Day: August 5, 2021

DOJ Legal Threats Against State Election Audits Suggest Unease about Potential Findings

Admin

The U.S. Department of Justice’s recent guidance on the process of state election audits indicates that the federal agency is apparently deeply unsettled by the string of election audits and election reform efforts carried out by state Republicans since last November’s presidential election.

The guidance, distributed last week and directed in part toward state legislatures, instructs investigators on “how states must comply with federal law” when conducting election audits. It also addresses efforts by some state legislatures to repeal emergency COVID-19 voting rules that other states have in some cases sought to make permanent.

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Blackburn Introduces Amendment to Infrastructure Bill to Fund Border Wall Construction

Cooper Moran

Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) on Wednesday introduced an amendment to the bipartisan infrastructure deal that will reallocate $1 billion to resume construction of the wall at the southern border.

The potential addition to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act would strip the money from grants awarded to the Northeast Corridor Amtrak and apply those funds to border wall construction.

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Commentary: Our Public Health Bureaucracy Can’t Be Dismantled Quickly Enough

Admin

Earlier this week, the estimable Robert Stacy McCain delivered a quite spot-on assessment of the terrible science behind the Centers for Disease Control’s guidance on masks, vaccinations, and the Delta variant of COVID-19. That guidance has thrown the entire country into a fresh panic about the virus, so much so that in places like Nevada, Louisiana and Washington, D.C. there are now mask mandates in place even for people vaccinated against the virus.

It seems the CDC had two sources for upsetting the national applecart. According to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, it relied on a study of a vaccine in use in India which apparently was less than effective in warding off the Delta variant — but that vaccine isn’t used in the United States because our authorities weren’t satisfied as to its effectiveness, period.

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Two Taxpayer-Funded Feeding Sites Not Feeding Children, Tennessee Officials Say

Bradley Vasoli

Open Door, Inc. and Alumni Music, Inc., both based in Shelby County, have been determined to not be using their federal Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) funds to provide meals to children, the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office asserted Wednesday.

A probe was conducted cooperatively by the Comptroller of the Treasury and the Tennessee Department of Human Services (DHS) during summer 2020 to ascertain what nourishment the two companies were providing to minors. 

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Tennessee Officials Propose Rules on Teaching Critical Race Theory in Public Schools

Chris Butler

A new state law that limits teaching Critical Race Theory (CRT) has prompted the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) to propose new rules as it pertains to teaching on the subject of race in public schools. According to state of Tennessee’s website, educators may not teach that one race is superior to another race. They also cannot teach that an individual is privileged due to race or sex, whether consciously or subconsciously. They also may not teach that the United States is fundamentally or irredeemably racist or sexist.

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Texas Congressman Calls for Impeachment of Biden over Immigration Policy

The Center Square

Texas Republican Congressman Chip Roy is calling for the impeachment of President Joe Biden and the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, citing their “reckless immigration policy” that many lawmakers argue is endangering the lives of Texans and Americans.

“Total encounters: 205,029. Total known getaways: 37,400. 1.3 million for 2021 so far. Largest monthly encounter number since 2000,” Roy tweeted.

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Report: Border Officials Encountered 21-Year Record High Number of Migrants in July

Admin

Border officials encountered an estimated 210,000 migrants at the southern border in July, the highest monthly total since 2000, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.

Preliminary government data reportedly shows border officials encountered some 19,000 unaccompanied migrant minors, a record high from previous months including just over 18,800 in March, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Border and Immigration Policy David Shahoulian said, the AP reported.

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Medical Examiner Requested Cremation of Babbitt’s Body Two Days After Capitol Breach, Docs Show

Admin

The Washington D.C. Offices of the Chief Medical Examiner submitted a request to cremate Jan. 6 Capitol protester Ashli Babbitt two days after gaining custody of the body, according to documents obtained and released Tuesday by conservative watchdog Judicial Watch.

Babbitt, an Air Force veteran and San Diego native, was fatally shot by a U.S. Capitol Police officer as she attempted to climb through a broken window of a door to the Speaker’s Lobby, a room off House chambers.

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CDC Extends Trump-Era Public Health Order Allowing Border Officials to Expel Most Migrants

Admin

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention extended the Trump-era public health order allowing border officials to expel most migrants back to Mexico or Canada, the agency announced Monday.

The regulation, known as Title 42, temporarily prohibits noncitizens from entering the U.S. through Canada or Mexico regardless of their port of origin in an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19 into the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Unaccompanied migrants minors were exempt from the order.

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Commentary: I’m Unvaccinated – and I Plan to Stay That Way

Admin

The word “confusing” is being used (even by the New York Times) to describe the CDC’s reasoning behind its announcement that masks must again be worn indoors, even by the fully vaccinated.

In fact, the CDC’s reasoning is clear, and talk about “confusion” is an attempt to conceal a straightforward assessment: As CDC head bureaucrat Rochelle Walensky said on Fox News on Friday, vaccinated people can still get the “delta” variant and can transmit it. Top medical mafioso Anthony Fauci said essentially the same thing last week—that for the delta variant there was no difference in the observed level of “virality” between people who were vaccinated and those who were not.

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Biden Administration Allegedly Planning to Distribute Johnson and Johnson Vaccine to Illegal Aliens

Admin

Joe Biden is planning an effort to distribute doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to illegal aliens pouring into the United States across the southern border, as reported by Breitbart.

The report first came from the Washington Post, after several officials with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spoke under condition of anonymity. According to the officials, federal authorities will soon begin administering the single-shot vaccine to illegals currently held in U.S. custody along the southern border with Mexico. DHS plans to get illegals vaccinated as soon as possible upon their entry into the country, to be done even before they are fully processed.

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Report: Private Companies Added Half as Many Jobs as Expected in July

Admin

Private companies added 330,000 jobs in July, far fewer than expected and the lowest amount since February, according to a major payroll report.

The 330,000 jobs added to private payroll last month represented a significant decline from the 680,000 jobs added in June, the ADP National Employment Report showed. Economists predicted that private companies would add 653,000 jobs in July, nearly double the number reported Wednesday, according to CNBC.

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Big Three Automakers Reinstate Mask Mandates for All Workers

Admin

America’s largest automobile manufacturers, along with United Auto Workers (UAW), will require all employees to wear masks again starting Wednesday.

The decision was made by a COVID-19 task force comprised of health officials from UAW, Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, which manufactures Dodge and Chrysler vehicles. All workers, both vaccinated and unvaccinated, have to wear masks at plants, office buildings, and warehouses, UAW announced in a statement Tuesday.

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Commentary: Unions Enforce Masks for the Public But Don’t Require Member Vaccinations

RealClearWire

Flight attendants’ and teachers’ unions whose members are on the front lines of disputed Covid safety protocols are ardent enforcers of mask mandates for the public but do not require their members to get vaccinated. Such inoculation is widely acknowledged as the most effective step in stopping the spread of the new Delta variant, while masking is viewed as of secondary importance, and many are highly skeptical of its effectiveness and critical of its inconvenience.

As the Association of Flight Attendants continues to urge federal authorities to allow flight attendants to police passengers for masking – a policy that has led to fisticuffs on some flights – the union has struck an agreement with at least one airline, United, to allow unvaccinated members to fly. American Airlines and Southwest Air say they also do not require their flight attendants or other employees to vaccinate. Flight attendants for both airlines are unionized.

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Zuckerberg-Funded Nonprofit Paid $11.8 Million to Democrat Political Consulting Firms for ‘Nonpartisan Voter Education’ in Michigan 2020 Election

Frank Daniel Miele

A Mark Zuckerberg-funded nonprofit, the Center for Election Innovation and Research, gave a virtually inactive Michigan nonprofit, The Michigan Center for Election Law and Administration, a $12 million grant in September 2020 for the putative purpose of helping voters figure out how to navigate the supposed complexities of mail-in ballots, as The Michigan Star reported in April 2021.

Ninety-nine percent of the $12 million grant – more than $11.8 million – was used to pay two highly partisan Democrat political consulting firms, according to the Michigan Center for Election Law and Administration (MCELA) Form 990 for the year 2020 filed with the Internal Revenue Service in May of this year.

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Biden, DeSantis Exchange Jabs over Handling of COVID

Grant Holcomb

President Joe Biden and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have been exchanging verbal punches at one another over each other’s handling of the COVID pandemic.
Biden criticized DeSantis on Tuesday for opposing mask mandates and for vaccine passports, specifically noting DeSantis’ fight with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) over vaccine passports for the cruise industry.

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Minnesotans Organize Protest for Medical Freedom Following Vaccine Mandates for Some Healthcare Providers

Hayley Feland

Minnesotans are organizing a protest for medical freedom following several Minnesota healthcare providers requiring employees to take the COVID vaccine or lose their jobs. The protest will be held at the Minnesota State Capitol on August 28. Mayo Clinic, Allina Health, and M Health Fairview are three major healthcare providers that will be requiring employees to take the vaccine. The organizers are holding the protest to “demand informed consent and transparency in matters of health choice and medical freedom without coercion.”

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Polk County Sheriffs Arrest Several Disney World Employees in Child Sex Sting

Peter D'Abrosca

Detectives from the Polk County Sheriff’s office, in conjunction with several other law enforcement entities, ran a sting operation to catch child sex predators between July 27 and August 1.

Dubbed “Operation Child Protector,” law enforcement posed as 13 and 14-year-old girls online, and made contact with several suspect online. When the suspects attempted to meet up with the “girls,” they were taken into custody. 

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Poll Shows Plurality of Floridians Support Mask Mandates

Grant Holcomb

In a new poll from St. Pete Polls taken from Aug. 2nd through 3rd, 62 percent of likely Florida voters support mask mandates for schoolchildren.

The poll was conducted after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced the signing of an executive order banning mask mandates in Florida’s public schools. The order also directed the state to craft penalties and punishments for school districts who choose to ignore the state’s directive and impose a mandate regardless.

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Ohio Businesses Optimistic After Court Upholds End of Bonus Pandemic Cash

Brian Ball

Trade associations representing Ohio’s restaurants and other small businesses have lauded a July 29 decision in Franklin County Common Pleas Court upholding Governor Mike DeWine’s authority to not spend federal funding that gave those unemployed – as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic – a $300 weekly bonus to their state unemployment benefits.

But the attorney representing the Cleveland area plaintiffs in the case said a hearing on an appeal of Judge Michael Holbrook’s decision to end the payments effective June 26 could get heard in the Franklin County Court of Appeals as early as this week.

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Arizona Legislative Report Reveals ‘Extraordinary’ Fiscal Growth in State

Rachel Alexander

A new report from the Arizona Legislature’s Joint Legislative Budget Committee shows Arizona is in great economic condition, breaking records. Revenues from taxes are high or better than projected, with significant gains expected in the future, and personal income is growing at the fastest pace since 1985. It comes after Arizona passed historic tax cuts, reducing the personal income tax to the lowest flat tax in the country at 2.5%. However, some of the rosy picture is due to COVID-19 relief.

Governor Doug Ducey issued a statement about the report, “It paints a picture of a state economy that has emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic not only in great shape, but poised to achieve even greater accomplishments in the years ahead. The ‘extraordinary growth’ Arizona saw in Fiscal Year 2021 is positive news for every Arizonan. We are leading the way in the nation’s economic recovery.”

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Ohio’s Senator Portman Boosts Prospects of Infrastructure Bill on Squawk Box, Credits Trump for ‘Stirring Up Debate’

Brian Ball

U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio) hopes to get the $550 billion Infrastructure & Investment Act legislation before the full Senate next week after the proposed bipartisan legislation recently cleared the committee on a 20-0 vote.

Portman speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box show on Tuesday, lauded the legislation as a way to boost economic productivity while avoiding a rollback of the Trump administration’s signature tax cuts from 2017.

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Arizona Attorney General Brnovich Files Petition Against Biden’s Undoing of Trump-Era Water Safety Regulation

The Center Square

Attorney General Mark Brnovich is leading a coalition of attorneys general in filing a petition challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s “Delay Rule,” which postponed the Trump Administration’s Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR).

“While the Biden Administration talks a lot about preserving clean air and water for future generations, they have failed to ensure clean drinking water for our children now,” Brnovich said in a news release on Friday. 

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Virginia Democratic Gubernatorial Nominee McAuliffe Enlists Election Skeptic Stacey Abrams to Help Fundraise

Peter D'Abrosca

After attempting to tie his Republican opponent Glenn Youngkin to former President Donald J. Trump’s challenge of the 2020 election results, former Virginia governor and current Democrat candidate for governor Terry McAuliffe has enlisted fundraising support from a notorious election skeptic.

During last week’s back-and-forth between the candidates that featured McAuliffe attacking Youngkin over his support for Trump and what McAuliffe’s campaign characterized as Trump’s election lies, and Youngkin responding by blasting McAuliffe for saying the 2000 election was stolen by then-President George W. Bush in his capacity as chairman of the Democratic National Convention (DNC), Democrat activist and former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams was sending fundraising emails on behalf of McAuliffe.

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