April 16, 2026

02b U.S. Politics – Left

Blurb:

Illinois Governor JB Prtizker — who has long been seen as a potential presidential contender in 2028 — recently laid out his plans to launch politically-motivated prosecutions targeting Trump officials, a strategy he referred to as “Project 2029.”

While speaking with the New York Times, Pritzker framed the plan as a “forward-looking framework” for Democrats aiming to regain national power after the 2028 election. Pritzker, who has served as governor since 2019 and has frequently clashed with the Trump administration on issues including immigration enforcement, described the project as a necessary response to political lessons from recent years.

Blurb:

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner is doubling down on earlier promises to arrest and prosecute Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, this time threatening agents deployed to his city’s airport.

The George Soros-backed prosecutor made his threats during a Tuesday press conference, directing his remarks to federal ICE agents who helping to patrol Philadelphia’s International Airport.

Blurb:

The Democrats have set a new record for single-month lobbyist fundraising. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee reported a record $4.1 million in lobbyist-bundled contributions in February, according to a Sludge analysis of Federal Election Commission filings, a dramatic increase in corporate-linked fundraising as House Democrats are campaigning on “affordability.” The lobbyist-derived cash made up nearly one-third of the DCCC’s fundraising last month.

Lobbyist bundling, in which registered lobbyists collect checks from their clients and colleagues and deliver them in a single package, is a key way that corporate interests work to gain influence with lawmakers. Federal law requires disclosure of bundled contributions above $24,000.

The DCCC’s February total shatters previous records and builds on a trend of the Democrats’ increasing reliance on lobbyist bundling for their funds. January’s $3.6 million was itself a high-water mark, and as recently as 2023, monthly lobbyist bundling reported by the DCCC was generally much lower, typically in the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Blurb:

 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer rolled out an energy and climate change agenda Wednesday as a preview of what Democrats have in store if they take the chamber’s majority in November’s elections.

Schumer’s five-point plan seeks to ride the national momentum on affordability, framing Democrats as the party not just of clean energy and fighting climate change, but of lower electricity bills and more jobs.

Blurb:

 

In midterm elections in which control of all or part of Congress flips away from the president’s party, a common pattern emerges.

The party out of power grows stronger on the hypothetical midterm-election ballot as the year moves toward Election Day.

A president isn’t on the midterm ballot, but his/her popularity and the perception of how the country is doing factor in to how voters vote in a midterm election.

The perception of both Donald Trump’s performance and the country’s current situation is not good.

MIT Data reveals the Democrat Party saw a 23 million vote drop in mail-in ballot votes from 2020 to 2024. Meanwhile, it’s other voting data mostly held steady from 2020 to 2024. The spike in Democrat votes in 2020 has never been explained. This recent finding suggests the answer may be where many thought it was the whole time, in the post-election-day ballot “counting” behind windows covered with pizza boxes.

Blurb:

STATISTICALLY IMPOSSIBLE”: MIT Data Shows 23 MILLION Democrat Mail-In Voters Vanished From 2020 to 2024 – gellerreport.com

ELECTION INTEGRITY: MIT data shows Democrat mail-in voting dropped 23 points from 2020 to 2024 with zero drop in Democrat in-person voting. Republican voting was relatively static. The 23-point surge in Democrat mail-in ballots in 2020 has no explanation. Did these voters ever exist?

Blurb:

USC was set to hold a debate for California’s gubernatorial candidates. There was no problem with this, so a disgruntled candidate made one up. Subsequently, the event was canceled less than 24 hours before the scheduled time because the candidates were too white for the left.

According to The Desert Sun:

Former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, a Democratic candidate for governor, accused USC of using an “arbitrary formula that favors wealthy candidates” and said the criteria resulted in the exclusion of all candidates of color from the debate.

In other words, Becerra was beside himself, as he could not comprehend how he did not meet this “viability” score.

Maybe, just maybe, the reason he did not qualify for the debate had nothing to do with skin color and everything to do with the fact that he is polling at 3%.

USC said it stood by the independence of the data-driven formula used to determine candidate “viability,” but acknowledged the controversy had become a distraction from issues voters care about.

“We recognize that concerns about the selection criteria for tomorrow’s gubernatorial debate have created a significant distraction from the issues that matter to voters,” the university said, adding that it would “look for other opportunities to educate voters on the candidates and issues”.

Blurb:

 

A Democrat faces possible expulsion from Congress after federal prosecutors alleged that she stole millions in federal funds and used that money to finance her campaign.

The House Ethics Committee will host a public trial for Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.) on Thursday in connection with the allegations. According to reports, such public trials are rare and signal that Cherfilus-McCormick may be in deep trouble.

The defendants ‘conspired to steal that $5 million and routed it through multiple accounts to disguise its source,’ the DOJ alleged.

Indeed, she is already under federal indictment.

Back in November, the Department of Justice announced that Cherfilus-McCormick, her brother Edwin Cherfilus, and other co-defendants had been charged after they allegedly bilked millions from a FEMA-funded COVID-19 vaccination staffing contract.

Blurb:

Monday’s edition of Amanpour & Co., airing on PBS (and CNN International) showcased eponymous host Christiane Amanpour assenting to the radical view of her guest, Yale University professor Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: Also ahead, “White Supremacy in Donald Trump’s White House.” Princeton Professor Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor speaks to Michel Martin about Trump’s war on DEI.

The above shows the host quoting a featured article by her guest. But Amanpour was also comfortable straight-up saying Trump’s White House was a “white supremacist” house.

AMANPOUR: Since the start of his second term, President Trump has signed a number of executive orders targeting DEI policies, uttered rhetoric deemed racist at immigrants and is generally eroding the, quote, “melting pot identity” the U.S. once prided itself on. Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor is a Princeton professor of African American studies and she’s the co-founder of the black politics and culture magazine Hammer & Hope. In her recent piece, she describes a white supremacy in Donald Trump’s White House and joins Michel Martin to discuss the rollback of civil rights.

Blurb:

Before the U.S. and Israel launched their joint attacks on Iran 25 days ago, many Iranians said they would welcome foreign intervention if it meant the end of the Islamic Republic. The regime, in power for 47 years, had just crushed a huge wave of anti-government demonstrations, with President Trump claiming more than 30,000 were killed and vowing to come to the rescue of the protesters.

Now, two Iranians — one inside and one outside the country — tell CBS News the feeling of optimism has shifted markedly after more than three weeks of war.

In Colorado, two ballot initiatives have been approved that both deal with transgenderism. One measure would prevent physicians from performing surgeries on children to change the appearance of their gender. A second measure would prevent boys presenting as girls from participating in female sports.

The Colorado Times Recorder demonstrates Progressive media agit prop with its headline “How Christian-Right Activists Got Anti-Trans Initiatives on Colorado’s Ballot.” The headline vilifies opposition with a negative term (one this same media helped vilify), “Christian right” and stigmatizes being opposed to surgically transitioning children and allowing boys to participate in girls’ sports.

From Ballotpedia:

Initiative 109

The first measure that Colorado voters will decide on — Initiative 109 — would require school- and association-sponsored athletic teams to be classified in one of three categories based on sex: (1) males/men/boys, (2) females/women/girls, or (3) coeducational or mixed. Teams designated for females, women, or girls would not be open to male students or participants. Teams designated for males, men, or boys would not be open to female students or participants unless no corresponding female team is offered for that sport. The measure would not limit participation in teams designated as coeducational or mixed.

Initiative 110

The other measure on the General Election ballot in November — Initiative 110 — would prohibit healthcare professionals from performing surgeries on minors “for the purpose of altering biological sex characteristics,” as well as prohibit state and federal funds, Medicaid reimbursements, or insurance coverage from being used to pay for such surgeries. The phrase altering biological sex characteristics would be defined as “treatment in response to a minor’s perception of sex or gender” and would exclude treatment for medically verifiable disorders of sex development or acquired physical or chemical abnormalities and male circumcision.

Blurb:

How Christian-Right Activists Got Anti-Trans Initiatives on Colorado’s Ballot  Colorado Times Recorder
from news.google.com

Last week, a set of anti-trans initiatives was approved for Colorado’s 2026 ballot. The Colorado Times Recorder has been tracking these initiatives, and the anti-LGBTQ activist group Protect Kids Colorado that has pushed them with help from conservative politicians and religious ministries, for over two years. Here’s all the news you might have missed.

‘God Is Really Using Them:’ Fort Collins Activist’s School Lawsuit Spearheaded by Christian Extremists

By Jamie O’Rourke, Aug. 22, 2023

“I’ve been working with Erin [Lee] for the last year or so on that documentary she mentioned,” former state senator Kevin Lundberg said. “And I want to assure you and all your viewers that she and her husband, John, are the real deal. God is really using them to spread the word on what’s happening.”

Lee and Lundberg would go on to become founding members of Protect Kids Colorado.

Ballot Initiatives Target Transgender Students

By Sean Beedle, Feb. 21, 2024

Relegated to minority status in the Colorado legislature, Republicans are turning to ballot initiatives in an attempt to pass laws targeting transgender people.

Proponents of Anti-Trans Ballot Initiatives Falsely Claim ‘Furries’ Run Rampant in CO Public Schools, Biting and Scratching Other Students

By Jamie O’Rourke, May 20, 2024

“A lot of children now are identifying as a cat or dog or an animal,” said Rich Guggenheim, a member of the anti-LGBTQ coalition Protect Kids Colorado, in a radio interview. “And this is part of the furry movement. And so kids are going to school. And in some schools across the country, we’re hearing stories where kids are using litterboxes and doing their bathroom duties like they would if they’re a cat or a dog.” His statement effectively rehashed stale, debunked right-wing talking points from 2022.

Anti-Trans Ballot Initiatives Fail to Collect Enough Signatures; Cannot Appear on 2024 Ballot

By Jamie O’Rourke, Aug. 5, 2024

“Well, we didn’t quite make it to the ballot with this petition effort … but I echo everything my friends at [Gays Against Groomers] said!” proponent Erin Lee posted to X shortly after. “We educated, we inspired, we built a grassroots Army, we brought people together… And we got more than 1/2 the required signatures with less than 1/2 the timeline!”

Blurb:

New Jersey’s Democratic Governor Mikie Sherrill is following in the footsteps of NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Both are catering to radical Islamists with troubling terrorist ties. Sherrill visited a local mosque on Friday, complete with a headscarf.

There, Sherrill met with Imam Mohammad Qatanani, calling the mosque a “community with the five pillars of Islam that is constantly looking to do good works.”

Blurb:

Jennifer Siebel Newsom, wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, is attacking pro-life Christians.

She has criticized pro-life Christians and evangelicals as living in an “evangelical, conservative silo” that is “pulling us back as a country.”

Meanwhile, Newsom is arguing that the term “pro-life” should be redefined to mean government-funded social programs rather than protecting unborn children from abortion.

In a 2022 interview with journalist Elex Michaelson of a local Los Angeles station, Siebel Newsom promoted her documentary “Fair Play” on gender roles in the home and praised progressives for redefining the meaning of “pro-life.”

“I appreciate that so many people, so many progressives, are leaning into redefining what pro-life is really about, and that’s what we’re doing in California,” Siebel Newsom said. “You know, pro-life is about prenatal care and universal preschool and universal after-school and universal healthcare and taking care of foster kids and feeding, you know, universal meals and childcare. Like, that’s pro-life. It’s not conception.”

Blurb:

The problem with crime committed by illegal aliens is that it is 100% preventable. Far too many Americans have tragically lost their lives because the left refuses to admit that borders are, in fact, morally and legally permissible. According to leftist logic, though, so long as no human is illegal, none of this matters. And in that pathetic pursuit, another innocent American has lost her life far too soon.

Even worse is that Chicago Democrat and 49th Ward Alderwoman Maria Hadden has decided to victim-blame, as she claims that if Gorman had been elsewhere at the time of the crime, none of this would have happened.

And to call this the perfect example of fake leftist compassion would be an understatement.

According to The Post Millennial:

18-year-old Loyola University student Sheridan Gorman was shot and killed in the early hours of Friday morning when she was out with her friends near Tobey Prinz Beach Park in Chicago. The suspect in that killing is an illegal immigrant from Venezuela Jose Medina, 25, who was released into the country under the Biden administration and was further caught and released after a shoplifting arrest.

Blurb:

CNN host Kasie Hunt asked Democratic Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen Monday whether he believes Iranian officials over President Donald Trump.

Trump said talks had started between the United States and Iran. Iran, however, denied any such negotiations have taken place. During a discussion on “The Arena,” Hunt asked Van Hollen whether he trusts Iranian officials over the president.

“So you believe the Iranian officials over the president of the United States?” Hunt asked.

Blurb:

 

This is straight out of Orwell’s Animal farm -“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”

Trust fund babies partied until dawn as the entire island of Cuba was plunged into darkness with yet another grid collapse.

Hunchbacks can’t see their own hunch. These evil clowns should not be allowed to return.

New York Post: Socialists from the US and Europe put on a concert in Cuba — just as the country was plunged into third blackout this month Saturday. A convoy of socialists — including streamer Hasan Piker, the daughter of Rep. Ilhan Omar, members of Code Pink and lefty Irish hip-hop group Kneecap — is in Cuba with the goal of supporting Cuba’s oppressive communist regime. But Piker and others have been dogged by criticism for staying in a 5-star hotel in Havana, and Kneecap played a concert in the capital city as the rest of the nation of 11 million people faced yet another major blackout. Kneecap previously was accused of supporting Hamas. At the group’s show, which appeared to be attended by only a handful of people, the rappers were filmed chanting “Free Cuba, f–k Trump, f–k Netanyahu. Code Pink founder Jodi Evans was pictured smiling in a pink keffiyeh as she posed for a picture with Piker in Cuba on Saturday. “This is like the Fyre Festival for humanities majors with trust funds,” one X user wrote, referencing 2017’s infamous fraudulent music festival. (New York Post)

Blurb:

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has detained and deported hundreds of pregnant, postpartum and nursing immigrants since the start of the Trump administration, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed for the first time Wednesday. Federal policy says that such individuals should only be detained in limited circumstances.

Between January 1, 2025, and February 16, 2026, 363 pregnant, postpartum and nursing immigrants were deported, DHS reported in response to questions submitted last fall by Sen. Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat. Sixteen miscarriages were recorded during that time period. In total, 498 pregnant, postpartum and nursing people were reported as “booked out” of ICE detention in that timespan, meaning that they were detained and then left ICE facilities.

As of February 16, 121 people who were actively detained were pregnant, postpartum or nursing, according to DHS. Of those, nine were in their third trimester of pregnancy.

The National Education Association recently held a training session called “Advocacy and Free Speech Rights for K-12 Education” that seeks to establish the oughtness of woke ideology as the oughtness of human life. This action is sectarian in nature, which is troubling given the nature of the organization. It is one of the largest teachers’ unions in America, with over 3 million teachers. The question is not if the organization crossed the line into political activism, but what, if anything will be done about it.

Blurb:

Teachers’ Union’s Far-Left, Anti-Trump Agenda Exposed in Leaked Training Session – slaynews.com

A major teachers’ union representing millions of educators in schools across America is under fire after a leaked training session revealed heavy political messaging targeting President Donald Trump and conservative policies, fueling concerns that classrooms are being used for far-left activism instead of education.

The National Education Association (NEA) is one of the largest teachers’ unions in the United States, with roughly 3 million members.

The NEA conducted a February 23 training titled “Advocacy and Free Speech Rights for K-12 Educators.”

The leaked material is now raising major concerns about teachers being used to indoctrinate children with leftist ideology.

Blurb:

Fam, is it good when a federal judge invents an entirely new rule just for you? Not really!

James Boasberg, the chief judge of the federal district courts in Washington, has ordered that judges in his district be notified every time a grand jury declines to indict—or no-bill—a case brought by the laughably bad U.S. Attorney for Washington Jeanine Pirro.

Fam, is it good when your office has had more no-bills in one year than most offices get … ever? Nope!

Boasberg’s rule applies whenever Pirro’s office tries to indict someone via grand jury and fails, so her office has to tell the magistrate judge on duty—even if she ultimately decides not to charge the defendant at all.

Blurb:

CNN hasn’t exactly had a banner month. It started with White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt spanking CNN’s Kaitlin Collins about the dignified transfer of our brave service members who died in Operation Epic Fury, and only went downhill from there.

Just a few days later, the network repeatedly shared the false news that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani was the target of homemade IEDs that were thrown into a crowd of anti-Islam protesters near Gracie Mansion. They started by portraying the alleged bombers, Ibrahim Kayumi and Emir Balat, as “two Pennsylvania teenagers” who “crossed into New York City … for what could’ve been a normal day enjoying the city during abnormally warm weather.” The post went on to say the pair’s lives “would drastically change” after they were “arrested for throwing homemade bombs during an anti-Muslim protest.” CNN later deleted that post, claiming it “failed to reflect the gravity of the incident, thereby breaching the editorial standards” of the network. That post implied Mamdani was the target of the attacks, too.

Blurb:

 

House Democrats say Attorney General Pam Bondi is attempting to evade a congressional subpoena to testify about the Justice Department’s handling of the Jeffery Epstein case.

Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Wednesday evening walked out of a closed door briefing with Bondi and her deputy, Todd Blanche, saying the nation’s lead prosecutor declined to commit to cooperating with a subpoena issued by the panel’s Republican chair earlier this week.

The top Democrat on the committee, Rep. Robert Garcia of California, told reporters his members had only been informed about the planned Oversight briefing with Bondi and Blanche the day before. He accused the Trump administration officials of trying to stage “some kind of fake hearing” to avoid Bondi testifying under oath.

“This has been completely set up in a way that’s been irresponsible. And quite frankly, we believe a way for the Attorney General to get out of her answering questions under oath and to the public,” Garcia said.

Blurb:

Election experts from around the country are sounding alarms that the SAVE Act (full name: SAVE Trump’s Ass From The Epstein Files Act) would cause mayhem and set up the elections and the country for failure. In large part, this is because many of the act’s requirements are unfunded.

The so-called SAVE America Act, which President Donald Trump is relentlessly pushing, would create chaos for state and local elections administrators by immediately imposing several new requirements without adding funding, former North Carolina elections chief Karen Brinson Bell said on a press call Tuesday organized by Washington U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell.

“I cannot emphasize enough the Herculean effort that the SAVE America Act would present for election officials across this country,” Brinson Bell, who now advises election officials as a co-founder of the group Advance Elections, said. “Please do not set our country or these public servants up for failure. Bring us to the table. Develop this legislation properly and provide adequate funding and resources so we can all succeed.”

Blurb:

 

CBS Evening News isn’t doing so well under the new management at Paramount or the commissar they installed to make sure nothing woke gets broadcast. Nielsen reports that ratings are down.

Viewership for the program has once again dropped below 4 million, a critical demarcation point that previously spurred alarm at the Paramount Skydance news division.

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