Posts

Author Says Trump Should Be Turned ‘over to the Saudis … Who Got Rid of That Reporter’

/0 Comments/in , /by

On Friday’s episode of “Real Time with Bill Maher” on HBO, author Fran Lebowitz stated that although she would like to see President Trump impeached, she would also like to see him handed over to the Saudis:

LEBOWITZ: I change my mind from day to day. I mean, where am I on impeachment? Certainly, he deserves to be impeached. I mean, impeachment is just the beginning of what he deserves. Not even scratching the surface of what he deserves. . .

LEBOWITZ: Whenever, you know, I think about this and what he really deserves, I think, “We should turn him over to the Saudis,” you know? His buddies. The same Saudis who got rid of that reporter, you know? Maybe they can do the same for him.

The reporter mentioned by Lebowitz is Jamal Khashoggi, who, in October 2018, was allegedly murdered by a Saudi “hit team” after entering a consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.

Later in the episode, during a panel discussion in which Lebowitz participated, she backtracked on her “Saudi” remarks after the producers allegedly informed her that the show was getting hit on social media[.]

(Read more from “Author Says Trump Should Be Turned ‘over to the Saudis … Who Got Rid of That Reporter'” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Trump Administration Slaps Away Another Subpoena

/0 Comments/in , /by

By Townhall. The Trump administration isn’t backing down from their war with House Democrats. We all saw this coming miles away. The Trump administration partially based on the fact that this was a crew that was going to fight for the forgotten American and they have. The House Democratic majority was elected in 2018 to fight the Trump agenda. There is no room for cooperation. There is no room for compromise. In other words, it’s what I love about our political system: conflict. Gridlock is a good thing. Division and partisanship is a good thing, and the more of it, the more honest we can be. Democrats and Republicans are different. We’re on separate wavelengths, especially when it comes to values. For example, I’m grateful my party doesn’t aggressively promote infanticide as we’ve seen over the past few months. Yet, that’s a separate issue.

Once again, the Trump administration told House Democrats to go pound sand over the latest subpoena concerning the president’s taxes. Democrats want six years worth of returns, including those related to the president’s businesses. Why? It’s part of their impeachment crusade. It’s a political stunt, which is why the Trump White House told them to go shove it… again[.] (Read more from “Trump Administration Slaps Away Another Subpoena” HERE)

___________________________________________________

Treasury Dept. Refuses to Comply with Democrats’ Subpoenas for Trump Tax Returns, Court Fight Likely

By NBC News. The Treasury Department said Friday that it would not comply with congressional subpoenas to provide six years of President Donald Trump’s tax returns.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin sent a letter to House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass, before the 5 p.m. ET deadline to hand over the documents. Mnuchin said that, on advice of the Justice Department, Treasury had determined that the committee’s request “lacks a legitimate legislative purpose,” and so the department is not “authorized to disclose the requested returns.”

“For the same reasons, we are unable to provide the requested information in response to the Committee’s subpoena,” Mnuchin said.

Neal responded Friday saying that the law provides “clear statutory authority” for him to request and received access to tax returns and return information.

“The law, by its terms, does not allow for discretion as to whether to comply with a request for tax returns and return information,” he wrote. “Given the Treasury Secretary’s failure to comply today, I am consulting with counsel on how best to enforce the subpoenas moving forward.” (Read more from “Treasury Dept. Refuses to Comply with Democrats’ Subpoenas for Trump Tax Returns, Court Fight Likely” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

What Donald Trump Knows That Conservative Intellectuals Don’t

/0 Comments/in , /by

This week, I gave a talk at Stanford on the Judeo-Christian underpinnings of Western Culture. Though no students objected, two members of the university’s administration sent out a newsletter portraying me as an anti-Muslim bigot. They said it was “unacceptable” I should speak on such a topic during the celebration of Ramadan. They managed — as they surely intended — to stir up some trouble, though not enough to bring the event to a halt.

Shame on them. For college administrators to try to convince college students that it is “unacceptable” for them to hear ideas they might disagree with is simply wicked. In my response from the podium, I explained that there are only two systems of speech: free speech and speech that is controlled by the powerful. If speech is going to be silenced on the grounds that it is hateful, you have to ask the question: who decides? The answer is always the same: the powerful — the government, the administration, big business, the mob. And it is never very long before “hateful” speech turns into “speech people in power disagree with.” That is why, for speech to be free, it must be free for everyone, even those we dislike. . .

These are not honorable sallies in a war of ideas. These are acts of force meant to seize terrain.

This is what Donald Trump understands that too many conservative intellectuals miss. The belligerent and obstreperous Trump was called to the presidency by voters who know that, while the war of ideas can and should be waged politely by American friends, a war for terrain is a much uglier business.

Thus, also this week, the Trump Administration boldly refused to join the so-called Christchurch Call, a Global agreement by 18 nations to censor online speech. Also this week, the Trump Administration launched a website where you can file a complaint if you feel you’ve been censored on social media for your political opinions. (Read more from “What Donald Trump Knows That Conservative Intellectuals Don’t” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Trump Unveils Plan to Transform U.S. Immigration System – Here Are the Details

/0 Comments/in , /by

By Fox News. President Trump on Thursday unveiled a long-awaited immigration overhaul that would dramatically alter how the U.S. accepts people into the country, upending the system in order to favor admissions based on merit rather than family ties. . .

The proposal would judge immigrants with a points-based system that would favor high-skilled workers — accounting for age, English proficiency, education and whether the applicant has a well-paying job offer.

Currently, only about 12 percent of immigrants are admitted based on employment and skills, while 66 percent are admitted based on family connections inside the U.S. Administration officials estimate that those numbers would flip to 57 and 33 percent, respectively, under the Trump plan. . .

The average yearly wage of legal immigrants is approximately $43,000. Administration officials said Wednesday that immigrants admitted based on education and skills would have an average income of $126,000, and they would expect the average yearly wage of all immigrants to rise to roughly $96,000.

Trump has long sought to end what he has called “chain migration” as part of his broader push to reform America’s immigration laws and who is allowed into the country. (Read more from “Trump Unveils Plan to Transform U.S. Immigration System – Here Are the Details” HERE)

_____________________________________________

Trump Administration Introduces a New Legal Immigration System

By Townhall. Speaking from the Rose Garden Thursday afternoon President Trump introduced a new legal immigration system, in addition to a plan that bolsters border security.

“Our plan includes a sweeping modernization of our dysfunctional legal immigration process,” Trump said. “The system will finally be fair, transparent, and promote equality and opportunity for all.”

According to a briefing by senior White House officials prior to the speech, the goal of the new system is to treat border security scientifically, rather than as a political issue, in addition to implementing a merit based legal immigration system. Both will be done while maintaining a number of key principles, including protection of American wages, keeping the number of green cards issued per year at one million, attracting and maintaining the best, unifying immediate family, providing labor to critical industries and preserving humanitarian values.

The biggest changes come with a merit based legal immigration system, rather than U.S. citizenship through family ties. The merit based system uses points to assess citizenship eligibility by evaluating English proficiency, employment offers, pledges of investment or job creation and educational or vocational certifications.

(Read more from “Trump Administration Introduces a New Legal Immigration System. Here Are the Details.” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Recent Poll Reveals Trump Is KILLING IT

/0 Comments/in , , /by

By Daily Wire. According to a new Zogby poll, President Trump is killing it. His job approval has climbed over 50%, (51%) the highest of his tenure as president, higher than Barack Obama’s (48%) was at the same time in his presidency.

Additionally, the majority of millennials (18-29) approve of the president (51%); even more of the age group from 25-34 approves of him (53%), and even more of those aged 35-54 (59%). 58% of men approved of Trump, a slim minority of women (48%) approved of him. . .

Zogby wrote, “President Trump’s job approval rating has seen a post Mueller report boost! We called it a few weeks ago. But that’s not the complete story as to why the president has reached a peak in his job approval rating. Trump is also riding high on positive economic news-a record high stock market, low unemployment, and solid GDP growth at home.” (Read more from “Recent Poll Reveals Trump Is Killing It” HERE)

_________________________________________________

Poll: Most Americans Say Trump’s Trade Talks with China Won’t Improve U.S. Economy

By The Hill. Two-thirds of registered voters said they don’t expect President Trump’s trade negotiations with China to result in better economic conditions for Americans, according to a poll.

In a Hill-HarrisX survey released Monday, 36 percent said the talks would make things worse while 31 percent said they don’t think the negotiations will make a difference. Thirty-three percent said the talks will lead to more jobs and economic opportunities.

Democrats and Republicans were divided in their predictions, but not as starkly as they were on other matters, such as approval of president’s job performance.

Fifty-eight percent of Democrats said they believed Trump’s China negotiations would result in fewer jobs and economic opportunities, compared with 59 percent of Republicans who said they would improve things. (Read more from “Poll: Most Americans Say Trump’s Trade Talks with China Won’t Improve U.S. Economy” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

For a Successful Second Term, Trump Will Need a New Strategy in Senate Primaries

/0 Comments/in , /by

When the president and his administration help Senate RINOs, they are helping senators who are sandbagging his campaign agenda.

The AP obtained a copy of an invitation to an event sponsored by President Trump’s campaign committee and the RNC to a joint fundraiser with Vice President Mike Pence and North Carolina’s junior senator, Thom Tillis, next week in Greensboro. Local media is reporting this as a signal of support from the White House for Tillis’ re-election.

Hasn’t the president learned his lesson of supporting RINOs only to have them bite him on every issue he campaigned on?

Senate Republicans are more liberal than ever before. Even if Republicans win back the House and Trump is re-elected, he will be no closer to passing any of his priorities on immigration, spending, or health care than he was during his first two years of trifecta control, because there are very few Republicans in the Senate who truly believe in his campaign promises.

Confirming conservative judges was one of the few unifying ideals of Senate Republicans, yet Mitt Romney voted against a well-qualified district judge nominee yesterday because he felt the nominee said mean things about Obama. But Trump endorsed Romney in the primary last year, thereby ending any attempt to challenge him.

This has been a broader point of frustration during Trump’s first term. He continuously endorses the very RINOs whom his party’s voters elected him to vanquish and then complains about the Senate undermining his campaign promises. Trump’s endorsement has the singular power to catapult struggling primary challengers into the lead against liberal Republican incumbents. At the very least, if Trump would remain neutral in the primaries, some challengers might have a fighting change, especially in North Carolina, where Tillis is now vulnerable to a challenge. But if Trump supports an incumbent, that is the kiss of death for any primary challenger.

Take a look at the Senate landscape this cycle. There are a number of open seats or incumbents in states where Trump won, often by large margins, in 2016.

Trump has the power to create for himself a more conservative Senate that will push for market-based health care, pass his budget proposals, back an America-first foreign policy, and codify his immigration priorities. Yet if he reflexively endorses incumbents and establishment picks, he is consigning his second term to complete doom.

Tillis has a 38% Liberty Score and is not a conservative on a single issue – social, fiscal, or national security. He has promoted amnesty from the day he set foot in the Senate. Tillis initially opposed Trump’s emergency declaration but changed course after he realized he’d face primary challengers.

At a time when House Democrats are trying to push back against Trump by codifying transgenderism into civil rights, Tillis is being honored by a “Republican” transgender group.

If you remember, Tillis refused to stand up for his former colleagues in the North Carolina legislature when they were combatting liberal cities that were allowing men into private female dressing rooms.

We are seeing the same thing with Lindsey Graham. Just because he is talking tough on Mueller and the FBI Hillary email scandal doesn’t mean he is suddenly a conservative on policy. Just because he is rhetorically cozying up to Trump doesn’t mean that the minute he is safe from a primary challenge, he will not give Trump hell on immigration and on his realist vision on foreign policy, especially since Graham is a shill for Qatar. Indeed, he is cozying up to Trump only for the purpose of avoiding a primary challenge. In fact, just yesterday, he had the nerve to say that “we need a conversation about the 11 million [illegal aliens already here]” at a time when his own policies have incentivized the current overwhelming flow.

The reality is that every Republican will come to Trump in a time of need. But they will not be there for him when he needs support in the Senate. Just the opposite: They will sandbag him with media virtue-signaling at every turn.

Every piece of leverage the president has is enmeshed in the budget process. Yet during every single budget battle since January 2017, McConnell and company have worked to give the Democrats everything they wanted on both spending and immigration. They are in the process of once again moving Trump to the Left on the disaster bill and on the budget caps and debt ceiling in September.

The president needs to think long and hard what his second term will look like if he continues supporting Republicans like Mitt Romney, Thom Tillis, and Lindsey Graham. But changing course in Senate electoral strategy will likely require a change in White House personnel. (For more from the author of “For a Successful Second Term, Trump Will Need a New Strategy in Senate Primaries” please click HER)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

GOP Voters Reveal What Trump’s ‘Top Priority’ Should Be For 2020

/0 Comments/in , , /by

By Breitbart. Ahead of the 2020 presidential election, Republican voters say President Trump’s top priorities ought to be building a wall along the United States-Mexico border and reducing all immigration to the country.

The latest Harvard/Harris Poll finds that when Republican voters are asked to rank the issues which should be Trump’s biggest priorities, building a wall at the southern border and reducing all immigration top the list.

Ranking as the top priority for Republicans, conservatives, and Trump supporters, 22 to 25 percent of these voters said building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border should be the president’s number one goal today. . .

Even among all U.S. voters, building a border wall and reducing all immigration to the country ranks as the fourth top priority. For swing voters, building a border wall and reducing all immigration are the third and fourth top priorities, following stimulating jobs and passing an infrastructure bill.

Recent polls found similar popularity for reducing all immigration to the U.S. among GOP voters and conservatives. In a Reuters/Ipsos Poll last month, GOP voters called immigration the “most important problem” facing the nation and a Harvard Institute of Politics poll found that young GOP voters were the most skeptical of immigration. (Read more from “GOP Voters Reveal What Trump’s ‘Top Priority’ Should Be” HERE)

____________________________________________________

Defense chief’s border visit will highlight Trump priority

By Fox News. Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan is making his second trip to the U.S.-Mexican border to highlight what President Donald Trump calls a national emergency, after freeing up $1.5 billion more in Pentagon money to support wall construction.

Shanahan was flying to the Texas border town of McAllen on Saturday with the acting chief of Homeland Security Department, Kevin McAleenan, for a trip that demonstrates Shanahan’s attention to border security, a top Trump priority, amid questions from some in Congress about whether the border mission is an appropriate and wise use of military resources.

As a prelude to the trip, the White House on Thursday announced that Trump intends to nominate Shanahan as defense secretary, ending months of speculation about Pentagon leadership. He has served in an interim capacity since Jan. 1, an unprecedented period of uncertainty at the helm of the Pentagon.

Shanahan has supported the use of active-duty troops, in addition to the National Guard, to bolster Customs and Border Protection efforts to handle surging numbers of Central American migrants seeking to cross the border. But recently he has hinted at impatience with the lack of a long-term strategy for ensuring border security, which is the responsibility of DHS. (Read more from “Defense chief’s border visit will highlight Trump priority” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Trump Wants America to Get to Mars

/0 Comments/in , /by

President Trump on Monday announced a series of updates to his proposed budget for fiscal 2020, including funding amounts for the Special Olympics and the country’s space exploration program.

Trump fired off four tweets over a 10-minute stretch early Monday evening specifying the budget updates, several of which had been announced previously without dollar amounts. The president’s budget typically represents priorities for the administration and is rarely passed by Congress without changes. . .

The president also said his updated budget would include an additional $1.6 billion for NASA to focus on space exploration. Trump said the country is “going back to the Moon, then Mars.”

Vice President Pence said earlier this year that the Trump administration is committed to landing U.S. astronauts on the moon within the next five years. No human has landed on Mars.

The president on Monday also shared two environmental budget updates.

(Read more from “Trump Wants America to Get to Mars” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Democrats Escalate Battle Over President Trump’s Taxes — Here’s What They Just Did

/0 Comments/in , , /by

By The Blaze. The House Ways and Means Committee issued subpoenas to obtain six years of President Donald Trump’s taxes after Treasury Secretary Mnuchin denied their request on Monday.

Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) issued a subpoena to Mnuchin and also to Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Charles Rettig.

Mnuchin had first denied the request by saying he was going to ask for guidance from the Department of Justice, and then said that the committee’s request did not have the proper rationale for a “legitimate legislative purpose.”

Critics of Mnuchin say that he’s thumbing his nose at the oversight duty of Congress, while others say Democrats are overstepping their bounds with a politically motivated demand. (Read more from “Democrats Escalate Battle Over President Trump’s Taxes — Here’s What They Just Did” HERE)

________________________________________________________

Key House Democrat Issues Subpoenas for Trump’s Tax Returns

By CNN. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal has issued subpoenas for President Donald Trump’s tax returns, the committee told CNN on Friday, an escalation in the fight for the President’s personal financial records and the latest step this week in Democrats’ battle for information from the Trump administration.

Neal sent subpoenas to both IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. A Treasury spokesman confirmed to CNN it has received Neal’s subpoena request.

Neal, who has unilateral subpoena power, took the step days after the Treasury Department formally denied Neal’s request for six years of the President’s personal and business tax returns earlier this week.

While Neal did not need a subpoena to eventually move to court, he issued the subpoenas on the advice of House counsel whom he consulted throughout the process about how to build the strongest legal case. (Read more from “Key House Democrat Issues Subpoenas for Trump’s Tax Returns” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Dems Going After Major First Amendment SCOTUS Decision

/0 Comments/in , /by

This week, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) resuscitated an old Democratic Party political enemy: The First Amendment-affirming 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. In Citizens United, the Court held that the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment generally prohibits the government from restricting independent expenditures for communications by corporations, labor unions, and other similarly situated associations. The relevant statute, the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, had prohibited any corporation from making an “electioneering communication” within 30 days of a primary election or within 60 days of a general election. The Citizens United decision, although well-grounded in the original understanding of the political speech-centric Free Speech Clause, has consistently been lambasted by the Left ever since it was handed down. Many on the Left criticize the “dark money” from corporations that the decision has allegedly allowed to flow out in the open.

Now, Schiff wants to bring back an effort to overturn the decision via constitutional amendment. CNN reports:

Rep. Adam Schiff on Wednesday introduced a constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, which helped usher in a new era of big money in American elections.

“Our democracy is not for sale. We must stop the flood of dark money from drowning out the voices of everyday citizens,” the California Democrat said in a statement on Twitter. He said such an amendment would “restore power to the American people.”

By a 5-4 ruling, the high court in 2010 swept aside a ban on independent spending by corporations and unions in candidate elections, saying the restrictions amounted to censorship. Outside spending in federal elections has soared from $338 million in 2008, the last presidential election before the ruling, to $1.4 billion in 2016, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

(Read more from “Dems Going After Major First Amendment SCOTUS Decision” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE