House Dems’ First Big Bill Is Liberal Wish List for Federalizing Voting

House Democrats’ titled H.R. 1, their first bill of the 116th Congress, the “For the People Act” and describe it as “the most transformational and comprehensive suite of democracy reforms ever proposed.” That’s quite a claim, even allowing for the exaggerated rhetoric typical of a new Congress. Thus, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Democracy Reform Task Force Chairman Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Md.) elevated H.R. 1 to the rarified atmosphere of milestones like direct popular election of senators and voting rights for women.

Democrats know that, with a Republican president and GOP Senate majority for the next two years, the earliest H.R. 1 could become law is after the 2020 election, but that’s why their opening proposal in 2019 can’t be ignored—it’s a powerful indicator of where Democrats yearn to take the country.

The bill includes a liberal laundry list of new laws, programs, and regulations, virtually all of them being proposals conservative critics heartily agree would be “transformational,” but, from their perspective, in the worst possible ways. Included in H.R. 1’s 571 pages are proposals promoting Internet, automatic, and same-day voter registration, vastly expanding the power and funding of an obscure federal panel, the Election Assistance Commission, strengthening early-voting, endorsing statehood for the District of Columbia, depriving state legislators of authority to draw congressional districts, and requiring disclosure of previously anonymous campaign donors, including those among federal contractors. In addition, the bill significantly expands public financing of congressional and presidential elections, repeals the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, requires incumbent presidents and vice-presidents, and candidates for those offices, to release their tax returns, and vastly extends executive branch ethics and conflicts-of-interest regulations. And that’s only the highlights!

Both parties could support some of H.R. 1’s proposals. The bill, for example, “requires presidential inauguration committees to disclose their expenditures, limits aggregate contributions and restricts funds used on purposes unrelated to the inauguration,” according to the Democracy Reform Task Force’s section-by-section description. Similarly, H.R. 1 “prohibits Members of Congress from using taxpayer funds to settle any case of employment discrimination acts by the Members.” And the proposal “requires that all reports from federal agencies mandated by Congress be published online in a searchable and downloadable database.” But there is little chance that any of the rest of the act would even get a hearing in the Republican Senate or in President Donald Trump’s White House.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/house-dems-first-big-bill-is-liberal-wish-list-for-federalizing-voting_2759211.html

California and Los Angeles County to Remove 1.5 Million Inactive Voters from Voter Rolls – Settle Judicial Watch Federal Lawsuit

https://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/california-and-los-angeles-county-to-remove-1-5-million-inactive-voters-from-voter-rolls-settle-judicial-watch-federal-lawsuit/

TRUE THE VOTE SUPPORTS PRESIDENT TRUMP’S CALL TO INVESTIGATE ELECTION FRAUD READY TO LEAD FORENSIC AUDIT EFFORT

https://truethevote.org/true-vote-supports-president-trump%E2%80%99s-call-investigate-election-fraud-ready-lead-forensic-audit

Nucor to Build New Steel Mill in US, Adding 400 Jobs

Nucor Corporation announced plans on Jan. 7 to build a $1.35 billion steel-plate mill in the United States that would create approximately 400 new jobs. Nucor’s CEO, John Ferriola, attributed the expansion to President Donald Trump’s policies. Trump pushed through a significant tax cut for business in 2017 and imposed tariffs on foreign steel to protect American manufacturers.

“This administration is taking the decisive and meaningful actions that American manufacturers need to compete on a level playing field,” Ferriola said in a statement. “Tax reform, continued improvements to our regulatory approach and strong trade enforcement are giving businesses like ours the confidence to make long-term capital investments here in the U.S. that create jobs and ensure our success for decades to come.”

The mill is expected to be fully operational by 2022 with an estimated output of 1.2 million tons of steel-plate products per year. The company expects to select a site for the new mill somewhere in the Midwest early this year. Nucor already operates plate mills in North Carolina, Alabama, and Texas. The new mill will have the capacity to create products which can’t be made at the other facilities.

“By building this state-of-the-art plate mill in the Midwest—the largest plate-consuming area in the United States—we will enhance our ability to serve our customers in the region while also furthering our goal of meeting all the steel needs of our customers around the country,” said Leon Topalian, executive vice president of beam and plate products. Trump’s tariffs had already resulted in the creation of more than 11,000 jobs by August, according to a tally by Coalition for a Prosperous America, a nonpartisan trade group representing U.S. farmers, ranchers, manufacturers.

“The evidence is that the tariffs are working. Economic growth is up, inflation is under control, many of the tariffed industries are enjoying strong recoveries in output, profits, and employment,” Jeff Ferry, CPA’s research director, said in a statement on Dec. 4. In November, Steel Dynamics announced plans to build a $1.7 billion plant in the Southwest, drawing praise from the president. The project should create 600 jobs, according to the company’s estimates.

“Steel JOBS are coming back to America, just like I predicted,” Trump wrote on Twitter on Nov. 28. Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff on imported steel and a 10 percent tariff on imported aluminum in March last year. In the months that followed, steel and aluminum makers began adding jobs and restarting idle plants. By late July 2018, manufacturers restarted mills or announced plans to open new facilities in Illinois, Ohio, Florida, Montana, Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, and South Carolina.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/nucor-to-build-new-steel-mill-in-us-adding-400-jobs_2759050.html

Congressman calls on Justice Department to halt federal funding for Nation of Islam

Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., Monday called on the Department of Justice to immediately halt federal funding to the Nation of Islam, after the Washington Examiner first reported that the group has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the government to teach religious studies programs to prison inmates. In a letter to the Justice Department obtained by the Washington Examiner, Buchanan called the report “disturbing” and said the government’s funding of the openly anti-Semitic black separatist group was “downright immoral.”

“As you may know, the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center have designated the Nation of Islam as a hate group for its racist and anti-Semitic beliefs,” Buchanan wrote in the letter to acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker. “The federal government should not use taxpayer dollars to subsidize one of the most infamous hate groups in the United States,” Buchanan added. “That’s why I’m demanding your department immediately cease all contracts with the Nation of Islam and prohibit it from receiving any contracts in the future.” Buchanan also asked the Department of Justice to “undertake a full review of all ongoing and future contracts to ensure that the U.S. government is not financing domestic or foreign hate groups.”

The Nation of Islam, a black nationalist group run by Louis Farrakhan, preaches that white people are “blue-eyed devils” and Jews are “the synagogue of Satan." Its leaders have received at least $364,500 in contracts and awards from the Department of Justice, through the Bureau of Prisons, between fiscal 2008 and fiscal 2019. The funding was designed to provide "Nation of Islam religious services," "Nation of Islam spiritual guide services," "Nation of Islam study services," and other related programming led by the organization’s leaders, according to Bureau of Prison records. One of the organization’s key texts, "The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews," claims that Jews were responsible for the transatlantic slave trade and rigged the world economic system to disenfranchise black people.

The Bureau of Prisons declined last month to provide any details about the contracts, including what year they began and what Nation of Islam reading materials were used for the program. “Contracts are retained six years after final payment, so we are not able to provide details regarding the original contract on which the Nation of Islam began contracting with the Bureau of Prisons," a spokesperson told the Washington Examiner. The spokesperson cited a regulation that federal correctional institutions "may contract with representatives of faith groups in the community to provide specific religious services which the chaplain cannot personally deliver due to, ordinarily, religious prescriptions or ecclesiastical constraints to which the chaplain adheres." The Nation of Islam declined to comment to the Washington Examiner last month. However, one of the group’s leaders defended the federal funding in a subsequent blog post, calling it “a great benefit and blessing to the American Penal System.”

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/congressman-calls-on-doj-to-halt-federal-funding-for-nation-of-islam

>>4648014

Exclusive: Nation of Islam receiving federal cash to teach prisoners

The Nation of Islam and its leaders have received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the U.S. government since 2008 to teach religious study programs for federal prison inmates, according to records reviewed by the Washington Examiner. A black nationalist group led by Louis Farrakhan, the Nation of Islam preaches that white people are “blue-eyed devils” and Jews are “the synagogue of Satan." Its leaders have received at least $364,500 in contracts and awards from the U.S. Bureau of Prisons and the Department of Justice between fiscal 2008 and fiscal 2019. The funding was designed to provide "Nation of Islam religious services," "Nation of Islam spiritual guide services," "Nation of Islam study services," and other related programming led by the organization’s leaders, according to Bureau of Prison records. The Nation of Islam has been labeled a hate group by the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center.

New York Republican Peter King, chairman of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, told the Washington Examiner the funding was "beyond the pale." He said: "Categorically, no group or entity or individual associated any way with Farrakhan or the Nation of Islam should receive any federal funding. What Farrakhan preaches is hatred and anti-Semitism and racism, and to use any federal money for any group that’s he’s involved with that do any type of teaching or proselytizing is just wrong."

Mark Potok, a senior fellow at the Centre for Analysis of the Radical Right, called the funding "really outrageous and remarkable." He noted that a court ruling in 2003 prohibited federal prisons from banning Nation of Islam reading materials on First Amendment grounds. But he said this ruling doesn’t require the U.S. government to provide money to the organization. "I can’t imagine the reason why the federal government would have any obligation to give any money to the Nation of Islam or its proponents, and it seems quite incredible if they do," said Potok.

The Bureau of Prisons on Wednesday declined to provide any details about the contracts, including what year they began and what Nation of Islam reading materials were used for the program. “Contracts are retained six years after final payment, so we are not able to provide details regarding the original contract on which the Nation of Islam began contracting with the Bureau of Prisons," said a spokesperson. The spokesperson cited a regulation that federal correctional institutions "may contract with representatives of faith groups in the community to provide specific religious services which the chaplain cannot personally deliver due to, ordinarily, religious prescriptions or ecclesiastical constraints to which the chaplain adheres." While declining to comment on what the Nation of Islam provided to prisoners, the bureau cited a federal statute that said religious materials must “be previewed by [Bureau of Prison] staff, or any other staff-designated volunteers, prior to distribution" and "materials shall not denigrate or disparage any other religion or religious groups.” King said the funding raises concerns about the federal vetting process for prison chaplains in light of reports that prisons can be a breeding ground for radicalization.

In 2010, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee released a report that found "as many as three dozen U.S. citizens who converted to Islam while in prison have traveled to Yemen, possibly for Al Qaeda training." The issue has drawn recent attention in Europe, after a gunman who attacked visitors at a Christmas market in France was reported to have been radicalized during a prior stint in jail. “Since there have been too many instances of radicalization occurring in prisons, that, to me, is a public concern as to what is being taught,” King said. "To me, once you’re associated with Farrakhan, that, to me, would end the vetting right away." Federal spending records reviewed by the Washington Examiner show that the funding dates back at least to fiscal 2008, with some contracts apparently approved in 2007.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/exclusive-nation-of-islam-receiving-federal-cash-to-teach-prisoners

>>4648124

You got sauce for that anon?