Posted on

Biden Plans Biggest Federal Tax Hike Since 1993 To Fund Infrastructure, Climate Initiatives

Biden Plans Biggest Federal Tax Hike Since 1993 To Fund Infrastructure, Climate Initiatives

Households across the US rejoiced over the weekend as they received their first stimulus checks. And as BofA’s team of analysts parses exactly how millions of Americans will spend this money (will they buy washing machines and toasters? Or dump it into crypto/GME?), Bloomberg is out with a chilling report alerting Americans to the inevitable reality that President Biden is about to switch gears from spending to fundraising.

Of course, we use that term loosely: Despite the fact that Biden just shelled out another $1.85 trillion to finance a third round of stimulus checks (not to mention hundreds of billions in handouts to states and municipalities), his administration isn’t raising money to pay for that. Instead, they’re looking to finance a Democratic "New New Deal".

Breaking with his former boss, Barack Obama (who signed legislation to make most of the Bush-era tax cuts permanent), Biden is embarking on what could be the biggest federal tax hike since 1993 (remember ‘no new taxes’?) to finance an infrastructure plan, Biden’s climate-change initiatives, health care and economic inequality.

Here’s more from Bloomberg.

Unlike the $1.9 trillion Covid-19 stimulus act, the next initiative, which is expected to be even bigger, won’t rely just on government debt as a funding source. While it’s been increasingly clear that tax hikes will be a component – Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said at least part of the next bill will have to be paid for, and pointed to higher rates – key advisers are now making preparations for a package of measures.

With each tax break and credit having its own lobbying constituency to back it, tinkering with rates is fraught with political risk. That helps explain why Bill Clinton’s signature 1993 overhaul stands out from the modest modifications done since.

With all the talk about a federal ‘wealth tax’ (thanks, Elizabeth Warren) – progressives in certain parts of the country are already pushing for state wealth taxes in places like New York – the notion that taxes will move higher under Biden is hardly a surprise.

According to Bloomberg, the tax hikes would likely take effect next year, despite modest support for delaying them further among some Democrats. An independent analysis of the Biden campaign tax plan published by the Tax Policy Center (and cited by Bloomberg) estimated the new revenue streams would raise $2.1 trillion over a decade, though, given the current political climate (with West Virginia’s Joe Manchin still acting as a check on Democratic excess) the final total will likely be smaller. To be sure, Democrats will need to convince 10 Republicans to back the bill to circumvent the filibuster.

The overall program has yet to be unveiled. Nevertheless, analysts are penciling in between $2 trillion to $4 trillion. No date has yet been set for an announcement, though the White House said the plan would be introduced after the COVID relief bill was signed into law.

Bloomberg has a list of proposals that are reportedly under consideration, though they all likely won’t make it into the final bill. Notably the first two bullets would effectively unwind the two biggest components of the Trump tax cuts.

  • Raising the corporate tax rate to 28% from 21%
  • Paring back tax preferences for so-called pass-through businesses, such as limited-liability companies or partnerships
  • Raising the income tax rate on individuals earning more than $400,000
  • Expanding the estate tax’s reach
  • A higher capital-gains tax rate for individuals earning at least $1 million annually. (Biden on the campaign trail proposed applying income-tax rates, which would be higher)

The biggest question for Democrats is which parts of Biden’s post-Trump new deal actually need to be funded?

An outstanding question for Democrats is which parts of the package need to be funded, amid debate over whether infrastructure ultimately pays for itself – especially given current borrowing costs, which remain historically low. Efforts to make the expanded child tax credit in the pandemic-aid bill permanent – something with a price tag estimated at more than $1 trillion over a decade — could be harder to sell if pitched as entirely debt-financed.

Bloomberg’s economists believe the economic boom from Biden’s infrastructure plan could outweigh the economic hit to corporate revenue.

"The next major legislative initiative, infrastructure investment, could provide the sort of durable economic gains that not only support higher pay, but promote diffusion of those gains across demographic lines and political persuasions."

Coming from pro-Democrat Bloomberg, that’s hardly a surprise.

Just days after the media proclaimed that corporations were cancelling planned layoffs thanks to the Biden stimulus (American Airlines is a particularly salient example), the prospect of a massive hike in corporate taxes threatens to slam this trend into reverse. But the most consequential factor for Americans in the wake of the retail trading boom isn’t the effect on the labor market, but the effect on the markets.

The Fed needs the wealth effect afforded by elevated asset prices to help drive economic growth in the aftermath of the pandemic. How will President Biden, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and the Fed’s Jerome Powell square that circle? And as some Democrats will inevitably seek to delay the tax hikes (lest they wreak havoc on the economy should they coincide with the Fed’s first tightening measures) it begs a question recently raised by DoubleLine’s Jeff Gundlach: if so much of these packages is simply debt financed, then monetized by the central bank, why bother with taxes at all?

Tyler Durden
Mon, 03/15/2021 – 11:00

via ZeroHedge News

Enjoy this article? Read the full version at the authors website: https://cms.zerohedge.com/

Posted on

Report: Joe Biden Plans First Major Tax Hike in a Generation


President Joe Biden is considering a tax hike to underwrite the economic program launched by the approval of his $1.9 trillion pandemic stimulus package, a Monday report by Bloomberg claims. The tax jump will be the first major move in federal taxes in almost 30 years if successful.

Bloomberg quotes unidentified sources to outline the increases will back Biden’s promises made during his 2020 campaign.

An independent analysis of the Biden campaign’s tax plan conducted by the Tax Policy Center found it would raise around $2.1 trillion over 10 years, according to the report.

Tax hikes included as part of infrastructure and job packages will likely include repealing part of former President Trump‘s 2017 tax law that benefitted corporations and wealthy individuals, the news outlet notes, citing sources close to the matter.

As Breitbart News reported, Biden twice flagged his desire to raise taxes on everyone, including the middle class, during last year’s presidential debates.

“That’s why I’m going to eliminate the Trump tax cuts,” Biden said during his first of three debates with President Trump. And then, to accentuate the point, he said it again, “I’m going to eliminate those tax cuts.”

“His whole outlook has always been that Americans believe tax policy needs to be fair, and he has viewed all of his policy options through that lens,” ex-Biden economic aide Sarah Bianchi told Bloomberg. “That is why the focus is on addressing the unequal treatment between work and wealth.”

Any tax increases that are passed would likely take effect beginning in 2022, according to Bloomberg, which noted some lawmakers have called for the administration to hold off as pandemic-related unemployment remains high.

Democrats would need at least 10 Republicans to back the bill to move it under regular Senate rules. But GOP members are ready for a fight.

“We’ll have a big robust discussion about the appropriateness of a big tax increase,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said last month, predicting Democrats would pursue a reconciliation bill that forgoes the GOP and would aim for a corporate tax even higher than 28percent.

Follow Simon Kent on Twitter: or e-mail to: skent@breitbart.com

via Breitbart News

Enjoy this article? Read the full version at the authors website: https://www.breitbart.com

Posted on

DISGRACE: Evening Newscasts Devote ZERO Seconds to Portland Violence in 2021

It’s not over. Portland remains a city under siege. Its citizens desperately beg for help from their local leaders and yell at ANTIFA/BLM protestors to “go home,” as they hopelessly watch black-clad activists engage in acts of violence on a weekly basis in their hometown. But the ABC, CBS, NBC evening news anchors, reporters and producers are suppressing this story. As they’ve devoted zero seconds to the ongoing acts of anarchy in Portland this year. 
The liberal media obviously don’t want to embarrass Joe Biden with stories about lawlessness in Democratic cities.
Portland erupted in violence again this weekend (in addition to riots in Los Angeles and Seattle) but there was no mention of it on the evening network shows on Sunday.
On Thursday night, protestors attacked the federal courthouse and stormed two banks in Portland. Earlier this month, it was reported Biden’s Justice Department dismissed 31 out of 90 Portland protest cases.  
But if you turned on any of the Big Three (ABC, CBS, NBC) evening news shows this year you wouldn’t find any scenes of businesses being destroyed or local officials being harassed.
 
 
Fox News has been on top of the beat. Friday’s Fox and Friends covered the March 11 attacks. 
 
 
The following are just a few more of the Portland protest developments being censored by ABC’s World News Tonight, the CBS Evening News and NBC Nightly News: 
 
Biden’s Justice Department Lets Portland Protestors Go Scot Free 
 
 
On March 2, NBC’s Portland Oregon affiliate KGW channel 8 in an online article headlined “Feds quietly dismiss dozens of Portland protest cases, KGW found 31 of 90 protest cases have been dismissed by the U.S. Department of Justice, despite warnings there would be ‘consequences for acts of violence,’” reported the following: 
Federal prosecutors have dismissed more than one-third of cases stemming from last summer’s violent protests in downtown Portland, when protesters clashed with federal agents. KGW reviewed federal court records and found 31 of the 90 protest cases have been dismissed by the U.S. Department of Justice, including a mix of misdemeanor and felony charges.
Some of the most serious charges dropped include four defendants charged with assaulting a federal officer, which is a felony. More than half of the dropped charges were “dismissed with prejudice,” which several former federal prosecutors described as extremely rare. “Dismissed with prejudice” means the case can’t be brought back to court.
The dismissal of protest cases runs counter to the tough talk coming from the U.S. Department of Justice last summer. Billy Williams, then-U.S. Attorney for Oregon, vowed there would be consequences for the nightly graffiti, fires and vandalism outside the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse.
ABC, CBS, NBC evening news coverage: 0 seconds
 
Two-Hour Long Rampage In the City of Roses
 
On February 28, the New York Post reported: 
Protesters smashed up several businesses during the latest night of destruction in Portland, Oregon — with fed-up locals screaming at them to “go home,” according to reports. Around 150 black-clad protesters marched through the troubled City of Roses late Saturday, trashing businesses during “direct action” against Immigration and Customs Enforcement, The Oregonian said. “Windows were broken at a grocery store, restaurant, bank, shipping business, and multiple coffee shops,” Portland police said of the two-hour rampage. Targets included a Chipotle, Starbucks and even an Urban Pantry, KOIN News said, with social media images showing anti-ICE graffiti also scrawled across numerous buildings, including the ICE building.
ABC, CBS, NBC evening news coverage: 0 seconds
 
Mayor Harassed, ICE Headquarters Vandalized 
 
On January 25 PBS’s NewsHour online reported: 
Portland, Oregon, Mayor Ted Wheeler said Monday the ongoing criminal destruction and violence occurring in his city, which has been the epicenter of protests against racial injustice for eight months, is “unacceptable.” At a news conference Monday, Wheeler also said he had filed a police report about an “incident” that happened to him, but he did not elaborate. Later, his office said in a statement that the mayor filed a police report over something that happened Sunday evening. “The mayor is cooperating with the police investigation and encourages others involved to do the same,” the statement said. Wheeler, who was reelected in November, has been targeted before by left-wing demonstrators, including some who smashed windows and set fires inside his condo building. Earlier this month, Wheeler was accosted by a group while he was dining at a restaurant outside in Northwest Portland. A member of the group started swatting at Wheeler as others yelled obscenities at him.
…
On Wednesday following the inauguration of President Joe Biden, more than 150 people gathered outside the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement building in Portland’s South Waterfront. Portland police said protestors were throwing rocks and eggs and vandalizing the building. Six people were arrested and officers declared an unlawful assembly.
ABC, CBS, NBC evening news coverage: 0 seconds
 
For this study MRC analysts reviewed ABC World News Tonight, CBS Evening News and NBC Nightly News from January 1, 2021 through March 14, 2021.

via NewsBusters – Exposing Liberal Media Bias

Enjoy this article? Read the full version at the authors website: https://www.newsbusters.org/

Posted on

Biden reportedly planning largest tax hike in almost 30 years

President Joe Biden is reportedly planning the largest hike in federal taxes in almost three decades to fund a long-term economic recovery program to follow in the footsteps of the recently passed $1.9 trillion stimulus package.

Unnamed sources confirmed the plans to Bloomberg News over the weekend, reportedly indicating that the major tax hike — the first since 1993 — is expected to pay for key Biden administration initiatives such as "infrastructure, climate, and expanded help for poorer Americans."

But the sources said the planned changes are not designed to fund only the key priorities of the administration. With the tax hike, Biden’s team hopes to address what Democrats argue are "inequities in the tax system itself." According to the Bloomberg report, the changes include:

  • Raising the corporate tax rate to 28% from 21%
  • Paring back tax preferences for so-called pass-through businesses, such as limited liability companies or partnerships
  • Raising the income tax rate on individuals earning more than $400,000
  • Expanding the estate tax’s reach
  • A higher capital gains tax rate for individuals earning at least $1 million annually
"His whole outlook has always been that Americans believe tax policy needs to be fair, and he has viewed all of his policy options through that lens," Sarah Bianchi, a former Biden economic aide, told Bloomberg. "That is why the focus is on addressing the unequal treatment between work and wealth."
Bloomberg cited an independent analysis of the plan conducted by the Tax Policy Center, which assessed it would raise taxes on American citizens by $2.1 trillion over 10 years. The group originally projected the plan would raise taxes by $4 trillion over a decade, but revised its forecast last November.
The plans are unsurprising coming from the Biden administration and progressive Democratic lawmakers, who have already shown a willingness to raise taxes to accomplish their policy goals. Democrats snuck $60 billion in tax hikes into the coronavirus relief bill even as the country faces continued economic difficulty as a result of the pandemic.
However, despite falling in line with Biden’s campaign promises and demands from progressive lawmakers, any major tax hikes may face an uphill battle in Congress. Tax hikes, especially if they result in a repeal of former President Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, are a non-starter for Republicans. Likewise, moderate Democrats have shown some reluctance to the idea.
Moderate Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) previously told The Hill repealing Trump’s tax cuts would be a "ridiculous" idea, though he later added, "Everything’s open for discussion."
Then last month, an anonymous Democratic House member told The Hill the government should not be raising taxes.
"People would accept the corporate tax raised a few points, but beyond that you’re going to have problems, especially in the middle of an economic crisis," the lawmaker reportedly said.

via Conservative Review

Enjoy this article? Read the full version at the authors website: https://www.conservativereview.com/

Posted on

Predictable Train Wrecks On Crime And Immigration

Predictable Train Wrecks On Crime And Immigration

Authored by Charles Lipson via RealClearPolitics.com,

If you think really hard, perhaps you can imagine more disastrous policies than throwing open our country’s southern border and abandoning criminal-law enforcement in city after city. The consequences are already emerging, and they are grim. It is important to examine them without ideological blinders so we can change course before more damage is done.

Our border policies are national fiats handed down by the Biden administration. The abandonment of criminal enforcement, by contrast, is a local decision, made by supine city councils and district attorneys, many of them “social justice Democrats” backed by progressive elites and Black Lives Matter.

The problem with these policies is not their moral motivation. Helping the poor from Central America is a worthy cause. So is reducing the incarceration rate of young males from minority communities. The problem lies in their practical effects. It is those effects, not sugarplum dreams, that matter in judging public policy.

The most consequential effect of open immigration and lax criminal enforcement is to undermine the safe, stable environment law-abiding citizens need to go about their lives, free from predation. Providing that environment — and signaling clearly that you intend to provide it — is the first responsibility of government.

That means punishing crimes. The goal is not vengeance. Nor is it solely to provide justice for the victims, important as that is. It is also to send a strong message to would-be criminals: Don’t do it. It’s not worth it.

Right now, we are sending the wrong message and, by doing so, we are encouraging law breaking on a massive scale.

That encouragement is the unifying theme behind these policy disasters, one on the border, the other in our cities.

The other unifying theme is their justification under the fashionable rubric of “social justice” and “equity.” What those feel-good arguments ignore is that our criminal laws are democratic efforts to preserve personal safety and community integrity. Failing in those responsibilities harms all law-abiding citizens.

The consequences of these failures will only worsen if we don’t hold public officials accountable and change course quickly and dramatically. That begins with forcing policymakers to acknowledge the dismal consequences. So far, the Biden White House and most big-city Democrats have balked. They continue to ignore urban violence (remember, they said nothing about it at last summer’s Democratic convention) or blame it entirely on “structural racism.” As for the surge of illegal immigrants, they simply call it a “challenge.” On Wednesday, Biden’s coordinator for the southern border wouldn’t even call the crossings “illegal.” Her word was “irregular.”

This breakdown of order, and the Orwellian rhetorical gymnastics required to obscure it, are politically unsustainable. When governments fail in their essential duties, citizens will act on their own: with guns, private security, ubiquitous cameras, gated communities, and buildings guarded by doormen. That’s already happening. Over 23 million guns were sold last year, many to first-time buyers, a 60% increase from 2019. Experts were shocked, shocked to discover large numbers of African American buyers. Why should they be surprised? Don’t blacks have the same desires to protect themselves as everyone else?

Fearful citizens are voting with their feet, too, moving out of Manhattan, San Francisco, and Seattle, where personal safety and quality-of-life have deteriorated markedly. Those who stay will refuse to walk the streets in crime-ridden neighborhoods or sit on their front porches. If shoplifters are given free rein, local merchants will close, leaving honest consumers nowhere to shop except online. What do prosecutors think will happen when they decline to charge anyone who steals less than $1,000?

Meanwhile, ignoring crime on the southern border is already producing hordes of refugees, transported by well-organized, well-paid criminal gangs, who also move illegal (oops, “irregular”) drugs and counterfeit medications. Since the U.S. government doesn’t have enough centers to house this flood of refugees, they will be processed hurriedly and told, “Please come back in a year or two for your court date.” Most will never be seen again.

It’s not as if we are guessing at these effects. They are well documented. Take border crossings. Until now, the worst numbers were those for 2019, when some 76,000 children were smuggled in. The rate this year is even higher. Biden’s own Department of Homeland Security secretly projects the number to be 45% above 2019.

What’s the administration’s response? More language games. “We’re not saying, ‘Don’t come’,” DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told the press last week. “We’re saying, ‘Don’t come now.’” In Central America, his nuanced message is being heard as “Trump is gone, and the new administration is much more welcoming.” Biden’s border coordinator, Roberta Jacobson, actually acknowledged that. She called it “hope.” Whatever you call it, the effect is predictable.

For adults seeking asylum, the Biden administration has also tossed out a successful policy, negotiated with Mexico, which required petitioners to remain there while the U.S. considers their applications. With that policy gone, migrants are headed north. They are paying transnational criminal organizations to smuggle them across the U.S. border; they are actually given bands to wear, proving they paid the cartels.  They can only pray they won’t be raped, robbed, starved, or murdered en route.

The grim impact of these policies is now visible in migrant caravans, urban crime, and sour public reaction. Take the dismal crime data. “Murders skyrocketed in many major U.S. cities in 2020,” reports the Washington Post. They grew “by nearly 37 percent over 2019’s total in a collection of 57 large jurisdictions.” The jump was even larger in cities suffused with anti-police rhetoric, such as Seattle, Chicago, and New York.

As crime increases, the public is demanding more, not less, police on the streets. So far, those demands have been drowned out by strident left-wing calls to “defund the police,” repeated on an endless loop by the legacy media.

But the pushback has already begun. Minneapolis, which began defunding police after George Floyd’s death, has reversed those policies. “Residents have begged city leaders to hire additional officers, saying they’re waiting longer for responses to emergency calls amid a dramatic uptick in violent crime,” reports the Star-Tribune. The city is now spending an extra $6.4 million to recruit new officers.

These demands are coming from African Americans, as well as whites, Hispanics, and Asians. “A Gallup poll released in August reported that 81% of black respondents wanted the police presence in their community to remain the same or increase, while only 19% wanted it reduced,” Jason Riley notes.

“In a separate survey released last year, 59% of black residents of low-income neighborhoods said that ‘they would like the police to spend more time in their area than they currently do,’ versus only 50% of white residents.”

These demands are perfectly reasonable. How long before politicians meet them?

How much more needless carnage before policymakers recoil from the train wrecks they engineered and switch to a different track?

Tyler Durden
Fri, 03/12/2021 – 14:29

via ZeroHedge News

Enjoy this article? Read the full version at the authors website: https://cms.zerohedge.com/

Posted on

“Equality Act” is Bad for Women

Equality Act is Bad for WomenWASHINGTON, D.C. – HR 5 (now S 393) in the Senate, known as the so-called “Equality Act,” is an assault on women and girls’ safety and privacy. This bill would amend many federal laws by striking the word “sex,” and inserting “sex, sexual orientation, gender identity.” This amendment erases many sex-based protections for women. The Senate version states the “Q” in LGBTQ stands for “Queer,” which includes the entire universe of about 550 paraphilias outside of LGBT – one of which is pedophilia (euphemistically called “minor attracted persons”).

via Canada Free Press

Enjoy this article? Read the full version at the authors website: https://canadafreepress.com

Posted on

Famed pastor condemns ‘woke’ culture that is creeping into evangelical churches: ‘Deadly’ for the Gospel

Atlanta pastor Michael Youssef shared a powerful warning this week to evangelical churches to watch out for "woke" pastors who hide from telling the hard truths, as well as far-left ideology that is making its way to the pulpit.

The insidious theology that is creeping into the church is "deadly as far as the Gospel of Jesus Christ is concerned," he told the Christian Post in an interview reported Wednesday.

He has seen this before

Youssef, 72, who serves as pastor of the Church of The Apostles in Atlanta with about 3,000 members, told the outlet that he remembers watching the Episcopal Church collapse from the inside in the ’80s as an Episcopal priest. He said the denomination followed the culture away from Christian principles and moved toward secularism — a move made evident with its vote to approve same-sex marriage.

"Those same battles that I fought in the mainline denominations are now invading the evangelical churches," Youssef said. "It’s the same arguments, the same lingo, and the same words repeating themselves with such precision I am deeply, deeply concerned."

Youssef, the Christian Post said, is concerned that pastors are "falling into the trap" of woke cultured are doing so for a couple reasons: first, it’s "popular," and second, it "appeals to the flesh."

"Bowing to woke culture allows you to avoid rejection by culture and society," Youssef said. "It’s a very, very popular message that is now being preached from many evangelical pulpits; traditionally Bible-believing, Gospel-preaching churches. We have gone so far that it just grieves me to the point that I literally sometimes just weep tears."

Pulpit to culture

And what gets pushed from the pulpit will infect the congregation, and what infects the congregation will impact the culture.

"I’ve always believed, as goes the pulpit, so goes the pew. As goes the pew, so goes the culture," he added. "As a pastor, I put the full blame on us, right in our laps, because we want to be liked, loved, and followed on social media by millions of people. Pastors are the culprits. We need to be about Jesus, not about being liked, because that is deadly as far as the Gospel of Jesus Christ is concerned."

Now he’s doing what he can to influence younger pastors and ministry leaders to stick to Christian principles and not yield to the spirit of the age, notably the infamous "Marxist" Critical Race Theory that categorizes everything by racial victim groupings.

"Young pastors must realize that this is a deception. It’s very subtle and very clever, but it’s a deception nonetheless," Youssef told the Christian Post. "And that is the burden that God laid on my heart to such a point I just couldn’t sleep. I had to address it. I believe people are in a state of confusion and need a clear word from Scripture."

Critical Race Theory is "a very Marxist ideology that people are taking very seriously," he added. "The idea of the oppressed and the oppressors is not that simple. Now we have private Christian schools here in Atlanta where white children are apologizing to black kids. Apologizing for what? They are innocent; they haven’t done anything. It’s crazy; it’s just going insane."

As long as a pastor bows to moral relativism in an attempt not to "offend" anyone, Youssef warned, his church will fail to effectively minister to future generations. Instead of cowing to culture, he said, the Church needs to "invade" areas of society that Christians fled years ago.

"We must take charge," Youssef encouraged. "Christians have abandoned so many areas of society, from media and the classroom. Instead of withdrawing, we need to go and invade these areas and take them for Christ and not be afraid."

via Conservative Review

Enjoy this article? Read the full version at the authors website: https://www.conservativereview.com/

Posted on

Sen. Kennedy: Calling The Stimulus A COVID Bill Is Like Thinking ‘The Stripper Really Likes You’ (VIDEO)

Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) took aim at Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 stimulus bill during a Fox News interview on Thursday morning. He likened calling the bill a “coronavirus bill” to thinking that “the stripper really likes you.”

White House Press Sec. Jen Psaki boasted that the bill is the “most progressive bill in American history.”

Senator Kennedy attacked how the bill was being presented as coronavirus relief.

“President Biden says it’s a coronavirus bill and my response is, ‘Right, you know, and the stripper really likes you,’” Kennedy said. “I said the other day that calling this a coronavirus bill is like calling Harvey Weinstein a feminist. It’s just chock-full of spending porn. There are parts of it I like. I like trying to help people who are unemployed, and I like trying to help our small business people, especially our restaurants.”

Senator Kennedy slammed parts of the massive spending spree, specifically provisions that funnel taxpayer funding to prisoners and illegal aliens.

“But I don’t understand why we have to give bucket-loads of money to prisoners. Why do they need help?” he continued. “I don’t understand why we have to give money to people who are in our country illegally. I don’t understand why we have to give money to states whose revenues have gone up. I don’t understand why we have to give $130 billion to schools that refuse to open. I don’t know why we have to pay reparations — this bill has a reparations provision — and if you add up all the coronavirus spending, and then all the spending porn, there’s no comparison.”

“And to me, using a coronavirus bill to effectuate spending porn, is like looting after a natural disaster and that’s why I voted against it,” he concluded. “We tried with President Biden, he said, ‘Look, ‘I’ll meet you halfway,’ we said, ‘OK.’ Well, and then he just ignored us.”

The post Sen. Kennedy: Calling The Stimulus A COVID Bill Is Like Thinking ‘The Stripper Really Likes You’ (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

via The Gateway Pundit

Enjoy this article? Read the full version at the authors website: https://www.thegatewaypundit.com

Posted on

Distraction and Deceit: A Breakdown Of Joe Biden’s COVID-19 Address

One year after the COVID-19 outbreak was officially declared a pandemic, President Joe Biden delivered his first address from the White House. The speech, which lasted over 25 minutes, was not only replete with the expected levels of promise and pseudo-patriotic hyperbole, but also diversion, deceit, and distraction.

Let’s break down Joe Biden’s address.

“Good evening my fellow Americans. Tonight, I’d like to talk to you about where we are as we mark one year since everything stopped because of this pandemic. A year ago, we were hit with a virus that was met with silence and spread unchecked, denials for days, weeks, then months.”

Biden claimed that the virus was met with “silence” and was permitted to spread “unchecked,” marred by months of denial. A thinly-veiled criticism of the Trump administration, this ignores that Democrats were among the loudest claiming that there was nothing to be concerned about, and Joe Biden himself rejected Trump’s earliest actions to curb the spread of COVID-19 as “xenophobic.”

“I know it’s been hard. I truly know. As I’ve told you before, I carry a card in my pocket with the number of Americans who have died from COVID to date. It’s on the back of my schedule. As of now, total deaths in America, 527,726. That’s more deaths than in World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War and 9/11 combined.”

With World War I resulting in 53,402 American deaths, World War II resulting in 291,557 deaths, the Vietnam War resulting in 47,434 deaths and 9/11 resulting in 2,977 deaths, Joe Biden is technically correct in saying that COVID-19 has resulted in more American deaths. However, this comparison is made not to provide some form of contextual scale, but to redress the threat of COVID-19 as synonymous with that of a conflict. By framing the “challenge” in this manner, the range of potential solutions is drastically broadened, with increased power for the political class.

“They were husbands, wives, sons and daughters, grandparents, friends, neighbors, young and old. They leave behind loved ones, unable to truly grieve or to heal, even to have a funeral. But I’m also thinking about everyone else who lost this past year to natural causes, by cruel fate of accident or other disease. They, too, died alone. They, too, leave behind loved ones who are hurting badly.”

Aside from the claim by some that COVID-19 was the result of a biological attack from the Chinese government — a view rejected by most — then it’s disingenuous for Biden to argue that deaths from COVID-19 are not also due to “natural causes.”

“The first date, the family reunions, the Sunday night rituals. It’s all has exacted a terrible cost on the psyche of so many of us. For we are fundamentally a people who want to be with others, to talk, to laugh, to hug, to hold one another. But this virus has kept us apart. Grandparents haven’t seen their children or grandchildren. Parents haven’t seen their kids. Kids haven’t seen their friends.”

This is another example of the familiar equivalence made by Democrats. For most, it was not the virus which “kept us apart,” but government mandates — supposedly because of the virus. The distinction is an important one to make, since it places responsibility where it belongs: on the shoulders of the elected government rather than the non-existent shoulders of an unelected virus.

“The things we used to do that always filled us with joy have become things we couldn’t do and broke our hearts. Too often, we’ve turned against one another. A mask, the easiest thing to do to save lives, sometimes it divides us. States pitted against one another instead of working with each other. Vicious hate crimes against Asian Americans who have been attacked, harassed, blamed, and scapegoated.”

While decrying division, let’s not forget that Biden described the removal of mask mandates as “Neanderthal thinking” just days ago.

“Look, we know what we need to do to beat this virus. Tell the truth. Follow the scientists and the science. Work together. Put trust and faith in our government to fulfill its most important function, which is protecting the American people. No function more important. We need to remember the government isn’t some foreign force in a distant capital. No, it’s us. All of us. We, the people.”

Arguably, very little of what Biden advocates for at this stage is in line with “the science.” For example, schools remain closed despite the scientific community arguing otherwise, with Teachers Unions acting as the driving force behind their continued closure.

“Two months ago, the country — this country didn’t have nearly enough vaccine supply to vaccinate all or anywhere near all of the American public, but soon we will. We’ve been working with vaccine manufacturers, Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, to manufacture and purchase hundreds of millions of doses of these three safe, effective vaccines.”

Biden is claiming responsibility for the entire vaccine strategy, while ignoring that it was the Trump administration which delivered on the vaccine, and that there were multiple ongoing deals when he entered office regarding the current and future supply of the vaccine.

“We continue to work on making at-home testing available, and we’ve been focused on serving people in the hardest hit communities of this pandemic, Black, Latino, Native American, and rural communities. So what does all of this add up to? When I took office 50 days ago, only 8% of Americans after months, only 8% of those over the age of 65 had gotten their first vaccination. Today that number is 65%.”

Biden is similarly claiming credit for the mere progress of time. In one breath, he is criticizing the Trump administration’s failure to deliver a vaccine. Then, in another, he is claiming that “only 8% of Americans after months” were vaccinated. “After months?” Months after what?

“Tonight, I can say we’re not only going to meet that goal, we’re going to beat that goal. Because we’re actually on track to reach this goal of 100 million shots in arms on my 60th day in office. No other country in the world has done this, none. And I want to talk about the next steps we’re thinking about.”

Joe Biden is using a common statistical trick to imply international success. It is true that, in terms of total doses, the United States leads the world, with over 98 million doses administered. In comparison, China has given over 52 million doses, with India third at just over 26 million. However, when we adjust for population size, the United States is 14th in the world, with countries like Israel, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom demonstrating far more effective vaccine programs.

“And let me be clear. That doesn’t mean everyone’s going to have that shot immediately, but it means you’ll be able to get in line beginning May 1. Every adult will be eligible to get their shot. And to do this, we’re going to go from a million shots a day that I promised in December before I was sworn in, to maintaining, beating our current pace of 2 million shots a day, outpacing the rest of the world.”

Given that the goal is to vaccinate every American at some stage, we are all effectively in a waiting list already. The promise to formalize this list is hardly an achievement.

“Secondly, at the time every adult is eligible in may we will launch with our partners new tools to make it easier for you to find the vaccine and where to get the shot including a new website that will help you first find the place to get vaccinated and the one nearest you. No more searching day and night for an appointment for you and your loved ones.”

Again, a website is hardly a glorious achievement.

“And meet my goal that I stated at the same time about 100 million shots of opening the majority of K-8 schools in my first 100 days in office.”

This is a repeatedly questioned claim, which Jen Psaki has been required to walk back.

“Listen to Dr. [Anthony] Fauci, one of the most distinguished and trusted voices in the world. He’s assured us the vaccines are safe and Jun went through a rigorous scientific review. I know they’re safe. Vice President [Kamala] Harris and I know they’re safe.”

Firstly, Fauci has changed his position on various COVID-19 policies on multiple occasions, and effectively admitted to misleading the American public on the subject of masks. Secondly, both Biden and Harris promoted anti-vaccine conspiracy theories when Trump was in office, which played a role in undermining public opinion of vaccine safety.

“We’re seizing this moment and history, I believe, will record, we faced and overcame one of the toughest and darkest periods in this nation’s history. The darkest we’ve ever known. I promise you we’ll come out stronger with a renewed faith in ourselves, a renewed commitment to one another to our communities and country.”

It’s difficult to view the period of COVID-19 as “the darkest we’ve ever known” when we consider the American Civil War…

Ian Haworth is an Editor and Writer for The Daily Wire. Follow him on Twitter at @ighaworth.

The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

The Daily Wire is one of America’s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a member.

via The Daily Wire

Enjoy this article? Read the full version at the authors website: https://www.dailywire.com