We’ve been on a roll throughout the country on school choice, but we suffered our first defeat last night. Hopefully, it is only temporary. The vote was 85-89, with 16 rural Republicans voting with the teacher unions and against kids.
The Speaker of the House says he will bring up the vote again in January. We say this can’t wait that long. Only about one in three kids in Georgia public schools is reading and math proficient in the 8th grade. The educational abuse of children - especially in Inner-city Atlanta - is a racial injustice and economic crisis that cannot persist for one more day.
Governor Brian Kemp MUST call for a special session to pass this bill in the weeks ahead. And if the 16 Republicans continue to oppose educational freedom and competition in schools, then it is time for them to leave.
2) After a Flip and a Flop Biden Will Terminate the COVID National Emergency Two Years After It Ended
Give Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas credit for persistence. He forced the Senate to vote on terminating the COVID national emergency three times:
On March 2, 2022, the Senate passed the first Marshall resolution to terminate the COVID national emergency by a vote of 48–47. Nancy Pelosi did not allow a House vote.
On November 15, 2022, the Senate passed it again by a vote of 61–37. Pelosi again blocked a House vote.
On March 29, 2023, the Senate passed it 68-23. This time the bill had already passed the McCarthy-led House 229-197 and is headed to the president's desk.
Biden has indicated he will not veto it, even though he "strongly opposes" it. Huh?
Here are the 23 senators in the "emergency forever" caucus who voted no yesterday:
Bernie Sanders even wore a mask during the vote!
Congrats to our Covid expert Phil Kerpen for being the leading voice in Washington to get rid of this forever emergency - and the extraordinary/unconstitutional government powers that went with it.
3) Democrats Much Less Likely To Believe in God, Country, and Family
In case you haven’t heard about this story, it is extraordinarily troubling - but, alas, not too surprising.
The poll shows that the percentage of Americans who have a patriotic love of country, are religious, and think it is important to have children has fallen by almost half in 25 years.
Those who self-report as Democratic voters are about twice as likely as Republicans to reject these traditional values. Only one-in-four Democrats think it is important to procreate and have kids. (If you really believe - as the UN scientists tell us - that the planet has only five or 10 years left before we all die from global warming, why bring children into the world to face a climate change apocalypse?)
What’s most disturbing about this is that if the left in America has lost faith in the country, God, or family - what DO they believe in?
4) Hooray! Senate Overturns EPA/Army Corps Water Rule
The infamous "Waters of the United States" rule allows the EPA and the Army Corps to regulate almost any privately-owned land with standing water as a federal wetland, blocking it off for economic development. It is one of the most invasive regulations in American history.
Good news: a bipartisan bill to ban it is finally headed to Biden's desk after it passed the Democratic Senate 53-43.
Bad news: this one Biden says he WILL veto.
We commend four Senate Democrats and an independent for believing there should be some limits to federal Clean Water Act regulatory power:
This is one of the most anti-growth green initiatives in Washington in modern times.
If you have a stream or small pond or a creek on your property, the Feds May prohibit any development or building - and they can put you in jail if you fail to comply. (Meanwhile, they are giving Get Out of Jail Free cards to violent criminals.)
5) Video of the Day – DC Crime Reality v. Democratic Testimony
This video shows an unusually reckless carjacking (right in front of police!) that took place yesterday just blocks away from where the DC Council chairman was testifying to the House Oversight Committee that there is no crime crisis in DC.
