Our Border Patrol Is Still Shut Down

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At the beginning of last week, I warned that this battle had already been lost the moment the president offered any amnesty rather than going on offense and threatening executive action. At that point, the only outcomes left on the table were a continuing resolution to fund the government without the wall, or amnesty. At this point, it’s just better to go for the short-term funding bill and live to fight another day rather than risk an amnesty deal for some pennies thrown at the border.

But where does that leave us as we approach the next funding deadline, now slated for February 15? What does it mean to fight another day if Republicans failed to fight for two years and Trump declined to use his veto on seven budget deadlines when it would have been so much easier to get the wall, before the election?

The good news is that while feckless Republicans lost the chess game with Pelosi, we didn’t lose the issue of sovereignty with the public. The issue of immigration has now rocketed up to the top priority of voters, and 62 percent of Americans now believe illegal immigration is a serious problem. Conservatives have been trying to focus national attention and direct it to this issue for years, so on that account, we have been successful. Now, Trump needs to take it to the next level and convert this to action.

It’s time for Trump to actually treat the situation like the national security emergency it is. If he really means what he said on Friday, then he should begin using all his powers as commander in chief and chief executive to fight the cartels and the smugglers on all fronts.

Yes, this is an emergency

How would you describe a situation where violent drug cartels are using our broken court decisions to tie up our border agents while they pour in drugs, gangs, and criminals?

Just on Thursday, smugglers drove 306 bogus asylum seekers towards the Antelope Wells port of entry in southeast New Mexico. Well, what happens when hundreds surrender themselves to agents at or between ports of entry? All the places without significant fencing are left wide open for the cartels. Here is a concern from a local rancher, as reported by USA Today:

Adame said she’s not afraid of the asylum seekers, who cross in full view of Border Patrol agents at the port of entry and are immediately captured. But she said that the sudden surge of large groups of migrants means Border Patrol agents are so busy processing asylum seekers that the rest of the border, and the desert beyond, are not adequately patrolled.

“Every time we hear that asylum seekers have turned themselves in, when it’s 100 people or more, they’re pulling the Border Patrol off the road,” Adame said. “So the drug cartels are coming in. The Border Patrol is not catching them. Those guys are the bad guys.

“I’m scared for my life and I’m scared for my kids’ lives. Who knows what’s coming across? They don’t know what’s coming in because they’re not catching them.”

So much for the media’s lie about no drugs coming in where there is no fencing. According to the local Fox affiliate, “Criminal organizations smuggling these groups of people continue to take advantage of them in order to enhance their illicit activities without due regard to the risks to human life. According to BP, in most cases, these smugglers never cross the border themselves and risk apprehension.”

Isn’t that the true government shutdown, when our agents are now pawns for the drug cartels?

And taking care of the poor and sick from Central America is no picnic either. Local media in New Mexico reports that this is the 26th group of 100 or more individuals coming over just since last October. One individual was diagnosed with a flesh-eating disease. On the same day, CBP put out a statement noting that Border Patrol agents are essentially becoming a hospital for contagious diseases: “2,224 subjects (5.3% of all southwest border arrests for the same period) to local hospitals since December 22, 2018.”

The release laments the fact that “USBP has spent a total of 19,299 hours providing various levels of support to these hospital visits” and that in one case last week, “Transporting 50 individuals to the hospital utilized nearly all available agents.” What happens when agents are taken off their field? It’s “severely limiting their ability to process the large group or respond to other border security duties; thus resulting in increased time in custody, delaying custody transfer coordination, and inhibiting response to other illegal cross-border traffic.”

It’s no wonder there’s been a 280 percent increase in family units since this time last year. As we focus on the next caravan of 12,000 headed our way, we must not forget there is a caravan every day. According to CBP, “In the El Paso, Rio Grande Valley, Tucson, and Yuma Sectors over the last four months, smugglers and traffickers have delivered 53 large groups, totaling 8,797 illegal aliens.”

If you look just at the El Paso sector alone, which encompasses all of New Mexico, there has been an insane 1,866 percent increase in family units coming between points of entry relative to this time in fiscal year 2018. That is three times the increase of even the San Diego sector, which had the spotlight as the main target of the caravans.

Can you imagine the drugs, criminals, and security threats we are not catching due to this ultimate shutdown of our Border Patrol?

And even if they are not criminals, can you imagine how many are coming in with dangerous diseases? As the Washington Examiner reports, there’s been a scabies outbreak among the migrants in New Mexico, and there is widespread concern that many of them are not vaccinated.

The lesson of New Mexico is that Trump needs to go big or go home

Migration into New Mexico has been relatively dormant for many years. The fact that the El Paso sector is exploding demonstrates the problem with half measures, partial surges of Border Patrol in some areas, and targeted fencing. The cartels will just send the migrants to the areas without the enforcement. New Mexico has very little substantial fencing, whereas the urban parts of El Paso and other parts of Texas either have fencing or stepped-up enforcement.

This is why it’s time for Trump to declare an emergency at the border and tackle the entire problem along with its source – the cartels. He needs to designate them as terror groups and free up defense resources to combat them. It’s time to stop playing whack-a-mole. If this is really a health, criminal, humanitarian, and fiscal emergency, as Trump clearly believes it to be, it’s time to stop talking. He must start doing. He doesn’t need Congress to beef up our military at our border and threaten the cartels. The State Department can designate the cartels as terrorists without a piece of legislation supported by Pelosi. This is so much bigger than the wall, as Trump said on Friday, but making such a designation will free up more avenues to build fencing as well as deter the cartels.

Nothing can strip the president of his foreign commerce powers to prevent immigration into this country of any sort, and nothing can prevent him from using his powers as commander in chief to deploy the military more aggressively to deter the evil cartels. This is so much bigger than the few billion dollars for which he is begging Pelosi. (For more from the author of “Our Border Patrol Is Still Shut Down” please click HERE)

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Look at This Turnout: ‘Thousands’ Attend Funeral of Air Force Veteran With No Family

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Over the weekend, a Texas cemetery asked the public to attend the funeral of an Air Force veteran because it appeared that no one was expected to attend.

The call went out when the Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery said it could not locate the man’s family and did not want him to be buried alone, according to Fox News. The story went viral on social media, with many including Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and CNN host Jake Tapper calling attention to it and asking people to attend the funeral.

Look how many have shown up to honor this American hero:

A country where people do this for someone they don’t know is a great country. (For more from the author of “Look at This Turnout: ‘Thousands’ Attend Funeral of Air Force Veteran With No Family” please click HERE)

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Do People Care That the US Will Add $12 Trillion to the Debt in 10 Years, or Am I Wasting My Time Writing About It?

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There’s a new government report on the national debt and deficit that reiterates the country is screwed if Congress and the president cannot be fiscally responsible.

According to the latest estimate from the Congressional Budget Office, the U.S. will add another $12 trillion in public debt over the next decade as economic growth slows and government spending increases. Over the past 50 years, federal deficits have averaged 2.9 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), but no more. The CBO projects that in the next ten years, federal budget deficits will average 4.4 percent of GDP, totaling $11.6 trillion.

Taxes are also projected to increase once certain income tax provisions in the 2017 tax reform bill expire at the end of 2025, but the projected increase in revenues will not make up the deficit. Social Security, Medicare, and other mandatory spending continue to be the largest drivers of the debt. As the population ages, the government will need to spend more money on programs for the elderly. Discretionary spending is expected to fall because of budget caps Congress has passed — but Congress usually lifts those budget caps whenever spending is near its limit, so that projection likely underestimates how much government will spend. With all the additional spending and debt accumulation, interest payments on the debt are expected to rise sharply.

This is the real danger: As interest payments go up, they consume a larger portion of the budget, leaving less room for Congress to spend money on popular programs or the military. Congress will be forced to raise taxes or borrow more money to pay the interest on the debt and avoid government default, which will in turn increase debt and make the interest payments even bigger. Then the cycle repeats itself ad nauseam until collapse.

Meanwhile, the CBO forecasts slower economic growth, averaging only 1.7 percent of GDP in the next decade. The cause is slower population growth and anticipated higher interest rates from the Federal Reserve.

All told, the slowing economy and rampant government spending mean that by 2029, the size of the debt, relative to the size of the economy, will grow to 93 percent. If that trend holds, shortly after that, the country’s national debt will be bigger than the entire U.S. economy.

Does anybody care? Numbers and statistics are boring. They don’t go viral. Celebrities don’t talk about them, and numbers as big as a trillion are impossible to wrap our minds around. But we need to care. If Congress does not control spending and these projections become reality, the country as we know it will end, and we’ll all be impoverished. (For more from the author of “Do People Care That the US Will Add $12 Trillion to the Debt in 10 Years, or Am I Wasting My Time Writing About It?” please click HERE)

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Poll: Nancy Pelosi’s Negatives Jumped More Than Trump’s During Shutdown

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Pundits are quick to tweet the top lines from a new NBC/WSJ poll showing that a majority of Americans think the country is on the “wrong track” following the government shutdown, but do you know the poll also found one Democratic leader’s negatives shot up more than any other politician?

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is more unpopular than both President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

In fact, the percentage of respondents with a “very negative” of Pelosi increased by six points from 28 percent in December to 34 percent in January. President Trump’s “very negative” numbers held at 43 percent over the last month, and McConnell’s numbers actually improved by one point. Pelosi’s total numbers show a 19-point gap between her positives and negatives, larger than McConnell (18 points) and Trump (12 points).

But the headlines don’t mention that. NBC News’ write-up of the poll focused on how “six-in-10 Americans believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, and nearly 70 percent of them have negative opinions on the state of the nation today.”

President Trump’s approval rating has held at 43 percent approval, with 54 percent of those polled disapproving of Trump’s performance in office. Other recent polls have shown President Trump’s approval rating taking a hit during the shutdown.

Many Americans may think the country is on the wrong track because of the government shutdown, but assigning all the blame to President Trump doesn’t reflect reality. (For more from the author of “Poll: Nancy Pelosi’s Negatives Jumped More Than Trump’s During Shutdown” please click HERE)

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POLAR VORTEX: It’s About to Get Very Cold in the Midwest

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The “polar vortex” is bearing down on the northern United States and is expected to drive temperatures as low as 20 to 30 degrees below zero, with windchills registering in the low -50s. The storm is expected to bring some of the coldest temperatures the midwest has seen in decades, and could set records in cities like Chicago, Illinois, and Minneapolis, Minnesota.

“By Wednesday and Thursday, morning lows may reach the minus 20s in the Twin Cities, with minus teens and minus 20s in Des Moines, Iowa, Chicago and Milwaukee,” the Weather Channel reports. “Subzero-cold lows may extend through much of the Ohio Valley and into the interior Northeast by late-week. Thursday will be the coldest day along the Northeast Interstate 95 corridor with lows in the single digits from Washington D.C. to Boston.”

Accuweather reports that the temperatures are unique, also, in that they are “prolonged,” and could last from late Tuesday night through early Thursday morning: “Some locations in the Midwest will be below zero continuously for 48-72 hours.” The high on Thusday in Chicago is not expected to top -14 degrees. . .

The rest of the country isn’t safe, either. According to meteorologists with USA Today, one day after the record cold hits the midwest, it’ll bear down on Washington, D.C., and even the “Deep South,” though temperatures down the Eastern seaboard aren’t expected to fall below zero. . .

Places as far south as Jackson, Mississippi; Birmingham, Alabama; and Chattanooga, Tennessee, may see upwards of an inch of snow. “Atlanta could even receive a coating to an inch of snow,” one local weatherman predicted, giving Georgia students an official “snow day” later in the week — something they rarely experience. (Read more from “POLAR VORTEX: It’s About to Get Very Cold in the Midwest” HERE)

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Rashida Tlaib’s Ties to Anti-Semitism Run Deeper Than Previously Known

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Michigan Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s ties to anti-Semitism run deeper than previously known, a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation found.

Tlaib, part of a heralded freshman class of House Democrats, has already come under scrutiny over her positions on Israel and ties to fringe figures. But TheDCNF’s investigation uncovered additional ties to anti-Semitism.

Tlaib is a member of the Facebook group “Palestinian American Congress,” where members often demonize Jews. The group’s founder, Palestinian activist Maher Abdel-qader, was a key fundraiser for Tlaib and organized campaign events for her around the country.

In January 2018, Abdel-qader shared an anti-Semitic video that claimed Jews aren’t actually Jewish, and invented their historical claim to Israel and secretly control the media. . .

In several other posts to the group, Abdel-qader insisted that Israeli Jews aren’t actually Jews and in one October 2017 post, he accused Israeli settlers of training children “to terrorize Palestinian civilians.” (Read more from “Rashida Tlaib’s Ties to Anti-Semitism Run Deeper Than Previously Known” HERE)

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D.C.’s Homicide Rate Soars in the Midst of National Decline

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Zyair Bradley was 20 years old. He loved football and boxing, music, dancing and playing jokes on people. He had a job and “a million friends.” He was a son, a protective big brother and his mother’s “beautiful angel.” He was also one of 18 people to have been murdered in the District of Columbia just this month.

As homicides across the country’s most populated cities declined overall in 2018, Washington, D.C. saw an increase of almost 42 percent in its murder rate, which experts say will continue to trend upwards in 2019. The D.C. Chief of Police warned that easing penalties would make the District less safe.

“Repeat offenders who have committed gun crimes will be back on the street sooner,” wrote Chief Peter Newsham in an editorial that ran in The Washington Post last summer. “Less-stringent penalties embolden criminals, demoralize law enforcement and enable violent offenders to return more quickly to terrorizing the very communities who are calling out to the government for help.” . . .

The Brennan Center for Justice reported 116 homicides in the District in 2017 and 165 in 2018. In other cities like Baltimore, Detroit and Chicago, homicides fell.

Robert Contee, the assistant chief of the Investigative Services Bureau at the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) in Washington, D.C., pointed to a few central issues at the heart of the homicide spike. (Read more from “D.C.’s Homicide Rate Soars in the Midst of National Decline” HERE)

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This Is Trump’s Plan for the Border Wall ‘With or Without Democrats’

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By PJ Media. The White House said on Friday night that Donald Trump will “move forward” with funding for a wall along the southern border “with our without the Democrats.”

Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee tweeted the warning while she defended the president against conservative criticism that he caved on wall funding in order to end the shutdown.

. . .

So did Trump cave to the Democrats or is he playing possum? CNN has been reporting all week that the White House has been working on declaring a national emergency and would get funds to build the wall from various government sources, including the military. (Read more from “This Is Trump’s Plan for the Border Wall ‘With or Without Democrats'” HERE)

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Trump Says There’s a Good Chance of Declaring National Emergency

By Breitbart. President Donald Trump said Friday there was a “good chance” of declaring a State of Emergency on the Southern border, shortly after announcing his short-term surrender to Democrats on the partial government shutdown fight.

“I think we have a good chance,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “We’ll work with the Democrats and negotiate and if we can’t do that, then obviously we’ll do the emergency because that’s what it is. It’s a national emergency.”

Declaring a national emergency would allow the president to shift funding to secure the border without Congress, although it would likely be challenged in court.

The president made his remarks during a White House event with Hispanic pastors on Friday to discuss the importance of security on the Southern border. (Read more from “Trump Says There’s a Good Chance of Declaring National Emergency” HERE)

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Pregnant Cancer Patient Puts off Treatment to Save Baby’s Life, Refuses to Consider Abortion

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. . .The heroic decision was chronicled during a recent episode of “Hospital” on BBC Two, the Daily Mail reported. The program offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse of England’s National Health Service.

On Thursday, the show followed staff and patients at Liverpool Women’s Hospital. That’s where a story emerged about a pregnant woman identified only as “Kate,” who was given a life-altering diagnosis: Her breast cancer returned and spread to her bones. . .

Kate was first diagnosed with cancer in her 20s and had both of her breasts removed in 2008. She and her husband, Glen, waited more than five years to have their second child so Kate could finish treatments designed to prevent the cancer from returning, according to the report. . .

The heart-wrenching story arrives as the U.S. is caught in a firestorm over New York State’s announcement that it will allow abortions up until a baby is born. Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the New York’s Reproductive Health Act, on Jan. 22, the 46th anniversary of Roe V. Wade.

Supporters claim the law is intended offer protection is a woman’s health is at risk. But the measure also moved the abortion law “from the state’s penal code to its health code,” which eliminates the chance for doctors and others to face prosecution, according to Newsday. (Read more from “Pregnant Cancer Patient Puts off Treatment to Save Baby’s Life, Refuses to Consider Abortion” HERE)

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School Board Keeps Policy Pushing Male Coach to Supervise Undressing Girl

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In November I reported on a Florida transgender school policy that resulted in demanding that a male athletic coach supervise an 14-year-old girl undressing in the boys’ locker room, without informing the boys’ parents. The policy was written by a school district employee who refers students to outside organizations that may, without their parents’ knowledge, provide HIV-resistant drugs to minors for risky sexual encounters.

Last week, objecting parents packed the Pasco County School Board’s regular meeting and filled the public comment period. Each received three minutes for comments, after which the board adjourned with zero action on the matter, and no indication of any future action.

Male middle school P.E. teacher Rob Oppedisano, who objected to this policy after boys came running out of the locker room in confusion when they found a girl in their private space, says in return he received employment threats from the school district.

During his public testimony on Jan 15, Oppedisano also said he complained to his administrators that such a policy, besides being morally wrong, would open the district to lawsuits. For example, a male teacher in the district was recently arrested for recording a video of a female student changing her shirt.

“I mentioned that no girl should be taking off her clothes in front of these young boys or grown men, both her privacy and the boys’ privacy needed to be protected,” Oppedisano said in his public comments. “I mentioned that parents needed to be informed. [The school district’s lawyer] told me that only the female student had any rights, and the parents would not be informed.”

(Read more from “School Board Keeps Policy Pushing Male Coach to Supervise Undressing Girl” HERE)

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