The 3/5/21 Wall Street Journal told us that 115 House Democrats sent a letter to Miguel Cardona, the new Secretary of the Department of Education, seeking a reversal of a policy involving sexual misconduct on college campuses put into place by Betsy DeVos, Trump's Education Secretary. As described by the Journal, the DeVos policy said that "Title IX can't be used to abridge constitutionally-protected speech; that colleges need to give notice of allegations; that accusers and accused have the right to an advocate and to appeal findings; that they have a right to a hearing on a reasonable timeline; and that witnesses can be cross-examined." Sounds fair as it is. Sounds like the way our justice system works. But that is not how it was before Trump came into office. Of course women should be heard. But those accused of acts that may impact their entire lives should have the same due process rights that our criminal justice system provides. Except, over one-half of House Democrats think otherwise.
How are we doing on immigration. We know that Biden will not build any more of the border wall. We know that during the campaign Biden said that the US could easily fit in another 2 million. Is that the way our immigration system should work? As long as the country has room for more people we should have open borders? The Department of Homeland Security earlier this month reported on the number of "land border enforcement encounters" in the southwest US. In fiscal year 2020, 33,239 unaccompanied alien children crossed the border. The projection for fiscal year 2021: 117,000. We now have children in cages, or very cramped quarters. If Trump was still in the White House the mainstream media would be reporting about a humanitarian crisis of monumental proportions. They would be talking about the cartels and human smuggling. But not with Biden. The Biden White House refuses to even call it a crisis, calling it instead a "challenge."
This is good: House Democrats actually blocked a measure that would have required illegal immigrants being released into the US to have a negative COVID-19 test. As of March 8, 185 of those illegal immigrants tested positive. If you tested COVID positive, however, you better self-quarantine.
The Democratic controlled House passed H.R. 1, also known as the "For The People Act of 2021." Its proper name should be "For The Democratic Party Act," as the Democrats seek to maintain permanent control of the Federal government through legislation. The legislation federalizes state election laws. Election laws are currently set by each state, with counties running the elections. H.R. 1 would, among other things, void state I.D. requirements in order to be able to vote. Mail-in voting would become permanent. Young people age 16 and above would automatically be registered as long as their name is in any government database. Such as the Department of Motor Vehicles.
The bill requires all organizations participating in political activity to disclose the names of donors giving $10,000 or more. The purpose of such a provision is NOT transparency. It is to provide an opportunity for left-wing groups to harass and try to ruin the lives of big donors to the Republican Party. It is not something that conservatives try to do to big Democrat donors, so the House Democrats have no concern about such a measure. The bill provides for public financing of campaigns for Congress. Raise $200 and receive 6 times that amount from the taxpayers. Congressional districts would be drawn by an "independent" commission; although I cannot imagine any such commission being any more "independent" of political influence than the current system of state legislatures drawing the districts.
In the area of foreign policy and the Middle East, Biden has restored diplomatic relations with the Palestinian Authority, something Trump halted until such time as the Palestinians agreed to halt their attacks on Israel. Biden also restored hundreds of millions of dollars of aid to the Palestinians. As did Obama, Biden believes the road to peace lies solely with the Palestinians. Trump realized that the path to peace lies with the wider Arab world, and successfully negotiated the Abraham accords, resulting in the normalization of relations between Israel and four Arab Sunni countries.
Biden recently signed the COVID relief bill passed by the Congress. It passed in the Senate, 50-49, on a straight party vote. Senator Dan Sullivan (Rep., Alaska) had to return home because of a family emergency. Had he been present, the vote would have been 50-50, but VP Kamala Harris would have broken the tie and the bill would have passed anyway. The House also voted along party lines, 220-211; although one Democrat voted against the bill. Which brings me to another, albeit unrelated point.
I have a running disagreement with a reader who is also a life-long friend. His approach to voting is to vote for the better candidate, regardless of party affiliation. My approach is to vote straight party line. I explained that nearly all rank and file members will vote how their party leadership wants them to vote. Therefore, if you favor the progressive-left agenda you should vote Democrat, and if you favor a conservative agenda you should vote Republican. Just look at the votes in the House and Senate on the COVID relief bill. Virtually a straight party line vote. Senator Joe Manchin (Dem., W.V.) is considered to be one of the most conservative Democratic Senators. He said he would not vote in favor of the bill absent bipartisan support. There was none. He voted in favor anyway. His excuse was that he got a few token changes to the bill that Republicans wanted. Yet, there were not any significant changes such that a single Republican was willing to vote in favor. So much for being a "conservative" Democrat.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki called the COVID relief bill the "most progressive bill in American history." Republicans call it a Democratic wish-list. In a rather interesting provision, $350 billion is is directed as federal aid to States and localities. But here's the twist: "A state or territory shall not use the funds to either directly or indirectly offset a reduction in the net tax revenue." In other words, the States are told they may not lower their taxes. That provision is likely unconstitutional, not that the Democrats ever care about the Constitution. As Chief Justice Roberts wrote in striking down Obama's mandatory Medicaid expansion, Congress may give fiscal incentives to States, but cannot use "economic dragooning that leaves the states with no real option but to acquiesce." (As reported in the 3/19/21 Wall Street Journal.)
One part of the Covid bill provides for $86 billion to aid states that are, shall we say, short on funds for paying public employee pensions. The Democratic states promise pension benefits to public employee unions, which return the favor with substantial campaign contributions to those Democrats. Now the Federal government (we the taxpayers) are helping to bail out those states who are under-funded. What a system.
Allow me to end on this unrelated note. The new Navy pledge/oath is perplexing, to say the least. It reads as follows: "I pledge to advocate for and acknowledge all lived experiences and intersectional identities of every sailor in the Navy. I pledge to engage in ongoing self-reflection, education and knowledge sharing to better myself and my communities." Sorry, but this is a bunch of woke psychobabble nonsense. How about training to be the best sailor you can be, as we have some very real and dangerous enemies in the world. Otherwise, treat all your fellow sailors with respect, because you're all on the same team.
