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Friday, March 2, 2018
So two can play at this game
Georgia Republicans honor their threat, pass bill punishing Delta for cutting ties with NRA
In a show of political strength, Georgia lawmakers on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a bill that was stripped of an earlier provision granting Delta Air Lines a lucrative tax break.
By passing the bill, lawmakers carried out the threat that Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, R, made to Atlanta-based Delta earlier this week: if the airline did not restore discounted fares to members of the National Rifle Association, Republicans would strike down a $50 million sales-tax exemption on jet fuel from its larger tax-cut package. Delta, which is one of the state's largest employers, would have been the primary beneficiary of the exemption.
Cagle threatened Delta days after it announced it would stop offering discounted fares to NRA members amid the national gun-control debate after the deadly Valentine's Day shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. United Airlines, Best Western, MetLife and at least a dozen other companies also cut perks and discounts to NRA members.
"I will kill any tax legislation that benefits @Delta unless the company changes its position and fully reinstates its relationship with @NRA," Cagle tweeted on Monday. "Corporations cannot attack conservatives and expect us not to fight back."
The bill granting the jet-fuel tax exemption was easily approved in the House last week, and appeared to have wide support. Advocates said it would attract flights to Atlanta as opposed to other major airports, where jet-fuel taxes are charged. But in the days since Delta's announcement, other Georgia Republicans rallied behind Cagle, and the Senate Rules Committee on Wednesday voted to remove the jet-fuel exemption from the tax-cut package.
Cagle, who has served as Georgia's lieutenant governor since 2007, could weave the issue into his campaign in Georgia's upcoming gubernatorial race, in which he is considered the leading GOP contender to replace Gov. Nathan Deal, R. Deal this week said he would reluctantly support the measure because of the bill's broader cuts to the state's income tax rate, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Delta has not commented on the threat from Cagle, who says he is "a lifelong member of the NRA" and boasts that he has earned an A+ rating from the organization every year he has served in elected office. The airline could not immediately be reached for comment on lawmakers' removal of the tax exemption.
Delta at first resisted taking a stance, as companies with even the slightest affiliation to the NRA were called out and a list of companies that had cut ties with the NRA began circulating on Twitter. But Delta held out against the pressure for only a few hours.
The NRA has lashed out at companies who've dropped the discounts, saying they were participating in "a shameful display of political and civic cowardice." But the group also downplayed the importance of the company's actions, saying the "loss of a discount will neither scare nor distract one single NRA member from our mission."
In the days since the showdown between Delta and Georgia Republicans began, top blue-state politicians have encouraged Delta to relocate its hub from Atlanta.
"@Delta, if Georgia politicians disagree with your stand against gun violence, we invite you to move your headquarters to New York," said New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, D, in a tweet Tuesday.
But experts say it's unlikely Delta will respond to the invitations of Democratic state leaders by moving its hub. According to a Bloomberg article:
"Delta virtually 'owns' the world's busiest airport. Sure, the city is technically the landlord, but nothing of much import happens at Hartsfield without Delta's say-so. Part of this influence derives from location, seeing as it's headquartered right next to the runways. Another source of power is the estimated $71 billion in annual economic impact that Georgia enjoys from Hartsfield, which claims to be the state's largest employer. Moreover, less than two years ago, Delta signed a 20-year lease to stay in Atlanta, its home for the past 77 years."
Although Delta ended its alliance with the NRA, the company said its position on the gun-control debate remains neutral. "Out of respect for our customers and employees on both sides, Delta has taken this action to refrain from entering this debate and focus on its business. Delta continues to support the 2nd Amendment," the airline said in a statement Saturday.
Thursday, March 1, 2018
Would Bill Clinton allow Hope Hicks to resign?
I doubt it.
(Picking up where Huge Grant left off)
BTW...this is what Hillary had to say about her husband Weinstein...I mean Bill.
But of course, "This was in the past."
Wednesday, February 28, 2018
150 arrested in Northern California immigration sweep; ICE official says others eluded authorities after Oakland mayor's 'reckless' alert
Someone tell me how these fucks get elected?
Why wasn't Libby Schaaf arrested for aiding and abetting criminal aliens? She warns the illegal community ICE is going to carry out a raid! She cares more about illegals (ICE arrested 20,201 people across the state of that 81 % had criminal convictions.) than the best interests of the citizens she was elected to serve and protect! When one of her protected illegals shoots and kills someone you know who's going to get the blame don't you... Gun Control, and the NRA... Anybody and Everybody except the illegal who committed the crime and Libby Schaaf who paved the way for it to happen.
If you live in Oakland, CA why don't you put a stop to this shit?
Update:
DOJ looking into possible obstruction charge against Oakland mayor who warned of ICE raid
Whatta mean possible?
Whatta mean possible?
----------------------------------
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents carry out an operation in Los Angeles in February 2017. This week, federal agents arrested 150 people suspected of violating immigration laws in Northern California. (Charles Reed / U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement via Associated Press)
Federal agents arrested more than 150 people suspected of violating immigration laws during a three-day sweep across Northern California, authorities said Tuesday.
About half of those arrested have criminal convictions. A top Immigration and Customs Enforcement official said he thought others were able to elude arrest after the Oakland mayor alerted the public about the upcoming raids.
ICE Deputy Director Thomas D. Homan blasted so-called sanctuary laws in San Francisco and Oakland, saying they endanger immigration officers who aren't allowed in jails and therefore must make more arrests in the community.
"The Oakland mayor's decision to publicize her suspicions about ICE operations further increased that risk for my officers and alerted criminal aliens — making clear that this reckless decision was based on her political agenda with the very federal laws that ICE is sworn to uphold," Homan said in a statement.
He added that 864 immigrants with criminal histories are still at large despite the raids this week that led to arrests in Stockton, Sacramento, San Francisco and Bay Point.
"I have to believe that some of them were able to elude us thanks to the mayor's irresponsible decision," Homan said.
Among those at large are Oakland residents with multiple prior removals, said James Schwab, a spokesman for ICE in San Francisco, a field office that spans 49 counties from Bakersfield to the Oregon border. They include someone convicted of carrying a loaded firearm and selling drugs and another suspected of transporting cocaine and having sex with a minor.
Immigration detainers lodged against them have been "repeatedly ignored," Schwab said. "Instead they have been released back into the community to potentially re-offend."
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf sent out the alert Saturday night, saying she had heard from multiple sources that immigration agents would be conducting enforcement operations "starting as soon as within the next 24 hours."
She urged residents here illegally to take precautions, sparking debate about what role politicians and city governments should play in spreading information — both confirmed and unconfirmed — about possible federal immigration sweeps.
In a statement late Tuesday, Schaaf said she does not regret offering the heads-up about the raids.
"It was my intention that one mother, or one father, would use the information to help keep their family together," she said. "It is Oakland's legal right to be a sanctuary city and we have not broken any laws. We believe our community is safer when families stay together."
I do not regret sharing this information. It is Oakland’s legal right to be a sanctuary city and we have not broken any laws. We believe our community is safer when families stay together. pic.twitter.com/ng13yq431L— Libby Schaaf (@LibbySchaaf) February 28, 2018
The epitome of an asshole liberal.
Why would you protect illegal criminals living in Oakland, CA to the detriment of American citizens? I just don’t get it.
In fiscal year 2017, ICE arrested 20,201 people across the state, Schwab said. Of those, he said, 81% had criminal convictions.
Some of those who were arrested in the latest sweep will be prosecuted for returning to the country after deportation, Schwab said. One person arrested in Bay Point had been removed from the country eight times.
Another, a documented Sureño gang member identified as Armando Nuñez-Salgado, has four prior removals, Schwab said. Over the last 18 years, he added, the 38-year-old has been convicted of assault with a deadly weapon, burglary, hit-and-run causing injury and evading a peace officer.
Dozens of people caught in the sweep have no criminal histories. Although the raids prioritized people who pose a threat, officials said anyone violating immigration laws were subject to arrest.
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