Like good firefighters‚ ABC World News Tonight rushed to defend the stalled border bill currently being negotiated between The White House and the Senate. This is but the most recent instance of ABC’s going to the mat for this as of yet unseen legislation. Watch the brief report in its entirety as aired on ABC World News Tonight on Wednesday‚ January 31st‚ 2024: DAVID MUIR: We turn now to the border‚ and tonight‚ the eye-opening message from a leading Senate Republican who was asked if House Republicans should tune out Donald Trump on this. Rachel Scott on the hill.  RACHEL SCOTT: Today‚ Donald Trump turning up the pressure on Republicans to reject the border security bill their own party has demanded for months. Trump attacking the compromise bill senate Republicans and Democrats are working on together‚ saying‚ "Call it the stupid bill. And make sure it doesn't get passed."  DONALD TRUMP: A bad border deal would be worse than no deal at all. RACHEL SCOTT: Trump wants to kill the bill so he can run on immigration in the general election. But Senate Republican leader Mitch Mcconnell vowing to push forward.  MITCH MCCONNELL: Obviously‚ this is an incredibly challenging political discussion we've been having. I still favor trying to make law when you can.  SCOTT: Conservative Republican senator James Lankford of Oklahoma‚ who has been leading the negotiations‚ tells me Republicans have waiting for this moment for 30 years.  JAMES LANKFORD: Republicans have talked about this for a long time. We've done lots of press conferences. We've done lots of trips to the border. We've done lots of moments to be able to say something needs to be done. This is our "Something" moment.  SCOTT: And to Republicans- to Republicans that are watching what the former president is saying‚ calling it a betrayal‚ calling it a stupid bill‚ are you just telling them to tune that out?  LANKFORD: No‚ I'm just telling them to read the bill and make their own decision on it.  SCOTT: Donald Trump has called the Senate bill “ridiculous”‚ insisting it will only make things worse. But here's the thing. Nobody even knows what's in that compromise yet. It is still being negotiated‚ David. MUIR: Not even made public yet. Rachel Scott‚ live on The Hill. Rachel‚ thank you. Anchor David Muir fanned the flames of hysteria as he set up Rachel Scott’s report. The “eye-opening” message turned out to be GOP Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell saying “I still favor trying to make law whenever I can”. Not very eye-opening‚ if we’re being honest.  Scott very quickly moves to echo a Democrat talking point: “Trump wants to kill the bill so he can run on immigration.” Is Trump somehow going to forgo those lines of attack if the opportunity presents itself? Likely not‚ but the Acela Media don’t often let facts get in the way of a good story. Cut to Senator James Lankford (R-OK)‚ who’s been out front on this bill since the beginning‚ defending the bill and asking people to read it. Rachel Scott cast both McConnell and Lankford against former President Donald Trump‚ and had them defend themselves and the bill against his statements in opposition. The whole thing was a “Republicans in Disarray” report‚ even if that phrase was never uttered. The report closes out with Scott and Muir outraged that anyone would criticize the bill without reading its text.  This report suffers from the same fatal flaw as the others: there is no mention of the fact that the House already passed an immigration bill- H.R. 2‚ which was a precondition for passage of assistance to Ukraine and Israel. In this case‚ there isn’t even a mention of Speaker Mike Johnson.  This report‚ far from delivering any actual news‚ served to build a foundation with which to blame Republicans- both for the failure of this bill should it fail to get enacted‚ and for the broader border disaster.  

Democratic Reps. Cori Bush of Missouri and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan were the only two House lawmakers who voted against a measure that declares all aliens who were involved in the terror attacks against Israel that began on October 7‚ 2023‚ as "inadmissible" and "ineligible for any relief under the immigration laws." Both lawmakers described the proposal as "redundant.""Any alien who carried out‚ participated in‚ planned‚ financed‚ afforded material support to‚ or otherwise facilitated any of the attacks against Israel initiated by Hamas beginning on October 7‚ 2023‚ is inadmissible‚" the measure states in part.The measure‚ dubbed the "No Immigration Benefits for Hamas Terrorists Act‚" sailed through the House in a bipartisan 422-2 vote. Democratic Rep. Delia Ramirez of Illinois voted present. Six others did not vote. "I opposed H.R. 6679 because it is a redundant‚ empty messaging bill Republicans are using to target immigrants and incite anti-Palestinian hate. Republicans have ZERO credibility on these issues‚" Bush asserted. — (@) "H.R. 6679 is unnecessary because it is redundant with already existing federal law. It's just another GOP messaging bill being used to incite anti-Arab‚ anti-Palestinian‚ and anti-Muslim hatred that makes communities like ours unsafe‚" Tlaib said in a statement."I voted PRESENT because I am done with political games‚" Ramirez said in a statement. "The majority is wasting time bringing a bill that is already current law. There are ALREADY no immigration benefits for Hamas terrorists. After participating for 15 hours of a sham impeachment‚ I could not stomach another bill only introduced to score cheap political points‚ politicize immigration‚ and divide our communities. Like the Republican’s sham impeachment‚ this bill does not meaningfully address border security nor further protect our communities. H.R.6679 is unnecessary. It’s a waste of resources and time. And I'm not playing along."U.S. law currently indicates that aliens who engage in terrorist activity are inadmissible and stipulates that individuals connected with the Palestine Liberation Organization are considered to be involved in terror activity‚ but H.R. 6679 would add Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad as well."H.R. 6679 bars Hamas terrorists from receiving any immigration relief under U.S. law. Although current law provides that those aliens engaged in terrorist activities are inadmissible to and removable from the United States‚ Hamas terrorists are not necessarily barred from receiving other forms of immigration relief. H.R. 6679 explicitly bars Hamas terrorists from receiving any immigration relief or benefit under our laws‚" a press release on gop.gov states."H.R. 6679 simplifies the inefficient and time-consuming analysis for determining whether an alien has engaged in terrorist activities for inadmissibility or removability purposes. While aliens who engage in terrorist activities are already inadmissible and removable under U.S. law‚ the analysis to determine whether an alien has engaged in terrorist activities is often time-consuming and inefficient. H.R. 6679 simplifies that process‚ underscoring that the United States has zero tolerance for terrorism around the world and that America will not provide a safe harbor to aliens who were part of the terror attacks against Israel initiated by Hamas beginning on October 7‚ 2023‚" the webpage also states.Hamas has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization for more than two decades.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

John Harwood‚ who describes himself as a journalist on his X profile‚ listed several ideas that he described as 'crazy bulls**t‚" including the notion that Americans are being hit hard by a poor economy.Specifically‚ Harwood wrote that "the 'weaponized Justice Department' is bulls**t‚" "the rigged Swift-Kelce-Pfizer-psy-op Super Bowl is bulls**t‚" "the Biden-Mayorkas impeachment drive is bulls**t‚" "the terrible-economy-crushing-Americans is bulls**t‚" and "the Trump victimhood whining is bulls**t." He then added‚ "It's all crazy bulls**t." — (@) While many commenters agreed with him‚ others did not."1 out of 6. Not bad‚ for you‚" one person responded."I love how he mixes stupid tik tok stories in with legit news. You are not a serious person‚ John Harwood‚" someone else wrote.Last year‚ in a November post‚ Harwood used the phrases "flagrant criminality" and "deranged mental state" when referring to former President Donald Trump. In that same post‚ Harwood claimed that "journalists need to better convey 2 realities‚" including "the US economy is doing well‚ not poorly" and that "Biden at 80 is handling the job effectively right now."In another November post‚ Harwood wrote‚ "Boom or bust‚ there's never a time when many‚ many Americans/businesses don't struggle to make ends meet‚" adding‚ "The issue is compared to what." — (@) Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Google’s data center in Eemshaven‚ Netherlands. | Image: Google Google announced its biggest deal yet to purchase offshore wind energy for its data centers in Europe‚ signing power purchase agreements to support two new wind farms off the coast of the Netherlands. It’s part of Google’s plan to match all of its data center electricity consumption with clean energy generation on a 24/7 basis by 2030. To do that‚ the company will need to help get more renewable energy‚ including offshore wind‚ pulsing through power grids where it operates. It shared “the next step” of that plan for Europe today‚ where it says it’s adding more than 700 megawatts of clean energy capacity to the grid. Much of that new capacity will come from the pair of new offshore wind farms in the Netherlands‚ where Google operates two... Continue reading…

Even babies are at risk.

Early this week‚ if you opened the maps app on your phone and zoomed in on Paris‚ you would notice something peculiar: Almost every major highway leading into the country’s capital city was marked in dark red. There hasn’t been a bizarre pattern of accidents or terrorist attacks encircling the city. Instead‚ French farmers have finally become fed up with onerous government regulations and subsidy policies and have been laying siege on Paris since Monday with the best tools at their disposal: tractors. (READ MORE: The Buzz on ‘The Great Honey Bee Die-Off’) France24 reports that farmers from around the country are participating in the protests and are prepared to make a nuisance of themselves until at least Thursday — when the European Union convenes for a summit discussing financial aid for Ukraine. “We have everything we need to eat‚ barbecues‚ and a wall of hay to shield ourselves from the wind‚” Jean-Baptiste Benoit‚ a farmer‚ told France24. “We have the equipment and we’re settling in alright!” Woke Red Tape for Farmers France is the EU’s largest agricultural producer‚ and its farmers receive the equivalent of $9.8 billion a year in subsidies. That may sound like a lot‚ but many of France’s small farmers claim they simply aren’t making a living wage‚ and they are fed up with the impossible maze of regulations and bureaucracy that are primarily a result of climate change policies from the EU and the French government. For instance‚ one incoming subsidy requirement will require that farmers leave 4 percent of their farmland fallow (a measure usually implemented to avoid surplus production and to restore soil fertility). Farmers are also dealing with what they believe are onerous EU policies to restore France’s hedges — ones that have resulted in at least 14 different regulations. In addition‚ the EU’s decision to support the war in Ukraine by not taxing Ukrainian imports has negatively affected the farming economy across Europe. Ukrainian farmers may be dealing with a war‚ but they aren’t dealing with the kinds of environmental regulations being imposed on their EU counterparts‚ which means that production is far cheaper. (READ MORE: New EPA Regulations Are a Death Sentence for Small Oil and Gas Producers) The farmers believe that the threat is existential. Serge Bousquet-Cassagne‚ leader of farmers association‚ told protesters this week that they “are fighting this battle because if we don’t fight we die.” Karine Duc‚ a farmer who joined in on the protest‚ told Agence France-Presse: “This is the final battle for farming. It’s a question of survival.” Meanwhile‚ the French government is trying to prevent the protest from becoming any more disruptive than it already has. Police have threatened action if the farmers and their tractors try to roll into the center of the city‚ the airports‚ or Rungis‚ the city’s largest wholesale marketplace. But the threats didn’t stop the farmers from driving a bit closer to the city on Wednesday. This Is What Successful Protesting Looks Like Of course‚ French farmers aren’t the only ones irritated at the EU — and they certainly aren’t the only ones using tractors to express their frustrations. Convoys of farmers have moved in on other major cities in Italy and Belgium‚ especially around Brussels‚ where the European Commission is meeting on Thursday. The protests have been surprisingly successful thus far. The commission announced plans on Wednesday that could help reduce the impact of cheap exports from Ukraine and may even reduce the amount of land lying fallow for environmental purposes‚ according to the Associated Press. While those plans aren’t finalized‚ they are a sign that EU leaders may be concerned about the major disruption the farmers are causing. (READ MORE: Green Mythology Runs Rampant at COP28) As the Washington Post noted earlier this week‚ farmers don’t appear in the mood to simply accept half-baked concessions meant to pacify them. They’ve been turning road signs upside down and spraying government buildings with manure for months now. Furthermore‚ they know they have the government in something of a tight spot. The annual Paris farm show is scheduled to take place at the end of February‚ EU elections are scheduled for June‚ and Paris is hosting the Summer Olympics in July — it would be rather embarrassing if France’s farmers attended with their tractors. While the EU has yet to appease its farmers‚ the protests are a good lesson in what successfully combating elitist climate policies and government bureaucracy looks like. Small family farms in the U.S. currently struggling to cope with regulations‚ big government‚ and big business should watch closely. The post French Farmers Are Fighting Woke Climate Policies in Paris With Tractors appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.

Is Nikki Haley in on the “in” crowd? Why did her campaign sputter? And is she just another Bush Republican? On today’s episode of the Spectacle podcast‚ hosts Melissa Mackenzie and Scott McKay bring on American Spectator contributor Keith Naughton to talk about what he does and what doesn’t see in Republican presidential nominee Nikki Haley. (READ MORE from Keith Naughton: Haley Made Strategic Blunders. They’re Costing Her the Campaign.) They discuss her Clemson degree and career at the UN‚ and whether those factors make her a member of the cultural elite. Keith points out that‚ while poll numbers show she might do fairly well in a general election‚ Haley has run an uninspiring campaign and has demonstrated her inability to take advantage of the opportunity to effectively undermine her opponents. Listen in to hear their analysis! Order Scott’s new book‚ Racism‚ Revenge and Ruin: It’s All Obama‚ here. Read Scott’s and Melissa’s writing here and here. Listen to The Spectacle with Melissa Mackenzie and Scott McKay on Spotify. Watch The Spectacle with Melissa Mackenzie and Scott McKay on Rumble.  The post <;i>;The Spectacle<;/i>; Ep. 65: Nikki Haley Proved She’s on the B Team appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.