Trump DOJ asks appeals court to strike down all of Obamacare

The Trump Justice Department told a federal appeals court Monday night that it favors striking down Obamacare in its entirety. The statement, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, is a departure from the administration's previous stance, which was that only the law's rules on protections for people with pre-existing conditions should be struck down.

A district court had ruled in December that Obamacare was unconstitutional on the grounds that, without the individual mandate requiring people to buy healthcare insurance or face a fine, the rest of the law should fall. Republicans had zeroed out the mandate in the 2017 tax law. The case is now before the appeals court. In a brief letter, assistant attorney general Joseph Hunt and deputy assistant attorney general Brett Shumate wrote that the DOJ "has determined that the district court’s judgment should be affirmed."

William Barr was confirmed as attorney general in February, after the district court decision. In confirmation hearings, he had said that he would reconsider the administration's position that the law's pre-existing condition proections, and only those rules, needed to be struck down. Obamacare has remained in place pending the appeal. The original suit against Obamacare was brought by 20 Republican state attorneys general.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/economy/trump-doj-asks-appeals-court-to-strike-down-all-of-obamacare

Pompeo: Journalists are fueling anti-Semitism

Journalists are contributing to the rise of anti-Semitism in the West, according to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. State Mike Pompeo. "I want to talk about why anti-Semitism is on the rise," he said at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's annual conference in Washington, D.C. "I have a few thoughts on the reasons. "First, Western civilizations – and our youth, in particular – are losing first-hand experience with the Holocaust and its survivors as the postwar generation dies out. I saw that clearly and thought about it on my most recent trip to Israel, when I visited Yad Vashem. "Second, professors teach our children that Israel is the epitome of imperialism. "Third, journalists, who help drive our public debate, don’t always take the time to consider facts or think critically. And I’m being polite."

Pompeo’s sharpest barb was reserved for some politicians - an apparent allusion to Democrats like Rep. Ilhan Omar and Rep. Rashida Talib who are strenuously anti-Israel and have been accused of anti-Semitism. "But frankly, worst of all, some politicians think anti-Semitism can actually win them votes," Pompeo said. He described anti-Semitism as "a cancer metastasizing in the Middle East, in Europe, and indeed, sadly, here in the United States as well." Pompeo said: "In Britain, the Labour Party’s tolerance of anti-Semitism in its ranks is a national disgrace. And France’s Jews are under attack. The incidence of anti-Semitic attacks in Germany is also on the rise." He added: "Anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism. Israel should be admired not attacked, embraced not vilified, and emulated not ostracized."

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/pompeo-journalists-do-not-consider-facts-or-think-critically

Stacey Abrams Launches Another Dark Money Group

Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams has started a new tax-exempt organization called Fair Count Inc., her latest in a string of so-called dark money groups that have anchored her political career. Abrams, a rising star in the Democratic Party, narrowly lost a historic election for governor in November 2018 that would have made her the first African-American female governor in the nation’s history. Despite a record midterm turnout, Abrams continues to blame her loss on voter suppression—an issue she champions. Since her defeat, Abrams has hinted at running against Georgia Republican Sen. David Perdue in 2020, and even told the New York Times on March 5 that she is considering a presidential bid. On March 14, Abrams met with former Vice President Joe Biden to reportedly discuss being his running mate in a possible Biden campaign for the White House.

Abrams announced Fair Count on March 25 with the intention of including “hard-to-count groups” in the 2020 Census, which according to the organization’s website, are under-reported and unrepresented. “Proud to be part of making our democracy stronger by founding FairCount—a new org working to make sure all people are counted in the upcoming census,” Abrams wrote on Twitter. “I know too many Georgians who feel unseen and unheard. These are the voices we need in Georgia the most,” she added in a video.

Fair Count comes as the Trump administration prepares to include a citizenship question that Democrats fear will cause illegal immigrants to shy away from participating in the once-a-decade national headcount. If so, it could diminish both federal funding and political clout in areas where they reside. The U.S. Supreme Court will ultimately determine the validity of the question. According to Pew Research, almost 60 percent of illegal immigrants live in just 20 urban areas, including Atlanta. A pre-2016 presidential election analysis estimated that California, a sanctuary state, would lose five House seats—and therefore, five Electoral College votes—if the state’s illegal immigrant population were wholly eliminated from the census. Dark money refers to tax-exempt groups that don’t disclose their donors or sources of funding. Abrams, whose other dark money nonprofits centered on mass registering voters and challenging alleged voter suppression, has already said that she is open to noncitizen voting.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/stacey-abrams-launches-another-dark-money-group_2852779.html

Voter drive raised millions, but Abrams won’t say from whom

https://www.ajc.com/news/state–regional-govt–politics/voter-drive-raised-millions-but-abrams-won-say-from-whom/8eYeUD80WFSaCYO3Y3ANdL/

A high-profile Democratic voting group faces new scrutiny

https://www.ajc.com/news/state–regional-govt–politics/high-profile-democratic-voting-group-faces-new-scrutiny/e7cgs6Qa6I0HQ4bYS8saxH/

2 Georgia Democrats Race on Parallel Paths

http://atlantajewishtimes.timesofisrael.com/2-georgia-democrats-race-on-parallel-paths/

https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/5692203/Fair-Fight-Action-bylaws.pdf