Democratic Version of the Wall Cartoons

House To Vote On $5 Billion Border Wall

In this June 8, 2006, file photo, members of the National Guard work on construction of a border wall at the U.S.-Mexico border next to San Luis Rio Colorado, Mexico. (AP Photo/David Maung, File)

A House panel is set to advance legislation that would provide $5 billion worth of funding for a southern border wall.
The House Appropriations Committee will vote next Wednesday on the 2019 Homeland Security fiscal bill.
The proposed bill would provide funding for an additional 200 miles worth of a new physical barrier.
It allocates over $300 million for nearly one thousand additional ICE and border patrol agents.
It also establishes a plan to secure total scanning of the border within five years.
The bill will likely advance out of the Republican-led committee, but will likely face strong Democrat opposition on the floor.

Congress Abandons Effort To Impose Harsher Restrictions On ZTE

In this May 8, 2018, file photo, Chinese men pass by a ZTE building in Beijing, China. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

Congress will not be blocking the Trump administrations deal with Chinese telecom giant ZTE.
Negotiators from both chambers have agreed not to include a provision to ban American firms from doing business with the company in next year’s Defense Authorization Act, according to reports.
Instead of a complete ban in the bill, lawmakers will reportedly just prohibit government contracts from going to the company.
This means the Trump administration’s deal with ZTE, allowing it to resume business in the country, will largely remain in place.
Votes in both chambers on the legislation are expected to take place in the near future.

Pres. Trump Blasts NFL Over Nat’l Anthem Policy Flip-Flop

President Donald Trump boards Air Force One, Friday, July 20, 2018, in Andrews Air Force Base, Md., en route to Morristown Municipal Airport, in Morristown, N.J., and on to Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

UPDATED 5:01 PM PT — Fri. July 20, 2018

President Trump suggests a penalty for NFL players who protest during the national anthem, as he blasts the league over its policy flip-flop.
In a fiery tweet Friday, the president said the national anthem debate is alive and well again and questions if it’s in a player’s contract that they must stand for the anthem.
He also calls on commissioner Roger Goodell to take a stand on the issue.
The president gave his own opinion on how the league should handle player protests, saying first time kneelers are out for the game and second time kneelers are out for the season without pay.
This comes after the league paused its new policy penalizing players for protesting, after the Miami Dolphins received backlash over its stance on the issue.

Pentagon Sends $200 Million To Ukraine

FILE – The Pentagon is seen in this aerial view in Washington, in this March 27, 2008 file photo. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 8:12 PM PT — Fri. July 20, 2018

The Pentagon is sending $200 million to Ukraine to assist the country with its self-defense capabilities.
The Defense Department issued a statement Friday, saying the move reaffirms the country’s relationship with Ukraine.
The funds bring the total aid to Ukraine up to $1 billion since the annexation of Crimea in 2014.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said the U.S. must take action against Russia’s destabilizing activities, including its illegal occupation of Ukraine.
The latest allocations of funds comes as President Trump has been criticized for being too lenient on Russia.
However, the additional resources are an effort to defend the territorial integrity of Ukraine against Russian aggression.

Whoopi Goldberg Cartoons

The ongoing feud between Fox News host Judge Jeanine Pirro and “The View” co-host Whoopi Goldberg spilled into its second day on Friday, with each telling her version of Pirro’s headline-grabbing appearance on the ABC News talk show.

Judge Jeanine Pirro, Whoopi Goldberg dispute from 'The View' spills into second day

The ongoing feud between Fox News host Judge Jeanine Pirro and “The View” co-host Whoopi Goldberg spilled into its second day on Friday, with each telling her version of Pirro’s headline-grabbing appearance on the ABC News talk show.
Pirro appeared on “The View” Thursday morning to promote her new book, “Liars, Leakers & Liberals,” and the heated exchange occurred when the Fox News host accused Goldberg of suffering from “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” A visibly angry Goldberg ended the segment by shouting, “Say goodbye. I’m done.”
A verbal disagreement occurred off-camera following Pirro’s appearance on the program.
Pirro has appeared on both “Hannity” and “Fox & Friends” to tell her side of the story, while Goldberg offered her rebuttal at the opening of Friday’s episode of “The View.”
Pirro called the backstage altercation “abuse.” Goldberg has admitted to using profanity – while also accusing Pirro of using inappropriate language – during the intense exchange.
Pirro has denied doing anything to provoke the liberal panel before the chaos ensued – but Goldberg claims she was upset that CNN’s Ana Navarro was a guest co-host, filling in for Joy Behar.

Pirro didn’t deny that she was peeved over the swap – but blamed ABC News for a lack of transparency.
“’The View’ was disingenuous in not telling us who was hosting,” Pirro told Fox News. “They didn’t tell anyone that one of the most rabid anti-Trump, anti-Fox people was going to be sitting next to me and interviewing me.”
Pirro said during her “Fox & Friends” appearance that an ABC News producer called her after the incident. Fox News has confirmed that ABC News attempted to speak with Pirro to no avail.
“I haven’t had a chance to return the call,” Pirro said. “I’ve always liked you, Whoopi, and I don’t understand where the anger comes from. I went to have a conversation and I wasn’t allowed to have a conversation. I didn’t deserve to be thrown out. We can’t treat people like that.”
ABC News declined comment.

California State Breakup Cartoons

Pres. Trump Signs Executive Order On Job Training

President Donald Trump holds up an Executive Order he signed that establishes a National Council for the American Worker, during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, July 19, 2018. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 4:08 PM PT — Thurs. July 19, 2018

President Trump signs an executive order promoting job training at a Pledge to America’s Workers event at the White House Thursday.
The executive order establishes a national council for U.S. workers and aims to equip students and workers with skills they need to thrive in the modern economy.
The council will help ensure Americans have access to affordable and relevant job training.
A number of company representatives at the event, including General Motors and Lockheed Martin, signed a pledge to help advance workforce development.
The president says the pledge will help provide nearly four million new job opportunities to American students workers over the next five years.

California's Supreme Court thinks the people of my state are irrelevant – We can't even vote on a breakup

The right of Californians to self-government and democracy suffered a serious blow Wednesday when the state Supreme Court ordered that a proposition asking voters if they want to break the most populous state in the nation into three states must be removed from the November ballot.
The state’s highest court ruled that while ballot measures can be used to amend the California constitution, more significant revisions to the constitution require action by the state Legislature.
Ruling on a lawsuit by an environmental group seeking the block the vote on breaking up the state, the court wrote that “the potential harm in permitting the measure to remain on the ballot outweighs the potential harm in delaying the proposition to a future election.”
But in fact, it appears that the proposition was yanked off the ballot because it was too big a threat to the established power structure of state government in Sacramento.
Consider the irony. The initiative easily qualified for the ballot – with over twice the number of required signatures, from every county in the state – because many voters believe they don’t have a say in how they are governed, and believe their elected representatives don’t represent them. It’s clear they are right.
The elites in Sacramento were afraid of their failures being exposed and couldn’t face the scathing rebuke they could have received from voters in November. So they flexed their political muscle and went running to the courts to avoid the light being shined on the truth.

The elites in Sacramento were afraid of their failures being exposed and couldn’t face the scathing rebuke they could have received from voters in November. So they flexed their political muscle and went running to the courts to avoid the light being shined on the truth.

That truth is that the state Legislature has failed the people of California. Here are 10 reasons why:
1)      Californians no longer have a say in how we are governed. We are pawns in the hands of a few powerful elites that don’t have our best interests in mind.
2)      State government takes in record amounts in taxes, and rewards the average Californian with oppressive regulations, failing schools, crumbling infrastructure and unaffordable housing.
3)      The state prides itself on being the fifth-largest economy in the world, yet that means nothing to people living in bankrupt towns and to citizens in communities where they can’t drink water out of their taps.
4)      While the state continues to build an expensive, unwanted high-speed rail to nowhere, the average Californian is just trying to get to work every day on roads that are in disrepair and in areas where unchecked growth has created utter gridlock.
5)      Our urban areas suffer from crime, homelessness, filth and human waste on the streets. U.S. News & World Report recently ranked California 50^th in overall quality of life.
6)      People are leaving California in record numbers – in search of lower taxes, greater opportunity and futures that are successful and sustainable.
7)      Businesses are departing California seeking business-friendly states where they can invest and expand.
8)      Many retirees can no longer justify staying in California, where their fixed incomes aren’t sufficient. Housing and other costs of living are lower in other states such as Florida, Nevada and Texas.
9)      Millennials – our future – love the California weather and lifestyle, but can’t afford to stay in the state. So they are taking their dreams, their talents, their ambitions and their future family roots elsewhere.
10)   California will remain ignored in presidential elections because candidates will assume whoever the Democrats nominate will carry the state. Candidates for federal office on both sides of the political aisle will continue to come to the state to throw their parties and pick our pockets, not really caring what our problems or ideas are, and with no intent to take solutions back to Washington. Electoral relevance was another goal of the ballot proposition that will not be realized.
In spite of all the “what-ifs” about the proposition to break up the state, they pale in comparison to all the “what is” in California. Right now we have utter failure. And the trail of responsibility leads right back to the halls of the state Capitol.
State officials knew they couldn’t answer for these failures or risk this threat to their power, so they went to the courts, cried “foul” and won. The state Supreme Court has, in effect, deemed the people of California irrelevant.
But the people of California see this for exactly what it is. It is the validation that we were on to something truthful. That we were accurate in knowing that Sacramento does not have our best interests in mind. We were right. And this ruling proves it.
Opponents of the ballot proposition believed a question like this should more appropriately be handled in the courts and via the legislative process. They said this was too important an issue to trust to the hands of the voters. They couldn’t be more wrong.
I trust my neighbors and fellow citizens in California far more than the ruling class in Sacramento to know what the needs and priorities of my community are. I trust those who love this state like I do to know how to improve it, to address its problems and to find practical solutions for the problems that state government has created. I trust I’m not alone in believing that California can do better.
Six judges just silenced California voters. I, for one, will not forget this injustice and hope my fellow Californians won’t either. They have been wronged. And they should be outraged.
When the courts usurp the rights and the voice of the people it is a dark day for democracy. Liberties that are revoked are rarely reinstated.
The author served as a spokesperson for the ballot initiative to break California into three states.
Peggy Grande is author of "The President Will See You Now", a keynote speaker and a specialty project consultant. She was the executive assistant to president Ronald Reagan from 1989 – 1999.