A Dangerous Power Grab

Most of you reading this report aren't lawyers. But you don't have to be a lawyer to appreciate the importance of the Supreme Court. 

The justices are the final word on everything from our freedom of speech, our Second Amendment rights, the right to life, and even our freedom of religion. We just won an important case on religious liberty last week, but it was a very close 5 to 4 decision. 

That's why it's so disturbing to see the radical left and many liberals in Congress attacking the Supreme Court for standing in the way of their radical agenda.

Last week, Joe Biden announced that he was appointing a commission to study packing the court or expanding the number of justices. But progressive politicians aren't waiting for Biden's commission to complete its work. 

They unveiled legislation today adding four more justices to the Supreme Court, justices Joe Biden would appoint who would all be liberals. (See below.)

Why four? Well, on most issues there is a 6 to 3 conservative majority. Adding four more liberals suddenly creates a left-wing majority of 7 to 6. This is a raw power grab plain and simple.

Democrats tried this once before. But Franklin Roosevelt's attempt to pack the Supreme Court was so unpopular that no president has ever tried it since. Polls shows that this radical idea is still overwhelmingly unpopular. 

Liberal icons like Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer oppose packing the Supreme Court because it turns the court into a political football that can be manipulated at whim by the majority in Congress. 

By itself, this assault on the independence of the Supreme Court is terrible and dangerous for our country. But it is just the latest of many radical efforts by the left to obliterate all checks and balances in order to seize power and fundamentally transform America. 

The Left's Extreme Agenda

Let me remind you of what the left is doing right now. 

·     They want to eliminate the filibuster so they can ram through their radical agenda in the Senate with a bare majority of votes.

·     They want to make Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico states, adding four more liberals to the Senate.

·     They want to pack the Supreme Court.

·     They want to nationalize all election laws in ways that only benefit the left.

·     They are letting hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants pour into the country at the same time they are trying to ban voter ID laws. What does that tell you?!

Any one of these issues by itself would be a huge game changer. But progressives are aggressively pushing them all!

My friends, I am begging you to redouble your efforts to be active and engaged citizens. 

·     Contact your members of Congress today at 202-224-3121. Tell them to oppose any legislation to pack the Supreme Court.

·     Share this report with friends and family members. Make sure they know what is going on. 

·     Please support our work as generously as you can so we can fight back against the radical left!

Speaking Of Extreme. . .

Their legislative agenda isn't the only example of the left's extremism that's on full display in Washington, D.C. Joe Biden is packing the federal bureaucracy with extremists every single day. 

One of them, Kristen Clarke, had a rough hearing before Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday. Ironically, Biden nominated Clarke to lead the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. 

But she has dabbled in anti-Semitism and peddled racist theories about black supremacy. And Clarke publicly supported ex-Women's March leader Tamika Mallory, a supporter of Louis Farrakhan. 

On matters of policy, Clarke opposed the equal application of voting rights laws, condemned voter ID laws, repeatedly attacked religious liberty (here, here and here), and supported the extreme "defund the police" movement.

Clarke has no business in the Justice Department at all, much less leading the Civil Rights Division! 

But that's not the worst of it. She's on many progressive short lists for Biden's first Supreme Court appointment, and he has promised to appoint a black woman.

Some Much Needed Perspective

Officer Kim Potter was released from jail yesterday after posting $100,000 bond. She's facing manslaughter charges and 10 years in jail. Barricades were erected around her home, which is also under police protection, as protesters are now carrying pigs heads on stakes. 

The vile imagery is clear: The mob wants Potter's head.

A jury will decide Potter's fate. The violent mob should not be tolerated. The Thin Blue Line is the only thing that stands between civilized society and mob "justice," which is no justice at all.

It is important to hold our peace officers to high standards of professional conduct. At the same time, we must keep these events in perspective. The left-wing narrative of "systemically racist police shootings" is demonstrably false. 

Here's what you need to know:

·     There are at least 10 million arrests every year. That's more than 27,000 arrests every day, virtually all of them are for the good of society.

·     In the overwhelming majority of cases involving the deadly use of force, it is justified. One study of officer-involved shootings found that "55% of the victims were white, 27% were black, and 19% were Hispanic. Between 90 and 95% of the civilians shot by officers were attacking police or other citizens; 90% were armed with a weapon."

·     Another study found that "officers were slightly more than three times less likely to shoot unarmed black suspects than unarmed white suspects."

·     According to Heather Mac Donald, a Justice Department study of the Philadelphia Police Department found that black officers were 67% more likely than white officers to mistakenly shoot an unarmed black suspect.

·     One Harvard study found no evidence of racial bias in police shootings. The black professor who conducted the study called the findings, "the most surprising result of my career." 

·     According to the Washington Post database of police shootings, 18 unarmed black people (and 24 unarmed white people) were shot by police last year. Are we going to allow the media and the left to prejudge every case? Are we going to have riots 18 times a year?

·     "Unarmed" doesn't always mean innocent. In some cases, officers are being physically assaulted. In other cases, an attacker is struggling for the officer's weapon. 

·     Mac Donald also notes that "A police officer is 18.5 times more likely to be killed by a black male than an unarmed black male is to be killed by a police officer."

·     Over the past decade, 511 police officers have been murdered in the line of duty. As columnist Terry Jeffrey put it, that's almost one a week, every year for the last ten years.

How many of their names do you know? And how many riots have occurred because a police officer was shot and killed?

Fighting For America First

I am pleased to report that there is a major effort underway to build an infrastructure to support and sustain the America First movement that Donald Trump inspired. The foundation of that effort, the America First Policy Institute (AFPI) was launched this week. 

Serious people are involved in AFPI, including dozens of former Trump Administration officials. The organization is led by Brooke Rollins, who was President Trump's Domestic Policy Advisor – the same position I held in the Reagan White House. 

I was pleased to be part of a select group to receive a private briefing about the launch of the America First Policy Institute. I assure you that American Values will be working closely with AFPI in the weeks and months ahead to fight for an unapologetically pro-family, pro-life, pro-America First agenda!

In related news, former Vice President Mike Pence is recovering after having a heart pacemaker implanted yesterday. The routine surgery was successful and Pence is expected to fully recover. Please keep the vice president and his family in your prayers.