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Black voters stung by Democrats’ broken promises: ‘Doing terrible on racial justice’
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Black voters stung by Democrats’ broken promises: ‘Doing terrible on racial justice’

The left had grand hopes at the beginning of the year that Democrats would make advances on a racial justice agenda. With Democrats in control of the Congress and the White House — and owing their success in 2020 to high turnout by minority voters — long-dreamed aspirations to fundamentally changing policing and paying reparations for slavery to Black Americans appeared within reach. What followed was eight months of disappointment. The most tangible victory was the creation of a federal holiday, Juneteenth. “Congress is doing terrible on racial justice,” said Ría Thompson-Washington, senior manager for voting rights and democracy at the liberal Center for Popular Democracy. The group, which focuses on increasing turnout by Black voters, registered 500,000 voters before last year’s electio...
Time to end government’s monopoly on education
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Time to end government’s monopoly on education

ANALYSIS/OPINION: The fact that a new school year is beginning after a year of pandemic shutdowns is undoubtedly a cause for celebration. But at the same time, the last thing America needs is a return to “normal” in our public school classrooms. The COVID-19 pandemic was a stress test on public education that revealed fundamental flaws in the system that are deep, lasting, and likely to get worse. Over the past year, Americans have seen teachers’ unions and education bureaucrats leverage the pandemic to score political victories and extort more money from taxpayers while lobbying to keep schools closed counter to CDC guidance.  These efforts needlessly exacerbated and prolonged hardship for millions of students and families.  At the same time, online learning has allowed parents ...
Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough blocks amnesty from budget-reconciliation bill
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Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough blocks amnesty from budget-reconciliation bill

Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough shot down Democrats’ plans to add an amnesty for as many as 8 million illegal immigrants to the $3.5 trillion budget bill, ruling Sunday that the sweeping move would violate the chamber’s rules. Democratic leaders pronounced themselves disappointed but insisted they’ll try to find other ways to work toward legal status for illegal immigrant “Dreamers,” holders of Temporary Protected Status and “essential” workers. “Senate Democrats have prepared an alternative proposal for the Parliamentarian’s consideration in the coming days,” said Sens. Richard Durbin and Alex Padilla, the two top Democrats on immigration matters in the Judiciary Committee. Democrats had hoped to use the budget “reconciliation” process to win an amnesty without having to survi...
Texas state troopers seal off U.S.-Mexico border in Del Rio
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Texas state troopers seal off U.S.-Mexico border in Del Rio

Texas state troopers used cars to erect a wall of metal this weekend, sealing off the U.S.-Mexico border in Del Rio, and the Homeland Security Department said it was rushing agents and officers to the site to process the thousands of migrants who had made it across, as officials moved on what has become an illegal immigrant beachhead inside the country. Homeland Security also vowed more deportation flights and use of expedited removal, a speedy deportation process, to try to oust as many of the migrants, most of them Haitians, from the camp they erected on the banks of the Rio Grande. With the stream of new migrants cut off, authorities whittled down the numbers from a peak of about 16,000 people late last week to fewer than 13,000 Sunday afternoon. Todd Bensman, senior national security f...
We need DHS now more than ever
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We need DHS now more than ever

ANALYSIS/OPINION: It has become instinctual to say, “I remember where I was” on that Tuesday morning 20 years ago that shook our nation. The words “Never Forget” continue to ring out as a somber reminder of the fragility of our national security and a commitment always to honor those lives lost. The attacks on 9/11 fundamentally altered the security posture of the United States and the way we engage the world. For the first time since the Cold War, America, as a unipolar power, found itself taking the lead in a global fight against stateless and fanatical actors bent on the destruction of freedom and democracy. It was a task the United States executed with the full might and power of the wealthiest nation on earth. As a New Yorker and a public servant, I will always be proud of the way tha...
‘Fundamental shift’ in post-9/11 era shifted trillions of dollars to major defense firms
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‘Fundamental shift’ in post-9/11 era shifted trillions of dollars to major defense firms

The post-9/11 era brought permanent changes to U.S. military strategy. For defense contractors, it also sparked a significant cash windfall as the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and conflicts in other hot spots in the Middle East and beyond, funneled trillions of dollars away from the rank-and-file military and toward profit-driven companies. That reality has fueled questions about whether the Pentagon has become too reliant on private industry for critical missions, potentially opening holes in national security and even compromising the world’s greatest military, some critics say. As defense spending exploded in the 2000s, so too did the profits of defense firms. Of the $14 trillion in total Defense Department spending since the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001, at least one-t...
Pompeo hits Biden’s ‘dangerous moves’ on N. Korea
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Pompeo hits Biden’s ‘dangerous moves’ on N. Korea

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned on Saturday that President Biden is making “dangerous moves” on North Korea and  his lack of a coherent response to Pyongyang’s provocations jeopardizes American credibility with allies who want “leadership from the United States.” “I’m concerned that the United States is returning to an Obama-era policy of ‘Strategic Patience 2.0,’” Mr. Pompeo told an audience of dignitaries from South Korea and Japan at a virtual gathering that included remarks from other former high-level U.S. diplomats and lawmakers. Mr. Pompeo referred to years of waffling by the Bush and Obama administrations before an escalation of sanctions and other pressure on Pyongyang led to historic denuclearization summits between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jo...
Joe Biden beset by leadership woes at home, abroad after eight months in office
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Joe Biden beset by leadership woes at home, abroad after eight months in office

Self-inflicted crises are piling up for President Biden. His leadership suffered severe blows foreign and domestic in rapid succession Friday, including an acknowledgment of a misguided and deadly U.S. drone strike in Afghanistan and mounting chaos on America’s southern border. “Joe Biden has completely lost control only 8 months in,” tweeted Rep. Andy Biggs, Arizona Republican. The Pentagon admitted that a drone strike in Afghanistan accidentally killed 10 civilians instead of terrorist militants, as the administration initially claimed. The Food and Drug Administration rejected plans for widespread COVID-19 booster shots, though Mr. Biden announced plans days earlier for “every adult to get a booster shot” starting Monday. The FDA said it needs more data before approving a third shot. Th...
Democrats harness vaccinated Americans’ ire at holdouts as a political force
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Democrats harness vaccinated Americans’ ire at holdouts as a political force

Democrats face beastly headwinds as they prepare for next year’s congressional elections, but they believe they have a silver bullet or two: mounting rage against COVID-19 vaccine refuseniks and smoldering scorn for former President Donald Trump. Analysts say anger at vaccine resisters helped propel California Gov. Gavin Newsom to a surprisingly decisive victory last week in a recall election. In Virginia, gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe is trying to harness the same anger as early voting begins there. “The Newsom campaign was very effective in using the rage against the unvaccinated and the specter of Trumpism to get out Democratic voters,” said Stephen J. Farnsworth, a professor of politics at the University of Mary Washington. “All indications are that McAuliffe is using the sam...
Is Jenny Grus Sugar dragging The Israeli-Palestinian conflict to Charlotte, NC? And Why is she on the Board of Directors at The Levine J.C.C
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Is Jenny Grus Sugar dragging The Israeli-Palestinian conflict to Charlotte, NC? And Why is she on the Board of Directors at The Levine J.C.C

The late U.S. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas once wrote: “Any experienced prosecutor will admit he can indict anybody at any time for almost anything before any grand jury.” Former New York Court of Appeals Judge Sol Wachtler put it more bluntly when he famously said a prosecutor could get a grand jury to “indict a ham sandwich.” Almost all prosecutors in America are elected officials. And voters across the United States — in red and in blue states alike — strongly prefer elected prosecutors who are committed to reducing incarceration, ending racial disparities, and being fully transparent. A number of nonprofit organizations, along with a large coalition, including, The Christian Mail, The Seeds of peace, American University, and others have all congregated ...