WSJ Editors: Guess What We Found in the $1.7T Omnibus Bill?

Townhall  

Just two days before an expected Senate vote, congressional leaders cooked up an outrageous $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill, demanding that lawmakers open wide and swallow its 4,155 pages so everybody can leave town for the year. This is a scandal. It is not a scandal to be added to the salacious and shocking catalogue of notorious Washington scandals, but a scandal precisely because what is happening has become a completely ordinary way for business to be conducted in Washington.". . .

. . ." Tucked into the Senate’s version is $785 million for migrant services such as food and shelter. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer wants the cash doled out to cities by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Awards will supposedly be determined through a competitive process, but Mr. Schumer has one recipient in mind. Politico reports that his hometown of New York will likely get a “substantial share” of the cash. Expect other Democratic strongholds to join the queue...this migrant pile-up is a direct result of the Biden border policy. Illegal crossings surpassed two million this year, overwhelming DHS facilities and allowing a greater share of migrants to be released in the U.S. on parole. The number of daily crossing has climbed by the thousands in recent weeks...The brunt of the migrant crisis is borne by smaller cities in GOP-led border states. Among the hardest hit is El Paso, Texas, which declared an emergency Sunday after the daily arrivals climbed to more than 2,400. The emergency will help the city earn federal reimbursement for the services it provides, yet it was declared after about 80,000 migrants had been released into the region since August. Compare that with the about 30,000 sent to New York this year.

Reports of a quarter billion dollar ‘bond’ for Bankman-Fried are almost as fraudulent as the crimes of which he is accused

Has Ben & Jerry's named a flavor for this Democrat yet?

Thomas Lifson: Reports of a quarter billion dollar ‘bond’ for Bankman-Fried are almost as fraudulent as the crimes of which he is accused   "The public is being bamboozled about the conditions for pretrial release of accused mega-fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried.

"It is the worst possible signal to those who fear that his scores of millions of dollars of political donations have bought him kid-glove treatment by the judicial system.

"The stories you read and hear from the media would have you believe that a “record” bail of $250 million has been paid to ensure that he doesn’t flee the country or otherwise evade prosecution. Where that figure comes from, I don’t know, but this account from The Hill  suggests that the federal prosecutors from the Southern District of New York had a hand in it:

At the request of prosecutors, Manhattan U.S. District Court Judge Gabriel Gorenstein agreed to the bond price and said Bankman-Fried can reside at his parent’s home in Palo Alto, Calif., ahead of the trial, according to The Associated Press.

The fact that the media are trumpeting a phony amount for pretrial release bond and that the Southern District of New York prosecutors and the judge in the case, federal magistrate Gabriel W. Gorenstein – a former chief of the civil rights unit in that same Southern District of New York prosecutors’ office  -- have enabled this misreporting suggests that Bankman-Fried is getting treatment commensurate with the political influence his donations evidently sought to purchase. 

 

I fully support Ukraine in her defense against Putin; The opposition I see is to money given with no questions asked. Money given by silly people whose politics and intelligence I have little respect for, silly people dressed in anti-American cultural attire who have introduced and promoted hatred for white people and called any resistance to the leftist disdain for America as "racism". The scowling Schumerglower threatening Supreme Court Justices by name, sending threatening people into their neighborhoods and past their homes, with support from entertainment personalities and corrupt media. I feel we cannot respect people of the left, but we must fear them because of what they have done to this nation with the help of Soros, Antifa, educators, and MSNBC. They must not guide our nation into the future. The Tunnel Dweller

Zelensky and Biden with Your Comic War Relief   "Looks like it was comedy hour at the White House. Can you believe this mess? Zelensky and Biden just laughed it up in their joint press conference yesterday. Yes, that’s right, Volodymyr Zelensky, the leader of a country in the middle of a war, leaves his country to come to the United States to dine on American tax dollars.

"Zelensky simply waltzes right up into our House, displaying his slick charm and lecturing us to cooperate and fork over the dollars. I guess he is laughing all the way to the bank.

"And Biden was right there with him, on the stage, laughing and cracking jokes about Putin and this “war.”. . .

Victory Girls Blog

Zelenskyy Wows Congress but Many Ask Where the $100 Billion in Aid Went

There may be no congressional investigations but the Biden administration is doing a little sleuthing of its own, trying to find out how U.S. technology ended up in Iranian drones.

. . ." Whether you support or oppose aid to Ukraine, the American taxpayer has a fundamental right to know where that $100 billion is going. But pro-war partisans are framing opposition to more aid for any reason as supporting Putin.

“ 'Putin’s Useful Idiots: Right Wingers Lose It Over Zelensky Visit” reads the headline in The Bulwark. Apparently not thinking is a virtue among these people.

Whatever the reason, the anti-Ukraine animus on the right is quite real and widespread. (When journalist Bari Weiss, who has a largely “anti-woke” following, retweeted a Hanukkah greeting from Zelensky, the responses from her followers in the thread were mostly hostile.) But right now, it also smells of desperation. Ukraine’s cause is still massively popular in the United States, with two-thirds of Americans supportive of sending money and arms. Disingenuous laments about the poor Ukrainians exploited by American and European globalists ring hollow and false when the vast majority of Ukrainians are so clearly determined to resist the invasion. And Zelensky, as the smarter among the aid opponents, like Ungar-Sargon, can see, is a genuine hero: patriotic, incredibly courageous and charismatic, and a speaker so compelling that even congressional right-wingers who initially refused to join in the standing ovations (including Matt Gaetz, Lauren Boebert, and Andrew Clyde) finally rose up during the last portions of his speech.

"We can’t cut Ukraine off now — not when they have the Russian invaders on the run. And Zelenskyy and Biden are right; we can’t afford to allow Putin to sweep the board in Ukraine. It would certainly whet his appetite for further conquests in Poland and other states of the old Soviet empire.

"But you can bet if the shoe were on the other foot, Democrats would be demanding oversight and an audit. And that’s exactly what Republicans should do when they take power.". . .

Opinion | Zelensky and Churchill Are True Leaders - The New York Times (nytimes.com) "In his address to the House of Commons in London this month, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine compared himself to Winston Churchill. But Mr. Zelensky never mentioned Churchill by name — he didn’t need to.

"He simply echoed the words and cadences of the famous speech Churchill made to the Commons on June 4, 1940, in the final stages of the evacuation from Dunkirk of the remains of the British Army and Allied troops in France.

" 'We shall fight on the seas and oceans. We shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air. We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches. We shall fight on the landing grounds. We shall fight in the fields and in the streets. We shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender,” Churchill said.". . .

Brittney Griner makes major move for imprisoned Marine

I hope she has the class to make this a sincere effort and is not doing this out of guilt. So far she has been to me a Megan Rapinoe clone and not to be taken seriously. Except, that is, maybe to be Secretary of State for some Democrat POTUS candidate. TD

 Brittney Griner makes major move for imprisoned Marine (msn.com)   

"When the United States secured the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner with a prisoner swap that sent convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout back to Russia. The move was controversial to many because even though Joe Biden brought back Griner, the United States left former Marine Paul Whelan imprisoned in Russia. Griner’s negotiator made it clear that they will try to bring Whelan back next, and Griner wants to help other Americans falsely imprisoned. And she had a message for Whelan.". . .

Hey Brittney Griner, Do You Respect the National Anthem Now? (stevegruber.com)  "What was Griner doing in Russia? Well, she didn’t feel she was being paid enough by the WNBA and in order the chase the almighty dollar, she has been playing for a Russia team in the offseason since 2014. She gets over $1 million per season from the Russians.

"This woke basketball star wasn’t just a National Anthem kneeler, she didn’t even go out on the floor when it was played. She didn’t want to give America or those who fought for our freedoms their due respect.

"Back in June of 2021, Griner said “I honestly feel we should not play the Nation Anthem during our season, I think we should take that much of a stand. I’m going to protest regardless. I’m not going to be out there for the National Anthem.”. . .

Sen. Kennedy: Nobody is this incompetent, this is intentional

Whatfinger News  "National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd reacts to Fox News’ Bill Melugin’s reporting at the border, as the crisis continues to overwhelm border communities and Republicans call out the Biden administration".