Cut to the News
Cut through the clutter to today's top news
January 11, 2022
Good morning
Welcome to today's top news.
Leading the News . . .
Michelle Obama enters politics with vengeance, bent on revenge . . . Opinion. By Cheryl K. Chumley. Michelle Obama, former first lady, just announced she‘s partnering her foundation, When We All Vote, with 30 other groups to register a million new voters before the midterms. It’s go time for the left. Her entry into election politicking guarantees this fight over the Electoral College is the Democrats’ signature campaign
issue this year.
Without election reform, Democrats only have negatives to tout. They’ve been the party that’s not Donald Trump. They’ve been the party that’s not taken care of the border, or inflation, supply issues, or defiant teachers’ unions who demand schools stay closed. They’ve been the party that’s told Americans to stop doing this, stop doing that due to coronavirus restrictions. But those aren’t issues so much as reactions, armchair quarterbacking and run-from-behind agendas. More than that, those
issues are problems the Democrats largely created in the first place. They can’t blame Trump and Republicans, so they have to skirt those topics while treading the campaign trail. Washington Times
Hmm. Gearing up for another election interference?
Here's what went on during the last one:
Biden conducts fewest news conferences of any recent president . . . After campaigning for and winning the presidency from his basement, President Biden is now hiding in the White House from the press. According to the New York Post: President Biden has conducted fewer news conferences than any of his five immediate predecessors at the same point in their time in the White House and has given fewer media interviews
than six of them did. The president has done 22 interviews with the media and held nine formal news conferences – six solo and three with visiting foreign leaders – an analysis by Martha Joynt Kumar, a professor at Town University and director of the White House Transition Project, found. Former President Donald Trump sat down for 92 interviews in his first year in the White House, mainly with Fox News, but also with ABC News, the New York Times, the Associated Press and Reuters.
Biden has only given three print interviews. White House Dossier
Democrats eager to fill power vacuum after Pelosi exit . . .
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) isn’t showing her cards, but the longtime Democratic leader has vowed that this year will be her last at the top of the party, auguring a fast-approaching power vacuum that younger lawmakers have been salivating to fill for more than a decade. A new generation of ambitious Democrats is looking to push aside the old guard of octogenarians — Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) — but the veteran No. 2 and No. 3
leaders have been forecasting a different scenario, reaching out to their colleagues to gauge support about staying on, even if Pelosi calls it quits. The Hill
Can't wait.
Biden Will Endorse Changing Senate Rules to Pass Voting Rights Legislation . . . President Biden will endorse changing Senate rules to pass new voting rights protections during a speech in Atlanta on Tuesday, the most significant step he will have taken to pressure lawmakers to act on an issue he has called the biggest test of America’s democracy since the Civil War. Mr. Biden will not go so far as to call for full-scale elimination of
the filibuster, a Senate tradition that allows the minority party to kill legislation that fails to garner 60 votes, according to a senior administration official who previewed the speech. But Mr. Biden will say he supports a filibuster “carve-out” in the case of voting rights, the official said. New York Times
GOP’s Jordan Won’t Play Dems’ J6 Games . . . Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan has no interest in participating in the Democrats’ sham investigation. In a decision that surprised no one, Ohio Republican Congressman Jim Jordan has declined an invitation to appear before Nancy Pelosi’s truth-averse January 6 committee. The sham committee, also known as “The Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States
Capitol,” has long since become a bad joke.
Jordan, the ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee and an investigative pit bull, was selected by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to be a member of this committee, but Pelosi, in an unprecedented act of raw political power cowardice, denied McCarthy’s picks of Jordan and Indiana’s Jim Banks, which prompted McCarthy to pull his three other picks, leaving the committee with only Pelosi-approved Democrat lapdogs and two Trump-deranged soon-to-be former Republicans, Wyoming’s Liz
Cheney and Illinois’s Adam Kinzinger. So much for objective oversight and dispassionate fact-finding. Did we mention it was a sham committee? Patriot Post
Report: State and Local Governments Spent $5.6 Million on Lawyers for Illegal Immigrants . . . At least $5.6 million in state and local taxpayer funds will be used to bankroll lawyers for illegal immigrants fighting deportation this year, according to an immigration reform group report released on Tuesday. Following a review of local and city governments that partnered with a group that seeks to provide counsel to noncitizens, the
Immigration Reform Law Institute found that at least $5.6 million in taxpayer funds from state and local communities was earmarked for these deportation defense programs, which it described as "a conservative estimate [that] does not include numerous other localities that fund their own independent anti-deportation programs." Washington Free Beacon
Virginia Gov.-elect Youngkin Taps Former Heritage Foundation Chief James as Secretary of Commonwealth . . . Virginia Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin has named former Heritage Foundation President Kay C. James to be the next secretary of the commonwealth. “Secretary James will be a true asset to the administration,” Youngkin said in a Friday press release announcing James’ appointment. “Our shared vision, combined with her tremendous
experience, will pave the way for a new day in Virginia.” As secretary, James will assist the governor in a number of capacities and maintain official state records. James, 72, has spent much of her career fighting for conservative values and is no stranger to the field of public policy. “As a lifelong Virginian who has devoted much of my career to public service, I see serving as secretary as one more opportunity to give back to the commonwealth that has given so much to me,”
she said. Daily Signal
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McCabe wants FBI to monitor 'mass radicalization on the Right' after Capitol riot . . . Ex-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe agreed there is a “mass radicalization on the Right” and that law enforcement should scrutinize “mainstream” conservatives in the wake of last year’s Capitol riot. McCabe, who served as the FBI’s second-in-command from 2016 to 2018, also compared “right-wing extremists” to U.S. citizens who joined ISIS,
calling for a federal domestic terrorism law during a virtual discussion about Jan. 6 last week. “I’m fairly confident from what little we’ve heard from the FBI that they have reallocated resources and repositioned some of their counterterrorism focus to increase their focus on right-wing extremism and domestic violent extremists," McCabe said during a panel by the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics. "And I think that’s obviously a good idea.” McCabe said the FBI may be
looking at the Ku Klux Klan and the Proud Boys when the real threat is more mainstream. Washington Times
McCabe would've made a fine KGB officer.
North Korea fires possible missile into sea amid stalled talks . . . North Korea on Tuesday fired what appeared to be a ballistic missile into its eastern sea, its second launch in a week, following leader Kim Jong-un’s calls to expand its nuclear weapons program in defiance of international opposition. The launches follow a series of weapons tests in 2021 that underscored how North Korea is continuing to expand its military capabilities
during a self-imposed pandemic lockdown and deadlocked nuclear talks with the United States. Washington Times
Iran, Taliban rebuffing U.S. diplomacy, upping threats against Americans under Biden . . . Iran and the Taliban are intensifying their threats against the U.S., spurning the Biden administration's diplomatic outreach to both rogue regimes. Last month, the Taliban told the U.S. during talks in Doha, Qatar, that it will deploy 2,000 suicide bombers to Washington, D.C., if the Biden administration insists on posting the same number of troops
at the U.S. embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, according to a new report by the Middle East Media Research Institute. The acting defense minister of the Taliban government in Afghanistan issued an identical threat on Twitter. Just the News
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Russian troops to withdraw, says Kazakhstan’s president . . . Russian troops will withdraw from Kazakhstan, the country’s president said, following a week of violent protests in which citizens demanded social and political change in the central Asian republic. Kazakhstan’s president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who requested help from Russia last week after claiming the protests were a “coup d’état”, said on Tuesday that the
Moscow-led military mission was complete and the contingent would leave the country within 10 days. In his first move to rejig the government he sacked last week, Tokayev named Alikhan Smailov, an official from the previous regime, as the prime minister with the approval of parliament. Financial Times
‘Sanctions don't work on Russia’: Why there’s skepticism over the U.S.' warnings on Ukraine . . . Slapping sanctions on Russia may not be helpful in resolving tensions with the U.S. over Ukraine, two experts said on Tuesday. "Sanctions don't work on Russia," said Tony Brenton, a former British ambassador to Russia. "Russia just becomes even more obdurate." Angela Stent, director emerita of Georgetown University's Center for Eurasian,
Russian and East European Studies, likewise told CNBC's "Street Signs Asia" that the threat of sanctions hasn't put Russia off. That's in spite of the proposed punitive measures being "pretty comprehensive," she said, affecting technology exports and banks' access to the international financial system. CNBC
‘Superficially About National Security’: Rand Paul Breaks With GOP On Nord Stream 2 Sanctions . . . Sen. Rand Paul broke with Republicans over potential legislation reimposing Nord Stream 2 pipeline sanctions on a Russian state-run company.
Lawmakers who argue in favor of sanctioning the pipeline, which would carry natural gas from Russia to Germany beneath the Baltic Sea, are more concerned with “mercantilism and protectionism” rather than national security, the Republican senator argued in an editorial published by The American Conservative on Monday. Paul also questioned whether an aggressive sanctions regime would have the desired effect of preventing Russian aggression in Ukraine. “Opponents of the pipeline, not
surprisingly, are largely from states that compete in the sale of natural gas,” Paul wrote. “Acknowledging that this debate is only superficially about national security and really more about provincial protectionism helps us better understand the dynamics. Daily Caller
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Biden forces health insurers to cover eight free Covid tests per person per month . . . Right. Sure. Go ahead and try to find eight Covid tests. Another publicity stunt by an administration that has fallen down completely on Covid testing, even as it insists people get vaccinated or tested. Meantime, the 500 million free tests you can supposedly order from the government have still not arrived. According to Fox News:
The White House said private health insurers will be required to pay for up to eight COVID-19 tests per person per month starting Jan. 15, while Americans can expect to be able to order free tests purchased by the government later this month. “Under President Biden’s leadership, we are requiring insurers and group health plans to make tests free for millions of Americans. This is all part of our overall strategy to ramp-up access to easy-to-use, at-home tests at no cost,” Department of
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a press release Monday. White House Dossier
Much of Biden’s Vaccine Mandate for Large Private Employers Takes Effect Despite Ongoing Supreme Court Battle . . . Much of the Biden administration’s vaccination mandate pertaining to large private employers went into effect Monday, despite the rule facing legal challenges in the Supreme Court, leaving some businesses unsure as to how to proceed. As of Jan. 10, businesses with 100 or more employees were required to ensure that all
employees have been fully vaccinated with either two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or one dose of Johnson&Johnson’s, and they must provide paid leave to workers getting the vaccine. Businesses included in the mandate must also keep track of workers’ vaccination status via a database, provide employees with their company’s vaccine policy and procedures, and ensure unvaccinated employees wear a mask while indoors. The rule, which was enforced by the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), applies to some 84 million U.S. workers. Businesses that are not compliant face fines of up to $14,000 per violation. Epoch Times
Soviet Playbook.
China’s Zero-Covid Strategy Tested Ahead of Winter Olympics . . . From mass tests to lockdowns, China is on high-alert to keep the coronavirus at bay ahead of the Winter Olympics. WSJ examines the zero-Covid strategy in the city of Xi’an to see how it has sparked backlash from residents and affected chip makers. Wall Street Journal
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Biden job growth not what it seems . . . And that’s according to the Washington Post, which is actually providing some scrutiny to President Biden’s claims about robust job growth in 2021.
Biden is bragging about numbers that don’t nearly bring the United States back to where it was before it was hit by the worst pandemic in a century. And with the new Bidenflation, workers’ salaries are falling behind.
According to the piece: The 6.4 million jobs gained this year, while a record in absolute terms, represents only a 4.5 percent increase in the workforce. That’s smaller than the 5.0 percent growth seen in 1978, when a much smaller labor force added 4.3 million jobs. In fact, relative to the size of the workforce, it’s only the 11th best calendar year since record-keeping began in 1939 . . . White House Dossier
Americans' inflation fears stay at record high, New York Fed survey shows . . . Americans' inflation fears held steady for the first time in months in December, although concerns over rising prices remained at a record high, according to a key Federal Reserve Bank of New York survey published Monday. The median expectation is that the inflation rate will be up 6% one year from now, the highest level for the gauge since its launch in June
2013, according to the New York Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Expectations. Inflation expectations over the next three years also remained unchanged at 4%. "Median inflation uncertainty—or the uncertainty expressed regarding future inflation outcomes—decreased at the short- and medium-term horizons, retreating from their series highs recorded in November," the report said. Fox Business
Lawsuit accuses Yale, Georgetown and other schools of colluding to limit financial aid . . . Sixteen major U.S. universities, including Yale University, Georgetown University and Northwestern University, are being sued for alleged antitrust violations because of the way they work
together to determine financial-aid awards for students. According to a lawsuit filed in Illinois federal court late Sunday by law firms representing five former students who attended some of the schools, the universities engaged in price fixing and unfairly limited aid by using a shared methodology to calculate applicants’ financial need. Schools are allowed under federal law to collaborate on their formulas, but only if they don’t consider applicants’ financial need in admissions
decisions. The suit alleges these schools do weigh candidates’ ability to pay in certain circumstances, and therefore shouldn’t be eligible for the antitrust exemption. The suit seeks damages and a permanent end to the schools’ collaboration in calculating financial need and awarding aid. Fox Business
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JFK Assassination: What’s in the Newest Batch of Declassified Documents? . . . Last month, the Biden administration released a batch of classified documents related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The National Archives and Records Administration published the new 1,491 documents, of which 958 are from the CIA. That means 9 out of 10 of the total number of documents are still being withheld from
declassification. “It’s very little and very late,” Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the president’s nephew, told The Epoch Times. “There’s only 10 percent of the documents that legally have to be released in that data dump. But even those documents are clearly showing that the CIA lied outright to the Warren Commission about its relationship with Lee Harvey Oswald.” The 1992 JFK Records Act, signed by Congress into law, mandated that all the documents be released by Oct. 26, 2017. Epoch Times
In a First, Man Receives a Heart From a Genetically Altered Pig . . . A 57-year-old man with life-threatening heart disease has received a heart from a genetically modified pig, a groundbreaking procedure that offers hope to hundreds of thousands of patients with failing organs. It is the first successful transplant of a pig’s heart into a human being. The eight-hour operation took place in Baltimore on Friday, and the patient, David
Bennett Sr. of Maryland, was doing well on Monday, according to surgeons at the University of Maryland Medical Center. “It creates the pulse, it creates the pressure, it is his heart,” said Dr. Bartley Griffith, the director of the cardiac transplant program at the medical center, who performed the operation. “It’s working and it looks normal. We are thrilled, but we don’t know what tomorrow will bring us. This has never been done before.” New York Times
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Transgender Doctor Tries to OUTSMART Rand Paul, Instantly REGRETS it
This is total insanity. The mere fact that this “PERSON” is in a position to make decisions for children, instead of parents protecting their children, is not only sick. It's criminal.
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