U.S. Congressmen Ask Fed to Consider Developing ‘National Digital Currency’

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Two U.S. lawmakers want the Federal Reserve to consider creating a digital dollar.

In a letter sent to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.) and Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.) outline concerns they have about risks to the U.S. dollar if another country or private company creates a widely used cryptocurrency, and ask whether the central bank is looking into creating its own version.

First reported by Bloomberg Law, the letter details how the Fed has the right to create and manage U.S. currency policy.

“The Federal Reserve, as the central bank of the United States, has the ability and the natural role to develop a national digital currency,” the Congressmen wrote, adding:

“We are concerned that the primacy of the U.S. Dollar could be in long-term jeopardy from wide adoption of digital fiat currencies. Internationally, the Bank for International Settlements conducted a study that found that over 40 countries around the world have currently developed or are looking into developing a digital currency.”

(Read more from “U.S. Congressmen Asks Feds to Consider Developing ‘National Digital Currency’” HERE)

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Evil: Planned Parenthood to Open Secret ‘Mega-Facility’

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2019 seems like we’re living in Bizarro World. Recent events show that reality is stranger than fiction. Take this latest story about Planned Parenthood, for example.

In 2011, the satirical website “The Onion” published a story titled “Planned Parenthood Opens $8 Billion Abortionplex.” Its opening lede read, “Planned Parenthood announced Tuesday the grand opening of its long-planned $8 billion Abortionplex, a sprawling abortion facility that will allow the organization to terminate unborn lives with an efficiency never before thought possible.”

On Tuesday, CBS news tweeted, “Planned Parenthood is announcing the opening of a new mega-facility close to states where abortion access is restricted. The new clinic was built in secret in Illinois, near the Missouri border.” . . .

According to CBS, since August 2018 Planned Parenthood has been building the facility in secret:

Colleen McNicholas, the chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri, said the facility was built in secret to avoid protestors and delays. Other Planned Parenthood projects had run into problems once the public realized the construction was for an abortion provider. In one instance, a communications company had refused to install telephone and data lines; in another, a cabinet maker never delivered an order, McNicholas said. In Birmingham, Alabama, protestors targeted Planned Parenthood’s suppliers, flooding their social media accounts with fake negative reviews.

(Read more from “Evil: Planned Parenthood to Open Secret ‘Mega-Facility'” HERE)

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Over 100 Injured, 200 Arrested in Hong Kong Protests on China’s National Day (VIDEO)

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Over 100 people were injured and police arrested nearly 200 during demonstrations in Hong Kong on Tuesday against China’s celebration of its 70th anniversary as a communist state.

A Hong Kong Hospital Authority spokesperson confirmed to local public broadcaster RTHK that, as of Wednesday morning, 104 people had been hospitalized for injuries sustained during yesterday’s protests.

Those wounded included 81 men and 23 women, 29 of whom are now in stable condition. Two men remain in a critical condition and are receiving treatment at Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital and Ruttonjee Hospital. Another 71 people have already been discharged.

The shocking number of injuries came as police announced that 269 people were arrested during the demonstration. Deputy Police Commissioner Tang Ping-Keung confirmed at a press briefing on Wednesday that 30 police officers were among the injured, blaming protesters for allegedly attacking them.

In a separate press briefing, Police Commissioner Stephen Lo said that the suspects were arrested on charges including rioting, unlawful assembly, possession of offensive weapons, and assaulting police officers. He added that it was “one of the most violent, chaotic days in the history of Hong Kong.”

(Read more from “Over 100 Injured, 200 Arrested in Hong Kong Protests on China’s National Day” HERE)

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WATCH: Beto Issues Another Video. It’s A Hilarious Tribute To His Courage.

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Lately, former congressman, failed Senatorial candidate and floundering presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke has been flailing about on the subject of the arms owned by civilians. Now it seems he has turned to the subject of the arms he owns himself. . .

Arms like we all have, you know, the ones attached to the body. O’Rourke, in the latest installment of “Beto O’Rourke: Real Person,” offered a video following his wildly successful episodes of Beto Goes On the Road, Beto Goes To The Dentist, Beto Gets A Haircut, Beto Changes A Tire, and Beto Flips Burgers. In this installment, O’Rourke offers a video of him bravely getting a flu shot. . .

As noted by The Daily Wire, Beto O’Rourke Goes On The Road featured a series of interminable videos of him driving during the campaign while he played rock music in the car, whether it was driving to Waco through the rain, driving to Houston at night, driving to Laredo, and driving to Killeen, among others.”

Beto Goes to the Dentist featured a “video showing him getting a mouth-wide-open cleaning in order to highlight the story of his dental hygienist’s upbringing in El Paso,” as Fox News reported. Fox News added, “With dental tools jammed into either side of his mouth, O’Rourke introduced his dental hygienist as part of his Instagram story ‘series’ on ‘people of the border.’” (Read more from “Beto Issues Another Video. It’s a Hilarious Tribute to His Courage.” HERE)

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Donald Trump: Impeachment Effort a ‘Coup’ to Take Power From the People

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By Breitbart. President Donald Trump accused the Democrats on Tuesday of conducting a “coup,” to remove him from office. . .

As I learn more and more each day, I am coming to the conclusion that what is taking place is not an impeachment, it is a COUP, intended to take away the Power of the People, their VOTE, their Freedoms, their Second Amendment, Religion, Military, Border Wall, and their God-given rights as a Citizen of The United States of America!

Trump deployed his latest defense as the establishment media and Democrats grow increasingly critical of his rhetoric responding to the whistleblower’s complaint and the subsequent impeachment effort launched by the Democrats.

Trump said during private remarks at a reception in New York City after the United Nations General Assembly:

We’re at war. These people are sick, they’re sick and nobody’s called it out like I do. I don’t understand, people are afraid to call it out, they are afraid to say that the press is crooked, we have a crooked press, we have a dishonest media.

(Read more from “Donald Trump: Impeachment Effort a ‘Coup’ to Take Power From the People” HERE)

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Donald Trump Sets Twitter Record as White House Fights off Impeachment Inquiry

By USA Today. It’s not your imagination: President Donald Trump is tweeting more.

Amid calls for his impeachment and preparations for his reelection bid, Trump tweeted or retweeted nearly 800 times during an eventful September, about 100 posts beyond what he published in any previous month of his presidency, according to a USA TODAY analysis. His monthly tweet frequency has steadily risen for months.

The president tweeted in his own words 500 times last month, twice his average monthly frequency in 2018.

His September slew of tweets came in response to calls for his impeachment based on his efforts to encourage Ukrainian officials to investigate his political rival Joe Biden, 2020 Democratic presidential frontrunner. . .

In more than 320 tweets and retweets since the story broke of a whistleblower report on Trump’s phone call in July with Zelensky, Trump used or repeated the word “treason” five times and the word “Ukraine” more than four dozen times. (Read more from “Donald Trump Sets Twitter Record as White House Fights off Impeachment Inquiry” HERE)

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Police Officer Suspended for Turning Over Illegal Alien to ICE

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A county police department in Virginia announced Tuesday that one of their officers was suspended for turning an illegal alien over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after determining the individual had dodged a deportation hearing. . .

The officer reportedly encountered the illegal alien when responding to a traffic accident on September 21, during which he discovered that the individual did not have a Virginia driver’s license. After running the person’s information through the Department of Motor Vehicles system, the officer discovered ICE had issued an administrative violation against the individual for failing to appear at a deportation hearing.

The officer verified the warrant and then called the listed ICE agent, who came to the scene and took the alien into custody. The individual was released several hours later with an ankle monitor.

Fairfax County has a policy that limits the police department’s cooperation with ICE. Officers cannot check the immigration status of an individual unless they are booked in jail for another crime, and they may not detain individuals based solely on a civil immigration violation. (Read more from “Police Officer Suspended for Turning Over Illegal Alien to ICE” HERE)

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Federal Judge Blocks State Abortion Ban

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A federal judge temporarily blocked Georgia’s abortion ban Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge Steve Jones temporarily blocked the implementation of the law, which was scheduled to go into effect Jan. 1. Jones’s actions follow a June lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood, and the Center for Reproductive Rights, according to WSB-TV Atlanta. . .

Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed H.B. 481, the “fetal heartbeat bill,” in March. It outlaws abortions in Georgia after a fetal heartbeat is detected and makes exceptions in cases of rape and incest if the woman files a police report, and when the mother’s health is at risk.

“We are currently reviewing Judge Jones’ decision,” Candice Broce, director of communications and deputy executive counsel for Kemp, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Despite today’s outcome, we remain confident in our position. We will continue to fight for the unborn and work to ensure that all Georgians have the opportunity to live, grow, and prosper.”

“Today is a tremendous victory for the women of Georgia and for the Constitution,” said ACLU of Georgia legal director Sean Young. “Politicians have no business telling women or couples when to start or expand a family. This case has always been about one thing: Letting her decide.” (Read more from “Federal Judge Blocks State Abortion Ban” HERE)

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Pompeo Accuses Dems of ‘Bullying’ State Employees; Pompeo Now ‘Fact Witness’ in Impeachment Inquiry

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By Fox News. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is fighting back against House Democrats seeking to depose five State Department officials over the Trump-Ukraine controversy.

In a letter and in tweets on Tuesday, Pompeo accused those Democrats of attempting to “intimidate” and “bully” the State Department’s foreign service officers (FSOs) and said depositions being sought by Congress are “not feasible.”

The “requested dates for depositions are not feasible,” Pompeo wrote, claiming the lawmakers have not given the employees enough time to prepare and voicing concern that they’re trying to prevent State Department counsel from participating in the depositions. Pompeo said Executive Branch counsel would have to be present.

“Let me be clear: I will not tolerate such tactics, and I will use all means at my disposal to prevent and expose any attempts to intimidate the dedicated professionals whom I am proud to lead and serve alongside at the Department of State,” Pompeo tweeted in response to the Democrats’ demand for depositions.

In turn, the Democratic chairmen of the three House committees — House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel, Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif. and Oversight Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md. — accused Pompeo of “intimidating” witnesses. (Read more from “Pompeo Accuses Dems of ‘Bullying’ State Employees” HERE)

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Dems Suggest Pompeo Now ‘Fact Witness’ in Impeachment Inquiry

By Fox News. Reps. Eliot Engel, Adam Schiff and Elijah Cummings, the chairmen of three House committees, informed the State Department in a fiery letter late Tuesday that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo might now be a “fact witness” in their ongoing impeachment inquiry, after Pompeo accused Dems of trying to “bully” foreign service officers into testifying.

Saying Pompeo “now appears to have an obvious conflict of interest” because he “reportedly participated” in President Trump’s fateful July call with Ukraine’s president, the Democrats also warned that Pompeo could run afoul of obstruction and whistleblower law — crimes, the Democrats noted, that could carry multiyear prison terms. A source familiar with the situation told Fox News that Pompeo was indeed in on the July 25 call at the center of the impeachment drive.

Pompeo “should not be making any decisions regarding witness testimony or document production in order to protect himself or the president,” the Democrats wrote. “Any effort by the secretary of the department to intimidate or prevent witnesses from testifying or withhold documents from the committees shall constitute evidence of obstruction of the impeachment inquiry.” (Read more from “Dems Suggest Pompeo Now ‘Fact Witness’ in Impeachment Inquiry” HERE)

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The FBI’s Annual Crime Report Is Out, and the Anti-Gun Crowd Won’t Like It

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The Federal Bureau of Investigation released its Uniform Crime Report for 2018 on Monday, and the numbers indicate that more people were killed by knives than rifles.

The annual report touts an overall drop in violent crime for the second consecutive year, according to the Bureau’s news release on the numbers. However, the numbers specifically on homicides in the United States offer some insight into America’s ongoing gun control debate.

Due to multiple shooting massacres that took place in August, gun control proponents have once again turned their animus toward semi-automatic rifles such as the AR-15. Perhaps the most salient example of this is 2020 Democratic candidate Beto O’Rourke’s pledge, “Hell yes, we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47.”

However, as has been the case in previous years, the numbers show that rifles in general — including semi-automatics as well as others — only account for a fraction of a percent of the total homicide rate in the United States.

Here’s what the FBI’s 2018 homicide numbers show us:

Overall, the number of homicides dropped from 15,195 in 2017 to 14,123 in 2018. The overall number of people murdered with guns dropped as well.

10,265 were committed with firearms, out of which handguns accounted for 6,603.

Rifles were used in 297 homicides, shotguns in 235, and “other guns” in 167.

2,963 homicides were listed as “firearms, type not stated.”

What does this show us? According to the available information, rifles accounted for just 2.1 percent of total homicides last year — and 2.9 percent of gun homicides.

Once again, deaths from knives and “personal weapons” like hands, fists, and feet were higher than the number of homicides committed with rifles. More than five times as many murders were committed with knives (1,515) as with rifles, and more than twice as many people were killed with “personal weapons” (672). Other years included in the FBI report’s table — which spans 2014-2018 — show similar disparities between the same weapon types.

Again, these numbers are just for rifles as a whole. There’s no further breakdown for what kind of action or cosmetic features the rifles had.

But despite the facts, the question of what to do about the AR-15 and other widely used semi-automatic rifles — sometimes referred to as “assault weapons” — will likely remain as one of the main focus points in America’s ongoing debate about guns and the Second Amendment. (For more form the author of “The FBI’s Annual Crime Report Is Out, and the Anti-Gun Crowd Won’t Like It” please click HERE)

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Two Republicans Are Suing Over the Cancelled 2020 Primary

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Two South Carolina Republicans, including a former U.S. House member, have sued the state GOP over its decision last month to cancel its 2020 primaries, the Charleston Post and Courier reports.

Filed in Richland County on Tuesday, the lawsuit claims that party officials say that party officials’ decision to cancel their 2020 primary was a violation of the law as well as party rules.

“This case is about the failure of the State Executive Committee of the Republican Party of South Carolina to follow South Carolina law, the Republican Party’s own rules, and the South Carolina Constitution,” the complaint reads. “The result of that failure will be that plaintiffs [former GOP Rep.] Bob Inglis and Frank Heindel … will be deprived of the ability to vote for the candidate of their choice in South Carolina’s famous (and particularly influential) ‘First in the South’ primary.”

The plaintiffs go onto claim that while applicable rules and laws “don’t necessarily require a political party to hold a presidential preference primary election in all presidential election years,” they do “require that if a party wishes to cancel its primary, it must observe certain democratic safeguards that ensure that a party’s supporters—and not just a small junta of party bosses—support canceling the primary, and the party must instead choose which candidate it will support at its state convention.”

Leaders of the South Carolina GOP decided to forgo a 2020 primary in favor of supporting incumbent President Donald Trump almost unanimously in early September, just a day before former governor and U.S. House member Mark Sanford announced a primary bid against the president.

“As a general rule, when either party has an incumbent President in the White House, there’s no rationale to hold a primary, just as South Carolina Republicans did not hold one in 1984 or 2004, and Democrats did not in 1996 and 2012,” a party statement said at the time. “With no legitimate primary challenger and President Trump’s record of results, the decision was made to save South Carolina taxpayers over $1.2 million and forgo an unnecessary primary.”

Back in July, a statement from South Carolina Republican Party Chairman Drew McKissick dismissed the potential of a Sanford primary run as a “vanity project.”

“The last time Mark Sanford had an idea this dumb, it killed his Governorship,” the statement said, referring to Sanford’s 2009 fiasco when he claimed to be hiking when actually going to visit his mistress in Argentina. “This makes about as much sense as that trip up the Appalachian trail.”

Also challenging Trump for the nomination are former Rep. Joe Walsh and former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld. The pair held their own debate last week, which neither Trump nor Sanford attended.

Other state Republican parties have also canceled their 2020 primaries, including Kansas, Arizona, Nevada, and Alaska. (For more from the author of “Two Republicans Are Suing Over the Cancelled 2020 Primary” please click HERE)

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