The Supreme Court and federal judges will be far more conservative for a generation - as Trump's judicial nominations are uniformly conservative,
mostly young and well qualified.
Americans have paradoxically grown tired both of costly overseas interventions and perceptions of American weakness that led to the Libyan fiasco,
the Syrian genocide,
the rise of the ISIS caliphate,
and Iranian-inspired terrorism.
Trump has not changed his campaign reputation for being mercurial,
crass and crude.
What has changed is the media's own reputation in its hysterical reaction to Trump.
Since 2016,
polls show that Americans have assumed that the proverbial mainstream media cannot be counted on for honest reporting but will omit,
twist and massage facts and evidence for the higher "
Truth"
of neutralizing the Trump presidency.
Trump's popularity is about where it was when he was elected - ranging on average from the low to mid-forties.
Many of his policies have led to more prosperity and address festering problems abroad. And despite the negative news,
they are widely supported,
even - or especially - if Trump himself is not given proper credit for enacting most of them.
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/01/31/much_has_changed_for_the_better_since_2016_--_not_that_trump_will_get_credit_139327.html
As the American public fixated on Black Hebrew Israelite racists,
an alleged Native American valor thief,
and a smiling teenager in a MAGA hat,
the Arizona state government proposed a measure that easily could become a precursor to expanded government control and surveillance.
The Arizona State Legislature recently considered a bill that would mandate all digital devices include government software that would block pornographic content.
House Bill 2444,
proposed by State Rep. Gail Griffin,
would require that any product that can access the internet would have this type of software installed before it could be sold,
leased,
manufactured,
or distributed in Arizona.
If the bill becomes law,
individuals who wish to deactivate the software would be required to submit a request to the entity that distributed the device,
show identification proving they are at least 18 years old,
and pay a fee to the Arizona Commerce Authority.
The state would then allocate the fees to a fund that will finance multiple initiatives,
including the construction of a border wall between Arizona and Mexico.
There is a reason why a lawmaker would introduce legislation restricting a taboo activity to pursue a cause with which many in the state would agree,
and it ain't good.
What happens when the federal government decides to introduce this type of legislation?
The presence of such a law in Arizona could bolster its case.
https://www.libertynation.com/arizona-bill-provides-a-preview-of-digital-tyranny/
A key committee in the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives is moving to eliminate the God reference from the oath administered to witnesses testifying before the panel,
as part of a new rules package expected to be approved this week,
according to a draft obtained exclusively by Fox News.The draft shows that the House Committee on Natural Resources would ask witnesses to recite only, "
Do you solemnly swear or affirm,
under penalty of law,
that the testimony that you are about to give is the truth,
the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth?".
The draft rules also remove the phrase "
His or her"
throughout the document,
changing those two pronouns to "
Their."
The rules additionally modify all references to the committee's "
Chairman"
to instead refer only to the committee's "
Chair."
Other rules changes relate to expanding the committee's authority over natural gas in Alaska and fossil-fuel resources.
The full committee is set to vote on the new language this week,
and the rules would take effect immediately if adopted.
FAR-LEFT FRESHMAN DEMOCRATIC REP. RASHIDA TLAIB ACCUSED OF ANTI-SEMITIC SLUR. "
It is incredible,
but not surprising,
that the Democrats would try to remove God from committee proceedings in one of their first acts in the majority,"
House Republican Conference Chairwoman Liz Cheney,
R-Wyo.,
told Fox News.
Spokespeople for the Natural Resources Committee did not immediately reply to Fox News'
requests for comment.
The committee,
which has oversight of national parks,
wildlife and energy,
is chaired by Democratic Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dems-move-to-strike-so-help-me-god-from-oath-taken-in-front-of-key-house-committee
In his 2016 presidential campaign,
Sanders proposed broad-based tax increases on virtually all Americans.
These tax increases must be distributed broadly across the U.S. population - and they must be truly enormous,
so big that nobody,
not even Bernie Sanders,
has had the courage to propose them.
MIT economist Jonathan Gruber,
who advised Democrats on the policy,
later explained that the strategy for the tax was "
Mislabeling it,"
by "
Calling it a tax on insurance plans rather than a tax on people when we all know it's a tax on people who hold those insurance plans."
While insurance companies would write the check for the Cadillac tax,
incurring the legal incidence,
they would also likely raise the cost of plans eligible for the tax,
passing on the tax to the insured.
Since the insured still loses money because of the tax,
he incurs the economic incidence of the tax.
The JCT model suggests that people respond to tax increases in ways that will be unhelpful to Democrats.
In many cases,
especially in the short run,
the increase in the tax rate is swamped entirely by this effect,
meaning tax hikes on capital gains could lose revenue.
https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/01/bernie-sanders-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-fiscal-policies-unworkable/
Congressional investigators have gathered enough evidence to suggest that the FBI,
under the Obama administration,
ignored a major lead in the Clinton-email probe,
according to transcripts of closed-door testimonies of several current and former bureau officials.
The office of the Intelligence Community Inspector General informed the FBI in 2015 that a forensic review of Hillary Clinton's emails unearthed anomalies in the metadata of the messages.
During questioning,
Meadows repeatedly suggested that Strzok,
the former FBI official best known for being fired from the agency last year for his anti-Trump text messages,
ignored the lead and never followed up with the ICIG regarding the referral.
McCullough also said he never alleged that the FBI ignored any leads.
The ICIG referred the Clinton-email case to the FBI on July 6,
2015,
pursuant to the Intelligence Authorization Act,
which requires agencies to advise the FBI "
Immediately of any information,
regardless of its origin,
which indicates that classified information is being,
or may have been,
disclosed in an unauthorized manner to a foreign power or an agent of a foreign power,"
according to the Justice Department Inspector General's report on the handling of the email case.
If Kable was the fourth person present at the meeting when Rucker told FBI about the email metadata anomalies,
Strzok would be the only official who learned of the ICIG lead and remained on the Clinton-email investigation until it was concluded.
Page made the statement during a round of questions with Meadows in which the representative revealed that the ICIG informed the FBI of evidence of intrusion,
yet the referral appears to have never reached the broader FBI team working the investigation.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/exclusive-fbi-ignored-major-lead-on-clinton-emails-closed-door-testimonies-suggest_2782019.html
As mentioned many times before,
Trump was presented with an opportunity to realign the federal judiciary for a generation given the large number of Court of Appeals and District Court vacancies when he took office.
Despite unprecedented Democrat obstruction which has strung out not only judicial but other nominees,
Trump has moved a substantial number of nominees through the pipeline to confirmation.
I lamented earlier this month that Trump was slow to renominate nominees Democrats refused to hold over from the last Congress,
but since that post,
Trump has announced 51 nominees to be sent to Congress.
Carrie Severino,
chief counsel and policy director to the Judicial Crisis Network,
writes in National Review that Trump appears to be playing footsie with Democrats when it comes to the 9th Circuit,
What Ever Happened to Those Ninth Circuit Nominees?
Last week the White House announced the re-nomination of 51 judicial nominees,
including a dozen circuit court nominees.
During the first two years of his administration,
President Trump gradually filled nearly all of the circuit court vacancies that he inherited,
along with additional vacancies that arose those first two years.
Ms. Harris is running for President and will oppose any Trump nominee to the High Court.
https://legalinsurrection.com/2019/01/trump-has-opportunity-to-flip-the-9th-circuit-so-why-isnt-he/amp/?__twitter_impression=true
Rep. on Wednesday ripped former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz over his possible Independent presidential bid,
suggesting his lack of political experience pointed to a double standard.
"
Why don't people ever tell billionaires who want to run for President that they need to '
work their way up'
or that '
maybe they should start with city council first'?"
the 29-year-old congresswoman tweeted.
Why don't people ever tell billionaires who want to run for President that they need to "
Work their way up"
or that "
Maybe they should start with city council first"?
https://t.
Schultz,
the son of a truck driver who lived in a housing project,
became a billionaire from his time at the helm of Starbucks.
He has never held political office before,
though has flirted with a potential political run in recent years.
Schultz cast his potential bid as a home for moderate voters who feel alienated by both parties.
Some have responded that Schultz is using his wealth to buy his way on the presidential ticket in 2020 without having to face a primary challenge.
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/427631-ocasio-cortez-on-schultz-why-are-billionaires-who-want-to-run-for-president
