Presumptuous Politics

Friday, January 27, 2017

O'Reilly: Sanctuary Cities 'Promote Anarchy' & Trump Should Cut Their Funding

In his Talking Points Memo tonight, Bill O'Reilly slammed the pro-illegal immigration lobby's objections to President Donald Trump's executive actions.
On Wednesday, Trump signed two executive orders that cover a range of immigration enforcement measures, including starting the wall on the southern border and threatening sanctuary cities with a cut-off of funding.
O'Reilly said that "all hell is breaking loose," as many on the left simply do not want U.S. immigration laws enforced.
He pointed out that whether they oppose immigration laws for humanitarian, personal or political reasons, the fact is that it's up to Congress to change existing laws.
"You apply to come to the U.S.A., and your application is either accepted or rejected. If you simply show up with no papers, you're violating U.S. law," O'Reilly said. "So, there really isn't any legal argument here. It's all about theory and politics."
He said that "irresponsible" politicians like Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio are ignoring federal law by operating sanctuary cities.
"So if these protesters and these loony mayors think that open borders and lax immigration enforcement are good things, they're idiots and deserve to be scorned," O'Reilly said.
"Breaking it down, sanctuary cities and counties promote anarchy. If the left doesn't like immigration law, petition Congress to change it. If the mayors refuse to obey federal law, President Trump should cut off federal funds immediately."

Trump spokesman says 20-percent tax on Mexican goods could fund wall

President Trump’s plan to make Mexico pay for the wall he intends to build on the southern border may have taken shape Thursday, when his spokesman suggested imposing a 20-percent import tax on Mexican goods.
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer mentioned the possibility to reporters on Air Force One Thursday, as relations between Trump and his Mexican counterpart Enrique Pena Nieto spiraled.
"When you look at the plan that's taking shape now, using comprehensive tax reform as a means to tax imports from countries that we have a trade deficit from, like Mexico," Spicer said.
"If you tax that $50 billion at 20 percent of imports – which is by the way a practice that 160 other countries do – right now our country's policy is to tax exports and let imports flow freely in, which is ridiculous," he said. "By doing it that we can do $10 billion a year and easily pay for the wall just through that mechanism alone. That's really going to provide the funding."
The comments came on another packed day for the Trump administration, and a tumultuous one regarding immigration and Mexico policy. Sources confirmed that Mark Morgan has been removed as head of Border Patrol, in the wake of Trump's executive actions a day earlier boosting the agency and directing the construction of a wall.
In the wake of those orders, Nieto also canceled a scheduled meeting with Trump later this month.
Trump insisted throughout his successful campaign that not only would he build a wall to secure the border from illegal immigration and drugs, but that Mexico would pay for it. The oft-repeated pledge prompted speculation and even derision in the U.S., and outrage in Mexico. Nieto, while canceling the meeting, also insisted his nation will not fund the project, which could cost $12 billion or more.
Trump responded to Nieto by saying the meeting would be a waste of time, anyway, and tweeting that the U.S. is on the short end of the trading stick with Mexico.
Spicer raised the possibility of a tax after Trump told congressional Republicans that trade revenue from Mexico could finance the wall. That revenue would apparently be a component of a border tax plan that would be part of larger tax reforms.
Talk of a possible tax on U.S. imports from Mexico raised some eyebrows in Asia, where exports to the U.S. drive growth in many economies.
Japanese officials said on Friday they hoped to soon hold talks on trade with U.S. officials. Finance Minister Taro Aso said he hoped to explain the "reality of Japanese employment" in the U.S.
The Japanese government spokesman refused comment on the spat, but said Tokyo would watch for any impact on Japanese companies.
Mexico and the U.S. trade about $531 billion in goods and services each year, with the U.S. running a $58 million trade deficit with its third-biggest partner. Cars, heavy machinery and agricultural products form the bulk of U.S. imports from Mexico.
Imposing the tax would likely require renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, which Trump has said he intends to do.

Thursday, January 26, 2017

Sanctuary City Cartoons

Pena Nieto reiterates Mexico will not pay for Trump's border wall

Mexico President Enrique Pena Nieto Wednesday condemned U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order to build a wall on the border betwen the two countries, and reiterated that his country will not pay for it.
"I regret and reject the decision of the U.S. to build the wall," Pena Nieto said in a nationally televised address.
Pena Nieto did not directly mention whether he would still make a planned trip to Washington on Jan. 31, but said he would await reports from the high-level team of Mexican officials currently meeting with Trump administration officials in Washington.
"Based on the final report from the Mexican officials who are in Washington right now ... I will make decisions about what to do next," he said.
After talking tough about the wall, he held out an olive branch, saying "Mexico re-affirms its friendship with the people of the United States, and its willingness to reach agreements with its government."

TRUMP DRAFT ORDER REPORTEDLY WILL HALT REFUGEE PROCESSING FOR SYRIANS
The decision to possibly rethink the visit comes amid growing outrage in Mexico, and a sense among many that Pena Nieto has been too weak in the face of Trump's tough policy stance.
The senior official, who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press the administration "is considering" scrapping Pena Nieto's visit to the U.S. "That's what I can tell you."
It was not clear when a final decision may be made.
Trump's order came the same day Mexico's foreign relations and economy secretaries arrived in Washington, and its timing was seen by many in Mexico as a slap in the face.
Critics of Pena Nieto - whose approval ratings were just 12 percent in a recent survey, the lowest for any Mexican president in the polling era - have hammered him for his perceived weakness on Trump. Opposition politicians urged him Wednesday to call off the trip.
"The position is very clear," said Ricardo Anaya Cortes, president of the conservative opposition National Action Party. "Either one cancels the meeting with Donald Trump, or one attends it to say publicly and with absolute firmness that Mexico rejects the wall and we will not pay a single cent for it."
Trump has also promised to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Analyst Jorge Zepeda Patterson argued that Pena Nieto should keep the meeting as scheduled, saying Mexico should exhaust all possibilities for negotiating to minimize damage. He said Pena Nieto should try to reach an agreement that's enough to let Trump claim victory and then move on to another foil.
"Trump is more interested in boasting of an immediate success than an ambitious result. He is interested in appearances," Zepeda said.
The U.S. president has also promised to step up deportations. He launched his campaign with remarks calling immigrants crossing in illegally from Mexico criminals, drug dealers and "rapists." Trump added that "some" were presumably good people, but the comments nonetheless deeply offended many Mexicans.
Pena Nieto was roundly criticized after inviting candidate Trump to Mexico City last August and disappointed many of his countrymen by not publicly confronting Trump on the wall.
On Tuesday, ahead of their trip to Washington, the economy and foreign relations secretaries suggested that Mexico could leave NAFTA if negotiations with Washington are unsatisfactory - though that would not be the first choice.
Already Mexico is feeling the effects of the new tone from Washington. The Mexican peso has sharply devalued since Trump was elected, and several high-profile business ventures have been canceled amid threats to impose a border tax on goods made in Mexico and exported to the United States.

Hey illegals, start packing your bags!

Grab a shovel, America -- President Trump is about to build that wall.
The White House on Wednesday rolled out a series of executive actions on immigration and border security – designed to restore American sovereignty – an issue I address in my new book, “The Deplorables’ Guide to Making America Great Again.”
Among other things – President Trump announced a crackdown on sanctuary cities that harbor illegal aliens. He also plans to provide the Department of Homeland Security with more resources to fight illegal immigration.
And remember the Obama administration’s “catch and release” policies? Well, those days are now over.
In other words -- all of you illegals out there might want to pack a bag and catch the next Greyhound bus to Nuevo Laredo.
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The president also plans on temporarily suspending visas from countries that are loaded with radical Muslims – places like Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan and Libya.
“These executive orders will not make our nation any safer, rather it will make our nation more fearful and less welcoming, and such restrictions run contrary to (the) very founding principles of our nation,” Hassan Shibly, executive director of CAIR-Florida told CNN.
It’s no surprise that critics are enraged – accusing the administration of being xenophobic and Islamophobic. They seem to think we should roll out the red carpet for illegals at the expense of law-abiding Americans.
We are barely a week into the Trump presidency and he's already managed to dump TPP, engage pro-lifers, rattle Democrats and discombobulate the mainstream media.
I really like this guy.
I mean, the sheer scope of his immigration policies is incredible. He’s cracking down on sanctuary cities -- temporarily suspending visas from hotbeds of radical Islam and building a wall.
We’re going to build a wall, America! To be honest, there were moments during the presidential campaign when I wondered if the wall was some sort of metaphor. But no sir! By golly, he plans on building a great, big, larger-than-life, Trump signature wall.
Imagine that, folks -- a Republican president who does what he promised to do on the campaign trail. Never in all my life did I think I'd see that day.
All I can say is thank you, Mr. President. Thank you for keeping your word.
To be clear, the president's executive orders are not xenophobic or Islamophobic. They are not anti-Mexican or anti-refugee. Rather, President Trump's immigration and border security policies are pro-American. I know that must be a shocking concept – especially after the past eight years.
But President Trump promised to put America first -- and he's delivering on that promise.
To the nations of the world -- we are more than happy to welcome your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. But if it's all the same -- you can just keep the deadbeats and reprobates -- and the people who want to blow us up.

Priebus on sanctuary cities: 'If you defy the laws of this country, you shouldn't receive federal taxpayer dollars'

White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus defended President Donald Trump Wednesday evening over a move to block federal funds meant for so-called "sanctuary cities" that harbor immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally.
"Should places in this country that ignore the laws of this country when it comes to immigration receive federal money into their communities?" Priebus asked Fox News' Sean Hannity Wednesday. "And the answer to me is no."
WATCH SEAN HANNITY'S CABLE EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP THURSDAY AT 10 PM ET ON FOX NEWS CHANNEL
The sanctuary cities order was part of a flurry of executive actions from Trump Wednesday that dealt with immigration and border security. The president also issued orders moving ahead with the construction of a wall along the southern border and halting the processing of Syrian refugees.
TRUMP DRAFT ORDER WILL REPORTEDLY HALT REFUGEE PROCESSING FOR SYRIANS
Preibus told Hannity that halting funds to sanctuary cities has "been in the Republican party platform now for over eight years. This is not some sort of crazy thinking.
"The point is," Priebus added, "if you defy the laws of this country, you shouldn't receive federal tax payer dollars from the people of this country ... in some cases, you have folks that have committed crimes ... and in every other jurisdiction, they say ‘OK, you’ve committed a crime. You now have to leave the country.’ That’s normal, right? I think that’s normal, but they’re not doing that."
The chief of staff said that Trump would issue more executive orders relating to national security on Friday.
"I'll expect a series of executive orders to start tackling issues in regard to foreign policy, issues in regard to ISIS and our positions now through the world, especially through the Middle East."
Priebus also discussed Trump's orders designed to encourage U.S. manufacturing, including an order giving the Commerce Department six months to maximize the amount of American steel used in oil pipeline projects.
"The President was talking about [the Keystone and Dakota Access] pipelines," Priebus said, "And at that very moment ... President Trump said, 'Well, why aren't we using American steel? Shouldn't we be using an American pipe?' ... So he said, 'Well, okay, let's write an executive order that says wherever you can possibly use American pipe and American steel we should do it.'"
The former head of the Republican National Committee predicted that Trump's policies could lead the U.S. economy to growth as high as 7 percent per economic quarter.
"If we're going to be an administration that cuts regulation, that lowers business taxes so that these companies can expand, that dis-incentivizes [them] from moving overseas into Mexico and China," Priebus said, "and makes doing business in America better for them, well then the jobs are going to explode."

Sanctuary cities dig in after Trump executive order

The leaders of “sanctuary cities” across the country vowed Wednesday to stand firm on their policies offering protection to illegal immigrants, in the wake of an executive order signed by President Trump threatening to cut off federal funding.
“These jurisdictions have caused immeasurable harm to the American people and to the very fabric of our Republic,” Trump’s executive order said.
Trump vowed to “crack down” on those cities during a visit to the Department of Homeland Security, setting up a showdown between his administration and the nearly 300 communities that have policies helping shield undocumented immigrants from deportation.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said he wouldn’t “deviate” from the city’s current approach of offering basic protection to illegal immigrants.
“We’re doing the right thing,” de Blasio said. “We have a city that is working economically, that is more harmonious and that is safer.”
He added, “We’re not going to deviate from that.”
Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., who represents parts of Brooklyn and Manhattan, said she was proud that “city officials have made clear they will not be accomplices in enforcing policies that create fear in immigrant communities.”
“New York has always been a city of immigrants and we will not be bullied into dividing against one another,” she said in a written statement.
While there is no one-size-fits-all definition of a sanctuary city, the term loosely refers to places that offer political support and protections to people who are in the U.S. illegally. Trump has vowed since the campaign to confront them over their defiance of federal immigration law, but those cities gave little indication they'd reconsider the policies after Wednesday's signing.
“Shame on him,” Lawrence, Mass., Mayor Daniel Rivera said in a statement. “There’s so many other things to worry about. Nobody in a red state is going to get a job or have their life become better because he victimizes these immigrants.”
Northhampton Mayor David Narkewicz told The Boston Globe he felt stripping funding from sanctuary cities would be easier said than done.
“It’s very easy to campaign, that the king is going to wave his scepter and somehow take away federal funding, but this isn’t the campaign anymore,” he said. “This is a president who functions in a larger government. We’re a government of laws. So it’s a much more difficult process, which I think even his spokesman conceded.”
Trump's White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said earlier the order would direct the DHS secretary to look at funding streams and determine "how they can be cut off" for sanctuary districts.
Some of America's biggest cities, including Chicago and the city hosting this week's congressional Republican retreat -- Philadelphia -- are also poised for a fight with the Trump administration.
A spokeswoman for Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney says the city has no plans to change its immigration policy.
“Given that today’s [executive order] was simply a directive and did not even make clear if there were any significant funding streams that the Trump administration could cut off to Philadelphia, we have no plans to change our immigration policy at this time,” Lauren Hitt said in a statement.
She added that Philadelphia has a “responsibility” to keep “undocumented human beings” safe.

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Secret Service Cartoons

Senior Secret Service agent suggests she wouldn't take 'a bullet' for Trump

Kerry O'Grady

A senior U.S. Secret Service agent posted social-media condemnations of President Trump during the past seven months, including one in which she said she wouldn't want to "take a bullet" for him.
She explained herself saying she viewed his presidential candidacy as a "disaster" for the country, and especially for women and minorities.
Kerry O'Grady, the special agent in charge of the Secret Service's Denver district, oversees coordination with Washington-based advance teams for all presidential candidate and presidential trips to the area, including all upcoming or future trips by the president, vice president or Trump administration officials.
Despite her senior security role, she has made her disdain for Trump and his incoming administration clear to her Facebook followers, who included current and former Secret Service agents and other people who were employees at the time of the posts. O'Grady's posts triggered at least one complaint to the office that oversees investigations into Secret Service misbehavior, two knowledgeable sources told the Washington Examiner.

Trump admin institutes media blackout for EPA, suspends social media activity

The Trump administration has instituted a media blackout for the Environmental Protection Agency, banning press releases and social media posts on official agency accounts, a source told Fox News.
The prohibitions came to light as the agency moved to delay implementation of at least 30 environmental rules finalized in the closing months of President Obama’s term, a potential first step to seeking to kill the regulations.
Staffers in EPA’s public affairs office are instructed to forward all inquiries from reporters to the Office of Administration and Resources Management.
"Not the most inspiring time at EPA right now but we're fighters,” the EPA staffer, who would only speak on condition of anonymity said.
The source, who also has direct knowledge of agency contracts and grants, confirmed that the agency has been asked to temporarily halt all contracts and grants pending review.

More on this...

“Yes to freeze on new contracts and grants and no new funding on existing ones. There will supposedly be exceptions moving forward but unclear at this point,” the source said.
The Trump administration has also ordered what it called a temporary suspension of all new business activities at the department, including issuing task orders or work assignments to EPA contractors. The orders were expected to have a significant and immediate impact on EPA activities nationwide.
EPA contracts with outside vendors for a wide array of services, from engineering and research science to janitorial supplies.
The Washington Post reported Monday that an email was sent to employees of the Office of Acquisition Management from the incoming EPA administration to temporarily suspend “all contract and grant awards.” The email was reportedly sent within hours of Trump’s inauguration ceremony.
Competitive Enterprise Institute director Myron Ebell, who oversaw the EPA transition for the Trump administration, told ProPublica that the move isn’t unprecedented.
“They’re trying to freeze things to make sure nothing happens they don’t want to have happen, so any regulations going forward, contracts, grants, hires, they want to make sure to look at them first. This may be a little wider than some previous administrations, but it’s very similar to what others have done.”
However, one employee told the publication that he couldn’t recall a similar event happening in 10 years with the agency.
Similar orders barring external communications have been issued in recent days by the Trump administration at other federal agencies, including the departments of Transportation and Agriculture.
Staffers in EPA's public affairs office are instructed to forward all inquiries from reporters to the Office of Administration and Resources Management.
"Incoming media requests will be carefully screened," one directive said. "Only send out critical messages, as messages can be shared broadly and end up in the press."
A review of EPA websites and social media accounts, which typically include numerous new posts each day, showed no new activity since Friday.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Tuesday he had no specific information on the blackout.
"I don't think it's any surprise that when there's an administration turnover, that we're going to review the policies," Spicer said.
Doug Ericksen, the communications director for Trump's transition team at EPA, said he expects the communications ban to be lifted by the end of this week.
"We're just trying to get a handle on everything and make sure what goes out reflects the priorities of the new administration," Ericksen said.