Two Ohio state lawmakers suggested designating June 14 as “President Donald J. Trump Day” to honor the former president.
By Allen Zhong, The Epoch Times, January 30, 2021 Updated: January 30, 2021
“Let’s show the 3,154,834 Ohio voters (a record and historic number of votes received for president in Ohio) who cast their ballot to re-elect Donald J. Trump that we as a legislature recognize the accomplishments of his administration, and that the Ohio House believes it is imperative we set aside a day to celebrate one of the greatest presidents in American history,” state Rep. Jon Cross (R-Ohio) and Reggie Stoltzfus (R-Ohio) wrote in a memorandum to all House members.
The duo praised Trump who accomplished many things that led America to unparalleled prosperity “against great odds.”
It’s unclear if this suggestion will be adopted widely by the Republican-controlled state House. The Republicans hold a strong majority 64–35 over the Ohio Democratic Party in the Ohio House.
Ohio House Speaker Robert R. Cupp didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from The Epoch Times.
The former president—who launched the MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement in the United States and changed the country and the Republican Party substantially—still maintains significant influence at the national and state level.
He agreed with U.S. House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to help the GOP to become a majority in the House after a meeting at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach on Thursday.
“Today, President Trump committed to helping elect Republicans in the House and Senate in 2022,” McCarthy said in a statement. “A united conservative movement will strengthen the bonds of our citizens and uphold the freedoms our country was founded on.”
At the state level, Trump secured one of his allies, Kelli Ward, the position of Arizona GOP chairwoman on Jan. 22 with a last-minute endorsement.
Ward won 51.5 percent of the vote, to 48.5 percent for challenger Sergio Arellano in the second round of voting.
“The decision is ours. Are you going to reelect me and show the state, the country, and the world that we are an America first Arizona, or will we go back to the dark days before Trump?” Ward said while presenting her case before the vote.
EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. Quick note: Tech giants are snuffing us out. You know this. Facebook, Twitter, Google et al have shadowbanned, suspended and in some cases deleted us from your news feeds. They are disappearing us. But we are here. Subscribe to Geller Report newsletter here— it’s free and it’s critical NOW more than ever.
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00The Geller Reporthttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngThe Geller Report2021-01-31 06:59:192021-10-07 20:34:20BRILLIANT: Ohio Republicans Propose Designating June 14th as ‘President Donald J. Trump Day’
When it came to President Trump, every newspaper and media outlet in the country did everything they could to make him appear to be a “liar” by keeping a record of his “false statements.”
Washington Post Says They Won’t Hold Joe Biden Accountable With “Fact Checker” Like They Did With Trump
When it came to President Trump, every newspaper and media outlet in the country did everything they could to make him appear to be a “liar” by keeping a record of his “false statements”.
The Washington Post even had a dedicated spot on their website that would track everything he said that deemed to be “false”. Turns out most of the claims on their list were distorted by THEM in order to make Trump sound like he was saying something that he really wasn’t.
However, now they are assuring the American people that they will not be holding Joe Biden accountable in the same way (even though he has been a proven liar over the past 5 decades)In fact, the reason they refuse to fact check Biden is because – get this – they assume he’ll “be like Obama”.
Reassuring…right?
Here’s what WaPo told the Daily Caller about it’s decision to not hold Joe Biden accountable for his statements:
“Trump’s departure also equals an end to having a false claims project for the current president…We do not have plans to launch a Biden database at this time.”
“The database of Trump claims was started a month after Trump became president as a way to not overwhelm our fact-checking enterprise, where the core mission is to explain complex policy issues,” they added.
On January 16th, WaPo fact-checker Glenn Kessler told CNN why they’re saying “no thanks” to a Biden fact check team:
WashPost 'fact checker' Glenn Kessler won't count false Biden claims like Trump's: "I assume the Biden presidency will be a lot like the Obama presidency, and that they will be responsive, and will be able to quickly back up what they're saying."https://t.co/PUg8z4uzIZpic.twitter.com/EQAUyaRqSy
“I assume the Biden presidency will be a lot like the Obama presidency, and that they will be responsive, and will be able to quickly back up what they’re saying,” he said.
So because he’ll “be like Obama”, they don’t feel the need to fact check anything he says. This is despite the fact that Obama was one of the biggest liars the Oval Office has ever seen.
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00The Geller Reporthttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngThe Geller Report2021-01-31 06:46:212021-10-07 20:34:21Washington Post Says They Won’t Hold Joe Biden Accountable With ‘Fact Checker’ Like They Did With Trump
Priorities, priorities. But you see, they’ve got to have them so that they can resume “war crimes hearings at the base’s Camp Justice compound.” That raises another question: why are there still hearings being conducted regarding these men? Way back in 2009 they essentially confessed by publishing a lengthy Islamic defense of their actions. Why are they still waiting to be tried so many years later? Who is protecting them?
“Prisoners at Guantánamo Bay will be offered vaccination, the Pentagon says,” by Carol Rosenberg, New York Times, January 28, 2021:
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has decided to offer coronavirus vaccines to detainees at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, possibly starting next week, according to a prosecutor in the case against five prisoners accused of conspiring in the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The prosecutor, Clayton G. Trivett Jr., wrote to defense lawyers on Thursday “that an official in the Pentagon has just signed a memo approving the delivery of the Covid-19 vaccine to the detainee population in Guantánamo.”…
Lack of vaccinations has been a major obstacle to resuming war crimes hearings at the base’s Camp Justice compound. It was not immediately known whether the defendants in the Sept. 11 case, including Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, would consent to be vaccinated….
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00Jihad Watchhttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngJihad Watch2021-01-31 06:31:182021-10-07 20:34:21Biden’s Pentagon to offer covid vaccines to 9/11 jihadis at Guantánamo before many Americans have access to them
Florida Alert #1 – The Florida Senate Judiciary Committee Added Concealed Carry to the Committee Agenda.
Concealed Carry Bill is Being Publicly Heard on Feb. 1, 2021.
That means you can voice your approval at the hearing! The Chair of the Judiciary Committee has added Senate Bill 498 (Concealed Carry at Religious Institutions) to the committee’s agenda for Monday. What does this mean? It means that this bill will take its first step to be voted on. The public is allowed comment and show their support for this bill. As a Second Amendment Activist,
Remember folks, the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
Be loud, be proud, and be ACTIVE.
Please arrive at the Civic Center early. With the way the Senate functions, being early is on time and being on time is late. Why? Because if you don’t turn in your Committee Appearance Form prior to the start of the hearing, you will not be allowed to speak. Time is always rationed to speakers, so have a concise and orderly plan of action. Have your speaking points organized and ready to go. Remember, be polite but firm on your stance. Your talking points should be based on the following:
Some talking points:
Floridians have the right to practice their religious beliefs and be able to defend those beliefs. Just because a religious institution also has a school on its property, shouldn’t bar you from legally protecting yourself.
The best solution is to amend this bill so it just outright repeals all the Gun Free Zones currently listed under State Statute. 790.06 (12)(a).
As tragically proven by the shootings at the Pittsburgh Synagogue and the Sutherland Springs Church in Texas, criminals will attack good people in places of worship. No law that forbids concealed carry at these locations stops criminals from committing violence against honest people; and anyone who thinks it will is either lying or delusional.
If you are unable to attend you still have a voice…
ACTION: PLEASE IMMEDIATELY EMAIL THESE SENATORS! URGE THEM TO VOTE YES ON SB-498In the subject line put: Vote YES on SB-498 Safety of Churches! (Block and Copy All email addresses into the “Send To” box)
The letter, signed by six attorneys general (AGs), puts the Biden administration on notice that any actions that might exceed their statutory authority, are inconsistent with constitutional tenets, or place civil liberties at risk could trigger legal action by the states. “We stand ready to meet with your administration to discuss more how the issues below affect our States; litigation is never first option, and we would like to help your team in its important job on behalf of all Americans, consistent with the Constitution and the rule of law,” West Virginia AG Patrick Morrisey, who is leading the group, wrote in the letter addressed to the White House (pdf).“Yet if you sign unconstitutional laws passed by Congress, it will be our responsibility and duty to challenge those laws in court. If cabinet officials, executive officers, and agencies go beyond the bounds of their statutory authority, fail to follow legally required procedures, or fall short of the bedrock Administrative Procedure Act obligation of reasoned decision making, it will likewise be our responsibility to take action.”
ACTION: We are asking you to email Florida’s Attorney General, Ashley Moody. We would like Florida to join in the fight to stop Biden and D.C from overreach. You can click on the PDF link above and attach the link in the email.
Example Email: (COPY, PASTE, ADJUST TO YOUR OWN PREFERENCE)
I ask you to join the the fight with Patrick Morrisey, West Virginia Attorney General, Leslie Rutledge, Arkansas Attorney General, Todd Rokita Indiana Attorney General, Lynn Fitch, Mississippi Attorney General, Austin Knudsen Montana Attorney General and Ken Paxton, Texas Attorney General by adding Florida to the letter sent to the White House. This letter is regarding the roles State Attorneys Generals represent in defending its citizens and their rights per each States Constitution. Again we would like you to join these states in reminding the Federal Government that they have limited power and that Biden himself also has limited power over the State.
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00Defend Floridahttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngDefend Florida2021-01-30 08:12:342021-10-07 20:34:21DEFEND FLORIDA ALERTS: Biden Overreach and Concealed Carry in the Sunshine State
The Biden Administration’s assault on the energy industry is moving at lightning speed. What a disaster. President Trump warned everyone that this would happen if Joe Biden was elected POTUS.
Beijing Biden administration is a wrecking ball to America. Period. Whoever voted for these destroyers is guilty of “insurrection.”
Biden’s climate order halting drilling on federal lands will kill 58K jobs, oil group warns
Sgamma made the argument on “Fox & Friends” the morning after Biden announced his executive order which the president said, “directs the secretary of the interior to stop issuing new oil and gas leases on public lands and offshore waters.”
“We are going to start properly manage lands and waterways in ways that allow us to protect, preserve the full value that they provide for us for future generations,” President Biden added.
On Wednesday Western Energy Alliance, which represents 200 oil and natural gas companies, filed a lawsuit challenging Biden’s executive order banning oil and natural gas leasing on federal public lands, according to a news release.
The release cited the complaint which, “challenges Biden’s order as exceeding presidential authority and constituting a violation of the Mineral Leasing Act, National Environmental Policy Act, and the Federal Lands Policy and Management Act.”
She noted that the impact of President Biden’s executive order to halt drilling on federal lands would be “felt the most” in the West, “where there is about 700 million acres of federal land,” stressing that she was referring to “working landscapes in the west that are owned and managed by the federal government.”
She noted that Yosemite National Park and Yellowstone National Park were excluded because they are “protected areas.”
Biden signed a total of 17 executive orders within minutes of entering the Oval Office for the first time on Wednesday. The orders reversed a number of Trump administration policies and covered areas Biden identified as his priorities on the campaign trail, including climate change.
In addition to temporarily suspending oil and gas permits on federal lands and waters, Biden halted the Keystone XL oil pipeline project in the series of orders aimed at tamping down the U.S. fossil fuel industry and combating climate change.
In remarks made by Biden on Wednesday before signing executive actions on tackling climate change, the president pointed to “a key plank” of his Build Back Better Recovery Plan, which he noted “is building a modern, resilient climate infrastructure and clean energy future that will create millions of good-paying union jobs.”
“This notion that killing oil and natural gas is suddenly going to create jobs elsewhere is just a false one,” Sgamma said.
“The energy we use in the United States, over 70% of it comes from oil and natural gas so people still need to drive their cars, they need to heat their homes, they need to turn on the switch and have reliable electricity 24/7,” she continued.
RELATED TWEET:
REPORT: Joe Biden’s Proposal to Raise National Minimum Wage to $15 Could ‘Kill 3.7 Million Jobs’ https://t.co/OLDjwlu6cj
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00The Geller Reporthttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngThe Geller Report2021-01-30 07:45:112021-10-07 20:34:22Biden’s climate order HALTING drilling on federal lands KILLS 58K jobs
Democrat Nazi party passing its version of the Nuremberg laws. Make no mistake, the Boycott, Divest, Sanction [Israel] movement is this century’s Nazi movement, only on a worldwide scale. It is the same tactic, same viciousness, same lies, same thuggery. Preceding Kristallnacht, the Nazis called for Germans to boycott Jewish-owned businesses. This was the direct antecedent to the boycott, divestment, sanction Israel (BDS movement). This is no different.
The Left continue their relentless campaign to legitimize Jew-hatred in the United States. In 2016, “California’s then Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a mandate to develop an ethnic studies program for high schools in California.” The latest draft of this program has been released. It’s a nightmare. It is virulently anti-Semitic and anti-Israel. If there are not significant modifications made to this draft, then California high schools will become much less comfortable for Jewish students to say the least.
We’ve been campaigning hard to keep bias and hate out of our schools. To learn more about the California Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum, see our detailed analysis and recommendations here: https://t.co/MxYF39tbuI
n the fall of 2016, California’s then Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a mandate to develop an ethnic studies program for high schools in California. California’s public schools have the most ethnically diverse student body in the nation, with three-quarters of students belonging to minorities and speaking over 90 languages.
Elina Kaplan, a former high-tech manager who had just stepped down as senior VP of one of California’s largest affordable housing nonprofits, remembers agreeing wholeheartedly with the idea at the time. “The objective was to build bridges of understanding between people,” said Kaplan, an immigrant herself, who moved to California from the former Soviet Union with her family when she was 11. “This was as welcome as mom and apple pie. It offered students the chance to learn about the accomplishments of ethnic minorities, as well as to address issues of inequality and bigotry.”
But three years later, when the first draft of the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (ESMC) was released, Kaplan couldn’t believe what she was reading. In one sample lesson, she saw that a list of historic U.S. social movements—ones like Black Lives Matter, #MeToo, Criminal Justice Reform—also included the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement for Palestine (BDS), described as a “global social movement that currently aims to establish freedom for Palestinians living under apartheid conditions.” Kaplan wondered why a foreign movement, whose target was another country, would be mischaracterized as a domestic social movement, and she was shocked that in a curriculum that would be taught to millions of students, BDS’s primary goal—the elimination of Israel—was not mentioned. Kaplan also saw that the 1948 Israel War of Independence was only referred to as the “Nakba”—“catastrophe” in Arabic—and Arabic verses included in the sample lessons were insulting and provocative to Jews.
Kaplan, 53, a Bay Area mother of two grown children who describes herself as a lifelong Democrat, was further surprised to discover that a list of 154 influential people of color did not include Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., John Lewis, or Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, though it included many violent revolutionaries. There was even a flattering description of Pol Pot, the communist leader of Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge, who was responsible for the murder of a quarter of the Cambodian population during the 1970s.
Kaplan began calling friends. “Have you read this?” she asked, urging them to plow through the 600-page document. The language was bewildering. “Ethnic Studies is about people whose cultures, hxrstories, and social positionalities are forever changing and evolving. Thus, Ethnic Studies also examines borders, borderlands, mixtures, hybridities, nepantlas, double consciousness, and reconfigured articulations. …” This was the telltale jargon of critical race theory, a radical doctrine that has swept through academic disciplines during the last few decades.
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00The Geller Reporthttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngThe Geller Report2021-01-30 07:30:192021-10-07 20:34:22California’s new ‘ethnic studies’ high school curriculum legitimizes Boycott the Jews (BDS) Movement
Group in Colorado county seeks secession from state to join Wyoming
A group of disenfranchised Colorado residents are exploring the possibility of annexing from their home state and changing boundary lines so their entire county becomes part of Wyoming.
Christopher “Todd” Richards is leading the effort with his “Weld County Wyoming” political committee, created last February, according to local outlet Fox 31 KDVR.
The organization is working to get a measure added to the November 2021 ballot that would encourage county commissioners to “engage and explore the annexation of Weld County with the State of Wyoming’s Legislature.”
The purpose of the measure is to “get out from under the thumb” of Colorado’s more liberal government, according to the group’s Facebook page.
“Can this be done? Yes, it can be done. Is it going to be easy? No,” Richards said during a meeting posted to YouTube in November.
Whether it can be done or not, this is the kind of thing many rural communities should be pushing because it helps to educate Americans about how rural people, the country class, have had enough and they are fighting back.
It is a warning shot to the elitists, a warning to the ruling class, and one that does garner mainstream media attention.
By the way, for those who do not follow my Refugee Resettlement bloghere is a little factoid. Wyoming is the only state in the nation that does not resettle refugees and never has in the forty years the UN and the feds have been spreading the third world to rural America.
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00Ann Corcoranhttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngAnn Corcoran2021-01-30 07:08:272021-10-07 20:34:22Rural People Want Separation and Freedom from Elite City Overlords
“They said many Americans experience such delays during travel, often at random.”
Yes, and often not at random: American Airlines, for one, is far more hostile to foes of jihad terror than to Sharia supremacists and advocates of Sharia-based oppression of women and others.
Anyway, this case has a good chance of succeeding given today’s political climate, but the Terrorism Screening Database is unlikely to be scrapped altogether; it will just be filled up with opponents of Biden’s handlers’ regime.
“Is the Terrorism Watchlist Legal? Appeals Court Hears Virginia Case,” Associated Press, January 27, 2021 (thanks to Henry):
FALLS CHURCH — On Tuesday, a panel of federal appellate judges expressed concerns about ordering wholesale changes to a government terrorism watchlist. A lower court previously found the list of roughly 1 million individuals was constitutionally flawed.
The 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond heard arguments Tuesday on the constitutionality of the watchlist, also known as the Terrorism Screening Database.
Government lawyers urged the judges not to intervene in the executive branch’s administration of the list and its national security judgments.
Fundamentally, they said the problems encountered by those on the list, like enhanced screening at airports and delays at border crossings, were too insignificant to merit intervention on constitutional grounds. They said many Americans experience such delays during travel, often at random.
‘Far From Insignificant’
Gadeir Abbas, a lawyer with the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which brought the suit on behalf of roughly two dozen Muslim clients, said the burden faced by those on the list is far from insignificant. He cited accounts from plaintiffs of being shackled and having guns pointed at them in front of their children at border crossings when agents encountered their names in the database.
“They are not just inconveniences,” Abbas said.
But J. Harvie Wilkinson, one of three judges who heard the case, said that while some plaintiffs experienced significant issues, others experienced only minor problems. He suggested it might be better for individual plaintiffs to file suits based on their own experiences, rather than just attacking the watchlist as a whole.
He also questioned whether the judiciary branch was able or qualified to require revisions to a program that the government insists is vital to national security….
What’s the difference between the denial of free speech in China and the US? In China, it’s directed by the CCP. In the US, Big Tech and Big Media does it for the Democrat party. Same result.
The renowned historian H. G. Wells once said of Joseph Stalin, “I like Uncle Joe very much. He’s a great man.” That would be a terrific motto to replace the outmoded slogan of slavery and white supremacy, “In God We Trust,” that is currently emblazoned behind the podium of the Speaker of the House. Now that Stalinist show trials have come to Congress, we all like Uncle Joe very much. Or else. And you have to give them credit: this impeach-a-private-citizen-because-we-hate-him business opens up a whole universe of sparkling new possibilities. Yesterday I offered a list of five presidents who must be impeached now, but that’s just the beginning.
As fifty-five senators are now on record saying that the impeachment of a former president is perfectly constitutional, there is no reason not to extend wokeness back to 1789 and cleanse the ugly blot Leftists think of as our history. Washington? Jefferson? Slaveowners! Impeach them! Andrew Jackson? Trail of Tears. He clearly has to go, too. James K. Polk? Started a war with Mexico when he should have just opened our borders and given all non-citizens the right to vote, free housing, and a COVID-19 vaccine. As Rashida Tlaib would say, Impeach the motherf***er! Theodore Roosevelt? Imperialist! Woodrow Wilson! Racist! Impeach them all! In fact, we must impeach all previous presidents, even Saint Barack the Hussein, for none of them, none at all, were woke enough. Remember Obama’s opposition to gay marriage? They all must go, every one, or Ilhan Omar’s moral superiority will be affronted. That must not be.
Nor do we have to stop with former presidents. Trump is, remember, not president anymore. He is a private individual who holds no office, just like you and me. He is being impeached for being a dictator, telling protestors to proceed peacefully and having them disregard his words and disobey his instruction, which is how people always respond to dictators. So it’s clear that impeachment in today’s woke America is just a tool to get back at those who threaten the hegemony of those in power. We know who the threats are today, and now it’s time to stop them. Impeach Rush Limbaugh! Impeach Tucker Carlson! Impeach Thomas Sowell! Impeach Tom Paine! Impeach your Ma! Impeach your Pa! Don’t have anything on them? Make it up! It worked for Stalin. It worked for Pelosi. It will keep working.
Like the potato peeler in the old commercials that slices, dices, purees, bakes, fries, and washes your car, this new impeachment tool has a marvelous variety of uses. Imagine that you’re a Democrat facing a tough Senate race against a Trump-supporting opponent who is wildly popular with the voters, drawing massive and enthusiastic crowds just as Trump did before losing resoundingly to the old man muttering through his mask to a half-dozen supporters carefully social distanced from one another in little chalk circles. Suppose you’re rattled and think this racist, redneck yahoo you’re facing has a chance to eke out a victory even after all the 4 a.m. ballot deliveries and boarding up of windows at the places where the votes are counted.
The solution is so simple that it’s a wonder that no corrupt politicians thought of it before: impeach your opponent. Yes, he (or she, or xe) is just a candidate, not an officeholder, and not president of the United States, but hey, neither is Mr. Donald J. Trump of Mar-a-Lago. Impeach your Trumpist foe, and the populist boomlet will be nipped in the bud, courtesy of the “disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States” that impeachment and conviction bring. The same thing would work in presidential races: if you’re a Democrat who is running for president and starting to lose a little gas in the run-up to Super Tuesday, no problem! Your opponent can become an impeached president before he (or she, or ey, or ve) leaves Iowa.
We are truly blessed to live in the age of masterful constitutional scholars such as Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, who have taken a magnificently wrought system for guaranteeing both stable government and personal freedom and turned it into a sick joke and a cruel instrument of partisan vengeance. And those blessings from our moral superiors on high bring me to the last figure who must be impeached in order to ensure that justice flows in our unhappy, systemically racist land like a river: God.
Yes. God must be impeached. It is He (not She or Xe), after all, who is responsible for the ever-vexing fact that while all human beings are created equal in dignity, they are not remotely equal in accomplishment, ability, intelligence, strength, vigor, or anything else. It is that unfortunate reality of the human experience that Democrats are endlessly trying to obliterate with their increasing array of programs designed to ensure not just equality of opportunity, but equality of outcome. Their quarrel, ultimately, is not with Donald Trump, but with a much higher power. Impeach Him now!
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00Jihad Watchhttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngJihad Watch2021-01-30 06:41:442021-10-07 20:34:23The Show Trials and Purges Are Just Getting Started
New Yorkers had a rough, rough 2020. Governor Andrew Cuomo’s latest proposal would make 2021 even worse.
“New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposed raising taxes on the wealthy to a combined level of 14.7%, which would be the highest state-and-local tax rate in the nation,” CNBC reports. “The tax increase would raise $1.5 billion for the state, Cuomo said Tuesday in an address unveiling his 2022 budget proposal.”
Gov. Cuomo plan would raise tax for wealthiest New Yorkers to 14.7%, highest combined rate in nation https://t.co/7Uwv2OhyG3
The tax increases would apply to those who earn more than $5 million a year. If implemented, New Yorkers would officially beat California for the top state and local tax rate in the nation; the Golden State currently comes in at 13.3 percent.
Governor Cuomo says the tax increases are necessary because unless the federal government passes a full bailout for the $15 billion state budget hole New York has created, it will have a large deficit to plug.
“New York cannot manage a $15 billion deficit,” Cuomo said. “It’s beyond what we can do.”
The governor favors hiking taxes on “the rich” rather than closing the budget gap solely by cutting spending.
People and Wealth are Already Fleeing New York
Even before these proposed hikes, the Empire State already has the highest overall tax burden—beyond just income taxes—nationwide and one of the highest costs of living. The situation has only worsened during the COVID-19 crisis, with huge losses of life, in part due to the governor’s mandate forcing nursing homes to accept COVID-19-positive patients. And, drastic lockdowns imposed irrespective of actual pandemic data have ruined New York City’s economy and the cultural vibrancy that made it so appealing pre-pandemic.
So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that people are fleeing in droves.
Further Hiking Taxes Will Chase More Wealth Out of New York
New York state officials should be doing everything they can to reverse this troubling trend; cutting taxes; removing regulations; expanding education options. If Cuomo successfully implements his tax hikes, though, it will only result in more people leaving the Empire State.
Why? It’s simple.
A tax proposal cannot be evaluated simply on its raw numbers. One must also take into account how it would change people’s behavior.
Successful people are not automatons; if anything, they are the most responsive and mobile members of society. And other thriving states like Florida and Texas offer not just warmer weather than New York, but zero state income taxes. It’s only natural that increased tax rates will prompt more people to leave the Empire State; nobody likes paying taxes or wants to have more of their money taken away. Even the super rich.
This will hurt the entire state, which will lose not only residents, but also their wealth, spending, investment, and businesses (aka jobs).
Ironically, the tax increase may not even raise the $1.5 billion in revenue that Cuomo hopes. Sometimes, an increase in income tax rates can actually decrease income-generating activity so much that overall tax revenues fall. This was the famous insight of economist Art Laffer, who served on Ronald Reagan’s board of economic advisors. We can’t know for sure whether it would apply here—taxes always disincentivize income earning, but only sometimes result in less tax revenue—but it’s certainly cause to be skeptical of Governor Cuomo’s revenue projections.
The Big Picture: Incentives Matter
However, Governor Cuomo’s backward policy proposal has implications that reach much wider than just New York state and its most successful citizens. It’s another reminder that when it comes to government policy, incentives matter.
“Our economic verities have remained forever,” Laffer once explained. “They go back to caveman, pre-cavemen. Incentives matter: If you reward an activity, then people do more of it. If you punish an activity, people do less of it.”
This is why progressives often promote cigarette taxes or carbon taxes. They, at least in this setting, acknowledge that taxing something naturally discourages its consumption and production—you get less of it. Why does anyone want to do that for income?
The timeless economic reality of incentives doesn’t just call Cuomo’s tax hike on high earners into question. It ought to make us reconsider whether we should be punishing wealth-creation through taxing income at all.
We always assumed he didn’t care about the deaths of our loved ones. And today’s heartless comment confirms it. “Who cares. They died.” pic.twitter.com/O9LLz76PQB
If there was a video documenting every second of my life, you can bet it would contain some pretty stupid comments I’ve made over the years. I would also probably be reminded of some opinions I no longer believe. If you’re being honest with yourself, yours likely would be equally cringe.
The things we have said in the past may not have been outrageously offensive, but we have all made comments, or held opinions, we later regret. We are, after all, inherently flawed creatures.
But imagine if one instance of poor judgment or one “fringe” opinion stuck with you forever. This is the problem our society is now facing with the prevalence of cancel culture.
In 2016, then-high school freshman Mimi Groves posted a video to Snapchat in which she used a racial slur. The video later circulated around her school, though it wasn’t met with controversy at the time.
Fellow classmate Jimmy Galligan hadn’t seen the footage until last year when the two were seniors—four years after it first made the rounds at Heritage High School. By this time, Groves had moved on to focus on her role as varsity cheer captain with big dreams of attending the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, a school known for its nationally ranked cheer squad.
For Groves, summer 2020 had been a time of celebration as she found out she had been accepted to the university’s cheer team. But her joy was short-lived when the death of George Floyd rightly outraged the nation, sparking a resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Like many teens, Groves used her social media platforms to urge people to protest, donate, and sign petitions in support of ending police brutality. It was then that her unfortunate video came back to haunt her.
“You have the audacity to post this, after saying the N-word,” one commenter, unknown to the teen, posted on her Instagram.
That’s when her phone began ringing nonstop.
Galligan had held onto the video made four years earlier and had chosen to celebrate Groves’ admission to UT by blasting the footage to every major social media platform.
As the video began going viral, public outrage ensued, calling for the university to rescind her acceptance.
Capitulating to the mob, UT removed her from their cheer team, a decision that resulted in Groves withdrawing from the school because of what she perceived as pressure from the school’s admissions office.
Make no mistake, making racial slurs of any kind is demeaning and inappropriate behavior. But is one comment made four years prior enough to ruin the future of a teen who hadn’t even entered adulthood yet?
The court of public opinion said yes, without giving Groves any chance at redemption.
Why People ‘Cancel’
Groves’ story is just one of many.
Cancel culture has become more widespread over the last several years than anyone could have imagined. When I penned this article on the topic two years ago, I had no idea the problem would escalate to the level it has reached today.
But cancel culture isn’t reserved only for those who have made distasteful comments in the past.
Today, those espousing any opinion that goes against “woke” rhetoric are ridiculed online, fired from their jobs, and some are banned from using popular social media platforms altogether.
One University of North Carolina Wilmington professor, Mike Adams, even took his own life after tweets construed as offensive pushed him into early retirement after years of service to the institution.
“Part of a call-out culture is you get credit based on what someone else said if you ‘call it out,'” he said in a 2018 interview.
This virtue signaling, which is really just a means of proving to society how “good” and “moral” your views are, is only half of the equation, however. Cancel culture is also about personal destruction, which is obvious in Groves’ situation, since Galligan didn’t use this ammunition against her until the time was ripe for maximum harm.
“It(cancel culture) has reached a level of personal vindictiveness, where people go out of their way to find ways the things other people say could be construed as insensitive,” Haidt said.
Slurs and inappropriate comments aside, cancel culture has made people scared to share their opinions lest they be condemned for thinking “incorrectly” about any given issue.
The Costs Cancel Culture
We now live in an era where people are constantly looking over their shoulders, or computer screens, worried that whatever opinion they post might make them victims of cancel culture.
There is no opportunity to change one’s mind, nor is there room to defend opinions you genuinely believe. And this is a huge problem for any civil society.
Haidt spoke of the importance of protecting open dialogue so that we may live in a society filled with varying opinions from which to choose.
“One of the most important [aspects] is that people are not afraid to share their opinions – they’re not afraid that they’re going to be shamed socially for disagreeing with the dominant opinion,” Haidt said.
The odds are high that your opinions about certain issues will change over time. However, some may not, and you shouldn’t live in fear that your beliefs will be met with social condemnation and isolation.
We are no longer given the room to share our opinions today because we are no longer able to disagree with each other respectfully.
You’re not always going to agree with everything other people say — not your professors, your classmates, or your parents. In fact, you might even find that your own views change as you learn new things and grow as a person and adult.
But having the freedom to consider all opinions and decide what you genuinely believe is vital to the human experience and civil discourse.
There is a market of choice in all things, from what clothes you wear, products you buy, and what ideas you subscribe to.
When you go shopping, you might not like the first outfit you try. You might not even like the second or third. But trying on different looks, or opinions, allows you to think for yourself and figure out what it is you want, or believe.
To be truly open-minded, you must be able to consider all opinions, instead of condemning any thought contrary to your own. The free exchange of ideas pushes individuals to share unique ideas and allows for opinions to evolve.
Dissent is what makes democracy strong. Our Constitution has outlasted so many others because the Founders disagreed and debated with each other until they crafted a document that fostered “a more perfect union” than had ever been seen before. We would be wise not to forget the example they set.
Put simply, shaming others doesn’t work. It’s purely punitive, and self-aggrandizing. It also rarely changes a person’s mind and often further radicalizes their beliefs, widening the divide already growing in our country.
To foster a world where ideas can be freely expressed, Pacific Legal Foundation will be hosting an event this Friday featuring Haidt that will examine the many ways free speech serves as a central tenet of innovation, community, and civil society, and how we can preserve and protect this fundamental value that makes our society so extraordinary.
Without the ability to speak freely and consider all opinions, civil discourse cannot occur. In its absence, society as we know it will cease to exist and the divides between us will continue to grow.
“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.” – Nelson Mandela
The Biden administration supports codifying abortion on demand into federal law.
VATICAN CITY (ChurchMilitant.com) – The Vatican was unsuccessful in softening the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB’s) statement that spotlights heretical positions of self-identifying Catholic Joe Biden.
Interference from two pro-LGBT American cardinals, Joseph Tobin of Newark and Blase Cupich of Chicago, triggered the Holy See to attempt changes to the USCCB’s statement penned by its president, Abp. José Gomez of Los Angeles.
The involvement coming from outside the USCCB was reported by three sources close to the USCCB, according to The Pillar, an outlet covering Catholic news. In addition to Tobin and Cupich, the sources added other unnamed bishops were involved in the meddling.
Slated for release at 9 a.m. Wednesday morning, the statement clarified points of contradiction between perennial Catholic teaching and some of Biden’s policies. Though the Vatican succeeded in delaying the timing, the statement remained intact and has been published on the USCCB website.
Sources revealed the statement was debated on Tuesday evening, with various bishops objecting it was overly critical of the incoming administration. But it was the Vatican that ultimately caused the delay of its release.
Our new president has pledged to pursue certain policies that would advance moral evils and threaten human life and dignity.Tweet
[A]s pastors, the nation’s bishops are given the duty of proclaiming the gospel in all its truth and power, in season and out of season, even when that teaching is inconvenient or when the gospel’s truths run contrary to the directions of the wider society and culture. So, I must point out that our new president has pledged to pursue certain policies that would advance moral evils and threaten human life and dignity, most seriously in the areas of abortion, contraception, marriage and gender. Of deep concern is the liberty of the Church and the freedom of believers to live according to their consciences.
Gomez’s statement also addresses abortion:
We have deep concerns about many threats to human life and dignity in our society. But as Pope Francis teaches, we cannot stay silent when nearly a million unborn lives are being cast aside in our country year after year through abortion.
Abortion is a direct attack on life that also wounds the woman and undermines the family. It is not only a private matter, it raises troubling and fundamental questions of fraternity, solidarity and inclusion in the human community. It is also a matter of social justice. We cannot ignore the reality that abortion rates are much higher among the poor and minorities and that the procedure is regularly used to eliminate children who would be born with disabilities.
Gomez Does ‘Not Go Far Enough’
Under condition of anonymity, one priest told Church Militant this Vatican intervention is unsurprising.
Both of these cardinals should be down on their knees praying that this scourge against the unborn in our nation is brought to an end.Tweet
Another priest, who also asked to remain anonymous in comments to Church Militant, said:
At this point in time the United States is near to having aborted 70 million babies, and frankly, Abp. Gomez’s statement does not go far enough to address Biden’s and the Democrats’ unflagging support of this grave evil. At this moment in our history as a nation, the number of dead by abortion exceeds every and all of the wars ever fought.
As to the two American cardinals involved, Father said, “Cdls. Cupich and Tobin are concerned about ruffling the Biden administrations’ feathers! What rot! Both of these cardinals should be down on their knees praying that this scourge against the unborn in our nation is brought to an end and not concerned about kissing up to the new administration.”
He explained the interest in playing nice with the Biden administration is financial.
“As a priest, I am all in for cutting off all federal funding to so-called Catholic charities,” Father said. “U.S. taxpayers paying for so-called social programs is not a good thing for the country when the funds go towards subverting and circumventing the gospel.”
Provided with an opportunity to rein in growing politicized rhetoric which paints America’s military as riddled with white supremacists and far right extremists, President Joe Biden’s nominee for the Secretary of Defense General Lloyd Austin declined, choosing to add his name to the list of those calling for purging the U.S. military of “far-right” elements.
“The job of the Department of Defense is to keep America safe from our enemies,” Austin said, “But we can’t do that if some of those enemies lie within our own ranks.”
Austin’s remarks came in the wake of the Biden camp demanding intense vetting of the 25,000 National Guard troops stationed in Washington, D.C. for the Inauguration security. Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee told CNN news he was suspicious of the Guard because its make-up was overwhelmingly from among classes of likely Trump voters.
“The Guard is 90 some odd percent, I believe, male,” Cohen claimed. “Only about 20% of white males voted for Biden. You have got to figure that the Guard, which is predominantly more conservative and I see that on my social media, and we know it, they are probably 25% of the people that are there protecting us who voted for Biden.”
Rep. Michael Waltz, Republican from Florida and a National Guard Colonel, called Cohen’s statement “insulting.”
The Pentagon would go on to remove a dozen of the more than 25,000 National Guardsmen from their posts, for unspecified reasons. According to one report, reasons for removal included social media which contained references to former president Trump’s slogan MAGA (Make America Great Again), displaying American revolutionary paraphernalia such as the Gadsen Flag, and membership or association with Turning Point USA, a pro-Trump organization for college students. While unconfirmed, that claim does bring to mind a June 2020 controversy where the U.S. Army Equity and Inclusion Agency included “Make America Great Again” as an example of “covert white supremacy” on an training slide deck.
The targeted media criticism of the Guard outraged Texas Governor Gregg Abbott who called the politicized vetting “offensive” and said it may impact Texas’ willingness to contribute guardsmen to future missions in the future. The Texas National Guard is the largest of the 50 states and makes up approximately 4% of the total force.
It seems unlikely that recent Democratic criticism of the military as somehow overrun by far-right extremists is likely to die down now that President Biden has been safely and successfully inaugurated. A Democratic-proposed domestic terrorism bill calls for ongoing surveillance and training of federal, state and local law enforcement as well as the uniformed services against the threat of “infiltration” of “far right” extremists.
The bill says nothing of the threat of infiltration posed by far-left groups, or from jihadist groups. On January 19th, the FBI arrested a U.S. Army private for seeking to join ISIS and who sought to convey U.S. military tactics to the terrorist group.
This attempt to politicize domestic security –especially of the U.S. military—is unlikely to cool tensions or advance the unity policy that Biden spoke of in his inaugural address. Austin would have better served Biden, and domestic tranquility, if he would have used the opportunity before Congress to condemn efforts to malign U.S. troops, and asserted his confidence in their loyalty to the U.S. Constitution to which they owe their allegiance.
Kyle Shideler is the Director and Senior Analyst for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism at the Center for Security Policy. Mr. Shideler specializes in Islamist groups operating in the United States, having spent over a decade researching and writing on their history, doctrine, and impact. Read his complete bio here. Follow Shideler on Twitter at @ShidelerK. View all posts by Kyle Shideler →
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00Center For Security Policyhttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngCenter For Security Policy2021-01-29 05:26:412021-10-07 20:34:24Biden’s SecDef Nominee Says DOD Will Participate in Democrats’ Extremist Witchhunt
Another anniversary of Roe v. Wade is upon us. And in recent days, the pro-life movement has suffered some serious political setbacks.
Outgoing President Donald Trump was surprisingly pro-life. In contrast, incoming President Joe Biden, although he is a Catholic, has become so pro-abortion that he believes in abortion for any reason up to the very moment of birth—and that you and I should pay for it.
Vice President Kamala Harris is just a heartbeat away from the presidency. She is so pro-abortion that when she was California’s Attorney General, she threw the book (and then some) at video-whistleblowers David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt who shot some undercover videos documenting the grisly practice of Planned Parenthood trafficking in baby body parts.
A major reason controversy over abortion will not die is because it was imposed on the American people by judicial fiat. January 22, 1973 brought us one of the worst decisions of the Supreme Court, Roe v. Wade (allowing abortions in the first trimester, and its companion decision of that same day, Doe v. Bolton—allowing abortions in second and third trimesters, if doctors approve).
Since that dark day, more than 60 million babies have been killed in their mother’s womb. Where’s the most dangerous place to be in America today? In your mother’s womb. It should be the safest.
The Court has unleashed this nightmare, provoking the wrath of Almighty God against the nation that sheds innocent blood—and so much of it too. “We the people” did not get to decide this. The Court did.
Perhaps the biggest reason abortion will never die as an issue is because the truth and science are against the “pro-choice” position. It is a baby being killed. And everyone knows it.
Ultrasound images reveal the humanity of the unborn more and more. Generally, the abortion industry tries to keep pregnant women, would-be-clients, from seeing these moving images. Why? Because when the women realize the humanity of the unborn, they tend to not go through with the procedure.
Some of the strongest voices against abortion come from those who used to engage in abortion in some way or another. One of those is Carol Everett, a former part owner of abortion facilities in the Dallas area. She was on her way to becoming a millionaire by selling abortions, until Jesus changed her heart and opened her eyes.
Carol compiled the following statements from others who used to work in that field:
Former abortionist, Anthony Levatino, M.D.: “I want the general public to know that the doctors know that this is a person, this is a baby. That this is not some kind of blob of tissue.”
Former abortion counselor, Nita Whitten: “It’s a lie when they tell you they’re doing it to help women, because they’re not. They’re doing it for the money.”
Former abortion counselor, Debra Henry: “We were told to find the woman’s weakness and work on it. The women were never given any alternatives. They were told how much trouble it was to have a baby.”
Former abortionist, Joseph Randall, M.D.: “The picture of the baby on the ultrasound bothered me more than anything else. The staff couldn’t take it. Women who were having abortions were never allowed to see the ultrasound.”
Former abortionist, David Brewer, M.D.: “My heart got callous against the fact that I was a murderer, but that baby lying in a cold bowl educated me to what abortion really was.”
In the last year, during the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen the contrast between tyranny and liberty from our various governors, mayors, and politicians.
There is a direct link between those magistrates who are pro-abortion and who are tyrannical in their governance. Take the governors of California, New York, and Michigan. In the case of those first two states, people are voting with their feet. They are moving out. U-Haul trucks are in great demand right now in New York City and hard to get. Of course, in New York City, they have the double whammy of a pro-abortion governor and mayor.
Meanwhile, Florida and Texas and Tennessee (with pro-life governors) are enjoying a great level of freedom compared to these other states, and people are fleeing from other states to live there.
Where a politician stands on the issue of abortion represents where they stand on virtually everything else—freedom, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and so on.
Our founders said in our nation’s birth certificate, the Declaration of Independence (upon which the Constitution is predicated), that the Creator has endowed us with certain inalienable rights. The first one listed is the right to life.
If you take away the right to life, as they do in abortion, you effectively remove all the other rights. May God help America to repent from abortion and put this bloody mess behind us.
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00Jerry Newcombe, D. Min.http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngJerry Newcombe, D. Min.2021-01-29 05:05:102021-10-07 20:34:25Abortion—The Issue That Will Not Die
We are now a country in Distress – some are flying their American Flag(s) upside down – this is not an affront our insult to our national colors but a symbol of protest of the new Communist Beijing Biden/Commie Harris regime that came to power fraudulently and corruptly via a stolen election and is an illegal Administration hell bent to destroy our Constitutional Republic and turn the USA into a Socialist/Communist nation.
Picture of an upside down flag in Florida is here.
I will continue to fly my Trump Flag as well.
Notice it does not have Pence on it who has turned out to be just another RINO!
Have you ever seen an upside down American flag? We certainly hope not, but it is possible that you have. If you have spotted this at some point in your life, did you understand the symbolism? In general, members of the United States Military would be most likely to recognize this signal. Nonetheless, allow us to explain with a little help from the United States Flag Code.
8. Respect for Flag
The flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.
Quick interpretation: “Dire distress and extreme danger to life or property” should not be taken lightly here. These instances do not include moments of personal dissatisfaction or times of protest. While it is legal to express yourself in whatever way you so chose, it is illegal to fly an American flag upside down unless you are in a life or death situation. People have faced legal charges for flying an American flag upside down. Stores have also been forced to remove upside down American flags on clothing.
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00Royal A. Brown IIIhttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngRoyal A. Brown III2021-01-29 04:51:052021-10-07 20:34:25A Country In Distress — Rules on Flying Your American Flag(s) Upside Down
