Democrats to unveil court-packing bill today
Ever since Donald Trump replaced Justice Ginsburg on the Supreme Court Democrats have been threatening to pack the highest court in the land if they won the Presidency. Well, they won the Presidency but all was quiet on the court-packing threat until last week when Joe Biden announced he was creating a commission to study the pros and cons of expanding the Supreme Court.
But apparently that announcement was not enough for the radical Democrats in the Congress because it turns out they had no intention of waiting for the findings of the commission, according to this story the Democrats will unveil a bill today to increase the number of Justices on the Supreme Court from 9 to 13. Here is more:
CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS PLAN to unveil legislation expanding the size of the Supreme Court on Thursday, according to three congressional sources familiar with the closely held measure.
The bill would add four seats to the high court, bringing the total to 13 from the current nine. The bill is led by House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerry Nadler, subcommittee Chair Hank Johnson, and first-term Rep. Mondaire Jones. In the Senate, the bill is being championed by Ed Markey of Massachusetts.
It is quite obvious the commission Joe Biden set up to study this possibility was just for show, the outcome was already decided upon and the only question remaining was how to get to the desired result, but now it turns out the most radical Democrats in the Congress have grown impatient and do not want to wait for a report whose results were predetermined and they are moving the plan forward.
The ride is about to get very bumpy…
Supreme Court rebukes the 9th Circuit Court over continually upholding COVID-19 church restrictions
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is the most overturned court in the nation and it looks as if the Supreme Court is getting sick and tired of having to hear the same basic case over and over again when it comes to State dictators trying to use COVID-19 as an excuse to trample on religious freedom.
For the fifth time the highest court in the land has had to reaffirm the unconstitutionality of restricting people’s access to worship during the pandemic and it looks like the Supreme Court’s patience is wearing thin. In addition to overturning the 9th Circuit Court’s ruling which upheld Herr Newsom’s ban on church the Supreme Court basically told the lower court that enough was enough. Here is more:
This is the fifth time the Court has summarily rejected the Ninth Circuit’s analysis of California’s COVID restrictions on religious exercise. See Harvest Rock Church v. Newsom, 592 U. S. ___ (2020); South Bay, 592 U. S. ___; Gish v. Newsom, 592 U. S. ___ (2021); Gateway City, 592 U. S. ___.
It is unsurprising that such litigants are entitled to relief. California’s Blueprint System contains myriad exceptions and accommodations for comparable activities, thus requiring the application of strict scrutiny.
And historically, strict scrutiny requires the State to further ‘interests of the highest order’ by means ‘narrowly tailored in pursuit of those interests.’ Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. Hialeah, 508 U. S. 520, 546 (1993) (internal quotation marks omitted). That standard ‘is not watered down’; it ‘really means what it says.’” Ibid. (quotation altered).
It means what is says! It is not up for interpretation. And here is more from the same decision:
The same impatience is clear throughout the decision, beginning with the first paragraph of the decision’s analysis: “The Ninth Circuit’s failure to grant an injunction pending appeal was erroneous. This Court’s decisions have made the following points clear.”
In other words, how many times do we have to tell you to stop it?! More still:
The majority then walked the Ninth Circuit through a Constitution 101 explanation of what the lower court should not require being reminded:
“First, government regulations are not neutral and generally applicable, and therefore trigger strict scrutiny under the Free Exercise Clause, whenever they treat any comparable secular activity more favorably than religious exercise … It is no answer that a State treats some comparable secular businesses or other activities as poorly as or even less favorably than the religious exercise at issue.”
“Second, whether two activities are comparable for purposes of the Free Exercise Clause must be judged against the asserted government interest that justifies the regulation at issue … Comparability is concerned with the risks various activities pose, not the reasons why people gather.”
I doubt this will have any impact on the 9th Circuit Court’s continued attack on the freedom of religion but it was still nice to see the Supreme Court try to send the lower court a message.
Hmmm…Joe Biden withholds aid from Ukraine
According to this story Joe Biden is withholding about $150 million in aid to Ukraine even though the Congress has already approved it. Here is more:
Joe Biden is withholding military aid from Ukraine that had already been approved by Congress in the face of Russian military maneuvers at its borders.
Biden will reportedly provide only $125 million to Ukraine this year, although Congress has already approved a $275 million package. White House officials said $150 million of that aid will be withheld until Ukraine conducts the reforms that Biden is asking for.
Of course the first thing that comes to mind is that time when Joe Biden was Vice-President and he threatened to withhold aid to Ukraine unless the country dropped an investigation into a company with ties to his son Hunter. It make you wonder what kind of trouble Hunter got himself into this time…
Sunday, April 11th open thread: ‘Down Rodeo’
This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24 KJV)
Here is this week’s open thread. Please feel free to post links to interesting articles and to discuss whatever issues arise during the course of the day. Nothing is off-topic here.
You can subscribe to America’s Watchtower to receive email updates and you can also follow America’s Watchtower on Facebook and Twitter by clicking the links on the right.
The musical selection this week is Rage Against the Machine performing “Down Rodeo” live.
“The structure is set ya neva change it with a ballot pull”
“Can’t waste a day when the night brings a hearse
So make a move and plead the fifth ’cause ya can’t plead the first“
“A ballots dead so a bullet’s what I get”
New Hampshire Governor opposes COVID-19 vax passports
New York became the first fascist State in the nation to introduce COVID-19 vaccination passports which would be needed if a person would like to travel, go out to eat, or attend a sporting event or concert, and this news was quickly followed with the news that, despite Dr. Fauci’s claim to the contrary, the Biden administration was looking at doing the same thing on a national level.
Some States immediately came out against this show-me-your-papers mentality which was last seen in 1930’s Germany. Naturally Florida and Texas are leading the way but I am pleased to report that New Hampshire Governor Sununu also opposes this draconian idea. Here is more:
Requiring citizens to have a government-issued vaccine passport to travel and to attend public events would needlessly stir more controversy over the risk of contracting COVID-19, Gov. Chris Sununu said Tuesday.
“Washington is so removed from what is happening on the ground. We shouldn’t be mandating anything. These vaccine passports, creating the haves and the have-nots, you are just going to create a lot of problems and anxiety,” Sununu said.
Sununu said the passport runs counter to New Hampshire’s tradition of treating vaccines as voluntary.
“I am very hesitant about any of that. At the end of the day, it is an individual choice,” Sununu said.
Here is what the New Hampshire Senate President had to say about this issue:
“Here in New Hampshire, we believe in common sense and personal freedom. While I would encourage every citizen to get vaccinated, a ‘vaccine passport’ that separates our state into two unequal groups of people is both offensive to our shared values and disruptive to a functioning, unified community,” Morse said.
“Additionally, this type of restriction can only further harm the already ailing small businesses here in New Hampshire.”
Democrats have been threatening to use budget reconciliation in order to bypass the filibuster and push through their radical agenda with a simple 50-50 majority. Democratic Senator Joe Manchin has a message for Democrats; he did not like it when Republicans did this and he does not support the Democrats’ plan to do this either. Here is more:
Unfortunately, our leaders in the Senate fail to realize what goes around comes around. We should all be alarmed at how the budget reconciliation process is being used by both parties to stifle debate around the major issues facing our country today. Legislating was never supposed to be easy. It is hard work to address the needs of both rural and urban communities in a single piece of legislation, but it is the work we were elected to do.
I simply do not believe budget reconciliation should replace regular order in the Senate. How is that good for the future of this nation? Senate Democrats must avoid the temptation to abandon our Republican colleagues on important national issues. Republicans, however, have a responsibility to stop saying no, and participate in finding real compromise with Democrats.
He almost sounds like he has a little integrity there, but of course if he did he would not be in Washington in the first place. The truth is, being the one guy who opposes something your party really wants has advantages. You can wield great power, you can hold out until you get something you deeply desire. I would expect when push comes to shove they will come to an agreement…
Fauci’s research agency bypassed oversight of Wuhan clinic which was researching COVID
Here is an interesting story that is not making the news for some strange reason. Media darling and leftist hero Doctor Fauci, who cannot keep his story straight when it comes to COVID protocols, was the head of an infectious disease research organization which received a grant from the United States to research bat-based diseases, however this agency bypassed Federal oversight and allowed the clinic to do its research unchecked. The results of this lack of oversight have been disastrous.
Republican Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania said it is “very concerning” that the federal infectious disease research organization led by Dr. Anthony Fauci bypassed federal oversight of a grant that funded a lab in Wuhan, China to genetically modify bat-based coronaviruses.
Why is the United States funding a lab in China to genetically modify any disease in the the first place is a legitimate question in and of itself, but back to the story:
Infectious disease experts say the National Institutes of Allergies and Infectious Diseases’ (NIAID) grant with the nonprofit group EcoHealth Alliance, which involved the transfer of $600,000 to the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), described scientists conducting gain-of-function research on SARS-like viruses to make them even more contagious. But a federal oversight board created in 2017 to scrutinize such research was not notified of the grant because the NIAID opted against forwarding it for review
“When it comes to oversight of U.S. tax dollars headed to the Chinese Communist Party, Dr. Fauci seems like he’s literally whistling past the graveyard,”
Pay no attention to the research being done in China, nothing to see here. It is almost like Doctor Fauci had a dollar or two to make of this pandemic if it reached this level…
He is risen!
He is risen!
“When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large.” (Mark 16:1-4 ESV)
“But when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.” (Luke 24:3-6 ESV)
Iowa Governor signs Constitutional carry into law
Today Iowa became the 19th State to pass Constitutional carry into law when Governor Reynolds signed H.F. 756. Here is more:
Gov. Reynolds signed H.F. 756 into law and it takes effect on July 1, 2021. Upon signing the law, Reynolds stressed H.R. 756 “protects the Second Amendment rights of Iowa’s law-abiding citizens while still preventing the sale of firearms to criminals and other dangerous individuals.”
Reynold’s signature makes Iowa the 19th state to end the requirement for law-abiding citizens to get a permit before carrying a gun for self-defense.
The other 18 states are: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
Welcome to the fold Iowa! This is an important issue and it is good to see more and more States recognize what is so clearly defined in the Bill of Rights, especially in light of a recent 9th Circuit Court ruling which found that the second amendment does not give the people the right to open carry as well as the much expected gun control push from the Federal Government.
Pete Buttigieg backs away from miles driven tax
Last weekend Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg floated the idea of funding an infrastructure bill with a regressive miles driven tax which would have disproportionally hurt the lower classes and minorities. The outcry must have been overwhelming because yesterday Pete Buttigieg backtracked from the idea, claiming this is not on the table. Here is more:
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg ruled out plans on Monday to increase in the federal gas tax or charge drivers a fee based on miles driven to pay for the Biden administration’s $3 trillion infrastructure plan.
“That’s not part of the conversation about this infrastructure bill,” Buttigieg told CNN on Monday when asked about implementing a vehicle-miles-traveled fee in lieu of taxes paid at the gas pump. “Just want to make sure that’s really clear,” he added. “But you will be hearing a lot more details in the coming days about how we envision to be able to fund this.”
Buttigieg also dismissed the suggestion of a gas tax increase to pay for rebuilding the nations roads, tunnels and bridges but he said measures being discussed “are carefully thought through, responsible ideas that ultimately are going to be a win for the economy.”
Well this is certainly good news, if we can take what he says at face value and this is not snuck into another, unrelated bill, however you did notice that there is going to be some kind of new tax or tax increase coming our way? And once again I can guarantee this tax will not be just on those making over $400,000, despite Joe Biden’s promise…
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