53percenter's Blog

President Trump’s tariffs on imported aluminum and steel are securing massive wage hikes for American steelworkers with the United States Steel Corporation.

An exclusive report by Reuters reveals the details of the wage hikes for the approximately 16,000 U.S. Steel Corp union workers who have had their wages frozen for two years. Before that, between 2012 and 2015, the steelworkers only saw a six percent wage hike.

The newest contract between the union and U.S. Steel certifies that the U.S. steelworkers will see a 14 percent wage hike over the next four years, marking the largest pay increase for steelworkers in six years.

Weeks ago, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross — a staunch economic nationalist — predicted that Trump’s tariffs on imported steel and aluminum would lead to wage increases for U.S. steelworkers.

“In many ways the current negotiations between the steel companies and the [United Steelworkers] probably will be a bellwether,” Ross told Reuters. “It wouldn’t be surprising if there are some wage increases coming from that.”

The wage hikes for 16,000 U.S. Steel Corp. workers comes after nearly 2,000 United Steelworkers (USW) in Michigan and Minnesota were gifted wage increases as well, thanks to the tariffs, as Breitbart News reported.

Trump Tariffs Win Higher Wages for Michigan, Minnesota Steelworkershttps://t.co/mz8EKLqeOY

— John Binder 👽 (@JxhnBinder) October 12, 2018

The 1,850 American steelworkers who are set to see wage increases are based in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan’s Tilden and Empire mines and the United Taconite and Hibbing Taconite mines in Iron Range, Minnesota.

Iron Range, Minnesota — which was devastated by multinational free trade deals — has been revitalized by the Trump tariffs. A local report this month noted how small businesses in Iron Range are seeing employment booms and a growing economy thanks to the strong production of the iron mines in the region.

Kansas Secretary of State and GOP nominee for governor Kris Kobach’s populist welfare reform initiative includes mandatory drug testing for food stamp recipients and ending all public benefits for illegal aliens.

On Wednesday, Kobach — endorsed by President Trump — laid out his welfare reform agenda, which includes saving Kansas taxpayer money by requiring able-bodied Medicaid beneficiaries to work no less than 30 hours a week.

The plan will also require drug testing for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — otherwise known as food stamps — recipients and for Medicaid users.

“It’s time to move people off of welfare and into jobs,” Kobach said during a press conference.

Able-bodied food stamp recipients and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) users in the state would also need to start working 30 hours a week, rather than the 20 hours a week that are currently required.

Kobach’s plan also ends all public benefits for illegal aliens by mandating the use of the federal government’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program, which verifies that welfare beneficiaries are in the U.S. legally.

Kobach said his welfare reform is all about lifting poverty-stricken communities out of government assistance and dependency and into the workforce.

Editor’s Note: Kris Kobach is a columnist for Breitbart News. 

President Donald Trump threatened Thursday to send the military to block the migrant caravan heading for the United States border.

“I must, in the strongest of terms, ask Mexico to stop this onslaught – and if unable to do so I will call up the U.S. Military and CLOSE OUR SOUTHERN BORDER!” Trump wrote on Twitter.

The caravan of migrants that began in Honduras has grown to several thousand people after passing into Guatemala as it heads for the Mexican border. Other Hondurans are leaving the country to join it.

Trump threatened to stop all federal payments to Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador if the countries failed to block the flow and blamed Democrats for rejecting a reform of immigration laws allowing them to claim asylum. He also claimed that the caravan included criminals.

“Hopefully Mexico will stop this onslaught at their Northern Border,” he wrote. “All Democrats fault for weak laws!”

Trump appeared willing to end his new trade deal with Mexico if the caravan was not stopped.

“The assault on our country at our Southern Border, including the Criminal elements and DRUGS pouring in, is far more important to me, as President, than Trade or the USMCA,” he wrote.

I am watching the Democrat Party led (because they want Open Borders and existing weak laws) assault on our country by Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, whose leaders are doing little to stop this large flow of people, INCLUDING MANY CRIMINALS, from entering Mexico to U.S…..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 18, 2018

….In addition to stopping all payments to these countries, which seem to have almost no control over their population, I must, in the strongest of terms, ask Mexico to stop this onslaught – and if unable to do so I will call up the U.S. Military and CLOSE OUR SOUTHERN BORDER!..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 18, 2018

….The assault on our country at our Southern Border, including the Criminal elements and DRUGS pouring in, is far more important to me, as President, than Trade or the USMCA. Hopefully Mexico will stop this onslaught at their Northern Border. All Democrats fault for weak laws!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 18, 2018

The #MeToo movement was supposed to increase awareness of the supposed danger and oppression American women face constantly. Instead, the movement, which demands men be ruined on mere allegations alone and suggests no allegation is false or exaggerated, seems to have made Americans more skeptical of accusations.

A survey from YouGov and the Economist shows after a year of the hashtag, Americans are shifting toward those accused without due process.

“When it came to questions about the consequences of sexual assault and misconduct, there was a small but clear shift against victims,” the Economist wrote.

As always, “victims” stands in for “accusers.”

The numbers are still clearly in accusers’ favor, but have shifted over the past year.

In Nov. 2017, 28% of American adults said “men who sexually harassed women 20 years ago should not lose their jobs today.” As of Sept. 2018, 36% now say the same. Men, women, and Trump voters have all seen increases in their responses, while fewer Clinton voters feel the same.

On the question of whether “false accusations of sexual assault are a bigger problem than unreported assaults,” a larger percentage of each of the above four categories now agree. Women and Trump supporters in particular now see false accusations as more of a problem. In Nov. 2017, 10% of women and 20% of Trump supporters said false accusations were a bigger problem. Now, 15% of women and 35% of Trump supporters say the same.

When asked if “women who complain about sexual harassment cause more problems than they solve,” men actually showed no change, with about 31% agreeing now and in Nov. 2017. More women, Trump supporters, and even Clinton supporters, agree with the statement.

“Surprisingly, these changes in opinion against victims have been slightly stronger among women than men,” the Economist wrote. “Rather than breaking along gendered lines, the #MeToo divide increasingly appears to be a partisan one. On each of these three questions, the gap between Trump and Clinton voters is at least six times greater than the one between genders.”

H/t The College Fix

The Washington Free Beacon reports that two Republican candidates for state office in Minnesota were attacked while out on the campaign trail — and one sustained a serious concussion.

Minnesota state representative Sarah Anderson told the WFB that she was “punched in the arm” after stopping someone she said was destroying GOP lawn signs. The man wheeled on her and attacked, chasing her to her car and only stopping when she threw her car into reverse and fled the scene.

“It was just insane. He was charging at me, saying, ‘Why don’t you go kill yourself?'” Anderson told WFB reporter Bill McMorris. “To have someone physically coming after you and attacking you is just disheartening.”

A second Republican candidate, Shane Mekeland, who is running for state representative, says he was “sucker punched” while speaking to a group of potential constituents at a campaign stop. He was sitting at a high-top table at a local restaurant when a man stepped up and hit him, leaving Mekeland with a concussion that could take four-to-six weeks to heal.

“I was so overtaken by surprise and shock and if this is the new norm, this is not what I signed up for,” he told the WFB.

Mekeland did not say if he knew the party affiliation of the man who assaulted him.

The two assaults occurred just days after a Minnesota Democratic operative took to social media to declare war on Republican candidates, jokingly suggesting that fellow leftists “bring [Republicans] to the guillotine” in a post on Facebook. Rather than firing the staffer, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party suspended the staffer for a week.

Both Anderson and Mekeland believe the Democrats should have taken more decisive action.

BY: Joe Schoffstall Follow
@JoeSchoffstall

October 17, 2018 4:05 pm

A political action committee linked to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) pushed $100,000 to a political action committee primarily financed by liberal billionaire George Soros as part of a campaign led by four activist groups, Federal Election Commission filings show.

The House Majority PAC, a Pelosi-affiliated committee dedicated to electing and preserving Democrats in the House of Representatives, sent a $100,000 check to the Win Justice PAC on Sept. 19, according to the PAC’s newest filings.

The Win Justice federal PAC was created as part of the “Win Justice” campaign that consists of a coalition of four liberal groups—the Center for Community Change Action, Planned Parent Votes, Services Employees International Union (SEIU), and Color of Change—with the intent of pushing infrequent voters to the polls in Florida, Nevada, and Michigan and aiding Democratic politicians in the state.

The Washington Free Beacon reported last week that the Pelosi-affiliated PAC on Sept. 24 had sent $5,000 to Win Justice’s state PAC in Florida, which is registered to an agent in Tallahassee and whose finances are updated frequently. The campaign also launched PACs in Nevada and Michigan.

Win Justice’s federal PAC hauled in a total of $4.6 million—$3 million of which came from Soros—prior to the PACs most recent filings. The remaining amount came from the SEIU’s PAC and two individual donors, including Jennifer Allan-Soros, Soros’s daughter in law.

In addition to Pelosi’s recent $100,000 contribution, the PAC’s newest filings show that Soros added another $2 million on July 20, bringing the financier’s total amount given to the PAC to $5 million this cycle. The PAC has now raised a total of $8.3 million.

Win Justice’s federal PAC is also bankrolled by deep-pocketed Democratic donors S. Donald Sussman, who recently added $1 million, and Hollywood director Steven Spielberg and wife Kate Capshaw, who together gave $100,000 in funding. State Victory Action—a group primarily financed by Soros, Sussman, and Trump impeachment campaign leader Tom Steyer—pushed $200,000 to the PAC. All of those donors have also given to the Florida Win Justice PAC.

The federal PAC has disbursed hundreds of thousands in independent expenditures to help endangered Florida Democratic senator Bill Nelson, according to filings. The PAC also recently spent nearly $200,000 backing Elissa Slotkin, the Democratic nominee in Michigan’s 8th congressional district, and $50,000 on canvassing services in support of Rep. Jacky Rosen, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Nevada, who polls show down by as many as 7 points to Republican incumbent Dean Heller.

The PAC is operated by Deepak Pateriya, the chief of staff at the Center for Community Change. Deepak Bhargava, the executive director of the Center for Community Change, sits on the advisory board of U.S. Programs at Soros’s Open Society Foundations.

Two of the groups involved with the campaign—the Center for Community Change and Color of Change—are approved organizations of the Democracy Alliance, the left’s biggest dark money liberal donor network that was cofounded by Soros.

Gara LaMarche, who worked at Soros’s Open Society Foundations and is now the president of the Democracy Alliance, sits on the advisory council of the Center for Community Change.

Pelosi additionally appeared alongside Soros as a keynote speaker at the Democracy Alliance’s secretive fall investment conference last year in California, where the alliance planned out their next steps of the resistance. Pelosi can be linked to the alliance going as far back as 2013, a confidential memorandum sent to Pelosi that year shows.

The House Majority PAC did not respond to a request for comment on its donation.

Despite being constantly assured by Democrats and most of the mainstream media (but I repeat myself) that voter fraud doesn’t really happen, these nagging stories seem to keep popping up. This one, picked up by CBS News in Dallas, is a doozy. Four women have been charged with felonies in Fort Worth after the discovery that they were intercepting ballots, primarily intended for elderly voters, and filling them out themselves before trying to trick the intended voters into signing them. And it’s not just a few ballots either.

Four women are facing felony charges, accused of being part of what Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office called an organized voter fraud ring in Fort Worth.

The voter fraud charges involve mail-in ballots sent in ahead of the 2016 primary election in Texas. Paxton’s office said the case targeted elderly voters on the north side of Fort Worth…

A grand jury indicted Leticia Sanchez, Leticia Sanchez Tepichin, Maria Solis and Laura Parra on Wednesday.

Paxton’s office said the women harvested votes, by filling out applications for mail-in ballots, with forged signatures. Then they would either “assist” the voter with filling out the ballot, or fill it out themselves, and use deception to get the voter to sign the envelope the ballot would be sent back in.

The Attorney General’s office has been pursuing this case for two years and it’s a major organized crime situation. Known as “harvesters,” these women were part of a group that has been filling out ballots in the hundreds or even the thousands. While four women have been indicted on sixteen counts thus far, the AG is saying that there are more people involved and a lot more incidents. These are just the ones they feel confident they can get convictions on for the time being.

They haven’t released all of the ballots in question to the press yet, but of the ones that were reviewed, they primarily seemed to benefit Democratic candidates. Also, one of the defendants, Leticia Sanchez, was previously linked to Tarrant County Democratic Party Chairwoman Deborah Peoples. Taking those two facts into account, who do you suppose this voter fraud ring was working to benefit? It would be ludicrous to assume that they were randomly filling out ballots for both Republicans and Democrats just for the fun of it.

Also, this is a different species of voter fraud than some previous cases we’ve covered. This wasn’t some confused non-citizen who didn’t understand the system and voted “by mistake.” Nor was this one or two people who went to the wrong precinct or “forgot” they had already voted in another state. If the allegations are proven, we’re talking about an organized ring of people scooping up ballots wholesale and disenfranchising thousands of elderly voters.

But you just keep on telling me how this never happens and efforts to tighten the security of our voting system are just a racist plot.