Baltimore's Democrat Rat Cartoons

President Trump signs 9/11 victims compensation bill to extend health care funding

President Trump signed a bill to extend health funding for the heroes who responded to the tragic September 11th terrorist attacks. He signed the 9/11 victims compensation bill, also known as H.R. 1327, during a ceremony Monday. The move marked an end to weeks of congressional debates.

“For your entire lives you have gone far beyond your duty to us and today we strive to fulfill our sacred duty to you. We love you, we honor you and we thank you. God bless you all.” — President Trump

The bill will extend funds to pay for medical expenses of police officers, firefighters, and other first responders who are experiencing illnesses related their rescue efforts following the attack.

President Donald Trump holds up H.R. 1327, an act ensuring that a victims’ compensation fund related to the Sept. 11 attacks never runs out of money, after signing it in the Rose Garden of the White House as member of the audience applaud and celebrate, Monday, July 29, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

“This critical legislation would fully fund the September 11th compensation fund to make sure all those exposed and impacted by the related illnesses are thoroughly compensated, and for those conditions diagnosed in the future,” stated Senator Cory Garner (R-Colo.).
Tens of thousands of responders reportedly stepped in that day to help search for survivors and manage the clean-up of the area. However, that effort exposed them to toxic debris in the air, including asbestos, lead and pulverized concrete.
One of those heroes and an advocate for the legislation was Luis Alvarez, a retired New York Police Department detective who testified before Congress last month to tell of his battle with cancer and nearly 70 rounds of chemotherapy.
“This fund is not a ticket to paradise, it’s to help take care of our families when we cant,” he stated. “You all said never forget, well I’m here to make sure that you don’t.” Alvarez died two weeks later.
This measure is the first time the funds will be guaranteed to first responders. Previously, lawmakers had to vote to renew the fund every few years. The plan will now allow families to file claims through the year 2090 and accept financial assistance through 2092.

President Trump Signs H.R. 1327 https://t.co/r1YBKEX3hY

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) July 29, 2019

New Jersey assisted suicide law to go into effect this week

A New Jersey law which will allow terminally ill patients to legally end their lives will go into effect on Thursday in the state.
The Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act permits adult patients with six months or less to live to obtain and self-administer life-ending medication. Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy signed the bill into law on April 12 after the Democrat-led Assembly and Senate passed the measure in close votes.
“Allowing residents with terminal illnesses to make end-of-life choices for themselves is the right thing to do,” Murphy said in an April 12 press release upon signing the bill.
Supporters hail its passage as a victory in the so-called "right to die" movement. Those in opposition say it fails to protect the most vulnerable members of society and want the state to put more effort into improving its health care system.
The law mandates a psychiatrist or psychologist first assess whether a person has the mental capacity to decide to end their own life, the Washington Examiner reported. A physician can then legally prescribe the drug to their terminally ill patients who can administer the drug themselves.
The act has “safeguards” in place to prevent abuse, including requiring patients to submit two requests for the life-ending medication and giving patients the option to rescind the requests.
Fox News’ Frank Miles and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Rep. Ilhan Omar faces challenge from Chris Kelley, a celebrated Iraq war veteran

Chris Kelley, who has collected eleven military medals as a 27-year veteran of the U.S. Army and Army Reserves and clocked more than 36,000 hours patrolling the Minnesota streets as a 20-year veteran of the Minneapolis Police Force, has his sights set on usurping Omar from her seat representing Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District in 2020. (Courtesy Chris Kelley)

When Rep. Ilhan Omar ignited steep controversy in March describing the September 11 attacks as “some people did something,” it was then that a longtime cop in her neighborhood decided he needed to do more than just bemoan what he perceived as a shocking trivialization of a terrorist attack that tore through the fabric of his beloved country.
Now, Chris Kelley, who has collected eleven military medals as a 27-year veteran of the U.S. Army and Army Reserves and clocked more than 36,000 hours patrolling the Minnesota streets as a 20-year veteran of the Minneapolis Police Force, has his sights set on knocking Omar from her seat representing Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District in 2020.
“September 11 was a terrible loss of life, not just for police officers and firefighters and other first responders, but 3,000 people and non-combatants died, and to be dismissive of that was an outrage. I could sit and complain or I could do something about it,” Kelley, who is campaigning as an Independent, told Fox News. “And I believe I can be a positive voice in standing up for people in our country, and for our first responders and the people every day on the frontlines.”
In his view, current representative Omar has devoted too much time to crafting her “celebrity” than on being of service to the community, which he insists he will serve honorably if elected.
“As former military, I am here to serve and not further my status. I want to do a good job for the people I represent and I don’t have a personal agenda,” noted Kelley, who deployed once during Operation Desert Storm and twice during Operation Iraqi Freedom as an intelligence analyst and also holds an master's degree in Criminal Justice Leadership from Concordia University in St. Paul. “I’m passionate about service and I just want to be able to continue that.”

Kelley deployed once during Operation Desert Storm and twice during Operation Iraqi Freedom as an intelligence analyst. He also holds a master's degree in Criminal Justice Leadership from Concordia University in St. Paul. (Courtesy Chris Kelley)

He isn’t totally a political rookie. Kelley campaigned for the Republican Senate endorsement in 2016 and, while unsuccessful, it gave the 49-year-old a taste for what Minnesotans wanted and needed.
“Immigration is a big issue right now. I believe in having a secure border; if you don’t have a country you don’t have a border and our border agents are doing a great job, but they are being overwhelmed and Congress isn’t giving them the tools they need,” he said. “But I would also like to see a pathway to citizenship for those under DACA; they couldn’t help they were brought here and need a shot to be able to stay here.”
Kelley stressed that he also remains firmly committed to boosting Medicare, while ensuring private health insurance remains available and the costs are driven down. He also supports term limits on representatives of both the House and the Senate.

U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., holds a 'Medicare-for-all' town hall with other lawmakers, Thursday, July 18, 2019, in Minneapolis. (Richard Tsong-Taatarii/Star Tribune via AP)

Furthermore, as the father of a 5-year-old, he also underscored the importance of addressing the ever-looming elephant in the room.
“A big concern I have is our national debt, and I would like to work on bringing this down. It should be a priority,” Kelley continued. “I have a 5-year-old and this debt will be in our children’s lap.”

“September 11 was a terrible loss of life not just for police officers and firefighters and other first responders, but 3,000 people and non-combatants died, and to be dismissive of that was an outrage. I could sit and complain or I could do something about it,” Kelley, who is campaigning as an Independent, told Fox News. “And I believe I can be a positive voice in standing up for people in our country, and for our first responders and the people every day on the frontlines.” (Courtesy Chris Kelley)

And despite the blatant political differences he has with Omar, the local police officer is vowing to run a “positive, fact-based campaign” that won’t entail attacking or ridiculing his opponent.
“I won’t be bringing in controversy and scandal. I will be bringing firsthand knowledge of the things that I know are going on in the community as an officer. I see a lot every day – the homelessness, the opioid crisis; I want to bring these things to the forefront and put some ideas on the table on how to deal with them,” Kelley added. “I want to do anything I can to make people’s lives better; I just want to sit and listen to people and make some positive change.”

Swing-state households would lose at least $70G within first year of Green New Deal, study finds

Radically transforming energy consumption under the "Green New Deal" (GND) would cost the average household at least $70,000 in the first year of its rollout, and a cool quarter-million dollars total after five years, a new study concluded.
The study, released by the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) on Tuesday, looked at a wide swath of data to estimate how transforming the energy sector -- which includes de-carbonizing transportation and retrofitting U.S. commercial and residential buildings -- would affect the average household in five representative states.
Within the first year of implementing the program, the average household in each of the given states (Alaska, Florida, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Pennsylvania) would incur at least $70,000 in expenses -- followed by roughly $45,000 in annual expenses for each of the following 2-5 years and over $37,000 after that time frame.
Their estimates came on the same day as the Democrats' second primary debate, which included leading progressive candidates who not only have endorsed the GND, but who also sought public support from its visionary, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. A slew of other candidates -- including the party's frontrunner, former Vice President Joe Biden -- have endorsed the basics of the project. Three congressional Democrats introduced a carbon tax bill last week that similarly would seek a drastic reduction in emissions.
While it's early in the primary season, candidates will be competing soon for voters in some of the states modeled by the institute. For example, the study found that the battleground state of Pennsylvania would face over $2 quadrillion in costs for upgrading residential, commercial and industrial buildings. Florida would encounter a $1.4 quadrillion price tag and New Hampshire, one of the first primary states, would face $102.8 trillion in retrofitting costs.
A quadrillion, which is equal to one thousand trillion, is represented by a 1 followed by 15 zeroes. One quadrillion would be roughly 250 times the annual federal budget.
The two others saw costs that were much higher than even the national debt -- $352.8 trillion for New Mexico and $533.4 trillion for Alaska.
Ocasio-Cortez has downplayed cost concerns and mocked conservatives whom she argued were like Dr. Evil, demanding outlandish ransoms in the "Austin Powers" movies. But a host of studies -- albeit, mostly from right-leaning organizations -- have found that the Green New Deal's costs would be astronomical.
Biden and some other 2020 Democrats, meanwhile, have endorsed its "framework" -- yielding environmental proposals that would cost much less but still reach figures like $1.7 trillion over 10 years.
Like other studies of the Green New Deal, CEI's cautioned that its findings likely underestimated the program's actual costs.
"Most provisions of the GND are so broad and open-ended that the list of potential programs necessary to implement the program is limited by the capacity of legislators to imagine a new government program," authors Daniel Turner and Kent Lassman wrote. "Therefore, it is impossible to calculate the whole or maximum cost of the GND. However, other parts of the GND are more precise, sufficiently so that an approximate minimum cost estimate is available."
Both CEI and the Heritage Foundation found that the Green New Deal's energy goals alone would cost households hefty and likely impractical sums. When the American Action Forum (AAF), led by former Congressional Budget Office director Douglas Holtz-Eakin, looked at the GND, it accounted for several other goals with primarily economic aims ("universal health care" and "guaranteed jobs"). It found that the program could cost as much as $94 trillion.
That figure is likely much lower than CEI's total calculations because AAF appeared to focus on household retrofitting rather than adding it to more costly changes for commercial and industrial buildings. CEI's study also provided perhaps one of the more detailed reports in that it broke down how households would accumulate their eyepopping expenditures.
Just transitioning to electric vehicles and building a high-speed rail would cost the average household at least $20,000 in each of the states analyzed. Shipping cost increases ranged from $181 to $308 annually while the costs for an electrical grid ranged from $22,773 in New Hampshire to $52,796 in Alaska.
Despite its support among 2020 Democrats, the Green New Deal has faced dismal political prospects. Not only is the Senate dominated by Republicans, but the chamber also defeated a measure to bring her resolution to a floor vote. Democrats called it a "sham" move.
The legislation also has faced intense criticism from President Trump -- nearly guaranteeing a veto -- and Republicans in both chambers of Congress. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has dubbed himself the "grim reaper" of socialism, an apparent response to proposals including the Green New Deal.
In the House, the Republican Study Committee pushed a resolution that declared the proposal a "thinly veiled" attempt to usher in a socialist society and would violate the nation's core principles