Cut to the News
Cut through the clutter to today's top news
September 23, 2021
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Welcome to today's top news.
Leading the News . . .
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Joe Biden (D., Socialist) . . . Opinion/Analysis. Last Thursday, Mr. Biden trundled out to give a speech for his mega-trillion Build Back Better plan. The press says the Biden plan is in trouble with moderate Democrats, which could make or break his presidency, with votes starting next week. This spending plan may be the whole Biden presidency, but it’s bigger than that. His seemingly run-of-the-mill afternoon speech was a
significant statement. It was a public repudiation by Mr. Biden of the U.S. economic system. Mr. Biden asserted: “I am a capitalist.” During the campaign he said: “I am not a socialist.” Both statements are false. Joe Biden is not a capitalist. He is a socialist.
Democratic progressives don’t like the s-word, which is why they started calling themselves progressives. Bernie Sanders declared himself a socialist so long ago it’s too late to change. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez admits to being a democratic socialist. Fact-check scolds argue the s-word has no meaning in the American political context because no one is suggesting state control of the means of production. Mr. Biden spoke about the system we do have. “Real, sustained economic
growth,” Mr. Biden said, is “something we haven’t realized in this country for decades.” He elaborated: “Over the past 40 years, the wealthy have gotten wealthier, and too many corporations have lost their sense of responsibility to their workers, their communities, and the country.” “The past 40 years” means Mr. Biden’s indictment of the U.S. system includes the Democratic presidencies of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. But “40 years” is the giveaway. That’s 1981, the beginning of
Ronald Reagan’s presidency. Wall Street Journal
Biden Vows Executive Action After Republicans Kill Dem Police Reform Bill . . . President Joe Biden vowed to take executive action to enact police reform “in the coming weeks,” after Republicans on Capitol Hill killed a Democratic police reform bill Wednesday. Biden released a statement Wednesday acknowledging that there is no longer a path forward for the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which had already passed through the House.
Democratic New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and Democratic California Rep. Karen Bass introduced the legislation earlier this year, but failed to garner enough Republican support in the Senate. “The murder of George Floyd is a stain on the soul of America. It spurred the nation to collectively demand justice, and we will be remembered for how we responded to the call,” Biden’s Wednesday statement began. Daily Caller
Pelosi signals she won't move $3.5T bill without Senate-House deal . . . Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has signaled to colleagues in both chambers that she will not put the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package on the House floor for a vote until it’s clear that it can also pass the 50-50 Senate. Some Democrats are calling for the House to move as soon as possible on the package, even if two key centrist votes in the Senate, Sens.
Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), haven’t yet signed off on it. Both Manchin and Sinema say they won’t support a $3.5 trillion package but haven’t publicly said how much they’re willing to spend. Pelosi has no intention of replaying what happened in 2009, when Democrats last controlled Congress and the White House and moderate House Democrats took an extremely tough vote on sweeping climate change legislation only for the bill to never come to the Senate
floor. Centrists Democrats paid the price the following year when Republicans picked up 63 seats in the 2010 midterm elections — and control of the House. The Hill
Administration refuses to say how many migrants have been set free in US . . . Wisconsin GOP Sen. Ron Johnson wants an answer now. Sen. Ron Johnson penned a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas demanding that he reveal by the end of the week how many migrants who were apprehended were released into the United States. “At yesterday’s Senate hearing you failed to answer my questions about basic information on
apprehensions at the U.S. border,” the Wisconsin Republican wrote to Mayorkas Wednesday. “Of the approximately 1.3 million apprehensions, how many people have been returned, how many people have been detained, and how many people have been dispersed into the U.S.?” Johnson’s figure is a reference to the approximate number of apprehensions to date this year. White House Dossier
Chuck Schumer Releases Video That Features Him Alongside BDS Supporter . . . Sen. Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) and N.Y. assemblyman Zohran Kwame Mamdani (D.) / Twitter
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) on Tuesday released a pro-union video that features him alongside a New York state assemblyman who supports the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Schumer and Zohran Kwame Mamdani (D.), an assemblyman from Queens, released a two-minute video in support of the 25,000-member New York Taxi Workers Alliance. Schumer and Mamdani spoke out against what they said are predatory loans for taxi medallions in New York City. Washington Free Beacon
House Democrats Hate Israel . . . Dems led by Ilhan Omar strip funding for Israel’s Iron Dome rocket defense system. It’s a mystery why so many Jewish Americans continue to vote Democrat given the fact that elected members of Congress like Jew hater Ilhan Omar and her fellow Squad members continuously express and perpetuate anti-Semitic and anti-Israel views unapologetically. Furthermore, the Squad’s outsized influence within the
Democrat Party has undermined U.S. support for its closest and most important ally in the Middle East. As the House rushed to pass a continuing resolution over the past weekend in order to ensure funding to avoid a government shutdown, it was members of the Squad who successfully leveraged their position to get Democrats to strip $1 billion in funding earmarked for Israel’s missile defense system known as Iron Dome. Patriot Post
Yes, Keith and I often talk about it, trying to figure out why Jews are predominantly left-leaning. Makes no sense.
Biden administration allowing thousands of Haitians to stay . . . The Biden administration is making a big show of the planes it supposedly is sending Haitian migrants back to Haiti on. But in fact, only about 500 Haitians have been sent back so far, while thousands more are being permitted to stay and told to show up for hearings down the road. Of course, they’ll keep the appointment! Looks like the Haitians who made the trip here were
right. They are going to get to stay. They understand the Biden White House a lot better than many Americans do. White House Dossier
Youngkin leading McAuliffe among likely voters in Virginia gubernatorial race, poll shows . . . Republican businessman Glenn Youngkin is leading among likely voters in the Virginia gubernatorial race over Democratic nominee and former Gov. Terry McAullife, a new poll shows. The poll was conducted by the University of Mary Washington, and it found that 48% of likely voters back Youngkin, while 43% support McAuliffe. However, among total
registered voters, 46% back McAuliffe, while 41% favor Youngkin. Just the News
Biden faces renewed press backlash over access . . . President Joe Biden pitched the merits of democracy during his inaugural United Nations address, but hours later, White House aides' treatment of reporters raised questions about whether he is leading by example. And Biden's two run-ins with the press this week reflect mounting frustrations with the administration's shielding of the president at pivotal moments during his term. Washington Times
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VanHerck: ‘Russia is the Primary Military Threat to the Homeland Today’ . . . Gen. Glen D. VanHerck, commander of U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, said Russia remains the most urgent and immediate threat to the homeland even as China captures the attention of defense policymakers. “Russia is the primary military threat to the homeland today. It is not China—it is Russia,” VanHerck told Air Force
Magazine on the sidelines of the Air Force Association’s Air, Space & Cyber Conference in National Harbor, Md. VanHerck explained that while China is the “long-term existential threat” to America, Russia is the stronger warfighting threat today. Air Force Magazine
Sen. Johnson letter demands DHS Sec. Mayorkas reveal how many migrants released into the US . . . Sen. Ron Johnson penned a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas demanding that he reveal by the end of the week how many migrants who were apprehended were released into the United States. "At yesterday’s Senate hearing you failed to answer my questions about basic information on apprehensions at the U.S. border," the
Wisconsin Republican wrote to Mayorkas Wednesday. "Of the approximately 1.3 million apprehensions, how many people have been returned, how many people have been detained, and how many people have been dispersed into the U.S.?" Johnson's figure is a reference to the approximate number of apprehensions to date this year. "When asked for the same information at a House hearing today, you still could not provide the data," Johnson noted. "As the crisis at the border worsens each week, it
is unacceptable that you chose to appear before the American people at multiple hearings unprepared to provide such crucial information." Fox News
2 Fort McCoy Afghan Refugees Indicted on Child Sex, Spousal Assault Charges . . . Two Afghan nationals who fled Kabul following the Taliban takeover last month have been accused of committing crimes during their stay at Fort McCoy, a military base in Wisconsin. A federal grand jury in Wisconsin indicted the pair in unrelated cases. Bahrullah Noori, 20, is charged with one count of attempting to engage in a sexual act with a minor by using
force and three counts of engaging in a sex act with a minor, with one count also alleging the use of force.
Both of Noori’s alleged victims were under the age of 16, and were at least four years younger than him, the indictment states. The second Afghan refugee, Mohammad Haroon Imaad, 32, is charged with assaulting his spouse by strangling and suffocating her. Epoch Times
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Iran suspected of damaging watchdog cameras to cover up 90pc weapons grade uranium enrichment . . . The gaps in the nuclear watchdog’s coverage of Iran’s nuclear operations were not assessed by the IAEA director Rafael Grossi when he announced in Tehran ten days ago that he and Iran had agreed to restore the cameras installed at sensitive sites. DEBKAfile’s sources report that the cameras at the Natanz and Fordo uranium enrichment
facilities are still not working. The new head of Iran’s nuclear agency Mohammed Eslami admitted later: “A large number of the cameras had been shut off.” No explanation was offered. American and Israeli nuclear experts are convinced that they were deliberately vandalized to conceal the next stage of Iran’s progress towards weaponizing its nuclear program. DEBKAfile
Days Before Germans Vote, Merkel Is Where She Didn’t Want to Be: On the Stump . . . Only days before Germans cast their ballots for a new Parliament and with it a new government and leader, Chancellor Angela Merkel was on the campaign trail this week — further proof that her conservatives are in a perilous position. Ms. Merkel, of course, is no longer a candidate. She is stepping down and had hoped to stay away from the race. But instead
she spent Tuesday in her own district stumping for the struggling candidate for her Christian Democratic Union, Armin Laschet. In the final week before Sunday’s vote, the conservatives have narrowed the gap to roughly three percentage points. The Christian Democrats are Germany’s largest political party and for decades have been the country’s most dominant political force. Despite their current second-place situation, they have a reputation for being strong closers, which is giving Mr.
Laschet hope after an underwhelming campaign. NYT
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Wuhan scientists wanted to release coronaviruses into bats . . . Chinese scientists wanted to genetically engineer coronaviruses that were more infectious to humans and then conduct experiments on live bats about 18 months before the first COVID-19 cases emerged — but a US Department of Defence agency rejected the funding proposal, leaked documents reveal. Scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology were planning to genetically enhance
airborne coronaviruses and release aerosols containing “novel chimeric spike proteins” among cave bats in Yunnan, China, according to the 2018 proposal submitted to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). They also planned to alter coronaviruses to infect humans more easily by introducing “human-specific cleavage sites” to bat coronaviruses. The purpose of the research was to assess the risk of coronaviruses, work on ways to prevent outbreaks and even vaccinate bats against
the virus, according to the proposal. New York Post
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Growth Forecast for Developing Asia Downgraded as COVID-19 Persists . . . The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has lowered its 2021 economic growth outlook for developing economies in Asia, a region weakened by the rapid spread of new COVID-19 variants. The region’s economy will expand by 7.1 percent this year, down from the 7.3 percent forecast in April, the ADB said in its Asian Development Outlook Update released on
Wednesday. The bank projected that the region’s growth will slow to 5.4 percent in 2022. The ADB report said that a resurgence in COVID-19 “possibly due to new virus variants, waning effectiveness of vaccines, or slow progress on vaccination” is the main risk faced. Epoch Times
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Chick-fil-a booted from group of proposed restaurants operating at Missouri Airport: Not inclusive . . . Chick-fil-A was dropped from a proposed collection of restaurants that will operate at the new Kansas City International Airport in Missouri terminal over claims it is not inclusive. A vendor working to win the contract to offer services in the terminal, Vantage Airport Group, said Wednesday during a Kansas City,
Missouri, City Council committee meeting that it removed Chick-fil-A from its list of proposed eateries because the company does not promote an inclusive environment, KSHB reported. The announcement comes after the LGBTQ Commission of Kansas City published a letter on Monday calling for Chick-fil-A to be dropped from consideration. Fox Business
ACLU Edits The Word ‘Woman’ Out Of Ruth Bader Ginsburg Quote . . . The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) altered the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s quote on abortion, substituting the word “woman” with “person” in a Saturday tweet. The ACLU’s tweet dedicated to the anniversary of Ginsburg’s death contained a gender neutral version of a quote from her 1993 confirmation hearing where she weighed in on the issue of
abortion. “The decision whether or not to bear a child is central to a [person’s] life, to [their] well-being and dignity. … When government controls that decision for [people], [they are] being treated as less than a fully adult human responsible for [their] own choices,” the altered quote in the ACLU‘s tweet read. Daily Caller
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Chicago suburb goes for world record for largest dog wedding ceremony . . . Organizers of a world record attempt in Chicago said they are hoping to gather more than 178 canine couples to break the record for the world's largest dog wedding ceremony. Leslie Allison-Seei, chair of the Villa Park Community Focus on Unifying Neighbors Commission, or F.U.N., said she previously participated in a November 2008 attempt at
the record in Oak Park, Ill. The attempt featured 87 canine couples, falling short of the record-setting number of 178, which was set in Littleton, Colo., in 2007.
Allison-Seei said she wants to see Illinois take the record Saturday at Lions Park in the town of Villa Park. Villa Park Village President Nick Cuzzone is slated to officiate at the dog wedding ceremony, which Allison-Seei said will include canines from across the Chicago metropolitan area. Allison-Seei said pet owners whose dogs don't have mates to marry can participate in a round of "doggy speed-dating" to find an appropriate spouse right before the ceremony. UPI
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