Cut to the News
Cut through the clutter to today's top news
May 3, 2021
Good morning
Welcome to today's top news.
Leading the News . . .
‘Big government is back’: Biden’s unprecedented actions empower labor unions . . . President Biden’s promotion of an all-out federal alliance with labor unions and of whole-of-government mobilizations on fronts from racial justice to climate change is testing America’s appetite for an activist administration. Mr. Biden established a Cabinet-level task force to plan a federal strategy to empower unions — not simply promote the right to
join one. His Justice Department launched investigations to root out racism in the Minneapolis and Louisville police departments. He embarked on a massive spending agenda that expanded federal safety net programs and seeks to add government benefits for college, child care, health care and paid sick leave. The activist approach to governing imbues Mr. Biden’s union agenda. Washington Times
Biden, Republicans Set Talks Over Competing Infrastructure Plans . . . Lawmakers and administration officials signaled on Sunday that they expected negotiations over an infrastructure package to ramp up this week, as Republicans and President Biden work to see if a bipartisan agreement is within reach. White House chief of staff Ron Klain said that Mr. Biden had invited Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, one of the lead GOP
negotiators on the infrastructure package, and others to meet this week. “We’re going to work with Republicans. We’re going to find common ground,” Mr. Klain said on CBS. Republicans said they wanted to see that Mr. Biden was willing to make some concessions to prove his willingness to work across the aisle. Wall Street Journal
GOP wrestles with role of culture wars in party's future . . . Republicans wrestling over the future of the party are debating whether to embrace the culture wars that helped former President Trump cement his popularity with the GOP base. The internal rift, which involves congressional leaders and potential 2024 presidential contenders, comes as Republicans have struggled to dent President Biden’s popularity and as they plot their
strategy to win back the House and Senate in the 2022 midterms. While some in the GOP are eager to double down on Trump’s brand of populism, others argue the party needs to return to its roots. The Hill
Biden wants to expand money-losing Amtrak with $80B taxpayer infusion . . . Amtrak loses billions of dollars. It’s trains arrive late. It’s way too expensive and adds to the deficit. So of course, President Biden, who bragged about riding it to Washington every day to work from Wilmington, Delaware when he was in the Senate, wants more of it. One reason we hadn’t heard before: Climate change! Less people in cars. You can pretty
much justify anything today by saying it will help stop climate change. White House Dossier
Cruz, Rubio ramp up criticisms of big business . . . Important figures in the GOP that usually toes the pro-business line are instead throwing jabs at the corporate world. An anti-elite GOP base that grew even more populist during former President Trump’s time in the White House could reward the pugnacious tone. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), in a phone interview for this column, ramped up his rhetoric, lambasting major corporations for
what he sees as a leftward drift in executive suites. “If you look at the CEOs of the Fortune 100, there are very, very few who you could even plausibly characterize as right of center,” Cruz said. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said in an email: “. . . Far too many American companies were prioritizing short-term financial windfalls at the expense of America’s families, communities and national security. Republicans, and conservatives generally, are grappling with unusual dynamics eddying
back and forth between the white working-class element of their support and wealthy, corporate America. The Hill
DCCC Chair Spent Big on Travel as He Urged Constituents to ‘Stay Home' . . . As Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney suspended in-person campaign efforts and told constituents to stay home to fight coronavirus, the New York Democrat disclosed spending tens of thousands of dollars to travel the state, prompting ethics concerns. Maloney—who leads the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee—halted his campaign's in-person signature-collecting
push in March 2020. Days later, he urged constituents to "stay home" and "stop spreading this virus." Over the next nine months, however, he spent nearly $29,000 on "ground transportation" and "automobile expenses," financial disclosures show. The disbursements included nearly $20,000 in lease and insurance payments, more than $3,600 in collision repairs, nearly $2,200 in gas, more than $2,100 in rental car fees, and nearly $500 for a satellite radio subscription. Washington Free Beacon
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US base in Afghanistan hit by rocket fire as troops begin withdrawal . . . US forces returned fire over the weekend after rockets hit a key air base in Kandahar, Afghanistan, while America’s top general on Sunday warned of “bad possible outcomes” in the country after all US and NATO troops complete their withdrawal. The stark comments from Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, came just hours after
US troops in Afghanistan conducted a precision strike against enemy forces planning fresh attacks on Kandahar. The Pentagon seems virtually certain that the insurgent group is behind the assault. Taliban officials over the weekend again threatened to attack American forces still in Afghanistan past May 1, the original withdrawal deadline laid out in a deal between former President Donald Trump and the Taliban early in 2020. Washington Times
Organized Crime Is Still Hurting Americans . . . It’s no coincidence that, over the past year, the alarming surge in violent crime across America has coincided with the nationwide campaign to defund the police and the left’s demonization of law enforcement. Much of the violent crime infecting America’s cities today is connected to drugs, which enter our country courtesy of cartels south of the border. Once the drugs enter America,
the mob are the top-level distributors, regulating distribution on the streets through the local gangs, which give the mob bosses a cut of the earnings. Meth, fentanyl, cocaine, heroin — these drugs are corrupting our society and having a devastating effect on the nation. Gingrich360
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Next Generation of Covid-19 Vaccines Could Be Pill or Spray . . . The next generation of Covid-19 vaccines in development could come as a pill or a nasal spray and be easier to store and transport than the current handful of shots that form the backbone of the world-wide vaccination effort. These newer vaccines, from U.S. government labs and companies including Sanofi SA, Altimmune Inc. and Gritstone Oncology Inc., also
have the potential to provide longer-lasting immune responses and be more potent against newer and multiple viral variants, possibly helping to head off future pandemics, the companies say. Wall Street Journal
Bernie Sanders calls for US drug companies to surrender IP rights for vaccines . . . Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders called for prominent US drug companies to surrender their intellectual property rights to "allow other countries" to produce and distribute vaccinations more expediently. Maintaining intellectual property rights is "morally objectionable" because "rich countries" maintain stockpiles of the shots, while those in "poor
countries" cannot keep up, Sanders said on Sunday. Washington Examiner
Brilliant. Commie Bernie wants to ensure that no US made vaccine will be produced in the future.
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Putin is blackmailing US taxpayer-funded Radio Liberty . . . Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is under assault by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Through his agencies and obedient courts, he is blackmailing the media organization funded by U.S. taxpayers, issuing fines and threats of criminal prosecutions unless Radio Liberty agrees to play by his rules. Because of the actions already taken by the Kremlin, RFE/RL is facing a defining choice: whether to keep its news bureau staff in Moscow or to reduce its presence in Putin’s Russia. Under Putin’s blackmail, the broadcaster’s choice is that it can either label its programs as produced
by "foreign agents" and that individual Radio Liberty Russian and even Ukrainian reporters have to declare themselves as "foreign agents," or it can do most of its Russian coverage from abroad as it had done during the Cold War. Washington Examiner
UK tools up against China’s intel gathering . . . The UK has realized it is going to need more than James Bond to counter Chinese influence and espionage. Beijing’s massive state-backed effort to infiltrate British companies and research institutions in the race to develop key technologies is mostly not the stuff of traditional spying. And Britain has realized that its response needs to go well beyond the intelligence
services. Matthew Henderson, a former U.K. ambassador to China and now an associate fellow at the Council on Geostrategy, says the great majority of the information gathering carried out by China in the UK “is done in open sight” at institutions such as R&D-intensive companies handling sensitive innovations such as graphene, encryption systems and hypersonic tech. “They’re doing what they can do because we’ve made it so easy for them.” Politico
US businesses and research institutions are also widely targeted by Chinese espionage.
Virus-Hit Russia Reports 25 Percent Death Increase in January-March . . . Russia’s state statistical service says the number of deaths nationwide in the first three months of 2021 was more than 25 percent higher than the same period a year ago, and it reported thousands more deaths due to COVID-19 in March than tallied by the country’s coronavirus task force. More than 583,000 people died in January-March of this year in Russia, compared
with 460,000 for those same months in 2020, the Rosstat agency said in a report issued Friday. The agency did not provide an explanation for the sharply higher death toll, but critics have suggested that Russian officials underplay the severity of the pandemic in the country. Epoch Times
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Hundreds of millions in PPP loans went to CCP-backed firms, as U.S. small businesses went under . . . US Small Business Administration and Treasury Department have awarded at least $200 million, but as much as $420 million, to Chinese Communist Party-linked businesses by way of the Paycheck Protection Program, intended to assist U.S. small businesses that were devastated by the coronavirus pandemic, widely believed to
have originated in China. A report from the Horizon Advisory strategic consulting group illustrates how negligible congressional oversight allowed at least 125 Chinese firms to "take advantage of the international disaster” by benefitting “directly from US investment and relief measures." The PPP program, while in many ways a success, was also rife with fraud, much of which likely remains undetected. The report also observes: "Many U.S. small businesses that did not receive funding
have closed up shop or permanently shrunk their work force." Just the News
States now flush with cash after depths of pandemic . . . Congress approved hundreds of billions more for state and local governments to pay for and recover from the pandemic that has killed more than 500,000 people in America. In states across the country, legislators now face an embarrassment of riches, funded by a booming stock market, rising wages for those at the upper end of the economic stratosphere. The trends are clear:
Minnesota, which once faced a $1.3 billion deficit, now expects a $1.6 billion surplus. Michigan budget figures earlier this year showed a $2.5 billion surplus. Connecticut’s surplus was estimated at $70 million in January, and $130 million by March. Colorado’s surplus stands north of $5 billion. Rhode Island will have an extra $44 million to play with. The Hill
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NYT, WashPo retract stories on Giuliani, Russian disinfo . . . The New York Times and The Washington Post retracted stories over the weekend claiming Rudolph W. Giuliani, the personal attorney to former President Trump, had been warned by the FBI that he was a target of Russian disinformation leading up to the 2020 election. The two papers issued corrections over the weekend for stories that claimed Mr. Giuliani was made aware he was a
target for Russian disinformation. He was allegedly digging up dirt on then-candidate Joe Biden for Mr. Trump. Federal agents raided the former New York City mayor's apartment raided on Wednesday, having executed a search warrant to take all electronic items. They refused however to take hard drives belonging to Hunter Biden. Washington Times
Caitlyn Jenner Says Biological Males Shouldn’t Compete In Girls’ Sports . . . Caitlyn Jenner said Saturday that biological males should not be allowed to compete in girls’ sports because “it just isn’t fair.” “This is a question of fairness. That’s why I oppose biological boys who are trans competing in girls sports in school. It just isn’t fair, and we have to protect girls sports in our schools,” Jenner, who won a gold medal in the
decathlon at the 1976 Olympic Games, explained to TMZ. Jenner explained in a tweet, “It’s an issue of fairness and we need to protect girls’ sports in our schools.” Daily Caller
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Dems Propose Fighting Obesity By Switching To Communism . . . Many are concerned with Americans' record high obesity rates, which were made even worse by the pandemic and the lockdowns. But Joe Biden and the Democrats have a plan to fight against obesity: switching to communism, where there will be no food at all. Americans will no longer be able to gorge themselves on hundreds of food options in their city, as there will be
one food option: the bread line, which will usually have no bread. "If we really want to get Americans skinny -- and I mean really skinny -- we need to switch to communism right away," said Joe Biden in a speech Friday. "Have you seen some of those pictures from the Soviet Union? We're talking some really serious weight loss here."
"It's my recommendation that we move to communism immediately for best results." Health experts say that switching from capitalism to communism can help people lose up to 50% of their body weight almost right away as the government is unable to efficiently distribute goods and resources as the free market does. The move to communism will also address overcrowding and population growth. Satire. For now. Babylon Bee
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Rebekah Koffler
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