Continuing to fund additional unemployment benefits will deter workers from returning as the economy tries to re-open.
Thanks to the economic relief packages that have already been implemented, the U.S. is set to run a $3.8 trillion deficit this year. But Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and her fellow House Democrats have proposed yet another round of spending—the $3 trillion “HEROES Act.”
The bill includes a federal bailout for financially struggling states and localities and additional broad-based $1,200 relief checks for individuals. But the most significant provision could be its extension of enhanced unemployment benefits through January 2021. Critics warn this could undermine states’ efforts to reopen and put a drag on our economic recovery through 2021.
Here’s why.
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
Saturday, May 16, 2020
Chinese deception fuels fears of ethnic biological weapons 'experiments'
Chinese government deception regarding the coronavirus outbreak is raising new fears about Beijing’s biological weapons activities, including population-specific research on germ weapons capable of attacking ethnic groups, according to current and former U.S. officials.
A senior Trump administration official told The Washington Times that China is known to be engaged in a covert program that includes development of biological weapons capable of attacking ethnic groups with pathogens.
“We are looking at potential biological experiments on ethnic minorities,” the official said on the condition of anonymity.
The official said China’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak has heightened concerns about its secret biological weapons work.
“We continue to have concerns with China’s BWC compliance as well as their international obligations,” the official said, referring to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention, an international treaty that prohibits the development and production of biological agents. “If we’ve learned nothing else through this COVID episode, it’s that China cannot be trusted to do the right thing.”
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A senior Trump administration official told The Washington Times that China is known to be engaged in a covert program that includes development of biological weapons capable of attacking ethnic groups with pathogens.
“We are looking at potential biological experiments on ethnic minorities,” the official said on the condition of anonymity.
The official said China’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak has heightened concerns about its secret biological weapons work.
“We continue to have concerns with China’s BWC compliance as well as their international obligations,” the official said, referring to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention, an international treaty that prohibits the development and production of biological agents. “If we’ve learned nothing else through this COVID episode, it’s that China cannot be trusted to do the right thing.”
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JC Penney is filing for bankruptcy
J.C. Penney is planning to file for bankruptcy protection, people familiar with the matter tell CNBC.
Its advisors are currently working on a bankruptcy filing that could come early Friday morning, they said. They cautioned there is still a chance that final negotiations between the retailer and its lenders spill into the weekend and delay the filing.
J.C. Penney employed roughly 90,000 full-time and part-time employees as of February. It is working on a plan that would contemplate closing 180 to 200 stores while in bankruptcy. The retailer had 846 department stores as of February.
The Plano, Texas-based retailer is planning on filing for bankruptcy in Corpus Christi, Texas, the people said. It has been negotiating with its first lien lenders a $450 million loan to finance the bankruptcy, which would require the troubled retailer to hit certain goals to receive the second half of it, CNBC previously reported.
Because it is working so quickly to finalize its bankruptcy documents, it may not get them all done in time to draw from the initial funds its first day in bankruptcy. As such, it may need to wait until a June 2 court hearing to begin drawing from the loan, the people said.
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Its advisors are currently working on a bankruptcy filing that could come early Friday morning, they said. They cautioned there is still a chance that final negotiations between the retailer and its lenders spill into the weekend and delay the filing.
J.C. Penney employed roughly 90,000 full-time and part-time employees as of February. It is working on a plan that would contemplate closing 180 to 200 stores while in bankruptcy. The retailer had 846 department stores as of February.
The Plano, Texas-based retailer is planning on filing for bankruptcy in Corpus Christi, Texas, the people said. It has been negotiating with its first lien lenders a $450 million loan to finance the bankruptcy, which would require the troubled retailer to hit certain goals to receive the second half of it, CNBC previously reported.
Because it is working so quickly to finalize its bankruptcy documents, it may not get them all done in time to draw from the initial funds its first day in bankruptcy. As such, it may need to wait until a June 2 court hearing to begin drawing from the loan, the people said.
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Judge Opposing Flynn Ruled in 2012: ‘Abuse of Discretion’ Not to Allow Dismissal
Retired federal judge John Gleeson, who was appointed Wednesday to present arguments against letting Michael Flynn go free, ruled in 2012 that it would be an “abuse of discretion” for the court not to allow the government to drop a prosecution.
Judge Emmet G. Sullivan appointed Gleeson to argue as amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) against granting a Department of Justice (DOJ) motion to dismiss the case against Flynn, and to argue for finding Flynn in criminal contempt of court for changing his plea. On Monday, Gleeson co-authored an op-ed in the Washinton Post opposing the DOJ’s decision, saying it “reeks of improper political influence” — and not because Flynn was targeted by the lame-duck Obama administration.
But in a criminal case in 2012, U.S. vs. HSBC USA, Judge Gleeson approved a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) and made the observation that if the government had tried to dismiss the case, he would have had little choice.
More here
Judge Emmet G. Sullivan appointed Gleeson to argue as amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) against granting a Department of Justice (DOJ) motion to dismiss the case against Flynn, and to argue for finding Flynn in criminal contempt of court for changing his plea. On Monday, Gleeson co-authored an op-ed in the Washinton Post opposing the DOJ’s decision, saying it “reeks of improper political influence” — and not because Flynn was targeted by the lame-duck Obama administration.
But in a criminal case in 2012, U.S. vs. HSBC USA, Judge Gleeson approved a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) and made the observation that if the government had tried to dismiss the case, he would have had little choice.
More here
Nevada's vote-by-mail primary stirs fraud concerns, as unclaimed ballots pile up
Red flags are being raised about the all-mail voting system being used in Nevada’s most populous county ahead of the state’s June 9 primary election amid reports that thousands of ballots are being sent to inactive voters -- fueling concerns about the possibility of voter fraud and ballot harvesting.
Thousands of ballots have been sent out by the Clark County Election Department to inactive voters – those who have not voted in recent elections, a roster that can include people who either have moved or are deceased – and the envelopes are piling up in post office trays, outside apartment complexes and on community bulletin boards in and around Las Vegas.
The excess ballots have drawn complaints from local residents, who worry that anyone could pick up a ballot off the street and cast a fraudulent vote, as well as from Republican Party officials in the state who see a nefarious motive behind the vote-by-mail system being employed by the Democrat-dominated Clark County Commission.
More here
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/nevadas-vote-by-mail-primary-fraud-concerns
Thousands of ballots have been sent out by the Clark County Election Department to inactive voters – those who have not voted in recent elections, a roster that can include people who either have moved or are deceased – and the envelopes are piling up in post office trays, outside apartment complexes and on community bulletin boards in and around Las Vegas.
The excess ballots have drawn complaints from local residents, who worry that anyone could pick up a ballot off the street and cast a fraudulent vote, as well as from Republican Party officials in the state who see a nefarious motive behind the vote-by-mail system being employed by the Democrat-dominated Clark County Commission.
More here
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/nevadas-vote-by-mail-primary-fraud-concerns
Sen. John Cornyn: 'Unmasking' of Michael Flynn bigger than Watergate
Sen. John Cornyn, a member of the Judiciary Committee, said Friday the scandal involving the unmasking of President Trump’s former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn is bigger than Watergate, which led to President Richard M. Nixon’s resignation in 1974.
“There has to be answers. This is a scandal,” the Texas Republican told Fox News. He noted there was no “bonafide” reason for several members of the Obama administration to have requested the unmasking that led to Flynn’s legal troubles.
Mr. Cornyn’s comments come after Judiciary Chairman Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, said his committee will be holding hearings on the topic in June.
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“There has to be answers. This is a scandal,” the Texas Republican told Fox News. He noted there was no “bonafide” reason for several members of the Obama administration to have requested the unmasking that led to Flynn’s legal troubles.
Mr. Cornyn’s comments come after Judiciary Chairman Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, said his committee will be holding hearings on the topic in June.
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Was Obama systematically spying on everyone who could threaten his legacy?
On Friday, Thomas Lifson wrote that last week’s news about the Flynn unmaskings was just the beginning. He cited a post by retired naval officer J.E. Dyer, at Liberty Unyielding, for insights about what Acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell was carrying in a sizable satchel he delivered to the Department of Justice on May 7, 2020. Anyone could see that the satchel contained substantially more information than the five pages revealing the myriad Obama officials who unmasked General Flynn’s name.
Dyer’s article is worth reading in its entirety, but Lifson gives a quick, elegant summary:
The key message is that for years the Obama administration was mining the incomparable database of the National Security Agency (NSA), which captured virtually all electronic communications – emails, text messages, everything – launched into the ether. The potential for abuse is breathtaking. Everything that political enemies said to each other, except in private in-person conversations or in snail mail letters, could have been spied upon. And now it looks like staggering numbers of intercepts were monitored. Dyer makes that case.
What especially caught my eye was the exponential growth rate of queries that “desk jockeys” in the various federal agencies made to view information about United States Persons of Interest during Obama's second term, all without having to log the specific inquiry or the identity of the person unmasked. Here’s the data, straight from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence:
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WinRed Sets Fundraising Record
GOP fundraising platform boosted Garcia's Calif. upset
WinRed, the GOP's digital fundraising platform, raised nearly $60 million in April, funneling more than $500,000 toward a Republican victory in a California congressional race widely seen as a bellwether for November.
WinRed raised $59.8 million from more than 1.6 million small donations in April, the largest monthly haul in its 10-month history, according to Axios. Those efforts helped steer $503,087 to former Navy fighter pilot Mike Garcia, who became the first California Republican to flip a seat from the Democrats since 1998. Garcia won the race to replace disgraced "throuple" congresswoman Katie Hill by double digits, despite the fact that the suburban district has 30,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans.
Republicans launched WinRed in June 2019 to compete with ActBlue, an online fundraising platform that has funneled millions of small donations to Democratic campaigns since 2004. WinRed has since played a major role in fundraising, particularly in special elections. In September 2019, it raised more than $300,000 for Rep. Dan Bishop's successful campaign in a closely watched North Carolina special election. WinRed fundraising figures have continued to grow since then, helping to close the gap between Republican and Democratic grassroots fundraising efforts.
An effort to unite the party behind the platform remains a work in progress. Republicans who oppose the president, including his primary rivals Joe Walsh and Bill Weld and upstart candidate Justin Amash, continue to use a different platform called Anedot.
Donations made through WinRed played a major role in Tuesday's special election win, with money that flowed through the platform contributing to Garcia's victory. Well-known Republicans with a proven donor base—such as Reps. Elise Stefanik (N.Y.) and Dan Crenshaw (Texas)—used the platform to raise $245,498 for Garcia, or nearly half of the WinRed donations to the California Republican.
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WinRed, the GOP's digital fundraising platform, raised nearly $60 million in April, funneling more than $500,000 toward a Republican victory in a California congressional race widely seen as a bellwether for November.
WinRed raised $59.8 million from more than 1.6 million small donations in April, the largest monthly haul in its 10-month history, according to Axios. Those efforts helped steer $503,087 to former Navy fighter pilot Mike Garcia, who became the first California Republican to flip a seat from the Democrats since 1998. Garcia won the race to replace disgraced "throuple" congresswoman Katie Hill by double digits, despite the fact that the suburban district has 30,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans.
Republicans launched WinRed in June 2019 to compete with ActBlue, an online fundraising platform that has funneled millions of small donations to Democratic campaigns since 2004. WinRed has since played a major role in fundraising, particularly in special elections. In September 2019, it raised more than $300,000 for Rep. Dan Bishop's successful campaign in a closely watched North Carolina special election. WinRed fundraising figures have continued to grow since then, helping to close the gap between Republican and Democratic grassroots fundraising efforts.
An effort to unite the party behind the platform remains a work in progress. Republicans who oppose the president, including his primary rivals Joe Walsh and Bill Weld and upstart candidate Justin Amash, continue to use a different platform called Anedot.
Donations made through WinRed played a major role in Tuesday's special election win, with money that flowed through the platform contributing to Garcia's victory. Well-known Republicans with a proven donor base—such as Reps. Elise Stefanik (N.Y.) and Dan Crenshaw (Texas)—used the platform to raise $245,498 for Garcia, or nearly half of the WinRed donations to the California Republican.
More
Spot The Difference: Two Governors Reopened Their States, Only One Was Accused of 'Human Sacrifice'
The governors of Georgia and Colorado have at least one thing in common. They both took steps to reopen their states' economies in late April amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. But for some reason, the media's coverage of Gov. Brian Kemp (R., Ga.) has been slightly different from the media's coverage of Gov. Jared Polis (D., Colo.).
Kemp, for example, has been accused of experimenting with "human sacrifice." So reads the headline of an April 29 article published in the Atlantic, which accuses Kemp of turning Georgia residents into "unwilling canaries in an invisible coal mine, sent to find out just how many individuals need to lose their job or their life for a state to work through a plague."
In a brief aside, the article acknowledges that some other states, including Colorado, "have already put similar plans in motion." Polis, for some reason, is not identified as an accomplice in Kemp's murder scheme.
When Kemp announced his plan to gradually reopen some Georgia businesses, former National Journal editor Ron Fournier echoed the sentiment of many media pundits when he wrote on Twitter: "Mark this day. Because two and three weeks from now, the Georgia death toll is blood on his hands. And as Georgians move around the country, they’ll spread more death and economic destruction." Fournier hasn't tweeted about Colorado in years.
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Kemp, for example, has been accused of experimenting with "human sacrifice." So reads the headline of an April 29 article published in the Atlantic, which accuses Kemp of turning Georgia residents into "unwilling canaries in an invisible coal mine, sent to find out just how many individuals need to lose their job or their life for a state to work through a plague."
In a brief aside, the article acknowledges that some other states, including Colorado, "have already put similar plans in motion." Polis, for some reason, is not identified as an accomplice in Kemp's murder scheme.
When Kemp announced his plan to gradually reopen some Georgia businesses, former National Journal editor Ron Fournier echoed the sentiment of many media pundits when he wrote on Twitter: "Mark this day. Because two and three weeks from now, the Georgia death toll is blood on his hands. And as Georgians move around the country, they’ll spread more death and economic destruction." Fournier hasn't tweeted about Colorado in years.
More
Obama claims his presidency was free from scandal — but he’s full of it
Democrats like Barack Obama think government abuse toward President Trump cannot be abusive just because Trump is a frequent miscreant.
Q: What did Barack Obama know about the dodgy investigation of Michael Flynn, and when did he know it?
A: More than his attorney general, and before she did.
That is a detail worth keeping in mind.
Democrats take it as a matter of moral certainty that Donald Trump and his political allies can only do wrong and cannot be wronged. Trump and his colleagues insist that they have been wronged in a very serious way: by the Obama administration’s abusing federal counterintelligence tools as an extension (and a post-election extension) of the 2016 presidential campaign. That is a perversion of political power that should command the attention of all Americans irrespective of their assessment of President Trump.
The original decision to target Flynn in the counterintelligence probe was based on a pretty flimsy pretext. And it was driven by the White House, not by the top bosses at DOJ. When acting Attorney General Sally Yates heard about the investigation — from President Obama himself, not from her own department — she “had no idea what the president was talking about,” as she told investigators. The New York Times, not exactly the house organ of the Trump administration, reports that at every turn Obama aides were involved in the investigation even as the acting AG was in the dark.
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Q: What did Barack Obama know about the dodgy investigation of Michael Flynn, and when did he know it?
A: More than his attorney general, and before she did.
That is a detail worth keeping in mind.
Democrats take it as a matter of moral certainty that Donald Trump and his political allies can only do wrong and cannot be wronged. Trump and his colleagues insist that they have been wronged in a very serious way: by the Obama administration’s abusing federal counterintelligence tools as an extension (and a post-election extension) of the 2016 presidential campaign. That is a perversion of political power that should command the attention of all Americans irrespective of their assessment of President Trump.
The original decision to target Flynn in the counterintelligence probe was based on a pretty flimsy pretext. And it was driven by the White House, not by the top bosses at DOJ. When acting Attorney General Sally Yates heard about the investigation — from President Obama himself, not from her own department — she “had no idea what the president was talking about,” as she told investigators. The New York Times, not exactly the house organ of the Trump administration, reports that at every turn Obama aides were involved in the investigation even as the acting AG was in the dark.
More
Democrats BLOCK Motion to Bar Illegal Immigrants from Getting Stimulus Payments
House Democrats blocked a motion on Friday to prevent illegal immigrants from receiving stimulus payments included in the Democrat phase four coronavirus bill.
As the House prepared to vote on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) $3 trillion, 1,815-page phase coronavirus bill, the Heroes Act, Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-VA) offered a motion to recommit. Riggleman’s motion to recommit would offer an amendment to the coronavirus bill to prevent illegal immigrants from receiving stimulus payments in the Heroes Act.
The House rejected the motion to recommit, with 198 votes in favor of the motion and 209 votes against the measure.
Riggleman said that the bipartisan phase three bill, the CARES Act, stipulated that illegal immigrants and non-citizens could not get the $1,200 per person stimulus checks. The Democrat Heroes Act changes this mandate.
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As the House prepared to vote on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) $3 trillion, 1,815-page phase coronavirus bill, the Heroes Act, Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-VA) offered a motion to recommit. Riggleman’s motion to recommit would offer an amendment to the coronavirus bill to prevent illegal immigrants from receiving stimulus payments in the Heroes Act.
The House rejected the motion to recommit, with 198 votes in favor of the motion and 209 votes against the measure.
Riggleman said that the bipartisan phase three bill, the CARES Act, stipulated that illegal immigrants and non-citizens could not get the $1,200 per person stimulus checks. The Democrat Heroes Act changes this mandate.
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Wicomico County Partnership for Family and Children
Drive-By Drop Off Food Drive
May 18 and May 20
We have planned another food drive event. It is a Drive by and Drop off food curbside on Monday May 18 and Wednesday May 20 at 10:00a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at the front door of the Government Office Building. Our staff will be available to unload your donations.
Our last drive generated 134 pounds of food in a little over an hour. Please help us reach our goal of 300 pounds in 2 hours. Canned and box items go to MD Food Bank who replenishes our local food pantries!
May 18 and May 20
We have planned another food drive event. It is a Drive by and Drop off food curbside on Monday May 18 and Wednesday May 20 at 10:00a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at the front door of the Government Office Building. Our staff will be available to unload your donations.
Our last drive generated 134 pounds of food in a little over an hour. Please help us reach our goal of 300 pounds in 2 hours. Canned and box items go to MD Food Bank who replenishes our local food pantries!
Bad Accident On Rt. 50 In Pittsville
50 was shut down. Eastbound traffic is being diverted onto westbound 50. Westbound traffic is being diverted to Old Ocean City Road.
1 priority 4. 2 priority 3's en route to PRMC. 1 patient refusal.
China is renewing lockdown restrictions after new coronavirus clusters were found in Wuhan and Shulan, 2 cities hundreds of miles apart
Two new clusters of coronavirus cases in China have been reported hundreds of miles apart, sparking fears of another large-scale outbreak.
On Sunday, the country's National Health Commission reported 17 new coronavirus diagnoses, the highest number in almost two weeks, and the second day in a row new cases were in the double digits, Reuters reported.
Fourteen cases were in Shulan, a city of more than 700,000 near the Russian and North Korean borders. They were all traced to a 45-year-old woman working at a police laundry department with no history of recent travel or contact with an infected person.
The government has reclassified Shulan as a high-risk region, the only city in China with that classification. Authorities have closed public spaces, with residents told to stay home unless there were "unusual circumstances."
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On Sunday, the country's National Health Commission reported 17 new coronavirus diagnoses, the highest number in almost two weeks, and the second day in a row new cases were in the double digits, Reuters reported.
Fourteen cases were in Shulan, a city of more than 700,000 near the Russian and North Korean borders. They were all traced to a 45-year-old woman working at a police laundry department with no history of recent travel or contact with an infected person.
The government has reclassified Shulan as a high-risk region, the only city in China with that classification. Authorities have closed public spaces, with residents told to stay home unless there were "unusual circumstances."
More
How to read New York’s ‘dashboard’ for reopening
The fate of a region's reopening rests on a New York State "dashboard" measuring everything from hospitalizations to intensive care unit capacity.
There are green checks and red Xs next to the benchmarks for each of the 10 regions. Seven green checks for a region mean it is a go – it can begin the gradual process of rolling back state restrictions on businesses and public gatherings.
The criteria are based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, state officials said.
The Western New York region, defined by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo as Erie, Niagara, Allegany, Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties, isn't there yet. As of Friday, it still fell short on two measures: Western New York has not seen a 14-day decline in Covid-19 hospitalizations and deaths.
Cuomo has urged New Yorkers to closely watch the measures in their own region. "I hope people get up in the morning, have their cup of coffee and go online to figure out how their county is doing," Cuomo said Thursday.
But the dashboard – which can be found at forward.ny.gov/regional-monitoring-dashboard – is not exactly easy to decipher. We broke it down for you:
There are green checks and red Xs next to the benchmarks for each of the 10 regions. Seven green checks for a region mean it is a go – it can begin the gradual process of rolling back state restrictions on businesses and public gatherings.
The criteria are based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, state officials said.
The Western New York region, defined by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo as Erie, Niagara, Allegany, Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties, isn't there yet. As of Friday, it still fell short on two measures: Western New York has not seen a 14-day decline in Covid-19 hospitalizations and deaths.
Cuomo has urged New Yorkers to closely watch the measures in their own region. "I hope people get up in the morning, have their cup of coffee and go online to figure out how their county is doing," Cuomo said Thursday.
But the dashboard – which can be found at forward.ny.gov/regional-monitoring-dashboard – is not exactly easy to decipher. We broke it down for you:
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