https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/marjorie-taylor-greene-vows-boot-speaker-johnson-if-he-capitulates-border-fight

Marjorie Taylor Greene vows to boot Speaker Johnson if he capitulates on border fight

"We actually have the power of the purse. We're the ones that are in control and we need to control the negotiations," she said.

Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Friday announced that she had told House Speaker Mike Johnson during a Thursday meeting that she would move to remove him from leadership if he agreed to a border security deal trading Ukraine funding for border security reforms that did not meet with her approval.

Since rising to his position, Johnson has struggled to consolidate support in the Republican conference and on Sunday announced a topline spending agreement with Democrats that the conservative House Freedom Caucus deemed a "total failure."

"In my meeting with him yesterday, and many other members of Congress, I let Speaker Johnson know that in no way shape and form will I support any type of CR," she said on the Real America's Voice Network's "War Room" program. "We aren't continuing Nancy's budget. Nancy Pelosi's budget and that if he moves forward with a separate deal trading our border security weakening H.R. 2 in exchange for $60 billion to Ukraine, I told him yesterday in his office that I would vacate the chair."

"That that is absolutely unacceptable and we actually have the power of the purse. We're the ones that are in control and we need to control the negotiations. I reiterated those same points this morning so the ball is in his court," she added.

"Vacate the chair" refers to the formal process for removing a House Speaker. House conservatives led by Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz in October of last year made a similar move to remove then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy from his leadership position after he passed a funding compromise with the Democrats.

H.R. 2 is a House-passed border security package that some Republicans have sought to pair with the Biden administration's request for more than $100 billion to support U.S. allies abroad.

Johnson, for his part, has remained adamant that he seeks to cut spending and secure the border.

"We want to get the border closed and secured, first, and we want to make sure that we reduce non-defense discretionary spending," Johnson said earlier this month. "The point is the longer we wait, the longer we delay the closure and security of the border, the greater the crisis and the problem."

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How much does it cost to close the border? Why would closing America's border be tied into $60 billion more for Ukraine? Congress can't tackle these issues separately? Since no one really knows where the money or the weapons for Ukraine actually end up, I think the correct budgetary number for more Ukraine aid is $0.

The anti-American American government is on full display. They don't represent American citizens at all. The last thing they want is for America to be great.

https://thefederalist.com/2024/01/12/texas-stages-more-border-security-theater-with-national-guards-eagle-pass-seizure/

Texas Stages More Border Security Theater With National Guard’s Eagle Pass Seizure

The Texas National Guard made national headlines this week when it seized a strip of land in one of the biggest illegal border crossing hotspots in the Lone Star State from federal border officials. However, what was initially hailed as a move to curb the record-breaking illegal immigration appears to be just another round of border theater by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

The Texas Military Department claimed that it took control of Shelby Park, a 2.5-mile long stretch along the Rio Grande River in Eagle Pass, Texas, to “prepare for future illegal immigrant surges” and keep out federal border officials who “perpetuate illegal immigrant crossings in the park and greater Eagle Pass area.”

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Abbott and the Border Patrol Union praised the Guard for taking the necessary steps ignored by the Biden administration to secure the U.S.-Mexico border. “As caravans of migrants are moving through Mexico toward the U.S. border, we are making clear that Texas will be a tough place to cross,” Abbott bragged on X.

Yet despite the addition of personnel, barriers, gates, concertina wire, and “military Humvees” to the area, Abbott has not authorized the Texas National Guard to detain and deport illegal immigrants, who are still being turned over to Border Patrol for processing and, in most cases, release.

So, while the move prompted an outcry from the Biden administration and federal border officials who say the state’s interference prevents them from doing their jobs, Abbott’s move won’t fundamentally change the dynamic at the border.

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“BP Sources say this tactic has had no impact on migrant flow and ultimately migrants are still turned over to BP adding extra steps,” Jenkins reported.

Abbott deployed the Texas National Guard to the Southern border in 2021 under the guise of securing the Southern border “as Biden does nothing.” Since Operation Lone Star’s expensive debut, however, illegal border crossings in Texas and across the southwest border have continued to rise to record-high levels.

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https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2024/01/the_supreme_court_tackles_taxation.html

January 12, 2024

The Supreme Court tackles taxation

Moore v. U.S. will decide if the federal government can tax unrealized capital gains not yet received under the 16th Amendment. The justices agreed to hear the Moores’ appeal as the couple wanted their $14,729 refund that the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against. The Ninth Circuit, known in legal circles as the “Ninth Circus” has the worst record of any appeals court before the Supreme Court.

Like Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization did last year, this case will have a huge and lasting ripple effect that should concern everyone.

It is no secret that the nation is accruing debt that is unsustainable. The day of reckoning approaches.

Over a century of income tax laws has resulted in thousands of pages of decrees that carve out craters of exemptions in a labyrinth of directives. The tax code is a bloated, crony-orchestrated, lobbyist-measured disaster for those unable to manipulate it by hiring all those cunning accountants and attorneys who are paid handsomely to circumvent it.

When was the last time a member of Congress did their own taxes?

A fundamental reckoning from the ground up is long overdue to bury the income tax along with the IRS and replace them with a consumption tax or flat tax.

To tax unrealized capital gains not yet received is extreme. The power to regulate and tax is the power to destroy. Congress’s authority to tax does not include reinvested capital and personal property as income.

Income is money received. Assets may increase in value, but until they are collected as interest or dividends, or sold, there is no income. If you cannot spend it, it is not income.

You can’t pay the rent or fill your gas tank with paper gains or the appreciation of your home. When you gain on any financial instrument but do not sell you earn a “paper profit.” If unrealized gains are taxed, and the taxpayer has no cash to pay, a forced liquidation would be necessary for payment.

Are you prepared to pay a tax because your assets go up in value? House, car, pets, trading cards, comic books, Auntie Estelle’s antique coffee table – where does it end? Provided market values decline would monies be refunded? Stop laughing, that was no joke.

Uncle Sam wants all the golden eggs without having to buy the hens, the henhouse, and the chickenfeed. The power brokers in Washington believe everything is subject to taxation, real or imagined.

It is pitiful that this case is even necessary.

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https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2024/01/12/reuters-world-economic-forum-meets-with-trump-discussion-at-forefront-global-corporations-and-politicians-fearful-of-trump-impact-on-world/

REUTERS: World Economic Forum Meets with Trump Discussion at Forefront – Global Corporations and Politicians Fearful of Trump Impact on World

The world’s largest multinational corporations, bankers and finance agents are meeting in Davos at the World Economic Forum next week – gathering together with their political beneficiaries. However, as noted by Reuters, the biggest concern of the assembly of global influencers is the risk that Donald J. Trump represents.

….There are trillions at stake.

Ending the Ukraine war would be detrimental to the group; this is one of the immediate concerns they carry. President Trump negotiating a peaceful resolution to the Ukraine (or Israel/Hamas) conflict is against the interests of the multinationals.

Downstream issues around the elimination of the climate change agenda, the Trump impediment to the creation of central bank digital currencies, the rise of nationalism as a protective measure against the growing impact of global corporations, and the Trump opposition to globalist institutions like the World Health Organization, World Trade Organization or Western World Bank are also discussion topics.

In essence, the World Economic Forum fears Donald J. Trump. Ironically, and yet not coincidentally, the theme of the WEF gathering this year is “rebuilding trust.” However, fear of the non-pretending is what this Reuters article is describing.

REUTERS – The most talked-about person in Davos next week will be nowhere near the Swiss mountain resort. As politicians, financiers and chief executives converge for this year’s World Economic Forum, Donald Trump will be 7,500 kilometres away in Iowa, starting his quest to win the U.S. Republican Party’s presidential nomination for the third time. Even so, his possible return to the White House will pervade Davos discussions on topics ranging from Ukraine, China, trade, and climate change.

Trump is not the only prominent political figure absent from the gathering, whose official theme is “Rebuilding Trust”. Previous attendees such as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are also giving the event a pass, perhaps with an eye on upcoming elections at home. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who is due to face the voters in the coming 12 months, is another no-show.

The 2,800 business and political leaders who have made the trip will instead hear from Chinese Premier Li Qiang, French President Emmanuel Macron, and newly elected Argentinian President Javier Milei. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser, will represent President Joe Biden’s government. Yet the spectre of a second Trump administration will loom over many of the panels, bilateral discussions and drinks parties during the week.

Take Ukraine, whose President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is due to address attendees on Tuesday. European diplomats fear a re-elected Trump would cut off American aid supporting the country’s war with Russia and that he may follow through on previous threats to withdraw from the NATO alliance. Any longer-term decisions about providing financial support for rebuilding Ukraine or what to do with frozen Russian financial assets will also hinge on who ends up in the White House.

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The Levin interview with President Trump is a good listen. It's listed in the Notables.