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Biden Says $1,400 Payments Can Start to Go Out This Month

President Joe Biden said on Saturday that Senate passage of his $1.9 trillion coronavirus aid bill means that $1,400 payments to most Americans will start to go out this month and the bill’s provisions will speed up manufacturing and distribution of vaccines.

Biden, speaking at the White House after the American Rescue Plan bill passed the Senate on a party-line 50-49 vote, said that over 85% of American households will receive payments, with a couple with two children making $100,000 annually receiving about $5,600.

USA Today reports:

WASHINGTON – The Democratic-controlled Senate Saturday overcame Republican roadblocks and a debate that lasted beyond 24 hours to pass President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package which would provide millions of Americans with $1,400 direct payments, billions of dollars for vaccine distribution, and funds to help reopen schools and colleges.

The chamber passed the bill following a session that began around 9 a.m. Friday and ended at approximately 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, aft a “vote-a-rama” of proposed changes from both parties. The final vote was 50-49 with all Republicans voting against the measure and all members of the Senate Democratic caucus supporting it. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, was not present for the vote.

“It’s been a long day, a long night, a long year, But a new day has come,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said. “We tell the American people ‘help is on the way.'”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., countered that “the Senate has never spent $2 trillion in a more haphazard way or through a less rigorous process.”

The bill has been Biden’s chief legislative priority as he begins his presidency. He’s stressed the aid is sorely needed for Americans battling the economic impacts of a pandemic that’s killed more than 522,000 Americans and has pushed for Congress to pass the bill quickly.

In brief remarks Saturday morning, the president told reporters the package was “one more giant step forward” on delivering on his pledge to deliver aid to millions of Americans suffering from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

“The bottom line is this: this plan puts us on a path to beating this virus,” he said.

Democrats did not get everything they wanted. The bill does not include a $15 federal hourly minimum wage that progressives had sought. And weekly unemployment benefits were pared back from $400 to $300. But it includes $350 billion for states and localities, provides economic assistance to renters and expands the child tax credit.

Republicans have decried the measure as bloated legislation that disproportionately benefits blue states and large cities with assistance that has nothing to do with the pandemic.

The Democratic-controlled House, which approved a version of the bill last week, must pass the bill one last time before Biden can sign it because of the changes the Senate made.

But those tweaks – notably the lack of a $15 minimum wage and a reduction in unemployment benefits – could make it more difficult for some House Democrats to support the measure and imperil passage in the chamber.

Two Democrats from the party’s conservative wing had voted against the bill the first time it passed the House. Progressives had united around the bill at the time, but some seemed to waver in their support for the revised bill.

Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J., said she was wondering whether she could still support the bill with the Senate’s changes.

“What are we doing here? I’m frankly disgusted with some of my colleagues and question whether I can support this bill,” she wrote in a tweet.

But Democrats are under a time crunch. They want the bill to become law by mid-March, when a federal boost to unemployment benefits expires. House Democrats have signaled they could vote soon after the Senate finished with the bill. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said the House would likely vote on the bill on Monday.

The bill’s partisan vote is different from other COVID stimulus plans passed since the pandemic took hold about a year ago. Five other packages passed with support from both parties last year when control of Congress was split between the two parties.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., acknowledged the lack of Republican support, saying Friday “It would be so much better if we could in a bipartisan way, but we need to get it done.”

Republicans objected to the size of the legislation and derided it as full of provisions not related to COVID relief, but they ultimately did not have the votes to block the legislation. 

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell denounced it as an “ideological spending spree with non-related COVID policies.” 

Other Republicans questioned the need for more aid as vaccines rolled out and the economy showed signs of improvement. 

“Things are looking better,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who asked if there were ways to “slow down” before spending so much money. Graham argued the $350 billion in state and local funding would go to “blue states” because of the funding formula used in the latest round of relief. 

Among the bill’s provisions: 

  • Provides most Americans earning up to $75,000 a $1,400 stimulus check.  
  • Extends a $300 weekly federal boost to unemployment benefits through August 
  • Sends $350 billion to state and local governments whose revenue has declined because of COVID-19’s impact on the economy.
  • Allocates $130 billion to help fully reopen schools and colleges.
  • Allots $30 billion to help renters and landlords weather economic losses. 
  • Devotes $50 billion for small-business assistance. 
  • Dedicates $160 billion for vaccine development, distribution and related needs. 
  • Expands the child tax credit up to $3,600 per child.

More:Republican Sen. Ron Johnson forces Senate to read all 628 pages of Biden’s COVID bill aloud

The Senate went through a lengthy process known as a “vote-a-rama” prior to the final vote to propose changes to the bill.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., tried to introduce an amendment increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, but it failed after a group of Democrats joined Republicans in quashing it. House Democrats had included the wage hike in their version of the bill, but a key Senate official ruled the increase could not stay in the final Senate bill. 

Sanders, in a statement, said this was not the last time he would try to bring up the wage hike for a vote.

“If any senator believes this is the last time they will cast a vote on whether or not to give a raise to 32 million Americans, they are sorely mistaken. We’re going to keep bringing it up, and we’re going to get it done because it is what the American people demand and need,” he said.

The Senate’s final passage of the bill came after Senate Republicans threw up procedural roadblocks to try to delay it. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., had forced the Senate to read the over 600-page bill out loud on Thursday, a process which ultimately took nearly 11 hours and did not finish until early in the morning. 

A further delay occurred Friday afternoon as senators were gridlocked over changes to the bill’s unemployment provisions. A compromise agreed to after hours of deliberation among Democratic senators extended unemployment benefits through the end of August at $300 per week, with the first $10,200 of unemployment benefits non-taxable for households with incomes under $150,000. 

“This bill that we are completing now is the most significant piece of legislation to benefit working people in the modern history of this country,” Sen Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said before the Senate passed the bill. “The people are hurting and today, we respond.”

Schumer brushed aside concerns about delaying aid over the impasse on unemployment benefits. The 8-hour debate over unemployment was “meaningless compared to the relief American people get,” he said Saturday morning following the bill’s passage. 

Minimum Wage Hike Led To Higher Prices At McDonald’s, Study Finds

The Daily Wire reports:

Increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour has resulted in exactly what critics have predicted: A loss of low-skilled jobs and, according to a recent study, increased prices for the goods and services provided by companies that employ low-skilled workers.

Brad Polumbo reported at the Foundation for Economic Education on a recent study from Princeton economist Orley C. Ashenfelter and Czech economist Štěpán Jurajda, which found that minimum wage hikes led to much higher menu prices at McDonalds.

“They found a ‘full or near-full price pass-through of minimum-wage-induced higher costs of labor.’ In English, this means that by vastly increasing production costs, minimum wage hikes resulted in an equivalent increase in menu prices,” Polumbo reported.

Polumbo further explained:

Supporters of hiking the minimum wage point to workers’ nominal wages and argue, correctly, that some workers would see higher numbers on their checks every week. However, nominal figures aren’t actually what matter. A worker’s real income and standard of living is best measured by the purchasing power of their wages.

If a McDonald’s cashier’s take-home pay increases 20% after a minimum wage hike, but the prices for the food and other things they spend their wages on increase by a similar amount, they aren’t actually any better off. 

This would happen throughout the economy, not just in fast food.

Increased prices on goods and services are just one consequence of a minimum wage hike, Polumbo pointed out. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that an increased minimum wage would lead to 1.4 million lost jobs. Examples in major cities that have enacted an higher minimum wage have backed up this estimation, with a New York City survey finding restaurant job losses in the Big Apple. Those job losses occurred before the hike was made official, but at the time it was well known the minimum wage would be increased, which the survey determined caused restaurant owners to react in preparation. Survey respondents also said they could continue cutting jobs and hours because of the policy.

Seattle, Washington has become ground zero for studying the minimum wage hike, after it was enacted during an economic boom in the city. Multiple studies, including one from the National Bureau of Economic Research, found that “low-wage workers lost more than $2 in forgone employment opportunities for every $1 gained from higher hourly wages.” As Paul Mosimann reported for The Daily Wire, the study also found that “the lost income associated with the hour deductions of low-wage employees was greater than the wage increases, which resulted in a net loss of $74 a month for each employee.”

The Heritage Foundation also reported that a minimum wage hike would lead to higher childcare costs as well.

“Childcare costs would increase by an average of 21 percent—an extra $3,728 per year for two children—and up to 43 percent, or more than $6,000, in some states,” Heritage found. “The impacts would be greatest in lower-cost areas; in Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Mississippi, costs would surge between 37 percent and 43 percent.”

In the lead up to congress’ vote on another coronavirus relief bill, President Joe Biden backed away from supporting an increase in the minimum wage in the bill.

The Daily Wire is one of America’s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a member.

Star Wars And Disney Announce Partnership With Chinese Communist Party ‘Tool’

Disney and Lucasfilm, which produces the Starwars Franchise, recently inked a deal with Chinese Communist Party-linked Tencent to produce Star Wars content for China.

The unearthed agreement to produce an “authentic Star Wars story with Chinese characteristics” follows Disney firing actress Gina Carano, who starred in Disney’s The Mandalorian, for sharing conservative posts on social media.

The Star Wars franchise, however, is open to working with the genocidal, authoritarian, and deadly Chinese Communist Party.

Disney and Lucasfilm inked a deal with Shenzhen-based Tencent and its subsidiary China Literature to “to license and distribute 40 translated Star Wars novels for Chinese readers.”

“We are very excited to be partnering with Disney and Lucasfilm on the co-development of a web fiction telling a story in a galaxy far, far away. From this collaboration we hope to create an innovative story immersed with Star Wars elements that resonate and also help to promote cultural exchange,” said Edward Cheng, Vice President of Tencent and CEO of Tencent Pictures.

The State Department’s Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation has described Tencent as a “tool of the Chinese government,” noting the company has “no meaningful ability to tell the Chinese Communist Party ‘no’ if officials decide to ask for their assistance.”

It provides “a foundation of technology-facilitated surveillance and social control” as part of the Chinese Communist Party’s broader crusade “to shape the world consistent with its authoritarian model,” the report added.

Tencent’s CEO is also known to have direct links to the Chinese government, currently serving as a Congressional Deputy and member of the Standing Committee, a who’s who of the Communist Party of China.

He’s voiced support for blurring the line between the private and public sector, even opting to assist the Chinese Communist Party with “law enforcement and security issues” and collaborating on “patriotic” video games.

A China Daily story written just 10 days after the agreement between Disney, Lucasfilms, and Tencent was revealed describes the Chinese company’s plans to “release an epic film 1921 to commemorate the centenary anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party of China.”

“It is also one of our first collaboration with a Chinese author who has been really given charge to help render a Star Wars story that speaks to them, speaks to the culture they’re from, and brings a very specific Chinese perspective to the world building,” Lucasfilm Vice President James Waugh noted.

Watch:

Why MacArthur is wrong about religious freedom

Dr. John MacArthur recently spoke in opposition to religious freedom. As a pastor in California and a graduate of The Masters Seminary, this is a rare instance where I disagree profoundly with Dr. MacArthur.

The essence of his argument seems to be as follows:

False religion is bad.

Religious liberty promotes false religion.

Religious liberty is therefore bad and should not be supported by Christians.

Courtesy of Adam Groza

The keen observer will notice an immediate problem with the soundness of the middle premise: Religious liberty does not, in fact, promote false religion. Religious liberty does not promote religion any more than gun companies promote suicide by making guns that are routinely used by individuals to commit suicide. Being against suicide by gun no more requires that you oppose gun companies than being against idolatry requires that you oppose religious liberty.

Religious liberty is the view that citizens should be free to make individual decisions in regard to lawful worship (i.e. whether they worship, what they worship, and how they worship) and that such decisions should be governed with equal protection under the law. Religious liberty implies the inherent religiousness of humans; a position found in the Bible (Ecc. 3:11) that dates back to Cicero and was popularized most recently by Mircea Eliade’s notion of homo religiosus (e.g. that humans are religious by nature). 

What about MacArthur’s claim that Christianity has flourished without religious freedom and that Christians don’t need any help from government? Well sure, Christianity doesn’t need any help from Utility Companies, either, but I am guessing Grace Community Church is kept cool in the summer and warm in the winter thanks to Southern California Edison (or some other provider). It simply doesn’t follow that if something is not needed that something is not good.

In fact, as Jonathan Edward says: God ordains the ends and the means. Historically, religious freedom has often been the means by which Christianity has flourished. Rome allowed religious practices that were not perceived to threaten the Empire. In fact, early Christian apologists like Justin and Athenagoras wrote letters to the Emperor arguing, in fact, that Christianity should be one of the religions allowed to be freely exercised in Rome. In effect, they were arguing for religious liberty.

Christianity can spread in China, where Xi Jinping has cracked down on religious freedom. It can also spread in South Korea, where religious liberty is a constitutional right (see Articles 11 and 20).

MacArthur thinks that religious freedom amounts to the promotion of false religion, but this is empirically false. Many false religions have diminished and died in the marketplace of religion where the free exchange of religious ideas and religious competition have corresponded to the growth of Christianity. Again, religious liberty in Korea has corresponded to the meteoric rise of Christianity and the decline of Buddhism in Korea over the same time period.

I suspect a theological argument will have the most positive impact on MacArthur and on those who respect him (a group of which I strongly consider myself to be a part, in fact). Having critiqued MacArthur’s argument, allow me to offer my own:

God is free, and his freedom is expressed in absolute consistency with His character and will.

Human freedom is a good thing when practiced in consistency with God’s character and will by the power of the Spirit.

Religious freedom provides an environment for the free practice of religion consistent with God’s character and will by the power of the Spirit.

Therefore, religious freedom is good.

Notice that my argument is not that religious freedom is necessary. But something can be unnecessary and still be good. Again, church buildings are not necessary for the faithful practice of Christianity, but they are good. Christian universities and seminaries, such as are owned and operated by Grace Community Church where MacArthur is pastor, are good but unnecessary.

Notice also that my argument seeks to connect human freedom to image bearing. Regardless of the theory of freedom that you hold, humans are meant to be free as opposed to whatever you consider to be the opposite of freedom. For instance, a Christians lives freely under the Lordship of Jesus if their will and affections are aligned with God and His purposes in Christ. Religious liberty is something Christians should support because God desires free worship, regardless of your theory of freedom.

Religious freedom is also implicit in Scripture (Mark 9:38-41 and Mark 13:34-3). In these passages Jesus says (speaking of a person engaged in false religion) “Don’t stop him”; and speaking of false religion in a religiously pluralistic society, Jesus says “Let them grow together until the harvest.” As a committed pre-millennial dispensationalist, Dr. MacArthur should recognize the importance and application of these (and other) passages to the church in the age preceding the coming of the heavenly Kingdom. For it is only after this point that there will be only one religion practiced on a new earth where Christ Himself reigns bodily.

Biden’s FDA takes baby steps toward limiting toxic heavy metals in commercial baby foods

The Washington Post reports:

A month after the House oversight subcommittee released a report on the prevalence of arsenic and lead in major baby food brands, the FDA takes the first steps to establishing legal limits on toxic heavy metals.

In the wake of a congressional report last month that found the presence of toxic metals at high levels in many baby foods, the Biden administration Friday announced the first steps aimed at reducing arsenic, lead and other toxins in baby and toddler products.

The Food and Drug Administration said ina statement that it will identify maximum safe limits of contaminants in commercial food for babies and toddlers, finalize guidance on reducing inorganic arsenic in apple juice and publish draft guidance on setting maximum lead levels in juices.

The FDA statement also saidthe agency will increase inspections and testing of baby and toddler foods for heavy metals and make public the results. It will support research that identifies “additional steps that industry can take to further reduce levels,” the agency said in a statement.

The guidance marks a first step toward expanding FDA oversight over commercial baby food.

As of now, the agency has only set legal limits on inorganic arsenic in infant rice cereal.

Members of Congress and advocacy groups said they were concerned the announcement didn’t go far enough and was vague about the measures the FDA would be taking around inspections and establishing legal limits for toxins in baby food.

“I’m glad the FDA was responsive to our report and cited it as prompting their action. However, I have a couple of concerns,” Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), chairman of the subcommittee on economic and consumer policy that released last month’s report, told The Washington Post.

Krishnamoorthi, along with Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), and Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-Calif.), has drafted the Baby Food Safety Act, which urges the FDA to use its existing authority to regulate toxic heavy metal content in baby food to protect infant health and safety.

“One is that there’s no timeline and there’s no clear commitment to removing toxic heavy metals from baby food,” Krishnamoorthi said. “And frankly, I’m concerned about their tone. I don’t see a sense of urgency. Perhaps they aren’t understanding the level of outrage among parents.”

Peter Lurie, the president of Center for Science in the Public Interest, said Friday’s announcement was “a more forward-looking response that we would have gotten three months ago.”

“There’s an opportunity here to take real action on a public health problem,” he said. “Pronouncements are fine. But at the end of the day the agency has to be evaluated by the final actions it takes.”

The FDA said it will ramp up the availability of consumer information and resources that underscore the importance of a varied diet: A single baby food with high levels of a metal like lead would pose less of a threat to a baby who eats a broad array of foods.

Many nutrition experts caution parents about eschewing commercial baby food entirely to make food from fruits and vegetables at home.

The FDA said toxic elements are present in the air, water and soil, and therefore unavoidable in the general food supply.

Krishnamoorthi said this is only partially true.

“[The FDA] says these heavy metals are naturally occurring in soils, but that is disingenuous. There are several other man-made sources like vitamin additives or fertilizers in soil. You can’t say baby food has to be this way,” he said.

Is Gardasil Vaccine Linked to Record Birth Rate Declines?

Birth rates in the U.S. started their decline in 2006 — the same year the CDC recommended every American girl between the ages of 9 and 26 get Merck’s Gardasil HPV vaccine.

A CBS News story earlier this week sounded a recurring alarm about the record decline of birth rates in the U.S.

The news agency obtained records from health departments in more than two dozen states showing a 7% drop in births in December 2020 — nine months after the first lockdowns began.

As the Pew graph below illustrates, the overall drop in birth rates actually began in 2006.

Baffled “experts” blame everything from social media to the economy. But they overlooked one obvious possible explanation: the Gardasil HPV vaccine, which the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention’ Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended for every American girl between the ages of 9 and 26 — beginning in 2006.

Clinical trial researchers for Merck, Gardasil’s manufacturer, reported an explosion of reproductive injuries among the 20,000 trial volunteers. An astronomical 15% – 17% of trial participants experienced a range of reproductive harms, including premature ovarian failure.

CDC’s own graph shows that the steepest drops in births have occurred among teens — the age group most likely to have received the vaccine. Among this group, birth rates dropped a breathtaking 46% between 2007 and 2015. There were no changes in birth control or abortion rates that would explain this drop.

Gardasil contains three ingredients, L-histidine,  polysorbate 80 and sodium borate that are all associated with reproductive disorders. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has banned sodium borate in foods in the U.S., partially because of its strong association with premature ovarian failure. Merck nevertheless includes it in Gardasil.

During our Gardasil litigation, we have spoken to hundreds of girls suffering premature ovarian failure and a range of other reproductive problems. Gardasil victims and their mothers frequently tell us of girls who cease menstruating after receiving the Gardasil vaccine.

Merck knew that it was orchestrating a population-wide fertility experiment when it persuaded the CDC to effectively mandate Gardasil for every American teenager. Merck’s pre-licensing studies predicted the current national drops in fertility.

If Gardasil injured you, and you want to know your rights, call me at 844-RFK-HPV1.

Sen. Rand Paul Blocks Democrats from Funding Planned Parenthood Through Paycheck Protection Program

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) claimed a win Friday after forcing Democrats to remove from their COVID “liberal wish list” bill a provision that would have allowed every Planned Parenthood facility in the country to receive free taxpayer funds through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

“Democrats knew this was never about COVID relief or helping small businesses,” said Dr. Paul, an ophthalmologist. “It was a shameless attempt to fund their radical agenda on the taxpayers’ backs and I was successful in preventing that from happening by stopping these funds from going to abortion mills.”

In a press statement, Paul’s office explained in the House version of the “massive $1.9 trillion liberal wish list,” individual Planned Parenthood facilities would have been treated as separate entities and, as such, eligible for the federal PPP aid.

Paul’s office explained further:

The original congressional intent of PPP was to limit large and well-financed groups, such as Planned Parenthood from receiving a loan, and instead provide relief to small business affected by COVID-19. Democrats had planned to waive affiliation rules for nonprofits to provide paycheck protection loans to Planned Parenthood in the House version of the COVID-19 relief package. The Paul team strenuously argued to the Senate Parliamentarian that this waiver would only benefit Planned Parenthood and thus violated the so-called Byrd rule. Before the Parliamentarian was able to rule on the arguments presented, the Democrats filed an updated version of the bill that did not include the offending provision – a concession that avoided setting a precedent.

In May 2020, Planned Parenthood affiliates received $80 million in loans from the PPP in violation of the rules of the relief program. Subsequently, officials of the Small Business Administration and some members of Congress, including Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Josh Hawley (R-MO), demanded the money be returned, threatening potential criminal prosecution.

Jacqueline Ayers, vice president of government relations & public policy at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, denied the provision in the current bill was related to “Planned Parenthood 501(c)(3) organizations,” according to Fox News.

“The local Planned Parenthood affiliates that previously obtained loans made available by the CARES Act were eligible under the affiliation rules defined by the Small Business Administration,” Ayers insisted, referring to Planned Parenthood abortion clinics as providers of “essential healthcare.”

“Now is the time for everyone to come together to address this pandemic and pass much-needed COVID-19 relief, not for uninformed political attacks on access to essential health care,” she said.

Similarly, in an op-ed at the Washington Times, Tom McClusky, president of March for Life Action, emphasized only nine percent of the COVID bill’s funding is actually slated to address the public health issues related to the coronavirus pandemic.

Nearly half of the funding in the measure will be held back from distribution until 2022, at the earliest, a time when the pandemic could largely have already subsided, he observed as well.

“A serious relief bill has devolved into a liberal wish list that, of course, funds the abortion industry,” McClusky asserted.

Rep. Ilhan Omar hits Democrats over COVID relief, admits Americans received more aid under Trump

Omar criticizes her own party

Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar lamented Friday that more Americans received a greater amount of coronavirus-related economic aid under former President Donald Trump than they will receive under President Joe Biden.

Despite Democrats now controlling Congress and the White House, Democrats thus far have failed to deliver on their promises of distributing the economic aid they say Americans desperately need.

What did Omar say?

Speaking on CNN Friday, the Minnesota Democrat lamented that Trump and Republicans were willing to give Americans more aid than Democrats are now.

“I see it as a really disappointing development. We obviously are now ultimately sending money to less people than the Trump administration and the Senate majority Republicans,” Omar admitted.

“This is not the promise that we made, this is not what we are given the opportunity to be in the majority in the Senate and to have the White House,” Omar continued. “And so ultimately it is a failure when we compromise ourselves out of delivering on behalf of the American people and keeping our promises.”

Omar went on to explain the income thresholds in the forthcoming Biden-led stimulus bill mean that fewer Americans will receive direct aid.

“The last checks that we were able to send had given 17 million more people than what we will ultimately do with the caps now, and that is going to be something that we’re going to have to explain,” Omar explained.

“I don’t know if many of us have a logical explanation on why we are delivering less than what the Republicans were willing to compromise us on delivering on the American people,” she added.

Later in the interview, Omar suggested that Democrats were squandering their majority power by not delivering on promises they made.

Democrats promised they would pass $2,000 stimulus checks if they won both Georgia runoff elections. But Democrats immediately equivocated after winning both races, instead proposing only $1,400 checks.

Omar noted that Democrats cannot blame Republicans “for our inability to deliver on the promises that we made.”

Anything else?

The Senate on Saturday passed the massive $1.9 trillion economic stimulus package being championed by Biden’s administration.

Before heading to Biden’s desk for final approval, the House must first approve changes the Senate passed.

Zero Republican senators voted for the bill, citing massive spending unrelated to COVID relief that Democrats stuffed into the bill.

“This weekend’s spending is bigger than the entire annual economy of Canada, yet only one percent of it is vaccine-related. Here’s how midnight spending bills go down: Senators hide a bunch of crap behind titles like ‘The Cuddly Puppies Act,’ and then say anybody voting against it hates puppies. This $1.9 trillion ’emergency’ bill is overwhelmingly non-emergency — we should’ve just bought Canada too,” Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) said.

AOC: Trans Kids Are Beautiful, Republicans ‘Doing A Lot Of Harm To Children,’ Advocates Biological Males In Girls Sports

The Daily Wire reports:

Far-left Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) advocated for biological male athletes who identify as female to be allowed in girls’ sports and accused Republicans of “doing a lot of harm to children” in a tweet posted Friday night.

“Trans kids are awesome, incredible, beautiful, and wonderful. Bigotry is not,” AOC tweeted. “Republicans need to stop obsessing over other people’s gender identity bc frankly it’s very weird and they’re doing a lot of harm to children who are just trying to be themselves.”

The New York City representative added the hashtag, #LetKidsPlay, a reference to opposition to Republicans’ move to protect girls and women’s sports. 

Ocasio-Cortez was quote-tweeting a post from fellow NYC Democrat Mondaire Jones: “I’m hearing @RogerMarshallMD has offered an amendment to the COVID relief bill to ban trans kids from playing sports,” he wrote. “Let me make sure I understand Senate rules here: Americans don’t deserve a $15 min wage, but it’s cool to attack and exclude trans kids in sports? #LetKidsPlay.”

The amendment does not exclude transgender children from sports, however. Instead, it separates athletes based on biology, as opposed to gender identity.

Last month, the Biden administration’s Department of Justice withdrew support for a lawsuit brought by three high school female athletes that would block biological males from competing in girls’ sports in Connecticut, The Daily Wire reported. The suit was backed by Trump-nominated former Attorney General Bill Barr.

Alanna Smith, one of three girls who had brought the lawsuit, blasted the Biden Administration over the withdrawal during a recent appearance on Fox News.

“I got involved after I ran against the biological males at the New England meet because in the 200 meter I took third place when I  should have gotten runner-up,” Smith said. “And it’s not really about placement but it’s all about knowing that I work so many hours a week to be able to get runner-up in New England’s [championships] as a freshman. And I am really disappointed in the news, because me and the other girls, Selina and Chelsea, have worked really hard to get our stories out there, to get people to realize that fairness needs to be restored in our sport and all other women’s sports.”

Smith added that “people should realize that a lot of biological females have missed out on making it to meets that really matter, like states and regionals, and the transgender athletes have taken spots on the podium that belong to biological females.”

“We train for so many days a week, so many hours to be able to be the best in our state and the best in our region, and these biological males are just taking it away from us and we really deserve it,” the girl said.

On January 20, President Joe Biden signed an executive order stating, “Children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the restroom, the locker room, or school sports.”

According to the Austin American-Statesman, the order “does not impose any new guidelines that would immediately bring changes to school sports … Instead, it requires federal agencies, including the U.S. Education Department, to review existing policies and programs to determine whether they are in line with the new guidance prohibiting discrimination based on gender and sexuality, and to implement changes if needed.”

Related: Study: Trans Women Still Have Athletic Advantage Over Women After Year Of Hormone Therapy

Ben Stein Issues Warning: Suffers Severe Side Effects from COVID Vaccine Days After Getting Shot (video)

The Gateway Pundit reports:

American writer, lawyer, actor and comedian Ben Stein posted video this week warning Americans about the side-effects of the Moderna COVID vaccine booster shot.

American writer, lawyer, actor and comedian Ben Stein posted video this week warning Americans about the side-effects of the Moderna COVID vaccine booster shot.

According to Stein he was horrible sick for days following the injection.

Ben Stein: I had the COVID booster by Moderno four or five days ago and I am still feeling wild side effects from it like I have the worst flu in the world, extreme shortness of breath, dizziness, fatigue, extreme irrational thinking. And it has just been devastating.

The video is posted on Banned.video because we all know the tech giants will not approve of anti-vaccine testimonials.

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