July 14, 2023
Permission to republish original opeds and cartoons granted.
Robert Kennedy, Jr. Urged Weaponized Government Be Unleashed Against His Enemies
By Rick Manning
Robert Kennedy, Jr. is an expert on government suppression of free speech, just not in the way that many who are only familiar with him since 2020 may think.
In 2014, Kennedy advocated jailing “climate deniers” in the Huffington Post titled “What States’ Attorney General Can Do About Climate Deniers.” In case you think this is hyperbole, this is the URL HuffPo gave the article - https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jailing-climate-deniers_b_5912596.
Here are just a few of Kennedy’s proposed actions for state Attorneys General to take against those who pushed back against his environmental extremism.
Under the guise of following the “overwhelming scientific consensus on global warming,” (sound familiar?) Robert Kennedy, Jr. urged that state prosecutors give the death penalty to companies: “corporations which deliberately, purposefully, maliciously and systematically sponsor climate lies should be given the death penalty.”
But he doesn’t stop there as he also wants non-profit organizations which oppose his warped climate view to be shuttered and their assets to be distributed to government favored entities: “An Attorney General with particularly potent glands could revoke the charters… [of] oil industry surrogates like [American Enterprise Institute] AEI and [Competitive Enterprise Institute] CEI…”
Apparently questioning climate studies which cannot be replicated, as all legitimate science must be, can put a non-profit squarely in the cross-hairs of a potential Kennedy administration’s wild-eyed thought suppression scheme.
So that he would not be misunderstood, Kennedy focused his anti-science, anti-dissent screed naming a litany of non-profit groups as targets for being forcibly disbanded by an enterprising state Attorney General. These non-profits who Kennedy would disband include Cato Institute, Heritage Foundation, the Cooler Heads Coalition (of which Americans for Limited Government proudly counts itself as a member), the Global Climate Coalition, the American Enterprise Institute which he falsely labels as ALEC (which is the American Legislative Exchange Council), Americans for Prosperity, Heartland Institute, Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), George C. Marshall Institute, the State Policy Network, The Competitive Enterprise Institute.
And of course, he would also give the so-called corporate death penalty to Exxon-Mobil Corporation and Koch Industries for having the audacity to provide grants to organizations whose free market philosophies made them naturally suspicious of environmental diktats designed to end the western free enterprise system.
As far as Kennedy’s “scientific consensus” is concerned, just five years prior to his demanding the death penalty and jailing those who disagreed with him for exercising their First Amendment rights, the University of East Anglia Climate Research Unit was discovered, through leaked or hacked emails, to have manipulated research and engaged in extreme measures to avoid releasing underlying data to support their manipulated conclusions.
Why did this matter? This group of advocates in white lab coats at East Anglia formed the core of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). To quote a 2009 article by Christopher Booker in the Telegraph: “The reason why even the Guardian's George Monbiot has expressed total shock and dismay at the picture revealed by the documents is that their authors are not just any old bunch of academics. Their importance cannot be overestimated, What we are looking at here is the small group of scientists who have for years been more influential in driving the worldwide alarm over global warming than any others, not least through the role they play at the heart of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).”
Now, rest assured those vested in perpetuating climate alarmism investigated the scandal and determined there was nothing to be alarmed at.
Sound science demands that conclusions can be tested by others to determine if the conclusions are valid. This requires transparency of data and the freedom to test and falsify the hypothesis to see if it stands up.
In short, science demands dissent, not supplication.
Kennedy, Jr.’s demand that “climate deniers” be jailed because they put resources and effort into contesting the purported and tainted overwhelming scientific consensus is eerily reminiscent of the federal censorship regime that he now claims to be appalled by.
No one can doubt Robert Kennedy, Jr.’s sincerity. His father was the U.S. Attorney General under his uncle President John F. Kennedy and his other uncle served in the U.S. Senate for decades. Both John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy, Sr. were assassinated in the 1960’s. His father was murdered the same night he won the California Democratic primary and became the frontrunner for the Democratic Party nomination in 1968.
Kennedy bears the scars of violence and has a long history as a left-wing political influencer.
His demands for the jailing of those who disagree with him on the climate issue were not from a novice Chicken Little, but from a man who knew what the words he wrote meant. Kennedy understood their implications to the American system of political dissent as guaranteed under the First Amendment and yet urged politically weaponized state Attorneys General to destroy those who stood in his way.
An accomplished politician, it can be anticipated that before Congress, Robert Kennedy, Jr. will try to wave away his previous attack on dissent in America due to his abiding concern for the public good. Or he might even claim that he knows better now what a weaponized government can do. But in 2014 Kennedy, Jr. bared his teeth revealing that he knows exactly what government can do and advocated that it be done. Let’s hope some members of Congress have the courage to ask him about his willingness to use government to jail and ruin those who dissent from his view and not let him get away with just excoriating a government system that he has so recently embraced.
Rick Manning is the President of Americans for Limited Government.
To view online: https://dailytorch.com/2023/07/robert-kennedy-jr-urged-weaponized-government-be-unleashed-against-his-enemies/
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Trump Continues to Dominate DeSantis with Young People, Women, Minorities
By Manzanita Miller
Former President Donald Trump continues to eclipse Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in the race for the GOP presidential nominee, and the governor’s polling numbers suffer most with swing voters including young people, minorities, and women.
National polls have Trump ahead of DeSantis by roughly 40 percentage points, with the latest Morning Consult poll showing Trump earning 57% of the vote among GOP primary voters while DeSantis holds second place with 19%. Former Vice President Mike Pence trails far behind in third place with 7%, and Vivek Ramaswamy, who is relatively unknown but rising, earns 6%. Nikki Haley and Tim Scott each receive 3% support, while the remaining five candidates receive even lower percentages.
Even in DeSantis’ home state of Florida, the governor is polling well behind Trump in recent polls, a reversal from last fall. A new Mainstreet Research poll shows Trump ahead of DeSantis by 20 percentage points 50% to 30% in Florida.
This is a significant climb for Trump compared to a similar poll conducted by Victory Insights in May. At that time, Trump was up just 15 percentage points over DeSantis, indicating the past two months have increased Trump’s support in the sunshine state.
In May, the Victory Insights poll showed Trump leading DeSantis 47% to 32%. When compared to how the two Republican contenders were polling in Florida last November, the reversal is even more significant. Last fall Victory Insights polling showed DeSantis ahead of Trump by ten percentage points in Florida.
DeSantis continues to struggle significantly with women, younger voters, minorities, and lower-income voters. The Mainstreet Research poll shows Trump ahead of DeSantis by 23 percentage points with women, compared to 10 percentage points with men.
Trump is also ahead of DeSantis by a full 44 percentage points with voters under 35, and is ahead of DeSantis with all other age groups by much lesser margins. Trump leads DeSantis by 24 percentage points with voters aged 50-64 and just 6 percentage points with voters 35-49 and 8 points with voters over age 65.
Former President Trump is also ahead of DeSantis by 38 percentage points with Blacks and 31 percentage points with Hispanics, both larger margins than the 13 points he is ahead by with Whites. DeSantis also struggles with all income groups below $200K annually but leads Trump by 17 percentage points with voters earning over $200K. However, Trump continues to secure wide leads with low and moderate income groups, leading DeSantis by 34 percentage points with voters earning between $20K and $39K a year.
DeSantis has turned his attention to Iowa, where his campaign hopes to pick up evangelical voters in the early primary caucus state. Reuters recently reported that two sources close to the DeSantis campaign have decided on an Iowa-first strategy and hope that by securing an unexpected victory there DeSantis could potentially impede Trump's current momentum. However, it will be an uphill battle considering Trump is ahead by approximately 25 percentage points in the state. According to RealClearPolitics averages, Trump has the support of 47.7% of Iowa GOP voters, while DeSantis has the support of 25.3%.
With interest in DeSantis fading, large donors who initially considered backing him are receding. According to CNBC reporting, Citadel CEO Ken Griffin, who donated over $100 million in the 2022 midterms mostly to Republicans, “continues to assess the field” of alternative candidates and hasn’t made it clear yet whether he will support DeSantis. Other large donors are sitting on the sidelines as well, as DeSantis’ campaign struggles to gain the traction it needs to present a real challenge to Trump.
While DeSantis appears to be making a play for Iowa’s voters in an attempt to thwart Trump in the early caucus state, he will have to improve his numbers with women and middle-income voters if he is to have a chance there and elsewhere.
Manzanita Miller is an associate analyst at Americans for Limited Government Foundation.
To view online: https://dailytorch.com/2023/07/trump-continues-to-dominate-desantis-with-young-people-women-minorities/
Coalition Letter on Railroad Safety Act
Dear Members of Congress:
The undersigned individuals write to express concerns with the Railway Safety Act (S. 576). Safety advancement in any mode of transportation, including U.S. freight railroading, is critical; but public policy should be written to address specific problems. It should be rooted in data and pass the muster of cost-benefit analysis.
While the legislation that cleared the Senate Commerce Committee is better than the original bill introduced in March, it still includes far too many prescriptive policies, unduly favors organized labor, and would unduly empower unelected bureaucrats. This is why it garnered the support of just two Republicans on the Committee.
Sen. Ted Cruz, ranking member of the Commerce Committee, and energy experts have also outlined how the bill would disrupt domestic energy production, while the agriculture, propane, and intermodal transportation industries, to name a few, remain opposed.
The most glaring issues with the legislation include the following:
- The bill seeks to mandate that large railroads maintain two-person crews – the current standard set by voluntary collective bargaining – in perpetuity. Public policy groups have opposed this measure, also being pursued by the Biden administration’s Department of Transportation, because it is unneeded, ignores technology backstops, and would lessen competition. Two may seem better than one, and perhaps two will be the voluntary standard into the future, but lawmakers should not cement this into law, especially not in reaction to a February train derailment that included a three-member crew. Railroads should have the flexibility to adjust their operations in the future. This measure is likely why Sen. John Thune (R-SD) called the bill a “stalking horse for onerous regulatory mandates and union giveaways.”
- The largest section of the bill deals with the movement of hazardous materials, triggering an unfathomable number of future rulemakings pertaining to issues such as train size. As currently written, these rulemakings would avoid cost-benefit analysis (CBA). Conservatives have long championed the need for CBA because no human activity is 100% safe 100% of the time. Every activity involves some form of CBA. New railroad safety laws should certainly require them, including a survey of the likely risks created as railroads and shippers alter procedures to mitigate the cost of the new rules.
- Lastly, the bill also includes prescriptions on the use of trackside detectors, which exist today not because of regulatory wisdom but market innovation. Rather than dictate expansion of these proven technologies, government policies should seek to incentivize their evolution and adoption. Time and time again, when the federal government locks into a single technology the public suffers as industry lacks the flexibility or incentive to pursue next-generation technologies.
Railroads are crucial for the efficient running of the nation’s supply chain. That makes it all the more important that Congress pursue wise, cost-effective policies that benefit the entire nation, as opposed to ones that primarily aid a few well-placed special interests. Congress needs to avoid rushed policymaking that caters to special interests rather than addressing the issues at hand in a thoughtful, cost-effective manner.
To view online: https://cei.org/coalition_letters/cei-leads-coalition-letter-on-railroad-safety-act/