April 13: The Washington Free Beacon: Biden Administration gives
valuable defense contract to Chinese collaborator
The Biden administration awarded a lucrative defense contract to a Singaporean company that works with Chinese military firms.  On April 6, Singapore-based ST Engineering won a contract alongside defense contractor BAE Systems to build a prototype military ground vehicle for use in Arctic environments. One of ST Engineering's direct subsidiaries does business with the Chinese military industry, ultimately providing maritime and satellite technology to Chinese authorities. The use of a defense company that collaborates with China raises concerns about industrial espionage and could expose vulnerabilities in the Pentagon, one expert on military acquisition said.  Mark Vandroff, a former Navy officer and former member of the National Security Council, said the contract could pose an "attractive" way for Beijing to gain inside knowledge on valuable national security technology.  Army officials picked the firm to develop crucial military equipment as competition with China and Russia in the Arctic heats up. China hopes to ascend to "polar great power" status by 2030. 

April 13: The Daily Signal: What can be done to combat left-wing
influenced corporate America’s infiltration?
The radical left has infiltrated corporate America and is using big business to promote a political agenda.   Justin Danhof, general counsel for the National Center for Public Policy Research and director of the Free Enterprise Project, is a member of a new coalition called Stop Corporate Tyranny.   He says we’ve been screaming from the rooftops to conservatives largely that: Pay attention, big business is no longer with us. Big business is advocating against traditional values, conservative values at a record pace. He said the coalition is giving people tools that will allow you directly engage with business leaders that are taking actions that offend their values.

April 12: The Daily Signal: Arizona Election integrity Law will ban financing
from out-of-state sources to run elections
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has signed significant election integrity legislation into law.  “With public confidence in our elections in peril, it’s clear our elections must be pristine and above reproach—and the sole purview of government,” Ducey said. Arizona’s new law prevents private funding from going into elections, such as the $419 million in donations made by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan.  The Zuckerbergs gave a total of $350 million to a left-leaning technology group, that in turn issued grants to 2,500 election offices in 49 states. The spending included $5 million for Arizona, according to preliminary data from the Foundation for Government Accountability.  House Bill 2569 makes Arizona the first in the nation to fully ban billionaires from influencing the administration and management of Arizona elections.  According to the sponsor of the legislation, “We have sent a clear message that it doesn’t matter how much money you have, Arizona elections are not for sale.” 

April 12: The Federalist Papers: SC Governor says No to request to put unaccompanied minors in his state’s foster care and residential facilities
Republican South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster has taken executive action to prevent the Biden administration from placing unaccompanied minors from the border in his state.  McMaster cited coronavirus concerns and limited resources to justify the order, which he signed Monday.  The governor’s order directed the state’s Department of Social Services “to prevent placements of unaccompanied migrant children entering the United States via the southern border into residential group care facilities or other foster care facilities located in, and licensed by, the State of South Carolina.”

April 12: The Daily Signal: After Zuckerberg money, Wisconsin
legislature eyes election changes
A Wisconsin Senate committee took up election reform bills at a hearing Thursday, one aimed at keeping third-party groups from dumping money on elections in targeted areas.  The state Senate Committee on Elections, Election Process Reform and Ethics also heard from Milwaukee Election Commission chief Claire Woodall-Vogg, who sounded defensive in explaining her dealings with left-leaning election groups.  The bill, SB 207 would require private funds like the millions of dollars in grants handed out by the Center for Tech and Civic Life first go to the Wisconsin Elections Commission. They would then be evenly distributed to local election offices statewide on a per capita basis.  Senator Stroebel (R-Saukville) says there were “significant strings attached” to the Center for Tech and Civic Life’s generous grants, that the money wasn’t an “altruistic blank check donation.”  Mark Zuckerberg’s organization distributed more than $8 million in election “safety and security” grants last year to Wisconsin’s five largest cities—Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay, Kenosha, and Racine. The cities also happen to be Democratic strongholds.

April 11: The Washington Times: Biden’s commission on court packing seen
as a delaying tactic and called a move to placate the left wing
Joe Biden’s commission to examine changes to the U.S. Supreme Court is a move to placate his base, which is agitating to add liberal justices to the conservative-leaning court, according to court watchers.  But liberals are split on whether any real court-packing will result from the president’s panel.  “There is nothing productive that is going to come from this,” said Josh Blackman, a professor at South Texas College of Law. “If anything, this report will probably counsel against expanding the court.”  The commission, created through an executive order Friday, will be co-chaired by Bob Bauer, a legal adviser to Biden’s 2020 campaign, and Cristina Rodríguez, a Yale Law School professor and deputy assistant attorney general during the Obama administration.   It has 36 members with some Republicans included, but conservatives said they are outnumbered by a ratio of 2-to-1.

April 11: The Epoch Times:  It would be a big mistake for China to
attack Taiwan; SecState says
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on April 11 it would be a “serious mistake” for the Chinese regime to attack Taiwan and expressed “real concern” about Beijing’s growing intimidation against the island.  In an interview with NBC,” however, Blinken stopped short of saying whether the United States would respond militarily if the Chinese regime were to seize Taiwan by force, saying he wasn’t “going to get into hypotheticals.”  “All I can tell you is we have a serious commitment to Taiwan being able to defend itself,” he said, referring to the United States’ obligations under the Taiwan Relations Act to provide arms to the island for its self-defense. “We have a serious commitment to peace and security in the Western Pacific.  “In that context, it would be a serious mistake for anyone to try to change that status quo by force.”  The Chinese regime, which sees self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory, has in recent months been dialing up military aggression toward the island, which some analysts say is a test of the Biden administration to see whether it will take concrete action to respond. This year, the Chinese military has sent multiple aircraft into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone on a near-daily basis.

April 11: The Daily Caller: Corporate America plans to combat
election integrity measures
The leaders of over 100 major corporations spoke via Zoom on Saturday about how they could combat election integrity laws similar to the one passed in Georgia, according to multiple reports.  The executives on the call reportedly expressed concern about legislation that they view as restricting voting rights. They included the owner of the Atlanta Falcons, who also co-founded Home Depot, the chairwoman of the Starbucks board, and the CEO of AMC Entertainment.  Corporations including Citibank, Coca-Cola, Delta, and Microsoft criticizzed Georgia’s new election integrity bill . The law expands early voting opportunities for most counties, while expanding voter ID requirements to include absentee ballots. In response to corporate criticism, Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell slammed the use of “economic blackmail to spread disinformation and push bad ideas that citizens reject at the ballot box.”

April 11: News Max: Chang: The world is not safe with John Kerry having
a diplomatic passport
The Biden administration is pulling itself in a number of different directions on China as it seeks deals and is slow to press China on its human rights abuses, according to far east foreign affairs expert Gordon Chang.  Joe Biden's climate czar John Kerry is one of the pull forces against the push to hold China accountable, Chang told Sunday's "The Cats Roundtable" on WABC 770 AM-N.Y.  "John Kerry has been working to try to get a climate deal," Chang told host John Catsimatidis. "He's had these preliminary negotiations with China. He was seen in New Delhi talking to the Russian foreign minister.  "He's been more quiet than I thought he would be, but, John, we've got to remember that the free world is not safe when John Kerry carries a diplomatic passport."

April 11: The Epoch Times: Abbott dismisses Biden gun control measures
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday pushed back on Joe Biden’s newly announced executive actions on gun control, saying those proposals are no more than a “show” that doesn’t actually address crimes involving guns.  In an interview Abbott rejected the idea that a president could use executive orders to limit the Second Amendment.  “I think that there is no acceptable way that a president by executive order can infringe upon Second Amendment rights or alter Second Amendment rights,” Abbott said.  “If [Biden] wanted to do something more than show—if [he] really wanted to do something substantively, what he really could do by executive order is to eliminate the backlog of complaints that have already been filed about gun crimes that have taken place.”  Abbott went on to say that Americans need their guns for self-defense now more than ever, citing the border crisis being taken advantage of by Mexican drug cartels, the “Defund the Police” movement, and bail policies that allow “very dangerous criminals” to be released back onto the streets.   “That is exactly why we should not have any further limitations of our Second Amendment rights,” Abbott said.  His comments came after he endorsed a proposed bill to turn Texas into a “Second Amendment Sanctuary State.” The House Bill 2622 would prohibit state and local government agencies from enforcing or providing assistance to federal agencies on any new federal laws or rules regarding firearms, ammunition, and accessories. 

April 10: News Max: SCOTUS halts California’s CCP Coronavirus limit on home worship
The Supreme Court is telling California that it can’t enforce coronavirus-related restrictions that have limited home-based religious worship including Bible studies and prayer meetings.  The order from the court late Friday is the latest in a recent string of cases in which the high court has barred officials from enforcing some coronavirus-related restrictions applying to religious gatherings.  Five conservative justices agreed that California restrictions that apply to in-home religious gatherings should be lifted for now, while the court's three liberals and Chief Justice John Roberts would not have done so.  The case before the justices involved California rules that in most of the state limit indoor social gatherings to no more than three households. Attendees are required to wear masks and physically distance from one another. Different restrictions apply to places including schools, grocery stores and churches.  “California treats some comparable secular activities more favorably than at-home religious exercise,” allowing hair salons, retail stores, and movie theaters, among other places, “to bring together more than three households at a time,” the unsigned order from the court said. A lower court “did not conclude that those activities pose a lesser risk of transmission than applicants’ proposed religious exercise at home,” it said.

April 9: News Max: James Carville concerned Democrats will lose at the voting
booth if they embrace identity politics, cancel culture
Democrats will lose future races if they continue to embrace identity politics, cancel culture and efforts to defund the police, says veteran Democrat strategist James Carville.  ''It's the thing I most worry about,'' Carville said in an interview this week with former Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol. Carville was asked whether he was concerned about Democrats giving ''enough oxygen to'' those complex issues that allows Republicans to ''scream about it and yell about it for two years or four years and really have an effect.''  ''I don't know of a single person that thinks of themselves as a'person of color,'' Carville said. ''I really don't. I had Ruben Gallego, who's a Democratic congressman from Arizona, and we did much better in Arizona than we did in Texas or Florida, and he said.

April 8: The Washington Times: Biden’s defense budget splits the difference,
progressives are not happy
Biden has tipped his hand on how much he wants to spend on the nation’s defense, and predictably has left both hawks and doves unhappy.   With Russian troops massing on the border with Ukraine and China making threatening overtures to Taiwan, leading Republicans in Congress are blasting Biden for submitting his first preliminary Pentagon budget late last week that is essentially unchanged from the last budget under President Trump.   Biden plans to ask for $715 billion for the Department of Defense, according to “top line” FY 2022 budget summary revealed on Friday. The amount is higher than the $704 billion for 2021 but effectively flat when adjusted for inflation. The administration says the proposal means key investments to defend the nation through “modernization, innovation and enhanced readiness.”  Including non-Pentagon defense spending, including the Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons programs, Biden is proposing a total of $753 billion for all defense needs — again roughly flat in real terms compared to the current fiscal year.  Liberal Democrats had pushed for a significant cut, while top GOP officials on Capitol Hill were less than impressed, saying, “Talk is cheap but defending our country is not.”

April 7: The Daily Caller: Where the $2 Trillion infrastructure money will go
Joe Biden’s roughly $2 trillion infrastructure plan allocates hundreds of billions of dollars toward improving the nation’s transportation networks, buildings and utilities, but also devotes enormous sums of money to causes that are only tangentially related to public works projects.  The sweeping package grants massive subsidies to electric vehicle and renewable energy companies in an effort to meet Biden’s climate change goals, and contains billions of dollars for affordable housing, academic research and in-home care.  The plan also sets aside $50 billion for the National Science Foundation and $20 billion for projects intended to “advance racial equity and environmental justice.” It allocates $40 billion toward a new “Dislocated Workers Program,” which will help workers who “have lost their jobs through no fault of their own,” and grants $100 billion toward expanding nationwide broadband access, especially in rural and low-income communities. 

April 7: Fox News:  Sexual abuse allegations surface at migrant facility; Abbott reacts
Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) demanded that the White House close a San Antonio facility housing migrant children Wednesday following allegations that children there were being sexually assaulted.  During a Wednesday evening press conference, Abbott said he received tips that alleged the children at the Freeman Coliseum facility were being sexually abused and were not eating enough.  "These problems are a byproduct of Biden’s open border policies and the lack of planning for the fallout for those disastrous policies," Abbott told reporters.  The governor said that separate complaints were sent to HHS and the Texas Department of Family and Protective services Wednesday, alleging four different kinds of child abuse.   The agencies then informed the state leadership.  Abbott said allegations of sexual assault, an insufficient number of staffers, children not eating, and an inability to separate COVID-19 positive children from virus-free children, were the most critical complaints the Texas government has received.  "In short, this facility is a health and safety nightmare. The Biden administration is now presiding over the abuse of children," Abbott told reporters, calling on the White House to immediately shut down the facility.

April 7: The Epoch Times: Taiwan may shoot down Chinese drones over the
South China Sea
Taiwan has spotted Communist Chinese drones circling the Taipei-controlled Pratas Islands in the South China Sea and may shoot them down if they stray too close, a government minister said on Wednesday, a move that could dramatically increase tensions with Beijing.  Lee Chung-wei, who heads the Taiwan Ocean Affairs Council said they had recently spotted Chinese drones circling the Pratas, though they have not flown over the islands.  While China does not recognize Taiwanese claims of sovereignty, its aircraft and ships generally stay outside Taiwan’s restricted zone, which extends 3.7 miles from its coast.  Asked how the Coast Guard would react if a Chinese drone entered that restricted zone, Lee said they had rules of engagement.  “After it enters it will be handled under the rules. If we need to open fire, we open fire.”  The Pratas lie at the top end of the disputed waterway, and have become a relatively new source of intrigue between Chinese-claimed Taiwan and Beijing.

April 7: The Washington Free Beacon: Prominent Iranian Americans urge
Biden to publicly support a regime change in Iran
A group of more than 300 prominent Iranian Americans are petitioning the Biden administration to publicly support dissident efforts to overthrow the Islamic Republic’s hardline clerical government.  As the Biden administration seeks direct talks with Iran’s mullahs in pursuit of a revamped nuclear agreement, the group of Iranian Americans—including scholars, professors, physicians, and industry executives—is warning the White House against unwinding economic sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy and sparked widespread anti-government protests.  "In the last 4 years, hunger, poverty, and dire economic conditions have been the initial trigger of the uprisings, but people’s demands quickly evolved to regime change. Their call is loud and clear, and cannot be ignored," the leaders wrote.  "Furthermore, no sanctions relief or concessions should be provided to the Iranian regime, unless that regime verifiably ends its human rights abuses in Iran and terrorism abroad, and abandons its destructive support for proxies in the region."

April 6: The Daily Wire: Nevada Democrat mayor leaves the party; they are
extremists, GOP is the party of the working class
North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee announced on Tuesday morning that he has left the Democratic Party after a “socialist” takeover of the party in the state of Nevada and has joined the Republican Party because he believes it is the party of the working class, opportunity, and freedom.  Lee made the announcement on his campaign website and then joined Fox News discuss it, saying that the Democratic Party is run by “card-carrying socialists” in the state.  “It’s not the party that I grew up with 25 years ago in this environment, and it’s not the party I can stand with anymore.”  Lee said that the Democratic Party has abandoned the working class and is an elitist party that does not support individual liberty

April 5: The Epoch Times: Border Patrol captures two Yemen nationals who are
on the FBI watch list
Within the past two months, Border Patrol agents have apprehended two Yemeni men who are on the FBI’s Terrorism Watch List and the No-Fly list, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP).  Both men were arrested in separate incidents after crossing the border illegally just west of the Calexico Port of Entry in California.  Agents apprehended the first man, a 33-year-old, on Jan. 29. They also found a cellphone sim card hidden underneath the insole of his shoe, according to CBP.  The man was transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.  The second man, a 26-year-old illegal alien, was arrested on March 30. CBP said he’s being held in federal custody pending removal. In February, Border Patrol apprehended eleven Iranians who crossed illegally near Yuma, Arizona. Iran is considered a “special interest country” with ties to terrorism.

April 4: The Epoch Times: Trump urges Republicans to “never submit,” boycott
companies over Georgia voting reform opposition
President Donald Trump on Saturday continued his calls for Republicans and conservatives to stand firm against the campaign by several large corporations to openly oppose newly enacted election reforms in Georgia. This comes as corporations are being compelled by left wing activists to take a stance on the ongoing public battle over voting rights and election integrity in America.  Georgia recently voted to enacted a sweeping number of election reforms aimed at protecting the sanctity of the ballot box. However, Democrats, some civil rights activists, and other critics claim the law could disproportionately impact minority groups’ accessibility to voting in the Peach State.  Meanwhile on Thursday, it was revealed by a Democrat lawmaker in Austin, TX that American Airlines and Microsoft had publicly come out in opposition to Texas efforts to improve integrity of its election process.  In response one witness at the hearing noted Microsoft is from Seattle, Washington and they should not be telling Texans how to run their elections!  Top executives from several large corporations have come out to condemn the law amid mounting pressure from progressive civil rights groups. Similarly, the Major League Baseball (MLB) said on Friday that it intends to protest the Georgia law by moving its All-Star Game and Draft out of Atlanta.  Perhaps what these corporations are not considering are the millions of voters who believe there was malfeasance in the 2020 election and who could decide not to do business with companies that stand against ensuring election integrity.

April 4: Fox News: Ingraham: Biden, Abrams on GA boycotts – here’s what
happens when reality bites social justice warriors
Whoops! Well, it turns out that bowing down to the social justice warriors really is a dangerous and self-defeating strategy.  Case in point: Democrats' lies about Georgia's voter integrity law, equating it to Jim Crow. Well, it sends an all sorts of far-left activists down the boycott Georgia warpath, including, Joe Biden, who eagerly jumped on the punish Georgia train.  "The [Ingraham] Angle" told you last night, these left-wing boycotts of the All-Star Game or frankly, any other event or product, would cause huge economic damage and send jobs to other low-tax states. They'll hurt Georgia. So, the blowback against this is growing, which forced even liberal Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) to put out a statement last night saying, "I absolutely oppose and reject any notion of boycotting Georgia." And then Stacey Abrams, the mastermind behind the fraudulent attack on Georgia's voter ID law, also has been caught in a trap of her own making.  She said in a statement, “To our friends across the country, please do not boycott us. I understand the passion of those calling for boycotts of Georgia following the passage of SB 202, but here's the thing. Black, Latino, AAPI, and Native American voters whose votes are most suppressed under SB 202 are also the most likely to be hurt by potential boycotts of Georgia.”

April 4: The Washington Times: Georgia state legislators ask Coke to remove
its products from their suites amid mistruths about the voter integrity law
A number of Georgia state legislators are pushing the unthinkable — kicking Coca-Cola out of state legislative offices over its criticism of Georgia’s new voting rules.  In a letter to Coke eight members of the House of Representatives declared their offices Coke-free zones and demanded that the Atlanta-based soda behemoth stop “intentionally” misleading the public.  “Given Coke’s choice to cave to the pressure of an out of control cancel culture, we respectfully request all Coca-Cola Company products be removed from our office suite immediately,” they wrote. “Should Coke choose to read the bill, share its true intentions and accept their role in the dissemination of mistruths, we would welcome a conversation to rebuild a working relationship,” the lawmakers said, echoing Republican claims that the national hubbub over the law is based on lies and/or misleading facts.

April 4: The Epoch Times: MLB expands ties with Communist China one day
before boycotting Georgia over the state’s efforts to improve voting integrity
Major League Baseball had extended and expanded its contract with a Chinese telecommunications giant shortly before boycotting the state of Georgia over the league’s disagreement with the election reforms recently enacted by the Peach State’s democratically elected governor and legislature.  Chinese state media  reported on April 1 that the MLB will continue to be aired on the streaming platform operated by Chinese tech giant Tencent, which has significant ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Tencent is of the Chinese companies that had temporarily dropped NBA games as a form of censorship after former Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey spoke out in support of the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

April 3: The Washington Free Beacon: Biden fails to capitalize on Trump’s
vaccine, more than one of every US COVID deaths are on Biden’s watch
More than 25 percent of Americans killed by COVID-19 have died on President Joe Biden's watch, according to a recent analysis.  Of the 551,638 total COVID-related deaths in the United States, nearly 142,000 of them have occurred since Biden was inaugurated on Jan. 20. On average, just over 2,000 Americans per day have died from COVID-19 during Biden's presidency.  The high number of deaths on Biden's watch have occurred even with the stunning success of the COVID-19 vaccines developed during the Trump administration.

April 2: he Daily Caller: Suspect in killing of Capitol Hill police officer was apparently
a Nation of Islam sympathizer
The 25-year-old man who allegedly killed a Capitol police officer on Friday was a supporter of the Nation of Islam, the extremist group led by Louis Farrakhan, according to NBC News. Noah Green was fatally shot after ramming his vehicle through a checkpoint at the Capitol, the network reported. He hit two officers, killing one of them. Green was shot after exiting his vehicle with a knife and lunging at officers, a spokesperson for Metropolitan police said at a press conference. NBC cited federal law enforcement officials familiar with the attack.  Green’s Facebook page, which was taken offline after the Capitol attack, showed multiple posts about the Nation of Islam and Farrakhan. In a post on March 17, Green said that he has faced personal struggles in recent years and also recently lost his job.

April 2: Fox News: Baseball fans erupt in disgust over MLB decision to move
the All-Star Game from Atlanta
Conservative baseball fans erupted in disgust Friday after Major League Baseball (MLB) announced that this year’s All-Star Game will be relocated out of Atlanta in response to Georgia new voting law.  Apparently, they don’t support maintaining election integrity measures!  Fox Sports Radio host Clay Travis called the decision "simply pathetic" before blasting it in a series of tweets.  "This is the worst decision baseball has made since the [1994] strike," Travis wrote. "You need an ID to pick up tickets to attend a baseball game. Or to get a beer inside once you’re there. But MLB is moving the all-star game because you need an ID to vote? This is pure insanity."  MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred made the announcement just one day after the 2021 season began following mounting pressure from liberals to move the game and Major League Baseball's amateur draft in response to Republican-backed election reform legislation.

April 1: The Washington Free Beacon: Cornell’s professors vote down partnership
with China
Cornell University professors voted overwhelmingly (16-39-20) to reject the university's proposal for a joint degree program bankrolled by the Chinese government.  They did so citing the authoritarian regime's human rights abuses, as well as its threats to academic freedom. The sizable opposition to the resolution complicates the university's plans to push forward with the China partnership paid for by the Chinese Ministry of Education.  The growing faculty opposition is part of a society-wide reckoning about the lucrative relationship between America's elite universities and China.   Professor Richard Bensel, a government professor leading the charge against the partnership, said "The central administration is much more revenue conscious, much more materialistic than it was five years ago." The Cornell professors are not alone in their disapproval. Cornell’s student leaders unanimously voted to demand a "halt" to the Peking University partnership, a sign that the faculty discontent is spilling over into the student body.

April 1: Breitbart News: Georgia Legislature moves to remove Delta Airlines
multimillion dollar fuel tax break over CEO’s lashing out
at the Georgia election integrity law
Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian released a memo to employees on what he called “unacceptable” new voting laws in Georgia.  In response the state’s House of Representatives voted to strip the company of a tax break on jet fuel. The response came via a late provision to tax bill HB 477, adding new levies on jet fuel as of July 1.  Bastian had excoriated the voting rights bill which adds ID requirements for mail in votes, restricts the use of ballot drop boxes, expands weekend voting access, and bans the practice of “line warming.”   Although the House acted, there was not enough time for the measure to make it to the Georgia Senate before they adjourned.  Even so, the House made its intent clear: “They like our public policy when we’re doing things that benefit them,” House Speaker David Ralston (R) said. “You don’t feed a dog that bites your hand. You got to keep that in mind sometimes.”  Governor Brian Kemp (R) said “Today’s statement by Delta CEO Ed Bastian stands in stark contrast to our conversations with the company, ignores the content of the new law, and unfortunately continues to spread the same false attacks being repeated by partisan activists.”

April 1: Texas Scorecard: Texas Senate advances election integrity bill
In the wee hours of the morning, the Texas Senate passed (18-13) an election integrity bill that now goes to the Texas House of Representatives for consideration.  Following eight hours of debate and amendments that began Wednesday evening Senate Bill 7 was adopted on a party line vote.    Election integrity is a top legislative priority of the Texas GOP and the only one also declared an emergency item by Gov. Greg Abbott, who said last month he is ready to sign “robust” election reform bills.  SB 7 is loaded with reforms sought by election integrity advocates (like yours truly) and intended to make voting more secure, accurate, and transparent.  The bill includes dozens of provisions recommended at a Friday hearing last week, including changes to voter registration, voting by mail, voter assistance, poll watchers, and voting systems.  It also adds criminal and civil penalties for fraud and official misconduct.  As passed, the bill makes paid mail-in ballot harvesting illegal and provides a civil penalty.  It also prohibits drive-thru voting, 24-hour voting, and the mass distribution of unsolicited ball by mail applications by governmental officials acting in their official capacity.   The bill also outlaws the use of donations from outside sources for deviations from provisions of the Texas Election Code.  In the November 2020 election Texas Democrat Party Vice Chair Chris Hollins of Harris county used $9.6 million dollars in donations from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to pay for deviations from what is allowed in the code.  Dallas county accepted $15 million to be used for similar purposes.

April 1: The Daily Signal: Why did California Team Biden firm get $35 million
in taxpayer funding; GOP wants to know
House Republicans say they want to know why $35 million in taxpayer dollars went to a Democrat-aligned consulting firm to boost voting last year in California—and whether it was even legal.  The federal agency that oversees related issues seems uninterested in investigating why federal money sent to California was used in part to pay for election safety measures in a $35 million contract with a political consulting firm that touted itself as part of “Team Biden.”   At least $12 million of the total came from federal taxpayers, while the remainder was from California taxpayers.   Using federal funds for a get-out-the-vote operation or to help one political party over another would violate federal law, lawmakers say.  California’s secretary of state at the time was Alex Padilla, a Democrat who recently was appointed to replace Vice President Kamala Harris as the state’s junior U.S. senator. The Sacramento Bee first reported that the California Secretary of State’s Office, under Padilla, awarded the grant for a program called Vote Safe California to the partisan consulting firm SKDK in August. 

March 31: The Daily Caller: The Georgia election integrity law: fact from fiction
Georgia passed a series of new voting laws aimed to curb voter fraud and myths about voter disenfranchisement and discrimination are running rampant.  “The Election Integrity Act of 2021” expands in-person early voting dates and hours for most counties.  The bill allows voting on two Saturdays during early voting and gives counties the options to hold voting on Sundays, according to Georgia Public Broadcasting.  The legislation also requires three weeks of early voting and expands the hours the polls are open. The changes were made in response to opposition from racial justice groups who said the proposal targeted black voters who traditionally participate in “Souls to the Polls” voter drives that take place on Sunday’s.  One of the provisions bans volunteers from handing out food, water or other items to voters standing in line.  Meanwhile the Executive Director of the state ACLU said “Senate Bill 202 is an anti-voter bill that attacks absentee voting, criminalizes giving Georgians a drink of water to their neighbors, allows state takeover of county elections, and retaliates against the elected Secretary of State by replacing him with a State Board of Elections Chair chosen by the legislature.”

March 30: The Washington Times: Team Trump told Team Biden what would happen
if they followed through on their campaign promises, and it has!
The Trump Administration warned Biden’s transition team last year to expect a migrant surge if it followed through on his immigration campaign promises, and even presented modeling to show how bad it might get, a senior official told The Washington Times.  Mark Morgan, who was acting commissioner at Customs and Border Protection called new claims by Biden officials blaming the Trump Administration for refusing requests to build capacity “blatantly false.  The Migrant Protection Protocols, better known as the Remain in Mexico policy, had been used to push migrants back across the line into Mexico while they waited for their immigration hearings, denying them a foothold in the U.S. The Asylum Cooperative Agreements were deals struck with Central American countries to stem the flow of people across their territory en route to the U.S.  But Biden’s team failed to warn HHS or CBP that these changes were coming, causing part of the problem.

March 30: Fox Business: With ship now freed, investigation of Suez Canal
grounding begins
Experts boarded the massive container ship Tuesday that had blocked Egypt’s vital Suez Canal and disrupted global trade for nearly a week, seeking answers to a single question that could have billions of dollars in legal repercussions: What went wrong?  As convoys of ships again began traveling through the artery linking the Mediterranean and Red Seas, a canal service provider said more than 300 vessels carrying everything from crude oil to cattle were still waiting for their turn in a process that will take days. Egyptian government officials, insurers, shippers and others similarly waited for more details about what caused the skyscraper-sized Ever Given to become wedged across the canal on March 23.

March 30: The Daily Caller: Washington Post gives Biden four Pinochios for
lies about the Georgia election law
The Washington Post has awarded Joe Biden with “Four Pinocchios” for his claim that a Georgia election law will prevent working-class people from voting.  The Post makes the awards to political figures who make false claims, with four being the highest number for the most blatant of lies.  Georgia’s SB 202 became law last week, limiting the number of drop boxes that can be used during an election and requiring voters have identification whether they submit ballots in person or by mail. Biden criticized the legislation in a written statement, claiming, “Among the outrageous parts of this new state law, it ends voting hours early so working people can’t cast their vote after their shift is over.”   However, experts contacted by the Post said this section of the bill actually expanded early voting for many Georgians.” “Biden framed his complaint in terms of a slap at working people.