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Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Hugh Hewitt: Border Wall Comes First in Fixing Border Crisis

Hugh Hewitt: If the negotiations underway between Republicans and Democrats in Washington, D.C. on border security do not produce a bill that guarantees the rapid construction of a 900 mile Wall along the passable areas of the U.S.-Mexico border, the bill will not and should not pass the House of Representatives. Indeed, it shouldn’t pass the Senate. Border security is a distinct part of immigration policy, but it is the most visible and crucial part of the issue set, and it is also the first issue that must be dealt with before any other aspect of the complex set of connecting controversies can be worked through. Serious people will admit that the Wall will not end all un-permitted migration across the border, but that it will indeed significantly reduced the flow of migrants. The Wall has to be first because it is both the proverbial tourniquet and a much-needed signal amid all the noise around immigration. The Wall would be the visible expression of an invisible conviction that a country must control its borders and that the United States is committed to controlling its border (Fox News).

Biden Taps Out on Control of Border: “I've done all I can do”

Katie Pavlich: Speaking to reporters from the South Lawn of the White House Tuesday while standing in front of a noisy Marine One, President Joe Biden again claimed he doesn’t have the power to fix the current crisis at the border and that it’s up to Republicans to pass new legislation to solve the issue (Townhall). Townhall: “Have you done everything you can do with executive authority (on the border)?” BIDEN: “I’ve done all I can do. Just give me the power…! Give me the border patrol! Give me the people! The judges! Give me the people who can stop this and make it work right” (X)! Bill Melugin: Our photographer says volunteer groups are visiting camps of illegal immigrants in the area who are waiting to be picked up by Border Patrol & are handing out these “Welcome to the USA” fliers, which advise them of next steps & claim BP agents lie & “manipulate” people (X).

Cori Bush (D-MO) Under Investigation for Using Campaign Funds for Personal Security

National Review: The Department of Justice has reportedly opened a criminal investigation into allegations that Representative Cori Bush (D., Mo.) misspent federal security money. As part of the investigation, the DOJ subpoenaed the House Sergeant at Arms for records related to the alleged misspending. The news comes after the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission in March 2023 asking the agency to investigate whether Bush “used campaign funds for personal use” when she spent $60,000 in 2022 for security services provided by Cortney Merritts, whom she married in February 2023 (National Review). Jake Sherman: The Justice Department subpoenaed the House Sergeant at Arms for records relating to the misspending of federal security money (X).

SCOTUS Justice Sonia Sotomayor: “every loss truly traumatizes me”

CNN: Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor opened up on Monday about the “frustration” she said she experiences daily as the high court’s conservative supermajority continues to move the country further to the right. “I live in frustration. And as you heard, every loss truly traumatizes me in my stomach and in my heart. But I have to get up the next morning and keep on fighting,” Sotomayor, the court’s senior liberal member, said at an event at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law (CNN). Daily Caller: Last term, the Supreme Court blocked affirmative action in college admissions, affirmed a Christian designer could not be compelled to create custom wedding websites for same-sex couples in violation of her beliefs and struck down the Biden administration’s plan to grant student loan forgiveness to nearly 40 million Americans This term, the Supreme Court will have to rule on cases dealing with Trump’s ballot eligibility, abortion, social media censorship, the administrative state and the Second Amendment (Daily Caller).

Republicans Introduce Bill to Completely Defund UNRWA

Townhall: Republican Congressman Brian Mast, who served in the Israeli Defense Forces and the U.S. Army, has introduced legislation to permanently defund the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. The bill comes after the Wall Street Journal revealed the “relief” agency is infested with terrorists who not only indoctrinate children in UNWRA schools to murder their Jewish neighbors, but that thousands of workers participated in the October 7 massacre against Israeli civilians. UNRWA workers and teachers also helped take Israelis and Americans hostage in the Gaza Strip (Townhall). Rep. Brian Mast: UNRWA is a front: plain and simple. While it masquerades as a relief organization, it has built the infrastructure to support Hamas and has indoctrinated Palestinian children to hate all Jews. Not a single penny of our tax dollars should go to UNRWA (X). Senator Kate Britt (R-AL): The far-left would defund the police but fund terrorists. 10% of UNRWA staff in Gaza have links to terror groups, while 49% of UNRWA staff have close relatives who are members of Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad. UNRWA can’t be trusted with a cent of U.S. taxpayer money (X).

Federal Authorities Caught Known Terrorist, Released Him Into Country

Daily Caller: Federal authorities caught a terrorist at the U.S. southern border and released him into the country, where he roamed freely for nearly a year before being arrested in Minnesota just days ago. Border Patrol caught 172 terror watchlist suspects attempting to enter the U.S. illegally during fiscal year 2023. Former homeland security officials say the constant deluge of illegal immigrants hitting the southern border is making it easier for bad actors to slip into the country (Daily Caller). Daily Wire: Al-Shabaab was named a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department in March 2008. The group pledged loyalty to al-Qaeda in 2012. According to the Counter-Terrorism Guide for the Director of National Intelligence, “Since 2014 al-Shabaab has killed more US citizens than any other al Qa’ida affiliate, and as of 2022, was its wealthiest component” (Daily Wire).

Harvard’s Chief Diversity Officer Accused of 40 Counts of Plagiarism

Daily Mail: Harvard’s chief diversity and inclusion officer has been accused of plagiarizing some of her academic works, including one by her own scholar husband. The Ivy League school received a letter from an unsigned source outlining 40 instances of alleged plagiarism by Sherri Ann Charleston. The accusations range from minor quotations missing to taking credit for her own husband’s research. It comes just weeks after Harvard president Claudine Gay was forced to resign following similar claims. Charleston is accused of lifting texts and paraphrasing nearly a dozen scholars without attribution in her 2009 dissertation (Daily Mail). DC Draino: It happened again. Harvard’s “Chief Diversity Officer” accused of 40 separate acts of plagiarism. Nobody is destroying Harvard’s brand more than Harvard. Woke dumpster fire (X). Federalist: If proven true, Charleston’s plagiarism likely won’t result in any significant punishment from the university’s board, which voted “unanimously” to keep Gay as president after reports documenting her purported plagiarism broke. Despite resigning as president, Gay “remains a tenured faculty member” at Harvard, where she receives $900,000 a year (Federalist).

Illinois To Keep Trump on GOP Primary Ballot

Hill: The Illinois State Board of Elections ruled Tuesday that Donald Trump could remain on the state’s primary ballot, delivering the former president a key victory in a Democratic stronghold. The eight-member state board, which includes four Republicans and four Democrats, made the decision in a unanimous vote (Hill). AP News: Illinois’ election board on Tuesday was considering whether to keep Donald Trump on the state’s primary ballot after a recommendation that he be removed over the Constitution’s insurrection provision (AP News). ABC: The body said it lacked the authority to decide on the challenge, which cited Trump’s push to overturn his 2020 election loss and accused him of inciting the Jan. 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol (ABC). This decision comes little more than a week before the Supreme Court will hear arguments in a similar case from Colorado.

UPS To Cut 12,000 Jobs Months After Reaching Union Deal

New York Post: United Parcel Service will slash 12,000 jobs and workers who survive the massive layoffs will be ordered to return to the office five days a week, the company said Tuesday. The Atlanta-based firm announced the job cuts after reporting a 31.8% drop in quarterly profit (New York Post). The cuts come after contentious labor negotiations with the Teamsters nearly stalled the company’s business in 2023. New York Times: UPS narrowly averted a strike in the summer when the union that represents more than 300,000 of its workers, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, threatened to walk off the job if a labor agreement that included higher wages wasn’t reached (New York Times). CBS: Under the new union contract, UPS drivers will earn an average of $170,000 in annual pay and benefits by the end of the deal (CBS).

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Six Pro-Life Activists Face 11 Years in Prison, Jury Deliberates

Daily Wire: The jury is set to deliberate on the fate of six pro-lifers who face 11 years in prison after being accused by the Department of Justice for a conspiracy against rights over a peaceful protest at a Tennessee abortion facility in March 2021. On Monday, the fourth day of the trial, lawyers for the defendants and the Department of Justice delivered their closing arguments at the Fred D. Thompson federal courthouse in Nashville, Tennessee. The pro-lifers are charged by the government of violating the FACE Act and conspiring against rights, a charge that could lead to 11 years in prison. The charges stem from a protest that took place in a hallway outside of a Mount Juliet abortion provider on March 5, 2021. On that day, a group of demonstrators gathered on the second floor of an office building in the hallway outside the Carafem Health Center Clinic. The group prayed, sang hymns, and urged women showing up to the clinic to not get abortions (Daily Wire).