Saturday, September 16, 2017
GOP Rep. Dana Rohrabacher: Violence in Charlottesville Was Masterminded by Dems
Republican U.S. Representative Dana Rohrabacher. |
California Representative Dana Rohrabacher explained his views in an interview Thursday.
He believes it was an attempt to — quote — “put our president on the spot.”
Rohrabacher believes Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders hired Civil War re-enactors to defend the Confederate statue and pretend to be white nationalists.
The California lawmaker currently faces nine challengers in the 2018 election.
His district in the state traditionally votes Republican, but flipped for Clinton in the last election, making it a focus for Democrats trying to retake the House.
Chelsea Clinton tweets false story claiming Michigan passed bill allowing EMTs to deny gay patients treatment
Just like her mommy :-) |
Chelsea Clinton falsely tweeted Friday that the
Michigan House of Representatives had voted to allow emergency medical
providers choice in treating patients, specifically giving EMTs the
option to deny treatment to gay patients.
"Absolutely appalling," the former
First Daughter tweeted, "Michigan House Passed Bill Allowing EMTs To
Refuse Treatment To Gay People."
The story Clinton cited was from a website for the
LGBT New Now Next Awards, and was posted in 2014. When followers pointed
out the story was old, Clinton deleted her tweet.Not only was the story old, but the actual premise was deeply flawed. What the Michigan House actually passed was a garden variety Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), which would have exempted religious individuals from laws that infringed on their religious beliefs.
Like most state RFRAs, the Michigan bill contained a clause that allows the state to infringe on religious beliefs when there's a "compelling government interest." The preservation of human life is widely considered to qualify, according to legal experts.
Newt Gingrich: Tax cuts for small business would change GOP trajectory
Time is running out for Republicans if they want to keep their governing majority in 2018.
After 238 days of having control of
the White House and both houses of Congress, the GOP has only one major
legislative achievement – the Senate confirmation of Supreme Court
Justice Neil Gorsuch.
This is, in part, because Republicans tried to run
before they could walk. Attempting to immediately repeal and replace
ObamaCare without an iron-clad strategy for success was a mistake driven
by post-election excitement and inexperience. Remember, many current
House Republicans have never served when there was a Republican in the
White House, and our Senate majority is still too slim to pass
transformative conservative legislation.But while early mistakes are to be expected, it is not too late to change the Republican trajectory.
Before we can fully bring our country out of the liberal, big government, dependency model, Republicans need to develop an economic-growth-focused strategy, build legislative momentum on the floor of Congress, and gain full support from the American people.
The key to achieving these goals – and growing our majority in both the House and Senate next year – is to pass simple, popular, tax cut legislation by this year’s end – preferably by Thanksgiving.
The cornerstone of this legislation must be a serious tax cut for small businesses so they can expand, create more jobs, and revive the middle class.
Small businesses represent 99 percent of our country’s employers, employing nearly half of our country’s private sector workers and creating three out of every four new jobs. However, instead of paying the corporate tax rate, more than 90 percent of these businesses report their income through their owners’ individual income tax filings.
Despite what some on the Left assert, these are not “the rich” or “the top 1 percent” – far from it. Most small businesses are truly small.
U.S. Treasury data and a report by the National Federation of Independent Business show only 2.4 percent of small businesses report incomes in excess of $250,000 a year. In fact, 88 percent of income tax returns by small business owners show adjusted gross income of less than $200,000. Seventy-one percent of such returns show adjusted income that is less than $100,000 a year.
On the high end, the Tax Foundation reports that the top earning small businesses pay marginal federal tax rates as high as 44.6 percent (when you combine the individual rate, the self-employment tax, and the net investment income tax). Adding state income taxes to the mix means these small business owners face tax rates that approach 50 percent.
This must change.
Republican lawmakers should create a graduated system that caps the tax rate on the highest small business incomes at no more than the corporate rate of 38.92 percent, drastically reduce the individual income tax rates, or both.
Relieving small businesses of this enormous tax burden will allow them to buy more equipment, expand their operations, hire more people, raise workers’ wages, and generate massive economic growth.
Despite a slow start for the Republican-led government, Gallup reported on Wednesday that 51 percent of Americans approve of the way President Trump has handled the economy. This is higher than the economic ratings Barack Obama, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton each received during their eighth month in office. Only George W. Bush in 2001 had a higher economic approval rating, at 72 percent.
It is not surprising that Americans approve of how President Trump has been handling the economy. Since taking office, the stock market has been booming. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 12.25 percent; The Nasdaq Composite Index is up 22.92 percent; and the S&P 500 is up 11.49 percent.
Tax cuts on small business and the middle class will provide an enormous boost to the already improving economy. This will result in even more jobs, higher take home pay, and stronger growth.
When voters head to the polls on November 6, 2018, if they have been experiencing a robust American economy that is dramatically stronger than the slow-growth economy during the previous years of Democratic leadership, then they will elect more Republicans to office.
But Republicans must pass serious tax cuts for the middle class and small businesses by Thanksgiving to make that happen. It’s that simple.
Newt Gingrich is a Fox News contributor. A Republican, he was speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. Follow him on Twitter @NewtGingrich. His latest book is "Understanding Trump."
California Assembly OKs plan for March presidential primary
The only problem Texans have with Californians moving to Texas is that they bring their stupid ideas of government with them. Look what they've done to their state, Don't mess with Texas. |
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The
California Assembly has voted to move the 2020 presidential primary to
March to give the nation's most populous state more influence in
choosing nominees.
The bill approved Friday will now
go to the state Senate where it's expected to pass. Gov. Jerry Brown has
not said whether he'll sign it.
The bill would move the presidential primary to the
Tuesday after the first Monday in March -- three months earlier than the
June contest held in 2016, when Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were
already the presumptive nominees.
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"Candidates will have to spend more time in California," said Democratic Assemblyman Kevin Mullin of San Francisco.
An earlier primary could give an edge to well-funded candidates.
California is home to 11 media markets, making it expensive to campaign.
It's easier for candidates with limited money to compete alongside financial heavy-hitters in early primary states such as Iowa and New Hampshire. In 2016, for example, John Kasich took second in New Hampshire with limited money, while Jeb Bush, who had more than $100 million, placed fourth.
"The cost of playing in California versus playing in New Hampshire, Iowa, South Carolina is incredibly different," said Mike Biundo, Republican Rick Santorum's 2012 campaign manager who later worked for Kasich and Trump. "A Jeb Bush or a Hillary Clinton, I think, have the advantage if California is earlier."
An earlier primary, especially one held on Super Tuesday, wouldn't mean every candidate will spend more time in the state. In 2016, for example, Texas, Colorado, Massachusetts, Virginia and eight other states voted that day.
And it doesn't ensure the political relevance that California lawmakers crave. The last time California voted early -- in February 2008 -- the state backed Clinton, but Barack Obama went on to win the Democratic nomination and the presidency.
California's last truly relevant presidential primary was perhaps in 1972, when George McGovern defeated Hubert Humphrey on McGovern's way to winning the Democratic nomination.
Michael Schroeder, Republican Ted Cruz's California political director in 2016, said it's too early in the political calendar to predict the impact of an earlier primary in 2020.
"Right now, California is completely irrelevant for picking presidents. We didn't pick Hillary (Clinton) and we didn't pick (President Donald) Trump," he said, referring to 2016 contests that were essentially settled before the state voted.
Changing the date "will make us at least somewhat relevant; it could make us very relevant," he said.
The Republican and Democratic national committees have not yet set rules for the 2020 contests, including the preferred primary calendar and delegates awarded to each state. Depending on rules set, other states could attempt to leapfrog ahead of California, pushing the entire primary season earlier.
California historically awards more delegates than any other state.
California may also become the first state to require presidential candidates to release their tax returns to appear on the state ballot. Lawmakers sent Brown a bill Friday requiring candidates to publicly share five years of returns; he hasn't said if he'll sign it.
President Donald Trump's refusal to release his tax returns during the 2016 sparked similar legislation in dozens of states from New Jersey to Hawaii. The documents reveal income sources, tax exemptions, charitable donations and potential financial conflicts of interest. Until Trump, every major presidential candidates has released his or hers for decades.
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