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Daily Dispatch
February 1, 2019
Countdown to Shutdown v.2.0:
// Set the date we're counting down to
var countDownDate = new Date("Feb 15, 2019 0:00:01").getTime();
// Update the count down every 1 second
var x = setInterval(function() {
// Get todays date and time
var now = new Date().getTime();
// Find the distance between now and the count down date
var distance = countDownDate - now;
// Time calculations for days, hours, minutes and seconds
var days = Math.floor(distance / (1000 * 60 * 60 * 24));
var hours = Math.floor((distance % (1000 * 60 * 60 * 24)) / (1000 * 60 * 60));
var minutes = Math.floor((distance % (1000 * 60 * 60)) / (1000 * 60));
var seconds = Math.floor((distance % (1000 * 60)) / 1000);
// Output the result in an element with id="demo"
document.getElementById("demo").innerHTML = days + "d " + hours + "h "
+ minutes + "m " + seconds + "s ";
// If the count down is over, write some text
if (distance < 0) {
clearInterval(x);
document.getElementById("demo").innerHTML = "EXPIRED";
}
}, 1000);
Top Stories:
Though Trump is back to insisting that his wall be called a wall, we still remember his suggestion a few short days ago that we could call it “peaches” if we want to.
“This is where I ask the Democrats to come back to Washington and to vote for money for the wall, the barrier, whatever you want to call it, it's OK with me. They can name it whatever. They can name it 'peaches.'”[efn_note]Sen. Kennedy (R-LA) suggested calling it a “wangdoodle,” but that sounds kind of gross.[/efn_note]
Done and done!
Trump dug in further on funding for his border peaches, saying that fences or other barriers won’t be acceptable, it has to be peaches. He said that the negotiations of the conference committee were “a waste of time,” foreshadowing his intention to declare a national emergency in order to fund his border peaches. He went on to offer a new rationale for last month’s government shutdown – it was a teaching moment:
“By having the shutdown, we’ve set the table for where we are now. If I didn’t do the shutdown, people wouldn’t know, they wouldn’t understand the subject. Now they understand the subject. They realize what a humanitarian crisis it is. It’s called like in deal making setting the table. Or setting a stage. We’ve set the stage for what’s gonna happen on the 15th of February. I don’t think they’re gonna make a deal.”
Democrats have made their opening offer, which includes $14.296 billion ($70 million more than requested) for CBP to improve technology and facilities – but prohibits any of these funds to be used for border peaches. And Nancy Pelosi reiterated yesterday that “there’s not going to be any [peaches] money in the legislation.” Trump responded quickly during a pool spray in the Oval Office: “If there’s no [peaches], it doesn’t work.”
Here is the Democratic proposal.
[embeddoc url="https://www.quixote.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Dem-offer.pdf" download="all" viewer="google"]
Some peaches supporters have been pointing to yesterday’s seizure of $3.5 million worth of fentanyl by CBP at the Nogales, AZ port of entry as evidence of the need for peaches. NBC’s Jacob Soboroff sums up their problem:
CBP announces *massive* seizure of fentanyl at AZ border.
Guess where? Port of entry, not desert.
Guess who? Mexican national, not Central American asylum seeker.
Guess how? In a tractor-trailer, not a backpack.
Guess what didn't stop it? A wall. Agents using technology did. https://t.co/zoLG3Iuvdj
— Jacob Soboroff (@jacobsoboroff) January 31, 2019
Other News:
Next Thursday (2/7) at 10:30, the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the Energy & Commerce Committee will hold hearings “examining the failure of the Trump administration’s inhumane family separation policy.” The hearings will be held in room 2123 of the Rayburn House Office Building. Bookmark this link for a live stream.
Deterrents to legal immigration – USCIS processing times have #54d390052254">increased 46% under Trump, pushing the U.S. further down the list of desirable nations for skilled foreign nationals AND for the employers who might want to recruit them.
DHS is implementing visa sanctions on Ghana “due to lack of cooperation in accepting their nationals ordered removed from the United States.”
What racist things is Steve King (R-IA) up to today? Promoting a white supremacy website on his official government website. Tim Ryan (D-OH) has alerted the proper authorities.
More Stories:
From the Pew Research Center: “Majority of Americans continue to say immigrants strengthen the U.S.”
From the NYT: “One Lawyer, One Day, 194 Felony Cases”
From the Texas Tribune: “Texas still doesn't have a law on intellectual disability and the death penalty. Will that change this year?”
From NPR: “The Shutdown Is Over. Now the Federal Workforce Faces ‘Untold Morale Problems’
That's all for today. Enjoy your Groundhog Day tomorrow!!
