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October 25, 2022
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From Unclerap (on Substack):

Gov: You are my fact checker! I'm concerned that with the impending red wave that the democrats will go "scorched earth" between Nov 9 and Jan 1. They could pass a lot of bad laws in a little less than 2 months. What say you? Blessings

Dear Unclerap:

We say thank you! The “fact”-checkers keep us very busy fact-checking them.

And, yes, you’re right about the legislation Democrats might have “in the pipeline” –- the only kind of pipeline they like –- after the midterms but before the term ends. And since Biden is so out-of-it these days that he doesn’t even know the difference between an executive order and a law, he’s bound to keep on doing it even AFTER their term ends. In case you missed that story from yesterday…

https://www.mikehuckabee.com/latest-news?id=D3E91E54-C509-4113-82E2-02915D320E75

Lately, he even gets lost walking around the grounds outside the White House. With Secret Service right there with him.

https://www.toddstarnes.com/politics/biden-gets-lost-at-white-house-again/

For the remainder of the year, Biden will keep his usual light schedule, “putting a lid on it” early in the day but making time for vitally important meetings with powerful world leaders like this one.

https://www.conservativereview.com/biden-interviews-days-of-girlhood-trans-activist-dylan-mulvaney-in-oval-office-president-pledges-support-for-gender-affirming-care-for-children

More than Biden’s cognitive ability is being scrutinized. As Ben Domenech said Monday to Bret Baier on FOX NEWS SPECIAL REPORT, “I think the conversation about how much he’s been a drag and an anchor on their message is going to take over the conversation right after Election Day.”

As for upcoming legislation, it might be tempting to think, “This administration has already ruined so much; what more could they possibly blow up?” Well, there’s just no telling. Sen. Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor at the end of September, “Members should be prepared for an extremely --- underline ‘extremely’ --- busy agenda in the last two months of this Congress.” Here’s Rick Moran for PJ MEDIA…

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/rick-moran/2022/10/23/democrats-will-try-to-cram-lots-of-left-wing-legislation-through-congress-in-lame-duck-session-n1639244

December 16 is the deadline for the passage of a funding bill --- an extension was passed in September ---- and so, as CNN understates, “it will likely become a magnet for other priorities that lawmakers may try to tack on to ride along with it.” Needless to say, the amount of our aid to Ukraine is a big question for debate. Democrats also want more funding for (sigh) covid response.

Republicans want to hold the line on additional funds for something else Democrats want: the totally partisan J6 Kommittee. But if (when!) the GOP takes the House, that point is moot, as it will go away.

The website CQ, updated in September and linked to here, tracks pending legislation for the fall of 2022. Scroll down to “Final Legislative Priorities” to see what they’ll be looking at before adjourning for the holidays.

https://info.cq.com/resources/2022-fall-legislative-preview-highlights/

In the Senate, there’s a bill on Taiwan policy that’s been put forward by Sens. Bob Menendez and Lindsay Graham.
Also, “[Sen. Chuck] Schumer has stated he wants to vote on a same-sex marriage equality bill this year. The House has already passed this bill.”  Here are some concerns; highly recommended reading.

As Rick Moran reported, a bipartisan group of senators working on the bill said in September, “We’ve asked leader Schumer for additional time and we appreciate he has agreed. We are confident that when our legislation comes to the Senate floor for a vote, we will have the bipartisan support to pass the bill.” To overcome a filibuster, the bill would need at least 10 Republican votes. Moran thinks it will pass but that “the abortion bill envisioned by activists doesn’t have a prayer.”

There’s also the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) –- the defense budget –- has to be voted on before the end of the year. It always passes and is expected to pass again, with or without scores of proposed amendments.

https://rollcall.com/2022/10/13/senate-ndaa-debate-could-have-something-for-everyone/

If the Senate has time, they might vote on some anti-trust legislation put forward by Sen. Amy Klobuchar that has “significant Republican support.” But it appears there’s been a snag; some Democrats, notably Schumer, are concerned that this law might get in the way of so-called “content moderation” (translation: censorship), and they wouldn’t want to interfere with that! If our understanding of this bill is correct, a failure to pass it would be a victory for Silicon Valley and social media censorship.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2022-08-22/tech-antitrust-bill-from-klobuchar-grassley-gets-stuck-in-dc-limbo

If these bills do pass the Senate, then the lame-duck Congress might also be voting on them before they mercifully (for us) call it a day. They obviously don’t care if their bills make the lives of Americans harder as long as the politics are correct; here’s what South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn, the No. 3 Democrat in the House, had to say about the Biden economic policy. Democrats KNEW their “economic recovery” bills would worsen inflation, but they voted for them anyway. “Anytime you put more money into the economy, prices tend to rise,” he said. Spoken like a real fiscal conservative. BUT THEY DID IT ANYWAY, and then tried to blame, well, everything else.

https://www.theblaze.com/news/jim-clyburn-admission-inflation-crisis

Aside from new legislation, both Congress and the Senate might have a lot more on their plates. One thing that will likely be taking their attention after Election Day will be how to deal with Biden’s apparent cognitive decline. Obviously, they wanted to delay any steps in that direction until after the midterm election, the results of which might affect their strategy. (Not that they don’t anticipate losing; the question is, by how much?)
We’ve speculated that before they can “retire” the enfeebled President Biden, they have to have someone else in the Vice President’s spot, so that person, rather than Kamala Harris, can be the one to move up. It has to be someone who can be expected to cement the Obama Machine in power for at least another term and who preferably checks the right identity boxes.

There might also be some sudden “black swan” event that they can use to paper over the steps they’re taking. Pure speculation here, but such events (recent examples: the pandemic, the J6 riot) happen with little or no warning, and the Democrats never let a crisis go to waste. Heck, sometimes they even engineer them.

……………...

RELATED: Speaking of engineering crises, Bonchie at REDSTATE reported that the DOJ has been working on a possible last-minute “October Surprise” and it would involve (surprise!) “malign influence schemes” and “alleged criminal activity by a nation-state actor in the United States.”

https://redstate.com/bonchie/2022/10/24/doj-prepares-its-october-surprise-just-prior-to-the-mid-terms-n648059

A major press conference was scheduled for Monday afternoon. Judging by their playbook, Bonchie predicted this announcement would be “some accusation of election interference by Russia or an accusation that another foreign actor is influencing our election via social media.” Would it perhaps even be domestic terrorists within our own country, we wondered? Those dangerous, extremist “Mega-MAGA” people we hear so much about?

Here’s the actual presser that took place later on Monday. They must’ve been running late; it gets rolling at 41:40.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHv1Tgql_o0

It turned out to be malfeasance not by Russia but by the People’s Republic of China. A complaint had been unsealed in the Eastern District of New York charging two PRC intelligence officers with, “attempting to obstruct, influence and impede a criminal prosecution of a PRC-based telecommunications company.” The individual they recruited in this effort, whom they paid bribes for non-public information about the case against the company being prosecuted, was really an undercover FBI agent.

This is actually pretty great, an example of what the DOJ should be addressing instead of angry parents at school board meetings.

AG Garland went on to outline other charges against other alleged PRC agents. “As these cases demonstrate,” Garland said, “the government of China sought to interfere with the rights and freedoms of individuals in the United States and to undermine our judicial system that protects those rights.” (I could point out that the DOJ itself has done the same to some of the people implicated in the January 6 protest, but I digress.)

The scheme was quite elaborate, apparently stretching back a decade, and involved the creation of a fake think-tank to “try to recruit a former federal law enforcement and state Homeland Security official, and others,” according to deputy AG Lisa Monaco.

Ten of the thirteen people charged are PRC intelligence officers and Chinese government officials. “The Justice Department will not tolerate attempts by any foreign power to undermine the rule of law upon which our democracy is based,” Garland said.

FBI Director Christopher Wray spoke as well, specifically about the efforts China has been making to steal American innovation. But one really does have to wonder, listening to him, why President Biden canceled the China Initiative, which was designed specifically to counter that.

Given the timing of this press conference, which deals with investigations going back at least ten years, we also wonder if it’s a preview of coming attractions. Are Democrats’ cries of “Russia Russia Russia!!” about to be replaced with “China China China!!”? Democrats will need someone to blame for their impending midterm wipeout --- besides “Mega-MAGA,” whatever that is.

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