Here are my observations and opinions on my selected news of the day.
The Federalist’s Bre Payton. (twitter.com)
BRE PAYTON PASSES AWAY – She wasn’t a big name in journalism, but as a staff writer for The Federalist I often quoted from her insightful pieces. I regret to report her passing following a sudden illness on December 28, 2018. She was just 26 years old.
Graduating from Patrick Henry College in 2015 with a degree in journalism and joined The Federalist in April of 2015.
You may have seen her on television because she frequently appeared on Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network. “In the space of just a few years, she became a rising star on cable news, regularly featured as political commentator,” The Federalist commented.
She will be missed.
WHILE ICE FOCUSES ON ILLEGALS at the border, you should be aware that the FBI reported a record number of illegal immigrants barred from buying guns, thanks to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.
PRESIDENT TRUMP said Saturday that he had a “long and very good call” with Chinese President Xi Jinping, stating that a possible trade deal between the United States and China was progressing well.
With market concerns ever present, WTO chief economist Robert Koopman was quoted by Bloomberg News saying, “Many people want to shout about the sky is falling on trade because of these trade measures” such as tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, “we think 2018 is going to end up with a fairly solid year.”
FIRST MACRON, NOW MERKEL – “Nation states must today be prepared to give up their sovereignty,“ German Chancellor Angela Merkel told an audience in Berlin, and that they “must not listen to the will of their citizens when it comes to questions of immigration, borders, or even sovereignty.”
Merkel, who has announced that she will not seek reelection in 2023, seems to be “attempting to push the globalist agenda to its disturbing conclusion before she steps down,” reports Tyler Durden in Zerohedge.
Incredible!
TOP MEDIA THIN-SKINS OF 2018 – You probably have assumed that members of the media don’t like to be criticized by their colleagues in the fake news business.
Ashley Feinberg, writing in the Huffington Post, decided to compile a year-end list of The Thinnest Skins in Media in 2018. She calls them “piss-babies.” She gathered tweets exchanged between anchors and reporters with critics.
No surprise, CNN led with three people – Jake Tapper, Chris Cuomo and Chris Cillizza. Jonathan Swain and Jim VanderHei of Axios topped off the top five. “Tapper obess(es) publicly over even mild perceived slights,” Feinberg noted.
SPEAKING OF THE MEDIA – With no embarrassment over 90 percent negative coverage of Trump administration in 2018, the self-serving ABC’s World News Tonight obnoxiously tweeted @ABCWorldNews: “New Year’s Eve ball drop to celebrate journalists and press freedom around the world.”
And to that … The Original Hillbilly responded @Laural.Monroe33: “There aren’t enough eye roll emoji’s for me to properly express my sentiment.”
NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY – Have you heard that North Carolina State University has introduced a new club – Satanic Students at NC State?
And get this … its leaders say they promote humanism with a mission to encourage benevolence and empathy among all people; to reject tyrannical authority; to advocate scientific examination of the universe and our place in it; to promote morality and justice based on rational humanistic values; and to be directed by the human conscience to undertake noble pursuits guided by the individual will.
At one of its recent meetings, surprisingly, they agreed that students do not worship Satan and have stated that Satan doesn’t exist.
Confused? Me, too.
“TRUMP’S TAX CUTS: One Year Later, There’s Much to Celebrate,” reads the headline over an interesting editorial recently published by Investor’s Business Daily.
“Contrary to Democrats’ claims, workers are clearly sharing in the tax-cut windfall. Not just through tax-cut bonuses and lower withholdings, but increased opportunities and wage growth,” IBD opines.
“Blue collar workers are now in short supply. Reversing a decades-long trend in the U.S. Average hourly wages are rising at 3.1 percent, the fastest rate since 1999. Unemployment rates area at lows not seen since 1969, and for minority groups, they’re lower than any time on record. Median household income is at all-time highs.
So, why do polls show that tax cuts are unpopular? The same reason President Trump’s approval rating is in the 45 percent range; misleading information peddled by Democrats picked up by a complicit media. You’ve heard their doom and gloom – “massive deficits,” “slow growth,” and “tax cuts for the rich.”
“Pollsters never ask about specific provisions of the tax reform, each of which the public strongly supports,” reports IBD. “One year after Trump signed the tax cuts into law, there’s plenty to celebrate.”
A Latino voter prepares to vote. (MindySchaurer photo/Gettyimages)
GOP GAINS LATINO VOTES – “Though Latino voters are a key pat of the Democrat coalition, there is a larger block of reliable Republican Latinos than many think.
And the GOP’s position has not weakened during the Trump administration, despite the president’s rhetoric against immigrants and the party’s shift to the right on immigration,” the Associated Press reports.
“In November’s elections, 32 percent of Latino voters voted for Republicans,” AP reported with survey data obtained from a survey by AP and NORC at the University of Chicago.
The survey supports a similar survey by Pew Research indicating that about three in 10 Latinos supported Trump in 2016.
May God bless the United States of America.
