Housing Finance Watch: Purchase Rate Lock Volume Was Down 42% From 2019 While Rates Were Stable

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Housing Finance Watch(Week 22, 2023)

By Edward J. Pinto | Tobias Peter | Sissi Li

Key takeaways:

  • Median rates stayed at 6 5/8% while daily 30-year rates retreated from their recent peak of 7.14% to 6.89% on June 5th, according to MND.
  • Purchase volume was 42% below 2019’s level.
  • Y-o-y HPA is projected to be around 1% in May, June, and first half of July 2023.
  • Metros with less affordability continue to have slower y-o-y HPA. The Western metros of San Jose, San Francisco, Seattle, and Sacramento are already having y-o-y HPA declines.
  • Over time, if the unemployment rate increases to around 5.5%, price declines will spread to the low end of some FHA markets and to metros with stagnating or declining job growth.

PDF to full report

EDITORS NOTE: This AEI column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

RNC Election Law Update

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The Republican National Committee sent out the following election law update in key states for June 2023.

Please see the document linked at the bottom of this column for important pending litigation, including cases in which the RNC is involved. Below is a high-level summary of state legislation highlights and important news. Please feel free to reply with any requests to follow any particular election law bills, rulemakings, or lawsuits. If there is anyone else you would like to receive this update, please send us their contact information.

State Litigation Highlights

Arizona
There are several pending voting lawsuits in Arizona:

  • Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections (RITE), the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, and Arizona GOP sued Arizona Secretary of State Fontes for authorizing an illegal expansion of the database of signatures used to verify ballots, including the addition of potentially unreliable signatures. The state filed a motion to dismiss and intervenors filed motions to dismiss on May 22, 2023.
  • Mi Familia Vota v. Hobbs (AKA Mi Familia Vota I):
    • Filed in August 2021, challenging S.B. 1485, which removes voters from the permanent mail ballot list if a voter does not vote by mail in two straight election cycles; and SB1003, which requires voters to “cure” signature-less ballots by 7PM on Election Day.
    • The RNC and the NRSC are intervenor-defendants. The DCCC and DSCC also intervened as plaintiffs.  DOJ filed a statement of interest in the case in November 2021.
    • On June 24, 2022, the court granted in part and denied in part defendants’ motion to dismiss. The court (1) allowed plaintiffs to pursue their claim that SB1485 was enacted with a discriminatory intent, and (2) dismissed the remaining claims but granted plaintiffs’ leave to file an amended complaint. The plaintiffs and plaintiff-intervenors opted not to amend their complaints.
    • On August 15, 2022, the RNC joined the Attorney General’s 54(b) motion to enter judgment on the dismissed claims.
    • Update: Court extended discovery through September 2023.
  • HB 2492 (Proof of Citizenship) Challenges:
    • There are 8 lawsuits challenging HB2492 (and other legislation) that require proof of citizenship for registrants using the National Voter Registration Form:
      • Six of the lawsuits were consolidated. The RNC was granted intervention in all of the cases.
      • On December 27, 2022, the State filed a motion to dismiss. The motion to dismiss was denied on February 16, 2023.
      • On April 4, 2023, the Arizona Speaker of the House of Representatives and Senate President moved to intervene as defendants, which was granted on April 26, 2023.
      • The RNC filed a motion to dismiss on May 15, 2023 which was joined by the state legislator intervenors.
  • Attorney General Contest:
    • Attorney General candidate Abe Hamadeh and the RNC remain in a pending election contest. A motion for a new trial is pending.  After the recount, Hamadeh’s deficit decreased to 280 votes. Top Republican legislators filed an amicus brief in support of Hamadeh. A hearing on the motion for new trial took place on May 16 and is pending a ruling.

Colorado 
On December 5, 2022, a liberal group represented by Perkins Coie filed a lawsuit alleging signature matching disproportionately disenfranchises young people, people with disabilities, and people of color. On December 22, 2022 and February 6, 2023, plaintiffs filed a first and second amended complaint .  On February 28, 2023, the Secretary of State filed a motion to dismiss which the court denied on April 17, 2023. On April 28, individuals supported by RITE moved to intervene in the litigation.

Florida 
On April 27, 2023, the 11th Circuit ruled in favor of the state of Florida, RNC, and NRSC, in the challenge to SB90, Florida’s 2021 election integrity legislation. The law was upheld in its entirety, except for one minor component of the line warming ban. The court also remanded back to the trial court the question of whether the drop-box and registration delivery provisions violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The district court had previously permanently enjoined multiple provisions of SB90 including the required registration disclaimers for third party voter registration organizations (§ 97.0575(3)(a)), registration delivery provisions for third party voter registration organizations (id.), drop box regulations (§§ 101.69(2)-(3)), and line warming provisions (§§ 102.031(4)(a)-(b)). On May 18, 2023, the plaintiffs filed a petition for rehearing in front of the full 11th Circuit.
 
On March 16, the Elias Law Group filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging that Florida’s wet signature requirement for voter registration applications violates the materiality clause of the Civil Rights Act. On April 5, 2023, the RNC and Republican Party of Pasco moved to intervenein the litigation. On May 26, 2023, the RNC’s intervention was granted.

On April 26, 2023, the LWV and FL NAACP sued Florida’s Secretary of State alleging that the state’s voter registration application violates the NVRA, specifically by not specifying the eligibility requirements for voter registration.

Florida has been hit with three separate suits this week following Gov. DeSantis signing SB 7050 into law:

  • On May 25, 2023, the Hispanic Federation, Poder Latinx, and Florida residents sued Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and Secretary of State Cord Byrd over Senate Bill 7050 over its restrictions on third party registration organizations.
  • On May 24, 2023 the League of Women Voters of Florida and League of Women Voters of Florida Education Fund sued Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and Secretary of State Cord Byrd over Senate Bill 7050 alleging the restrictions on third-party voter registration groups violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. The law prohibits noncitizens and people with felony convictions from handling voter registration application, requires receipts to voters registering, and reduces the number of days for the third-parties to return the applications.
  • On May 24, 2023, the Florida State Conference of Branches and Youth Units of the NAACP, Equal Ground Education Fund, Voters of Tomorrow, Disability Rights Florida, Alianza for Progress, Alianza Center, UnidosUS and Florida Alliance for Retired Americans sued Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and Secretary of State Cord Byrd over Senate Bill 7050. The plaintiffs challenge the imposition of fines, barring noncitizens and felons from registering voters, and retention of voter information for other activities.

Georgia 
In July 2021, the RNC, NRSC, NRCC, and GA GOP were granted intervention in 8 lawsuits, including the DOJ’s lawsuit against the state, challenging provisions of SB202. Thanks to the RNC efforts, these safeguards were in place for the 2022 election and the state saw record turnout. The cases have mostly been consolidated and the various plaintiff groups are filing a series of preliminary injunction motions on different provisions of SB202:

  • The DOJ, joined by four other plaintiff groups, filed a preliminary injunction motionin the SB 202 cases. They move to enjoin Georgia from enforcing (1) the reduction in the number of dropboxes and limitations on the use of dropboxes outdoors and during non-early voting hours; (2) the line-warming prohibition; (3) the absentee ballot deadline; (4) the out-of-precinct provisional ballot deadline; and (5) the ID requirement for absentee ballot applications. They claim these provisions violate the Voting Rights Act and the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments.
  • The AME plaintiffs moved to enjoin enforcement of (1) the felony provision for the handling of absentee ballots and (2) the requirements that dropboxes be located at an election office and accessible only during business hours.
  • The NGP plaintiffs moved to enjoin enforcement of the line-warming restrictions.
  • The CGG Plaintiffs moved to enjoin enforcement of the birthdate requirement for absentee ballots.
  • The State filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings, requesting that the court dismiss DOJ’s complaint. The State argues that the Eleventh Circuit’s decision in League of Women Voters clarified that proof of discriminatory impact is necessary to establish a VRA violation, which DOJ does not allege.

In CGG v. Raffensperger, one of the unconsolidated cases, plaintiffs filed a proposed amended complaint that drops the challenge to the voter ID law for absentee ballots and the narrowing of the absentee ballot deadline and adds a claim banning the early release of absentee vote totals.  Motions for summary judgment are due in July.

In another non-consolidated SB202 suit, one of the plaintiffs who challenged SB202 provisions banning the pre-filling of absentee ballot applications and required disclosures by third-party groups voluntarily dismissed its claims against Secretary of State Raffensperger. After litigating the case for well over a year, the plaintiff concluded its practices did not violate SB 202.

On May 2, 2022, a group of liberal organizations sued Georgia’s Election Board challenging a state law that requires handwritten signatures on absentee ballot applications. The groups seek declaratory and injunctive relief, requesting the court find that the so-called Pen and Ink rule violates the Civil Rights Act and to enjoin its enforcement. The RNC and GAGOP have intervened in the litigation. On March 9, 2023, the court denied defendants’ motion to dismiss.

Iowa
The RNC, Iowa GOP, NRCC, and NRSC were granted intervention to defend against a lawsuit challenging provisions of SF413 and SF568. The trial set for March 21, 2022, was pushed back in light of discovery disputes between the Iowa legislature and plaintiffs. On March 16, 2022, the Iowa Supreme Court granted certiorari to resolve these discovery disputes.  After a hearing over the ongoing discovery disputes on July 15, 2022, the court issued an order compelling discovery on August 18, 2022.
 
Kansas
On March 17, the Kansas Court of Appeals ruled that challenges to voting laws under the state constitution be evaluated under strict scrutiny instead of the more flexible Anderson-Burdick standard utilized in federal claims and in many states. On April 5, 2023, the state filed its petition for review with the Kansas Supreme Court. There will likely be opportunities for groups to file amicus briefs in support of the state’s appeal of the ruling.

On May 4, 2023, a Kansas federal district court ruled that the state’s restrictions on out-of-state organizations providing pre-filled absentee applications violated federal law.
      
Louisiana
On May 1, 2023, multiple Democrat groups sued Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin under the NVRA and 14th Amendment regarding the state’s requirements for people with previous felony convictions to re-register to vote.

Maine
On March 28, 2023, the U.S. District Court in Maine ruled in favor of the Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF), finding that the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) preempts Maine state law imposing fines and use restrictions on voter roll data because the state law creates obstacles to the transparency Congress intended under the NVRA. Maine’s Secretary of State had denied a request for voter rolls that PILF made in 2019. Maine passed a law that would restrict use and impose fines for unauthorized use of voter rolls produced to a requester.

Montana
RITE filed an amicus brief with the state Supreme Court in support of the state in Montana Democratic Party v. Jacobsen, involving challenges to several commonsense voting integrity reforms.

Michigan     
On September 30, 2022, the RNC and MI GOP sued Secretary of State Benson after she issued last-minute guidance on election challengers. Plaintiffs allege the guidance is inconsistent with state law and previous guidance and request the court to reinstate the 2020 challenger procedures. On November 3, 2022, the MI Supreme Court stayed the lower court’s decision. The case remains open at the MI Court of Appeals where the state has appealed the trial court’s preliminary injunction order. The state filed their opening brief on February 24, 2023. On May 26, 2023, the RNC and MIGOP filed their reply brief.
 
On March 13, 2023, the RNC and MIGOP filed its appellate brief in a suit challenging Flint’s refusal to hire an equal number of Republican and Democrat election inspectors. The lower court had ruled the parties did not have standing to bring the claim. The state filed its opening brief on May 15, 2023. The RNC’s reply brief is due on June 5, 2023.

New Hampshire 
In June 2022, Democrats filed two cases challenging SB 418 in NH which would require voters registering on Election Day to mail in proof of their identity within 7 days if they did not have documentation at the polling place. On September 1, 2022, the NH Republican State Committee motioned to intervene which was denied on December 21, 2022 and the NHRSC appealed to the New Hampshire Supreme Court, which granted cert. Since then the parties have agreed to a stipulation to permit the NHGOP to intervene in the litigation.
 
New York     
In January 2022, the RNC and NYGOP, leading a broad bipartisan coalition of officeholders and concerned citizens, including Congresswoman Malliotakis and naturalized citizen voters, sued Mayor Eric Adams, the New York City Council, and the New York City Board of Elections in state court over the “Non-Citizen Voting Law,” which illegally allows non-citizens to vote in city elections.  On June 27, 2022, Judge Porzio struck down the Non-Citizen Voting Law, explaining in his opinion that it violates the New York Constitution, New York election law, and the Municipal Home Rule Law. Appellees filed their appellate brief on October 10, 2022. On December 11, 2022, RNC filed its opening brief. The city and intervenors filed reply briefs on January 9, 2023.

In February 2023, four voters brought a lawsuit  in New York Supreme Court in Erie County against the Erie County Board of Elections. The lawsuit seeks an order of the court directing the commissioners of elections to count, canvass, and tally the write-in primary votes of candidates regardless of their party affiliation in primary elections. On March 28, 2023, the court ruled for the Petitioners and found that Chapter 480 of the Laws of 2021 was facially unconstitutional. The NY Attorney General appealed and on May 9, 2023, the court ruled in her favor.

North Carolina
On March 20, 2023, the federal district court for the Western District of North Carolina denied a motion to dismiss by the state in an NVRA challenge brought by two citizens in the state. The court also declined to adopt the Magistrate Judge’s recommendation to dismiss the suit for lack of sufficient pre-suit notice. The court also denied the motion to intervene by the League of Women Voters of North Carolina and the North Carolina A. Philip Randolph Institute. The suit alleges that North Carolina is failing to maintain accurate voter rolls and that the state is allowing ineligible voters to vote in the state’s elections. This is an important ruling to review for those interested in voter registration list maintenance issues.

On April 28, 2023, the North Carolina Supreme Court issued three opinions related to elections. It ruled 5-2 in Harper v. Hall, a redistricting case challenging state congressional and legislative maps. The North Carolina Supreme Court also reversed the trial court in Holmes v. Moore and reinstated photo ID. In Cmty. Success Initiative v. Moore , the court ruled in favor of the General Assembly that passed legislation related to felons voting rights and reversed the trial court’s grant of summary judgment. In Moore v. Harper, the U.S. Supreme Court subsequently askedfor briefing from both sides on the effect of the state Supreme Court ruling on the pending appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court.

Ohio
On January 6th, 2023, Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, Ohio Federation of Teachers, Ohio Alliance for Retired Americans, and Union Veterans Council represented by Elias Group sued the Ohio Secretary of State challenging Ohio’s new election integrity bill: H.B. 458. The lawsuit challenges the in-person voter ID requirements, deadlines for ballot curing, and provisions regarding applications for and returning mail ballots. Plaintiffs filed an amended complaint on January 27, 2023. Ohio Republican Party and two citizen poll workers supported by RITE moved to intervene in the litigation. On April 18, 2023, Ohio Republican Party and the two citizen poll workers intervention was granted.  

Pennsylvania      
On September 1, 2022, the RNC, NRSC, NRCC, Pennsylvania GOP, and 12 individual voterssued Pennsylvania and all 67 counties for unlawful ballot curing in violation of state law and the U.S. Constitution. On October 21, 2022, the PA Supreme Court ruled 3-3 on the legality of the practice thus upholding the PA Commonwealth Court’s ruling denying the RNC’s and other plaintiffs’ preliminary injunction motion.  On March 23, 2023, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court dismissed the case on subject matter jurisdiction grounds and ignored the merits of curing.
 
Following the RNC’s win in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling that ballots must be signed and dated as required by state law, the NAACP and John Fetterman filed two separate lawsuits in federal court. The RNC, NRCC, and PA GOP were granted intervention in the case and filed a motion to dismiss both cases. The NAACP amended its complaint with an Equal Protection claim comparing the requirements under the state statute and federal UOCAVA requirements. On January 17, 2023, the RNC filed a motion to dismiss in NAACP. On February 17, 2023, the RNC filed a motion to dismiss the amended complaint in Eakin. The RNC filed motions in support of summary judgment in both NAACP and Eakin. Both RITE and Lawyers Democracy Fund filed amicus briefs in support of summary judgment against the plaintiffs.

On March 28, 2023, two voters supported by Lawyers Democracy Fund brought a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania alleging a violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendment right to vote and due process in Luzerne County. The claims arise from the 2022 midterm election when Luzerne County failed to supply enough ballot paper on Election Day.

Texas 
The DOJ sued the State of Texas and the Secretary of State, challenging provisions of SB1, Texas’ 2021 voting integrity legislation. The DOJ claims SB1 violates Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act and Section 101 of the Civil Rights Act. The RNC, NRCC, NRSC, and Dallas and Harris County Republican Parties initial moved to intervene in the suits was denied. The party committees appealed and the 5th Circuit reversed and ruled that the Republican committees were entitled to intervention as of right. On May 24, the court denied plaintiff’s motion to dismiss. On May 31, 2022, the court granted the parties’ unopposed motion to stay pending appeal. On July 12, 2022, the court granted in part and denied in part defendant’s motion to dismiss, allowing only the claims brought by LULAC Texas, Voto Latino, the Texas Alliance for Retired Americans, and Texas AFT against the Secretary of State and Attorney General to proceed. On August 2, 2022, the court granted in part and denied in part defendants’ motion to dismiss, further limiting the claims allowed to proceed. Two interlocutory appeals as to the court’s August 2 judgment were filed in the 5th Circuit. The 5th Circuit has ordered the case bifurcated to separate out claims that involve the Legislature’s Intent. On May 26, 2023 summary judgment motions were filed including one from the RNC and other party committees.
 
Vermont     
On March 9, 2023, the RNC, the Vermont Republican Party, and two concerned citizens supported by RITE brought a complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief applying an earlier Vermont Supreme Court ruling to challenge Winooski’s charter that allows noncitizens to vote in school board elections and on school budget questions. Winooski filed a motion to dismiss. Update: On June 2, 2023, the RNC and RITE plaintiffs filed a response to Winooski’s motion to dismiss. Since the results of these elections have statewide budget and policy impacts outside of the municipality, the Vermont constitution limits voting on those issues to United States citizens. The RNC and VTGOP previously sued cities of Montpelier and Winooski over their town charters in a facial challenge, but the VT Supreme Court held and left the door open for this as-applied challenge.

Washington
On November 11, 2022, a liberal group filed a lawsuit alleging signature matching disproportionately disenfranchises young people, people with disabilities, and people of color. On December 16, 2022, the plaintiffs filed an amended complaint. On January 12, 2023, the RNC and WA GOP filed a motion to intervene in the case. Plaintiffs oppose the intervention and the state has taken no position. On February 7, 2023, the court denied the motion to intervene filed by RNC and WA GOP. On March 20, 2023, the RNC and WAGOP appealed the denial with the Washington Court of Appeals and filed a reply brief on April 4, 2023. Oral argument on the appeal is scheduled for June 30, 2023.
 
Wisconsin
On March 22, 2023, a complaint was filed with the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) against Tech for Campaigns for violations of Wisconsin election law. The complaint alleges the organization is providing improper assistance in completing a ballot and engaging in ballot harvesting. Presumably in response to the complaint, Tech for Campaigns modified the language on its website.

On September 23, 2022, an individual voter supported by the RNC and RITE sued WEC over its guidance that allowed absentee voters to change their votes after they are cast. RISE and the DNC filed motions to intervene. On October 5, the court sided with the plaintiff and granted a temporary restraining order, giving WEC until 4pm, October 7 to withdraw the unlawful guidance. On October 7, the DNC appealed the temporary injunction order and requested a stay of a temporary injunction with the WI Court of Appeals. On October 10, the appeals court granted the temporary stay pending a decision and requested a briefing on whether to grant the petition for an interlocutory appeal. Also on October 10, plaintiffs requested their case be transferred to a different court of appeals pursuant to state law. On October 12, the WI Supreme Court upheld the temporary stay, ordered briefing on the petition to file an interlocutory appeal, and asked the WI Court of Appeals to step aside until the high court issued a ruling on the venue issue. Update: On June 2, 2023, the RNC and RITE plaintiffs filed a motion for summary judgment.

A left-wing group, Rise, represented by Marc Elias, sued WEC on September 27 in a collateral attack on the White ruling argues that election officials should be allowed to accept absentee ballots with partial witness addresses if the official can discern the correct information. On October 3, the Wisconsin state legislature and Michael and Eva White filed motions to intervene. On October 6, the court granted the Wisconsin state legislature’s motion to intervene and declined the Whites’ motion to intervene. At a hearing on October 7, the court denied plaintiff’s motion for a temporary injunction, thus reinforcing that an address is complete if it contains “a street number, street name and name of municipality.” On December 22, 2022, the Whites filed an appeal of the ruling denying their intervention. On February 28, the Whites, as proposed-intervenors, filed their reply brief. There is also a pending League of Women Voters suit on the issue.

Wyoming
In 2021, an action was brought against the state over HB 0075, which required voters to present photo ID to vote.  In February 2023 the state district court dismissed the lawsuit, upholding the state’s ID requirement.

Legislation Highlights

Connecticut
The Connecticut Senate passed Senate Bill 1226 on a 29-7 vote. The bill recognizes the late Representative John Lewis and is aimed at protecting historically marginalized communities. In essence, the bill codifies several provisions in the Voting Rights Act of 1965 following the Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby County v. Holder.

On May 30, 2023, the Connecticut Senate passed HB 5004 that allows an early voting period of up to fourteen days. The bill allows for early voting to begin fifteen days before election day and conclude on the second day prior to election day. The bill now heads to Governor Lamont’s desk where he is expected to sign it.

The State Senate has approved a constitutional amendment for no-excuse absentee voting.

Louisiana
The Louisiana House of Representatives passed and the Senate committee reported favorably HB 311 which proposes a Constitutional Amendment to prohibit the use of monies from a foreign government or nongovernmental source to fund elections, such as Zuckerbucks. The bill now heads to the full Senate where a two thirds majority is needed in order to pass.

Nebraska
On May 30, 2023, the Nebraska Senate advanced LB514 by invoking cloture. LB514, introduced by Senator Tom Brewer, lays out requirements for valid forms of identification to vote. This bill comes in wake of Nebraskan voters voting to approve voter ID in a ballot initiative last year. The bill now advances to the floor for a final reading by voice vote.

Nevada
On May 30, 2023, Governor Joe Lombardo signed Senate Bill 406 that makes threats of intimidation and harassment or violence against election workers a felony. This bill comes after election officials across Nevada reported several instances of intimidation surrounding the 2022 general election. “It’s important we’re protecting the integrity of our elections and our employees across the board,” said Governor Lombardo.

Pennsylvania
On May 31, 2023, Pennsylvania Senators Coleman and Dush co-sponsored a memorandumstating that they will soon introduce legislation that will restore the primacy of in-person votes. The bill will allow voters who have submitted their absentee ballot the opportunity to appear at the polls, void their absentee ballot, and vote in person.

Texas
On May 28, 2023, the Texas legislature passed HB 1243 which will raise the penalty for illegal voting from a misdemeanor to a second-degree felony. The bill now heads to the Governor’s desk for his approval.

Virginia
Virginia has adopted HB 1948 which removes the witness requirement for absentee ballots and replaces it with the requirement that the voter provide the last four digits of their social security number and their date of birth.

Other News

  • National: “GOP-led states plan new voter data systems to replace one they rejected. Good luck with that.”
  • AL: U.S. Supreme Court could decide soon whether Alabama’s congressional map violates the Voting Rights Act
  • AZ: Arizona Gov. Hobbs vetoes more election bills from GOP-controlled legislature
  • AZ: Finchem, attorney ordered to pay $48K in sanctions in ‘groundless’ election challenge
  • CA: Secretary of State finalizing voting regulations aimed at Shasta County
  • CO: Denver has one of the few jails that gives inmates the chance to vote in person
  • FL: Hillsborough County voter system breach exposes 58,000 people’s information
  • FL: North Miami Beach mayor arrested on charges related to ‘voting irregularities’
  • FL: 3 civil rights groups file federal lawsuits over new Florida election laws championed by Gov. DeSantis
  • FL: New Broward elections office will prioritize security after past protests
  • IL: How did hundreds of noncitizens end up on Chicago’s voter rolls?
  • KY: KY SOS eyes possible exit from ERIC.
  • MD: Rockville, Maryland debates on whether noncitizens should vote
  • MT: Whitefish man charged with voter fraud in 2020 election
  • NC: Majority of NC voters support voter ID, new poll says
  • NC: NC lawmakers expected to roll out major election law changes, with input from former Trump lawyer
  • NC: State Republicans reintroduce election integrity Legislation
  • NY: New York lawmakers want early voting through mail
  • VT: Phil Scott vetoes noncitizen voting in Burlington and voting for 16- and 17-year-olds in Brattleboro
  • WV: Fayette County Man Pleads Guilty to Illegal Voting in 2020 General Elections

Voting Litigation Overview

©2023. Republican National Committee (RNC), 310 1st St SE Washington, D.C., 20003-1885, U.S.

 

 

Memory and Identity

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Francis X. Maier: We live in a time in which America’s future is at risk by methodically undermining the nature of the family, the memory of our culture, and the founding spirit of our nation . . . in other words, the things that anchor our identity as a free people.

The strip of Pennsylvania that meanders along the Delaware River is soaked in American history.  Quakers founded our borough of Yardley in 1682.  Washington crossed the Delaware just five miles north of our home.  Trenton, where the Hessians had such a bad morning after Christmas in 1776, and not just from hangovers, is a 10-minute ride from our driveway.  Princeton battleground in New Jersey is just another 15 minutes away, at most.  So our area is thick with reminders of the Revolution.

These weeks of early summer from Memorial Day (May) through Flag Day (June) to Independence Day (July) are redolent of patriotic zeal.  At our parish, after our Mass celebrating Pentecost, the congregation sang “America the Beautiful.” The voices were full-throated and sincere. The next day, on Memorial Day, we watched the town parade from the VFW post at the end of our block, along with hundreds of neighbors who lined the street.

Local parades can be Raggedy Ann affairs; long on enthusiasm, short on glamor.  But watching Korean and Vietnam War veterans salute the colors as if they were 20-somethings again, eyes filled with memory and emotion, while re-enactors in Revolutionary War garb march past with their fifes and drums. . .well, it’s a window on something sacred.  A thread weaving together generations.

Again and again, men have consecrated America’s virtues and best ideals on the battlefield.  They’ve done it with their blood.  And that leaves the rest of us with two obligations: gratitude; and the work of sustaining the best of the nation for which they sacrificed.

I mention all this to frame what follows.

A Catholic friend, a former officer and combat veteran whose sons also saw combat for this country, sent me the following email recently:

Historically, I’ve always defined myself as a “conservative,” i.e., committed to conserving this country’s founding values of God, family, country.  Those values today are despised and under assault by many of our most powerful institutions, including elite higher education, much of the media, the tech industry, and even the financial industry, including banks and money managers. Many corporations are intimidated by the tyranny of DEI and other “social scores” — think China — and as a result, they’re supporting an anti-family, anti-American agenda.

The speed of this change is breathtaking, and its permanence is unknown, especially given the on-going weaponization of the FBI, CIA, the judicial system, and other organs of state.  I still believe that most of the woke agenda lacks support from a majority of Americans.  But it succeeds through zealous advocates who’ve mastered the use of threats to manipulate individuals and institutions.

The recent behavior of the retail giant Target is insightful for its vulnerability to LGBTQ and transgender pressure.  I suspect many corporations have confused the energy and tactics of the trans community for massive public support.  I think Target’s behavior is repugnant to most people, but it may be true that it’s ”good for business.”  It may also be true that quite a few Americans have been frightened into passive acceptance.  The recent Target and Bud Light controversies may be a defining moment for the success or failure of woke tactics. I’m praying that it will be a watershed that brings back some common sense.

Two things are notable about the email: its obvious frustration, and an undercurrent of misgiving.  Did my friend risk his own life in battle, and lead his sons to risk theirs, to serve “God, family, country,” or merely another generous helping of destructive sex and what’s “good for business”?  It’s the kind of question my wife and I have asked ourselves.  We supported our eldest son when he was accepted at West Point. We were proud of the time he spent there.  Our feelings today are far more ambivalent.

In his book Memory and Identity, John Paul II noted that the nation, like the family, is one of humanity’s “natural” societies, and not the product of mere convention.  Neither family nor nation can be replaced by anything else.  Therefore a proper “patriotism is a love for everything to do with our native land: its history, its traditions, its language, its natural features. . . .Every danger that threatens the overall good of our native land becomes an occasion to demonstrate this love.”

Yet at the same time, while acknowledging John Paul’s wisdom, Charles Chaput warned that “A nation can become so corrupt and Babylon-like that it’s not worth defending, and America is no exception.”

The two statements are not incompatible.

Chaput went on to stress that it’s “proper, and important, for Americans to express gratitude for our democratic institutions. . . .[They’re] a remarkably durable design of government of which we ought to be proud, and to which we ought to be loyal.”  But that gratitude and loyalty must be earned by

a healthy society [that] respects and sustains the past, teaching children its history, and weaving together the generations. . . .The historical illiteracy of recent decades widens the conflicts between generations.  It also blinds us to the subtle — and more recently, crudely violent — transformations and erosions taking place in our political structures.  In many ways this illiteracy is far more perilous than any gap that separates different groups in a pluralistic society.

We live in a time that very much “threatens the overall good of our native land,” methodically undermining the nature of the family; the memory of our culture; and the founding spirit of our nation . . . in other words, the things that anchor our identity as a free people.  Many of the mouths that so easily accuse others of “racism,” “fascism” and “hate” are possessed by the same kind of venomous instincts themselves.

I suppose the lesson is this.  We need to remember and revere those who died for the founding beliefs and best ideals of America.  And as Christians, we need to live in a way that restores them in the nation’s heart.

You may also enjoy:

Russell Shaw’s The American Church, Going, Going . . .

Robert Royal’s Of Witness and the Only True Safety

AUTHOR

Francis X. Maier

Francis X. Maier is a senior fellow in Catholic studies at the Ethics and Public Policy Center.

EDITORS NOTE: This Catholic Thing column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. © 2023 The Catholic Thing. All rights reserved. For reprint rights, write to: info@frinstitute.org. The Catholic Thing is a forum for intelligent Catholic commentary. Opinions expressed by writers are solely their own.

Biden Wants To Give Power Over Defense Contracts To Climate Activist ‘Cabal’ Bent On Curtailing Economic Growth

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The Biden administration is pushing to give veto power over major Pentagon contracts to a group of climate activist groups that advocate for establishing “guardrails” on economic growth, according to a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation.

The administration proposed a rule in November that requires major contractors for the Department of Defense (DOD), NASA and Government Services Agency (GSA) to submit climate-related goals to a consortium of activist organizations, called the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), for validation. If the SBTi rejects the contractor’s plan to reduce emissions, the company would no longer be eligible to compete.

However, the groups behind the SBTi are part of the Global Commons Alliance, a climate activist network that seeks to limit economic development and set up international watchdogs to monitor climate pledges of governments and private companies, according to a DCNF review of the network’s activities. The Alliance’s components advocate for limits on consumption, redistribution of resources between rich and poor people and a more ambitious set of goals to mitigate perceived changes to the climate.

Additionally, scientists involved in the Alliance have argued for the need to limit Earth’s population to preserve the climate.

The Biden administration is “placing our defense needs in the hands of these people whose interests may not be in defense,” Dan Kish, a senior fellow at the Institute for Energy Research, told the DCNF.

“These seem to be offshoots of the interests of the World Economic Forum — people who consider themselves smarter and better and wealthier and more powerful than the rest of the subjects of the world, and seek to impose their will,” he added.

‘Playing God’: The Coalition Of Climate Orgs Behind The SBTi

In 2015, sustainability professionals from the World Resources Institute (WRI), World Wildlife Fund (WWF), CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project) and UN Global Compact came together after the Paris Climate Accords to find ways for corporations to set benchmarks and devise plans to meet the goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, according to Technology Review. The SBTi emerged from the coalition, and is working on developing guidance for so-called science-based emissions reduction goals for various industries.

The groups behind the SBTi also created the Science Based Targets Network, or SBTN, to “[build] on the momentum of the [SBTi],” according to the group’s website, which lists the SBTi’s constitutive organizations as “among our core founding partners.” The SBTN helps companies and cities create and monitor targets, which it calls Science Based Targets for Nature, in a bid to preserve nature “in line with scientifically defined limits and on a socially equitable basis,” according to the group’s website.

However, the SBTN relies on research from the Earth Commission, an organization seeking to establish “guardrails” on human activity to protect the climate; both organizations operate under the umbrella of the Global Commons Alliance.

“The goal is to translate the scientific guardrails defined by the Earth Commission, into tangible science-based targets for nature, specifically tailored to cities and companies by the Science Based Targets Network,” the Earth Commission’s website reads.

In a February 2023 journal article, scientists from the Earth Commission stressed the importance of reducing “indirect drivers” of climate change, such as human population size and growth.

“Many of the factors causing global biodiversity decline are associated with economic growth and speculation,” the researchers wrote in the journal article. Achieving “justice” and a “nature-positive” society requires “reducing over-accumulation of capital” and associated excess production and consumption among wealthy countries.

Additionally, a November 2022 paper sponsored by the Earth Commission, which called for a “radical redistribution” of resources, found that if everyone on the planet had minimum access to life necessities, the planet’s climate disaster triggers would be violated by up to 26%. “Having ‘too little’ therefore results from others having ‘too much,’” the authors conclude.

In practical terms, states can even-out resources between rich and poor countries through “taxation, internalizing costs, overseas aid, universal basic incomes, voluntary limits on consumption, and education,” according to the scientists.

In May, the SBTN introduced new environmental targets, broadening their scope to include not only reducing greenhouse gas emissions but updating so-called “planetary boundaries” meant to restrain the scope of human economic activity to protect human, animal and plant habitats.

Myron Ebell, director of the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Center for Energy and Environment, explained the concept of planetary boundaries to the DCNF: “We have far exceeded the ‘carrying capacity’ of the Earth.”

“So first, let’s figure out exactly what it is (for example, no more than one billion people), which can then be the basis for imposing ‘science-based’ policies to make people less numerous and a lot poorer.” Such policies would send the earth “back to the Stone Age,” he said.

“These people are basically playing God,” said Kish.

The Earth Commission and the SBTN overlap in terms of shared resources, founding partners and aims under the umbrella of the Global Commons Alliance, while the groups that founded both the SBTi and the SBTN are partners of the Alliance, their websites show. While the Biden administration’s rule only mentions the SBTi, experts suggest it opens channels for the other groups to influence how the Pentagon and other U.S. agencies decide which companies should receive government contracts.

“SBTN is a separate but related organization [to SBTi] focusing on SBTs beyond climate,” SBTN spokesperson Arabella Stickels told the DCNF.

“We shouldn’t be delegating the authority for what’s important for our national defense and our national defense contractors to some third party groups,” Kish told the DCNF.

‘Less Bang For Our Buck’

Under the Biden administration’s proposed rule, the SBTi will effectively have veto power over key Pentagon contracts.

According to the proposal, any company holding $50 million or more in contracts with the DOD, NASA or GSA must report all second and third-order greenhouse gas emissions generated by its operations. Two years after the rule goes into effect, they’ll also be required to submit a “science-based target” to the SBTi for validation.

If they fail their inspection, the SBTi will return the target and offer the company a second chance to submit a more appropriate emissions reduction target.

In practical terms, that means groups involved in the SBTi are “establishing not only industrial policy, but military policy,” Kish told the DCNF. “And that means that we’ll get less bang for our buck.”

The SBTi “appears to be a cabal and is certainly a racket,” Ebell said.

The DOD awarded roughly $383 billion in contract spending in 2021, according to analysis firm Deltek; however, the Pentagon’s largest defense contractors aren’t featured in the SBTi dashboard yet, meaning they haven’t yet committed to the initiative.

The Pentagon did not say whether or how the department would work with the SBTN, though it maintains that combating climate change is a top priority.

“All requirements are pre-decisional as the rule proposal is pending,” Kelly Flynn, a DOD spokesperson, told the DCNF. “We have nothing further to provide at this time beyond what is stated in the proposed rule.”

Empowering the SBTi to make decisions regarding key Pentagon contracts could undermine Congress’ authority to allocate funds for national defense, according to Kish.

“Congress is one that appropriates and allocates the money for the defense of the nation, which is one of our premier reasons for being in the social contract that we have under the Constitution,” said Kish. Yet, the Biden administration is seeking “to offshore this to some people who have some grand ideas who are then going to impose their will on our defense contractors,” Kish said.

The White House did not respond to the DCNF’s requests for comment.

AUTHOR

MICAELA BURROW

Investigative reporter and Pentagon correspondent.

RELATED ARTICLE: ‘Complete Collapse’: Here’s How ESG Destroyed One Nation’s Economy

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

Hilarious: Weingarten, Parents ‘Getting Really Angry’ at DeSantis’ Education Policies

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Friday on MSNBC’s Deadline, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten claimed hilariously that people are “getting really angry” at the education policies of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL).

Anchor Nicolle Wallace said, “I want to come back to the other policy which is I think the most unpopular of all in sort of this new mom’s group and the polling that’s out is the book bans.”

Weingarten said, “Two things are unpopular, the book bans and also why you would get rid of social emotional learning when we have a mental health crisis? We have to make sure that kids feel okay.”

Fact checks: no books are being banned in Florida, and it’s not a teacher’s job to make “kids feel okay.” Social emotional learning is leftist indoctrination, not education.

She continued, “So the craziness here is people are starting to feel the deprivation and they’re getting really angry. Just like on Dobbs there’s a sense you’re taking something away from my child because of what you’re doing. This, why are you doing this? Why are you taking this away from my child? Why don’t you let my child and her teacher decide what is right? And the other thing I’ll say is there are processes to figure out curriculum. We don’t get it right all the time. But we use those processes that the school boards have. That’s why we have school boards that are voted on by parents.”

Fact check: parents are angry not at DeSantis, but at school boards and at subversive teachers grooming kids with sexually explicit materials. Weingarten is a bullying liar and Nicolle Wallace a propagandist, and American parents have had enough of being gaslighted.

Randi Weingarten

30 Known Connections

Critical Race Theory & Contempt for America

On July 27, 2021, Weingarten penned a CNN.com opinion piece in favor of teaching the tenets of Critical Race Theory (CRT), an academic discipline which maintains that: (a) society is divided along racial lines into (white) oppressors and (black) victims, similar to the way Marxism frames the oppressor/victim dichotomy along class lines; and (b) America is permanently racist to its core, meaning that the nation’s legal structures are, by definition, racist and invalid. “Culture warriors are suddenly labeling any discussion of race, racism, discrimination or struggle as critical race theory in an attempt to drive a wedge between Americans and prevent the full and accurate teaching of the American Experiment,” wrote Weingarten. Although “it’s a contrived uproar over something that is not even taught in elementary and secondary schools,” she added, “we need to know the unvarnished truth about our history so we can do better.” “My union, the American Federation of Teachers, will defend any member who gets in trouble for teaching honest history,” pledged Weingarten. “We have a legal defense fund ready to go. And we are preparing for litigation as we speak.”

During a July 2021 broadcast of the MSNBC program Deadline: White House, Weingarten condemned a newly passed Texas law that, by her telling, “basically says that teachers are supposed to say that slavery is a betrayal of the founding principles of our country.” “Now, you know that that’s not true,” Weingarten continued. “I mean, there’s lots of great founding principles of our country, but slavery was embedded in the Constitution.”

To learn more about Randi Weingarten, click here.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Discover the Networks column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

VIDEO: Poem ‘I am not a dress’ by a 14-year old suffragette written to save womankind

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“I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers, and it was not there; in her fiertile fields and boundless prairies, and it was not there; in her rich mines and her vast world commerce, and it was not there. Not until I went to the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.” — Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America.

There is a a 14-year old girl in Ireland who has stood up to bullying in her primary school because of her outspoken questioning of the transgender ideology raping reality across the world, and defying the truth about gender identity. The truth that there are only two genders: Male (XX) and Female (XY).

This 14-year old Irish girl decided to write a poem titled “I am not a dress” about her experiences under the pen name of “Brandubh.” She credits the inspiration for writing the poem to the women of the suffrage movement. She also compares this time in history to the same moments the brave women who fought for women’s rights during the suffrage movement – for had they not stood up, women wouldn’t be able to vote.

Today if women don’t stand up then they will cease to be women.

Watch and read Brandubh’s, @brandubh4, poem “I am not a dress”:

I am not a dress

We are women, we are warriors of steel.
Woman is something no man will ever feel.
Woman is not a skill that any man can hone.
Woman is our word and is ours alone.

I am not a dress to be worn on a whim,
A man in a dress is nonetheless a him.
Women are not simply what we wear.
If this offends you, I don’t care.

I am not an idea in any mans mind
And my purpose in life is not to be kind.
So while my rights are trampled every day of the week,
I will not stand by being docile and meek.

I am not defined by sexist lies.
There is more to a woman than that shallow guise.
That guise of dresses, bikinis and skirts.
Those clothes are not what womanhood is worth.

I am not a bitch, a TERF, a whore, a slag,
Hysterical, a witch, a slut, a slag.
NO! I am a woman, I am a female,
Who will not let her rights be put up for sale.

I am not defined by what men are not.
So to hell with cis misogynistic rot.
I am a woman, I am not a subset of my sex.
If this makes me a dinosaur, so be it, I’m a T-Rex!

I am not a bleeder nor a menstruator,
A womb carrier or uterus haver.
Those words and phrases are such a sham.
Just call me a woman, it is who I am.

We are women, we are warriors of steel.
Woman is something no man will ever feel.
Woman is not a skill that any man can hone.
Woman is our word and is ours alone.

The Bottom Line

The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 26.3 reads:

“Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.”

Article 29 reads:

  1. Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.
  2. In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.
  3. These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

I believe that the women of this world have had enough and are speaking out as women, mothers, daughters, granddaughters against those who want to take away their unique identities.

This is a counter-cultural revolution inspired by those like an Irish 14-year old named Brandubh.

©Dr. Rich Swier. All rights reserved.

RELATED VIDEO: The Gripping Story Of A Mother’s Battle For Her Daughter’s Innocence Against Transgender Extremists

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10 Woke Offenders: These Companies Push Radical Left Agenda, Fire Conservative Staff

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A new database can help conservative consumers identify which companies actively work to promote leftist ideology and, in some cases, fire conservatives.

The 1792 Exchange, a nonprofit focused on the dangers of “woke capitalism” that urges companies to be neutral on ideological issues, last month released a database of over 1,000 companies.

The database assesses the risk that “a company will cancel a contract or client, or boycott, divest, or deny services based on views or beliefs,” the 1792 Exchange says.

At a time when the culture wars increasingly are being fought, not just in Washington and state capitols but in boardrooms across the country, it’s a welcome development to have a resource to help determine whether your dollars are supporting companies that are neutral or companies that are working against you and your beliefs.

Scanning the entries for companies, I was surprised at just how politically involved so many well-known corporations have become.

Sure, I expected tech companies such as Meta (parent company of Facebook and Instagram) and Alphabet (parent company of Google) to be liberal. And I knew that, as delicious as its ice cream might be, Ben & Jerry’s still hadn’t strayed from its leftist roots.

But I was surprised to see other companies, such as Kohl’s, Ford, Kroger, and Allstate, get slapped with the 1792 Exchange’s “high risk” label. From toy manufacturers to airlines, from drug stores to supermarkets, plenty of companies are busily fighting for leftist causes.

Here’s just a few examples of companies deemed “high risk” by 1792 Exchange:

  1. Alaska Airlines. The airline fired two employees after they spoke out against the company’s support for the Equality Act—a bill that likely would require girls sports teams to let biological males play. Alaska Airlines also had “created a new aircraft livery following the death of George Floyd to promote Black Lives Matter” and “issued pro-Black Lives Matter pins and T-shirts for employees.”
  1. Allstate. The insurance company “suspended PAC donations to members of Congress who objected to the election certification, streamlined funds to Planned Parenthood, and created ads promoting LGBTQ values.” Back in 2005—apparently, Allstate was ahead of the times on wokeness—the company fired an employee after he wrote an article “at home on his own time explaining his religious views against homosexuality and his beliefs that the movement was dangerous.”
  1. Comcast. Not only will this company’s internet service throw you into despair (or is that just my experience?) but it also promotes leftism. Comcast is “an advocate for the Equality Act and has issued statements opposing the Georgia election security bill,” the 1792 Exchange says. The company also “donated $100 million to various groups affiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement” and “announced that it would fund employees’ travel to get an abortion.”
  1. CVS. The drugstore chain famed for its mile-long receipts is apparently woke on everything except wasting paper. It “advocates for the Equality Act and transgender participation in girls’ sports” and “the company signed an open letter opposing a Florida bill that would prevent teaching gender identity and sexual orientation in schools to kids in K-3rd grade.” CVS gives employees abortion travel “benefits” and “fired a Catholic nurse practitioner after she refused to prescribe or administer abortifacients, citing her religious beliefs.” In a somewhat surprising twist, though, CVS does say it protects employees’ differing viewpoints.
  1. Ford. The American car manufacturer may boast of building trucks “Ford tough,” but it seems to have little spine when it comes to leftist pressure. The company has backed the Equality Act and spoken out against election integrity bills. The company also “fired a Christian employee in 2015 for remarks he made against Ford’s advocacy for LGBTQ rights, which he alleged was religious discrimination.” One bright spot from the company is that leaders refused to stop making police cars, despite some pressure, in 2020.
  1. Kohl’s. The department store chain has gone full woke internally, having its “recruiters attend an ‘Unconscious Bias, Influencing, Diversity Sourcing, and Diversity 101 training’” and in 2020, making “all employees … attend ‘unconscious bias’ training.” Just in case you want to wear your wokeness on your sleeve, Kohl’s sold a “‘racial equity’ line of clothing, with logos similar to those commonly used by Black Lives Matter.”
  1. Kroger. If you thought your views on gay marriage would be irrelevant in a supermarket, think again: The grocery store chain “fired two Christian employees who requested not to wear the gay pride logo on their work aprons.” Kroger also “enables community donations to Planned Parenthood” and will pay travel costs for employees to get an abortion.
  1. Marriott. The hotel chain has embraced more leftist causes than a college student in Berkeley. It has supported the Equality Act, spoken out against religious freedom legislation in Arizona and Georgia, and opposed Florida’s bill banning teaching sexual orientation and gender identity to kids in kindergarten through third grade. But apparently China, not known for its wokeness, is A-OK: Marriott “fired a social media manager for using the company’s Twitter to like a tweet thanking Marriott for recognizing Tibet and Taiwan as separate entities from China.”
  1. Mattel. The toy company behind Barbies, Hot Wheels, Fisher-Price, and American Girl has decided children’s toys should come with a dollop of wokeness. Mattel has the dubious distinction of making the first gender-neutral doll, back in 2019. Last year, the company made a “trans-Barbie” in honor of notable actor and transgender activist Laverne Cox. Nor is Mattel content to just push propaganda in toys: The company “advocates for the Equality Act and transgender participation in youth sports.”
  1. Pfizer. The pharmaceutical giant doesn’t hold back from getting involved in issues unrelated to health. Pfizer “has signed open letters supporting the Equality Act and transgenders in youth sports” and “opposed the Florida Parental Rights in Education Act, which prohibits teaching gender identity and sexual orientation in schools to kids in K-3rd grade.” It also matches employees’ donations to Planned Parenthood.

Alaska Airlines, Allstate, Comcast, CVS, Kohl’s, Kroger, Marriott, Mattel, and Pfizer didn’t respond to emails from The Daily Signal asking them to confirm or deny the statements about them in the 1792 Exchange’s report. The Daily Signal could not reach Ford for comment.

“The Corporate Bias Ratings contains vital information for shareholders, nonprofits, and small businesses about companies that may cancel them for their views,” says Eric Korsvall, chief operating officer of The Heritage Foundation, in an emailed statement. (The Daily Signal is the news outlet of The Heritage Foundation.)

“Conservatives cannot afford to ignore these important ratings,” Korsvall adds.

I agree with my colleague. Whether it’s emailing a company to let them know that you’re disappointed in their political decisions, or boycotting them outright, conservatives need to make clear there are consequences for mixing leftist political activism with business decisions.

You might also consider whether it’s time to boost some businesses that share your values. New Founding’s Align specifically “showcases businesses that support our shared way of life and vision for America,” urging conservatives: “Don’t buy from people who hate you. Don’t let your money stab you in the back.”

There also are businesses such as Goya Foods, whose CEO Robert Unanue praised President Donald Trump (and didn’t back down when threatened with boycotts), and Seven Weeks Coffee, which donates part of its proceeds to pregnancy resource centers.

Someday we might get back to an America where politics stays in Washington and state capitols, and doesn’t infiltrate businesses. But sadly, that’s not today’s America—and if conservatives are serious about winning, they need to reflect on where they put their money.

AUTHOR

Katrina Trinko

Katrina Trinko is editor-in-chief of The Daily Signal. Twitter: . Send an email to Katrina.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Signal column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Romanians Are Flooding The Border At Record Numbers And Committing Fraud Across The U.S.

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  • Romanian migrants who are in the country illegally, some of whom are known to have crossed the southern border, are committing crimes in several areas of the country, according to law enforcement alerts obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
  • A surge of Romanian illegal migrants has been recorded at both the southern and northern borders of the U.S., many of whom were apprehended and found to have criminal histories, Border Patrol officials told the DCNF.
  • “They all claim asylum/credible fear, just like everyone else. Hoping that we’ll process them and release them to the NGOs,” one Border Patrol official told the DCNF.

Romanian migrants in the country illegally, some of whom are known to have crossed the southern border, are suspected of crimes across the country, according to internal law enforcement alerts obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The law enforcement alerts, which span from Florida to Pennsylvania and New York, warn of Romanians who have committed financial crimes and are known to be in the country illegally, and have deportation orders. Border Patrol recorded 5,895 encounters of Romanian migrants in fiscal year 2022 at the southern border, up from 4,029 in fiscal year 2021 and 266 in fiscal year 2020, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data.

When they have to report to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Romanian migrants often give addresses of hotels or other temporary housing that make it impossible to track them, one agency official told the DCNF.

“Romanians are involved in a lot of fraud. To avoid detection, they tend to give temporary addresses and/or just quit reporting,” the ICE official, who is based on the west coast, said.

A local sheriff’s office in Florida sent out an alert in February seeking information on two suspects who crossed the southern border illegally from Romania, one of whom “completed a sleight of hand” by only paying for $3,600 of the $9,600 for the purchase of eight gold coins.

The two were later seen at another coin vendor in Florida.

“Subject crossed illegally through the southwest border and was subsequently apprehended by Border Patrol,” a note on the alert for the two suspects, who were both identified as Romanian, read.

In April, Florida law enforcement stopped a vehicle with two Romanian nationals they discovered were in the U.S. illegally who possessed “fraudulent passports, fraudulent credit cards, $4,000 in U.S. currency, covert cameras concealed to hide (for possible ATM PIN harvesting), (3) skimming devices, a thumb drive, and an ATM pin pad cling device,” an official alert stated.

A device seized from the vehicle possessed bank information of “thousands of victims.”

“Customs and Border Patrol placed an immigration detainer on the subjects and an FCIC/NCIC check confirmed that one of them has an active INTERPOL warrant out of Sweden for theft,” the alert states.

One senior Border Patrol official working along the southern border said many of them have criminal histories that mainly include theft, larceny, fraud, domestic violence and driving under the influence when they’re apprehended.

“They all have criminal records when they show up. Rarely single adults. They usually show up in family units, and it’s a pain in the ass too get approval for family separation, so that we can house, prosecute the offender,” the senior Border Patrol official told the DCNF.

“They all claim asylum/credible fear, just like everyone else. Hoping that we’ll process them and release them to the NGOs,” the official said.

A Border Patrol agent also working along the northern border, which has also experienced an uptick in Romanians illegally crossing, told the DCNF that many of them have “INTERPOL [International Criminal Police Organization] hits,” adding that those subjects are “removed.”

“Last one we caught had an asylum court date, but missed it because he decided to go back to Romania,” the agent said.

An international alert in February notified law enforcement of three Romanians with “open cases with ICE for deportation.” The three individuals were part of an operation to install “skimming devices” in Pennsylvania Walmart self-checkouts.

Yonkers Police arrested the group in New York, which also had “pawn records” showing they sold “numerous pieces of jewelry, to include a Rolex watch and gold coins,” the alert stated.

AUTHOR

JENNIE TAER

Investigative reporter.

RELATED ARTICLE: Border Agents Arrest Illegal Migrants With Drugs, Thousands In Cash At Northern Border

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

‘Horrifying’: 21 State AGs Back Florida Parents’ Lawsuit against School for Secret Trans Talks with Daughter

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On Wednesday, 21 state attorneys general filed a joint amicus brief in support of two Florida parents who are suing their daughter’s middle school for engaging in private talks with the then 13-year-old about her gender identity without her parents’ knowledge or consent.

The lawsuit filed by January and Jeffrey Littlejohn alleges that school officials at Deerlake Middle School in Tallahassee implemented a “transgender support plan” after their daughter questioned her gender at school without informing them. When January Littlejohn found out about the situation and confronted the school, she was “told by the school guidance councilor [sic] and vice-principal that they could not disclose what had been talked about in the meeting, and that Littlejohn’s daughter needed to give consent by-law for her parents to be informed about or be present for future discussions.”

“Eventually we did see the transgender support plan, which was a six-page document that they completed with my daughter, [who] was 13 at the time behind closed doors, where they asked her questions that would have absolutely impacted her safety, such as which restroom she preferred to use and which sex she preferred to room with on overnight field trips,” Littlejohn said.

The document also asked what names and pronouns the student preferred, as well as whether or not the student wanted to inform their parents about the transition. “The plan also stated to use her birth name when speaking to us in effect to deceive us of the social transition that had occurred,” Littlejohn explained.

After a federal district court in Florida sided with the school, Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen led a coalition of 21 state AGs in filing an amicus brief in support of the Littlejohns’ continued legal fight.

“This is a very seminal case,” he contended on Thursday’s edition of “Washington Watch with Tony Perkins.” “I mean, look, you’ve got a situation here where a public school has basically inserted itself between a child and the child’s parents, and that should horrify everyone. What’s even more horrifying is that a federal district court in Florida found that that was okay, which is why we’re going up to the 11th Circuit.”

Knudsen continued, “It’s a long-standing facet of American jurisprudence that parents are the primary decision makers for their children. We call them minors for a reason. They haven’t reached the age of majority yet, to use a legal term. We don’t let minors join the military. We don’t let them consume alcohol. We don’t let them vote until they’re 18. And there’s good reason for that because their brains are not fully developed. We know this from science, but we also know from thousands of years of just being humans that parents are in a better place to make decisions for their children.”

In addition to Montana, the states who signed on to the brief include: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia.

In response to Perkins’s question about where a court ruling against the parents could lead, Knudsen was frank. “Does it go next to actual transitioning? Does it go to surgery? … You’re asking the right question — where does this end? That’s what’s so concerning about this.”

The Montana attorney general went on to assert that alternative forms of schooling have only increased in stature in recent years as a result of a variety of public education controversies.

“I would argue that between COVID and some of these crazy decisions that we’re getting out of some school districts, this has been a boon for homeschooling,” Knudsen said. “It’s been a boon for Christian education. It’s been a boon for private schooling. School choice has really benefited from this. And I don’t think the schools probably intended on that. But I think it’s a positive outcome here.”

Perkins concurred, commending Knudsen for his leadership in support of parental rights. “We’ve got to make sure that we have individuals like you that are protecting the rights of parents to make those decisions, because don’t think they’ll stop just with their gender transition. They’ll reach to try to keep [parents] from making educational choices.”

AUTHOR

Dan Hart

Dan Hart is senior editor at The Washington Stand.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2023 Family Research Council.

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

GOP Rep Calls Abortion the Fruit of the ‘Church of Satan,’ Loses His Leadership Position

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A pro-life Republican state representative lost his leadership position for saying that abortion is the fruit of the “Church of Satan.”

North Carolina State Representative Keith Kidwell (R-Beaufort) responded to a Democratic representative who tried to justify her decision to have an elective abortion by citing her church membership and belief in the “power of God.”

The exchange came during the General Assembly’s debate over whether to override the veto by Governor Roy Cooper (D) of a bill to protect most unborn babies from abortion beginning at 12 weeks.

State Rep. Diamond Staton-Williams (D-Cabarrus) said she and her husband decided to abort their third child “after much consideration, thought, and, of course, prayer.”

She did not say whether she had an abortion before or after 12 weeks. Yet she said the bill would remove a “God-given right.”

She then implied her Christian faith endorsed her decision to have an abortion. “I am someone who has grown up in the church and believes in the power of God. I know that I go through trials and tribulations. I know we all will,” said Staton-Williams. “And I know that, ultimately, I have been given the freedom of mind to make decisions for myself.”

Rep. Kidwell reportedly said privately to another Republican on the floor that any church that supports abortion sounds like the “Church of Satan.”

The Satanic Temple does, in fact, teach that “The Satanic Abortion Ritual” is “a sacrament which surrounds and includes the abortive act.” The rival Church of Satan, founded by Anton LaVey, eschews the term “sacrament” but declares that abortion “should be within the rights of the pregnant person.”

“I think it’s using the Lord’s Name in vain to say you would make a decision to have an abortion as a result of prayer,” North Carolina Values Coalition Executive Director Tammi Fitzgerald — who was in the chamber when the exchange took place — told The Washington Stand. Lawmakers should only present their stand as biblical “if it conforms with Scripture.”

The Bible proclaims a life-affirming message and has been consistently interpreted to prohibit abortion for 2,000 years by both traditional Christianity and Judaism.

Invoking her childhood church membership seems “an apparent attempt to shield herself from criticism” for embracing harmful policies, David Closson, director of the Center for Biblical Worldview at Family Research Council, told The Washington Stand. He noted that Staton-Williams has also “touted her progressive views on LGBTQ issues,” such as membership in an LGBT pressure group’s “Electeds for Equality,” a group of politicians “who publicly align themselves with the larger movement for LGBTQ” political power.

“Let’s be clear what is happening here: The representative is cloaking anti-biblical views, positions that directly contradict the Bible’s clear teaching, into religious-sounding language in an attempt to find a middle way. But there is no middle way when it comes to these issues. You are either on the side of Scripture or against it,” Closson told TWS.

Democrats have increasingly attempted to shroud their support for abortion-on-demand and LGBTQ issues in religious rhetoric. U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), who calls himself a “pro-choice pastor,” has said, “I think that human agency and freedom is consistent with my views as a minister.” The Bible tells Christians, “Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God” (I Peter 2:16).

Other Democrats regularly speak of abortion-on-demand only in religious language. “The right to have an abortion is sacred,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) last June. “The right to an abortion is non-negotiable. Reproductive freedom is sacred,” said the Twitter account of Senator John Fetterman (D-Pa.).

But “the Bible’s teaching on life, marriage, and sexuality is straightforward, and no attempt to find a middle way on these issues will ultimately prove successful,” Closson told TWS.

House leaders proved more successful in leveraging outrage over Kidwell’s comments to wrench him out of House leadership. “To challenge a person’s religion when they share a deeply personal story … that is beneath the dignity of this House, and that is beneath the dignity of any elected office,” fumed House Minority Leader Robert Reives (D).

House Majority Leader John Bell (R) asked Kidwell to resign his leadership position as deputy majority whip, and Kidwell complied.

Yet Bell’s decision did not mollify local Democrats, who demanded Kidwell step down from office altogether. Dare County Democratic Party Chair Susan Sawin said Kidwell’s belief that Christianity does not endorse abortion renders him “unfit to serve.” Kidwell, one of the founders of the state’s House Freedom Caucus, has regularly drubbed his Democratic opponents at the polls, carrying more than 60% of his district in both of his elections.

After Staton-Williams’s comments, the Republican-controlled legislature voted to overturn Cooper’s veto of the life-protecting bill, which the Democrat vetoed at a massive outdoor rally on May 13, the day before Mother’s Day. Republicans needed exactly 60% of the total vote to uphold the Care for Women, Children and Families Act (S.B. 20). The GOP held exactly that margin — 72 out of 120 members of the General Assembly and 30 out of 50 senators — after Rep. Tricia Cotham (R-Charlotte) switched parties in April. Both chambers enacted the pro-life protections by overriding Cooper’s veto on May 16 in separate, party-line votes.

“I’d just like to thank the heroic efforts of Republicans in the House and Senate of finding common ground and passing historic legislation that will save thousands of unborn babies. It was no less than a miracle that they were able to pass a bill,” Fitzgerald told TWS.

Yet the dueling narratives and continuing fallout over the debate “reminds us that worldview is always just beneath the surface of the day’s headlines,” Closson concluded.

AUTHOR

Ben Johnson

Ben Johnson is senior reporter and editor at The Washington Stand.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2023 Family Research Council. 

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

Under Investigation for Partisan Behavior, DOJ Commits More Partisan Behavior

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House Republicans have threatened to initiate contempt proceedings against FBI Director Christopher Wray over his defiance of a House Oversight Committee subpoena, which demands an unclassified document it suspects will expose Joe Biden’s complicity in his family influence-peddling scheme. Wray reportedly agreed to turn over the document on Friday. At the same time that it has seemingly stonewalled Congress to protect Democrats, the Department of Justice (DOJ) — of which the FBI is a part — is unashamedly pursuing other legal battles that are widely perceived as partisan.

In a May 3 subpoena, the House Oversight Committee directed Wray to turn over all FD-1023 forms containing the word “Biden” produced during June 2020 by Tuesday, May 30. An FD-1023 form is a standard form for internal FBI communications. The highly specific request was based on “whistleblower disclosures” alerting them to the existence of “an unclassified FD-1023 form that describes an alleged criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Biden and a foreign national relating to the exchange of money for policy decisions,” wrote House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) in an accompanying letter. “It has been alleged that the document includes a precise description of how the alleged criminal scheme was employed as well as its purpose.”

However, the FBI refused to comply with the subpoena or even acknowledge the existence of the document. “They are not above the law,” said House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who called Wray and told him to send the document on Tuesday, the deadline. “We have jurisdiction over the FBI, which they seem to act like we do not.”

In a Tuesday press release, Chairman Comer announced, “Today, the FBI informed the Committee that it will not provide the unclassified documents subpoenaed by the Committee. The FBI’s decision to stiff-arm Congress and hide this information from the American people is obstructionist and unacceptable.” He stated his intention of “taking steps to hold the FBI Director in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a lawful subpoena.”

After talking to Wray, Comer issued another press release on Wednesday, “Today, FBI Director Wray confirmed the existence of the FD-1023 form alleging then-Vice President Biden engaged in a criminal bribery scheme with a foreign national. However, Director Wray did not commit to producing the documents subpoenaed by the House Oversight Committee.” Wray “offered to allow us to see the documents in person at FBI headquarters,” but Comer made “clear that anything short of producing these documents … is not in compliance with the subpoena” and would result in contempt proceedings.

In response to mounting pressure and possible contempt charges, Wray agreed to turn over the document on Friday.

Wray’s pretense for withholding the document was that it might reveal a confidential human source. But Grassley responded, “The FBI has apparently leaked classified information to the news media in recent weeks, jeopardizing its own human sources,” yet refuses “to provide a specific unclassified record” to Congress.

Wray’s action (or inaction) constitutes “defiance of a legitimate congressional subpoena,” Grassley warned. Former federal prosecutor Andy McCarthy agreed, writing that Wray is “about to be held in contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena that he has no lawful basis to defy.” He explained that “the executive branch can legitimately defy congressional subpoenas” in circumstances where the legislature attempts “to usurp or undermine the constitutional authority of the president,” but that those circumstances are irrelevant to the FBI, which Congress created.

The only plausible reason for Wray’s stonewalling tactics is to shield President Biden by withholding information that is at best embarrassing and at worst criminal. The House Oversight Committee is conducting a widespread investigation into the Biden family, which has begun to unearth what appears to be a sordid web of foreign influence-peddling. From a partial review of bank records, the committee has already tracked over $10 million in foreign cash — from places like China, Ukraine, and Romania — through 21 shell corporations to at least nine members of the Biden family — for no discernable reason other than Biden’s influential position as vice president under Barack Obama.

Oddly enough, the DOJ’s protection of the Biden family seems to do less with his position as president and more with his affiliation as a Democrat. Earlier this month, news broke that a former federal prosecutor had reported bribery allegations to the DOJ as early as October 2018 — while Biden held no governmental office, and while Trump was in the White House — but was ignored.

Meanwhile, political figures who are not Democrats can expect the DOJ to target them and their family members just as zealously as they shield the Bidens. On Wednesday, May 31 — the same day Wray told Comer he would not deliver the subpoenaed document — the DOJ announced it had filed a civil action against 13 coal companies owned or operated by Jim Justice III, son of West Virginia Governor Jim Justice, Jr. (R), to collect $7.6 million in penalties. The press release alleged the companies had committed 130 violations of federal law over a five-year period (2018-2022) and had received “over 50 cessation orders.”

The timing of this announcement raised suspicions. A poll conducted last week of the West Virginia Senate race showed Governor Justice leading incumbent Senator Joe Manchin (D) by 22 points. It’s too much to ask anyone to believe that, after 50 cessation orders over five years, the DOJ just happened to file suit a week after a poll showed Justice III’s father with a massive lead over an incumbent Democratic senator. “Utterly brazen,” responded Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas). “When I said the Biden DOJ is the most political & partisan DOJ in history, I wasn’t kidding…” It’s also noteworthy that the alleged violations began in 2018, the year after Governor Justice switched to the Republican party.

The DOJ’s political interference was also on display in its refusal to prosecute Rachael Rollins. As U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, Rollins leaked “non-public, sensitive” information acquired in her official capacity in an attempt to help Boston City Councilman Ricardo Arroyo in the Democratic primary for Suffolk district attorney against Kevin Hayden, then the interim D.A., according to a 161-page report published in May by the DOJ’s internal watchdog agency, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG). Rollins, who resigned in May, then “falsely testified under oath” by denying she had leaked non-public information. Although the OIG recommended prosecution, the DOJ declined to prosecute Rollins.

It’s not that the DOJ is too busy to investigate alleged wrongdoing by those on the political Left. No, they’re working hard not to investigate. An IRS whistleblower who participated in the DOJ’s investigation into Hunter Biden, the president’s son — which has dragged on since at least 2018 without charges — said last week, “There were multiple steps that were slow-walked — were just completely not done — at the direction of the Department of Justice.” He added that the “deviations from the normal process” were “way outside the norm.” Instead of correcting the discrepancies or speeding up the investigation, the DOJ (not knowing the whistleblower’s identity) got the IRS to remove the entire team from the investigation.

To the uninitiated, the notion that America’s premier federal law enforcement agency has hopelessly prostituted the integrity of its mission for the short-term benefit of left-wing politicians sounds far-fetched, even conspiratorial. But when one monitors their actual behavior, evidence of politicization soon becomes overwhelming. The question, “is the DOJ politically biased?” becomes such a foregone conclusion that it seems to belong in a TV advertisement, right after the question, “Can Geico really save you 15% or more on car insurance?”

Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis said last week, “I think the DOJ and FBI have lost their way. I think that they’ve been weaponized against Americans who think like me and you, and I think they’ve become very partisan.” He said he would replace Wray on Day One and “[clear] out people who are not doing the job.” He isn’t the only one who thinks that should be done.

AUTHOR

Joshua Arnold

Joshua Arnold is a staff writer at The Washington Stand.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2023 Family Research Council.

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

Woke Brands Back Off Pride Month as American Fury Grows

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For most CEOs, Pride Month couldn’t have come at a more inopportune time. As companies like Target, Bud Light, and others desperately try to control the flames burning down their brands, this annual test of LGBT loyalty is putting most businesses in a position they’d rather not be in: outraging an already agitated consumer base or ticking off the lobby they’ve worked two decades to appease. Faced with the choice of becoming unprofitable or politically unacceptable, what will the big companies do?

Already, Newsweek is pointing out the surprising hesitancy of otherwise woke brands to go all in on June 1. After plastering the rainbow and progress flags across their platforms last year, North Face, Lego, and Miller Lite were unusually quiet on the social media front this time. “Other brands — such as Target, Bud Light and Adidas — have yet to post, despite doing so in June of last year,” reporter Aleks Phillips points out. Not surprisingly, all three are facing blistering criticism after either replacing women with trans-identifying men or aggressively marketing gender confusion to kids. “Of the accounts reviewed by Newsweek, only Kohl’s and PetSmart had defied critics so far in posting Pride Month content.”

“They’re feeling the pinch,” Family Research Council President Tony Perkins acknowledged on “Washington Watch.” Target and Bud Light are significantly cratering, with Anheuser-Busch scraping and clawing for any idea that would bring them back to solvency. Target CEO Brian Cornell, who bragged that the stores’ controversial “tuck-friendly” swimwear and other trans merchandise was “great for our brand,” is eating those words this week after their stock was officially downgraded by JP Morgan after an astonishing $12.4 billion in losses. “I really think we should help them out and downgrade [the stock] even further by refusing to shop there,” Perkins insisted.

“I do think we’re at a tipping point,” he said to Dr. Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, on Thursday. “It’s one thing to push the whole LGB [agenda],” Perkins insisted, “But this transgender thing … [is] a bridge too far. … [Americans are] seeing their children and grandchildren transformed by this ideology. And it’s frightening. … And when you have corporate America jumping on the bandwagon, pushing this, and it’s in your face at every turn, [then this becomes] a different moment.”

Mohler, like most people, can’t understand why major American corporations aren’t counting the cost of their social extremism. Everyday people “aren’t buying … the revolutionary stuff they’re selling,” he insisted. And yet, even Anheuser-Busch, who’s taken an absolute beating on Wall Street since its partnership with Dylan Mulvaney, can’t bring itself to cut those controversial ties. Just last week, in the midst of one of the biggest PR scandals of the century, leaders poured gas on the fire with another $200,000 donation to the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce. This, after losing an eye-popping $27 billion since April.

“That’s a huge number,” Stephen Soukup shook his head. “I saw a story earlier today that Bud Light is selling for $.14 a can. …You have distributors … who are turning in their franchise credentials because they can no longer make a living distributing Anheuser-Busch products. … This is pretty much unprecedented in American consumer behavior,” he said, “and it’s really caught a lot of people off guard and has done a lot of damage to some of these companies.”

“Target is struggling as well,” “The Dictatorship of Woke Capital” author told Perkins on “Washington Watch” last week. “[They’ve] had their roughest week in the markets in probably a decade. You know, shareholders are selling saying that we don’t want to be part owner of a corporation that cares less about us than it does about pressure groups.”

Soukup believes brands need to take a much more cautious approach to their activism, especially on this issue. “My advice to businesses would be eschew the entire woke capital complex [and] say, ‘Look, we’re not playing that game anymore. We’re not political. What we want to do is make the best widgets we can. We want to be the best business that we possibly can, do the best for our employees, do the best for our customers, and especially do the best for our shareholders.’ They should be getting out of the game of politics all together.”

Amazingly, though, even brands with deep Christian roots seem content throwing their values overboard. News that Chick-fil-A, a favorite chain of conservatives, had embraced the diversity, equity, and inclusion fad, came as a big blow to families, who’d believed that this longtime holdout could weather the cultural storm.

“Their woke roosters have come home to roost,” Perkins warned about the Cathys empire. “But this is not new,” he pointed out. “… Over the last decade, [they’ve been] backing further and further away, even to the point of funding groups that have Drag Queen Story Hours. [They’ve] funded the Southern Poverty Law Center and cut off all Christian organizations like Salvation Army because their views on marriage were too ‘radical.’”

Of course, Perkins said, “[I]t’s even more offensive when an organization that has prospered off of its Christian holdings and drawn in Christians then walks down this same path. Maybe [it’s] not as bad as Target. I mean, you’re not blinded by rainbow flags when you walk in, but it’s a betrayal, quite frankly.”

Mohler agreed, hoping that “sounder policies will prevail [at Chick-fil-A].” But until then, he urged, “Christians [need to say], ‘We really are not going to do business with a company that violates and flaunts its violation of what we believe is Christian morality.”’ And while we “don’t have a choice as to whether we pay our taxes [which finances plenty of objectionable things] we do have a choice about where we buy our socks,” the seminarian insisted. “And it turns out that, these days, that can be a pretty powerful moral question. And so I want to affirm what you’re saying here. We are stewards, and it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. And that means that we can’t live in willful ignorance of what these companies are putting right in our face.” That’s why, he believes, “We’ve reached a really crucial moment.”

A moment, Perkins believes, that the church’s years of silence and acquiescence has led to. “I wish we didn’t have to be at this point, [but] I am somewhat encouraged that people still have enough resolve to push back.”

And push back they have, running from brands like Anthropologie, Adidas, Anheuser-Busch, Calvin Klein, Disney, Hershey, Jack Daniels, Kohl’s, Lego, Levi Strauss, Maybelline, Nike, North Face, Sports Illustrated, Starbucks, and Target, whose in-your-face transgender advocacy has millions of Americans taking their business elsewhere. It can be morally complicated, Mohler agreed, since no national corporation is probably “pure” in this area. “[But] at the very least,” he said, “these companies that are so aggressive [are hearing from Christians], ‘That’s the last product I’m going to buy from them.’”

Personally, Mohler said, “I believe all kinds of people will lie to me. But when they put the pride flag out front, I take them at their word. I think we know exactly what that means.”

AUTHOR

Suzanne Bowdey

Suzanne Bowdey serves as editorial director and senior writer at The Washington Stand.

RELATED ARTICLE: 10 Woke Offenders: These Companies Push Radical Left Agenda, Fire Conservative Staff

EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2023 Family Research Council.

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

Armed With Quran, an AK-47 and 6 Magazines, Jihadi Murders Three Israeli Soldiers

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It’s a religious war commanded by Islamic text and teachings. But the enemedia will move heaven and earth to keep that absolute truth from the public.

Islamic Jew-hatred is a central tenet of Islam.

More details come out about Egypt border attack: Quran found on terrorist

The terrorist who killed three IDF soldiers on the Egyptian border was carrying a Quran, knife, and six magazines.

By: Israel National News Jun 4, 2023:

New details are coming out about the attack on the Egyptian border early Saturday morning, which left three IDF soldiers, Ori Yitzhak Illouz, Lia Bin-Nun, and Ohad Dahan, dead.

Among the items the terrorist had on his person was a Quran, which may be a sign that he had become radicalized. The IDF estimates that that drove him to carry out the attack.

Galei Tzahal reported that a knife was found on the terrorist, with which he cut the zip ties that held the gate he entered closed. He was also found to have six weapon magazines, showing that the attack was well-planned.

Maariv published details about the terrorist’s plan of action: he walked a distance of about six kilometers (approx. 3.7 miles) from the installment where he was based, climbed a cliff, and arrived at the border fence while carrying a backpack full of gear. Using one of the knives in his possession, he opened a gate on the fence, which was meant to be opened quickly and was closed using only a zip tie, and approached the soldiers who did not notice him.

At this point, the terrorist opened fire at them and killed Lia Bin-Nun and Ori Yitzhak Illouz. The soldiers at the guard post were shot at around 6:00 AM, while the last time they were heard from was shortly after 4:00. A few minutes before 9:00 that morning, the platoon commander arrived to switch shifts and discovered the gruesome scene.

It was also found that at around 6:00 AM, an additional guard post in the area reported hearing gunshots, but the report did not receive any special attention since the sound of gunshots is commonplace in the area. Once the two bodies were discovered, a large number of forces were called to the area, at the same time, the terrorist was identified in Israeli territory. The inquiry into the incident found that during the firefight in which SSgt. Ohad Dahan was killed the terrorist was the first to fire.

The Brigade Commander’s mobile command center closed in on the terrorist after he was identified by a drone, exited the vehicle, and the terrorist opened fire from a distance of a few hundred meters. The initial fire hit Ohad, and according to IDF sources, the fire was not precise.

Read more.

AUTHOR

Pamela Geller

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EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Plans to Slaughter 200,000 Farting Cows to Save Planet from ‘Global Warming’

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It starts with cows..

Who’s next?

if this kind of inhumanity and carnage is heralded as some kind of ‘benefit to planet’, their is a madness afoot. The ruling class has lost its collective mind and they mean to take us down.

Ireland Looking To Kill 200,000 Cows To Fight Climate Change; Are US Herds Next?

In the latest effort to reduce emissions from agriculture, Ireland said it may kill 200,000 cows. Meanwhile, climate activists have American farms and ranches in the crosshairs.

By: Kevin Killough, Cowboy State Daily, June 02, 2023:

Climate activists are coming for livestock producers and farmers.

European governments have been targeting the agriculture industry for several years. The Telegraph reports that Ireland’s government may need to reduce that country’s cattle herds by 200,000 cows over the next three years to meet climate targets.

In an effort to reduce nitrogen pollution, Reuters reported the European Union last month approved a $1.6 billion Dutch plan to buy out livestock farmers.

Front And Center

Now the Biden administration is targeting American agriculture.

Special President Envoy For Climate John Kerry recently warned at a climate summit for the U.S. Department of Agriculture that the human race’s need to produce food to survive creates 33% of the world’s total greenhouse gasses.

“We can’t get to net-zero. We don’t get this job done unless agriculture is front and center as part of the solution,” Kerry said.

Microsoft Billionaire Bill Gates also is obsessing about cattle emissions, providing financial support to companies that are developing seaweed supplements and gas masks for cows.

It’s ‘Groupthink’

Katy Atkinson, an agricultural advocate who raises cattle in Albany County, told Cowboy State Daily that this conversation on emissions from the industry isn’t considering the beneficial impacts of cattle to the environment and the climate.

“Groupthink happens a lot around the climate change conversation. We get tunnel visioned on one piece of it without considering the full ramifications of what’s going to happen if we remove cattle from the land,” Atkinson said.

She said cattle contribute to drought resistance, soil health and wildfire reduction. Just before cattle were introduced to North America and the industry began raising them, Atkinson said there were thousands of buffalo roaming the plains.

Cows and buffalo are both ruminants, which is a type of animal that brings back food from its stomach and chews it again. These animals’ digestive systems produce methane emissions. Today’s cattle population is similar in numbers to that of the buffalo herds.

“So, the methane emissions from ruminant animals aren’t anything new,” Atkinson said.

Trapping Carbon

Cattle also benefit plant life, Atkinson said.

“You need ruminant animals to forage grasses, because they’re the only things that can,” she explained.

Pigs, for example, are monogastric and can’t break down high fiber content in grasses. Cow’s digestive system can break the grasses down, and then they fertilize the ground.

So, through proper cattle grazing management, Atkinson said the cattle she’s raising are helping plants to grow.

In the atmosphere, the methane they burp out — most of it is released through the mouth of the animal — breaks down in 10 to 15 years into carbon dioxide and water. The plants that cattle help to grow use that carbon dioxide. The carbon then gets put back into the soil through the grasses’ roots.

“So the cattle are essential in helping to keep that carbon trapped in the ground,” Atkinson said.

Atkinson said cattle have other benefits to the climate that are being ignored in the focus on just their emissions. Whenever soil cracks or fissures, it releases carbon into the air.

The animals walking upon the soil compacts it and helps keep the carbon trapped in the soil.

She said one study done by the University of Florida found that between 10% and 30% of the world’s carbon storage is found under the feet of U.S. cattle.

Keep reading.

AUTHOR

Pamela Geller

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Children’s Choir Singing the Star Spangled Banner Forced to Stop by Capital Police ‘Because It Was Considered a Demonstration’

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So BLM and Antifa can burn down cities, murder innocent people, loot and riot and it’s righteous raising tens of millions of dollars from America’s biggest corporations but children singing the National Anthem pose a threat. Drag shows for children are promoted by the Democrat government but children singing the National Anthem pose a threat.

It’s revolution time.

AUTHOR

Pamela Geller

RELATED ARTICLE: J6 Patriot John Strand’s Story of Persecution and Prosecution for Doing Nothing Wrong

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.