The Daily Caller’s Bennie Johnson wanted to see for himself if former President Obama’s house in Washington, D.C. really has a ten foot wall. Here’s what he found out: – – – Photo “Barack Obama’s Home” by Daily Caller.
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U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY-14), who previously called for a furlough of Congressional salaries in response to the partial shutdown of the federal shutdown, apparently has not followed through and has even ducked a reporter’s question about it. The New York Post reported on Thursday that Oscasio-Cortez ran away when asked about her salary: “I’ve gotta run!” Ocasio-Cortez told The Post when asked the question Thursday on Capitol Hill. She then scampered down a crowded hallway to get in line for her mock swearing-in with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Her response stands in stark contrast with U.S. Rep. Dr. Mark Green (R-TN-07), who on Friday sent a letter U.S. House of Representative’s Chief Administrative Officer, Philip Kiko, requesting his salary be suspended until a deal is reached and the partial government shutdown ends, as The Tennessee Star reported. On Dec. 22, Ocasio-Cortez tweeted: Next time we have a gov shutdown, Congressional salaries should be furloughed as well. It’s completely unacceptable that members of Congress can force a government shutdown on partisan lines & then have Congressional salaries exempt from that decision. Have some integrity. https://t.co/BgueNNjf0f — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 22, 2018 On another Twitter post Dec. 22, in response…
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by Lloyd Billingsley “Shots fired!” radioed Newman, California, police officer Ronil Singh after pulling over a suspected drunk driver the day after Christmas. Those were the last words of Cpl. Singh, a legal immigrant from Fiji. His killer turned out to be someone who “doesn’t belong here,” as Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson said. “He is a criminal.” Outgoing California Governor Jerry Brown offered condolences to Singh’s family and said flags at the capitol would fly at half-staff in his honor. “Our hearts are with the entire community of Newman and law enforcement officers across the state who risk their lives every day to protect and serve the people of California,” Brown said. The governor mentioned nothing about the shooter, and neither did Attorney General Xavier Becerra. Considering the grandstanding and pandering of both politicians on immigration, both have good reasons to keep quiet. Gustavo Perez Arriaga—or whatever his real name is—has gang connections and two previous DUI arrests. As former New York mayor and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani told Fox News, the September 2017 Criminal Alien Gang Member Removal Act would have given authorities the ability to take immigration enforcement action against the shooter, even if he had…
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by Andrew Kerr House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats unveiled a bill Friday that would immediately restore voting rights to convicted felons nationwide. Convicted felons who have completed their prison sentences would have their voting rights restored, but those incarcerated at the time of an election would still be barred from voting. The bill would also mandate automatic voter registration nationwide. House Democrats unveiled details of a sweeping federal elections reform package Friday that, if enacted, would immediately restore voting rights to convicted felons who have completed their prison sentences nationwide. The bill, titled the “For the People Act,” would also mandate automatic voter registration nationwide for eligible voters that provide information to state government agencies such as the DMV. The act “makes automatic voter registration a mandate nationwide — not just in certain states or in certain counties — but nationwide,” Democratic Rep. John Lewis of Georgia said at a press conference announcing the bill Friday. “We must get there, and we will get there, as Democrats.” “It restores voting rights to felons who paid their debt to society,” Lewis added. .@HouseDemocrats are keeping our promise to the American people & unveiling #HR1, the #ForThePeople Act, a…
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by Jason Hopkins A significantly higher percentage of Americans listed immigration as an issue they hope the federal government will work to address in 2019. Forty-nine percent of Americans chose immigration as a top priority. The numbers are a far climb from the same poll in December 2017 in which only 27 percent of respondents singled out immigration as a top concern. Such an increase indicates President Donald Trump’s rhetoric on illegal immigration, and the battle in Congress, is grabbing the nation’s attention. The survey — conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research — asked respondents to choose which issues they hoped the government would solve in 2019, allowing them to pick up to five different categories. The “economy/economic issues” grabbed a commanding lead, with 62 percent of respondents listing it as a problem. “Immigration” tied with “health care” for second place. Unsurprisingly, the priority Americans take on immigration varies among partisan affiliation. Sixty-five percent of Republican respondents chose immigration as one of their top five concerns, whereas only 37 percent of Democrats did the same thing. However, both parties saw marked increases over the past year with 42 percent of Republicans and 20 percent of…
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by Jarret Stepman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is ready to tax the rich to make her Green New Deal a reality. “People are going to have to start paying their fair share in taxes,” the recently elected New York Democrat told TV show “60 Minutes” in an interview set to air Sunday. Speaking of prior decades’ taxation rates in the country, Ocasio-Cortez added, “Once you get to the tippy tops, on your 10 millionth dollar, sometimes you see tax rates as high as 60 or 70 percent.” '60 MINUTES' SUNDAY: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez suggests taxes as high as 70% on the wealthiest to pay for a "Green New Deal." "If that's what radical means, call me a radical," @AOC tells @AndersonCooper. pic.twitter.com/fcw2YtdeSD — Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) January 4, 2019 It shouldn’t be a surprise that the avowed “democratic socialist” went with the predictable “tax the rich” formula in order to pay for a massive government program to combat climate change. But it would hardly be good news for most Americans if Ocasio-Cortez got her way. In fact, such a scheme would mean that her constituents in New York City would pay a max income tax rate of 82.6 percent, as Americans…
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by Chris White Blue-dog Democratic lawmakers are wincing as the leaders of their party continue adopting measures that some believe could be perceived as anti-business in states dominated by Republicans. Democrats are haggling over how far to push climate change policies at a time when President Donald Trump is dominating American politics. Liberals are wanting to push the envelope, but moderate Democrats are blanching. Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas, who co-chairs the centrist Blue Dog Coalition, told reporters that he will talk with Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone, a New Jersey Democrat, about the direction and scale of climate legislation. Cuellar’s concerns come after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Thursday a new panel to address climate change. “We must … face the existential threat of our time: the climate crisis,” Pelosi, a California Democrat, said in her opening address to Congress. “The entire Congress must work to put an end to the inaction and denial of science that threaten the planet and the future.” The new panel is called the “Select Committee on the Climate Crisis” and focuses on ending fossil fuels. Cuellar is objecting. “We’ve got to find a way that we can accommodate our goals…
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The Supreme Court is plunging back into the issue of whether electoral districts can be too partisan. Disputes have arisen in cases involving North Carolina’s heavily Republican congressional map and a Democratic congressional district in Maryland, and the justices said Friday they will hear arguments in March. The high court could come out with the first limits on partisan politics in the drawing of electoral districts, but also could ultimately decide that federal judges have no role in trying to police political mapmaking. The court took up the issue of partisan gerrymandering last term in cases from Wisconsin and the same Maryland district, but the justices failed to reach a decision on limiting political line-drawing for political gain. No history for Kavanaugh Justice Anthony Kennedy had said he was open to limits. He has since retired, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh has taken Kennedy’s seat. He has no judicial record on the issue. The court again has taken one case in which Democrats are accused of unfairly limiting Republicans’ political power and one in which Republicans are the alleged culprits. The court also has the entire North Carolina congressional map before it, but only the one Maryland district. In both cases,…
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The 2020 race for the White House began in earnest Friday when Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) hosted multiple campaign rallies in Iowa, the first in the nation caucus state. On Saturday morning, Warren continued her campaign across the state, but was asked about her infamous DNA test during a Sioux City stop. “Why did you undergo the DNA testing and give Donald Trump more fodder to be a bully?” one Iowan in attendance asked Warren, who said she was “glad” the question was asked. “I genuinely am, and I’m glad for us to have a chance to talk about it. I am not a person of color. I am not a citizen of a tribe. Tribal citizenship is very different from ancestry. Tribes and only tribes determine tribal citizenship, and I respect that difference,” Warren acknowledged. “I’m just gonna put it all out there.” Senator Elizabeth Warren explains why she took a DNA test to determine her heritage #tictocnews pic.twitter.com/dqQTpRHeXw — Bloomberg Originals (@bbgoriginals) January 5, 2019 She explained that while growing up in Oklahoma she heard “the family stories of our ancestry,” and said that her claim to Native American ancestry was used against her when she first ran…
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Attorney General-elect Keith Ellison (D-MN) continued his statewide listening tour Thursday in North Minneapolis where he said his office will sue President Donald Trump if it has to. During the Minneapolis stop, Ellison began to outline his agenda for when he takes over as Minnesota attorney general next week. His agenda, as it stands, will be two-fold: ensuring economic equality and protecting civil liberties as defined by the Minnesota Human Rights Act. Ellison also said he plans to continue hosting listening sessions after he takes office and will adjust his agenda as he sees fit. “One of the things we’re going to do with the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office is we’re going to listen a lot. This is not just something we’re going to do leading up to the time that I actually get sworn in. We’re going to do it now, and we’re going to keep doing it,” he said, and went on to share how he’s “envisioning the priorities of [his] office.” “First of all, we’re here to do this listening session based on the priories that you’re going to help us set, but I’m telling you the reason I ran and gave up a congressional seat that…
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Minnesota State Rep.-elect Jay Xiong (D-St. Paul) hasn’t been sworn into office yet, but he’s already vowing to oppose the nation’s “vile president” and stand against “bigotry and racism, sexism and all other isms.” On Friday, Xiong released a statement discussing the actions of President Donald Trump as well as the 2020 census, which could cause significant changes to Minnesota’s congressional districting. Xiong pledged to support any Minnesota House bills that condemn “racist, sexist and hateful presidential executive orders,” such as H.R. 1—a resolution introduced by now Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) condemning Trump’s travel ban. “We stand united against a single idea that we all must fight til the end: hate. It is the vile bigotry and racism, sexism and all other isms that spew from the horrid mouth of an unqualified and unfit president,” Xiong said Friday. He claimed he will do his part at the Minnesota Capitol to oppose “hateful presidential executive orders which have one clear intention: to keep black and brown people out of the process, the polls, and the political and physical body politic of this country, which was founded on immigration.” https://twitter.com/RepJayXiong/status/1081159724710719488 In a subsequent tweet, Xiong mocked Republicans as “snowflakes” after they criticized…
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A group of faith leaders, whose politics lean left, want Republican Tennessee Attorney General Herb Slatery to back out of a lawsuit fighting Obamacare on behalf of state residents. Members of the Southern Christian Coalition made that clear at a press conference last week at Legislative Plaza in Nashville, according to The Tennessee Tribune. “The immorality of this lawsuit still stands. It is an affront to our call as a follower of a loving and compromising God. For 30 years before I became a pastor, I practiced nursing. I know what happens when health care coverage is not there,” said the Rev. Morgan Gordy of Christ Lutheran Church in Nashville. Minister Kelli X of The Village Church in Nashville also spoke at the press conference, the website reported. As The Tennessee Star reported last month, a federal judge in Texas recently ruled Obamacare is constitutionally flawed because the lawsuit Slatery participated in alongside several other state attorneys general. In 2012 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the individual mandate is allowed because the government enforces it through a tax penalty. As TNJ: On the Hill reported last year, though, Republican attorneys general in 20 states filed a new lawsuit, this one in Texas, asking courts to…
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