Kamala Harris’ Unserious Foreign Policy Is A National Security Threat
Kamala Harris stands as the leader of an administration that has shown itself to be entirely unserious on national security.Kamala Harris stands as the leader of an administration that has shown itself to be entirely unserious on national security.What Must Putin And Xi Think Of U.S. Deep-State Shenanigans?
As the left-wing establishment weaponizes U.S. law enforcement, how might these actions be viewed in Beijing or Moscow?Horowitz: McConnell’s ‘wartime’ COVID investments come home to roost
“Bidenflation” existed before he staggered into office on January 20, 2021. It was catalyzed when nearly every Republican supported the worst piece of legislation in American history on March 25, 2020, which set off a cascade of several other pieces of legislation underwriting, incentivizing, and consummating COVID lockdowns. The chief cheerleader of the bill at the time was none other than Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the man whom Republicans are pining to see become floor leader once again next year to solve the inflation crisis. But in order to solve it, don’t we need to first acknowledge the cause and who was responsible?
Last week, Sen. Mitch McConnell tossed out the same tired bromide about Biden causing inflation with his $1.9 trillion reckless spending “on party line” last year.
\u201cOne clear reason we're suffering from 40-year high inflation: The $1.9 trillion reckless spending this all-Democratic government passed on a party-line basis last year. \n\nNow, after spending us into inflation, they want to tax us into a recession.\u201d— Leader McConnell (@Leader McConnell) 1657833072
What he forgets to tell you is that the bulk of the unfathomable levels of spending came from the worst legislation in American history: the $2.2 trillion COVID lockdown/Big Pharma bill that he ardently pushed for in March 2020, which at the time, represented half of the entire federal budget! That bill led to a cascading effect of unconscionable spending and tyranny that, between Congress and the Federal Reserve, unleashed more than $10 trillion on the economy.
At the time, McConnell praised it as “a wartime level of investment into our nation.” “The men and women of the greatest country on Earth are going to defeat this coronavirus and reclaim our future," said Majority Leader Mitch McConnell when announcing the deal that morning. "The Senate's going to make sure that they have the ammunition they need to do it."
Except, it wasn’t a wartime investment in production, it was an investment in lockdown, paying people not to work, imposing tyranny, and inducing a vicious cycle of Big Pharma failure that perpetuated both the pandemic and the economic misery. Milton Friedman famously described inflation as the result of "too much money chasing too few goods.” Never was there a time in history when Congress voted to spend so much money to simultaneously shut down production and make goods scarce while lining the pockets of individuals and corporations with endless cash. As the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank conceded in March when groping in the dark for the culprit of the history inflation, “In seeking an explanation, we turn to the combination of direct fiscal support introduced to counteract the economic devastation caused by the pandemic."
Because of the terrible COVID policies Republicans still refuse to acknowledge, the federal reserve went on such a bond buying spree that it literally increased the money supply by 40% and did this all while the same policies were shrinking output.
Hence, a lot of money suddenly chasing diminishing quantities of products.
What’s worse, these same Republicans then immediately jumped on the bandwagon of the “next current thing” by criticizing Biden for not giving enough money to Ukraine. It wasn’t just the over $50 billion we sent there without an understanding of the outcome we hoped to achieve, but it perpetuated a war and sanctions that are crushing supply chains, which further exacerbates the inflation. McConnell famously said in May that “the most important thing going on in the world right now is the war in Ukraine.”
Hence, McConnell carping about inflation now is akin to the arsonist lamenting the heat of the fire and dressing up as the firefighter. Obviously, Biden has done things on the regulatory side and through exacerbating the war on fossil fuels that aggravated this crisis, particularly as it relates to energy. But the foundation for this crisis was set in stone with the bills shepherded by McConnell when he was in the majority. And that date was not January 2021, but March 2020, when Republicans controlled two of the three branches.
Since March 2020, the gross debt has increased by over $7 trillion. It took from George Washington’s day to the first half of 2004 to accrue our first $7 trillion in debt. What is particularly jarring is that $6.5 trillion of that increase is composed of the “public debt,” not the “intragovernmental debt,” which we supposedly owe ourselves (most prominently the Social Security Trust Fund).
Which brings us back to the GOP senators and congressmen. Which programs would they cut or devolve to the state? What exactly would they do to combat the inflation and what systemic governmental reforms will they push that would address the enormity of the crisis? Combatting “waste, fraud, and abuse” or eliminating “pork” won’t cut it.
At least in 2010 during the Tea Party era, they claimed to oppose spending and then betrayed their promise. Today, they are not even acknowledging the issue of our time that caused the inflation. As such, how are we to believe anything would change on the other side of an auspicious election result?
Mitch McConnell says he will oppose confirming Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Thursday that he will not vote to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.
While the Kentucky Republican said that he had an "open mind" going into the process, he said that after examining her "record and watching her performance this week," he "cannot and will not" back confirming her to a lifetime appointment to the high court.
I went into the Senate\u2019s consideration of Judge Jackson\u2019s nomination with an open mind.\n \nBut after studying the nominee\u2019s record and watching her performance this week, I cannot and will not support Judge Jackson for a lifetime appointment to our highest Court.— Leader McConnell (@Leader McConnell) 1648153717
Last month, President Joe Biden nominated Jackson to fill the vacancy that will arise once Justice Stephen Breyer steps down later this year.
Breyer is widely regarded as one of the court's three liberal justices. Since Jackson is expected to be a member of the court's left-leaning contingency, her addition to the court as Breyer's replacement would not shake up the court's current balance.
McConnell previously voted against confirming Jackson to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. GOP Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina voted in favor of confirming Jackson last year.
But even if all 50 GOP senators oppose confirming Jackson to the high court, the Senate Democratic caucus, armed with Vice President Kamala Harris's tie-breaking vote, could still elevate Jackson to the Supreme Court bench, assuming all 50 members of the Democratic caucus vote in favor of confirmation.
Horowitz: Senate GOP helps codify Biden’s mandates by supporting his budget
My colleague Steve Deace likes to say, “Democrats INSPIRE their base to get what they want, while Republicans CONSPIRE against their base to get what they want.” That is exactly what happened in the U.S. Senate Thursday night.
Democrats needed to pass Biden’s budget, funding all the mandates and immoral activities of executive agencies. Republicans needed to give their base the impression they were fighting the mandates while concurrently ensuring that the budget passes. So, they hatched a plan to guarantee that one more Republican than Democrat would be absent, thereby assuring that even if they held an up-or-down vote (with a simple plurality), it would lose.
Democrat leader Chuck Schumer agreed to allow Sen. Mike Lee’s amendment to come up without a 60-vote threshold because four Republicans were out of town: Mitt Romney (R-Utah), James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and Richard Burr (R-N.C.). This allowed every Republican present in the chamber to vote for his amendment, which would have defunded the vaccine mandates. However, as always, it came up one vote short and failed, 46-47. The Cruz amendment, which would have blocked school vaccine mandates, failed 44-49, with GOP Sens. Collins and Blunt joining the Democrats.
Some might focus their ire solely on those four GOP senators who were absent. Undoubtedly, they should be condemned for missing such an important point. But the broader picture reveals that the problem is not just in a few GOP senators but the entire leadership. They only agreed to hold these votes because they knew (or ensured) there would be one more Republican than Democrat missing in the chamber. That was the perfect outcome for them, whereby they got to hold a protest vote for the base but give away their leverage. This is proven by the fact that the other amendment they voted on – a balanced budget requirement by Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) – actually did “win” by 47-45 (Democrat Sens. Manchin and Sinema joined), but that was cleverly set at a 60-vote threshold because they knew they needed it. It’s all kabuki theater.
Word on the Street? @SenateGOP leadership was coordinating with Schumer and giving green light when votes could occur. This was all staged. What you see is all a show. You will have to take back America yourselves\u2026 you cannot count on GOP \u201cleadership.\u201dhttps://twitter.com/chiproytx/status/1494455041322799104\u00a0\u2026— Chip Roy (@Chip Roy) 1645145276
But the real revealing vote was the cloture vote to proceed with the bill knowing that they didn’t have the votes present to pass the amendment. Seventeen Republicans, including all of leadership, voted for cloture, thereby relinquishing the leverage, knowing they could never secure the votes to change the budget bill. Those Republicans were: Rubio (R-Fla.), Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Rounds (R-S.D.), Capito (R-W.V.), Moran (R-Kan.), Shelby (R-Ala.), Cassidy (R-La.), Murkowski (R-Alaska), Tillis (R-N.C.), Cornyn (R-Texas), Portman (R-Ohio), Wicker (R-Miss.), Blunt (R-Mo.), Collins (R-Maine), Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Kennedy (R-La.), and McConnell (R-Ky.). Ultimately, 19 Republicans voted for final passage of the continuing resolution, which passed 65-27: the original 17 plus Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and Rounds (S.D.).
The issue is right, the timing is impeccable, and the politics of the matter are auspicious. Never has it been so easy for Republicans to do the right thing and demonstrate to the voters why they should control Congress next year. Yet Mitch McConnell, the great leader waiting for us on the other side of this momentous election, would have none of it.
On the one hand, our government is still immorally masking children on planes, destroying people’s jobs over an increasingly dangerous and expired shot, and even plotting to inject babies and toddlers. Thus, there’s never been a riper issue over which to have a government funding fight. On the other hand, the public has become tired of these mandates even in blue states, Biden’s approval rating is so low, and there is a growing international movement for freedom against creeping authoritarianism within Western (former) democracies. So Republicans will take “yes” for an answer and filibuster the budget bill until all of the mandates are defunded, right? Well, Mitch McConnell is giving you a sneak peak of what his leadership will look like when in the majority.
Already, earlier this week, Mitch told reporters. "I think it’ll all be worked out. There’s no danger of a government shutdown.” Oh, he worked it out, all right.
So, he’s not concerned about the shutdown of our lives, liberty, and property from COVID fascism. He’s not concerned about the government funding billions in more human experiments on behalf of Pfizer while criminalizing real doctors who save lives. He’s not concerned about funding a government that is allying with the despotic Trudeau regime. He’s concerned about shutting down those who shut us down.
Ultimately, only nine senators have signed on to either the Rep. Chip Roy letter or the Sen. Mike Lee letter calling for a defunding of the mandates in the budget bill: Mike Lee (R-Utah), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Ron Johnson (Wis.), Ted Cruz (Texas), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), James Risch (Idaho), and Kevin Cramer (N.D.). Even with Republicans hopelessly in the minority in the House, nearly a quarter of them voted to advance the current CR, which would extend government funding from the Feb. 18 deadline through March 11. The Freedom Caucus has endorsed a defund fight, but where is House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who would be the potential speaker next year? He actually voted for the bill!
With the momentum from the truckers’ protest now commencing in the United States, you will never find a more politically auspicious moment to fight on a more important issue. According to a recent poll, Joe Biden’s net approval rating is -22%. Worse, he is at just 22% approval among independents, 43% among Hispanics, and even among black voters, just 62% approve, which is unprecedented for a Democrat president. In most of the states where Republicans represent, Biden is well under 30% approval. In Mitch McConnell’s Kentucky, for example, Biden is sitting at just 23% approval. What exactly are Republicans scared of?
Democrats are so unpopular that three woke school board members were recalled in a special election in the liberal bastion of San Francisco. Even in Washington state, the Democrat-controlled Senate approved a bill to limit the governor’s emergency powers.
How could Republicans, with the power to block the mandates in the Senate, not attempt to bring this fight to a head when they are mandating a shot that clearly has many safety concerns? Just two weeks ago, a CDC advisory committee proposed extending the length of time between the two doses of the vaccines to mitigate some of the risk of myocarditis. So, if they acknowledge these safety considerations, how can any of this be in the realm of a mandate?
Why did McConnell, as leader, not encourage his caucus to vote to defund and demand that everyone remain in Washington to filibuster the bill?
The bottom line is that McConnell and his compatriots fear a government shutdown more than a shutdown of our lives and liberty. And the dirty little secret is that none of this will change, even with the most historic midterm victories imaginable. Even if Republicans win sizable majorities in Congress, Biden is still president for another two years. The only leverage they have is to harness public sentiment, the Constitution, and righteous indignation and tether their priorities to must-pass bills, such as budgets, debt ceiling increases, and defense authorization bills. But McConnell cares more about upending the Senate process than the Biden administration upending human rights. So, what exactly is the point of a GOP Congress?
McConnell, for his part, is tacitly latching on to some of the platitudes of his base.
Needless school closures. Unscientific child mask mandates. A woke war against merit-based schools and standards.\n\nThe far left even opposes basic K-12 transparency. They want parents sidelined and silenced.\n\nRepublicans stand with families. The party of parents has your back.— Leader McConnell (@Leader McConnell) 1645032497
However, how can he have their back, if this time he’s not even promising to repeal biomedical fascism “root and branch” as he did with Obamacare? And we all know how that iteration of McConnell’s “all talk and no action” worked out.
Not only will Republicans refuse to lead the polls, they are incapable of even following them.Texas Democratic Party official resigns amid backlash after using racial slur against Sen. Tim Scott
A Democratic Party leader in Texas has resigned following outrage after he publicly used a racial slur in referring to African American Republican Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.).
What are the details?
Sen. Scott delivered the GOP retort to President Joe Biden's first speech before a joint session of Congress last week, wherein he declared that America is "not a racist country." Afterward, the Republican received waves of racist abuse online from leftists.
Texas' Lamar County Democratic Party chair Gary O'Connor joined in on the attacks, writing in a now-deleted Facebook post, "I had hoped that Scott might show some common sense, but it seems clear he is little more than an oreo with no real principles."
As TheBlaze previously noted, "by calling Scott an 'oreo,' O'Connor was suggesting that Scott — the lone black U.S. senator — is black on the outside, but white on the inside."
O'Connor was hit with a flurry of calls for him to resign over the post, and he has now stepped down.
"I am deeply and sincerely sorry for my inappropriate and hurtful use of [the] racist term I used to describe Sen. Tim Scott on my personal Facebook page," O'Connor told The Washington Examiner on Tuesday. "It was insensitive, and I have embarrassed myself and my party by its use."
He added, "As a result, I feel compelled to offer my resignation as chair of the Lamar County Democratic Party for consideration by the County Executive Committee."
Anything else?
Following Scott's response to Biden's speech, the term "Uncle Tim" trended on Twitter for several hours, after countless progressives used the play on the racist term "Uncle Tom" to refer to the Republican senator.
Fox News noted that "Congressional Democrats — whose platform vehemently opposes racism — have remained silent on the slur targeting Scott that trended amongst their voting base."
Over the weekend, Scott denounced the racist attacks made against him, telling CBS' "Face the Nation," "Fighting bigotry with bigotry is hypocrisy."
"The question we should be debating and fighting over is: How do we resolve those issues going forward?" he said. "One side says, 'I'm going to take from some to give to others.' Our side, what I've suggested, is: Let's expand opportunity and make sure that we are fully equipped for the challenges of the future."
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Room Goes SILENT When Chip Roy UNLOADS Over Broken Leadership