Thursday, July 2, 2020
Great News!
This morning the Labor Department released the official jobs figures for June -- and they are stunning. A whopping 4.8 million jobs were created last month -- the biggest single-month gain in U.S. history! And the unemployment rate fell to 11.1%, shattering the experts' predictions of 12.4%.
We still have a long way to go, but we are clearly on the road to recovery!
In related news, Congress this week passed legislation extending the deadlinefor small businesses to apply for the Paycheck Protection Program. Roughly $130 billion still remains in the program, and businesses will now have until August 8th to apply.
Anti-Semitism On The March
Pro-Palestinian groups took to the streets yesterday in a "Day of Rage" against Israel. These marches didn't happen in Ramallah or in Gaza, but in cities across the United States.
Some protesters were seen with signs reading "Palestinians For Black Power." Others chanted anti-Semitic slogans like, "Israel we know you. You murder children too." This goes back to the disgusting blood libel that Jews eat children.
Unfortunately, elements of the Black Lives Matter movement are infected with anti-Semitism. We saw it during the Ferguson riots and more recently when kosher stores and synagogues were vandalized during the protests and riots that followed after George Floyd's death.
Will any progressive leaders condemn these so-called "peaceful protests" now that their radical agenda has been revealed?
Going Nuclear
For years, some Republicans in the Senate have refused to deploy the "nuclear option" on regular legislation – getting rid of the filibuster. Without an agreement between party leaders, it takes 60 votes to bring a bill to the Senate floor.
It's is rare for either party to have that many votes. That's one of the reasons there is so much frustration, even when conservatives control the House and the White House, that so many good conservative ideas die in the Senate.
Many conservative leaders have urged Senate Republicans to get rid of the legislative filibuster because it is absolutely clear that the woke progressive senators will not hesitate to get rid of it.
And you don't have to take my word for it. Multiple left-wing senators are already planning how and when they will "go nuclear" once they have power in order to ram through every radical agenda item they can imagine.
Clueless In The Senate
Many of you are probably familiar with Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and James Lankford of Oklahoma. I've worked with them both. Johnson is leading the fight against communist China. Lankford is a strong Christian and leads the Senate Values Action Team.
That's why it was so disappointing to see what happened this week.
There is pressure to create a new federal holiday celebrating Juneteenth, which commemorates the emancipation of the last slaves in the state of Texas. Being fiscal conservatives, Johnson and Lankford know that federal holidays are expensive because workers get paid when they are off work.
So, they offered a compromise that if Juneteenth was to become a national holiday then Columbus Day should be abolished as a federal holiday. I think this is another bit of evidence that many of our leaders still don't understand the times we are living in and the intentions of the left.
I agree with Tucker Carlson, who said that if this moves forward, Juneteenth will quickly become a rival to July 4th. The woke left and their media allies will elevate Juneteenth and it will become a symbol to the folks who think America is evil.
As surely as night follows day, July 4th will wane. Children will be told that if they really care about justice and equality, they will celebrate Juneteenth and stop celebrating the birthday of a country built on slavery and genocide.
I'm a fiscal conservative. But after witnessing the anarchy of recent weeks, as Columbus statues are being torn down, the weakness being signaled by getting rid of Columbus Day is unacceptable.
Nations and revolutions need symbols to rally around. But these two good senators are signaling that they don't understand the moment we are in.