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It’s Time the Tea Party Came Out of Hiding
“The cause is great, and it is for me I say, give me liberty or give me death.”
– Patrick Henry
When patriots angrily destroyed a shipload of tea in Boston Harbor in 1773, their “Tea Party” was the most significant incident in Western hemispherical political history. What began as a resistance movement against violations of man’s God-given rights provided the impetus for the revolution for independence and formal self-governing. This not only made America a nation, but the architect of modern republican governing. It was the best of times for liberty and the worst of times for tyranny.
Some 236 years after the uprising in Boston Harbor, in reaction to a government that was abusing funds in the public treasury at the expense of individual liberties, a Chicago radio host “got mad as hell and said: “He was not going to take it anymore.” On Feb. 19, 2009, Rick Santelli of CNBC challenged his disciples to join him at a “Tea Party” to protest runaway spending and violations of of their Constitutional rights. This was the catalyst that christened America’s Tea Party Movement.
With American socialism forced upon us, there is no better time to mark the 10th anniversary of the Tea Party movement than to call them back into action. The Tea Parties were individual groups of patriots, unlike today’s individual protesters. They were well organized and knew their Constitution. They were fed up with Barack Obama’s polices of “fairness and identity voter coddling” as they watched Congress pass every law he proposed.
“It is time everyone pays their fair share.”
– Barack Obama
Viewed as a threat to Obama’s extremism, the Tea Parties were labeled right wing agitators. The liberal media recanted the left’s tried-and-true tactic, condemning the patriots as a white patriarchy resistance movement, angered over Obama’s race. Yet well over 30% of them were non-white.
Tea Partiers were patriotic, religious middle and upper class moderates and conservatives. They began each protest pledging allegiance to America, and ended with prayers of gratitude for liberty. When attacked by leftist agitators, they turned the other cheek in a show of strength. As buses of paid union protesters arrived to harass them, they refused to take the bait and kept on protesting.
As Obama, Pelosi, Reed and Congress doubled down on assaults against our Constitution and our liberty with partisan spending, the Tea Party movement exploded. Peaceful organized protesters all over the U.S. were confronted with insurgents and union workers, paid to disrupt protests against Obamacare. Subversives insulted them, tried to start fights, but could not disrupt their mission to fix America.
“Obamacrats couldn’t make them act like them and resort to violence.”
– David Webb
On Sept. 12, 2009, a Tea Party protest, the largest peaceful protest in history against federal abuse, took place in Washington, D.C. against Obamacare. The Tea Party was upset at how Obama used crooked deals and shady tactics to get it through Congress. According to FreedomWorks, an estimated crowd of over 600,000 conservative protesters participated without one act of violence.
Among the speakers at the rally were House Majority Leader Dick Armey and other congressional Republicans, including Reps. Mike Pence of Indiana, Tom Price of Georgia, and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, and South Carolina’s Sen. Jim DeMint. Pence set the tone for the rally: “Americans wanted health care reform, but never wanted government to run their health care."
Throughout the event, protesters prayed, sang patriotic songs, chanted political slogans, waved the American flag and signs. Gene Healy of the libertarian Cato Institute issued this statement: “They had grave concerns about the economic future of our nation and theft of free market health care.”
Groups of agitators tried to disrupt this landmark gathering throughout the day, calling them racists and radicals and shouting obscenities. The patriots continued to ignore them until they wimped out. By the time they left Washington, the capital grounds were cleaner than when they had first arrived.
In 2013, an IRS official admitted under oath that Obama had asked them to thoroughly investigate the Tea Party and other center-right groups. But this backfired when over 500 groups sued the IRS and won "substantial settlements." Attorney General Jeff Sessions said: "There is no excuse for this! These groups deserve an apology from the IRS. This abuse of power is absolutely wrong.”
Obama claims his greatest gift to America was one they did not want: Socializing their free market health care on Christmas Eve 2009. And it cost him. During his two terms in office, Democrats lost the House, the Senate, and more state legislatures and governors than any other president due to the Tea Party.
“Republicans encouraged the “tea-baggers” to protest everything.”
– Barack Obama
Ten years after the Tea Party movement began, the House Tea Party Caucus is long gone. So too are most of the 87 House Republicans elected in the biggest GOP sweep since the 1920s. In a recent Rasmussen survey, only 8% of all voters identify with the Tea Party. In 2010, Rasmussen found that 39% of voters surveyed identified with the Tea Party and 41% agreed with their politics.
The Tea Party was the only faction in the Republican Party that showed concern for civil liberties. Sen. Rand Paul tirelessly safeguarded the 4th and 5th Amendments. Tea Partiers had a fetish for intransigence over compromise that raised the bar on eventual compromises on policies for the moderates and conservatives. Today’s socialist left is garishly demanding and won’t compromise.
But it’s hard to celebrate the anniversary of someone who can’t be found. What happened to the Tea Party? Average Americans, not patriotic organizations or Tea Party groups, elected Donald Trump. And most average Americans don’t belong to organized political groups. They depend on citizen-led political activists to inform them when Congress and the president need their help. Yet Tea Parties have been asleep for almost a decade. It is time these Rip Van Winkles wake up and put on a pot of tea for American liberty.
“Never go to bed mad. Stay up and fight.”
– Phyllis Diller
Aristotle wrote, “Ignorance is dangerous.” The socialist left claims they have a mandate. Yet the final tally shows Biden only won by an ambiguous 4%? But we all know numbers don’t mean a thing to socialists. A win is a mandate, even if 50% of America voted against socialism. The right of center and conservatives in Congress will be eaten alive without citizen support. We need the Tea Party and their organized leadership to rescue our liberty by electing patriots in the midterms.
The far left and socialists control government and traditional media. Conservative views are being censored on social media, as well as radio, TV and print media. We need organized groups like the Tea Party who are willing to do what they do best. We need help vetting and supporting patriotic candidates who will win the midterms. We need to bring back the Tea Party caucuses and groups around the nation, to keep the fires of patriotism alive. We need organized, dedicated patriots now.
“A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.”
– Edward Abbey
Biden plans to reverse abortion policies of previous administration
(The Center Square) – Just days after former President Donald Trump declared Jan. 22 as National Sanctity of Human Life Day, newly sworn-in President Joe Biden disregarded the designation and pledged to codify Roe v. Wade into federal law to prevent any changes that might occur if the U.S. Supreme Court were to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling.
“The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to codifying Roe v. Wade and appointing judges that respect foundational precedents like Roe,” a statement put out by the White House states.
Just days before, Trump’s proclamation declared that the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision was a “constitutionally flawed ruling [that] overturned State laws that banned abortion, and has resulted in the loss of more than 50 million innocent lives. … Because of the devotion of countless pro-life pioneers, the call for every person to recognize the sanctity of life is resounding more loudly in America than ever before. Over the last decade, the rate of abortions has steadily decreased, and today, more than three out of every four Americans support restrictions on abortion.”
But according to the Biden administration, “In the past four years, reproductive health, including the right to choose, has been under relentless and extreme attack.”
On Jan. 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Texas statute banning abortion, effectively legalizing abortion nationwide. The court held that a woman’s right to an abortion was implicit in the right to privacy protected by the 14th Amendment. Prior to Roe v. Wade, abortion had been illegal nationwide since the late 19th century.
Former President Ronald Reagan declared the first National Sanctity of Human Life Day on Jan. 13, 1984. It was continued under both Bush presidencies and discontinued for eight years each under presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Trump was the only president to attend and speak at a March for Life Rally in Washington, D.C.
In response to Trump’s proclamation, Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life, said, “President Trump has been a champion in seeking to protect unborn children. We are grateful for his dedication to the right to life and the work his administration has done on behalf of the most vulnerable among us.”
The Biden administration also plans to reverse Trump policies that prevented taxpayer dollars from funding Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider.
In 2019 alone, Planned Parenthood lost $60 million after it withdrew from the Title X Family Planning Program, which had previously used taxpayer funds for contraceptive services for low-income individuals. The Trump administration changed the policy to exclude any organization that offers abortion services, resulting in Planned Parenthood withdrawing from the program.
Last year, Planned Parenthood spent more than $27.4 million through a super PAC to support Biden’s election. Alexis McGill Johnson, president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said the fund will work "in partnership with the Biden-Harris administration and the pro-reproductive health care majority in Congress” to “not only reverse the attacks of the past four years, but boldly expand sexual and reproductive health care and rights for all people in the U.S. and across the globe.”
The fund supports the Biden administration's priority to institute taxpayer funding of abortions in the United States and abroad, as well as reversing the funding restrictions the Trump administration instituted on the global Family Planning Program. It has also recommended nearly 200 staffers for key positions in the administration.
Biden’s plan to codify abortion is consistent with Democrats’ efforts in May 2019 when they introduced the Women’s Health Protection Act in Congress.
The bill “guarantees a pregnant person’s right to access an abortion – and the right of an abortion provider to deliver these abortion services – free from medically unnecessary restrictions that interfere with a patient’s individual choice or the provider-patient relationship.”
Cosponsors included Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Cory Booker, D-N.J., and then-Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif.
Op-Ed: Will the tech ‘wokeforce’ be with us if we go to war?
When Google-owned YouTube suspended Donald Trump’s ability to post videos last week, it joined Facebook and Twitter in blocking the president, and many Trump supporters, from their platforms. Conservatives and others have denounced the moves as censorship. But the decisions by tech companies to refuse service to those they do not approve of – including the president of the United States – also raise concerns about national security.
The Department of Defense uses software created, delivered, and maintained by many of the same high-tech companies now engaged in shutting down online speech. If the titans of tech can pull the plug on public communications tools people have come to rely on, some observers fear, they might do the same to the Pentagon in response to a military action deemed unacceptable by, for example, San Franciscans.
Something along those lines already happened with Project Maven, a major Pentagon initiative using Google algorithms to identify drone targets. The software was well under way when, in 2018, thousands of Google’s workers protested their company becoming a defense contractor.
"We believe that Google should not be in the business of war," began an open letter from Google employees to company boss Sundar Pichai. They demanded that the company create a “clear policy” stating that it and its contractors never “build warfare technology.”
Bowing to this pressure from its own workforce, Google has stepped back from high-profile military projects. The company has been noticeably absent from the scramble among such firms as Amazon, Microsoft and Oracle to win the contract for the Pentagon’s Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, or JEDI. A 10-year deal providing cloud computing to the Department of Defense, JEDI is worth billions of dollars.
The Pentagon could rely exclusively on established defense contractors that are not squeamish about the business they’re in. But officials have been eager to work with Big Tech, where they expect to find the top talent that will gain and maintain an edge for the U.S.
That talent is proving to be touchy. Alphabet, the parent company of Google, now has a small union less interested in winning workers’ pay and benefits than in projecting ideological might. “We will use our reclaimed power to control what we work on and how it is used,” the union’s mission statement reads.
It isn’t just external political pressures that have led Big Tech companies to de-platform Trump and his supporters; the pressure also comes from within.
“We will ensure Alphabet acts ethically and in the best interests of society,” declares the company’s workers union, confident in its own ability to discern the best interests of society.
Google isn’t the only conscientious objector. Microsoft did pursue the JEDI contract – over the objections of workers who published an open letter of their own.
“Many Microsoft employees don’t believe that what we build should be used for waging war,” the letter protested. “When we decided to work at Microsoft, we were doing so in the hopes of ‘empowering every person on the planet to achieve more,’ not with the intent of ending lives and enhancing lethality.”
'Software as a Service'
Bryan Clark, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, studies military procurement of technology. He says that tech employees are less likely to object to selling to the Pentagon “as computing becomes more like a commoditized service.” Developing generic software that can be used by anyone, including the military, may be less objectionable to Big Tech workers than crafting bespoke war-fighting code. For example, Clark says, “Microsoft sells Office 365 to DoD and has sold Office to the military for decades. Cloud computing and AI are becoming similar generic services.”
But Clark notes there is a difference between how a product such as Microsoft Office has traditionally been sold and the new cloud computing model. In the past, the purchaser would buy copies of the software, whether on discs or other media, and that software would be installed onto customers’ computers. How the customers used the software was generally beyond technology companies’ reach.
The new model is “software as a service,” says Gregory Sanders. He is a fellow and deputy director of the Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. In the new model, the product isn’t housed in customers’ computers, but rather in the technology companies’ own servers – in the cloud. It is convenient and allows customers to draw however much computing power they need, not unlike electricity. But if software lives in the cloud, access to the software is regulated by those who control the cloud. Big Tech has shown it can take away software from unpopular customers – and that its judgment of who deserves its products and who does not can change dramatically.
Take Amazon Web Services’ top government sector sales executive, Teresa Carlson. She enraged the rank-and-file when she promised AWS’s “unwavering” support for police, military, and intelligence customers. That was in the summer of 2018. Things were very different two years later. The May 25, 2020, death of George Floyd led to nationwide protests against police. Reacting to the rioting, Amazon announced it was “implementing a one-year moratorium on police use of Amazon’s facial recognition technology.” That technology, called Rekognition, had been made available through the cloud.
There are reasonable debates to be had about what technologies governments should have access to and how they should be used. But what if the military comes to rely on technologies such as the cloud only to find that in a crisis those technologies are shut down or disabled by companies responding to the ideological demands of their own employees? These “security of supply considerations” are risks “the Department of Defense thinks about a lot,” Sanders says.
Internal ideological revolts have roiled companies beyond the tech giants, and are becoming a common cause of conflict between labor and management, even when management shares labor’s woke values. In June, staff at the New York Times rebelled against the editorial page for publishing an op-ed by Sen. Tom Cotton. The Arkansas Republican had advocated enlisting the military to help quell rioting. Editorial page editor James Bennet was pushed out and six months later his deputy resigned as well.
The Hudson Institute’s Clark says that if a tech giant withdrew access to services it had agreed to provide to the military, it would likely have to pay penalties for breach of contract. Such fines might make little difference to the bottom line of Big Tech. But the loss of cloud capabilities in the middle of a conflict could be disastrous for warfighters.
Sanders says the Pentagon could always invoke the Defense Production Act “if a company pulled out of a service provision in a crisis environment in a non-orderly manner.” As the Congressional Research Service puts it, the act “allows the President to require persons (including businesses and corporations)” to “prioritize and accept government contracts for materials and services.”
That might keep tech companies from leaving the government fully in the lurch in a crisis, but it isn’t a guaranteed strategy for success.
“The quality of work you get when compelling an objecting vendor wouldn’t necessarily be the best, so DoD wouldn’t want to invoke those authorities needlessly,” Sanders says.
Big Tech has proved willing to shut down service and shut out customers who become unpopular with Silicon Valley. That should be a red flag for government agencies that are considering housing their capabilities in the cloud – do they want to be constrained by the tech industry’s morals of the moment?
It’s back: The political struggle for control of banks’ loan taps
In its final days, the Trump administration is seeking to disrupt the way progressive activists increasingly impose their will on big business: through banks controlling the loan lifelines to the economy.
The Fair Access to Financial Services Rule (FAFSR), just finalized by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), aims to prevent lenders from blackballing businesses in industries opposed by the left by requiring banks to demonstrate that their loan decisions are “based on quantitative, impartial risk-based standards,” rather than political or reputational concerns.
FAFSR is a response to successful pressure campaigns waged by environmental groups and congressional Democrats, which culminated in every major American bank refusing to finance drilling projects in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), despite such drilling being authorized by President Donald Trump in 2017.
Bryan Hubbard, an OCC spokesman, told RealClearInvestigations that the rule codifies longstanding OCC guidance on banks’ obligation to provide equitable access to their services, and will ensure that banks are not “terminating entire categories of customers.”
The rule has been published in the Federal Register, though it may prove short-lived. Many Democrats oppose the measure, and they will have 60 legislative days to disapprove it by a simple majority vote, as provided under the Congressional Review Act.
The Arctic drilling conflict highlights the power of progressive groups to intimidate, cajole, and partner with corporate powerhouses to advance their agenda – often beyond legislative confines. Through boycotts and other pressure campaigns, progressives have sought to push corporations to adopt their social and cultural values on issues ranging from climate-change policy to gun control. Firearms dealers, oil producers, payday lenders, and workers in other controversial industries have had their access to capital stunted by these campaigns, which are often aimed at the circulatory system of the economy – the banking industry.
Oil companies had spent decades working through Washington channels – engaging in lobbying, writing white papers, and, of course, offering generous campaign contributions to sympathetic legislators – to obtain permission to drill in ANWR.
The debate over drilling in the nation’s largest wildlife reserve has raged since portions of the 19-million-acre area were first set aside under President Dwight Eisenhower in 1960. Twenty years later, President Jimmy Carter signed the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, which expanded the size of the reserve but opened up a coastal plain (the so-called 1002 Area) to oil exploration, subject to prior congressional approval.
That authorization has proven elusive, as preserving ANWR became a cause célèbre among environmentalists.
In December 2017, however, Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which included a provision written by Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski authorizing oil exploration in the 1002 Area. The Republican lawmaker speculated that the project could generate “$60 billion in royalties for [Alaska] alone.”
As the required environmental review process moved forward, opponents took action.
In January 2020, Senate Democrats sent a letter to all major American banks, requesting that they “stop financing . . . oil and gas drilling and exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge” in order to better “prepar[e] the U.S. economy to weather the growing impacts of the climate crisis.” The letter echoed themes found in later pressure campaigns waged by such environmental advocacy groups as the Sierra Club and Greater Good.
The banks fell quickly in line. In February, Wells Fargo announced that it would not “directly finance oil and gas projects in the Arctic region, including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).” Citigroup declared that it would “not provide project-related financing for oil and gas exploration and production in the Arctic Circle.” By Dec. 1, every major American bank had announced its refusal to finance drilling in the region, despite congressional authorization for development.
In response, Murkowski and Alaska’s other members of Congress sent a joint letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell in June, urging him to take action. The delegation highlighted how the banks in question were using “reputation risk” – the risks associated with public disfavor brought by financing politically and morally controversial projects – as a justification to deny Arctic drillers access to capital.
“By denying financing under the guise of reputation risk,” the lawmakers wrote, “these [banks] are discriminating against America’s interests, our economic recovery, and our workers, all while utilizing significant federal support and benefits.”
The regulation proposed by the OCC aims not only to end this standoff but also to ensure that other businesses “involved in politically controversial but lawful” industries are not excluded from capital markets.
Hubbard of OCC emphasized that banks receive federal deposit insurance and are given “the privilege of a national license to operate,” a license that he claims imposes on banks certain obligations. Banks have a duty, Hubbard said, to provide proportionate access to financial services, even for clients involved in legal but politically controversial industries.
The Sunday Read: Madigan’s tenure should be cautionary tale
(The Center Square) – Lost amid the national headlines of a second impeachment pf President Donald Trump last week was a transition of power at the state level that deserved barrels of ink and far more pixels – not only in Illinois, where it occurred, but across the country.
Illinois state Rep. Michael Madigan lost his bid for what would have been 40 years in legislative leadership when Emanuel “Chris” Welch (D-Hillside) on Wednesday was voted in by his peers along party lines and became the first Black Speaker of the House in Illinois history.
The Madigan story is a cautionary tale that should be written into U.S. history books to inform future generations about how absolute power corrupts absolutely.
On his way to establishing a U.S. record for tenure by a legislative leader, Madigan, an old-school Chicago Democrat, ruled with one-sided leadership that, over 38 years, ran a once-proud state – unchecked – into irreparable financial ruin.
Madigan was a king who steamrolled the state’s solvency for the benefit of the cogs in his machine and to retain his power. His reign was ended only after Illinois House Democrats no longer could risk supporting him. And even then, Madigan hung around in contention to retain his role last week with 50 of the 60 supporters he needed for another turn at the wheel.
A federal corruption probe into ComEd isolated Madigan as the dealmaker who traded patronage jobs for favorable legislation and rate increases to help the energy producer survive its struggling nuclear power plants. Two of his cronies, and two former ComEd executives have been indicted.
Madigan, who neither has a cell phone nor an email account, hasn’t been charged with a crime. A grand jury continues to investigate. If anyone benefited from the chaos wrought by COVID-19, it was Madigan, who shaved off about 70% of the legislative calendar in 2020 and kept the entire legislature at bay and off the job arguably to shield himself from public scrutiny.
But, even here in Illinois, news of Madigan’s ouster from leadership barely registered with most people – and in some markets didn’t even make the front page of newspapers.
Therein lies a fundamental problem that isn’t on its way to being repaired. We don’t teach civics in our public schools. Kids don’t know the difference between a state representative and a U.S. representative let alone know who represents the districts where they live. These same people grow up and become adults who complain about government but cannot connect the dots between government expansion and the fundamental reasons their tax burdens are twice the size of neighboring states.
We have raised generations of mopes who are barely equipped to rage against their washing machines let alone bad government.
There are no term limits in Illinois. Madigan became chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois and became not only the pivot in Springfield but the kingmaker who funded campaigns and sent a steady stream of lackeys there to do his bidding.
His House rules called for him to unilaterally call the bills that were to be voted upon and none that he didn’t want. That made bipartisan legislation impossible and effectively neutralized the minority party Republicans for nearly four decades.
The Madigan Rules were akin to playing basketball against the Harlem Globetrotters with one exception: In basketball, the team that is scored upon, by rule, gets the ball and the chance to in-bound it after each basket. Here in Illinois, the game is make it, take it.
And Madigan did of plenty of taking, mostly from taxpayers who will feel the pain of his leadership long after our children’s children are eulogized by their children.
Under his leadership, the state’s finances cratered. Costs exploded. Billions of dollars were borrowed at crazy, near-junk rates. Pension systems were raided to pay for anything and everything except pensions. Estimates of the unfunded pension obligations created under his leadership range between $137 billion and $250 billion – a hole that may never be filled and continues to grow deeper despite tax increase after tax increase.
The truth is that all government is local, and local government has far more influence on the lives of Americans than the federal government. Worse, state government is a murky mystery for far too many.
The Center Square has written more than 600 stories about Madigan over the past three years alone. Our reporters chronicled his unbalanced budgets, the #MeToo scandals that were unresolved by an inspector general (because he cleverly omitted having one and the claims expired), the gerrymandered maps that he drew, and a litany of other political shenanigans that would require a forest of trees to lay out in full.
Some of that drama finally ended last week. But rest assured there will be decades of drama here still to come.
When asked if his plans for his new role, the newly ordained Welch, whose committee passed on an opportunity to investigate Madigan in December, said that he’d, “possibly make a lot of changes.”
Welch also praised Madigan's tenure.
After all, Illinois is still Illinois.
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ILLINOIS
New Illinois House Speaker Emmanuel “Chris” Welch is the first Black speaker in Illinois House history, taking the gavel away from Michael Madigan, the state's most powerful politician. Until Wednesday, Madigan held the spot for all but two years since 1983. In a statement closing out the 101st General Assembly, his last as Speaker of the House, Madigan wished Welch “all the best.”
Policing in Illinois could look different after a sweeping criminal justice bill was passed by lawmakers in Springfield. House Bill 3653, which passed by a 60-50 vote, will change use-of-force guidelines, require body cameras for every police department in the state, end cash bail, and strip collective bargaining rights relating to discipline from police unions. The Senate passed the bill in the early morning hours of Wednesday by a 32-23 vote.
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Elsewhere in America...
TENNESSEE
Tennessee will be the first state in the nation to receive federal Medicaid funding in a lump sum. Gov. Bill Lee signed a 10-year TennCare block grant authorization into law Friday after the Tennessee Legislature passed it last week, giving the state more autonomy on administering its Medicaid program. The federal government currently funds a portion of TennCare’s costs, regardless of fluctuations each year. Under the block grant, however, the state would receive federal funds in a lump sum, providing for more flexibility in managing the funds. State officials believe the block grant also will result in cost savings for the program.
NORTH CAROLINA
Wilmington residents David and Peg Schroeder sued the city after it enacted a short-term rental ordinance that capped the number of properties that can operate as rental homes in the same area. The couple sought legal help from the Institute for Justice and won its case when a New Hanover County Superior Court judge declared the ordinance "void and unenforceable." Wilmington officials, however, have continued enforcing the policy and delayed revisions to it by at least three months.
FLORIDA
State Sen. Danny Burgess, R-Zephyrhills, filed legislation last week that would require social media websites to provide individual and business users notice that the website has suspended or disabled a user’s account with some recourse available to restore the account. Burgess characterized the bill as an “innovative and timely piece of legislation” that “originated from numerous constituents facing issues by these monopolized monster social media companies right in our own backyard.”
VIRGINIA
A Mason-Dixon Polling and Strategy poll released last week showed a majority of Virginia residents supported measures to provide financial support for parents who opted to enroll their children in alternative education systems while the state's schools remain closed. The poll found that 61% of registered voters would support giving parents a portion of the state’s K-12 funding to use for home, virtual or private education if public schools remain closed for in-person classes. And 51% of respondents supported Gov. Ralph Northam giving new federal relief funding for education directly to parents for purchasing education technology and materials, private school tuition and home education.
PENNSYLVANIA
Pennsylvania lawmakers dismayed by Gov. Tom Wolf’s apparently limitless power following his declaration of a state of emergency are moving closer to amending the state constitution to put a check on that power. Lawmakers tried other tactics to constrain Wolf in 2020, including passing bills targeting specific orders, but he vetoed those bills – even when they passed on a bipartisan basis. Now, if the Legislature approves the constitutional amendment, voters will get a chance to weigh in on the issue.
NEW YORK
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo delivered a State of the State address spread over the course of four days and capped it with a proposal to spend tens of billions of dollars on infrastructure building in what he called a “new New York.” Among his goals are revamping Penn Station, Pier 76 and the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City in a $51 billion investment that he says would create 196,000 jobs.
NEW JERSEY
State lawmakers in the Garden State are moving toward the creation of a commission that would focus on the high number of rules and regulations in the state that can serve as a drag on the economy. The New Jersey Business and Industry Association has come in favor of the creation of the commission, saying it would make the state “more responsive to its residents, more accessible to people and small businesses that do not always have the opportunity to impact government, and more transparent to all taxpayers.”
OHIO
Ohio took a step toward criminal justice reform when Gov. Mike DeWine signed a bill into law that favors treatment over jail time. The legislation, applauded by both Republicans and Democrats, requires judges to hold a hearing if a defendant applies for intervention and claims drug or alcohol abuse was a factor leading to the crime.
INDIANA
Overflow crowds of concerned citizens filled the hallways of Indiana’s Capitol as the legislature held a hearing on a bill that would stop employers from making people get a vaccine as a condition of employment. The bill, introduced by Sen. Dennis Kruse, R-Auburn, adds a freedom-of-conscience provision to Indiana law, affirming the right of citizens to opt out of vaccines for pretty much any reason.
KENTUCKY
A special committee created to review an impeachment petition against Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has given him until Jan. 22 to respond in writing to the claims against him. Meanwhile, the committee has also received a similar petition against a state lawmaker. Committee Chairman state Rep. Jason Nemes, R-Louisville, sent the formal invitation to Amy Cubbage, Beshear’s general counsel, in a letter dated Thursday.
LOUISIANA
A New Orleans social worker has sued Louisiana Department of Health leaders, arguing that denying her a license violated her constitutional rights. Ursula Newell-Davis, founder of Sivad Home and Community Health Services, is not challenging the need for the license itself, but the state’s “facility need review” policy, which requires certain types of providers to show their services are needed before they can get a license to practice and receive taxpayer dollars through the state’s Medicaid program.
TEXAS
Texas state lawmakers convened last week to begin the 87th Legislative Session. The legislature is expected to address the state’s $1 billion 2020-2021 biennial budget shortfall, police funding, and a long list of other measures in less than five months.
ARIZONA
In the wake of a ballot initiative giving Arizona one of the nation's highest top marginal income tax rates, Gov. Doug Ducey announced in his state-of-the-state address that he plans to ask lawmakers to cut income taxes. The lame-duck governor said he wants to "think big" in terms of lowering the state's tax burden and restore Arizona's reputation as a destination for people seeking an affordable place to live.
COLORADO
Colorado lost its bid to be the permanent headquarters to U.S. Space Command on Wednesday, a move the state’s leaders say is politically motivated and will cost taxpayers. Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs – where the Space Command has been temporarily headquartered – was one of the six locations being considered, but Redstone Arsenal in Alabama was selected “based on factors related to mission, infrastructure capacity, community support and costs to the Department of Defense.” Space Command would have accounted for an estimated $104 million in earnings and $450 million in economic activity in Colorado.
WASHINGTON
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee unveiled his latest capital gains tax proposal as part of his 2021-2023 proposed budget last month, which would tax the sale of stocks, bonds, and other assets at a rate of 9% on capital gains above $25,000 for individuals and $50,000 for joint filers. Opponents of a capital gains tax argue that it stands little chance of holding up in court and note that new taxes are unnecessary when state revenue is forecast to be relatively strong for the near future.
Chris Krug is publisher of The Center Square. Executive Editor Dan McCaleb and regional editors J.D. Davidson, Derek Draplin, Cole Lauterbach, Delphine Luneau, Brett Rowland, Jason Schaumburg and Bruce Walker contributed to the column.
It’s About Time! The Left & Media Finally Agree Insurrection Is Wrong
The Sunday Read: Selective reporting on Capitol chaos skews view
(The Center Square) – What exactly did we see Wednesday at the Capitol?
We know what we were shown. We know what we watched.
I suspect that you saw what I saw, and then on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, read what I read.
But what happened Wednesday at the Capitol isn’t known for certain. And I am not confident that we ever will know. Because to know, far more questions must be asked and then answered. I am not confident that the questions will be answered.
Something has changed in journalism. Conclusive outcomes are made in real time across all platforms today, and then the spin overwhelms the need for the pursuit of the truth.
In fact, for all the presumptive conclusions that you’ve read or seen in the days since, a tremendous number of questions remain to be answered.
Let’s start here: who stormed the Capitol? Again, what I saw was what you saw. A lot of Donald Trump flags, MAGA hats and signs.
These were all Trump supporters? Doesn’t seem plausible.
Could it be that simple? Probably not.
People inside the Capitol who certainly were not pro-Trump have been questioned by police. John Earle Sullivan, an activist with who founded a Utah group that is openly anti-fascist and a supporter of Black Lives Matters, captured 40 minutes of video with a female partner from inside the Capitol. That wasn’t being reported in Washington. It was reported in Utah, where Sullivan staged another protest that led to a man’s death.
On the video itself, the Insurgence USA founder can be heard saying, “As far as them storming the Capitol, I knew that was going to happen,” he said. “I’m on chats that are underground that are sending out flyers that are just like, ‘Storm all Capitols on the 6th.’ It wasn’t anything that was secret. It was something that was out there ... and they did it.”
Sullivan, whose video includes the shooting of Ashli Babbitt, was at the front of the mob.
Here in Chicago, I have seen multiple reports of a CEO who was charged for violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. His company fired him Friday. Similar callouts are happening around the country to identify and cancel not only those charged with crimes but those who simply were around the Capitol who had the misfortune of appearing on someone else’s camera.
If you’d watched Washington Post’s livestream Wednesday, you’d have been led to believe that all of the people within the camera’s view were men and women who were pro-Trumpers disenchanted by the election results of Nov. 3 and then the Georgia Senate races Tuesday night that turned out from all corners of the far right for the purpose of popping off like blood-filled ticks at the Capitol. That they had saved it all up for one final turnout in Washington, D.C.?
Say that out loud. Then think about it.
I struggle with the full plausibility of such a storyline, which we are being fed by some of the same national outlets that characterized 2020 riots in Kenosha, Wis., as “fiery but mostly peaceful” and in Minneapolis as not “generally speaking, unruly,”
That would seem to be, for any worthwhile journalist – at a minimum, lacking balance in perspective.
We should be asking why only 14 people were arrested at the scene by Capitol Police.
The Capitol Police were tactically miserable on a day made for opportunists of all stripes. Sadly, they lost one of their own in the madness.
Why is it we know all manner of things about Babbitt, the woman who was shot inside the Capitol? We know her name. What she did for a living. That she supported Trump. That she had a MAGA hat. That she owned a pool supply business. That she served 14 years in the Air Force. That she posted Q-Anon content on social media.
We don’t know – at this time – the name of the Capitol Police officer who shot her. No calls to ferret that out. No effort there. That would be contrary to the way the media swarmed to name the police officers who arrested George Floyd in Minneapolis or shot Jacob Blake in Kenosha. The names of those officers were all over the news in a matter of hours.
There is no denying people from the Save America March were loose in the Capitol. That’s indisputable. You can watch the people physically move from the rally to the Capitol.
And, for sure, there were pro-Trump supporters inside the building.
But who else was in there, and who in the media will make the effort to tell that story?
Perhaps only us.
* * * *
Elsewhere in America …
GEORGIA
The Democrats wrestled control of the U.S. Senate after Tuesday's runoff elections in Georgia. Republican incumbent Kelly Loeffler conceded to Democrat challenger Raphael Warnock on Thursday, vowing "to stay in this fight for freedom." Republican incumbent David Perdue conceded Friday to Democrat Jon Ossoff in a runoff that was called Wednesday for Ossoff. The Perdue campaign had said it would "exhaust every legal recourse to ensure all legally cast ballots are properly counted," but ended its efforts Friday afternoon.
FLORIDA
New legislation filed in Florida ahead of the spring legislative session extends COVID-19 protections to businesses, schools, nonprofits and religious institutions. Businesses would be immune from liability if courts determine the businesses have “substantially” complied with government-issued health standards or guidance. Republican leaders said separate legislation will address liability protection for the health care industry.
VIRGINIA
Although a new law allowing public-sector collective bargaining in Virginia does not go into effect until May, at least two Virginia counties are preparing to spend more taxpayer money on staff and resources if public-sector collective bargaining is approved in each county. In Fairfax County, it is suggested $1 million at the county level and $600,000 at the school board level be directed to support collective bargaining negotiations. The Arlington County Board has directed its county manager to provide budget recommendations for fiscal year 2022, with considerations for additional costs related to collective bargaining.
TENNESSEE
The state released details of a $100 million literacy initiative that will provide optional reading resources and support to students, teachers and school districts. The goal is to help students to read on grade level by third grade. State officials estimated last fall Tennessee third-graders will experience 50% learning loss in reading proficiency because of pandemic-related school closures.
NORTH CAROLINA
New federal rules require hospitals to make their health care prices public, and North Carolina Treasurer Dale Folwell called on the state's hospitals to do so. Folwell said the new transparency would increase health care's affordability and quality.
SOUTH CAROLINA
Gov. Henry McMaster announced he is allocating $19.9 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds for education programing for foster children, expanded day programs and summer school for early childhood education, and career and technical education programs in South Carolina’s state technical college system. The South Carolina Supreme Court struck down the governor's previous attempt to use the funding to enable families with pandemic-related financial hardships to keep their children in private schools.
ILLINOIS
Gov. J.B. Pritzker was all smiles about Georgia’s U.S. Senate election results Wednesday, saying he’s optimistic the federal government will come through with more state aid now that Republicans can’t block it. “I’m thrilled about the fact that the Senate changed hands,” he said. “As far as how that will affect the state of Illinois, I think there are two things that we can all immediately point to. One is that I think we will begin to see serious consideration of state and local funding, finally, because Mitch McConnell won’t be able to block it, and there are Republican senators whose states need state and local funding and they were working on that behind the scenes but Mitch McConnell would not bring that to a vote.”
Pritzker said Wednesday it could be difficult to address the state's out-of-balance budget during the short lame-duck legislative session that started Friday to wrap up the 101st General Assembly. State Rep. Mike Zalewski, D-Riverside, said thanks to last month’s federal stimulus bill, there may be some cushion to get to the next General Assembly that begins work Wednesday. Zalewski also said the governor’s announced $711 million in cuts will help bridge to the new legislature.
MICHIGAN
Michigan business and political leaders are pondering why Gov. Gretchen Whitmer chose to veto a bipartisan effort to allocate $220 million for Michigan’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund. The leaders note Whitmer’s shutdown orders are responsible for putting people out of work, but also have made it extremely difficult for out-of-work Michiganders to receive unemployment benefits.
Whitmer also declined to sign two bills into law, exercising a "pocket veto" on legislation that would have given a tax break to Meijer and allowed businesses hit hard by COVID-19 to defer summer 2020 property taxes. Critics assert the governor’s move further distorts the state’s tax code by favoring certain businesses over another.
WISCONSIN
Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley announced the officers involved in Jacob Blake’s shooting last summer will not be charged with any crimes. Blake also will not face any criminal charges. In other legal news, the FBI and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are joining Grafton police in looking into why an employee at the Aurora Health Clinic intentionally spoiled more than 500 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
MINNESOTA
The Minnesota Automobile Dealers Association (MADA) filed a federal lawsuit aiming to stop Gov. Tim Walz’s administration from adopting California’s vehicle emission standards. MADA, which represents 350 franchised new car dealers with more than 20,000 employees, claims Minnesota lacks the authority under the Federal Clean Air Act to regulate motor vehicle emissions.
NEW YORK
Much of the discussion of policies that might be coming out of Washington over the next few years has focused on President-elect Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. But now that Democrats will control the U.S. Senate, Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York is poised to become majority leader – the first from the Empire State in that role. The Brooklyn politician has served as a lawmaker since he served in the state Assembly in the 1970s and was one of the first prominent voices to call for President Donald Trump’s removal after Wednesday's events at the U.S. Capitol.
NEW JERSEY
Republican lawmakers are hoping there’s sufficient appetite among their Democratic colleagues to override Gov. Phil Murphy’s veto of a bill that passed unanimously through both the Assembly and Senate. The legislation in question aims to help restaurants and taverns struggling through the pandemic by allowing them to expand outdoor seating beyond what current regulations allow. Murphy argued it would circumvent licensing rules critical to “the public’s health and safety.” GOP lawmakers are circulating a letter seeking a veto override vote as soon as possible.
PENNSYLVANIA
The question of whether it’s safe for school-age children to be in school has been a tough one to answer during the coronavirus pandemic, with deeply held beliefs on both sides of the argument. Now, 10 months into the COVID-19 crisis, the Pennsylvania Department of Education is trying to chart a middle course by allowing elementary school children to return to in-person learning, as of Jan. 25, if local school officials decide to reopen their buildings. Middle and high school students, however, must continue their studies from home, acting Education Secretary Noe Ortega said.
OHIO
After receiving encouragement from Ohio prosecutors to veto Ohio’s new Stand Your Ground legislation and a week after hinting he might do just that, Gov. Mike DeWine signed the bill last week. DeWine wants something in return, however. For more than a year, the Republican governor pushed his plan for tighter gun controls, but the General Assembly has yet to move anything forward. DeWine hopes signing the new bill leads to more cooperation with lawmakers.
INDIANA
Republican U.S. Sen. Todd Young released a statement Wednesday just before the joint session of Congress that said he will not join other senators in objecting to Electoral College votes from up to six states, saying he believes Congress has “no authority” to do anything other than certify the votes.
KENTUCKY
Survey results released by the Kentucky Democratic Party last week show Gov. Andy Beshear has strong statewide support, but Republicans expressed skepticism about the poll. Overall, the poll showed voters support the Democratic governor by a 59% to 37% margin, including 55% of independent voters and one-third of people who voted for Trump in November. Those numbers prompted a couple of GOP officials and consultants to scoff at the findings. “I can make a poll say people loved Wonder Woman 84 if you pay me to ...,” tweeted Tres Watson, a Republican campaign and communications consultant.
IOWA
In the week since Iowa’s in-person registration requirement expired, at least three new online operators have opened sportsbooks in the state. Rush Street Interactive (RSI), BetMGM and PointsBet are among online sportsbook operators inviting Iowans to register remotely to place bets on their websites now that Iowa bettors no longer have to first visit one of the state’s 19 retail casinos to verify their identification and open an account.
MISSOURI
As providers ramp up resources to deliver millions of shots into millions of arms in the coming months, Missouri lawmakers will consider allowing dentists to inoculate patients to expedite COVID-19 vaccinations this winter and spring. House Bill 628, sponsored by Rep. Danny Busick, R-Newtown, would make Missouri the fifth state to allow dentists to vaccinate patients for the virus.
TEXAS
Many counties in Texas have imposed a new round of COVID-19-related economic shutdowns, citing executive orders still in place from Gov. Greg Abbott. In September and October, Abbott issued additional executive orders to expand capacity limits for many businesses to 75%. The affected businesses included gyms, restaurants and retail stores and some bars. In the orders, the ability to expand capacity was dependent upon the number of COVID-19 patients admitted to a hospital in a given area.
COLORADO
Researchers and public health officials are using Colorado’s wastewater system to understand the prevalence and transmission of COVID-19 throughout the state. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said studying detectable COVID-19 particles in wastewater systems helps public health officials “improve our understanding of the number of individuals affected by COVID-19, including individuals who do not have symptoms or do not undergo testing.” The department has partnered with researchers from Colorado State University, Metropolitan State University, GT Molecular and Colorado wastewater utilities to conduct a study and publish a dashboard tracking COVID-19 wastewater data.
ARIZONA
Arizona’s COVID-19 cases spiked the week after Thanksgiving, something the state's top doctor blamed on local family gatherings. Seeing the same after the December holiday week, The Center Square reached out to data firm Cuebiq to find out just how many out-of-state visitors came to Arizona, thinking that could have been a factor, rather than just locals seeing family. The data was striking. An estimated 1.38 million people, mostly from locked-down California, visited Arizona in the last two weeks of 2020, 86% of which did not quarantine. We asked state officials whether they thought these tourists could be the cause, rather than residents. They’ve yet to respond.
WASHINGTON/OREGON
Washington and Oregon have joined with over a dozen indigenous tribes in a lawsuit against the federal government to stop the sale of the Seattle National Archives building, which houses thousands of paper files related to tribal treaty documents, ancestral records and the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. The records will be sent to two separate National Archives sites in Kansas City, Mo., and Riverside, Calif. The lawsuit claims the building's expedited sale is illegal based on its relation to "agriculture, recreational, and conservation programs," and alleges the federal government did not seek testimony from tribal governments and other stakeholders.
OREGON
The same day Trump supporters breached the U.S. Capitol, a pro-Trump protest descended into an "unlawful assembly" after groups clashed and several people were injured. As Trump supporters moved in for a shouting match with counter-protesters, which included a number of uniformed anti-fascists, the two groups converged at the Capitol building. Officers spent 20 minutes pushing heavily armed Proud Boys and Trump supporters out of the area as counter-protesters dispersed.
Chris Krug is publisher of The Center Square. Regional editors J.D. Davidson, Derek Draplin, Cole Lauterbach, Delphine Luneau, Brett Rowland, Jason Schaumburg and Bruce Walker contributed to the column.
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Congress resumes Electoral College certification hours after violent incursion at Capitol; Sen. Paul predicts no further objections
(The Center Square) – Vice President Mike Pence presided over the resumption of proceedings in the U.S. Senate on Wednesday evening, several hours after the violent incursion by protesters supporting President Donald Trump.
The House of Representatives and the Senate were meeting separately Wednesday afternoon to consider a challenge to Arizona’s electoral vote results when they were forced out of their respective chambers as protesters stormed the building.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., told journalists Wednesday evening that his understanding is that there would be no further objections to the election results in the wake of the afternoon's violence.
By about 5 p.m. EST, the Capitol building reportedly had been cleared of those who had forced their way in. About 90 minutes later, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced lawmakers would reconvene to confirm the results of the Electoral College and declare President-elect Joe Biden to be the next president.
“[A]fter calls to the Pentagon, the Justice Department and the Vice President, we have decided we should proceed tonight at the Capitol once it is cleared for use,” Pelosi said in a statement.
Pelosi, a California Democrat, noted legislators already had prepared to work late into the night to accommodate the anticipated challenges to the slates of electors for six states. If a representative and a senator each sign on to challenge a given state’s results, the two chambers are obliged to exit the joint session called to ratify the results and go to their respective chambers for up to two hours of debate.
Only if both chambers agree to uphold a challenge would the electors for a state be thrown out, an unlikely prospect with Democrats controlling the House and eager to see their party’s nominee inaugurated Jan. 20.
If Paul's prediction that the expected challenges would not come to pass in the aftermath of the assault on the Capitol comes true, lawmakers should be able to move through recording the remaining electoral votes without much in the way of drama or spectacle.
Pelosi blamed Trump for the violence at the Capitol, saying it was “anointed at the highest level of government.”
“We now will be part of history, as such a shameful picture of our country was put out to the world, instigated at the highest level,” she said.
Congress to resume Electoral College certification hours after violent incursion at Capitol; Sen. Paul predicts no further objections
(The Center Square) – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Congress would resume its joint session Wednesday night as soon as lawmakers are given the all-clear to do so after the violent incursion by protesters supporting President Donald Trump.
House Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said the session was expected to resume at 8 p.m. EST.
The House of Representatives and the Senate were meeting separately Wednesday afternoon to consider a challenge to Arizona’s electoral vote results when they were forced out of their respective chambers as protesters stormed the building.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., told journalists Wednesday evening that his understanding is that there would be no further objections to the election results in the wake of the afternoon's violence.
By about 5 p.m. EST, the Capitol building reportedly had been cleared of those who had forced their way in. About 90 minutes later, Pelosi announced lawmakers would reconvene to confirm the results of the Electoral College and declare President-elect Joe Biden to be the next president.
“[A]fter calls to the Pentagon, the Justice Department and the Vice President, we have decided we should proceed tonight at the Capitol once it is cleared for use,” Pelosi said in a statement.
Pelosi, a California Democrat, noted legislators already had prepared to work late into the night to accommodate the anticipated challenges to the slates of electors for six states. If a representative and a senator each sign on to challenge a given state’s results, the two chambers are obliged to exit the joint session called to ratify the results and go to their respective chambers for up to two hours of debate.
Only if both chambers agree to uphold a challenge would the electors for a state be thrown out, an unlikely prospect with Democrats controlling the House and eager to see their party’s nominee inaugurated Jan. 20.
If Paul's prediction that the expected challenges would not come to pass in the aftermath of the assault on the Capitol comes true, lawmakers should be able to move through recording the remaining electoral votes without much in the way of drama or spectacle.
Pelosi blamed Trump for the violence at the Capitol, saying it was “anointed at the highest level of government.”
“We now will be part of history, as such a shameful picture of our country was put out to the world, instigated at the highest level,” she said.
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Balance of power in U.S. Senate rests with Georgia’s runoff elections
(The Center Square) – The fate of which party holds power in the U.S. Senate for the next two years is in the hands of Georgia voters.
Heading into the next session of Congress, Republicans hold a 50-48 advantage over Democrats with Tuesday's U.S. Senate runoff elections looming in Georgia.
Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. David Perdue faces Democrat challenger Jon Ossoff, and Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler is being challenged by Democrat Raphael Warnock. The runoff elections materialized after no candidate in either race garnered a majority of the vote in November's general election.
If Republicans win one or both of the elections, the GOP will retain control in the U.S. Senate. If Democrats win both elections, the chamber will be split, 50-50, with Democrat and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris holding the tiebreaker vote.
"We've got a job to do here in Georgia," Loeffler told supporters at a recent campaign rally. "America is counting on us. If you vote, we will win. If you don't, we will lose America."
"This election is about the difference that we can make in our lives when we elect people who care about the people more than they care about themselves," Ossoff said.
Perdue, who won 49.73% of the vote to Ossoff's 47.95% in the general election, was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2014. Before winning public office, Perdue was in business, and his previous jobs included serving as CEO at Reebok, Dollar General and Pillowtex.
Ossoff, an investigative journalist and media executive, ran for Congress in 2017 in the special election for Georgia's 6th Congressional District.
Loeffler and Warnock emerged from a pack of 21 candidates in the general election, where Warnock won 32.9% of the vote compared with Loeffler's 25.91%.
Gov. Brian Kemp appointed Loeffler, a businesswoman and co-owner of Atlanta's WNBA franchise, in December 2019 to fill the seat vacated by former Sen. Johnny Isakson, who retired.
Warnock is senior pastor of the Atlanta church where Martin Luther King Jr. preached.
The circus surrounding Georgia's presidential election and Perdue and Loeffler's support for President Donald Trump have dominated the conversation regarding the runoff elections, pushing policy to the background.
Perdue and Loeffler have framed the runoff elections as saving America versus radical socialism.
Perdue has said an Ossoff victory would lead to illegal immigrants voting, police being defunded, higher taxes, private health insurance being taken away, small businesses going out of business and the U.S. Supreme Court being packed.
Republicans need to win the two Senate seats "to protect everything that Donald Trump accomplished in these first four years," Perdue said.
Ossoff has attacked Perdue for his stock dealings in the aftermath of learning about COVID-19 and his opposition of Medicaid expansion, which Ossoff said would help keep rural hospitals afloat and make health care more affordable.
"We've lost nine rural hospitals in 10 years here in Georgia," Ossoff told supporters at a recent campaign rally. "Where's David Perdue been? While the people are forced to move hours across the state just to get to the emergency room. That's not right."
Loeffler has painted Warnock as a radical liberal and Marxist who "wants to raise taxes, socialize health care, rip away our rights, and crush our economy with the Green New Deal." She has attacked Warnock for failing to support law enforcement.
"Violent crime in Atlanta is the highest it’s been in 20 YEARS – yet [Warnock and Ossoff] are totally silent," Loeffler tweeted. "By refusing to stand with law enforcement – and instead supporting defunding the police – they’re enabling the violence."
Warnock also has questioned Loeffler's stock trades after a senators-only briefing in January regarding the coronavirus, and he said Loeffler helped stall a second round of coronavirus aid for Americans for nine months.
"[Loeffler] made her priorities clear when she sold $3 million of her own stock, called unemployment relief 'counterproductive,' and stalled relief for nine months," Warnock tweeted. "Georgians learned long ago they can't trust Kelly Loeffler to look out for anyone but herself."
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In another effort to challenge Electoral College votes, Rep. Gohmert sues Vice President Mike Pence
(The Center Square) – U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, sued Vice President Mike Pence in an attempt to challenge the results of some states’ Electoral College votes.
Another attempt is being made by U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Alabama, who says he and “dozens” of House members plan to challenge some of the Electoral College votes on Jan. 6 when the Joint Session of Congress meets to certify the votes and ratify the president-elect.
Gohmert’s lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division, asks a federal judge to give Pence “exclusive authority” to decide which Electoral College votes should be counted. Eleven others joined the lawsuit, including Republican electors from Arizona.
The lawsuit argues that Section 15 of the 1887 Electoral Count Act, which established procedures for determining which of two or more competing slates of presidential electors for a given state are to be counted in the Electoral College, or how objections to a proffered slate are adjudicated, violates the Electors Clause and the Twelfth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Section 15 designates the vice president, acting as the president of the Senate and presiding officer of the Joint Session of Congress, to “count the electoral votes for a state that have been appointed in violation of the Electors Clause.”
It also “limits or eliminates his exclusive authority and sole discretion under the Twelfth Amendment to determine which slates of electors for a State, or neither, may be counted; and replaces the Twelfth Amendment’s dispute resolution procedure – under which the House of Representatives has sole authority to choose the President,” the complaint states.
“Section 15 of the Electoral Count Act unconstitutionally violates the Electors Clause by usurping the exclusive and plenary authority of State Legislatures to determine the manner of appointing Presidential Electors, and instead gives that authority to the State’s Executive. Similarly, 3 USC § 5 makes clear that the Presidential electors of a state and their appointment by the State Executive shall be conclusive,” the complaint states.
Gohmert is asking the judge to determine if Pence is subject solely to the requirements of the Twelfth Amendment, in his capacity as president of the Senate and presiding officer of the Joint Session of Congress, to on Jan. 6 “exercise the exclusive authority and sole discretion in determining which electoral votes to count for a given State, and must ignore and may not rely on any provisions of the Electoral Count Act that would limit his exclusive authority and his sole discretion to determine the count, which could include votes from the slates of Republican electors from the Contested States,” the complaint states.
Steven Vladeck, professor of law at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law, debunked Gohmert’s lawsuit. One day later, he tweeted, “If the Twelfth Amendment somehow gave the Vice President the power to unilaterally throw out electoral votes for the other guy in favor of their own party (and even themselves), one might think that one of them would’ve noticed by now.”
Neither the White House nor the Vice President’s Office has issued a statement on the lawsuit.
GOP-selected electors cast votes in several states for Trump in which lawsuits alleging election fraud are ongoing. Electoral College votes certified by state governors or other state officials finalized Dec. 14 gave former Vice President Joe Biden 306 votes, and Trump, 232.
Gohmert says he’s joining Rep. Brooks’ challenge. Brooks told Fox News, “There are dozens in the House of Representatives who have reached that conclusion, as I have; we’re going to sponsor and co-sponsor objections to the Electoral College vote returns.”
The objection requires at least one member of the House and one member of the Senate to object in writing on Jan. 6. Next, a two-hour debate would occur, followed by each chamber voting.
Sen.-elect Tommy Tuberville, R-Alabama, indicated he would be open to objecting, Forbes reported. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, also left the door open, saying he would let the legal process play out. According to Politico, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, has also left the door open to challenge the votes.
Senate Majority Whip John Thune, R-Kansas, says the challenge effort is doomed to fail regardless of who objects. In order to throw out any Electoral College votes, the U.S. Constitution requires a majority vote cast in both the House and the Senate for each of the states’ votes in question. Neither chamber has a majority of votes.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Illinois, said Brooks’ effort is “a scam.”
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