White House Dossier's

Liberals Can’t Comprehend Black Economic Progress . . . 
It undermines the argument that society is stacked against racial and ethnic minorities. The black American worker has had a pretty good run in recent years, though you might not know it because the political left and its allies in the press prefer to accentuate black struggle. Racial inequality shouldn’t be ignored but neither should black progress. Between 1963 and 2012, unemployment averaged 5.1% for whites and 11.1% for blacks. The 2008 financial crisis hit black workers especially hard, with unemployment reaching 16.8% in March 2010. Under President Obama, black unemployment declined but didn’t fall below double-digits until the seventh year of his presidency. When he left office in January 2017, the black jobless rate was 7.5%. Under President Trump it dipped to 5.3% in August 2019, then fell to a record-low 4.7% in April of this year. Positive black economic trends undermine the liberal argument that we live in a society stacked against certain racial and ethnic minority groups, so these trends tend to get played down or spun to advance a left-wing agenda. Wall Street Journal

DeSantis donors privately worry about campaign as Florida governor lags in 2024 polls . . . A growing group of donors who have supported Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ run for president are worried about the trajectory of his campaign, even after he raked in $20 million since entering the race in May. Despite those big fundraising numbers and his entry into the race on a wave of hype, DeSantis is lagging well behind frontrunner Donald Trump in polls. The Murdoch family, led by conservative Fox Corp. and News Corp. mogul Rupert Murdoch, reportedly is souring on DeSantis. And as concerns for DeSantis mount across the board, several donors have told fundraisers about their worries, according to people familiar with the matter. Some donors are worried the polls indicate DeSantis has to climb a potentially insurmountable hill to overtake Trump, these people said. They’re also worried that Trump has a huge lead over DeSantis when it comes to Republican congressional endorsements. CNBC

DeSantis is hoping Iowa evangelicals can make his campaign born again . . . Several pastors cited the importance of funding for children to attend nonpublic schools, which DeSantis has championed by expanding Florida’s voucher program and exacerbating his ongoing feud with the teachers’ union. And then there’s abortion. Both DeSantis and Reynolds took aggressive stances on abortion following the Supreme Court’s overturning last year of Roe v. Wade. As he wound down Florida’s legislative session this year, DeSantis signed into law a six-week abortion ban he’s calling the “Heartbeat Bill” — akin to a measure Reynolds is supporting this week in her home state. While strict abortion measures are unpopular among general election voters, DeSantis’ stance has appealed to Iowa’s evangelical pastors, several said in interviews. Monte Knudsen, a pastor at Faith Christian Outreach Church in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, compared DeSantis to Pence — the former vice president and evangelical who hasn’t broken out of the bottom tier this election — saying he would “have greater confidence in DeSantis because of his track record.” Politico

Why Trump Gets Underestimated . . . The Occam’s razor explanation for Trump’s continued strength is that he’s a good politician, more so than is commonly recognized. There’s much that’s unique to Trump, for better and mostly worse — the taunts and nicknames, the drive to create his own reality immune to facts and rationality, the unwillingness to honor basic norms, the serial break-ups with and denunciations of his own officials, among other idiosyncrasies and flaws. If Trump could have managed to conduct himself a little more appropriately as president, he’d likely still be in office today. Alienating the middle of the electorate cost him in 2020, and it will be a major drag on his 2024 prospects should he win the GOP nomination again.

The attachment of a substantial portion of the GOP to Trump is usually attributed to its irrational bond to the former president. There’s no doubt that his base will countenance almost anything he does, and come up with sometimes-contradictory justifications for whatever needs to be justified at any given moment. This shouldn’t obscure the fact that Trump was the best politician in the 2016 field, and may well be the best one in the 2024 field, too. Beneath all the Trumpian qualities, there’s a politician with many of the traditional attributes long cultivated and prized by candidates and officeholders. Politico

U.S. States Urged To Block Donald Trump From 2024 Run . . . Two advocacy groups have written to officials in several states urging them to bar Donald Trump from running as a presidential candidate for allegedly inciting an insurrection. The Free Speech For People (FSFP) and Mi Familia Vota Education Fund groups have written letters to secretaries of state and election officials in California, Colorado, Georgia, Michigan, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Oregon and Pennsylvania demanding that they "carry out their responsibility" by barring Trump from being on next year's ballot for allegedly violating the 14th Amendment due to his actions around the January 6 attack. Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, introduced in the wake of the Civil War, states that a person who "engaged in insurrection or rebellion" after taking a congressional oath should be prevented from running for office again. The letters were sent as Trump is the overwhelming favorite to clinch the GOP presidential primary next year. Newsweek

Democrats Are Using Putin's Playbook to Defeat Trump in 2024  - Rebekah Koffler | Newsweek

Trump’s rivals face GOP criticism for not going on the attack . . .  Some Republicans believe presidential candidates not named Donald Trump are missing an opportunity to breakthrough in a crowded primary field by not confronting the former president head on. Strategists agree that any candidate will need to win over at least some Trump supporters in order to overcome the former president in the polls, and that attacking him directly carries some risks. But there is a belief with the first debate on the horizon that the likes of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) will need to more forcefully take on Trump if they want to shake up the race. The Hill

From J6 informants to FISA abuses, FBI boss had few answers to Congress’ most pressing questions . . . Wray responded to a FBI Director Christopher Wray declined to answer direct questions from lawmakers on several hot-button issues at a House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing. The performance on Wednesday generated frustration on both sides of the political aisle, and a rebuke from FBI alumni. “Chris Wray is tone deaf. He had an opportunity today to really start righting the ship,  to start bringing the 50, 60 maybe 80 million Americans who don't trust the FBI,” retired Supervisory Special Agent Jeff Danik told Just the News. “And he really fumbled the ball. Just the News

US, NATO weapons stockpile ‘dangerously low’, with no “short term” fixes are on the horizon: USAF General . . . “So we don’t have nearly what we had at the heart of the Cold War. Now you add that we’re giving a lot of munitions away to the Ukrainians — which I think is exactly what we need to do — but now we’re getting dangerously low and sometimes, in some cases even too low that we don’t have enough,” said Gen. James Hecker. Amid a high tempo of arms transfers to Ukraine, the stockpile of US weapons and those of allies are getting “dangerously low,” the commander of US Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) said today. And worse, he warned, no “short term” fixes are on the horizon. Speaking on a panel with the air chiefs of the United Kingdom and Sweden during the Chief of the Air Staff’s Global Air & Space Chiefs’ Conference in London, USAFE Commander Gen. James Hecker, who also leads US air forces in Africa, urged fellow North Atlantic Treaty Organization members to take a hard look at the status of their weapon stockpiles.  Breaking Defense

Is it too much to ask that the bureaucrats at the Pentagon do their jobs and at least plan for the wars they want to fight?

China is knocking on Texas' door . . . Texas stands prominently at the gateway of our nation and Latin American countries as a foremost trading partner that advances our economies. But this progress comes amid new challenges that threaten the sovereignty and viability of Latin American states, global democracy and America’s national security. Armed with predatory loan terms and virtually no accountability, China’s sights are firmly set on our southern neighbors. As witnessed in other developing regions, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leverages lavish investments to build geopolitical influence, target strategic sectors of sovereign nations’ economies, and develop military capabilities in 147 countries, including at least 13 countries in Latin America. Fox News

Sorry Russia, the Baltic Sea is NATO’s lake now . . . A resurgent NATO is set to tighten its grip on the Baltic Sea, complicating a vital transit route for Vladimir Putin’s navy in Russia’s backyard. This week’s alliance summit in Vilnius was Finland’s first as a NATO member. On the summit’s eve, Turkey agreed to back Sweden’s bid to join — paving the way for a strategic shift in a region Moscow once dominated. “[Sweden and Finland] make NATO much more geographically coherent. The Baltic Sea becomes a NATO lake, which is generally useful, also because of the Arctic’s increased importance,” said Ulrike Franke, a senior fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. Politico

NATO playing chess with Putin?

Russian general says top military brass betrayed soldiers fighting in Ukraine . . . A Russian general said he had been dismissed as a commander after telling the military leadership about the dire situation at the front in Ukraine, where he said Russian soldiers had been stabbed in the back by the failings of the top military brass. After the June 24 mutiny by Wagner mercenaries, the biggest domestic challenge to the Russian state in decades, President Vladimir Putin has so far kept Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov in their jobs. Reuters

Xi Jinping Chokes Off Crucial Engine of China’s Economy . . . Desperate for capital and with their economies struggling, China’s cities are wooing Western businesses with previously unavailable goodies. Beijing has labeled 2023 the “Year of Investing in China” and local officials have embarked on promotional tours overseas to drum up interest from investors.

That effort is running headlong into President Xi Jinping’s national-security agenda, with its focus on fending off perceived foreign threats. That has made any Chinese investment a potential minefield for foreign firms.

A Xi-led campaign this year has hit Western management consultants, auditors and other firms with a wave of raids, investigations and detentions. Meanwhile, an expanded anti-espionage law has added to foreign executives’ worry that conducting routine business activities in China, such as market research, could be construed as spying. Wall Street Journal

North Korean missile launch ‘risks destabilizing’ the region, White House says . . . White House officials condemned North Korea for launching an intercontinental ballistic missile on Wednesday, saying it “needlessly raises tensions” and “risks destabilizing” the region. Pyongyang test-fired its first ICBM in three months days after it threatened “shocking” consequences because of Washington’s military presence along the peninsula. The missile flew about 620 miles before landing in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, South Korean and Japanese officials said. Politico

Money

Rhode Island ‘horror’ bill a ‘test run’ for more Democrat-led states, experts warn . . . One Democrat-led state has passed a law that adds costly registration fees and privacy concerns to those who work as independent contractors or freelancers – and labor experts warn this is just a "test run" for other states. "Shock and horror is what I'm hearing," New Jobs America President Mike Hruby told Fox News Digital about worker reaction. "There's a lot of background with a bill like this, but there is nothing positive to say from any freelancer, any self-employed person, any driver or delivery individual about this law. It is just a state power grab, as far as I can see." In its latest regular legislative session, Rhode Island Democratic Gov. Daniel McKee signed State Bill 427 into law. The legislation requires any person who is considered an independent contractor to file a designation form each year and pay a $50 fee to the state’s Department of Taxation. The law’s text also indicates that failure to file the designation or reclassify as an employee – starting next January – will result in a felony charge Fox Business

Chip wars: How ‘chiplets’ are emerging as a core part of China’s tech strategy . . .  The sale of struggling Silicon Valley startup zGlue’s patents in 2021 was unremarkable except for one detail: The technology it owned, designed to cut the time and cost for making chips, showed up 13 months later in the patent portfolio of Chipuller, a startup in China’s southern tech hub Shenzhen. Chipuller purchased what is referred to as chiplet technology, a cost efficient way to package groups of small semiconductors to form one powerful brain capable of powering everything from data centers to gadgets at home. Reuters

Culture

Here's what happens when Biden cancels a 4-year-old girl . . . When one of the most significant left-wing columnists, Maureen Dowd of The New York Times, writes an opinion piece titled, "It’s Seven Grandkids, Mr. President," you know that President Joe Biden has made a huge mistake. Dowd was referring to Navy Joan Roberts, the daughter of Hunter Biden (as was confirmed in a 2019 DNA test). There is something particularly cruel about a president and a grandfather who, with his unavoidable media presence, constantly reminds this little girl of her "unperson" status. Reportedly, the Biden staff has been told to publicly say that there are only six grandchildren. This is both a lie and is emotionally contradictory to every decent feeling we should have toward children. Fox News

American dream is in grave danger. . . . If America doesn’t solve its “economic crisis,” self-described billionaire John Catsimatidis warned a Capitol Hill audience.bCatsimatidis, a businessman descended from Greek immigrants who says he achieved that dream, spoke about the state of the nation while promoting his new book Tuesday at The Heritage Foundation. Catsimatidis is the owner and chief executive officer of Red Apple Group, a conglomerate with energy, real estate, and finance assets; CEO of the Gristedes supermarket chain; and host of two radio talk shows that play on his name: “The Cats Roundtable” and “Cats at Night.” Daily Signal

Red Alert! Bud Light’s Collapse Is Escalating After Costco Gives Them The ‘Star Of Death’ . . . Packages of Bud Light beer are displayed for sale in a grocery store on June 14, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. The Mexican lager Modelo Especial which is brewed by Constellation Brands became the top-selling beer in the United States in the month of May, overtaking Bud Light, which is brewed by Anheuser-Busch. A post by transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney about a personalized can of Bud Light stirred conservative boycotts of the American beer. A recent trend of drinkers choosing more Mexican beers and spirits has also uplifted the Modelo brand. The crumble continues — and it’s escalating at that. Daily Caller

The Nation's Priorities And The Direction Of The Country . . . Key Statistics From the TIPP Poll. Over four in ten Americans (44 percent) prioritize the economy as the country's most important issue. Gun violence/control (32 percent) and immigration/border security (29 percent) are the other top concerns. Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) express dissatisfaction with the direction of the country. These results are from the latest IBD/TIPP Poll, which surveyed 1,358 Americans and was completed in early June. The poll asked participants, "What are the top three issues facing the country?" One in five respondents (20 percent) rated crime as a top issue. Tippingsights

Break Up America’s Elite . . . In the debate pitting defenders of racial preferences in college admissions against proponents of meritocracy, both sides implicitly accept the premise that there must be a single national elite. What divides the two sides is how the members of this single national elite are to be selected in their late teens or early 20s. But there is an alternative to a national oligarchy selected on this or that basis by admissions committees at a few prestigious universities: a plurality of separate elites, each with its own constituency, its own distinct entry requirements, its own internal career ladders, and with little or no lateral mobility between different elites. Societies in which members of a single, homogeneous national elite with similar backgrounds circulate easily among all of the various centers of power—government, business, academe, and the media—are familiar in the modern world. In Britain, graduates of Oxford and Cambridge and a few elite private schools who live in a few neighborhoods in London dominate powerful institutions. In France, the grandes écoles play the role of Oxbridge in Britain. The University of Tokyo functions similarly in Japan. Compact Magazine

FBI says CatholicVote is 'not entitled' to records detailing spying of Catholic churches . . . The FBI is seeking to block the release of its records pertaining to a since-retracted memo that said that traditional Catholic communities presented an opportunity for surveillance. The political advocacy organization CatholicVote sued the FBI in April, seeking to force the agency to comply with a Freedom of Information Act request that sought records pertaining to the FBI's drafting and dissemination of a memo at the agency's Richmond, Virginia field office that said "radical traditional Catholic" communities are possible sources of domestic extremism and cited the Southern Poverty Law Center. The FBI retracted the memo after it was leaked online. Washington Examiner

The Big State is already treating the American people as subjects. Imagine what happens once the government  disarms you.

Biden Proposal Would Give Foreign Climate Group Veto Power Over U.S. Military Contracts . . .  A new Biden administration rule aimed at reducing carbon emissions would give approval authority over large U.S. defense contracts to a little-known British environmentalist group that just incorporated two weeks ago. Under the White House’s proposed rule change, a London-based group called the Science Based Targets Initiative that is funded by the Democratic Party’s main dark money network would be responsible for approving the carbon emissions reduction plans of large federal contractors. Free Beacon

California Democrats Block Bill To Make Child Trafficking a Serious Felony . . . A Democrat-majority committee in the California state assembly has declined to advance a bill that would make child trafficking a serious felony in the Golden State.

Democrats on the Assembly Public Safety Committee decided not to advance the proposed legislation on Tuesday in a move that could mean the bill won't pass into law this year. Republican Senator Shannon Grove introduced the bill, which passed with unanimous bipartisan support in the state Senate and would classify child trafficking as a serious felony, making that offense subject to the state's "three strikes rule." Under that rule, a person convicted of at least three serious felonies is punished with a prison sentence of between 25 years and life. Newsweek

Introducing Common Sense with Dr. Ben Carson . . .  Common sense is not so common these days. If you are one of the many people who thinks that to themselves, then this podcast is for you. Each week, Dr. Ben Carson takes you on a personal journey into the issues and headlines Americans face through the lens of 4 cornerstone principles – faith, liberty, community, and life… the basis upon which the greatest nation on earth was founded. The promise of America is alive and well, but it’s not a given. Dr. Carson offers a weekly prescription of things to think about, ideas of what you can do in your own life, and stories to help you make a little more sense of the world.

I really enjoyed speaking with Dr. Carson about Russia and Wagner Rebellion. Listen to it here

There's a video on Rumble, if you'd like to watch.

Mail delivery suspended in Texas neighborhood due to dive-bombing hawk . . . Mail delivery has been temporarily suspended to a Texas neighborhood due to a dive-bombing hawk that has been targeting postal workers -- and anyone else who goes outside. Residents of Milam Place and Kenwood Avenue in the Travis Heights neighborhood of Austin said they have recently been forced to keep an eye on the sky to avoid being struck in the head by the bird. The U.S. Postal Service recently informed residents they would have to retrieve their mail from South Congress Post Office for the time being. Wildlife biologist Blake Hendon with the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife said the hawk is likely protecting its young. "This is the time of year that they have constructed nests earlier in the season. They've laid eggs. And now at this point in time in the season, they are raising their young," he said.He said the hawk's aggression should subside once the newly hatched birds are large enough to fly off, usually about six to seven weeks. UPI