Democratic lawmaker aims for ‘bipartisan solutions’ to ‘secure our border’
Rep. Ami Bera, D-Calif., discusses President-elect Donald Trump’s migrant deportation plan and border security on ‘Fox News Live.’
An actual friendly democrat that wants to work with the Trump Admin, to come up with solutions, but he's still a democrat. He does say the voters have spoken out on the border problems and illegal immigration so we should work on this.
6:09
https://youtu.be/lEjTYQObdZw
>>22247624 Donald Trump shocks America by having a pre New Years Eve Party at Mar-a-LagoPN
video attached
BREAKING 🚨 Donald Trump shocks America by having a pre New Years Eve Party at Mar-a-Lago
Melania Trump looks truly stunning tonight ❤️
10:00 PM · Dec 28, 2024
·477.8K
Views
https://x.com/MAGAVoice/status/1873202440323182863
0:17
With one day left, Bannon wins so far, Elon has to re-imagine what he wants
Sean Spicer
@seanspicer
Lets settle this H1B Visas:
68,277 votes
·
1 day left
8:14 PM · Dec 28, 2024
·
480.3K
Views
https://x.com/seanspicer/status/1873175794752864520
Associated Press
Abortions are up in the US. It's a complicated picture as women turn to pills, travel 1/2
(This is sad, but it would be sadder if it wasn't the majority leftists wanting it)
GEOFF MULVIHILL and KEVIN S. VINEYS
Updated Sat, December 28, 2024 at 12:25 PM EST
Abortion has become slightly more common despite bans or deep restrictions in most Republican-controlled states, and the legal and political fights over its future are not over yet.
It's now been two and a half years since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and opened the door for states to implement bans.
The policies and their impact have been in flux ever since the ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization.
Here's a look at data on where things stand:
Abortions are slightly more common now than before Dobbs
Overturning Roe and enforcing abortion bans has changed how woman obtain abortions in the U.S.
But one thing it hasn't done is put a dent in the number of abortions being obtained.
There have been slightly more monthly abortions across the country recently than there were in the months leading up to the June 2022 ruling, even as the number in states with bans dropped to near zero.
“Abortion bans don’t actually prevent abortions from happening,” said Ushma Upadhyay, a public health social scientist at the University of California San Francisco.
But, she said, they do change care.
For women in some states, there are major obstacles to getting abortions — and advocates say that low-income, minority and immigrant women are least likely to be able to get them when they want.
For those living in states with bans, the ways to access abortion are through travel or abortion pills.
Pills become a bigger part of equation — and the legal questions
As the bans swept in, abortion pills became a bigger part of the equation.
They were involved in about half the abortions before Dobbs.More recently, it’s been closer to two-thirds of them, according to research by the Guttmacher Institute.
The uptick of that kind of abortion, usually involving a combination of two drugs, was underway before the ruling.
But now, it's become more common for pill prescriptions to be made by telehealth. By the summer of 2024, about 1 in 10 abortions was via pills prescribed via telehealth to patients in states where abortion is banned.
As a result, the pills are now at the center of battles over abortion access.
This month, Texas sued a New York doctor for prescribing pills to a Texas woman via telemedicine. There's also an effort by Idaho, Kansas and Missouri to roll back their federal approvals and treat them as “controlled dangerous substances,” and a push for the federal government to start enforcing a 19th-century federal law to ban mailing them.
Travel for abortion has increased
Clinics have closed or halted abortions in states with bans.
But a network of efforts to get women seeking abortions to places where they're legal has strengthened and travel for abortion is now common.
The Guttmacher Institute found that more than twice as many Texas residents obtained abortion in 2023 in New Mexico as New Mexico residents did. And as many Texans received them in Kansas as Kansans.
Abortion funds, which benefitted from “rage giving” in 2022, have helped pay the costs for many abortion-seekers. But some funds have had to cap how much they can give.
The abortion map has been in flux
Since the downfall of Roe, the actions of lawmakers and courts have kept shifting where abortion is legal and under what conditions.
Here's where it stands now:
The ban that took eff ect in Florida this year has been a game-changer
Florida, the nation’s third most-populous state, began enforcing a ban on abortions after the first six weeks of pregnancy on May 1.
That immediately changed the state from one that was a refuge for other Southerners seeking abortion to an exporter of people looking for them.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/abortions-us-complicated-picture-women-130351082.html
AP stands for their real name, "All Proganda"
2/2
There were about 30% fewer abortions there in May compared with the averagefor the first three months of the year. And in June, there were 35% fewer.
While the ban is not unique, the impact is especially large. The average driving time from Florida to a facility in North Carolina where abortion is available for the first 12 weeks of pregnancy is more than nine hours, according to data maintained by Caitlin Myers, a Middlebury College economics professor.
Clinics have opened or expanded in some places
The bans have meant clinics closed or stopped offering abortions in some states.
But some states where abortion remains legal until viability – generally considered to be sometime past 21 weeks of pregnancy, though there’s no fixed time for it – have seen clinics open and expand.
Illinois, Kansas and New Mexico are among the states with new clinics.
There were 799 publicly identifiable abortion providers in the U.S. in May 2022, the month before the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade. And by this November, it was 792, according to a tally by Myers, who is collecting data on abortion providers.
But Myers says some hospitals that always provided some abortions have begun advertising it. So they’re now in the count of clinics – even though they might provide few of them.
Lack of access to abortions during emergencies is threatening some patients' lives
How hospitals handle pregnancy complications, especially those that threaten the lives of the women, has emerged as a major issue since Roe was overturned.
President Joe Biden's administration says hospitals must offer abortions when they're needed to prevent organ loss, hemorrhage or deadly infections, even in states with bans. Texas is challenging the administration’s policy and the U.S. Supreme Court this year declined to take it up after the Biden administration sued Idaho.
More than 100 pregnant women seeking help in emergency rooms and were turned away or left unstable since 2022, The Associated Press found in an analysis of federal hospital investigative records.
Among the complaints were a woman who miscarried in the lobby restroom of Texas emergency room after staff refused to see her and a woman who gave birth in a car after a North Carolina hospital couldn't offer an ultrasound. The baby later died.
“It is increasingly less safe to be pregnant and seeking emergency care in an emergency department,” Dara Kass, an emergency medicine doctor and former U.S. Health and Human Services official told the AP earlier this year.
Abortion rights are popular with voters
Since Roe was overturned, there have been 18 reproductive rights-related statewide ballot questions.
Abortion rights advocates have prevailed on 14 of them and lost on four.
In the 2024 election, they amended the constitutions in five states to add the right to abortion. Such measures failed in three states: In Florida, where it required 60% support; in Nebraska, which had competing abortion ballot measures; and in South Dakota, where most national abortion rights groups did support the measure.
AP VoteCast data found that more than three-fifths of voters in 2024 supported abortion being legal in all or most cases – a slight uptick from 2020.The support came even as voters supported Republicans to control the White House and both houses of Congress. (I don't believe this poll)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/abortions-us-complicated-picture-women-130351082.html
The judges in the SC that allowed this, should be burning in hell now
Democrats taunt Trump with ‘President Musk’ moniker
BY ALEX GANGITANO AND MIKE LILLIS 12/29/24
The Democrats stupid "Divide and Conquer" childish scheme. 1/2
Democrats are taunting President-elect Trump with claims that billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk is calling the shots instead of the incoming president.
And with Musk set to play a major role in Trump’s second term — both as co-chair of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and a close presidential ally — it remains to be seen if the moniker of “President Musk” will cause a rift between the famously mercurial incoming president and the richest man in the world. (Are you kidding me?)
Lawmakers began the effort after Musk helped kill a bipartisan spending agreement that had taken months to work out.
Rep. Ami Bera (D-Calif.) noted that Musk launched the public opposition campaign long before Trump issued his own statement critical of the deal, suggesting Musk compelled the president-elect to intervene, even if he had no previous designs to do so. “Elon Musk dives in, and I think forces Trump to dive in,” Bera said.
That power dynamic, Bera added, could spell trouble in the future, as two of the most powerful figures in the world— while aligned for the moment — might be headed for a messy divorce if or when their interests and egos collide.
“What we learned from former President Trump is that he doesn’t want to share the spotlight with anyone, so what does that look like?” Bera asked.
Musk was tasked with leading DOGE in order to find ways to make government more efficient and to cut waste. But his role appears to be growing as he involves himself in government funding fights, joins key meetings with Trump and shares his opinion on top issues, like calling for “some basic cognitive test for elected officials” after the news broke that Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas) has had health challenges that kept her away from the Capitol for months.
Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), who served as the second-ranking Democrat for two decades, is among the lawmakers who’s now referring to the billionaire entrepreneur as “President Musk.”
“We had an agreement that was jointly reached,” Hoyer said during the chaotic stalemate last week, “and that monkey wrench was put in there by 50 or 100 tweets by Musk that turned the Republicans around.”
Trump and Musk have had a close relationship since before the election and appear to still be on good terms, despite the power dynamic that has led some to claim the tech tycoon is in charge.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5056934-president-musk-democrats-taunt-trump/amp/
It's hard to believe that these people are running the country
2/2
Political watchers have wondered when the relationship between the two big personalities will go sour and even some Republicans assume a rift is inevitable, especially with Musk working closely with the Trump team as he takes on DOGE.
“I assume at some point there’ll be a rift because history tells us…most people do not last a long time in Trump’s world. Maybe, Musk will people defy that but history tells us that that’s not the case,” GOP strategist Doug Heye said.
Heye called the Democrats’ efforts to get under Trump’s skin by labeling Musk as president “just trolling” and argued it’s “not always effective.”
A Trump spokesperson fired back at Democrats, saying the party “just lost the House, Senate, and presidency because their abysmal policy proposals failed Americans for the past four years.”
“Democrats have nothing but ad-hominem attacks because they lost everything,” Trump-Vance Transition spokesperson Anna Kelly added.
Among Democrats who are propping up Musk with the faux title of president, there seem to be different motivations.
Some said they think it simply reflects the reality of who’s truly in charge, and they’re hoping to shine a bright light on the extraordinary fact that an unelected figure has assumed so much power over public policy.
“The fact speaks for itself: The one that first disrupted the bill was Musk, and the one that helped pay for the presidency was Musk, and the one that has been in front of Trump— and that’s hard to do— has been Musk,” Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) said. “So it’s clear to me that there’s some kind of coalition between the two of them on what is the best way to run the country.”
Meeks suggested Trump would be easier to work with without Musk’s intervention in policy debates. “That probably would be helpful,” he said.
Still, there’s also a sense that the Democrats’ “President Musk” campaign is part of a political strategy designed to drive a wedge between the billionaire, who plays by his own rules, and the incoming president, who demands loyalty and doesn’t have much tolerance for challenges to his authority.
Most might not be saying it out loud, but some lawmakers suggestedthat was at least part of the objective.
Asked if Democrats were trying to incite that clash, Bera was coy.“We would never do anything like that,==” he quipped.
Democrats piled on the Musk taunts in the midst of the impasse over government funding, which was solved just before the deadline on Friday. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) argued Musk “pulled the rug out from underneath” Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.) argued that Musk “is calling the shots.”
Former Rep. Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.), who called Musk Trump’s “second vice president,” called the degree of influence the South African-born billionaire has as an unelected official “unprecedented.”
Pretty amazing they had a fake president and the staff running things, but criticizing Trump for having an advisor?
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5056934-president-musk-democrats-taunt-trump/amp/
David Sacks
@DavidSacks
Elon has said that H1B should be overhauled, that it should focus on exceptional talent in high-value areas, and that the scams and low-pay jobs should end.This is not to say there aren’t still differences but less than it first appeared. Time to move forward as one team.
Elon Musk
@elonmusk
·14h
Replying to @RobertMSterling
Easily fixed by raising the minimum salary significantly and adding a yearly cost for maintaining the H1B, making it materially more expensive to hire from overseas than domestically.
I’ve been very clear that the program is broken and needs major reform.
Show more
10:20 PM · Dec 28, 2024
·1.8M Views
https://x.com/DavidSacks/status/1873207393821311076
David Sacks
@DavidSacks
I do not wish to expand the H1B visa cap. Neither did Sriram. Check the timeline if you want to know what happened. I agree we’re on the same team, let’s just move forward.
https://x.com/DavidSacks/status/1873201664985059816
==Some Justice Department Lawyers
Look for Protection—and the Exits==
Officials who worked on politically
sensitive cases weigh moves ahead of Donald Trump’s second term WSJ.1/2
By Sadie Gurman C. Ryan Barber
Dec. 29, 2024 5:00 am ET
President-elect Donald Trump and his appointees are floating plans to bring the Justice Department under closer presidential control and fire career employees.
WASHINGTON—Justice Department lawyers who have angered President-elect Donald Trump and his allies are facing tough decisions about whether to stay in government—and how to best protect themselves from threats of retribution after Inauguration Day.
Dozens of prosecutors and agents have worked on cases that potentially make them vulnerable, such as special counsel investigations of Trump, prosecutions of hundreds of his supporters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and contempt-of-Congress cases that sent top Trump associatesSteve Bannon and Peter Navarro to prison this year.
Their concerns are part of a broader wave of uncertainty that has swept through the Justice Department since Trump’s re-election, as he and his appointees openly float plans to fire career employees and bring the department more closely under presidential control.
Some department lawyers on the fence about leaving have sought counsel from Attorney General Merrick Garland and other senior officials, who have encouraged them to stay on for continuity of government and for their expertise, people familiar with the discussions said.
Law firms say they have seen an unprecedented flood of résumés from department lawyers looking for the exits. While presidential transitions always upend the ranks of political appointees, “now, it’s seeping into a lot of career people,” said Steve Nelson, a legal recruiter who helps lawyers make the jump from government into the private sector.
Attorney General Merrick Garland, shown addressing the Justice Department workforce in September, has encouraged department lawyers to remain for continuity of government and for their expertise.
“The number of people leaving, or looking at opportunities outside the Justice Department or elsewhere in the government, is way higher than it’s ever been before,” Nelson said.
Some Justice Department officials who might not have gone into private practice are now considering jobs at big firms as the best way to personally protect themselves.
One problem: There aren’t enough Big Law landing spots for all the attorneys eager for private practice. Some who sent out résumés have since decided to stay, unwilling or unable to give up their dream government jobs right away, department employees said.
Others have sought legal guidance from friends and private lawyers in preparation for the ways the next Trump administration and its supporters could make their lives difficult whether or not they leave the government,from potential harassment to investigations that could hurt them legally and financially for years.(like you assholes did to Americans? Wow)
At the center of the storm is special counsel Jack Smith and his team, some of whom are expected to leave, people close to them said, rather than return to department positions they held before being detailed to investigate and prosecute Trump for election interference and mishandling classified documents. Smith last month dropped both cases, citing longstanding Justice Department policy of not prosecuting a sitting president. (Smith is not even a government employee!)
Jack Smith, the U.S. special counsel who led the prosecutions of Donald Trump over election interference and mishandling of documents, is at the center of the uncertainty.
Smith still has to submit a report of the investigations to Garland, who has promised to make it public. That could further increase tensions with the incoming administration, but the report is likely to add little beyond the information that has already been made public, people familiar with it said.
A spokesman for Smith declined to comment. A Trump transition spokesman didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Trump’s surrogates and nominees have voiced a series of warnings.
https://archive.is/phmTS
2/2
“Career Justice Department lawyers must be fully committed to implementing President Trump’s policies or they should leave or be fired,” Mark Paoletta, who worked on Trump’s Justice Department transition team, said in a series of social-media posts after the election.
If confirmed, Trump’s nominee for attorney general, Pam Bondi, would lead the department after emerging as one of its leading critics since Trump was indicted.
“The Department of Justice, the prosecutors, will be prosecuted, the bad ones,” Bondi said on Fox News last year. “The investigators will be investigated.…We can clean house next term, and that’s what has to happen.”
Pam Bondi, center, Trump’s pick for attorney general, emerged as a leading critic of the Justice Department after he was indicted.
Kash Patel, the hard-line conservative provocateur Trump wants to lead the Federal Bureau of Investigation, has made similar statements, pledging to hollow out the bureau’s ranks.
Exhaustive congressional inquiries could provide another avenue for Trump and his allies to exact a measure of payback. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have already told Smith’s team to retain all their records and communications.
Since Trump’s election,a loose network of sympathetic lawyers has formed in preparation for defending Smith’s teamand other officials who may face scrutiny from the Trump administration. Attorneys started calling friends and colleagues in the weeks after Trump was re-elected to see who would be willing to volunteer, people familiar with the effort said.
Civil service rules offer career employees some protection against being outright fired, andsome lawyers see the chances of them being dismissed—or even prosecuted—as remote.
“We can’t fall down before we get hit. We can’t be hysterical,” said William Taylor, a defense lawyer familiar with efforts to recruit attorneys for government officials. “They’re going to make life unpleasant for some people,but actual consequences to people are really unlikely.”
https://archive.is/phmTS
These lawyers always get off for their crimes, but not this time. They seriously underestimate the terribly illegal things they did to all Americans and President Trump,and how pissed off that we would be, if they let these criminals off the hook.
Personally I think Laura Loomer that was pissed Trump removed her from his inner circle, seized upon this debate, which was a debate, until she ratcheted up the volumecaused a lot of the hair on fire argument. She even said "we", which means "me" doesn't even have seat at the table. The discussion was going on for 6 to 7 days on X prior.
Listen to this if you don't believe me
Rosemary Jenks Reacts To Big Tech Billionaires Support Of Work Related Immigration Visas
4:24
https://rumble.com/embed/v615jsq/?pub=4
Julie Kelly On The Accountability That Kash Patel And Pan Bondi Will Oversee In Next Trump Term
5:52
https://rumble.com/embed/v61g88m/?pub=4
Darren Beattie: H-1B Visas Are Not About Talent, It’s About Cost Cutting
7:02
https://rumble.com/embed/v61g7ns/?pub=4
That was very logical and precise
“The H-1B Program Is A Total And Complete Scam.” Steve Bannon On Tech Oligarchs Hatred For America
15:00
https://rumble.com/embed/v61g7dd/?pub=4