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January 2018

I don't attribute to Trump the mythical 'three-dimensional chess' sort of analysis. So when the White House officially floats the idea of a massive amnesty for 1.8 million 'Dreamers' in the form of a pathway to citizenship, plus nuclear family reunification that will ad several million more, I think that's actually what he wants. Conservative reaction has been furious, viewing it as the breach of a core campaign promise. Which it was and is.

Three days ago, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania struck down the state's congressional map, holding that it "clearly, plainly and palpably violates the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania." Offering no rationale for this decision, which upends districts that have been in place for six years, the State Supreme Court further instructed the legislature to propose a new map by February 9, and get Democratic Governor Tom Wolf's approval before February 15. Otherwise, the court itself will decide the new maps that will be used for the 2018 primaries and midterms.

Politico reported Thursday afternoon that the White House offered an immigration plan to Congress. The White House plan satisfies Democrat Dreamer demands in exchange for a $25 billion fund to construct and secure the southern border, as well as a plan to curtail chain migration.

While in Davos, Switzerland, President Donald Trump has threatened to cut Palestinian aid unless they come to the table to discuss peace with Israel. From The Times of Israel:
“That money is not going to them unless they sit down and negotiate peace, because I can tell you that Israel does want to make peace, and they’re going to have to want to make peace, too, or we’re going to have nothing to do with it any longer,” he said.

The Golden State seems hellbent on regulating itself into oblivion. Their eco-madness has led them to seriously consider legislation that would fine and or imprison waiters for offering restaurant patrons disposable plastic straws unless one is requested. I'm sure you'll be shocked to learn the legislation was presented by a Democrat. And this isn't some fringe issue either. The plastic straw ban was introduced and is championed by Ian Calderon, Assembly Majority Floor Leader.

Fox News has reported that the DOJ inspector general has announced that they have located the missing text messages:
Text messages from a critical five-month period between Trump-bashing FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, who both served on Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team, have been located, Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz has told Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis.
*This is a breaking story. MORE TO COME.

A California law, which goes into effect on April 1, automatically registers people to vote when they apply for a new driver's license or new state identification card. The Golden State permits anyone who claims to be in the country legally, even without proof, to obtain a license. So, logically, I anticipate that California could be getting a whole, new crop of illegal immigrant voters.

Last Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced 17 Trump judicial nominees, eight of them along an 11–10 partisan split. And yesterday, the White House announced its 10th wave of judicial nominees. In a January 7 post, I examined Trump's probable impact on the thirteen federal appellate courts. In this post, I'll do the same for the 94 United States district courts—the federal trial courts in which all but a handful of cases originate.

Text messages between FBI agent Peter Strzok and FBI lawyer Lisa Page came to light last month due to the anti-Trump rhetoric involved. Now the FBI claims that the department "failed to preserve" five months of text messages between them. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Ron Johnson (R-WI) have sent a letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ) to demand answers over the missing text messages between Strzok and Page.

Democrats have spent years trying to "Raise the Wage" for workers in entry-level and part-time jobs, to no avail. Their approach was all wrong. Though they successfully installed minimum wage hikes in blue locals, the exact population they sought to help experienced layoffs, hour cuts, and even store closures as a result of the mandated wage increases (we've cataloged this ongoing story extensively). Thanks to recent changes in tax laws, Starbucks employees will finally get the wage bumps Democrats have spent years trying to deliver.

Florida is one of three states who require convicted felons to obtain clemency before their voting rights are restored. Now, voters will decide if a change to the more than hundred-year-old law ought to be made. Thanks to the legwork of advocacy group, Floridians for Fair Democracy, surpassed the 766,000 signatures needed to put the put the measure on the November ballot.