitations' problem, and to escalate the alleged offenses into dozens of felonies, Bragg says the bookkeeping scheme
CNN legal analyst Elie Honig said that the cross-examination of adult film actress and Trump trial witness Stormy Daniels after her testimony against former President Trump was a disaster. While Honig said that Daniels' testimony about a sexual encounter with Trump in a hotel room in 2006 was "plausible," her responses under cross-examination by Trump's team called her credibility into question.
"Her responses were disastrous," Honig said, referring to the moment when Daniels admitted that she hates Trump. "That’s a big deal," Honig said.
The Georgia Court of Appeals has agreed to review the decision a trial court judge issued that allowed Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to stay on the high-profile case against former President Donald Trump so long as she took a special prosecutor off the case to avoid the appearance of impropriety.
“Upon consideration of the Application for Interlocutory Appeal, it is ordered that it be hereby GRANTED,” reads the May 8 order.
President Trump and eight codefendants that sought review will have 10 days to file their appeal.
What Energy Transition?
replies
The press, and many politicians, constantly assure us that the world is in the midst of a transition from fossil fuels to “green” energy, which means wind turbines, solar panels, and mostly fictitious batteries. But is any such transition actually in progress? No. Robert Bryce has the numbers.
No such transition is taking place in the U.S.; on the contrary, last year natural gas-fired electricity generation increased 9.5 times as much as wind and solar combined: (Chart) But that’s nothing! The U.S. is rich enough to waste absurd amounts of money on pitifully inadequate wind and solar developments. Less developed countries can’t afford to be that stupid.
If you thought the Manhattan criminal trial of former President Donald Trump couldn’t devolve into more ridiculousness, it did on Tuesday. The folly of DA Alvin Bragg’s prosecution was further exposed when the notorious ex-porn star, Stormy Daniels, sashayed to the witness stand. Not unexpectedly, she offered a tutorial on her notorious vocation —sex.
Her real name is Stephanie Clifford, but her nom de plume is what made her famous in the underworld of adult erotica. In court, she confirmed starring in "40-Year-Old Virgin" and "Knocked Up." That may have been titillating, but was there really a point? Like most of her testimony, no. Let’s review.
The Biden administration paused the shipment of thousands of bombs to Israel last week because of its concerns about an Israeli invasion of Rafah, the last remaining Hamas stronghold in the Gaza Strip.
The shipment was meant to transfer 3,500 bombs to Israel, which the United States halted over worries about the larger munitions in the package being used in an urban setting, an anonymous administration official told the Associated Press. U.S. officials were concerned about how the 500-pound and 2,000-pound bombs could be used in a dense urban setting. The pause marks the first time the U.S. has publicly held up military aid to Israel since the October 7
Before the start of the Manhattan prosecution of former president Donald Trump, I characterized the case of District Attorney Alvin Bragg as based on a type of obscenity standard.
In a 1984 pornography case, Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart wrote “I shall not today attempt further to define [obscenity]. . . . But I know it when I see it.”
Bragg has refused to clearly define the crime that Trump was seeking to conceal when payments for a non-disclosure agreement werex listed as a legal expense. We would just know it when we saw it at trial.
We are still waiting, but this week, Bragg seems to be prosecuting an actual obscenity case.
President Joe Biden has a tenuous lead over lawfare-challenged former President Donald Trump, but continues to show weakness among key voting groups that he needs to win a second term in office, the latest numbers from the May I&I/TIPP Poll show.
The national online I&I/TIPP Poll, taken from May 1-3, included 1,264 responses to a number of questions about the upcoming 2024 presidential election. The poll’s margin of error is +/-2.8 percentage points.
Our main question was to ask registered voters about a straight, head-to-head matchup between Biden and Trump. More specifically, voters were asked to choose among Biden, Trump, “not sure” “other” and “prefer not to answer” as possible responses.
Has the Supreme Court noticed that we’ve crossed a legal Rubicon? The Constitution — that thing the Court is supposed to defend — is becoming less relevant by the day because the left has decided that our mutual pact of self-governance doesn’t apply to leftists. They have weaponized our government against us — using it to surveil, silence, harass, and steal from us. Our own government is even arguing that the Constitution should not be a constraint on its operations — which is precisely what its purpose is. Are the Supreme Court Justices beginning to realize that we are in crisis? Two recent cases indicate
Joe Biden has committed his umpteenth impeachable offense. According to reports, the Biden administration has halted multiple arms shipments to Israel. That decision comes amid a domestic political crisis for the president in which he is desperately seeking to appease Hamas-supporting Democrats who have taken to the streets. The shipments are Boeing-made precision bombs and follow a ruse by Hamas to claim they had accepted a "ceasefire" just as Israel began its assault on Rafah. (X) In other words, Biden just committed an impeachable offense. Congress appropriated that aid to Israel. He doesn't get to delay it in an attempt to smooth over his political misfortunes at home.
Fox News legal analyst Jonathan Turley said Tuesday on Fox News Channel’s America Reports that Judge Juan Merchan lost control of the courtroom during Stormy Daniels testimony at former President Donald Trump’s New York business records trial.
Turley said:
You know, the statement of the judge, that he’s surprised there isn’t a higher number of objections from the defense is baffling. The defense objected to putting her on the stand. They then objected to the scope of the questioning, and now the judge sounds like Claude Rains saying I’m shocked, shocked there’s a porn star in my courtroom.
A Boeing 767 cargo plane has crashed upon landing in Turkey this morning after its landing gear failed when it came into land.
The flight, operated by American postal service FedEx, took off from Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport early this morning and was headed for Istanbul when the pilot realised the landing gear was malfunctioning.
Shocking footage showed the moment the plane attempted an emergency landing, smashing down into the runway and scraping its nose along the concrete.
Key Biden agency slapped with historic
subpoenas over 'improper' swing state
voter registration push replies
subpoenas over 'improper' swing state
voter registration push replies
FIRST ON FOX: The House Committee on Small Business subpoenaed the Small Business Administration on Tuesday over what it says is a lack of transparency on alleged efforts by the Biden administration to funnel resources to a key swing state to register voters in a move they say could be unconstitutional.
On Tuesday, the committee subpoenaed SBA Chief of Staff Arthur Plews and his special adviser, Tyler Robinson, after they are said to have been no-shows at scheduled transcribed interviews with the committee and failed to turn over documents related to a program that is allegedly "diverting its resources away from assisting Main Street so it can register Democrat voters"
Steward Health Care has put all 31 of its hospitals up for sale, after filing for bankruptcy on Monday.
The largest private hospital chain in the US hopes to finalize all transactions by the end of the summer to address $9 billion in debt, its attorneys said at a Tuesday court hearing in Texas.
Steward, which runs hospitals in eight states, hopes to keep all hospitals open in the long term, attorney Ray Schrock said.'Our goal remains that there are zero hospitals closed on our watch,' he said. 'There's going to be a change in ownership in many hospitals, we recognize that.
Judge Juan Merchan allowed porn performer Stormy Daniels to babble on at length about her alleged affair with Donald Trump, including salacious details that would seem to have little relevance to whether the former president falsified business records, which is what Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg's prosecution is allegedly about.
It became so ridiculous that jurors reportedly had trouble keeping straight faces and were even smirking. Although Merchan refused to call a mistrial Tuesday as requested by the Trump team, even he admitted that too much irrelevant information was allowed and that the witness, Daniels, was “difficult to control.”
“There are some things that would have been better left unsaid,"
We've seen some troubling polls for Joe Biden and some good news for former President Donald Trump.
Perhaps the most astonishing numbers we've seen lately have been the Rasmussen poll that says Joe Biden appears to have lost perhaps the last bastion he needed to hold onto: women. That poll had Trump up 10 points generally and 11 with women. Now, I said that might be an outlier poll that we'd have to see. But if it was anywhere close to being true, that should be setting off big alarm bells to Biden. Now our sister site Townhall's Guy Benson is pointing to more data that just shows