Archive for the ‘Mike Pence’ Category

Pence-linked group steps up pressure on Congress in tax campaign | TheHill – The Hill

The Coalition to Protect American Workers, led by GOP strategists including Mark Short, who served as former Vice President Mike PenceMichael (Mike) Richard PencePompeo to headline fundraiser for Youngkin Pence-linked group steps up pressure on Congress in tax campaign Mellman: Your rights and my nose MOREs chief of staff, iswarning members of Congress against reversing President TrumpDonald TrumpStudy finds more than 9,000 anti-Asian attacks took place since March 2020 Biden marks fourth anniversary of Charlottesville Trump, House committee to appeal judge's order to hand over some tax records MOREs landmark 2017 tax reform law.

If any elected member of Congress tries to jeopardize the next American recovery in the name of higher spending, expansive social welfare programs, the green new deal and higher taxes, we will ensure that you are held accountable, the group wrote in a letter tolawmakers.

The group has a budget of between $25 million to $50 million to spend to oppose President BidenJoe BidenBiden urges Californians to vote against effort to recall Newsom Taliban's advance picks up speed, intensifying Afghanistan crisis Overnight Defense: Troopshead back to Afghanistan to aid diplomatic evacuation MOREs plan to increase the corporate tax rate to 28 percent and increase taxes on individuals earning more than $400,000 a year.

It is circulating its letter as Senate Democrats are preparing to put together a $3.5 trillion spending package that could raise taxes by the same amount, depending on whether moderates such as Sen. Joe ManchinJoe ManchinFamily of John Lewis joins rally pressing Biden to help end Senate filibuster Pence-linked group steps up pressure on Congress in tax campaign The Hill's Morning Report - Presented by AT&T - Pelosi refuses to budge on bipartisan infrastructure bill MORE (D-W.Va.) insist that it be entirely paid for so as not to add to the deficit.

The group warned that the Senates passage of a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill earlier this week begins a process to unwind [the] 2017 tax cuts and take away opportunities from families across the country.

Democrats in Congress have repeatedly expressed their intention to tie this bill to over $3 trillion in tax increases through a partisan reconciliation process, it wrote.

While we are disappointed to see that Congress has linked infrastructure to tax increases, the Coalition to Protect American Workers will continue undaunted in our mission to preserve the benefits of the 2017 tax cuts, it added.

The group is touting the economic benefits of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, one of Trumps biggest policy accomplishments, in what is certain to become core talking points of the Republican effort to defeat or whittle down the Democrats $3.5 trillion reconciliation package.

The results of the 2017 tax cut were rapid and extraordinary. In just over two years after the time that tax cuts were signed into law the U.S. added 5.3 million new jobs. The unemployment rate fell to 3.5 percent, which was the lowest rate in 50 years, it wrote.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellTaliban's advance picks up speed, intensifying Afghanistan crisis McConnell demands Biden commit to sending more troops back to Afghanistan Pence-linked group steps up pressure on Congress in tax campaign MORE (R-Ky.) has similarly cited statistics reflecting the strength of the U.S. economy before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the nationlast year to make clear that Republicans will vote in unison to oppose any unwinding of the 2017 tax law.

More here:
Pence-linked group steps up pressure on Congress in tax campaign | TheHill - The Hill

We’re not going to the moon anytime soon, but Joe Biden won’t kill Trump’s dream – Mother Jones

Fight disinformation. Get a daily recap of the facts that matter. Sign up for the free Mother Jones newsletter.

There are some troubling policies and practices from the Trump years that President Joe Biden has chosen to carry forward, even as hes aggressively worked to undo others. In at least one case, though, theres an unrealistic and expensive Trump-era goal that Biden is pushing forward with, even in opposition to his own experts: A 2024 human landing on the moon.

Thats according to a new piece published Friday by Marina Koren in The Atlantic. Koren convincingly argues that the proposed lunar landing in late 2024which the Trump administration saw, at least partially, as a political feather for Trumps cap, along with the creation of Space Forceis clearly behind schedule. Delays in the development in the modern redesign of the spacesuit, along with budget overruns coupled with budget shortfalls, may make the 2024 no longer a realistic target, Steve Jurcyzk, the acting NASA administrator in February, told Ars Technica. As such, Koren argues, the Biden administration could slough off the 2024 goal easily enough.

Instead, the administration is pushing forward with the 2024 goal, even if its a stretch and a challenge, according to current Administrator Bill Nelson.

Koren points out that Biden has plenty to deal withthe pandemic, infrastructure, climate changeand noted in an earlier piece that 2018 polling found the public preferred that NASAs main focus be climate research. In 2019 just 8 percent of Americans said a moon landing should be the agencys top priority, with a majority supporting climate research and national security-related missions.

Perhaps the answer has more to do with national security than national pride. On the same day that Biden met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva to discuss election meddling, human rights, and ransomware, the Chinese government was showing off its success in getting its new space station operational. Former Vice President Mike Pence said in 2019 that there was a new space race afoot akin to the 1960s, and the stakes are even higher.

Even still, NASAs internal investigator said this week that the 2024 landing is not feasible. Koren reported that a NASA spokesperson said that the budget and timeline for the mission are being evaluated and that the agency will provide an update later this year. Safety is a priority, the spokesperson said, and NASA will put humans on the moon when it is safe to do so.

Read the original post:
We're not going to the moon anytime soon, but Joe Biden won't kill Trump's dream - Mother Jones

‘Bring out the gallows’: Intelligence official warns of ‘alarming uptick’ in calls for violence on ‘Trump Reinstatement Day’ – Raw Story

A top U.S. intelligence official is reporting an "alarming uptick" in "incredibly dangerous" online chatter calling for violence associated with former president Donald Trump's false claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, CNN reported Friday.

The report comes on the same day (Aug. 13, or "Reinstatement Day") when some QAnon followers believed Trump would somehow return to the White House.

John Cohen, the chief of intelligence at the Department of Homeland Security, said the chatter is "strikingly similar to what was out there before the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol," according to CNN anchor Pamela Brown.

Alex Marquardt, CNN's senior national security corespondent, called the report "really disturbing news."

"What he's saying is that some of this online chatter, so on social media and in different online platforms, they include phrases like, 'The system is broken.' They call on people to take action into their own hands and to 'bring out the gallows,'" Marquardt said. "It is hard to underestimate how significant these comments can be because as you know, on Jan. 6, we heard calls by the Capitol insurrectionists to hang Mike Pence. There were actually makeshift gallows on the national mall."

According to Marquardt, Cohen said the concern is not only that the chatter is similar to before Jan. 6 it's that there has been an "uptick in these calls for violence."

Cohen also said while the chatter is associated with "a number of conspiracy theories," they all revolve around Trump's false claim of widespread election fraud, known as the "big lie."

"And that lie simply won't die, because people continue to talk about it," Marquardt said. "We still see the former president going around the country saying that the election was stolen from him. People like Mike Lindell, a big supporter of the former president, saying he has proof that the election was illegitimate which of course has been widely debunked."

Marquardt noted that the DHS has repeatedly warned in recent months about the threat of violence associated with Trump's false claim.

"There is no specific threat, they say, but they have said it could lead to deadly violence, and now you have the head of intelligence at DHS pointing to these comments and saying they are incredibly dangerous and they are growing," he said.

Read more here, and watch below.

CNN on DHS intelligence chief's warningwww.youtube.com

See the original post here:
'Bring out the gallows': Intelligence official warns of 'alarming uptick' in calls for violence on 'Trump Reinstatement Day' - Raw Story

Did Ilhan Omar REALLY marry her brother? DNA ‘proof’ lifts the lid on alleged immigration scam – MEAWW

A group linked to the Republican Party has released a report, seemingly indicating that Rep Ilhan Omar married her own brother to get around the US immigration laws. The report does not identify either Omar or her former husband Ahmed Elmi, but simply as 'Sibling 1' and Sibling 2'. The report indicates there is 99.999998% that the two individuals are siblings, and it is believed that they are Omar and Elmi.

The rumor that Omar and Elmi were siblings gained traction in 2020 after a Somali man made the claim. In March 2020, the man claimed he "feared for his life" after Omar's friends made threats. Those claims surfaced after Omar divorced her first husband Ahmed Hirsi for the second time in 2019. That messy second divorce came after Hirsi reportedly found Omar cheating on him with her chief strategist.

RELATED ARTICLES

Who is Anton Lazzaro? GOP strategist arrested for underage sex trafficking in Minneapolis

Ilhan Omar's ex allegedly found her and her lover in their pajamas when he made surprise visit to her apartment

The outspoken far-left Congresswoman's personal life has been as controversial as her politics, and neither seems to be dying down any time soon. Omar is still a frequent target for the GOP and conservatives since she is a member of the "Squad". Now it appears as if her personal life too is being attacked. The report believed to be linking Omar and Elmi was published by GOP strategist Anton Lazzaro, who was recently arrested on federal sex trafficking charges.

As we have said before, the report does not name the two individuals listed. The test was conducted by Endeavor DNA, based in El Paso, Texas. It was uploaded by Lazzaro's group Big Tent Republicans PAC, on Wednesday, August 11. It says sibling 1's DNA sample was collected from a cigarette butt, and sibling 2's from a drinking straw. The Daily Mail reported that sibling 1 was identified as Omar, and 2 as Elmi.

The report should be taken with a pinch of salt for a few reasons. For one, Omar is not a known to be a smoker, while her third husband Tim Mynett is. For another thing, the report was released by a group with known times to the GOP. As we have previously reported, Lazzaro has funneled more than $22,000 to political committees in California, Minnesota, Michigan, and New Mexico through Big Tent. He is a strong GOP supporter and has even met with Donald Trump and Mike Pence. Thirdly, The Mail has claimed the test links Omar and Elmi but does not provide any proof to back up the claim.

According to The Daily Mail, which broke the story, Lazzaro uploaded the test and an undated photo of Omar smoking on a website. We could not find this website, it doesn't appear to be linked on Lazzaro's Twitter or Instagram account. There is also no link available on the Big Tent PAC's website. It is unclear if it has since been taken down. "DailyMail.com understands that a shadowy Republican group was planning to release details of a DNA report in the next day or two," the publication wrote. Ever since the claims first emerged, Omar has been frequently targeted over the immigration "scam". Many believe she married her own brother so he could come to the US and study, bypassing the need to apply for a separate visa. The Lazzaro website reportedly says, "this is purely a crime of convenience, by an individual with extremely poor ethics now representing hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans in Congress."

It is important to note that Lazzaro was arrested, just over 12 hours after the report was published. He was arrested for trafficking five minors and has been slapped with five counts of sex trafficking of a minor, one count of attempting to do so, and three counts of obstruction of justice. It is not clear if Big Tent will release any further information on this matter, or provide conclusive proof. Omar is one of the several Dems in Congress the GOP are trying to unseat in 2022, in a bid to take back the House and Senate. So far, the biggest name to take on Omar is Danielle Stella, who had her Twitter account banned in 2019 for "violent rhetoric".

See the rest here:
Did Ilhan Omar REALLY marry her brother? DNA 'proof' lifts the lid on alleged immigration scam - MEAWW

Mike Pence Claims CRT Teaches Kindergarteners to Be ‘Ashamed of Their Skin Color’ – Newsweek

Former vice president Mike Pence has repeated his attack on critical race theory, claiming that it teaches kindergarten-age children to be "ashamed of their skin color."

Pence made his latest remarks on critical race theory, or CRT, during a speech at the Family Leadership Summit in Des Moines on Friday. He accused Joe Biden's administration of replacing "patriotic education" with "political indoctrination."

He said: "They abolished our 1776 Commission and authorized teaching critical race theory in our schools. Instead of teaching all our children to be proud of their country, critical race theory teaches children as young as kindergarten to be ashamed of their skin color.

"Critical race theory is state-sanctioned racism, pure and simple, and it should be opposed by every American, every day."

CRT is an academic framework that examines history through the lens of racism and argues that racism is embedded in U.S. law and institutions.

But conservatives have turned it into a political rallying cry, claiming it is an effort to rewrite U.S. history and persuade white people that they are inherently racist.

Pence repeated his claims about critical race theory at Friday's inaugural Feenstra Family Picnic in Sioux Center.

"It's far past time to discard the left-wing reflex to find systemic racism in every institution in the country," he said. "America is not a racist country. America is the most just, noble and inclusive nation ever to exist on the face of the earth."

There is little to no evidence that critical race theory is being taught to K-12 public school students, according to the Associated Press.

Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, has said it is mostly taught in universities and not in elementary, middle and high schools.

But so far, 26 states have introduced bills or taken other steps to limit how race and racism can be taught in classrooms, according to an analysis by Education Week. Eleven Republican-led states have enacted bans, either through legislation or other actions.

Friday's speech wasn't the first time Pence has decried critical race theory and claimed it was being taught to children in kindergarten.

In a speech last month, he said the Republican Party must look to "restore the classics to education in our schools" and "eliminate critical race theory at every level."

"Critical race theory teaches children as young as kindergarten to be ashamed of their skin color. It represents a full-throated assault aimed at the heart of the American experiment," Pence added.

Earlier this week, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy invoked the words of Martin Luther King Jr's famous "I Have A Dream" speech while decrying critical race theory.

It prompted his daughter, Bernice King, to respond by advising the Republican leader to study her father's teachings more closely.

Visit link:
Mike Pence Claims CRT Teaches Kindergarteners to Be 'Ashamed of Their Skin Color' - Newsweek