Posts Tagged ‘American Bankers Association’

LinkSwarm for November 20, 2020

Friday, November 20th, 2020

Greetings, and welcome to another Friday LinkSwarm! Coronavirus is up around the world again, Democrats keep behaving badly (talk about your evergreen themes), some fun dog links, and it’s time to celebrate Life Day again!

  • Good news, everyone! No more lockdowns in Texas! It took him long enough, but Governor Greg Abbott realizes what Democratic governors haven’t: all the Wuhan coronavirus infection curves seem the same, lockdowns don’t seem to work, masks don’t seem to work, the survival rate for the non-elderly, non-immune-compromised is well over 99%.
  • Speaking of which: Sweden, after having seemed to beat the bug through a strategy of herd immunity, now sees cases rising.
  • Indeed, all of Europe seems to be getting hit again. Nobody knows nuthin.
  • For liberals who still can’t understand President Trump’s appeal: “US Household Incomes Increased More in 2018 Than in the Previous 20 Years—Combined.” (Hat tip: Instapundit.)
  • “Hundreds of Companies That Got Stimulus Aid Have Failed.” Government can’t pick winners, but it can sure create losers. (Hat tip: Holly Hansen.)
  • Defunding the police and the damage done. “Homicides in Minneapolis are up 50 percent.”
  • Andy Ngo on all the politicians who have turned Portland into a shithole:

    This week brought news that Portland City Commissioner (as councilmembers are known) Jo Ann Hardesty called the cops over an argument with a Lyft driver days before the city council was scheduled to vote on her proposal to slash millions from the police budget.

    The hypocrisy is glaring, but the bigger lesson is about the damage an activist political class can do to cities all over America if they follow in Portland’s foolish footsteps.

    Hardesty has been a vocal advocate of Black Lives Matter and defunding the ­police. During a ride home, she allegedly belittled and berated her driver over a partially open window, a COVID-19 recommendation from the ride-sharing service itself. After the driver had enough of the abuse and canceled the ride, Hardesty refused to get out and called 911.

    Portland politics have become the subject of national scrutiny by both the media and President Trump following more than 120 days of riots this year. While much attention has ­focused on the city’s feckless mayor, Ted Wheeler, others on the council have equally enabled a rapid descent into disorder.

    Since Hardesty was elected to the council in 2018, her staunch hostility to police has earned her the approval of Black Lives Matter and ­antifa activists in Portland. Ordinary Portlanders have paid the price for that approval.

    Days after her abuse of emergency services, the council took up Hardesy’s proposal to slash $18 million from the police budget. Already in June, she had spearheaded a successful effort to cut $15 million. Her newest proposal narrowly failed, however. Dan Ryan, the commissioner who was the swing vote, had his home vandalized that night by a mob of antifa militants.

    Portlanders have suffered immensely this year from the grandstanding of left-wing politicians who run the city. Mayor Wheeler oversaw six months of anti-police riots that have turned downtown into an empty shell of itself. When the federal government sent in reinforcements in July to protect a federal courthouse under siege, the city council passed a resolution banning Portland Police from communicating with federal agencies.
    see also

    Hardesty’s initial police-defunding package has had deadly consequences. As part of the cuts, police units that investigate gun ­violence, work in schools and patrol the transit system were disbanded. The result? In just the first month, shootings increased by almost 200 percent compared to the previous year. In the months since, homicides and shootings have continued to soar.

  • Ding-dong, the witch is… still Speaker of the House. I foresee two more years of robust NRCC fundraising.
  • “Biden to Continue Obama Tradition of Packing White House with Corporate Lobbyists:

    With Joe Biden poised to take office in 2021, reports suggest he plans to follow in Obama’s footsteps by hiring a bunch of corporate lobbyists in senior roles.

    At least two former lobbyists who will assume top roles in the Biden administration previously served on Biden’s staff during the Obama administration. Steve Ricchetti, who served as then-Vice President Biden’s chief of staff, will join the White House as counselor to the president. Ricchetti founded his own lobbying firm in 2001 and worked on behalf of corporate clients such as AT&T, Eli Lily, and the American Bankers Association.

    Ron Klain, who also served as then-Vice President Biden’s chief of staff, will take on the role of White House chief of staff in the Biden administration. Klain is a veteran of the K Street lobbying firm O’Melveny & Myers. His clients included U.S. Airways, AOL Time Warner, and ImClone, a pharmaceutical company whose CEO was convicted for fraud. Klain also lobbied on behalf of mortgage giant Fannie Mae in an effort to fight off stricter oversight from Congress.

    Rep. Cedric Richmond (D., La.) will also join the Biden administration in a senior advisory role. The move was blasted by environmental groups that pointed out Richmond’s close ties to Big Oil. During his 10 years in Congress, for example, Richmond received more than $340,000 in donations from the oil and gas industry and frequently joined Republicans in voting against legislation opposed by the industry.

    Biden’s campaign manager, Jen O’Malley Dillon, will join the incoming administration as a deputy chief of staff. She is a cofounder of Precision Strategies, an “integrated strategy and marketing agency” that was recently hired by the American Investment Council, a lobbying group for private equity firms.

    If the election fraud isn’t overturned…

    (Hat tip: Stephen Green at Instapundit.)

  • Just because California’s peasants are locked down due to the cornavirus and can’t have Thanksgiving with the family doesn’t mean that Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom can’t have a maskless dinner with high-rolling lobbyists at swanky restaurant The French Laundry. Rules are for the little people, not for your betters in the ruling class…
  • Speaking of Newsom: Courts don’t seem to agree with his rule by fiat:

    The judge ruled that Newsom violated the state constitution by unilaterally ordering that all registered voters be sent mail-in ballots. More importantly, she found good cause for a permanent injunction restraining Newsom from issuing any further unconstitutional orders that make “new statutory law or legislative policy.”

    The court rejected Newsom’s extraordinary claim that a state of emergency centralizes the state’s powers in the hands of the governor, thus turning California into an autocracy. This is the unlawful basis on which Newsom has collapsed our system of checks and balances, issuing 58 executive orders and changing over 400 laws unilaterally.

    Specifically, the judge rejected Newsom’s argument that Section 8627 of the Emergency Services Act gives him autocratic powers. At least 24 of his executive orders rely on that section.

    As far as the most damaging order, Newsom’s arbitrary and unscientific lockdown scheme, that too is newly vulnerable. The Pacific Legal Foundation’s new lawsuit uses the same separation-of-powers argument our victory established as a successful legal theory.

    (Hat tip: Director Blue.)

  • Speaking of some pigs being more equal than others: “As America locks down, 20 lawmakers from 3 states really just flew to Maui to mingle with a bunch of lobbyists at a posh resort for 4 days.” (Hat tip: Stephen Green at Instapundit.)
  • So the largest city in the state that voted to removed pedophiles from the sex offender registry is considering eliminating the sex crimes unit due to budget cuts.

    (Hat tip: Ian Miles Chong.)

  • Michigan’s Speaker of the House throws cold water on the idea of impeaching Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
  • Evidently being a horrible anti-Semite means you get suspended from the Labour Party for all of three weeks.
  • Another day, another hate crime hoax. (Hat tip: Stephen Green at Instapundit.)
  • Cincinnati Democratic city councilman P.G. Sittenfeld indicted on bribery. Bonus: Sittenfeld was the third Cincinnati city council critter indicted this year.
  • Is actor Matthew McConnaughey going to run for governor of Texas? Eh. I like Hugh Hewitt, but the governor suggestion is just sort of tossed out there by him.
  • Another male feminist/anti-#GamerGater turns out to be a creeper. What are the odds?
  • I’m an unabashed partisan, but I’m getting pretty tired of politicians filling up my phone with text messages begging for money. Yeah, the Georgia runoff is important, I get it. But multiple text message begs a day just piss me off.
  • You know what’s worse than getting accidentally ejected from a fighter plane? Getting partially ejected.
  • IThoughtThisWasAmerica.jpg.
  • Heh:

  • “Disney Capitalizes On Success Of Baby Yoda With Baby Jar Jar.” To be fair, Baby Jar Jar is probably more tolerable than the original…
  • Speaking of Star Wars remakes being more tolerable than the original, the Lego Star Wars Holiday Special is now out on Disney+.
  • Speaking of Disney, science fiction author Alan Dean Foster claims Disney is screwing him out of royalties. Not cool, mouse. Not cool.
  • 8-Bit version of Nine Inch Nails’ “Closer.” Stumbled on this again after posting it many years ago, and it provides great background music to work by…
  • Man finds shelter for 300 dogs ahead of hurricane. In his own house.

  • High Golden Retriever.
  • Doggy fashion-plate: