"Russian collusion" has always been about Democrats' attempts to criminalize Trump's politics

If you can't beat 'em at the ballot box, get judges to overturn the will of the voters (the default position of Democrats since FDR). When that's no longer enough to satisfy your lust for power, weaponize government and drum-up law enforcement to investigate your political enemies for "crimes". The better educated public of the past wouldn't have put up with this sorry spectacle.

Screw the shutdown, screw the emergency, just build the wall already

"All cultures are equal"

FL Governor Ron DeSantis signs executive order removing Sheriff Scott Israel

Gov. DeSantis Removes BSO Sheriff Scott Israel From Office; ‘I Have No Interest In Dancing On His Political Grave’:

Governor Ron DeSantis said on Friday afternoon that he has signed an executive order removing embattled Broward Sheriff Scott Israel from office.

Governor Ron DeSantis was at the Broward Sheriff’s Office headquarters where he delivered a short statement saying he has suspended the Sheriff. DeSantis was joined by parents of victims of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre.

To Donald Trump pussy is free, and so is liberal immigration policy

Trump's imbecilic shutdown over immigration ends paychecks for immigration enforcers

As we said would happen.

Dumb.

Sad!

The art of the stupid.

Border security workers miss paychecks because of shutdown over border security

Tulsi Gabbard throws her hat in the ring

She would be a great future candidate, but needs to run for governor, win and serve before she runs for president. Not knowing this shows she's not such a great candidate.

Tulsi Gabbard to run for president

Trump tweeted about a path to citizenship for H-1B visa holders today, but Rush Limbaugh said . . .

. . . not one word about it.

They are not on our side.

 

Rashida Tlaib's (Democrat, MI-13) Muslim heritage means wiping Israel off the map

So much winning . . .

One term president flip-flops on H-1B visa holders

In March 2016 Trump didn't think too highly of H-1B visa holders, now he wants to make them citizens

#InvasionOfTheTrumpBodySnatchers

Hey Doug Jones, D-AL, in 2018 YOU diverted $500 million of our money to build a wall in Jordan

Exclusive: Pentagon prepares options to build border wall as Trump weighs emergency declaration:

Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala., a member of the committee,  said Thursday that he hopes Trump doesn’t declare an emergency and divert military money to build a wall. “Congress is concerned about the overreach, and I think the American public is concerned about the overreach of the executive branch of government right now,” Jones said.

Russia is just the other side's QAnon, kept Hillary out of Wisconsin for 105 days

 "Russians reading Real Clear Politics is cyber Pearl Harbor".

Mental illness is pandemic.

QAnon virus swallows everything: Trump orchestrated outing of Bezos' affair

Like he didn't have better things to do.

Exhibit 329,097,425 for our failed education system

You ought to be more discreet, people might start to think they are conspiring to destroy our civilization

Some people are wondering why it took a supposed intellectual ten months to figure out a friend was an enemy

Nothing personal, just business.

Steve King finds out too late that the only people permitted to be white supremacists are conservative intellectuals

Two kinds of security theatre, not actual security: $8 billion a year for TSA to feel up grandma at the airport, $5 billion for part of a wall around which sex offenders will still get in

Maybe it would just be cheaper to bring them straight in and let them loose in the airports.

Everyone has their price, including Richard Spencer

#amnesty

Good God the alt-right is dumb: Republicans need your votes but HATE your agenda . . .

They spend their valuable time and political power on their agenda, you fool.

The naiveté is breathtaking sometimes.

Breaking news: Cher caves to Trump on government shutdown over the wall

#winning

Remember when Donald Trump gave out Lindsey Grahamnesty's phone # for calling him a jackass?

The good old days.

Donald Trump gives out Lindsey Graham's cellphone number:

On Tuesday, Trump ramped up his attacks on the South Carolina senator — who made headlines Monday for calling the Donald a “jackass” — and even gave out Graham’s private phone number.

 

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. 

Jerusalem Post boasts 6% of the new Congress is Jewish, complains Christians are over-represented

Wait until it's full of Muslim motherf*ckers and then see how you like it.

There are 34 Jews in the House and Senate, which is 6.4% of the total 535. All but two are Democrats.

JEWISH REPRESENTATION IN CONGRESS NOW THREE TIMES THAT OF NATION AS WHOLE:

Congress as a whole is overwhelmingly Christian — even more so than the country. Seventy-one percent of Americans identify as Christian, compared to 88 percent of Congress. Both Protestants and Catholics are over-represented on Capitol Hill.

That's right, Miller, not only did the Indians steal Pinocchio from the Italians, Pipestone, MN, was originally an Italian fishing village

The original pronunciation was pi-pes-to-ni.

Will the cultural appropriation never stop?

Au contraire, mon ami, Sean Hannity has been all wet on immigration for a long time, he's just comin' home to papa

Ladies and gentlemen, we have finally found this year's Oscars hosts

This is your country on drugs, when both parties want a weak border

Chicago Tribune joins NY Post in calling for another amnesty

Editorial: Have we got a deal for Trump: Wall money for DACA protection:

[G]ive the president the money he wants to spend on concrete or steel fencing as part of a budget agreement that reopens the government.

In exchange, let’s see a deal on DACA.

Grand Rapids, Michigan, Climate Update for December 2018

Grand Rapids, Michigan, Climate Update for December 2018:

Max temp 53, Mean Max temp 53

Min temp 13 (tied for 11th highest min on record with 5 other years), Mean Min temp 4

Av temp 32.5, Mean Av temp 28.3

Av temp 2018 49.6, Mean Av temp 48.2

Precip 1.99, Mean precip 2.43

Precip 2018 44.45 (11th wettest year on record), Mean precip 34.60

Snow 3.2 (6th least snow in Dec on record), Mean snow 16.1

Snow season to date 17.6, Mean snow season to date 22.8

CDD 2018 1003 (7th highest season on record), Mean CDD 693

HDD 1000, Mean HDD 1130

HDD season to date 2472, Mean HDD season to date 2486

What a shock, right, libertarian New York Post calls for another amnesty as a compromise

Trump promised to end DACA and hasn't. He also promised to build a wall and hasn't.

We didn't elect him to compromise on these basic campaign promises.

The 1986 amnesty gave us the problem we have now. Another one will only give us another one, and another and another and another, wall or no wall.

End DACA! Build The Wall! Don't let people cut in line!

The obvious compromise to end the shutdown:

[T]he two sides need merely agree on granting legal status to the Dreamers.

Trump has learned nothing about politics

Going to the border he is. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

Take Ted Cruz and Glenn Beck with ya and hand out some soccer balls why dontcha.

That will accomplish about as much as shutting down the government AFTER all your leverage is gone.

Sad!

Former House Freedom Caucus member Mick Mulvaney, now running OMB, finally outed as pro-amnesty

Along with Mike Pence.

Wake up and smell the coffee, people. There was only one Republican in the administration fighting the immigration fight, and Trump fired him. The rest of them have long, explicit histories of being on the wrong side of the issue, along with most everyone in so-called conservative talk radio.

Report: Trump ‘Regularly Asks’ Pro-Amnesty Mick Mulvaney for ‘His Thoughts’ on Immigration Issues

The GoFundMe for The Wall is up to $19 million but Trump and Kushner still want to give Democrats DACA in a deal

Barry Ritholtz doesn't live in Realville, calls recent wage gains "decent" when they are peanuts

The Economy Is Finally Coming Through for U.S. Workers:

Decent wage gains are showing up in paychecks. That should continue for a while. Workers had an average gain in hourly wages of 3.2 percent in December, well above the average of 2.4 percent during the past five years . . ..

There's nothing wrong with his facts, just his perspective, which isn't long-term. He's content to compare his data to the Obama era, which sucked big-time. Note how he doesn't say that, however, big New York liberal that he is. 

Year over year, the average gain in 2018 isn't even Bush-league let alone Clinton-league. And certainly not pre-Reagan-league, when workers in this country got much bigger raises on average than they do in this supposedly booming economy.

Barry likes charts. Here's the only one that counts, showing that raises for 80% of workers on average can't hold a candle to the late 1980s, the 1990s, and the 2000s (when Democrats couldn't stop complaining about George W. Bush's horrible economy).

Employers remain stingy, and there is no employment boom, or else they'd be hiring all the old people the greedy bastards fired in 2009 because they made too much money.

I KNOW.

Actually record numbers of us WANT you to leave

Record Numbers of Americans Want to Leave the U.S.:

[M]ost of the recent surge in Americans' desire to migrate has come among groups that typically lean Democratic . . ..

Well, we're screwed then

Love of liberty? The people love security, not liberty, and porn.

Laugh of the Day: NeverTrumpers Bill Kristol and Charlie Sykes erect online defensive wall for spitball fight

Israel's wall has been very effective, but Hungarian razor wire was just as effective, was cheaper, and went up much faster

Democrats' new US House anti-Semitic birds of a feather flock together with Jew-hater Linda Sarsour

The LA Times has been anti-Semitic at least since suppressing the Khalidi-Obama tape, but now judges it safe to say so openly

Trouble already in the freshman Democrat club: Rashida Tlaib, MI-13, wants to erase Israel

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, NY-14, has come out as a Jew.

Hey motherf*ckers: Civility can start again when Democrats take the US House

Hillary Clinton: "Civility Can Start Again" When Democrats Take The House And Or The Senate

"We were here first" comes to the US House: Justin Amash discovers identity politics eight years too late

Must see video: Tucker Carlson says socialism is exactly what we're going to get unless we stop worshipping at the altar of (capitalist) materialism

Pretty smart coming from a guy who eschews intellectualism.

For example, I wish he had said that you can't have limited government without individuals composing it who first limit themselves. He says that, and more, just not in a lapidary way. Tucker is revolting against the reductionism of Conservatism Inc. to mere materialism. He is revolting against ideology, and it's amazing. 

Here.

Bons mots:

Republicans see it as their duty to make the world safe for banking.

Questioning markets feels like apostasy to social conservatives.

Economics and culture are not separable one from the other.

Rural America now looks like Detroit.

Putting corporations first is bondage.

We tax capital at half the rate we tax labor.

Divided countries are easier to rule.

Market capitalism is not a religion. It's a tool.

Libertarians tell a lie when they say any deviation from market fundamentalism is socialism.

Ann Coulter says she agrees with AOC: Raise taxes on the rich

Ann just wants to punish the Koch Brothers in the process, but there's a better reason to agree.

Good government acts like a curb on a street, steering behavior. That's what taxing the rich used to be all about.

How so?

Once enacted in 1916, high taxation of ordinary income didn't result in high revenues for government. That's why the income tax was extended to almost all earners instead of just the rich when it became clear within a few years that government wouldn't have enough money to play in the international sandbox without more dough. For their part the rich won long term tax concessions through diverting derivation of income from capitalist enterprises, the latter benefiting not just themselves as owners but also individuals with jobs, the country with productivity, and the government with additional multiple streams of revenue. It was an intricate but effective way of benefiting all concerned. 

The mistake with the Reagan Revolution was that it misunderstood human nature. It thought lots of new untaxed ordinary income would end up getting invested just the same way, and turn America into something never before seen. But the money didn't get invested the same way. It fled abroad where the cost of doing business was cheaper. It helped create middle classes wherever it went, but ours withered on the vine. Meanwhile the number of US billionaires mushroomed, the ratio of CEO pay to worker pay went ballistic, and general income inequality increased dramatically. Real incomes for most people have barely moved up since the 1970s.

And now here we are with an America never before seen indeed, where libertarian advocates of this destructive system tell us with a straight face that this is patriotism.

Unfortunately, none of this is in the pea brain of AOC, let alone in Ann Coulter's, Kevin McCarthy's or Donald Trump's.  

Michael Savage calls AOC "Alexandria Occasional Cortex", which is just . . . savage

I'm going to miss his three hour show. He's moving to one hour plus a podcast starting Monday. He'll be 77 this year. He's getting a little tired, phoning it in so to speak. You can tell when that happens because he'll occasionally get simple facts wrong.

I suppose of all the talkers I've listened to over the years, Savage has been my favorite. For his general positions on borders, language and culture, yes, but more so because he's an independent thinker. It's not just that he's independent. It's that he thinks. No thinking man is a party man. Which is probably why he's out the door.

Not sure I'm a podcast guy, but there's that for those who are more active than passive listeners. I like the radio because it's (mostly) live. Anything big which could happen you hear about almost instantly. And anyone could call in. It's more spontaneous and more exciting.  I like to listen while I'm cooking dinner. 

Radio certainly is changing. Laura Ingraham hung up the headset in November after many years carrying the baton on immigration. Burning the candle at both ends she was. Chris Plante out of DC is a very welcome alternative to Laura in the mornings. He's very quick upstairs, trenchant and funny.

It would be nice if Mark Steyn replaced Rush Limbaugh one of these days, but somehow I think the Rush Limbaugh show goes away when Rush goes away.

But all of them need to take more callers, and let them talk, dammit. Which is probably too much to ask. Most of the callers aren't any good.

But there was that guy, Geno from The Bronx . . .. 

Yep, you guessed it, the inventor of sliced bread was white . . . and German-American . . . and from Iowa

Ve haf vays ov makinck your lunch qvicker.

The horror. The horror.

Otto Frederick Rohwedder (1880-1960)

Democrats take control of the US House and promptly vote to give away money . . . to foreigners

Democrat Spending Bill Offers $12 Billion More for Foreign Aid, $0 for Border Wall

America is still a long way from recovery from job destruction under Barack H. Obama

Ann Coulter: The media are trying to convince Trump that if he abandons the wall, he’ll be a statesman . . .

Bush 41 accepted the Profiles in Courage award from Democrats for abandoning his Read My Lips No New Taxes pledge, many years later of course, proof that the voters were right to turn out the bum in 1992 for his betrayal.

Will Trump follow in his footsteps?

Coulter: Please, No More ‘Border Security’:

Nearly every Republican presidential candidate tried to con voters with these meaningless catchphrases about “border security.”

Here are The Des Moines Register’s summaries of some of the candidates’ positions on immigration a few weeks before the 2016 Iowa caucus:

Jeb Bush: “has called for enhanced border security.”

Marco Rubio: “proposes … improved security on the border.”

John Kasich: “believes border security should be strengthened.”

Chris Christie: “urges … using technology to improve border surveillance …”

Rand Paul: “would secure the border immediately.”

Carly Fiorina: “would secure the border, which she says requires only money and manpower.”

They all lost.

The guy who won: “Trump has said many illegal immigrants are rapists and are bringing drugs and crime to the United States. He has called for building a wall along the southern border, and has said he would make Mexico pay for it. He said he would immediately terminate President Barack Obama’s ‘illegal executive order on immigration.'”

Trump got more votes than any other Republican in the history of presidential primaries. No one was falling for “border security” then, and they aren’t now.

But instead of doing what he said and building a wall, Trump has hired people who don’t even grasp that the point is to make it unattractive to break into our country.

Start with your father Rashida, eldest of 14 children

Another Cooley Law School graduate rises to the level of her incompetence. Michael Cohen will keep a cot warm for you, Rashida.

Maybe Democrats are silent when cops are killed because Democrats support anti-cop Antifa's no borders, no walls, no USA at all

Hooah Ronna Romney McDaniel to Uncle Mitt: Your comments are disappointing and unproductive

Rand Paul to Mitt Romney, the Massachusetts Puritan: Cut the petty holier than thou crap

Ain't gonna happen Senator Paul. There's something in the water up there in Massachusetts that once you drink of it, you're infected forever. Same thing happens with the water in Utah. But hooah anyway.

Rand Paul on Romney: There Will Be A "Backlash" For "Holier Than Thou" Anti-Trump Op-Ed:

I don`t know how it really helps anybody`s cause for people to stand up there like they`re holier than thou. And it`s like, look at me, how virtuous I am. And I`m going to bring down the presidency by criticizing his character in front of the whole nation. It does nobody any good. And, in the end, I think it`s going to look petty, and I think there`s going to be a backlash to this. ...

I question [Trump] on policy when I disagree with him. He knows I have stood up to him. I have talked to him on the phone and he says, "I know where your principles are and I know you can`t move on this particular vote." And we still have a good conversation. And I think that`s different than attacking and trying to go for the jugular of someone`s character. And so I do think it`s different. ...

[I]f there were an election between Donald Trump in a primary and Romney, I think Romney would be wiped out.  

Hooah Newt Gingrich to Mitt Romney: The Senate doesn't care who you used to be

Gingrich to Romney: The Senate Doesn't Care Who You Used To Be:

It is kind of sad. As a freshman, he could have come in, he could have written as the former governor of Massachusetts, his views on Elizabeth Warren running for office. He could have written about the shutdown and offered an idea, such as combining help for the DREAMers with building the wall and securing the border. He could have written about things he knows a great deal about. 

Among whites Trump 2016 underperformed Romney 2012 57%-59% overall, but crushed him with whites in eleven states and in seven to win the presidency

Mitt Romney is back, but he really ought to just zip it. He's a loser.

States where Trump 2016 (wins in red) outperformed Romney 2012 (wins in blue) among whites:

Florida 64%-61%

Indiana 64%-60%

Iowa 54%-47%

Maine 46%-40%

Michigan 57%-55%

Minnesota 50%-49%

Missouri 66%-65%

New Hampshire 48%-47%

New York 51%-49%

Ohio 62%-57%

Wisconsin 53%-51%.

Where Trump underperformed Romney Trump still won the same contests, but also reeled in Pennsylvania which Romney did not. Overall Trump won 10 states to Romney's 4, largely on improved performance among whites.

States where Romney 2012 (wins in blue) outperformed Trump 2016 (wins in red) among whites:

Arizona 66%-54%

California 53%-45%

Colorado 54%-47%

New Jersey 56%-54%

New Mexico 56%-47%

North Carolina 68%-63%

Oregon 44%-42%

Pennsylvania 57%-56%

Virginia 61%-59%

Washington 46%-40%.

Exit polling via CNN.

Peter Dutton of the US Naval War College doesn't think China can control the South China Sea

One of the rare hopeful appraisals I have read, which ought to be sobering . . . for China.

China doesn't have the capabilities to control the South China Sea

The LA Times is just fine with foreign influence in US elections

Wow, Liawatha's actually JUST LIKE John Kerry, says "I'm gonna GET ME a beer"

"Can I get me a huntin' license here?"

Here.

Yeah, they're just like us.

Next stop for beer-drinking Cherokee woman Elizabeth Warren: A visit to the hardware store "to get me a huntin' license"

Must be something in the water up there in Massachusetts that turns people into phony baloney plastic banana good time rock-n-rollas. Michael Dukakis in the tank, John Kerry goes a huntin', and now Elizabeth Warren cracks open a cold one in a New Year's Eve chat streamed live. Hm. Tongues are a-wagging. A drinking Indian, huh? Was it an India Pale Ale?

The article forgets to mention the incident involving John Kerry, who served in Vietnam.

 Cashman: Elizabeth Warren racks up another Dukakis moment :

With the beer vid — trying to sell herself as your average beer-swigging multimillionaire former Harvard Law prof who’s a champion of the middle class — Warren has racked up two strikes in short order. Three strikes and … it could be just Beto O’Rourke vs. Kamala Harris on the left side of the Democrats’ debate stage.

 

Cherokee Elizabeth Warren headed to Sioux City for important meeting of the tribes

Americans should ask Democrat Ilhan Omar, MN-5, whether she's a victim of Muslim female genital mutilation

Suddenly Obamacare is not much of a muchness to Democrats, a mere stepping stone to the socialist future

The next development will be Republicans arguing, as Paul Ryan did in 2012 about Medicare, that conservatism means we must preserve Obamacare for future generations. 

Terry McAuliffe on 2020 Democratic Candidates: "We All Support Medicare For All"

Lindsey Grahamnesty points out that the Gang of Eight bill was tougher on border security than Trump is now

Suddenly the Gang of Eight bill is conservatism. Trump is now to the left of the entire Republican primary field of 2016 on immigration, begging for just $5 billion and willing to take less.

What suckers he takes us for.

Lindsey Graham: "The Wall Has Become A Metaphor For Border Security," Democrats Supported In The Past:

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM: What I can tell you is Democrats have voted for 700 miles of the Secure Fence Act that had double-layered fencing. Call that whatever you'd like. In the Gang of Eight bill we had $42 billion for border security, including $9 billion for physical barriers. 

The wall has become a metaphor for border security. And what we're talking about is a physical barrier where it makes sense. In the past, every Democrat has voted for these physical barriers. It can't be just about because Trump wants it we no longer agree with it. 

There is nothing immoral about a physical barrier along the border in places that make sense. There will never be a deal that doesn't have money for the physical barriers that we all in the past have agreed we need.

Laugh of the Day: Trump calls Elizabeth Talking Bull crazy without calling her crazy

The president has this part of politics down pat. Too bad the follow through on policy utterly escapes him.

From the transcript here:

HEGSETH: She says she’s in the fight all the way, Mr. President. Do you really think she believes she can win? 

TRUMP: Well that I don’t know. You’d have to ask her psychiatrist. But honestly, I just, you know --

(LAUGHTER)

H. Ross Perot's $13/hr factory jobs going to Mexico in 1992 should pay $27/hr today adjusted for inflation but pay only $18

The giant sucking sound clip from 1992 is here.

Perot characterized factory wages in 1992 as typically paying between $12 and $14 per hour.

Adjusted for inflation the $13 job in 2017 would pay nearly $27 per hour. The reality is it pays a lot less than that. Factory work in Michigan today basically starts at $15, up only 25% not 107%. The average manufacturing job paying $21+ is composed of a lot of such lower paying positions.

The reality is in Michigan that the top eventual $18/hr advertised wage is the equivalent of less than $9/hr in 1992.

The jobs have gone out of the country, expanding middle classes abroad while impoverishing our own at home.

Oakland California mayor Libby Schaaf, let's lock her up

OK, let's be honest: Racism is so yesterday when unpatriotic Republicans and Democrats get rich and get votes off cheap foreign labor

Republicans specialize in spending money on putting Americans out of work, by importing cheap foreign labor and giving tax breaks to job-exporting corporations

Democrats specialize in spending money on things which don't work, like welfare recipients, not on things which do, like walls

Outgoing Trump Chief of Staff General John Kelly attacks Jeff Sessions, was just one in the retinue opposing Trump's policies whom Trump himself appointed

That's rich, attacking the only guy in the administration who tried to implement the policies the candidate ran on.

Good riddance!

John Kelly blames Jeff Sessions for 'zero tolerance,' family separations along border:

“What happened was Jeff Sessions, he was the one that instituted the zero-tolerance process on the border that resulted in both people being detained and the family separation,” Kelly said. “He surprised us.” ... “The president still says ‘wall’ – oftentimes frankly he’ll say ‘barrier’ or ‘fencing,’ now he’s tended toward steel slats," Kelly said. "But we (moved away from) a solid concrete wall early on in the administration, when we asked people what they needed and where they needed it.” ... “Illegal immigrants, overwhelmingly, are not bad people,” Kelly said. “I have nothing but compassion for them, the young kids.” ... He said the job was arduous and he often clashed with Trump over policy. But he was determined to stay through the 2018 midterm elections.

Trump already compromised on The Wall, and that's the problem

Trump gave away 80% of what he wanted without getting anything in return.

It's political malpractice. 

Even worse, he's shut down the government now over the remaining 20% at the most politically inopportune time, having nothing left to bargain with.

The time to have done this was when Republicans were in control of Congress, in January 2017, or February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December, January 2018, February . . ..

Forgive us for thinking he was never serious about The Wall, at all.

The Wall is now and may always have been simply a political tool, like opposition to abortion. He stopped being serious about it in August 2016 after the immigration issue secured him the nomination, when this "advisor", Kellyanne Conway, came on board from the Ted Cruz campaign, which likewise was never serious about The Wall. Ted had one throwaway line about immigration in his entire speech announcing his candidacy, that's it. It was Trump who completely blindsided him and the rest of the Republican field with the issue. But ever since it's only red meat for the base. He never made it a priority, and fired the only person actively pursuing immigration reform in his administration, Attorney General Jeff Sessions. That's how unimportant The Wall has been to the president. 

The Wall riles up the news, keeping Trump in it, that's all.

Kellyanne Conway: Trump "Already Compromised" On Border Wall Funding, Originally Asked for $25 Billion:

I believe the president has already compromised. He originally asked for $25 billion. The House is at $5.6 billion. They did their job. The Senate has to come back. It is a modest investment.

State elections board still refuses to certify Republican Mark Harris the winner in NC-9

North Carolina seat in U.S. Congress likely to stay vacant as fraud controversy intensifies:

Harris filed an emergency petition earlier on Friday to be certified as victor of last month’s election for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. His request was rejected by a state elections board reviewing whether mail-in ballots were illegally handled in some rural counties.

But the future of that investigation was thrown into doubt by a state court ruling and newly passed law. The state elections board was disbanded on Friday, after a state court on Thursday declined to extend a stay on a previous order declaring the composition of the board unconstitutional.

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat, said he would immediately appoint an interim board to continue the investigation until a restructured elections board was due to begin operating at the end of January under a new state law.