RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.nysun.com/editorials/mayor-buttigiegs-promise/90647/

Mayor Peter “Pete” Buttigieg’s speech throwing his hat into the ring for president strikes us as the best debut from a Democrat since 2004. That’s when the party’s nominee was introduced at Boston by a young senator named Barack Obama, who stressed the idea of a UNITED States of America. Mr. Buttigieg captured at his launch this evening a youthful optimism that, other than Mr. Obama, our country hasn’t heard from a Democrat since JFK.

Not that we’re unmindful of what happened in respect of the nominee in 2004. Senator Kerry boasted of heroism in a Vietnam war he’d betrayed. He was called out by veterans of the shallow water inland fast tactical vessels known as Swiftboats, which had carried the war to the communists infesting the Mekong Delta. His fellow Swiftvets deemed him “unfit for command” and sank his campaign.

Mr. Obama, though, ended up winning the presidency four years later. He had a thinner resume than that of Mr. Buttigieg, who appeared in arms in Afghanistan and has been six years a mayor. Mr. Obama, though, ran a refreshing campaign, handily dispatching an angry candidate in Senator McCain, only to fail at finding policies as unifying as his early speeches. He set the stage for President Trump.

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/273419/democrat-presidential-conference-opens-communist-humberto-fontova

“I’m gonna actually have you participate with me in repeating some words from a leader by the name of Assata Shakur!” — NAACP V.P. Jamal Watkins opening the We The People conference this week.

“[The conference speakers] included 2020 Democratic White House contenders Cory Booker, Julián Castro, Beto O’Rourke, Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Jay Inslee and Kirsten Gillibrand.”

Now regarding that “leader” whose words seemed worthy of opening a conference showcasing the entire roster of the Democrat party’s Most-Likely-to-Succeed:

On May 2013 the FBI announced a $1 million reward for “information leading to the apprehension” of Joanne Chesimard (also known as Assata Shakur) whom they named a “Most Wanted Terrorist.” Chesimard is the first woman to make the FBI’s list. The New Jersey State Police Dept., which also wants her, added another $1 million to the pot.

You see, amigos, convicted killer of a New Jersey State Trooper and bona-fide “domestic terrorist” Chesimard (Assata Shakur) has been living in Cuba since 1984 as a Castro-coddled celebrity. But it’s not like bounty hunters can operate freely in a Stalinist country. So the $2 million was probably for show. Obama’s Justice Dept. was probably putting on a game face and saying, “Look Castro, we’re serious here! You better turn Shakur over, or…or–or ELSE!”

Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren is proposing a new 7% tax on the largest, most profitable U.S. companies, a move that would increase corporate tax collections by about 30% over the next decade.

Her Real Corporate Profits Tax, projected to raise $1 trillion over a decade, would apply to profits above $100 million each year, and it would be based on the world-wide posttax income companies report on their financial statements. The new levy, affecting about 1,200 companies, would come on top of the existing income tax system.

“We need corporate tax reform, but we also need to recognize that enormous companies with armies of lawyers and accountants will always try to exploit any deductions and exemptions that remain,” Ms. Warren wrote in announcing the proposal. “To raise the revenue we need—and ensure every corporation pays their fair share—we need a new kind of tax that big companies can’t get around.”

The corporate-tax proposal is the latest sweeping policy idea from Ms. Warren, a Massachusetts senator who has also proposed an annual wealth tax on the richest Americans, universal child care and $500 billion in new spending on affordable housing.

Ms. Warren’s latest proposal would mark a fundamental change in how the U.S. taxes corporations. It would raise taxes on some companies that make significant global profits but, for a variety of reasons, may pay relatively little to the U.S. government under the current tax law. CONTINUE AT SITE

Mike Garcia, a former naval fighter pilot and Santa Clarita businessman, announced his candidacy for Congress against Congresswoman Katie Hill for the 25th Congressional District Wednesday.

Garcia, a first-generation American citizen, is a highly decorated United States Naval Officer who was  one of the first F/A-18E Super Hornet strike fighter pilots in the Navy. He flew over 30 combat missions during Operation Iraqi freedom over Baghdad, Fallujah, and Tikrit, according to officials.

Garcia graduated in the top three percent of his Annapolis class, receiving an M.A. in National Security Studies at Georgetown University.

His performance during Advanced Jet Pilot Training in the T-45 jet set records and earned him the opportunity to become of the first F/A-18E Super Hornet strike fighter pilots in the Navy, according to officials.As an F/A-18E pilot Garcia was deployed several times on the USS Nimitz, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.

He was lauded as one of the best leaders and one of the most naturally talented pilots in the Navy by his troops, his peers and his leadership, Garcia said.Now, he is hoping to face Katie Hill in 2020 for the CA-25 Congressional seat, which includes the cities of Santa Clarita, Simi Valley, Palmdale, Lancaster, and the northern part of the San Fernando Valley.

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/438199-republicans-get-top-tier-candidate-in-key-california-house-race

Republicans recruited Mike Garcia, a fighter pilot and first-generation American, to challenge freshman Rep. Katie Hill (D-Calif.) in 2020, setting up a battle for a key House district.

Garcia, the son of a Mexican immigrant and an Iraq War veteran, announced his candidacy for California’s 25th District Wednesday.

He will challenge Hill, a moderate whose victory helped the Democrats retake the House last year and decimate the GOP delegation from the Golden State.

In his campaign announcement, Garcia sought to tie Hill to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and other House progressives in pushing what he called a “Socialist agenda.”

“I have been at the edge where bullets fly and lives are lost,” Garcia said in a press release. “I believe America is the greatest country in the world. I’ve seen men and women lose their lives defending this country. And I am disgusted that politicians in Washington are voting in lockstep with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to push a Socialist agenda that jeopardizes everything we’ve risked blood and treasure to defend.”

Hill thanked Garcia and his family for their service and wished him luck.

“I know how tough these primaries can be. With three Republicans now filed to run and likely more who will jump in, I wish them all luck,” she said in an emailed statement. “I am deeply grateful to Mr. Garcia for his service to our nation and thank him and his family for all they have given to keep America safe.”

Republicans had held the seat in California’s 25th District for 25 years until Hill defeated incumbent Rep. Steve Knight.

Garcia touted the endorsements of former Reps. Buck McKeon (R) and Elton Gallegly (R), who previously represented California’s 25th and 24th Districts, respectively.

Garcia, a U.S. naval officer, was one of the first F/A-18E Super Hornet strike fighter pilots in the Navy and flew more than 30 combat missions during Operation Iraqi Freedom, according to his campaign announcement.

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https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/438322-senate-dems-call-for-barr-to-walk-back-spying-allegation

Top Senate Democrats are demanding Attorney General William Barr walk back his accusation that the Trump campaign was spied on by the FBI.

Barr sparked a political firestorm earlier Wednesday when he told senators that he believed “spying did occur” during the 2016 election and that he would be reviewing the probe of President Trump’s campaign.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) accused Barr of “perpetuating conspiracy theories” during his testimony before the Senate Appropriations subcommittee. The hearing was scheduled to discuss the department’s budget but ultimately was dominated by questions about special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe.

“AG Barr must retract his statement immediately or produce specific evidence to back it up,” Schumer said in a tweet.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, added in a statement that Barr had “demanded himself” by “carelessly acting as a mouthpiece for President Trump’s conspiracy theories.”

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/pete-buttigieg-and-the-most-convenient-narrative/

Jim Treacher asks when Mike Pence has ever had a quarrel with Pete Buttigieg, pointing out that the vice president has never said anything negative about the South Bend mayor.

The “quarrel” between Pence and Buttigieg more or less begins and ends with Pence’s decision to support and sign the Religious Freedom Restoration Act back in 2015, which allowed individuals and companies to cite their religious beliefs and significant burdens upon those beliefs in legal proceedings. Opponents such as Buttigieg charged that the law would allow discrimination against gays and lesbians. The law was broadly popular; it passed the Indiana Senate 40 to 10 and the Indiana House 63-31. After Pence signed it into law, opponents vehemently denounced the law as “state-sanctioned discrimination.” Several large companies, sports leagues, and nonprofit institutions threatened to boycott the state. After about a week, Indiana lawmakers enacted an amendment that clarified that the RFRA could not be cited in certain discrimination cases.

In today’s Morning Jolt, I went through Buttigieg’s autobiography and noted that he describes his relationship with the then-governor as “complicated,” but that complication is mostly disagreeing on the RFRA. Buttigieg can never muster any examples of Pence being rude, hostile, or hateful, or ever making an issue out of Buttigieg’s sexual orientation, but the mayor laments “the complications of being openly gay in Mike Pence’s Indiana.”

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/04/beto_orourke_wants_farmers_to_hand_over_their_fair_share_of_crops_to_stop_global_warming.html

Socialism with a boyish and syrupy face

Campaigning for president in Iowa, Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke thinks farmers need to do their “fair share” to combat global warming, handing over some of their crops to save the Earth.Kid you not.  According to Breitbart News:Democrat 2020 presidential candidate Robert “Beto” O’Rourke proposed Friday in Iowa that the U.S. “allow” farmers to give up their “fair share” of crops to fight climate change.O’Rourke stood aloft as he proclaimed his message at a rally in Marshalltown, Iowa Friday:If we allow farmers to earn a profit in what they grow, if we allow them to contribute their fair share in combatting Climate Change by growing cover crops, allowing the technologies that invest in precision tilling and farming, capturing more of that carbon out of the air is another way in which they can make a profit.  Keep those farms together, pass them on to the next generation, and allow them to provide us our food and national security, our independence from the rest of the world, our ability to provide for the rest of the world.Where does he get the idea that farmers’ land and crops are “his” land and crops, to be used by the state as he deems fit?  That’s called a tax hike in ordinary terms, and state expropriation if you look at it closely enough.  Hugo Chávez used to think Venezuelan farmers’ land and crops were “his” land and crops once upon a time, too, and we all know how well that worked out.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/eric-swalwell-2020-california-congressman-tells-stephen-colbert-hes-running-for-president/

California Rep. Eric Swalwell, one of President Trump’s most outspoken critics in Congress, announced he is seeking the presidential nomination in what is shaping up to be the largest Democratic primary field in U.S. history.

The 38-year-old San Francisco area lawmaker announced his presidential campaign during an appearance on “The Late Night Show with Stephen Colbert” airing Monday night on CBS.

“I’ve already done a lot, but I can do more,” he said in a clip released by the show. “I’ve been in Congress for six years. I’ve defended our country from the Intelligence Committee while Democracy has been on the ropes.”

Swalwell enters a crowded race for president with more than a dozen candidates seeking to capture the Democratic nomination and thwart Mr. Trump’s reelection bid next year. To date, 17 other Democrats have declared their candidacy for president or launched presidential exploratory committees, including Sens. Bernie Sanders, Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker and Elizabeth Warren; Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan; Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard; Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke; and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/04/09/evaluating_the_2020_democratic_primary_field_139997.html

Assessing the Democratic presidential primary at this point is a nearly impossible task. With around 15 serious candidates who have declared or formed an exploratory committee, and with another handful seriously looking at joining the race, the slate is very much in flux. Like the Republican primary in 2016, small changes in the polling position of candidates can translate to a large change in their position relative to one another, which in turn incentivizes rising candidates to stay in. So rather than, say, power-ranking the candidates – how does one really decide how to rank John Hickenlooper versus Jay Inslee? – I will look at them through the lens of “buy” versus “sell,” based upon the RCP Poll Average.