Conservative Blogger
Thursday, April 25, 2024
Supreme Court to hear arguments in Trump presidential immunity case
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Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump arrives for an election-night watch party at Mar-a-Lago on March 5, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Win McNamee/Getty Images) Trump, a criminal defendant, is required to be present for each day of his trial. He requested, though, to attend Supreme Court arguments on presidential immunity, but Judge Juan Merchan, who is presiding over the trial, rejected that request. "Arguing before the Supreme Court is a big deal, and I can certainly appreciate why your client would want to be there, but a trial in New York Supreme Court… is also a big deal," Merchan said last week, requiring the former president to be in his Manhattan courtroom. A ruling from the Supreme Court on the issue of presidential immunity is expected by late June. Trump’s criminal trial stemming from Smith’s investigation has been put on hold pending a resolution on the matter. The former president and his legal team, in requesting the Supreme Court review the issue of presidential immunity, said that "if the prosecution of a President is upheld, such prosecutions will recur and become increasingly common, ushering in destructive cycles of recrimination." TRUMP PLEADS 'NOT GUILTY' TO CHARGES STEMMING FROM SPECIAL COUNSEL'S JAN. 6 PROBE "Criminal prosecution, with its greater stigma and more severe penalties, imposes a far greater ‘personal vulnerability’ on the President than any civil penalty," Trump’s lawyers wrote. "The threat of future criminal prosecution by a politically opposed Administration will overshadow every future President’s official acts – especially the most politically controversial decisions." Trump’s request states that the president's "political opponents will seek to influence and control his or her decisions via effective extortion or blackmail with the threat, explicit or implicit, of indictment by a future, hostile Administration, for acts that do not warrant any such prosecution."  The Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) TRUMP SAYS SUPREME COURT RULING IN COLORADO CASE IS 'UNIFYING AND INSPIRATIONAL' Smith charged the former president with conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights. Those charges stemmed from Smith’s investigation into whether Trump was involved in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and any alleged interference in the 2020 election result. Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges in August. "Without presidential immunity, it would be impossible for a president to properly function, putting the United States of America in great and everlasting danger!" Trump posted on his Truth Social last week, in all capital letters. "If they take away my presidential immunity, they take away crooked Joe Biden’s presidential immunity." In another post, Trump argued that if a president does not have immunity, "the Opposing Party, during his/her term in Office, can extort and blackmail the President by saying that, ‘if you don’t give us everything we want, we will Indict you for things you did while in Office,’ even if everything done was totally Legal and Appropriate." "That would be the end of the Presidency, and our Country, as we know it, and is just one of the many Traps there would be for a President without Presidential Immunity," Trump posted. Pointing to his presidential predecessors, and 2020 and 2024 opponent Biden, Trump said: "Obama, Bush, and soon, Crooked Joe Biden, would all be in BIG TROUBLE." "If a President doesn’t have IMMUNITY, he/she will be nothing more than a ‘Ceremonial’ President, rarely having the courage to do what has to be done for our Country," Trump continued, calling for the protection of presidential immunity. "MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!" Trump added that if immunity is not granted to a president, "every president that leaves office will be immediately indicted by the opposing party." "Without complete immunity, a president of the United States would not be able to properly function," he said again.  Special Counsel Jack Smith arrives to give remarks on a recently unsealed indictment against former President Trump on Aug. 1, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) This will be the second time this term the Supreme Court will hear a case involving the presumed Republican presidential nominee. Last month, the Supreme Court sided unanimously with Trump in his challenge to Colorado’s attempt to kick him off the 2024 primary ballot. TRUMP SPEAKS AFTER SUPREME COURT RULING, TELLS BIDEN TO 'FIGHT YOUR FIGHT YOURSELF' The high court ruled in favor of Trump's arguments in the case, which will impact the status of efforts in several other states to remove the likely GOP nominee from their respective ballots. The court considered for the first time the meaning and reach of Article 3 of the 14th Amendment, which bars former officeholders who "engaged in insurrection" from holding public office again. Challenges have been filed to remove Trump from the 2024 ballot in over 30 states. Trump, during an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital after that ruling, shifted back to the issue of presidential immunity. "Equally important for our country will be the decision that they will soon make on immunity for a president – without which, the presidency would be relegated to nothing more than a ceremonial position, which is far from what the founders intended," Trump told Fox News Digital. "No president would be able to properly and effectively function without complete and total immunity." He added, "Our country would be put at great risk." Brooke Singman is a political correspondent and reporter for Fox News Digital, Fox News Channel and FOX Business. |
Biden's 44.6 Percent Capital Gains Tax Proposal a 100-Year High
President Joe Biden's proposal to increase the top capital gains tax rate could be the highest such tax rate in over a century.
In his 2025 budget proposal, Biden outlined plans to elevate the top marginal rate on long-term capital gains and qualified dividends to 44.6%. This rate, if enacted, would surpass any seen in over a century, according to Americans for Tax Reform (ATR).
Moreover, the combined federal-state rate could exceed 50% in several states when factoring in state capital gains taxes. For instance, California residents would potentially face a 59% rate, while those in New Jersey, Oregon, Minnesota, and New York could confront rates ranging from 53.4% to 55.3%, according to ATR.
Critics of the proposal argue that capital gains taxes, particularly when not indexed to inflation, impose a form of double taxation and disproportionately affect certain demographics. Small business owners, for example, may find themselves grappling with inflated tax liabilities on gains that are partly attributable to inflation rather than real profit.
Furthermore, comparisons with other nations highlight the potential ramifications of such a steep increase. China, for instance, maintains a capital gains tax rate of 20%, significantly lower than Biden's proposed rate. The prospect of imposing higher taxes than a major economic competitor raises concerns about the impact on investment and economic competitiveness.
The history of the capital gains tax underscores the magnitude of Biden's proposal. Initially introduced in 1922 at a rate of 12.5%, the tax has evolved over the decades but has never approached the proposed levels.
Additionally, Biden's plan includes measures to address tax implications upon inheritance, potentially adding further complexity to the tax code. The proposal to eliminate a stepped-up basis upon the transfer of assets upon death could result in a mandatory capital gains tax event, affecting families' financial planning and estate management.
"When someone dies, and the asset transfers to an heir, that transfer itself will be a taxable event, and the estate is required to pay taxes on the gains as if they sold the asset," said Howard Gleckman, senior fellow in the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, CNBC reported.
The budget proposal, which calls for approximately $5 trillion in tax increases over the next decade, has drawn mixed reactions from lawmakers and experts alike. While some argue that such measures are necessary to fund various social programs and infrastructure projects, others express concerns about the potential adverse effects on economic growth and investment.
Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.
CA Fast Food Outlets Defy State's New, Economy-Crushing Minimum Wage Law With Automation, Raising Prices
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The real minimum wage, no matter how much liberal politicians try to deny it, is and always will be zero. Now, California fast-food workers are learning this lesson the hard way, as the owners of their places of employment are reacting to the economy-crushing minimum wage hike by eliminating employees and bringing in automated kiosks for order placement. It didn't take long, did it?
Of course, he's accelerating his plans; this is his livelihood, which he is under no obligation to surrender to appease the vote-selling efforts of pandering leftist politicians who, when it comes to basic economics, are stubbornly ignorant of the difference between face and fundament. If you'd have asked us here at RedState, we could have told you this would happen - and in fact, we did. See Related: Like AB5, CA's Fast-Food Minimum Wage Hike Results in Layoffs, Closures, and Higher Prices
The first layer of this stinker is economic; businesses, to survive, to continue providing goods and services, have to be profitable. When faced with this kind of situation, that is, the artificial inflation of labor costs by government fiat, they have to either raise revenues or reduce costs. The itch here is that fast food is a discretionary expenditure for almost everyone; if prices go up, patronage goes down. The second layer of this stinker is employment. Fast food has several avenues for automation. An owner can use kiosks, and replace all the the order-takers. There are other options as well, like the RoboBurger automated burger machine, which handles the burger-making process from start to finish, even allowing for custom orders - so customers can have it their way, prepared by a robot. And the former employees? Well, that says it all, doesn't it? They are now former employees. They are now earning that aforementioned real-world minimum wage: Zero. One could even replace the entire outlet with just the RoboBurger and eliminate any employee beyond the one who occasionally has to stock and service the machine, like any other vending machine. The sad part of this is that, not so very long ago, flipping burgers at a fast food joint was how a lot of young folks got their first employment experience. I knew a guy in high school who got himself a job flipping burgers and frying fries in a McDonald's outlet in town; twenty years later, he owned a chain of franchises. Now that opportunity, at least in California, is gone. This was inevitable, from the moment California's impeccably coiffed Governor signed this stupid bill. It reveals, once again, the sad state of California's state government, and the economic illiteracy of California legislators. A generation of young people, who would be looking for part-time work and would gain valuable experience in the workplace, are now priced out of the market. Good going, Sacramento. Keep it up. You're doing terrific. And yes, that is sarcasm. |
Biden White House Rushes to Cover Up Joe's Latest Wild 'Ron Burgundy' Moment
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Joe Biden made an absolute mess of things in a North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) speech he gave on Wednesday. Biden had a serious brain malfunction where you couldn't even figure out what he was trying to say. He also suggested he wanted to punch former President Donald Trump.
"Four more years? Pause?" Biden said. Then, what was supposed to sound like an organic chant just sounded stilted, weird, and even more staged as members of the audience responded, "Four more years!" Who chants for someone in the face of that? As much as it tells us what a horrible condition Biden is in, it also says something about how cult-like the audience was just to go along with this as though everything was just fine. But what did the White House transcript -- the official government record of the event -- show? They appear to have tried to cover it up, not noting what he actually said and how he said it, as though it had never happened.
They claimed that the word "pause" was "inaudible" when, in fact, it was very audible. So they're just being deceitful claiming otherwise. But we have the video for posterity, guys, you can't cover it up. We know what he said and, unfortunately, we know that because of his issues, he's likely to say this again just as he has in the past. READ MORE:
Imagine just like with Ron Burgundy what you could slip into that teleprompter and what Biden might read, not having any idea what he was reading. And after he did it Biden didn't even realize what he said. He just smirked at what he thought was people chanting for him, that seemed to be all he cared about. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and others weighed in. Related: Biden Baffled in Tampa: Confuses Woman With Man, Accidentally Tells Truth on Himself in Funny Gaffe |
Someone Has to Be the Adult in the Room: Clear the Quad and Expel Them All
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Columbia University has fallen. I don’t care, really, I don’t live in New York City and I wasn’t dumb enough to overpay for an education at an Ivy League school. But I do despise leftists, so anywhere their cancer spreads disgusts me and I wish them ill in every one of their endeavors. These little camping mutants need to be dealt with, however, and dealt with harshly, to stop this stupidity from metastasizing to other parts of the country. It’s almost too late, as other liberal bastions of anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism have begun to fester, not wanting to be left out of what will be the social event of the season for the progressive left. But normal parts of America – places where Republicans are elected – have not fallen into the Nuremberg frenzy Democrat-controlled areas have. To pull back even the blue areas, something dramatic must happen, something dramatic, which these students clearly have not faced before, likely from bad parenting. They need to face serious consequences for their actions. These students are largely from wealthy families that indulged them their whole lives. Think Hunter Biden – there’s no way he just became a degenerate in his 40s, deciding he needed to try crack and prostitutes because he felt like he’d missed out on something in his youth. No, the smart money is on him having been a jackass in high school who got out of countless amounts of trouble and brushes with the law because of his last name. The only way that happens is if his dad picks up the phone and makes a couple of calls when he starts getting in trouble. After that, authorities know there’s no point in arresting him because he’s going to get away with it no matter what, the bosses don’t want the hassle. Indulgence is how we got here, as the left always indulges their own when they’re being useful. But if any of these university presidents announced students had until 4:00 pm to clear the area or they will be arrested, things would change. Not by the threat of arrest, that’s foreplay for these unshowered C.H.U.D.S., but by what must accompany it – real consequences. “Clear the area by 4:00 or everyone will be arrested, and those who are not students will be charged with trespassing – and we will prosecute – and anyone who is a student will be expelled,” should be the decree. But a threat is only as good as your willingness to enforce it. That means any students who don’t leave are expelled. No dialing it back to a suspension, no changing your mind because too many people were swept up in it – real consequences. And make the whole affair public, which means names released publicly, allowing future employers to see who it would be smart to avoid hiring. Let’s see how that works out, bet it’s great. Consequences have gone the way of the do-do, unfortunately, but now would be a great time to bring them back. Since University Presidents won’t impose, make them the first line to have them restored on them. Fire any who won’t restore order to their campuses and replace them with people who will pass those consequences onto the left-wing goons. Sure, it would be fun to watch MSNBC parade the expelled students on their airwaves, whining about how “unfair” enforcing existing rules and doing exactly what you said you’d do is. Of course, that’s epitome of fair, but there’s no doubt Rachel Maddow would find a way to mug and Beaker her way through a monologue about how it’s racist/sexist/Islamophobic/transphobic/triskaidekaphobic/whatever and declare down to be up. Who cares? There is no “negotiation” with this mob, that gives them power they do not have or deserve. There are either rules or there are no rules; these are either students or they are not. Step up or step away, it really is that simple. Leadership is more than collecting a seven-figure salary and cowering with advisors about how not to offend the radical left; it involves actually leading. Clear the quad, throw out the tents, forbid anyone entry to the area, charge the trespassers and expel the degenerates. Your campus will be much better off and, honestly, the morons out there mindlessly chanting in support of terrorists against Jews and the United States would be better served by it too – they will learn about consequences, probably for the first time in their lives. If it sticks, they'll be changed for the better. If it doesn’t, at least you’ll be rid of them. Derek Hunter is the host of a free daily podcast (subscribe!) and author of the book, Outrage, INC., which exposes how liberals use fear and hatred to manipulate the masses, and host of the weekly “Week in F*cking Review” podcast where the news is spoken about the way it deserves to be. Follow him on Twitter at @DerekAHunter. |
Will Jewish Voters Stop Voting For The Democrats Who Want To Kill Them?
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Jewish Americans are going to have to make a decision – the famously Democrat-leaning minority has a big problem because many of its fellow Democrats want them dead. That’s not an exaggeration – the chant of the Democrat’s left wing is not, “From the river to the sea, the Chosen People should be happy, safe, and free.” Kind of the exact opposite. These scumbag commies are so promiscuous with lies about the Jewish people like “apartheid” and “genocide” they ought to hand out rhetorical condoms on the many college quads these loathsome heirs of the Nazis have infested. Yet Jews in America overwhelmingly vote Democrat. You know, this might be a good time to rethink their traditional leftist voting habits, but that conundrum represents a conflict in human nature – the conflict between self-preservation and self-identity. I don’t know which one is going to win out, but I know what’s going to happen if the Hamas-huggers win out. I’m not in the business of telling any particular ethnic group how to vote, and I don’t think any particular ethnic group should vote in any particular way. The whole idea of ethnic voting is stupid. But other people seem to have other opinions. Some groups vote as a bloc. Black Americans almost always vote Democrat – something like 90%, though this time Donald Trump seems to be earning a better percentage. Similarly, Jewish Americans are famously liberal voters, with the vast majority supporting Democrats in the past. But things have changed. The position of the Democratic Party is aligned with the far left, which pretty much wants to kill all the Jews. And Biden really, really wants to win the states with large number of Muslims like the despicable Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, whose daughter/niece was recently suspended from the University of College for her hate crimes. The Democrats are not show about excommunicated groups they find to be no longer useful to their goal of attaining power. They famously dumped the white working class in recent decades. Guess we know who’s the next to get the boot. Now the Democrats are siding with the people who not merely excuse but celebrate the murder of Jews, and who would not hesitate to bring October 7th here. I talk about that in my new book – these Gaza-loving geebos will be eager accomplices to the terrorist attack Biden’s weakness is inviting. Does that assessment sound harsh? Maybe, but it’s entirely true. They know it, we know it, and the only people who don’t know it are the people who don’t want to know it. You cannot look at these braying brown shirts with their stupid headgear and ubiquitous face masks and not see a pack of keffiyeh-clad Khmer Rouge wannabes unless you choose not to. Now, they always tell you that they don’t really want to kill the Jews. They just want to kill the Zionists. Of course, all the Zionists happen to be Jews. They cheer for October 7th. They think it was great. They want more of these massacres. And they want to leverage other Democrats to stop Israel from stopping future murder sprees – sadly, Biden has capitulated to them and equally sadly, Israel refuses to tell the desiccated old pervert to pound sand and to glass over Rafah along with the Hamas rats hiding in its tunnels. Jewish Democrat voters are going to need to make a choice, survival or the comfort of liberal illusions. For a long time, the reconcilable tension between the hard left and Jewish Democrats was suppressed – everyone knew it was there, but if they didn’t want to see it and wanted to keep voting for people like Joe Biden, they didn’t have to see it. Well, they are seeing it now. There’s no escaping it. Whether you’re stopped in traffic on a bridge or watching little snots rip hostage flyers off of streetlights or getting spat on and harassed on college campuses, if you’re Jewish, you’re now a target. It’s painful for an America soldier to write that Jews are targeted in America. What a disgrace. This is not what we served for. I cannot believe my country, whose heroic soldiers liberated Dachau (I’ve been there twice – every American must go see it), tolerates this disgusting anti-Semitism on the grounds of our allegedly prestigious institutions. Shameful. And there is just one party that lets it happen wherever it is in control – go try this in red Florida, Palesimpians. “Never again” has been replaced, among Democrats, by “Get over it.” There’s always a common denominator among the people the scumbags hate – no matter who else they hate, they always hate the Jews most. And, of course, Jews are fulfilling their traditional function as the cultural canary in the coal mine – they get attacked before the rest of us do. Besides the moral obligation to defend Jews from hate and violence – I’d be siding with the Jews even if they weren’t God’s Chosen People – there’s the utilitarian interest in stopping these little bastards before the communists start turning on the rest of us. An attack on Jews is an attack on every civilized human being. The Orthodox are already based, but is the rest of the Jewish community ready to abandon the people who have turned on them? Are the majority of liberal Jewish Americans going to wake up and stop voting for Democrats because Democrats allow this hate? Democrats control the blue cities where it happens. Democrats control the schools where it happens. Democrats control the regime media, where this stuff is tolerated and even celebrated. It’s not those mega MAGA extremists. It’s not Cletus out in Butthead County, Kentucky, doing the anti-Semitism. It’s other Democrats. Try that nonsense in Florida and Ron DeSantis will feed you to the gators. So, why aren’t American Jews as a whole saying, “The hell with this, I’ll take the mean tweets and the lack of pogroms?” You would think that would be a simple calculation, prioritizing personal survival, but there’s another interest at play. A lot of Jewish Americans are very invested in being liberal. That’s who they are. That’s not just a political affiliation but an identity. Imagine you’ve spent 65 years of your life voting for Democrats, and suddenly this happens. Are you ready to make a 180° turn? That’s hard. That’s hard for anybody. It’s human nature. Voting Dem is a habit mixed up with personal identity. That is tough to change, even then the face of indisputable and undeniable evidence like these sociopaths chanting “From the river to the sea.” So, my guess is we’re going to see some Jewish voters swinging to the Republicans, but not most – at least not in 2024. It’s hard to turn on a dime. But we are going to see some movement. It’s a start. The GOP must welcome them. I just hope it’s enough soon enough, because these communists really hate Jews, and they really hate the rest of us, too. Follow Kurt on Twitter @KurtSchlichter. Get the newest volume in the Kelly Turnbull People’s Republic series of conservative action novels set in America after a notional national divorce, the bestselling Amazon #1 Military Thriller, Overlord! And get his new novel about terrorism in America, The Attack! Look, you need to keep up the fight by joining Townhall VIP right now. You get access to a bunch of great stuff, not the least of which is my extra Wednesday column, my weekly Stream of Kurtiousness videos every Friday, and the Unredacted podcast every Monday! Plus, some stuff from Larry O’Connor – and a bunch of other stuff. |
Police at UT Austin Had the Perfect Response to a Pro-Hamas Activist Flipping Them Off
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If there’s one state that won’t tolerate these pro-Hamas mongrels establishing camps on college campuses, it’s Texas. What were these kids thinking? That the Lone Star State would allow pro-terrorist nonsense to reverberate across various campuses? Nope. Police and security forces moved in quickly to disrupt the pro-Hamas shenanigans yesterday (via Texas Tribune):
One activist flipped off the police, who responded best to this shrieking fool: “Thank you for your support.”
It was total pandemonium:
And surprisingly, even deep blue California wasn’t going to tolerate this nonsense either, as the pro-Hamas camps at the University of Southern California were dismantled:
Bulldoze all these encampments. Columbia University, you started this trend; you can end it. |
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