Day: May 9, 2020

Republicans Move to Suspend Walz’s Six-Figure Salary Until Shutdown Ends

Anthony Gockowski

A Republican lawmaker put forward an amendment Thursday that would suspend Gov. Tim Walz’s salary during the course of his peacetime emergency declaration.

The move is the latest escalation in a battle between Republican and Democratic lawmakers over the best course of action in addressing the coronavirus pandemic. House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt (R-Crown) announced last weekend that he would block a public works bill from being passed until Walz agreed to relinquish his emergency powers.

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Commentary: Is the CDC Meddling with the 2020 Election?

Minnesota Sun Staff

The coronavirus crisis is reaping big political benefits for Democrats. President Trump’s signature achievement—a booming economy with record low unemployment, rising middle-class wages, and a sky-high stock market—lies in tatters. At least 33 million Americans abruptly and without warning are out of work. Second-quarter gross domestic product estimates are horrifying, a double-digit dive that the country has never experienced even in the direst economic times.

Americans are scared for their health and fearful of the future. Neighbors are turning on each other; the inner tyrant of every state governor, mayor, and police officer has been unleashed. And President Trump has been denied access to his only stimulant—energetic political rallies where he connects directly with supporters across the country.

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Steve Bannon Presents ‘Descent into Hell – The Chinese People: Voices of Defiance’

Minnesota Sun Staff

  An all new LIVE STREAM of Descent into Hell – The Chinese People: Voices of Defiance starts at 9 a.m. Central Time on Saturday. Former White House Chief Strategist Stephen K. Bannon began the daily War Room: Pandemic radio show and podcast on January 25, when news of the virus…

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Illegal Crossings Plummet as Coronavirus Pandemic Shuts Down Border

Minnesota Sun Staff

Arrests along the U.S.-Mexico border in April dropped to some of their lowest levels in several years after the Trump administration restricted border crossings due to the coronavirus pandemic.

There were a total of 16,789 enforcement actions on the U.S. southern border during April, according to the latest data provided by Customs and Border Protection (CBP). That figure marks a 50% drop in enforcement actions compared to March, and a substantial decline from the more than 109,000 actions taken in April 2019. Enforcement actions are now at their lowest since April 2017.

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Encouraging Illegal Aliens to Remain in the US Is a Crime, Supreme Court Rules

Minnesota Sun Staff

The Supreme Court unanimously upheld a federal statute that forbids encouraging illegal aliens to remain in the U.S. unlawfully in a decision Thursday.

The Supreme Court justices voided an earlier decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which had ruled that a federal anti-harboring statute was unconstitutional on the grounds that it violated the First Amendment by restricting free speech. The ruling by the nation’s highest court Thursday upholds the law.

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Commentary: This Is What It Looks Like When You Shoot the Economy in the Head

Minnesota Sun Staff

25.4 million Americans have lost their jobs since February through mid-April, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports — 17.3 million who are unemployed, and another 8.1 million who have left the labor force completely — in response to the Chinese coronavirus pandemic as Americans sit home and wait it out.

Although the Bureau tabulates a reported unemployment rate of 14.7 percent, if you count the 8.1 million who left the labor force, too, plus the 5.8 million who were already unemployed, and the number looks more like 18.9 percent.

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Tara Reade Told Her Ex-Husband About Alleged Harassment in Biden’s Senate Office, 1996 Court Document Shows

Minnesota Sun Staff

A 1996 court document shows that Tara Reade told her ex-husband that she experienced sexual harassment at work in Joe Biden’s Senate office.

The March 1996 court declaration, written by Reade’s ex-husband Theodore Dronen and obtained by The Tribune in San Luis Obispo, California, shows that Reade told Dronen about “a problem she was having at work regarding sexual harassment, in U.S. Senator Joe Biden’s office.”

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April Jobs Report: 20.5 Million Jobs Lost, Unemployment at 14.7 Percent

Minnesota Sun Staff

The U.S. economy lost 20.5 million jobs in April, while the unemployment rate rose to 14.7%, according to Department of Labor data released Friday.

Total non-farm payroll employment fell by 20.5 million in April, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics report, and the number of unemployed persons rose by 15.9 million to 23.1 million.

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Star Tribune Accepts $150,000 Grant from Facebook

Anthony Gockowski

The Star Tribune accepted $150,000 in grant money from Facebook, the tech giant revealed Thursday.

According to a press release from Facebook, the company awarded $10.3 million to 144 local U.S. newsrooms as part of a “COVID-19 Local News Relief Fund Grant Program.” Another $5.4 million was awarded to 59 North American newsrooms that participated in Facebook’s “Local News Accelerator” program, including The Star Tribune.

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