7 Things: Biden Afghanistan lie exposed, Alabama could get new prison in spite of federal government demands, Shelby trying to avoid a government shutdown and more …

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September 29, 2021

7. Even Obama believes we have open borders right now

The obviously open border between Mexico and the United States has been a constant source of consternation for President Joe Biden and his administration. Illegal immigrants are successfully gaining entry into the country at record numbers. It has gotten so bad that even Biden’s former boss is accidentally calling him out.
President Barack Obama was speaking to ABC’s “Good Morning America” and said that while Americans want to be compassionate, open borders are “unsustainable.” In spite of Obama’s accidental confession and our obvious reality, White House press secretary Jen Psaki continued to pretend that the borders were not open when asked if Biden agreed with President Obama. She stated, “We don’t have open borders. So yes, he agrees.”

6. Bernie Sanders is willing to kill the infrastructure bill

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is prepared to bring the bipartisan infrastructure bill before the U.S. House of Representatives, but U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is prepared to help kill it in its crib if it is not part of a larger bill that includes the Democrats’ $3.5 trillion in reckless spending.
In a tweet on the issue, Sanders declared, “I strongly urge my House colleagues to vote against the bipartisan infrastructure bill until Congress passes a strong reconciliation bill.” Sanders has the stroke with the more progressive members of the Democratic Party, and many of those members have made it clear they will not vote for one bill without the other. The “decoupling” of the two bills is something that both Pelosi and President Joe Biden said would not happen.

5. Alabama renters are concerned about eviction

An analysis released by the group LendingTree has said that 42% of those who rent in Alabama are concerned about being evicted as the eviction moratorium ends this week. According to the report, Alabama has the highest percent of people concerned about eviction by the end of the year in the country.
An eviction moratorium has been in place for most of the coronavirus pandemic, but the current one put in place by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ends on October 3. According to the report, 19% of renters in Alabama have said that they’re behind on rent, and 70% of those are expecting eviction within two months.

4. Shelby wants Democrats to make a deal

As the federal government moves toward a possible shutdown, U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) is advocating for Democrats to pass a continuing resolution to prevent a shutdown and provide temporary funding. The spending package was brought by U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Shelby.
The bill doesn’t include many of the spending measures that Democrats have been pushing for, but Shelby said that if they don’t agree to the bipartisan package that will at least keep the government running, Democrats “owe the American people answers.” Shelby added that this is a chance to “reverse course and put us back on track by immediately passing the Shelby-McConnell bill.”

3. Democrats working to block Alabama prison funding

Alabama has planned to use some of the American Rescue Plan funds that they received to build new prisons for the state, but now U.S. Representative Jerry Nadler (D-NY) is working to block the use of these funds by sending a letter to Treasury Department Secretary Janet Yellen saying the use is a “direct contravention of the intended purposes of the ARP legislation.”
Nadler went on to say that the decision to build new prisons “will particularly harm communities of color who are already disproportionately impacted by over-incarceration and this public health crisis.” Ivey responded to Nadler’s efforts by saying that the Democrat “political agenda is glaringly obvious to send a letter to the U.S. Treasury” in this manner. Ivey went on to say that the federal government and Nadler should “worry more about the pending government shutdown and running the country.”

2. Plan to build new prisons is advancing

The House Ways and Means General Fund Committee has approved the legislative package of $1.3 billion to build new prisons in Alabama. Now, the package will go before the full House for a vote today.
This is for two new prisons that will both be 4,000 beds. Some Democrats on the committee pushed back on the legislation, asking for more information on how more funding will be provided for medical and mental health care, with State Representative Laura Hall (D-Huntsville) asking, “How are we going to have funding for those rehabilitation programs?”

1. It was recommended that troops stay in Afghanistan

Yes, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army General Mark Milley has defended his phone calls with his Chinese counterpart that he has recently come under fire for since his actions undercut the authority of then-President Donald Trump, but that wasn’t the worst part of the hearing in front of the U.S. Senate yesterday. President Joe Biden has claimed that he was never advised to allow troops to remain in Afghanistan, but now military officials like the head of U.S. Central Command General Kenneth McKenzie, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, and General Milley have confirmed that this was untrue.
It turns out that Biden was told that there should be at least 2,500 troops left in Afghanistan, and Austin has confirmed that this advice was “received” by Biden. Both Milley and McKenzie recommended that 2,500-4,000 troops stay in the country due to the threat that the Taliban posed.