CDC Warns Agency Would Lose Access to Key Data If Emergency Declaration Ends

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is warning that the end of the public health emergency for COVID-19 would cut the agency off from critical data for tracking the disease.

“CDC has no general statutory authority to direct what and how public health data are reported. Data authorities related to COVID-19 test results and hospitalizations are available now because of a public health emergency declaration. When that declaration lapses, so do the federal legal authorities to require the reporting of this important information,” a CDC spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email.

The emergency was declared by then-Health Secretary Alex Azar in January 2020 during the Trump administration. It has been extended multiple times by Azar and his successor, Xavier Becerra, most recently on Jan. 14.

The declaration enables the CDC and other health agencies to take certain actions, including tapping into a financial reserve and waiving some requirements from the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. In a pandemic-era bill, Congress also ordered all laboratories that perform or analyze COVID-19 tests to report the results to the federal government until the declaration ends.

A separate national emergency declaration was made by former President Donald Trump in March 2020 and has been kept in place by President Joe Biden, who last extended it in February.

Critics say that the emergency is over because COVID-19 metrics have plunged since the latest peak, and many officials, including top ones in the Biden administration, have acknowledged that the pandemic has eased.

The CDC said it’s reliant on voluntarily reporting from local, state, and public health partners in collecting data on COVID-19.

“This pandemic demonstrated the inadequacies of this fractured system which results in delays and incomplete data when the agency must move quickly to keep people safe through policymaking,” the spokesperson said.

The CDC has launched an effort to modernize its data collection and reporting but is pushing for the White House or Congress to give it more authority for data collection outside of the emergency powers.

“If people want CDC to be responsible, to be able to report in a timely fashion, in a quick fashion, we have to have the authority to collect those data,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the agency’s director, said on CBS’s “60 Minutes.”

The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Reuters reported recently that the Biden administration wants to keep the collection system in place beyond the end of the emergency, adding new requirements for the thousands of hospitals that have been feeding data to the CDC.

One path the administration could take is imposing required reporting as a condition of participation in the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

The current system requires more hours for hospitals and other providers to collect the information and submit it to federal health officials, Paul Mango, who worked for the CDC’s parent agency, the Department of Health and Human Services, during the Trump administration, said in an op-ed.

“It’s hard work to collect all this information and submit it if it’s not done automatically, electronically,” Mango told The Epoch Times. His book “Warp Speed” was just published.

Mango thinks the CDC should tap into electronic health records, which are now widely used across the country, to gather data, since the records are already available without additional work by state and local providers.

“The future should be a seamless, automated way to collect this information,” he said.

https://www.ntd.com/cdc-warns-agency-would-lose-access-to-key-data-if-emergency-declaration-ends_753179.html

Transportation Secretary Buttigieg Says Solution to High Gas Prices is “Public Transportation”

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Wednesday said a solution to high gas prices is “public transportation.”

The Biden Regime is waging a war on rural America, truckers and driving freedom.

Americans love cars because of the freedom and independence it offers.

Joe Biden launched a war against fossil fuels the moment he stepped foot in the White House as part of his ongoing plan to restrict movement.

Covid was about restricting movement and now Biden is continuing that by banning domestic drilling and closing US pipelines.

Last week Buttigieg told the poors to go buy electric vehicles and now he’s telling the peasants who can’t afford high gas prices to take public transportation.

Public transportation isn’t available in most places in the US and it is a dangerous option for women who are traveling alone.

“I hope [public transit] becomes a choice… people have good options and good affordable options to get to where they need,” Buttigieg said. “We need to make sure there is access to excellent public transportation.”

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/03/transportation-secretary-buttigieg-says-solution-high-gas-prices-public-transportation-video/

Developing: Lansing Banquet Hall Receives Death Threats for Holding MAGA Event Later This Month — Owners Refuse to Bow Down to the Violent Leftist Mob

The Lansing Breing Company canceled plans to host a political mixer for organizations supporting former President Donald Trump after receiving threats and public backlash online from radical intolerant leftists.

According to the Lansing State Journal — Lansing Brewing Company, located at 518 E. Shiawassee St., was widely criticized after a flier for the event, billed as a “MAGA Mixer,” gained attention on social media. Scheduled for March 26, the mixer was slated to take place after a rally on the steps of the Michigan Capitol in support of the former president.

The organizers of the conservative gathering, Grand Opportunity USA (GOUSA) and Republicans for National Renewal, two 501(c)(4) organizations, were then left scrambling to find a substitute venue.

They have since signed a contract with The Royal Scot Banquet Center in Lansing who have now received death threats from the intolerant left.

Despite these threats the Royal Scot is still planning on holding the event.

Local FOX News ran a news segment on the Royal Scot from their parking lot after they failed to kneel to the leftist mob.

Now the Royal Scot Venue is receiving death threats and threats of violence from radical Michigan leftists.

Will AG Dana Nessel be investigating?

Here are a few examples:

Messages:

**Why the hell would you host a treasonous cult of personality?

** Didn’t you notice that the majority of Lansing has rejected this?

* They’re not going to pay you enough to make up for being shunned by your city. I can only assume your ownership belongs to the aforementioned cult, which is pathetic and sad but have fun at your little mixer where you can obsess over rewriting history and talking about shit you don’t understand. Fck all of you, hope you close soon

** Won’t be going to my reunion if it’s still held at your facility. Your hosting those Putin loving MAGA rats. Those that support EX president trump are traitors not patriots. – Barbara Hurley Shulick

** your 1st mistake comparing maga a cult organization to either democrat or republican party . The bottom line if it was a Republican event no one would care but maga is a racist cult filled organization there’s a big difference. I will not be golfing or bowling at your establishment anymore including golfing events . Hopefully the state tournament for bowling will respond by no longer holding it’s event at your establishment – Chad Martin

** Sally Voorhees- Hosting a MAGA event isn’t any different than holding a Klan event. Neither one should be tolerated.

** Richard Krause- What???? People like this should should not be allowed to congregate… We need to shut this DOWN! It should be illegal for these people to exist. In fact it should be illegal to be republican! That way only the FACTS can be shared. Right gang?

The Royal Scot Venue also noted they have also received death threats over the phone.

Mark Ivanyo, executive director of Republicans for National Renewal, had this to say about the threats of violence, “The far left is scared of the rising America First movement in Michigan and abroad, but their cancel culture tactics are failing. We will hold the MAGA Rally and the Mixer, and there is nothing they can do to stop it.”

GOUSA founder John Paul Moran added this, “All we are doing is standing for the principles that about 80% of the voters agree on – the America First principles and values are the voice of the “forgotten 80%” and are the reason and the basis for our organization’s OppScore, which is a nonpartisan credit score of sorts for politicians. It’s the extreme radical 10-20% fringe that intimidated our first venue into cancelling – not every day Americans but a small, radical and often violent fringe that is really attacking 80% of us!” –

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/03/developing-lansing-banquet-hall-receives-death-threats-holding-maga-event-later-month-owners-refuse-bow-violent-leftist-mob-video/

Telegram channel leaks Mossad chief’s personal photos, documents

Video shows flight tickets, ID, tax papers, imagery said to be of David Barnea’s home; unconfirmed reports claim Iran behind cyber attack; Israel says materials ‘old’

An anonymous Telegram channel published a video on Wednesday that included personal photos and documents seemingly belonging to Mossad chief David Barnea.

The video published on the “Open Hands” channel — which was created on Tuesday — alleged the information it had obtained was from a lengthy intelligence operation conducted against Barnea, which began in 2014.

“We’ve got a small gift for the Mossad; ‘With LOVE for David’. Happy Purim,” a post on the channel read, referring to the Jewish holiday that begins Wednesday night.

The video — with translations in English, Hebrew, and Arabic — showed several personal photos, flight tickets under Barnea’s name, his ID card, tax documents addressed to his wife, and satellite imagery of what it claimed to be his private home in the central city of Hod Hasharon.

A clip of Barnea making silly faces, apparently during a private video chat, is also seen in the video.

The group claimed it began its surveillance operation against Barnea by breaking into the database of the city’s local library. It was not immediately clear this information was used to gather the data on Barnea.

The channel said more material on the Mossad chief would be released soon.

The Prime Minister’s Office stated on behalf of the Mossad that Barnea’s phone was not hacked and the “materials in question are old,” without elaborating further.

Open Hands did not say where the group was from, but some Hebrew-language media reports were quick to point the finger at Iran. Nour News, a website linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, also published details of the leak.

It was not the first time alleged Iranian hackers have published stolen personal information on targets.

An Iranian-linked hacking group, Black Shadow, targeted an Israeli hosting company last year, temporarily shutting down a number of websites and stealing user data from “Atraf,” an Israeli LGBT dating site. It later published some of the data.

Black Shadow also stole a vast trove of information from Israeli insurance company Shirbit in 2020, and then sold it on the dark web when the firm refused to pay a ransom.

Israel and Iran have for years been involved in a largely quiet cyberwar, which occasionally bubbles to the surface.

On Monday evening, Israeli government websites were downed for over an hour due to a major cyberattack, which has also been ostensibly tied to Iran by media reports.

Israeli officials have previously accused Iran of attempting to hack Israel’s water system in 2020.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/telegram-channel-leaks-mossad-chiefs-personal-photos-documents/

DC Police Block All Entrances To DC Per DHS - Threaten To Arrest Truckers

https://rumble.com/vxm3dz-dc-police-block-all-entrances-to-dc-per-dhs-threaten-to-arrest-truckers-vid.html

DHS Collected Americans’ Financial Records In Bulk: Sen. Wyden

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has collected Americans’ financial records in bulk, according to Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).

Wyden revealed the existence of a DHS financial surveillance program in a March 8 letter to the department’s inspector general, calling for an investigation into the previously unknown activities.

Wyden said he has recently learned that Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)—a law enforcement component of DHS—was operating an “indiscriminate and bulk surveillance program that swept up millions of financial records about Americans.”

“After my staff contacted HSI about the program in January 2022, HSI immediately terminated the program,” Wyden wrote to DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari.

The senator said his office was briefed by HSI on Feb. 18—the first time Congress had been told about the program.

“HSI told my staff that it used custom summonses to obtain approximately six million records about money transfers above $500, to or from Arizona, California, New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico,” Wyden wrote. “HSI obtained these records using a total of eight customs summonses, which it sent to Western Union and Maxitransfers Corporation (Maxi), demanding records for a six-month period following the order.”

Wyden said the HSI financial surveillance activities are highly problematic for numerous reasons, including the fact that only eight summonses were used to obtain more than 6 million records.

“The customs summonses authority only permits the government to seek records that are ‘relevant’ to an investigation,” he said.

“HSI should have known that this authority could not be used to conduct bulk surveillance, particularly after the Department of Justice inspector general harshly criticized the Drug Enforcement Administration in 2019 for using subpoenas to conduct a bulk surveillance program involving records of international phone calls.”

Wyden also said the HSI database allows hundreds of law enforcement agencies “unfettered access” to the financial records without any court supervision.

The fact that DHS immediately shuttered the program after being contacted by the senator further suggests a lack of internal oversight, he said.

“I write to request that you thoroughly investigate the program to determine whether HSI’s surveillance of Americans was consistent with DHS policy, statutory law, and the United States Constitution,” the letter reads.

Reacting to Wyden’s revelations, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) called the HSI program “blatantly illegal.”

https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/dhs-collected-americans-financial-records-bulk-sen-wyden