Military Veterans and Patriots

Tag: Biden

  • The Biden Impeachment Plan: Republican Lawmaker Reveals Their 4-Pronged Strategy

    The Biden Impeachment Plan: Republican Lawmaker Reveals Their 4-Pronged Strategy

    AP Photo/Susan Walsh

    Jeff Charles | RedState

    Are Republicans getting closer to impeaching President Joe Biden? There has been much speculating on the right about such an eventuality. After a barrage of politically-motivated indictments against former President Donald Trump, members of the conservative base seem to be ready for the shoe to be placed on the other foot for a change.

    Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC) gave Republican voters reason to be optimistic in an op-ed published Friday. In the piece, the lawmaker noted that many of his constituents want to see Biden impeached:

    I have received countless questions from South Carolina’s Third District about impeachment proceedings against Joe Biden. My constituents and all of America deserve an honest answer as to how House Republicans are working to hold the Biden administration accountable. So far, House Republicans have held 565 oversight hearings, forced 561 Biden officials to testify under oath, and issued 45 subpoenas.

    With so many issues surrounding the Biden Crime Family and the abuse of government, Republicans in the House are building a case for impeachment through 4 Committees: Homeland Security, Ways & Means, Oversight & Accountability, and Judiciary.

    Duncan then went through the four main issues Republicans are exploring for a potential impeachment effort. He explained how the “Homeland Security Committee is focusing on Joe Biden allowing the invasion at our southern border where over 5.5 million illegal border crossings have occurred since Biden took office.” The lawmaker emphasized that the White House “must answer why the cartel is controlling our southwest border and why fentanyl is freely flowing across our borders and causing countless deaths here in America.

    He then moved on to the “two-tiered judicial system” in the IRS and Justice Department that has protected Hunter Biden from scrutiny and legal repercussions. He noted that the committee will seek to end “preferential” treatment for those who are members of the ruling class.

    Duncan brought up the Biden family’s alleged shady business dealings with foreign entities. “They are following the money trail to see where it leads to and from in relation to the Biden Crime Family and their foreign connections—otherwise known as the Chinese Communist Party,” he wrote.

    Last, but not least, Duncan mentioned Rep. Jim Jordan’s (R-OH) effort to expose “the weaponization of both the FBI and the DOJ” while putting “an end to Biden’s censoring of Americans.”

    This all sounds well and good to folks on the right. But are Republicans actually going to follow through? The signs seem to suggest they will, eventually. These four issues, along with the Biden bribery scandal, have shown there is more than enough smoke to explore whether there is a fire. Moreover, at least some Republicans recognize that they will have to go on the offensive at some point if they want a chance to avoid getting annihilated in the 2024 elections.

    Impeaching the president will drag the country through more political drama, which makes it a risky gambit for Republicans. But Democrats have already been doing this with the politically-motivated indictments they have levied against Trump. At this point, Republicans need as much of a counter-narrative as they can get. Fortunately for them, the Biden family seems to have generously provided copious amounts of ammunition.

    Republicans would not be impeaching Biden because they actually expect to remove him from office. Democrats in the Senate will almost certainly vote against conviction unless my pie-in-the-sky conspiracy theory proves to be correct. Nevertheless, this does not mean Republicans won’t have done considerable political damage depending on what their investigations and hearings turn up. If the GOP plays its cards right, it might have an effective answer to the Democrats’ effort to weaponize the justice system against Trump.

    Original Here

  • Biden Issues EO Calling Up 3000 Reservists And It’s No Big Deal

    Biden Issues EO Calling Up 3000 Reservists And It’s No Big Deal

    Yesterday (P)resident Biden issued an executive order calling up 3k reservists to active duty. The EO also authorized the call up of up to 450 IRR (individual ready reserve) troops. Those troops are expected to be used in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve, the multi-national support mission for (not in) Ukraine.

    By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including sections 121 and 12304 of title 10, United States Code, I hereby determine that it is necessary to augment the active Armed Forces of the United States for the effective conduct of Operation Atlantic Resolve in and around the United States European Command’s area of responsibility.  In furtherance of this operation, under the stated authority, I hereby authorize the Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of Homeland Security with respect to the Coast Guard when it is not operating as a service in the Navy, under their respective jurisdictions, to order to active duty any units, and any individual members not assigned to a unit organized to serve as a unit of the Selected Reserve, or any member in the Individual Ready Reserve mobilization category and designated as essential under regulations prescribed by the Secretary concerned, not to exceed 3,000 total members at any one time, of whom not more than 450 may be members of the Individual Ready Reserve, as they deem necessary, and to terminate the service of those units and members ordered to active duty.

         This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

                                 JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

    However, it isn’t the start of World War III, any kind of escalation or even a big deal (I mean, it is to those being called up, but steps have been taken to provide more support for those impacted.). The call-up of Reserve troops and units has been a regular feature of the US military dating back to the creation of the Army Reserve system in 1908. EOs with the same language have been used for each one of those call-ups since 1952. The Army Reserve, (the one I know most about, and I don’t feel like researching the other branches) has been called up for every conflict and contingency op since WWI.

    Why isn’t a big deal you may well ask. Well, first it’s just the reserve. What do I mean by that? Simply put, under the current force structure, the reserves, with the exception of the Marine Corps, do not have any combat arms formations. In other words, the reserves are support personnel, intel analysts, mechanics, clerks and the like. Had the EO included the National Guard, the reserve component that includes combat arms, I might have been concerned.

    Second, shortly after the russian invasion kicked off, two brigade combat teams were deployed to the EUCOM area of operations in support of Atlantic Resolve. The troops being mobbed aren’t combat arms troops, and I suppose that relates to the Guard comment above.

    Third, recruiting and retention across the branches sucks. I’m going to speculate a bit here, and say the call-ups are going to back-fill some support positions that are being vacated as troops do not re-up at the end of their contracts.

    My SWAG is that the vast majority of those being called up are in some sort of logistics or transportation MOS/Specialty. They are likely replacing active duty troops who are rotating home.

  • Biden doesn’t want military promotions awarded on merit?

    Biden doesn’t want military promotions awarded on merit?

    (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

    BEEGE WELBORN | HotAir

    I saw this late yesterday afternoon and I have to admit it is baffling to me.

    Biden Admin Opposes Merit-Based Military Promotions, Wants Provisions For Race And Gender

    President Joe Biden’s administration is fighting back against a new provision in the annual defense spending bill that would require military promotions to be based solely on merit rather than considering race or gender.

    Why is it baffling? Because – cock-eyed optimist that I am – I always thought that’s how promotions pretty much went. In theory, the best candidate gets the next stripe or rank. Now, in reality is that true? Of course not, and we have a stellar airman in our family to prove it. A kid who came out of deployment to Djibouti with not one, but two joint awards from the Special Operations command (which he was not assigned to, but requested by name to fap over and help out) – both the Joint Service Achievement and Commendation medals – and do you think he could get promoted in the Air Force?

    Nah. They have to tickee some stupid pre-determined “qualities we’re looking for THIS year” boxes to even be considered by their promotion board, which have zero to do with war-fighting or making the Air Force better. And they wonder why they’re losing their self-motivated, innovative superstars.

    But, at least in the Marine Corps, if you were a stellar performer, I always felt you had a great shot going in, no matter who you were up against. Everybody’s face gets seen/record briefed who is in the zone. There’s no preselection, like Ebola and his compadres face – no “commander’s choice” BS.

    I can’t speak to the other services, but I would hope they traditionally handle it with an open door policy. Everyone, however worthy, has a chance to get their shiny mug glanced at and if you came up short, usually that was on you.

    Not your skin color or gender.

    I do understand where the officer corps, especially as you get into the rarified ranks, starts to become a “beauty pageant,” if you will. Quotas, real and imagined, are probably a factor, thanks to Congressional pressure and outside interest groups who are always crawling up the DoD’s butt, since even before the first time I spit after hearing Pat Schroeder’s name. Believe me, as an enlisted WM (Woman Marine, which is no longer PC) in the 80s and 90s, we hated that woman.

    This blows my mind. There has to be at least a veneer of merit based achievement counting for the bulk of your score, however it’s computed. Who wants to stand perhaps almost a point above another candidate, and still possibly lose because they had a vagina or darker skin or whatever the “special class bonus round” award was?

    What in the Sam HELL?!

    Like I told Ed yesterday, we all used to be green or blue and life sucked, or was wonderful equally across the board.

    I’m curious if Congressman Jim Banks, who wrote this provision as well as one eliminating the DEIA efforts in the current version of the defense authorization bill, has done this as a preemptive strike, a clarification, or if he had word of directives to promotion boards calling for racial or gender quotas?

    That would certainly be yet another disheartening slide toward the abyss for the military.

    …Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), who wrote both the merit and DEI pay limit provisions, told The Post that he “consider[s] the White House’s opposition to my amendments a badge of honor.”

    “Wokeness is a cancer that will destroy our military from the inside out if we don’t stop it,” Banks said.

    But the merit provision, unlike some of the other provisions, is not explicitly anti-DEIA.

    It would simply require the Pentagon to make all military hiring, assignment, selection and promotion decisions “on the basis of merit in order to advance those individuals who exhibit the talent and abilities necessary to promote the national security of the United States,” according to the draft bill, which sets annual defense spending and policy priorities.

    I did find it interesting that they tried removing photos when Mark Esper was SecDef, and it didn’t work out numbers-wise the way they wanted or felt they needed.

    Let me also caveat that the “they” referenced is the Biden administration, which came into office as the numbers from the previous boards came back. Milley, Kirby, and the extremist/white rage hunting DoD DEI mob were doing the proportion math.

    …Diversity among leadership dropped after photos were removed last year from Navy promotion packages, Vice Adm. John Nowell said during a panel discussion on diversity and inclusion at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space conference.

    “I think we should consider reinstating photos in selection boards,” he said. “We look at, for instance, the one-star board over the last five years, and we can show you where, as you look at diversity, it went down with photos removed.”

    …Williamson said there was an “assumption that there’s bias in the boardroom,” but a recent review of the Marine Corps’ promotion board process by the Department of the Navy’s office for diversity, equity and inclusion found that’s likely untrue.

    “We’re doing a survey right now to see if there’s bias inside the evaluation system,” he said. “[If] we find out that there’s disparities within the way we do business within a service, we need to be intellectually curious enough to ask why and then figure out what we need to do.”

    The comments come as the Defense Department works to address extremism and promote diversity in the military. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has spoken “very publicly that at the senior leaders’ level, we are not as diverse as the rest of the force,” Chief Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday.

    Call me cynical, but I’m not surprised at all “the numbers” didn’t make that group happy.

    If you take a look at the DoD response to the proposed provisions – and particularly the one which includes the DEIA elimination and merit-based promotions – they are all major butthurt at the very thought of losing their focus on diversity…

    Screencap Dod H.R. 2670

    …but nowhere in that litany of the wonders of inclusion, life experiences, and positive work environments does it say anything about war-fighting.

    Promotion selection boards should be selecting the BEST in their field, not the prettiest, politest or best BIPOC volunteer in the community.

    As a dear friend of ours – a brilliant retired Marine Corps LtCol himself and Ebola’s godfather – just told me:

    “Select war fighters. Select ONLY war fighters!!!”

    There can’t be an argument about that.

    Original Here

  • New Biden Policy on Drone Use Says Fighting Terrorism Is No Longer a US Priority

    New Biden Policy on Drone Use Says Fighting Terrorism Is No Longer a US Priority

    FILE – This Sunday, Jan. 31, 2010 file photo shows a U.S. Predator drone as it flies over the moon above Kandahar Air Field, southern Afghanistan. A U.S. drone fired a pair of missiles that hit a vehicle in northwestern Pakistan, near the Afghan border killing three suspected militants, in Datta Khel village of North Waziristan tribal region at about midnight Thursday, two intelligence officials said. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)

     streiff | RedState

    The New York Times has obtained an unclassified version of the Biden White House’s drone strike and commando raid policy away from conventional battlefields. This policy prescribes how US forces may use drones and deploy US commandos to kill or capture high-value targets (HVT). In most cases, a strike requires the personal okay of Joe Biden, and there must be a “near certainty” that no civilians will be injured. These rules overturn a more permissive set of rules promulgated by President Trump.

    How Does This Change Things?

    According to “a senior administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security matters,” the new policy only recognizes Iraq and Syria as conventional battlefields. In the past, Afghanistan, Yemen, Libya, Somalia, and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan were considered areas of conflict.

    This means that nearly all strikes by drones, Delta Force, or Navy SEALs will require Biden’s personal approval. In the past, lower-ranking officers were allowed to make calls. What it means, in fact, is that we will never authorize a strike or raid against a target not in Iraq or Syria because by the time Biden can be given enough methamphetamine to keep him lucid and briefed on the mission, the target will have disappeared.

    There is a carve-out in the policy for

    strikes carried out in defense of American forces stationed abroad or in the “collective self-defense” of partner forces trained and equipped by the United States. Such strikes are permitted in the cases of “foreign partners and allies who are under attack or are threatened with an imminent attack,” the document says.

    This expands the area of decentralized drone use to include places like Somalia, where US-armed and trained Somali soldiers fight an Islamic insurgency.

    Under President Trump, the standard for direct action was that “due care” be taken to prevent civilian casualties. Under the new system, your career is at risk if anything goes wrong. Like the rule on personal approval by Biden, this rule assures no strikes will be made.

    The policy requires the Pentagon and CIA to publish annual reports quantifying the number of drone strikes and civilians killed and injured in those strikes. The Trump administration did not issue reports. Like the previous changes, this makes authorizing any strikes a high-risk, potential-prison-time affair and “do nothing” as the safest course of action. I think we’re seeing a pattern.

    All terrorist risks to the US and its overseas installations must be prioritized “amid competing national-security threats and resource constraints.” Translated, this means that fighting terrorism has ceased to be a priority.

    The Impact

    Even without the new policy, drone strikes were out of favor with the Biden White House. The number of drone strikes dropped dramatically under President Trump due to winding down the war in Afghanistan, but they have cratered under Biden. In 2019 there were 224 strikes; in 2020, there were 56; and in 2021, there were 13. No numbers are available for 2022.

    The policy only permits drone strikes in situations where drone operators “operators deem “infeasible” any option of capturing the targeted person alive in a commando raid.” I have no idea how a drone operator could make such a call or why anyone would take such a call made outside of a SOF planning cell as anything but laughable. We can take a moment, though, to examine what happens next. In Steven Coll’s book Ghost Wars, he described how the Clinton administration allowed itself to tie itself in knots and permit Osama bin Laden to live freely in an area where we had quite a bit of reach. Executive Order 12333, signed by Ronald Reagan, prohibits US involvement in assassination. The Clinton Administration determined that killing bin Laden would violate this order. So any plan to get bin Laden had to have a plausible way to capture and extract him from Afghanistan. Getting people to kill him was easy; the CIA was offered multiple chances to use in-country allies to do just that. What they could never develop was a plausible plan to get him out of Afghanistan. This will have much the same effect. Every potential hit will have to be studied to show that capture isn’t possible. By then, the target will have moved on.

    This policy, on paper, would not have prevented the drone strike that wiped out an Afghan family, see That’ll Teach ‘Em. US Drone Strike Targeting Suicide Bombers in Kabul Kills Family of Nine, Including Four Kids Under Age Five. This is because US military forces were in the area, making it a “conventional battlefield” and under imminent threat of attack. In reality, it would have almost certainly stopped the drone strike because no one would take the risk of calling the shot. The follow-up attack against the “planner” of the suicide attack on US forces at the Kabul airport would probably never happened because it would have required presidential approval, see Biden Makes Good on Threat: US Airstrike Targets ISIS Member in Retaliation for Kabul Bombing.

    Bottom Line

    This policy basically ends the US war on international terrorism that began on September 11, 2001. It raises the bar so high for using drones that it will be nearly impossible to get the requisite permission in a timely manner. Before any drone attack can be ordered, a feasibility study has to determine that Delta or SEALs can’t capture and exfiltrate the target alive. The White House is in the kill chain.

    We are back to where the Clinton White House was. You can be mostly opposed to drone strikes and still see how this is not a good thing.

    The decision to honor a FOIA request for a classified document and provide experts to talk about it on background shows the Biden White House is sending a message to the world that it is no longer interested in keeping terrorist organizations from gaining the initiative.

    Original Here

  • Latest ABC/WaPo Poll Is an Absolute Horror Show for Joe Biden, Leaves George Stephanopoulos Stunned

    Latest ABC/WaPo Poll Is an Absolute Horror Show for Joe Biden, Leaves George Stephanopoulos Stunned

    AP Photo/Susan Walsh

    Bonchie | RedState

    Just when you thought things couldn’t get worse for Joe Biden, he goes careening off a cliff. That’s the story of the latest poll by ABC News and The Washington Post, which is just an absolute horror show for the president.

    That’s not hyperbole. We’ve gotten bad polls for the president in the past, but these numbers appear to be the worst of his presidency, and they counter a narrative of resurgence the press has been desperate to push since the beginning of 2023.

    Don’t take my word for it, though. Here’s George Stephanopoulos lamenting the results as “brutal.” He and his on-set colleague go on to explain how they “can’t make sense” of what they are seeing.

    https://twitter.com/KevinTober94/status/1655207964347715585?

    So just how bad are the numbers? We’ll get to the toplines soon enough, but according to the poll, 63 percent of respondents say Biden does not have the mental sharpness to be president while 62 percent say he is not healthy enough to be president. That comes after Biden flaunted his senility in a series of high-profile trips recently. As I wrote on Friday, this is a man who can’t even appear in public anymore without his mental decline expressing itself in vivid fashion.

    That so many Americans are finally catching up to the fact that Biden isn’t capable of fulfilling the duties of his office is heartening. For a while there, it felt like no matter how terribly he looked, sounded, and performed, his numbers remained largely static. Some of that was a result of the press doing everything they could to cover up his condition, but there’s only so much they can do.

    Perhaps the White House, which has been trotting Biden out in public a lot more over the last year, simply got too arrogant? They’ve showcased a bit of an invincibility complex, presuming that nothing they do matters, with the president fumbling around on the world stage to the expectation of seal claps. But it does matter, and all of this is cumulative in the minds of the American people.

    That brings me to his approval rating, which is a record-low 36 percent in the poll. Further, both Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis beat Biden in a general election matchup by wide margins (both by 6 points).

    Where does Biden go from here? What is he going to do in the next year that dramatically changes his prospects? I think the answer remains that the only way he wins is if Republicans allow themselves to become the primary topic of discussion. If this election is a referendum on Joe Biden, he is going to get crushed. If it’s a referendum on “extremist Republicans” or some other nonsense, he can play the basement strategy again and win.

    Discipline is going to be key going forward. The press will go gangbusters trying to define the 2024 election as a choice between progress and extremism. Republicans need to counter that messaging with one of competency, policy, and success. People are pining for some semblance of prosperity and normalcy again, specifically regarding cultural issues and their finances. Don’t fall into the traps that will be laid.

    Original Here

  • If You Really Wanted to…

    If You Really Wanted to…

    If You Really Wanted to Destroy US, You’d Do These 10 Things

    Victor Davis Hanson  / @VDHanson / December 02, 2022

    First, you would surrender our prior energy independence.

    Reduce new gas and oil leases on federal lands to the lowest levels of any president in history. Cut back production at precisely the time the world is emerging from a two-year lockdown with pent-up consumer demand.

    Make war on coal and nuclear power. Drain the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to make the pain for consumers more bearable for midterm election advantage.

    Cancel the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge oil and gas field. Block pipelines like the Keystone XL oil pipeline and the Constitution natural gas line.

    Overregulate and demonize frackers and horizontal drillers. Ensure there is less investment for their exploration and production.

    Make use of internal combustible engines or fossil fuel power generation prohibitively expensive. Achieve a green oil-dependency along the lines of contemporary Europe.

    Second, print trillions of dollars in new currency as the lockdowns end, demand rises, and consumers are already saturated with COVID-19 subsidies. Keep interest rates low, well below the rate of inflation, as you print more money. Ensure that passbook holders earn no interest at the very time prices skyrocket to the highest per-annum level in 40 years.

    “Spread the wealth” by sending money to those who already have enough, while making it less valuable for those deemed to have too much. Ensure runaway high prices to wean the middle class off its consumerism and supposedly to inspire them to buy less junk they don’t need. Damn the rich in the open and in the abstract, court them in the concrete and secret of darkness.

    Third, end America’s physical boundaries. Render it an amorphous people and anywhere space. End any vestigial difference between a citizen and resident. Up the current nearly 50 million who were not born in the United States—27% of California’s population—to 100 million and more by allowing 3 million illegal aliens to enter per year.

    Fourth, destroy the public trust in its elections. Render Election Day irrelevant. Make proper auditing of 110 million mail-in/early ballots impossible. Normalize ballot harvesting and curing.

    Urge leftist billionaires to infuse their riches to “absorb” the work of state registrars in key precincts to ensure the correct “turnout.”

    Blast as “election denialists,” “insurrectionists,” and “democracy destroyers” anyone who objects to these radical ballot changes, neither passed by the U.S. Congress, nor by state legislators. Weaponize the FBI, CIA, and Department of Justice.

    Fifth, redefine crime as one rich man’s crime, another poor man’s necessity.

    Let those who need “things” exercise their entitlement to them. Rewrite or ignore laws to exempt the oppressed who take, or do, what they want as atonement for past systemic racism and oppression.

    Six, junk the ossified idea of a melting pot and multiracial society united by common American values and ideals. Instead, identify individuals by their superficial appearance. Seek to be a victim and monetize your claims against perceived victimizers. Call anyone who resists a “racist.”

    Encourage each tribe, defined by common race, ethnic, gender, or sexual orientation affinities, to band together to oppose the monolithic “white privilege” majority. Encourage social and tribal tensions. Racially discriminate to end discrimination.

    Greenlight statue toppling, name changing, boycotting, cancel culturing, ostracizing, and Trotskyizing. Erase the past, control the present, and create a new American person for the future.

    Seven, render the United States just one of many nations abroad. Abandon Afghanistan in shame. Leave behind thousands of loyal Afghan allies, billions of dollars in equipment, a billion-dollar embassy, and the largest air base in central Asia. Appease the theocracy to reenter the Iran nuclear deal.

    Beg enemies like Venezuela, Russia, and Iran to pump more oil when it is politically expedient for us to have abundant supplies—oil that we have in abundance but won’t produce. Discourage friends like Guinea from producing more energy and cancel allies’ energy projects like the EastMed pipeline.

    Trash but then beg Saudi Arabia to pump more oil right before the midterms for domestic political advantage.

    Eight, neuter the First Amendment. Enlist Silicon Valley monopolies to silence unwanted free speech while using Big Tech’s mega-profits to warp elections. Declare free expression “hate speech.” Criminalize contrarian social media.

    Nine, demonize half the country as semi-fascists, un-Americans, insurrectionists, and even potential domestic terrorists. Try to change inconvenient ancient rules: seek to pack the court, end the filibuster, junk the Electoral College, and bring in two more states.

    Twice impeach a president who tried to stand in your way. Try him when he is an emeritus president and private citizen. Raid his home. Seek to indict a future rival to the current president.

    Ten, never mention the origins of the COVID-19 virus. Never blame China for the release of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Exempt investigations of U.S. health officials who subsidized Chinese gain-of-function research. Ignore the Bill of Rights to mandate vaccinations, mask-wearing, and quarantines.

    We have done all of the above. It would be hard to imagine any planned agenda to destroy America that would have been as injurious as what we already suffered the past two years.

    COPYRIGHT 2022 TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY LLC

    

  • Biden War On Energy…

    Biden War On Energy…

    Biden War On Energy Helps China, Saudi, & Venezuelan Dictators

    Protesters in China shout “Down with Xi” and “Free Xinjiang” in reference to the province where 10 people were killed by a fire, and where solar panels are made by oppressed Uyghur Muslims.

    Michael Shellenberger – Substack – 11-27-2022

    President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, on Thanksgiving (left). President Xi Jinping (right)

    President Joe Biden ran for and was elected president in 2020 by promising to stand up for human rights. He attacked President Donald Trump for not doing more to pressure Saudi Arabia. Biden came out for “stronger multilateral sanctions” on Venezuela. And he denouncedChinese Premier Xi Jinping as a “thug” and promised to “unite the economic might of democracies around the world to counter abusive economic practices.” 

    And yet Biden has drastically softened U.S. policy toward Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and China, over the last two years. 

    Biden yesterday lifted oil sanctions on Venezuela, which the U.S. State Department says is a dictatorship that uses the military and violent gangs to engage in “extrajudicial killings,” “forced disappearances,” and “torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment.”

    Biden publicly begged the Saudi government to produce more oil during the summer and two weeks ago granted immunity to the prime minister, a son of the king, and a man who US and foreign intelligence services say killed a Washington Post reporter.

    And, in early June, Biden issued an emergency order for the U.S. to continue importing Chinese solar panels and products from Xinjiang province, where the U.S. State Department says the government is committing genocide against Uyghur Muslims.

    Defenders of the president say: the lifting of Venezuela sanctions “was not connected to the administration’s efforts to boost global energy production” and were simply “to support newly restarted negotiations” between the government and the opposition; granting the Saudi prime minister immunity was a mere formality; and the lifting of solar panel sanctions is only until the summer of 2024.

    Those are bogus excuses and every sentient person in official Washington knows it. The Venezuelan government has done nothing of significance to merit a lifting of sanctions, only agreeing to talks. The main motivation of Biden to lift sanctions on Venezuela is so it will produce more oil so the U.S. doesn’t have to. That’s the same reason the Biden administration granted immunity to the Saudi prince. 

    Image
    Students protesting at the Communication University of China, Nanjing. (Source: Manya Koetse)

    They talked about how Trump bowed to “strong men dictators”. Hmmm…does the phrase ‘pot/kettle’ become fact. Biden will do everything in his power to prevent the US from returning to ‘energy independence’.

  • Joe Biden Makes Pathetic Threat to Oil Companies, Exxon-Mobil Drops Him in Response

    Joe Biden Makes Pathetic Threat to Oil Companies, Exxon-Mobil Drops Him in Response

    AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

     Bonchie | RedState

    Amidst record prices, the White House has been desperately searching for a way to bring down costs without actually having to change its policy direction. That means lots of whining about supposed “price gouging” and threatening oil companies.

    On Tuesday, the threats escalated to the use of emergency powers, specifically the Defense Production Act, to force oil companies to refine more gasoline.

    President Biden will warn CEOs of the nation’s largest oil companies on Wednesday that he’s considering invoking emergency powers to boost U.S. refinery output, according to a letter obtained by Axios.

    Why it matters: Biden’s direct engagement with the oil giants is part of an ongoing White House effort to tame fuel prices despite limited options — and cast oil companies as responsible for consumers’ higher bills.

    It’s not the weekend, so I’m not going to just start posting memes describing how idiotic Biden’s threat is, and to be frank, I think everyone reading this is smart enough to know. Joe Biden isn’t smart enough to know, but you are.

    While the president apparently believes he’s a king, refining capacity doesn’t care about emergency powers. As CNBC notes, refineries are already running over 90 percent of capacity, and no new ones have been built in decades, largely because of stringent federal regulations and inconsistent energy policies. Who would invest in a new refinery when you’ve got one party saying they want to shut it down in five to ten years? Then there’s the fact that the White House has pushed refineries to make environmentally-unfriendly, engine-damaging biofuel as part of its “climate” agenda.

    Refiners can’t just ramp up output, with utilization rates already above 90%. Additionally, some refiners are now being reconfigured to make alternate products like biofuel.

    After Biden sent his letter, Exxon-Mobil dropped him in response. The oil giant noted several inconvenient facts to the president’s narrative, even going so far as to discuss investments that have cost the company money in an effort to keep production going in this difficult (mostly government-caused) environment.

    The statement is clear and concise, and while it’ll do nothing to persuade the climate hysterics, the facts within are undeniable. Despite the often-repeated claim that oil companies are just pocketing gobs of cash, Exxon-Mobil points out that they have invested double what they’ve made over the last five years. Contrary to the president’s notion that they are purposely holding back production, they have increased production by 50 percent.

    But I think the most important part of the response comes at the end. While Biden hounds the oil companies to create a scapegoat for his failed policies, Exxon-Mobil is asking for “clear and consistent” policies. That’s really the key to this entire thing. When a president spends years saying he’s going to crush oil production and then enacts policies that do just that, the idea that it is now the fault of oil companies for not producing more is asinine. It’s a pathetic attempt by a feeble, old man to deflect blame for his failures.

    Lastly, the statement specifically mentions the need for more infrastructure, such as pipelines. That’s a nod to Biden’s canceling of Keystone XL. After all, how are you going to refine more gasoline when the supply of oil is being pinched by the government? The president could greenlight Keystone today and it would have an effect on oil prices because the markets are speculatory. He won’t, though.

    In the end, I think Americans know where the blame lies here. Biden’s weak attempts to escape responsibility will only harden the opposition to him.

    Original Here

  • Biden Is Furious That He’s Below Trump in Polls but It Just Got Even Worse

    Biden Is Furious That He’s Below Trump in Polls but It Just Got Even Worse

    AP Photo/Alex Brandon

     Nick Arama | RedState

    As we noted earlier, Joe Biden is in a quandary as to how to change his sliding numbers. He’s frustrated even that his numbers are worse than those of President Donald Trump. As NBC noted, “He’s now lower than Trump, and he’s really twisted about it,” another person close to the White House said. He also thinks Democrats aren’t defending him enough.

    Biden is supposedly upset that his people are undercutting him, but his people respond, “We don’t say anything that the president doesn’t want us to say.” In other words, what Biden is saying now — or what NBC is spreading out there to try to make him look better — just doesn’t add up.

    That’s the problem when it comes to Biden; that’s why the polls are continuing to crash: because no one believes that Joe Biden knows what he is doing and they believe all the issues that we are having to deal with can be laid right in the lap of his confusion.

    It isn’t getting any better for him.

    The Civiqs poll just hit the basement on Biden: 34 percent.

    Back in December, the poll was bad at 37 percent and only five states had Joe Biden overwater in approval.

    Now, only three states have him above water in approval, with just Hawaii at majority approval level. He’s underwater even in California at 42/46.

    Ed Morrissey of Hot Air notes how the numbers have changed since April in those critical states for the midterms. Note, Biden has even slipped in Delaware, his home state.

    Arizona: 32/59, was 35/57
    Colorado: 36/52, was 40/51
    Connecticut: 38/50, was 42/48
    Delaware(!): 35/53, was 38/54
    Georgia: 31/58, was 33/57
    Minnesota: 39/52, was 41/50
    Ohio: 29/61, was 31/60
    Oregon: 41/47, was 41/48
    Nevada: 33/58, was 35/57
    Virginia: 34/55, was 37/53
    Washington state: 42/48, was 44/47

    [….}

    He’s still seen favorably by black voters overwhelmingly (75/17) and barely by Hispanic voters (48/45), but that’s it. Majorities in every age demo see Biden unfavorably on a personal basis. So do college and non-college voters except for post-grads, who still rank him slightly unfavorably too (46/48). A plurality of women (44/49) see Biden unfavorably, a death knell for Democrats in the midterms and in 2024 if Biden runs again. And again, only five states give Biden a favorable ranking, one of which — New York — is only 47/46 on Biden personally.

    No wonder he and other Democrats are throwing tantrums when they look at the numbers. That’s a message for disaster and I’m not even sure he’s hit the bottom yet. As Joe has shown us, he always seems to find a way to go lower. That’s why I think the prediction from Cook Political Report of a pick-up in the House of 20-35 seats is very conservative and I’m inclined to think it’s going to be much higher, given all these other numbers. It’s not a wave, but a tsunami coming.

    Original Here

  • Biden’s Approval Hits the Basement: Worst Ever at This Point in Term

    Biden’s Approval Hits the Basement: Worst Ever at This Point in Term

     Nick Arama | RedState

    Joe Biden has finally achieved something: being the worst ever.

    He is 490 days into his term and at this point, he has lower average approval numbers than any president at 40.9 percent, going all the way back to Harry Truman in 1945. It’s also Biden’s lowest average approval so far. Given that this is going into the midterms, that’s a nightmare for the hopes of the Democrats.

    In a data point that is sure to rankle the short-tempered Biden, he’s below what President Donald Trump was at this point in his Presidency, even with all the media constantly beating up on Trump.

    Joe Biden 40.9%
    Donald Trump 42.7%
    Barack Obama 48%
    George W. Bush 72%
    Bill Clinton 50.9%
    George H.W. Bush 65%
    Ronald Reagan 45%
    Jimmy Carter 43.1%
    Gerald Ford 44.2%
    Richard Nixon 57.1%
    Lyndon B. Johnson 68.7%
    John F. Kennedy 74%
    Dwight Eisenhower 61.3%
    Harry S. Truman 43.1%

    Biden’s approval in a new Reuters/Ipsos poll also hit the lowest ever in that poll: 36 percent. The poll showed his numbers are still dropping precipitously, dropping 6 percent from the week before. So if he thought resorting to calling people “ultra MAGA” was going to be his salvation, not so much. Democratic operatives, including Anita Dunn, worked for six months to come up with that ridiculous tactic. It looks like that isn’t working, like everything else that he does. We could have told them that — not a good idea to build up the brand of your political opponents.

    But Biden is not only incredibly low with Republicans and independents, he’s also dropping a lot with Democrats as well.

    “Only 10% of Republicans and 28% of independents approve of President Biden, while 72% of Democrats still do. However, among Democrats Biden has seen a 10 point drop from two weeks ago when 82% approved of him, a driving factor for his lower overall approval rating,” said the Ipsos analysis.

    Part of the problem is the horrible inflation but it’s also that a ton of Americans believe the country is on the wrong track.

    “Seven in 10 (70%) Americans believe things in this country are off on the wrong track, while only one-fifth (20%) of Americans believe they are headed in the right direction. This represents a six point drop from two weeks ago when 26% of Americans thought they were headed in the right direction. The overwhelming majority of Republicans (90%) and independents (70%) believe things are off on the wrong track, a sentiment that nearly half of Democrats (49%) agree with,” said the pollster.

    It’s hard to point to anything that is going well with gas prices and inflation at record highs, the stock market crashing, supply chain problems continuing and violent crime going up. But it’s always the economy when it’s bad that is the overarching issue. Biden spent months denying it and now doesn’t seem to even understand what is causing it or how to address it.

    Ironically, Biden came in with all kinds of media support. But as Ipsos observes, while he came in with a 60 percent approval, he now has a 59 percent disapproval, nearly a complete flip.

    Original Here