Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) arrives at the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 27, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times) Politics

By Masooma Haq April 6, 2021 Updated: April 6, 2021 biggersmallerPrint

Senator John Kennedy (R-La.) says that the Biden infrastructure bill proposed by Democrats is actually a welfare and reparations bill that follows the agenda of the progressive Green New Deal, rather than infrastructure.

“This is a Green New Deal, welfare, and reparations bill. Being charitable, less than 10 percent of the bill is devoted to infrastructure and we don’t even know what the projects are, you know who picks and projects? Speaker Pelosi, Senator Schumer, and President Biden,” Kennedy told Fox News on Tuesday.

“Now one need not be clairvoyant to see that their projects are going to end up in New York and California and blue states,” said Kennedy. “So, there you have it—you’ve got a political slush fund.”

Kennedy also criticized the bill’s massive price tag, urging Democrats to make an effort to get GOP input.

“Now, will they work with us? I hope so, I hope they do. I will do old-man backflips if they’ll work with us, but I don’t have my hopes up.”

The Green New Deal Kennedy referred to was introduced by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) with the main objective being to achieve economic and racial justice in the United States.

Her 2019 resolution states, “clean air and water, healthy food, access to nature, a sustainable environment, and the promotion of justice and equity by stopping oppression of ‘indigenous peoples, communities of color, migrant communities, deindustrialized communities, depopulated rural communities, the poor, low-income workers, women, the elderly, the unhoused, people with disabilities, and youth” are the priorities of the bill.

The Deal also aims “to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions through a fair and just transition for all communities and workers.”

Although Biden’s infrastructure plan would spend less on each item, it will nonetheless fund many of the Green New Deal’s objectives like non-fossil fuel energy, transportation, childcare, agriculture, housing, schools, broadband, water supply, and land protection.

Some of the proposals in Biden’s infrastructure package that don’t have an estimated price tag, but are part of the Green New Deal agenda, include calling on Congress to:

• Tackle long-term unemployment and underemployment through a new subsidized jobs program.
• Eliminate sub-minimum wage provisions in section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act and expand access to competitive, integrated employment opportunities and fair wages for workers with disabilities.
• Ensure all workers have a free and fair choice to join a union by passing the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act and guarantee union and bargaining rights for public service workers.
• Tie federal investments in clean energy and infrastructure to prevailing wages and require transportation investments to meet existing transit labor protections.
• Provide the federal government with the tools it needs to ensure employers are providing workers with good jobs—including jobs with fair and equal pay, safe and healthy workplaces, and workplaces free from racial, gender, and other forms of discrimination and harassment.
• Take immediate steps to spur the construction and rehabilitation of homes for underserved communities.
• Pass the Neighborhood Homes Investment Act, which calls for the creation of a new federal tax credit that will produce new equity investment dollars for the development and renovation of 1-4 family housing in distressed urban, suburban, and rural neighborhoods.
• Quadruple support for the Manufacturing Extensions Partnership—increasing the involvement of minority-owned and rurally-located small-and-medium-sized enterprises in technological advancement.
• Ensure that new jobs created in clean energy, manufacturing, and infrastructure are open and accessible to women and people of color.
• Invest in job training for formerly incarcerated individuals and in improving public safety.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) speaks to reporters in Washington on April 21, 2020. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) Donald Trump

By Zachary Stieber April 7, 2021 Updated: April 7, 2021 biggersmallerPrint

Former President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) did not request a pardon from him.

“Congressman Matt Gaetz has never asked me for a pardon,” Trump said in a statement.

“It must be remembered that he has totally denied the accusations against him,” he added.

Citing two anonymous sources, the New York Times claimed in a recent report that Gaetz asked the White House for preemptive pardons for himself and others.

A spokesperson for Gaetz said that the sources were conflating Gaetz’s public call last year for Trump to pardon a slew of people.

“Entry-level political operatives have conflated a pardon call from Representative Gaetz—where he called for President Trump to pardon ‘everyone from himself, to his administration, to Joe Exotic’—with these false and increasingly bizarre, partisan allegations against him,” the spokesman said. “Those comments have been on the record for some time, and President Trump even retweeted the congressman, who tweeted them out himself.”

Gaetz is reportedly being investigated for possibly paying a minor girl for sex. The Florida representative has vehemently denied the accusations.

“First, I have never, ever paid for sex. And second, I, as an adult man, have not slept with a 17-year-old,” he wrote in an op-ed this week.

Gaetz said he is not a monk and is enjoying monogamy. He is engaged.

“It comes as no surprise that my political opponents want to sensationalize and criminalize my prior sex life just as I am getting engaged to the best person I’ve ever known. It is regrettable that the battle of ideas should thus become so personal. But then again, when your ideas suck, you need to stoop this low,” he added.

The updates came after a former Air Force officer, Bob Kent, admitted to being part of a group that tried to press Gaetz’s father, former Florida Sen. Don Gaetz, for $25 million in return for making his son’s “future legal and political problems go away.”

Kent said what happened was not extortion and that there was never any threat involved.

Rep. Gaetz has described what Kent and others did as attempted extortion and said his dad wore a wire as part of a federal probe into the matter

The FBI declined to comment to The Epoch Times and the Department of Justice has not returned inquiries.

Documents published last week outlined the alleged extortion scheme. They included an email from assistant U.S. Attorney David Goldberg confirming to Don Gaetz’s lawyer that he was cooperating with the FBI.

A former Gaetz staffer came forward on Monday to accuse the FBI of approaching him with “baseless” claims as he attested to Gaetz’s character.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers detain a man during an operation in Escondido, Calif., on July 8, 2019. (Gregory Bull/AP Photo) Immigration & Border Security

By Janita Kan April 6, 2021 Updated: April 7, 2021 biggersmallerPrint

Attorneys general from Texas and Louisiana on Tuesday took the Biden administration to court alleging that it is refusing to take custody of illegal immigrants convicted of serious crimes after the administration set rules narrowing its immigration enforcement priorities.

The states are seeking to block two Department of Homeland Security (DHS) memorandums issued early in the administration that established “interim enforcement priorities.” These priorities include narrowing immigration enforcement to three categories: individuals who have been engaged in or suspected of terrorism or espionage; immigrants who crossed into the United States illegally on or after Nov. 1, 2020; and individuals convicted of an “aggravated felony.”

The attorneys general argue that the memoranda failed to prioritize detention of criminal aliens with final orders of removal, criminal aliens convicted of drug offenses, or criminal aliens convicted of crimes of moral turpitude.

The result of implementing the two memoranda, the lawsuit argues, has led to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) rescinding detainer requests related to incarcerated criminal aliens, not issuing detainer requests for illegal aliens subject to mandatory removal, and the release of such individuals from federal detention facilities in Louisiana and Texas.

“As a consequence, dangerous criminal aliens are being released into local communities,” the lawsuit (pdf) argues.

The states say the refusal to detain criminal aliens who have committed drug offenses of crimes of moral turpitude violates federal law. To ensure public safety, the states have taken measures to keep some of the criminal aliens in custody in response to the situation at the expense of state taxpayers, they said.

“President Biden’s outright refusal to enforce the law is exacerbating an unprecedented border crisis. By failing to take custody of criminal aliens and giving no explanation for this reckless policy change, the Biden Administration is demonstrating a blatant disregard for Texans’ and Americans’ safety,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement.

“Law and order must be immediately upheld and enforced to ensure the safety of our communities. Dangerous and violent illegal aliens must be removed from our communities as required by federal law.”

The states are asking the court to declare parts of the memoranda unlawful, block the enforcement of part of the memoranda, and force federal authorities to take custody of the criminal aliens.

The White House and ICE press offices did not immediately respond to The Epoch Times’ request for comment.

The first memo (pdf) was issued on Jan. 20 and acted as interim guidelines for DHS agencies to follow while a review of policies and practices concerning immigration enforcement took place. The guidelines essentially focused all enforcement actions to the three categories as well as issue a 100-day pause on deportations.

At the time the department justified its decision, saying that “DHS cannot respond to all immigration violations or remove all persons unlawfully in the United States” due to limited resources.

“Rather, DHS must implement civil immigration enforcement based on sensible priorities and changing circumstances,” the memo stated.

The second memo (pdf) was issued on Feb. 18 as additional guidance to the Jan. 20 memo and also required ICE officers to obtain pre-approval from managers to arrest some illegal immigrants if they do not fall within the three categories. The Feb. 18 memo is expected to last for three months in which DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is expected to issue new enforcement guidelines for the department.

“By focusing our limited resources on cases that present threats to national security, border security, and public safety, our agency will more ably and effectively execute its law enforcement mission,” ICE Acting Director Tae Johnson said in a statement at the time.

The 100-day suspension on deportations order has been blocked by a federal court indefinitely after Paxton sued the Biden administration. The judge found that the Lone Star state would be harmed by the moratorium. Follow Janita on Twitter: @janitakan

“TRUMP’S BIG LIE” IS REALLY THE “LEFT’S BIG HIDE” (OF THE TRUTH)!

LewView of this powerful image? Lady Liberty is being rescued by the shadowy figure representing every single patriotic citizen of the United States of America! Keep the faith! She may be wounded and NEEDING ASSISTANCE but SHE IS FAR FROM DEAD and the truth is slowly coming out regarding the monumental betrayal of America, her citizens, and her FREEDOMS!

I will again suggest checking out the MeWe platform as that is where I re-discovered Mr. JovanHutton Pulitzer (after seeing him testify on television during the Georgia election hearings) – there you will find many incredibly intelligent, creative and logically thinking individuals representing the more traditional American values most of us were taught, acknowledge and support. Rather like going to a strange environment yet still feeling a comfortable sense of being at home.

“TRUMP’S BIG LIE” IS REALLY THE “LEFT’S BIG HIDE” (OF THE TRUTH)!

As the left continually calls obvious “2020 Election Fraud” just a BIG TRUMP LIE, while simultaneously attempting to suppress the legitimate growing evidence of its existence, those who previously trusted Main Stream Media can either acknowledge they have been deceived and recognize those FAKE NEWS SOURCES for what they are – ANTI-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA OUTLETS and seek alternative reputable news sources with a history of factual reporting, or,

they can continue to support and be deceived by such false information designed to assist in the demoralizing of our country’s population towards its Leftist planned demise. Those in the “MEDIA” who intentionally suppress truth and disseminate this false information as news are (in LewView opinion) “major-player traitors” to America and should be avoided like COVID-19! (loss of US citizenship and deportation to their “dream country” of choice wouldn’t be too far off track either considering the damage they have, and continue to do, to this nation.)

My best to you and yours, Lew……

of course others might interpret the image much differently (yes at first blush I also thought the shadow represented military action as well) – but either way, (as the military could arguably also be a representation of the US citizen) notice the rescuer is now [I would argue temporarily] holding the torch which is still burning………and will continue to burn in the hearts and minds of all patriots willing and dedicated to …….

but I digress.

KEEP THE FAITH! Still angers me greatly with the thought of how many good souls left this plane of existence with troubled thoughts of their beloved America falling to the Left before the truth escaped this new LEFT CENSORSHIP in OUR AMERICA.) later.

By Jack Phillips April 4, 2021 Updated: April 4, 2021 biggersmallerPrint

A bipartisan group of lawmakers said that fixing the U.S.-Mexico border crisis is the responsibility of the Biden administration and various federal agencies, adding that Congress has little power to act on immigration matters.

Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) said he’s not sure what Congress can do in the immediate future.

“I don’t know you need legislation. I think what we need is to make sure we get the people and the technology down there to stop it,” he said in an interview with The Hill over the weekend. “We also need to work with the other countries to make sure that they’re not sending folks up,” he said. “That’s how I would approach it.”

And dealing with the crisis “down there” is the responsibility “of the executive branch,” said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), according to the news outlet. “If they feel they need additional resources, obviously we’re here to help,” he said.

“There’s resources. There’s the question of standing up the places in Central America where people can apply [for asylum] directly,” Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) said of things Congress can do.

It came after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said that after visiting the border last week, it’s time for Congress to take action and address the crisis.

Nearly 20 Republican senators traveled to the border late last month, with many blaming the massive surge in illegal immigration on President Joe Biden’s slew of executive orders that rescinded a number of Trump-era policies, including the “Remain in Mexico” protocal, construction of the border wall, allowing unaccompanied children and some families to stay in the United States for processing, and signaling support for granting increased avenues to citizenship for more than 11 million illegal immigrants already in the United States.

“They need to go back to the policies that were working,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said in an interview with The Hill.

Democratic Senate leaders, including Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), told reporters last month that it’s unlikely that an immigration reform bill will be passed anytime soon, citing divisions in the House.

“I think Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi has discovered that she doesn’t have support for the comprehensive bill in the House,” Durbin told reporters. “And it indicates where it is in the Senate as well.”

Underscoring the severity of the crisis, the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) found numerous violations at an immigration detention facility in La Palma Correctional Center in Eloy, Arizona.

“One detainee, who is a cancer patient, ran out of leukemia medication after the medical staff did not order a refill on time,” the OIG report (pdf) said. “Since the detainee did not hold the medication, he was not aware of when the medication was running out or how long it would take medical staff to obtain a refill.”

(Thanks JovanHutton Pulitzer – YOU ARE A TRUE PATRIOT and your work will bring AMERICA BACK TO WHERE IT SHOULD BE …. GUIDED BY THE WILL AND LEGITIMATE VOTE OF THE LEGAL AMERICAN CITIZEN!

GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Then-President Donald Trump speaks to the media after signing a bill for border funding in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., on July 1, 2019. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images) Donald Trump

By Jack Phillips April 2, 2021 Updated: April 2, 2021 biggersmallerPrint

Former President Donald Trump, in a new interview on Thursday, accused Facebook and other tech giants of engaging in “total censorship” after his interview with Lara Trump for her podcast was taken down by Facebook.

“What’s happening now in this country, nobody ever thought would happen,” he told Dr. Gina Loudon in an interview. “It is total censorship.”

“You don’t have free speech in this country. But you know what happens, they take it off and now people talk about it more,” he said, describing the video that was taken down as a “very nice interview” with Lara Trump, his daughter-in-law.

A source close to the Trump Organization earlier this week confirmed to The Epoch Times that Facebook took down Lara Trump’s interview with the former commander-in-chief 20 minutes after it was posted on Tuesday. Facebook has not yet responded to a request for comment.

Lara Trump on Wednesday posted screenshots that purportedly show an email from a Facebook representative saying that the video was removed because it “featured President Trump speaking” and the “voice of Donald Trump.”

“In line with the block we placed on Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts, further content posted in the voice of Donald Trump will be removed and result in additional limitations on the accounts,” the alleged email said.

After the Jan. 6 capitol incident, Trump was suspended by Twitter, Facebook, Google, and other platforms, who alleged that the president’s speech to supporters incited violence. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Trump’s ban because he used “our platform to incite violent insurrection against a democratically elected government.”

Later, a Twitter executive said in an interview that Trump’s ban would be permanent.

Trump, during several recent interviews, said he prefers not to use Twitter, where he had amassed 80 million followers, and said the social media website is hemorrhaging users because it’s too “boring.” Advisers to the former president said they would be launching a new social media website in the coming weeks, although details about the platform are scant.

Former President Donald Trump speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Fla., on Feb. 28, 2021. (Joe Skipper/Reuters) Donald Trump

By Ivan Pentchoukov April 2, 2021 Updated: April 3, 2021 biggersmallerPrint

Former President Donald Trump on April 2 urged people to boycott Major League Baseball (MLB), Coca-Cola, Delta, and other corporations which are openly opposing election reforms enacted by Republicans in Georgia.

“Baseball is already losing tremendous numbers of fans, and now they leave Atlanta with their All-Star Game because they are afraid of the Radical Left Democrats who do not want voter I.D., which is desperately needed, to have anything to do with our elections,” Trump wrote in a statement released by his Save America political action committee. “Boycott baseball and all of the woke companies that are interfering with Free and Fair Elections. Are you listening Coke, Delta, and all!”

MLB on Friday announced that it will move its All-Star game from Atlanta in protest of the election reform package passed by the state’s Republicans last month. MLB Commissioner Robert D. Manfred Jr. announced the move in a news release saying that the decision was the best way to “demonstrate our values as a sport.”

MLB, Coca-Cola, and Delta did not respond to requests for comment.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, signed a package of election reforms into law last month which expanded voting hours and access to early voting. The new law also requires absentee voters to provide a copy of their ID alongside their ballot, something the state had already required for in-person voters.

Georgia was one of six states where Trump challenged the outcome of the 2020 election. That state ultimately certified President Joe Biden as the winner after several recounts. Trump claimed that the election in Georgia was tainted by fraud and was run by rules put in place through an unconstitutional process.

Minutes prior to the boycott message, the former president released a statement about election fraud.

“Why is it that every time the 2020 ELECTION FRAUD is discussed, the Fake News Media consistently states that such charges are baseless, unfounded, unwarranted, etc.? Sadly, there was massive fraud in the 2020 Presidential Election, and many very angry people understand that. With each passing day, and unfortunately for the Radical Left CRAZIES, more and more facts are coming out,” Trump said “Other than that, Happy Easter!”

Georgia’s election reforms have become the target of left-wing criticism, including false claims by Biden about the law requiring the polls to close by 5 p.m. The bill actually expanded the voting hours to 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Corporations including Delta Airlines and Coca-Cola joined the chorus, issuing statements from top executives criticizing the bill.

Biden said on March 31 that he would support the MLB moving the All-star game from Atlanta in response to the election reform legislation.

“I think that today’s professional athletes are acting incredibly responsibly. I would strongly support them doing that,” Biden said. “People look to them, they’re leaders. Look at what’s happened with the NBA as well. Look at what’s happened across the board. The people who’ve been victimized the most are the people who are the leaders in these various sports and it’s just not right.”

Kemp said it was “obvious” that neither Biden nor his advisers familiarized themselves with the content of the bill.

“It is obvious that neither President Biden nor his handlers have actually read SB 202, which I signed into law yesterday,” Kemp told The Epoch Times via email on March 27 referring to the bill by its legislative ID number. “This bill expands voting access, streamlines vote-counting procedures, and ensures election integrity.”

Janita Kan, Mimi Nguyen Ly, and Samuel Allegri contributed to this report.

President Joe Biden speaks during an event in Pittsburgh, Pa., on March 31, 2021. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters) Federal-State Relations

By Mimi Nguyen Ly April 2, 2021 Updated: April 2, 2021 biggersmallerPrint

Thirteen states launched legal action against the Biden administration over a provision in the CCP virus relief package that prohibits states from using the funds to pay for tax breaks.

The Democrats’ $1.9 trillion relief package to combat the impacts of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (pdf), carries a provision that says states cannot use relief funds to offset decreased tax revenue that is due to any tax cuts—including by cutting rates, rebates, deductions, credits, or otherwise—and any tax delays.

The 13-state bipartisan coalition filed the federal lawsuit late Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. They argued that the provision is unconstitutional.

The lawsuit () says the provision in the relief package is “one of the most egregious power grabs by the federal government in the nation’s history.” It argues that the provision, by stipulating how states use federal funds with regard to tax cuts, is akin to forcing states to relinquish control of their taxing authority, which is not allowed under the Tenth Amendment. The lawsuit also accuses the federal government of violating the conditional spending doctrine and the anti-commandeering doctrine.

The complaint in the lawsuit alleges that the provision, also referred to as the Federal Tax Mandate, “disables States from decreasing taxes on their citizens for a period of over three years” and in doing so, “usurps” the ability of the states to reduce their tax burdens. It also “creates an impermissible chilling effect” on the states’ officials to do the same “based on a threat that the federal government may claw back some or all of the States’ share” of funding from CCP virus relief package.

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit are the states of West Virginia, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Utah. The defendants in the lawsuit are Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Treasury Department Inspector General Richard Delmar.

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, a Republican, leads the 13-state coalition.

“Never before has the federal government attempted such a complete takeover of state finances,” Morrisey said in a statement. “We cannot stand for such overreach. The Constitution envisions co-sovereign states, not a federal government that forces state legislatures to forfeit one of their core constitutional functions in exchange for a large check equal to approximately 25 percent of their annual respective general budgets.”

The specific provision of concern reads in full as follows: “A state or territory shall not use the funds provided under this section or transferred pursuant to this section to either directly or indirectly offset a reduction in the net tax revenue of such state of territory resulting from a change in law, regulation, or administrative interpretation during the covered period that reduces any tax (by providing for a reduction in a rate, a rebate, a deduction, a credit or otherwise) or delays the imposition of any tax or tax increase.”

Previously, attorneys general from 21 states wrote to Yellen on March 16 seeking clarity over the provision as written in the law and sought to confirm that the restriction would not strip states of their taxing authority. In their letter (pdf), they said that the legislation’s language that prohibits against offsetting reductions in state tax revenue is “unclear,” including with regard to how the Treasury would interpret the word “indirectly” as contained in the provision.

They said the prohibition on “indirectly” offsetting tax breaks “could also be read to prohibit tax cuts or relief of any stripe, even if wholly unrelated to and independent of the availability of relief funds.”

“After all, money is fungible, and States must balance their budgets. So, in a sense, any tax relief enacted by a state legislature after the State has received relief funds could be viewed as “using” those funds as an “offset” that allows the State to provide that tax relief,” the 21 attorneys general wrote.

In her response on March 23, Yellen wrote, “The limitation affects States’ ability to retain only those federal funds used to offset a reduction in net tax revenue resulting from certain changes in state law.”

She added, “It is also important to note that States choosing to use the federal funds to offset a reduction in net tax revenue do not thereby forfeit their entire allocation of funds appropriated under this statute.”

“It is well established that Congress may place such reasonable conditions on how States may use federal funding,” she wrote.

“If States lower certain taxes but do not use funds under the Act to offset those cuts-for example, by replacing the lost revenue through other means-the limitation in the Act is not implicated,” Yellen also said.

But the Montana and West Virginia attorneys general’s offices pointed out in their statements that Yellen “failed to place limits on the vague provision.”

Morrisey’s office said that the issue “directly impacts” whether the law will infringe upon the state legislature’s consideration of a state proposal to eliminate income tax. He also took issue with how Treasury would interpret the word “indirectly” in the provision.

“Our lawsuit is designed to protect West Virginia from federal overreach,” Morrisey said. “This ensures our citizens aren’t stuck with an unforeseen bill from the feds years from now.”

The latest lawsuit comes amid a slew of other actions taken by states against the Biden administration, claiming federal overreach.

Previously, 21 states sued the Biden administration on March 17 over President Joe Biden’s decisions to revoke the federal permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline. The administration was later sued by 14 states on March 24 over Biden’s executive action pausing new oil and gas drilling on federal land.

The Biden administration was also targeted for Biden’s climate change related executive order in a lawsuit on March 8 filed by 12 states saying that the move could severely affect their economies. A day later, the administration was sued by Arizona and Montana over immigration policies.