Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, said Tuesday that former FBI lawyer Lisa Page has been more helpful than FBI agent Peter Strzok when it comes to answering their questions about how the FBI handled the Russia and Hillary Clinton investigations.
"She has given us more insights to who was involved in what," Gohmert told Fox News.
"She's a more contrite person," he added. "But make no mistake ... she's a Democrat. She wanted Hillary to win and she did not want Trump to win, and that's been obvious."
Gohmert said Page has not contradicted Strzok, with whom she had an affair that was discovered by the Justice Department's inspector general. The two texted each other anti-Trump messages, which led to GOP claims that the FBI was biased against President Trump and for Clinton.
But Gohmert said Page has generally been more cooperative, which he indicated has opened more doors in the House Republican probe.
Gohmert said, for example, that there are other FBI supervisors involved in the GOP investigation besides Strzok, although he didn't name them. He also indicated that former CIA Director John Brennan and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper could be involved.
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DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
Wednesday, July 18, 2018
The Janus Decision Scored a Major Win for Workers' Rights. Here's What Should Come Next.
Last month’s Supreme Court decision in Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees hit public-sector unions like a bombshell.
Now that public-sector unions can no longer extract union fees from workers who want nothing to do with them, public unions will have to work harder to provide services that will prompt workers to join their ranks.
The question explored in the Janus case was whether or not forcing non-members to pay union dues violates their First Amendment rights. That issue was addressed narrowly as a matter of free speech, but more broadly it had much to do with wrongful coercion.
Both members and non-members of public-sector unions can opt out of paying the portion of dues that explicitly goes to the union’s political activities. But, until recently, non-members could still be forced by law to pay what was called a “fair share” fee, because even non-members could receive the benefits of union representation (since unions have a monopoly on worker-employer negotiations).
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Now that public-sector unions can no longer extract union fees from workers who want nothing to do with them, public unions will have to work harder to provide services that will prompt workers to join their ranks.
The question explored in the Janus case was whether or not forcing non-members to pay union dues violates their First Amendment rights. That issue was addressed narrowly as a matter of free speech, but more broadly it had much to do with wrongful coercion.
Both members and non-members of public-sector unions can opt out of paying the portion of dues that explicitly goes to the union’s political activities. But, until recently, non-members could still be forced by law to pay what was called a “fair share” fee, because even non-members could receive the benefits of union representation (since unions have a monopoly on worker-employer negotiations).
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WATCH: Obama Turns On Identity Politics, Says We Should Understand ‘People Who Are Different Than Us’
Former President Barack Obama has seemingly turned on identity politics and the notion of “intersectionality” — the idea that some people have more layers of oppression than others and are therefore more qualified to speak on issues of race, gender, etc.
While speaking in Johannesburg, South Africa, at an event honoring the 100thanniversary of the late Nelson Mandela’s birth, Obama implored the audience to listen to those who are not like us.
“Democracy demands that we’re able also to get inside the reality of people who are different than us, so we can understand their point of view,” Obama said. “Maybe we can change their minds but maybe they’ll change ours.”
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While speaking in Johannesburg, South Africa, at an event honoring the 100thanniversary of the late Nelson Mandela’s birth, Obama implored the audience to listen to those who are not like us.
“Democracy demands that we’re able also to get inside the reality of people who are different than us, so we can understand their point of view,” Obama said. “Maybe we can change their minds but maybe they’ll change ours.”
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Mass Migration: "The Fatal Solvent Of The EU"
"Far from leading to fusion, Europe's migration crisis is leading to fission", Stanford's historian Niall Ferguson recently wrote."Increasingly, I believe that the issue of migration will be seen by future historians as the fatal solvent of the EU". Week after week, Mr. Ferguson's prediction seems to be turning into a reality.
Not only does Europe continue to fragment as anti-immigration sentiment gathers political strength, but, as a result of the migrant crisis, the EU's border-free internal zone, Europe's most cherished prize after the Second World War, is now defined as "at risk" by the Italian government, among other governments, such and Austria.
Immigration is also redefining the intra-EU contract.
The Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, the so called "Visegrad Group", recently called for EU border defense. "We have to have a Europe capable of defending us", Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said as well, after he was invited to join the Visegrad meeting.
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Not only does Europe continue to fragment as anti-immigration sentiment gathers political strength, but, as a result of the migrant crisis, the EU's border-free internal zone, Europe's most cherished prize after the Second World War, is now defined as "at risk" by the Italian government, among other governments, such and Austria.
Immigration is also redefining the intra-EU contract.
The Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, the so called "Visegrad Group", recently called for EU border defense. "We have to have a Europe capable of defending us", Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said as well, after he was invited to join the Visegrad meeting.
More
Sessions Announces New Taskforce to Tackle Fentanyl
Ten counties to get zero tolerance prosecution for fentanyl offenses
Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Thursday a surge in federal prosecutors to combat the boom in fentanyl trafficking and associated deaths.
"We are going to arrest, prosecute, and convict fentanyl dealers and we are going to put them in jail," Sessions said.
The initiative, operation Synthetic Opioid Surge (S.O.S.), will see federal prosecutors targeting synthetic opioid peddling as part of an effort to cut down on the deadliest drugs in America.
Drug overdoses—of which there were some 64,000 fatal instances in 2016—are the leading cause of injury death in the United States, and have single-handedly driven down the life expectancy of white Americans. In his speech, Sessions said the data for 2017 suggest we are not out of the woods yet.
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Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Thursday a surge in federal prosecutors to combat the boom in fentanyl trafficking and associated deaths.
"We are going to arrest, prosecute, and convict fentanyl dealers and we are going to put them in jail," Sessions said.
The initiative, operation Synthetic Opioid Surge (S.O.S.), will see federal prosecutors targeting synthetic opioid peddling as part of an effort to cut down on the deadliest drugs in America.
Drug overdoses—of which there were some 64,000 fatal instances in 2016—are the leading cause of injury death in the United States, and have single-handedly driven down the life expectancy of white Americans. In his speech, Sessions said the data for 2017 suggest we are not out of the woods yet.
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Rabid Wolf Blitzer Flips Out On Rand Paul For Standing With Trump, Questioning U.S. Intel
Paul said he thinks partisan hacks attacking Trump may be suffering from “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
An hysterical Wolf Blitzer threw a hissy fit Monday on CNN after Senator Rand Paul said he “absolutely” stands with President Trump after his meeting with Putin in Helsinki and said he thinks partisan hacks attacking Trump may be suffering from “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
While President Donald Trump’s statements on Russia at a joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin were widely condemned by a group of bipartisan lawmakers, at least one US senator took a stand and said he was “absolutely” with the president.
“I think engagement with our adversaries, conversations with our adversaries, is a good idea,” Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky said during an interview with CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer. “Even in the height of the Cold War, I think it was a good thing that [President John F. Kennedy] had a direct line to [Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev].”
Paul then went beyond backing Trump’s comments and blamed partisan leanings for the ongoing outrage.
More/Video
An hysterical Wolf Blitzer threw a hissy fit Monday on CNN after Senator Rand Paul said he “absolutely” stands with President Trump after his meeting with Putin in Helsinki and said he thinks partisan hacks attacking Trump may be suffering from “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
While President Donald Trump’s statements on Russia at a joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin were widely condemned by a group of bipartisan lawmakers, at least one US senator took a stand and said he was “absolutely” with the president.
“I think engagement with our adversaries, conversations with our adversaries, is a good idea,” Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky said during an interview with CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer. “Even in the height of the Cold War, I think it was a good thing that [President John F. Kennedy] had a direct line to [Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev].”
Paul then went beyond backing Trump’s comments and blamed partisan leanings for the ongoing outrage.
More/Video
Fla. School Shooting Suspect Appears In Court
The alleged Parkland shooter is back in court, as a judge determines how much of his confession should be released to the public.
The 19-year-old appeared in court Monday, where media organizations asked a judge to allow disclosure of the confession video under public records law.
However, the alleged gunman’s attorney argued releasing the statement would jeopardize his right to a fair trail.
The judge deferred her ruling and said she will allow the defense 10 days to appeal.
The teen is accused of killing 17 people during the school shooting in February.
The next hearing is scheduled for next month.
Source
The 19-year-old appeared in court Monday, where media organizations asked a judge to allow disclosure of the confession video under public records law.
However, the alleged gunman’s attorney argued releasing the statement would jeopardize his right to a fair trail.
The judge deferred her ruling and said she will allow the defense 10 days to appeal.
The teen is accused of killing 17 people during the school shooting in February.
The next hearing is scheduled for next month.
Source
Trouble Ahead For The Housing Market
We're starting to see rising supply & flat/declining prices...
Our good friend John Rubino over at DollarCollapse.com just released an analysis titled US Housing Bubble Enters Stage 2: Suddenly Motivated Sellers.
He reminds us that housing bubbles follow a predictable progression:
Stage 1: Mania -- Prices rise at an accelerating rate as factors like excess central bank liquidity/low credit standards/hot foreign money drive a virtuous bidding cycle well above sustainably afforable levels.
Stage 2: Peak -- Increasingly jittery owners attempt to sell out before the party ends. Supply jumps as prices stagnate.
Stage 3: Bust -- As inventory builds, sellers start having to lower prices. This begins a vicious cycle : buyers go on strike not wanting to catch a falling knife, causing sellers to drop prices further.
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Our good friend John Rubino over at DollarCollapse.com just released an analysis titled US Housing Bubble Enters Stage 2: Suddenly Motivated Sellers.
He reminds us that housing bubbles follow a predictable progression:
Stage 1: Mania -- Prices rise at an accelerating rate as factors like excess central bank liquidity/low credit standards/hot foreign money drive a virtuous bidding cycle well above sustainably afforable levels.
Stage 2: Peak -- Increasingly jittery owners attempt to sell out before the party ends. Supply jumps as prices stagnate.
Stage 3: Bust -- As inventory builds, sellers start having to lower prices. This begins a vicious cycle : buyers go on strike not wanting to catch a falling knife, causing sellers to drop prices further.
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Recruiting for 2020 Census Tough When Unemployment is Low
Recruiting enough workers to fill the hundreds of thousands of temporary positions needed to take the 2020 Census won’t be easy, given the current economic climate, but the Census Bureau is more than up to the challenge.
For the decennial census, the Census Bureau will need a large and diverse workforce to follow up by phone or in person with households that do not respond to the questionnaire.
But, the lower the unemployment rate, the harder it can be to recruit.
Before the 2010 Census, unemployment was at its highest levels since the early 1980s. It peaked at 10.0 percent in October 2009 and hovered between 9.3 and 9.8 percent throughout 2010, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Today’s environment is much different, with the unemployment rate down to 4.0 percent as of June 2018.
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For the decennial census, the Census Bureau will need a large and diverse workforce to follow up by phone or in person with households that do not respond to the questionnaire.
But, the lower the unemployment rate, the harder it can be to recruit.
Before the 2010 Census, unemployment was at its highest levels since the early 1980s. It peaked at 10.0 percent in October 2009 and hovered between 9.3 and 9.8 percent throughout 2010, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Today’s environment is much different, with the unemployment rate down to 4.0 percent as of June 2018.
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IRS Will Now Allow Some Tax Exempt Groups to Keep Donor Data Private
The IRS is moving to protect the identities of political donors after past leaks targeted conservatives.
On Monday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the information is not necessary for the agency to enforce tax laws.
The policy change allows certain tax exempt groups like the NRA to withhold the names of financial donors as long as more than half the money is not spent on campaign activities.
However, the IRS still requires the organizations keep a record of their donor’s names and addresses in case of an audit.
Conservatives have been critical of the IRS since it was found to have targeted groups aligned with the Tea Party under the Obama administration.
Source
On Monday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the information is not necessary for the agency to enforce tax laws.
The policy change allows certain tax exempt groups like the NRA to withhold the names of financial donors as long as more than half the money is not spent on campaign activities.
However, the IRS still requires the organizations keep a record of their donor’s names and addresses in case of an audit.
Conservatives have been critical of the IRS since it was found to have targeted groups aligned with the Tea Party under the Obama administration.
Source
Pat Buchanan: "Trump Calls Off Cold War II"
Beginning his joint press conference with Vladimir Putin, President Trump declared that U.S. relations with Russia have “never been worse.”
He then added pointedly, that just changed “about four hours ago.”
It certainly did. With his remarks in Helsinki and at the NATO summit in Brussels, Trump has signaled a historic shift in U.S. foreign policy that may determine the future of this nation and the fate of his presidency.
He has rejected the fundamental premises of American foreign policy since the end of the Cold War and blamed our wretched relations with Russia, not on Vladimir Putin, but squarely on the U.S. establishment.
In a tweet prior to the meeting, Trump indicted the elites of both parties: “Our relationship with Russia has NEVER been worse thanks to many years of U.S. foolishness and stupidity and now, the Rigged Witch Hunt!”
Trump thereby repudiated the records and agendas of the neocons and their liberal interventionist allies, as well as the archipelago of War Party think tanks beavering away inside the Beltway.
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He then added pointedly, that just changed “about four hours ago.”
It certainly did. With his remarks in Helsinki and at the NATO summit in Brussels, Trump has signaled a historic shift in U.S. foreign policy that may determine the future of this nation and the fate of his presidency.
He has rejected the fundamental premises of American foreign policy since the end of the Cold War and blamed our wretched relations with Russia, not on Vladimir Putin, but squarely on the U.S. establishment.
In a tweet prior to the meeting, Trump indicted the elites of both parties: “Our relationship with Russia has NEVER been worse thanks to many years of U.S. foolishness and stupidity and now, the Rigged Witch Hunt!”
Trump thereby repudiated the records and agendas of the neocons and their liberal interventionist allies, as well as the archipelago of War Party think tanks beavering away inside the Beltway.
More
SCAM ALERT: Police Warn Of E-Mail Scam Targeting Marylanders
The scam e-mail states that they have setup software on the “pornography” websites you have been visiting, and unless you pay the $2,000, they will released footage from your webcam.
Read the full scam e-mail below:
Read the full scam e-mail below:
Maryland Attorney General News Releases Update
Attorney General Frosh Joins Suit to Protect State Taxpayers from Increased Taxes Due to Limitations on State and Local Tax Deductions
Drastically Cutting SALT Deduction Could Cost Maryland Taxpayers Estimated $1.7 Billion in 2018 Alone;
New Federal Tax Law Targets and Will Disproportionately Harm Maryland, While Interfering with States’ Rights to Make Own Fiscal Decisions
BALTIMORE, MD – Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh today joined a lawsuit to protect Maryland and its taxpayers from the drastic curtailment of the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction. The lawsuit argues that the new SALT cap was enacted to target Maryland and similarly situated states, that it interferes with states’ rights to make their own fiscal decisions, and that it will disproportionately harm taxpayers in these states.
The 2017 federal tax law drastically reduced the deduction by capping it at $10,000. Maryland relies on state property and income taxes to fund a variety of critical services, including education, health care, public safety, and other priorities. More than 500,000 Marylanders will lose $6.5 billion in SALT deductions – an average of $11,800 per taxpayer. These changes will also have harmful collateral consequences for the State and its residents. With the decreased value of the property tax deduction, for example, many Marylanders will see decreases in the value of their homes. Maryland residents will have an incentive to move elsewhere, and attracting young families and skilled workers to the State will become more difficult, putting Maryland at a competitive disadvantage.
“Eliminating the SALT deduction will jack up taxes for more than half a million Marylanders,” said Attorney General Frosh. “It is an attack on state sovereignty. It will reduce funding for local law enforcement and for construction of infrastructure statewide, and it will cripple our ability to educate our kids.”
Read more in the full press release:http://www.marylandattorneygeneral.gov/press/2018/071718.pdf
Drastically Cutting SALT Deduction Could Cost Maryland Taxpayers Estimated $1.7 Billion in 2018 Alone;
New Federal Tax Law Targets and Will Disproportionately Harm Maryland, While Interfering with States’ Rights to Make Own Fiscal Decisions
BALTIMORE, MD – Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh today joined a lawsuit to protect Maryland and its taxpayers from the drastic curtailment of the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction. The lawsuit argues that the new SALT cap was enacted to target Maryland and similarly situated states, that it interferes with states’ rights to make their own fiscal decisions, and that it will disproportionately harm taxpayers in these states.
The 2017 federal tax law drastically reduced the deduction by capping it at $10,000. Maryland relies on state property and income taxes to fund a variety of critical services, including education, health care, public safety, and other priorities. More than 500,000 Marylanders will lose $6.5 billion in SALT deductions – an average of $11,800 per taxpayer. These changes will also have harmful collateral consequences for the State and its residents. With the decreased value of the property tax deduction, for example, many Marylanders will see decreases in the value of their homes. Maryland residents will have an incentive to move elsewhere, and attracting young families and skilled workers to the State will become more difficult, putting Maryland at a competitive disadvantage.
“Eliminating the SALT deduction will jack up taxes for more than half a million Marylanders,” said Attorney General Frosh. “It is an attack on state sovereignty. It will reduce funding for local law enforcement and for construction of infrastructure statewide, and it will cripple our ability to educate our kids.”
Read more in the full press release:http://www.marylandattorneygeneral.gov/press/2018/071718.pdf
Intel Chair: FBI, DOJ Obstructing Trump Probe in Hope of Dem Takeover in Congress
The chair of the House Intelligence Committee accused the FBI and Department of Justice of stonewalling a sprawling investigation into claims the Trump campaign colluded with Russia with the hope of running out the clock until the November elections, when they anticipate Democrats will regain control of the House and dissolve an ongoing probe that has uncovered evidence U.S. officials sought to cripple Trump's campaign.
Rep. Devin Nunes (R., Calif.), in a wide-ranging audio interview with his House colleague Rep. Sean Duffy (R., Wis.), accused top officials at the FBI and DOJ of "putting all their chips on the Republicans losing the House" so that their Democratic allies can "shut down" the longstanding Intelligence Committee probe, which has unearthed information disputing claims of collusion in recent months.
More here
Rep. Devin Nunes (R., Calif.), in a wide-ranging audio interview with his House colleague Rep. Sean Duffy (R., Wis.), accused top officials at the FBI and DOJ of "putting all their chips on the Republicans losing the House" so that their Democratic allies can "shut down" the longstanding Intelligence Committee probe, which has unearthed information disputing claims of collusion in recent months.
More here
Did we expect president to call Putin a liar on global TV?
President Trump bungled the Helsinki press conference. Of that there is no question. But were his comments treasonous, as former CIA chief John Brennan said? Or was it, as John McCain thundered, “one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory?"
Trump’s critics responded with customary vitriol and excess, attacking the president in such extreme terms that his supporters only dig in even deeper. Democrats and never-Trumpers cannot help themselves; over the past two years, the public has grown weary of the non-stop, five-alarm fires, and they have tuned out.
To be sure, President Trump missed an opportunity to publicly and sternly warn Russian President Vladimir Putin against interfering in future U.S. elections. Just as importantly, he never articulated why it was crucial to reset relations with Russia, as every preceding administration has tried to do. He failed to describe the many arenas in which the two countries could work together.
But really, did anyone really expect him to declare the Russian leader a liar on global TV? What would have been the point of traveling to Helsinki and arranging a summit between the world’s two biggest nuclear powers, only to scuttle the chance at a new and improved relationship?
More
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2018/07/17/liz-peek-trump-critics-predictably-melt-down-over-helsinki-summit.html
Trump’s critics responded with customary vitriol and excess, attacking the president in such extreme terms that his supporters only dig in even deeper. Democrats and never-Trumpers cannot help themselves; over the past two years, the public has grown weary of the non-stop, five-alarm fires, and they have tuned out.
To be sure, President Trump missed an opportunity to publicly and sternly warn Russian President Vladimir Putin against interfering in future U.S. elections. Just as importantly, he never articulated why it was crucial to reset relations with Russia, as every preceding administration has tried to do. He failed to describe the many arenas in which the two countries could work together.
But really, did anyone really expect him to declare the Russian leader a liar on global TV? What would have been the point of traveling to Helsinki and arranging a summit between the world’s two biggest nuclear powers, only to scuttle the chance at a new and improved relationship?
More
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2018/07/17/liz-peek-trump-critics-predictably-melt-down-over-helsinki-summit.html
Former Trump critic Rep. Martha Roby wins runoff with president's help
Rep. Martha Roby, R-Ala., prevailed Tuesday in a primary runoff that also pitted two of the 2018 election cycle’s biggest bogeymen against each other: President Trump and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
Roby easily defeated former Rep. Bobby Bright, the man she replaced after she was first elected to Congress in the Tea Party wave of 2010, in a dramatic turnaround from the first round of voting in June. Back then, she could not break 40 percent of the vote, much less the majority required to avoid a runoff. On Tuesday night, she won by a 2-1 margin.
Bright had only recently crossed over from the Democratic Party. It is not unusual for a certain generation of Democrats to become Republicans in the Deep South. But Bright’s record is not especially conservative by Southern standards. He voted for Barack Obama for president and Pelosi for speaker, serving one term when Democrats had the majority and passed Obamacare.
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Roby easily defeated former Rep. Bobby Bright, the man she replaced after she was first elected to Congress in the Tea Party wave of 2010, in a dramatic turnaround from the first round of voting in June. Back then, she could not break 40 percent of the vote, much less the majority required to avoid a runoff. On Tuesday night, she won by a 2-1 margin.
Bright had only recently crossed over from the Democratic Party. It is not unusual for a certain generation of Democrats to become Republicans in the Deep South. But Bright’s record is not especially conservative by Southern standards. He voted for Barack Obama for president and Pelosi for speaker, serving one term when Democrats had the majority and passed Obamacare.
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Unmasked: Matt Rivitz, Founder of Sleeping Giants, Behind Social Media Mobs
A Monday report revealed Matt Rivitz, a San Francisco-based ad executive, as the founder of Sleeping Giants, the anonymous leftist group that organizes social media mobs in an effort to silence conservative voices.
According to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s (DCNF) Peter Hasson, Rivitz’s identity as the until-now anonymous founder is confirmed by clues left in Rivitz’s media interviews and social media posts by people in his “social and professional circles.”
Rivitz himself long ago deleted his Twitter and Facebook accounts, as well as his professional websites.
The group’s modus operandi is consistent throughout its campaigns: use social media in cooperation with other well-funded left-wing groups like Media Matters for America and Think Progress to urge their followers to contact advertisers en masse – expressing their outrage that companies dare advertise with conservatives – until the companies relent and pull their ads. Equally consistent is their goal in organizing these social media mobs: pressure corporate America to blacklist conservative audiences.
Sleeping Giants’ first crusade was to drive Breitbart News from the web, starting in 2016.
More here
According to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s (DCNF) Peter Hasson, Rivitz’s identity as the until-now anonymous founder is confirmed by clues left in Rivitz’s media interviews and social media posts by people in his “social and professional circles.”
Rivitz himself long ago deleted his Twitter and Facebook accounts, as well as his professional websites.
The group’s modus operandi is consistent throughout its campaigns: use social media in cooperation with other well-funded left-wing groups like Media Matters for America and Think Progress to urge their followers to contact advertisers en masse – expressing their outrage that companies dare advertise with conservatives – until the companies relent and pull their ads. Equally consistent is their goal in organizing these social media mobs: pressure corporate America to blacklist conservative audiences.
Sleeping Giants’ first crusade was to drive Breitbart News from the web, starting in 2016.
More here
Trump and Senators Offer Plans to Reorganize Bureaucracy, Drain the Swamp
President Donald Trump’s administration released a plan June 21 that, if enacted, would impose some order on the sprawling administrative state—something that is long overdue.
Decades of ceaseless expansion of the size and scope of the federal government have created a bloated and inefficient federal bureaucracy, replete with agencies and offices with overlapping functions.
The Rube Goldberg-esque structure of the federal bureaucracy is not only expensive, it thickens the web of government red tape, makes government services less efficient, and makes mission failure more likely by splintering simple jobs among diffuse agencies.
Trump’s plan would begin the long process of rearranging the overgrown federal bureaucracy by grafting together agencies that do similar work and pruning away offices that have outlived their usefulness.
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Decades of ceaseless expansion of the size and scope of the federal government have created a bloated and inefficient federal bureaucracy, replete with agencies and offices with overlapping functions.
The Rube Goldberg-esque structure of the federal bureaucracy is not only expensive, it thickens the web of government red tape, makes government services less efficient, and makes mission failure more likely by splintering simple jobs among diffuse agencies.
Trump’s plan would begin the long process of rearranging the overgrown federal bureaucracy by grafting together agencies that do similar work and pruning away offices that have outlived their usefulness.
More
Trump Is Right. NATO Countries Need to Up Their Defense Spending
President Donald Trump may have offended some of our allies last week when he delivered a stern message reminding them of their unmet defense spending promises, but it was not a message they haven’t heard before.
“If we’ve got collective defense,” then-President Barack Obama said at a 2014 NATO press conference in Brussels, “it means that everybody’s got to chip in, and I have had some concerns about a diminished level of defense spending among some of our partners in NATO. Not all, but many.”
Obama’s concern for low levels of European defense spending is well-founded.
When NATO was established in 1948, the U.S. was concerned that many European democracies were too militarily weak to protect themselves from USSR encroachment. An alliance against a common enemy seemed the best option for defense while allowing European economies and militaries to rebuild after World War II.
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“If we’ve got collective defense,” then-President Barack Obama said at a 2014 NATO press conference in Brussels, “it means that everybody’s got to chip in, and I have had some concerns about a diminished level of defense spending among some of our partners in NATO. Not all, but many.”
Obama’s concern for low levels of European defense spending is well-founded.
When NATO was established in 1948, the U.S. was concerned that many European democracies were too militarily weak to protect themselves from USSR encroachment. An alliance against a common enemy seemed the best option for defense while allowing European economies and militaries to rebuild after World War II.
More
Hillary Uses World Cup To Question Trump's Loyalty To The U.S.
On Sunday, noted sports fan Hillary Clinton used the occasion of the World Cup Final to issue a tweet attacking President Trump’s loyalty to the United States:
Whether Clinton’s jibe at Trump related to his public comments while overseas or they were just one more attempt to insert herself into the current political arena despite Democrats’ efforts to move on without her, the hypocrisy was well-nigh staggering, considering that this was the same woman who gave a “reset button” to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in 2009 to indicate the U.S, was prepared to let bygones be bygones with their main political enemy.
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Maryland Democrats Shocked to Learn Single-Payer Is Expensive
This morning, the largest newspaper in the state, the Baltimore Sun, reports that Maryland’s Department of Legislative Services calculated that the state would have to levy a 10 percent payroll tax against every business and charge a $2,800 fee for every man, woman, and child in the state to raise the needed $24 billion a year.
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40% vacancy: Feds release illegal immigrant families instead of filling detention centers
The government pays for thousands of detention beds for illegal immigrant families, but nearly 40 percent of them were sitting unused in late June, even as the Department of Homeland Security was rushing to release parents and children into communities.
The empty beds were revealed in court documents late last month. Lawyers who monitor U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s facilities said two major facilities were running well below capacity.
ICE’s biggest facility in Dilley, Texas, can hold 2,400 parents and children — but on June 27 and 28 it was at just 63 percent capacity, with 886 beds empty, the detainee logs showed.
Although the beds were empty, the government was still paying for them.
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The empty beds were revealed in court documents late last month. Lawyers who monitor U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s facilities said two major facilities were running well below capacity.
ICE’s biggest facility in Dilley, Texas, can hold 2,400 parents and children — but on June 27 and 28 it was at just 63 percent capacity, with 886 beds empty, the detainee logs showed.
Although the beds were empty, the government was still paying for them.
More
California Judge Stops Family Deportations, Invites ACLU to Aid Asylum Requests
Migrants and their children should not be deported until the ACLU has a chance to help them get asylum in the United States, according to one solitary California judge who has taken temporary control of President Donald Trump’s zero-tolerance family-migration policy.
The intervention by Judge Dana Sabraw comes as more media reports reveal the economic destruction being caused in Central America by the United States’ loop-holed migration laws. Those laws encourage Central American families and young women and men to sell their houses or go into debt to hire the expensive cartel-linked coyotes needed to guide them up to the U.S. border — even though few of the migrants get approval to live in the United States.
The pending deportations were blocked on Monday, for one week, at the request of the ACLU by Sabraw, who is already forcing agency officials to reunite 2,551 children and youths with their migrant parents. The judge’s demand for reunification is forcing immigration agencies to release the migrants’ parents from detention before the President’s zero-tolerance policy can deport them homewards. Sabraw is also forcing taxpayers to fund the reunification of the migrants with their claimed children.
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The intervention by Judge Dana Sabraw comes as more media reports reveal the economic destruction being caused in Central America by the United States’ loop-holed migration laws. Those laws encourage Central American families and young women and men to sell their houses or go into debt to hire the expensive cartel-linked coyotes needed to guide them up to the U.S. border — even though few of the migrants get approval to live in the United States.
The pending deportations were blocked on Monday, for one week, at the request of the ACLU by Sabraw, who is already forcing agency officials to reunite 2,551 children and youths with their migrant parents. The judge’s demand for reunification is forcing immigration agencies to release the migrants’ parents from detention before the President’s zero-tolerance policy can deport them homewards. Sabraw is also forcing taxpayers to fund the reunification of the migrants with their claimed children.
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Genetically modified babies given go ahead by UK ethics body
The creation of babies whose DNA has been altered to give them what parents perceive to be the best chances in life has received a cautious green light in a landmark report from a leading UK ethics body.
The Nuffield Council on Bioethics said that changing the DNA of a human embryo could be “morally permissible” if it was in the future child’s interests and did not add to the kinds of inequalities that already divide society.
The report does not call for a change in UK law to permit genetically altered babies, but instead urges research into the safety and effectiveness of the approach, its societal impact, and a widespread debate of its implications.
“It is our view that genome editing is not morally unacceptable in itself,” said Karen Yeung, chair of the Nuffield working group and professor of law, ethics and informatics at the University of Birmingham. “There is no reason to rule it out in principle.”
But the report drew immediate criticism from some quarters, with one lobby group accusing the authors of opening the door to the unrestricted use of heritable genetic engineering, and an age of genetic haves and have-nots.
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The Nuffield Council on Bioethics said that changing the DNA of a human embryo could be “morally permissible” if it was in the future child’s interests and did not add to the kinds of inequalities that already divide society.
The report does not call for a change in UK law to permit genetically altered babies, but instead urges research into the safety and effectiveness of the approach, its societal impact, and a widespread debate of its implications.
“It is our view that genome editing is not morally unacceptable in itself,” said Karen Yeung, chair of the Nuffield working group and professor of law, ethics and informatics at the University of Birmingham. “There is no reason to rule it out in principle.”
But the report drew immediate criticism from some quarters, with one lobby group accusing the authors of opening the door to the unrestricted use of heritable genetic engineering, and an age of genetic haves and have-nots.
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Nearly 600 Pregnant Illegal Aliens Hoping to Have Anchor Babies in U.S. Detained in Five Months
Close to 600 pregnant illegal alien women have been detained by United States Border Patrol and immigration officials in the last five months, newly released numbers reveal.
In a critical Buzzfeed News report of President Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy at the border, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials revealed that between December 2017 and April 2018 there have been about 590 pregnant illegal alien women booked into detainment after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.
The staggering numbers are buried in a long-form report where pregnant illegal aliens allege abuse at the detention facilities by the Border Patrol and ICE agency.
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In a critical Buzzfeed News report of President Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy at the border, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials revealed that between December 2017 and April 2018 there have been about 590 pregnant illegal alien women booked into detainment after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.
The staggering numbers are buried in a long-form report where pregnant illegal aliens allege abuse at the detention facilities by the Border Patrol and ICE agency.
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Educators reject censorship, encourage student exploration of 'problematic' literature of the past
From Confederate memorials to “problematic” literature in schools, communities across the country are wrestling with how to acknowledge the past and its imperfections without offending the sensibilities of modern schoolchildren and their teachers, with most solutions employing one of the three R’s: remove, rename, revise.
But some educators are encouraging another way. They are engaging with children in an exploration of values and culture to better understand the mores of the past and the present.
“Why is Ma so scared of Native Americans? Where does prejudice come from in pioneers? What prejudices do we still have today?” Melissa Scholes Young, an associate professor in the writing studies program at American University, offers as questions to explore the cultural landscape and significance of the “Little House on the Prairie” series of children’s books by Laura Ingalls Wilder.
The Association for Library Service to Children last month voted unanimously to remove Wilder’s name from its children’s book award because the “Little House” series “includes expressions of stereotypical attitudes inconsistent with ALSC’s core values.”
The association said specifically that her writing displays “anti-Native and anti-Black sentiments,” and it renamed the award as the Children’s Literature Legacy Award.
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But some educators are encouraging another way. They are engaging with children in an exploration of values and culture to better understand the mores of the past and the present.
“Why is Ma so scared of Native Americans? Where does prejudice come from in pioneers? What prejudices do we still have today?” Melissa Scholes Young, an associate professor in the writing studies program at American University, offers as questions to explore the cultural landscape and significance of the “Little House on the Prairie” series of children’s books by Laura Ingalls Wilder.
The Association for Library Service to Children last month voted unanimously to remove Wilder’s name from its children’s book award because the “Little House” series “includes expressions of stereotypical attitudes inconsistent with ALSC’s core values.”
The association said specifically that her writing displays “anti-Native and anti-Black sentiments,” and it renamed the award as the Children’s Literature Legacy Award.
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Dem Candidates Attending Pelosi-Headlined Fundraiser Won't Commit to Voting for Pelosi as Speaker
Dems in competitive California races try to distance themselves from minority leader
Two Democratic candidates in competitive California House races were publicly trying to distance themselves from Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) even as they walked into a D.C. fundraiser she was headlining last week.
California Democrat Gil Cisneros, who is running to replace retiring GOP Rep. Ed Royce, while walking up to attend the fundraiser at a Capitol Hill townhouse declined to respond when asked whether he would vote for Pelosi to keep her Democratic leadership position if he wins his congressional campaign.
Cisneros traveled to Washington, D.C., to attend a July 11 fundraiser hosted by Equality California, an LGBT rights organization, which Pelosi, as well as the state's Democratic senators Kamala Harris and Dianne Feinstein, were headlining to help attract top Democratic donors to the event.
Cisneros, a Navy veteran and lottery winner, became one of the latest Democratic candidates to say he will not vote for Pelosi for speaker if his party takes back the House this fall, and Pelosi runs for the top House leadership post.
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Two Democratic candidates in competitive California House races were publicly trying to distance themselves from Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) even as they walked into a D.C. fundraiser she was headlining last week.
California Democrat Gil Cisneros, who is running to replace retiring GOP Rep. Ed Royce, while walking up to attend the fundraiser at a Capitol Hill townhouse declined to respond when asked whether he would vote for Pelosi to keep her Democratic leadership position if he wins his congressional campaign.
Cisneros traveled to Washington, D.C., to attend a July 11 fundraiser hosted by Equality California, an LGBT rights organization, which Pelosi, as well as the state's Democratic senators Kamala Harris and Dianne Feinstein, were headlining to help attract top Democratic donors to the event.
Cisneros, a Navy veteran and lottery winner, became one of the latest Democratic candidates to say he will not vote for Pelosi for speaker if his party takes back the House this fall, and Pelosi runs for the top House leadership post.
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Deep State is in a Panic Fearing Putin Shared with Trump Devastating Information Not Yet Reported
We reported over the weekend that –>
The Democrats, Deep State Mueller and Rosenstein and their MSM are doing all they can to prevent President Donald Trump from meeting with Russian President Putin.
Why are they so persistent in stopping the President of the US from meeting with Putin? You would think this was a good thing, right?
President Trump is planning on meeting with Russian President Putin over the next few days in Finland. These will be the first scheduled meetings between the US President, accused by the Democrats and the Deep State and their MSM of the fake story of colluding with the Russians during the 2016 campaign.
he Deep State is going crazy – CNN reports the following –
“President Trump should cancel his meeting with Vladimir Putin until Russia takes demonstrable and transparent steps to prove that they won’t interfere in future elections. Glad-handing with Vladimir Putin on the heels of these indictments would be an insult to our democracy,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement.
The top Democrat in the House, Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, tweeted, “@realDonaldTrump must immediately cancel his meeting with Putin.”
Far left VOX goes as far as to call the meeting a gift for Putin.
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The Democrats, Deep State Mueller and Rosenstein and their MSM are doing all they can to prevent President Donald Trump from meeting with Russian President Putin.
Why are they so persistent in stopping the President of the US from meeting with Putin? You would think this was a good thing, right?
President Trump is planning on meeting with Russian President Putin over the next few days in Finland. These will be the first scheduled meetings between the US President, accused by the Democrats and the Deep State and their MSM of the fake story of colluding with the Russians during the 2016 campaign.
he Deep State is going crazy – CNN reports the following –
“President Trump should cancel his meeting with Vladimir Putin until Russia takes demonstrable and transparent steps to prove that they won’t interfere in future elections. Glad-handing with Vladimir Putin on the heels of these indictments would be an insult to our democracy,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement.
The top Democrat in the House, Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, tweeted, “@realDonaldTrump must immediately cancel his meeting with Putin.”
Far left VOX goes as far as to call the meeting a gift for Putin.
More/Video
Ocasio-Cortez starts controversy with comments on Israeli ‘occupation,’ admits she's 'not the expert'
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democratic socialist who became a rising political star after her victory in New York’s congressional primary last month, referred to Israel’s "occupation” of Palestine in an interview before admitting that she is “not the expert” on the subject.
During an interview on PBS’s "Firing Line" on Friday the congressional candidate raised eyebrows when she said, “I also think that what people are starting to see-- at least in the occupation of Palestine-- is just an increasing crisis of humanitarian condition and that to me is just where I tend to come from on this issue.”
When asked to expand on her comment, Ocasio-Cortez hesitated for a moment before explaining how “Palestinians are experiencing difficulty in access to their housing and homes. Oh I think — what I meant is that the settlements that are increasing in some of these areas and places where Palestinians are experiencing difficulty in access to their housing and homes…”
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During an interview on PBS’s "Firing Line" on Friday the congressional candidate raised eyebrows when she said, “I also think that what people are starting to see-- at least in the occupation of Palestine-- is just an increasing crisis of humanitarian condition and that to me is just where I tend to come from on this issue.”
When asked to expand on her comment, Ocasio-Cortez hesitated for a moment before explaining how “Palestinians are experiencing difficulty in access to their housing and homes. Oh I think — what I meant is that the settlements that are increasing in some of these areas and places where Palestinians are experiencing difficulty in access to their housing and homes…”
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http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/07/17/ocasio-cortez-starts-controversy-with-comments-on-israeli-occupation-admits-shes-not-expert.html
There They Go Again: The Left Uses Old Scare Tactics Against Supreme Court Nominee
President Donald Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, is now making the rounds in the Senate in advance of his confirmation hearings. Kavanaugh is the kind of jurist that our system of government was designed for: fair, impartial, and faithful to the Constitution.
Many far-left groups, and therefore, many Senate Democrats, will oppose Kavanaugh because they oppose the kind of justice he will be. Their quest for a political judiciary leads to wild claims that this appointment will bring on the Apocalypse and determine the destiny of humankind.
One Democratic senator, for example, exclaimed at a rally that “the future of America is at stake.” It’s really not.
Kavanaugh’s opponents paint a misleading picture of judges deciding cases based not on the law, but on their personal views. Since a nominee’s personal views will supposedly predict how he or she will address particular cases or issues as a judge, the left is obsessed with extracting each nominee’s personal views on subjects they hold dear.
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Many far-left groups, and therefore, many Senate Democrats, will oppose Kavanaugh because they oppose the kind of justice he will be. Their quest for a political judiciary leads to wild claims that this appointment will bring on the Apocalypse and determine the destiny of humankind.
One Democratic senator, for example, exclaimed at a rally that “the future of America is at stake.” It’s really not.
Kavanaugh’s opponents paint a misleading picture of judges deciding cases based not on the law, but on their personal views. Since a nominee’s personal views will supposedly predict how he or she will address particular cases or issues as a judge, the left is obsessed with extracting each nominee’s personal views on subjects they hold dear.
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Internal FBI employee survey shows plummeting faith in bureau leadership
An annual survey of FBI employees found a sharp decline in confidence in bureau leadership amid a series of scandals, results published Sunday indicate.
Although pride in working at the FBI remained about the same, faith in the "honesty and integrity" of senior executives plummeted -- going from an average employee rating of more than four out of five in 2017 to 3.5 out of five this year at the FBI's 56 field offices.
Workers at FBI headquarters in Washington reported a slightly less dramatic erosion of faith in leaders' honesty.
The survey data was collected in February and March amid significant internal uncertainty about the fate of top leaders including then-Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and FBI agent Peter Strzok.
Strzok, the former deputy assistant director of the FBI Counterintelligence Division, helped lead investigations of Hillary Clinton's private email server and possible Trump campaign collusion with Russia. He was removed last year from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe and remains under review for sending anti-Trump messages to former FBI attorney Lisa Page.
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Although pride in working at the FBI remained about the same, faith in the "honesty and integrity" of senior executives plummeted -- going from an average employee rating of more than four out of five in 2017 to 3.5 out of five this year at the FBI's 56 field offices.
Workers at FBI headquarters in Washington reported a slightly less dramatic erosion of faith in leaders' honesty.
The survey data was collected in February and March amid significant internal uncertainty about the fate of top leaders including then-Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and FBI agent Peter Strzok.
Strzok, the former deputy assistant director of the FBI Counterintelligence Division, helped lead investigations of Hillary Clinton's private email server and possible Trump campaign collusion with Russia. He was removed last year from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe and remains under review for sending anti-Trump messages to former FBI attorney Lisa Page.
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Political Editors: Baltimore Crime Rate Confirms Ferguson Effect
Last year Baltimore, Maryland, led the nation in homicides, continuing its growing trend in violent crime that began in 2015 following the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody. That happened during the height of the Black Lives Matter protests across the nation. Feeling the pressure, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake refused to back the city’s police department, thus precipitating days of violent rioting only quelled after the National Guard was brought in.
Six Baltimore city police officers were put on trial over Gray’s death, resulting in three acquittals and the city dropping the case against the other three. Barack Obama’s Justice Department investigated Baltimore’s police department and accused “Baltimore’s police of arresting thousands of people without a valid legal basis, using unjustified force and targeting black neighborhoods for unconstitutional stops.” Needless to say, the message had a chilling effect upon the city’s law enforcement.
Now USA Today reports, “The surge of shootings and killings that followed has left Baltimore easily the deadliest large city in the United States. Its murder rate reached an all-time high last year; 342 people were killed. The number of shootings in some neighborhoods has more than tripled. One man was shot to death steps from a police station. Another was killed driving in a funeral procession.”
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Hey, Democrats, The System Doesn’t Need To Be ‘Fixed’ Every Time You Lose An Election
If you’re under the impression that the system exists merely to facilitate your partisan agenda, it’s not surprising that you also believe it's “broken” every time things don’t go your way. This is why so many Democrats argue that we should “fix” the Electoral College when they lose a presidential election and “fix” the filibuster when they run the Senate and now “fix” the Supreme Court when they don’t run the Senate.
During the Obama presidency, liberal pundits groused about the supposed crisis posed by a “dysfunctional” Congress. In political media parlance, “dysfunction” can be roughly translated into “Democrats aren’t able to do as they like.” Congress, as you know, was only “broken” when President Obama wasn’t getting his agenda passed, not when his party was imposing a wholly partisan, unprecedented health-care regime on all Americans.
In any event, the political establishment spent six years wringing its hands about subsequent GOP electoral success, which was an organic political reaction that strengthened separationof powers and reflected the nation’s ideological divisions. Although you’d never know it listening to political coverage, it meant the system was working just fine.
Yet many of the president’s boosters, including Ezra Klein, then at The Washington Post, began not only arguing that Congress was “broken” (bad) but that it was “fundamentally broken” (really bad!). By 2013, after Republicans had made gains in the Senate, Klein andothers were arguing for increasing majoritarianism to “fix” the problem. It was the GOP’s “unprecedented obstructionism” (a euphemism for disagreeing with Obama on policy) that supposedly left them no other choice.
Now, if the majority of voters had been truly disgusted by “obstructionism,” the GOP would have paid a political price for their actions. The opposite occurred. Perhaps instinctively, voters wanted a more ideologically balanced Washington. So Democrats decided the system was the problem.
What we call “norm-breaking” these days was referred to as “reform” during the Obama administration. "Reformers" like Klein and his allies would convince Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a man who once argued that weakening the Senate filibuster would “destroy the very checks and balances our Founding Fathers put in place to prevent absolute power by any one branch of government,” to use the “nuclear option” and blow up Senate rules on judicial filibusters so Obama could stack the courts.
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During the Obama presidency, liberal pundits groused about the supposed crisis posed by a “dysfunctional” Congress. In political media parlance, “dysfunction” can be roughly translated into “Democrats aren’t able to do as they like.” Congress, as you know, was only “broken” when President Obama wasn’t getting his agenda passed, not when his party was imposing a wholly partisan, unprecedented health-care regime on all Americans.
In any event, the political establishment spent six years wringing its hands about subsequent GOP electoral success, which was an organic political reaction that strengthened separationof powers and reflected the nation’s ideological divisions. Although you’d never know it listening to political coverage, it meant the system was working just fine.
Yet many of the president’s boosters, including Ezra Klein, then at The Washington Post, began not only arguing that Congress was “broken” (bad) but that it was “fundamentally broken” (really bad!). By 2013, after Republicans had made gains in the Senate, Klein andothers were arguing for increasing majoritarianism to “fix” the problem. It was the GOP’s “unprecedented obstructionism” (a euphemism for disagreeing with Obama on policy) that supposedly left them no other choice.
Now, if the majority of voters had been truly disgusted by “obstructionism,” the GOP would have paid a political price for their actions. The opposite occurred. Perhaps instinctively, voters wanted a more ideologically balanced Washington. So Democrats decided the system was the problem.
What we call “norm-breaking” these days was referred to as “reform” during the Obama administration. "Reformers" like Klein and his allies would convince Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a man who once argued that weakening the Senate filibuster would “destroy the very checks and balances our Founding Fathers put in place to prevent absolute power by any one branch of government,” to use the “nuclear option” and blow up Senate rules on judicial filibusters so Obama could stack the courts.
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We Can't Afford Ben Jealous
Ben Jealous has talked a lot about single-payer healthcare in Maryland, but he hasn't talked about how much that will cost. According to nonpartisan analysts, the answer is... quite a lot.
To pay for his plan, Ben Jealous would have to levy a 10% payroll tax against EVERY business in Maryland. And he'd have to impose a $2,800 tax on EVERY man, woman, and child in the state.
Every Democrat running for State Senate or House of Delegates this year should have to answer the simple question: would you vote to pass this $24 billion plan?
10 Attack Quotes From Establishment Insiders About The Trump-Putin Summit That Will Make Your Skin Crawl
This particular gathering was labeled the #TreasonSummit on social media before it even began
Donald Trump’s summit meeting with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki has unleashed a torrent of criticism that is unlike anything that we have ever seen.
U.S. and Russian leaders have been getting together for decades, but this particular gathering was labeled the #TreasonSummit on social media before it even began. In the end, nothing that Trump could have possibly done would have pleased his critics, and the joint press conference at the end of the summit was enough to push some of them completely over the edge. Here are 10 attack quotes from establishment insiders about the Trump-Putin summit that will make your skin crawl…
#1 CNN’s Anderson Cooper: “You have been watching perhaps one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president at a summit in front of a Russian leader certainly that I’ve ever seen.”
#2 U.S. Representative Steve Cohen: “Where are our military folks? The Commander in Chief is in the hands of our enemy!”
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Donald Trump’s summit meeting with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki has unleashed a torrent of criticism that is unlike anything that we have ever seen.
U.S. and Russian leaders have been getting together for decades, but this particular gathering was labeled the #TreasonSummit on social media before it even began. In the end, nothing that Trump could have possibly done would have pleased his critics, and the joint press conference at the end of the summit was enough to push some of them completely over the edge. Here are 10 attack quotes from establishment insiders about the Trump-Putin summit that will make your skin crawl…
#1 CNN’s Anderson Cooper: “You have been watching perhaps one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president at a summit in front of a Russian leader certainly that I’ve ever seen.”
#2 U.S. Representative Steve Cohen: “Where are our military folks? The Commander in Chief is in the hands of our enemy!”
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Top Voting Machine Vendor Admits It Installed Remote-Access Software on Systems Sold to States
The nation's top voting machine maker has admitted in a letter to a federal lawmaker that the company installed remote-access software on election-management systems it sold over a period of six years, raising questions about the security of those systems and the integrity of elections that were conducted with them.
In a letter sent to Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) in April and obtained recently by Motherboard, Election Systems and Software acknowledged that it had "provided pcAnywhere remote connection software … to a small number of customers between 2000 and 2006," which was installed on the election-management system ES&S sold them.
The statement contradicts what the company told me and fact checkers for a story I wrote for the New York Times in February. At that time, a spokesperson said ES&S had never installed pcAnywhere on any election system it sold. "None of the employees, … including long-tenured employees, has any knowledge that our voting systems have ever been sold with remote-access software," the spokesperson said.
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In a letter sent to Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) in April and obtained recently by Motherboard, Election Systems and Software acknowledged that it had "provided pcAnywhere remote connection software … to a small number of customers between 2000 and 2006," which was installed on the election-management system ES&S sold them.
The statement contradicts what the company told me and fact checkers for a story I wrote for the New York Times in February. At that time, a spokesperson said ES&S had never installed pcAnywhere on any election system it sold. "None of the employees, … including long-tenured employees, has any knowledge that our voting systems have ever been sold with remote-access software," the spokesperson said.
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Strzok Farce Shows Obstacles to Opening TWA 800 Case
On July 17, 1996, 22 years ago today, a missile or missiles blew TWA Flight 800 out of the sky off the south coast of Long Island. The plane out of JFK was on its way to Paris. All 230 souls on board, 53 of them TWA employees, died in the crash.
This is not conjecture. This is fact. As I told the audience of TWA veterans with whom I spoke during my 2016 Book-TV presentation at the TWA Museum in Kansas City, "If I were coming here to spread some conspiracy theory, I would be dishonoring their memory [the 53] and insulting you."
The audience members, several of whom worked on the investigation, had no doubt I was telling them the truth, at least as well as we know it. I would invite those who do have doubts to watch the Book-TV presentation.
A question I was asked that evening, a question I have been asked more frequently since President Trump's election, is whether either the president or Congress will reopen the investigation. After watching the Peter Strzok hearing last Thursday, I am more inclined than ever to answer that question in the negative. Although I remain hopeful the truth about TWA 800 will one day surface, the hearing reminded me of the many obstacles the truth faces.
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This is not conjecture. This is fact. As I told the audience of TWA veterans with whom I spoke during my 2016 Book-TV presentation at the TWA Museum in Kansas City, "If I were coming here to spread some conspiracy theory, I would be dishonoring their memory [the 53] and insulting you."
The audience members, several of whom worked on the investigation, had no doubt I was telling them the truth, at least as well as we know it. I would invite those who do have doubts to watch the Book-TV presentation.
A question I was asked that evening, a question I have been asked more frequently since President Trump's election, is whether either the president or Congress will reopen the investigation. After watching the Peter Strzok hearing last Thursday, I am more inclined than ever to answer that question in the negative. Although I remain hopeful the truth about TWA 800 will one day surface, the hearing reminded me of the many obstacles the truth faces.
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GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS: Obama FBI Took Personal Info From Citizens of 14 States, Exposed It To Russia
WASHINGTON — Former president Barack Obama’s Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) under James Comey made secret agreements with fourteen state attorneys general to obtain personal identifying information on all private citizens and residents in those states. The information was used directly by the Obama White House, through its White House Special Surveillance Group led by Obama, James Comey, and Andrew McCabe.
This personal identifying information from millions of American citizens — including more than 50 million photographs obtained from Facebook and gas-station surveillance cameras for facial recognition — was then exposed to Russian hackers by a French contractor that snuck Russian code into FBI biometric data, according to top national security sources and published reports.
House Oversight Committee information yet to be published but reviewed by Big League Politics shows that the Obama FBI entered into secret agreements with fourteen (14) different states to tap all of its personal identifying information (one such secret contract, forged between Obama’s deputy FBI director and the attorney general in North Dakota, is presented below). A previous Government Accountability Office (GAO) published report states that the FBI entered into agreements with seven states as of 2015 and was seeking to add more, and that the FBI was allowed to tap the state-level facial recognition software programs of sixteen total states.
The FBI under Obama and Comey, during the 2016 election, launched an attempt to formally exempt all of its biometric facial recognition and fingerprint-analysisprograms from the Privacy Act to prevent citizens from being able to sue. Meanwhile, James Comey’s top deputy at the FBI David Cuthbertson lied about the existence of the program in an interview with “Sixty Minutes.”
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This personal identifying information from millions of American citizens — including more than 50 million photographs obtained from Facebook and gas-station surveillance cameras for facial recognition — was then exposed to Russian hackers by a French contractor that snuck Russian code into FBI biometric data, according to top national security sources and published reports.
House Oversight Committee information yet to be published but reviewed by Big League Politics shows that the Obama FBI entered into secret agreements with fourteen (14) different states to tap all of its personal identifying information (one such secret contract, forged between Obama’s deputy FBI director and the attorney general in North Dakota, is presented below). A previous Government Accountability Office (GAO) published report states that the FBI entered into agreements with seven states as of 2015 and was seeking to add more, and that the FBI was allowed to tap the state-level facial recognition software programs of sixteen total states.
The FBI under Obama and Comey, during the 2016 election, launched an attempt to formally exempt all of its biometric facial recognition and fingerprint-analysisprograms from the Privacy Act to prevent citizens from being able to sue. Meanwhile, James Comey’s top deputy at the FBI David Cuthbertson lied about the existence of the program in an interview with “Sixty Minutes.”
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Republicans threaten Peter Strzok with contempt for refusing to answer first question in tense hearing
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., said he will move to hold FBI agent Peter Strzok in contempt after his refusal to answer just the first question asked during a joint House Judiciary and Oversight Committees.
The threat on Thursday came after House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-.S.C., asked Strzok to answer how many people the FBI interviewed in the first week of the bureau’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
“Congressman, I would very much like to answer, the counsel of the FBI […] have directed me not to answer any questions related to Russia,” Strzok said.
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The threat on Thursday came after House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-.S.C., asked Strzok to answer how many people the FBI interviewed in the first week of the bureau’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
“Congressman, I would very much like to answer, the counsel of the FBI […] have directed me not to answer any questions related to Russia,” Strzok said.
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Breaking News: Google was hit with a record $5.1 billion fine by European antitrust officials, their latest move to rein in American tech companies
The decision on Wednesday underlined how European authorities are aggressively pushing for stronger regulation of the digital economy.
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Google was hit with a $5.1 billion fine by European antitrust officials for abusing its power in the smartphone market. The decision on Wednesday underlined how European authorities are aggressively pushing for stronger regulation of the digital economy.Read More » |
Peter Strzok claims there's 'no evidence of bias' in anti-Trump texts
WASHINGTON – FBI lovebird Peter Strzok blasted the House committee where he was testifying Thursday, calling it “another victory notch in Putin’s belt.”
Strzok, who slammed then-candidate Donald Trump in text messages in 2016, stood by his investigation into Russian meddling into presidential election.
“Russian interference in our elections constitutes a grave attack on our democracy,” Strzok said in prepared remarks to the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees. “Most disturbingly, it has been wildly successful—sowing discord in our nation and shaking faith in our intuitions. I have the utmost respect for Congress’s oversight role, but I truly believe that today’s hearing is just another victory notch in Putin’s belt and another milestone in our enemies’ campaign to tear America apart.”
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Strzok, who slammed then-candidate Donald Trump in text messages in 2016, stood by his investigation into Russian meddling into presidential election.
“Russian interference in our elections constitutes a grave attack on our democracy,” Strzok said in prepared remarks to the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees. “Most disturbingly, it has been wildly successful—sowing discord in our nation and shaking faith in our intuitions. I have the utmost respect for Congress’s oversight role, but I truly believe that today’s hearing is just another victory notch in Putin’s belt and another milestone in our enemies’ campaign to tear America apart.”
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Personal Guns Defeat Two Florida Car Jackings by Same Attacker
USA – WSVN TV 7 & WJXT Fox 30, report 06-12-18 in Jacksonville, Florida, the incident began when a 36 year old suspect robbed a Walmart liquor store, and attempted to flee in a silver Ford SUV.
Witnesses said the vehicle would not start, so he first tried to carjack a male driver at knifepoint, cutting him on his arms and legs.
That driver said “I reached in between my glove box and my console, between my seats, reached down and got my weapon and brandished it for him. He was like, ‘Don’t shoot me.’ I was like, ‘Then get out of here.’”
The suspect then jumped into the passenger seat of a woman’s car in a Starbucks drive-thru. Police said the woman got out of her car and grabbed a pistol from her trunk, pointing it at and he ran off.
Ultimately, police found their suspect inside the bathroom of a Supercuts. He surrendered without résistance.
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Witnesses said the vehicle would not start, so he first tried to carjack a male driver at knifepoint, cutting him on his arms and legs.
That driver said “I reached in between my glove box and my console, between my seats, reached down and got my weapon and brandished it for him. He was like, ‘Don’t shoot me.’ I was like, ‘Then get out of here.’”
The suspect then jumped into the passenger seat of a woman’s car in a Starbucks drive-thru. Police said the woman got out of her car and grabbed a pistol from her trunk, pointing it at and he ran off.
Ultimately, police found their suspect inside the bathroom of a Supercuts. He surrendered without résistance.
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Media Shames Kavanaugh For Buying Baseball Tickets With Credit Card
Activists have already geared up in opposition to Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court, but they’ve been unable to dig up any significant dirt thus far.
Pro-choice group NARAL kicked off the attacks on Kavanaugh, Trump’s pick to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy, by making fun of his first name. According to NARAL, “Brett” is more fitting for a frat boy than a Supreme Court justice.
The Washington Post continued the crusade against the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit judge, asserting on Wednesday that Kavanaugh is “elite” for stopping at a local bar for a “Budweiser and a burger after coaching his daughters’ basketball games.”
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Pro-choice group NARAL kicked off the attacks on Kavanaugh, Trump’s pick to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy, by making fun of his first name. According to NARAL, “Brett” is more fitting for a frat boy than a Supreme Court justice.
The Washington Post continued the crusade against the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit judge, asserting on Wednesday that Kavanaugh is “elite” for stopping at a local bar for a “Budweiser and a burger after coaching his daughters’ basketball games.”
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Parkland Survivors Sue Broward Law Enforcement Officials; Allege Incompetence, Poor Training And Cowardice
A combination of incompetence, poor training and inaction led to the Valentine's Day massacre of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida - claim 15 current or former students in a new federal lawsuit which points the finger directly at Broward County law enforcement.
"Law enforcement choked," said Detroit civil rights attorney Solomon Radner, who filed the lawsuit, adding "Cops are heroes, and they’re supposed to be heroes."
“This lawsuit should not be misconstrued in any way as a shot at law enforcement,” he said. “This is a shot at specific law-enforcement officers that failed those students.”
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"Law enforcement choked," said Detroit civil rights attorney Solomon Radner, who filed the lawsuit, adding "Cops are heroes, and they’re supposed to be heroes."
“This lawsuit should not be misconstrued in any way as a shot at law enforcement,” he said. “This is a shot at specific law-enforcement officers that failed those students.”
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The Destructive Effects Of The Media’s Misleading, Racially Charged Headlines
When it comes to race and crime or even racially charged incidents, not all headlines are created equal.
"Woman beats a 91-year-old Mexican man with a brick, tells him to ‘go back to your country,’" read last Monday’s Washington Post headlineabout the brutal anti-Hispanic hate-crime against Rodolfo Rodriguez.
Rodriguez had suffered two broken ribs and a broken cheekbone after accidentally bumping into a child while walking on a sidewalk and being repeatedly attacked by the child's concrete-brick wielding mother. And if that wasn't enough, the Post reports, several other "young men" came over and kicked the 91-year-old while he was down.
"Go back to your country!" the woman yelled.
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"Woman beats a 91-year-old Mexican man with a brick, tells him to ‘go back to your country,’" read last Monday’s Washington Post headlineabout the brutal anti-Hispanic hate-crime against Rodolfo Rodriguez.
Rodriguez had suffered two broken ribs and a broken cheekbone after accidentally bumping into a child while walking on a sidewalk and being repeatedly attacked by the child's concrete-brick wielding mother. And if that wasn't enough, the Post reports, several other "young men" came over and kicked the 91-year-old while he was down.
"Go back to your country!" the woman yelled.
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