JOHNSTOWN, Pennsylvania—Former President Donald Trump said in an interview with the Washington Examiner that his message to undecided voters in Pennsylvania ahead of the Nov. 5 general election is that his second administration would bring prosperity to Pennsylvanians through commonsense approaches to energy, border security, and strengthening manufacturing. “We are going to bring the cost down on energy, and that is going to bring down the cost of everything,” Trump said. The former president added that he wants voters to know he would take the country to a better place, not just on costs but on the massive influx of illegal immigrants who have crossed the southern border since the beginning of the Biden-Harris administration. Data from the Department of Homeland Security showed encounters with illegal immigrants at the southern border soared after President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris entered the White House in January 2021, with at least 6.5 million migrants crossing the border in that time frame. “They have taken over our cities,” Trump said of illegal aliens in reference to the increase in crime in the United States. Trump was in Johnstown, a once-mighty manufacturing city in Cambria County, just after Harris sat down with CNN host Dana Bash for her first interview in the 39 days since Biden was pushed out of the race and Harris was named the Democratic presidential nominee. In the interview, Harris dismissed the notion that she would ban fracking and stated that she said so in her debate with then-Vice President Mike Pence in 2020. But a quick read of the transcript shows Harris only said Biden would not ban fracking. She did not mention her viewpoint. Harris followed up her fracking claim with Bash by quickly saying her values on climate change have remained the same. Trump questioned why, if Harris is so supportive of fracking, she hasn’t lifted the pause on exports of liquid natural gas that Biden placed on the industry. “I would lift that immediately,” Trump said. “I would get rid of everything that she’s done.” Trump said Harris is accountable for everything that has happened in the Biden-Harris administration, especially because Biden made a point of saying Harris was always the last person in the room with him on big and small decisions. “Oh, she is totally accountable. She sat in every meeting. She was responsible for what happened in Afghanistan,” Trump said of America’s chaotic exit. “I look forward to debating her,” he added after watching her interview. Within minutes after the Examiner interview, Trump walked onto the stage at the Cambria County War Memorial Arena, where the iconic hockey Paul Newman movie “Slap Shot” was filmed, and spoke to a packed crowd of supporters. Outside, a screen was set up for the overflow crowd that filled several blocks of the main street leading to the arena. Trump began by saying, “Starting on Day One, I will seal the border. We will halt the invasion and deport the illegals.” He went on to say he would cut regulations that started under the Biden-Harris administration, unleash American energy production, cut consumer energy bills in half, and make the country a more affordable place to live. Two days earlier, his vice presidential pick, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, was in Erie County, New York. A week before that, Vance was in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. Trump has also been to Pennsylvania’s Luzerne, York, and Dauphin counties, all in an effort to shore up votes in the post-industrial communities outside the major cities of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Harris has been to western Pennsylvania twice. The first time, she visited one of her campaign field offices in Beaver County and held a small, invite-only rally with union members at the airport. The second visit was on Labor Day, when she joined Biden at another invite-only rally with approximately 500 people at a union hall in Pittsburgh. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’ running mate, visited Erie County on Sept. 5. To date, Walz’s only interview was the joint one he did Aug. 29 with Harris on CNN. The former high school teacher faced criticism in that interview for claiming “his grammar isn’t always good” when trying to explain why he falsely said he had been in combat. Walz was never deployed in a war zone; however, he was deployed to Italy. Trump held a town hall Sept. 5 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, hosted by Sean Hannity and Fox News. Harris returned to Pittsburgh to prepare for her debate with Trump, making a public appearance Saturday. Between 1992 and 2016, every Democratic candidate running for president won Pennsylvania. In 1996, then-President Bill Clinton won by capturing 28 of the state’s 67 counties. What was missed between that year and 2012 was that the state was slowly moving right by 0.04 percentage points every four years. Then-President Barack Obama won Pennsylvania in 2012 by carrying only 13 of the state’s 67 counties. In 2016, the next Republican nominee only had to gin up approximately 2,000 more votes in the 10 rural, post-industrial counties such as Luzerne, Erie, Cambria, and Westmoreland. It didn’t matter what happened in the heavily populated counties of Allegheny and Philadelphia. Instead, what mattered was the counties that Hillary Clinton, former secretary of state and Democratic presidential nominee, failed to visit. Trump went on to win the 2016 presidential election by gaining those counties. The fact that Pennsylvania had been trending right wasn’t the only thing missed. The coalitions of both parties had changed. Obama had shed the New Deal Democrats from his coalition in 2012, which is why he won the state by fewer voters than he did in 2008. And Trump’s constant talk about the dignity of work and showing up in places no candidate typically does paid off. Four years later, Biden picked off just enough of those heirloom Democrats to narrowly defeat Trump in 2020. Polling shows Trump and Harris in a statistical tie in Pennsylvania. At this same time in 2016 and 2020, both Hillary Clinton and Biden held leads over Trump, with Clinton eventually losing to him in Pennsylvania and Biden barely winning the state. COPYRIGHT 2024 CREATORS.COM The post In Pennsylvania, Trump Vows to Hold Harris Accountable and Take Country to Better Place appeared first on The Daily Signal.

EAU CLAIRE, Wis.—Craig Ervin, a skilled welder from my hometown of Eau Claire, is forced to rent. “I always wanted my own place, but I don’t even bother looking anymore. Gets my hopes up, then I see the prices. It’s just depressing how expensive it’s gotten,” he said. Like many Wisconsinites, Ervin is wondering how different policymakers would bring down the cost of living. Ervin is the epitome of a hardworking American who did everything right, but still finds his paycheck stretched thin. He graduated from Chippewa Valley Technical College, where he learned to interpret complex blueprints and weld piping systems to precise specifications. Ervin would love to buy a house, but buying one costs nearly $1,000 more per month than it would have four years ago. In fact, Wisconsin homebuyers now face a quarter-million-dollar increase in interest payments over the life of a 30-year mortgage. The median selling price for a home in Wisconsin has increased from $210,000 to $324,900 since January 2021. In addition, interest rates are more than double what they were, increasing from under 3% to nearly 7% today. With a 20% down payment, the principal and interest on a mortgage for the median-priced home in Wisconsin in January 2021 cost $693 per month. Buying the same house today costs $1,654 per month, a 238% increase. At the same time, the median 20% down payment has increased by $23,000. Effectively, Ervin’s potential mortgage costs $345,000 more than it would have. Vice President Kamala Harris says inflation is a result of corporate price-gouging. So, to fix inflation, she is proposing a ban on gouging. Such price-setting measures will do nothing to ease interest rates. Basic economic principles and recent history consistently show that when governments impose price ceilings, shortages follow. Look no further than the 1970s, when government-mandated caps on gasoline prices led to the most severe fuel shortage in our nation’s history. The same principle applies to construction materials and rent-control policies, which result in reduced housing availability and quality. The supply of existing homes for sale is shrinking, too. Many homeowners aren’t selling their properties because it would mean giving up their low 2% to 3% interest rates for much higher rates. This also puts pressure on the rental market because renters who would otherwise purchase a home stay in the rental market. The housing market will remain frozen as long as interest rates remain high. Here’s what’s really happening: Inflation is caused by massive government overspending. When the government borrows and spends trillions of dollars, it floods the economy with money. This surge in money outpaces the production of goods and services, causing the dollars in our pockets to lose value relative to things we buy (otherwise known as inflation). To combat this, the Federal Reserve raises interest rates, making borrowing more expensive for banks, businesses, and everyday Americans like Ervin. A would-be Harris administration would continue this spending trend, offering $25,000 for down payments to first-time homebuyers. However, injecting more demand into an already overheated market will likely not achieve the intended outcome. Rather than making housing more affordable, that policy would drive up home prices substantially, while also increasing the budget deficit. When the government spends money, it needs to be paid for eventually. The public pays either directly through taxes or indirectly though inflation. The COVID-19 pandemic spending financed by trillions in borrowed dollars has led to the recent inflation, imposing a hidden tax that silently erodes the purchasing power of Ervin’s and every other American’s hard-earned money. To return to an America where the reward for hard work is affordable living, the government needs to stop its reckless spending. Harris’ plan to ban inflation won’t fix the underlying problem of government spending, but it will cause housing and food shortages. Hardworking Americans such as Ervin are the backbone of our country’s industrial might. Housing is out of reach for many Americans, and Washington’s reckless spending has tangible effects on the lives of hardworking people in Wisconsin and every other state. Ervin isn’t asking for handouts. He simply wants Washington to step back so his hard work can once again be enough to achieve the American dream. The post Priced Out of the American Dream: A Would-Be Homebuyer’s View From Wisconsin appeared first on The Daily Signal.

DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION—Hoover Institution senior fellow Victor Davis Hanson called out Goldman Sachs on Tuesday for suggesting the economy under Vice President Kamala Harris could be more beneficial, arguing the group and others like it are pushing an agenda that could “destroy” middle-class Americans. Last week, Goldman Sachs economists released a note suggesting Harris’ policies might provide a “very slight boost” to gross domestic product investment, while former President Donald Trump’s plans could negatively impact growth due to “tariffs and tighter immigration policy.” On his podcast, “The Victor Davis Hanson Show,” Hanson questioned why voters should heed Goldman Sachs when the firm won’t face the consequences of “whatever disastrous policies” could come from a potential Harris administration. “Why would we listen to someone who makes so much money that will be immune from whatever disastrous policies that will destroy the rest of us? And then they can afford the luxury for social or cultural reasons of supporting a neo-socialist, and that’s what we’re talking about. We really are,” Hanson said. “Reminds me of the aristocrats during the Bolshevik Warsaw revolution, who all thought that Lenin was kind of cute and neat. But that they had so much land and so much money that he would never go after them, and even if he did, it wouldn’t hurt them.” “I don’t listen to anything Goldman Sachs says, I’m not—I have no animus toward them, but they’re just, they live in a different world, all those people,” Hanson continued. Hanson then called out former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney’s recent endorsement of Harris, expressing concern that Cheney’s approval of the vice president also implies approval of her potential attorney general choices, such as Keith Ellison, who has received donations from left-wing billionaire George Soros. “Dick Cheney is endorsing the Soros attorney generals, and I don’t understand the ‘Never Trumpers’ or the Goldman Sachs people, that’s what they endorse. They don’t just endorse being kind of liked by the Left and kind of having better press coverage … But what they’re really doing to the middle class is they are promoting an agenda that will destroy the middle class,” Hanson said. The senior fellow continued to slam Democrats as he stated they “lie” about wanting to push policies that secure borders, have a “low tax deregulated economy to spur investment and entrepreneurship,” and are “tough” on “deterrent foreign policy.” “The fact is, there’s two different agendas, and they’re antithetical. One agenda is 90% similar to all of the people’s, all of these characters that I mentioned to their lifelong advocacies,” Hanson continued. “So why are they rejecting 90% of what they told us was essential to give them money or to give them votes or to give them support?” “And the answer is they got their feelings hurt. They lost their magazine, they lost their speaking fees, they lost their TV billets, they lost their authorities. No one listens to them. They’re has-beens, they destroyed their careers. They committed career suicide. And they’re angry, and they blame it all on the orange man,” Hanson said. After unveiling her economic policies in mid-August, Harris faced backlash from political pundits on both sides of the aisle, particularly over her proposal to place a federal ban on “corporate price gouging” in order to lower high grocery store prices. Critics stated that not only would the proposal potentially drive up prices, but it would also create black markets. Goldman Sachs did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment. Originally published by the Daily Caller News Foundation The post Victor Davis Hanson Rips Goldman Sachs for Propping Up Harris, Says Others Alike Are Pushing to ‘Destroy’ Middle Class appeared first on The Daily Signal.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The most widely used browser globally, Google’s Chrome, is gradually introducing one of the most controversial technologies in the world: digital ID. Announced on the developer blog, the trial includes digital ID and credentials API and can be found on Chrome 128 (released last week for Android, and on Monday for the desktop). The “origin trial” involves what Chrome developers say is a new web platform API (“Digital Credentials”). The goal is to let sites request verifiable information via digital credentials from a digital wallet (e.g., national ID card or driver’s license). The post makes a note of the fact that apps like Google Wallet can be used for mobile driver’s licenses (mDLs) in a number of US states, California and Arizona among them. The article also mentions EU’s eIDAS 2.0 online verification efforts. Google goes into some use cases for the credentials: age and identity verification (includes age or name and address). And, according to the same source, all this comes with “enhanced security and privacy.” Google says it used “advanced” encryption and “strong” authentication methods for its new API, the “origin trial” of which will be limited. One reason Google gives for these claims is that users can reportedly limit exactly what data is shared from their digital documents. An example of this, as per Google’s blog: “Whether a user is over 18 can be shared without revealing the user’s date of birth.” The new API relies on OpenID, an authentication protocol developed by a foundation that has Google, Cisco, and Visa among its corporate board members, and individuals from Microsoft, Verizon, Capital One, etc., as “community” members. This latest announcement comes after it became clear back in July that Google was fully on board with implementing digital ID use on its platforms and adding more types of digital documents to those the giant supports. The process for the current API – which is first to be introduced on Android phones, and then on various desktops – is as follows: the browser sends relying parties (RP) requests to the (mobile) OS “which searches for a matching credential in installed wallet applications.” “If any are found, the mobile operating system prompts the user to select one and sends the request to the user-selected wallet,” says Google. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Google Meets Digital ID as Chrome Pushes Controversial Tech appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

Hmmm: Reuters Focus Group Swings to Trump After Debate

Shut Up, Germany

The Cackling Coven of ABC’s The View was extremely happy with the way their network’s 3-on-1 presidential debate turned out the previous night. According to their oh-so-insightful analysis, Vice President Harris doomed former President Trump just by initiating a handshake as they walked on stage. But even an anti-Trumper, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie tapped the brakes on their hot take. The liberal ladies were already several minutes into their gushing when moderator Whoopi Goldberg asked if they wanted to see her recreation of walkout and handshake. “I need to see it!” proclaimed faux conservative Alyssa Farah Griffin. “Yeah. Yeah. Yeah,” agreed pretend independent Sara Haines. “The walk out was the best!” added staunchly racist and anti-Semitic co-host Sunny Hostin (the descendant of slave owners). Claiming it happened “just like this,” Goldberg proceeded to walk to the edge of their set and perform an exaggerated, swaggery walk to shake Hostin’s hand: GOLDBERG: She said, just like this. [Walks to the edge of the set] Now, this may not be what was coming out of her mouth but this is what her body was saying. [With a swagger, recreates Vice President Harris walking up to former President Trump to shake his hand with Sunny Hostin] HOSTIN: Yes! Yes! [Applause] And then -- HOSTIN: That's what happened! GOLDBERG: And then. HOSTIN: That’s what happened! “And then she said her name correctly. And you notice he didn't say it at all!,” Goldberg exclaimed. “Yes, she did!” touted Haines. “Well, he can’t remember it,” mocked co-host Joy Behar.     Goldberg added: “Because she said to him, ‘you want to say something to me, say it to my face!’ And she put her face right there and he couldn't do it. He couldn't do it.” Several minutes later, when speaking with Christie, Haines insisted the handshake was “one of the boldest moves” of the night. “[T]he Vice President came on that stage, she reached for his hand, and she was almost behind his podium because they were clearly not going to meet in the middle. Do you think that set the tone for the night? Because I thought that was such an amazing move,” she asked. Behar piped up and claimed “she threw him off” with the handshake. But Christie wasn’t buying it, arguing that a handshake was a bar so low that it was sitting on the floor: CHRISTIE: Look, if she threw him off, then he's even stupider than some people think. [Laughter] That was – I mean, look, she did -- she did well last night, but that was a layup. Okay? You go and you shake someone's hand. HAINES: But that's how low the bar has been brought down. CHRISTIE: Well, but that’s right, but she doesn't get credit for getting over a bar that's this high. My point is – HAINES: But she didn’t set the bar down there. CHRISTIE: No. No. That’s good and good for her and it's smart – HOSTIN: But why didn’t he meet her in the middle? CHRISTIE: Why didn’t he meet? Because that's not him. “Why didn't he meet her in the middle, because he is so much larger than she is. She's my height. I’m about 5’6’’. He's got to be about 6'2" and she looked taller than he looked,” Hostin chided. Christie agreed: “Well, certainly she was taller than him by going and greeting him.” The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read: ABC’s The View September 11, 2024 11:07:40 a.m. Eastern (…) WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Let me show -- can I just do the walk out? ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: I need to see it! SARA HAINES: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. SUNNY HOSTIN: The walk out was the best! GOLDBERG: She said, just like this. [Walks to the edge of the set] Now, this may not be what was coming out of her mouth but this is what her body was saying. [With a swagger, recreates Vice President Harris walking up to former President Trump to shake his hand with Sunny Hostin] HOSTIN: Yes! Yes! [Applause] And then -- HOSTIN: That's what happened! GOLDBERG: And then. HOSTIN: That’s what happened! GOLDBERG: And then she said her name correctly. HOSTIN: Yeah! HAINES: Yes, she did! GOLDBERG: And you notice he didn't say it at all! HOSTIN: No! GOLDBERG: Because he knew – JOY BEHAR: Well, he can’t remember it. GOLDBERG: - because she said to him, ‘you want to say something to me, say it to my face!’ HOSTIN: And she said it to his face! GOLDBEGR: And she put her face right there and he couldn't do it. He couldn't do it. (…) 11:18:47 a.m. Eastern HAINES: And last night though, one of the boldest moves, which we were just talking about, is the Vice President came on that stage, she reached for his hand, and she was almost behind his podium because they were clearly not going to meet in the middle. Do you think that set the tone for the night? Because I thought that was such an amazing move. BEHAR: She threw him off. CHRIS CHRISTIE: Look, if she threw him off, then he's even stupider than some people think. [Laughter] That was – I mean, look, she did -- she did well last night, but that was a layup. Okay? You go and you shake someone's hand. HAINES: But that's how low the bar has been brought down. CHRISTIE: Well, but that’s right, but she doesn't get credit for getting over a bar that's this high. My point is – HAINES: But she didn’t set the bar down there. CHRISTIE: No. No. That’s good and good for her and it's smart – HOSTIN: But why didn’t he meet her in the middle? CHRISTIE: Why didn’t he meet? Because that's not him. HOSTIN: Why didn't he meet her in the middle, because he is so much larger than she is. She's my height. I’m about 5’6’’. He's got to be about 6'2" and she looked taller than he looked. CHRISTIE: Well, certainly she was taller than him by going and greeting him. GOLDBERG: Yes! HOSTIN: Yeah. CHRISTIE: And it was a display of confidence on her part as well. HOSTIN: Yeah. (…)

ABC’s David Muir and Linsey Davis hosted last night’s debate. As one of the most left-leaning news outlets in existence, it’s no surprise that the moderators were obviously biased against Donald Trump. When Megyn Kelly watched the debate, she was “enraged, angry, [and] in disbelief at what [the media] industry has become.” — (@) “It was state-run media,” Glenn Beck agrees. “[Kamala Harris] knew she could get away with saying lie after lie after lie after lie” and get “no corrections.” Kelly says that she “could’ve lived with [Harris’ lies]” — “Politicians lie all the time,” she says. However, what boiled her blood was the “one-sided ‘fact-checking.”’ “I would’ve been fine if they had done what CNN did, which is just be quiet. Dana Bash and Jake Tapper did not try to fact-check the candidates; they let them do that to each other, which is totally appropriate in a presidential debate,” she tells Glenn. As a moderator herself, Kelly says, “It’s not our job as a moderator to set the record straight. The only time you should weigh in as a moderator is if the integrity of your question is attacked.” “These ABC News moderators didn’t understand that, or they just didn’t care,” she criticizes, adding that clearly the outlet was “pandering to their base” by only fact-checking Trump. On top of the double standard, “their fact-checks were incorrect” and rooted in “opinion.” Kelly then points to Canadian journalist Daniel Dale’s post debate report that argued that “Trump lied 33 times and [Harris] lied once.” “That’s who we’re up against,” she laments. To hear more of the conversation, watch the clip above. Want more from Glenn Beck?To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

A pair of masked robbers shot a mother dead in front of her husband and son after she tried to defend them amid a robbery in their New York City condo building Monday night, the New York Post reported.Two suspects in black ski masks allegedly followed the victim’s 61-year-old husband into the building — Two Bridges at 44 Market St. in lower Manhattan — and then into the elevator where they attempted to rob him, the Post said.'It’s all surreal,' Liu’s son told the Post Tuesday. 'I feel only sadness right now.'Lin Rong Yan, 32, buzzed his dad into the building and was waiting for him in the eighth-floor hallway when the elevator opened and revealed the crime in progress, the paper said, citing sources.Yan tried to intervene, and one of the suspects pistol-whipped him, sources told the Post.His mother — 57-year-old home health aide Ying Zhu Liu — heard what was happening and came out with a stick to confront the robbers, but she was shot in the face in front of her husband and son, the paper said.The robbers grabbed a cellphone from Liu’s husband and fled in an unknown direction, the Post said, adding that the pair were still at large as of early Tuesday.Police told the paper the gunman was wearing a half-red, half-black hooded jacket, black pants with a white stripe down the leg, and white sneakers; the second suspect was wearing a black hooded coat, black pants, and black-and-white sneakers.Liu’s son told the Post he didn't recognize either of the suspects.The paper said the hallway was still smeared with blood 12 hours after the fatal shooting."I heard a fight, gunshot, and then just called 911. I didn't open the door. I was scared for my life, thought the best thing I could do was call police," neighbor John Lee told WCBS-TV.“It’s all surreal,” Liu’s son told the Post Tuesday. “I feel only sadness right now.”A family friend added to the paper that "no such crimes happened in this building" over the past decade.Those with information about the case can confidentially call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782), WCBS said, adding that tipsters can submit them online or through a direct message on Twitter @NYPDTips. - YouTube youtu.be Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

IBM Vice Chairman Gary Cohn said that a market sell-off on Wednesday was partly in response to the presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. Cohn made the comments while appearing on CNBC after the Dow Jones index fell by 1.6% early in the trading day. 'I know she has a plan; I don't know what's in her plan.'"Yes, it's a factor. I think people will look at last night's debate and they will exaggerate the effect that it will have and they will exaggerate what they think a candidate can or cannot get done," said Cohn."I think that when you start understanding the reality of how difficult it is to change policy, you might reflect differently. But the knee-jerk reaction coming out of last night's debate, and I don't care which side you're on, whichever candidate you support," he continued. "I think there are a lot of people who are having those reactions today," he added. "And I think that's very far from the reality of getting legislation, and getting laws passed, and ending up with a new economic environment, or a new tax environment, or a new regulatory environment, or a new tariff environment." Cohn went on to say that there is a "very high probability" that Republicans win the U.S. Senate and that will be a check on Harris, should she win the presidency. "She will have to get Republican votes to change tax policy. I don't think Republicans are lining up to vote for higher corporate taxes. I don't think they're lining up to vote for tax on unrealized gains. I don't think they're lining up to vote for a lot of increases in capital gains taxes," said Cohn. "There probably are some compromises in the middle," he added, referring to his time as national economic adviser for Trump. "There were places where the Democrats would have met the Republican Party. So there's always a place for a deal to get done." He also appeared to mock Harris for leaving out the details in her economic plans while claiming that she does indeed have a plan for Americans. "She has a plan. I know she has a plan. OK? I know she has a plan," Cohn said. "I don't know what's in her plan." Cohn, however, also agreed with others that the short-lived sell-off was also due to new economics data showing higher-than-expected inflation in August. The indices later recovered from their lows into positive territory Wednesday. The interview with Cohn can be seen on CNBC's YouTube account. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!