Dem Primary Debate recap

photo via Politipage

Last night, Tyler O’Neil filled in for Mr. Vodkapundit’s drunk-blogging gig at PJ Media. Today, he posted a good wrap-up. Here’s his final take-away:

Despite these and other attacks, Bernie Sanders held his own. As The Wall Street Journal's Kimberley Strassel noted, Bernie got “the real pass” on authoritarianism. “Authoritarianism is part and parcel of all true socialist movements. You can't support socialism and oppose authoritarians. They are the same,” she explained.

. . .

This is spot on. Sanders may insist his would be a smiley-face brand of socialism, but when push comes to shove, how will he react? A Heritage Foundation study found that taxing the rich at 100 percent would still fall trillions short of Medicare for All and the Green New Deal. Sanders has criticized the idea of having 18-23 different deodorant options, but that is exactly the point: a free-market consumer culture allows for a wide range of choices that allow for competition and niche tastes. A one-size-fits-all mentality cuts against the prosperity Americans prize, and socialist governments historically became authoritarian because not everyone went along.

Liberty and prosperity are not the norm in human history — poverty and tyranny are, and the bloody history of the 20th century shows that socialism is a recipe for returning to that norm.

I sincerely hope Americans understand that and have the good sense to reject Bernie Sanders in November if he does indeed go on to win the Democratic nomination. While many think the clear contrast between Trump and Sanders would help the GOP, a socialist major-party nominee still represents a serious threat and a kind of belated victory for the Soviets in the Cold War.

Yet, as of now, conventional wisdom has it that Bernie would be the easiest candidate for Trump to beat.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) put it well. "Every minute that goes by [Bernie Sanders] gets stronger. If you believe Bernie is bad for Democratic hopes and dreams in 2020 this is a pathetic effort to take him down. Biggest winner so far in [the Democratic debate] — President [Donald Trump]!"

Full recap is here.

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CBS Democratic Primary debate 8pm

CBS Democratic Primary debate 8pm   UPDATED

Stephen Green -- Mr. Vodkapundit -- always live-drunk-blogs these ghastly events at PJ Media. Update: Tyler O'Neil is subbing for Vodkapundit this evening; click here.  Livestream links are always up at Conservative Treehouse. Update: link here.  (Or you can turn on CBS and suffer through the whole thing.) 

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Amnesty: here we go again

This is an Action Alert.  Following Mick Mulvaney’s remarks on immigration (see below), NumbersUSA issued the following:

Republican Senators are hoping to take up an amnesty bill passed by the House last December that also expands guest worker programs; White House says it’s “listening” to these proposals.

News reports this week brought attention to a push in Congress to pass an amnesty for illegal aliens working in the agricultural industry, which would in effect create an indentured servitude program, allowing illegal aliens to gain green cards in return for a period of service working an ag-related job.

According to a story in Politico by Anita Kumar on Wednesday, the White House “has been in talks with Senators” hoping to convince the President to back amnesty legislation.

Last December, the House passed the mis-titled Farm Workforce Modernization Act, introduced by Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.).

You will find the NumbersUSA fact sheet for the bill here. And Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, wrote up his take at National Review (“Farming Like It’s 1699.”)

In the Senate, Republicans Lindsay Graham (S.C.) and Thom Tillis (N.C.) are leading efforts in that chamber to pass legislation along the lines of Rep. Lofgren’s bill, with indications the Senators would like to expand guest worker programs for other industries. The senior Senator from South Carolina is well-deserving of his nickname “Grahamnesty,” though, to his credit, he has always been upfront about his aims to provide U.S. employers with a continual flow of low-wage labor from abroad. Tillis has never had Graham’s national visibility, but he, too, has been a reliable advocate for amnesty and expanded guest worker programs.

Rep. Chip Roy (R-Tex.), who has emerged in the House as a strong voice for enforcement, sent a letter to Senator Graham on Tuesday:

I write to urge that any immigration reform measures undertaken in the Senate, for Agriculture workers or otherwise, focus expressly and solely on actual and desperately needed immigration reform. There should be no amnesty considered as we should be squarely focused on re-establishing actual operational control of our border, which we currently do not have. – - Rep. Chip Roy

Kumar points out that amnesty and expanded guest worker programs go against pledges made by President Trump on the 2016 campaign trial, and reiterated after he took office. She also wrote that:

A White House official confirmed the ongoing negotiations on the guest worker proposal and said the effort is an attempt to generate action on a smaller immigration proposal after a larger one stalled and won few adherents.

“We’ve also been listening to stakeholders,” the official said. “We’ve also developed points of view on what the temporary system should look like.”

Journalists have written a lot about how the Trump Administration wants to decrease immigration, and some have even claimed the administration has already achieved this end, often conflating legal admissions with illegal entries. It remains an open question whether the President truly supports that goal.

While he endorsed the RAISE Act in 2017, President Trump more recently said that America “needs workers” and he would like to see “the largest numbers ever” of legal immigrants.

The President isn’t always precise in his language, and he must be given credit for steps taken to secure the border, though he has not pressured Congress to pass mandatory E-Verify. However, just this week Acting White House Chief of State Mick Mulvaney was quoted as saying this:

“We are desperate – desperate – for more people….We are running out of people to fuel the economic growth that we’ve had in our nation over the last four years. We need more immigrants.”

Wages are finally started to rise for workers at the lower end of the pay-scale. It is for this reason, and not because of any labor shortages, that employers are now “desperate” for immigration increases.

Mr. Mulvaney referenced “immigrants,” not “legal immigrants. NumbersUSA recommends that citizens

Take action: Urge President Trump to Abandon Amnesty and Guest Worker Expansion Plans!

White House comment line: 202-456-1111

Switchboard: 202-456-1414

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Mini-Mike Bloomberg’s billboard

Apparently, this is Democrat candidate Mini-Mike Bloomberg’s idea of a persuasive campaign billboard (Team Bloomberg image via Conservative Treehouse):

More billboards, many of them memes-for-fun, at the link here.

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Democrat debate vs Trump rally

Steve Breen cartoon via Townhall

19 February 2020.  Tonight is the next debate between candidates for the Democrat party nomination for President.  It is hosted by NBC News and MSNBC in partnership with The Nevada Independent, and it’s the first one for which Michael Bloomberg has qualified.  NBC broadcast runs 9pm-11pm.  

Stephen Green a/k/a Vodkapundit will be live-drunk-blogging the debate so you don’t have to watch.  Click here.

Please note: Vodakapundit’s drunkblog automatically refreshes, so stay at the top of the blog. You can check in from time to time, or scan through it in one hit after the debate is over.  Even if you keep putting it off until tomorrow.

Let Vodkpundit watch the Dem debate so you can tune in to President Trump's rally in Phoenix, Arizona tonight, with coverage starting at 9pm. Conservative Treehouse always posts the links to livestreams from Right Side Broadcasting and others. Click here.  

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Steve Salvi and bilingual ballots

From our friend Steve Salvi at Ohio Jobs & Justice Pac posting via FB:

Why end bilingual ballots?

For example, the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections prints bilingual ballots. Mixing two languages on the same ballot confuses voters. Bilingual ballots also increase election costs because materials are duplicated in two languages.

Steve is running for Ohio state Central Committee in Ohio district #25. I'll be looking for Action Alerts for those who support English language ballots.  If you vote in Steve's district, look for his name on the ballot.

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Jim Renacci : insider

Following-up on Presidents’ Day, here's a post from Cleveland Tea Party’s Ralph King via FB, on Jim Renacci, who is apparently still looking forward to running again for office:

 

  

Happy Presidents' Day!

I am proud to have stood with @RealDonaldTrump from DAY ONE, a President who:

✅   Cuts taxes.

✅   Cuts regulations..

✅   Defeated ISIS.

✅   Rebuilt the military.

✅  Fights everyday to Keep America Great for ALL Americans!

#MAGA 🇺🇸 #KAG

Ralph comments:

Again Jim "The Swamper" Renacci showing he can never tell the truth! I was involved with Trump campaign from the first days in Ohio! Slickster Jim was nowhere to be found!

Slickster Jim Renacci the Swamper didn't come out and support President Trump until after he pretty much had the nomination secured. If memory serves me correctly, it was a little bit before the RNC Convention. Far from "Day One" as he claims.

Jim even admits in his own words in an interview with Juan Williams he did not support President Trump from Day One....

(https://video.foxnews.com/v/5044058224001)

“No, I actually stayed out of it,” Renacci, when asked by Fox News commentator Juan Williams if he had supported Kasich during the primaries, responded during a July 2016 interview at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. “I really am a believer that we needed to see the party make this decision. I was a business guy for 28 years. I’ve only been in Congress five and a half years. I started to realize that the people are frustrated — I’m frustrated, they’re frustrated; let’s see who they decide to pick. And clearly they wanted an outsider.”

Remember Renacci’s early TV ads in his unsuccessful 2018 run for the US Senate?  He was wearing a hunting vest or jacket to portray himself as an “outsider.” 

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