Attention

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not represent our advertisers

Monday, January 22, 2018

ICYMI: A $5 Billion Carrot: Larry Hogan's Historic Offer To Win Amazon HQ2

The Washington Post
Robert McCartney and Ovetta Wiggins
January 22, 2018

“Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) will offer more than $3 billion in tax breaks and grants and about $2 billion in transportation upgrades to persuade Amazon.com to bring its second headquarters and up to 50,000 jobs to Montgomery County.

“Hogan’s proposal, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post, is designed to give the state an edge over 19 competitors, including the District and Northern Virginia, in luring the online retail giant to build a 100-acre campus in White Flint or another site in North Bethesda.

“It appears to be the second-most generous set of inducements among the 20 locations on Amazon’s shortlist. Of the offerings whose details have become public, either through government or local media accounts, only New Jersey’s is larger, at $7 billion.

“Maryland’s package, which Hogan will make public Monday morning, will require legislative approval and would dwarf any previous economic development offering in the state’s history.

“HQ2 is the single greatest economic development opportunity in a generation, and we’re committing all of the resources we have to bring it home to Maryland,’ Hogan said in a statement obtained by The Post on Sunday.

“Seattle-based Amazon last week slashed the number of locations it is considering for its second headquarters, from 238 to 20. Finalists include potentially strong competitors such as Boston, Atlanta, Chicago and Philadelphia. But the Washington area is believed to stand an above-average chance, partly because it was the only region with three locations on the list of 20. (Amazon founder Jeffrey P. Bezos owns The Washington Post.) ...

“The prospect of winning tens of thousands of good-paying jobs, along with the prestige of triumphing in a North America-wide contest, has sparked a competitive frenzy among politicians and business leaders vying for the prize. …

“The biggest single element in Hogan’s plan is legislation that would provide a 10-year package of tax credits and exemptions. Qualifying companies would get a tax credit equal to 5.75 percent of wages for each new qualifying headquarters job; a state and local property tax credit; and a state sales and use tax exemption for construction material or warehousing equipment used in the project.

FEDS GET “MINIMUM WAGE” OF $100K

The bureaucracy that rules over us keeps getting richer and richer.

As Americans struggle to make ends meet, federal government employees are taking home a “minimum wage” of $100,000 and getting two months paid vacation after a mere three years of employment, according to government watchdog group Open the Books.

President Trump is theoretically in charge of the federal government, but that doesn’t mean he controls the fat cat federal bureaucrats in the Democrat-dominated civil service, many of whom within the Beltway work every day to undermine his policies. He even ordered a pay raise for federal employees in the new year, although the increase is smaller than what had been scheduled had he not acted.

With a workforce of 2 million people, the U.S. government is one of the most generous employers around, shelling out more than $1 million a minute in pay and benefits to its employees, for a total north of $136 billion a year in fiscal 2016, according to the report titled “Mapping the Swamp, A Study of the Administrative State.” The study excludes 742,000 civilian employees at the Department of Defense as well as the 1.3 million men and women on active duty.

Out of control federal pay is driven by the unrestrained greed of government workers’ unions that keeps upward pressure on wages, making feds increasingly removed from the everyday American experience. As the nation plunges deeper and deeper in debt, governments at all levels find themselves unable to meet their obligations, yet public employees continue to press their demands for unreasonable compensation and benefits. All across the country, rapacious government unions are eating taxpayers alive, while working feverishly to shape the political battlefield to their own advantage—under cover of a crusade for “social justice.” Instead of serving as a check on government power, government employee unions function as an unelected fourth branch of government, augmenting its power at taxpayer expense.

This makes draining the Washington swamp especially difficult, or as President Ronald Reagan remarked in 1983, "It's hard, when you're up to your armpits in alligators, to remember you came here to drain the swamp."

More

Attorney General References Photo Enforcement Cases in Public Information Act Report

A recent report on the Implementation of the Maryland Public Information Act by the Maryland office of Attorney General references two pubic records disputes raised by the Maryland Drivers Alliance, demonstrating how matters pertaining to photo enforcement are are having an influence on the understanding of government transparency affecting a broader range of issues.

The report references cases pertain to the matter of "NonGovernment Custodians", documenting that records maintained by a non-government custodian are considered public records if they pertain to a function that would normally be carried out by the government. Page 30 of the report states:

Lying at the public end of the spectrum are speed camera vendors, which essentially perform a governmental function—enforcement of speed limits. In much the same way that the government cannot avoid the PIA by storing its public records with a private vendor, there is some force to the argument that the government should not be able to avoid the PIA by delegating its public responsibilities to a private vendor. Although there are no reported appellate decisions on the topic here in Maryland, we are aware of one circuit court decision in which the court appears to have concluded that the government violated the PIA by not disclosing records maintained by its third-party speed camera vendor. See Ely v. Town of Morningside, Order, CAL12-23425 (Pr. G. Cir. Ct., May 29, 2014); see also, e.g., Ark. Op. Atty. Gen. 2008-154 (Nov. 12, 2008) (concluding that state public records law applied to private company Final Report of the Office of the Attorney General on the Implementation of the Public Information Act 31 hired to operate school bus system because that was “a task that would otherwise be conducted by the [government]”).

The case "Ely vs Morningside" was brought to the court by the editor of the Maryland Drivers Alliance website, after the Town of Morningside refused a request for speed calibration records that were legally required to be kept. Judge Albert Northrop argued this was inappropriate: "Respondent argued that the records were not in its possession because they were held by a contractor. To allow public records held by a contractor to be exempt from the Public Information Act would render the entire act ineffective."

More

What Bosses Want To Say To Millennials (And This One Just Did)

It’s the kind of “real talk” that’s so desperately needed in the workplace … but of course can’t happen.

Hypersensitive, man-bun-toting, green-tea-latte sipping, overgrown toddlers have made sure that the HR team has transformed from a place of professional development to safe space enforcers and a lawsuit breeding ground.

Before you get your anime panties all up in a bunch, kiddo, I’m not talking about legitimate issues like true sexual harassment or discrimination cases. Those are what Human Resources is actually supposed to be for. And WASuntil you started using them for your daily therapy to deal with life.

No, I’m talking about your “she said mean things” and “he wrote me up” and “they ran out of almond milk in the fridge” garbage that’s giving our generation a bad name.

That’s right – I said OUR generation.

Because I’m a millennial … who unfortunately has to deal with the completely well-deserved reputation that you clowns are giving those of us who are actually hunkered down and working our faces off for a living.

More

Joe Biden’s niece finally pays up for $100K credit card scam

Former Vice President Joe Biden’s wild-child niece has finally coughed up the $100,000 she owed from a 2016 stolen-credit-card binge at a posh Greenwich Village pharmacy.

Caroline Biden, 30 — whose financier dad, James, is the ex-veep’s brother — had racked up bills totaling $110,810.04 at Bigelow Apothecaries on Sixth Avenue.

The privileged Georgetown University grad had borrowed the unidentified victim’s Chase card in 2015, with permission to make a single purchase at Bigelow totaling $672, according to prosecutors.
But then she set up an unauthorized account in the card-owner’s name and went on a spending spree at the posh drugstore, where such common items as hairbrushes and skin creams can run into the hundreds of dollars.

More

The Smoking Gun II: The FBI's Concerted Effort To Interfere With The 2016 Presidential Election

Hillary and her crew get a pass for colluding to stack the deck against Bernie. No matter what the evidence revealed, the FBI nomenclature predetermined that New York’s sixth crime family was untouchable. Congressional insiders report they have uncovered new irregularities and contradictions inside the FBI’s probe of Hillary Clinton’s email server.

Investigators say there is written evidence that the FBI found evidence that some laws were broken when the former secretary of State and her top aides transmitted classified information through her insecure private email server.

That evidence includes passages in FBI documents stating the “sheer volume” of classified information that flowed through Clinton’s insecure emails was proof of criminality.

According to Sean Moran in Breitbart, “Former FBI Director James Comey’s original memo regarding former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s private email server was edited by FBI staffers to remove five references suggesting Clinton engaged in activities that would suggest felony and misdemeanor charges, according to obtained copies of the original memo.”

More

Tim Tebow invited to spring training by Mets

Tim Tebow will be at spring training with the New York Mets.

The 30-year-old outfielder was among a group of nine spring training invitees announced by the team Friday.

The 2007 Heisman Trophy winner and NFL quarterback is preparing for his second professional baseball season. He hit .226 with eight homers, 52 RBIs and 126 strikeouts in 126 games last year at Class A with Columbia in the South Atlantic League and Port St. Lucie in the Florida State League.

Tebow was 4 for 27 (.148) with no extra-base hits, one walk and eight strikeouts in nine spring training games for the Mets last year.

More

Well, yah. Why not?

A man from Amherst, Virginia used a flamethrower to melt away snow from his driveway, WRIC reports.

Instead of using the traditional tool, a shovel, Nathanael Caplinger wanted to explore a quicker way of dispelling the snow.

After reading an ad in a local magazine about a blowtorch purported to do a brilliant job of clearing snow, he decided to try it out..

More/video

You’re not an adult until you turn 24, science says

Like Peter Pan, we don’t want to grow up

In fact, we’re not really adults until reaching age 24, researchers have concluded.

That’s because so many young people are continuing their education for longer periods of time and delaying marriage and parenthood.

The definition for adolescence is currently between ages 10 and 19, which marks the beginning of puberty and the perceived end of biological growth.

But, writing in Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, scientists at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Australia argue the timing needs to be changed, London’s Telegraph newspaper reported.

More

Ignore the Christian White Guy, and Listen To These Women About Abortion

At one of the many Planned Parenthood rallies in Portland, Maine, this one in 2015, a nurse practitioner for the organization spoke, making it clear that “a few white men” were not going to interfere with her work.

I disagree with her work. But, what do you expect. I’m a white man.

And if you really want to pile on the stereotypes, I’m a Christian.

No wonder why I’m waging a war on women (or so, the Democratic Party strategists would have you believe, and some gullible media buy into).

The March for Life is this Friday in Washington D.C., a chance for 100,000 citizens to express their belief that abortion is wrong.

I will not be there.

But my daughters will be marching. My wife hopes to join them next year.

Um, didn’t they get the memo?

More

Congress Passes Bill To End 3-Day Government Shutdown

Updated at 6:15 p.m. ET

Congress has passed a stopgap spending bill, sending the measure to President Trump's desk to end the partial shutdown of the federal government, now in its third day.

The White House has indicated Trump will sign the bill in time for normal operations to resume by Tuesday morning.

The bill passed the Senate on a 81-18 vote, but the real hurdle was the procedural vote earlier in the day requiring at least 60 votes. That's where the measure hit a snafu late Friday night, triggering the stalemate. The House later passed the 17-day extension by a 266-150 vote.

Shortly before the Monday procedural vote was set to begin, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced that he would vote to reopen the government along with enough Democrats needed to advance the bill. After 24 hours of furious negotiation over plans to consider immigration legislation in the coming weeks, the Senate voted to move forward with the continuing resolution, which would fund the government through Feb. 8.

In exchange for his support, Schumer said, he has received assurances from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., that if an agreement isn't reached by then, the GOP leader will bring a vote to the floor on legislation to grant legal status to those protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, roughly 700,000 immigrants who are in the country illegally after being brought here as children. The bill also extends the expired Children's Health Insurance Program for six years.

More

Brazen Plot To Exonerate Hillary Clinton

A former federal prosecutor says the truth is starting to seep out about the Obama Administration’s “brazen plot to exonerate Hillary Clinton” and “frame an incoming president with a false Russian conspiracy,” according to an exclusive interview with The Daily Caller News Foundation.

Joe diGenova, a former federal prosecutor, connects the dots on former Obama administration Justice Department and FBI officials who may have “violated the law, perhaps committed crimes” to politicize law enforcement and surveillance against political opponents.

He says former FBI Director James Comey conducted a fake criminal investigation of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as they “followed none of the regular rules, gave her every break in the book, immunized all kinds of people, allowed the destruction of evidence, with no grand jury, no subpoenas, no search warrants. That’s not an investigation. That’s a Potemkin village. It’s a farce.”

More

Nomi Prins: "The Fed Is Scared To Death Of Crashing The Global Financial System"

Two time, best-selling author Nomi Prins says central bankers have no idea how to stop the easy money policies that they started after the financial meltdown of 2008.

Prins explains, “So, when the Fed says they are going to remove assets from their $4.5 trillion book by not reinvesting the interest payment...the reality is they haven’t really done that. They have reduced their book by about $10 billion off of $4.5 trillion since they mentioned they were going to start ‘tapering.”

The media discusses this as a major tightening move. Somehow all of our economies have finally worked because of central bank activity. Growth is real. It’s all positive. The markets are evidence of that because of the levels they are at; and, therefore, these central banks, starting with the Fed, are going to reverse course of these last 10 years.

"The reality is if you look at the actual activity of the central banks, beyond the Fed raising rates by a little bit, there hasn’t been and there isn’t being a reversal of course because they are scared to death that too much of a reversal is going to cause a major crash throughout the financial system.

Everything is connected. All the banks are connected. Money flows around the world in less than nanoseconds, and all of it has the propensity to collapse if that carpet the central banks have created is dragged from beneath the floor of all this activity.”

More

*Traffic Advisory* Serious Crash Involving Motorcycle Rt. 7 at Rt. 71- Bear

Bear - Delaware State Police are currently on scene of a serious crash involving a motorcycle which occurred at approximately 3:39 p.m., this afternoon on Bear Corbit Rd. (DE Rt. 7) in the area of Red Lion Road (DE Rt. 71).

Motorists can expect delays in the area and should seek alternate routes of travel.

Click on the following link for traffic conditions and road closure information:

http://www.deldot.gov/Traffic/travel_advisory/index.shtml#advisories.

The investigation is ongoing with further details being released as they become available.

Was Lynch coordinating with Comey in the Clinton investigation?

Former Attorney General Loretta Lynch knew well in advance of FBI Director James Comey's 2016 press conference that he would recommend against charging Hillary Clinton, according to information turned over to the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Friday.

The revelation was included in 384 pages of text messages exchanged between FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, and it significantly diminishes the credibility of Lynch's earlier commitment to accept Comey's recommendation — a commitment she made under the pretense that the two were not coordinating with each other.

And it gets worse. Comey and Lynch reportedly knew that Clinton would never face charges even before the FBI conducted its three-hour interview with Clinton, which was supposedly meant to gather more information into her mishandling of classified information.

On July 1, 2016, as the Lynch announcement became public, Page texted Strzok:

Breaking News: President Trump imposed steep tariffs on washing machines and solar products, making good on a pledge to protect U.S. industry from imports

President Trump was responding to two separate trade cases that sought to protect American industry from a flood of cheap imports, including from China, the United States trade representative said Monday.

My take on Trump's first year as an African-American mom and veteran

Much has changed since President Trump took the oath of office on Jan. 20, 2017. But one thing has remained constant – the anger and vitriol directed at the president from the left, many Democrats, many in the media, and even some folks who call themselves Republicans. Few presidents have been so demonized and denounced.

The president has been accused of being incompetent, a racist, mentally ill, senile and corrupt. Investigations of his alleged collusion with Russia to win the election go on and on and on with no end in sight.

The resistance to President Trump has gotten so hysterical that Jen Statsky, a writer and comedian who has written for “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon;” Parks and Recreation” and “Broad City” even tweeted that “if you support Trump you should have your children taken away, etc etc.”

Now that we’ve arrived at the one-year mark of the Trump presidency, I’ve done some soul-searching regarding my support of the man elected by the American people to lead our nation. As a black woman, a mother and a veteran, am I doing the right thing to continue backing President Trump? Is he really as awful – even evil – as his critics claim? Are his ideas half-baked and dangerous? Is he harming the nation I love?

And what does my support for President Trump say about me? By backing a man so hated by some am I compromising my integrity and values? Can I be pro-Trump and still be a good person?

More here

The Rise And Fall Of CNN: The Most Busted Name In News

“CNN is still licking their wounds after a rather disastrous couple of weeks, where a shoddy Russia-Trump story led to three staffers resigning, a Project Veritas investigation exposed that the network’s producers peddled the Russia story for ratings, and what came off as a wholly inappropriate veiled threat against an anonymous Reddit user who created a Trump WWE video, which the president tweeted before the Fourth of July Holiday. The video shows Trump beating up WWE’s Vince McMahon, whose face has been superimposed with the CNN logo. The media went apoplectic as an attack against the press; it wasn’t. This spurred the network’s reporters to find the user and pretty much threaten to dox him if he continues to post things CNN doesn’t like.”(Townhall, Matt Vespa, 7/7/17)

If you create a giant, you gain extraordinary visibility, and if the giant develops an unsightly and grotesque case of fungal disease, that’s a problem.

CNN was born in 1980. At the time, it was the first television network offering 24/7 news, and it was the first network offering nothing but news in the US.

In 1991, CNN’s coverage of the Gulf War reached a billion viewers worldwide.

Today, CNN International reaches 200 countries.

That’s a giant.

More

West Lafayette church targeted with racial slurs, threats, day after anti-Trump event

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The morning after hosting an event called the Resistance Fair, tied to the anniversary of President Donald Trump’s inauguration, parishioners at a West Lafayette church found banners on their property touting racial slurs and threatening violence.

One banner, painted on a bed sheet and tied to a fence at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 333 Meridian St., read: “Die F-----s, Orlando just like Los Vegas (sic).”

A second banner found at the church referenced singer-songwriter Jackson Browne, echoing fliers distributed in the church’s neighborhood last spring that also called out the singer-songwriter known for his progressive stances. That banner used a number of slurs for racial minorities and gays and lesbians: “N----- F—Sp—Lover.”

The first one included the date of Jan. 23, which is Tuesday. The church’s pastor, the Rev. Charlie Davis, said he considered that a threat, though he said he couldn’t tell the significance of the day, considering that the church has no services or events planned then.

More

Schumer Only Offered to ‘Authorize’ Wall Funding, Not Actually Spend Money

Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” while discussing the government shutdown, White House budget director Mick Mulvaney said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) offer on the border wall was only to “authorize” funding, not “appropriating” the money.

"I know it’s getting real deep down in the weeds. You can authorize left and right but it’s appropriating the money that makes the difference.."

More

America's Sources of Immigration (1850-Today)

BREAKING NEWS: Male Subject Falls From 3rd Floor Balcony In Ocean City

Ocean City Fire EMS have been dispatched to the Surfs Edge Condo, 64th Street and the Beach. A male subject fell from the 3rd floor. Patient is being flown to PRMC via Trooper 4 with multiple injuries.

Obstructionist Losers

President Donald Trump boasted that the Democrats were giving him a political gift after they voted against a bill that would fund the government late Friday night.

“This is the One Year Anniversary of my Presidency and the Democrats wanted to give me a nice present,” Trump wrote on Twitter with the hashtag #DemocratShutdown.

Trump challenged Democrats for focusing more on amnesty for illegal immigrants than funding the government.

“Democrats are far more concerned with Illegal Immigrants than they are with our great Military or Safety at our dangerous Southern Border,” he wrote. “They could have easily made a deal but decided to play Shutdown politics instead.”

More

The Biggest Political Scandal of Our Lifetimes

RUSH: The other big story that is out there: “A review of a classified document [a memo] outlining what is described as extensive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act abuse was made available to all House members Thursday and the revelations could lead to the removal of senior officials in the FBI and Department of Justice, several sources with knowledge of the document stated. These sources say the report is ‘explosive,’ stating they would not be surprised if it leads to the end of Robert Mueller’s Special Counsel investigation into President Trump and his associates.

“The House Intelligence Committee passed the motion along party lines Thursday to make the classified report alleging extensive ‘FISA Abuse’ related to the controversial [Trump] dossier available to all House members,” and it was, and they’ve all read it. They’ve all seen it. It’s just, what is it, two- or three-page memo. It’s not extensive. “Some members of the House viewed the document in a secure room Thursday.”

It’s a four-page memo is what it is, and do you realize none of it has leaked? (interruption) What do you mean, you “can’t figure out why not”? (interruption) Oh, you want to know why our people aren’t leaking it? Well, the reason the Democrats aren’t leaking it is ’cause it doesn’t help them to leak it. The Democrats in the deep state — various cabinet level and intelligence level positions — were leaking like a sieve, and so was Bannon.

I mean, there’s so many people leaking during the entire first year of the Trump administration, some of them in the administration, but most of them not. Most of them at the intelligence agencies. Every day, as you recall, there was seemingly a bombshell. “This is the end of it! This the end of the Trump presidency! This is it! This is the silver bullet!” Yet with each of those stories, a line was buried in each one saying, “To date, none of these leads have led to any hard evidence. But officials say the odds are that they’ll find it.” Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

More

It’s True: Cape Town’s Water Supply Is Three Months Away from a Shutdown

Three years of unforgiving drought in Cape Town, South Africa, have led to the once-unthinkable: A great world city is about to turn off the tap to its municipal water supply. The long-feared “Day Zero”—the point when the reservoirs serving Cape Town drop below the minimum levels needed to provide water safely—will arrive April 21, according to recent projections from the Western Cape Water Supply District.

Because we’re now in the midst of the Southern Hemisphere summer, it’s the dry season for Cape Town. There is very little chance that winter rains will kick in soon enough to prevent a few days or even a few weeks without municipal water. The city’s impressive water conservation efforts to date haven’t done the trick, and even a few stopgap desalination plants being rushed to completion are unlikely to avert Day Zero. At this point, the hydrologic hole dug by intense drought is simply too deep.

“Day Zero is the day that the water resource system runs out of water,” said Mark New, the AXA Research Chair in African Climate Risk at the University of Cape Town, in an email. What does this mean? “No water coming out the taps. Toilets cannot be flushed. Fire services cannot get water out of the fire hydrants. People will have to walk to water tankers to fill up drinking water bottles.” And there will be knock-on effects, such as schools considering whether they can operate with no water on campus.

More

Breaking News: The U.S. government is close to reopening: Senate Democrats helped advance a stopgap bill after a G.O.P. pledge to continue immigration talks

The Senate voted overwhelmingly to end the three-day old government shutdown, with Democrats joining Republicans to clear the way for a short-term spending package that would fund the government through Feb. 8 in exchange for a promise from Republican leaders to address the fate of the young undocumented immigrants known as Dreamers.

“In a few hours, the government will reopen,” said Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader. “We have a lot to do.”

Drug overdoses contribute to record number of organ donors

Two days before he died of a drug overdose, Tony Shires stripped off his shirt in the middle of Circleville’s Pumpkin Show to sop up his 5-year-old nephew’s bloody nose.

Even when he was high, Tony was looking out for others, said sister Kelsey Shires, 27.

“That’s just who he was. If you didn’t have a dollar and he had just one in his pocket, he would end up without a dollar,” she said.

Tony Shires, 28, of Clintonville, had been sober from heroin for six years. In 2017, he went to treatment for Xanax and suboxone dependency and was clean for 51 days before he relapsed and overdosed on heroin Oct. 23.

Even in death, he was generous; because he was an organ donor, his kidneys, pancreas and liver saved three strangers.

“That was what he wanted. People can judge, but he could be the one who saved your dad, your whoever,” said his wife, Amanda Shires, 27. “When it’s a hard day I think, ‘It’s not only bad. Something good did come out of it.’”

More

Onley Fire Department Fire Sale




Sec. Zinke Will Spend The Government Shutdown Ensuring The WWII Memorial, National Parks, Stay Open

The government might be shut down Saturday morning, but that did not stop Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke from doing his job.

Early in the morning, Zinke could be found cleaning up trash on the National Mall and welcoming tours of schoolchildren to the World War II memorial with a smile.

“We’re not putting up barricades,” Zinke told The Daily Caller in an interview. “Absolutely not. We’re passing out brochures until we run out of brochures. I’ll be out here everyday.”

Zinke, and much of the federal government, has had the vast majority of staff furloughed due to the government shutdown.

The shutdown happened on Friday when Democrats refused to vote for a GOP budget bill that kept the government funded. A shutdown means all “non-essential” government workers get furloughed and the rest go without pay until Congress can pass a funding bill.

More

Welfare to work: A critical step forward

On Jan. 11, the Trump administration laid out a clear path to move millions of able-bodied adults from welfare to work. In a letter to state Medicaid directors, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services set forth new guidance for states pursuing Medicaid work requirements.

Under the guidance, states can receive waivers to require able-bodied adults to work, train, or volunteer as a condition of Medicaid eligibility. This will finally bring Medicaid into alignment with other major welfare programs, which have successfully used similar rules for decades.

Work requirements have proven to be a highly effective way to move adults out of dependency. When states implemented work requirements in other welfare programs, they saw able-bodied adults leave welfare in record numbers and find work in more than 600 different industries. Those leaving welfare saw their incomes more than double on average.

But until Thursday, Medicaid had been disconnected from these commonsense rules, and it shows. Although work is the best way out of dependency, few able-bodied adults on Medicaid work full-time jobs, and most don’t work at all. Thursday’s guidance from the Trump administration can change that, by allowing states to build on their successes and align work requirements across all major welfare programs.

More

Backward-thinking ‘Queer Eye’ won’t work in 2018

On Wednesday, a new trailer for Netflix’s “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” revealed that the show will blaze back to TV on Feb. 7. But is it time to give this reboot the boot?

The reality program, which originally aired on Bravo from 2003 to 2007, featured a quintet of perky gay men — dubbed “The Fab Five” — who would enter the homes of heterosexual schlubs, impart some homosexual wisdom and leave the dudes looking like freshly minted Patrick Batemans. Back then, “Queer Eye” glittered.

The series was fun, sassy and, above all else, representational. But more than a decade later, the premise of a pentagon of gay Henry Higginses temporarily entering a man’s life to turn him into a metrosexual is hopelessly antiquated. It fuels the damaging stereotype that gays are good for nothing more than just a few giggles and style tips — that they make better caterers and finer hairdressers than people’s friends and neighbors.

When “Queer Eye” originally premiered, the show was rightly lauded for the groundbreaking visibility it afforded homosexuals. Sure, “Will & Grace” brought gay characters to the forefront — but Jack and Will were fictional. Here were five real people, having a good time and being presented likably in a volatile moment when even Democratic politicians feared being publicly in favor of gay marriage.

Many shows throughout TV history have walked a similar path and, despite being arguably offensive, helped make waves for other groups.

More

Trump: Use ‘Nuclear Option’ to Pass Long-Term Budget

President Donald Trump said Sunday that Senate Republicans should use the "nuclear option" to pass a long-term budget without a continuing resolution if Senate Republicans and Democrats cannot reach a compromise to end the government shutdown.

The Republican-controlled House passed a spending bill on Thursday night to fund the government through Feb. 16, including the extension of the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for six years. However, the Senate failed to pass their bill during a late-night vote on Friday.

Senate Republicans needed 60 votes in order to overcome a filibuster and pass the bill, but only five Democrats voted for the bill, effectively guaranteeing a shutdown since the Republicans hold a slim majority with 51 seats, and all but four of them voted for the bill.

Trump castigated Senate Democrats for voting against the spending bill to keep the government open and that they care more about protecting illegal immigrants and the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigration program—which expires in March—than the military and border security.

More here

A Viewer Writes, Easy Money

Joe-- I run an ad blocker on my browser, as well as some tweaks on my system that keep me from being barraged by ads all day.. and it works very well. I don't see many ads.

EXCEPT on SbyNews.. they are always there. They don't bother me the way you have them, and they have actually been very helpful to me from time to time when I needed something (like a body shop or a REAL good lawyer.)

And the thing that kills me is this-- your advertisers get this kind of
exposure day after day, week after week, and it only costs $100 per month.

A hundred bucks to be in front of THOUSANDS of readers every day. With very good return on investment from what I'm told. 'Easy money.' :-)

I was in sales years ago, and I know a good deal when I see one. People should be all over this. You can't beat it.

Thanks for all you do, dude.

Texts between ex-Mueller team members suggest they knew outcome of Clinton email probe in advance

The Justice Department has given various congressional committees nearly 400 pages of additional text messages between two FBI officials who were removed from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian officials.

One of the newly discovered messages, lawmakers said, appeared to indicate that Peter Strzok and Lisa Page knew that charges would not be filed against Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton as a result of the investigation into her email server -- before Clinton was interviewed by the bureau.

Strzok and Page were pulled off the probe last summer after it emerged that some of their messages to each other included anti-Trump content. Strzok, an FBI counterintelligence agent, was reassigned to the Bureau's human resources division after the discovery of the exchanges with Page, with whom he was having an affair.

According to a Saturday letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray from Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, the Justice Department provided 384 pages of messages to lawmakers on Friday. However, Johnson noted that additional texts sent between Dec. 14, 2016 and May 17 of last year were not preserved by the FBI's system.

A source on the committees receiving the texts told Fox News it was "outrageous" that the FBI had not previously indicated that the five-month gap in the messages existed. The source said it was incumbent on the FBI to prove that the missing texts do not constitute "obstruction" of congressional oversight or "destruction of evidence."

More here
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/01/21/newly-released-texts-between-ex-mueller-team-members-suggest-knew-outcome-clinton-email-probe-in-advance.html

Judicial Watch: More Smoking Gun Classified Clinton Email

One of the myths perpetrated by Hillary Clinton and her lieutenants is that she was mostly helpless when it came to using email and that she knew nothing about keeping it secure. It has been repeated so often that it has been accepted as true, even though it defies common sense.

Now there is even more evidence to debunk this myth.

This week we released 78 pages of new documents from the State Department containing emails that former Secretary of State Clinton sent and received over her unsecure, non-“state.gov” email system. Three of the email exchanges include classified information. The emails also reveal that Clinton had detailed knowledge about the security issues with her non-State Department email system.

On March 8, 2011, Clinton sent classified information regarding Bahrain to Justin Cooper, who reportedly had no security clearance, with instructions to show it to Bill Clinton. Cooper was the Bill Clinton aide who asked State Department IT specialist Bryan Pagliano to build a server for Mrs. Clinton in early 2009, as she started her new job as Secretary of State.

On August 24, 2010, Clinton emailed Cooper additional classified information to print, including the secretary’s call sheet for Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

In a February 13, 2010, email exchange, Clinton passed along classified information to Cooper. It originally was sent to Cheryl Mills (Clinton’s then-chief of staff) by U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Carlos Pascual. The classified information included a note from Mexican Foreign Secretary Patricia Espinosa to Clinton. In the email to Cooper, Clinton asks him to “look for Espinosa’s note and respond.”

The documents are part of the accelerated schedule of production ordered by U.S. District Court Judge James E. Boasberg, which requires the State Department to complete processing by September 28, 2018, the remaining documents of the 72,000 pages recovered by the FBI in its investigation into Clinton’s illicit email server. These new classified and other emails appear to be among those that Clinton had attempted to delete or had otherwise failed to disclose.

More

Democrat attorneys general compete to churn out lawsuits against Trump’s agenda

With Democrats struggling to stop President Trump in Washington, a cadre of attorneys general have stepped up to claim leadership of the anti-Trump resistance, using the courts to try to derail the administration’s agenda.

Massachusetts, New York and California are leading the way, with Maryland, Washington and Hawaii also playing major roles in launching legal battles to stop executive actions on issues such as immigration, the environment and Obamacare.

“One thing that really stands out about 2017 is that the sheer quantity of lawsuits has really shot up dramatically even in comparison of the Obama years, which of course was an escalation of what had occurred in previous administrations,” said Paul Nolette, a Marquette University political science professor who tracks the lawsuits and has counted dozens filed in the past 12 months.

Legal scholars say state attorneys general have become more organized and have the capability to respond rapidly to policies and regulations.

More
[How Attorneys General Became Democrats’ Bulwark Against Trump]

[Soros Fingerprints All Over Anti-Trump Lawsuits]

Democrat attorneys general compete to churn out lawsuits against Trump’s agenda

With Democrats struggling to stop President Trump in Washington, a cadre of attorneys general have stepped up to claim leadership of the anti-Trump resistance, using the courts to try to derail the administration’s agenda.

Massachusetts, New York and California are leading the way, with Maryland, Washington and Hawaii also playing major roles in launching legal battles to stop executive actions on issues such as immigration, the environment and Obamacare.

“One thing that really stands out about 2017 is that the sheer quantity of lawsuits has really shot up dramatically even in comparison of the Obama years, which of course was an escalation of what had occurred in previous administrations,” said Paul Nolette, a Marquette University political science professor who tracks the lawsuits and has counted dozens filed in the past 12 months.

Legal scholars say state attorneys general have become more organized and have the capability to respond rapidly to policies and regulations.

More
[How Attorneys General Became Democrats’ Bulwark Against Trump]

[Soros Fingerprints All Over Anti-Trump Lawsuits]

Maryland’s DNA Database Records 6,000th Hit

(PIKESVILLE, MD) – Colonel William M. Pallozzi, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police, today announced another milestone for Maryland’s DNA database, supporting its role as an invaluable tool to law enforcement in the ongoing effort to reduce crime, apprehend criminals, and exonerate the innocent.

Maryland’s DNA database, housed at the State Police Forensic Sciences Division laboratory, has now recorded 6,000 positive comparisons, or “hits,” as they are commonly referred to. A positive comparison occurs when DNA obtained from a crime victim or scene is matched with either a known offender sample or DNA from another crime scene that is on file in Maryland’s DNA database, or CODIS, the Combined DNA Index System, which enables access to the national database.

Earlier this month, scientists at the Maryland State Police Forensic Sciences Division forwarded information to detectives at a law enforcement agency in Maryland that the 6,000th positive DNA comparison through the use of Maryland’s DNA database was connected to an open 2012 robbery they are investigating. Specifics in this case cannot be made known at this time because the investigation is ongoing and the suspect has not been charged.

Maryland’s DNA database was established by law in 1994 and the first positive comparison occurred in 1998. It was eight years later, in August 2006, when State Police scientists reached the 500th hit.

I guess this is why it was repossessed...

Board of Supervisors votes to dissolve Onley Volunteer Fire Dept.

ACCOMACK COUNTY, Va. (WAVY) —
The Onley Volunteer Fire and Rescue Company is fighting to stick around after the county voted to dissolve the department.

The Board of Supervisors voted Wednesday night on the action after the Accomack County Fire and Rescue Commission voted to recommend to dissolve the company in June.

“We did not enjoy it last night. It was painful for us but we saw it. We saw the information, we saw the facts, and there was no other decision to be made,” said Robert Crockett, the chair of the board.

Crockett says the Fire and Rescue Commission presented them with data on the Onley Volunteer Fire Department, which lead to their unanimous decision.

“Since February, the Onley Fire Company has had no fire apparatus. Since March, they’ve responded to no EMS calls,” he said.

More

Criminal Charges Could Be Pending On Onley Fire Department Equipment That Didn't Belong To Them

1992 Saulsbury Heavy Rescue
$80,000
Exmore, VA
I have up for sale a 1992 Saulsbury Heavy Rescue For sale it has the mack e7 engine Allison automatic transmission comes equipped with a variety of hand tools including a brand new Hobart plasma cutter and a Forney torch kit it has a 6000 psi cascade system and a light tower setup for command operations as well has almost 59,000 miles and approx 3141 hours truck is currently in service and those numbers will go up any questions you have you can contact myself either on here or by phone at 757-710-8518

It's been reported that $60,000.00 worth of equipment has been sold that did not belong to the Onley Fire Department from this vehicle. We've also been told the Attorney General's office have been contacted to open an investigation on this matter. The vehicle was in fact repossessed. 

Someone get the straight jackets


A Viewer Writes: Did This Fire Truck Get Repossessed?

I know Onley Fire Department has had some trouble. I have to wonder why a piece of their equipment is being held in the REPO lot in Pittsville. Below is a picture of the truck that is there. I guess it is possible it is there for another reason other than being repossessed.

I wasn’t a Trump supporter. I am now.

This may seem like an odd moment for saying so, but a year into the presidency of Donald Trump, I’m elated.

Trump was not my first or even second choice for president, but a full two years ago I predicted he would win. I also predicted he’d be a progressive president, which explained why I was not among his supporters and why I am so pleased now.

Expecting Progressive Trump was a reasonable assumption. Trump supported the 2009 stimulus, the auto bailouts and the bank bailouts. He’d recently left the Democratic Party and had raised a ton of money for the Clintons, Nancy Pelosi and Charles E. Schumer. He’d supported single-payer health coverage, tax increases and even Planned Parenthood.

He was a New York liberal who had conquered the Republican Party in part by promising a good Supreme Court nomination. That was the most I allowed myself to hope for when he won.

The nomination of Neil M. Gorsuch to fill the vacancy of Antonin Scalia more than fulfilled that promise. Gorsuch isn’t a John Roberts, David Souter or Anthony Kennedy, to name three disappointing justices appointed by the three previous Republican presidents, but a brilliant legal mind with tremendous writing ability and persuasive powers.

Trump critics, particularly those on the right, like to mock Trump voters with the phrase “But Gorsuch!” It’s their way of saying that Gorsuch is the only good thing Trump has done and that a Trump presidency is not worth the rest. Except Gorsuch is not even close to the only good thing Trump has done.

He has appointed 12 outstanding federal appellate judges — a record number for a president in his first year. By comparison, President Barack Obama had only three in his first year.

In early June, Trump announced the U.S. departure from the Paris climate accord, an agreement that would have had virtually no impact on future temperatures but would have come at a large cost in the growth of government and control over the economy. Since Obama never ran the treaty through the Senate, it was nonbinding, but the federal bureaucracy was working to implement it with new regulations on U.S. businesses. Critics on the right say Trump just does what other Republican candidates would have done. Yet the previous Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney,lobbied Trump to stay in the global agreement.

More

Stormy Daniels Embarks On "Make America Horny Again" National Tour

A wide-ranging interview with former adult-film star and purported Trump mistress Stormy Daniels published in InTouch magazine - a supermarket tabloid - produced many notable soundbites - “Trump is afraid of sharks” “I could describe his junk in perfect detail”- was virtually ignored by the mainstream press on Friday, just like initial reports about a payoff involving a prominent Trump lawyer were buried by "shithole-gate" the week before.

But that didn’t stop the New York Times from sending one of its White House reporters to Greenville South Carolina to cover the beginning of Daniels’s “Make America Horny Again” national strip club tour - the 38-year-old’s attempt to cash in on her newfound notoriety.

Daniels was stripping at the Trophy Club in Greenville Saturday; she had also made an appearance at the Women’s March in Greenville, accompanied by anti-Trump signage.

Trophy Club owner Jay Levy bragged to the Times about the event’s affordable cover charge: Only $20 - just double the price of regular, non-Stormy evenings.

“Pigs get fat. Hogs get slaughtered,” said Jay Levy, the Trophy Club’s owner, explaining the relative bargain for guests. “I’ve got to take care of my people. I’ll take advantage of the situation, but not my people."

More

Illegal Aliens Quietly Being Relocated Throughout U.S. on Commercial Flights

Immigrants entering the United States illegally through the southern border are quietly being relocated to different parts of the country on commercial flights, high-ranking Homeland Security officials told Judicial Watch this week. In the last few days alone, groups of illegal aliens boarded planes at airports in Texas and Arizona accompanied by a taxpayer-funded government escort in civilian clothes to avoid drawing attention. The first flight originated at Valley International Airport in Harlingen, Texas and was bound for Minneapolis. The second left from Tucson International Airport and arrived in Salt Lake City, Utah, federal sources said. In both locations the illegal aliens appeared to be in their late teens and were escorted by a Health and Human Services (HHS) chaperone. Judicial Watch reached out to HHS for comment but did not hear back from the agency.

The illegal aliens wear red HHS wrist bands and receive “the gold glove treatment,” according to a veteran federal official, who added that the undocumented immigrants get priority boarding ahead of all other passengers, including law enforcement personnel. “It is shameful and dangerous,” said a seasoned Homeland Security agent with direct knowledge of the secret operations. Labor personnel from front-line Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agencies have complained about the cost and security risk of flying illegal alien minors to any destination of their choosing within the U.S., according to a longtime Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official present at the meetings. One of the closed-door meetings, late last year, included President Donald Trump and his chief of staff, John Kelly.

It appears that the Trump administration has chosen to ignore the concerns of rank-and-file federal agents, instead opting to quietly extend the controversial Obama-era policy that relocates illegal immigrants to unsuspecting communities nationwide. It is known as “Catch and Release” and frustrated DHS sources tell Judicial Watch the Trump administration is essentially facilitating the ongoing commission of a federal immigration crime despite its tough border security rhetoric.

More here

Hail to the Redskins paying for their own stadium

The Washington Redskins want a new stadium somewhere in the Beltway region, and the team has three suitors who'd love to have it, Washington, D.C.; Maryland; and Virginia. If you've been following the business of sports, you're probably thinking, "Ah, another bidding war, where governments offer embarrassingly large subsidies to billionaire owners."

Not this time, it seems. In a move unprecedented in recent sports history, all the local heads of government have agreed to eschew subsidies to the Skins. It's a cartel against corporate welfare and a promise to compete for the team on other terms.

A bill was introduced in Maryland's legislature this month to codify this pact, while Virginia's legislature and D.C.'s city council also have bills before them to nail down this abstinence pledge of sorts. We applaud Democratic Maryland State Del. David Moon, Virginia Republican Del. Michael Webert, and Independent D.C. City Council Member David Grosso for sponsoring these measures, which we hope will become law soon.

This is surprisingly a welcome news, and it may have resulted from the perfect storm that hovers over the NFL and the Redskins franchise.

More

'Lost'!

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has 'lost' about five months worth of text messages between two staffers who worked on probes into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's emails and possible collusion between Russia and President Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, according to a Republican lawmaker.

Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security Committee, revealed in a Jan. 20 letter that the FBI's technical system failed to preserve texts that were exchanged between Lisa Page, a lawyer, and Peter Strzok, an agent, between mid-December 2016 through mid-May of 2017.

A spokesman for the FBI and a spokeswoman for the Justice Department declined to comment.

Congressional Republicans have been focusing on Strzok and Page in recent weeks after learning the two had exchanged anti-Trump text messages on their work-issued cell phones.

More here

Dreamers reject compromise to reopen government

A key group of illegal immigrant “Dreamers” said Sunday that a deal lawmakers are considering to reopen the government with a promise to turn to immigration soon isn’t good enough, heaping more pressure on Democrats to keep the shutdown going.

Dreamers staged a vigil at the Capitol Sunday evening, amid rumblings that a bipartisan group was seeking a way to end the shutdown. Senators said they were considering voting for a bill to fund the government through Feb. 8, in exchange for a commitment to debate immigration in February, in the run-up to a March 5 deadline.

But United We Dream, a major advocacy group for Dreamers, said future action isn’t enough.

More

A Viewer Writes: Eagles

I am not a big fan of the current occupant of the White House, although I am grateful for many of the policies he has enacted and appointments he has made. I am writing to relate a striking occurrence that I witnessed during the President's speech, which was delivered via live video-feed, to the March for Life on Friday January 19th.

I was with a group from Salisbury MD that traveled to Washington DC to protest abortion and to stand up for the March for Life's principle that "Love Saves Lives".

We arrived at the mall grounds more than an hour before the program began. We were able to make our way toward the front, and settled to the right of the stage, about 100 feet out, with a great view of the jumbotron.

During the speech by the President -- and only during his speech -- two bald eagles repeatedly swooped over the March for Life crowd. The majestic birds circled overhead for most of the President's speech and then flew off as the President was closing his remarks. The eagles did not return during the rest of the speeches (nearly an hour) nor did I see them again during the March.

Many people noticed the eagles and took photos.

My assumption is that the eagles are the mating pair of American bald eagles named Mr President and The First Lady who reside in the National Arboretum.

Barletta: Dems Put Illegal Immigrants over American Citizens with Schumer’s Shutdown

Rep. Lou Barletta (R-PA) called out Senate Democrats following a government shutdown led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and members of the Republican establishment, saying the Democratic Party put the interests of illegal aliens ahead of American citizens.

On Friday evening, Senate Democrats, including Schumer and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), along with well as Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), voted against a spending bill to prevent a government shutdown because it did not include amnesty for at least 3.5 million illegal aliens and their illegal alien parents.

Barletta quickly responded to the decision to shut down the federal government for illegal aliens, writing on Twitter:

They’d rather shut down children’s health insurance and military funding to give illegal immigrants amnesty. #SchumerShutdown doesn’t seem to help Americans first. https://t.co/meE1QpkPa4

— Rep. Lou Barletta (@RepLouBarletta) January 20, 2018

Senate Democrats, along with Graham and Flake, voted to shut the federal government down after they did not get their way in slipping an amnesty plan for millions of illegal aliens into the spending bill.

More

Pay Good Attention


A Viewer Writes: Schools on lockdown

Any idea why Wi-Middle and Wi-Hi are on lockdown this morning?

Who Wants One?


Report: Medicaid Is Fueling Opioid Abuse

One of the largest entitlement programs in the country is incentivizing prescription drug trafficking and exacerbating the national opioid epidemic, according to a Senate report.

The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs released a Major Staff report Wednesday, which details how Medicaid policies governing prescription drug prices, expanded at the state level through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2014, “perversely” incentivize opioid abuse and illicit sales, as well as larger scale trafficking operations involving both criminal drug lords and respected doctors.

The report, commissioned by committee Chairman Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, notes the causes of the opioid epidemic are wide ranging and multifaceted, and says the committee does not, “deny the benefits that federal spending on healthcare provides to millions of Americans,” or claim Medicaid is the primary force behind the addiction crisis.

More

HOW THE INTERNET STARTED, ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE

Please do not Google or check this with Snopes.

They will lie to you. Trust me!

In ancient Israel, it came to pass that a trader by the name of Abraham Com did take unto himself a healthy young wife by the name of Dorothy. And Dot Com was a comely woman, large of breast, broad of shoulder and long of leg. Indeed, she was often called Amazon Dot Com.

And she said unto Abraham, her husband, "Why dost thou travel so far from town to town with thy goods when thou canst trade without ever leaving thy tent?"

And Abraham did look at her as though she were several saddle bags short of a camel load, but simply said, "How, dear?"

And Dot replied, "I will place drums in all the towns and drums in between to send messages saying what you have for sale, and they will reply telling you who hath the best price. The sale can be made on the drums and delivery made by Uriah's Pony Stable (UPS)."

Abraham thought long and decided he would let Dot have her way with the drums. And the drums rang out and were an immediate success. Abraham sold all the goods he had at the top price, without ever having to move from his tent.

To prevent neighboring countries from overhearing what the drums were saying, Dot devised a system that only she and the drummers knew It was known as Must Send Drum Over Sound (MSDOS), and she also developed a language to transmit ideas and pictures - Hebrew to the People (HTTP).

And the young men did take to Dot Com's trading as doth the greedy horsefly take to camel dung. They were called Nomadic Ecclesiastical Rich Dominican Sybarites, or NERDS And lo, the land was so feverish with joy at the new riches and the deafening sound of drums that no one noticed that the real riches were going to that enterprising drum dealer, Brother William of Gates, who bought off every drum maker in the land. Indeed he did insist on drums to be made that would work only with Brother Gates' drum heads and drumsticks.

And Dot did say, "Oh, Abraham, what we have started is being taken over by others." And Abraham looked out over the Bay of Ezekiel, or eBay as it came to be known. He said, "We need a name that reflects what we are."

And Dot replied, "Young Ambitious Hebrew Owner Operators." "YAHOO," said Abraham. And because it was Dot's idea, they named it YAHOO Dot Com.

Abraham's cousin, Joshua, being the young Gregarious Energetic Educated Kid (GEEK) that he was, soon started using Dot's drums to locate things around the countryside.

It soon became known as God's Own Official Guide to Locating Everything (GOOGLE).

That is how it all began. And that's the truth.

I would not make up this stuff.

Oh Boy!


How to Dress for Every Type of Job Interview

Yesterday, we laid out the reasons why what you wear to a job interview is very important.We also debunked a common myth: a formal business suit is not always the right outfit for an interview. It often is, and if you really have nothing else to go on it’s probably your safest default, but be aware that overdressing can cost you a job just as easily as underdressing. A guy who shows up to interview for an hourly wage job at a garage in a suit and tie doesn’t look like someone who understands the culture of that workplace or who’s going to stick around for long — he’s clearly got his mind on bigger and better positions.

Below we walk you through not only the overarching rule to keep in mind when deciding what to wear for a job interview, but also the five categories of dress codes to know, the specific clothes to wear for each code, and even grooming tips to take you up a notch.
The “One Step Higher” Rule

Your best rule for interview clothing is this: dress one significant level of formality higher than you would for a day on the job.

In shorthand, that’s the “One Step Higher” rule. It means that if on a normal day you’d be wearing khakis and a dress shirt but no tie, you should show up at the interview in slacks, a blazer, and a shirt with a tie, but not a suit. If you’d be wearing jeans and a polo at the job, wear khakis and a tie but no jacket. And so on.

All well and good, you say, but at an interview you haven’t yet worked a day at the company. You probably haven’t seen the employee handbook, HR manual, dress code, or wherever else they lay out clothing standards, either. So how do you know what the base level of formality is, and therefore how to dress one step higher than it?

A smart interviewee will take the time to figure out a company’s dress standards before going to the interview. Depending on your connections, you can do this in one of three ways:

More

Buster Keaton's Most Amazing Stunts

The Truth About 'Sh*thole Countries'