Month: February 2021

Nearly 5,000 National Guard Troops to Stay in DC Until Mid-March Amid Concerns That QAnon Will Storm Capitol Again

Minnesota Sun Staff

The Biden Department of Defense will be keeping National Guard Troops in Washington, D.C. until at least mid-March in part because of a little known QAnon conspiracy theory that could spur another storming of the Capitol, a House Democrat suggested on Wednesday.

“Some of these people have figured out that apparently 75 years ago, the president used to be inaugurated on March 4. OK, now why that’s relevant, God knows, at any rate, now they are thinking maybe we should gather again and storm the Capitol on March 4. … That is circulating online,”  House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-Wash.) said during a  committee hearing.

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Steve Bannon Presents ‘War Room: Pandemic’

Minnesota Sun Staff

An all new LIVE STREAM of War Room: Pandemic 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 was just beginning to leak out of China around the Lunar New Year. Bannon and co-hosts bring listeners exclusive analysis and breaking updates from top medical, public health, economic, national security, supply chain and geopolitical experts weekdays from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon ET.

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Commentary: Dems Close Ranks Around Newsom as GOP Recall Unity Frays

RealClearWire

California Democrats are standing with Gov. Gavin Newsom as Republican unity around the effort to remove him from office is splintering over how to limit the GOP candidate field and thus pose the strongest recall challenge.

But proponents of the recall, considered a long shot most of last year, over the weekend celebrated a milestone: They reached the 1.5 million signatures needed by mid-March to qualify for a special election to remove the first-term governor. Yet with Democratic election officials expected to invalidate roughly 20% of all signatures gathered, recall organizers will continue working toward a goal of 1.8 to 2 million signatures by the deadline to allow for a buffer, a threshold they’re confident of reaching.

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Lincoln Project Co-Founder Rick Wilson Paid off $200K Mortgage After Weaver Allegations Surfaced

Minnesota Sun Staff

Lincoln Project co-founder Rick Wilson paid off the massive mortgage on his Florida home only days after the New York Times reported on sexual misconduct allegations against co-founder John Weaver, public records show.

Wilson’s $200,000, 30-year-mortgage originated in 2007 and JPMorgan Chase Bank recently issued a certificate of satisfaction on the mortgage, the Washington Free Beacon reported.

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Minneapolis Lifts Bar Seating Ban, Still Requires Multiple Distancing Rules

Peter D'Abrosca

Residents of Minneapolis received a small reprieve from stringent COVID-19 restrictions Friday, but plenty of rules still remain in place. 

“The city of Minneapolis has lifted its ban on bar counter seating just in time for the weekend,” Minnesota Public Radio News (MPR) reported. “Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said the decision was based on public health data, showing a decrease in COVID-19 cases in the city.”

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Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer Exposes the ‘Dirty Truth’ About School Closures

Minnesota Sun Staff

U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer exposed the “dirty truth” about school closures at a Friday event hosted by the Center of the American Experiment.

Emmer represents Minnesota’s Sixth Congressional District and chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee. He believes education will remain a hot topic in the 2022 midterms.

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FBI Investigating Andrew Cuomo over Nursing Home Deaths: Report

Minnesota Sun Staff

The FBI and a U.S. attorney in New York are investigating Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his administration over their handling of data on coronavirus cases in state nursing home facilities, according to multiple reports.

Prosecutors have issued subpoenas in the investigation, which is in its early stages, two sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.

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New Jobless Claims Increase to 861,000, Economists Expected 773,000

Minnesota Sun Staff

The number of Americans filing new unemployment claims increased to 861,000 last week as the economy continued to suffer the effects of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, according to the Department of Labor.

The Bureau of Labor and Statistics figure released Thursday represented an increase in the number of new jobless claims compared to the week ending Feb. 6, in which there were 848,000 new jobless claims reported. That number was revised up from the 793,000 jobless claims initially reported last week.

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Twenty Days of Infamy: The January 2017 Red Flags the FBI Blew Past on Russia Collusion

Minnesota Sun Staff

From its earliest moments, the FBI’s Russia collusion probe was always fraught with warning signs.

Agents were told Christopher Steele provided faulty information, had likely been compromised by Russian intel disinformation, wanted to defeat Donald Trump, had leaked to the media and was being paid by Hillary Clinton, who herself might be carrying out an epic dirty political trick to vilify Trump with false information to distract from her own scandals.

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U.S. Life Expectancy Suffers Greatest Drop Since World War II, CDC Says

Minnesota Sun Staff

Life expectancy in the United States dropped a full year during the beginning half of 2020 due to the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, health officials announced.

The drops were greatest among people of color, according to preliminary estimates from the CDC. The life expectancy for black Americans and Hispanic Americans dropped almost three and two years, respectively while the expectancy for white Americans fell 0.8 years.

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Music Spotlight: Chris Pierce

Bethany Bowman

Chris Pierce is one of the most accomplished artists I have interviewed. He has opened for legends, like BB King, Al Green, Seal, Aaron Neville, and Colbie Callait. He has a big imprint in the sync world with his music being featured on shows like Brothers and Sisters, In Plain Sight, Eli Stone, What About Brian, and Army Wives to name a few. Most recently, the songwriter gained national attention with “We Can Always Come Back To This”, a song he co-wrote for the #1 NBC primetime series This is Us, peaked at #1 on the Billboard Blues Chart.

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Walmart to Raise Wages for 425,000 Workers After Massive 2020 Sales Performance

Minnesota Sun Staff

Walmart announced it will raise wages for 425,000 store associates serving in “frontline” roles after the company reported record fourth-quarter revenue.

Walmart will increase starting wages to between $13 and $19 per hour depending on store location and market, according to a letter Walmart President and CEO John Furner sent to employees nationwide Thursday morning. The pay raises will begin on March 13 and apply to the company’s 425,000 store associates.

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Report: Gov. Cuomo Threatening to ‘Destroy’ NY Dem. Lawmakers If They Refuse to Publicly Support His Covid-19 Record

Minnesota Sun Staff

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo reportedly threatened to ‘destroy’ a local lawmaker’s career unless he issued a statement “covering up” what a top aide to the governor said last week in a stunning and news-making conference call with Democrat lawmakers. Three additional Democratic lawmakers also say they were threatened by the Cuomo administration, according to CNN.

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Bill to Legalize Marijuana Passes Minnesota House Subcommittee

Peter D'Abrosca

After an hour and a half hearing Thursday, a bill that would legalize the use of recreational marijuana passed a Minnesota House Commerce Finance and Policy subcommittee. 

“There being 10 ayes and seven nays, House File 600 is recommended to be referred to the Committee on Labor, Industry, Veterans and Military Affairs Finance and Policy,” chairman of the subcommittee state Rep. Zach Stephenson (DFL-MN-36A) said after the roll call at the end of the online hearing. 

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Minnesota Gov. Walz Pushes for Subsidized Biofuels but Economists Warn of Climate Damage, Higher Food Prices

The Center Square

Gov. Tim Walz asked for President Joe Biden’s continued support for the biofuels program last week, despite economists’ concerns over concerns about biofuels’ inefficiency and costs. 

Biofuels — bioethanol and biodiesel derived from plants — since 2005 have been pitched as a solution to climate change because they decrease dependency on fossil fuels.

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Exclusive: Roger Stone Denounces New York Times Hit-Piece Tying Him to Capitol Riot

Neil W. McCabe

  One of President Donald J. Trump’s longest-serving political advisors told the Star News Network the Feb. 14 latest attack piece in The New York Times is part of a mainstream media attempt to tie him to the Jan. 6 chaos in the Capitol. “Just because the New York Times…

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Commentary: The Coming Parent Revolt over School Reopening

Minnesota Sun Staff

The public health community has long since concluded that the perils of prolonged school closures are far greater than the risks posed by COVID-19 to students and teachers. This fact has not been lost on parents, who are growing increasingly impatient with teachers who won’t return to the classroom. This frustration will increase exponentially now that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued new guidance on how schools can and should safely reopen: “It is critical for schools to open as safely and as soon as possible, and remain open, to achieve the benefits of in-person learning and key support services.”

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Biden to Meet with Union Leaders About Massive Infrastructure Plan

Minnesota Sun Staff

President Joe Biden will meet with labor leaders at the White House Wednesday to discuss infrastructure investment and clean energy jobs, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Sean McGarvey, president of North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU), Richard Trumka, president of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), and other union heads are expected to meet with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, according to The Wall Street Journal. The White House said the meeting will focus on infrastructure and Biden’s coronavirus relief bill currently making its way through Congress.

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Gun Control Bills Quick to Pop up in Congress

The Center Square

Democratic congresswomen from New York and Texas each introduced several pieces of legislation that they say are aimed at curbing gun violence.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney, who represents New York’s 12th Congressional District, introduced a package of five bills, three of which she also tried to get passed two years ago, shortly before the third anniversary of the shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida where 17 people were killed and another 17 injured by a former student.

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Wuhan Lab in China Is Eligible to Receive American Taxpayer Funding

Minnesota Sun Staff

The Wuhan Institute of Virology, the controversial laboratory in China that many have pointed to as the origin of the Chinese coronavirus, has been authorized to receive American taxpayer funding for the next three years, according to the Daily Caller.

A spokesperson for the National Institute of Health (NIH) confirmed this to the Caller, and said that the funding for which the lab is eligible would be focused on “animal research” through at least January of 2024.

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Commentary: Will Senate Democrats Eliminate the Filibuster Just to Nationalize Election Laws Under H.R. 1?

Minnesota Sun Staff

After sweeping the trifecta of the House, Senate and White House in 2020 with the slimmest of majorities, Democrats have a diminishing window of opportunity to enact their agenda and keep their political base happy.

After all, majorities do not last forever, and in midterm elections from 1906 to 2018, the party that occupies the White House usually loses on average 31 seats in the House, and about three seats in the Senate. And with just a 10-seat majority in the House and a zero-seat majority in the Senate with it all tied, 50-50, the odds Democrats lose at least one legislative chamber in 2022 is exceptionally high.

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New York Sues Amazon over Allegedly Jeopardizing Workers’ Safety

Minnesota Sun Staff

New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit against Amazon on Tuesday night alleging that the online behemoth bypassed regulations meant to protect its workers from COVID-19.

The lawsuit claims that since the pandemic began in March the company refused to adopt legally required safety measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus in its two New York City facilities. It also alleges that Amazon did not adequately sanitize and close its facilities, adopt necessary social distancing measures or notify its employees of possible coronavirus exposures.

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CNN and NBC Both Paid $35,000 to Left-Wing Activist for Footage of Fatal Capitol Shooting

Minnesota Sun Staff

A left-wing activist facing criminal charges for his involvement in the Capitol riots received $35,000 from both CNN and NBC for footage he recorded of a Trump supporter being fatally shot inside the Capitol building, according to records he filed in federal court on Tuesday.

Lawyers for John Sullivan, a 26-year-old Utah native, disclosed the payments as part of the activist’s argument that he was acting as a journalist in the Capitol rather than a rioter.

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Analysis: The New York Times’ Brazenly False ‘Fact Check’ About Trump’s Impeachment Trial

Minnesota Sun Staff

The New York Times has published a “fact check“ by Linda Qui declaring that Donald Trump’s lawyers “made a number of inaccurate or misleading claims” during the Senate impeachment trial. In reality, much of the article consists of flagrant falsehoods propagated by Qui and the Times.

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Nonprofit Law Center Fighting for Michigan Man Fired for Saying ‘All Lives Matter’

Peter D'Abrosca

A legal nonprofit has taken the case of a Michigan man who was fired from his job for using the phrase “All Lives Matter,” according to a press release.

Rick Beaudin, a Re/Max realtor in Pinckney, Michigan, posted what he thought was an innocuous comment on Facebook, in a response to Black Lives Matter organizing a protest there. 

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Democrats in Congress Renew Push for D.C. Statehood, but It Faces Uphill Climb in Senate

Minnesota Sun Staff

Democrats in Congress are renewing their push for Washington D.C. statehood with their party in the majority in the House and Senate.

Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the non-voting House member representing the District, has reintroduced the Washington, D.C. Admission Act, which has picked up 210 Democratic co-sponsors so far. Delaware Democratic Sen. Tom Carper introduced the Senate version of the bill, which has 39 Democratic co-sponsors to date.

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Ilhan Omar Goes on Student Debt Rant After Biden Says He Won’t Cancel Loans

Peter D'Abrosca

After a Tuesday evening town hall, president Joe Biden said he will not cancel up to $50,000 of student loans, prompting backlash from the progressive wing of his own party. 

“I will not make that happen,” Biden said when asked what he will do to cancel up to $50,000 in student loans. 

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Judge Concerned by ‘Unbridled Discretion’ of University Officials to Favor Left-Wing Student Groups

Minnesota Sun Staff

One University of Minnesota official has “unbridled discretion” to grant preferential treatment to favored student groups, and it’s causing big problems for conservative students.

A federal judge cited this red flag in refusing to dismiss a lawsuit by students Evan and Isaac Smith, along with the unregistered student group Viewpoint Neutrality Now!

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Commentary: Republicans Acquit Trump, but Leave His Supporters Defenseless

Minnesota Sun Staff

For years we have heard from Democrats about the obligation of Republicans to “stand up to Trump.” These lamentations have taken on new ferver since the GOP denied Democrats their latest wish, by voting to acquit Donald Trump of inciting “insurrection.” 

Democrats tell us this acquittal was merely the latest attack on democracy by the Republican Party which, we are to believe, has totally devolved into QAnon-inspired “domestic extremism.” 

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Fauci Says Not All Teachers Need to Be Vaccinated to Open Schools

Minnesota Sun Staff

Dr. Anthony Fauci on Sunday said not all teachers need to be vaccinated in order for schools to reopen, The New York Post reports.

“It’s not [the case] that you can’t open a school unless all the teachers are vaccinated. That would be optimal, if you could do that,” Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told ABC’s anchor George Stephanopoulos on “This Week”.

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Twice Acquitted, Trump Possesses Many Options to Reinvigorate MAGA After White House

Minnesota Sun Staff

Two days removed from his second impeachment acquittal, former President Donald Trump was returning from a day of golf when he was greeted by a throng of flag-waving fans as he neared his Mar-a-Lago estate.

The President’s Day scene in West Palm Beach, Fla., which included jubilant supporters with signs that declared “Trump won,” even impressed Dan Scavino, a veteran of many of his boss’ sold-out rallies. “This is unbelievable,” the longtime aide tweeted Monday.

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‘Team Biden’ Sought to Cultivate Ties to Businessman Who’s Now Awaiting Sentencing on Federal Charges

Minnesota Sun Staff

After the presidential election in 2012, a longtime adviser to Joe Biden urged the then-vice president’s sons, Hunter and Beau, to cultivate relationships with a group of wealthy political donors in order to “pull them in a little closer to Team Biden,” according to an email obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

One of the sought-after donors was Imaad Zuberi, a politically-connected Pakistani-American businessman now awaiting sentencing on charges of tax evasion, obstruction, campaign finance violations and foreign agent violations.

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Trump Remains the Overwhelming GOP Favorite for 2024, Poll Shows

Minnesota Sun Staff

Former President Donald Trump remains the overwhelming favorite among Republican voters to be their party’s nominee in 2024, according to a Politico/Morning Consult poll released on Monday.

Fifty-three percent of GOP voters said that they would vote for Trump if the 2024 primary were held today, the poll showed, more than the rest of the field combined. Former Vice President Mike Pence was second with 12%, and Donald Trump Jr. and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley were tied for third with 6%.

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Congressional Budget Office Projects Record Deficits over the Next Decade

Minnesota Sun Staff

Federal deficits are projected to skyrocket over the next decade, resulting in a national debt that could be 107% of U.S. GDP, according to a recent Congressional Budget Office report.

The United States’ debt reached 100% of GDP during the past fiscal year largely due to the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic and the $2.2 trillion CARES Act passed in March 2020. While the CBO’s February report projects unprecedented deficits, they are smaller than the office’s projections from last summer due to the country’s promising economic outlook.

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China Will Control Appointment of Chinese Catholic Clergy Without Input from Vatican

Minnesota Sun Staff

New rules from the Chinese government indicate that China will exercise control over the appointment of Catholic clergy without any input from the Vatican.

The “Administrative Measures for Religious Clergy,” which will go into effect May 1, clarified that the state-run Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA) will select candidates for clergy who will then be “approved and  consecrated by the Chinese Catholic Bishops’ Conference.”

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Commentary: How Mail-In Voting Affected the 2020 Election

Minnesota Sun Staff

What factors propelled Joe Biden to victory in the November 2020 election? Did voters abandon Donald Trump in droves? Are liberals, socialists, and statists gaining ground in the United States of America?

I don’t think so, but I don’t have a definitive answer for you. Neither, so far as I know, does anyone else. After diligently examining the numbers and reviewing news reports from each state east of the Mississippi River, all I can say with confidence is that mail-in voting had something to do with why Biden prevailed. If some pundit or politician claims it was due to this or that cohort of “swing voter,” or to some malfeasance on the part of Donald Trump, or because voters wanted a return to “decency” under “nice guy” Joe, well … be skeptical.

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Trump Unleashes Scathing Statement Blasting Sen. Mitch McConnell

Minnesota Sun Staff

Former President Donald Trump issued a scathing statement on Tuesday in which he excoriated Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

“The Republican Party can never again be respected or strong with political ‘leaders’ like Sen. Mitch McConnell at its helm,” Trump said in the fiery statement. “McConnell’s dedication to business as usual, status quo policies, together with his lack of political insight, wisdom, skill, and personality, has rapidly driven him from Majority Leader to Minority Leader, and it will only get worse. The Democrats and Chuck Schumer play McConnell like a fiddle—they’ve never had it so good—and they want to keep it that way! We know our America First agenda is a winner, not McConnell’s Beltway First agenda or Biden’s America Last.”

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Economic Toll of Multiple Winter Storms Could Result in Billions of Dollars in Property, Agricultural Damage

The Center Square

The area currently covered by winter storm warnings over the continental U.S. is larger than the land area of Alaska.

Multiple winter storms are bringing snow, ice and dangerously cold temperatures as more than 100 million Americans are under a winter weather advisory, according to the National Weather Service.

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Democrats to Introduce Bill That Would Give Citizenship to 11 Million Illegal Aliens

Minnesota Sun Staff

In one of the most radical legislative proposals ever introduced, the Democratic Party plans to introduce a bill later this week that would guarantee a path to citizenship for 11 million illegal aliens in the country, as reported by Daily Caller.

The bill will be called the “U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021.” It is set to include expansions to the nation’s refugee resettlement program, increased benefits for illegals who are being considered for amnesty under the failed DREAM Act, and expanding government assistance for illegal aliens.

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Biden Suggests Masks Will Be Worn Through Next Year

Minnesota Sun Staff

President Joe Biden indicated that Americans may need to wear masks to prevent the spread of coronavirus for the remainder of 2021.

Speaking during a visit to the National Institutes of Health complex on Thursday, Biden also spoke about the U.S. vaccine supply and his goals for the rollout, and suggested that mask-wearing will likely be a reality for the next year, Fox News reports.

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DFL Introduces Adult-Use Cannabis Bill Opposed by Senate Leader

The Center Square

House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler, DFL-Golden Valley, has introduced adult-use cannabis legislation that a Senate Republican leader opposes.

The bill is derived from conversations in 15 communities statewide.

“The tide is shifting,” Winkler said in a press conference about the 15 states that’ve legalized marijuana so far.

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Commentary: Five Ways President Biden Undermined Middle East Peace Last Week

Minnesota Sun Staff

Last week alone, the Biden administration has made at least five blunders that will set back prospects for Middle East peace. These unforced errors will only serve to isolate our traditional allies in the region (Israel and the Gulf States) and enable Iran and its proxies and the Palestinian Authority.

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Rep. Swalwell Pushes for a ‘White Nationalism Task Force’

Minnesota Sun Staff

Democratic California Rep. Eric Swalwell on Monday called for “a white nationalism task force” at the Department of Justice.

“They’re going to need, I believe, at the Department of Justice, a white nationalism task force to make sure that they’re understanding at the earliest of ages how people are being radicalized, if there are in fact training camps,” Swalwell said on “MSNBC Live With Katy Tur.”

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Biden Upset Trade Unions by Scrapping the Keystone Pipeline, but Sided with Teachers Unions Against the Reopening of Schools

Minnesota Sun Staff

President Joe Biden campaigned on his strong union ties, but some of the policies his administration has adopted — ones he promised he’d adopt during the election — have outraged those that supported him.

Biden pledged throughout his campaign that he would scrap the Keystone XL pipeline if elected, and his doing so angered trade, labor and pipefitter unions, some of whom have already lost jobs as a result. But while Biden has called for nearly all schools to reopen within the first 100 days of his presidency, his administration has sided with teachers unions across the country, some of which have refused to revert to in-person learning despite recent studies that show it is safe if proper precautions are followed.

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Lindsey Graham Says VP Harris Could be Impeached if GOP Takes Back House

Minnesota Sun Staff

Lawyers for Donald Trump said it over and over: Impeaching and convicting the former president would set a terrible new precedent ripe for abuse.

Before the trial began, Trump lawyer Bruce Castor laid out his team’s arguments.

“We will argue that the entire proceeding is unconstitutional, bad public policy, and is setting a bad precedent for the nation,” Castor said. “We will argue that every person in the United States is entitled to due process of law, even if it is the president of the United States. And the president of the United States during the House impeachment was afforded no due process of law.”

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