[Hot Air] One thing an observer discovers fairly quickly in the primary process is candidates start to act like lemmings. One says something and the rest either fall in line or else decide to stake out a separate position in the pack. Usually, they fall in line so as not to be left behind on hot button issues. In this case, Senator Elizabeth Warren decided to side with an actress instead of leading by example with the civility she demands.
Warren is in Iowa this weekend campaigning and pandering to the special interest groups she’ll need to win the nomination. She was asked about Joe Biden’s recent description of Vice-President Pence. He made the mistake of calling Pence "a decent guy" and all hell broke loose on the left. Elizabeth Warren responded by also claiming that Pence is not a decent man. Because she’s a lemming.
[Climate Depot] Greenpeace Co-Founder, Dr. Patrick Moore, has been in an ongoing spat with New York Democratic Socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) over the overly-ambitious Green New Deal that could quadruple the national debt. Moore, who has since split with Greenpeace, now refers to himself as the "sensible environmentalist."
The GND calls for an ultra-progressive bucket list of environmental goals such as the elimination of all fossil fuels, nuclear energy, air travel, 99% of cars and the retrofitting of every single building in America for "state of the art energy efficiency." AOC’s plan even throws in government-guaranteed jobs ‐ and simply hands cash to anyone "unwilling to work," along with healthy food and a free house.
The plan would also, as Moore notes, kill everything on earth:
[The Federalist] Life is full of mysteries. Does a tree make a sound when it falls in the forest, and no one is around to hear it? What lies beyond the edge of the observable universe? Can senators amend a resolution of termination under the National Emergencies Act?
Well. Maybe not that last one. Some questions may not have answers. Others have yet to be answered. But we already know senators can amend a resolution of termination.
Why? Because the Senate hasn’t yet said they can’t. It’s as simple as that.
WHAT’S THE CURRENT DEBATE
Some Republicans believe that they can amend a resolution to terminate a presidential emergency declaration. However, many suspect that those amendments must be germane to the underlying resolution. Some worry that adding non-germane amendments to the resolution could risk its privileged status and thus make it subject to the filibuster.
This week, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) acknowledged that he and his colleagues are trying to determine if amendments are in order and, if so, whether they must be germane to the underlying resolution. "We’re checking right now with the parliamentarian whether it’s amendable."
Since 1935, the Senate’s parliamentarian has advised senators on the rules and practices that govern their proceedings. The parliamentarian can be especially helpful in situations like this where, in Johnson’s words, "there’s all kinds of gray area."
But it is good to remember that senators can also answer these questions for themselves. This is because the parliamentarian is not an oracle. She does not practice divination. When senators ask her a question, she looks to the rules for the answers. And so can they.
#3
Congress has the "Powers of the Purse" under the US Constitution and the steady growth of the Imperial Presidential Power™ is a matter that should be looked into. Bombing Libya or Building a Wall, maybe it is past time for some reassessing...?
#5
While a strongly approve of Congress reigning in spending it seems like an excuse at this point since the bulk of them haven't cared about spending over anything and in this case it might save a ton of money in the fairly short run as it's likely to slow the flood of illegals while it is being built and it won't require much money to maintain.
[American Thinker] A few years ago, David Brooks wrote a hypothetical memo from a campaign consultant to Democrat party leaders. It went like this:
I understand that our donors (though not necessarily our voters) want to preserve a woman’s right to choose through all nine months of her pregnancy.
But do we want late-term abortion so much that we are willing to tolerate President Trump? Do we want it so much that we give up our chance at congressional majorities?
Do we want it so much that we see our agendas on poverty, immigration, income equality and racial justice thwarted and defeated?
Let’s try to imagine what would happen if Roe v. Wade was overturned. The abortion issue would go back to the states. The Center for Reproductive Rights estimates that roughly 21 states would outlaw abortion. Abortion would remain legal in probably 20 others.
There’s a good chance that a lot of states would hammer out the sort of compromise the European nations have -- legal in the first months, difficult after that.
That’s what most Americans support.
I should add that this was written before the recent remarks by Governor Northam of Virginia and the cheering in New York.
Down in Texas, the "heartbeat" law is picking up steam. According to news reports, it will go to the Texas Senate and could be on Governor Greg Abbott's desk in the next 18 months.
The usual suspects are screaming "no." They tell us that this is another effort to restrict abortion rights or something like that. They also claim that this is about a woman's health care but I thought that ObamaCare covered that.
The abortion debate has now moved to a different level and the left can't see it. They are holding onto their talking points but the country is not with them on abortion on demand.
We will see how this plays out in 2020. Nevertheless, every Democrat should be asked about this heartbeat law.
The question is simple: do you abort if you can hear a heartbeat? Let's see how Democrats answer that question.
Government Mandatory Spending - It’s called mandatory because there is an expectation for this spending to occur, typically due to being an earned benefit.
[American Thinker] Democrat Joe Biden has been lurking in the 2020 presidential shadows being presented by those with their 2020 fingers crossed as an adult in the romper room of pubescent progressives waiting for their Spartacus moments as they learn the complexities of basic math and leadership skills.
Biden was the top choice for 28 percent of likely Democratic primary voters surveyed in a recent University of Massachusetts Amherst poll, despite his not having declared a 2020 presidential bid. Yet while critics of President Trump’s foreign policy accuse him of a degree of recklessness and immaturity that place the nation’s security at risk, Biden’s service in an administration that gave us the criminal negligence and incompetence of Benghazi, provides us with an example of why he should not be trusted with the nation’s security or the lives of its heroes.
As author and attorney David Shestoksas points out in his review of Betrayed: The Shocking The Shocking True Story of Extortion 17 as told by a Navy SEAL's Father, Biden betrayed the heroes that killed Osama Bin Laden to further his political ambitions:
#1
Actually, Plugs should fall victim to voter common sense. That is of course making the rather questionable assumption that voter common sense still exists.
[IsraellyCool] Last week, I posted about failed BDS-hole Robert Cohen, who admitted he can’t give up Israeli tech. He since wrote a piece defending his right to be hypocrite. His justification?
So, you apply a boycott where you think it will have value. Sometimes that’s about economic pressure. Sometimes it’s about simply growing awareness and solidarity. There’s no point in setting yourself up for failure or denying yourself the very means by which you can run any kind of campaign on an international scale. What help would that be to the cause of Paleostinian freedom?
And it turns out, it is not just Cohen. This is official BDS Movement policy.
Here’s the pragmatic response regarding Intel from the BDS movement website FAQs
"Intel, the US chip manufacturer, has invested billions in the Israeli economy, making it deeply complicit in funding Israeli impunity. However, if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well... Intel is not currently a worldwide BDS target because of its near monopoly status in its sector, making a consumer boycott of the company hard to succeed at present."
Now Jewish Voice for Peace is also joining the chorus:
Don’t allow apartheid supporters to de-legitimize individual boycott efforts. We boycott Israel where it will be effective, which isn’t necessarily everything/everywhere.
How they decide what is effective is not clear, given the Israeli economy has not been materially affected by any of their shenanigans. But I guess it has something to do with what causes them the least inconvenience possible.
Either way, thank you for contributing to the Israeli economy!
[AmericanThinker] It is a mystery to me why so many politicians and pundits are suddenly committing career and party suicide. I suppose it’s because there has been a failure to recognize that they’ve been living in and promoting a fantasy world. In the meantime, the president has called their bluff, exposed the cant, and forced them into chaos and ruinous policies.
The failure of the Weekly Standard and the decline of the National Review have exposed the not-conservative Trump haters as unpragmatic, unrealistic snobs. They are now shaking the begging cup to keep from having to earn an honest living. In the face of the president’s rising popularity among voters and the economic and diplomatic successes of this administration, they continue to believe that on the right there are readers and donors who will keep them at it.
...Fat chance. The man they detest is carrying out policies they so often claimed to support, and the voters -- most of whom they look down on -- approve.
About 3-in-4 American voters favor a populist-nationalist "America First" legal immigration, trade, and foreign policy platform from candidates running for office that prioritizes protecting the way of life and economic security of United States citizens above all else. Strange people the voters - don't they understand ...
...And after the last few weeks’ Jussie Smollett and Covington Catholic fiascos, more is about to come. The Mueller report -- I know we keep thinking it’s just around the corner -- will prove to be another face plant for them. You don’t actually need to see the report to know this. To quote Glenn Greenwald’s tweet: "[A]fter almost two years of the Mueller investigation, the number of Americans thus far indicted for criminally conspiring with Russia to influence the 2016 election is zero. We spend remarkably little time asking why this is."
...the few remaining [Democratic] "moderates" fought back against Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’ threat to mount primary challenges against them.
Triggering the blowup was Wednesday’s votes on a bill to expand federal background checks for gun purchases. Twenty-six moderate Democrats joined Republicans in amending the legislation, adding a provision requiring that ICE be notified if an illegal immigrant seeks to purchase a gun.
...When the Democrats held the White House, the Senate, and the House they did not vote to restrict gun ownership. Why? Because too many of them knew it would end their time in office. Only nincompoops could imagine such measures would pass muster with a party now less powerful.
In any event, kudos to the press and the Cortez wing for leading the party down a suicidal path, a path so clear even some in the media are alarmed about the far-left tilt of the ever-expanding kick line of Democratic would-be presidential nominees.
#1
Given that about 3-in-4 American voters favor a populist-nationalist “America First” and all of the Donk criminality outlined in this article, when is the hammer going to drop on them? We haven't seen indictments or prosecutions.
Awhile back, Attorney Larry Klayman discussed Citizen's Grand Juries as a way to bring about justice outside of Congress. He claims the grand jury is constitutional yet doesn't belong to any of the three branches of government.
#3
I ONLY voted Trump because he wasn't Hillary, but looking back I don't think Hillary OR any of the Republican candidates would have done a better job than Trump.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Climate Depot] Greenpeace Co-Founder, Dr. Patrick Moore, has been in an ongoing spat with New York Democratic Socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) over the overly-ambitious Green New Deal that could quadruple the national debt. Moore, who has since split with Greenpeace, now refers to himself as the "sensible environmentalist."
[The Federalist] Life is full of mysteries. Does a tree make a sound when it falls in the forest, and no one is around to hear it? What lies beyond the edge of the observable universe? Can senators amend a resolution of termination under the National Emergencies Act?
[American Thinker] A few years ago, David Brooks wrote a hypothetical memo from a campaign consultant to Democrat party leaders. It went like this: 
[IsraellyCool] Last week, I posted about failed BDS-hole Robert Cohen, who admitted he can’t give up Israeli tech. He since wrote a piece defending his right to be hypocrite. His justification?
