Plus: Fact Check: Was Biden Right About Federal Unemployment Benefits Having No Effect on Jobs Report?
May 13 2021
Good morning from Washington, where President Biden pooh-poohs the idea that unemployment “bonuses” discourage Americans from going back to work as the pandemic wanes. Rachel Greszler sets him straight. The president’s pick to head a State Department bureau is used to spending tens of millions of taxpayers’ dollars. Fred Lucas has the story. On the podcast, a Texas congressman deplores the lack of resources for the Border Patrol. Plus: “Problematic Women” examines pro-life OB-GYNs. Forty years ago today, Pope John Paul II is shot and seriously wounded in St. Peter’s Square in Rome by a 23-year-old escaped Turkish murderer, who the pontiff later meets in prison and forgives.
The danger is that racial tensions will increase, hate crimes will spike, meritocracy will vanish, and tribal solidarity will replace it. And the ancient idea of America will unwind.
Asked whether federal unemployment benefits—including a $300 bonus on top of state benefits—had any impact on the weak jobs report, President Biden replied, “No, nothing measurable.”
The president’s nomination of Lee Satterfield as assistant secretary for the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs prompts concerns about a potential conflict of interest.
“We’ve asked the commander in chief to visit the Border Patrol agents because … they’re trying to … do their job to secure our country, and they don’t have the resources,” says Rep. August Pfluger.
“We went into this profession to care for moms and their babies. We didn’t go into this profession to end a life,” says Dr. Christina Francis of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
