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Thursday, December 19, 2024

House Spending Bill Fails to Pass; Government Shutdown on the Horizon

National Review: There will be a government shutdown on Friday if Congress doesn’t pass a bill to keep the government funded. Speaker Mike Johnson, to the surprise of many on the Hill, unveiled a 1,547-page continuing resolution loaded up with many unrelated and costly provisions. It included $100 billion in disaster aid, purportedly for hurricane recovery, but likely far in excess of any actual need months after the hurricanes have passed. It would also waive some of the limitations on disaster aid based on income and proof of need, making fraud easier. It wouldn’t be a true Republican spending bill if it didn’t include giveaways for farmers. It had $30 billion in aid for farmers, who are bracing for the impact of Donald Trump’s tariffs on their export markets, and a one-year extension of the farm bill. It would also allow gasoline with 15 percent ethanol to be sold year-round in every state. The ethanol folks always get paid (National Review). Nick Sortor: What the HELL has Congress done to think they deserve a $70,000 per year pay raise? They’re calling it a “cost of living adjustment.” But THEY ARE THE REASON the cost of living is so out of control. They should NOT be rewarded for it (X). Elon Musk: Your elected representatives have heard you and now the terrible bill is dead. The voice of the people has triumphed (X)!

Senate Passes $895 Billion Defense Bill

Fox News: The Senate voted to pass the $895 billion annual defense policy bill that includes a pay raise for U.S. servicemembers and a provision that restricts transgender care. The bill passed 85 to 14, and now heads to President Biden’s desk for his signature. The legislation scored a more bipartisan vote in the Senate than it did in the House, where more Democrats voted no on the legislation in protest of the transgender provisions. The bill prohibits military health care provider Tricare from paying for transgender care “that could result in sterilization” for children under 18 (Fox News). Townhall: The 1,800-page legislation will fund the Defense Department for fiscal year 2025. It includes provisions such as a 14.5 percent pay raise for junior enlisted troops and investments in defense technologies… Other Democrats opposed the NDAA for other reasons. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) argued that too much funding would be going to the military. He insisted that the nation does “not need to spend almost a trillion dollars on the military while half a million Americans are homeless, children go hungry, and elderly people are unable to afford to heat their homes in the winter” (Townhall).

Trump’s Would-Be Assassin Charged with Felony Murder

Townhall: In September, President-elect Donald Trump faced a second attempt on his life, with Ryan Wesley Routh having been charged with federal crimes. The incident took place at Trump’s golf club in West Palm Beach, and from the start Trump said he wanted Florida involved in the investigations. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) also vowed to be involved and issued an executive order on the matter. During a Wednesday press conference, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody announced that Routh was being charged with attempted felony murder…A theme throughout Moody’s remarks was how uncooperative the feds have been. This comes despite how Moody says they immediately reached out to the feds (Townhall). Eric Daugherty: Attorney General Ashley Moody says that a very young girl was devastatingly injured because Routh also fled the scene onto the highway. She added that the feds are STONEWALLING their efforts to obtain key evidence in the case – and says she expects Pam Bondi and Kash Patel to do their job and cooperate after Trump takes office (X).

Biden Officials Try Stealing Credit for Iran’s Diminished Power

Reporter Josh Kraushaar: Notable quotable from Jake Sullivan:“One could see the ways in which Israel — frankly, backed by the United States, in terms of much of what it has accomplished — was taking the fight to its enemies” (X). Senator Bill Hagerty: The Biden Admin taking credit for Iran’s current weakness after 4 years of appeasement is delusional & absurd. Iran has been weakened because Israel consistently refused to cave to Biden Admin pressure to spare Iran’s proxies & to “take wins” rather than actually weakening Iran (X).

University of Minnesota Looks to Pay Children to Play with Trans Dolls

Disgusting. Daily Wire: The University of Minnesota offered to pay children as young as five to play with transgender dolls with mix-and-match genitals. Kids ages five to 10 were offered between $20 and $60 to play with “MyGender Dolls,” an Instagram post advertising the activity shows. “We are looking to hear from transgender and gender diverse children between the ages of 5 and 10 years old and their parents about a new hands-on activity to help talk about gender and bodies!” reads the February 27 post. The activity was organized by the National Center for Gender Spectrum Health, which is part of the Human Sexuality program at the University of Minnesota’s medical school. The Center has also produced a handbook to “support sexual pleasure education” for trans-identifying men after transgender genital surgery (Daily Wire). Campus Reform: Many universities aggressively promote gender ideology, with much of this campaign being targeted towards children. Syracuse University, for example, arranged a “Trans Support Day” on March 23 that offered, among other things, “therapeutic support for parents of trans youth” and “a space for youth to connect.” The University of Missouri and Washington University had also been conducting “gender transitions” on children until a state law made such procedures illegal on Aug. 28, 2023 (Campus Reform).

Biden’s EPA Approves California’s Plan to Ban Sale of Gas-Powered Vehicles by 2035

Hill: The Biden administration on Wednesday approved California’s trailblazing rules that would set stricter-than-federal emissions standards, in a bid to ban gas car sales by 2035. In doing so, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) granted two requests from the California Air Resources Board for waivers that would allow for the implementation of two rules: the Advanced Clean Cars II regulations for light-duty vehicles and a low-nitrogen oxide regulation for heavy-duty highway and off-road vehicles and engines (Hill). Collin Rugg: All gas car sales will be banned in the state of California by 2035, thanks to the Biden administration’s new approval. The new rule will pave the way over the next 10 years to ensure that every car sold in the state is electric. The Advanced Clean Cars II rule means 35% of cars sold in California in 2026 will be zero-emissions, 68% in 2030, and 100% in 2035 (X).

Ohio Teacher Awarded $450,000 After Being Fired for Not Using Students’ Preferred Pronouns

Daily Wire: An Ohio school district will pay nearly half a million dollars to a teacher who was forced to resign after she said she could not use trans-identifying students’ new names and pronouns due to her Christian faith, The Daily Wire has learned. English teacher Vivian Geraghty, 26, won a $450,000 settlement from the Jackson Local School District south of Columbus, her legal team announced Wednesday. She will not be returning to work for the district. Two years ago, Geraghty was unceremoniously fired by Jackson Memorial Middle School when two students asked Geraghty to use new names that aligned “with their new gender identities rather than their legal names.” One of the students also requested that teachers use a preferred pronoun that did not reflect the student’s biological sex, her lawsuit said (Daily Wire). Alliance Defending Freedom: The school district has now learned that violating the First Amendment comes at a steep cost (X).

Biden Shields Big Pharma From Lawsuits By Extending Covid “Emergency Declaration” Until 2029

Townhall: The Biden Administration quietly rushed to extend the “Emergency Declaration” under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act until December 31, 2029, to protect Big Pharma and mRNA vaccine makers from lawsuits for injuries and deaths. The act also provides immunity from liability to healthcare providers, nurses, pharmacists, pharmacy interns, and pharmacy technicians who administered the COVID-19 vaccines. Xavier Beccera, the secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), signed the 12th amendment to the declaration under the PREP Act for COVID-19 Medical Countermeasures, claiming the move was necessary because of a still substantial “credible risk” the pandemic spirals out of control in the next four years— or while President-elect Donald Trump is in office. The PREP Act, enacted in 2020, was initially intended to encourage vaccine manufacturers to speed up their research on COVID-19 vaccines without fear of being legally held responsible for side effects (Townhall).

Supreme Court Agrees to Hear TikTok Ban Case

Reuters: The U.S. Supreme Court decided on Wednesday to hear a bid by TikTok and its China-based parent company ByteDance to block a law intended to force the sale of the short-video app by Jan. 19 or face a ban on national security grounds. The justices did not immediately act on an emergency request by TikTok and ByteDance, as well as some of its users who post content on the social media platform, for an injunction to halt the looming ban, opting instead to hear arguments on the matter on Jan. 10. The challengers are appealing a lower court’s ruling that upheld the law. TikTok is used by about 170 million Americans. Congress passed the measure in April. The Justice Department had said that as a Chinese company, TikTok poses “a national-security threat of immense depth and scale” because of its access to vast amounts of data on American users, from locations to private messages, and its ability to secretly manipulate content that Americans view on the app. TikTok has said it poses no imminent threat to U.S. security (Reuters). Reporter Katie Buehler: The TikTok case will be argued Jan. 10, nine days before the law’s deadline (X). BBC: Trump has publicly said he opposes the ban, despite supporting one in his first term as president. But he will not take office until 20 January, the day after the deadline for TikTok to be banned or sold (BBC).

10.

Trump Continues to Troll Canada

Townhall: On his social media platform Truth Social, President-elect Donald Trump wrote that many Canadian citizens want their country to join the United States…This came after reports broke that Trump told Trudeau that if he has an issue with the tariffs that he plans to impose, Canada could join the United States. Trump told Trudeau that Canada has failed their citizens and U.S. citizens by allowing large amounts of so-called “asylum seekers” and drugs to come across the border. As a result, Trump plans to impose steep tariffs on Canada… Trudeau’s Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland resigned abruptly this week, reportedly over a disagreement with the prime minister about tariffs and Trump (Townhall). Donald Trump: No one can answer why we subsidize Canada to the tune of over $100,000,000 a year? Makes no sense! Many Canadians want Canada to become the 51st State. They would save massively on taxes and military protection. I think it is a great idea. 51st State (Truth)!