McConnell Urges Older Judges to Retire So Trump Can Replace Them

Contributing Author
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‘If you are thinking about quitting this year, do it yesterday…’

Mitch McConnell: Civil War, Civil Rights, and Obama Presidency Paid for Slavery
Mitch McConnell/Photo by Gage Skidmore (CC)

(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is reportedly urging older, conservative federal judges to retire so that President Donald Trump can replace their positions with ideological allies.

McConnell has been meeting with senior judges to discuss why the best time to retire is now, since the White House and Senate are controlled by Republicans, according to the New York Times, which relied heavily upon anonymous sources for its report.

He has been primarily meeting with judges nominated by the last three Republican presidents: Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, the Times reported.

There are more than 90 judges appointed by these three presidents who are either now eligible or will become eligible this year for senior status, which is a form of retirement. Many of them are on influential appeals courts, according to the Times.

The Times claimed McConnell’s strategy reflects a fear that President Trump could lose in November. But Mike Davis, a former nomination counsel for Senate Republicans who created the Article III Project, a conservative judicial advocacy group, said “we have to hope for the best and plan for the worst.”

Trump’s judicial appointments have already changed the make-up of the judiciary in meaningful ways. He has placed two justices on the Supreme Court justices, 51 appointees to the nation’s appeals court and hundreds more in the lower courts.

The Senate’s routine confirmation of conservative justices has been so efficient that only one appellate seat has not yet been filled.

“I’d point you back to his long-running mantra of ‘leave no vacancy behind,’” said David Popp, a spokesman for McConnell.

Other Senate Republicans have encouraged senior justices to consider retiring, as well.

“If you are thinking about quitting this year, do it yesterday,” Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who was then the Senate Judiciary Chairman, said back in 2018. “If we have a Democrat Senate, you’re never going to get the kind of people that are strict constructionists.”

CNN’s Bash Resists Trump-Haters; PRAISES President’s Coronavirus Response

Contributing Author
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‘This is an important thing to note and to applaud, from an American standpoint…’

(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) CNN host Dana Bash admitted on Tuesday that President Trump’s recent response to the coronavirus pandemic has been “incredible.”

“If you look at the big picture, this was remarkable by the president of the United States,” Bash said. “This is a nonpartisan, this is an important thing to note and to applaud, from an American standpoint, from a human standpoint.”

Bash immediately received blowback from enraged leftists who accused Trump of “screaming at reporters and going on absolute tantrums.”

But Bash didn’t back down.

Trump announced on Wednesday that his administration will suspend all foreclosures and evictions until the end of April.

He has also worked with private health insurance companies to make sure co-pays for COVID-19 vaccines and treatments are forgiven.

And earlier this week, Trump announced he’s considering writing $1,000 checks to every American household to alleviate the economic costs of the coronavirus pandemic.

“He is being the kind of leader that people need, at least in tone, today, and yesterday, in a tone that people need and want and yearn for in times of crisis and uncertainty,” Bash said.

Radical Dems Demand Student-Loan Amnesty in Next Coronavirus Package

Contributing Author
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‘Immediately, the Secretary of Education must take over all monthly payments during this public health emergency…’

(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) After the House and Senate passed a comprehensive coronavirus funding bill, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., demanded that congressional leadership include student-loan debt cancellation in the next relief package.

Warren argued that canceling student loan debt, even temporarily, would “remove a giant weight that’s dragging down our economy.”

As the coronavirus pandemic spreads across the U.S., leftists have pointed to the federal government’s actions as proof that socialist policies are possible and necessary.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio–Cortez, D-N.Y., similarly argued earlier this week that the federal government’s economic response to the coronavirus proves student-loan debt can and should be canceled. Economists, however, were quick to point out that Ocasio–Cortez’s rant was a false comparison.

The Federal Reserve is not bailing out the banks, as Ocasio–Cortez suggested. Instead, it’s “lending to banks and strategically purchasing assets,” said Richard Morrison, a fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, according to Fox News.

“The short-term lending the Fed engages in is quickly repaid by the financial institutions in question, even when, as in this case, the Fed has decided to dramatically scale up certain categories of lending in response to a market downturn,” Morrison explained.

Border Agency Closes Offices to All Asylum-Seekers Due to Coronavirus Concerns

Contributing Author
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‘Travelers will no longer be permitted to cross the border for recreation and tourism. In both our countries, we’re encouraging people to stay home…’

(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is temporarily shutting down its offices nationwide in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The agency said in a statement on Tuesday that its field offices, asylum offices and application support centers will be closed until at least April 1.

There will still be limited emergency services provided, but USCIS employees have been instructed to limit public contact, which means postponing asylum applicant interviews until further notice.

“USCIS field offices will send notices to applicants and petitioners with scheduled appointments and naturalization ceremonies impacted by this closure,” USCIS said in its statement.

Border Agency Closes Its Offices to All Asylum Seekers, Illegal Immigrants Amid Coronavirus Concerns
US Border Patrol / IMAGE: CBC News via Youtube

The Trump administration is reportedly planning to take other additional steps at the border to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, including rejecting all asylum seekers and illegal immigrants to prevent an outbreak in detention facilities.

Under the new rules, which could be announced in the next 48 hours, according to the New York Times, Border Patrol agents must immediately return to Mexico anyone who tries to cross the southern border between the legal ports of entry.

Many of these immigrants are already sick, according to administration officials, who argue that it would take only one person with the coronavirus to infect the hundreds of asylum seekers and Border Patrol agents stationed along the border.

President Trump has also suggested he might completely shut down the U.S.-Mexico border for all non-essential travel. He has already closed down the U.S.’s northern border with Canada after reaching an agreement with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday morning.

“Travelers will no longer be permitted to cross the border for recreation and tourism. In both our countries, we’re encouraging people to stay home,” Trudeau said.

As Trump Touts Perseverance and Sacrifice, Media Harps on His Use of ‘Chinese Virus’

Ben Sellers
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‘I think they probably would agree with it 100 percent…’

(Ben Sellers, Liberty Headlines) At a Wednesday press conference, President Donald Trump and several other high-level officials sought to update the public about the latest developments to combat the coronavirus.

Sadly, many in the media seemed more fixated on the fact that Trump labeled it the “Chinese virus” than the more substantive remarks.

Reporters also claimed that White House officials had referred to the virus as the “Kung Flu.”

“Is that acceptable? Is it wrong? Are you worried that having this virus be talked about as a Chinese virus then that—”

Trump then interrupted the reporter to ask who said it, but the reporter was unable to provide a name.

The reporter continued by claiming that the nomenclature would put “Asian–Americans at risk” and subject them to targeting.

“Not at all,” Trump incredulously responded.

“I think they probably would agree with it 100 percent,” he continued. “It comes from China.

Other liberals took to Twitter in response, leading the hashtag #RacistInChief to trend briefly on Wednesday.

The term, along with variations such as “Wuhan virus,” have previously roiled left-wingers such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio–Cortez, D-NY. However, it follows the precedent of many other epidemic outbreaks that were named for their region of origin.

It also comes as the Chinese have responded with heated rhetoric and ongoing economic warfare, going so accuse the U.S. military of introducing the virus in their country while threatening to withhold medical supplies and antibiotics, the manufacture of which the country has a near stranglehold on.

Wednesday’s press conference, which included several members of the Coronavirus Task Force led by Vice President Mike Pence, covered a range of new developments, among them a concern that some cases in Europe revealed children may also be more susceptible to the virus than previously reported.

“We have not seen any sign of mortality in the children, but we are concerned about the early reports,” said Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator.

Members emphasized the president’s recently released “Coronavirus Guidelines for America,” which included some widely reported preventative measures as well as encouraging the public to limit gatherings to no more than 10 people.

The guidelines, released Tuesday encouraged everyone to follow the ‘social distancing’ and enhanced hygienic practices for 15 days.

Birx told the media to be sure “in every report that you’re putting out that you’re talking about the presidential guidance.”

The White House also promoted additional resources on the Coronavirus.gov website rolled out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Trump touted the collaborative efforts of federal agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration, in fast-tracking vaccine tests with unprecedented speed and efficiency.

He said also, that emergency response now included the mobilization of the Federal Emergency Management Agency in every state and that two hospital ships, the USS Mercy and USS Comfort, would be dispatched on both costs to aid with medical treatment.

He encouraged Americans to continue to persevere in spite of the demands that were increasingly being made to disrupt daily life.

“Now is our time—we must sacrifice together, because we are all in this together and we’ll come through together,” he said.

“It’s the invisible enemy that’s always the toughest … but we’re going to defeat the invisible enemy,” he continued. “I think we’re going to do it even faster than we thought and it will be a complete victory—it will be a total victory.”

GOP Watchdog: Coronavirus Stimulus Bill May HURT Workers Instead of Relieving Them

Ben Sellers
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‘It’s a dream policy of House and Senate Democrats that could be implemented during the time of an emergency…’

GOP Watchdog: Coronavirus Stimulus Bill May HURT Workers Instead of Relieving Them
Sen. Ron Johnson / PHOTO: FreedomWorks

(Ben Sellers, Liberty Headlines) As details unfold over what was included in House Democrats’ coronavirus stimulus bill, which was passed last Saturday with little opportunity for review, FreedomWorks is among those sounding the alarm over leftist wish-list items like its paid family leave proposal.

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act may, in fact, hurt those it seeks to relieve as disease panic grips the world and has forced leaders into implementing economy-wrecking ‘social distancing’ policies.

The bill, which the Senate expects to take up within the week, includes “provisions that would certainly have devastating unintended consequences,” said the conservative think-tank and advocacy group.

The act, as it stands, would require employers to extend 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave to anyone who has been on the job for more than 30 days. At least two weeks would require full paid, and an additional 10 would entail no less than two-thirds of the employee’s normal pay.

“It’s a dream policy of House and Senate Democrats that could be implemented during the time of an emergency,” said FreedomWorks.

While some legislative fixes already have been implemented to set additional qualifications, FreedomWorks said that it remains “far-reaching.”

As a result, “Some employers who are cash-strapped because of the disruption in business and related uncertainty may simply lay off workers rather than be forced to comply with a costly mandate,” it said.

However, FreedomWorks noted that a recently proposed amendment from Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., sought to fix the bill by striking three of the major provisions in it—those applying to small-businesses, as well as the sick-leave provisions and another permitting tax-credit bailouts of businesses impacted by the pandemic.

“[S]uch relief from this burdensome mandate may not come quickly enough for businesses operating on thin profit margins or at a loss,” FreedomWorks said.

While several conservative and libertarian co-sponsors supported Johnson’s amendment, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., one of the most vocal advocates of fiscal responsibility, was not among them.

Surprisingly, Paul, who has a background as a medical doctor, came out in strong support for channeling resources to control the virus’s spread in the U.S.

In a speech on the Senate floor Wednesday, Paul said the need to prioritize spending on the health emergency only underscored the need to curtail it elsewhere.

“[N]ext time, maybe in the not-too-distant future, our children may not even be able to borrow their way out of a crisis,” Paul said.

“All because we refused to do what we were elected to do, which is to prioritize the truly vital, such as coronavirus relief and medical research, over the extraneous, such as spending money on clown colleges, gas stations, and roads in Afghanistan,” he added.

Twice as Many Blue States as Red States Face Unemployment Insolvency

Contributing Writer
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‘We have a multibillion surplus for times like this…’

Twice as Many Red-States Have Solvent Unemployment Trust Funds
People wait in line to file unemployment at a Labor bureau in Hawaii. / IMAGE: KHON2 via Youtube

(Michael Barnes, Liberty Headlines) As the coronavirus pandemic sweeps through America, customers are staying home leading businesses to shut down and lay off workers.

As of Wednesday morning, according to virus trackers at Johns Hopkins University, there were more than 6,500 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States, occurring in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. There have been 115 confirmed coronavirus-related deaths in the U.S.

While that puts the U.S. mortality rate at just 1.7 percent, many fear the spread of the disease will cause it to climb. Globally, it stands at around 4 percent.

Consequently, amid the nationwide effort to stop the virus from spreading, states now face a looming unemployment crisis that many won’t be able to afford.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Unemployment Insurance, 22 states and jurisdictions’ unemployment trust funds are below the solvency level needed to pay out unemployment benefits if the economy slides into a recession. That means they’ll look to the federal government for a bailout.

California, New York and the U.S. Virgin Islands are the most underfunded unemployment trust funds in the nation, while Illinois, Massachusetts and, surprisingly, Texas round out the top five woefully unprepared states.

On the other hand, twice as many so-called red-states, or those where a majority voted for President Donald Trump in 2016, have saved enough to cover jobless benefits in the event the economy crashes due to mass social distancing, media-induced hysteria and an actual public health disaster.

Fiscally responsible states have generally taken two types of approaches to funding their unemployment reserves: the blue-state approach of raising taxes or the red-state approach of keeping unemployment taxes low and creating business-friendly conditions to increase the number of taxpayers paying into the system.

According to the Department of Labor, the latter approach seems to have been much more effective.

Overall, 20 Trump-backing red states and 11 blue states and jurisdictions proved fiscally responsible. Nine red states and 13 blue states and jurisdictions failed to adequately fund their unemployment obligations, according to the Labor Department’s most recent State Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund Solvency Report, released last month.

North Carolina is among the most solvent. State Sen. Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, reassured his fellow North Carolinians this week that unemployment assistance is already in place for those impacted by the “economic fallout from efforts to contain the virus.”

“At $3.8 billion, North Carolina has one of the largest unemployment reserves in the country. Reforms put in place years ago helped build that large balance to allow the state to adjust its benefits program in response to an economic downturn,” Berger said.

“What adjustments to the state program might be necessary will become clearer once we have more finality on what the federal program will look like. But we have a multibillion surplus for times like this,” he added.

A federal economic program is currently being negotiated in Washington, D.C. On Tuesday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin floated an emergency stimulus of more than $1 trillion to stave off a crushing economic downturn.

Mnuchin met privately with Senate Republicans on Capitol Hill to discuss financial aid to airlines, hotels, casinos and small- to medium-size businesses, reported Politico. He said the unemployment rate could skyrocket to 20 percent without immediate action.

Dem. Impeachment Lawyer Contracts Coronavirus, Blames Trump

Contributing Writer
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‘It is impossible to reach any conclusion other than that the President is sacrificing the health of the American public for his own personal interests…’

(Michael Barnes, Liberty Headlines) House Democrats’ top impeachment lawyer has contracted the coronavirus, or COVID-19.

Daniel Goldman admitted on Twitter that he was the former staff member House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., was alluding to in a recent statement when he acknowledged a senior impeachment inquiry official had been infected.

In a series of tweets, Goldman said on Sunday that he tested positive for the coronavirus and that he is almost fully recovered. He also took the opportunity to express gratitude and bash President Donald Trump.

“I want to thank everyone for the outpouring of support. It means a lot to my family and me. I am almost back to 100%. I’m lucky enough not to fall in the vulnerable category and, for me, it was just like the flu,” Goldman tweeted.

Goldman, who is also an MSNBC analyst, then accused the Trump administration of being “shockingly unprepared” to deal with the global crisis.

“My difficulty in getting a test despite the exact symptoms and a neg flu test underscores how shockingly unprepared this administration is to deal with this pandemic. In fact, I was told that NYC hospitals STILL would not test my wife—with similar symptoms—unless admitted,” he wrote.

Goldman promoted a recurring left-wing conspiracy theory by accusing Trump of attempting to “gaslight” the public about coronavirus testing and insisting the president wanted to “keep numbers down” for his political benefit.

“It is impossible to reach any conclusion other than that the President is sacrificing the health of the American public for his own personal interests,” said Goldman.

Goldman has a long history of attacking Trump. As a cable television pundit and government lawyer, he repeatedly—and without evidence—accused the president and his campaign associates of colluding with the Russian government to influence the 2016 election. He even asserted criminality.

“We already now know that the president has committed a felony in order to obtain the office of the presidency,” he said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” in Dec. 2018.

In contrast to Goldman’s tweets, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Tuesday that President Trump is not to blame for the lack of coronavirus testing.

Rep. Wants Rushed Coronavirus Rescue Bill FIXED; 'Clean Up This Mess'

Joshua Paladino
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‘Last Saturday morning, I witnessed the most rushed vote I’ve ever seen in all my time in public office…’

Congressman Wants Answers on Bad IRS Customer Service, Tax Fraud
Glenn Grothman Photo by WisPolitics.com (CC)

(Joshua Paladino, Liberty Headlines) Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Wis., called on the Senate to scrutinize the contents of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act after the House rushed a vote on it Saturday morning.
He excoriated Congress for rushing to throw money at the coronavirus pandemic without debating the best ways to address it.
The people’s representatives were unable to read the legislation. Instead, back-room deals between House leadership and unelected bureaucrats decided how to respond to the coronavirus, he said.
“Last Saturday morning, I witnessed the most rushed vote I’ve ever seen in all my time in public office,” said Grothman, who served in the Wisconsin legislature for 22 years before entering the House in 2015, in a press release.
He said House leadership told him on Friday, March 13 that the House would vote on additional legislation for the coronavirus pandemic.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi then met several times Thursday and Friday with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to negotiate the contents of the bill.
“I, along with the rest of Congress, waited two full days to find out what would be in the bill,” he continued. “Through all of this, I still expected an opportunity to read the contents of the bill on which I was expected to vote.”
Grothman said representatives finally received the 110-page bill on Saturday at midnight. “Less than 30 minutes later, we were called to the Floor to vote on it,” he said.
He added that House members were, likewise, unable to see the Congressional Budget Office’s report on the bill.
“When the dust settled, the bill passed 363-40,” he said. “I don’t see how any responsible Member of Congress could vote for a bill whose content was withheld from us until, literally, the clock struck midnight.”
Although he voted against this bill, he voted in favor of the first coronavirus response bill that appropriated $7.8 billion for the Department of Health and Human Services.
“I strongly encourage the U.S. Senate to clean up this mess. They will have plenty of time to review the bill and should pay careful attention to the paid family leave provisions of the bill,” Grothman said.
“I am disappointed with the bill overall, but particularly the fact that it did not do more to accelerate production of vital drugs and medical supplies in the United States,” he continued. “Hopefully a more responsible bill will emerge from the Senate.”

Pocahontas VP Pick May Be Biden’s Peace Pipe to Progressives

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‘I think she represents a sort of bridge between the moderate land and progressive lane…’

Warren Says She'd Consider Declaring a National Emergency for Climate Change, Gun Control
Elizabeth Warren / IMAGE: The Late Late Show with James Corden via Youtube

(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) A few of Democratic presidential front-runner Joe Biden’s allies are urging him to pick Sen. Elizabeth Warren as his running mate.

Warren, who is considered primary rival Bernie Sanders’s ideological ally, could give Biden’s campaign the progressive boost it needs, said one longtime Biden ally.

“I think she represents a sort of bridge between the moderate land and progressive lane,” the ally, who is in touch with Biden’s campaign, told The Hill.

Some have noted that the strategy risks backfiring. The choice of a radical progressive to succeed the cognitively-declining, 77-year-old Biden might, instead, help to unite President Donald Trump’s base, which has hovered steady around 40 percent, with a coalition of moderates who fear a Warren presidency would be tantamount to electing the socialist Sanders.

At any rate, Biden has done little to dispel the speculation. During Sunday’s debate, he reaffirmed his promise to choose a female running mate if he wins the Democratic nomination, and another Biden supporter said Warren “makes the most sense.”

“There are a lot of qualified women, but she would be the best choice without a doubt,” the supporter said.

Democratic strategist Eddie Vale explained how Warren’s progressive appeal could unite the Democratic Party against Trump in November: “She would definitely help shore up some of his support on the left flank and with women, and especially in the coronavirus crisis, [it] definitely helps show a ticket that is qualified, has plans to deal with it.”

Biden has already endorsed one of Warren’s plans. This weekend he would be adopting Warren’s bankruptcy proposal, claiming that “few people in the country understand how bankruptcy hurts working families more than Elizabeth Warren.”

The former Obama administration vice president also reportedly wanted Warren to run on his presidential ticket back in 2016 when he was considering launching a bid for the White House.

Biden told Warren he wanted her to be his vice president, but didn’t explicitly “ask her to commit to the slot or endorse his candidacy,” according to Politico. Warren was “noncommittal,” but “not displeased.”

Some of the other women Biden is reportedly considering are: failed gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, former acting Attorney General Sally Yates and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

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