Category Archives: politics

UK’s Good Faith

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…has been slapped down. Great Britain surrendered Hong Kong to the People’s Republic of China in 1997 on the PRC’s promise to respect Hong Kong’s autonomy for 50 years, a promise the PRC made within the context of its one country/two systems framework, a promise made in the UK-PRC Joint Declaration.

The PRC began welching on its word when it began, in no particular order (because commitment timelines mean nothing to the PRC) denying duly elected city legislators their seats, arresting peaceful protestors—including provoking violence to create excuses for the arrests—enacting mainland laws allowing Hong Kongers to be “extradited” to the mainland for what passes for trials in PRC courts.

And now the latest step in the PRC’s reneging.

The “patriots governing Hong Kong” is a resolution that will allow a pro-Beijing panel to approve some candidates that it deems sufficiently “patriotic,” according to the BBC. The vote was 2,895-0, with one abstention[.]

And

Thursday’s near-unanimous vote by the National People’s Congress paves the way for China’s top lawmaking body to revamp as soon as next month how the former British colony picks its leader and legislators. The overhaul will give Beijing much greater control over local elections that were meant to be partly democratic—thanks to an effective veto against candidates deemed unpatriotic.
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The resolution mandates the creation of a commission in Hong Kong that ensures that prospective officeholders conform with criteria laid down in the city’s miniconstitution and national-security legislation.

Nearly unanimous. Nothing untoward, or the least bit odd, about that. Nosirree, Bob. Well, maybe not so odd, coming from a tyranny as it does.

Progressive-Democrat Power Grab

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It turns out their Wuhan Virus “relief” bill, of which 9% actually contains money for dealing with the virus, has a blatant, deliberate attack on the federal structure of our nation. It’s an attempt to dictate to the States, individually and severally, that they’re not allowed to reduce their taxes [emphasis in the original].

The bill explicitly bars states from cutting taxes. States “shall not use the funds,” the bill says, “to either directly or indirectly offset a reduction in the net tax revenue” that results “from a change in law, regulation, or administrative interpretation during the covered period that reduces any tax (by providing for a reduction in a rate, a rebate, a deduction, a credit, or otherwise) or delays the imposition of any tax or tax increase.”

All of us need to remember this assault on our nation in the fall of 2021.

An Interesting Court Fight

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…may be in the offing.

Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson (R) signed into law a bill that bans all abortions save when the mother’s life is at risk. Even pregnancies resulting from rape or incest are banned from abortion.

The governor also acknowledged the ban is in contradiction of binding precedents of the US Supreme Court, but it is the intent of the legislation to set the stage for the Supreme Court overturning current case law.”

Indeed. Especially since the primary precedent is Roe v Wade, which is, at bottom, a technologically oriented precedent. The Court ruled that States could govern the availability of abortions after the third trimester began—because that was the point at which the fetus became viable outside the womb under the then-extant medical technology.

Today’s medical technology has advanced by orders of magnitude; accordingly, at worst, the Arkansas law provides the Supreme Court the opportunity to adjust its precedent in accordance with modern medical capability, if not to rescind Roe altogether.

Additionally, the ACLU is being its usual cynical self.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas attacked the bill calling it “cruel and unusual[.]”

No, what’s cruel, but sadly entirely too usual, is murdering babies before they’re born.

Imagine That

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Sometimes, a Federal stimulus isn’t necessary. Sometimes, a recovery is already in progress before Congress can get around to acting, even with the basely partisan Progressive-Democrat-controlled Congress and a Progressive-Democrat White House.

Like with the present “stimulus” bill, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

See the figure just below.

Of the top 10 performing States by overall recovery and tax revenue increases for 2020 over 2021, seven are Republican run, and one—Vermont—is split, with a Republican Governor and a Progressive-Democrat Legislature.

Of all of the 24 States with increases, Ohio, Tennessee, Mississippi, South Carolina 12 are Republican-run, 2 are split with Republican Governors and Progressive-Democrat Legislatures, and 3 are split with Progressive-Democrat Governors and Republican Legislatures.

This is another demonstration that the Wuhan Virus “relief” bill—ARP—that the Progressive-Democrats rammed through Congress on strictly partisan lines is just another Blue State Bailout. Progressive-Democrats are masquerading their bill as necessary to bring our economy fully out of the downturn Federal and State governments created in their responses to the Wuhan Virus situation.

Never mind that the recovery is in full bloom already, and will stay that way until the Biden administration’s exploding regulation-writing and energy industry limitations start taking effect.

Censorship

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A collection of Letters in Monday’s Wall Street Journal centered on the Kancel Kulture’s penchant for censorship.

A couple of points regarding that penchant. One letter writer asks,

Why do the canceling elite feel they must protect us from anything that might possibly be upsetting?

The answer is because they assume, since they are so terrified of anything remotely or just potentially a little bit upsetting, and they need desperately to be protected from such, that everyone else must be terrified and so need protection, also.

Another letter writer notes, with reference to censoring Seuss, that

To learn to read is to learn to expand one’s mind and enable critical thinking.

As part of that, those depictions of an earlier age also could be used to illustrate how far we’ve come as a nation. The elitists, the Progressive-Democrats, and the Left generally, however, can’t stand for us to see that progress. It would undermine their narrative.