The politicization of federal government agencies began in earnest with the Obama-Biden Administration and has picked up steam in the Biden-Harris Administration.
The latest institution to become entangled in politics is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, America’s health protection agency.
In early August, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky signed an order which extended the moratorium on evictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. A CDC statement said the director had concluded that “evictions of tenants for failure to make rent or housing payments could be detrimental to public health control measures to slow the spread of SARS-CoV-2.”
Two weeks ago, an independent CDC advisory panel voted 16-2 to recommend a Pfizer COVID-19 booster shot for all Americans aged 65 and over and for high-risk individuals with underlying conditions. This decision delivered a blow to President Joe Biden, who had hoped to see the recommendation include all frontline workers.
Last week, ABC News reported that Walensky overruled this decision “in a notable departure by adding a recommendation for a third dose for people who are considered high risk due to where they work, such as nurses and teachers — a group which the panel rejected in its recommendation. Some panelists said that without further data, they weren’t comfortable with automatically including younger people because of their jobs.”
Unbelievable: after 18 months of demanding everyone FOLLOW THE SCIENCE and scorning any questioning, Biden's CDC Director ignores — overrules — the overwhelming recommendation of her scientists about the Pfizer booster, to align with what Biden wanted:https://t.co/msSY2RN0OC
Walensky now has our Second Amendment rights in her crosshairs. She will tackle gun violence in America, which she considers to be an epidemic.
The CDC director signaled her intentions during a late August interview with CNN, when she labeled gun violence a “serious public health threat.”
“Something has to be done about this,” she told CNN. “Now is the time — it’s pedal to the metal time.”
“The scope of the problem is just bigger than we’re even hearing about, and when your heart wrenches every day you turn on the news, you’re only hearing the tip of the iceberg,” Walensky said. “We haven’t spent the time, energy, and frankly the resources to understand this problem because it’s been so divided.”
On Wednesday, NPR reported that “the CDC is now hoping to get a fuller picture of the data and long-neglected details on the impact of daily gun violence. The CDC and the National Institutes of Health, for the first time in nearly a quarter-century, are funding new research on guns to help reduce firearm-related injuries, deaths, crime and suicides.”
“Among several other gun research projects, the CDC is now providing funding to 10 state health departments so they can start collecting data in near-real time on emergency room nonfatal firearm injuries. This will allow doctors and epidemiologists to potentially identify trends and craft swift interventions, as they have done to contain the coronavirus pandemic and other national health emergencies.”
The NPR article goes on to highlight several victims of gun violence to underscore the severity of the problem.
NEW – CDC implements study on "gun violence" after labeling it a "public health threat," aiming to "craft swift interventions, as they have done to contain the coronavirus pandemic and other national health emergencies." (NPR)
Ms. Walensky’s first two forays into politics clearly amounted to overreach, but now this unelected public official is inserting herself — and the agency she runs — into a Constitutional debate. Neither Walensky nor the CDC belongs there.
As conservatives, we support the Second Amendment. If the CDC has shown us anything during the course of the pandemic, it is that they are very extreme. They have pushed mandatory masks, mandatory vaccinations and lockdowns. It’s hard to trust anything they do or say.
It’s easy to predict what conclusions the CDC will draw at the end of their study. They will most certainly recommend some form of intervention that would infringe upon our Second Amendment rights.
The CDC should stay out of this debate.
The last eight months have shown us that the Democrats seek total control over America. Our right to bear arms has never been more essential to our freedom.
Americans will never give up their guns. The explosion in gun sales over the past several years shows that Americans are cognizant of our government’s slow drift into socialism.
History has proven what happens when citizens surrender their guns to a nefarious ruling class.
In the 1990s, Australians handed over their guns to the government.
Delaware saw massive “fraudulent” votes being submitted in the 2020 election and nursing homes that had way more votes submitted than people who lived there, according to 2020 Delaware U.S. Senate candidate Lauren Witzke and a memo from Patriots for Delaware that has been obtained by NATIONAL FILE.
Lauren Witzke: “Preliminary Audits of the Delaware 2020 elections are damning. Only 10% of the votes have been audited and they’ve already found over 20k fraudulent ballots. Internal polling before the elections were EXTREMELY close. They couldn’t let Joe Biden’s home state seem even remotely competitive while they were busy stealing the swing states- would have raised a few eyebrows. Ladies and gentlemen, it’s looking like I pulled in at least 47% of the vote- I maybe even won. Thank you to Seth Keshel’s Team for all of their hard work. More on this to come. Stay tuned!”
According to a Patriots for Delaware memo written by Jennifer Cooke: “Patriots for Delaware held a public meeting on Sept. 28 where they relayed some initial findings in reference to their 2020 election canvas that have raised more questions than answers. Not only did dead people vote, there also seems to be a high number of votes coming from some nursing homes who don’t have nearly that many beds. There are 296 votes that came from a nursing home with only 94 beds. That’s 315% votes coming from a facility that is rarely at full occupancy. There were several other nursing homes that reported over 100%, while most facilities in the state reported anywhere from 0% to 75% votes in relation to available beds. Where are all the people that voted from these nursing homes? How could the nursing homes have been that full, occupancy wise, given the Covid-19 protocol was to lock the facilities down and keep our elderly socially distanced and quarantined? It was also revealed that hundreds upon hundreds of votes from “Uniformed and overseas citizens” had a mailing/residential address listed as the addresses of the three county elections offices in the state. The election law clearly states that these particular voters’ addresses should be listed as their last residential address. People don’t live at the state-owned Carvel building in Wilmington. Are these votes legal?
Another subject that is called into question is the voter rolls. Almost 30 thousand voters were added to the voter rolls in the months leading up to the Nov. 3 election. Oddly enough, over 11 thousand of those voters were removed from the rolls in August 2021 alone. The state only provides month-to-month data on voter registration totals. Any added or removed voters, on a day-to-day basis, would not be apparent in the month-to-month data. Why were so many voters added to the rolls starting a few months before the election and why are they being removed now? Why would 11 thousand people unregister to vote in one month? Were the elections offices “cleaning up” their voter rolls? If so, why wait until after a historic election to remove voters?
Last, is the astronomically high 47,205 ballots sent to adjudication. That amounts to 25% of all mail-in/absentee ballots cast in the state. The FEC allows .0008% of ballots to be sent to adjudication. Clearly something was wrong during the ES&S tabulation machine scanning of these mail-in/absentee ballots to cause so many of them to be deemed unable to read. Furthermore, according to Delaware’s election law, each ballot needed a Republican, a Democrat, and an election judge to view them and decide the voter’s intent. What kind of man hours would it take for elections officials to view every one of those adjudicated ballots? The mail in ballots were not supposed to be opened or counted until Election Day. How did that many ballots get processed in such a short amount of time? Did any of the officials question or raise concern for the amount of adjudications? Were the ES&S tabulation machines calibrated correctly? Were the machines certified? Who certified them? We the People of Delaware deserve to know what happened on Nov. 3, 2020. We should have complete confidence in our elections given that a FREE and FAIR election is the cornerstone of this Constitutional Republic. Our elected representatives and appointed Board of Elections, have a duty to We The People that they have not been living up to. We have questions. We want answers. We will not settle for “There’s nothing I can do” any longer. Audit Delaware.”
Chinese state propagandists have wormed their way onto Marxist political NYPD groups.
The New York Police Department’s newly launched hate crime review panel includes Fred Teng, who runs a Chinese Communist Party-linked influence group and has repeatedly praised regime leader Xi Jinping, The National Pulse can reveal.
Teng is one of the five members of the panel, which was inaugurated in April, and will advise the New York Police Department (NYPD) on which crimes should be classified as hate crimes. The group will also advise the District Attorney’s office on the hate crime classification.
Teng, who was born in Shanghai and now resides in New York, has several executives roles at Chinese Communist Party-linked groups including serving as the President of the America China Public Affairs Institute (ACPAI), a visiting professor at the Chinese government-run Sichuan University, and the senior U.S. representative of the China-United States Exchange Foundation (CUSEF).
Teng is also the former CEO of China Newsweek, a regime-controlled propaganda magazine based in Beijing under the control of the State Council. Teng has defended the spread of Chinese state-run media in the U.S. in a 2012 BBC article, insisting:
“I think they abide by journalistic guidelines and report their news according to their accuracy, timeliness, proximity and so forth.”
CUSEF was founded by C.H. Tung, the Vice-Chairman of the “highest-ranking entity overseeing” China’s United Front, which the U.S. government identifies as seeking to “to co-opt and neutralize sources of potential opposition to the policies and authority of its ruling Chinese Communist Party” and “influence foreign governments to take actions or adopt positions supportive of Beijing.”
Tung himself has spoken at a 2016 ACPAI event in addition to CUSEF Governor Ronnie Chan, who has spoken for the group three times. ACPAI has also hosted events featuring several Chinese Communist Party officials, Chinese state-run media hosts, and People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leaders.
Teng has also met privately with Chinese Communist Party officials such as Consul General Luo Linquan.
In addition to running ACPAI and advising CUSEF, Teng frequently appears on Chinese state-run media outlets in favor of the Chinese Communist Party. In response to Xi’s removal of term limits, which allowed him to lead for life, Teng told China Global Television Network (CGTN) that “I think they are doing a critically good job right now” in reference to the regime.
“In order to carry out the agenda and the reform, we need a continuous leadership,” he added in defense of Xi’s move.
Teng has expressed similar sentiments on i24 News, where he insisted that “most of the people like it because he’s doing a good job” when asked about the cessation of term limits.
“I mean why change someone when they’re doing a good job?” he added in defense of Xi.
How do the Chinese view the plan for President Xi to stay in power indefinitely, @MichelleMakori asks Fred Teng, the president of the America China Public Affairs Institute pic.twitter.com/Dew7U4vEWm
Presidentish Joe Biden wants to put an actual Communist — self-proclaimed “radical” Cornell University law school professor Saule Omarova — in charge of the nation’s banking system.
Omarova graduated from the Soviet Union’s Moscow State University in 1989 on the Lenin Personal Academic Scholarship, according to the Wall Street Journal. As recently as 2019, she was still praising the USSR’s economic system as in some ways superior to our own. “Say what you will about old USSR, there was no gender pay gap there. Market doesn’t always ‘know best.’”
As a matter of fact, I will say what I will about the old USSR.
Teachers there were paid the same as doctors — because medicine was considered “women’s work” and both were paid crap numbers of worthless rubles. Sexism and central mismanagement, all in one murderously totalitarian package.
There’s a reason the USSR is defunct and the U.S. isn’t — at least until Omarova gets her way.
Omarova’s goal is the eventual elimination of private banking and the establishment of the Federal Reserve as the nation’s only bank.
In her own words:
“The core idea here is simply to allow all U.S. citizens and lawful residents, local governments, non-banking firms and non-business entities to open transactional accounts directly with the Federal Reserve, thus bypassing private depository institutions,” she wrote. “In this sense, it is a variation on the familiar FedAccounts — or FedCoin, ‘digital dollar wallets,’ etc. — theme. In principle, FedAccounts can be made available as an alternative to bank deposit accounts, upon a person’s request.”
Omarova herself wrote that her proposal is “deliberately radical in scope and substance.”
Indeed. Or as Kristin Tate wrote for The Hill on Wednesday:
Taken to its extreme, this would mean that the Federal Reserve, acting on behalf of Washington, could become the only place citizens could deposit their money. Such a massive transformation would be accomplished by replacing consumer deposits into a new digital dollar, held by the Fed.
Nationalized banking with, if I’m reading this correctly, nothing but a centrally-controlled digital currency for legal tender — what could go wrong?
The top Republican on the House Financial Services Committee, Patrick McHenry, said of her last week:
I am concerned Professor Omarova will prioritize a progressive social agenda over the core mission of the OCC — supervising and managing risk in our financial system. Our financial regulators must focus on pro-growth policies that foster innovation to build a robust and inclusive economic recovery, rather than Democrats’ obsession with vague social objectives.
True, although I wonder what’s so “vague” about Omarova’s objectives.
Nominating Omarova to serve as Comptroller of the Currency, as Biden has done, is worse than putting the inmates in charge of the asylum. It’s more like putting a convicted arsonist in charge of the Forest Service.
There’s just no making up anything so absurd, and in Biden’s America, you don’t have to.
A new study finds that there is no significant difference in COVID-19 viral load between vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals who test positive for infection, regardless of whether they have symptoms or not.
The pre-print study from UC Davis, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, suggests that when it comes to policy making on how to mitigate spread of COVID-19, vaccine status might not matter much for mask mandates or social distancing requirements. The reason is higher viral loads make the virus more transmissible, and it appears both vaccinated and unvaccinated people who catch the Delta variant of COVID-19 have high viral loads.
“Given the substantial proportion of asymptomatic vaccine breakthrough cases with high viral levels, interventions, including masking and testing, should be considered for all in settings with elevated COVID-19 transmission,” the study abstract states.
Though studies have shown the various COVID-19 vaccines appear to be successful at reducing infection, severe disease, hospitalization, and death from the virus, the study suggests that a fully vaccinated person with a breakthrough case of COVID-19 who has no symptoms is just as capable of spreading the virus to other people as an unvaccinated person who is sick but has no symptoms.
“The data gathered in this study during the surge of the Delta variant strongly support the notion that neither vaccine status nor the presence or absence of symptoms should influence the recommendation and implementation of good public health practices,” the study states.
In other words, the researchers are saying masking and testing requirements should apply to both unvaccinated and vaccinated people, since both groups transmit the Delta variant at about equal rates.
As study author David Coil explained to the Davis Enterprise: “We really wanted to focus on this public health message, which is that our data show there are a lot of asymptomatic people that have high viral loads, there are a lot of vaccinated people that have high viral loads and there are kids that have high viral loads.”
Coil said there are misconceptions that children aren’t spreading the virus or that if someone is vaccinated and has no symptoms, they don’t need to take precautions.
“The fact that we see really high viral loads in all these different populations suggests that public health messaging should be more universally applied,” he said.
The study authors gathered data from individuals who voluntarily sought testing for COVID-19 in two different areas of California over a two-month period from June 17 to August 31. Samples were collected from a community-based testing site in the Mission District of San Francisco as well as the city of Davis and Yolo County. A total of 869 positive samples were collected, with 500 from Yolo County and 369 from the Mission District testing site.
Every sample from Yolo County was from an asymptomatic person and 75% of the samples from San Francisco were from unvaccinated individuals. Both symptomatic and asymptomatic samples were collected from the San Francisco site.
“In our study, mean viral loads … were similar for large numbers of asymptomatic and symptomatic individuals infected with SARS-Cov-2 during the Delta surge, regardless of vaccine status, age or gender,” the study found.
One note: Coil told the Davis Enterprise that carrying a higher viral load does not necessarily mean you will transmit the virus to someone else, just that you’re more likely to do so. And scientists believe that the viral load in vaccinated persons drops more quickly than in unvaccinated persons, which is another reason to get vaccinated. Additionally, while breakthrough cases happen, people are still less likely to catch COVID-19 if they’ve been vaccinated.
“Yes, we see the same amount of virus in vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals, but the probability of any given person getting infected isn’t the same,” said Coil.
But the main argument of the study is that when it comes to public health policy, vaccination status is not a good indicator of whether an individual needs to abide by COVID-19 restrictions like mask mandates or testing.
“Mask requirements shouldn’t be just based on symptoms and vaccination status because someone that is vaccinated or asymptomatic or both may still be shedding a significant amount of virus and a mask would dramatically limit their ability to do so,” Coil said.
“There’s just a lot of people who carry the infection asymptomatically and they have comparably high viral loads to people who are symptomatic,” he said.
“Again, we don’t know that that results in a comparable rate of transmission; probably not, just because if one of your symptoms is coughing, coughing is a really good way to eject viral particles out in the air. When you’re asymptomatic and just breathing, you’re probably doing less of that. But you still have a lot of virus replicating in your upper respiratory tract that you could be shedding. So I think this highlights the importance and need for testing, because you can’t just wait for symptoms. Everybody should be testing regularly.”
Other studies have addressed the effectiveness of COVID-19 mitigation strategies like mask-wearing. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently published new research that suggests school districts that mandated mask-wearing had fewer cases of COVID-19 than districts without mandates. On the other hand, a peer-reviewed study from the University of Louisville found that mask use requirements during the pandemic had no substantial effect on COVID-19 case growth during periods of high-transmission. N95 and K95 respirators are the masks that are most effective at reducing transmission of COVID-19, but mandated mask-wearing for children has been associated with negative impacts on social learning.
Extreme measures like lockdowns inflicted great social and economic costs on the nations that adopted those policies without a clear benefit, as a study from University of Chicago economist Casey Mulligan showed the virus spread more inside homes than in workplaces.
The best way to make sure you’re not spreading COVID-19 or any other illness is simple: If you’re sick, stay home and limit your contact with other people.
In areas with high numbers of COVID-19 cases, getting tested regularly for the virus, even if you’re vaccinated, can help you determine if you have an asymptomatic case and need to limit contact with other people.
President Joe Biden abandoned his mask during the coronavirus pandemic Wednesday as he attended the annual Congressional Baseball Game.
Biden joined members of Congress without a mask in their respective dugouts, even embracing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at one point who was also not wearing a mask.
U.S. President Joe Biden visits the Republican dugout during the the Congressional Baseball game at Nationals Park September 29, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi (3rd L)) looks on as US President Joe Biden (R) has a phone conversation from the Democrats dugout during the Congressional Baseball Game at Nationals Park in Washington, DC on September 29, 2021. – Biden was inducted into the Congressional Baseball Hall of Fame earlier this evening. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP) (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
Biden routinely wears his mask outdoors, even when moving to and from flights aboard Marine One to the White House.
U.S. President Joe Biden visits the Republican dugout during the the Congressional Baseball game at Nationals Park September 29, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
On September 11th, Biden wore a mask throughout outdoor memorial ceremonies.
Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, Vice President Kamala Harris, First Lady Jill Biden and President Joe Biden, participate in a wreath-laying ceremony on September 11, 2021 (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Biden typically wears a mask indoors even though he has now had three shots of the Pfizer vaccine. He frequently removes his mask to speak but sometimes forgets to put his mask back on.
He even wore his mask during bilateral meetings in the Oval Office with world leaders last week.
U.S. President Joe Biden (R) holds a bilateral meeting with Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on September 21, 2021. (Photo by NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images)
Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley later slammed the maskless Biden for attending Wednesday night’s big game rather than working on the business of government.
“The fact that Joe Biden has time to go to the Congressional baseball game but not time to take questions on Afghanistan or see the humanitarian crisis at the border is a disgrace,” the ex-Trump official tweeted Wednesday night.
Only one third believe Biden’s border strategy is superior
Just one third of Americans believe that Joe Biden’s border strategy is superior to that of the Trump administration, according to a new poll, with the majority preferring not to have an open door immigration policy.
The Rasmussen poll found that 51 percent of voters prefer the way it was under Trump, with only 32 percent saying it is now better at the border under Biden.
The poll also bizarrely found that 11 percent believe the policies have the same efficacy.
The survey also revealed that the majority feel it is a “bad decision” to release some 15,000 Haitian migrants into the US.
As we noted earlier this week, DHS Secretary Mayorkas admitted that the migrants were simply allowed to enter the country, with many likely never to attend follow up asylum hearings.
Mayorkas declared that the flood of illegal migrants at the border, and the subsequent release of thousands of them into the U.S. is “one of our proudest traditions.”
Fox News host Chris Wallace asked why the Biden administration hasn’t erected a “wall or a fence” in response to the crisis.
Mayorkas responded “It is the policy of this administration: we do not agree with the building of the wall.”
When asked exactly how many migrants have come into the U.S. from the latest wave, Mayorkas said “I think it’s about ten thousand or so, twelve thousand,” adding “It could be even higher. The number that are returned could be even higher. What we do is we follow the law as Congress has passed it.”
Wallace also noted that almost half of the migrants are never seen again, failing to appear at asylum court hearings.
“There are more than 11 million people in this country illegally. Clearly, despite your best efforts, millions of people end up in this country and don’t – just disappear,” Wallace noted.
Watch:
DHS Secretary Mayorkas: “it is the policy of this [Biden] administration, we do not agree with the building of the wall." pic.twitter.com/ksZn1o6Fn0
In addition, while thousands of undocumented migrants have been released into the country unvaccinated, Mayorkas is set to FIRE border patrol agents who do not get the shots.
🚨 #BREAKING: Whistleblower alleges that Border Patrol agents have been given official notice that they must be fully vaccinated by November 2021 or face termination. pic.twitter.com/5OytCtebe4
President Joe Biden made a surprise appearance at Wednesday night’s Congressional Baseball Game
He faces the most critical days of his presidency with massive spending bills and budget deadlines looming
Progressives are revolting and threatening to tank a $1.2T infrastructure bill to pressure moderates
Moderates Manchin and Sinema support the infrastructure bill but are blocking broader $3.5T spending plan
Manchin dug in on Wednesday issuing a fiery statement slamming the broader bill as ‘fiscal insanity’
Biden also needs lawmakers to lift the debt ceiling before mid-October, to avoid the U.S. defaulting on its debt
Government funding is also set to expire on Thursday, with a Senate vote set to extend through December 3
At the ballgame, Democrats greeted Biden with cheers of ‘We Love Joe’ while Republicans booed
The Republican team won the charity baseball game for the first time in five years – 13-12
Biden also faced criticism for attending the game with his administration facing mounting crises
President Joe Biden made a surprise appearance at Wednesday night’s Congressional Baseball Game, glad-handing lawmakers as members of his own party threaten to strike out his domestic agenda.
Moderate Democratic Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema are still endangering his $3.5 trillion spending bill, while progressives could tank a House vote on the separate $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package in a key vote on Thursday.
Manchin on Wednesday scuttled hopes of a quick deal on the broader bill by issuing a fiery statement calling it ‘fiscal insanity’, and progressive members of the so-called ‘Squad’ in the House are threatening to kill infrastructure, which the centrists support, unless they also back Biden’s broader agenda.
Meanwhile, Congress has until midnight on Thursday to pass a stop-gap funding bill to avoid a government shutdown, with a vote scheduled in the morning on a deal announced by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Separately, lawmakers must also raise the debt ceiling to prevent the U.S. government from going into a disastrous credit default by mid-October, an issue Republicans insist that Democrats must resolve on their own in reconciliation.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appeared poised to pull the plug on Thursday’s infrastructure vote, with progressive members in revolt. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn told reporters that he’d ‘find out at the baseball game’ whether the infrastructure vote would be delayed.
As Biden entered the ballpark Wednesday night, the Republican side of the stadium greeted Biden with boos. Democrats yelled ‘We Love Joe’ and ‘Build Back Better,’ his agenda’s slogan.
Biden huddled with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the Democratic dugout, before walking across the field to greet Republican lawmakers.
The president left before the end of the game, which saw Republicans win 13-12, while Pelosi was seen furiously speaking on the phone throughout.
Biden was also criticized for heading to Nationals Stadium with multiple crises mounting for his administration. Former US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley tweeted: ‘The fact that Joe Biden has time to go to the Congressional baseball game but not time to take questions on Afghanistan or see the humanitarian crisis at the border is a disgrace.’
The Pentagon top brass has been grilled in Congress this week over the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, with Generals Mark Milley and Frank McKenzie contradicting the President’s claim he wasn’t advised to keep US troops on the ground.
President Joe Biden attended the Congressional Baseball Game Wednesday night as Democrats are threatening to strike out his domestic agenda
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi confers with Biden during the annual Congressional Baseball game at Nationals Park
President Joe Biden (right) was spotted on the phone during the Congressional Baseball Game as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi cheers on the Democrats’ team
Pelosi was in close talks with White House advisor Cedric Richmond during the Congressional baseball game, as Biden tries to salvage his ambitious domestic agenda ahead of key votes scheduled for Thursday
President Joe Biden sported a blue ballcap from the Beau Biden foundation as he attended Wednesday night’s Congressional Baseball Game in Washington
Despite the bipartisan moment on the ballfield, Biden only needs Democrats to get his $3.5 trillion ‘human infrastructure’ bill across home plate.
So far, that hasn’t happened, with moderate Democratic Senators Sinema and Manchin blocking the bill over concerns about the size of the spending and hikes to business taxes. The pair have infuriated colleagues by not publicly stating their counter-proposals.
Biden spent hours meeting with Sinema at the White House on Wednesday, but appeared no closer to a deal after Manchin fired off a scathing statement decrying the broad spending bill as ‘fiscal insanity’ and warning it would not get his vote without adjustments.
‘I cannot – and will not – support trillions in spending or an all-or-nothing approach,’ said the West Virginia Democrat.
Manchin said he ‘can’t support $3.5 trillion in spending when we have already spent $5.4 trillion since last March.’
‘At some point, all of us, regardless of party must ask the simple question – how much is enough?’ added Manchin.
‘What I have made clear to the President and Democratic leaders is that spending trillions more on new and expanded government programs, when we can’t even pay for the essential social programs, like Social Security and Medicare, is the definition of fiscal insanity.’
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer also met with Biden at the White House ahead of the ballgame, as the Democrats rush to salvage the president’s ambitious domestic agenda.
Pelosi may be forced to postpone Thursday’s vote on the $1 trillion public infrastructure bill that Manchin, Sinema and other centrists want, but that progressives are threatening to defeat unless the moderates support Biden’s broader package.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki assured reporters that Sinema, at least, wanted a reconciliation bill to get passed. ‘Our sense is she does,’ Psaki said.
Even before Manchin’s statement came out, progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders was encouraging progressives in the House to kill the bipartisan infrastructure bill – using that as leverage to get the $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill done.
House Progressive Caucus Chair, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, said Manchin’s statement made that outcome even more possible
‘I just don’t see how [Pelosi’s] going to bring it up and I tell you, after that statement, we probably have even more people willing to vote no,’ Jayapal said.
Jayapal of Washington state said of Manchin: ‘He needs to either give us an offer or this whole thing is not going to happen.’
The bipartisan infrastructure bill has already passed the Senate.
Pelosi was seen above the Democrat dugout speaking on the phone as the clock ticked on the shutdown and Biden’s agenda
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi licks her lips as she takes in Wednesday night’s Congressional Baseball Game
Pelosi reacts while Biden speaks on the phone during the annual Congressional Baseball Game at Nationals Park
Biden congratulates a member of the Democratic team at the Congressional Baseball Game
Biden joked that it was ‘good to meet his predecessors’ when he posed with the Nationals mascots – George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln – in the Nationals Stadium tunnel
Biden watches the game from the Democrats’ dugout after a tense day of crisis talks with Congressional leaders
Centrists warned that canceling Thursday’s vote would be “breach of trust that would slow the momentum in moving forward in delivering the Biden agenda,” said Rep. Stephanie Murphy, a Florida Democrat and leader of the moderate Blue Dog Democrats.
Republicans are firmly opposed to Biden’s bigger vision, deriding the $3.5 trillion package as a slide toward socialism and government intrusion on Americans lives.
Biden insists the price tag for his plan actually will be zero because the expansion of government programs would be largely paid for with higher taxes on corporations and the wealthy – businesses earning more than $5 million a year, and individuals earning more than $400,000 a year, or $450,000 for couples.
Psaki was asked Wednesday afternoon if the infrastructure vote in the House was still expected the following day.
‘Well, this is why we all came to Washington – it’s like an episode of a TV show,’ she replied. ‘Maybe the West Wing if something good happens, maybe Veep if not,’ she joked.
Pelosi, who met with Biden at the White House earlier Wednesday, told reporters back on Capitol Hill ‘that’s the plan’ when asked about the Thursday infrastructure vote.
This week is a superficial deadline for the two Biden bills but there are concerns Congress will lose steam if they don’t get passed soon.
‘We’re obviously at a precarious and important time in these discussions,’ Psaki admitted.
Psaki played coy when asked if Biden might pay a visit to the game.
Upon his arrival, Biden put on a blue baseball hat, representing the Beau Biden Foundation, and was spotted signing his name to baseballs.
Biden’s entrance came after the Republican team hit back-to-back home runs, leading the Democrats 5-3 after the first inning. Democrats gained an additional run by the time Biden arrived.
Biden recruited the Democrats best player, Rep. Cedric Richmond, to work in the White House, which could allow the GOP to break the Democrats’ winning streak.
Republicans last won the game in 2016. Democrats have won eight of the last nine games.
Shortly after Biden arrived, Democrats retook the lead.
Richmond was spotted hanging out with Democratic lawmakers in their dugout. Pelosi visited Biden in the dugout too. Biden was also seen talking on the phone during the game.
With the Democrats leading 8-5, the president moved to the Republican side of the field for some gripping and grinning with them.
He stopped to talk to some children en route. The president’s grand-daughter Naomi walked alongside him.
Republican Rep. Greg Steube, pitching for the Republicans, hit a home-run as Biden chatted with GOP members.
The game is played at Nationals Park in Southeast D.C. Biden came out alongside the Washington Nationals’ Racing Presidents – giant versions of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and Thomas Jefferson.
Biden speaks with Michigan’s Bill Huizenga and Mike Bost of Illinois in the Republican dugout on Wednesday
Biden speaks with members of the Republicans team as he attends the annual Congressional Baseball Game
Trump supporters hold a banner while US President Joe Biden attends the Congressional Baseball Game
House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (center left), who was wounded practicing for the annual game in 2017, high fives Rep. Louie Gohmert (center right)
Rep. William Timmons (left), a Republican from South Carolina, wears a ‘Fix Congress’ jersey to Wednesday’s game. Rep. Dean Phillips (right), a Republican from Minnesota, is captured pointing to the message Sen. Joni Ernst, an Iowa Republican, puts on her cleats in advance of Wednesday’s Congressional Baseball Game at Nationals Park
Sen. Joni Ernst, an Iowa Republican, puts on her cleats in advance of Wednesday’s Congressional Baseball Game at Nationals Park
Besides attending a memorial service earlier Wednesday, Biden has remained huddled in meetings with lawmakers all week, ever since he received his COVID-19 booster shot Monday morning.
The president skipped a planned trip to Chicago Wednesday in order to hold more talks ahead of Thursday’s key funding deadline and votes.
The historic Arizona forensic audit has concluded and the hardworking Arizonans who volunteered their time and efforts to fight for our election integrity are finally speaking out.
They have been under nondisclosure agreements until now, and they can reveal what they saw while counting ballots in the Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
In this video, volunteers share their stories about why they chose to participate and they detail the disturbing election irregularities and anomalies they discovered.
Some of these observers were seen on the floor of the coliseum nearly every single day, working to fix Arizona’s elections.
The Gateway Pundit Correspondent Jordan Conradson volunteered to observe this “gold standard” audit in May, and his findings showed that this was a true full forensic audit.
These volunteers have been discredited and lied about since day one of this audit, and the media spin continues to this day with the detractors now saying “Biden won.”
They will never unsee their historic findings.
The people behind this video are individual American citizens who stepped up to help others hear the voices of our fellow citizens. This is non-partisan, and inclusive of all citizens, regardless of ideology. Every one of our voices matters, and WILL be heard. Our elections are to be decided by US; not big tech, not big media, not big pharma, and not by anyone else, regardless of how much money they have or how long they’ve been in office. We will not be divided any longer.
The audit was designed to be a comprehensive review of the results from the Maricopa County 2020 general election to confirm the effectiveness of existing legislation in governing elections, and to provide additional insights on possible areas of information-based legislative reform that could ensure an even greater level of integrity and accuracy in how elections are conducted.
The non-disclosure agreements have now been lifted…
Maricopa County Audit of 2020 Election April 22nd -September 24th, 2021. 2.1M ballots processed by hand Over 1,500 Volunteers donating over 100,000 hours All counters were Maricopa residents who voted in the last election.
Much more to come in the following weeks…this is merely the beginning.
The weight of the world now lies on Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s shoulders.
AG Brnovich recently issued a notice of claim to the county commanding them to preserve all evidence.
The fate of the free world is in the hands of Mark Brnovich.
The New York Times recently reported that the FBI had an undercover informant amid the protestors that entered the US Capitol on Jan. 6 who had related to them his knowledge of the demonstrators’ plans beforehand and his observations of events in the building in real time. The informant was a genuine member of the Proud Boys, one of the groups the feds are trying to charge with conspiracy to overthrow the government.
According to the Times, the informant told the FBI in advance that there was no plan by his colleagues to disrupt the government. He also reported violence and destruction in the Capitol to his FBI handler as it was happening, and the FBI did nothing timely to stop it.
The presence of the informant as a de facto federal agent at the scene before, during and after the commission of what the government considers to be serious felonies raises serious constitutional questions about the FBI’s behavior. The feds have not revealed the existence or identity of this informant; rather, the Times’ reporters found out about him and found another person to corroborate what they learned that he did.
Can the government insert a person into a group under criminal investigation — or “flip” a person who is already in the group — and use him for surveillance without a search warrant? And, when they do this, must prosecutors tell defense attorneys about their informant, particularly if his knowledge and observations are inconsistent with the government’s version of events?
Here is the backstory.
The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution was written to protect the quintessentially American right to be left alone. It was enacted in the aftermath of egregious violations of colonial privacy by British soldiers and agents.
The typical violation of privacy came in the form of British soldiers knocking on the door of a colonial home — or breaking it down — bearing a general warrant. A general warrant, issued by a secret court in London or by colonial courts here whose judges were loyal to the king, permitted the bearer to search wherever he wished and seize whatever he found.
