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Thursday, December 21, 2023

Even Democrats Upset with Colorado for Not Allowing Trump on 2024 Ballot

NBC: The Colorado Supreme Court’s decision to bar Donald Trump from the state’s ballot will help the former president in his quest to win the Republican nomination next year, political insiders in both parties say. Some Democrats fear it could boost him next November, too. Republican elected officials raced to rally around Trump in the hours after the ruling was released Tuesday — even those not backing him for president in 2024. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who has not endorsed Trump, wrote a bill aimed at preventing states from blocking presidential candidates from their ballots (NBC). Reporter Zohn Hasson: Dems two months ago: “We’ll lift sanctions on Venezuela, but only if Maduro stops disqualifying his presidential opponents.” Dems today: “We just disqualified Trump as a presidential candidate (X). Justin Amash: This isn’t accountability; it’s an assault on due process of law. It undermines our electoral system and threatens every federal candidate for office (X). Robert George: As someone who opposes and has always opposed Donald Trump, I understand the temptation to short-circuit the democratic process in order to prevent his election. But it’s a mistake–a bad and dangerous precedent (X).

Inspired by Colorado, California Attempts to Remove Trump from 2024 Ballot

Spencer Brown: Following the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling barring Donald Trump from the Centennial State’s ballot, it was only a matter of time before other states used the dubious ruling as the basis for attempts to prevent its residents from being able to vote for the former president in 2024. The day after the Colorado ruling, California’s Democrat Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis sent a letter to Secretary of State Shirley Weber demanding that she “explore every legal option to remove former President Donald Trump from California’s 2024 presidential primary ballot” (Townhall). End Wokeness: California Lt. Governor Eleni Kounalakis calls on the Secretary Of State to begin exploring ways to remove Trump from the 2024 state ballot (X).

Harvard University President Faces Other Plagiarism Accusations

Free Beacon: Harvard University on Tuesday received a complaint outlining over 40 allegations of plagiarism against its embattled president, Claudine Gay. The document paints a picture of a pattern of misconduct more extensive than has been previously reported and puts the Harvard Corporation, the university’s governing body—which said it initiated an “independent review” of Gay’s scholarship and issued a statement of support for her leadership—back in the spotlight. The full list of examples spans seven of Gay’s publications—two more than previously reported—which comprise almost half of her scholarly output. Though the Harvard Corporation said earlier this month that it initiated an independent review of Gay’s work in October and found “no violation of Harvard’s standards for research misconduct,” that probe focused on just three papers (Free Beacon). Washington Examiner: On Monday, the Boston Globe editorial board called on the university to be “clear” on whether Gay committed plagiarism. The editorial board said the corporation’s statement on Gay’s academic work was “contradictory” and noted that Harvard’s own website “lists a definition of plagiarism at Harvard that is unforgiving of honest mistakes, and applies to everyone.” But it stopped short of calling for Gay’s ouster (Washington Examiner).

Border Patrol Hits 12,500 Encounters in a Single Day, Personnel Overwhelmed

News Nation: Over 12,500 people were encountered Monday at the southern border — the highest number of encounters on record for a single day, U.S. Customs and Border Protection. December migrant encounters at the southern border are on track to exceed the number seen in November by 30%. In the first 17 days of November, CBP encountered roughly 130,000 migrants. During the first 17 days of December, meanwhile, CBP reported about 167,000 total. Border patrol agents have said they are overwhelmed now as multiple sectors along the border are beyond capacity (News Nation). Hill: So many migrants are at the border that the CBP is having to pull back staff from official ports of entry to patrol the vast spaces between — which is making the broader problem worse (Hill).

ACLU Sues Texas for Their New Immigration Law

Associated Press: The White House and Mexico’s president on Tuesday came out strongly against a new Texas law that would allow police to arrest migrants who illegally cross into the U.S. and empower local judges to order them to leave the country. Also Tuesday, civil rights groups and Texas’ largest border county filed a lawsuit, calling the measure that Republican Gov. Greg Abbott had signed into law less than 24 hours earlier an unconstitutional reach over the U.S. government’s authority on immigration. The Texas law that takes effect in March could be a test of how aggressively a state can limit immigration amid a surge in illegal crossings in remote areas that has escalated pressure on Congress to reach a deal on asylum (Associated Press). ABC: The law does not allocate funding or mandate training for law enforcement officials who will now be tasked with enforcing immigration law. Immigrant rights advocates have said this would leave the fate of a migrant’s path to asylum in the hands of untrained officers (ABC).

Wisconsin Lawyer Sues State Bar Over Recruiting New Employees Using DEI Constraints

Daily Caller: A Wisconsin lawyer sued the state bar Wednesday over a diversity clerkship program that allegedly limits eligibility to students who are minorities or who identify as LGBT. Attorney Daniel Suhr, backed by the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, filed the lawsuit because he objects to his bar membership dues being used to fund an “unconstitutional program” that selects participants based on protected traits like race. The “Diversity Clerkship Program,” which has offered paid internships to nearly 600 students, is restricted only to students “with backgrounds that have been historically excluded from the legal field,” according to its website (Daily Caller). Mia Cathell: The complaint argues that using the funds of due-paying State Bar members to provide invaluable internship experiences exclusively to a subset of students is a violation of the Constitution, citing the precedent set in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that held that race-based discrimination (a.k.a. “affirmative action”) in the college-admissions process violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. Consequently, it is constitutionally mandated that educational and employment opportunities “must be made available to all on equal terms” (X).

Democrat Who Pushed to Defund Police Demands a Larger Presence in His Neighborhood

Washington Examiner: A Texas Democrat who was a strong advocate of defunding the Austin police in 2020 was accused of hypocrisy on Tuesday after he requested a police patrol in his neighborhood from the same department. Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX) requested the police’s assistance through the United States Capitol Police, which forwarded the request to the Austin Police Department. Casar also sent a letter to the Justice Department last week accusing the Texas police force of racism and discrimination against people with mental health problems (Washington Examiner). Austin Police Retired Officers Association: It’s come to our attention that Anti police king of the defund movement in Austin Greg Casar who only last week called APD an agency with racist practices has requested enhanced patrols around his house for the next week. We want everyone in Austin to feel safe. But this seems to us as the height of hypocrisy from the congressman. Maybe he should hire private security like his fellow squad members do. Sure seems like he wants the police in his neighborhood just not yours (X).

U.S., Venezuela Agree to Prisoner Swap

NBC: Ten Americans who had been jailed in Venezuela will touch down on American soil Wednesday night following a deal between the Biden administration and Venezuelan government to release an ally of President Nicolás Maduro in exchange for the U.S. citizens, a senior administration official said. The plane carrying the Americans will land in San Antonio, Texas, the Biden official said. The administration declined to disclose the flight’s origin, noting only that it did not take off from Venezuela (NBC). CBS: The Maduro ally, Colombia-born Alex Nain Saab Morán, was charged in Florida in 2019 for money laundering and was arrested in 2020 in the Republic of Cabo Verde while en route to Iran. Saab was extradited to the U.S. the next year to face criminal prosecution. He pleaded not guilty, and his attorneys have since been trying to get his case dismissed by claiming diplomatic immunity (CBS).

U.S. Airlines Caught Flying Illegal Immigrants to NYC

Townhall: Delta and American Airlines are under fire for flying illegal migrants from President Joe Biden’s Arizona processing centers into domestic U.S. hubs on late-night flights. According to reports, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport has become a significant hub for illegal aliens to travel around the United States. Republican commentator Ashley St Clair was on a flight from Phoenix to New York City when she noticed that her Delta Airlines flight was filled with illegal aliens. In a video posted to social media, St Clair showed illegal migrants lined up waiting to board her flight (Townhall). Ashley St. Clair: My Delta flight from Phoenix appears to be flying migrants who crossed the border and are being shipped to New York. When I asked a Delta representative if this was the case, his response was “What does it matter, they’re humans too.” What is happening (X)?

10.

Government in Debt of $381 Billion on the Year, National Debt Nears $34 Trillion

Just the News: The U.S. government ran a budget deficit of $381 billion so far into the 2023 fiscal year, which represents a 13% increase from this same time period last year. The deficit is $44 billion higher than it was at the end of November 2022, according to the latest data released by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. The national debt in January of 2020 was $17.2 trillion. By contrast, the national debt is currently $33.9 trillion (Just the News).