Month: January 2019

Federal Court Refused To Unseal Documents Justifying FBI Raid On Reported Clinton Foundation Whistleblower

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by Richard Pollack   A federal court refused to unseal government documents that permitted the FBI to raid the home of a reportedly recognized whistleblower who, according to his lawyer, delivered documents pertaining to the Clinton Foundation and Uranium One to a presidentially appointed watchdog. The U.S. District Court of Maryland’s Chief Magistrate Judge Beth P. Gesner, a Clinton appointee, also sealed her justification for keeping the documents secret in a single-page Dec. 20 order. On Nov. 15, federal Magistrate Judge Stephanie Gallagher authorized the raid on Nathan Dennis Cain’s Union Bridge, Maryland, home. She sealed the government documents justifying it. The Daily Caller News Foundation asked Gallagher on Nov. 29 to unseal the documents, noting that Cain’s attorney has said his client, a former employee of an FBI contractor, is a recognized whistleblower. The documents should be released in light of “an urgent public interest” surrounding the case, TheDCNF wrote. Attorneys and experts who defend government whistleblowers told TheDCNF the court should disclose whether prosecutors told Gallagher that Cain (pictured above) was a protected whistleblower under the Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act. Cain enjoyed his whistleblower status as early as last summer when he handed over documents to Department of Justice Inspector…

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Report: North Carolina Charter Schools Outperform Traditional Counterparts

A.P. Dillon

A recent report given to state lawmakers shows that overall North Carolina charter schools are outperforming their traditional counterparts. The report also shows that North Carolina charters are in high demand and are also attracting more economically disadvantaged and minority students. Except for high school math, subgroups in charter schools performed better than non-charters in English/LA, Elementary and Middle Math, and Science,” Rhonda Dillingham, Executive Director of the NC Association for Public Charter Schools told Battleground State News. When North Carolina opened the legislative door to public charter schools back in the late 1990s, there were just a little over 4,000 students enrolled in charter schools. In 2012, there were just over 45,200 students in 100 charter schools across the state. Five years later, there were roughly 168 charter schools serving around 91,800 students. Now, North Carolina currently has 184 charters operating in the state which enroll more than 109,000 students or 7.3 percent of state’s total average daily membership. And the demand for charter schools is high. There are roughly 55,000 students on charter school waiting lists according to a presentation given to the State Board of Education by David Machado, Director of the Office of Charter Schools. Thirty-five…

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Buckeye Institute Legal Fellow to Lead Ohio Task Force to Fix ‘Broken’ Prison Bail System

Andrew Shirley

Friday, the Buckeye Institute announced that Daniel J. Dew, a legal fellow with the institute, would lead an Ohio Supreme Court Task Force, focused on reforming the bail system throughout Ohio. Dew has done some of the most extensive research and analysis on the state’s current bail system and his findings are rather shocking. He notes; The traditional cash bail system allows accused murderers, child rapists, armed robbers, and dangerous gang members to be arrested and released into our communities to await trial. Meanwhile, otherwise law-abiding, harmless citizens sit in jail for days, weeks, or even months for drunken jaywalking, violating dress-codes, or failing to pay traffic tickets. These absurd incongruities stem from a pretrial release system rooted in money rather than a careful, scientific assessment of the risks that the accused pose to our neighborhoods. One of the most tragic examples featured in his work; “Money Bail: Making Ohio a More Dangerous Place to Live,” tells the story of Dragan Sekulic. In 2015, he was charged with domestic violence, “felonious assault, domestic violence, and, and operating a vehicle while intoxicated,” all directed at his ex-wife. After posting a $100,000 bond, he left jail as a free man until his trial. He…

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Ilhan Omar Politicizes Holocaust Remembrance Day to Condemn ‘Right-Wing Extremism’

Anthony Gockowski

Sunday marked the 74th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) took the opportunity to condemn the rise of “anti-Semitic” ideology in America. “Today we remember the murder of 17 million people, including 6 million Jews at the hands of the Nazis,” Omar wrote. “With the rise of anti-Semitic and neo-Nazi ideology, it’s more important than ever we learn from the atrocities of the past and commit to fighting intolerance.” Today #WeRemember the murder of 17 million people, including 6 million Jews at the hands of the Nazis. With the rise of Anti-Semitic and Neo-Nazi ideology, it's more important than ever we learn from the atrocities of the past & commit to fighting intolerance. #HolocaustMemorial https://t.co/8jpJ8olBaD — Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) January 27, 2019 Omar, of course, has been repeatedly accused of anti-Semitism, most notably for her tweet in which she claimed that Israel has “hypnotized the world,” but also for her support of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement, and her ties to anti-Semite Linda Sarsour. As Daily Wire senior editor Emily Zanotti pointed out, Omar’s Sunday tweet was actually a “really clever minimization of Jewish suffering in the Holocaust.” “10 million died in the…

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North Carolina’s Lt. Governor Dan Forest Announces 2020 Gubernatorial Exploratory Committee

A.P. Dillon

One of the most anticipated announcements in North Carolina politics is on the path to becoming a reality.  According to a video released Monday, North Carolina Lt. Governor Dan Forest is officially looking at a run for Governor in 2020. The Facebook video, released on Forest’s campaign page, announces the formation of an exploratory committee for the North Carolina Governorship in 2020. The announcement was also posted to the club section of Forest’s campaign website. When asked about the themes in his announcement video, Lt. Governor Forest tells Battleground State News that given the vitriol going on in politics today, we need ‘something to rally around’. “We need something that’s going to bring all North Carolinians together and stop this ludicrous identity politics that pits every group against another group,” said Forest. “I don’t think that’s what the majority of North Carolinians believe by any means,” Forest said. “I think there is an opportunity for change. I think good leadership can do that.” Forest said he believes the state can benefit from someone who has a background in business, can envision a better future for the people and set a positive tone for what we want North Carolina to be. “I think…

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Tennessee Independent Baptists for Religious Liberty Identifies General Assembly Bills to Watch

Jason M. Reynolds

A Tennessee Independent Baptist lobbyist group has compiled a list of state legislative bills that may be of interest to its individual church members. The Tennessee Independent Baptists for Religious Liberty issued the list in an email newsletter Monday for Tennessee General Assembly bills. Some earned the organization’s approval, all filed by Republicans, while more earned disapproval – most, but not all, were filed by Democrats. The Tennessee Independent Baptists for Religious Liberty’s website is here. The organization was formed in 2016 and is supported by autonomous churches around the state. Bills receiving the organization’s approval, by topic, include: ABORTION HB0077   Rep. James (Micah) Van Huss (R-TN-06) Prohibits abortions from the point a fetal heartbeat is detected; requires fetal heartbeat testing prior to an abortion; creates exceptions. HB0078 Rep. James (Micah) Van Huss (R-TN-06) Increases by $500 the minimum fine imposed for a first or second violation of the requirement that a physician who reports suspected sexual abuse due to being requested to perform an abortion on a minor include in that report information regarding the sampling and preservation of embryonic or fetal tissue; increased fine amounts will be $1,000 and $1,500 respectively. (Another bill receiving the group’s support, HB0014, to…

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New Bypass Helps People Avoid High Crime Memphis

Chris Butler

If you’re a Tennessee resident driving to Mississippi or Arkansas on Interstate 40 and you desperately want to avoid Memphis and its high crime and sanctuary policies then you have an option to do just that. If you’re heading westbound on I-40 toward Memphis you can connect with the new Interstate 269 at Arlington and head south to connect to Hernando, Miss. From there you can continue west toward Arkansas or go further south into Mississippi. I-269 only goes for about three miles in Tennessee before it crosses the state line into Mississippi, said Tennessee Department of Transportation spokeswoman B.J. Doughty, in an email. Doughty told The Tennessee Star that the route opened in the fall of 2015. But The Star noticed GPS systems such as Waze and the iPhone Maps app only recently began suggesting the route as a way around Memphis. “The cost of the 2.9 mile section from Mississippi to SR 385 cost $42,654,646.01,” Doughty said. “This project cost was split – 20% state and 80% federal.” According to the Hernando, Miss.-based DeSoto Times-Tribune this month, construction crews completed the portion of the I-269 project, apparently in Mississippi, last fall. “The new interstate connects Tennessee’s State Route…

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Commentary: The Census Fight Is About Dollars and Votes

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by Rachael Bovard   While the national debate continues over how secure our border will be, another aspect of illegal immigration continues to snake its way through the courts. In 2017, the Trump Administration added a question about citizenship to the upcoming 2020 census; simply, “Is this person a citizen of the United States?” Predictably, the administration was besieged by lawsuits from the Left, calling such a question unconstitutional, illegal, “a direct attack on our constitutional democracy,” and predicting it would “inject fear and distrust into vulnerable communities.” Never mind that questions about citizenship appeared on every long form census from 1820 to 1950. On the short form census, questions about citizenship were asked through 2000, and continue to be asked on the American Community Survey, which goes out to one in 38 households annually (go figure, the Left has not raised ire about the citizenship question on the ACS). Moreover, countries around the world, including Australia, Germany, and Canada, ask about citizenship—maybe because the United Nations recommends it. Also glossed over in the foamy outrage on the Left is the rank and hypocritical irony that census documents ask about race, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, homeownership status, electricity bills, job status, age, and even the number of toilets in each house—but…

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Leaders Skip Davos Amid Domestic Troubles, Anti-Globalist Backlash

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The World Economic Forum summit in Davos, Switzerland, that wrapped up Friday, had some notable absentees, including President Donald Trump. With a backlash against a perceived ruling elite gaining ground in many countries, analysts say some leaderssteeredclear of a gathering often seen as an inaccessible club for the world’s super-rich. Others argue it is vital they get together to discuss urgent issues like climate change and world trade. On the surface, though, it was business as usual: On a sealed off, snowbound mountaintop, world leaders rubbed shoulders with global executives, lobbyists and pressure groups. It remains a vital gathering of global decision-makers, said Leslie Vinjamuri, head of the U.S. and the Americas Program at policy group Chatham House. “They’re there to do business, they’re there to engage in an exchange of ideas. And so I think it’s still tremendously important.” President Trump stayed away because of the partial U.S. government shutdown, which ended Friday. China’s President Xi Jinping wasn’t there, neither was Britain’s Theresa May, nor France’s President Emmanuel Macron. “They’re tremendously preoccupied with the troubles they face at home, which isn’t a good sign for globalism. The criticism and the critique that surrounds Davos is extraordinary. People say, ‘You…

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Trump Donated $100,000 of His Salary to Help Fund Alcoholism Research

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by Jason Hopkins   President Donald Trump has donated $100,000 of his salary to the federal agency that manages research on alcohol and alcohol related issues. The sizable donation — which was the president’s third quarter salary of 2018 — was given to National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), the White House revealed. The NIAA “conducts research on the impact of alcohol use on human health and well-being” and serves as “the largest funder of alcohol research in the world,” according to the organization’s website. The research agency was just the latest recipient of Trump’s presidential salary. As a 2016 candidate, the billionaire real estate mogul pledged not to accept a salary if elected president. Trump, who by law must be compensated, has followed through on this promise by giving away his $400,000 annual government income to various federal departments every quarter. Since occupying the White House, Trump has donated to the National Park Service, Department of Transportation, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Small Business Administration and other agencies. Herbert Hoover and John F. Kennedy are the only other U.S. presidents to refuse a salary while in office. The most recent donation is a personal issue for the president. Trump’s brother, Fred Trump Jr.,…

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Al Gore, UN Officials Team Up To Push A ‘New Deal For Nature’

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Tennessee Star

by Michael Bastach   United Nations has joined forces with former Vice President Al Gore to promote a sweeping environmental agenda that seems all to familiar: a “New Deal For Nature.” The U.N. is calling for a “New Deal For Nature” ahead of a biodiversity summit next year where some sort of global compact is expected to be agreed to, that is, if environmentalists get their wish. This newest New Deal got a boost at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland at a dinner co-hosted with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The dinner featured a rousing speech by Gore as guests ate their meals. “I refuse to believe that we are the generation who willingly and passively allowed the destruction of the world on our watch! Who is with me?” Gore said at the Thursday evening dinner. Environmentalists with Conservation International say such a New Deal is “essential for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement” to fight global warming. At its heart, however, this New Deal is a call back to warnings that underpinned “population bomb” fears, that humanity was sucking up Earth’s natural resources faster than they could be replenished. Those warnings fell flat as global population, food production and…

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A Possible Independent Presidential Run by Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz Is Leaving Democrats on Edge

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Howard Schultz

by Jason Hopkins   Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz’s open consideration of an independent, third-party bid for the White House has numerous Democratic political operatives and candidates sounding the alarm. “I have a concern that if he did run, that essentially, it would provide [President] Donald Trump with his best hope of getting re-elected,” Julian Castro — a former Housing and Urban Development secretary under the Obama administration and a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate himself — said Sunday when asked by CNN about Schultz’s possible run. “I would suggest to Mr. Schultz to truly think about the negative impact that that might make.” The Texas Democrat is far from the only one to allege that a third-party bid from Schultz would ultimately split progressive and moderate voters, paving the way for Trump to secure a second term. “.@HowardSchultz running for POTUS as an independent would put the froth on @realDonaldTrump’s Cinnamon Dolce Latte, splitting the opposition and making Trump’s low ceiling potentially high enough,” David Axelrod, former President Barack Obama’s campaign manager, tweeted on Jan. 21. .@HowardSchultz running for POTUS as an independent would put the froth on @realDonaldTrump ‘s Cinnamon Dolce Latte, splitting the opposition and making Trump’s low ceiling potentially high enough.https://t.co/O6HsJAL8sP — David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod)…

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Commentary: Who Owns America?

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by Pedro Gonzales   Anywhere from 11 million to 22 million illegal aliens reside in the United States today. The most recent research suggests that the higher number is closest to the correct figure. In and of itself, that is a crisis. New arrivals – legal and illegal – come to America all the time. Two-thirds of these, Steven W. Mosher writes, use food stamps and other forms of state-administered assistance, such as public housing, not long after they arrive in the country, leaving Americans with a $116 billion annual tab. Moreover, much of the savings these new arrivals manage to accumulate are sent out of the country as remittances, about $25 billion of which ends up in Mexico. More people today speak a single non-English language – Spanish – than ever before in American history. For the first time, too, the middle class has registered as a minority in our country – an issue no doubt exacerbated by the importation of droves impoverished foreigners. Media Fallacies That word, “crisis,” however, has become such an overused bit of sophistry among the mindless chattering classes, that it is hard to take it either literally or seriously. When I say mindless, I mean that the chatterers are incapable of seeing the word in…

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White House Chief of Staff Mulvaney Assures Trump Will Build Wall ‘With or Without Congress’

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The White House challenged opposition Democrats on Sunday to prove they want tough security on the southern border with Mexico now that the longest-ever partial government shutdown has ended and the clock is ticking on a three-week window for negotiations. Mick Mulvaney, President Donald Trump’s acting White House chief of staff, told Fox News Sunday, “This is a chance for Democrats to see if they believe in border security” to thwart illegal immigration and stop the flow of illicit drugs. But Mulvaney said the U.S. leader would secure the border “with or without Congress,” including by declaring a national emergency, if he has to. https://youtu.be/ZbnTJNe35bw?t=119 Mulvaney said the White House is “seeing Democrats starting to agree with the president” on the need for a wall along nearly 400 kilometers of the 3,200-kilometer U.S.-Mexico border, a stretch where Trump has demanded $5.7 billion in taxpayer funding for some type of barrier. The dispute shuttered about a quarter of U.S. government operations for 35 days, before Trump on Friday agreed with a Democratic demand to reopen the government until Feb. 15, without any wall funding, while the two sides negotiate over border security funding. Trump’s chief congressional antagonists, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi,…

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Democrats Targeting a Very Specific Demographic for 2020

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by Grace Carr   Newly-announced presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris will visit South Carolina Friday in an attempt to appeal to black women voters, who have historically been a solid voter base for Democrats. The California Democrat will visit with her Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority sisters during the trip to the early-primary voting state, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. Ninety-two percent of black women voted Democrat in the state’s 2018 midterms, according to an Associated Press VoteCast poll. Black women made up 37 percent of the electorate in the state’s 2016 Democratic primary — the largest voting block when broken down by race and gender, according to a CNN exit poll. “Black women have enormous power. We vote overwhelmingly for Democrats no matter what,” said Our Revolution President Nina Turner. The group is an American progressive political action organization. Nearly 30 percent of South Carolina’s population is black, according to Census data. Black women were “critical” to Democrat Doug Jones’ victory over Roy Moore for the the Alabama Senate seat, according to Harris. Harris announced Monday that she is officially running to be the next president of the United States. Harris raised roughly $1.5 million Tuesday after her announcement. I'm running for president. Let's do this together. Join us: https://t.co/9KwgFlgZHA pic.twitter.com/otf2ez7t1p — Kamala Harris…

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Gregory Watson Commentary: Woodrow Wilson Began the Modern Tradition of Personally Delivering the SOTU Address to Congress in Order to Sell His Progressive Agenda to the Country

Gregory Watson

Among the many duties of the President of the United States is one that is found in Article II, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution: “He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient….” The Constitution does not specify in what manner the President is expected to furnish such “information” nor does it even suggest any certain season of the year — or any particular interval of time — that such “information” be provided. And, if conveyed verbally, the Constitution is silent as to from what physical location the President should perform this function. Commonly referred to as the “State-of-the-Union” address, as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt dubbed it in 1934, President George Washington, the first man to occupy the high office of President of the United States, delivered the initial such regular, annual message before a joint session of Congress on January 8, 1790. President Thomas Jefferson, our country’s third President, decided it better instead to send his remarks in written form to then be read to the membership by high-ranking Congressional employees. Jefferson’s idea held for more…

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FAKE NEWS: Fact-Checker ‘Snopes’ Botches Nathan Phillips Fact-Check

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by Peter Hasson   Snopes, a left-leaning fact-checking website given preferential treatment by both Facebook and Google, flubbed its fact-check of American Indian activist Nathan Phillips’ false claim of being a Vietnam veteran. Phillips shot to national attention after a viral confrontation between him and a group of high school boys from Covington Catholic high school. Phillips, with the help of credulous national media outlets, said the boys mobbed and racially harassed him as he tried to leave the Indigenous People’s March. Video evidence debunked Phillips’s account. In addition to botching the details of the confrontation, media outlets also inaccurately reported that Phillips is a Vietnam veteran. Phillips described himself in interviews as a “Vietnam-times veteran” and groups affiliated with him told The New York Times that he fought in Vietnam. Phillips explicitly claimed in a 2018 Facebook video that he was a Vietnam veteran who served “in theater.” Military records show that Phillips never deployed to Vietnam, though his military service did include a long stint as a refrigerator technician. Snopes’s fact-check incorrectly labeled it “unproven” that Phillips had falsely claimed to be a Vietnam veteran. Snopes declined to change its misleading ruling despite definitive video evidence of Phillips doing exactly that. Both Facebook and Google give Snopes preferential treatment on their platforms, though…

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Durham City Council’s Proposed ‘Workers’ Rights Commission’ Backed by Statue-Toppling Communist

A.P. Dillon

A proposal being entertained for a “workers’ rights commission” by the Durham City Council has a vocal communist supporting the measure. The News and Observer reported that “activist Takiyah Thompson” stood in support of the measure: Activist Takiyah Thompson told the council it is no mistake that union membership in North Carolina and South Carolina is so low, given the states’ history of slavery. “Durham is a chocolate city,” Thompson said, meaning it has a large African-American population. “In the absence of strong unions, workers must have access to a body who will defend them to the constant attacks leveled to them from their bosses, and in a city with such a large black population.” The News and Observer did not mention that Thompson is more than just an activist, but in fact is a communist and a member of the communist labor organization, the Workers World Party. In 2017, Thompson gained national attention for her prominent role and subsequent arrest for the toppling of a Confederate statue in Durham. Thompson scaled a ladder, fastened a noose around the statue’s neck and then protesters pulled until the monument came crashing down. Durham law enforcement later arrested Thompson and charged her with…

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Florida Commissioner Who Criticized Michigan’s Rashida Tlaib Reprimanded by Colleagues

Anthony Gockowski

A Florida commissioner who suggested that Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI-13) might “blow up Capitol hill” was publicly reprimanded by her colleagues during a Wednesday night meeting. According to the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Hallandale Beach Commissioner Anabelle Lima-Taub’s recent comments were the subject of a Wednesday night meeting, where her colleagues voted to issue a public reprimand. They accused Lima-Taub of promoting bigotry, fueling hatred and creating a hostile environment for Muslims, the Sun Sentinel reports. Lima-Taub, however, argued that she never once “mentioned Muslim or Islam,” and suggested that media in attendance were contributing to her “demise.” “I never ever mentioned Muslim or Islam. I repeat, I never ever mentioned Muslim or Islam. I do not hate or discriminate against any group, including Islam,” she said Wednesday, and revealed that she was receiving numerous death threats over her comments. Protesters on both sides of the debate showed up to Wednesday night’s meeting, causing multiple recesses throughout the meeting. The Sun Sentinel reports that more than 200 people gathered outside the meeting space in support of Lima-Taub. “She’s a patriot,” one protester said. “We live in a democracy and what’s happening today with her own peers is not a democracy.”…

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Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown: I Can Beat Trump in Ohio and New York

Andrew Shirley

Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown may not be officially running, but that’s not stopping him from making some bold predictions. In a surprisingly aggressive statement, the third term senator declared: I would say that I will beat Trump in Ohio, where they know me best. I’ll beat him in my home state and I’ll beat him in his home state of New York, where they know him best. Brown made the statement during a wide-ranging interview on CNN’s “The Van Jones Show.” The senator has not officially declared that he is entering the race. He is presently in the middle of a listening tour that he has dubbed the “Dignity of Work” Tour. He will be visiting Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina. While declaring that he is capable of winning both his home state as well as one of the most progressive states in the country would leave him two-hundred and twenty-three electoral votes short of winning the presidency, the statement suggests something broader than just those two states. It can be inferred by his approach that Brown is attempting to execute on a rather unique campaign strategy. Brown believes that he is capable of harmonizing a Democratic-Socialist platform with a moderate, populist…

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Ilhan Omar Lands $250K Book Deal Amid Outcry Over Past Comments

Anthony Gockowski

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) has landed her first major book deal with Dey Street Books and will receive an initial commission of up to $250,000. The deal was announced on Publishers Marketplace and is said to chronicle Omar’s “journey fleeing war in Somalia as a little girl, becoming a refugee in her early teens, and making her way against unspeakable odds to become the congresswoman-elect from Minnesota as a collection of remarkable firsts.” The book will be titled This Is What America Looks Like, and Omar will work with a collaborator on its production, according to Forbes. Day Street Books Executive Editor Alessandra Bastagli told Forbes that Omar submitted a book proposal last year. “I’ve been following Rep. Omar’s career since 2016 and was thrilled to receive her excellent book proposal on submission last year,” Bastagli said. “Her voice on the page is very much as it is in real life—fresh and positive even when she is tackling serious issues, with real empathy and deep knowledge.” Both Bastagli and Omar’s literary agent Steve Ross hinted that her memoir will touch on the Trump administration and its policies. “Her story counters everything we keep hearing from the current administration and the…

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Lamar Alexander Says Nancy Pelosi Ought to Let Congress Settle Border Wall Debate

Chris Butler

Control over the border wall debate in Washington, D.C. needs to shift to Congress and out of Nancy Pelosi’s hands, said U.S. Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, in a FOX News appearance this past weekend. Alexander said this as Congress has three weeks to negotiate over border security funding before the federal government possibly shuts down again. For 20 years, members of Congress have known that a comprehensive border security plan requires more personnel, more technology, more customs agents, more border agents, and, yes, a wall, Alexander told FOX News host Maria Bartiromo. Alexander sits on the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee. “President (Donald) Trump is asking for about 234 more miles of physical barrier as part of a comprehensive plan that would not build a wall from shining sea to shining sea, as he said,” Alexander said. “It would simply do what we’ve been doing for 20 years. I am optimistic that the committee, which, just last summer, in the Senate, approved another $1.6 billion for 65 miles of physical barrier, will be able to come up with a compromise.” Even if Trump gets his way, about 1,000 miles of the U.S./Mexican border would still go without a wall,…

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Lawsuit Alleges Nashville Officials Trample on Property Rights

Chris Butler

You break one of Metro Nashville’s codes and you either get punished or you get preferential treatment. If you’re not chummy with any Metro officials, then you get punished. But if you’re on the best of terms with these officials then you walk away clean. This, according to a new lawsuit against the Metro Nashville Government, which says double standards exist. Nashville resident John Haffner filed the suit at Nashville’s Sixth Circuit Court this month against the Metro Codes Department. Haffner makes these accusations based off public records and emails he obtained between county officials, including Metro Council member Russ Pulley. The emails come from Pulley’s private account, which the lawsuit says he uses to conduct public business. “Residents who have relationships with Metro Council Members and operate illegal in-home, for-profit businesses with on-site clients are able to receive fraudulent home occupation permits and a receptive Codes Department that is willing to clear [things] up for them,” Haffner said in the suit. By contrast, Metro officials, including Pulley, target Haffner for prosecution, according to a copy of the lawsuit. Specifically, Haffner said Metro Codes officials are after him for “operating a supposedly illegal in-home business” for profit, which goes against…

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Commentary: The Media’s Selective Curiosity

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by Carson Holloway   Members of the mainstream media understandably resent President Trump’s description of them as purveyors of “fake news.” After all, they do the public a service by reporting a great deal of true and relevant information. And when they get the facts wrong, they usually correct the record. Nevertheless, the president’s criticisms of the media resonate with many Americans. For them, the “news” industry is “fake” not in the sense that it tells nothing but falsehoods, but rather in the sense that its self-presentation is fake or phony. The media claim to be disinterested reporters of the facts, but their behavior shows they are far more interested in some facts than in others. This suggests that their main concern is not in uncovering the truth but in telling a certain kind of story. The “fake news” charge sticks not because of the media’s mendacity but because of their selective curiosity. Nowhere has that selective curiosity been more evident than in the coverage of the biggest news story of the last two years: the supposed complicity of Trump and his campaign in Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election. From top to bottom, this story has been shaped…

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Pompeo Urges International Support for Venezuelan Opposition Leader

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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged the international community to support the Venezuelan people and recognize the interim government of opposition leader Juan Guaido as he stands up to disputed President Nicolas Maduro. “Now it is time for every other nation to pick a side,” Pompeo told the U.N. Security Council during a rare Saturday morning session. “No more delays, no more games. Either you stand with the forces of freedom or you’re in league with Maduro and his mayhem.” Several European governments, including Britain, Spain, Germany and France, said Saturday they would recognize the 35-year-old Guaido as president if no election is called within eight days. The United States requested the Security Council meeting. Pompeo was accompanied by his newly appointed special envoy for Venezuela, Elliott Abrams. Pompeo called the Maduro regime an “illegitimate mafia state” and criticized countries including Russia, China, Iran and Cuba for supporting him. Russian envoy Vassily Nebenzia shot back that regime change is “a favorite geopolitical game of the United States,” and he asked Secretary Pompeo directly whether the Trump administration plans to militarily intervene in Venezuela. “Does that mean that the United States is ready to use military force against a sovereign…

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Commentary: Reject the ‘Wrong on Both Sides’ Dodge

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by Dennis Saffran   Now that the media, the Left, and their usual conservative allies have failed to destroy young Nick Sandmann and the other Covington Catholic High School boys who attended the March for Life last weekend, they seem to be falling back on the old “wrong on both sides” standby. Activist Nathan Phillips, the 64-year-old Native-American “elder,” may have lied when he claimed the students surrounded him, blocked his way, and yelled “Build the Wall”—and lied for good measure about being a Vietnam veteran. (In fact, he marched, cameras in tow, into their group while they were waiting for their bus, beating a drum within inches of Sandmann’s face.) But, as the story now goes, the boys—or “many” of them, or maybe just a “few” of them—were “mocking” or “disrespectful.” There were even some “tomahawk chops,” like at sports events, and maybe a few of what may have been “war whoops” or at least mimicry of his chants in a less than adulatory tone. Even commentators who have supported the students, such as Robby Soave in his otherwise excellent reportage at Reason, have criticized them for this behavior. Two points need to be made about all this. The…

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Trump Wants to Know Where Hillary’s Indictment Is After Roger Stone’s Arrest

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by Evie Fordham   President Donald Trump responded Saturday to news of his confidant Roger Stone’s Friday indictment with a list of Democrats and justice officials he wants to see in trouble for alleged lying. “If Roger Stone was indicted for lying to Congress, what about the lying done by [James] Comey, [John] Brennan, [James] Clapper, Lisa Page [and] lover, [James] Baker and soooo many others? What about Hillary [Clinton] to FBI and her 33,000 deleted Emails? What about Lisa [and Peter Strzok’s] deleted texts [and Anthony Weiner’s] laptop? Much more!” Trump wrote Saturday. If Roger Stone was indicted for lying to Congress, what about the lying done by Comey, Brennan, Clapper, Lisa Page & lover, Baker and soooo many others? What about Hillary to FBI and her 33,000 deleted Emails? What about Lisa & Peter’s deleted texts & Wiener’s laptop? Much more! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 26, 2019 Stone was indicted Friday morning on five counts of lying to Congress, one count of witness tampering and one count of obstruction of a government proceeding. Stone appeared on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” Friday evening and said Trump never told him to get in touch with WikiLeaks and claimed the…

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Elizabeth Warren Rolls Out Tax Plan on the Super Wealthy

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by Alec Schimmel   After recently declaring her intent to run for president in 2020 earlier in January, Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren unveiled a progressive tax plan that pushes tax policy deliberations inside the Democratic Party further to the left. The proposal plans to thrust a two percent progressive annual wealth tax on households with a net worth exceeding $50 million, and an additional 1 percent tax on households with a net worth that eclipses $1 billion, according to Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman, economists from the University of California, Berkeley. Saez and Zucman’s analysis estimates Warren’s tax plan will affect approximately 75,000 households (0.1 percent) across the U.S. and raise $2.75 trillion over the next decade. This is roughly 10 times the projected earnings of the current estate and gift tax, according to The Wall Street Journal. “This doesn’t work unless all the other countries in the world join in and tax wealth because money is mobile, multi-millionaires will go somewhere else and ultimately it prevents investment in the United States and that’s what makes our economy vibrant,” said Dagen McDowell on “Mornings with Maria” Thursday. “Let’s confiscate all the wealth people earn, let’s destroy private sector incentives…

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New York to Spend Millions Putting Dreamers Through College

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by Jason Hopkins   New York state lawmakers approved a measure that aims to dole out millions in taxpayer-funded aid to Dreamers — who entered the country illegally — attending college. The now-Democratic controlled New York state legislature on Wednesday passed the Dream Act, legislation that would make thousands of Dreamers eligible for financial aid to attend public colleges in the state. The bill, which has attracted praise from Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, would cost $27 million. The measure is “a slap in the face for all the hardworking taxpayers who play the rules and struggle for the costs of a college education,” Republican state Sen. Daphne Jordan said of the bill. Jordan was joined by other Republican state legislators in criticism of the Dream Act, who argued it would unfairly take money away from legal residents who struggle to pay their college tuition. The bill had been introduced in the New York legislature before, but Republican control of the state Senate had prevented it from moving forward — until Democrats gained control of both chamber after the 2018 midterms. “We do this as a symbol that you will be guaranteed an education and that the door to…

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‘Probable Cause’ Found That Andrew Gillum Violated State Ethics Laws

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by Molly Prince   The Florida Ethics Commission found probable cause Friday that defeated Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum violated state ethics laws. Tallahassee businessman Erwin Jackson filed complaints against Gillum, who was the mayor of Tallahassee from 2014 until November 2018. The commission found probable cause on five of the six counts, reported The Tampa Bay Times. In the complaints, Jackson alleged that Gillum, in his capacity as mayor, accepted gifts from lobbyists on multiple occasions. The first occasion was a trip to Costa Rica and the second was a trip to New York, according to WCTV. Both involved Gillum’s longtime friend and former campaign manager, Adam Corey, who is the focus of an extensive FBI investigation. Records were released in October showing that an undercover FBI agent gave him tickets to a Broadway show, undermining his claims that he received the gift from his brother. Barry Richard, Gillum’s attorney, revealed that the state’s ethics commission found probable cause that Gillum accepted gifts above the $100 threshold. He added that probable cause has not been determined for the solicitation of gifts. But he doesn’t make it clear if it determined that there was no probable cause or if…

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Trump Makes Case for Wall as Third Central American Migrant Caravan Heads North

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by Evie Fordham   President Donald Trump continued to hammer on the need for a southern border wall Saturday after announcing Friday that he will support a deal to temporarily reopen the government without any funding for the wall. “We have turned away, at great expense, two major Caravans, but a big one has now formed and is coming,” Trump wrote on Twitter Saturday. “At least 8000 people! If we had a powerful Wall, they wouldn’t even try to make the long and dangerous journey. Build the Wall and Crime will Fall!” The New York Times reported Friday on the third migrant caravan that Trump referenced: The current migrant caravan left San Pedro Sula in Honduras on Jan. 14 and, in the following days, began arriving at the Guatemala-Mexico border. Mexican officials encouraged the migrants to apply for the humanitarian visa, and since then over 12,000 people, mostly Hondurans, have done so in this border town in southern Mexico. Trump used his new slogan “Build the wall and crime will fall” in the tweet. Trump’s message about the proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall comes a day after he and Congress ended the record-breaking 35-day partial government shutdown. Republicans and Democrats now…

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FDA: More Blood Pressure Drugs May Have Shortages After Recalls

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by Reuters   Additional shortages of blood pressure drugs in the United States are possible following recent recalls related to traces of a probable carcinogen found in some versions a particular class of hypertension medicines, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Friday. The drugs, including valsartan, belong to a class of widely-used medicines for treating high blood pressure called angiotensin II receptor blockers, or ARBs. Valsartan is the generic of Novartis’ Diovan. The FDA also said it may have identified the root cause of the potentially cancer-causing impurities but that it is still investigating. The recalls began last summer after the FDA was informed that ingredients used by Chinese manufacturer Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceuticals Co (Huahai) to produce valsartan contained the impurities. The FDA later halted all imports from one of Huahai’s factories. Other manufacturers have also had to recall valsartan after the impurities were found in their versions of the drug. It is currently listed as in shortage by the FDA. Generic drugs Some generic versions of other ARBS, such as losartan and irbesartan, have also been recalled. The most recent recall was announced earlier this week. The agency said that it determined that the impurities “may be generated…

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Colorado Man Booted From School Board Meeting for Calling Out Teacher Who Called Covington Boys ‘Hitler Youth’

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by Neetu Chandak   A man was escorted out of a Colorado school board meeting Thursday for naming a teacher who called the wrong Covington Catholic boy part of the “Hitler Youth” on a now-deleted Twitter account. Mountain Ridge Middle School seventh-grade history teacher Michelle Grissom allegedly named and posted a picture of Covington Catholic student Jay Jackson as one of the boys wearing Make America Great Again (MAGA) hats in Washington, D.C. Jackson was not in Washington with his peers, who were confronted by American Indian activist Nathan Phillips. A man at the DougCo school board meeting tonight was escorted out by an officer after he brought up tweets attributed to a district history teacher – tweets that referenced the Covington Catholic incident in DC and called a student "Hitler Youth." pic.twitter.com/uZPtaLEKSg — Next with Kyle Clark (@nexton9news) January 25, 2019 “I can’t imagine what drove a teacher to make comments online that were hateful and bigoted, slanderous and vilifying,” parent Aaron Johnson said Thursday. “Now we’re all left picking up the pieces she broke.” Johnson elaborated to The Daily Caller News Foundation over the phone that Grissom’s actions make the entire school community look bad. John Jackson, the…

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FLASHBACK: Ilhan Omar Asked Judge for Lighter Sentences for Nine Minnesota Men Plotting to Join ISIS

Anthony Gockowski

Shortly after her historic election as the nation’s first Somali-American lawmaker, then State Rep. Ilhan Omar, now a member of Congress, asked a judge for lighter sentences in the trial of nine Minnesota men charged with planning to join ISIS. In a November 2016 letter unearthed by conservative media this week, Omar wrote to Judge Michael Davis requesting “compassion” and a “restorative approach to justice” in his sentencing. “Incarcerating 20-year-old men for 30 or 40 years is essentially a life sentence. Society will have no expectations of the to be 50 or 60-year-old released prisoners; it will view them with distrust and revulsion. Such punitive measures not only lack efficacy, they inevitably create an environment in which extremism can flourish, aligning with the presupposition of terrorist recruitment,” Omar said in her letter. She was one of 13 individuals to write letters to Davis, who also received a letter from Minneapolis City Council member Abdi Warsame. “The best deterrent to fanaticism is a system of compassion,” Omar continued. “We must alter our attitude and approach; if we truly want to affect change, we should refocus our efforts on inclusion and rehabilitation.” Throughout her letter, Omar argued that the young men were…

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Ohio Medical Board Tightens Rules for Opioid Prescriptions

Andrew Shirley

Long overdue limits on opioid prescriptions are finally being introduced to the Buckeye State. As of Wednesday, the State Medical Board of Ohio has enacted new requirements that must be met for the prescribing and continuing use of opioids. The rules will affect both short term and long term prescriptions. How stringent the rules are depend on the current dosage. MED or “Morphine Equivalent Daily Dose” is the unit of measurement by which all opioids are measured for effectiveness. For prescriptions of up to 50 MED: prescribers are required to re-evaluate the status of the patient’s underlying condition causing pain, assess functioning, look for signs of prescription misuse, consider consultation with a specialist and obtain written informed consent from the patient. For up to 80 MED, prescribers will do all of the above and consider prescribing naloxone, a drug that functions as an incredibly effective treatment for opioid overdoses. Though it can be administered in a myriad of ways, naloxone is most commonly prescribed as a nasal spray. Lastly, for prescriptions of 120 MED and above, “there must be a recommendation from a board-certified pain medicine physician or board certified hospice and palliative care physician that is based upon a face-to-face visit…

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Angie Craig Confronted by Woman Who Escaped Communism at First Town Hall: ‘This is How Communists Oppress People’

Anthony Gockowski

Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN-02) hosted her “first of what will be many, many open town halls” Saturday morning at Burnsville High School, and tackled issues such as campaign finance reform, climate change, and gun control. At one point during the event, however, she was confronted by an immigrant woman “who escaped communism,” and expressed concern about the continued harassment of Trump supporters. “I am an immigrant who escaped communism. I am terrified at the prospect of America becoming an oppressive regime. It seems that the two most toxic words these days are Donald Trump. He has been called autocratic, dictatorial, and many other demeaning names. Yet nothing he has done compares to the permitted destruction and oppression of our justice systems of individuals who dare to support him,” the woman said. In particular, she pointed to the recent arrest of Roger Stone, whom she believes was arrested “for a crime of refusing to compromise his integrity.” “[It] is not representative of a free America,” the woman continued. “Neither is a system causing financial ruin and imposing jail sentences without proof and guilt for some, yet overlooking ample evidence and giving a pass to others. Nor is a dishonest media and…

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Illegal Alien Arrested for Killing Pierce Corcoran in Head-On Crash Granted Bail

Chris Butler

Francisco Eduardo Franco-Cambrany, charged with killing a Knoxville firefighter’s son in a head-on crash last month could walk out of jail this weekend, according to KnoxNews.com. That is, of course, unless federal immigration agents don’t get him first, the website went on to say. As The Tennessee Star reported, Franco-Cambrany allegedly killed Pierce Corcoran, who was only 22. According to the website, a judge reinstated bond for Franco-Cambrany. Prosecutors say Franco-Cambrany is an illegal immigrant, and that officers with the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement could take him into custody at any time, the website said. “I can’t just deny him bond because ICE might come get him,” KnoxNews.com quoted General Sessions Judge Patricia Long as saying. Franco-Cambrany will wear an ankle monitor if he walks out, per Long’s orders. His attorney, Mark Stephens, a Knox County public defender, made a bid to throw out the case. Long rejected that bid. As The Star reported, Knoxville Police said Franco-Cambrany’s Chevy pickup, heading north, crossed into the opposite lanes and hit Corcoran’s Honda Civic, causing a chain reaction. According to Knoxnews.com, “two cars in front of Franco-Cambrany in the left-hand lane suddenly braked as one turned into a self-storage…

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Rep. Mark Green Questions Democrats’ Trustworthiness Over Government Shutdown, Border Wall Fight

Jason M. Reynolds

U.S. Rep. Dr. Mark Green (R-TN-07) questions Democrats’ trustworthiness in a new op-ed. The op-ed ran on Fox News’ website Friday. It is available here. Green writes: Top Democrats are using this line as their new drumbeat, “Open the government and then we will secure the border.” But how can we trust them to keep their word? Here are four instances in the past 12 months where President Trump and Republicans have reached across the aisle looking for a deal. At every opportunity, Democrats have refused to work with Republicans to secure our border or fix our broken immigration system. Green goes on to list the examples, including a fight last year over Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals on the brink of a potential government shutdown. He also makes reference to this shutdown’s damage to the economy and making the country look weak, and asks if Democrats are afraid Trump will win in 2020 over the border wall. Trump on Friday laid out a plan to end the government shutdown, Breitbart reported: Trump agreed to reopen the government for three weeks while negotiations continued — with no apparent wall funding concessions from Democrats. The president warned that if Congress could not successfully…

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Congress’ Nonpartisan Research Arm Says Trump Could Have DOD Build a Wall Without State of Emergency or Congressional Approval

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by Luke Rosiak   The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service (CRS) released a paper internally that suggests President Donald Trump may have the authority to use Department of Defense resources to build a wall without obtaining congressional approval or declaring a state of emergency. CRS, Congress’s in-house research arm, internally published a paper Jan. 10 titled “Can the Department of Defense Build the Border Wall?,” which The Daily Caller News Foundation has obtained. It says (emphasis added): Another statute that authorizes the Secretary of Defense to assist civilian law enforcement with counterdrug activities may provide some authority for the construction of barriers along the border. 10 U.S.C. § 284 (Section 284) provides that the Secretary of Defense “may provide support for the counterdrug activities or activities to counter transnational organized crime” of any law enforcement agency, including through the “[c]onstruction of roads and fences and installation of lighting to block drug smuggling corridors across international boundaries of the United States.” … Use of Section 284 would not require a declaration of a national emergency under the NEA. However, the DOD’s Section 284 authority to construct fences appears to extend only to “drug smuggling corridors,” a condition that may limit where DOD…

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Commentary: Trump and Conservatives Know Without the Wall, America Soon May Fall

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by Jeffrey A. Randall   We all know, a catchy rhyming slogan can be really effective in selling an idea, no matter how simple or otherwise comprehensible to the layperson. Take for example notorious O.J. Simpson lawyer Johnny Cochran’s uttering perhaps the most well-remembered line of the disgraced celebrity’s year-long 1995 murder trial by synopsizing his case for the entire nation, “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit!” From that point on, even if the jury recalled nothing else from the hundreds of hours of mundane testimony and evidence presented, Cochran provided them something easily digestible to chew on at the end. Now President Donald Trump’s done something similar for his wall concept. Brett Samuels reported at The Hill, “President Trump on Wednesday issued a new rallying cry to gin up support for building a wall along the southern border. “’BUILD A WALL & CRIME WILL FALL! This is the new theme, for two years until the Wall is finished (under construction now), of the Republican Party,’ Trump tweeted, urging supporters to ‘Use it and pray!’ “While the president said his desired border wall is ‘under construction now,’ multiple fact-checks have noted that Congress has not approved funding to construct…

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Exclusive Harlan Hill Commentary: Trump Just Turned the Tide in Washington with Three Simple Statements

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by Harlan Hill   The only adult in Washington just stood up and put an end to the nonsense. In President Trump’s Friday afternoon address from the White House garden, he put an end to the government shutdown and laid out the terms for the border negotiations going forward. #1 Put and end to the government shutdown In one quick declaration, President Trump put an end to the suffering so many Americans who were facing during the longest government shutdown in history. “I am very proud to announce we have reached a deal to end the shutdown and reopen the federal government,” he said. He thanked the incredible men and women who faced hardship over the past few weeks. “You are fantastic people,” he added. President Trump showed the compassion so many Democrats were lacking in the heated immigration debate. #2 Reminded Americans of the desperate need for border security While American federal workers were hurting, so were the families harmed by illegal immigration. They still are. President Trump reminded Americans that while the government shutdown may be over, the threat of illegal immigration is not. “Walls should not be controversial,” he said. “No matter where you go, walls work.”…

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Dr. Carol M. Swain Commentary: Voter Deception and the Compromised Alabama Senate Race

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by Dr. Carol M. Swain   If the left is accusing the right of something, you can be sure those charges are things the left themselves are either doing now or have done in the past. We see this in elections, where Democrats accuse Republicans of voter suppression, collusion with Russians, and efforts to disenfranchise U.S. voters. It’s all a sinister game. Again and again, the evidence suggests that Democrats are using rhetoric and accusations to distract from the shenanigans they are pulling. In 2017, voters in the deep red state of Alabama elected Democrat Doug Jones to the U.S. Senate over Republican Roy Moore by a margin of 1.5 percentage points, in a surprising upset. We now know of a massive deception perpetrated against Alabama voters. False Flags Dubbed Project Birmingham, the deception took the form of an elaborate “false flag” operation. Project Birmingham was one of two separate false-flag operations. The second was a Facebook operation dubbed “Dry Alabama.” It sought to give the impression that Southern Baptist teetotalers supported Moore. A false flag typically refers to a covert military-like action designed to deceive an enemy by attacking under the flag of a rival nation. The purpose of…

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Spotify Removes All PragerU Content as Conservatives Claim Censorship

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by Chris White   Music-streaming platform Spotify removed PragerU’s advertisements from its platform, noting that the content does not comply with the company’s editorial policies, The Daily Caller News Foundation has learned. “Our policy team has re-reviewed the ads that you have submitted through Ad Studio and determined that the content of the ads do not comply with our editorial policies,” Spotify noted in an email to PragerU. TheDCNF has seen a copy of the email, which also alludes to other noncompliance issues. “Our policy team has made the decision to stop all existing ads and not approve new ads coming through in the future. Please let us know if you have any questions or require further clarification,” the email adds. Most of the ads are tame and direct listeners to click on the conservative group’s website to learn more about “intersectionality” and other social issues. PragerU frequently complains about censorship on YouTube and other social media platforms. The group filed a lawsuit in 2017 against Google and Google-owned YouTube, alleging unlawful censorship. “Every day, PragerU is changing culture with online content that teaches the values that make America the freest and most prosperous nation on earth. Millions of Americans…

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Commentary: We Must Depose the Deep State or a Wall is Meaningless

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by Thomas Farnan   Last week in the Russian collusion saga, we learned that the FBI opened an investigation into the president because it disagreed with him on a matter of foreign policy. Yes, the agency first formed to catch people who crossed state lines with white women to have sex—and that now keeps secret files on UFOs—surmised in the aftermath of the 2016 election that Donald Trump might be an agent of the Kremlin because he favored diplomatic rapprochement. Much can be inferred from this, not the least of which is that our chief law enforcement officers are idiots. Maybe not the gumshoe “just the facts ma’am” guys you know from the church picnic, but certainly the ones who ran the place who are now getting big-money book deals as they fend off indictment. Beyond Andrew McCabe’s monumental stupidity (pictured above), though, investigating the president for treason confirms that there is a deep state with an agenda separate from the will of the electorate. It means, at some level, that America is governed by unelected bureaucracies that were originally created to assist the various branches in carrying out their ministerial functions. These have grown, by mission creep, into a…

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Agency: Deadly Tubbs Fire in California Caused by Homeowner Equipment

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In a long-awaited report, state investigators said Thursday that a 2017 wildfire that killed 22 people in Northern California wine country was caused by a private electrical system, not equipment belonging to embattled Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. The state firefighting agency concluded that the blaze started next to a residence. It did not find any violations of state law. “I eliminated all other causes for the Tubbs Fire, with the exception of an electrical caused fire originating from an unknown event affecting privately owned conductor or equipment,” CalFire Battalion Chief John Martinez wrote in his report. Some details about the property, including its owner and address, were blacked out of the report. It said the Napa County property about 3 miles (5 kilometers) north of Calistoga was built in 1946 on about 10.5 acres (4.2 hectares) with a wine cellar, pool and several outbuildings. PG&E said in a Jan. 2 court filing that it believed a handyman performing unlicensed electrical work started the wine country fire. In that filing, it identified the owner of the Napa County compound as Ann Zink. The utility said it provided electricity to Zink’s property by a line that connected to a service riser…

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Under Trump, US Economic Freedom Rises Significantly

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by Anthony B. Kim   The U.S. economy is roaring like no other time in recent memory. The job market is hot, unemployment is down to record lows, and small business optimism is soaring. But this newfound dynamism didn’t come from nowhere. It required a package of market and consumer-friendly reforms passed by Congress and adopted by the Trump administration. These reforms have boosted economic freedom. According to The Heritage Foundation’s 2019 Index of Economic Freedom, America’s economic freedom has seen a dramatic boost—from 18th place in the world to 12th place in the span of just one year. America’s score ticked up by more than a full point from last year, reaching the highest level in eight years. The annual index—now celebrating its 25th year—provides an overall snapshot of almost every country’s level of economic freedom. It takes into account a variety of factors, like taxation, regulation, and trade. It is relevant to our job prospects and the prices we pay for goods and services, not to mention what kind of appliances and cars we can choose and buy. Higher economic freedom scores tend to correlate with faster growth and broader economic expansion, as well as higher incomes and…

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Audit: Tennessee Volunteer Fire Chief Stole $20,000

Chris Butler

The former fire chief for the Keith Springs Volunteer Fire Department stole more than $20,000 from the fire department and used it on himself, according to a state audit released this week. Court officials indicted that man, Jamie Stephens, the audit went on to say. “Stephens withdrew thousands of dollars in cash from the fire department checking and savings accounts. He also used the department’s debit card to purchase items such as televisions, food, gasoline, groceries, tires for his personal van, and a vacation rental in Panama City Beach,” auditors said in a press release. “The theft also included $853 in fuel that was purchased on the fire department’s fuel account. Investigators reviewed the purchase dates and determined Stephens was not performing fire department duties, and he did not provide proper documentation to support the purchases.” In December 2017, the fire department’s board of commissioners met with Stephens about his use of the bank funds and fuel and placed him on probation. However, while on probation, Stephens continued to use the bank and fuel accounts for personal use, auditors said. The board of commissioners elected a new fire chief in March of last year. A Franklin County grand jury indicted Stephens this month on one count of theft over $10,000, the press release…

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Lawmakers Claim Their Carbon Tax Proposal is ‘Revenue-Neutral’ When It’s Actually a $1 Trillion Tax Hike

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by Tim Pearce   The bipartisan House Climate Solutions Caucus claims it is pushing a “revenue-neutral” carbon tax, but legislation proposed Thursday would hike taxes by at least $1 trillion over the next decade, according to Paul Blair, director of strategic initiatives for the right-leaning policy institute Americans for Tax Reform. Reps. Ted Deutch, a Democrat, and Francis Rooney, a Republican, reintroduced a bill Thursday that would place a $15-per-ton tax on carbon emissions in 2019. The tax would rise by $10-a-year increments until it hits nearly $100 per ton. “To let the free market price out coal we should consider value pricing carbon,” Rooney said in a statement. “A revenue-neutral carbon fee is an efficient, market-driven incentive to move toward natural gas and away from coal, and to support emerging alternate sources of energy.” Though Rooney claims the tax is “revenue-neutral,” the plain text of the bill does not include any reciprocal tax cuts to balance out the burden of the added tax on emissions, Blair told The Daily Caller News Foundation. The Climate Solutions Caucus, co-led by Deutch and Rooney, claims the bill is “revenue-neutral” through carbon dividends. The IRS will pay out the funds raised by the…

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