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Today the Justice Department requested COVID-19 data from the governors of states that issued orders which may have resulted in the deaths of thousands of elderly nursing home residents. New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Michigan required nursing homes to admit COVID-19 patients to their vulnerable populations, often without adequate testing. For example, on March 25, 2020, New York ordered: “No resident shall be denied re-admission or admission to [a nursing home] solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19. [Nursing homes] are prohibited from requiring a hospitalized resident who is determined medically stable to be tested for...

“There are no solutions, only trade-offs,” Thomas Sowell famously said. When government takes action, even if that action is desperately needed, we still give something up. In the case of the Wuhan virus — with the endless mask mandates, social restrictions, and shutdowns it has ushered in — that something is our precious freedom. The American founders recognized this conundrum. According to James Madison in Federalist 37, one of the greatest challenges of the Constitutional Convention was to find the right combination, the right proportions, of government power and individual liberty. The more we ask from our government, the more...

Since each state gets to make its own laws about how its elections are conducted, Trump might not have the power to force blue governors to follow standard voting procedures. BUT, I'm thinking, he MAY have the authority to direct the FEC to move up the date by which all votes have to be certified. Yes? No? What are the flaws to this idea? If it's do-able, it could be a great way to knock these governors back into line. Feedback please, FReepers -- thanks

State Dining Room3:32 P.M. EDTTHE PRESIDENT: Okay, thank you very much. It’s an honor to see you all today on this beautiful afternoon — White House.We’re here today to discuss our efforts to support our nation’s small businesses — working very hard — and safely reopen America. And that’s what’s happening. We’re doing record numbers. We’re doing numbers like nobody has ever seen before, actually.I’m thrilled to be joined by two good friends of mine: Governor Pete Ricketts of Nebraska — Pete, thank you very much; and a man that I’m going to see a little bit over the...

Today, Vice President Mike Pence led a discussion with the chief executives of approximately 50 States, territories, and the city of Washington, DC, and the White House Coronavirus Task Force to update our Nation’s governors on local, State, and Federal COVID-19 response and recovery efforts, and America’s reopening, with a focus on supporting America’s small businesses and workforce development. Vice President Pence led a discussion of best practices from our Nation’s governors on reopening their States and communities in a phased-approach including efforts to support small businesses and workforce development, expanding testing, supporting long-term care residents and healthcare workers,...

Today, Vice President Mike Pence led a discussion with the chief executives of approximately 50 States, territories, and the city of Washington, DC, and the White House Coronavirus Task Force to update our Nation’s governors on local, State, and Federal COVID-19 response and recovery efforts, with a focus on re-opening schools, camps, and universities.Vice President Pence led a discussion of best practices from our Nation’s governors on re-opening their States and communities, including schools, camps, and universities. Federal leaders continue to support State leaders as they expand testing, protect long-term care residents and healthcare workers, and increase healthcare capacity....

Some of the most colorful descriptions of the violence facing police officers at Lafayette Square were clumsily spliced out of the middle of Barr's answers to questions. Key details on violent riots near the White House were removed from the broadcast of an interview of Attorney General William Barr on CBS News’ “Face The Nation” Sunday. Anchor Margaret Brennan repeatedly described protests as “peaceful” and the clearing of protesters to set up a stronger perimeter as unnecessarily rushed, contentions Barr strongly denied.Left out of the interview that aired on CBS on Sunday morning was Barr’s detailed accounting of much of...

Today, Vice President Mike Pence led a discussion with the chief executives of approximately 50 States, territories, and the city of Washington, DC, and the White House Coronavirus Task Force to update our Nation’s governors on local, State, and Federal COVID-19 response and recovery efforts. To open up the meeting, Chaplain of the United States Senate, Rear Admiral Barry Black led the group in prayer. The Vice President assured the Governors that the Administration would honor the memory of George Floyd, justice would be done, and at a time of civil unrest we would continue to protect the rights, property,...

Deep Stater governors and mayors appear to be coordinating in their efforts to disable as many US cities as possible. Note all but one in the list below are controlled by Dems.The mayor of D.C. is doing her part by ridiculing the placement of temporary walls around the White House and lifting the curfew in D.C.https://twitter.com/wmalnews/status/1268584801965146114Meanwhile, Nancy Pelosi is leading the effort to take control of the Insurrection Act, starting with Washington DC.""I am writing to request a full list of the agencies involved and clarifications of the roles and responsibilities of the troops and federal law enforcement resources operating...

MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE THE SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITYSUBJECT:       Providing Continued Federal Support for Governors’ Use of the National Guard to Respond to COVID-19 and to Facilitate Economic RecoveryBy the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, 42 U.S.C. 5121-5207 (the “Stafford Act”), and section 502 of title 32, United States Code, it is hereby ordered as follows:Section 1.  Policy.  It continues to be the policy of the United States to foster close cooperation and mutual...

Rose Garden 6:43 P.M. EDT        THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much.  My fellow Americans: My first and highest duty as President is to defend our great country and the American people.  I swore an oath to uphold the laws of our nation, and that is exactly what I will do. All Americans were rightly sickened and revolted by the brutal death of George Floyd.  My administration is fully committed that, for George and his family, justice will be served.  He will not have died in vain.  But we cannot allow the righteous cries and peaceful protesters to...

--- “You have to dominate, if you don’t dominate you’re wasting your time. They’re going to run over you, you’re going to look like a bunch of jerks,” Trump said to the governors, according to audio of the call obtained by CBS News. ----

Today, Vice President Mike Pence led a discussion with the chief executives of approximately 50 States, territories, and the city of Washington, DC, and the White House Coronavirus Task Force to discuss best practices and continue the dialogue on the important Federal-State partnership on COVID-19 response, recovery, and re-opening efforts.  Vice President Pence led a discussion of best practices from our Nation’s governors on re-open strategies, expanding testing capacity, and supply chain management. In addition to the Vice President, governors heard from White House Coronavirus Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx on maximizing testing and outbreak modeling, Centers for Medicare &...

Doctors in Northern California say they have seen more deaths from suicide than they’ve seen from the coronavirus during the pandemic. “The numbers are unprecedented,” Dr. Mike deBoisblanc of John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek, California, told ABC 7 News about the increase of suicide deaths adding that he’s seen a “year’s worth of suicides” in the last four weeks alone.

MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE THE SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITYSUBJECT:       Providing Continued Federal Support for Governors’ Use of the National Guard to Respond to COVID-19 and to Facilitate Economic RecoveryBy the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, 42 U.S.C. 5121-5207 (the “Stafford Act”), and section 502 of title 32, United States Code, it is hereby ordered as follows:Section 1.  Policy.  It is the policy of the United States to take measures to assist State Governors under...

Today, First Lady Melania Trump joined President Donald J. Trump and Vice President Mike Pence in a discussion with approximately 50 of our Nation’s governors and, at the request of the First Lady, their spouses. Mayor Muriel Bowser of Washington, D.C., and the White House Coronavirus Task Force also joined to discuss best practices and continue the dialogue on the important partnership with our Nation’s governors on COVID-19 response, recovery, and ensuring the well-being of all Americans. First Lady Melania Trump opened the discussion by addressing mental health, “As we begin to safely reopen our country and adjust to...

President Trump told governors on a conference call Monday that he "will step in" if the federal government disagrees with state reopening plans, as he largely expressed satisfaction with how the governors are moving to lift coronavirus restrictions in their individual states, according to a report. Trump, whose administration last month revealed guidelines for when states should begin lifting stay-at-home orders and other social distancing measures meant to slow the spread of the virus, has vocally pushed for the rapid reopening of the economy. The president said in an interview with Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo last week that his critics...

The raging public debate over statewide coronavirus lockdowns is running parallel to a series of legal battles in state capitals - and the lockdown skeptics got a big boost this week. The decision by Wisconsin’s Supreme Court on Wednesday to toss Gov. Tony Evers’ statewide shelter-in-place order set off a scramble in cities across the state to impose their own local restrictions. Elsewhere, bars and restaurants shut down by the order declared themselves open for business. And legal challenges are continuing to pile-up across the country - even as governors who extend their state’s shelter-in-place orders begin peeling back some...

An article in Nowhere Magazine several years ago explored the ways ancient cultures dispatched the elderly, a practice known as senicide. Author Justin Nobel recounted several gruesome rites that made the Inuit habit of putting Granny on an Arctic ice floe seem humane. At one point, Nobel mentioned that his own grandparents had moved “to a fancy nursing home in the suburbs of New York City.” That made me shudder.

Gov. Tom Wolf is the true coward (letter) 5 hrs ago As I sit here watching our governor react to some of Pennsylvania’s counties defying his order to stay closed, I can’t help but get angrier and angrier. He calls the elected officials from those counties cowards, but he himself is a shining example of cowardice. Let me give you some examples. While being asked about the rationale as to which counties should remain closed and which shouldn’t, he simply blames the virus rather than answering the question. Another question was asked about the waiver process and the reasons why...