Cut to the News
Cut through the clutter to today's top news
April 2, 2021
Good morning
Welcome to today's top news.
Leading the News . . .
Is Church Open for Easter? Answers Vary Across the U.S. and World . . . With vaccination rates climbing and daily Covid-19 cases down significantly from January highs, many pastors see welcoming back their members this Sunday as symbolic not only of Jesus’ resurrection, but of a return to something resembling normal, one year after the pandemic forced most to shutter just before the holiest day on the Christian calendar. But how—and
whether—church can be resumed safely remains subject to debate. A Supreme Court ruling in February overturned California’s ban on indoor worship, but left in place restrictions on singing and limits on how many people could be inside at once.
Regulations for houses of worship vary widely from state to state and county to county, and many authorities are reluctant to enforce the rules in place. As a result, churches, like many businesses, have effectively been left to decide for themselves what is safe. A recent increase in Covid infections, which are up 19% over the last two weeks, and recent calls by President Biden and the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to slow reopenings have only complicated the issue. Wall Street Journal
Happy Good Friday!
US Jobs Growth Set to Take Off . . . The U.S. labor market is poised for a hiring spree that could deliver jobs to the industries, regions and workers hardest hit during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Labor Department’s March report that is being released today is expected to show employers added 675,000 jobs, which would be the strongest monthly gain since the fall. The jobs rebound—which began late last spring but temporarily
stalled in December—is gaining renewed momentum as more people are vaccinated against Covid-19, states lift restrictions on business activity, and consumers grow more comfortable dining, shopping and traveling outside their homes. Wall Street Journal
US faces pivotal moment in COVID fight . . . The U.S. is facing a pivotal moment in the fight against COVID-19, as a new rise in cases poses a threat even as vaccinations make progress. Cases are up about 12 percent nationally compared to the previous week, averaging around 62,000 cases per day, according to CDC. The figures come as CDC Director Rochelle Walensky issued a dire warning this week of “impending doom” in the nation’s
coronavirus battle. Still, the country is in a markedly different place from previous COVID-19 surges, due in large part to the hope on the horizon from vaccine availability. The vaccination campaign is moving at a solid pace, often exceeding 3 million shots per day. The Hill
Company producing J & J vaccine has history of violations . . . The company at the center of quality problems that led Johnson & Johnson to discard 15 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine has a string of citations from U.S. health officials for quality control problems. Emergent BioSolutions, a little-known company vital to the vaccine supply chain, was a key to Johnson & Johnson’s plan to deliver 100 million doses of its
vaccine to the United States by the end of May. But the Food and Drug Administration repeatedly has cited Emergent for problems such as poorly trained employees, cracked vials and problems managing mold and other contamination around one of its facilities, according to records obtained by The Associated Press through the Freedom of Information Act. The records cover inspections at Emergent facilities since 2017. New York Post
CDC walks back director's claim that vaccinated people don't carry COVID-19 . . . A top Biden administration official's own agency is on cleanup duty after she asserted government data shows vaccinated people do not carry COVID-19. The CDC issued the clarification on Tuesday, saying Director Rochelle Walensky was speaking "broadly" during a recent interview on MSNBC when she was referring to a study looking at the effectiveness of the
Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. “It’s possible that some people who are fully vaccinated could get COVID-19. The evidence isn’t clear whether they can spread the virus to others. We are continuing to evaluate the evidence," an agency spokesperson said. Washington Examiner
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Marxist Angela Davis Calls on Students at Pricey CA School to ‘Dismantle Capitalism’ . . . Headlining a diversity and inclusion webinar hosted by an elite California K-12 preparatory school on Wednesday, Marxist Angela Davis called on students at the $47,300 a year prep school to "dismantle capitalism." Davis, a militant black power activist and former Communist Party member, headlined the final session of the
Head-Royce School's 2021 CommunityEd series. "Ultimately I think we're going to have to dismantle capitalism if we really want to move in a progressive direction, if we want our children and children's children and their children to begin to move along a trajectory that is described by freedom," she said. Fall of capitalism will achieve progressive values, Davis tells kindergartners. Washington Free Beacon
The Working-Class GOP: A Muddled Concept . . . "We are now the party supported by most working-class voters," congressman Jim Banks of Indiana wrote to House minority leader Kevin McCarthy in a six-page memo this week. Banks, head of the Republican Study Committee, said the lesson is clear: It's time to act like a working-class party. "Our electoral success in the 2022 midterm election," he concluded, "will be determined by our willingness to
embrace our new coalition." Influential Republicans have embraced the notion that Donald Trump transformed the GOP into the vehicle of the proletariat. "We are a working-class party now," Josh Hawley tweeted on election night. "The future of the party is based on a multiethnic, multiracial, working class coalition," Marco Rubio said a week later. "The future of the Republican Party is as a party that defends the social, economic, and cultural interests and values of working American
families of every race, color, and creed," Trump told CPAC in February. Washington Free Beacon
The Bidens have difficulty pandering in Spanish . . . The art of pandering to minority voters is a skill best left to experts. The Bidens, for all their years in the political arena, have not fully developed this talent. White House Dossier
Sisters dropped over border barrier by smugglers in shocking video . . . The young girls who were literally dropped on the American side of the U.S.-Mexico border and abandoned by smugglers earlier this week are sisters from Ecuador who are "doing fine" and are "so resilient," El Paso Border Patrol Sector Chief Gloria Chavez said Thursday. "When I saw that first child dropped to the ground and then not see her move for a few
seconds, I honestly thought this child just probably hit her head and is unconscious. And then I see the second child and immediately DHS, obviously, within a few minutes responded to that area to rescue them." On Wednesday, Chavez released video showing what she said were two smugglers scaling a 14-foot fence and dropping each child on to the ground. Chavez said the girls -- ages five and two -- were left "in the middle of the New Mexico desert ... miles from the nearest residence. "I've
been doing this for over twenty-five years now and we know exactly the tactics of these people," she said. "For them [smugglers], it's just a profit ... Fox News
Pentagon asked for third base to house migrant children . . . The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has asked the Pentagon to temporarily house unaccompanied migrant children at another military base, this one in California, the Defense Department’s top spokesman confirmed Thursday. “We have received a request for assistance from HHS for the potential use of Camp Roberts in California to house unaccompanied minors,” press secretary
John Kirby told reporters at the Pentagon. The Hill
Biden “strongly” supports moving All-Star Game from Georgia over voting law . . . President Biden said in an interview with ESPN that he strongly supports moving the All-Star Game from Atlanta because of the state’s new voting law. “I think today’s professional athletes are acting incredibly responsibly,” Biden told ESPN’s Sage Steele in an interview, which aired Wednesday night. “I would strongly support them doing that. People look to
them. They’re leaders. “Look at what’s happened across the board. The very people who are victimized the most are the people who are the leaders in these various sports, and it’s just not right,” Biden said. “This is Jim Crow on steroids, what they’re doing in Georgia and 40 other states.” Biden has made false claims about the Georgia voting law. It doesn’t end absentee balloting, but it does say you need to provide identification, which is easily obtainable. You can also use the last
four digits of your Social Security number. White House Dossier
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A Million Illegal Immigrants Expected to Cross Border in 2021: Official . . . A Border Patrol official estimated that more than 1 million illegal immigrants are expected to arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border in 2021 as the White House grapples with how to find facilities and process them. “We’re already starting to see some higher days of 6,000-plus apprehensions,” Raul Ortiz, deputy chief of the U.S. Border Patrol, told reporters. “So
I fully expect our border patrol agents to encounter over a million people this year.” Border Patrol apprehended approximately 100,000 illegal immigrants in February, which is the highest number since February 2019, Ortiz said. He noted that people try to illegally cross into the U.S. between April and June. Epoch Times
'Catch-and-bus' spreads Biden border-surge migrants across US. . . The migrants from the Biden border surge are being nabbed along the Rio Grande, the Arizona deserts and the remoteness of New Mexico and southern California. But they’re not staying there.
Haitians and Cubans are fanning out to Florida, while Central Americans are surging into New York, California and the Washington, D.C., area. One analyst called the mass movement of people “catch-and-bus,” a play on the Border Patrol’s newly revived policy of catch-and-release for tens of thousands of parents and children being nabbed at the border in recent weeks. “Immediately overwhelmed and unwilling to return children with their parents, Biden’s DHS began handing out legal
permission slips to pursue more permanent legal status later and put them on outward-bound buses,” wrote Todd Bensman, a fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, in a new account from the border in Del Rio, Texas. Washington Times
Biden Trimming Forces Sent to Mideast to Help Saudi Arabia . . . President Biden has directed the Pentagon to begin removing some military capabilities and forces from the Gulf region in the first steps of an effort to realign the U.S. global military footprint away from the Mideast, changes that come as Saudi Arabia endures rocket and drone attacks from inside Yemen and Iraq.The U.S. has removed at least three Patriot antimissile batteries from
the Gulf region, including one from Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, that had been put in place in recent years to help protect American forces. Other capabilities, including an aircraft carrier and surveillance systems, are being diverted from the Middle East to answer military needs elsewhere around the globe, according to U.S. officials. Additional reductions are under consideration. Move comes as part of recalibration with Riyadh. Wall Street Journal
Putin, who has been steadily expanding Russia's influence in the Middle East, will be thrilled. And this time, he didn't even have to trick Biden into letting Russia be in charge of removing chemical weapons from Syria, as the "former" KBG man tricked President Obama.
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Italy Expels Russian Diplomats Over Spying Allegations . . . Italy expelled two Russian diplomats suspected of spying Wednesday, the latest in a spate of incidents involving suspected Russian espionage in Europe. Italian authorities said a Russian diplomat, who works in the office of the military attaché at the Russian embassy in Rome, was caught receiving classified documents from an Italian Navy officer in exchange for a sum of
money. The naval officer was arrested and accused of “serious crimes relative to spying and national security,” the Italian police said without specifying the exact charges. The second Russian official expelled was the direct superior of the official who allegedly received the classified documents. Earlier this month, Bulgaria, a NATO member, expelled two Russian diplomats on suspicion of spying after exposing an alleged spying ring. The group was allegedly gathering information for
Moscow on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the CIA, Ukraine and the conflict in the disputed South Caucasus territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. Wall Street Journal
Opposition grows against UK vaccine passports . . . More than 70 British lawmakers have signaled their opposition to the introduction of so-called vaccine passports that the government is considering bringing in to help to open the economy as it starts lifting COVID-19 lockdown restrictions. The government is reviewing the idea of asking people to show proof of a COVID-19 vaccination to access crowded spaces such as pubs or sports
events, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson having already said that a certificate is likely to be needed for international travel. The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported on Saturday that trials of COVID passports would begin within weeks during pilots at major sports events and possibly a music awards ceremony in the next two months to assess their impact. Reuters
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Biden faces clash with business over proposed tax increases . . . Joe Biden’s plan to fund his $2 trillion infrastructure plan entirely through corporate tax increases has set up his first big clash with large US businesses, raising tensions that complicate the package’s prospects in Congress. Corporate America has generally welcomed the announcement of massive government spending on infrastructure. But in a break with the Democratic
administration, some of the biggest trade groups for US business have threatened to oppose the package because of Biden’s bid to finance the effort with increases in corporate levies that roll back many of Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cuts. On Wednesday in Pittsburgh, Biden directly attacked Fortune 500 companies, singling out Amazon, for not paying enough federal taxes. Financial Times
Biden tax increases are poison for small businesses . . . “Biden has proposed raising the corporate tax rate to 28% from 21%, which would affect roughly 1 million small businesses organized as corporations, according to the conservative Job Creators Network advocacy group. “But he is also considering raising the personal income tax rates on individuals and households earning more than $400,000, which will hit some small businesses
organized as ‘pass-through’ entities. This proposal is expected to be included in the president’s next piece of recovery legislation to be detailed later this month. “About 90% of small businesses are organized as pass-throughs, according to the National Federation of Independent Business, and 75% are organized as unincorporated pass-through entities. White House Dossier
Lunch Bucket Joe tries to portray his tax increases as socking only the rich. But Main Street is going to be harmed via several of his proposals, and in some ways worse than wealthy individuals and large corporations that can better absorb the violence of his tax hikes.
US to begin processing worker visas suspended under President Trump . . . The Biden administration will resume issuing visas to overseas workers after allowing a Trump-era ban to expire, in a further easing of coronavirus pandemic immigration restrictions. Former president Donald Trump banned new issuance of worker visas commonly used by multinational businesses last year in a bid to force companies to hire US workers as unemployment
levels soared during the pandemic. That ban expired on Wednesday. The state department confirmed on Thursday that it would begin processing applications for the previously suspended visas, and asked people who had been rejected because of the presidential ban to reapply. Financial Times
Restaurants struggle to find employees despite declining COVID cases . . . With Covid cases on the decline, many restaurants are opening back up to full capacity. Yet owners say they are struggling to hire new staff to keep up with demand. FOX Business spoke with multiple restaurant owners across the country who say applicants, drawn by the lure of unemployment benefits and stimulus checks, have tapered off over the course of the pandemic
and it remains unclear whether that trend will continue. “I can’t beg borrow or steal an employee. It’s that difficult to hire,” said Tom Sacco, CEO of Happy Joe’s Pizza & Ice Cream, a chain based in Bettendorf, Iowa. Fox Business
IRS prepares to send stimulus cash to some Social Security and SSI recipients . . . The IRS and Treasury Department on Thursday night said the administration had disbursed 130 million economic impact payments worth about $335 billion as it prepares to send a large set to Social Security and other federal beneficiaries. The economic impact payments have been sent out in batches. The third, which began processing at the end of last week,
includes about 4 million checks and direct deposits with a total value of more than $10 billion. People may receive money in this batch of $1,400 payments if they received payments earlier in March based on their 2019 tax return but are actually eligible for additional money based on a recently processed 2020 return. The IRS also said it is reviewing and preparing payments for recipients of Veterans Affairs benefits. Fox Business
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Media desperately blames attacks against Asian Americans on white supremacy. Where's the evidence? . . . Amid a rise in attacks against Asian Americans, one big, bold, recurring claim stands out: The attacks, many say, are a product of white supremacy and are perpetuated by former President Donald Trump’s rhetoric on the “Wuhan Virus.” This narrative is convenient precisely because it is not tangible – it cannot be proven,
and therefore is difficult to definitively disprove. Despite a lack of compelling evidence, the media has run with the claim. “If you can’t disprove something based on data, then you can perpetuate the narrative,” writer Ryan Girdusky pointed out. “The same liberals who’ve said that white supremacy is to blame for anti-Asian crime are also some of the same people who have said Asians are white-adjacent and benefit from white privilege.” Daily Caller
FBI conducts record background checks amid mass shootings, gun reform push . . . The FBI carried out a record number of background checks on individuals purchasing firearms last month as multiple mass shootings gained the nation's attention and sparked a conversation on America's gun policies. The FBI says nearly 4.7 million Americans underwent background checks in connection with purchasing guns in March. That number was up almost 36
percent from February. Large quantities of guns were sold following March's deadly shootings in Atlanta and Boulder, Colorado. During that time, House Democrats passed two gun control bills that could expand background check requirements for all gun transfers and purchases, which have garnered pushback from many Republicans.The measures face a much steeper path in the 50-50 Senate. The Hill
Pro-life Catholics defend archbishop under fire over Biden criticism . . . The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is facing calls from the left to remove Archbishop Joseph Naumann as chairman of a key committee over his criticism of President Biden, but a who’s-who of pro-life and Catholic leaders has come to the prelate’s defense. CatholicVote has gathered more than 43,000 signatures on a petition in support of Archbishop Naumann, who
said in February that Mr. Biden “should stop defining himself as a devout Catholic” and suggested that he stop taking communion. “We understand that your admonition of President Joe Biden, whose campaign was both funded and endorsed by Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider, did not make you popular in some quarters,” said the March 25 petition, adding, “We thank you for your courage in transmitting ‘sound doctrine’ and for your commitment to defending the most
vulnerable among us.” Washington Times
New social media platform rescues Donald Trump interview after Facebook removes it . . . Clouthub is wooing the former president to start his own channel after Lara Trump joins. When Facebook and Instagram threatened to impose "additional limitations" on Lara Trump for posting her interview with her father-in-law, the former president, she didn't back down. The Fox News contributor and former producer for Inside Edition jumped ship
for an alternative platform that only left beta testing in November. Lara Trump's podcast "The Right View" debuted on Clouthub soon after Facebook and Instagram removed her Donald Trump interview, Clouthub CEO Jeff Brain told Just the News. He said he received a message that Lara Trump was interested in joining the comprehensive social media platform, spoke to "her person" and created her channel in one day. Just the News
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Biden Gives Clear, Coherent Speech . . . In real news that actually happened on today, April 1, President Joe Biden gave a clear, coherent speech, not once stumbling over his words, making up something that never happened, or saying something absolutely insane. The president calmly made the speech, which many reliable journalists witnessed, and everyone agreed that his thought processes were clear and not at all muddled. He
knew where he was, he knew what year it is, and he definitely knew that he was the president. After the speech, the press asked hard-hitting questions, and Biden responded to all of them quickly, calmly, and completely. He didn't once get mad at reporters for asking questions, and his aides did not rush him out of the room as soon as possible. Finally, Biden went back into the White House and got to work trying to balance the budget, bring unity to the country, end foreign wars, and solve the
border crisis. Babylon Bee
April Fools!! :-)
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