#even though chris and Elise came much earlier.

[sonic-x-sideblog]

unsurprising that im fan of all three lol.

#chris thorndyke #princess elise #sonic wachowski #sonic x #sonic 06 #sonic cinematic universe #kind of bitter that sonic out of all these is the only one to be generally positively received #even though chris and Elise came much earlier. #side.txt #side.analysis

[bountyofbeads]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/03/11/coronavirus-live-updates/

LIVE UPDATES: WHO DECLARES CORONAVIRUS A PANDEMIC; ITALY HALTS NEARLY ALL COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY

By Alex Horton, Miriam Berger, Lateshia Beachum, Hannah Knowles and Michael Brice-Saddler | Published March 11 at 7:19 PM ET | Washington Post | Posted March 11, 2020 |

The World Health Organization declared coronavirus a pandemic, with WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus saying: “We are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity — and by the alarming levels of inaction.”

The WHO’s Wednesday declaration came as the number of known novel coronavirus cases surpassed 120,000 worldwide. Speaking on Capitol Hill, Anthony Fauci, the long-standing director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infection Diseases declared “it’s going to get worse.”

President Trump said he will address the nation at 9 p.m.

In the United States, where there are now more than 1,000 cases, the White House is considering moving all of Europe to a Level 3 travel advisory, discouraging all nonessential travel to those regions. Meanwhile, Italy tried to stymie coronavirus’s spread by ordering a halt to nearly all commercial activity, aside from supermarkets and pharmacies.

HERE ARE THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS :

*The Dow reached bear-market territory on a nearly 1,500-point skid as panic intensified about the coronavirus, which threatens to debilitate global economies and bring on a recession.

*Ohio will limit large gatherings; Washington state introduced similar measures in a few counties. The NCAA announced that its basketball tournaments will be held without fans in attendance.

*India’s health ministry announced it was suspending all existing visas from across the world till April 15.

*German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned Wednesday that up to 70 percent of her country could end up infected.

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08:19 PM: WORK-FROM-HOME AT GOOGLE EXPOSES CLASS DIVIDE: CONTRACTORS VS. FULL-TIME

Growing fears around the spread of coronavirus have exposed class divides in the tech industry’s two-tiered system for white collar workers, where contractors do similar work as full-time employees — such as engineering or product management — but often for no equity, less pay, and fewer benefits.

Google on Tuesday publicized extending safety protections to contractors, including establishing a covid-19 fund to provide paid sick leave for contingent workers if they have symptoms or are quarantined. The company also advised employees in North America to work from home until at least April 10, according to a Tuesday email viewed by The Post.

But some Google contractors say they are still in limbo, unsure if they can exercise those benefits. On Wednesday, Google’s office in Pittsburgh was a ghost town, save for contractors employed by HCL Technologies, who work on Google Shopping. HCL employees in Pittsburgh, who recently unionized, believe it’s technically feasible to perform their job from home, if given permission. However, workers were told Wednesday afternoon that HCL is still talking to Google and can’t provide an update for 24 to 48 hours.

In the midst of that uncertainty, one contractor whose wife had symptoms of coronavirus came into Google’s Pittsburgh office Wednesday, another HCL employee told The Post, noting that dogs are no longer allowed in the Pittsburgh office as a temporary precaution. “So even dogs are more important of a priority than us,” he said.

HCL did not immediately respond to request for comment. In a statement to The Post, Google spokesperson Jenn Kaiser said, “To serve our users and keep our products running, some work, performed by Google employees, temporary staff and vendors alike, can only be done by people physically present at offices. We’re taking all necessary and recommended precautions, including increased sanitization and social distancing, a public health best practice.”

By: Nitasha Tiku

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08:04 PM: ELECTIONS OFFICIALS scramble for OPTIONS AS VIRUS WORRIES MOUNT

Elections officials have stocked up on hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes. Many are urging voters to cast absentee ballots or vote early to avoid crowds.

But as the coronavirus pandemic worsens, local and state officials are scrambling to identify other options if public health leaders ultimately determine that there are risks to visiting polling places — an assessment that could change the basic mechanics of running an election midstream in a presidential campaign year.

“If you’re talking about something on that level, then we’re clearly facing a crisis and not just an emergency, and public health and safety will have to dictate whatever we do,” said Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who said he would follow the advice of public health officials and law enforcement.

"One of the very few things that would take precedent over a free and fair election is public health and safety, right?” LaRose said, adding that such a move would be a last resort.

Read more about the effort to keep elections virus-free.

By: ELISE VIEBECK

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07:59 PM: NBA discusses coronavirus response but doesn’t immediately announce plan for games, fan attendance

The NBA’s Board of Governors held a conference call Wednesday to discuss the league’s coronavirus response options, but reached no consensus as to whether games should proceed as normal, whether they should be held without fans in attendance, or

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07:19 PM: U.S. EMBASSY EMPLOYEE IS JAMAICANS SECOND CASE

A U.S. Embassy employee in Kingston, Jamaica, has become the island nation’s second confirmed case of the novel coronavirus, Jamaican Health Minister Chris Tufton announced on Twitter late Wednesday.

The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Confirmation of the case came one day after Jamaica announced that a female British national, who arrived in the country on March 4, had tested positive for the virus.

Though far from the epicenter of the crisis, Jamaica is grappling with the fallout, facing a loss of 50,000 cruise ship passengers in recent weeks and a sharp falloff in some tourism-related business. The country has set up strict health protocols aimed at preventing the spread of the virus and has led at least one cruise ships to bypass its port in Ocho Rios. It has also effectively barred one vessel due to reports of sick passengers aboard.

Across Jamaica, nearly three dozen people remain quarantined after traveling to countries reporting large numbers of cases. The Jamaican government has also banned travel to and from China, Iran, South Korea, Italy and Singapore and suspended flights from Spain, France and Germany.

By: ANTHONY FABIOLA

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07:15 PM: HOW MUCH WORSE IS CORONAVIRUS GOING TO GET IN U.S.? NEW FORECASTS AND MODELS ARE GRIM

A rash of alarming forecasts about the coronavirus pandemic emerged Wednesday. The World Health Organization officially declared it a pandemic. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said 70 percent of Germany’s population could become infected. Meanwhile, new models painted a grim picture of what worst-case scenario might look like.

“Bottom line, it’s going to get worse,” Anthony Fauci, long-standing director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said at a congressional hearing.

Experts have produced forecasts of likely infections, serious illnesses and death tolls, based on what is known about the novel coronavirus and how past epidemics have played out, and they suggest that the United States — which has surpassed 1,000 confirmed novel-coronavirus infections and 30 deaths — must prepare for a potentially historic pandemic.

One forecast, developed by former CDC director Tom Frieden at the nonprofit organization Resolve to Save Lives, found that deaths in the United States could range widely, depending on what percentage of the population gets infected and how lethal the disease proves to be. Frieden, who oversaw the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, the 2014 Ebola epidemic and the 2016 Zika epidemic, says in a worst-case scenario, but one that is not implausible, half the U.S. population would get infected and more than 1 million people would die.

But the model’s range varied widely from 327 (best case) to 1,635,000 (worst case). The deaths would not necessarily happen over a month or a year, but could happen in two or three years, he said.

By: JOEL ACHENBACH, WILLIAM WAN and LENA H. SUN

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06:57 PM: El SALVADOR BEGINS NATIONWIDE QUARANTINE DESPITE HAVING NO CONFIRMED CASES

El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, announced Wednesday that the country — which does not have a single confirmed coronavirus case — will begin a nationwide quarantine that will last for 30 days.

Schools will be closed for 21 days. “I know this will be criticized, but let’s put ourselves in Italy’s shoes. Italy wishes they could’ve done this before,” he said.

“Our health system is not at Italy’s level, it’s not at South Korea’s level,” he added.

Earlier, Bukele banned travel from China, South Korea, Italy, Iran, France, Spain and Germany.

By: KEVIN SIEFF

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06:35 PM: CAPITOL PREPARES TO SHUT DOWN PUBLIC TOURS

The Capitol is preparing to shut down public tours because of the growing coronavirus pandemic, according to two congressional officials.

The announcement is being prepared by the House and Senate sergeant-at-arms, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity ahead of the official notification. Between 3 and 5 million tourists, from both the United States and abroad, visit Capitol Hill each year, according to the Architect of the Capitol.

Lawmakers have generally resisted efforts to stop legislative operations even as the outbreak expands, continuing to hold hearings and conduct business.

By: SEUNG MIN KIM

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06:26 PM: PRESSURED BY TRUMP ADMINISTRATION, CRUISE INDUSTRY TO RESTRICT OLDER TRAVELERS IN RESPONSE TO CORONAVIRUS

Responding to a directive from the federal government, the beleaguered cruise industry has crafted a coronavirus response plan that will keep more people off its ships.

Passengers who are 70 and older will be required to produce a doctor’s note attesting that they are healthy enough to take a cruise, according to a source familiar with the plan who was not authorized to speak publicly about it. That person said keeping the most vulnerable population off ships was a priority of the Trump administration. About 14 percent of cruise passengers in 2018 — about 4 million people — were 70 or older, an industry report showed.

USA Today first reported details of the plan Wednesday.

Travelers will be warned frequently before a trip that anyone with underlying health conditions is heavily discouraged from getting on a cruise ship. Those who are obviously ill will not be allowed to board, according to the source.

All passengers will be subject to a temperature check before they can get on a ship, and those with a reading of 100.4 degrees or higher will not be allowed to sail.

The Cruise Lines International Association had previously announced that anyone who had visited Iran, South Korea or China, including Macao and Hong Kong, or areas in Italy subject to government lockdown, within the past 14 days, would not be allowed to board. The new plan expands that list to include all of Italy as well as Japan.

According to the source, the plan also addresses testing passengers for the virus while they are on ships and how cruise lines will pay for the care of sick passengers or crew so that the burden doesn’t fall on the U.S. government. The source described it as “a pretty hefty investment by the industry.”

By: HANNAH SAMPSON

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06:11 PM: HOSPITAL INDUSTRY ASKS WHITE HOUSE TO DECLARE A NATIONAL EMERGENCY

Hospital industry leaders are urging the Trump administration to declare the covid-19 outbreak a national emergency or a national disaster to “ensure that health care services and sufficient health care items are available to respond.”

During a Wednesday afternoon meeting at the White House with Vice President Pence and Seema Verma, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the American Hospital Association’s president and several hospital chief executives said the federal public health emergency declared at the end of January is inadequate.

The meeting echoed a letter to the vice president sent on Tuesday by Richard Pollack, the hospital association’s president. The letter explained that only with a national emergency or disaster could the government loosen a variety of health-care rules, helping to cope with a surge of seriously ill, infected patients.

According to the letter, a declared emergency or disaster would, for instance, eliminate a Medicare rule that patients need to have been hospitalized for at least three nights before the vast insurance program for older Americans pays for nursing home stays — freeing hospital beds more quickly for the sickest patients with the new virus. It also would help patients stay longer in certain types of small rural hospitals, as well as making it easier for doctors licensed in one state to pitch in elsewhere, where the outbreak is particularly severe.

The letter noted that the government has loosened such rules after major hurricanes and floods and during the swine flu pandemic a decade ago.

The hospital leaders also urged the White House to provide federal help for the testing and care of people exposed to the coronavirus who are uninsured.

By: AMY GOLDSTEIN

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06:09 PM: SENATE DEMOCRATS URGE TRUMP TO UTILIZE $40 BILLION IN DISASTER RELIEF FUNDS TO COMBAT CORONAVIRUS

Three dozen Senate Democrats on Wednesday sent a letter to Trump urging him to immediately consider state disaster declaration requests in order to release more than $40 billion in federal relief funds.

In their letter, the senators called on Trump to invoke the 1988 Stafford Act, which enables the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief efforts. Members of Trump’s coronavirus task force have discussed doing so, officials have told The Washington Post in recent days.

“It is crucial that your administration employ a whole-of-government approach in responding to COVID-19,” the senators wrote. “This includes working closely with state, local, and tribal officials and providing necessary resources to those on the frontlines. We strongly urge FEMA to stand ready to provide emergency protective measures to prevent and mitigate the spread of disease, save lives, and protect public health and safety, should any state request assistance.”

The release of the letter comes hours before Trump is expected to address the nation in a prime-time address from the Oval Office.

By: FELICIA SONMEZ

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05:53 PM: FIVE MORE DEATHS AT ASSISTED-LIVING FACILITIES REPORTED IN WASHINGTON STATE IN ONE DAY

Washington state announced five more coronavirus fatalities on Wednesday, all linked to nursing homes or assisted-living facilities. The news pushed the nationwide death count to at least 36; 29 of those are in Washington state.

King County, where most of the deaths have occurred amid nursing home outbreaks, reported four more deaths and 44 new patients. The county, which includes Seattle, now has 234 confirmed cases.

The newly announced deaths include three residents at Life Care Center, the facility where the outbreak has been especially horrific and where staff say they have seen patients go from showing no symptoms to death in a matter of hours. Two of the deceased were in their 90s, one woman in her 60s.

Another King County woman who died in her 90s lived at the Redmond Care and Rehabilitation Center nursing home.

Snohomish County also reported Wednesday that a man in his 80s who was “connected” to an assisted-living facility, Josephine Caring Community, had died.

By: HANNAH KNOWLES

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05:44 PM: BIDEN CANCELS MORE CAMPAIGN EVENTS OVER VIRUS; PENCE STILL SET TO STUMP IN WISCONSIN

In response to the worsening coronavirus outbreak, Biden’s team has canceled additional campaign events in Illinois and Florida to “minimize health risks for staff and supporters” and will hold “virtual events” instead.

The decision comes as the former vice president plans to speak about the global pandemic Thursday. Ahead of those remarks, he has set up his own public health advisory committee with boldface names from the Obama administration, including Vivek H. Murthy, who was surgeon general under President Barack Obama, and Lisa Monaco, former homeland security and counterterrorism adviser to Obama.

The committee will provide “science-based, expert advice,” Biden’s campaign said.

“The campaign’s top priority is and will continue to be the health and safety of the public,” it said. “Members of the committee will provide ongoing counsel to the campaign, which will in turn continue to update the public regarding operational decisions.”

The former vice president’s approach stands in contrast to Trump, who has said that he would continue holding rallies and attending public events and has played down the severity of the spreading virus. In a Fox Business Network interview Wednesday, Trump campaign spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany claimed without evidence that political considerations — and not coronavirus concerns — are the reason Biden has canceled his events.

Meanwhile, Vice President Pence, who is running the government’s response to the coronavirus outbreak, is still planning to attend a campaign event in Wisconsin next week for a congressional special election as Democrats and many organizations cancel large events.

In a C-SPAN interview Wednesday, Pence was asked whether he was personally concerned about attending these large events.

“I’m not concerned,” he said, “but we’ll follow the facts every single day about what makes the most sense for the American people.”

By: COLBY ITKOWITZ

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05:37 PM: D.C. MAYOR DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY AFTER PERSON-TO-PERSON CORONAVIRUS TRANSMISSIONS

D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) declared a state of emergency in the nation’s capital because of coronavirus, giving herself the power to order mandatory quarantines and to crack down on price gouging. Health officials said six more people have tested positive for coronavirus in the District, including two cases where the cause of transmission is unknown. That brings the total number of cases to 10. Officials said person-to-person transmission has started in the District.

Bowser’s emergency declaration came hours after the District urged the cancellations of all mass gatherings through the end of March. Bowser said the city government was pulling all permits for public gatherings and that she could order closure of other gatherings if necessary.

After the rector of Christ Church Georgetown tested positive for coronavirus, the District has asked hundreds of people who visited the church to self-quarantine for 14 days after their last visit. D.C. health officials expanded the self-quarantine to people who visited the church through March 6 after the organist tested positive, including a Saturday funeral where he played.

Bowser has said the city has leased a private facility that can be used to quarantine up to 50 people, but declined to reveal its location. Officials said quarantine orders could be used for people at high risk of exposing the virus to others or those who do not comply with self-quarantine requests.

By: FENIT NIRAPPIL

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05:29 PM: ITALY HALTS NEARLY ALL COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY ASIDE FROM SUPERMARKETS AND PHARMACIES

ROME — Italy on Wednesday ramped up the severity of its national lockdown, ordering a halt to nearly all commercial activity aside from supermarkets and pharmacies, in the latest dramatic step to slow the country’s coronavirus spread.

With the decision, announced by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, Italy has engineered nearly as thorough a commercial halt as seems imaginable.

Once the decree takes effect — Conte did not specify when — only the most essential parts of society will continue to function. Farms can still produce food, and factories can still churn out products, but people will have almost no reason to leave the house.

“You’re changing your life’s habits, making sacrifices, but these renunciations are offering a great, precious contribution to the country,” Conte said. “Italy is showing it’s a great community, united and responsible.”

On Monday, Conte had imposed a nationwide lockdown, limiting travel abroad and across regions. With it came other restrictions: the closure of theaters, museums, sporting events. But Italy had still been operating at a crawl. Gelaterias were open, with people lining up a few feet away from one another. Barbershops were open. Cafes were open, with limited hours and restrictions on the number of people allowed inside.

Conte received strong political pressure from politicians in the north, the region at the epicenter of the outbreak, to further tighten the measures as the number of coronavirus cases continues to accelerate. Italy has more than 10,500 active cases, and the number of people who have died of the virus has risen in three days from 366 to 827.

By: CHICO HARLAN

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05:22 PM: MAJOR UNION CALLS ON TRUMP TO PROVIDE TWO WEEKS OF PAID SICK LEAVE FOR EVERY AMERICAN WORKER

United Food and Commercial Workers, the largest private-sector union in the United States with 1.3 million workers in retail and health care, asked President Trump and Congress on Wednesday to pass a new economic aid package that would provide a minimum of two weeks of paid sick leave for all American workers.

The union’s proposed economic package also includes unemployment benefits for workers who have been laid off or had their hours disrupted, payroll tax cuts for lower- and middle-income workers, as well as protection from unfair termination or discrimination for workers suspected of being exposed to coronavirus.

UFCW President Anthony “Marc” Perrone outlined the policy proposal in a letter to Trump, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). The letter noted that 80 million American workers, or 59 percent of the country’s workforce, are hourly employees who receive payment only for the hours they work.

“Respectfully, I am urging each of our nation’s elected leaders to develop immediate policies that ensure that workers — salaried and hourly — do not have to choose between work and health,” the letter said.

By: NITASHA TIKU

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04:45 PM: NCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTS WILL OPEN WITH NO FANS

The NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments will be played in nearly empty arenas because of concerns about the coronavirus, NCAA President Mark Emmert announced Wednesday afternoon amid swelling recommendations and orders from public officials, one of the most significant public actions in the face of the outbreak in the United States.

The games, which begin Tuesday night in Dayton, Ohio, will be played “with only essential staff and limited family attendance,” Emmert said in a news release.

“While I understand how disappointing this is for all fans of our sports, my decision is based on the current understanding of how covid-19 is progressing in the United States,” he said. “This decision is in the best interest of public health, including that of coaches, administrators, fans and, most importantly, our student-athletes. We recognize the opportunity to compete in an NCAA national championship is an experience of a lifetime for the students and their families. Today, we will move forward and conduct championships consistent with the current information and will continue to monitor and make adjustments as needed.”

By: ADAM KILGORE

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04:44 PM: WHEN’S THE LAST TIME THE WHO DECLARED A GLOBAL PANDEMIC?

The last time the World Health Organization declared a pandemic was during the 2009 H1N1 swine flu, and it triggered aggressive actions, such as millions in spending to buy vaccines.

But H1N1 turned out not to be as deadly and disruptive as feared, and a lot of governments were mad about buying vaccines that they ended up not using and harshly criticized the WHO for its declaration. Burned by that response, WHO got rid of the six-stage procedure that led up to it declaring that flu a pandemic.

“Each time they went up a stage, it raised alarm. When they finally reached pandemic stage it caused enormous panic,” said Lawrence Gostin, global health law professor at Georgetown University. “It was so dysfunctional and caused so much fear and panic that WHO abandoned that approach.”

The WHO’s current approach has been much more vague, essentially leaving it up to leaders to declare a pandemic when they deem it necessary. For weeks now, the WHO has hesitated to make the pandemic declaration for fear of inciting panic and causing some countries to sag in their efforts, even though many epidemiologists believed the coronavirus had already spread to pandemic levels.

“In many ways, whether we’re in a pandemic is a semantic question,” said Alexandra Phelan, a global health lawyer at Georgetown’s Center for Global Health Science and Security.

By: WILLIAM WAN

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04:40 PM: TRUMP CAMPAIGN CLAIMS WITHOUT EVIDENCE THAT BIDEN WAS ‘LOOKING FOR AN EXCUSE TO GET OFF THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL’

In a Fox Business Network interview Wednesday, Trump campaign spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany claimed, without evidence, that political considerations — and not coronavirus concerns — are the reason Biden has canceled his recent events.

“Joe Biden is looking for an excuse to get off the campaign trail, and let me just add, the media’s best hope is for Donald Trump to suspend his rallies,” McEnany said. “They’ve been wanting him to stop this, they know it’s his avenue to speak directly to the American people. So, we’re going to follow the president’s lead; we’re not going to cave to the media. And Joe Biden, we’re certainly not going to follow his lead as he tries to hide from the American people.”

Biden and Sanders called off their Tuesday night campaign rallies in Ohio after Mike DeWine, the state’s Republican governor, suggested that the campaigns to do so in an effort to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

McEnany also defended Trump’s decision to continue holding large campaign rallies despite the advice of experts, including Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

“The president is the best authority on this issue,” McEnany said. “He takes into consult the words of everyone around him. That would include [Health and Human Services Secretary] Alex Azar; that would include Dr. Fauci; that would include others. So, I’ll leave it to the president. Right now, we’re proceeding as normal.”

She also said that there is no need for Trump to stop shaking hands with supporters, arguing that it’s part of the president’s job.

“He’s taking precautions, he’s washing his hands — we’re all doing that, but he’s a man of the people, he talks to the people, he shakes their hands. That’s the nature of the business,” she said.

By: FELICIA SONMEZ

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04:31 PM: HEALTH-CARE CLINICS FOR THE POOR FACE SHORTAGES OF PROTECTIVE GEAR

The nation’s community health centers, which care for some of the nation’s most vulnerable patients, are ill-equipped with masks and other protective equipment needed for workers to test and care for people who may have been exposed to the coronavirus, according to a new survey.

The survey in early March of more than 600 health centers in 47 states, sponsored by a private relief organization, found that 1 in 4 such clinics said they had a source that could provide and resupply N95 masks for the next month or two. Half said they did not, while the remaining clinics said they were not sure. Nearly two-thirds said they lacked a supplier to restock latex gloves.

The survey was sponsored by Direct Relief, a California-based aid organization that donated supplies to China early in the coronavirus epidemic and has been turning its attention lately to the United States.

Free clinics and federally funded health centers treat some of the country’s poorest patients. Under the Affordable Care Act, some of their clientele have gotten private health plans or have been able to join Medicaid. But the clinics still tend to be shoestring operations with many uninsured patients. And the federal funding that some receive is often uncertain in Congress until the last minute — as is happening again this year.

The survey found that only about 10 percent of the health centers said they were unconcerned about their ability to handle a surge of patients during the covid-19 epidemic.

By: AMY GOLDSTEIN

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04:27 PM: TRUMP SAYS HE WILL ADDRESS THE NATION TONIGHT

President Trump said he will address the nation Wednesday evening about the coronavirus and that his remarks from the White House will probably be at 9 p.m.

He gave no other details during a brief portion of a meeting with bankers that was open to reporters, other than that he will discuss both economic and health issues.

“We are talking about various forms of stimulus,” he said. Trump added: “The payroll tax would be great. Dems are not in favor of it. I’m trying to figure out why.” Many Republicans also oppose cutting the payroll tax.

Trump has spoken almost daily about the spread of the virus, but until now he had not done so in such a formal setting. The speech is expected to be from the Oval Office, a setting that underscores the national security implications of the spreading virus.

By: ANNE GEARAN

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04:25 PM: NATIONAL CATHEDRAL AND HUNDREDS OF OTHER CHURCHES IN WASHINGTON AREA TO CLOSE FOR TWO WEEKS

Episcopal churches in the District and the Maryland and Virginia suburbs — including Washington National Cathedral — are closing for two weeks because of the coronavirus, church leaders said Wednesday.

Bishop Mariann Budde, who oversees 88 congregations in the District and Maryland that serve about 38,000 people, said all buildings would be completely closed until March 25, a measure that includes weekday activities and Sunday services. Susan Goff, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia, said 179 churches in the Virginia suburbs, with about 68,000 members, would do the same.

The announcement came hours after D.C. health officials asked organizations to postpone any “mass gatherings” involving 1,000 people or more in the city until at least March 31.

Goff said the last time that churches canceled en masse over health concerns was for the flu of 1918.

A spokesman for Budde said the diocese will stream services from the cathedral on Sundays — with no audience.

By: MICHELLE BOORSTEIN and SARAH PULLIAM BAILEY

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04:22 PM: STATE DEPARTMENT AND USAID SUSPEND NON-ESSENTIAL TRAVEL

The State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development have suspended nonessential travel for employees in response to the outbreak of the coronavirus, a move that requires diplomats and aid workers to receive sign-off from managers that future travel is “mission-critical,” said two U.S. officials familiar with the matter.

The move demonstrates the urgency with which U.S. agencies view the spread of the disease even as President Trump downplays the threat posed by the virus. At the same time, the policy has created confusion within the State Department and USAID as various bureaus, embassies and offices weigh the importance of the thousands of trips, conferences and meetings U.S. personnel embark on every year.

One State Department official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to discuss internal matters, said it was discouraging when an upcoming trip she viewed as critical to her job was canceled by her boss, who believed it did not meet that threshold.

By: JOHN HUDSON

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04:18 PM: DOW REACHES BEAR-MARKET TERRITORY ON A NEARLY 1,500-POINT SKID, ENDING RECORD 11-YEAR STOCK RALLY

Wall Street went into a deep slump Wednesday, falling so far and so fast that the Dow Jones industrial average officially tipped into a bear market, ending a record 11-year stock rally.

The bear market reflects a 20 percent fall from record highs, which the Dow hit less than a month ago, and came as the coronavirus officially became a pandemic.

The World Health Organization’s declaration Wednesday signaled that health experts believe efforts should shift from trying to contain the virus to mitigation.

The Dow — already deep in the red for the day — plunged further, tumbling almost to the 1,500-points-down mark, after the WHO announcement.

“Bear markets are ugly,” said Michael Farr, president of Farr, Miller and Washington. “They’re painful and they all last too long. Sadly, it seems that a new one is just getting started.”

All 11 S&P stock market sectors turned negative on Wednesday. Real estate, utilities and energy — often safe havens for nervous investors — were faring the worst. The health sector was the least affected by the sell-off. UnitedHealth Group was the lone component of the Dow‘s 30 blue chips to show a gain. Boeing shed 18 percent of its value.

By: TAYLOR TELFORD and THOMAS HEATH

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04:02 PM: DELAWARE REPORTS FIRST POSITIVE TEST; MORE THAN 40 STATES NOW CONFIRM INFECTIONS

Delaware on Wednesday announced its first positive test for the coronavirus, as more than 40 states report infections.

The Delaware patient, a man older than 50, whom officials say is “doing well,” lives in New Castle County and is “associated with the University of Delaware community,” the state’s public health department said in a statement. Before the case was announced, the university said it was “gearing up for online delivery of all of our courses in the event that we have confirmed COVID-19 cases on campus.”

The Delaware patient was exposed to the virus in another state, authorities said, and self-isolated at home right away when his symptoms began. Officials are working to identify contacts.

“We understand that news of a positive case in the state is concerning,” said public health director Karyl Rattay in a statement, “but this is something we have been preparing for over the last several weeks.”

By: HANNAH KNOWLES

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03:58 PM: AMTRAK RIDERSHIP PLUMMETS AMID OUTBREAK

The coronavirus outbreak has brought a steep fall in March passenger numbers and revenue for Amtrak, and the nation’s passenger rail company is warning of hard times ahead.

Ridership is down, cancellations are up by more than 300 percent, and future bookings have fallen by half, Amtrak said Wednesday, citing the public health crisis that has led Americans to cancel travel in recent days.

If the trend continues, Amtrak said revenue losses could be in the “several hundred million dollars” and throw off the company’s growth projections for this year. A plan to reduce spending is in place, and it includes service cuts and layoffs.

Ridership declines over the past few weeks have been sharp in the Northeast Corridor and on Amtrak’s National Network, and it is getting worse every day, Stephen Gardner, senior executive vice president and chief operating and commercial officer at Amtrak, said in a memo to workers on Wednesday.

“At this rate, we believe we will likely suffer the loss of several hundred million dollars in revenue during this fiscal year — and we might lose more,” Gardner said.

Amtrak has begun “aggressive measures to cut costs,” Gardner said.

“You should expect significant reductions in train service across portions of our network in response to the sharp drop in ridership. Shortly, we will begin rolling out our voluntary leave program for those non-mission critical employees that are willing to take time off on an unpaid basis,” he said.

This week, Amtrak canceled its Acela nonstop trips between Washington and New York to reduce service as demand dropped. The daily nonstop Acela service is suspended through May 26, the company said. More service could be halted across the network of about 300 daily trains nationwide.

The company has suspended change fees on all existing and new reservations for tickets purchased before April 30 to accommodate concerned travelers.

By: LUZ LAZO

_____

03:46 PM: OHIO TO LIMIT LARGE GATHERINGS IN DRAMATIC NEW MOVE TO FIGHT VIRUS

Ohio will limit large gatherings in a dramatic bid to combat the novel coronavirus, Gov. Mike DeWine (R) announced Wednesday, shortly after Washington state turned to similar measures in a few counties.

DeWine said he will soon issue an order enforcing Tuesday’s recommendation against mass gatherings and spectators at indoor sporting events but would not yet close K-12 schools, though he tweeted that “we may get to that point.”

“We are doing the things we are doing because we have the potential to become like Italy,” he tweeted, referencing the European country’s nationwide restrictions on movement. “We are taking the actions we are taking now to try to avoid that. The situation will get bad before it gets better, but it is in our hands to determine what the outcome will be.”

DeWine also said Wednesday that he will order that visitors to nursing homes and assisted-living facilities be limited to one per day per resident. The elderly are most vulnerable to the coronavirus, and outbreaks at nursing homes in Washington state have been deadly. Authorities in Ohio will require that all individuals who enter such facilities be screened for illness and have their temperatures taken, DeWine announced.

Four people in the state have tested positive, he said, as authorities called evidence of the virus’s community spread a “game changer" requiring more serious measures.

“You’re going to see us taking more aggressive actions now," said Amy Acton, the director of the state’s department of health. "Please know that we’re doing this to protect Ohioans and protect our healthcare system.”

“We shouldn’t panic, but we should take rational actions to protect ourselves, our loved ones, and others,” DeWine tweeted Wednesday afternoon.

Have you tried to get tested for coronavirus and been turned away? Share your experience with The Post.

By: HANNAH KNOWLES

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03:35 PM: WASHINGTON STATE’S CORONAVIRUS DEATH TOLL AT 25

Another coronavirus patient in Washington state has died, officials announced Wednesday, bringing the death toll there to 25.

The newly reported death occurred in Snohomish County, where officials say there are 68 confirmed cases of the virus. The county now has two recorded fatalities — still far less than King County, where almost two dozen have died as outbreaks hit nursing homes. The elderly are most vulnerable to the virus.

Snohomish and King are among the counties where Gov. Jay Inslee (D) on Wednesday imposed a ban on gatherings of more than 250 people, seeking to contain the spread of infection.

Nationwide, the coronavirus has killed more than 30 people and the number of cases has surpassed 1,000.

By: HANNAH KNOWLES

______

03:27 PM: BOEING WILL CASH OUT $13.8 BILLION LOAN AND FREEZE HIRING AMID MARKET TURMOIL

Boeing plans to cash out a $13.8 billion loan meant to cover costs related to the grounding of the 737 Max passenger jet, a person familiar with the matter said Wednesday, as recent market volatility creates new risks at a time when the company’s business is already in a historically fragile state.

Boeing declined to comment on the loan cash out, but said it would put a hold on all new hires pending a “review of priorities and critical needs.”

The company’s stock was down 16 percent by late afternoon Wednesday.

By: AARON GREGG

_____

03:20 PM: HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF STUDENTS SHIFTING TO ONLINE LEARNING IN NEW YORK, ONE OF SEVERAL NEW MEASURES ANNOUNCED BY CUOMO

New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) on Wednesday announced sweeping new measures to combat coronavirus, including distance learning for hundreds of thousands of students at public schools and paid leave for quarantined or isolated government workers.

New York also will start contracting with private labs to increase its testing capacity, Cuomo said as the state’s cases topped 200, adding that he spoke with 28 labs earlier in the day. Lawmakers and public health officials around the country have been frustrated with delays in rolling out widespread testing that could help show the full extent in the United States of what’s now a global pandemic.

[patriotsnet]

How Many Republicans Are Against The Wall

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/how-many-republicans-are-against-the-wall/

How Many Republicans Are Against The Wall

Tony Romm And Seung Min Kim Washington Post

WASHINGTON – The prospects for a bipartisan infrastructure reform deal dimmed even further on Monday, as Senate Republicans alleged the White House had agreed to narrow the scope of its $2.2 trillion plan – only to reverse course days later. 

The dispute centers on President Joe Biden’s proposal to package new investments in roads, bridges and pipes with billions of dollars to help children and families. Republicans say that Biden agreed earlier this month to seek what they describe as “social” spending as part of another legislative effort, only to have his top aides take the opposite approach during the latest round of talks on Friday.

“We thought we had an understanding that social infrastructure is off – they didn’t take any of that off,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., the party’s lead negotiator.

Republicans similarly had made clear to Biden that they couldn’t support tax increases to pay for the infrastructure package, Capito added, only to have the White House reaffirm its plan to raise rates on corporations when its submitted its latest counteroffer. Days later, the senator said the move had left her and her colleagues wondering, “Are you not hearing us?”

Asked about the GOP’s characterization of Biden’s position, White House spokesman Andrew Bates said the president is not going to “negotiate through the press.”

“We understood he would try to do the rest of it without us if that was the way they needed to do the rest of it,” he added.

– – – –

Partisans Differ Over Whether Shutdown Is A Very Serious Problem

About six-in-ten adults say the government shutdown is a very serious problem for the country today, while 22% view it as a somewhat serious problem; just two-in-ten say that it is not too or not at all serious a problem for the country.

Democrats are far more likely than Republicans to view the shutdown as a very serious problem for the nation: Nearly eight-in-ten Democrats and Democratic leaners say this, compared with just 35% of Republicans and Republican leaners.

Only about a quarter of conservative Republicans and GOP-leaning independents see the shutdown as a very serious problem facing the country, compared with 47% of moderate and liberal Republicans. Ideological differences among Democrats are more modest: 85% of liberal Democrats consider the shutdown a very serious problem, while 73% of conservative and moderate Democrats say the same.

Democratic Views On A Border Wall

One of the most outspoken and controversial topics of Donald Trumps election campaign and subsequent time in office has been his stance on border control. Most notably, there was much contention surrounding Trumps goal of constructing a border wall between the US and Mexico. In the past, Democrats supported measures to create a physical barrier between the US and Mexican borders. However, the lines were clearly drawn when Trump made the proposal for his wall. While Democrats support border security, Trumps border wall concept was not the route they were hoping for. Democratic views on a border wall are overall negative, though some Democrats have seen the issue as a point of negotiation for other matters, such as Trumps battle against DACA and the Dreamers.

Here Are The 41 Republicans Who Voted Against Securing The Us Border

REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Forty-one House Republicans voted against a bill Friday that would have secured funding for President Donald Trumps border wall, addressed Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and included E-verify, among other conservative provisions.

Members voted on an amended version of GOP Reps. Bob Goodlatte of Virginia and Michael McCaul of Texass bill that provided more border security funding, only granted DACA recipients a temporary protected three-year legal status with no pathway for citizenship which moderate Republicans are fervently asking leadership to provide and included other features.

The bill failed in the House in a 193-231 vote Thursday. 

Here the Republican members who voted against the bill:

Paul Gosar of Arizona Frank LoBiando of New Jersey Tom MacArthur of New Jersey Chris Smith of New Jersey Leonard Lance of New Jersey Rodney Frelinghuysen of New Jersey Pete King of New York John Faso of New York Elise Stefanik of New York Tom Reed of New York John Katko of New York Michael Turner of Ohio Kristi Noem of South Dakota Louie Gohmert of Texas Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington David Reichert of Washington

Some of the members who voted against the bill did so because leadership altered the bill before the final vote, adding on amendments and provisions they deemed amnesty.

Medical Malpractice Law Reform

Paul has proposed radical changes in the way medical malpractice claims are handled. Under bills he has introduced multiple times beginning in 2003, a patient planning pregnancy, surgery, or other major medical procedures or medical treatment would be able to buy “negative outcomes” insurance at very low cost. If the patient were to experience a negative outcome in association with the medical procedure or treatment, he or she would then seek compensation through binding arbitration, rather than through a medical malpractice trial before a jury. Paul claims that “using insurance, private contracts, and binding arbitration to resolve medical disputes benefits patients, who receive full compensation in a timelier manner than under the current system,” as well as physicians and hospitals, since their litigation costs, and malpractice insurance premiums, would be markedly reduced.

Many Presidents Have Declared Emergencies But Not Like Trump Has

At stake is nearly $6 billion in federal funds that President Trump redirected in a Feb. 15 emergency declaration. The White House is seeking to take that money from accounts at the Treasury and Defense departments to build physical barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border. The president made the order after Congress agreed on a bipartisan basis to provide $1.375 billion in wall funds for this fiscal year, but Trump said it wasn’t enough.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., initially counseled the president against invoking the national emergency out of concerns it would divide Senate Republicans and test the separation of powers, but he voted with the president on Thursday and defended his actions as lawful.

“He has simply operated within existing law, the National Emergencies Act of 1976, to invoke a narrow set of authorities to reprogram a narrow set of funds,” McConnell said. “If Congress has grown uneasy with this new law, as many have, then we should amend it.”

Democrats broadly oppose the wall, but have argued the resolution bends the intent of the law and the constitutional authority of Congress. “We’ve never had a president like this. We’ve had lots of presidents with lots of foibles but none of them seem to equate their own ego with the entire functioning of the government of the United States except this one. We can’t succumb to that,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

Republicans Help Democrats Vote Against Trump’s Wall Funding Grab

The House voted Tuesday to revoke the national emergency President Trump declared in order to spend federal money to build a physical barrier on the southern border without congressional approval.

The joint resolution passed 245-182 with the help of 13 Republican votes. It now heads to the Senate, where many lawmakers predict it will pass with the help of at least four Republicans who oppose Trumps emergency declaration.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said the Senate would vote on the measure by mid-March.

Trump has vowed to issue the first veto of his presidency if the resolution reaches his desk, and the House vote indicates there are not enough votes to override his veto. Democrats would need to find 290 votes to override Trump, 45 short of the total seen Tuesday.

The 13 Republicans voting with Democrats were Reps. Justin Amash of Michigan, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Mike Gallager of Wisconsin, Jaime Hererra Beutler of Washington, Will Hurd of Texas, Dusty Johnson of South Dakota, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington, Francis Rooney of Florida, Jim Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, Elise Stefanik of New York, Fred Upton of Michigan and Greg Walden of Oregon.

Trump’s emergency declaration announcement came days after Congress appropriated $1.375 billion to erect physical barriers in the Rio Grande Valley. The money fell far short of the $5.7 billion Trump had been requesting.

Constitutional Rights: Limited Government

Term limits, 1970s: Paul was the first member of Congress to propose term limits legislation in the House, one of several bills considered “ahead of their time” by Texas Monthly magazine.

Market Process Restoration Act of 1999. H.R. 1789, 1999-05-13. Repeals United States antitrust law , with intent to restore market economy benefits.

To repeal the Military Selective Service Act. H.R. 424, 2007-01-11, originally H.R. 1597, 2001-04-26, cosponsored since H.R. 2421, 1997-09-05. Abolishes the Selective Service System, prohibits reestablishment of the draft, and forbids denial of rights due to failure to register.

See also the limited government and income tax abolition amendment.

Wall: Republicans Can Learn A Valuable Lesson From Democrats Rush To The Far Left

Since Joe Biden was sworn in as president, Democrats have taken advantage of their narrow majority in Congress and their control of the White House to ram through a radical agenda. From passing a $2 trillion socialist stimulus bill under the guise of pandemic relief, to enacting a flurry of job-killing executive orders, President Biden and his leftist allies in the House and Senate have abandoned their talking points urging unity in favor of pushing partisan legislation.

The policies promoted by Democrats in the few months have been extraordinarily destructive. President Biden and his allies have shown themselves to be catastrophically wrong on every important issue, ranging from tax policy to climate change, and Republicans can learn some crucial lessons from how the far left has governed.

Its clear that Democrats are attempting to consolidate as much power in the hands of the federal government as possible a goal antithetical to protecting individual liberty and the Constitution. While some of this change can be undone if Republicans regain their congressional majority, we know all too well that the GOP has failed to make good on promises to promote limited government and preserve freedom while theyve been in charge.

Noah Wall is an executive vice president at FreedomWorks.

Inflation And The Federal Reserve

In the words of the New York Times, Paul is “not a fan” of the Federal Reserve. In his own words, Paul advocates that we should “End the Fed“. Paul’s opposition to the Fed is supported by the Austrian Business Cycle Theory, which holds that instead of containing inflation, the Federal Reserve, in theory and in practice, is responsible for causing inflation. In addition to eroding the value of individual savings, this creation of inflation leads to booms and busts in the economy. Thus Paul argues that government, via a central bank , is the primary cause of economic recessions and depressions. He believes that economic volatility is decreased when the free market determines interest rates and money supply. He has stated in numerous speeches that most of his colleagues in Congress are unwilling to abolish the central bank because it funds many government activities. He says that to compensate for eliminating the “hidden tax” of monetary inflation, Congress and the president would instead have to raise taxes or cut government services, either of which could be politically damaging to their reputations. He states that the “inflation tax” is a tax on the poor, because the Federal Reserve prints more money which subsidizes select industries, while poor people pay higher prices for goods as more money is placed in circulation.

List Of Republicans Who Opposed The Donald Trump 2020 Presidential Campaign

This article is part of a series about

This is a list of Republicans and conservatives who opposed the re-election of incumbent Donald Trump, the 2020 Republican Party nominee for President of the United States. Among them are former Republicans who left the party in 2016 or later due to their opposition to Trump, those who held office as a Republican, Republicans who endorsed a different candidate, and Republican presidential primary election candidates that announced opposition to Trump as the presumptive nominee. Over 70 former senior Republican national security officials and 61 additional senior officials have also signed onto a statement declaring, “We are profoundly concerned about our nation’s security and standing in the world under the leadership of Donald Trump. The President has demonstrated that he is dangerously unfit to serve another term.”

A group of former senior U.S. government officials and conservativesincluding from the Reagan, Bush 41, Bush 43, and Trump administrations have formed The Republican Political Alliance for Integrity and Reform to, “focus on a return to principles-based governing in the post-Trump era.”

A third group of Republicans, Republican Voters Against Trump was launched in May 2020 has collected over 500 testimonials opposing Donald Trump.

Proposal To Eliminate Medicare

Paul proposes that all government funding of medical care be eliminated . His Plan to Restore America budget proposal would begin a phase out of Medicare starting in 2013, when workers younger than 25 would be able to opt out of participating in the program. He says that during the transition period, the commitments for coverage under Medicare that have already been made to older workers could be honored by cutting other government spending, such as by closing all US military bases overseas and ceasing to engage in foreign military “adventurism.”

Public Disapproves Of How Shutdown Negotiations Are Being Handled

Most Americans offer negative evaluations of the way that the nations political leaders in both parties Donald Trump, Democratic congressional leaders and Republican congressional leaders are handling negotiations over the shutdown.

Overall, just 36% of the public approves of how Trump is handling negotiations over the government shutdown, including 23% who say they strongly approve. About six-in-ten disapprove of Trumps approach to the negotiations, including 53% who say they strongly disapprove.

Views of how Republican leaders in Congress are handling shutdown negotiations generally parallel evaluations of Trump. Six-in-ten Americans say they disapprove of the way Republican congressional leaders are handling negotiations, while just 36% say they approve. However, fewer Americans characterize their views of GOP leaders handling of negotiations as strong approval or disapproval than say this about the president.

Public views of Democratic leaders handling of the shutdown talks are somewhat more positive than views of Trump or GOP leaders. Still, more disapprove than approve .

The 147 Republicans Who Voted To Overturn Election Results

When a mob of President Trumps supporters stormed the Capitol building on Wednesday, they forced an emergency recess in the Congressional proceedings to officially certify the results of the 2020 presidential election. The disruption came shortly after some Republican lawmakers made the first of a planned series of highly unusual objections, based on spurious allegations of widespread voter fraud, to states election results. The chambers were separately debating an objection to Arizonas results when proceedings were halted and the Capitol was locked down.

When the Senate reconvened at 8 p.m., and the House of Representatives an hour later, the proceedings including the objection debates continued, although some lawmakers who had previously planned to vote with the objectors stood down following the occupation of the Capitol. Plans to challenge a number of states after Arizona were scrapped, as well but one other objection, to Pennsylvanias results, also advanced to a vote. Here are the eight senators and 139 representatives who voted to sustain one or both objections.

Other Former Federal Government Officials

The Weekly Standard

Charles Fried, United States Solicitor General; Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

David K. Garman, Former Assistant Secretary and Under Secretary of Energy

Steve Baer, former president, United Republican Fund of Illinois

Juan Hernandez, political consultant, co-founder of Hispanic Republicans of Texas

Matt Higgins, former press secretary for New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani

Stuart Stevens, political consultant and strategist

Mac Stipanovich, strategist and lobbyist; former Chief of Staff to Bob Martinez

Rick Wilson, political consultant and former Republican strategist.

How Americans See Illegal Immigration The Border Wall And Political Compromise

A standoff between President Donald Trump and Democratic congressional leaders over how to address unauthorized immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border has led to a partial shutdown of the federal government one that is now the longest on record.

Learn about U.S. immigration through five short lessons delivered to your inbox every other day.Sign up now!

The United States was home to 10.7 million unauthorized immigrants in 2016, a 13% decline from a peak of 12.2 million in 2007, according to the most recent Pew Research Center estimates. This decade-long decline was driven almost entirely by a decrease in unauthorized immigrants from Mexico, even as the numbers from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras increased. Meanwhile, a growing share of unauthorized immigrants were not people who had entered the country illegally, but had arrived legally and then .

More recent data from the federal government show that 2018 saw an uptick in border apprehensions . There were nearly 467,000 apprehensions at the southwest border last year, the most in any calendar year since at least 2012. Still, the number of apprehensions in 2018 remained far below the more than 1 million apprehensions per fiscal year routinely recorded during the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.

Note: This is an update of a post originally published Jan. 11, 2019.

Cabinet Members And Political Appointees

Richard Armitage: NAYArmitage, a former Navy officer who served as deputy secretary of state under George W. Bush and deputy secretary of defense under Ronald Reagan, says he will vote for Hillary Clinton. If Donald Trump is the nominee, I would vote for Hillary Clinton, he told Politico. He doesn’t appear to be a Republican, he doesn’t appear to want to learn about issues. So, Im going to vote for Mrs. Clinton.

Condoleezza Rice: NAY George W. Bushs secretary of state blasted Trump in a Facebook statement and : Enough! Donald Trump should not be President. He should withdraw. As a Republican, I hope to support someone who has the dignity and stature to run for the highest office in the greatest democracy on earth.

Rice previously said she had no plans to get involved in the race or attend the GOP convention, a spokesman told Yahoo News. She also ruled out serving as Trumps running mate.

Brent Scowcroft: NAYThe retired lieutenant general and national security adviser, an outspoken critic of the war in Iraq, has announced that he is endorsing Hillary Clinton. Scowcroft did not mention Trump in his statement.

Donald Rumsfeld: YEAIts now a known known: The former secretary of defense under George W. Bush is voting Trump. I’m a Republican, and there’s not any doubt in my mind how I’ll vote, he told the Daily Mail, adding that it was not a close call and I don’t believe Hillary Clinton is qualified to be President of the United States.

Republican Views On A Border Wall

It is a fairly well-known fact that the Republican party is in favor of protection, and therefore a Mexican border wall. In fact, 74 percent of Republicans support building a wall on the Mexican border. Promises to build this wall were a large part of President Donald Trumps campaign, and his supporters were front and center hoping that he stuck to this plan. More than just an immigration issue, the wall became Trumps signature promise and rallying cry during his campaign. The wall goes hand in hand with Republican views that border security should be heightened and that anyone crossing the border should be given a thorough background check. Republicans favor a far stricter immigration policy than Democrats, and want to take much stricter preventative measures against illegal immigration than have been taken in the past. Of course, this isnt to say that there arent differences within the party on this issue.

There’s Battle Lines Being Drawn

But what explains that nostalgic impulse in the midst of a revolution? It is the same emotion that animated the MAGA movement which, after all, stood for make America great, again. It is a desire to return to an earlier time that the members of the movement remember as better than today.

“There’s a feeling I sense across society that people want to go back to a simpler time,” LeGate said. “No one likes Covid. People don’t feel the economy is fair. Everything looks better in hindsight.”

And he argues that efforts to regulate trading will feel to Reddit traders more like suppression, and could fuel more anger.

“If someone on Main Street loses half their portfolio in a day, nothing’s going to happen. But if a hedge fund does, they literally stop the trading,” he said. “I myself question whether this is really about protecting the individual investor or protecting the hedge fund.”

Tax Credits For Healthcare Expenses & Children’s Health Insurance Program

Paul voted in 2007 and 2009 against reauthorization and expansion of the Children’s Health Insurance Program , which is a joint state-federal program to provide health insurance for children and pregnant women in low-income families who do not qualify for Medicaid.

He has been a consistent advocate for offering tax credits for healthcare expenses. In each Congress since 2000 Paul has proposed bills that would provide families with tax credits of up to $500 for the healthcare expenses of each dependent family member, and up to $3000 for the care of each dependent with a disability or serious disease such as cancer.

Since 2003, Paul has several times introduced into Congress proposals to provide tax credits for the cost of health insurance premiums, and to increase the allowable tax deduction for healthcare expenses . He has also advocated expanding the tax benefits of health savings accounts.

Academics Journalists Authors Commentators

Reuel Marc Gerecht, writer

Michael Gerson, columnist and speechwriter for George W. Bush

Peter Mansoor, military historian

Meghan McCain, commentator, daughter of Senator John McCain

Charles Murray, political scientist and commentator

Ana Navarro, strategist and commentator

Tom Nichols, national security affairs scholar

Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Netscape; founder of Andreessen Horowitz

Mike Fernandez, founder of MBF Healthcare Partners

James Murren, Chairman and CEO of MGM Resorts International

William Oberndorf, Chairman of Oberndorf Enterprises

Federal Power: We The People Act

We the People Act. H.R. 539, 2009-01-14, originally H.R. 3893, 2004-03-04. Forbids all federal courts from hearing cases on abortion, same-sex unions, sexual practices, and establishment of religion, unless such a case were a challenge to the Constitutionality of federal law. Makes federal court decisions on those subjects nonbinding as precedent in state courts, and forbids federal courts from spending money to enforce their judgments.

Because it forbids federal courts from adjudicating “any claim involving the laws, regulations, or policies of any State or unit of local government relating to the free exercise or establishment of religion”, secularists have criticized the bill as removing federal remedy for allegations of state violation of religious freedom. As an example of potential for violation, of the Texas Constitution provides the requirement that office-holders “acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being”. The Democratic Underground online community published the holding that the bill would give state sexual-orientation laws special immunity.

Cosponsors include Roscoe Bartlett, Tom Tancredo, Sam Johnson, Walter B. Jones Jr., John A. Sullivan, John Duncan Jr., and Ted Poe.

New Poll: Senator Gardner Losing Colorado Independent Voters As Majority Of Voters Oppose Wall And Blame Shutdown On Republicans

If Elections Were Held Today, Majority of Colorado Voters Would Opt for Senator Gardners Unnamed Democratic Opponent

Washington, DC New polling from Public Policy Polling , commissioned by MoveOn and the Immigration Hub, shows that Colorado voters overwhelmingly oppose President Trump and congressional Republicans government shutdown and calls for the wall. In fact, the shutdown is hurting Senator Cory Gardners 2020 chances among critical Colorado voters.

With over 15,000 federal employees in Colorado are furloughed or working without pay, the majority of Colorado voters polled – including 62% of Independents – want Congress to vote to re-open the government without any funding for the wall. Other topline findings include

You can see the full polling memo here.

The 2018 elections clearly showed that Trumps immigration fear-mongering backfired — Mike Coffmans defeat was proof, said Tyler Moran from the Immigration Hub. Now Trump has backed himself into a corner with a shutdown that polling shows he and Republicans are overwhelmingly blamed for. If Senator Gardner doesnt move his colleagues past the tantrum and against a wall no one wants, 2020 results are going to look a lot like 2018.

###

[odanurr87]

My thoughts on... Altered Carbon

Apologies for not posting this review earlier but a few things happened during the week, one of which was the Farewell episode of Life is Strange: Before the Storm and I simply couldn’t not play it right away. Also, as you may have noticed by now, I hadn’t written up this review yet. I’ll try to keep this brief.

Overall, Altered Carbon is a series I enjoyed a great deal due to several factors, the first of which is its length. Much like British TV shows, Altered Carbon’s first season is short, comprised only of ten episodes, what’s good because it doesn’t dilute the narrative and keeps the momentum going. I’ve lost count of how many filler episodes there are in any given American TV show and I’ve often pondered how much better something like, say, The Flash would be if it were given half the number of episodes to tell a story. Not to mention there are only so many times I can be invested in Barry having to defeat yet another evil speedster. Altered Carbon is given 10 hours to make this work and I believe it succeeds.

The second factor that immediately appealed to me was the blend between sci-fi and crime thriller ala Blade Runner (probably leaning more towards 2049 than the original). The main protagonist, Takeshi Kovacs, is introduced to us as a mercenary on the run who is later hired as a private eye to look into a murder given his... colourful background. The investigation is certainly eventful and well-paced although it doesn’t do as good of a job as other murder mysteries, such as Poirot, or Miss Marple, in involving the audience and trying to get them to play detective themselves. By the time Kovacs decided to gather everyone in the traditional “room scene” I had few concrete reasons to suspect any of them for the murder but Takeshi managed to paint a colourful picture as was, indeed, the intention. 

Perhaps this is compounded by the fact that, in Altered Carbon’s universe, the body is just a shell (wink wink), a sleeve, a skin that can be worn by anyone, what makes it difficult to guess who may be using a person’s sleeve at any given time, a fact that Altered Carbon takes advantage of throughout the series. This leads to a number of plot threads that introduce new characters and potential allies of Takeshi, such as Kristin Ortega (played by Martha Higareda), a police officer who’s aware of Takeshi’s colourful past and decides to keep tabs on him; and Vernon Elliot (played by Ato Essandoh), a former medic in the Tac Marines who initially becomes a prime suspect in Takeshi’s investigation. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Poe (played by Chris Conner), the Raven hotel’s Artificial Intelligence who takes on the appearance of, you guessed it, Edgar Allan Poe and sees himself as Takeshi’s partner in crime. If only. Poe’s introduction in episode 1 is probably the best in the series (certainly the funniest and a tad creepy as well) and I hope he returns in an eventual sequel.

Poe, one of the best supporting characters.

Since we’re talking cast I should mention a few other names that are tied to Takeshi’s past but for that I need to paint you a picture of the setting. As I mentioned earlier, in this alternate future, humanity has unlocked the means to live forever by storing their consciousness in a chip called a “stack.” In so doing however, humanity has paved the way for further differentiation of the classes, where the rich and powerful can practically live forever in the best and most alluring sleeves while the lower classes either die or often get placed in the cheapest bodies they can afford. At one point, a group of rebels called Envoys decided to rise against this system and tried to put an end to immortality. Needless to say, it did not go well for them and the series explores the events that led to their downfall alongside the murder mystery. In fact, Takeshi was the sole surviving member of their group and he was put on ice for a couple hundred of years. You can imagine he was none too thrilled about being brought back to solve the murder of an immortal, as he embodies everything Takeshi fought against.

Takeshi Kovacs, meet the new Takeshi Kovacs.

This segways nicely into an interesting discussion point as Altered Carbon’s main protagonist is played by two actors (three actually, as he’s briefly played by Byron Mann in the beginning as the above picture shows): Will Yun Lee, during his Envoy days; and Joel Kinnaman (whom you may recognize from Suicide Squad), during the murder investigation. Personally, I liked both their performances and I even felt, at times, that I could see Lee’s Takeshi in Kinnaman’s performance, what is no mean feat. Connecting the two is Quellcrist Falconer (played by Renée Elise Goldsberry), the smart and fearless leader of the Envoys and, incidentally, Takeshi’s love interest. I absolutely loved her interactions with Takeshi, be them past or present. Indeed, Altered Carbon successfully weaves and balances the Envoy storyline with the murder mystery in a way reminiscent of how Arrow used to balance Oliver’s past in the island and his day-to-day as a vigilante in Star City. Some, if not all, of the best moments in the series involve these two in some form or another. Quell is always present in Takeshi’s thoughts, even in death, and her wisdom helps him out of many a tight spot. It’s a rather beautiful, if tragic, love story and I’m a sucker for those. The ending of the series perfectly sets up the sequel playing to Quellcrist’s theme, undoubtedly the most emotional of the music tracks in the series and my personal favourite (sadly, it’s not a part of the OST). Since I mentioned music, I must admit Altered Carbon has some badass scenes that are perfectly enhanced by tracks like PJ Harvey’s “The Wicked Tongue.” Is the soundtrack worth listening to on its own? My first answer would be “no” but let me get back to you on that.

Quell is my favourite supporting character and I hope we see more of her in a sequel.

There are a few other positives and negatives I could mention about the show but I’ll do so in the spoilers section of this post. In general lines, the murder mystery is relegated to a second place after a certain point in the series as it switches to the heist genre once the criminal mastermind has been identified (perhaps somewhat sooner than I would’ve liked in retrospect). The reveal came as a bit of a surprise, even when it really shouldn’t have. Personally, I found the conclusion to the investigation more disappointing than the culprit’s identity as a few things line up rather too conveniently. 

The series has also been, to an extent, criticized for its somewhat gratuitous depictions of gore and nudity but, to be fair, it’s nothing we haven’t seen in Game of Thrones before, a series that, if I remember correctly, was praised for that very same fact not too long ago (even though I always felt this was done for the shock value and to attract viewers). However, at least the nudity doesn’t seem too out of place in Altered Carbon when you consider most of the universe’s richer denizens see their bodies, their sleeves, as a sign of their power and would probably waste no opportunity to show off (indeed, one such scene transpires between Takeshi and Miriam Bancroft). Still, I believe the series would work just as well if there was less of it.

Overall, Altered Carbon is a series I would heartily recommend to any fan of science fiction and murder mysteries, not to mention it has a solid romance story between Takeshi and Quell (and maybe between Takeshi and the beautiful Kristin Ortega, you’ll just have to see!). I’m a bit puzzled by the critics’ tepid, if not outright dismissive, reception of this series, but for a while now I’ve had the feeling that critics have become increasingly out of touch with what people look for in entertainment. Their professionalism in analyzing or critiquing a film or a series has, sadly, become more and more influenced by their biases and agendas (be those political or otherwise), as recent releases like Ghostbusters or The Last Jedi would suggest (or the different reception to The Orville vs. Star Trek Discovery insofar TV shows are concerned). In fact, James Raney over at YouTube makes an interesting comparison between reviews for Netflix’s Bright and Disney’s The Last Jedi, highlighting the lack of consistency when reviewing one of the other (you can watch his video here). Erik Kain from Forbes also wrote an article about a month ago arguing some critics didn’t do their due diligence when reviewing Altered Carbon (you can read his article here). Is the takeaway here that I should start watching everything the critics review badly? I should hope not.

With that said, let’s dive into spoiler territory.

I didn’t like the character of Lizzie, Vernon’s daughter. I thought Poe’s therapy took way too long and was meant entirely to have her show up in the last episode to save her parents through Kovacs’ levels of badassery in an outfit that felt out of place, if not out of character. Not to mention she hints at being able to see the future, something that comes entirely out of the left field and certainly adds nothing to this series but perhaps it’s setup for the sequel. It’s also rather convenient that she has the single, most damning, piece of evidence for Takeshi to round up his investigation, something you will probably guess early on and that the show will do its utmost to make you forget (or you will have solved at least half of the puzzle).

Much criticism has also been directed at the character of Reileen Kawahara (played by Dichen Lachman; did I mention the women in this show are all absolutely gorgeous?), Takeshi’s sister. As you can undoubtedly guess, she’s the evil mastermind behind everything that’s going on to the point she even has her version of Oddjob (that’s from James Bond’s Goldfinger in case you didn’t know) to run interference and murder everyone that gets in her way. I personally liked how Lachman played the character as I felt she was very attached to her brother (maybe too much so), to the point I truly believed she was sincere about wanting him back at her side, the two of them against the world, even if it was also crystal clear everyone else was utterly expendable to her. In hindsight, perhaps the flashbacks don’t accurately convey this bond as Takeshi and Reileen have little time to reconnect, after being separated since childhood, before they’re recruited into the Envoys, but Reileen certainly comes across as (overly) protective of her big brother from that point onwards. Props to Joel Kinnaman also as Reileen’s and Takeshi’s last scene aboard the “Head in the Clouds,” is especially poignant as you can see how neither truly wants to harm the other and it tears Takeshi (and the viewer) apart when he finally pulls the trigger and end his sister’s life. As the resort plunges from the skies to its inevitable doom, Takeshi ignores Ortega’s pleas to escape with her and resolves to stay with his little sister to the very end.

Please find a way to reunite brother and sister in a sequel! It’s so sad we spent so little time with her before she was outed as the villain.

I think that about covers it. As you may have noticed, I’ve taken a liking to several of the supporting characters in the show. Sadly, all of these end up dead but I’ve learned not to take death for granted in a sci-fi show, especially one where there a technology exists that can backup a person’s consciousness. Let me add here that I also liked Ortega’s busybody character but I feel her arc was well-rounded at the end of the series so I don’t think it’s necessary for us to see her again in the sequel, but maybe Takeshi will run into Elias Ryker one day? That would be fun to watch.

What did you make of Altered Carbon? Who was your favourite character? Who would you bring back? Also, with the introduction of sleeves, this show could potentially go on for as long as it wants (or has enough material), similarly to Doctor Who. Will Yun Lee could certainly reprise his role as Takeshi Kovacs or perhaps he could be played by someone else. The ending takes every precaution not give away any hint as to his ethnicity, to the point his new sleeve is even wearing gloves. Who would you like to see play Takeshi Kovacs in a sequel?

#altered carbon #netflix #takeshi kovacs #reileen kawahara #quellcrist falconer #kristin ortega #joel kinnaman #will yun lee #dichen lachman #renée elise goldsberry #martha higareda #chris conner

[patriotsnet]

How Many Republicans Are Against The Wall

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/how-many-republicans-are-against-the-wall/

How Many Republicans Are Against The Wall

Tony Romm And Seung Min Kim Washington Post

WASHINGTON – The prospects for a bipartisan infrastructure reform deal dimmed even further on Monday, as Senate Republicans alleged the White House had agreed to narrow the scope of its $2.2 trillion plan – only to reverse course days later. 

The dispute centers on President Joe Biden’s proposal to package new investments in roads, bridges and pipes with billions of dollars to help children and families. Republicans say that Biden agreed earlier this month to seek what they describe as “social” spending as part of another legislative effort, only to have his top aides take the opposite approach during the latest round of talks on Friday.

“We thought we had an understanding that social infrastructure is off – they didn’t take any of that off,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., the party’s lead negotiator.

Republicans similarly had made clear to Biden that they couldn’t support tax increases to pay for the infrastructure package, Capito added, only to have the White House reaffirm its plan to raise rates on corporations when its submitted its latest counteroffer. Days later, the senator said the move had left her and her colleagues wondering, “Are you not hearing us?”

Asked about the GOP’s characterization of Biden’s position, White House spokesman Andrew Bates said the president is not going to “negotiate through the press.”

“We understood he would try to do the rest of it without us if that was the way they needed to do the rest of it,” he added.

– – – –

Partisans Differ Over Whether Shutdown Is A Very Serious Problem

About six-in-ten adults say the government shutdown is a very serious problem for the country today, while 22% view it as a somewhat serious problem; just two-in-ten say that it is not too or not at all serious a problem for the country.

Democrats are far more likely than Republicans to view the shutdown as a very serious problem for the nation: Nearly eight-in-ten Democrats and Democratic leaners say this, compared with just 35% of Republicans and Republican leaners.

Only about a quarter of conservative Republicans and GOP-leaning independents see the shutdown as a very serious problem facing the country, compared with 47% of moderate and liberal Republicans. Ideological differences among Democrats are more modest: 85% of liberal Democrats consider the shutdown a very serious problem, while 73% of conservative and moderate Democrats say the same.

Democratic Views On A Border Wall

One of the most outspoken and controversial topics of Donald Trumps election campaign and subsequent time in office has been his stance on border control. Most notably, there was much contention surrounding Trumps goal of constructing a border wall between the US and Mexico. In the past, Democrats supported measures to create a physical barrier between the US and Mexican borders. However, the lines were clearly drawn when Trump made the proposal for his wall. While Democrats support border security, Trumps border wall concept was not the route they were hoping for. Democratic views on a border wall are overall negative, though some Democrats have seen the issue as a point of negotiation for other matters, such as Trumps battle against DACA and the Dreamers.

Here Are The 41 Republicans Who Voted Against Securing The Us Border

REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Forty-one House Republicans voted against a bill Friday that would have secured funding for President Donald Trumps border wall, addressed Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and included E-verify, among other conservative provisions.

Members voted on an amended version of GOP Reps. Bob Goodlatte of Virginia and Michael McCaul of Texass bill that provided more border security funding, only granted DACA recipients a temporary protected three-year legal status with no pathway for citizenship which moderate Republicans are fervently asking leadership to provide and included other features.

The bill failed in the House in a 193-231 vote Thursday. 

Here the Republican members who voted against the bill:

Paul Gosar of Arizona Frank LoBiando of New Jersey Tom MacArthur of New Jersey Chris Smith of New Jersey Leonard Lance of New Jersey Rodney Frelinghuysen of New Jersey Pete King of New York John Faso of New York Elise Stefanik of New York Tom Reed of New York John Katko of New York Michael Turner of Ohio Kristi Noem of South Dakota Louie Gohmert of Texas Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington David Reichert of Washington

Some of the members who voted against the bill did so because leadership altered the bill before the final vote, adding on amendments and provisions they deemed amnesty.

Medical Malpractice Law Reform

Paul has proposed radical changes in the way medical malpractice claims are handled. Under bills he has introduced multiple times beginning in 2003, a patient planning pregnancy, surgery, or other major medical procedures or medical treatment would be able to buy “negative outcomes” insurance at very low cost. If the patient were to experience a negative outcome in association with the medical procedure or treatment, he or she would then seek compensation through binding arbitration, rather than through a medical malpractice trial before a jury. Paul claims that “using insurance, private contracts, and binding arbitration to resolve medical disputes benefits patients, who receive full compensation in a timelier manner than under the current system,” as well as physicians and hospitals, since their litigation costs, and malpractice insurance premiums, would be markedly reduced.

Many Presidents Have Declared Emergencies But Not Like Trump Has

At stake is nearly $6 billion in federal funds that President Trump redirected in a Feb. 15 emergency declaration. The White House is seeking to take that money from accounts at the Treasury and Defense departments to build physical barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border. The president made the order after Congress agreed on a bipartisan basis to provide $1.375 billion in wall funds for this fiscal year, but Trump said it wasn’t enough.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., initially counseled the president against invoking the national emergency out of concerns it would divide Senate Republicans and test the separation of powers, but he voted with the president on Thursday and defended his actions as lawful.

“He has simply operated within existing law, the National Emergencies Act of 1976, to invoke a narrow set of authorities to reprogram a narrow set of funds,” McConnell said. “If Congress has grown uneasy with this new law, as many have, then we should amend it.”

Democrats broadly oppose the wall, but have argued the resolution bends the intent of the law and the constitutional authority of Congress. “We’ve never had a president like this. We’ve had lots of presidents with lots of foibles but none of them seem to equate their own ego with the entire functioning of the government of the United States except this one. We can’t succumb to that,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

Republicans Help Democrats Vote Against Trump’s Wall Funding Grab

The House voted Tuesday to revoke the national emergency President Trump declared in order to spend federal money to build a physical barrier on the southern border without congressional approval.

The joint resolution passed 245-182 with the help of 13 Republican votes. It now heads to the Senate, where many lawmakers predict it will pass with the help of at least four Republicans who oppose Trumps emergency declaration.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said the Senate would vote on the measure by mid-March.

Trump has vowed to issue the first veto of his presidency if the resolution reaches his desk, and the House vote indicates there are not enough votes to override his veto. Democrats would need to find 290 votes to override Trump, 45 short of the total seen Tuesday.

The 13 Republicans voting with Democrats were Reps. Justin Amash of Michigan, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Mike Gallager of Wisconsin, Jaime Hererra Beutler of Washington, Will Hurd of Texas, Dusty Johnson of South Dakota, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington, Francis Rooney of Florida, Jim Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, Elise Stefanik of New York, Fred Upton of Michigan and Greg Walden of Oregon.

Trump’s emergency declaration announcement came days after Congress appropriated $1.375 billion to erect physical barriers in the Rio Grande Valley. The money fell far short of the $5.7 billion Trump had been requesting.

Constitutional Rights: Limited Government

Term limits, 1970s: Paul was the first member of Congress to propose term limits legislation in the House, one of several bills considered “ahead of their time” by Texas Monthly magazine.

Market Process Restoration Act of 1999. H.R. 1789, 1999-05-13. Repeals United States antitrust law , with intent to restore market economy benefits.

To repeal the Military Selective Service Act. H.R. 424, 2007-01-11, originally H.R. 1597, 2001-04-26, cosponsored since H.R. 2421, 1997-09-05. Abolishes the Selective Service System, prohibits reestablishment of the draft, and forbids denial of rights due to failure to register.

See also the limited government and income tax abolition amendment.

Wall: Republicans Can Learn A Valuable Lesson From Democrats Rush To The Far Left

Since Joe Biden was sworn in as president, Democrats have taken advantage of their narrow majority in Congress and their control of the White House to ram through a radical agenda. From passing a $2 trillion socialist stimulus bill under the guise of pandemic relief, to enacting a flurry of job-killing executive orders, President Biden and his leftist allies in the House and Senate have abandoned their talking points urging unity in favor of pushing partisan legislation.

The policies promoted by Democrats in the few months have been extraordinarily destructive. President Biden and his allies have shown themselves to be catastrophically wrong on every important issue, ranging from tax policy to climate change, and Republicans can learn some crucial lessons from how the far left has governed.

Its clear that Democrats are attempting to consolidate as much power in the hands of the federal government as possible a goal antithetical to protecting individual liberty and the Constitution. While some of this change can be undone if Republicans regain their congressional majority, we know all too well that the GOP has failed to make good on promises to promote limited government and preserve freedom while theyve been in charge.

Noah Wall is an executive vice president at FreedomWorks.

Inflation And The Federal Reserve

In the words of the New York Times, Paul is “not a fan” of the Federal Reserve. In his own words, Paul advocates that we should “End the Fed“. Paul’s opposition to the Fed is supported by the Austrian Business Cycle Theory, which holds that instead of containing inflation, the Federal Reserve, in theory and in practice, is responsible for causing inflation. In addition to eroding the value of individual savings, this creation of inflation leads to booms and busts in the economy. Thus Paul argues that government, via a central bank , is the primary cause of economic recessions and depressions. He believes that economic volatility is decreased when the free market determines interest rates and money supply. He has stated in numerous speeches that most of his colleagues in Congress are unwilling to abolish the central bank because it funds many government activities. He says that to compensate for eliminating the “hidden tax” of monetary inflation, Congress and the president would instead have to raise taxes or cut government services, either of which could be politically damaging to their reputations. He states that the “inflation tax” is a tax on the poor, because the Federal Reserve prints more money which subsidizes select industries, while poor people pay higher prices for goods as more money is placed in circulation.

List Of Republicans Who Opposed The Donald Trump 2020 Presidential Campaign

This article is part of a series about

This is a list of Republicans and conservatives who opposed the re-election of incumbent Donald Trump, the 2020 Republican Party nominee for President of the United States. Among them are former Republicans who left the party in 2016 or later due to their opposition to Trump, those who held office as a Republican, Republicans who endorsed a different candidate, and Republican presidential primary election candidates that announced opposition to Trump as the presumptive nominee. Over 70 former senior Republican national security officials and 61 additional senior officials have also signed onto a statement declaring, “We are profoundly concerned about our nation’s security and standing in the world under the leadership of Donald Trump. The President has demonstrated that he is dangerously unfit to serve another term.”

A group of former senior U.S. government officials and conservativesincluding from the Reagan, Bush 41, Bush 43, and Trump administrations have formed The Republican Political Alliance for Integrity and Reform to, “focus on a return to principles-based governing in the post-Trump era.”

A third group of Republicans, Republican Voters Against Trump was launched in May 2020 has collected over 500 testimonials opposing Donald Trump.

Proposal To Eliminate Medicare

Paul proposes that all government funding of medical care be eliminated . His Plan to Restore America budget proposal would begin a phase out of Medicare starting in 2013, when workers younger than 25 would be able to opt out of participating in the program. He says that during the transition period, the commitments for coverage under Medicare that have already been made to older workers could be honored by cutting other government spending, such as by closing all US military bases overseas and ceasing to engage in foreign military “adventurism.”

Public Disapproves Of How Shutdown Negotiations Are Being Handled

Most Americans offer negative evaluations of the way that the nations political leaders in both parties Donald Trump, Democratic congressional leaders and Republican congressional leaders are handling negotiations over the shutdown.

Overall, just 36% of the public approves of how Trump is handling negotiations over the government shutdown, including 23% who say they strongly approve. About six-in-ten disapprove of Trumps approach to the negotiations, including 53% who say they strongly disapprove.

Views of how Republican leaders in Congress are handling shutdown negotiations generally parallel evaluations of Trump. Six-in-ten Americans say they disapprove of the way Republican congressional leaders are handling negotiations, while just 36% say they approve. However, fewer Americans characterize their views of GOP leaders handling of negotiations as strong approval or disapproval than say this about the president.

Public views of Democratic leaders handling of the shutdown talks are somewhat more positive than views of Trump or GOP leaders. Still, more disapprove than approve .

The 147 Republicans Who Voted To Overturn Election Results

When a mob of President Trumps supporters stormed the Capitol building on Wednesday, they forced an emergency recess in the Congressional proceedings to officially certify the results of the 2020 presidential election. The disruption came shortly after some Republican lawmakers made the first of a planned series of highly unusual objections, based on spurious allegations of widespread voter fraud, to states election results. The chambers were separately debating an objection to Arizonas results when proceedings were halted and the Capitol was locked down.

When the Senate reconvened at 8 p.m., and the House of Representatives an hour later, the proceedings including the objection debates continued, although some lawmakers who had previously planned to vote with the objectors stood down following the occupation of the Capitol. Plans to challenge a number of states after Arizona were scrapped, as well but one other objection, to Pennsylvanias results, also advanced to a vote. Here are the eight senators and 139 representatives who voted to sustain one or both objections.

Other Former Federal Government Officials

The Weekly Standard

Charles Fried, United States Solicitor General; Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

David K. Garman, Former Assistant Secretary and Under Secretary of Energy

Steve Baer, former president, United Republican Fund of Illinois

Juan Hernandez, political consultant, co-founder of Hispanic Republicans of Texas

Matt Higgins, former press secretary for New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani

Stuart Stevens, political consultant and strategist

Mac Stipanovich, strategist and lobbyist; former Chief of Staff to Bob Martinez

Rick Wilson, political consultant and former Republican strategist.

How Americans See Illegal Immigration The Border Wall And Political Compromise

A standoff between President Donald Trump and Democratic congressional leaders over how to address unauthorized immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border has led to a partial shutdown of the federal government one that is now the longest on record.

Learn about U.S. immigration through five short lessons delivered to your inbox every other day.Sign up now!

The United States was home to 10.7 million unauthorized immigrants in 2016, a 13% decline from a peak of 12.2 million in 2007, according to the most recent Pew Research Center estimates. This decade-long decline was driven almost entirely by a decrease in unauthorized immigrants from Mexico, even as the numbers from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras increased. Meanwhile, a growing share of unauthorized immigrants were not people who had entered the country illegally, but had arrived legally and then .

More recent data from the federal government show that 2018 saw an uptick in border apprehensions . There were nearly 467,000 apprehensions at the southwest border last year, the most in any calendar year since at least 2012. Still, the number of apprehensions in 2018 remained far below the more than 1 million apprehensions per fiscal year routinely recorded during the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.

Note: This is an update of a post originally published Jan. 11, 2019.

Cabinet Members And Political Appointees

Richard Armitage: NAYArmitage, a former Navy officer who served as deputy secretary of state under George W. Bush and deputy secretary of defense under Ronald Reagan, says he will vote for Hillary Clinton. If Donald Trump is the nominee, I would vote for Hillary Clinton, he told Politico. He doesn’t appear to be a Republican, he doesn’t appear to want to learn about issues. So, Im going to vote for Mrs. Clinton.

Condoleezza Rice: NAY George W. Bushs secretary of state blasted Trump in a Facebook statement and : Enough! Donald Trump should not be President. He should withdraw. As a Republican, I hope to support someone who has the dignity and stature to run for the highest office in the greatest democracy on earth.

Rice previously said she had no plans to get involved in the race or attend the GOP convention, a spokesman told Yahoo News. She also ruled out serving as Trumps running mate.

Brent Scowcroft: NAYThe retired lieutenant general and national security adviser, an outspoken critic of the war in Iraq, has announced that he is endorsing Hillary Clinton. Scowcroft did not mention Trump in his statement.

Donald Rumsfeld: YEAIts now a known known: The former secretary of defense under George W. Bush is voting Trump. I’m a Republican, and there’s not any doubt in my mind how I’ll vote, he told the Daily Mail, adding that it was not a close call and I don’t believe Hillary Clinton is qualified to be President of the United States.

Republican Views On A Border Wall

It is a fairly well-known fact that the Republican party is in favor of protection, and therefore a Mexican border wall. In fact, 74 percent of Republicans support building a wall on the Mexican border. Promises to build this wall were a large part of President Donald Trumps campaign, and his supporters were front and center hoping that he stuck to this plan. More than just an immigration issue, the wall became Trumps signature promise and rallying cry during his campaign. The wall goes hand in hand with Republican views that border security should be heightened and that anyone crossing the border should be given a thorough background check. Republicans favor a far stricter immigration policy than Democrats, and want to take much stricter preventative measures against illegal immigration than have been taken in the past. Of course, this isnt to say that there arent differences within the party on this issue.

There’s Battle Lines Being Drawn

But what explains that nostalgic impulse in the midst of a revolution? It is the same emotion that animated the MAGA movement which, after all, stood for make America great, again. It is a desire to return to an earlier time that the members of the movement remember as better than today.

“There’s a feeling I sense across society that people want to go back to a simpler time,” LeGate said. “No one likes Covid. People don’t feel the economy is fair. Everything looks better in hindsight.”

And he argues that efforts to regulate trading will feel to Reddit traders more like suppression, and could fuel more anger.

“If someone on Main Street loses half their portfolio in a day, nothing’s going to happen. But if a hedge fund does, they literally stop the trading,” he said. “I myself question whether this is really about protecting the individual investor or protecting the hedge fund.”

Tax Credits For Healthcare Expenses & Children’s Health Insurance Program

Paul voted in 2007 and 2009 against reauthorization and expansion of the Children’s Health Insurance Program , which is a joint state-federal program to provide health insurance for children and pregnant women in low-income families who do not qualify for Medicaid.

He has been a consistent advocate for offering tax credits for healthcare expenses. In each Congress since 2000 Paul has proposed bills that would provide families with tax credits of up to $500 for the healthcare expenses of each dependent family member, and up to $3000 for the care of each dependent with a disability or serious disease such as cancer.

Since 2003, Paul has several times introduced into Congress proposals to provide tax credits for the cost of health insurance premiums, and to increase the allowable tax deduction for healthcare expenses . He has also advocated expanding the tax benefits of health savings accounts.

Academics Journalists Authors Commentators

Reuel Marc Gerecht, writer

Michael Gerson, columnist and speechwriter for George W. Bush

Peter Mansoor, military historian

Meghan McCain, commentator, daughter of Senator John McCain

Charles Murray, political scientist and commentator

Ana Navarro, strategist and commentator

Tom Nichols, national security affairs scholar

Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Netscape; founder of Andreessen Horowitz

Mike Fernandez, founder of MBF Healthcare Partners

James Murren, Chairman and CEO of MGM Resorts International

William Oberndorf, Chairman of Oberndorf Enterprises

Federal Power: We The People Act

We the People Act. H.R. 539, 2009-01-14, originally H.R. 3893, 2004-03-04. Forbids all federal courts from hearing cases on abortion, same-sex unions, sexual practices, and establishment of religion, unless such a case were a challenge to the Constitutionality of federal law. Makes federal court decisions on those subjects nonbinding as precedent in state courts, and forbids federal courts from spending money to enforce their judgments.

Because it forbids federal courts from adjudicating “any claim involving the laws, regulations, or policies of any State or unit of local government relating to the free exercise or establishment of religion”, secularists have criticized the bill as removing federal remedy for allegations of state violation of religious freedom. As an example of potential for violation, of the Texas Constitution provides the requirement that office-holders “acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being”. The Democratic Underground online community published the holding that the bill would give state sexual-orientation laws special immunity.

Cosponsors include Roscoe Bartlett, Tom Tancredo, Sam Johnson, Walter B. Jones Jr., John A. Sullivan, John Duncan Jr., and Ted Poe.

New Poll: Senator Gardner Losing Colorado Independent Voters As Majority Of Voters Oppose Wall And Blame Shutdown On Republicans

If Elections Were Held Today, Majority of Colorado Voters Would Opt for Senator Gardners Unnamed Democratic Opponent

Washington, DC New polling from Public Policy Polling , commissioned by MoveOn and the Immigration Hub, shows that Colorado voters overwhelmingly oppose President Trump and congressional Republicans government shutdown and calls for the wall. In fact, the shutdown is hurting Senator Cory Gardners 2020 chances among critical Colorado voters.

With over 15,000 federal employees in Colorado are furloughed or working without pay, the majority of Colorado voters polled – including 62% of Independents – want Congress to vote to re-open the government without any funding for the wall. Other topline findings include

You can see the full polling memo here.

The 2018 elections clearly showed that Trumps immigration fear-mongering backfired — Mike Coffmans defeat was proof, said Tyler Moran from the Immigration Hub. Now Trump has backed himself into a corner with a shutdown that polling shows he and Republicans are overwhelmingly blamed for. If Senator Gardner doesnt move his colleagues past the tantrum and against a wall no one wants, 2020 results are going to look a lot like 2018.

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