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Church sued for refusing to host LGBT event
May 28, 2018
The former manager of an
event center owned by a Catholic church is suing the church because it
had a morals clause in its contract banning LGBT events.The
dispute began three years ago when
a group of African-American LGBT activists asked to use the Ambridge
Event Center in Portland, Oregon.
The application was turned down because the center is owned by the Holy
Rosary Catholic Church. The church had a morals clause in the agreement
under which Holladay Investors was managing it the center.
Ambridge manager Alan Peters apologized to the LGBT organization and
said...Read
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US Warships Sail Near Disputed Islands In South China Sea, Officials Say
May 27, 2018
Two U.S. Navy warships sailed near South China Sea islands claimed by
China after Beijing landed a nuclear-capable bomber and deployed
missiles there, defense officials told Fox News on Sunday.
The U.S.S Higgins, a guided-missile destroyer, and the U.S.S.
Antietam, a missile cruiser, conducted "freedom of navigation"
operations near the Paracel Island chain, including Woody Island, where
Beijing has operated an airbase since the 1990s.
"U.S. forces operate in the Asia-Pacific region on a daily
basis, including in the South China Sea. All operations are conducted in
accordance with international law and demonstrate that the United States
will fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows," Pentagon
spokesman Lt. Col. Chris Logan said in a statement to Fox News.
China's Defense Ministry said Chinese ships and aircraft were sent to
urge the U.S. warships to leave Chinese territorial waters, Reuters
reported. It added the warships entered without permission.
The patrol near the contested island came days after the
Pentagon disinvited Beijing from participating in a large multinational
exercise next month following reports the country was again secretly
beefing up its military operation and during an ongoing trade dispute.
China last took part in the bi-annual Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC)
exercise in 2014 and 2016, which dates back to the 1970s.
US DISINVITES CHINA FROM MILITARY EXERCISES AFTER COUNTRY
CONTINUES 'MILITARIZATION' OF DISPUTED ISLAND
The move came after Fox News exclusively reported that the Chinese
military had deployed another advanced surface-to-air missile system to
one of its contested islands in the South China Sea.
Satellite images taken last Sunday by ImageSat International
show two new launchers on the northern shore of the Island, next to a
radar system, all covered by a camouflage net.
The net is usually used to conceal stealthy activities that
might interest other armies or security teams. It also makes it harder
to identify what surface-to-air missile system it is. But ISI analysts
think it's similar to the HQ-9 system that was deployed back in February
2016, and was first reported by Fox News. The HQ-9 air defense system,
has a range of 125 miles, which would pose threat to any airplanes,
civilians or military, flying close by.
The U.S. vessels' maneuvering operations on Sunday were
carried out near the islands of Tree, Lincoln, Triton and Woody,
according to Reuters.
Woody Island and the Paracel Islands are not part of China's
man-made islands built atop former reefs in the Spratly chain further
south.
CHINESE LAND BOMBER IN SOUTH CHINA SEA, POTENTIALLY
ESCALATING TENSIONS OVER DISPUTED ZONE
The South China Sea remains a contested area, with
surrounding countries - Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and
Vietnam - disputing China's territorial claims.
Earlier this month, China riled Vietnam and the Philippines by landing
bombers on a disputed set of islands in the South China Sea.
Pentagon officials told Fox News that U.S. forces operate in
the region on a daily basis.
"We conduct routine and regular Freedom of Navigation Operations
(FONOPs), as we have done in the past and will continue to do in the
future," Logan said.
Over 100 Conservatives Come Together
Call on Jim Jordan To Replace Paul Ryan as Speaker
May 23, 2018
A coalition of more than 100 conservatives sent a letter to House Freedom Caucus
co-founder Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio on Monday urging him to throw his name in to
replace outgoing Speaker of the House Paul Ryan.
“There must be a real race for Speaker of the House. Now. No backroom deals. A
real race, starting this spring, to make every incumbent and candidate commit on
the record, as a campaign issue, whether they’ll vote to save the Swamp or drain
it,” the letter
reads. “America needs you to declare yourself as a candidate for
Speaker at once. We write to you on behalf of millions of Americans who want
Congress to Drain the Swamp.”
Ryan rattled Capitol Hill in April when he announced he will retire from the
House after nearly 20 years in Congress, telling reporters he wanted to spend
more time with his family and pursue other opportunities.
Two of the top House Republicans — House Majority Leader...Read
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Trump Campaign FBI Informant Outed as Professor Stefan Halper
May 22, 2018
Several media outlets confirmed this
weekend that the secret intelligence source being protected by the
Department of Justice is none other than Cambridge professor Stefan
Halper, a member of three former presidential administrations and a
longtime asset for the FBI and the CIA. Halper reportedly had meetings
with Trump campaign associates George Papadopoulos and Carter Page in
the summer of 2016, apparently reporting back to the FBI with whatever
he learned from those meetings.
The revelation of Halper brings to an end the mystery that
captivated Washington for more than a week and inspired not one but
several front page articles about the early days of the Trump/Russia
investigation. It was in those articles that FBI sources confirmed that
they had a guy who “infiltrated” the Trump campaign in the early days of
the general election, but it was not clear to what extent that
infiltration took place. It was also not clear – and still isn’t – what
the purpose for Halper’s meetings ultimately was. Can we chalk his
snooping up to proper FBI investigation techniques? Or was Halper
sniffing around for reasons much more nefarious (read: politically
motivated)?
Knowing that Halper spoke to Papadopoulos and Page, both
of whom have come under close federal scrutiny, raises the question of
whether or not Obama’s goons were trying to “set up” Trump campaign
officials in an attempt to take down the whole operation. Or, if not
take it down, at least come up with enough political dirt to make
Trump’s campaign for the White House an utter lost cause. If it ever
comes out that this was the case, Trump would be correct in calling it
the greatest political scandal in American history.
The left, of course, says there’s
nothing nefarious about any of this. Papadopoulos revealed to Australian
spies that the campaign was sniffing around Moscow for Hillary dirt,
that triggered a counterintelligence investigation, and everything after
that was perfectly above board and legally justified.
Well, all we can say is: We’ll believe it when we see it.
We’ll believe it when Mueller or any other federal entity comes up with
one shred of evidence that says Trump “colluded” with Russia to steal
the election. Because we’ve seen nothing of interest yet, and this
investigation has been dragging on for two solid years. We have to think
that if there was any “there” there, we would know it by now. In fact,
we would have to believe that the CIA/NSA/FBI would have never allowed a
compromised individual to become the President of the United States in
the first place.
That’s why we just can’t bring ourselves to buy into the
left’s narrative. And if we can’t buy into that, then we have to assume
that this investigation began with the same political motivations it
continues with to this day. That’s a problem. That’s a Watergate-sized
problem. And it’s time for our beleaguered Attorney General to start
getting to the bottom of it.
Source:
Patriot News Daily
Charged Texas Shooter Cannot Face Death Penalty
May Even Be Paroled Due to Controversial Legislation
May 20,2018
Dimitrios Pagourtzis,
17, was charged Friday as an adult with capital murder and aggravated assault on
a peace officer, but cannot face the death penalty, according to a 13-year-old
Supreme Court decision.
According to a report by criminal justice website The Marshall Project
cited by
USA Today, Texas has tried 17-year-olds
like Pagourtzis as adults in state courts. But the Supreme Court’s 2005 Roper v.
Simmons decision found that capital punishment was a violation of the Eighth and
14th Amendment prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment.
Moreover, SCOTUS ruled in 2012 that juveniles cannot face life in prison,
either.
In other words, the teenager accused of killing eight students and two teachers
as well as injuring 13 others could be eligible...Read
More
Sanctuary Cities Undermine Law Enforcement and Endanger Our Communities
May 20,2018
SANCTUARY CITIES ARE UNDERMINING LAW ENFORCEMENT: Sanctuary jurisdictions
obstruct Federal immigration enforcement efforts and put law enforcement at
greater risk.
·
A “sanctuary city” generally refers to a State or local jurisdiction that
refuses to cooperate with Federal immigration enforcement, often by rejecting
“detainer” requests from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and
refusing to share information relating to potentially removable aliens.
·
Detainers are used to request that a State or local law enforcement agency hold
a criminal alien in local custody for up to 48 hours after their release on
state charges to allow ICE to take custody of the alien and initiate removal
proceedings.
·
State and local law enforcement agencies routinely detain suspects for violating
Federal laws at the request of federal authorities.
·
The Constitution and Federal statues allow for ICE to detain illegal aliens, and
for local police to do so at ICE’s request, relying on ICE’s determination of
probable cause. ...Read
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Trump
Demands Congress Stay In DC If Wall Funding Doesn’t Get Approved
May 15, 2018
It was the chant that echoed throughout Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential
campaign: “Build that wall!”
But even after he cleared the hurdle of getting elected, Trump had to
know that getting a wall along our southern border wasn’t going to be
easy from a Congress either resigned or eager to allow unchecked
immigration.
It’s little surprise that a year and change into Trump’s administration,
funding for the wall remains elusive. However, Trump has proven before
he’s not the kind of man that forgets — and if he has his way, Congress
won’t be going home for break until they provide funding for the “big,
beautiful wall.”’
In a tweet Saturday, Trump proposed that if Congress couldn’t get
funding worked out for his signature infrastructure project, as well as
confirm more of his nominees, they should stay on Capitol Hill during
the traditional August recess.
“The Senate should get funding done before the August break, or NOT GO
HOME,” the president wrote...Read
More
Former Navy Seal Enhanced Interrogation Techniques, Just Another Day in the
Office
May 13, 2018
In the wake of recent attacks on acting CIA Director Gina Haspel, one former
Navy SEAL had some choice words when it came to the CIA director nominee’s
involvement in the use of enhanced interrogation techniques.
After serving for 13 years in America’s military — including three overseas
deployments as a SEAL — and eventually becoming the successful founder and CEO
of Bottle Breacher, Eli Crane has seen and endured much.
So when it came to Haspel’s career of fueling enhanced interrogations, which are
currently being labeled as torture, the former SEAL claimed to be confused by
the attacks on the acting director by lawmakers.
Haspel’s nomination for CIA director has
recently
come under fire, as she has ties to interrogation techniques that
were used in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on 9/11.
Haspel ran a secret detention center in 2002 in Thailand
...Read
More
School board warned about illegal obscene classroom instruction
May 13, 2018
A top-flight legal team has written a letter to the
Sunnyside
Unified School District in Tucson, Arizona, warning that a
sex-ed indoctrination program the district is considering is “illegal,
obscene” and guilty of promoting “harmful sexual behavior to K-12 grade
children.”
The Planned Parenthood-linked “Rights, Respect, Responsibility”
programming for children references necrophilia, promotes abortion and
homosexuality, and “imposes radical, unscientific, political ideas about
gender and sexuality on impressionable children,” according to the
letter from
Liberty Counsel.
The legal team is representing parents in the district in advising the
school board, led by president Buck Crouch, against the “comprehensive
sex education” indoctrination being promoted by “Advocates for Youth,”
which uses abortion-industry promoted “standards” that are based “upon
the sex data of Alfred Kinsey, which included timed-with-a-stopwatch
‘orgasms’ for infants as young as two months old.”
“The Sunnyside Unified School District is hereby on notice of the
many legal violations contained in the 3Rs curriculum. The board
should reject the 3Rs curriculum in its entirety, and adopt true
abstinence-based curricula which provides accurate information, and
respects student and parent rights, consistent with Arizona state
standards. There are many such,” the Liberty Counsel letter
suggested.
Read More
Maxine Waters explodes on House floor
I resent ‘making America great again
May 11, 2018
California Congresswoman Maxine Waters doesn’t want to hear any talk
about making America great, especially if it’s coming from a straight
white man.
Waters went off the rails at a
recent House debate when Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Kelly had the audacity
to suggest the country needed to shift focus from what divides to what
unites.
“We are trying to make sure we are making America great every day
in every way and the best way to do that is to stop stalking about
discrimination and start talking about the nation,” Kelly said Tuesday,
directing his comments to Waters. “We’re coming together as a people, in
spite of what you say.”
Committee
chairman Tom McClintock reminded lawmakers to direct comments to him,
rather than each other, before yielding to “the gentlelady from
California.” Waters ignored his request and immediately attacked Kelly,
pointing to her special double victim status as a black woman.
“Mr. Kelly,
please do not leave. Because I want you to know that I am more offended
as an African American woman than you will ever be. And this business
about making America great again, it is your president that’s dividing
this country,” she said.
McClintock again requested that Waters respect the rules, which
sent the 79-year-old politician into a tirade about Trump.
“I don’t
appreciate that you did not interrupt him when he was making those
outrageous remarks about him knowing more about discrimination than I
know about discrimination,” Waters shouted. “I resent that and I resent
the remark about making America great again.
“He’s down
here making a speech for this dishonorable president of the United
States of America. Having said that, I reserve the balance of my time.
And no, I do not yield, not one second to you,” she yelled at Kelly.
She added an
echo for dramatic effect.
“Not one
second,” she shouted. “Not one second to you.”
The hearing
centered on Obama-era anti-discrimination regulations for auto lenders,
which Republicans and some Democrats voted to reverse. The measure,
which was previously approved by the Senate, is now awaiting Trump’s
signature,
The Hill reports.
Source:
The American Mirror
What You Need to Know About the Surge in Illegal Border Crossings and the
Failures of Our Current Immigration System
May 10, 2018
From April 2017 to April 2018, the number of illegal border crossings more than
tripled. April 2018 was also the second month in a row that saw more than 37,000
individuals apprehended after entering the country illegally along our Southwest
border. The need to enforce our laws, secure our border, and close our
immigration loopholes has been further underscored by the recent arrival of a
“caravan” of individuals seeking to enter the United States.
Efforts to remove aliens once they illegally cross our border are hampered by
glaring flaws in current statutory law and activist judicial constraints. As a
result, many aliens are apprehended and temporarily detained after illegally
entering, only to be quickly released into the interior of the United States.
Historically, all family units apprehended at the border have been released with
little more than a paper order to appear in court at a later date. Often, they
never to appear. Current law also makes it virtually impossible to return most
apprehended Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) to their home countries.
Read More
Pompeo
returning from North Korea with U.S. detainees
May 9, 2018
U.S. President Donald
Trump said on Wednesday that three Americans detained by North Korea are
on their way home with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
“I am
pleased to inform you that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in the air
and on his way back from North Korea with the 3 wonderful gentlemen that
everyone is looking so forward to meeting.”
They seem to be in good health,” Trump
wrote in a post on Twitter.
Mueller’s Secrecy is About to Cost Him His Case Against
Russia
May 9, 2018
If we recall that Mueller was originally appointed to investigate
Russian interference in the 2016 election, then the charges his office
brought against Russian companies and citizens earlier this year are the
only evidence that he’s actually been doing his job.
Oh yes, he’s got a doozy of a case against Paul Manafort (for crimes
that have nothing to do with the election). And yes, he seems to have
wrung a guilty plea out of Michael Flynn (for lying to the FBI, even
though the FBI “did not detect deception” when interviewing him). And he
was apparently involved in some way in the Michael Cohen fiasco, which
appears to have less to do with Russia and more
to do with a porn star.
But as far as the actual SUBJECT OF HIS INVESTIGATION? Yeah, this was
all he had.
And now, because his team is so determined to keep the nature of their
investigation a secret, he could lose even that.
According to Politico, attorneys Eric Dubelier and Kate Seikaly,
representing one of the Russian firms named in the indictment, have
asked the court to provide “nonpublic details about the case and the
investigation.” This would be a little thing called discovery, which the
defense is entitled to. Politico phrased it as such: “The move appeared
to be a bid to force Mueller’s team to turn over relevant evidence to
the Russian firm and perhaps even bait prosecutors into an embarrassing
dismissal in order to avoid disclosing sensitive information.”
But Mueller doesn’t want to do that because Mueller doesn’t give a damn
about Manafort, Flynn, or these Russian charges. He has one big fish in
mind and it’s the President of the
United States.
Now he’s on the verge of having his highest-profile indictments
dismissed because he thinks the office of the Special Counsel is above
the law.
Things are not looking good for Mr. Mueller right now. This news comes
hot on the heels of some damning comments from the judge in the Manafort
case, who accused the special counsel’s team of being well astray from
their Justice Department mandate by trying to tie decade-old crimes to
the scope of their investigation. The judge in that case correctly
surmised that the prosecutor was merely trying to get Manafort to flip
on Trump and demanded that they provide evidence that Manafort’s crimes
were within their jurisdiction. The special counsel is reluctant to
provide that evidence. Either it doesn’t exist, or Mueller is again
damning himself with his own secrecy.
As Andrew McCarthy noted in National Review this week, prosecutions rely
on secrecy to some extent for success. But, as he said, there are things
more important than secrecy, and the public’s faith in the President of
the United States
would be one of those things. It’s well past time for Mueller to lay his
cards on the table: Is Donald Trump a criminal suspect or not?:
And if so, what is the crime?
Source:
Conservative Free Press
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Dallas
forcing 25 member Jewish congregation to close
It appears the city of Dallas
is forcing the closure of a 25-member Jewish congregation that has been
meeting for a number of years in a suburban residence.
There’s no legal impediment to that – the zoning specifically allows
religious use of properties.
But what the city is doing is refusing to approve parking arrangements
for the few dozen attendees.
“City officials have failed to follow the laws that protect this small
congregation from unreasonable regulations,” said Chelsey Younman,
counsel for First Liberty Institute, which is working on the cause for
Congregation Toras Chaim.
Read More.
U. S.
to Separate Families in Stiffened Approach to Illegal Border Crossings
May 7, 2018
WASHINGTON—The Trump
administration plans to step up the prosecution of parents who cross the U.S. border illegally with their
children, separating more families in hopes of deterring such crossings,
officials said.
The policy has been under review at the
Department of Homeland Security and was being announced in
San Diego
on Monday by Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Thomas Homan, who is
acting as director of
U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“The Attorney General directed the U.S. Attorney’s offices to adopt a zero-tolerance
policy for all offenses referred for prosecution” under a statute that
bars illegal entry to the U.S., a Homeland Security official
said.
Most of the adults who cross with children
come from violence-ravaged Central American countries of
Guatemala,
Honduras and El Salvador and are seeking asylum in the U.S. Under the
new policy, adults will still be able to apply for asylum, but they may
be detained while their cases are considered.
Children will be treated as if they had
arrived in the U.S.
without an adult. Unaccompanied children from countries other than Mexico and Canada are placed with family or in
shelters while their cases are considered by immigration courts, a
process that can take years.
Under current policy, many families are
released whole while their asylum cases are processed.
Hundreds of children have already been
separated from their parents. The Department of Health and Human
Services, which is responsible for separated children, puts the figure
at 700 since October. The new policy formalizes this practice.
The new policy has been under discussion
for months, but officials have held off in part because of the
sensitivities of removing children from their parents.
Inside DHS, however, senior officials have
argued that prosecuting parents for illegally crossing is the best way
to deter future migrants. Under a decades-old federal court settlement,
the government can’t jail immigrant children. So if the administration
is going to jail adults, it must take the children away first.
Last month, 9,647 people traveling in
families were apprehended at the southwest border, and almost 50,000
were since the start of the fiscal year.
This policy only applies to people who try
to cross the border illegally, not those who arrive at ports of entry
and request asylum.
Ahead of this announcement, the Justice
Department said it was sending additional prosecutors to the border in
anticipation of an increased workload.
Crossing the border without authorization
is a misdemeanor for first offenses. It can be a felony for people
previously removed from the U.S
May
1, 2018
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) today issued a
statement following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s
revelations about Iran’s
nuclear program:
“Today’s stunning revelations by Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu powerfully demonstrate why the Obama Iran
nuclear deal is not just unfixable, but truly catastrophic. The Prime
Minister’s presentation was remarkable—unprecedented—and worth watching
in full. Through extraordinary intelligence operations, Israeli agents
captured over 100,000 secret documents and files from
Iran.
These Iranian documents prove that (1) for two decades, Iran has
conducted a clandestine nuclear weapons program; (2) Iran lied
repeatedly, and brazenly, denying that secret program; (3) the Obama
nuclear deal was predicated on that edifice of lies; and (4) Iran is
today in violation of that deal.
“The national security consequences of the Obama
Iranian nuclear deal are twofold: First,
America
has allowed billions of dollars to flow to the world’s leading state
sponsor of terrorism, a nation directly responsible for the murder of
hundreds of U.S.
servicemen and women. And second, those billions of dollars have also
propped up a despotic regime and provided vast resources for ongoing
ballistic missile tests designed to enable
Iran
to launch a nuclear weapon on the American homeland.
“In
light of these astonishing Israeli revelations, the course before
President Trump is clear. As the President has said repeatedly, this
deal is a ‘terrible deal,’ even worse than many previously realized. The
United States should therefore withdraw immediately, re-impose crushing
sanctions, work to encourage our allies to do the same, and do
everything necessary to insure that the Ayatollah Khamenei never — never
— acquires the nuclear weapons to make good on his pledge of ‘death to
America.’”
Limbaugh reveals BIGGER scandal from correspondents' dinner
May 1, 2018
Rush
Limbaugh Monday revealed the “real ‘scandal'” of the weekend’s White
House Correspondents’ Dinner – not the “horrible and crude, not funny
hatefest conducted by so-called comedienne.”
Monday’s reports were filled with reaction to Michelle Wolf’s diatribe
at Saturday night’s event. But that’s not the real scandal, Limbaugh
said.
The
real one is that the White House Correspondents’ Association honored CNN
and a couple of its reporters for writing about the Steele “dossier”
last year. That’s the political opposition research document of
unverified claims about President Trump.
It
was used by Obama supporters in the Department of Justice to launch
investigations into alleged “Russian collusion,” including the special
counsel probe by Robert Mueller, which has found no evidence of
collusion.
“The
real news of the evening is that the White House Correspondents’ Dinner
Association gave reporters Jake Tapper, Jim Sciutto, Evan Perez, and
Carl Bernstein an award for their January 10th, 2017, report on the
Steele dossier,” Limbaugh said.
“You
know the story. Hillary Clinton, as in a work of art, commissions this
thing as opposition research. She hires Fusion GPS, which then hires a
law firm to make the payment to wash the money so that it’s not
traceable back to Clinton. And they hire this Christopher Steele guy to
go out and make up a bunch of garbage about Trump for the express
purpose of using it as so-called legitimate intelligence on Trump that
is designed to drive down public opinion on Trump so as to make it easy
to get rid of him!” he said.
“So
the White House Correspondents’ Dinner Association gave Jake Tapper, Jim
Sciutto, Evan Perez with be and Carl Bernstein an award for their
January 10th report on the dossier, 2017. Now, we now know, folks, that
their report was nothing but dictation from James Clapper.”
Clapper at the time was director of national intelligence for Obama.
Limbaugh described him as “a left-wing hack. He is a partisan hack.”
The
reporters “knew what they thought they knew” simply because Clapper
leaked it to them, he said.
March 31, 2017
House Speaker Paul
Ryan on Thursday defended a tweet from that threatened the conservative
House Freedom Caucus with political repercussions for blocking
healthcare reform legislation.
"I understand the
president's frustration," Ryan, R-Wis., told reporters who asked him
about the tweet. "I share the frustration."
Trump tweeted Thursday
morning that "we must fight," the Freedom Caucus in the 2018 elections
"if they don't get on the team & fast."
The HFC comprised the
majority of "no" votes that last week sunk a bill to repeal and replace
Obamacare, a major campaign promise made by Republicans and Trump.
Ryan said House
lawmakers are now close to working out a deal, but would not "put some
kind of official deadline," on a second attempt at voting on a measure.
"It's very
understandable that the president is frustrated that we haven't gotten
to where we need to go because this is something we all said we would
do," Ryan said. "So he is expressing his frustration. You all know he
does that, in various forms, including Twitter and I understand his
frustration."
Source:
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/paul-ryan-defends-trumps-freedom-caucus-attack/article/2618876
Ted Cruz says the Healthcare Bill ain’t gonna happen
March
20, 2017
Senator
Ted Cruz
pointed out the
inherent flaws with the House’s bill. The most glaring being that it
doesn’t lower premiums and relies on eight Democrats to pass the lauded
“Phase 3,” which has “all the good stuff.” He laid out the minimum for
what an Obamacare repeal and replacement need to contain to be effective
— including repealing the 12 insurance mandates, allowing premiums to be
paid through Health Savings Account (HSAs) and opening insurance markets
across state lines — and insisted it could be done in one fell swoop if
taken up as a budgetary matter.
Cruz hit on one very
important point. If Republicans pass the House bill as is and then go
around patting themselves on the back when they haven’t effectively
changed anything — or worse, never get around to Phases 2 and 3 — then
Americans will be ready to “tar and feather [Republicans] in the street
and quite rightly.”
Republicans ran on repealing Obamacare since the moment it was passed
with the sole support of Democrats. If Republicans whiff with the repeal
and replace, they’re going to be seen as...Read
More
Rachel Maddow’s Rating in the Toilet after Trump Tax Publicity Stunt
March 18, 2017
The entire spectacle
had the feel of Evel Knievel’s ill-fated jump over the
Snake River Canyon.
For weeks, Knievel pumped enthusiasm into the stunt, even though, behind
the scenes, his entire crew knew that act would never be completed.
Knievel pushed on, however, and launched his poorly assembled rocket
into the skies above the Idaho
where his parachute immediately deployed. This left viewers and
supporters utterly flabbergasted, angry, and feeling more than a little
gipped.
Maddow’s meltdown was equally a flop. Not only did
Maddow lose the publishing race for these 2 pages of Trump’s 2005 tax
return to Trump himself, Maddow’s 20 minute lead up to anything of
substance was critically eviscerated as nothing more than a ratings
stunt for the struggling liberal media outlet MSNBC. Now, very
predictably, the ratings for The Rachel Maddow show have been
devastated, as Americans turn away from the sensationalism of the
liberal media elite.
“Following her show on Tuesday night where
she revealed President Donald Trump’s partial 2005 tax return — which
ended up being a big win for the White House — Maddow saw her ratings
plummet 36 percent the next day.
The ratings plummet even
included a nearly double digit drop, nine percent, from the previous
week.
“And among the key demographic of 25 to 54-year-olds,
Maddow’s viewership dropped a staggering 54 percent, according to
TVNewser, including a 16 percent drop compared to the previous week.
“Maddow’s main competition on Tuesday included Fox News host Tucker
Carlson interviewing Trump and a CNN health care debate with Health and
Human Services Secretary Tom Price. She bested CNN, but still lagged
behind Fox by more than one million viewers.
“Maddow was widely
mocked for her segment because it revealed that Trump made $150 million
in 2005 and paid $38 million in taxes — equaling a tax rate of 25
percent — which demolished the Democrats’ theory that Trump is a tax
evader.”
Even liberal pundits such as CNN’s Van Jones were forced
to admit that Maddow’s ridiculous stunt did nothing but behoove
President Trump, as it proved that he was paying his fair share of taxes
during 2005 – a point of contention during the 2016 election for Hillary
Clinton, who repeatedly insinuated that Donald Trump was not
contributing to the nation via the IRS in the manner in which he should.
By
Andrew West
March
17, 2017
Donald
Trump has been opposed every step of the way by liberals as it pertains
to the U.S. immigration reform, but the President is not planning to
back down.
There is a very real,
very serious threat facing our country in the form of illegal
immigration. Not only do illegal immigrants place unnecessary burden on
our economy due to their less than stringent adherence to the
United States’ tax code, but they also
create a legal logistical nightmare for the nation as a whole. Cities
across the country are certainly not united and homogenous in their
treatment of illegal aliens, with so-called “sanctuary cities” openly
defying the President and the laws of our nation.
Now, Trump is
taking aim directly at those outliers in his new budget proposal.
“Buried in President
Trump‘s budget proposal released Thursday was an opening salvo
against so-called sanctuary cities, local jurisdictions he promised to
punish for refusing to cooperate with deportation officers.
“Trump wants to slash
$210 million in federal reimbursements to state and local jails that
hold immigrants convicted of crimes while in the country illegally. The
Trump administration called the program ‘poorly targeted,’ adding that
two-thirds of the money goes to only a handful of states, including
California and Illinois, ‘for the cost
of incarcerating certain illegal criminal aliens.’
“The money, awarded
by the Department of Justice, can make up a sizable portion of budgets
for state and local police and sheriff’s departments.”
While Trump is facing
a ridiculous crisis as it pertains to immigration, mostly due to the
increasingly asinine vitriol spewing forth from the mouths of globalists
agitators within our country, this move just goes to show that the
President still has a few tricks up his sleeve.
Source:
http://constitution.com/donald-trump-takes-the-axe-to-sanctuary-cities-in-new-budget-proposal/
CNN drops
congressman's feed as he spills the beans
March 8, 2017
By:
Chelsea Schilling
A
U.S. congressman was abruptly
disconnected from his CNN interview Monday just as he began citing
statistics revealing
300 refugees admitted to the U.S. are being investigated by the FBI in
domestic terrorism cases.
CNN correspondent Dana Bash was interviewing Rep. Scott Taylor, R-Va.,
on the issue of President Trump’s revised travel ban, which bars entry
of individuals from a list of six terror hotbeds (Iran,
Somalia, Sudan, Yemen,
Syrian and Libya)
for 90 days as the administration examines the vetting process.
Bash asked Taylor if he believes Trump’s
ban is necessary for
America’s security.
Just today, the FBI comes out and says that 30 percent, 30 percent, of
their domestic terrorism cases that they’re investigating are from folks
who are refugees,” Taylor replied. “It’s important not to label all
refugees bad people, that’s not why I’m here, but …”
That’s when the feed suddenly cut out.
Taylor’s face and voice were replaced by an image
of colored bars and a loud buzzing noise.
“I was just going to say, congressman, it’s time to go, but I think the
TV gremlins did that for us,” Bash said, smiling
Around the time of the biggest plummet,
CNN host Carol Costello shut down Trump spokeswoman Katrina Pierson.
Costello said the interview was “going nowhere” because Pierson didn’t
respond to Costello’s line of questioning about Trump’s 2005 comments on
the secretly recorded “Access
Hollywood” tape.
WND reported in February when Trump’s war with CNN became more
intense, as the president again labeled the network “fake news” and
precluded his officials from making appearances on the cable giant.
In a meeting with black leaders at the White House for African-American
History month, Trump commented on the “very hostile CNN community.”
“I don’t watch CNN,”
Trump said. “I don’t like watching fake news.”
Source:
http://mobile.wnd.com/2017/03/cnn-cuts-congressmans-feed-as-he-spills-the-beans/#0Hp7T2I6fD4eIsrJ.99
March 6, 2017
“As
I stated when President Trump’s administration previously took the
responsible step of acting to prevent terrorists from infiltrating our
refugee programs, we live in a dangerous world. For eight long years the
Obama administration remained willfully blind to the threat of radical
Islamic terrorism, admitting tens of thousands of refugees whom the FBI
expressly told Congress they could not be certain were not terrorists.
That Obama policy made no sense, and it made America less
safe. If we are serious about combating the threat of radical Islam, we
must reform and strengthen our refugee programs to ensure proper vetting
of those entering our country—especially when they are coming from
nations that are hotbeds of terror. This is crucial to our national
security and to protecting American lives, and it is a priority for
which I have long advocated.
"I commend President
Trump for rejecting Obama's willful blindness. In contrast to the
hysteria and mistruths that are still being pushed by the media,
President Trump’s executive order implements a four-month pause in
refugee admissions so that stronger vetting procedures can be put in
place. This is a commonsense step that the American people
overwhelmingly support. I am also pleased to see that lawful permanent
residents will not be impacted by this order.
“I will continue to
call on Congress to pass legislation to further assist in these efforts.
For example, the executive order calls for greater influence from the
states in this process, and the State Refugee Security Act that I
introduced with Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) would do just that. This is a
commonsense step to help keep us safe, and should be something that all
senators and representatives, regardless of political party, can unite
behind.”
Source:
https://www.cruz.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=3025
Ted Cruz Says The Sessions and Russia story is one giant
nothingburger
By: Jordan Schachtel
March 3, 2017
Senator
Ted Cruz, R-Texas (A, 97%) appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”
Thursday to defend Attorney General Jeff Sessions against allegations
that he somehow committed wrongdoing by being in contact with the
Russian ambassador to the
U.S.
prior to the 2016 election.
Sessions is under fire
from establishment media outlets and Democrats, who have
demanded he resign or recuse himself from investigations dealing
with Russia.
“I think what we’re
seeing is a lot of political theater,” Cruz said in response to a
question involving whether Sessions was dishonest with members of
Congress. “Everyone’s in high dudgeon about this meeting. This
underlying meeting is a nothingburger. It’s what senators do everyday,
meeting with foreign ambassadors. It’s part of the job”
“The notion that there
was something somehow wrong with a senior senator of the Armed Services
committee meeting with a foreign ambassador, I think that’s a
nothingburger,” Cruz responded.
The
Texas
senator said that Sessions could have reworded his responses and been
“more clear,” but, “at the end of the day, there’s no there there.”
MSNBC personality
Willie Geist asked Cruz if he had any information regarding the
conversations Sessions had with the Russian ambassador.
“Meeting with foreign
ambassadors is part of the routine responsibilities of serving in the
Senate,” Cruz responded. “I have no idea what was talked about in that
meeting.”
“My understand is that
Jeff met with twenty-five different ambassadors last year,” he said,
adding some context to the issue.
As Conservative
Review’s Rob Eno has explained, Attorney General Jeff Sessions did not
appear to commit any wrongdoing nor did he break any laws by speaking
with the Russian ambassador to the
United States
before joining the Trump administration.
See
more at:
https://www.conservativereview.com/commentary/2017/03/ted-cruz-the-sessions-russia-story-is-one-giant-nothingburger#sthash.44baShyE.dpuf
February 22, 2017
Maryland’s
ban on 45 kinds of assault weapons and its 10-round limit on gun
magazines were upheld Tuesday by a federal appeals court in a decision
that met with a strongly worded dissent.
In a 10-4 ruling, the
4th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, said the guns banned under Maryland’s law aren’t protected by the Second
Amendment.
“Put simply, we have
no power to extend Second Amendment protections to weapons of war,”
Judge Robert King wrote for the court, adding that the Supreme Court’s
decision in District of
Columbia v. Heller explicitly excluded such
coverage.
Read More
support pours in from Las Vegas community
Gina Lazara,
Tom George
A 92-year-old veteran is heartbroken after
three of his American flags and a U.S. Navy flag were burned to ashes.
William Barclay says he went outside to let his dog go to the
bathroom Wednesday morning when he noticed his U.S. Navy flag was burned
to ashes and one of his American flags was in shreds. He also saw the
two American flags flying on his car were burnt to ashes too.
Read More
February 13, 2017
President Donald J. Trump and Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau held their first official meeting today in
Washington,
D.C. and affirmed their
longstanding commitment to close cooperation in addressing both the
challenges facing our two countries and problems around the world.
No two countries share deeper or broader
relations than Canada
and the United States.
We are bound together by our history, our values, our economy, our
environment, and our resolve to improve the lives of our citizens.
Our close relationship and ongoing collaboration allow us to
successfully meet any challenges we may face over the coming years, and
to build a prosperous future for the people of both countries.
READ MORE
President Trump stood up for our law enforcement officers
trump pushed back against the rising tide of crime with three key
Executive Orders
February
11, 2017
-
Attorney General
Sessions will prosecute criminals who target law enforcement
officers to the fullest extent of the law, and recommend new laws to
protect those who dedicate themselves to safeguarding our
communities.
-
The Attorney
General will evaluate the Department’s grant programs to make sure
they prioritize the protection and safety of law enforcement
officers.
-
This
Administration will upgrade the Nation’s information gathering about
transnational organizations, like cartels. We will identify accurate
information about these organizations, which threaten our public
safety, and coordinate with domestic and foreign counterparts, to
effectively combat the threat they pose.
-
The order will
improve the speed and efficiency of removing aliens who are cartel
members or who aid cartels in their criminal activities.
-
Under the order, the interagency
Threat Mitigation Working Group will focus resources on disrupting
transnational criminal organizations and preventing them from
threatening our society.
READ MORE
By: Chris Pandolfo
February
09, 2017
In remarks
following his swearing-in ceremony, Attorney General Jeff Sessions vowed
to devote the Department of Justice to fighting the rising tide of
violent crime in
America.
“This is a dangerous
permanent trend that places the health and safety of the American people
at risk,” the nation’s new Attorney General said.
“We will deploy the
talents and abilities of the Department of Justice in the most effective
way possible to confront this rising crime and to protect the people of
our country,” Sessions continued.
Additionally,
Sessions pledged to reverse the Obama administration’s policy of using
so-called “prosecutorial discretion” to refuse to enforce the nation’s
immigration laws. “We need a lawful system of immigration. One that
serves the interests of the people of the
United States,”
the Attorney General said. “That’s not wrong, that’s not immoral, that’s
not indecent.”
President Trump
lamented
rising crime rates in a speech delivered to a gathering of major
city police chiefs Wednesday, noting that the overall murder rate in the
US’s 30-largest cities climbed by “double digits” in 2016.
After swearing in
the Attorney General Sessions, the president signed three executive
actions “designed to restore safety in America”
and to combat crime.
President Trump
is directing the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland
security to “break the back” of criminal drug cartels and violent gangs
committing crimes within the
United States.
He has also asked
the DOJ to form a taskforce on reducing violent crime in America,
and to implement a plan to combat violent crimes committed against law
enforcement officers.
View Video:
https://twitter.com/CBSNews/status/829724590842724352
See more at:
https://www.conservativereview.com/commentary/2017/02/new-sheriff-in-town-ag-jeff-sessions-just-declared-war-on-crime?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=021017crcontentemail&utm_campaign=newslettertraffic#sthash.47LuXS29.dpuf
By: Chris Pandolfo
February
08, 2017
In a speech you
didn’t hear because it doesn’t make for good TV or reaffirm the liberal
narrative, Senator Marco Rubio, R-Fla. (C, 74%) warned that tolerating
Warren’s
brand of slanderous rhetoric on the floor of the U.S.
Senate undermines the institution and weakens our republic.
“I
want people to think about our politics here today in America,”
Rubio exhorted his colleagues. “Because I’m telling you guys, I don’t
know of a single nation in the history of the world that’s been able to
solve its problems when half the people in the country absolutely hate
the other half of people in that country.”
“This is not a partisan
issue, it really is not” Rubio said. “Turn on the news and watch these
parliaments around the world where people throw chairs at each other,
and punches. And ask yourself ‘how does that make you feel about those
countries?’ Doesn’t give you a lot of confidence about those countries.”
Rubio continued,
saying the nation and the U.S.
Senate is “flirting” with becoming the sort of place where reasonable
disagreement and debate is dead.
“We are becoming a
society incapable of having debates,” he warned his colleagues.
Criticizing both
Republicans and Democrats for contributing to the kind of hyperbolic
rhetoric that divides, and noting that he himself is guilty of such
words at times, Rubio warned that the floor of the Senate must be a
place where that behavior is not tolerated.
“If we lose this body’s
ability to conduct debate in a dignified matter … then where in this
country is that going to happen? In what other form in this nation is
that going to be possible?”
View the video:
https://youtu.be/kepdzLUNE64
See
more at:
https://www.conservativereview.com/commentary/2017/02/the-marco-rubio-knockdown-of-elizabeth-warren-no-liberal-media-outlet-will-cover?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=021017crcontentemail&utm_campaign=newslettertraffic#sthash.bTriHvkE.dpuf
February 8, 2017
The Senate voted to bar Sen.
Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) from
speaking on the floor Tuesday night after Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said her
blistering comments about fellow Sen. Jeff
Sessions (R-Ala.), President Trump's pick for attorney general,
broke Senate rules.
Senators rebuked
Warren
in a 49-43 party-line vote, rejecting
Warren's push to overturn a ruling by Senate
Republicans that she had violated the rules during a Senate floor
speech.
Warren
needed a simple majority to overturn the ruling by Sen. Steve Daines
(R-Mont.), who was presiding over the the Senate during
Warren's speech.
The move means the progressive senator
won't be allowed to speak from the floor until after the Senate wraps up
its debate on Sessions's nomination, expected to occur on
Wednesday evening.
The drama on the Senate floor comes after McConnell interrupted Warren's speech, accusing her of breaking the
upper chamber's guidelines.
READ MORE
January 31, 2017
WASHINGTON,
D.C. –
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) today issued the following statement
regarding President Donald Trump’s nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to
the Supreme Court of the
United States:
“Last year, after the
unexpected passing of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, Senate
Republicans drew a line in the sand on the behalf of the American
people. Exercising our constitutional authority, we advised President
Obama that we would not consent to a Supreme Court nominee until We the
People, in the presidential election, were able to choose between an
originalist and a progressive vision of the Constitution.
“In November, the
People spoke, clearly. They elected President Donald Trump, who had
repeatedly promised to nominate a justice firmly committed to the
following the law and the original understanding of the Constitution.
Today, with the nomination of the Honorable Neil Gorsuch from the Tenth
Circuit Court of Appeals, President Trump has fulfilled that promise,
and the rule of law will be all the better for it.
“Like the renowned
justice he is set to replace, Judge Gorsuch is brilliant and immensely
talented. He has impeccable qualifications, having clerked at the
Supreme Court, excelled in private practice, served at the highest
levels of the Justice Department, and garnered a stellar reputation over
the past decade as an appellate judge. More importantly, though, he also
mirrors Justice Scalia in that he has a proven track record of honoring
the Constitution, following the text of the law, and refraining from
imposing his policy preferences from the bench. As a result of his
fidelity to law, he has proven to be a champion of federalism, the
constitutional separation of powers, religious liberty, and all of the
fundamental liberties enshrined in our Bill of Rights. I couldn’t be
happier with his selection.
“Indeed, I
wholeheartedly applaud President Trump for nominating Judge Gorsuch. Our
country desperately needs Supreme Court justices who revere the
Constitution and are willing to elevate it over their own personal
preferences, and Judge Gorsuch has demonstrated that faithfulness.
Eleven years ago, the Senate was so confident in Judge Gorsuch’s
abilities that it confirmed him by voice vote. In the time since, he has
shown himself worthy of that distinction, and I would hope that my
Senate colleagues give him the respect he deserves this time around, as
well, and support his confirmation.”
January 30, 2017
WASHINGTON,
D.C. — U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz
(R-Texas) issued the following statement regarding President Trump’s
recent executive order to facilitate stronger vetting procedures for
refugees:
"We live in a
dangerous world, and for eight long years the Obama administration
remained willfully blind to the threat of radical Islamic terrorism,
admitting tens of thousands of refugees whom the FBI expressly told
Congress they could not be certain were not terrorists. That Obama
policy made no sense, and it made
America
less safe. If we are serious about combating the threat of radical
Islam, we must reform and strengthen our refugee programs to ensure
proper vetting of those entering our country—especially when they are
coming from nations that are hotbeds of terror. This is crucial to our
national security and to protecting American lives, and it is a priority
for which I have long advocated.
"I commend President
Trump for rejecting Obama's willful blindness, and for acting swiftly to
try to prevent terrorists from infiltrating our refugee programs. In
contrast to the hysteria and mistruths being pushed by the liberal
media, President Trump’s executive order implements a four-month pause
in refugee admissions so that stronger vetting procedures can be put in
place. This is a commonsense step that the American people
overwhelmingly support. The executive order also calls for the
prioritization of religious minorities, a welcome change from an Obama
administration that functionally discriminated against religious
minorities, who are especially vulnerable to persecution and genocide.
"DHS Secretary John
Kelly was just confirmed overwhelmingly, and I have confidence that he
will provide the leadership needed to properly implement these reforms.
I am already pleased to see him announce that some legitimate concerns
about the non-refugee aspects of this order are being handled properly,
and that lawful permanent residents will be given priority in entering
the country.
"It is incumbent
upon Congress to pass legislation to further assist in these efforts.
Congress should pass the
Terrorist Refugee Infiltration Protection Act,
to insure that all refugees are properly vetted. In addition, the
executive order calls for greater influence from the states in this
process, and the State Refugee Security Act that I just introduced with
Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) would do just that. Both bills are commonsense
steps to keep us safe, and should be something that all senators and
representatives, regardless of political party, can unite behind."
Monday, January 30, 2017
Fairfax, Va.—
The National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action
(NRA-ILA) applauds the settlement reached in Vreeland v. City of
Knoxville. This settlement strikes a reasonable
balance between the right to carry firearms in public parks within
Knoxville, as guaranteed by Tennessee
law, and the city’s use of
Chilhowee Park as a secure facility for private or
ticketed events. At its core, this settlement reaffirms that individuals
have the right to defend themselves with lawfully possessed firearms
throughout Tennessee.
“This
is an important settlement that reaffirms law-abiding Tennesseans have a
right to defend themselves throughout the state,” said Jennifer Baker,
director of public affairs, NRA-ILA.
Prior to the settlement of
this lawsuit, the City of Knoxville
prohibited such carry throughout Chilhowee
Park & Exposition Center and in turn, a lawsuit was filed against Knoxville and its mayor to challenge the city’s ban on
licensed concealed-carry in
Chilhowee
Park.
“Crime can
happen wherever, whenever, and Tennessee law protects the right of residents
to defend themselves the best way they see fit. With the conclusion of
this legal matter, Tennesseans’ rights remain protected,” concluded
Baker.
1/26/2017
Today Pres. Trump signed
two executive orders that authorize the immediate construction of a wall
on the southern border, stops federal funding to sanctuary jurisdictions
and ends the catch and release policy.
The
Border Security executive order authorizes the construction of a
physical wall on the southern border. “The secretary of Homeland
Security, working with myself and my staff, will begin immediate
construction of a border wall," Pres. Trump said during a press
conference at DHS headquarters.
This order also gives all officers and
employees of the United States, including Border
Patrol, access to all Federal lands in order to enforce immigration
laws. It also ends the “catch and release” policy enacted by Pres.
Obama. Under this policy illegal aliens were released once they filed
their asylum claim instead of being detained until their immigration
hearing.
Other key components of the Border
Security executive order:
-
It calls for 5,000 additional
Border Patrol agents.
-
Allows DHS to create more detention
centers to house illegal aliens.
-
Directs Attorney General to hire
more immigration judges.
-
Narrows
credible fear designations for asylum applications.
The other executive order focuses on
enhancing interior enforcement by prohibiting any jurisdictions that
fail to comply with federal law from receiving federal funds. It also
triples the number of ICE officers and replaces Pres. Obama’s Priorities
Enforcement Program (PEP) with the Secure Communities program.
Other key components of the Enhancing
Interior Enforcement executive order:
-
It calls for 10,000 new ICE
officers.
-
Suspends visas from countries who
refuse to take back their citizens.
-
Adds any illegal alien who has
abused any program in order to receive U.S. public benefits to the
enforcement priorities list.
-
Adds any illegal alien who has not
complied with their final deportation order to the enforcement
priorities list.
-
Charges the DHS Secretary to create
a weekly Declined Detainer Outcome Report that lists all current
sanctuary jurisdictions and criminal actions committed by illegal
aliens in those jurisdictions. This report will be made available to
the public.
These two executive orders fully or
partially address 7 out of NumbersUSA’s “10
Steps to Fix Our Broken Immigration System".
January 24, 2017
The
Administration strongly supports H.R. 7. The legislation would prohibit
any funds authorized or appropriated by Federal law to be expended for
any abortion, or for direct payments to insurers for health benefits
coverage that includes coverage for abortions. H.R. 7 also would
prohibit the purchase of abortion coverage with matching funds from
federally subsidized programs, including Federal and State Medicaid
funds. The legislation would not relate to the treatment of any
complication caused by or worsened by an abortion, nor to the treatment
of abortions in the case of rape, incest, or preserving the life of the
mother. This bill would continue to prohibit the Federal government from
paying for affected procedures with the taxes of Americans who find
abortion morally or religiously objectionable.
If the President were presented with
H.R. 7 in its present form, he would sign the bill.
Source:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/01/24/h-r-7-%E2%80%93-no-taxpayer-funding-abortion-and-abortion-insurance-full
By the authority vested in me as President by
the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby
order a freeze on the hiring of Federal civilian employees to be applied
across the board in the executive branch. As part of this freeze, no
vacant positions existing at noon on January 22, 2017, may be filled and
no new positions may be created, except in limited circumstances. This
order does not include or apply to military personnel. The head of any
executive department or agency may exempt from the hiring freeze any
positions that it deems necessary to meet national security or public
safety responsibilities. In addition, the Director of the Office of
Personnel Management (OPM) may grant exemptions from this freeze where
those exemptions are otherwise necessary.
Within 90 days of the date of this
memorandum, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB),
in consultation with the Director of OPM, shall recommend a long-term
plan to reduce the size of the Federal Government's workforce through
attrition. This order shall expire upon implementation of the OMB plan.
Contracting outside the Government to
circumvent the intent of this memorandum shall not be permitted.
This hiring freeze applies to all executive
departments and agencies regardless of the sources of their operational
and programmatic funding, excepting military personnel.
In carrying out this memorandum, I ask that
you seek efficient use of existing personnel and funds to improve public
services and the delivery of these services. Accordingly, this
memorandum does not prohibit making reallocations to meet the highest
priority needs and to ensure that essential services are not interrupted
and national security is not affected.
This memorandum does not limit the nomination
and appointment of officials to positions requiring Presidential
appointment or Senate confirmation, the appointment of officials to
non-career positions in the Senior Executive Service or to Schedule C
positions in the Excepted Service, or the appointment of any other
officials who serve at the pleasure of the appointing authority.
Moreover, it does not limit the hiring of personnel where such a limit
would conflict with applicable law. This memorandum does not revoke any
appointment to Federal service made prior to January 22, 2017.
This memorandum does not abrogate any
collective bargaining agreement in effect on the date of this
memorandum.
DONALD J. TRUMP
Are you among the
many Americans who file your taxes early so you can get your refund
sooner? If you claim the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) or Additional
Child Tax Credit (ACTC) and expect to receive a refund, you’ll have to
wait until after mid-February to get it.
That’s because a new
law passed late last year. The Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act
of 2015 (PATH Act) says the IRS cannot issue credits or refunds for an
over-payment before Feb. 15, 2017 for any filer who claims the EITC or
ACTC.
If you don’t file
either of these credits, the
IRS says your refund will likely be processed in the typical time
frame of 21 days.
Refunds delayed may mean less fraudulent returns
While news of a
delayed refund may not be music to your ears, the reasoning behind it is
good. This change gives the IRS more time to review income tax returns
and prevent fraudulent returns from being processed.
Too often,
fraudsters file bogus returns before the actual filer can complete their
taxes and claim credits like the EITC and ACTC.
Both the EITC and
ACTC are refundable tax credits, which are particularly advantageous
because they are beneficial even after reducing your tax liability below
zero.
If the amount of
these credits is more than the amount of taxes due, the difference will
be given back as a tax refund.
Savvy criminals know
that – and input numbers to make it look like they should get more money
back.
Will
you be affected?
If you file early
and claim either of the credits noted, you may be affected.
If you’re not sure,
start by determining whether you qualify for the EITC. You may be
eligible to claim the credit if the following is true:
-
You have earned
income
-
You, your spouse
(if you’re married) and any qualifying children have a Social
Security Number (SSN)
-
Your filing
status is married filing jointly, head of household, qualifying
widow(er) or single
-
You are a U.S. citizen or resident alien all year, a
nonresident alien married to a U.S. citizen or a resident
alien and filing a joint return
-
No one else can
claim you as a qualifying child for the EITC
-
You do not have
foreign earned income
-
Any income
earned from interest, dividends or other investments is less than
$3,400
If you do not have a
qualifying child, you must:
-
Be between the
ages of 25 and 65 at the end of the year
-
Have spent at
least half of the year living in the United States
-
Not be the
qualifying child of another person
The ACTC is based in
part on the Child Tax Credit (CTC). A nonrefundable tax credit, the CTC
allows you to claim a credit worth up to $1,000 per qualifying child. If
you owe less income tax than the amount of the CTC amount, you may be
able to claim the ACTC.
You can take the ACTC, a refundable credit, even if you owe little or no
income tax. To qualify, you need to have earned more than $3,000 in
income.
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