NFL Take a Knee Cartoons

The NFL's proposed $100 million in donations is a foolish political stunt

The NFL, beleaguered by player protests during playing of the national anthem that have angered many fans and lowered TV ratings for its games, has doubled down on liberal politics.

As you’ve probably heard by now, the league proposed last week to join players in donating nearly $100 million to what ESPN called “causes important to African-American communities.”

But in reality, the proposal is  nothing more than a political stunt designed to score brownie points with the mainstream media – from ESPN and Sports Illustrated, to the New York Times.
The NFL wants to partner with the Players Coalition, which represents players “protesting social injustices and racism,” along with a pair of liberal nonprofits – the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) and Dream Corps.
According to ESPN: “The NFL hopes this effort will effectively end the peaceful-yet-controversial movement that former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick started when he refused to stand for the national anthem last season.”

Don’t be fooled. The NFL’s donation isn’t about “social causes” or “racial equality.” It’s about America’s favorite football league caving to left-wing activists.

Both the UNCF and Dream Corps, which have been critical of President Trump, would each receive $25 million under the NFL proposal. The Players Coalition would get the rest of the money to make charitable contributions to other organizations.
As soon as the news broke, ESPN praised the “donation to social justice organizations” in the enduring “push for racial equality.” Sports Illustrated claimed the plan would “address social justice issues” that will “help in African-American communities.” The New York Times seized on the proposal, saying it will “aid social causes.”
Don’t be fooled. The NFL’s donation isn’t about “social causes” or “racial equality.” It’s about America’s favorite football league caving to left-wing activists.
Just follow the money, which would ironically come from the NFL owners who many liberals have vilified as “racist” for denying Kaepernick a job he doesn’t deserve. Kaepernick has not been hired by another team this season, after leaving the 49ers. 
The UNCF has criticized President Trump’s education budget in recent months. The Dream Corps is a nonprofit advocacy group founded by CNN commentator Van Jones, who called President Trump’s election victory a “whitelash.”
Dream Corps is essentially a promotional vehicle for Jones, featuring his new book and other racially charged political commentary. One of the group’s top issues is an “inclusive green economy” to “lift people out of poverty” – because there’s nothing low-income Americans need more, of course, than stricter environmental regulations.
Moreover, Dream Corps sponsored the anti-Trump “We Rise Tour” and provides catchy posters for its ongoing “Anti-Fascist War.” One reads: “Real Men Rep the F-Word #Feminist.” Another proclaims: “No Ban. No Wall. Sanctuary for All.”
You get the picture. Instead of bringing Americans together around a national pastime, the NFL is standing with multimillionaire anthem kneelers and funding the anti-Trump resistance movement. Some way to market to President Trump’s 63 million supporters!
The NFL would be better off appeasing its loyal fans than liberal activists. All three of the league’s Thanksgiving games saw double-digit drops in viewership from the previous year. Meanwhile, NFL merchandise sales have fallen by 20 percent in recent years. People are changing the channel and their shopping habits.
The same goes for ESPN, which has inundated Americans with pro-Kaepernick and anti-Trump coverage for months. The network recently laid off 150 more employees, bringing the total number of 2017 layoffs to 250 workers.
Memo to the sports industry: Stick to sports – or face extinction.

After Steinle verdict, rep unveils bill to imprison officials who shelter illegal immigrants

A Republican congressman plans to introduce a bill Monday that would threaten huge fines and prison time for elected officials accused of sheltering illegal immigrant criminals from deportation, in the wake of the not-guilty verdict in the Kate Steinle murder trial. 

Indiana Rep. Todd Rokita’s bill is one of the most aggressive pieces of legislation to date aimed at sanctuary city policies, going beyond the Justice Department’s threat to cut off grants to those jurisdictions. 

“Politicians don’t get to pick and choose what laws to comply with,” Rokita told Fox News. “Americans are dying because politicians sworn to uphold the law refuse to do so.”
His “Stopping Lawless Actions of Politicians (SLAP) Act” would hold state and local lawmakers criminally responsible for refusing to comply with federal immigration enforcement efforts. The Republican’s bill would subject violators to a $1 million fine and up to five years in prison if they are convicted.
“It’s time the federal government gets serious about enforcing immigration laws and holding politicians accountable who conspire to break them,” said Rokita.
Rokita also supported “Kate’s Law” – legislation that would boost penalties for illegal immigrants who were previously deported and that was named after Steinle.
On Thursday, Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, an illegal immigrant who already had been deported back to Mexico five times, was acquitted in the 2015 murder of Steinle on a San Francisco pier.
Zarate’s attorneys argued Zarate had found a gun that accidentally discharged, and the bullet ricocheted off the ground before hitting Steinle. Prosecutors argued Zarate intentionally shot 32-year-old Steinle.
The killing revived a national debate over sanctuary city policies, as some lawmakers as well as Steinle’s family faulted San Francisco for releasing the suspect from a local jail without notifying federal immigration officials. 
President Trump, who frequently cited Steinle’s case on the campaign trail, called the not-guilty verdict “disgraceful” and a “complete travesty of justice.”
Attorney General Jeff Sessions took direct aim at the city, saying San Francisco’s “decision to protect criminal aliens led to the preventable and heartbreaking death of Kate Steinle.” 
In an interview prior to Thursday’s verdict, Steinle’s family said they wanted the case out of the national spotlight. “We just want to get this over with and move on with our lives, and think about Kate on our terms,” Jim Steinle, Kate’s father, told the San Francisco Chronicle.
Following the verdict, he said his family was shocked Zarate was convicted only of firearm possession.
On Friday, the DOJ released an amended arrest warrant for Zarate for a supervised release violation.
Rokita’s bill follows a similar attempt in Texas to punish local officials who ignore federal requests to hold and then potentially turn over suspects for possible deportation. That law is the subject of a federal court challenge.

Holder, Comey fight Trump's FBI slam: 'Not letting this go'

Agencies accused of withholding key documents, FBI witness that could shed light on whether U.S. officials relied on anti-Trump 'dossier' to justify surveillance against associates of Donald Trump; chief Washington correspondent James Rosen reports.

Former Attorney General Eric Holder and ex-FBI Director James Comey fired back Sunday at President Trump, who claimed the FBI’s reputation is in “tatters” after its handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation.

“Nope. Not letting this go. The FBI’s reputation is not in 'tatters,'” Holder, who served as attorney general under President Obama, tweeted. “It’s composed of the same dedicated men and women who have always worked there and who do a great, apolitical job.”

Holder added, “You’ll find integrity and honesty at FBI headquarters and not at 1600 Penn Ave right now,” referring to the White House.
Trump earlier Sunday said that “after years of Comey, with the phony and dishonest Clinton investigation (and more), running the FBI, its reputation is in Tatters – worst in history! But fear not, we will bring it back to greatness.”
The president’s tweet followed news that FBI agent Peter Strzok was removed from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia because of anti-Trump text messages he may have sent.
Meanwhile, Comey tweeted what seemed to be a response of his own, quoting a statement he gave to the Senate Intelligence Committee last June: “I want the American people to know this truth: The FBI is honest. The FBI is strong. And the FBI is, and always will be, independent.”
The FBI Agents Association also chimed in. FBIAA President Thomas O’Connor said: “Every day, FBI Special Agents put their lives on the line to protect the American public from national security and criminal threats. Agents perform these duties with unwavering integrity and professionalism and a focus on complying with the law and the Constitution.”
O’Connor continued, ”This is why the FBI continues to be the premier law enforcement agency in the world. FBI Agents are dedicated to their mission; suggesting otherwise is simply false.”
Former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, who was fired by Trump after she sent a memo instructing Justice Department attorneys not to defend the administration's refugee ban, tweeted Sunday night: "The FBI is in 'tatters?' No. The only thing in tatters is the President’s respect for the rule of law. The dedicated men and women of the FBI deserve better."
TRUMP RELOADS ON FBI'S CLINTON EMAIL PROBE, AFTER REPORTS OF 'TAINTED' ANTI-TRUMP AGENT
Trump frequently has asked why the FBI and the Justice Department haven’t filed criminal charges against Clinton.
Later Sunday, he tweeted, “Now it all starts to make sense!” in response to word that the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General is reviewing the role Strzok played in the Clinton email investigation.

Graham warns Trump about tweeting during Russia probe

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle on Sunday warned President Trump to use caution before tweeting about the ongoing investigation into contacts between his campaign and Russia.

Sen. Lindsey Graham told CBS’ “Face the Nation” that the president could be wading into “peril” by tweeting on the Russia probe.

“I would just say this with the president: There’s an ongoing criminal investigation. You tweet and comment regarding ongoing criminal investigations at your own peril,” he said.
Trump has long maintained that his use of social media gives him the opportunity to bypass the media and speak directly to the country. He credits Twitter for -- at least in part -- helping him defeat Hillary Clinton.
Trump is focusing renewed attacks on the FBI, and on the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller, two days after his former national security adviser Michael Flynn agreed to cooperate with the probe as part of a plea agreement.
But recent posts have raised eyebrows, namely the tweet that claimed that he never asked then-FBI Director James Comey to stop investigating Flynn. A position that Reuters pointed out is at odds with Comey’s account.
Trump tweeted Saturday that he fired Flynn “because he lied to the Vice President (Mike Pence) and the FBI.”
The timing of when Trump learned of Flynn lying to the FBI is important in the investigation. Legal experts told Reuters that if Trump called off Comey’s investigation after learning about Flynn's action, it could support an obstruction of justice charge for Trump.
John Dowd, Trump’s attorney, told Reuters that the first time Trump learned that Flynn lied to the FBI was when Flynn was charged.
Dowd said he crafted wording in the tweet and it was botched. Dowd said it was the first and last time he would craft a tweet for Trump and said “sorry” for misleading people.
“The mistake was I should have put the lying to the FBI in a separate line referencing his plea,” he told Reuters. “Instead, I put it together and it made all you guys go crazy. A tweet is shorthand.”
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that evidence is coming partly from "the continual tweets" from the White House.
Feinstein said she believes Trump's firing of Comey came "directly because he did not agree to lift the cloud of the Russia investigation." She said, "That's obstruction of justice."

Trump predicts final passage of late-night wrangled tax reform bill before Christmas

Senate Republicans negotiated through early Saturday morning to pass their sweeping, trillion-dollar tax reform bill, putting the GOP and President Trump on the threshold of a major legislative victory this year.

“This is a great day for the country,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said at about 2 a.m., after the measure passed by the minimum, 51-vote majority. “We have an opportunity to make America more competitive and provide relief to the middle class.”

Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker was the lone Senate Republican to vote against the bill, joining the 48 Senate Democrats who voted nay.
The eleventh-hour vote-wrangling and related, last-minute changes were highlighted by hand-written, barely legible revisions in the margin of one page of the 478-page document, a situation that Democrats criticized on social media.
GOP senators will now meet in conference with their counterparts in the Republican-led House – which last month passed its tax reform bill – to negotiate a compromise bill for Trump to sign before year’s end.
"We are one step closer to delivering MASSIVE tax cuts for working families across America," the president tweeted soon after the vote. "Special thanks to @SenateMajLdr Mitch McConnell and Chairman @SenOrrinHatch for shepherding our bill through the Senate. Look forward to signing a final bill before Christmas!"
Trump is eager to score his first, major legislative victory after the Senate failed this summer to pass legislation to repeal and replace ObamaCare.
But both chambers still must agree on a final measure, which includes compromises on such issues as property tax deductions, with support for fiscal House conservatives still a challenge.
“I applaud my friends and colleagues in the Senate for completing step 2 of 3 in the process,” said North Carolina GOP Rep. Mark Meadows, chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus. “This job is not done. …  Now is the moment in which both chambers must come together, work out our differences, and finish what we’ve begun."
In a second tweet on Saturday morning, Trump acknowledged the final congressional hurdle.
“Biggest Tax Bill and Tax Cuts in history just passed in the Senate,” he wrote. “Now these great Republicans will be going for final passage. Thank you to House and Senate Republicans for your hard work and commitment!”
Trump told reporters before leaving the White House for New York: "Now we go to conference. Something beautiful is going to come out of that fix."
The Senate measure focuses its tax reductions on businesses and higher-earning individuals, gives more modest breaks to others, and offers the boldest rewrite of the nation's tax system since 1986.
Republicans touted the package as one that would benefit people of all incomes and ignite the economy. Even an official projection of a $1 trillion, 10-year flood of deeper budget deficits couldn't dissuade GOP senators from rallying behind the bill.
The GOP views passage as crucial to retaining its House and Senate majorities in next year's elections.
Democrats derided the bill as Republicans’ gift to its wealthy and business backers at the expense of lower-earning people. They contrasted the bill's permanent reduction in corporate income tax rates from 35 percent to 20 percent to smaller individual tax breaks that would end in 2026.
Congress' nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation has said the bill's reductions for many families would be modest and said by 2027, families earning under $75,000 would on average face higher, not lower, taxes.
The bill is "removed from the reality of what the American people need," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
The New York Democrat also said the last-minute bill changes shows "the Senate is descending to a new low of chicanery."
Still, Democrats won enough GOP support to kill a provision by Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., that would have bestowed a tax break on conservative Hillsdale College in Michigan.
The bill hit rough waters after the Joint Taxation panel concluded it would worsen federal shortfalls by $1 trillion over a decade, even when factoring in economic growth that lower taxes would stimulate.
Trump administration officials and many Republicans have insisted the bill would pay for itself by stimulating the economy. But the sour projections stiffened resistance from some deficit-averse Republicans.
But after bargaining that stretched into Friday, GOP leaders nailed down the support they needed in a chamber they control 52-48. Facing unyielding Democratic opposition, Republicans could lose no more than two GOP senators and prevail with a tie-breaking vote from Vice President Mike Pence, but ended up not needing it.
Leaders' changes included helping millions of companies whose owners pay individual, not corporate, taxes on their profits by allowing deductions of 23 percent, up from 17.4 percent. That helped win over Wisconsin's Johnson and Steve Daines of Montana.
People would be allowed to deduct up to $10,000 in property taxes, a demand of Sen. Susan Collins of Maine. That matched a House provision that chamber's leaders included to keep some GOP votes from high-tax states like New York, New Jersey, and California.
The changes added nearly $300 billion to the tax bill's costs. To pay for that, leaders reduced the number of high-earners who must pay the alternative minimum tax, rather than completely erasing it. They also increased a one-time tax on profits U.S.-based corporations are holding overseas and would require firms to keep paying the business version of the alternative minimum tax.
Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz. -- who like Corker had been a holdout and has sharply attacked Trump's capabilities as president -- voted for the bill. He said he'd received commitments from party leaders and the administration "to work with me" to restore protections, dismantled by Trump, for young immigrants who arrived in the U.S. illegally as children. That seemed short of a pledge to actually revive the safeguards.
The Senate bill would drop the highest personal income tax rate from 39.6 percent to 38.5 percent. The estate tax levied on a few thousand of the nation's largest inheritances would be narrowed to affect even fewer.
Deductions for state and local income taxes, moving expenses and other items would vanish, the standard deduction -- used by most Americans -- would nearly double to $12,000 for individuals and $24,000 for couples, and the per-child tax credit would grow.
The bill would abolish the "Obamacare" requirement that most people buy health coverage or face tax penalties. Industry experts say that would weaken the law by easing pressure on healthier people to buy coverage, and the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has said the move would push premiums higher and leave 13 million additional people uninsured.
Drilling would be allowed in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Another provision, knocked out because it violated Senate budget rules, would have explicitly let parents buy tax-advantaged 529 college savings accounts for fetuses, a step they can already take but which anti-abortion forces wanted to inscribe into law.
There were also breaks for the wine, beer and spirits industries, Alaska Natives and aircraft management firms.

Sanctuary City Cartoons

#BoycottSanFrancisco takes off after Steinle case acquittal

Critics of a jury’s verdict Thursday in the trial of Kate Steinle's killer have taken to Twitter to #BoycottSanFrancisco.

The hashtag was trending in the wake of a controversial trial in which defendant Jose Inez Garcia Zarate was found not guilty of murdering Kate Steinle on a pier in San Francisco in July 2015.

Steinle was walking with her father and a family friend when she was fatally shot, collapsing into her father's arms.
Zarate, an undocumented immigrant, claimed the shooting was an accident. The bullet, fired from a stolen gun Zarate found, ricocheted off the pier’s concrete surface before hitting Steinle.
However, prosecutors argued Zarate intentionally shot the gun toward Steinle.
Zarate was acquitted of first- and second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and found not guilty of assault with a semi-automatic weapon. He was found guilty of possessing a firearm by a felon.

The Kate Steinle killer came back and back over the weakly protected Obama border, always committing crimes and being violent, and yet this info was not used in court. His exoneration is a complete travesty of justice. BUILD THE WALL!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 1, 2017

In a Twitter rant early Friday, President Donald Trump called the decision “a complete travesty of justice” and seized upon the ruling as another reason to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
“The Kate Steinle killer came back and back over the weakly protected Obama border, always committing crimes and being violent, and yet this info was not used in court,” Trump tweeted. “His exoneration is a complete travesty of justice. BUILD THE WALL!”

I greatly respect our jury system, but I could not disagree more with this verdict. I pray for Kate’s family. https://t.co/5Vvgo3Pu7r

— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) December 1, 2017

U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., sided with the president, saying he “could not disagree more” with the verdict.
Twitter was flooded with tweets from trial watchers. The case sparked a national debate over sanctuary cities and illegal immigration.
Many say they've decided to skip California visits.
“My wife and I considered San Diego for our 30th wedding anniversary. I’ll take her to Iowa before we spend a dime in California,” Bruce Novozinsky wrote on Twitter.
Another Twitter user argued, “If you want to #BoycottSanFrancisco, you'd have to give up Google, Facebook, Apple, Youtube, Netflix, Pixar and yes... even Twitter.”
After the jury’s ruling on Thursday, U.S. immigration officials announced Zarate would be deported.
"Following the conclusion of this case, ICE [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] will work to take custody of Mr. Garcia Zarate and ultimately remove him from the country," a statement said.
The Department of Justice unsealed an arrest warrant for Garcia Zarate on Friday.