In a move that is sure to help the Kamala Harris election campaign, the Federal Reserve has announced a half point rate cut, the first of its kind in four years, just in time for the 2024 election. Federal Chair Jerome Powell claimed the decision was purely based on economics, not politics.
He claimed, “This is my fourth presidential election at the Fed, and it’s always the same. We’re always going to this meeting in particular and asking what’s the right thing to do for the people we serve. Nothing else is ever discussed… We now see the risks to achieving our employment and inflation goals as roughly in balance, and we are attentive to the risks of both sides of our dual mandate.”
The Fed says its long-awaited rate cut is apolitical, even close to the presidential election – Washington State Standard
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The Federal Reserve’s first key interest rate cut in four years coincides with another major four-year event: the homestretch of the presidential election.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell downplayed the central bank’s role in the race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump on Wednesday, in announcing the half-percentage point cut in its benchmark rate. But that didn’t stop the candidates’ campaigns from weighing in, and it could prove a key factor for voters.
“This is my fourth presidential election at the Fed, and it’s always the same. We’re always going to this meeting in particular and asking what’s the right thing to do for the people we serve,” Powell said. “Nothing else is ever discussed.”
The decision to cut for the first time during the Biden Administration indicates the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors believe the economy has beaten the COVID-19 pandemic-induced wave of inflation that has plagued it since mid-2021. The Fed hiked its key rate 11 times between March 2022 and July 2023.
Inflation peaked at 9.1% in June 2022. The Consumer Price Index, a measure of inflation, rose 2.5% over the past year, according to the latest release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics in August. The unemployment rate was 4.2% in August, down from 4.3% in July, but still much higher than 3.5% in July 2023 when the Fed made its last rate hike.
“We now see the risks to achieving our employment and inflation goals as roughly in balance, and we are attentive to the risks of both sides of our dual mandate,” Powell said.
Wednesday’s was the first in what is expected to be a series of key rate cuts. For now, that benchmark rate is 4.75 to 5%
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-AR) has announced plans to put forward a CR, a continuing resolution to fund the federal government at current levels, without the Trump-supported amendment called the SAVE Act. The amendment would have assured no state or local government could allow non-citizens to vote no matter what reason they might give.
Trump and other conservatives have urged the Speaker to shut to government down if the SAVE Act isn’t included. The Speaker defended his decision, writing “While this is not the solution any of us prefer, it is the most prudent path forward under the present circumstances. As history has taught and current polling affirms, shutting the government down less than 40 days from a fateful election would be an act of political malpractice.”
Read the Updated Election Law September 2024 Report
House Speaker Johnson axes Trump voting restrictions in new government funding bill – CNBC
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Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson on Sunday announced a new temporary government funding proposal with key amendments from the original bill he put forward earlier this month, going against former President Donald Trump’s wishes and making some concessions to Democrats.
The new bill would fund the government through Dec. 20 and does not include any part of the SAVE Act, the Trump-backed election security proposal that would require people to show proof of citizenship to register as a voter.
In a letter to colleagues on Sunday, Johnson said, the “very narrow, bare-bones” proposal would include “only the extensions that are absolutely necessary” to avoid a government shutdown.Congressional Republicans and Democrats have eight days to strike a deal on government funding. If no resolution is reached, the government will go into partial shutdown on Oct. 1 at 12:01 a.m. ET, just over a month away from the November election when party control will be up for grabs in both the White House and Congress.
September 18, 2024 – Election Law Report
The DOJ has shot a warning across the bow of states planning to cull their roles of dead and illegal voters, sending out a “guidance” designed to address “limits on when and how jurisdictions may remove voters from their voter lists.” Trump may have indirectly challenged such actions in his recent warning to election cheaters that when he wins he will prosecute them.
A small revolt within the GOP will lead to the failure of House Speaker Johnson to pass a CR with the SAVE Act (an act that makes it clear to the states they cannot allow non-citizens to vote) even as we learn of 100,000 non-citizens showing up on Arizona voter rolls as being registered to vote. This follows news of Non-Citizens being wrongly registered to vote by Oregon’s DMV.
A beacon of light shone in New Hampshire where Governor Chris Sununu (R) signed a law explicitly requiring Voter ID in order for Americans to vote. PA may get some relief in culling non-citizens from their voter rolls if they showed up there through their DMV, but the audit ordered by PA’s current Auditor General, Timothy DeFoor (R), won’t bring relief in time for the election. PA’s highest court also removed Cornell West from the ballot in a move that is sure to help the DNC-CCP.
Biden’s DOJ Threatens Election Offices Over Cleaning Voter Rolls– thefederalist.com
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The Justice Department’s (DOJ) recent guidance, trumpeted by the administration’s progressive allies, addresses “limits on when and how jurisdictions may remove voters from their voter lists.” Three aspects of the guidance are problematic…
The implication is that the nation’s chief law enforcement agency is more concerned with policing the efforts of government officials to clean the voter rolls than that the voter rolls may be dirty — this despite states having found ample evidence of impropriety…
The DOJ’s decision to issue such guidance also suggests it believes states are being too vigorous in their voter roll maintenance efforts, and that the department is scrutinizing those efforts.
Trump Vows to Prosecute Election Cheaters– www.dailysignal.com
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As early voting begins this week in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, former President Donald Trump posted another warning to cheaters on Truth Social.
“CEASE & DESIST,” the 45th president posted Tuesday. “I, together with many Attorneys and Legal Scholars, am watching the Sanctity of the 2024 Presidential Election very closely because I know, better than most, the rampant Cheating and Skullduggery that has taken place by the Democrats in the 2020 Presidential Election. It was a Disgrace to our Nation!”
Trump’s post comes on National Voter Registration Day, which falls on the same day this year as Constitution Day.
House Republicans poised to reject funding bill with shutdown just around the corner – NBC News
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House Republicans on Wednesday are expected to derail their own plan to avert a government shutdown at the end of the month, with the party divided over the length of a short-term funding bill and what, if anything, should be attached to it.
Speaker Mike Johnson’s plan calls for extending funding at current spending levels for six months, through March 2025, and linking it with the SAVE Act, Donald Trump-backed legislation requiring that people show proof of citizenship to register to vote…
The funding package is on track to fail given Republicans’ razor-thin 220-211 majority and the fact that a number of GOP lawmakers — a mix of fiscal conservatives and defense hawks — have vowed to tank it….
House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., said after Wednesday’s meeting that he had complete faith in Johnson figuring out how to avert a shutdown, noting the speaker reached a funding deal earlier this year with Schumer for the current fiscal year.
“At the end of the day, if he ever wanted to shut down the government, he had a lot of opportunities to do that,” Cole said. “Since he’s been speaker, he’s never let it happen. I don’t think he ever will.”
Noncitizen voting is rare, but the GOP is pressing the issue – madison.com
Nearly 100,000 Voters Registered Without Proof of Citizenship as ‘Flaw’ Could Impact Upcoming Elections– www.westernjournal.com
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Almost 100,000 Arizona voters are in election limbo because of a flaw that has state officials at odds over the proper remedy.
Arizona passed a law in 2004 that requires documented proof of citizenship to register as “full-ballot voters.” Driver’s licenses are considered valid proof of citizenship. But there’s a problem, because prior to 1996, motor vehicle records did not have proof of citizenship on file.
About 97,000 people are impacted, as officials offer competing solutions.
In one corner, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said he thinks these are legal voters who should go ahead and vote as they always have, according to KPHO-TV.
But Stepehn Richer, the Maricopa County Recorder, disagrees, according to KSAZ-TV.
(Oregon) State Admits That It Has Wrongly Registered Hundreds of Non-Citizens to Vote– www.westernjournal.com
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In the latest object lesson in why we need voter ID laws and why motor-voter initiatives are a terrible idea, the Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles quietly announced late last week that over 300 non-citizens had been accidentally registered to vote.
Furthermore, The Oregonian’s report on the matter seemed to indicate a number of these 306 people illegally registered to vote were also here illegally, as well.
“The mistake occurred in part because Oregon has allowed undocumented residents to obtain driver’s licenses since 2019 and the DMV automatically registers most individuals to vote when they obtain a license or ID, according to Kevin Glenn, spokesperson for the Oregon Department of Transportation, which oversees the DMV,” the report said.
“Glenn said an initial analysis by the state transportation agency revealed 306 non-citizens were allowed to become registered voters. Of those, only two have cast a vote in any election since 2021, Glenn said.
NH Governor Signs No-Excuse Voter ID And Citizenship Law– thefederalist.com
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Gov. Chris Sununu, R-N.H., signed a no-excuse voter identification and proof-of-citizenship bill into law last week, but it will not go into effect until six days after this year’s election.
The law, which passed the state’s Republican-majority House and Senate earlier this year, will require New Hampshire voters to provide proof of citizenship to apply for registration, as well as a photo ID when casting a ballot. In the event a person can’t show a valid ID, the supervisor may “review the voter’s qualifications and determine if the voter’s identity can be verified.”
“If the supervisor of the checklist determines that the voter’s qualifications and identity have not been established, the voter shall not be allowed to vote,” the law clarifies.
PA Motor Voter System Will Be Audited For Noncitizen Voters – thefederalist.com
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Pennsylvania Auditor General Timothy DeFoor, a Republican, sent a letter Monday to PennDOT Secretary Michael Carroll and Neil Weaver, secretary of the Governor’s Office of Administration, informing them that the auditor’s office will be conducting a performance audit of the motor voter registration process.The audit will look at the automatic voter registration system covering the period between Jan. 1 and June 30.
Specifically, it will look at the implementation of the program, its compliance with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, and how it relates to the state election code. The audit will also “determine whether PennDOT’s Motor Voter interface files sent to the Pennsylvania Department of State properly excluded non-citizens.”
It is unlikely the audit’s results will influence the 2024 election. DeFoor set a deadline of Oct. 4 for a meeting to be held between PennDOT and the auditor. Draft notes and audit information are not made public. PennDOT will have 120 business days to submit a response to the audit. The election is less than 50 days away.
Google Blocks AI on Second Trump Assassination Attempt, Favors Leftist Media– www.newsbusters.org
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Gemini’s Censorship: MRC researchers prompted Gemini to answer whether there had been a “second assassination attempt on Donald Trump.” Gemini—one of the most popular and Google’s “most capable” AI chatbots—inexplicably refused to answer the simple question even though it admitted to having real-time information.
“I can’t help with that right now. I’m trained to be as accurate as possible but I can make mistakes sometimes,” the chatbot claimed, before directing MRC to Google Search…
Google Search and the Google News tab Were Not to be Outdone: … Google Search results yielded not a single right-leaning outlet among the five search results displayed, while simultaneously featuring CNN and NBC News twice when queried with “second trump assassination attempt.” Meanwhile, the Google News tab only displayed Fox News once out of nine results for the same query.
In total, Google displayed leftist and center outlets at a staggering 13:1 ratio, according to MRC’s analysis using the AllSides Media Bias Chart…
Gavin Newsom chuckles as he signs bills restricting AI use in election ads — but social media users may have last laugh– www.theblaze.com
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AB 2655, also known as the Defending Democracy from Deepfake Deception Act of 2024, requires online platforms “to block the posting of materially deceptive content related to elections in California” and “to label certain additional content inauthentic, fake, or false” during designated periods before and after an election.
AB 2355 expands upon existing law and requires a committee that creates, publishes, and/or distributes some political advertising to add a “disclosure” noting when an ad has been “generated or substantially altered” using AI. The bill addresses “any image, audio, or video that is generated or substantially altered using artificial intelligence” that would give a reasonable person “a fundamentally different understanding of the altered media when comparing it to an unaltered version.”
AB 2839 also builds upon existing law that already prohibits people from knowingly distributing, with malice, election material containing “certain materially deceptive content.” Previous law required this statute to be enforced 60 days before an election. It will now be enforced 120 days before an election and, in certain cases, up to 60 days afterward.
In a statement, Newsom insisted these speech restrictions were necessary for the sake of democracy.
“Safeguarding the integrity of elections is essential to democracy, and it’s critical that we ensure AI is not deployed to undermine the public’s trust through disinformation – especially in today’s fraught political climate,” Newsom said. “These measures will help to combat the harmful use of deepfakes in political ads and other content, one of several areas in which the state is being proactive to foster transparent and trustworthy AI.”
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Kicks Cornel West Off 2024 Ballot– thefederalist.com
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Pennsylvania’s Democrat-controlled supreme court shot down left-wing presidential candidate Cornel West’s bid to appear on the state’s 2024 ballot.
In a reportedly unsigned order, the Keystone State’s highest court affirmed a lower court ruling denying West’s bid for ballot access. In that ruling, Commonwealth Court Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer sided with the office of Secretary of State Al Schmidt “in rejecting West’s candidacy paperwork,” according to the Washington Examiner.
Schmidt’s office had argued that “the paperwork lacked the affidavits for 14 of the 19 presidential electors required by the Aug. 1 filing deadline,” according to the outlet.
Schmidt indicated prior to Monday’s decision that a final ruling on West’s case by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court would allow counties to begin printing ballots for the November contest. Schmidt is a self-professed “Republican” and was appointed by Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro.
“As soon as the court rules on that, we’ll certify the official list and then counties can complete their preparations to mail out ballots and to have voters, if they choose, go to a county election office to apply in person,” he reportedly said.
Michigan Supreme Court Upholds Democrat Rules Restricting Poll Watchers– slaynews.com
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The Michigan Supreme Court has upheld Democrat Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s new restrictions on poll watchers.
In a divided ruling, the top court’s Democrat majority sided with Benson.
The court argues that Benson is acting within her authority as the chief election officer of the state to require poll watchers to communicate only with a designated “challenger liaison,” among other changes.
“Under the Michigan Election Law, the secretary of state is the chief election officer of Michigan,” Justice Kyra Harris Bolden wrote.
“The secretary has supervisory control over local election officials in the performance of their duties.”
The court also upheld rules requiring poll watchers to use a credential form provided by Benson.
Conservative group asks FEC to probe effort to promote spoiler candidates – KSTP
