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Wednesday, December 20, 2023

Colorado Supreme Court Says Trump Ineligible for 2024 Ballot

Fox News: The Colorado Supreme Court has disqualified former President Trump from appearing on the state’s ballots in 2024. The disqualification, which was made under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, is related to the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. The Tuesday ruling is stayed until January 4 because of likely appeals. Three justices on the Colorado Supreme Court dissented. Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said in a statement that she would “continue to follow court guidance on this important issue” (Fox News). CNBC: The ruling is the first time a state court has agreed that Trump, who is the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, should be barred from ballots in a state because of a U.S. constitutional provision barring people who have engaged in “insurrection” from federal office. Courts in Minnesota and Michigan have rejected similar suits challenging Trump’s placement on the presidential ballot, but the issue is continuing to be litigated in a number of states (CNBC). Speaker Johnson: … a thinly veiled partisan attack (X).

Anti-Israel Protesters Protest in the Capital Hill Rotunda, Arrests Made

Townhall: The trend of radical anti-Israel leftists shutting down government buildings to demand a “ceasefire now” — something which would prolong Hamas attacks against Israeli civilians and give the Iran-backed terrorists a hope of survival — reached a new level on Tuesday when the rotunda of the United States Capitol was closed by authorities while they arrested and removed the demonstrators (Townhall). Andrew Desiderio: There’s a “ceasefire now” protest happening now in the Capitol rotunda. Capitol Police not letting people through while arrests being made (X). Chad Pergram: USCP arrest 60 people in connection with anti-Israel protest in the Capitol Rotunda. USCP: We were aware of a group’s potential plan to take a tour of the U.S. Capitol Building and then start a protest (X).

Governor Kathy Hochul Passes Bill Allowing Task Force for Reparations Plan

National Review: Governor Kathy Hochul (D., N.Y.) on Tuesday signed a bill that empowers a statewide task force in New York to consider racial reparations for black New Yorkers whose ancestors were once enslaved in the U.S. Following California’s lead, New York is now the second state to authorize a commission that will examine whether any reparations should be made for the nation’s history of slavery and racism. A nine-member task force appointed by Hochul and the state legislature will recommend ways New York can redress past discrimination, which can then be enacted by state lawmakers. New York would struggle to pay restitutions to blacks, given the state’s projected $4.3 billion budget deficit for fiscal year 2024 (National Review). Daily Wire: In New York, State Senate Republican leader Rob Ortt said that the commission’s recommendations would come at an “astronomical cost” to taxpayers and argued that reparations have already been paid. “The reparations of slavery were paid with the blood and lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans who fought to end slavery during the Civil War,” Ortt said (Daily Wire).

Senior Hamas Leader Confesses the Terror Group Hides in Hospitals Within Gaza

National Review: Ahmed al-Kahlout, the manager of the Kamal Adnan Hospital in northern Gaza, admitted during an interrogation with Israeli security forces that Hamas used the medical facilities to advance its military operations. “I know 16 employees in the hospital — doctors, nurses, paramedics and clerks — who also have different positions in the Qassam Brigades,” Kahlout told Israel’s Shin Bet in a video clip released on Tuesday afternoon, referring to the military of Hamas. “They hide in hospitals because, for them, a hospital is a safe place.” Kahlout, whose hospital is located in the Jabaliya neighborhood of northern Gaza, explained to Israeli security officials, “They (Hamas) won’t be targeted when they are inside a hospital” (National Review). ADF: Hamas in their own words: Ahmad Kahalot—Senior Hamas Member since 2010 and director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Jabalya in northern Gaza admits that Hamas has used hospitals as military facilities under their control (X).

Judge Temporarily Stops Removal of Civil War Statue from Arlington National Cemetery

Daily Wire: A federal judge has blocked the removal of a Civil War memorial from Arlington National Cemetery over a lawsuit that says that its removal would damage the graves of the Confederate soldiers buried around the memorial. U.S. District Judge Rossie Alston issued a temporary restraining order on Monday stopping the Pentagon’s removal of the Reconciliation Monument, also known as the Confederate Memorial, after the Defend Arlington group sued to stop the memorial’s removal. The memorial was ordered to be removed after Congress created a commission in 2021 to evaluate links to the Confederacy on any federal property. Alston’s order blocks “any acts to deconstruct, tear down, remove, or alter the object of this case.” The memorial was first erected in 1914 in a section of the cemetery meant for Confederate soldiers (Daily Wire). USA Today: Last week, 44 lawmakers, led by Georgia Republican Rep. Andrew Clyde wrote a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin demanding the Reconciliation Monument be kept. Clyde said the monument, “does not honor nor commemorate the Confederacy; the memorial commemorates reconciliation and national unity (USA Today).

Chicago Mayor Breaks Promise for the Sake of “Equity”

Fox News: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is taking criticism for moving to end the selective enrollment process at certain schools in the Windy City in the name of “equity.” The Chicago School Board passed a resolution Thursday that seeks to move away from school choice and bolster the city’s neighborhood schools to address “long-standing structural racism and socio-economic inequality.” But the move comes after Johnson reportedly told the Chicago Tribune, “A Johnson administration would not end selective enrollment at CPS schools. According to the resolution that was passed, the board is looking to “transition away from privatization and admissions/enrollment policies and approaches that further stratification and inequity in CPS and drive student enrollment away from neighborhood schools” (Fox News).

New Government Guidance for Schools in England Dictates Parents Be Informed When Their Child Changes Genders

Daily Wire: Schools in England should inform parents when a child changes their gender identity, according to new government guidance issued this week. The long-awaited new guidance, published Tuesday by the United Kingdom’s Department for Education, applies to schools in England and has been expected since 2018. “Parents should not be excluded from decisions taken by a school or college relating to requests for a child to ‘socially transition,’” the guidance states. A “social transition” can involve a student taking using a new name, new pronouns, different clothing, and using the bathrooms or playing on the sports teams of the opposite sex (Daily Wire). BBC: Under the new guidance teachers do not have a “general duty” to allow pupils to socially transition and are urged to use caution, including “watchful waiting periods, and ensuring parents are fully consulted before any decision is taken” (BBC).

Marking the 20-Year Anniversary of Gavin Newsom’s “10-Year Plan” to End Homelessness

Spencer Brown: “I don’t want to over-promise, but I also don’t want to under-deliver — I want to hit the ground running.” Those were the words of then San Francisco Mayor-Elect Gavin Newsom in 2003 in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle about his plan to “aggressively” go after his administration’s top priority: homelessness. Specifically, it was Newsom’s “10-year plan for ending chronic homelessness and going after ‘tens of millions’ of new dollars in federal funding,” the Chronicle explained at the time. But it’s now 2023 — a full two decades after Newsom announced his “10-year plan for ending chronic homelessness” and… he didn’t. Contrary to the arrogant quote given to the Chronicle, Newsom both over-promised and under-delivered (Townhall). CA GOP: “Not only does the problem remain unsolved today, but in the time since, he has taken his failures statewide,” said CAGOP Chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson. “Gavin Newsom’s 10-year plan to end San Francisco homelessness marks 20-year anniversary” (X).

Poll: 66 Percent of Americans Are Pessimistic About the Future

NBC: Intended holiday spending per person jumped 31% to $1,300 this year, according to the CNBC All-America Economic Survey. Eighteen percent of respondents said they will spend more this holiday. Biden’s overall approval rate fell to 35%, the lowest CNBC has recorded in his presidency. His economic approval rose a point to 33% and disapproval declined a point to 62% (NBC). RNC Research: CNBC: 66% of Americans say they’re “pessimistic, now and for the future” — a record high in the 17-year history of the survey. “We’ve never found people more depressed” (X).

10.

U.S. Population Growth Continues at Slow rate

Wall Street Journal: The U.S. population grew 0.5% this year, according to Census Bureau estimates released Tuesday, as the pandemic’s effects on births, deaths and immigration continued to fade. The increase for the year that ended June 30 was similar to the previous year, when the population grew 0.4%. The new estimate shows the population has grown to 334.9 million, up 1.6 million people in the past year. In the decade before the pandemic, the U.S. grew by an average of 2.1 million people a year. The slow growth showed the combined effects of elevated death rates, which are dropping from pandemic highs but remain higher than pre-pandemic levels, and record low birthrates (Wall Street Journal).