President Trump Has a New Chief of Staff

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President Trump announced Friday night North Carolina Congressman Mark Meadows will serve as his next chief of staff. Current and Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney has been appointed to a diplomatic position overseas.

“I am pleased to announce that Congressman Mark Meadows will become White House Chief of Staff. I have long known and worked with Mark, and the relationship is a very good one,” Trump tweeted Friday evening. “I want to thank Acting Chief Mick Mulvaney for having served the Administration so well. He will become the United States Special Envoy for Northern Ireland. Thank you!”

Mulvaney was President Trump’s third chief of staff, serving in the position after General John Kelly and former RNC Chairman Reince Priebus. He took the position in December 2018. (Read more from “President Trump Has a New Chief of Staff” HERE)

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WATCH: Liberals Mocked President Trump for Saying Coronavirus Mortality Rate Was Lower Than Initially Reported

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By The Blaze. Liberals, like the Daily Show’s Trevor Noah, mocked President Donald Trump when he argued the coronavirus’ mortality rate was likely lower than the 3.4% estimate offered by the World Health Organization. Film producer Andy Ostroy called the president a “gaslighting sociopath” and “reckless,” while Vox’s Aaron Rupar accused Trump of spreading a “blizzard of dangerous misinformation.” But now a senior health official says the president is probably right.

At a press briefing on Friday morning, Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary Admiral Brett Giroir declared, “The best estimates now of the overall mortality rate for COVID-19 is somewhere between 0.1% and 1%.”

Giroir noted the figure is “lower than you heard probably in many reports,” but that the real mortality rate is “not likely in the range of 2% to 3%.” . . .

Giroir cited several reasons for why health officials believe the actual mortality rate for COVID-19 is likely significantly lower than 3.4%. He listed first that the real number of people who have been infected with the virus is harder to track and likely much larger. As the denominator (number of people with the disease) goes up, overall mortality rate goes down. (Read more from “Liberals Mocked President Trump for Saying Coronavirus Mortality Rate Was Lower Than Initially Reported” HERE)

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Trump Praises CDC Amid Coronvirus Outbreak, Calls Washington Governor ‘a Snake’ During Visit to Agency

By USA Today. President Donald Trump tried to calm nerves amid the global outbreak of coronavirus while touring the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta on Friday, but the visit took a political turn after he slammed Washington state’s Democratic governor who is grappling with the rapidly growing epidemic.

Trump said he warned Vice President Mike Pence not to trust Gov. Jay Inslee during his Thursday visit to Washington state, which has been among the hardest hit areas across the U.S. with 10 deaths reported so far. Inslee previously ran for the Democratic presidential nominee and has in the past been critical of the president.

“I told Mike not to be complimentary of that governor because that governor is a snake,” he told reporters while donning a “Keep America Great” hat at the CDC in Atlanta. “We have a lot of problems with the governor.”

In a series of tweets Friday evening, Inslee said: “My single focus is and will continue to be the health and well-being of Washingtonians,” adding that “the vice president’s visit and our teams are working well together.” (Read more from “Trump Praises CDC Amid Coronvirus Outbreak, Calls Washington Governor ‘a Snake’ During Visit to Agency” HERE)

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Senate Pushing Bipartisan Green Energy Social Engineering Bill

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While there is no bipartisan clamor to use GOP Senate control to force votes on sanctuary cities, there is a rush to pass a bipartisan bill dumping more money into green energy programs. Some might have thought we were done with the green energy venture socialism after the Obama era of Solyndra scandals, but in Washington, both parties are addicted to corporate welfare. Hence the rush to pass S. 2657, the American Energy Innovation Act.

It’s hard to call this bill bipartisan, given that the lead GOP sponsor is Sen. Lisa Murkowski. Yet even after voting against Kavanaugh and flirting with support for impeachment, she seems to control the Senate floor agenda more than anyone pushing the Trump agenda on immigration.

On Monday, the Senate voted to proceed with debate on her compilation of 50 energy bills. However, instead of focusing on all the ways government, and the federal courts in particular, impede the exploring, production, and transportation of proven and successful forms of energy production in this country, the bill focuses on pumping more money and government preferences into tenuous forms of green energy. Party like it’s 2009?

The bill is full of subsidies and government research for alternative energy and for “carbon capture” investments. While it stops short of creating “climate change” carbon mandates, the entire premise of the bill accepts the universe in which the Left operates; namely, that we need to move away from reliable energy and work on global warming priorities.

Specifically, the 555-page bill would offer parochial research grants and subsidies for wind, solar, geothermal, and hydroelectric power. It also promotes carbon capture to reduce carbon emissions. The bill’s authors say the legislation “encourages smart manufacturing” in the industrial and transportation sectors to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The bill reauthorizes and grows all the Department of Energy programs the president promised to cut when he took office in 2017. The cost is estimated at $579 million, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

We know from past history that mandates and market distortions, responsible for creating junky products at a higher cost, begin with government subsidies and “encouragements” signaling to the market that “green” is the way to go. This bill promotes all sorts of workforce pilot programs for cutting greenhouse emissions and for green energy social engineering of our economy, industries, and labor market. It of course has numerous provisions to tip those programs to “minority outreach” companies.

What is perhaps most offensive is that this “bipartisan” bill dealing with workplace programs at the Department of Energy’s National Labs does nothing to address the concern of a bipartisan Senate report that 10,000 Chinese nationals are conducting research in those labs, some of whom are helping China steal our research.

It’s a little bizarre that in a Congress that has accomplished very little legislatively, there is a hellfire rush to pass this random bill to herald Lisa Murkowski’s legacy. But to the extent we are going to suddenly focus on energy policy, why not focus on the judicial war against our oil and gas production, which is probably our greatest economic miracle? No, Congress doesn’t need to subsidize it like they do with wind and solar, but at least get the courts out of the way.

In recent years, the courts have blocked every stage of pipeline construction, such as the much-touted Keystone XL Pipeline. They have also mandated that Trump continue Obama’s lawless policies holding up permitting for oil and natural gas exploration throughout the country.

While we have record production and refining of crude oil, there is still a need to transport that oil, which requires more pipelines. There is an infrastructure bottleneck being created by states like New York blocking more oil streams into New England. Why won’t Congress prioritize legislation to limit judicial review on these projects?

If they are going to dump more money into industries that can’t seem to make it on their own, shouldn’t they equally focus on getting the government out of industries that have single-handedly secured us from dependency on Middle Eastern oil?

A 2018 report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) found that “renewable energies” were subsidized at a rate 14 times greater than fossil fuels. Whereas renewable energy received $6.682 billion in subsidies in fiscal year 2016, fossil fuels received $489 million. Yet fossil fuels accounted for 78.1 percent of our annual energy production in FY 2016. Nuclear power contributed 10 percent, as the next largest source of production. What about green energy?

Biomass: 5.9 percent
Hydroelectric: 2.9 percent
Wind: 2.4 percent
Solar: 0.6 percent
Geothermal: 0.2 percent

What ever happened to the GOP mantra during the Obama years of letting the market work and refraining from picking winners and losers in an industry driven by practicality and results?

It sure seems like the more Republicans “fight socialism,” the more they become a lot like it and call it bipartisanship. (For more from the author of “Senate Pushing Bipartisan Green Energy Social Engineering Bill” please click HERE)

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RED FLAG MANIA: New York Must Issue Extreme Risk Protection Order Against Chuck Schumer for Threatening SCOTUS

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Today, America’s premier gun rights organization, Gun Owners of America, has called on the State of New York to strip Senator Charles Schumer of any firearms in his possession using an Extreme Risk Protection Order (also known as a “Red Flag” order). This follows Sen. Schumer’s March 4 threats against two Supreme Court justices that they “have released the whirlwind” and “will pay the price.” Schumer claimed that they would not “know what him [them]” if they voted against abortion rights in an upcoming decision.

Although GOA opposes Red Flag laws, it points out that the New York law squarely applies to individuals like Schumer who have made such threats:

The finding required under YOUR Red Flag law is “that there is probable cause to believe the respondent is likely to engage in conduct that would result in serious harm to himself, herself or others….” Further, in determining whether grounds exist for issuance of a red flag order, “the court shall consider any relevant factors, including … a threat … directed toward … another person.”

GOA pointed out that Red Flag laws are used disproportionately on poor citizens and challenged New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo that,

if you believe that it should apply to the ruling class as well as those ruled, then will the nation soon see reports that you will be directing an appropriate official to seek a red flag order against Senator Schumer? We understand that Senator Schumer is, like you, a member of the Democrat Party, and, like you, is a powerful New York politician. Moreover, he actively supported YOUR New York Red Flag law, as well as adoption of such laws elsewhere. Do these factors give him immunity for violating the law you improvidently signed? If you do not enforce YOUR law against Senator Schumer, the American People will understand that gun laws are intended to be used selectively to suppress minorities, the politically powerless, and political opponents. Additionally, it will demonstrate that in New York there is one law for the rich and powerful, and another law for the rest of The People.

GOA then attached a draft Application for Temporary Extreme Risk Protection Order to its letter, to help expedite the Governor’s action against Schumer.

We’re not holding our breath, but turnabout is fair play . . .

The Muslim Migrant Attack in St. Louis You Heard Nothing About

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St. Louis resident Alicia Clarke says she feels as if she has been “failed by the system” and is now “not feeling safe,” and she has good reason to feel this way. After she was savagely beaten and stabbed by her neighbor, her attacker walked free. The court considered it decisive that he has an IQ of 49. He is also a Muslim migrant, which may explain both the reluctance to prosecute him and the scant and incomplete coverage this incident has received.

St. Louis’ KSDK reported Monday that Clarke went out for a run near her home; when she returned, her cell phone was missing. Tracking it with Find My iPhone to her neighbor’s backyard, she went to get it, and told her neighbor, “I know you did this and I’m calling the police!” At that point the neighbor, whom KSDK describes only as a “6-foot teen,” attacked her.

“He knocked me down, pulling my hair, kicking,” Clarke recounted. When he finally stopped the attack, Clarke called the police. But then he returned: “I am on the phone with St. Louis police dispatch,” she said, “making my way to my backdoor, when he comes back with a weapon. He is on top of me. There was blood everywhere. I was literally fighting for my life at that point.” . . .

And it gets worse. Alicia Clarke’s sister, Andrea Clarke Flatley, wrote on Facebook that the attacker gave his sister a broken nose, and that Alicia Clarke now also has “staples in her head and stitches to the puncture wound under her eye” as a result of the attack. Flatley noted that the attacker, whom she named as Hassan, “is a 15 year old refugee from Somalia who lives with his family. He is 6’ and approx 175lbs, much larger than my sister. He has broken into Alicia’s car 3 different times and broken into another neighbor’s house. The police were involved every single time and reported that nothing could be done since he was a minor. Surely this time would be different, though.” . . .

Alicia Clarke was failed not only by law enforcement authorities, but also by the establishment media. The KSDK story contains no hint of the fact that the attacker was a Muslim migrant. It was left to the victim’s sister to reveal that on Facebook. It is clear from KSDK’s refusal to note this detail, which could be important to the case in establishing motive or in other ways, that Muslim migrants are a protected class in America today, at least among the media elites. The establishment media avoids reporting on anything that might reflect poorly upon them. (Read more from “The Muslim Migrant Attack in ST. Louis You Heard Nothing About” HERE)

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Medical Expert Chelsea Clinton Weighs in

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Check out the number of likes for Chelsea’s post, and then my reply.

(For more from the author of “Medical Expert Chelsea Clinton Weighs in” please click HERE)

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Senate Passes Bill to Combat Coronavirus Epidemic… Only One ‘No’ Vote; U.S. Employment Report Expected to Show Strength Before Coronavirus Spread

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By Townhall. The Senate has passed the $8.3 billion measure to combat the coronavirus by a near unanimous, 96-1 vote. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) was the lone “no” vote. Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Elizabeth of Warren (D-MA) and Mike Enzi (R-WY) were absent. The bill will now head to President Trump’s desk.

“I applaud this package and was proud to support it,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement after the vote. “It provides targeted resources for a serious national response to a serious challenge.”

“The majority of the supplemental resources will be directed to the Department of Health and Human Services. That includes billions of dollars in funding for the Centers for Disease Control and for the Infectious Diseases Rapid Response Fund.” (Read more from “Senate Passes Bill to Combat Coronavirus Epidemic… Only One ‘No’ Vote” HERE)

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U.S. Employment Report Expected to Show Strength Before Coronavirus Spread

By Reuters. U.S. job growth likely slowed in February, but the pace probably remained consistent with a healthy labor market despite the coronavirus outbreak, which stoked financial market fears of a recession and prompted an emergency interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve.

Though the Labor Department’s closely watched monthly employment report on Friday will not fully capture the impact of the coronavirus, which spread in the United States beginning in late February, there are so far no signs that the epidemic has hurt the labor market. Layoffs remain low and small businesses and services sector industries continue to hire at a solid clip.

The Fed on Tuesday slashed its benchmark overnight interest rate by a half percentage point to a target range of 1.00% to 1.25%, in the U.S. central bank’s first emergency rate cut since 2008 at the height of the financial crisis.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged the economy’s strong fundamentals, but said “the coronavirus poses evolving risks to economic activity.”

“The job market is the firewall for the economy,” said Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody’s Analytics in West Chester, Pennsylvania. “If we are going to get through this and avoid a recession, the job market can’t show any significant cracks. So far the signs are encouraging.” (Read more from “U.S. Employment Report Expected to Show Strength Before Coronavirus Spread” HERE)

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Democrats Triple Down on Threatening the Supreme Court

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Yesterday Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer directly threatened Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh on the steps of the Supreme Court.

“I want to tell you Justice Kavanaugh and Justice Gorsuch: You have unleashed a whirlwind, and you will pay the price,” Schumer said to a pro-abortion crowd.

After Chief Justice John Roberts berated Schumer for his remarks, calling them “dangerous,” Schumer doubled down with a statement that doesn’t reflect the facts and proceeded to attack Roberts.

(Read more from “Democrats Triple Down on Threatening the Supreme Court” HERE)

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Liz Warren Goes After Bernie Sanders Supporters; How Russia Is Trying to Boost Bernie Sanders’ Campaign

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By Breitbart. During an interview aired on Thursday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Rachel Maddow Show,” former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) stated that candidates are “responsible for the people who claim to be our supporters and do really threatening, ugly, dangerous things” and that 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) supporters are particularly guilty of engaging in this kind of behavior.

Warren said, “We are responsible for the people who claim to be our supporters and do really threatening, ugly, dangerous things for other — to other candidates.” (Read more from “Liz Warren Goes After Bernie Sanders Supporters” HERE)

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How Russia Is Trying to Boost Bernie Sanders’ Campaign

By NPR. . .Russia’s state-sponsored messaging about Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign was more neutral in the fall.

But over the past six weeks, this coverage has shifted to mirror pro-Sanders talking points first used in the last presidential campaign, said Clint Watts of the Foreign Policy Research Institute, who has been monitoring Russian interference continuously.

“What’s really come on strong just in the last 30 to 45 days are very similar narratives that we saw in 2016 about Sanders,” Watts told NPR.

While Sanders has acknowledged on the campaign trail that he was briefed by the intelligence community about Russia’s efforts to boost his campaign, he has been steadfastly opposed to that support, saying at a recent debate: “Hey, Mr. Putin, if I’m president of the United States, trust me, you’re not going to interfere in any more American elections.”

It isn’t clear precisely how much Russia is doing to help Sanders via the anonymity of cyberspace, but national security officials warned on Monday that social media agitation and disinformation have continued through this year’s presidential race. (Read more from “How Russia Is Trying to Boost Bernie Sanders’ Campaign” HERE)

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What Could Go Wrong? Lindsey Graham Leading Group Called to WH — to Talk About Amnesty

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Republican voters chose Donald Trump as their nominee, partly inspired by his famous “escalator speech” at Trump Tower decrying how the American people always come last in immigration, as illegal aliens take advantage of us. They voted to reject Lindsey Graham’s view, a view that would tell “bigots” like Trump to “shut up,” in the words of the South Carolina senator.

Fox News reported today that Lindsey Graham led a group of senators from both parties to meet with the president on how to respond to a potential court ruling validating Trump’s elimination of Obama’s illegal executive amnesty. The story comes on the heels of the news that Graham is working with others in the administration to push for a mass amnesty bill.

There are so many grievances the American taxpayer have with illegal immigration that require immediate action. Where is the sense of urgency to meet on an immediate sanctuary fix, criminal alien fix, or judicial amnesty fix? Courts are ordering the opening of our borders during a time of pandemic, yet there is no impetus from these senators to deal with the issue. Why are the American needs on the issue always last or relegated to vacuous campaign rally rhetoric, while the amnesty for illegal aliens is always the first and only focus in the real legislation they plan to enact?

Why is there no emergency to deal with all of the identity theft committed by DACA recipients and all of the gang members and drug traffickers among them? Remember, it’s not usually the older illegal aliens committing all the crime. As with any demographic, it’s the younger ones.

After repeating this mistake over and over again, shouldn’t we finally put enforcement of current laws before any amnesty this time? Isn’t that a baseline expectation we should be guaranteed during the Trump presidency?

The courts have destroyed so much of our rule of law, society, and policies we’ve fought hard for. Why is it that the only time there is a clamor for a legislative “fix” of a judicial decision is when the court actually rules properly and in our favor? What about an Obergefell fix? A Roe fix? Or a fix of any number of court rulings that are ensuring more illegal aliens come here, remain here, commit crimes with impunity, and collect benefits?

Why would someone like Lindsey Graham be the leader on this issue when voters picked Trump precisely to reject people like him and what he stands for? Why does it seem that, in Orwellian fashion, at every turn, we see the swampiest parts of the swamp propped up in the White House that was supposed to drain it?

Even if one supports some sort of an amnesty yet again, this is the wrong way to do it. “We got called over,” Graham told Politico. “I think the president will win in court on DACA that he can set aside the Obama-era DACA rules, then what do you do? I mean if you’re going to give them legal status I hope we get something for it.”

Well, gee, Lindsey, this has been the problem from day one. When you show the other side that you are desperate to give them the amnesty and that you believe in it as strongly as they do, what sort of leverage do you then have to say, “Pretty please, give us something for it?”

As Trump wrote in “The Art of the Deal,” “The worst thing you can possibly do in a deal is seem desperate to make it. That makes the other guy smell blood, and then you’re dead.”

At least if you are going to exalt the dreams of illegal aliens over those of Americans, make sure to enact enforcement measures first this time. Moreover, while they might be here through no fault of their own, it certainly is through no fault of the American taxpayers, who must deal with the costs in their communities. It’s the fault of these very politicians who broke our laws and their side of the bargain in 1986 that enabled this cycle to repeat itself and these people to be brought here in the first place.

This is part of a broader problem we are seeing on multiple issues.

Rather than pushing endless anti-crime measures at a time of rising crime and listening to the voices of law enforcement and prosecutors, Trump is being convinced to hand over criminal justice policy to Kim Kardashian and literally espouse views that are the opposite of what he’s said his entire life, including even today.

Rather than constantly fighting for the American worker at a time when China and India are keeping us out of our own jobs and engaging in trade theft, there is a unanimous clamor from the White House to bring in more foreign workers.

E-verify was dropped from the White House’s plan. Members of the administration are working with Graham and Tillis on a sperate amnesty for 3.3 million illegal aliens who claim to illegally work in agriculture. They are expanding H-2 low skilled visas more than any other administration. Rather than ending TPS, it has been extended indefinitely for the countries that have the most illegal aliens here benefitting from that status.

There have certainly been good policies implemented as well, such as the public charge rule. But that reveals the broader problem we face: a schizophrenic administration. The policies reflect the divergent goals of competing voices.

But at some point, you can’t have it both ways. It’s either the vision of Trump’s escalator speech or the vision of Lindsey Graham. Either Americans are dreamers, or only illegal aliens are. At some point, Trump is going to have to decide for himself.

As Elijah told Israel, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” ~1 Kings 18:21

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