RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.aol.com/news/fauci-says-pandemic-exposed-undeniable-162620396

The immunologist who leads the COVID-19 response in the United States said Sunday that “the undeniable effects of racism” have led to unacceptable health disparities that especially hurt African Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans during the pandemic.

“COVID-19 has shone a bright light on our own society’s failings,” Dr. Anthony Fauci said during a graduation ceremony for Emory University.

Speaking by webcast from Washington, Fauci told the graduates in Atlanta that many members of minority groups work in essential jobs where they might be exposed to the coronavirus. He also said they are more likely to become infected if exposed because of medical conditions such as hypertension, chronic lung disease, diabetes or obesity.

“Now, very few of these comorbidities have racial determinants,” Fauci said. “Almost all relate to the social determinants of health dating back to disadvantageous conditions that some people of color find themselves in from birth regarding the availability of an adequate diet, access to health care and the undeniable effects of racism in our society.”

https://spectator.org/cdc-mask-cult/

When the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that fully vaccinated people can safely participate in both indoor and outdoor activities without wearing face masks, it was good news for most Americans. In addition to a sense of vindication for those of us who object to post-vaccination masking, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky’s statement provided another much-needed service — it forced the metastasizing mask cult to reveal itself as a coalition of anti-science zealots and petty tyrants. A typical example of their collective response to the CDC guidance appeared in the Washington Post under the title, “The CDC shouldn’t have removed restrictions without requiring proof of vaccination.”

Its author, former Planned Parenthood CEO Leana S. Wen, is a proponent of vaccine passports for routine activities such as retail shopping, restaurant dining, going to the theater, and working in a fully staffed office. Aside from the constitutional and legal issues raised by the kind of government-issued passports Dr. Wen advocates, her views aren’t shared by most Americans. A recent Gallup survey found that a mere 40 percent support vaccine passports for restaurant dining, and only 45 percent favor them in the workplace. The only activities for which majorities supported such passports were airplane travel and attendance at large public gatherings such as concerts. Dr. Wen isn’t satisfied with such modest limitations:

The problem is this: You know what you’re doing, but you have no way to be confident of trusting everyone else. Let’s say you go the grocery store. It’s crowded and few people there are masked. Perhaps everyone is vaccinated, but perhaps not. What if you’re vaccinated but not fully protected because you’re immunocompromised? You can no longer count on CDC rules to help you keep safe. What if you don’t have child care, so you had to bring your kids along? They didn’t choose to remain unvaccinated — the shots aren’t available for them. Surely, it’s not fair to put them at risk.

First, as a practical matter, it’s impossible to know who is vaccinated and who is not. If vaccine passports are mandated, it will create a black market through which forgeries can be purchased.

https://www.nysun.com/national/biden-scorning-the-secret-formula-of-american/91514/

Taxed to the max. In this world, nothing is certain but death and taxes. That famous quote, of course, is from Founding Father Benjamin Franklin. Among all the problems with the Biden administration’s policy, they even want to raise taxes on your death.

That’s a poke in Ben Franklin’s eye. Today’s column is not about Ben Franklin, though it’s worth noting that he, like many of the Founders, was an avid follower of the free market theories of Adam Smith, published in “The Wealth of Nations” in 1776.

Think about that (we can talk later about whether it’s a coincidence). The real point of this column is to press the question of why taxes matter. They do. A lot. And incentives matter. To quote Art Laffer many years ago: Tax something more, you get less of it. Something less, you’ll get more of it.

Why? Because in a free economy, which is certainly in line with our Founders’ legacy, we should reward success, not punish it. At the margin, if the extra hour worked, or the extra dollar invested, or the extra business risk taken, pays more after tax, that will propel an economy into prosperity.

More work, more investment, more risk, this is why America’s democracy and its founding principles have created the best economy in history. Taxes are not the only factor, but they are a big one. I would suggest five factors right at the top that are a useful intellectual model leading to prosperity.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/texas-covid-deaths-biden-mask-mandate

Texas reported zero deaths from COVID-19 on Sunday, just two months after Gov. Greg Abbott drew heat from the White House for rolling back business restrictions and lifting the state’s mask mandate. 

It marked the first time the Lone Star State reported no coronavirus deaths in about 14 months, according to state health data. Abbott said the case numbers reported on Sunday – 388 – were the lowest in more than 13 months, while the number of hospitalizations was the lowest in 11 months. 

Greg Abbott
@GregAbbott_TX
Today Texas reported: * 0 Covid related deaths–the only time that’s happened since data was tracked in March, 2020. * the fewest Covid cases in over 13 months * the lowest 7-day Covid positivity rate ever * the lowest Covid hospitalizations in 11 months. Thanks, Texans!

President Biden skewered Texas, as well as Mississippi, at the beginning of March for relaxing lockdown measures, accusing state officials of “Neanderthal thinking.” At the time, Abbott had announced that businesses would be allowed to operate at full capacity – even though some health experts cautioned at the time that dropping preventative measures could lead to a spike in cases.

https://www.realclearpolicy.com/articles/2021/05/17/convicted_congressman_chaka_fattah_

After being sentenced to 10 years in prison for a 23-count conviction for racketeering, fraud and other corruption charges, disgraced former Congressman Chaka Fattah was released from prison last July after about one year.

But the icing on this crooked cake is that Fattah is collecting a taxpayer-funded pension. The estimated pension is at least $55,000 per year. Fattah is only 64 years old, so his estimated lifetime pension is $1 million.

The reason we must take an educated guess? Congressional pensions are exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

Fattah, a Democrat formerly representing Pennsylvania’s second congressional district, was found guilty in June 2016.

But a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court in McDonnell v. United States a few days later changed the legal definition of bribery to exclude “pay for access” and Fattah appealed his conviction, placing his sentencing on hold.

https://amgreatness.com/2021/05/16/video-shows-u-s-capitol-police-gave-protesters-ok-to-enter/

A newly-obtained video shows United States Capitol Police officers speaking with several January 6 protestors—including Jacob Chansley, the so-called “Q shaman”—inside the Capitol that afternoon.

One officer, identified in the video and confirmed by charging documents as Officer Keith Robishaw, appears to tell Chansely’s group they won’t stop them from entering the building. “We’re not against . . . you need to show us . . . no attacking, no assault, remain calm,” Robishaw warns. Chansley and another protestor instruct the crowd to act peacefully. “This has to be peaceful,” Chansley yelled. “We have the right to peacefully assemble.”

The video directly contradicts what government prosecutors allege in a complaint filed January 8 against Chansley: “Robishaw and other officers calmed the protestors somewhat and directed them to leave the area from the same way they had entered. Chansley approached Officer Robishaw and screamed, among other things, that this was their house, and that they were there to take the Capitol, and to get Congressional leaders.”

Chansley later is seen entering the Senate chambers with a police officer behind him; he led several protesters in prayer and sat in Vice President Mike Pence’s chair. (The man in the yellow sweatshirt is William Watson, a drug dealer out on bond. He was arrested in January.)

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2021/05/where-have-all-whistleblowers-gone-lloyd-billingsley/

“I am reporting an ‘urgent concern’ in accordance with the procedures outlined in 50 U.S.C. §3033(k)(5)(A). This letter is UNCLASSIFIED when separated from the attachment.

In the course of my official duties, I have received information from multiple U.S. Government officials that the President of the United States is using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election. This interference includes, among other things, pressuring a foreign country to investigate one of the President’s main domestic political rivals. The President’s personal lawyer, Mr. Rudolph Giuliani, is a central figure in this effort. Attorney General Barr appears to be involved as well.”

So reads the first paragraph of an August 12, 2019 letter to Richard Burr and Adam Schiff, of the Senate and House intelligence committees. The unnamed author was proclaimed “the whistleblower,” and the centerpiece of the 2879-word opus was President Trump’s July 25, 2019 telephone call to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

The letter mentioned ambassadors Kurt Volker and Gordon Sondland, who would subsequently testify in public hearings along with former ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch. The witnesses provided ample evidence of their own incompetence but were unable to cite any crime President Trump might have committed.

As with the Russia hoax, a belch from Hillary Clinton, the impeachment attempt failed. The identity of the whistleblower, supposedly a CIA agent, was protected start to finish. As this confirmed, a government insider can advance a bogus narrative aimed at taking down the president of the United States and emerge completely unscathed. That offered hope to legitimate whistleblowers exposing actual violations and crimes in the vast reaches of the federal government.