When Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) shut down the state to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus, his administration began issuing waivers to certain businesses that had been deemed not “life-sustaining,” which would allow them to remain open.
The process was not transparent, and resulted in some businesses within the same industry getting different treatment. As Spotlight PA <a href="https://www.inquirer.com/business/spl/pennsylvania-business-waivers-revoked-coronavirus-shutdown-20200513.html">reported</a> earlier this month, one photographer was granted a waiver while another was denied. A notary was granted a waiver but had it revoked without explanation the night before a list of waiver recipients was publicly posted. A trucking company that had been denied a waiver was suddenly granted one without explanation at the same time.
There was seemingly no rhyme or reason to the process, and business owners and individuals sued. One lawsuit alleged Wolf and his administration violated petitioners “constitutional guarantees against having property taken without compensation and their rights to judicial review, equal protection under the law and free speech,” The Morning Call <a href="https://www.mcall.com/coronavirus/mc-nws-coronavirus-alito-orders-wolf-respond-business-shutdown-lawsuit-20200501-fahdr2sevjghtiej4oq2v6kynu-story.html">reported</a>.
The state Supreme Court refused to review the lawsuit, but the U.S. Supreme Court ended up weighing in, ordering Wolf to respond to the lawsuit.
That particular lawsuit includes real estate agent Kathy Gregory, who told the Call that people who had agreed to sell their homes were not able to buy new properties before Wolf’s shut down order went into effect and that members of the military – who are still moving from assignment to assignment – are unable to find homes.
“How do you tell someone that housing is not a priority because the government shut us down?” she asked the outlet, adding that shelter is “basic.”
Another lawsuit, obtained by The Daily Wire includes numerous plaintiffs including a real estate brokerage firm, a home inspection company, and a swimming pool retail store. Wolf’s order essentially destroyed these businesses, who derived the vast majority of their revenue from in-person services.
Walter Zimolong, the attorney representing the plaintiffs in that lawsuit, argues that 42,000 businesses in Pennsylvania applied for waivers to continue operating, and just 7,000 received them, including Wolf’s family business, Wolf Home Products. In an email to The Daily Wire, Zimolong said one of the businesses that was granted a waiver was a hair salon conveniently located in the state capitol in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Kenwood Pools, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, was denied a waiver while two of its competitors’ waivers were granted. Win Homes Inspection, another company suing Wolf and his administration, also was denied a waiver while a competitor’s was granted.
Both lawsuits alleged the Wolf administration violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because they were treated differently than competitors whose businesses were similar in all relevant aspects.
The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/03/us/corona-virus-lawsuits.html">reported</a> that Pennsylvania is not the only state getting sued due to business shut downs. Similar lawsuits have been filed in Arizona, New Hampshire, and other states.
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Tom Wolf

Class-action Lawsuit Alleges Pennsylvania Government Violated Constitutional Rights When Distributing Coronavirus Business Waivers

Coronavirus

Lawsuit

Pennsylvania

Dr. Rachel Levine, the transgender state official who heads up Pennsylvania&#8217;s health department &#8212; a department now under fire for sending COVID-19 positive, potentially infectious patients back to nursing homes before they were deemed recovered &#8212; melted down during a press conference Wednesday after a reporter referred to Levine several times as &#8220;sir.&#8221;
The incident occurred during a press briefing discussing the state&#8217;s plan to reopen businesses and lift coronavirus related lockdowns. A radio personality named Marty Griffin called Levine, who is a male-to-female transgender individual, &#8220;&#8216;sir&#8217; in both his initial question and follow-up,&#8221; according to <a href="https://www.pennlive.com/news/2020/05/reporter-calls-pa-health-secretary-sir-multiple-times-in-phone-interview.html">a local news outlet</a>.
Levine lashed out, warning Griffin &#8220;please don’t misgender me&#8221; several times and calling the question &#8220;insulting.&#8221;
Griffin said later, on Twitter, that he apologized profusely and that he used the wrong pronoun in error.
&#8220;I apologize. I apologized twice. I truly did. It was not intentional. It was not. I was not focused. I was doing six things at once,&#8221; Griffin wrote, referencing the incident.
It was too little too late, however. Pittsburgh&#8217;s mayor, Bill Peduto, defending Levine, canceled a morning radio interview with Griffin&#8217;s station &#8212; a punishment, he said on social media, for Griffin&#8217;s behavior.
&#8220;Cancelled interview w/ Lynne Hayes-Freeland for tomorrow,&#8221; Peduto wrote. &#8220;Not upset w/her, she’s always been a fair, strong journalist. But will not support <a class="PrettyLink profile customisable h-card" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/KDKARadio" data-mentioned-user-id="22013225" data-scribe="element:mention">@KDKARadio</a> behavior. Growing up, KDKA had good people who made us proud to be from Pittsburgh. Now, it shock-jocks, sensationalism &amp; worse.&#8221;
Critics of the incident took to social media to suggest that Griffin is transphobic, referencing an &#8220;error&#8221; Griffin made years ago, when he called &#8220;Chelsea Manning &#8216;Mr. Bradley,&#8217; and said she’d had some sort of &#8216;bizarre sex-change thing&#8217; going on,&#8221; <a href="https://www.pennlive.com/news/2020/05/reporter-calls-pa-health-secretary-sir-multiple-times-in-phone-interview.html">according to PennLive</a>.
Levine and the rest of of the Pennsylvania health department is under fire for a policy requiring state nursing homes to admit COVID-19 positive patients or face state disciplinary procedures &#8212; a policy that led to an eruption of coronavirus cases across the state.  “Nearly 70% of Pennsylvania’s Covid-19 deaths, 2611 of 3806, have occurred in nursing homes or long-term care facilities,&#8221; <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pa-health-official-tasked-with-overseeing-nursing-homes-pulled-out-own-mother-while-policies-wreaked-havoc">The Daily Wire</a> reported Wednesday.
Levine is also facing charges that she pulled her own mother out of a Pennsylvania nursing home before she could become infected with the novel coronavirus, but after it became clear that adult care facilities within the state were ground zero for COVID-19.
Levine insists that her mother requested the move and that it was not prompted by news that the infection was spreading quickly in the state&#8217;s care homes.
“My mother requested, and my sister and I as her children complied to move her to another location during the Covid-19 outbreak,” Levine told reporters. “My mother is 95 years old. She is very intelligent and more than competent to make her own decisions.”
On Tuesday, Levine announced that the state would begin testing nursing home residents and caregivers regularly to control the spread of coronavirus.
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

rachel levine

Transgender Pennsylvania Health Director Melts Down In Press Conference After Reporter Uses Wrong Pronoun

Transgender

Pennsylvania&#8217;s State Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine pulled her own mother out of a nursing home as long-term care facilities across the state saw deaths pile up under her guidance.
In a report published Wednesday, <a href="https://www.abc27.com/news/pennsylvania/pennsylvania-health-secretary-offers-guidance-governor-insists-on-gradual-reopening/">ABC27</a> confirmed that the health secretary’s mother &#8220;recently vacated a personal care home in the Midstate.&#8221;
As noted by ABC27, &#8220;Nearly 70% of Pennsylvania’s Covid-19 deaths, 2611 of 3806, have occurred in nursing homes or long-term care facilities.&#8221;
“My mother requested, and my sister and I as her children complied to move her to another location during the Covid-19 outbreak,” Levine confirmed. “My mother is 95 years old. She is very intelligent and more than competent to make her own decisions.”
&#8220;Many in Harrisburg wondered what kind of message it sends — when a close relative of the person tasked with overseeing those types of facilities doesn’t choose to stay in one,&#8221; the report noted. &#8220;Levine countered that she is working to protect the health of all Pennsylvanians.&#8221;
Back in March, Levine ordered nursing homes and long-term care facilities in Pennsylvania to continue to accept coronavirus-positive patients who had been discharged from hospitals and were unable to return to their homes, according to the <a href="https://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/news/20200501/states-ordered-nursing-homes-to-take-covid-19-residents-thousands-died-how-it-happened">Bucks County Courier Times</a>.
&#8220;On March 29, as Pennsylvania, New York and other states began ordering nursing homes to admit medically stable residents infected with the coronavirus, national trade groups warned it could unnecessarily cost more lives,&#8221; the outlet reported. &#8220;The health directives put &#8216;frail and older adults who reside in nursing homes at risk&#8217; and would &#8216;result in more people going to the hospital and more deaths,&#8217; the American Health Care Association and affiliates said at the time.&#8221;
On Tuesday, the health secretary finally announced tighter guidance for the facilities
“By testing every resident and every staff member in every nursing home, we will be able to pinpoint exactly who has Covid-19, who has been exposed but has no symptoms, and cohort positive cases to prevent further spread,” Levine said, noting that PA officials &#8220;will also require nursing homes to report all cases and deaths which will be available publicly.&#8221;
As highlighted by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pennsylvania-forced-to-remove-hundreds-of-deaths-from-coronavirus-death-count-after-coroners-raise-red-flags">The Daily Wire</a> last month, the PA health department had to remove hundreds of coronavirus deaths from its official death count, following questions of accuracy and discrepancies highlighted by area coroners.
Levine, who decided to include “probable deaths” in the department’s total count, acknowledged to the <a href="https://www.inquirer.com/health/coronavirus/spl/pennsylvania-death-count-changes-confusion-coroanvirus-20200423.html">Philadelphia Inquirer</a> that such deaths may change over time.
“We realize that this category can be confusing, since it does change over time,” the health secretary told the outlet.
“At times, there are things we need to review, and potentially revisit the way the data is being analyzed,” Levine admitted. “And this is one of those times.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pennsylvania-forced-to-remove-hundreds-of-deaths-from-coronavirus-death-count-after-coroners-raise-red-flags">Pennsylvania Forced To Remove Hundreds Of Deaths From Coronavirus Death Count After Coroners Raise Red Flags</a>
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Rachel Levine, MD, physician general for the state of Pennsylvania

PA Health Official Tasked With Overseeing Nursing Homes Pulled Out Own Mother While Policies Wreaked Havoc

Pennsylvania has been granting waivers to businesses that haven’t been deemed “life-sustaining” to allow them to remain open during the coronavirus shutdown. But this week, some businesses that were granted waivers back in late March have suddenly had them rescinded without explanation, while others who were initially denied a waiver have been surprisingly approved.
Spotlight PA <a href="https://www.inquirer.com/business/spl/pennsylvania-business-waivers-revoked-coronavirus-shutdown-20200513.html">reported</a> on the stories of several business owners caught in the confusing and frustrating process, such as Tiffany Kuhn, who runs a mobile notary business that had received a waiver to continue operating on March 23. Last Thursday evening, around 9:30 p.m., however, Kuhn received an email from Gov. Tom Wolf’s (D-PA) administration saying her waiver had been rescinded. She received no explanation as to why.
Kuhn told Spotlight PA that she had taken precautions while continuing to operate her business by wearing gloves and a mask. “My first thought was, someone turned on me,” Kuhn told the outlet, suspecting a competitor might have said something.
She’s not alone. The confusing and much-criticized waiver process has allowed some businesses to operate while others in the same industry were told to close.
“Businesses have criticized the waiver process, saying the decisions were made in secret and applied unfairly, causing some in the same industry to operate while competitors were forced to remain closed. In some cases, a waiver could mean the difference between a business’ surviving the shutdown or going bankrupt,” Spotlight PA reported.
Micah Durling, who owns a photography business that specializes in real estate photos, had been granted a waiver on March 25, the outlet reported. Like Kuhn, he had taken precautions while operating – wearing protective gear, cleaning equipment after each shoot, and taking pictures when residents were not in their home. On Monday afternoon, Durling’s waiver was pulled – just days after a competitor complained about not receiving a waiver as well.
Last Friday, Wolf’s administration made public a list of those who had received waivers. Many whose names were not included on the list – such as Kuhn and a Central Pennsylvania garden store – were informed their waivers were pulled the night before the list was published. Others, such as Durling, were notified after the list was published.
Then there’s the case of Stacy White, who owns a trucking company with her husband just north of Scranton. They had been told they would not receive a waiver, but the night before the list was published, they received notification that they could now operate.
“I was like, huh, backpedal a little bit? … Fixing what went wrong?” White told the outlet.
More from Spotlight PA:
<blockquote>Officials with the Department of Community and Economic Development said the revocations were part of “a quality control review process” that began several weeks ago. In all, 69 businesses had their waivers revoked, spokesperson Casey Smith said, although she was unable to immediately say when they were notified.
“During that process, which is ongoing, we are rescinding waivers that were issued in error or do not meet the appropriate criteria,” Smith said.
The administration’s handling of the waiver process has been fraught from the start. The Department of Community and Economic Development has never detailed the criteria used to consider applications, nor has it made those applications public. It also hasn’t identified which businesses were denied, or those that were approved and then had their waiver revoked.</blockquote>
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

MESS: Pennsylvania Granting, Revoking Coronavirus Shutdown Waivers For Businesses Without Explanation, Sense

On Thursday, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center&#8217;s chair of emergency medicine Dr. Donald Yealy claimed the fatality rate of the novel coronavirus is far lower than initially suspected, closer to .25%, based off Allegheny County data and extrapolations from New York and California randomized antibody testing.
Initial modeling that crafted policy across the globe, including in the United States, suggested the fatality rate of COVID-19 was anywhere from 2-4%, if not higher.
The center, bracing for a surge of patients that have yet to materialize, are working well below capacity, Dr. Yealy noted, announcing a shift in policy to re-open their hospitals back to normal levels.
<a href="https://www.upmc.com/about/facts/numbers">UPMC</a> is Pennsylvania&#8217;s largest nongovernmental employer, the center&#8217;s website outlines, consisting of 89,000 employees, 40 hospitals, and 700 doctors&#8217; offices and outpatient sites.
&#8220;Dr. Donald Yealy based it partly on studies of levels of coronavirus antibodies detected in people in New York and California, and partly on COVID-19 deaths in the Pittsburgh region,&#8221; a <a href="https://www.pennlive.com/news/2020/04/umpc-argues-covid-19-not-as-deadly-as-feared-says-its-hospitals-will-shift-back-to-normal.html">Penn Live</a> report explained, covering Dr. Yealy&#8217;s Thursday presser. &#8220;The studies found that 5-20% of people had been exposed to the coronavirus, with many noticing only mild illness or none at all, he said.&#8221;
“We’ve learned that way more people, far, far more people have actually been exposed to the infection without any knowledge of it. That makes the overall death rate much lower,” said Yealy. “Many people just didn’t feel sick at all and recovered without difficulty.”
&#8220;Yealy went on to offer a hypothetical scenario of 3% of Allegheny County residents being exposed — a conservative number compared to the findings of the New York and California studies,&#8221; the report said. &#8220;That would mean about 36,000 people in Allegheny have been exposed to the coronavirus. With 94 COVID-19 deaths in the county as of Thursday, it would mean 0.25 percent of people exposed to the coronavirus had died, he said.&#8221;
“There is a big difference between 0.25% mortality and 7%,” Yealy emphasized.
The doctor noted that the majority of the COVID-19 deaths at UPMC &#8220;involved people over 80, with many being nursing home residents,&#8221; Penn Live reported.
Currently, &#8220;only 2% percent of the UPMC system’s 5,500 beds are occupied by COVID-19 patients and the number of new COVID-19 patients is declining,&#8221; Yealy said.
“What I suspect is COVID-19 will be a part of our experience treating patients for an extended [period of] months to maybe years,&#8221; he noted.
Asked about COVID-19 in relation to the flu, Yealy told reporters folks should be &#8220;&#8216;worried differently,&#8217; pointing out that both take their heaviest toll on the elderly, especially nursing home residents, and people weakened by other medical conditions,&#8221; the report said.
&#8220;[I] would not think of it as more or less, just two different illnesses that share some features, but have some distinct differences,&#8221; the doctor said.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pennsylvania-forced-to-remove-hundreds-of-deaths-from-coronavirus-death-count-after-coroners-raise-red-flags">Pennsylvania Forced To Remove Hundreds Of Deaths From Coronavirus Death Count After Coroners Raise Red Flags</a>
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

A sign points to areas on the University of Pittsburgh Medic

UPMC Official Claims Coronavirus Not Nearly As Deadly As Reported, Hospital Shifting Back To Normal

COVID-19

UPMC

Pennsylvania has had to remove hundreds of coronavirus deaths from its official death count this week, following questions of accuracy and highlighted discrepancies by area coroners.
The PA health department decided to include &#8220;probable&#8221; coronavirus deaths, or an assumed COVID-19-related death without testing for the virus, to their death tolls, dating back days and even weeks ago. But the death toll spike raised questions from coroners who came forward to highlight a discrepancy in death totals, which were not adding up to the number of all-cause deaths.
The scrutiny triggered multiple revisions and statements from the department, including the removal of 200 &#8220;probable&#8221; COVID-19 deaths and a claim of computer &#8220;glitching.&#8221;
&#8220;Pennsylvania started to include &#8216;probable deaths&#8217; in its fatalities. As a result, the total number of coronavirus deaths grew by 276, then 360, in successive nights, almost doubling the number of deaths in the state in two days,&#8221; a <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/pa-removes-200-deaths-official-coronavirus-count-questions-mount-reporting-process-data-accuracy">Fox News</a> report explained. &#8221; <a href="https://www.health.pa.gov/Pages/default.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Pennsylvania Department of Health</a> (DOH) subsequently removed 200 deaths from its count after facing mounting questions about the accuracy of the count.&#8221;
Health Secretary Rachel Levine, who decided to include &#8220;probable deaths&#8221; in the department&#8217;s total count, acknowledged to the <a href="https://www.inquirer.com/health/coronavirus/spl/pennsylvania-death-count-changes-confusion-coroanvirus-20200423.html">Philadelphia Inquirer</a> that such deaths may change over time.
“We realize that this category can be confusing, since it does change over time,” Levine told the outlet.
“At times, there are things we need to review, and potentially revisit the way the data is being analyzed,” she said. “And this is one of those times.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Probable cases make up &lt;2% of total cases + give us an idea if something is happening in an area that needs investigation. 
We rely on CONFIRMED case counts to make data driven decisions. As we work to move regions from red to yellow, we use confirmed data to base decisions.
&mdash; PA Department of Health (@PAHealthDept) <a href="https://twitter.com/PAHealthDept/status/1253397756342927360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 23, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
It&#8217;s unclear when the department started including probable deaths in the COVID-19 death tolls. Though Levine announced Tuesday that such deaths would be included, &#8220;department spokesperson Nate Wardle told the Inquirer that &#8216;probable deaths&#8217; had been included in the count far earlier than that,&#8221; Fox noted. Wardle, however, later retracted the statement to align with Levine&#8217;s announcement.
And it was weeks ago when questions concerning accuracy bubbled to the surface, as coroners highlighted discrepancies.
“There’s a discrepancy in the numbers,” said Charles E. Kiessling Jr., president of the Pennsylvania Coroners Association and coroner in Lycoming County. “I’m not saying there’s something going on&#8230; I’m not a conspiracy theory guy. But accuracy is important.”
&#8220;Kiessling said it was a matter of public safety that the DOH clarify the discrepancy. Coroners have complained over the past month regarding discrepancies in the death figures,&#8221; Fox reported. &#8220;As of early Thursday, Kiessling said the DOH had not yet reached out to his office about the matter. Levine later said she would contact coroners next week, giving the department time to understand &#8216;the different nuances&#8217; of the issue.&#8221;
“This is why I’m so upset,” Kiessling added. “Our job is to investigate&#8230; We do this every day.”
As noted by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nyc-officials-start-adding-people-who-never-tested-positive-to-total-deaths-from-virus">The Daily Wire</a> last week, New York City is also including untested patients into their COVID-19 death totals: &#8220;New York City added a huge number of deaths to the total number of deaths caused by the coronavirus after deciding to include over 3,700 victims who had not tested positive for the virus but were presumed to have the virus because of their symptoms and medical history.&#8221;
Earlier this month, White House coronavirus task force leader <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-dr-birx-we-have-very-liberal-recording-of-covid-deaths-if-they-test-positive-we-are-counting-that">Dr. Deborah Birx</a> explained that COVID-19 deaths in the United States have “very liberal” recording guidance, noting that anyone who tests positive for the virus and dies would be included in their numbers of coronavirus deaths.
“I think in this country, we are taking a very liberal approach to mortality,&#8221; she said at press briefing. &#8220;And I think the reporting here has been pretty straightforward over the last five to six weeks. &#8230; If someone dies with COVID-19, we are counting that.”
“There are other countries, that if you have a pre-existing condition, and let’s say the virus called you to go to the ICU (intensive care unit) and then have a heart or kidney problem,” Dr. Birx explained. “Some countries are recording that as a kidney issue, or a heart issue, and not a COVID-19 death.”
In the U.S., Dr. Birx suggested, “we’re still recording it” as a COVID-19 death.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-dr-birx-we-have-very-liberal-recording-of-covid-deaths-if-they-test-positive-we-are-counting-that">WATCH: Dr. Birx: We Have ‘Very Liberal’ Recording Of COVID Deaths; If They Test Positive, ‘We Are Counting That’</a>
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">subscriber</a>.

Pennsylvania Forced To Remove Hundreds Of Deaths From Coronavirus Death Count After Coroners Raise Red Flags

Dr. Deborah Birx

On Wednesday, the Pennsylvania State Senate passed a bill that overrode Democratic Governor Tom Wolf&#8217;s lockdown, or stay-at-home order, instead allowing all businesses to open back up within the federal parameters.
Senate Bill 613, reports <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/493060-pennsylvania-state-senate-votes-to-override-governors-stay-at-home-order">The Hill</a>, &#8220;would require the governor’s office to align with federal guidelines in determining which businesses will be allowed to reopen during the pandemic, allowing all those that can safely operate with mitigation strategies under Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency guidelines.&#8221;
The Republican-backed legislation passed in the State Senate 29-21.
Governor Wolf has already closed schools for the remainder of the academic year and extended his stay-at-home order without exception until April 30. All businesses that Wolf deems non &#8220;life sustaining&#8221; have been closed down, which has drawn criticism of favoritism, <a href="https://www.pennlive.com/news/2020/04/gov-tom-wolf-will-veto-bill-that-would-allow-more-pa-businesses-to-open-during-covid-19-crisis.html">Penn Live</a> reported.
The GOP-backed bill would arguably allow more transparency while staying within the guidance laid out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the federal Homeland Security’s <a href="https://www.cisa.gov/publication/guidance-essential-critical-infrastructure-workforce">Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency</a>, the report added.
&#8220;I think the waiver process has been extremely inefficient. We&#8217;re concerned it&#8217;s been very unfair. The problem is it&#8217;s also not been made public,&#8221; Republican State Rep. Mike Jones told <a href="https://www.wgal.com/article/pennsylvania-house-passes-bill-that-could-reopen-some-businesses/32148233">WGAL</a>. &#8220;Those are the big three that virtually every other state in the nation, including many of the surrounding states, continue to operate, and it&#8217;s coming at the expense of our state.”
Nonetheless, Wolf is expected to spike the bill.
“As the administration as stated many times, irresponsibly going against the direction of the Secretary of Health and reopening businesses too early will only extend the length of the economic hardships created by the pandemic,” <a href="https://www.pennlive.com/news/2020/04/gov-tom-wolf-will-veto-bill-that-would-allow-more-pa-businesses-to-open-during-covid-19-crisis.html">said</a> Lyndsay Kensinger, the governor&#8217;s press secretary.
The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) claimed Republican legislators &#8220;don&#8217;t care&#8221; about &#8220;Pennsylvania families or the lives that will be lost.&#8221;
“The Pennsylvania GOP has a storied history of passing irresponsible legislation, but even I’m surprised they’ve stooped so low,” said a statement from DLCC president Jessica Post, according to <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/493060-pennsylvania-state-senate-votes-to-override-governors-stay-at-home-order">The Hill</a>. “Republicans have sent the message loud and clear: they don’t care about Pennsylvania families or the lives that will be lost should this legislation become law. The GOP’s focus should be on saving lives, not saving the stock market.”
Earlier this week, Gov. Wolf entered into a partnership with six other Northeastern states — Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and New York — to coordinate on when and how to end the lockdown, The Daily Wire reported.
“If you do it wrong, it can backfire, and we’ve seen that with other places in the globe,” said Democratic New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. “What the art form is going to be here is doing that smartly and doing that in a coordinated way.”
While the delays build up, Americans across the country are starting to speak out against lockdown measures. On Wednesday, for example, thousands participated in a protest at the Michigan State Capitol against their Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer&#8217;s excessive and inconsistent stay-at-home order.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ten-governors-announce-regional-plans-to-re-open-economy-trump-responds">Ten Governors Announce Regional Plans To Re-Open Economy. Trump Responds.</a>

Tom Wolf Speaks At Pennsylvania Conference For Women 2015

State Senate Votes To Override Democrat Governor’s Stay-At-Home Order

After a six-year-old Pennsylvania girl with Down Syndrome pointed her index finger at her teacher and said, “I shoot you,” the school district called the police.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
A Pennsylvania mom is furious over the fact that cops were called out when her 6-year old daughter with Down Syndrome made a &quot;finger gun&quot; and pointed it at a teacher. <a href="https://t.co/da3J6oZ0rK">https://t.co/da3J6oZ0rK</a>
&mdash; Cam Edwards (@CamEdwards) <a href="https://twitter.com/CamEdwards/status/1226953434290688000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The Tredyffrin-Easttown School District said its policy called for the police to be contacted. <a href="https://www.dailylocal.com/news/local/tredyffrin-mom-upset-after-cops-called-on-her--year/article_9af5fe2a-485d-11ea-96e8-13daba8561cf.html">Daily Local News</a> reported:
<blockquote>The school’s principal Rebecca Wills quickly determined that there was not a threat and then followed district policy and convened a “threat assessment” team. The threat assessment team recommended no disciplinary action, and determined that a “transient threat” was made and no harm was made to the teacher or any classmates … Gaines then said that she received a call from the principal that police were going to be notified. The incident was reported to police 24 hours later.</blockquote>
The incident prompted the girl’s mother, Maggie Gaines, to say that the reaction to her daughter Margot’s gesture at Valley was far from reasonable, as she told <a href="https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2020/02/04/exclusive-maggie-gaines-says-tredyffrin-easttown-school-district-called-police-after-6-year-old-daughter-with-down-syndrome-pretended-to-shoot-teacher-with-finger/">CBSPhiladelphia</a>:
<blockquote>They get this phone call and I was fine with everything up until calling the police. And I said, “You absolutely do not have to call the police. You know, this is ridiculous” … My daughter got frustrated and pointed her finger at her teacher and said, “I shoot you.” At that point, they went to the principal’s office and it was quickly assessed that she didn’t even really know what she was saying. They were asking her questions, and she was saying, “Oh, I shoot mommy,” laughs, or, “I shoot my brother.” The principal asked, “Did you mean to hurt your teacher?” And she said no and it seemed like she didn’t even know what that meant.</blockquote>
Gaines continued, “She really didn’t understand what she was saying, and having Down syndrome is one aspect, but I’m sure all 6-year-olds don’t really know what that means. Now, there is a record at the police that says she made a threat to her teacher.
The Gaines family alerted Pennsylvania state Sen. Andrew Dinniman, who stated:
<blockquote>As a state senator, an educator, and a parent, I am concerned when I hear that such important decisions appear to be guided blindly by written policy or legal interpretation without those in positions of authority using their judgment, experience, and commonsense to weigh in. Furthermore, I am alarmed that a school seems to be acting as an extension of the police department in promulgating data and records on children as young as kindergarteners.</blockquote>
<a href="https://bearingarms.com/cam-e/2020/02/09/police-called-6-year-old-finger-gun/">Bearing Arms</a> noted, “This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a student’s finger gun land them in trouble. In 2019, a middle school student in Kansas faced <a href="https://bearingarms.com/cam-e/2019/12/17/kansas-city-girl-arrested-for-finger-gun-avoids-felony-prosecution/">felony charges</a> after making a finger gun in class, while students in the same school district who brought actual firearms to school were charged with misdemeanors.”
The Tredyffrin-Easttown School District issued a statement that included these statements: “When an individual parent concern related to our school safety practices was brought to the attention of the District two weeks ago, we agreed to review those practices in the School Board Policy Committee meeting tonight. When developing the current practice, the District worked collaboratively with parents, law enforcement and private safety/mental health agencies and legal consultants to ensure our safety measures reflected considerable input from both our local community and experts in the field of school safety.”

Baby girl hand on table

Six-Year-Old Girl With Down’s Syndrome Points Finger Gun. School District Notifies Police.

Children

Down Syndrome

The New York Times was so so excited they&#8217;d found a disgruntled Trump voter in a swing state they wrote on entire <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/07/us/politics/trump-democrats-pennsylvania-.html">story</a> about him, headline: &#8220;I Gave the Other Guy a Shot.&#8221;
&#8220;Mark Graham, a real estate appraiser in this faded manufacturing hub, sat with friends at a gym named FitnessU on the morning after the Democratic debate in mid-September. He had voted for Barack Obama, but in 2016 he took a gamble on Donald Trump,&#8221; the article said, adding that Graham called the president’s conduct in office a &#8220;joke.”
“I’d vote for the Democratic nominee no matter who it is at this point,” he told the newspaper. “If Mr. Trump gets into another four years, where he’s a lame duck, it’s going to be like adding gasoline to the fire.”
Other liberal outlets loved the Graham story, and the voter with buyer&#8217;s remorse was featured in a series of videos created by America Bridge, a Democrat-supporting political action committee. The ads are part of a $5 million  campaign aimed at flipping Trump supporters in the key swing states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.
There was only one problem: Graham didn&#8217;t vote in 2016.
Jet 24, a news organization in Erie, Pennsylvania, checked into Graham&#8217;s voting record.
&#8220;This ad apparently has a false claim in it. We’ve learned from records at the Erie County Courthouse that Mark Graham did not vote at all in 2016,&#8221; Jet wrote in a <a href="https://www.yourerie.com/news/local-news/anti-trump-political-commercial-scrutinized-about-truthfulness/">piece</a>.
<a href="https://www.erienewsnow.com/story/41413325/antitrump-pitchman-mark-graham-didnt-vote-in-2016">Erie News Now</a> also published a story saying Graham &#8220;didn&#8217;t vote at all.&#8221;
<blockquote>Erie County voting records obtained by Erie News Now reveal Graham did not vote for Trump in 2016. The records show Graham did not vote in either the primary or the general election. Graham was interviewed today by Erie News Now and was told that the records do not show him casting a vote in 2016.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t know. Maybe I didn&#8217;t,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t know that. I thought I did to be honest with you.&#8221;
Graham said he message is still loud and clear whether he voted for Trump in 2016 or not.
&#8220;I vote. If I missed that and I misspoke, I misspoke. The thought still has not changed,&#8221; he said.</blockquote>
The revelation prompted the Times to add an &#8220;editor&#8217;s note&#8221; to its two pieces that featured Graham. &#8220;After this article was published, <a class="css-1g7m0tk" title="" href="https://www.yourerie.com/news/local-news/man-who-appeared-in-anti-trump-ad-didnt-vote-in-2016/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">local news</a> media reported that Mark Graham did not vote in the 2016 election. The Times has confirmed that Mr. Graham did not vote in the election.While Mr. Graham acknowledged misspeaking about his voting record, he said the article accurately reflects his feelings about the 2016 race and President Trump’s performance in office.&#8221;
So, let&#8217;s unpack that. First, the paper didn&#8217;t issue a correction for the glaring error. And second, the Times says that although Graham misspoke (uh, lied) about his voting record, the article &#8220;reflects&#8221; how he felt about the election (in which he didn&#8217;t vote).
And for the record, the American Bridge PAC continues to run <a href="https://americanbridgepac.org/pennsylvania/">the ad</a>, which is still up on its website.
The Trump campaign mocked American Bridge in a Twitter post on Friday.
“Well, well,” tweeted Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh. “Guy who says he voted for Trump and now regrets it … didn’t actually vote for Trump. In fact, didn’t vote at all in 2016. It’s cool, though. Democrats at American Bridge (liberal PAC) still put him in an ad and won’t take it down.”
The Republican Party of Pennsylvania also called for the PAC to remove the ad.
“The ad is false, its premise is false and it’s messenger has been discredited,” state Republican Chairman Lawrence Tabas said in a statement. “The organization could easily have determined that Graham had not voted in 2016 by checking the publicly available records at the Erie County elections office.”

Donald Trump Holds Campaign Rally In Dallas

A Pennsylvania Man Claimed He Regretted Voting For Trump. Then This Happened.

Donald Trump

Democrat Pennsylvania State Rep. Movita Johnson-Harrell, the first Islamic woman elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, was charged by prosecutors this week for allegedly stealing over $500,000 from a non-profit for the mentally ill, perjury, and tampering with public records.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, announced the <a href="https://www.attorneygeneral.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/2019-12-04-Movita-Johnson.pdf">charges</a> on Wednesday which came at the conclusion of an investigation into her operation of a non-profit, Motivations Education &amp; Consultation Associates (MECA).
In a statement, Shapiro said that Johnson-Harrell turned herself in on Wednesday to law enforcement officials, and &#8220;is taking responsibility for her crimes, plans to plead guilty, and has agreed to resign from the Pennsylvania House of Representatives effective December 13th.&#8221;
The statement from Shapiro&#8217;s office noted just a few of the items that Johnson-Harrell allegedly spent the stolen funds on:
<ul>
<li>$5,500 on multiple fox fur coats,</li>
<li>$16,000 on vacations to Mexico (twice), Atlanta, and Ocean City, MD,</li>
<li>$2,065.95 to cover past-due Porsche payments,</li>
<li>$6,976 for designer clothing,</li>
<li>$3,000 for an overdue IRS tax bill,</li>
<li>$3,830 in tuition for relatives,</li>
<li>$3,200 to Philadelphia Gas Works,</li>
<li>$4,741.20 for City of Philadelphia taxes, and</li>
<li>$7,979.54 to cover a restitution payment for a 2014 criminal conviction where Johnson-Harrell failed to pay unemployment compensation tax.</li>
</ul>
“While Johnson-Harrell was lining her pockets with MECA funds, MECA’s residents were living in squalor,” Shapiro <a href="https://billypenn.com/2019/12/04/with-west-philly-state-rep-60-public-officials-have-been-arrested-by-pa-attorney-general/">said</a>. “When corruption erodes the trust that is built between governmental entities and citizens, no one wins. I’ve said time and time again as Attorney General that no one is above the law, no matter their position of power. And today is no different.”
Shapiro continued by highlighting the allegations made against Johnson-Harrell: “Representative Johnson-Harrell continuously diverted Medicaid and social security disability funds from her charity to help Philadelphia’s most vulnerable communities for her own personal use. She spent almost $15,000 on clothing, including online shopping sprees at Ralph Lauren and fox fur coats. She traveled to Mexico, Orlando, Georgia and Maryland on lavish trips costing $16,000 of MECA funds. She spent $2,000 on overdue car payments on her Porsche. Another $4,000 on tuition for a relative. And, she spent almost $20,000 on overdue mortgage payments.”
Shapiro also claimed that Johnson-Harrell committed campaign fraud by &#8220;failing to accurately report her campaign’s receipts and expenditures&#8221; and claimed that she committed tax fraud when she failed to &#8220;report her MECA spending as income and didn’t count the rent she continued to pay herself from MECA accounts on properties that no longer operated.&#8221;
A news article tweeted out by Shapiro highlighted his crackdown on corruption in the state, which, with Johnson-Harrell&#8217;s arrest, now stands at 60 public officials his office has arrested for alleged corruption and other alleged crimes.
The article that Shapiro tweeted out was to a publication called BillyPenn, which reported: &#8220;Two-thirds of the 60 arrested over the past two years were police officers or other law enforcement officials, including prosecutors, probation and corrections officers. Charges against them ranged from falsifying police paperwork to soliciting prostitutes while on the job. There are also plenty of county officials who allegedly dipped into public coffers for their personal gain.&#8221;
The list of officials that Shapiro arrested also reportedly includes 20 who were brought up on charges involving child pornography.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
60 public officials who have broken the trust given to them by the people of Pennsylvania.
This # is startling, frustrating and sad. PA deserves better. We deserve good, honest leadership.
My office will keep rooting out corruption—wherever we find it. <a href="https://t.co/OZJgGORNKe">https://t.co/OZJgGORNKe</a>
&mdash; Josh Shapiro (@JoshShapiroPA) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoshShapiroPA/status/1202569757423230977?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 5, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Movita Johnson-Harrell

Democrat State Rep Charged With Stealing $500K From Non-Profit For Mentally Ill, Pennsylvania Attorney General Alleges

Pennsylvania State Senator John Yudichak announced on Tuesday that he will be switching his political affiliation from Democrat to Independent due to a disconnect with an increasingly leftward-moving party.
&#8220;As an Independent, I will continue to put people above politics,&#8221; Yudichak said in a press release. &#8220;I will continue to support Democratic ideas as well as Republican ideas when it is clear that they serve the greater good and help government work for people rather than the narrow interests of partisan &#8216;purists.'&#8221;
The state lawmaker has represented Pennsylvania&#8217;s 14th senatorial district for three terms and is not up for re-election until 2022. Yudichak suggested that leaving the party is the only way he can faithfully serve his district, which covers the northeastern part of the state and includes Carbon, Luzerne, and Monroe Counties.
&#8220;From an administrative standpoint if there was an independent caucus I&#8217;d be in the independent caucus but there were only two. That&#8217;s something that I&#8217;m trying to change,&#8221; Yudichak said <a href="https://twitter.com/SenJohnYudichak/status/1197163718636982273?s=20">over Twitter</a>. &#8220;I&#8217;d like to change the conversation where we get out of this idea that it&#8217;s us vs them. I think it&#8217;s a false choice for Pennsylvanians, I think it&#8217;s a false choice for Americans.&#8221;
Pennsylvania Democrats were able to flip five State Senate seats blue during the 2018 election cycle, which reportedly pulled the party even further to the left. Yudichak&#8217;s decision to leave the party will make him the commonwealth&#8217;s sole Independent state senator and brings the minority caucus from 22 seats to 21; Republicans currently control 27 seats, with one vacant seat in a solidly red district scheduled to be filled in January through a special election.
Despite being an Independent, Yudichak has decided to caucus with the Republican Party and will likely be assigned new committee assignments going forward.
&#8220;This is unique,&#8221; Yudichak said. &#8220;I&#8217;m an Independent. I&#8217;m going to be fiercely independent. I&#8217;ve been independent by nature, now it&#8217;s going to be by party.&#8221;
During a phone call with <a href="https://www.pennlive.com/news/2019/11/pa-dems-lose-a-state-senator-john-yudichak-of-luzerne-county-declares-himself-independent-will-caucus-with-gop.html">The Patriot-News</a>, Harrisburg&#8217;s largest newspaper, Yudichak put forth that the Democratic caucus has not been supportive of issues important to the region he represents and it has therefore become increasingly difficult for him to adequately serve his constituents. Accordingly, Yudichak cited certain issues, such as passing tax credits to help the waste coal industry and helping to prevent state prisons and centers for individuals with intellectual disabilities from closing, as areas where he lacks support.
&#8220;It became clear to me that I was going to be a marginalized voice, or worse, a silent voice, if I continued in that caucus,&#8221; Yudichak told local reporters.
&#8220;Our Democratic caucus prides itself on our advocacy for working people, for fair wages, affordable and accessible health care, and access to every opportunity the Commonwealth has to offer — regardless of race, gender, or creed,&#8221; Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa said in statement. &#8220;This Democratic caucus and the Democratic Party as a whole promotes a &#8216;large tent&#8217; approach.&#8221;
&#8220;And we welcome debate and diverse opinions within our membership, and will continue to do so,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;We&#8217;re extremely disappointed to see Senator Yudichak turn his back on those values and his Senate colleagues who have supported him since his first election to this chamber in 2010.&#8221;

Close Up Of Boxing Gloves

Pennsylvania Lawmaker Leaves Increasingly ‘Purist’ Democrat Party, Will Caucus With Republicans

Democratic Party

On Wednesday, a teacher at a Pennsylvania middle school issued a homework assignment in which students were instructed to photograph themselves packing a bag to pretend they were refugees forced to leave their homes as “President Trump is trying to take control of the United States! There are fights in the streets!” <a href="https://www.wpxi.com/news/teacher-calls-parents-to-apologize-for-controversial-homework-assignment/1006415325">according to WPXI</a>.
The homework assignment at the middle school in the Penn Cambria School District in Gallitzin, PA, reportedlyupset parents. <a href="https://www.pennlive.com/news/2019/11/pa-teachers-huge-error-involving-trump-assignment-leads-to-apologies.html">Penn Live</a> reported, “District Superintendent William Marshall says the teacher realized the ‘huge error’ and has called each parent individually to apologize.&#8221;
The assignment stated:
<blockquote>President Trump is trying to take control of the United States! There are fights in the streets! You have to pretend that you are a refugee being forced to leave your home, never to return. Please have a parent to time them for ten minutes while they packed a bag. When the time was up they were to take a picture of the contents of their backpack and then email it to me. If no picture, then draw it. You will have to present to us why you chose those items. This is due on Thursday. Worth 10 points.</blockquote>
The teacher’s actions would seem to be out of place at the school; the middle school itself adheres to conservative principles. Its <a href="https://www.pcam.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/PCMS-Student-Handbook-2019-2020.pdf">dress code</a> reads:
<blockquote>Shirts must cover the midriff at all times. Shirts must reach the waistband of pants whether sitting or standing. Halter, tube tops, spaghetti strap shirts are NOT permitted. Tops must be wide enough to cover bra straps. Pants for boys and girls must fit at the waist so that your underwear does not show when you are sitting or standing. Logos on the back of pants or shorts are not permitted. Shorts and skirts must be at least the length of student’s fingertips when hands are dropped to the side.</blockquote>
The middle school website also <a href="https://www.pcam.org/schools/middle-school/">notes</a>, “We had the privilege of having the U.S. Honor Flag Network visit the Middle School on Wednesday, October 2nd.  They held a presentation that focused on America&#8217;s Heroes, Integrity, Patriotism, and sharing the U.S. Honor Flag.”
On September 24, a Computer Applications teacher at Watson B. Duncan Middle School in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida gave students a quiz with a question in which students were asked which president, Donald Trump, Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, or Jimmy Carter, was the “45th Pres; 2017; Republican; Real Estate businessman; Idiot.”
The teacher claimed she downloaded the quiz from Quizlet, and had not reviewed the question before making it part of the quiz, as <a href="https://www.wptv.com/news/region-n-palm-beach-county/palm-beach-gardens/palm-beach-gardens-teacher-didnt-create-controversial-quiz-question-about-president-trump-investigation-finds">WPTV reported</a>.
As <a href="https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/state/florida-teacher-didnt-create-controversial-quiz-question-about-president-trump-investigation-finds">ABC Action News</a> reported, the school&#8217;s principal sent a letter to parents that read:
<blockquote>Hello Duncan Middle School Parents, this is Principal Philip D&#8217;Amico. A question on a quiz given by your child&#8217;s Computer Applications teacher yesterday was brought to my attention this morning. The question was inappropriate and demonstrated an unacceptable lack of good judgment on the part of the teacher. An investigation is now underway, and the teacher has been reassigned during this process. Because this is an open inquiry, I am not at liberty to share any additional details with you at this point. I apologize for this incident, and for the offensive verbiage used in the question. Thank you for your patience, and your continued support of Watson B. Duncan Middle School.</blockquote>
The school district released this statement to to WPTV: &#8220;Despite the fact that the teacher didn&#8217;t write, or intentionally select the question, the District views this error as a display of unprofessional behavior. The School District of Palm Beach County holds our educators to the highest standards. The teacher has been disciplined.&#8221;
&nbsp;
&nbsp;
&nbsp;

President Donald Trump Presents The Presidential Citizens Medal At The White House

Teacher Gives Homework Where Students Pack Their Bags As Trump ‘Is Trying To Take Control Of The United States!’

Teachers

On Friday, Pennsylvania state legislator Rep. Wendy Ullman (D-Bucks) attempted an &#8220;apology&#8221; for calling a woman&#8217;s miscarriage of a child &#8220;just some mess on a napkin&#8221; while opposing a pro-life law earlier in the week.
In a series of tweets, the Democrat apologized for choosing her &#8220;words poorly&#8221; and underscored her opposition to the a Republican-backed bill that seeks to have medical facilities and abortion clinics dispose of baby remains with dignity.
<a href="https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billInfo/billInfo.cfm?sYear=2019&amp;sInd=0&amp;body=H&amp;type=B&amp;bn=1890">Pennsylvania House Bill 1890</a> would require abortion clinics and health care facilities to bury or cremate such lost unborn children, as opposed to tossing out the children like routine medical waste.
&#8220;In a discussion in the committee meeting earlier this week, I chose my words poorly and for that I apologize. Many women and families find tremendous comfort and solace in ritual burial or cremation in the case of early miscarriages, but others do not,&#8221; posted Rep. Ullman. &#8220;Some would choose donation for medical research, like my family friend, who I quoted in a committee meeting, saying, &#8216;So my loss can have meaning.'&#8221;
&#8220;In the discussion, which was on a bill that would require ritual burial or cremation following any miscarriage, I was in near-tears relaying a story of my family friend,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;This issue is intensely important to me, and that’s why I struggled for words. My words were poorly chosen, and I apologize. I remain steadfast that every single step of a medical process, including the handling of remains, should be decided by a patient and her doctor.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Some would choose donation for medical research, like my family friend, who I quoted in a committee meeting, saying, “So my loss can have meaning.” 2/4
&mdash; Rep. Wendy Ullman (@RepUllman) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepUllman/status/1190360405824147460?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 1, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
This issue is intensely important to me, and that’s why I struggled for words. My words were poorly chosen, and I apologize. I remain steadfast that every single step of a medical process, including the handling of remains, should be decided by a patient and her doctor. 4/4
&mdash; Rep. Wendy Ullman (@RepUllman) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepUllman/status/1190360407325773826?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 1, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Ullman&#8217;s &#8220;apology&#8221; tweets were not well received, racking up only a few dozen &#8220;likes&#8221; and thousands of replies — most all of which were in outraged opposition with the lawmaker, including some detailing personal stories of miscarriage.
&#8220;This issue is also intensely important to me. Let me try to be clear so that you can understand,&#8221; one Twitter user <a href="https://twitter.com/LisaJochim/status/1190627800459489280">replied</a> to Ullman. &#8220;That &#8216;mess&#8217; is a baby, a child, a human being. You callously disregarded human life in all its glory and the beautiful process we all go through till the end of our lives.&#8221;
Another woman <a href="https://twitter.com/HollyKurzman/status/1190685698954842120">wrote</a>, &#8220;Poorly chosen is a gross understatement. It was cruel.&#8221;
&#8220;Tell my mother, aunt, sister and sister-in-law that their miscarriages were nothing. Resign and disappear,&#8221; <a href="https://twitter.com/chrisbg99/status/1190665297478459397">read</a> another comment.
&#8220;Your words weren&#8217;t chosen poorly,&#8221; one woman <a href="https://twitter.com/StartlingtheDay/status/1190682444002930689">said</a>. &#8220;It was your principles that you chose poorly. Keep searching for the Truth. It&#8217;s there waiting for you.&#8221;
The Daily Wire&#8217;s Emily Zanotti <a href="https://twitter.com/emzanotti/status/1190668908954603522">pointed out</a> that her tweet-storm wasn&#8217;t an &#8220;apology.&#8221; &#8220;If it was,&#8221; she said, &#8220;it would have stopped after the first sentence.&#8221;
&#8220;Do I seem angry to you, [Rep. Ullman]? Good. Because women who have had miscarriages deserve respect and if I need to stand up to garbage like you, who seek to deny the humanity of our children in pursuit of your ghoulish agenda, so be it,&#8221; Zanotti <a href="https://twitter.com/emzanotti/status/1190672062991478786">added</a>. &#8220;Women deserve better than you.&#8221;
Ullman <a href="https://twitter.com/molratty/status/1190390548915478528">sparked</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Liz_Wheeler/status/1189940159443169280">backlash</a> last week after the Democrat&#8217;s remarks, which were first highlighted by <a href="https://pafamily.org">Pennsylvania Family Council</a>, received (limited) media coverage.
&#8220;[House Bill 1890] refers specifically to the product of conception after fertilization, which covers an awful lot of territory,&#8221; the Democrat said on Tuesday during the House Health Committee meeting. &#8220;I think we all understand the concept of the loss of a fetus, but we’re also talking about a woman who comes into a facility and is having cramps and — not to be, not to be, concrete — an early miscarriage is just some mess on a napkin.&#8221;
WATCH:
<iframe title="PA State Representative Wendy Ullman: &quot;Early miscarriage is just some mess on a napkin.&quot;" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9WBMbLF-ChY?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-dem-rep-wendy-ullman-calls-miscarriage-just-some-mess-on-a-napkin">WATCH: Dem Rep. Wendy Ullman Calls Miscarriage ‘Just Some Mess On A Napkin’</a>

Cavan Images//Getty Images

Dem Lawmaker’s ‘Apology’ For Calling Miscarriage ‘Just Some Mess On A Napkin’ Doesn’t Go Over Well

Abortion

On Tuesday, Pennsylvania state legislator Rep. Wendy Ullman (D-Bucks) said a miscarriage is &#8220;just a mess on a napkin.&#8221;
Rep. Ullman made the shocking statement while expressing her opposition to a Republican-sponsored bill seeking to handle the remains of the aborted and miscarried with dignity. <a href="https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billInfo/billInfo.cfm?sYear=2019&amp;sInd=0&amp;body=H&amp;type=B&amp;bn=1890">House Bill 1890</a> would require abortion clinics and healthcare facilities to bury or cremate such lost unborn children, as opposed to tossing out the children like medical waste.
&#8220;[House Bill 1890] refers specifically to the product of conception after fertilization, which covers an awful lot of territory,&#8221; said the Democratic lawmaker during a House Health Committee meeting. &#8220;I think we all understand the concept of the loss of a fetus, but we&#8217;re also talking about a woman who comes into a facility and is having cramps and — not to be, not to be, concrete — an early miscarriage is just some mess on a napkin.&#8221;
<a href="https://pafamily.org/2019/10/napkin/">Tom Shaheen</a>, Vice President for Policy for Pennsylvania Family Institute, quickly condemned Ullman&#8217;s insensitive statement. “A miscarriage, no matter how early, does not result in a ‘mess on a napkin’ but the loss of a child,” Mr. Shaheen rebuked the Democrat. “Each human life deserves respect, even when lost at an early stage in development.”
“The remains of human beings should be treated better than medical waste,&#8221; continued Shaheen. &#8220;Rep. Frank Ryan’s bill is a compassionate effort to help offer some closure to many mothers and families in Pennsylvania.&#8221;
&#8220;Every Pennsylvanian should be appalled at such a heartless comment, which devalues life and ignores the pain experienced by so many women and families in Pennsylvania,&#8221; a statement from the <a href="https://pafamily.org/2019/10/napkin/">Pennsylvania Family Institute</a> added.
Abortion radicalism and callous comments concerning the loss of the unborn have become commonplace in the Democratic Party. In January, for example, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, a Democrat later embroiled in a blackface scandal, publicly defended a form of infanticide on a radio program.
&#8220;When we talk about third-trimester abortions, these are done with the consent of the mother, with the consent of physicians, more than one physician by the way, and it’s done in cases where there may be severe deformities, there may be a fetus which is non-viable,&#8221; Northam said, as reported by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-virginia-governor-doubles-down-infanticide-ryan-saavedra">The Daily Wire</a>. &#8220;So in this particular example, if the mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen, the infant would be delivered, the infant would be kept comfortable, the infant would be resuscitated if this is what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physician and the mother.&#8221;
At the time, the Virginia Democrat was offering support for proposed legislation by Kathy Tran, a Democrat, allowing abortions to be performed up to the moment of birth.
Every Republican members of the House Health committee voted to pass Pennsylvania&#8217;s HB 1890, while every Democrat in the committee voted against it.
In May, the U.S. Supreme Court <a href="https://www.indystar.com/story/news/2019/05/28/indiana-abortion-law-supreme-court-rules-fetal-remains-law/1256953001/">upheld</a> the portion of a Republican-backed Indiana law that requires burial or cremation of unborn children lost in abortion or miscarriage, just as HB 1890 is seeking.
WATCH:
<iframe title="PA State Representative Wendy Ullman: &quot;Early miscarriage is just some mess on a napkin.&quot;" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9WBMbLF-ChY?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Posed baby

WATCH: Dem Rep. Wendy Ullman Calls Miscarriage ‘Just Some Mess On A Napkin’

Last Friday, the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against a group of atheists who sued the Speaker of the Pennsylvania House in federal court, claiming the Pennsylvania House violated the Establishment Clause by barring a non-religious person from offering prayer.
The court ruled 2-1 that it is constitutional for the House to restrict offering prayer in the House to people acknowledging God; Judge Thomas L. Ambro, who wrote the <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/becketnewsite/Document.pdf">majority opinion</a>, stated, &#8220;As a matter of traditional practice, a petition to human wisdom and the power of science does not capture the full sense of &#8216;prayer,&#8217; historically understood.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.becketlaw.org/case/speaker-v-fields/">Becket Law</a> explained the background of the case:
<blockquote>In 2016, a group of secular atheists, many of whom publicly mock prayer and religion, requested to serve as chaplains and deliver non-religious &#8220;invocations&#8221; in the Pennsylvania State House. The Pennsylvania House speaker denied their request on the grounds that their beliefs were not religious. In August 2016, the atheists sued the Speaker of the Pennsylvania House in federal court, claiming that it violated the Establishment Clause to bar a non-religious person from offering prayer … In August 2018, the district court decided in favor of the atheists, ruling that the Pennsylvania State House legislative prayer policy violates the Constitution. The Speaker of the Pennsylvania House appealed the case to the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.</blockquote>
The Third Circuit wrote in its decision:
<blockquote>For the Free Exercise, Free Speech, and Equal Protection Clauses, we hold that legislative prayer is government speech not open to attack via those channels … History supplies our method of analyzing cases involving legislative prayer. In Establishment Clause challenges like this, we ask &#8220;whether the prayer practice&#8221; in question &#8220;fits within the tradition long followed in Congress and the state legislatures.&#8221;
Twice the Supreme Court has drawn on early congressional practice to uphold legislative prayer. It emphasized that Congress approved the draft of the First Amendment in the same week it established paid congressional chaplains to provide opening prayers. Congress approved theistic religious expression in other ways as well; a day after proposing the First Amendment, it &#8220;urged President Washington to proclaim &#8216;a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts, the many and signal favours of Almighty God.'&#8221;</blockquote>
The decision also noted the recent case in which the Supreme Court <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/18pdf/17-1717_4f14.pdf">ruled</a> that the 40-foot Peace cross could remain on state property in Maryland. The decision noted:
<blockquote>Even more recently, the Supreme Court has expanded its historical framework beyond the confines of legislative prayer. In rejecting an Establishment Clause challenge to a Christian cross commemorating World War I on state property, the Court held that the memorial &#8220;must be viewed in [its] historical context.&#8221; It also announced &#8220;a presumption of constitutionality for longstanding monuments, symbols, and practices.&#8221;</blockquote>
The decision even cited left-leaning Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, writing, &#8220;The assumption that prayer must be theistic apparently persuaded then-Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg that Congress’s practice of excluding nontheists from offering opening prayers did not violate the Establishment Clause.&#8221;
The decision concluded: &#8220;The House’s policy preferring theistic over nontheistic prayers does not violate the Establishment Clause because it fits squarely within the historical tradition of legislative prayer. Next, legislative prayer is government speech, so the policy is not susceptible to an attack on free-speech, free-exercise, or equal-protection grounds.&#8221;

Close up of hands clasped on open Bible

Victory For Believers: Court Rules Atheists Cannot Offer Prayer In PA State House

Atheism

Christianity

In a surprise display of a politician departing from his party&#8217;s line, a Democratic mayor in Reading, Pennsylvania has refused to raise the LGBT rainbow pride flag over city hall, arguing that it sends a non-impartial political message.
&#8220;The flag was originally slated to fly on Monday in recognition of Reading’s Pride Celebration and stay up through the following Sunday,&#8221; reports <a href="https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/dem-mayor-refuses-to-raise-lgbt-flag-as-symbol-of-political-movement">LifeSiteNews</a>. &#8220;However, the Reading Eagle <a href="https://www.readingeagle.com/news/article/reading-mayor-blocks-raising-of-pride-flag">reports</a> that Mayor Wally Scott blocked it just minutes before it was set to go up. He objected not to the LGBT lobby’s causes, but to the prospect of flying anything representing a live political cause.&#8221;
In a statement to reporters, acting managing director Osmer Deming said that Mayor Scott simply does not wish to use government property to endorse current political movements. &#8220;The mayor’s position is that he does not support flags being up that support political movements and he views that as a political movement,&#8221; he said.
City council president Jeffrey Waltman said that he tried to change the mayor&#8217;s mind but ultimately could not persuade him from &#8220;concerns about raising the flag.&#8221; Councilwoman Donna Reed said that all plans were in place to have the flag fly until Mayor Scott shut it down at the last minute. &#8220;I contacted the managing director and was told this flag would fly through the 21st,&#8221; Reed said.
&#8220;It was obviously an administrative breakdown that showed up at the last minute. It was approved by Osmer and I guess it didn’t get relayed,&#8221; Waltman added.
LGBT activists have not accepted the news enthusiastically. One city resident, Ernie Schlegel, said he plans to file a complaint to see &#8220;if we have a stand for discrimination.&#8221;
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ReadingPa?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ReadingPa</a> was set to raise a flag to celebrate <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Pride?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Pride</a> but Mayor Wally Scott said no at the last minute <a href="https://t.co/9EzRf460Ei">pic.twitter.com/9EzRf460Ei</a>
— Jeremy Long (@jeremymlong) <a href="https://twitter.com/jeremymlong/status/1150874038757220357?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 15, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
Mayor Scott&#8217;s decision to not let the flag fly over city hall comes shortly after the Trump administration <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/48185/report-trump-admin-says-no-flying-pride-flags-us-paul-bois">told U.S. embassies</a> around the world to abstain from displaying the rainbow flag alongside the American flag.
&#8220;The U.S. embassies in Israel, Germany, Brazil and Latvia are among those that have requested permission from Trump&#8217;s State Department to fly the pride flag on their flagpoles and have been denied, diplomats said,&#8221; reported NBC News back in June. &#8220;Although the pride flag can and is being flown elsewhere on embassy grounds, including inside embassies and on exterior walls, the decision not to allow it on the official flagpole stands in contrast to President Donald Trump&#8217;s claim to be a leader in supporting LGBTQ rights overseas.&#8221;
In actuality, the Trump administration only barred the pride flag from being physically placed on flagpoles alongside the U.S. flag. Openly gay U.S. ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell told NBC News in a statement that the rainbow flag would be present in the U.S.&#8217;s Berlin embassy, and that it was present throughout all of Pride Month.
&#8220;The President&#8217;s recognition of Pride Month and his tweet encouraging our decriminalization campaign gives me even more pride to once again march in the Berlin Pride parade, hang a huge banner on the side of the embassy recognizing our pride, host multiple events at the Embassy and the residence, and fly the gay pride flag,&#8221; Grenell said.
In 2018, the GOP even <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/33589/gop-bill-seeks-prevent-us-embassies-raising-gay-paul-bois">introduced a bill</a> in the U.S. House seeking to bar the rainbow flag from being displayed in concert with the American flag on U.S. embassies. Contrary to initial reports, the bill did not single out LGBT flags and simply banned any flag other than Old Glory.
&#8220;The United States flag is the single greatest symbol of freedom the world has ever known, and there’s no reason for anything but Old Glory to be flying over our embassies and posts around the globe,&#8221; Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC) said at the time.

Democratic Mayor Refuses To Raise The Pride Flag

LGBT

Richard Grenell

Trump Administration

A shooting outside a nightclub in Allentown, Pennsylvania early Thursday morning left 10 people wounded in what authorities say they suspect is an incident connected to &#8220;gang violence.&#8221;
The shooting occurred outside the Deja Vu nightclub shortly before 2 a.m. Thursday morning, the <a href="https://triblive.com/news/pennsylvania/10-wounded-in-shooting-outside-pennsylvania-bar/">Associated Press</a> reports. According to police, most of the victims either had just left the club or were standing on the sidewalk when the bullets began to fly.
&#8220;There have been no arrests, and the motive for the shooting was unclear,&#8221; AP reports. &#8220;Witnesses said they saw several panicked people fleeing the scene on foot, and at least one car was spotted speeding away.&#8221;
Officials say they believe as many as three shooters may have been involved and that they suspect this is a case of gang violence.
&#8220;It appears that at least one individual was a target,&#8221; Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin said in a statement reported by <a href="https://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-nws-allentown-shooting-view-20190620-k7i7ql2ovbaevndqelu7pnf6t4-story.html">The Morning Call</a>. Though there have been no arrests, Martin said &#8220;it does not appear that the community at large is at risk from the perpetrators involved here.&#8221;
&#8220;It is more likely than not that the outcome of the investigation will reveal a connection to gang violence,&#8221; he said, noting that some witnesses have been uncooperative.
The Morning Call describes the incident as &#8220;one [of] Lehigh Valley&#8217;s worst mass shootings in recent memory.&#8221; The paper also notes that the owner of Deja Vu, Osiris &#8220;Tito&#8221; Guzman, was recently &#8220;arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, false identification to authorities and public drunkenness for his role in a weekend brawl outside another nightclub, The View.&#8221;
The police say they do not believe the brawl and the shooting are connected, however.
One witness told The Morning Call that the gunshots woke her up and she witnessed people running across the parking lot of the shopping center and a car speed away. &#8220;When everything went silent all you could hear is the screaming and panicking,&#8221; she said. &#8220;All I could think was someone is dying.&#8221;
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/48512/gunman-opens-fire-downtown-dallas-shot-dead-heres-james-barrett">Gunman Opens Fire In Downtown Dallas, Shot Dead. Here&#8217;s What You Need To Know.</a>

10 Wounded In Shooting Outside Pennsylvania Nightclub

Shooting

On Tuesday the Supreme Court <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/28/politics/supreme-court-pennsylvania-school-transgender-student-bathroom-policy/index.html">dodged the issue</a> of allowing transgender students in school to use bathrooms that don&#8217;t match their biological sex, declining to hear a case involving a Pennsylvania school district policy that permits those students to do so.
The court denied a writ of certiorari in the case of Doe v. Boyertown Area School District; the plaintiffs are students, represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), who believe the school district policy violates their privacy rights and amounts to sexual harassment. If the court had heard the case and decided the students were indeed being sexually harassed by having students of the opposite sex in their bathrooms, that would constitute a violation of Title IX.
<a href="https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/doe-v-boyertown-area-school-district/">ScotusBlog</a> summed up the case this way:
<blockquote>
Whether, given students&#8217; constitutionally protected privacy interest in their partially clothed bodies, a public school has a compelling interest in authorizing students who believe themselves to be members of the opposite sex to use locker rooms and restrooms reserved exclusively for the opposite sex, and whether such a policy is narrowly tailored; and (2) whether the Boyertown policy constructively denies access to locker room and restroom facilities under Title IX &#8220;on the basis of sex.&#8221; 
</blockquote>
ADF Senior Counsel and Vice President of Appellate Advocacy John Bursch responded to the Supreme Court&#8217;s decision not to hear the case, asserting, &#8220;Students struggling with their beliefs about gender need compassionate support, but sound reasons based on common sense have always existed for schools to separate male and female teenagers in showers, restrooms, and locker rooms.&#8221;
In May 2018, the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the district&#8217;s policy. One student who was a senior at the high school, Alexis Lightcap, said she had encountered a boy in the girl&#8217;s restroom and was frightened. <a href="https://www.adflegal.org/detailspages/blog-details/allianceedge/2019/05/28/breaking-supreme-court-rejects-student-privacy-case">ADF reports</a>, &#8220;Alexis was determined to make her voice heard. <a href="https://www.adflegal.org/detailspages/case-details/doe-v.-boyertown-area-school-district">She joined a lawsuit against Boyertown School District and later publicly identified herself as one of the plaintiffs.</a> Another student in the district had already challenged the policy in court after he realized that a biological female was standing in the boys&#8217; locker room as he changed down to his underwear. <a href="https://www.adflegal.org/detailspages/blog-details/allianceedge/2017/09/26/we-cannot-give-up-on-student-privacy-rights.-that-s-why-we-are-appealing-this-case">School administrators had brushed aside his privacy concerns, too, telling him to try and act &#8216;natural&#8217; after he raised the issue.</a>&#8221;
Lightcap <a href="https://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/commentary/boyertown-transgender-bathroom-lgbtq-gender-identiy-philadelphia-suburbs-20180524.html">wrote an op-ed</a> in which she stated:
<blockquote>
I come from a broken home. As a child, I struggled for a long time through a broken foster care system. Eventually, a good, loving family adopted me, but all those previous experiences made me a shy and quiet little girl who didn&#8217;t have a voice of my own.
<iframe data-google-container-id="b" data-load-complete="true" frameborder="0" height="1" width="1"></iframe>My adoptive parents worked hard to help me find that voice. They taught me to think for myself, and speak for myself, and that what I thought mattered. That came in handy when we moved to Boyertown, where black children like me were pretty few and far between, but racial slurs were not.
So, it&#8217;s not like I don&#8217;t know what it&#8217;s like to be different, or can&#8217;t understand someone who has a hard time speaking up for their rights. But that doesn&#8217;t make me any more comfortable having my privacy invaded or knowing the bathroom door is open to anyone who wants to come in.
</blockquote>
As <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2019/05/28/supreme-court-transgender-school-bathroom-policy-1345367">Politico</a> reported, after the SCOTUS decision on Tuesday, the ACLU, which represents Aidan DeStefano, a student at Boyertown Area Senior High who is transgender, tweeted: &#8220;Our client Aidan was accepted as the boy he is &#8212; this should be every student&#8217;s experience. This is a victory for trans students and educators nationwide.&#8221;

Supreme Court Dodges Case Involving Trans Students In Bathrooms

Supreme Court

On Tuesday&#8217;s episode of &#8220;The Andrew Klavan Show,&#8221; the host discusses how the Democrats and their allies in the mainstream media are living in a fantasy world where every Trump supporter is a racist bigot. Video and partial transcript below.
Yesterday, I happened to be in the car listening to the radio when Donald Trump began one of his speeches, one of these rallies. He gives them in these godforsaken places where people don&#8217;t even live in New York or L.A. I didn&#8217;t even know there were people out there! But Donald Trump knows there are people out there and he goes out and he starts to give a speech and he is getting kind of more disciplined in his speeches; although he does go off in these hilarious rants sometimes. But anyway, he&#8217;s talking about the thing that he should be talking about, which is the economy. But I was listening to those figures which are largely correct. I mean obviously, Trump has that carny barker way of talking where everything is the best ever and the best ever. But you know the numbers are real; he has brought jobs back.
The growth in this country has been great. It&#8217;s obvious he&#8217;s taken off that incredible weight that Barack Obama put on the country, not just by over-regulating business, not just by being unreliable in what atmosphere he was creating for business or business couldn&#8217;t count on what was going to happen next, but also in that just a droning blame of &#8220;oh we&#8217;re not the country we&#8217;re supposed to be&#8221; you know. I mean they talk about animal spirits and big business and Obama was the greatest killer of animal spirits ever, and Trump you know pumps people up. He loves the country and everything&#8217;s going great&#8230;
It&#8217;s just like the picture of Donald Trump that comes out of the Democrat media 24/7 again that comes out all the time is just so different than real Trump. I mean first of all the stuff that he&#8217;s talking about, he&#8217;s talking about the minority numbers, the things that he has done for the minority communities in this country, if that&#8217;s what we have to call them. I don&#8217;t know why they&#8217;re not just Americans, but we were always identifying them as minorities. He&#8217;s done amazing things for those communities in terms of the economy, which kind of puts the lie to this whole &#8220;racist&#8221; thing, which is all we have heard is &#8220;racist, racist, racist.&#8221; They pushed that thing about &#8220;oh there are fine people on both sides&#8221; until finally, they had to admit, &#8220;Oh yeah we lied to you for two years. Now we just won&#8217;t mention it again. But we&#8217;ll keep saying he&#8217;s racist.&#8221;
<div class="embed video fluid-video"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DHfdT-DzDM0?start=334" width="560"></iframe></div>
Two researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, Daniel Hopkins and Samantha Washington, set out to measure the effect of Trump&#8217;s election on anti-black and anti-Hispanic prejudice, that Americans, they say, have become less inclined to express racist opinions since Donald Trump was elected. Anti-black prejudice, they found, declined by a statistically insignificant degree between 2012 and 2016&#8230; But then after 2016, when Trump was elected, it took a sharp dive. Anti-black prejudice after Trump&#8217;s election took a sharp dive that was statistically significant. Moreover, contrary to their expectations, the fall was [as] evident among Republican voters as it was among Democrats. There was also a general fall in anti-Hispanic prejudice too, although this was more evident among Democrat voters. In other words, when you don&#8217;t have a guy like Obama telling us that everything we do is wrong, that life is injustice, and we need to have a conversation about race, as if we haven&#8217;t been talking about race for the last 50 or 60 years. When you don&#8217;t have people doing that, we start to react to each other the way we&#8217;re supposed to, which is as Americans, and it&#8217;s going away. This is an effect of Donald Trump.
So that&#8217;s a fantasy. The fantasy that Trump is making racism worse, that he&#8217;s bringing out from under the rock all the evil white supremacists, the white suprematism is a growing problem, which the numbers show that it is not. That is just it. I mean, you know, you can not like Trump, you can say his policies are wrong. You can disagree with his policies, but I&#8217;m talking about fantasy, I&#8217;m talking about the difference between fantasy and reality which you cannot say is that he&#8217;s a racist or that he has acted in a racist way. You could say that Obama was a racist. He went for 20 years to a racist church, he convicted police officers without any evidence calling them racist, he tried to take over local police forces with the feds on the grounds that they were racist when the numbers showed they weren&#8217;t. You know you could have said that, and you could say we all have glitches we all have things that come out of our mouth. You can always pick and choose things. But in terms of his actions, in terms of his policies, I don&#8217;t see how it&#8217;s possible to make the legitimate argument that this is an actual racist guy.
<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/show/andrew-klavan-show&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1558621190040000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGQw4X2mFZsKe-51BiLXbS7RwwMtw" href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/show/andrew-klavan-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Watch more of &#8220;The Andrew Klavan Show&#8221; here</a>.
<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-andrew-klavan-show/id1045171376?mt%3D2&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1558621190040000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEMMKxGiPXMgKLL0MUgLvnUDxAvHw" href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-andrew-klavan-show/id1045171376?mt=2" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Listen to more of &#8220;The Andrew Klavan Show&#8221; on iTunes here.</a>

KLAVAN: The Media And The Democrats Are Living In A Fantasy World

Andrew Klavan

Barack Obama

Conservatism

Economy

Mike Pence

Racism

The citizens of Philadelphia have been rocked by a tax on sugary drinks like soda, although the hike was intended to improve their health.
As <a href="https://hotair.com/archives/2019/05/18/philadelphias-soda-tax-bombed-predicted/">outlined</a> by Hotair on Saturday, the &#8220;soda tax&#8221; has actually led to Philadelphia residents traveling outside the city to buy their soda (and likely other goods), decreased the city&#8217;s revenue, and led to layoffs in the local beverage industry and cut hours for employees at small markets. It did not, however, lead to an increase in healthier beverage purchases in the city.
When the soda tax was first announced, workers at Pepsi took a hit. &#8220;With sales slumping because of the new Philadelphia sweetened beverage tax, Pepsi said Wednesday that it will lay off 80 to 100 workers at three distribution plants that serve the city,&#8221; <a href="http://philly.com">philly.com</a> <a href="https://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/Pepsi-announces-80-100-layoffs-blames-soda-tax.html">reported</a> in March of 2017.
And last month, the local outlet <a href="https://www.philly.com/opinion/acme-soda-tax-hurting-businesses-20190418.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIjZ6_kuaq4gIVjZyzCh23owhTEAAYAiAAEgJkwPD_BwE">reported</a> that the owner of Acme Markets, who has 16 stores in Philadelphia, had to cut employees&#8217; hours because of the tax: &#8220;The beverage tax fell on about 4,000 items. In Acme city stores, soda sales dropped as much as 80 percent. Sales of other items covered by the tax, such as juices, creamers and energy drinks, were down 30 percent, and the number of customers declined by 5 percent. Philly stores cut an average of 150 to 200 employee hours per week, resulting in lighter paychecks for employees.&#8221;
But the hit the employees took did not equate to a win for the &#8220;health&#8221; of its citizens. As noted by Hotair, Philadelphia residents were traveling outside the city to avoid the tax hike on their drinks.
A CNN report on a study from medical journal <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2733208?guestAccessKey=86610f39-a0eb-46d4-a30a-3ddef0036408&amp;utm_source=For_The_Media&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=ftm_links&amp;utm_content=tfl&amp;utm_term=051419">JAMA</a> focused in on the 51% drop in city soda purchases, but <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/15/health/philadelphia-soda-tax-sales-decrease/index.html?utm_content=2019-05-18T09:00:14&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_term=link&amp;utm_source=twCNN">admitted</a>: &#8220;While researchers found that sales of sugary beverages fell in Philadelphia after the tax, beverage sales in nearby towns and counties without the tax went up. That suggests people may have been traveling to get their soda at a reduced price.&#8221;
&#8220;People stopped buying their soda in the city (and almost undoubtedly a lot of other shopping list items) and decided to shop where prices were lower,&#8221; Hotair noted.
So was there at least an uptick in healthier beverage purchases because of the tax? Nope. &#8220;Philadelphia did not see an increase in sales of untaxed beverages such as bottled water,&#8221; CNN reported.
CNN did not discuss the revenue hit Philadelphia took, but Hotair did: &#8220;The tax on soda increased by 17%, but the sales fell by 51%. So, let&#8217;s look at this assuming one million ounces of soda was sold annually before the tax went into effect. If sales had remained the same, the city would have realized $62,400.00 in revenue instead of $54,300.00. But with the volume cut in half, they managed to slash their revenue to $31,200.00.&#8221;

Menu

Pennsylvania

Class-action Lawsuit Alleges Pennsylvania Government Violated Constitutional Rights When Distributing Coronavirus Business Waivers

Transgender Pennsylvania Health Director Melts Down In Press Conference After Reporter Uses Wrong Pronoun

PA Health Official Tasked With Overseeing Nursing Homes Pulled Out Own Mother While Policies Wreaked Havoc

MESS: Pennsylvania Granting, Revoking Coronavirus Shutdown Waivers For Businesses Without Explanation, Sense

UPMC Official Claims Coronavirus Not Nearly As Deadly As Reported, Hospital Shifting Back To Normal

Pennsylvania Forced To Remove Hundreds Of Deaths From Coronavirus Death Count After Coroners Raise Red Flags

State Senate Votes To Override Democrat Governor’s Stay-At-Home Order

Six-Year-Old Girl With Down’s Syndrome Points Finger Gun. School District Notifies Police.

A Pennsylvania Man Claimed He Regretted Voting For Trump. Then This Happened.

Democrat State Rep Charged With Stealing $500K From Non-Profit For Mentally Ill, Pennsylvania Attorney General Alleges

Pennsylvania Lawmaker Leaves Increasingly ‘Purist’ Democrat Party, Will Caucus With Republicans

Teacher Gives Homework Where Students Pack Their Bags As Trump ‘Is Trying To Take Control Of The United States!’

Dem Lawmaker’s ‘Apology’ For Calling Miscarriage ‘Just Some Mess On A Napkin’ Doesn’t Go Over Well

WATCH: Dem Rep. Wendy Ullman Calls Miscarriage ‘Just Some Mess On A Napkin’

Victory For Believers: Court Rules Atheists Cannot Offer Prayer In PA State House

Democratic Mayor Refuses To Raise The Pride Flag

10 Wounded In Shooting Outside Pennsylvania Nightclub

Supreme Court Dodges Case Involving Trans Students In Bathrooms

KLAVAN: The Media And The Democrats Are Living In A Fantasy World

BACKFIRE: Philadelphia Implemented Soda Tax, But It Didn’t Go As Planned

Menu

Pennsylvania

Class-action Lawsuit Alleges Pennsylvania Government Violated Constitutional Rights When Distributing Coronavirus Business Waivers

Transgender Pennsylvania Health Director Melts Down In Press Conference After Reporter Uses Wrong Pronoun

PA Health Official Tasked With Overseeing Nursing Homes Pulled Out Own Mother While Policies Wreaked Havoc

MESS: Pennsylvania Granting, Revoking Coronavirus Shutdown Waivers For Businesses Without Explanation, Sense

UPMC Official Claims Coronavirus Not Nearly As Deadly As Reported, Hospital Shifting Back To Normal

Pennsylvania Forced To Remove Hundreds Of Deaths From Coronavirus Death Count After Coroners Raise Red Flags

State Senate Votes To Override Democrat Governor’s Stay-At-Home Order

Six-Year-Old Girl With Down’s Syndrome Points Finger Gun. School District Notifies Police.

A Pennsylvania Man Claimed He Regretted Voting For Trump. Then This Happened.

Democrat State Rep Charged With Stealing $500K From Non-Profit For Mentally Ill, Pennsylvania Attorney General Alleges

Pennsylvania Lawmaker Leaves Increasingly ‘Purist’ Democrat Party, Will Caucus With Republicans

Teacher Gives Homework Where Students Pack Their Bags As Trump ‘Is Trying To Take Control Of The United States!’

Dem Lawmaker’s ‘Apology’ For Calling Miscarriage ‘Just Some Mess On A Napkin’ Doesn’t Go Over Well

WATCH: Dem Rep. Wendy Ullman Calls Miscarriage ‘Just Some Mess On A Napkin’

Victory For Believers: Court Rules Atheists Cannot Offer Prayer In PA State House

Democratic Mayor Refuses To Raise The Pride Flag

10 Wounded In Shooting Outside Pennsylvania Nightclub

Supreme Court Dodges Case Involving Trans Students In Bathrooms

KLAVAN: The Media And The Democrats Are Living In A Fantasy World

BACKFIRE: Philadelphia Implemented Soda Tax, But It Didn’t Go As Planned

Don't miss a beat of our coverage.