Citizen Free Press
@CitizenFreePres
Code Pink freaks target Jake Tapper at his home over Israel.
Tapper's kids play the national anthem.
Coke Pinkos do not enjoy hearing anything patriotic
https://x.com/CitizenFreePres/status/1804656157987889483
Independent Voters Are Key to 2024
Column: The malleable middle will decide Joe Biden's fate—and Donald Trump's
Matthew Continetti June 21, 20241/2
I've always been partial to the theory that a candidate or party that wins independent voters will win an election. And if independents are key, then the Trump campaign may want to keep a close eye on recent polling.
So far in the 2024 campaign, Donald Trump has enjoyed consistent support from independents despite losing their votes by 13 points in 2020. For example, the April New York Times/Siena poll had Trump winning likely voters overall by 1 point and likely independent voters by 4 points. The April Fox News poll of registered voters had Trump winning registered voters overall by 1 point and independent voters by 2 points.
The same pattern is visible in the states. The May Bloomberg/Morning Consult poll of swing states had Trump winning independents and sweeping every battleground except Michigan. And the June Emerson poll of swing states has Trump winning independents, and registered voters overall, in every swing state from Arizona to Pennsylvania.
But the Emerson poll also found that independent support for Trump has dropped. He's below 45 percent among independents in Arizona, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. That is enough to beat Biden, for now. It's not enough to put this election away.
Trump also lost support from independents in the June Fox News poll. In a wild swing, independents have gone from favoring Trump by 2 points to favoring Biden by 9 points, giving the incumbent a 2-point lead among voters nationwide.
These numbers suggest that Trump's felony conviction in New York City hurt his lead. Trump is still ahead in the swing states, where the election will be decided, but in most cases his margins are tight. His ability to win back support from independents will make the difference.
After all, the presidential candidate or political party that won independent voters has won the White House or the House of Representatives in 7 of the past 10 biannual elections.
The exceptions were in 2004, when John Kerry won independents 50 percent to 48 percent but lost to George W. Bush, and in 2012, when Mitt Romney won independents 50 percent to 45 percent but lost to Barack Obama.
The national exit poll from 2022 helps explain why that midterm election was a disappointing year for the GOP. The poll had Democrats winning independents 49 percent to 47 percent while losing control of the House. At the state level, independents rejected Trump-selected candidates such as Kari Lake and Blake Masters in Arizona, Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania, Herschel Walker in Georgia, and Tudor Dixon in Michigan. And what looked like an approaching red wave barely arrived on shore.
https://freebeacon.com/columns/independent-voters-are-key-to-2024/
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Republicans want to avoid a repeat in 2024. They have benefited from the public's widespread and enduring disapproval of Biden. Independent voters disapprove of Biden's economic performance, his handling of immigration, and his foreign policy. They share the larger public's concerns about Biden's age and infirmity. If the election were decided by job performance, policy prescriptions, and personal attributes, then Trump would win handily.
What we're seeing is that independent voters may be having second thoughts about Trump's character and personality. There are two ways Trump can address their fears. He can focus on inflation, immigration, and foreign policy during next week's debate, and remind voters that they prefer the Trump economy, border, and world scene to present conditions. And he can choose a vice-presidential nominee who will reassure independent voters, not frighten them.
There is a long running debate in the Beltway about how elections are won. Is it better to mobilize your base, or should you persuade the middle? Which cohort matters most: committed partisans or self-identified independents?
Committed partisans receive most of the attention. The United States is a deeply and narrowly divided country. Turning out enthusiastic supporters is essential to victory. In 2004, a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in Ohio brought evangelical Christian and other values voters to the polls, helping George W. Bush win the state and a second term.
In 2012, African-American voters turned out in great numbers to reelect the first black president. In 2016, Donald Trump's enthusiastic fanbase propelled a man with no government or military experience to the Republican nomination and then to the White House. And in 2020 that same fanbase organized boat parades and automobile and truck convoys that carried Trump to the brink of a second term. In business, entertainment, media, and politics, the superfan rules.
But he also needs help. The superfans were there for Trump in both 2016 and 2020. Independents were not. The independents backed Trump 46 percent to 42 percent when Hillary Clinton was on the ballot, then swung hard against him and the GOP in 2018 and 2020, and against MAGA diehards in 2022. To win in 2024, Trump must keep independents convinced that Joe Biden is a failed president
https://freebeacon.com/columns/independent-voters-are-key-to-2024/
Signs promoting Biden’s infrastructure may break the law, Cruz alleges
Signs that read “Project Funded By President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law” are “nothing more than campaign yard signs courtesy of the American taxpayer,” the Texas Republican wrote to the Office of Special Counsel.
By CHRIS MARQUETTE 06/21/2024 04:26 PM EDT1/2
Sen. Ted Cruz is asking a federal watchdog to investigate whether the Biden administration is violating the Hatch Act by using taxpayer dollars to tout its 2021 infrastructure law— a move that comes amid evidence that most voters are unaware of one of the president’s biggest legislative achievements.
The Texas Republican argues that the administration has “highly politicized” the law, including by encouraging projects funded by the statute to post signs giving credit to President Joe Biden, according to a letter from Cruz provided to POLITICO. He pointed to guidelines posted by the White House specifying that the signs say in large letters: “Project Funded By President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.”
It’s not uncommon for the names of presidents and other public officials to appear on signs announcing projects they helped fund — and critics of former President George W. Bush similarly complained when the Internal Revenue Service sent letters to taxpayers promoting his tax cuts. But Cruz argues that Biden takes it to another level, alleging that the White House “unilaterally rebranded” the 2021 statute as “President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.”
“I write to refer this to you for investigation as a possible violation of the Hatch Act, federal law that broadly prohibits using taxpayer dollars for campaign activity,” Cruz wrote on Thursday to Hampton Dellinger, head of the Office of Special Counsel. “Congress, not President Biden, wrote [the infrastructure law], and it did not do so to aid the President’s reelection campaign.”
“These displays are nothing more than campaign yard signs courtesy of the American taxpayer,” Cruz wrote.
In a statement to POLITICO, White House spokesperson Robyn Patterson responded that the signs “promote transparency and inform taxpayers how federal dollars are being spent.” She also noted that Cruz voted against the law.
“If Senator Cruz were half as concerned about Texas kids getting safe drinking water as he is about signs, he might have voted for the Infrastructure Law and to send $31 billion to tackle essential infrastructure needs across Texas,” she said. “President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is building roads, expanding high speed internet access, and replacing lead pipes across Texas.”
The Department of Transportation, which is overseeing the vast bulk of the infrastructure money, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The White House guidelines Cruz cites also specify similar wording for projects funded by three other major Biden-era laws — the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS and Science Act and a 2021 pandemic relief law known as the American Rescue Plan. Together, these statutes provide an estimated $1.6 trillion in direct spending and tax breaks for projects designed to rebuild infrastructure, promote a shift to green energy and create U.S. manufacturing jobs, among other needs.
https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:https://www.politico.com/news/2024/06/21/biden-infrastructure-signs-cruz-00164446
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For most projects funded by four statutes, the guidelines specify that the signs should say, “Project Funded By President Joe Biden’s [Insert Name of Law],” along with a logo reading, “INVESTING IN AMERICA.”
Cruz also alleges that the red, white and blue “INVESTING IN AMERICA” logo — originally worded “Building a Better America” — was “purposefully designed to look like the Biden-Harris campaign logo,” and was originally designed by the same firm. The White House did not respond to a request for comment on this part of Cruz’s complaints.
The sign guidelines were last updated in March 2023.
The four spending laws have loomed large in Biden’s case for a second term, as Cabinet leaders and other administration officials have crisscrossed the country to tout bridge projects, battery plants and other efforts being funded by the initiatives. Biden’s campaign has especially relished the contrast with former President Donald Trump, whose own $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan died a quiet death in a Congress that at the time was under GOP control.
The infrastructure law drew widespread bipartisan support in the Senate but got only 13 Republican votes in the House before Biden signed it in November 2021.
But despite the White House-approved signage, repeated polls have shown many voters are unaware of the infrastructure law or unsure how much credit Biden should get for it.
In a POLITICO-Morning Consult poll published in May, just 46 percent of registered voters said they have heard “some” or “a lot” about the law. Biden had only a 3-percentage-point advantage over Trump on the question of which president has done more to promote infrastructure improvements — and seven in 10 Republicans said Trump deserves the credit.
In a February 2023 guidance from OMB cited in Cruz’s letter, the White House Office of Management and Budget told all chief financial officers at the executive agencies that it “encourages the use of public signage on projects funded by these laws as well as acknowledgement of such Federal funding in other public materials as appropriate, in furtherance of openness and transparency.” Those laws included the 2021 infrastructure law.
The OMB document said its suggestions “do not constitute official guidance or prescribe specific tasks for agencies.”
Cruz, the top Republican on the Senate Commerce Committee, also argues that the sign guidelines run afoul of the First Amendment by “conscripting others to deliver his political message.”
In another letter, addressed to Comptroller General Gene Dodaro, Cruz asks whether the OMB alert is considered a “rule” under the Congressional Review Act, a 1996 statute that allows Congress to strike down executive branch regulations with simple-majority votes.
https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:https://www.politico.com/news/2024/06/21/biden-infrastructure-signs-cruz-00164446
Democratic Dark Money Machine Quietly Adds Another Mystery Group to Its Ranks
The Civic Involvement Fund does nothing besides funnel money to Democratic groups in election years
Andrew Kerr June 20, 20241/2
It has no website, no employees, and its books are in the care of a powerful green consulting firm with close ties to the White House. It has also flooded Democratic groups with more than $35 million in untraceable cash since 2020, all while evading public detection—until now.
The Civic Involvement Fund has operated from the shadows from an apartment unit in Brooklyn since launching in 2019. That's thanks in part to a novel spending strategy that sets the group apart from most other spokes in the Democratic Party's ever-growing dark money network. During off-election years, the 501(c)(4) group does nothing but rake in huge sums of cash from one or two anonymous donors. Those funds collect dust until election years, when the Civic Involvement Fund dumps its entire bankroll into groups dedicated to defeating Republicans at the ballot box.
The Civic Involvement Fund has so far evaded public scrutiny, but its efforts likely haven't gone unnoticed by the Biden White House. The fund has three unpaid board members, two of whom—Kathleen Welch and William Roberts—are principals of Corridor Partners, a for-profit consulting firm dedicated to supporting green energy policies. The third board member, Shelley Hearne, is Welch's spouse. Collectively, the fund's three board members have logged 60 visits to the Biden White House since October 2021, including a dozen meetings with Biden climate envoy John Podesta, according to public visitor logs reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon.
The Civic Involvement Fund got its start with a single anonymous $10.7 million contribution in its 2019 tax year. The following year—amid a presidential election—the group passed its entire bankroll over to five groups, including the dark money affiliate of Priorities USA Action, a major Democratic super PAC. The fund did nothing else aside from giving out the money it received the prior year—it had zero employees, reported $0 worth of expenses, and raised just $2,550 in its 2020 tax year.
The fund repeated the process with greater success in its 2021 tax year, receiving two contributions totaling $24.5 million. The group waited until its 2022 tax year to forward that bounty to a collection of 14 pro-Democratic groups, including Future Forward USA Action, the dark money affiliate of President Joe Biden's official super PAC.
Though Biden and other prominent liberals have made a show ofpublicly decrying the corrupting influence of dark money in politics, the Democratic Party has consistently outspent Republicans in dark money spending since 2018. Groups such as the Civic Involvement Fund aren't required to disclose their donors to the public, so they've become the preferred vehicle for deep-pocketed donors seeking to influence public policy while avoiding public scrutiny.
https://freebeacon.com/democrats/democratic-dark-money-machine-quietly-adds-another-mystery-group-to-its-ranks/
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The Civic Involvement Fund isn't the only Democratic dark money group used to mask the identity of one or two select donors.In summer 2020, a dark money group called the Impetus Fund appeared with a $64 million contribution from a single anonymous donor, CBS News reported. The Impetus Fund then forwarded that cash to many of the same groups bankrolled by the Civic Involvement Fund, including Future Forward USA Action.
"The Civic Involvement Fund is representative of a trend among left-wing nonprofit activist groups,"said Parker Thayer, an investigative researcher at the Capital Research Center. "The money piles are getting bigger and darker even while Democrats heat up their rhetoric about conservative 'dark money' groups a fraction of the size."
The Civic Involvement Fund reported in its 2020 tax return that its books were in the care of Corridor Partners, the consulting firm owned by two of its three board members. Curiously, however, the Civic Involvement Fund has never reported any payments to Corridor Partners in any of its public financial disclosures.
A dozen Civic Involvement Fund board visits to the White House were with Podesta, a powerful Democratic consultant whom Biden tapped to oversee the $369 billion climate change investment fund authorized by the Inflation Reduction Act.
While the identity of the fund's patron (or patrons) remains unconfirmed,billionaire hedge fund manager Nat Simons did accompany Welch and Roberts to one of their meetings with Podesta.Simons is a prominent Democratic donor who has invested tens of millions of dollars promoting green energy policies. It's unclear if that meeting had any relation to the Civic Involvement Fund.
Simons isn't the only billionaire with ties to Corridor Partners, however. The firm also provides consulting services for the Walton Conservation Coalition, an environmentalist lobbying group chaired by Walmart billionaire heir Lukas Walton.
Corridor Partners also consults for the Linden Trust for Conservation, a green energy group led by former Goldman Sachs managing director Lawrence Linden.
https://freebeacon.com/democrats/democratic-dark-money-machine-quietly-adds-another-mystery-group-to-its-ranks/
GREATNESS COMING THROUGH!!!😎🇺🇸
OK this is doggone funny
0:39
https://rumble.com/embed/v50kbjo/?pub=4
STOP IT!!!😭🤣🤣🤣
Putin and Kim might not like this, if they see this.KEK
0:45
https://rumble.com/embed/v50g9x0/?pub=4
BRING BACK THE PEACE PRESIDENT!!!🇺🇸
This is really a historic moment in history
1:12
https://rumble.com/embed/v50f026/?pub=4
HARNWELL: The main issue with illegal immigration isn’t the illegality — it’s the immigration itself
17:48
I hated to have to “correct” the great president of the Heritage Foundation on air but it was necessary. He was simply wrong to suggest that everyone presently in the US illegally should leave and then come back in legally. No way!
That’s to fundamentally mis-state the problem. The UniParty has flooded America with millions of people who hate the idea of America and hate the ideas on which America was founded.
These all need to be deported. It’s long past time that Americans — of all ethnicities and backgrounds — had a government passionate about putting their interests FIRST — not LAST.
https://rumble.com/embed/v50r4m6/?pub=4