Every battle is won before it is fought

House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy has a fresh spring in his step after the Republicans defied the odds and professional political prognosticators by picking up 15 seats in the 2020 congressional elections. McCarthy, who has his eyes on the majority in November 2022, approached the 2020 congressional elections differently than Republicans in recent history have traditionally targeted congressional electoral efforts, and his moves paid off—and not only infuriated but befuddled the beltway pundit class. For the first time since 1994, in 2020 no GOP incumbent running for reelection lost. Meanwhile, McCarthy blew away fundraising records previously set by former House Speaker Paul Ryan—astonishing since he did it from the minority. Usually, House political leaders do better raising money from the majority. That’s not to mention the most significant development which is a freshman class entering Congress in 2021 that represents perhaps the most diverse in party history with the most … [Read more...] about Exclusive: After 2020 Gains, Kevin McCarthy Eyes House GOP Majority, Speaker’s Gavel in Midterms

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) declared Tuesday that the only experience President Joe Biden’s Health and Human Services (HHS) nominee, Xavier Becerra, has with “health care is that he sued the Little Sisters of the Poor” as a “trial lawyer.” Cruz insisted Becerra is an example of an “extreme nominee,” noting “the Biden Administration likes to talk about their science based [politics], and their priority of stopping COVID [coronavirus].” “Well, Becerra has no background in virology; he never worked at a pharmaceutical company, and his only health care experience is that he sued the Little Sisters of the Poor,” Cruz pointed out. The Little Sisters of the Poor is a Catholic religious institute for women, which won in 2020 won a victory in a years-long battle to assert their First Amendment right to religious freedom against the contraceptive mandate in Obamacare, which Becerra fought to uphold. In the middle of a pandemic, Joe Biden nominated Xavier Becerra to HHS. Becerra has no … [Read more...] about Ted Cruz: Xavier Becerra’s ‘Only Health Care Experience’ Is Suing the Little Sisters of the Poor

President Joe Biden’s HHS nominee Xavier Becerra denied Wednesday that he has sued any nuns, though he filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s administration arguing that employers like the Little Sisters of the Poor should not receive religious exemptions from an HHS mandate. During Wednesday’s hearing, Republican South Dakota Sen. John Thune asked Becerra how he could assure the American public that he will not fixate on abortion issues “when we got all these public health issues to deal with.” Thune specifically referred to Becerra’s strong support for abortion as California attorney general, such as Becerra’s 2017 lawsuit against the Trump administration that sought to reimpose an Obama-era mandate forcing insurance providers to provide contraceptives. The Catholic Little Sisters of the Poor had fought the mandate, resulting in a lawsuit by the state of California. The lawsuit is currently under consideration by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Becerra is … [Read more...] about Biden HHS Nominee Becerra: ‘I Have Never Sued Any Nuns’

The conservative movement is keeping its mask off. Photo: Tom Brenner/REUTERS Less than two months after inciting an insurrection against the U.S. Congress, Donald Trump will reportedly declare himself the Republican Party’s “ presumptive 2024 nominee ” at this weekend’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). And he won’t be wrong. Losing an election is typically enough to sour a party’s voters on its defeated standard-bearer. Fumbling a half-assed coup attempt is, in most countries, enough to get an ex-president imprisoned or even killed. But red America’s consummate “winner” has emerged from electoral and insurrectionary defeat with his grip on the GOP faithful intact. Last week, a Politico-Morning Consult poll found that 59 percent of Republican voters would like Trump to “play a major role” in their party going forward — up 18 points since January 7, the day after the Capitol Hill riot. The survey also found that a large plurality of GOP voters … [Read more...] about Trump’s Reconquest of the GOP May Have an Upside for Democracy

WASHINGTON - When Tiger Woods won the Masters on April 14, President Donald Trump declared he was going to award him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and ordered his aides to schedule the event as soon as possible. On Monday, Trump got what he asked for. At a ceremony in the sun-splashed White House Rose Garden, Trump made the 43-year-old Woods the fourth, and youngest, professional golfer to receive the nation's highest civilian honor, after Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Charlie Sifford. With 81 PGA Tour victories, Woods is one shy of Sam Snead's all-time record, and with 15 major tournament victories, he trails only Nicklaus, who has 18. But it was his dramatic Masters victory at Augusta National Golf Club last month, ending an 11-year major championship drought, that capped a years-long comeback from injuries and drama in his personal life, including an arrest two years ago for driving under the influence. Trump eagerly leapt onto the Tiger bandwagon. The two have … [Read more...] about Trump Awards Highest US Civilian Honor to Tiger Woods