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 My son has narrated the last book I wrote. Please consider listening to it and encouraging others to do so too. (Click on Book Cover) World & Nation Senate Moves to Fund Most of DHS After Shutdown Disrupts Airports  The U.S. Senate passed legislation on Friday that would finance most of the Department of Homeland Security but withhold funds from ICE, as a weeks-long partial government shutdown caused widespread disruptions at airports. Senate Democrats blocked DHS funding last month, as they pressed to rein in the Trump administration's immigration crackdown after federal agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis. The funding shortfall has left tens of thousands of Transportation Security Administration employees working without pay, prompting some airport security officers to call in sick or resign. As the standoff in Congress persisted, President Donald Trump said on Thursday he would take executive action to pay 50,000 airport security workers in an effort to address staff shortages that have snarled travel around the country.
The hitchhiker's guide to what's next to end the DHS shutdown Senate deal heads to uncertain House fate amid GOP divisions When will the House vote on the Senate deal? Frankly, we do not know. Last night’s Senate measure was not pre-baked with the House. And we talked to dozens of House Republicans yesterday who did not want to just fund parts of DHS. They wanted to fund everything. We also don’t know the disposition of the president on this. When asked about a GOP proposal earlier this week to just fund parts of DHS and leave out ICE, President Donald Trump replied, "I'm pretty much not happy with it." And, if it is to pass the House, it’s about the math. Lawmakers will need a robust combination of Democrats and Republicans to approve this bill. Democrats failed to secure the bona fide reforms they wanted for ICE. So do liberals defect? This bipartisan parliamentary algebra will be exceedingly interesting. Iran Threatens to Close Second Strait  Iran is escalating its pressure campaign against the United States and its allies by threatening to disrupt a second global shipping lane, raising concerns about energy security and the world economy as President Donald Trump seeks to end the conflict. Tehran has already rattled markets by targeting the Strait of Hormuz, but officials are now signaling that the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a Red Sea passageway, could be next if negotiations fail, according to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-affiliated Tasnim News Agency. The narrow corridor handles about 10% of global oil and natural gas shipments and serves as a key link between Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
Trump weighs deploying up to 10,000 more troops to Middle East during war with Iran: report  U.S. Central Command released a new video Friday showing a wave of American strikes on Iran, saying "U.S. forces continue to eliminate the Iranian regime’s ability to project military power beyond its borders." CENTCOM said Thursday that American forces have hit more than 10,000 targets since the beginning of Operation Epic Fury on Feb. 28. The military campaign is on its 28th day as of Friday. “Since the commencement of Operation Epic Fury, 92% of the large ships in the Iranian Navy have been eliminated,” CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper added. Secret Service agent shoots himself in leg while escorting Jill Biden at Philadelphia International Airport  A Secret Service agent guarding former first lady Jill Biden shot and injured himself in the leg at Philadelphia International Airport on Friday, according to a report. Sources told KYW that the incident took place as the Secret Service agent was escorting former President Joe Biden’s wife at the busy travel hub. Philadelphia police and other agencies were on scene Friday morning, according to a radio report from the local CBS affiliate. A Secret Service spokesperson told The Post: “We are gathering the facts and will have a statement shortly.” House Ethics Committee finds indicted Dem Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick ‘guilty’ on 25 counts  The House Ethics Committee found Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.) broke campaign finance laws and committed other violations by taking more than $5 million in federal relief and funneling much of the money toward her political aspirations. An eight-member subcommittee voted early Friday that Cherfilus-McCormick was “guilty” on 25 of the 27 counts related to the scheme following a rare public “trial” that stretched for more than six hours the night before. “Shortly after the House returns from the April recess, the full Committee will hold a hearing to determine what, if any, sanction would be appropriate for the Committee to recommend,” Ethics Chairman Michael Guest (R-Miss.) and Ranking Member Mark DeSaulnier (D-Calif.) said in a joint statement. That recommendation could be that the full House censure Cherfilus-McCormick — or even expel her from Congress. Dow falls 300 points, oil jumps above $110 as Trump’s new Iran deadline fails to soothe investors  US stocks fell Friday morning as oil prices jumped above $110 a barrel and President Trump’s extended deadline for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz failed to assuage investors. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 335 points, or 0.7%, by approximately 9:35 a.m. ET, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell 0.7% and 0.9%, respectively. Brent crude prices jumped 2.6% to $110.82 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude rose the same percentage to $96.93 as Iran maintained its blockade of the strait, a vital maritime route for 20% of the world’s oil – and other key goods like fertilizer and metals. Fetterman tells far-left prosecutor to 'lighten up' after threatening to arrest ICE agents over raids The Pennsylvania senator called out his own party for staying silent on crimes committed by illegal aliens with violent histories  In the wake of a deadly shooting in Chicago, Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., criticized his own party’s reluctance to talk about violent acts carried out by illegal aliens with criminal histories and condemned calls from Pennsylvania figures to instead target Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. Authorities are charging Jose Medina-Medina, a 25-year-old Venezuelan national, with the killing of a Loyola University student last week. Medina-Medina had already been arrested on unrelated charges months before but had been released. He was disappointed by calls from Philadelphia's George Soros-backed prosecutor Larry Krasner on Wednesday, who, less than a week after Medina-Medina's shooting, had threatened to arrest ICE agents. Trump Plan Would Disarm Hamas Over 8 Months, Raze Gaza Tunnels  Hamas would be required to allow the destruction of its vast Gaza tunnel network as it lays down its arms in stages over eight months under a disarmament plan presented to the terrorists by President Donald Trump's "Board of Peace." The plan follows a timeline that begins with a U.S.-backed committee of Palestinian technocrats taking security control of Gaza and concludes with Israeli forces withdrawing completely upon "verification that Gaza is free of weaponry." Hamas' disarmament is a critical sticking point in talks to implement Trump's plan for Gaza and cement an October ceasefire that halted two years of full-blown war.
The whole world laughs at Democrats’ lame voter-ID claims By John R. Lott Jr.
Senate Democrats are fighting tooth and nail against the SAVE Act, arguing that requiring Americans to prove their identity with a photo ID when they go to the polls to vote — even when the ID itself is given away for free — prevents eligible voters from casting ballots. They contend proving citizenship would make voting harder for millions who lack ready access to birth certificates or passports, supposedly disenfranchising black and Hispanic Americans. Yet democracies all over the globe, both in the wealthy West and in the developing world, enforce similar rules. Every country in Africa, for example, requires government-issued identification to vote, and 51 out of 54 African nations demand would-be voters to actively submit proof of citizenship to register. Trump’s Iran plan puts Obama’s cowardly nuke deal to shame By David Harsanyi
President Trump this week announced he’d postpone US strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure to give time to negotiate a cease-fire. “I think it could very well end up being a very good deal for everybody,” he told journalists. It’s not entirely clear whom exactly the White House is bargaining with, or whether those officials will have the power to implement an agreement. We do, however, know what a “good deal” looks like, which is, more or less, everything former President Barack Obama’s Iran deal wasn’t. |
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