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Friday, September 29, 2023

Republicans Deliver Multiple Spending Bills in Effort to Keep Government Going

Rep. Ryan Zinke: Last year, Republicans made a commitment to the American people that we would restore fiscal responsibility, roll back costly regulations, and remove the woke garbage from the Biden administration. With that pitch, Republicans won the House majority. The only tool the House has left is our Constitutional Power of the Purse. As a member of the Appropriations Committee that has authorization over government spending, I’m happy to report we upheld our Commitment to America. There are 12 appropriations bills that fund different departments and agencies. The Appropriations Committee considers each bill. This is where Republicans have leveraged the Power of the Purse to cut spending and defund the woke. Unlike Democrats, we think the DoD should be focused on warfighting, not culture wars. The bill is stacked with conservative priorities. It slashes government funding for sex-change operations and hormone therapy, diverts a billion dollars from climate activism to the frontlines, and gets rid of federally funded drag queens. We are cutting Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ salary to $1 and forcing him to enforce the laws of the land, stop catch and release, end abuse of the asylum system, and allocate funds to finally finish the wall (Townhall).

Shutting Government Down Does Nothing for GOP Holdouts, Cuts Pay to Military Members

Hugh Hewitt: A destructive dynamic at work in U.S. politics today is the overarching incentive to create headlines. The nation is witnessing a prime example now with the government shutdown instigated by an obstinate subset of the House GOP’s Freedom Caucus. I call them the Knucklehead Caucus. Four Knucklehead Caucusers teamed up with Colorado’s Ken Buck to derail House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s plan to increase the GOP’s leverage in budget negotiations with President Biden and Senate Democrats by launching a separate move to fund the Defense Department. Buck soon extricated himself from the Knuckleheads’ clutches and publicly opposed a government shutdown. This shutdown, unless averted at the last minute, really is about nothing other than some politicians’ wretched self-interest. The Knucklehead Caucus somehow saw a political upside in risking a pay cutoff for military families in their states — a surprise attack that left plenty of observers scratching their heads. Yes, if there’s a shutdown, the government will inevitably start running again, as it always does, but military families making do on tight budgets may not think kindly of politicians’ adding to their burdens… Temporarily shutting down the federal government isn’t necessarily suicidal politics, but in this case that result seems certain. The Republican holdouts have no discernible, achievable objective here (Washington Post). Lawmakers are attempting to ensure the military gets paid if a shutdown occurs (Fox News).

Impeachment Inquiry Hearings Begin

Wall Street Journal: House Republicans held their first hearing in an impeachment inquiry into President Biden, accusing him of lying about family members’ business dealings and condoning their trading on the Biden name. Rep. James Comer (R., Ky.), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said Biden misled the American people when he said he separated his official duties and his family’s business dealings. Comer said the president’s family members, particularly his son Hunter Biden, were selling “Joe Biden himself” as they made millions of dollars. House Republicans released a trove of records that they cast as incriminating and tying President Biden to his son’s business activities, but they contained no concrete proof of wrongdoing by the president. Democrats criticized the impeachment inquiry as unwarranted, stressing that Republicans were undertaking it without a full House vote (Wall Street Journal). RNC Research: Chairman Jim Jordan’s opening statement in the Biden impeachment inquiry (X). Citizen Free Press: Jonathan Turley says there is plenty of credible allegations against the Biden Crime Family to go forward with an impeachment inquiry (X). Oversight Committee: Rep. James Comer ends first impeachment inquiry hearing by announcing he is issuing subpoenas for Hunter and James Biden’s personal and business bank records (X).

Gov. Newsom Raises Minimum Wage for Fast Food Employees to $20 Per Hour

If an employee works full time, this equals $41,600 annually. Associated Press: A new law in California will raise the minimum wage for fast food workers to $20 per hour next year, an acknowledgment from the state’s Democratic leaders that most of the often overlooked workforce are the primary earners for their low-income households. When it takes effect on April 1, fast food workers in California will have the highest guaranteed base salary in the industry. The state’s minimum wage for all other workers — $15.50 per hour — is already among the highest in the United States. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the law Thursday amid a throng of cheering workers and labor leaders at an event in Los Angeles (Associated Press). Newsmax: The $20 minimum wage is just a starting point. The law creates a fast food council that has the power to increase that wage each year through 2029 by 3.5% or the change in averages for the U.S. Consumer Price Index for urban wage earners and clerical workers, whichever is lower (Newsmax).

Michigan Supreme Court Mandates Judges to Address People as Their Preferred Pronouns

This immediately politicizes the court. NBC: The Michigan Supreme Court ordered all judges to address people in court by the pronouns they use or by “other respectful means.” “We serve the entire public and are required to treat those who come before us with civility and respect,” Justice Elizabeth Welch said. “The gender identity of a member of the public is a part of their individual identity, regardless of whether others agree or approve.” The statewide rule was approved, 5-2. Some transgender, nonbinary or gender-fluid people use they, them and their as a gender-neutral singular personal pronoun (NBC). Daily Wire: Republican-nominated Justice David Viviano opposed the new rule change, arguing that it forces judges into “socially and politically fraught topics that have little to do with the judicial system” (Daily Wire).

Arizona Governor Has Been Absent; Fourth in Line, State Treasurer Kimberly Yee, Named Acting Governor

Townhall: Katie Hobbs, Arizona’s Democratic governor, is certainly trending for a curious reason. On Wednesday night local time in Arizona, it was revealed that she would not be governor for a short while, until “mid-morning” on Thursday. A statement was put out by Acting Governor Kimberly Yee, a Republican, who as the Treasurer, is fourth in line. Everyone else was out of the state. It appears little is known about where Hobbs, who has been out of the state since Sunday (Townhall). Fox News: Since Arizona does not have a lieutenant governor and Arizona’s Attorney General and Secretary of State were also out of state, the responsibility fell to Yee (Fox News). Arizona Treasurer Kiberly Yee: I have been notified that I will be serving as Acting Governor beginning later this evening until mid-morning tomorrow (X). Arizona Capitol Times: State Treasurer Kimberly Yee said she did not allow those tapped by the governor as heads of two state agencies to sit at a meeting this week of the State Board of Investment. That panel reviews the $30 billion in investments of the treasurer and actually serves as trustee for certain funds. It also, by law, includes the director of the Department of Administration and the Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions. Only thing is, there are no “directors,” at least not officially. That’s because Hobbs, upset with the failure of the Senate to act on their nominations, not only withdrew them from consideration but removed them as interim directors. She then had them reinstalled through a procedural maneuver as each agency’s “executive deputy director.” That, said Yee, is illegal. And she won’t accept those named deputies to be voting members of the panel (Arizona Capitol Times).

Influencer Arrested While Cheering, Livestreaming the Philadelphia Looting Tuesday Evening

Daily Wire: A social media influencer who appeared to cheer on looters while livestreaming as they ransacked Philadelphia stores Tuesday night was arrested and charged with six felonies. Dayjia Blackwell, who goes by “Meatball,” was arrested during her livestream. The 21-year-old Blackwell was also hit with two misdemeanors on top of her six felony counts and was seen crying in her mugshot. The social media influencer’s bail was set at $25,000 which she posted Thursday morning. During her livestream, Blackwell called out the police and challenged them to arrest her. “Tell the police they’re either gonna lock me up tonight, or it’s gonna get lit, it’s gonna be a movie,” she said (Daily Wire). Philadelphia Inquirer: “What we doing tonight behind this injustice tap in?” Dayjia Blackwell wrote to her roughly 185,000 Instagram followers, referring to a judge’s decision earlier in the day to drop all charges against former Philadelphia Police Officer Mark Dial, who was arrested in the fatal shooting last month of Eddie Irizarry, 27, during a traffic stop. Interim Police Commissioner John Stanford has described the thieves as “opportunists” who piggybacked on the anger and grief surrounding the Irizarry case (Philadelphia Inquirer).

Thousands of Illegal Immigrants Being Dropped Off in San Diego Trigger Humanitarian Crisis Within City

Wall Street Journal: An unmarked white bus pulled up to a park here Monday morning, where it dropped off about 50 recently arrived migrants with little idea where they were and no place to sleep that night. The bus was driven by the U.S. government, which is dropping off thousands of migrants in communities along the border as a new wave of illegal immigration strains the resources of the Border Patrol. Local shelters are hitting capacity, including the roughly 950 beds in San Diego that are typically adequate for recently arrived migrants who need a place to sleep for a night or two. As a result, immigration agents are dropping people off on the streets, at bus stops and in train stations, angering local officials and worrying aid groups. In San Diego, an estimated 7,800 migrants have been released in the past two weeks, according to county officials, who on Tuesday declared the situation to be a humanitarian crisis (Wall Street Journal).

Trans Student Violently Beats Female in Oregon Middle School

Post Millennial: A young female student was violently beaten by a trans-identified male in the hallway of an Oregon public school. The shocking incident occurred at Hazelbrook Middle School in the Tigard Tualatin School District, which is right outside of Portland, Oregon. The brutal beatdown captured on video shows the trans-identified student, a biological male, throwing multiple blows to the female student’s head after he violently grabbed her hair, yanked her back and forth, then knocked her down flat in the school hallway. As the girl lay on the ground, he viscously grabbed her by the hair, dragging the girl across the ground before violently assaulting her further (Post Millennial). Charlie Kirk: A transgender, biological male student sneaks up on a female student at Hazelbrook Middle School in Tualatin, Oregon. He SLAMS her to the floor before pulling her hair and punching her in the face multiple times. While crying, the distraught victim says, “I can’t breath.” Not a mental disorder at all (X)! Riley Gaines: The SAME student attacking two other girls at a middle school in Oregon. The school board should be sued into oblivion for failing to protect their students time and time again. Every single member of the Tigard-Tualatin School District is responsible. Trans violence is violence (X).

10.

Oil Prices Near $100 Per Barrel with No Help on the Horizon

CNBC: Oil prices reached their highest level in over a year Thursday, after crude stocks at a key storage hub fell to their lowest since July last year. Crude inventories in Cushing, Oklahoma fell to 22 million barrels in the fourth week of September — hovering close to the operational minimum, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That’s a drop of 943,000 barrels compared to the prior week. The U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures touched $95.03 per barrel, marking the highest since August 2022. The global oil markets are looking at a “pretty robust deficit” on top of an already significant shortfall this quarter. In September, OPEC+ kingpin Saudi Arabia extended its 1 million barrel per day voluntary crude oil production cut until the end of the year (CNBC). Wall Street Journal: Though some analysts say oil prices could soon hit $100 a barrel, U.S. shale companies aren’t rushing to drill more. That means that unlike in past years when frackers flooded the market with crude and alleviated pressure, oil prices might remain elevated until someone else adds production or demand ebbs (Wall Street Journal).