Democrats' impeachment show has increased opposition to it among independents

Emerson national overall: 45% against 43% for right now vs. 44% against 48% for in October.

Emerson Independents: 49% against 34% for right now vs. 39% against 48% for in October.

Marquette Wisconsin: 53% against 40% for right now vs. 51% against 44% for in October. 

Marquette Independents: only 36% for impeachment.

Reported here.

Cuckservatism: Rush Limbaugh's hero Andy McCarthy also waves the white flag for the red flag

'Red-flag' gun laws are constitutional and sensible

65% of voters oppose impeachment proceedings, think immigration is Congress' number one job right now

Poll: Two-thirds of voters oppose impeachment proceedings:

The latest Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll survey found that 65 percent of respondents oppose impeachment proceedings.

Bernie's support among 18-29s drops 12 points between March and May in Morning Consult poll

Poll: Sanders support among young voters drops sharply

John Solomon: Joe Biden in March 2016 pressured Ukraine to fire prosecutor investigating company paying Hunter Biden, bragged about it to CFR audience in 2018

Joe Biden's 2020 Ukrainian nightmare: A closed probe is revived:

But Ukrainian officials tell me there was one crucial piece of information that Biden must have known but didn’t mention to his audience: The prosecutor he got fired was leading a wide-ranging corruption probe into the natural gas firm Burisma Holdings that employed Biden’s younger son, Hunter, as a board member.

U.S. banking records show Hunter Biden’s American-based firm, Rosemont Seneca Partners LLC, received regular transfers into one of its accounts — usually more than $166,000 a month — from Burisma from spring 2014 through fall 2015, during a period when Vice President Biden was the main U.S. official dealing with Ukraine and its tense relations with Russia.

The general prosecutor’s official file for the Burisma probe — shared with me by senior Ukrainian officials — shows prosecutors identified Hunter Biden, business partner Devon Archer and their firm, Rosemont Seneca, as potential recipients of money.

Shokin told me in written answers to questions that, before he was fired as general prosecutor, he had made “specific plans” for the investigation that “included interrogations and other crime-investigation procedures into all members of the executive board, including Hunter Biden.” ...

The timing of Hunter Biden’s and Archer’s appointment to Burisma’s board has been highlighted in the past, by The New York Times in December 2015 and in a 2016 book by conservative author Peter Schweizer. ...

According to Schweizer’s book, Vice President Biden met with Archer in April 2014 right as Archer was named to the board at Burisma. A month later, Hunter Biden was named to the board, to oversee Burisma’s legal team.

But the Ukrainian investigation and Joe Biden’s effort to fire the prosecutor overseeing it has escaped without much public debate. ...

Between April 2014 and October 2015, more than $3 million was paid out of Burisma accounts to an account linked to Biden’s and Archer’s Rosemont Seneca firm, according to the financial records placed in a federal court file in Manhattan in an unrelated case against Archer.

Foreign Affairs Issue Launch with Former Vice President Joe Biden

Tuesday, January 23, 2018:

I was—not I, but it just happened to be that was the assignment I got. I got all the good ones. And so I got Ukraine. And I remember going over, convincing our team, our leaders to—convincing that we should be providing for loan guarantees. And I went over, I guess, the 12^th, 13^th time to Kiev. And I was supposed to announce that there was another billion-dollar loan guarantee. And I had gotten a commitment from Poroshenko and from Yatsenyuk that they would take action against the state prosecutor. And they didn’t. So they said they had—they were walking out to a press conference. I said, nah, I’m not going to—or, we’re not going to give you the billion dollars. They said, you have no authority. You’re not the president. The president said—I said, call him. (Laughter.) I said, I’m telling you, you’re not getting the billion dollars. I said, you’re not getting the billion. I’m going to be leaving here in, I think it was about six hours. I looked at them and said: I’m leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you’re not getting the money. Well, son of a bitch. (Laughter.) He got fired. And they put in place someone who was solid at the time.

 

The Hill's John Solomon: Obama administration had January 2016 meeting in DC with Ukrainian officials to pursue Manafort

How the Obama White House engaged Ukraine to give Russia collusion narrative an early boost:

U.S. officials “kept talking about how important it was that all of our anti-corruption efforts be united,” said Andrii Telizhenko, then a political officer in the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington tasked with organizing the meeting.

 

Telizhenko, who no longer works for the Ukrainian Embassy, said U.S. officials volunteered during the meetings — one of which was held in the White House’s Old Executive Office Building — that they had an interest in reviving a closed investigation into payments to U.S. figures from Ukraine’s Russia-backed Party of Regions. ...

Kostiantyn Kulyk, deputy head of the Ukraine prosecutor general’s international affairs office, said that, shortly after Ukrainian authorities returned from the Washington meeting, there was a clear message about helping the Americans with the Party of the Regions case.

“Yes, there was a lot of talking about needing help and then the [Manafort] ledger just appeared in public,” he recalled.

Kulyk said Ukrainian authorities had evidence that other Western figures, such as former Obama White House counsel Gregory Craig, also received money from Yanukovych’s party. But the Americans weren’t interested: “They just discussed Manafort. This was all and only what they wanted. Nobody else.”

 

Joe Biden Jan 2018: Give me a break, millennials don't have it tough

Biden on young people complaining they have it tough: 'Give me a break':

"The younger generation now tells me how tough things are. Give me a break. No, no, I have no empathy for it. Give me a break," Biden, 75, told The Los Angeles Times earlier this week.

Joe Biden 2014: 11 million illegal aliens are already Americans

Biden: Illegal immigrants are 'already Americans':

"You know, 11 million people live in the shadows. I believe they're already American citizens," Biden said Thursday at a Washington gathering of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. "These people are just waiting, waiting for a chance to contribute fully. And by that standard, 11 million undocumented aliens are already Americans, in my view."

 

Bush 43 appointed federal judge voids North Carolina law outlawing abortions after 20 weeks

Federal judge strikes down North Carolina post-20 week abortion ban

There were just 7 votes in the House against making the deep state permanent

The 7 Republicans who voted against back pay for furloughed workers:

But seven lawmakers — all House Republicans — opposed the measure. Those "no" votes came from Reps. Justin Amash (Mich.), Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Paul Gosar (Ariz.), Glen Grothman (Wis.), Thomas Massie (Ky.), Chip Roy (Texas) and Ted Yoho (Fla.). ... Gosar issued a statement after the vote saying the bill removes an incentive to resolve the shutdown swiftly. "This ill-conceived legislation takes away a useful tool in holding government accountable," he said. "Shutdowns have historically served to push both parties to compromise and resolution.  This bill eliminates the impact and urgency a shutdown creates and rewards bureaucrats and swamp dwellers." Massie made similar remarks in a statement saying the bill "guarantees retroactive pay for every possible future shutdown, which will only make it easier for politicians to cause future shutdowns." "This is irresponsible and I want to prevent future shutdowns from happening," he said.

If Beto O'Rourke's dental hygienist was born in El Paso, why does she have to study to become a citizen?

I call bullshit on this story.

O'Rourke talks border during Instagram video at dentist:

Diana, wearing goggles and a mask over her face, said she was born in El Paso and that her father was a U.S. citizen. She added that her mother was born in a small town in Mexico and that she herself was a permanent resident in the U.S. while studying for her American citizenship. 

Jeb Bush joins Marco Rubio in calling for Brenda Snipes to be removed as Supervisor of Elections in Broward County, FL

Jeb Bush calls for Broward County official to be removed from post:

"There is no question that Broward County Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes failed to comply with Florida law on multiple counts, undermining Floridians’ confidence in our electoral process," Bush tweeted.

"Supervisor Snipes should be removed from her office following the recounts." ...

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is among those arguing for Snipes's dismissal.

"She has shown she’s incapable of conducting a large and important election in a way that inspires public confidence and trust," he told Politico.

"She’s been found to have destroyed ballots, in violation of the law. Opened absentee ballots early, in violation of the law. Misprinted ballots that have gone out."

Wow, Republican Senate candidate Martha McSally has one hell of a set of lungs, belts out Star Spangled Banner at ASU football game

Here!

Obama takes credit for the upcoming recession

Obama: When you hear economy is improving, 'remember who started it’:

"So when you hear all this talk about economic miracles right now, remember who started it," he said to thunderous applause and a standing ovation. 

Ebola spreads, kills one in urban center in Congo, WHO official very worried for the world

“When you have an Ebola case confirmed in a city with one million people, no one should be sleeping well tonight around the world.” ... Saturday marked a month since the start of the latest outbreak, with 122 cases of Ebola reported so far. Of the cases, the WHO said nearly 70 percent of patients died despite health officials rolling out treatment drugs.

Story here, and here.

Today's reasons for hating Republicans (I don't need any to hate Democrats)

1) 52% of Republicans support Medicare for all.

2) 41% of Republicans support free college tuition.

Story here.

Bill Clinton adviser Mark Penn: Mueller investigation is the progeny of Obama administration abuses

"We thought, after the actions of J. Edgar Hoover and Richard Nixon, that we had put in place safeguards to prevent such abuse. ... [T]he Page warrant is a significant indication that government officials are quick to assume the worst about disliked rivals and to use those beliefs to overcome the guardrails on their authority through this backdoor secret FISA process."

Read the whole scathing thing here.

The headline writer at The Hill gets it wrong, but the article author gets it right

People returning to labor force in droves — a key step for the economy, says the headline, but the article says no such thing.

The story author makes many astute points, which the headline writer obviously doesn't understand.

The labor force is growing, but gradually, as is the percentage of the population actually working. We ought to have north of 62% working as was true before the Great Recession instead of 60% now, but the direction is up, if gradual.

This means we are NOT at full employment. People who dropped out are dropping back in, looking for work, and finding it, gradually.

This is dispelling the myth that the decline in the labor force was structural, and permanent. It isn't.

This also explains why wages aren't rising dramatically. Employers still have bodies to choose from as people who formerly sat on the sidelines get back in the game. Employers still do not have to pay dramatically higher wages to keep the employees they have. They still have employees to choose from.

In a nutshell, it's not a boom, but it is overall a return to the right direction.

Well, at least Mad Maxine Waters acknowledges that she's an animal

“All I have to say is this, if you shoot me you better shoot straight, there’s nothing like a wounded animal,” she added to cheers.

That idiot Republican Judd Gregg of New Hampshire thinks Woodrow Wilson changed America for the better

He's also the idiot who wrote the TARP bailout.

And now he's the idiot who blames the Baby Boom for the programs bankrupting America: Social Security and Medicare, which pre-date it and were passed by spendthrift Democrats.

Here.