Cut to the News
Cut through the clutter to today's top news
March 19, 2021
Good morning
Welcome to today's top news.
Leading the News . . .
Economy Revs Up as Americans Increase Spending on Flights, Lodging, Dining Out . . . Restaurant and hotel bookings are up. Airplane tickets are selling fast. Consumers spent more on gyms, salons and spas in recent weeks than they have since the coronavirus pandemic began. The U.S. economic recovery is picking up steam as Americans increase their spending. The rising number of Covid-19 vaccinations, falling business restrictions,
ample household savings and injections of federal stimulus funds into the economy are fueling the surge. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal this month raised their average forecast for 2021 economic growth to 5.95%, measured from the fourth quarter of last year to the same period this year, from a 4.87% projection in February’s survey. The higher figure would mark the fastest such pace in nearly four decades. Wall Street Journal
Half of Americans plan to travel this spring as COVID restrictions ease: survey . . . After a year of stifled travel plans, Americans are itching to hit the road now that coronavirus vaccines are being rolled out across the country. A recent Tripadvisor survey revealed that 50% of Americans are already planning a trip this spring. However, millennials were by far the most eager to do so compared to other generations. Just under 60%
of millennials (ages 23-38 years old) indicated they are planning a trip over the next three months, compared to 50% of all other age groups. Of the trips planned, over one-third of Americans (34%) are searching for international destinations. Meanwhile, 66% are still searching for domestic destinations. Fox
Business
Don't know about you, but my kids and I have had it with the Wuhan virus. My husband's still soldiering on though, with all the restrictions.
J & J works on modified vaccines for COVID-19 variants . . . Johnson & Johnson is working to develop modified versions of its COVID-19 vaccine that may be needed to protect against virus variants. “We’re working on several next generations of vaccines,” J&J Chief Executive Alex Gorsky said Thursday during an online discussion, according to The Wall Street Journal. Gorsky expressed optimism that its
current vaccine could offer some protection against new COVID-19 strains. J & J’s single-dose vaccine was approved by in late February by the FDA, which found it 66 percent effective overall at warding off moderate and severe COVID-19 cases and 85 percent effective at preventing the most serious infections. New York Post
Biden admin lacks a system for tracking Covid at the southern border . . . The federal government does not have a centralized system for tracking or responding to Covid-19 cases among the surge of migrants crossing the United States’ southern border, according to interviews with six senior administration officials and multiple individuals tasked with responding to the influx. The Biden administration has outsourced most Covid-19
testing and quarantining for migrants to local health agencies and nongovernmental organizations. But it’s unclear how many have been tested for the virus, how many have tested positive and where infected people are being isolated along the border, four of the senior administration officials told POLITICO.
Mask face-off: Rand Paul spars with Dr. Fauci at Senate hearing . . . Sen. Rand Paul picked a fight with Dr. Fauci on Thursday, accusing the infectious diseases expert and others who wear masks after being vaccinated against the coronavirus of doing so for “theater.” Paul, an eye doctor, questioned recommendations from health specialists that people who have the vaccine should continue to wear face coverings in
public. “You’ve been vaccinated and you parade around in two masks for show,” Paul told Fauci. “You can’t get it again there’s almost zero percent chance you’re going to get it.” “And you’re telling people that have had the vaccine who have immunity — you’re defying everything we know about immunity by telling people to wear masks who have been vaccinated,” he continued. “You want to get rid of vaccine hesitancy? Tell people to quit wearing their masks after they get the vaccine,”
Paul added. New York Post
Love it. Rand Paul, along with Ben Carson, is one of the most common-sense people out there. Must be something about doctors and common sense.
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Bill Clinton leaves big influence on Team Biden . . . When former President Bill Clinton wanted to relay a message about what Joe Biden should say during a victory speech on Super Tuesday last year, he picked up the phone and dialed his former aide Bruce Reed, as he had done countless times before that day. Reed, who served as one of Biden's closest advisers on his presidential campaign, took notes as his former boss chimed in about how
Biden should call for unification of the Democratic Party in his address. The Biden administration has often been called Obama 2.0, with many aides spilling over from the former Democratic president's White House. But Democrats say the huge overlap between the Biden and Clinton worlds is even more striking. The
Hill
A Man-Made Disaster at the Border . . . On March 14, the day that Kevin McCarthy and 12 House Republicans went to Texas to visit the southern border, the El Paso Central Processing Center for migrants reached capacity. The Republicans heard heartbreaking stories of unaccompanied children, some less than six years old, crossing the border while holding hands. What’s happening on the southern border is the most preventable emergency in
years. And Joe Biden created it. No matter how often he tells asylum seekers that now is not the time to enter the United States, migrants won’t listen. That’s because the policies he put into place incentivize the dangerous trek. Washington Free Beacon
House approves bills that would give 3M 'Dreamers' pathway to citizenship . . . The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives passed two immigration bills that would provide a pathway to citizenship to approximately 3 million people illegally working and residing in the US. Democrats remain focused on pushing bits and pieces of President Biden’s larger immigration reform bill through Congress. Republicans have lambasted Democrats'
attempts to pass “amnesty” bills that they say will incentivize people outside the U.S. to attempt to get into the country in hopes of being the beneficiaries of similar future bills. Nevertheless, Democrats in the Senate will now have the chance to move forward after both newly passed bills first advanced out of the House in 2019 but were never picked up by the Republican-controlled Senate. Washington Examiner
Trump Says 2024 Run Will Depend on How GOP Performs in ’22 . . . Former President Donald Trump said in an interview aired on March 16 that his decision whether to run for reelection in 2024 hinges on how Republicans perform in 2022. “Well, based on every poll, they want me to run again, but we’re going to take a look and we’ll see. First steps first, we have to see what we can do with the House. I think we have a very, very good chance of
taking back the House,” he told Maria Bartiromo on Fox News. “I think we have a chance to do better in the Senate. We need leadership in the Senate, which frankly, we don’t have. We need better leadership in the Senate. We have a good chance to take back the Senate, and, frankly, we’ll make our decision after that,” Trump said. Epoch Times
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'No way to strangle China': Clashes besiege US, Beijing in Alaska . . . Senior Biden administration officials squared off against their Chinese counterparts in Alaska on Thursday, with the two sides trading charges of global coercion and undermining international order. Secretary of State Antony Blinken bluntly told a group led by two senior Chinese officials that the United States will confront growing Chinese expansionism and
authoritarianism in places like Xinjiang, Hong Kong and the South China Sea, while punishing continuing cyberattacks on U.S. companies. Yang Jiechi, the Chinese Communist Party’s top foreign affairs official, replied in kind, warning at one point that Washington would not be able to “strangle” China. The meeting took place against a backdrop of Chinese warnings against U.S. interference in Beijing’s internal affairs and demands that Washington back off economic measures imposed under the
Trump administration. Washington Times
U.S. Joins Russia in Calling on Kabul, Taliban to Speed Up Power-Sharing Talks . . . Four countries including the U.S. called on the Afghan government and the Taliban to reduce violence and begin discussions on sharing power, in a fresh effort to end the two-decade war as a May 1 deadline for the full withdrawal of American troops draws closer. At a peace conference hosted by Moscow on Thursday, the U.S., Russia, China and Pakistan added
that they would not support the restoration of an Islamic Emirate under the Taliban, and that any peace settlement must protect the rights of all Afghans, including women and minorities. Wall Street Journal
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Putin challenges Biden to chat with him in a 'live' conversation . . . Russian President Vladimir Putin challenged President Biden to an on-air conversation to discuss Biden’s latest warning that Putin would "pay a price," following a report containing evidence of attempted Russian-interference in the 2020 election. "I want to invite President Biden to continue our discussion, but on the condition that we do it actually
live. But with no delays, directly in an open, direct discussion," Putin told a reporter in Moscow Thursday. Putin said that as the world’s two leading superpowers, he thought the dialogue would prove interesting for the U.S. and Russian people, as well as for the international community. Biden made headlines this week by calling Russian President a "killer" in a TV interview. Fox News
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Massive tax increases hurt economic growth: Steve Forbes . . . Forbes Media Chairman Steve Forbes joined FOX Business’ “Mornings with Maria” and responded to the WH press secretary Jen Psaki confirming that President Biden's proposed tax plan applies to families making more than $400,000. “This is the first of many taxes to come when they do that next reconciliation bill, where they're going to have massive tax
increases, including [the] very destructive capital gains tax. Taxes are a burden on the economy in terms of taking resources away from people. [We're] setting the stage for stagflation like the 1970s with this massive printing of money that's going to come with these spending bills plus these higher taxes. That's going to give us stagnation and inflation. Not a good combination, but the Democrats seem oblivious to it.” Fox Business
Biden's pricey relief package only adds to budget surpluses in many states . . . Despite warnings from Washington Democrats of an unfolding nationwide crisis in state and municipal budgets, most states had healthy rainy day funds and robust tax revenue before the relief package delivered tens of billions of dollars more this month. The federal government’s $525 billion pot of state, local and school aid will create or add to budget
surpluses in many other states. States and municipalities nationwide will have roughly $700 billion in aggregate surplus funds “above and beyond what they already budgeted” for the current fiscal year, said Stan Veuger, a specialist in economics at the American Enterprise Institute. Washington Times
FB plans to create Instagram for kids under 13 . . . Facebook is planning to create a version of Instagram for children under the age of 13. “I’m excited to announce that going forward, we have identified youth work as a priority for Instagram and have added it to our H1 priority list,” Vishal Shah, Instagram's VP of product, wrote on an employee board. The new project will reportedly be led by Vice President Pavni
Diwanji who previously worked at Google where she oversaw the creation of children's products like YouTube Kids. The Hill
We need a law against the Big Tech's scheme of making gazillions by turning our kids into imbecile zombies.
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Key Russiagate Investigator: No Closure Without Accountability, Indictments . . . The House Intelligence Committee staff investigator who led the Russia inquiry that exposed malfeasance at the FBI and the DOJ related to the surveillance of Trump 2016 campaign associates told the Epoch Times on March 15 that there would be no closure until the responsible officials are indicted and prosecuted. “For me, closure is synonymous with
accountability,” Kash Patel, who led the House Russia inquiry in 2017 and 2018 before moving on to senior roles at the White House, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the Department of Defense. “So we either have that accountability in the form of the only place that can give it, which is a Department of Justice indictment, or we don’t. And I do think it’s that binary.” Special counsel John Durham is reportedly continuing a criminal inquiry into the origins of the
FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation but has handed down only one indictment to date. Epoch Times
NJ teacher wins $325K after being forced to censor Trump out of Yearbook . . . “A former New Jersey teacher who alleged her bosses conspired to blame her for editing a Donald Trump T-shirt out of the school yearbook will receive a $325,000 settlement from the district. Trump was elected president once and nearly reelected losing the Electoral College by a few thousand votes. And he might be president again. But the Left wants to cancel him,
literally erase him, as if the views of half the country don’t matter. The Bolsheviks didn’t have majority support when they took over either. Wait until the liberal historians get started with Trump. You can see how the editing of the student’s pro-Trump T-shirt looked on White House Dossier
Trump Was Right: CNN Ratings ‘Going Down the Tubes’ Without Him . . . Back in 2017, then-president Donald Trump predicted that "all forms of media will tank" as soon as he left office because "without me, their ratings are going down the tubes." As per usual, Trump was right. The Biden era has been a disaster for mainstream journalists. Bloomberg News and HuffPost announced massive layoffs in the weeks after Joe Biden was
inaugurated. Professional fact-checkers are struggling to come up with new ways to euphemize Biden's lies beyond "slips" and "flubs." When it comes to ratings, CNN in particular has suffered in Trump's absence. Since Trump left office, CNN has lost about a million viewers per night on average and has suffered a 47 percent decline in the coveted 24-54 age group since November 2020, the Daily Mail reported. After averaging 2.5 million primetime viewers per night between Election Day and
Biden's inauguration on January 20, the network has since averaged just 1.6 million primetime viewers. Washington Free Beacon
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Sean Hannity Caught Smoking A Juul On Air After Commercial Break . . . Fox News host Sean Hannity was caught smoking a Juul while on air during the Thursday broadcast of his show “Hannity.” Following the final commercial break of the show, Hannity seemingly didn’t realize he was back on camera and was seen looking down smoking an e-cigarette. After a few seconds, Hannity realized he was back on air and quickly jerked the
Juul out of his mouth, put in his earpiece, looked back at the camera with his glasses lopsided, and said, “Uh oh!” He continued with the segment, reading the script with his glasses remaining crooked on his face. Once he finished reading he was joined by host Laura Ingraham, who poked fun at Hannity by drinking her bottle of water and saying, “Oh wait, am I on camera right now?” Hannity responded by laughing and saying, “I’m sure we’ll make the headlines somewhere tomorrow.” Daily Caller
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Rebekah Koffler
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