Month: June 2021

For students, June is report card month, a time when their accomplishments (or lack thereof) are noted and relayed to parents. The young find out whether they will advance to the next grade, or be subjected to that most dread of all experiences, summer school.

The Biden Administration’s first half year has been, by any objective standard, not a success.

 Its border policy has been an unmitigated disaster. The promise of improved race relations has fallen flat. The White House energy policy has driven prices sky high, not just at the pump but in most other items as well. Indeed, inflation, which had been comparatively tamed for decades, is back with a vengeance.

The economy has begun a modest recovery from the excessive COVID lockdown, but has not roared back the way it should due to both inflationary fears brought about by Washington’s excessive spending and its bizarre policy of encouraging government dependency rather than job growth. The White House push for tax increases has played a harmful role. It’s been particularly difficult for blue collar and minority workers and job seekers, who made significant gains under Trump.

Fairly soon after information about a virulent new disease emanating from Wuhan emerged, serious questions were raised about its origins. However, criticism of that nation was seen as ratifying then-president Donald Trump’s warnings about Beijing’s growing threat to the world. Shortly after the outbreak became known, President Trump closed off travel from China. He was harshly criticized as being “xenophobic” by Biden and others. To emphasize that point, local officials in progressive-run cities such as New York urged their constituents to ignore White House warnings. Now that the campaign season has concluded, Democrats and their media allies are looking at Beijing’s negligence and dishonesty about the origins of the pandemic. The Biden Administration, to its credit, is reopening the investigation begun by its predecessor into how the disease came about, and how it spread throughout the world.

Foreign affairs have suffered. Putin’s aggressionagainst Ukraine during the Obama-Biden Administration was followed by a period of relative quiet during the Trump presidency, but has now flared up again.  The new president’s killing of the Keystone XL pipeline and other anti-energy policies have strengthened Moscow’s hand, particularly in its influence with Europe.

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China’s imperialist ambitions in the Indo-Pacific were seen most clearly in its assault against the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone during Obama-Biden, a move which that White House wholly ignored. Now that the staunch anti-China Trump administration is gone, Beijing has resumed its moves on Manila, as well as its numerous other worrisome acts. In that same region, it is worth noting that North Korea has resumed substantive missile testing, which had gone into a quiescent period during the prior administration.

The Middle East had been trending significantly towards peace during the four years of the Trump White House, with the implementation of its Abraham accords, improved relations with Saudi Arabia, its defeat of the ISIS caliphate, tough sanctions against Iran, and steadfast support for Israel. Those accomplishments have been diminished by Biden’s appeasement of the Tehran Mullahs, its tilt towards Islamic extremists, and estrangement of Israel. Much of his administration’s regional policy can be seen as a nod towards the large and growing anti-Israel faction of the Democratic Party.

The assaults by extremist groups such as Antifa have not relented, despite broad media hints that they would diminish under Democrat leadership in Washington.

Biden’s first six months in office have not been encouraging, earning failing grades in just about every area.  As a start, it must move away from the extremism of the Progressive wing of the Democratic Party and put the good of the nation above partisan politics.

Illustration: Pixabay

NICARAGUA

After Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with representatives from the Government of Nicaragua officials arrested Cristiana Chamorro, a journalist who’s considered a potential candidate for president of the country. Blinken said he is “very disturbed by the steps that Nicaragua has taken – backward, not forward in terms of putting in place what is necessary for free and fair elections.” He added that Nicaragua has moved in exactly the wrong direction.  This week the opposition in Nicaragua has been denied the ability to compete in elections. According to Blinken, it is a sign of a total lack of confidence in the system.

IMMIGRATION

Vice President Harris is tasked with dealing with the root causes of irregular migration. According to Blinken, the US is doing this in partnership with Mexico. He suggested there are answers to the issue of illegal immigration. The Vice President, he said, made a phone call to resolve the situation. She “recently had a call to action with our private sector to look at what it would take to make more investment in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador so that there is more opportunity,” according to Blinken. He offered  no other details about what actions VP Harris is taking in his interview with CNN on Thursday.

RUSSIA

Secretary Blinken this week said he has not spoken with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov since he met with him a few weeks ago. HE pointed out that “…we are seeing, unfortunately, a new front in cyber threats, and that is criminal organizations using what’s called ransomware to hold hostage companies, to hold hostage critical infrastructure for financial gain.” These attacks, he said, are usually perpetrated by criminal enterprises, organizations, but they often have some physical connection, because their leaders live someplace, they’re working from someplace, and Blinken thinks it’s the obligation of any country to do whatever it can to find these enterprises and to bring them to justice, including in the case of the Russian attack on the Colonial Pipeline. 

“We need two things. We need to make sure that our defenses, whether it’s governments or whether it’s the private sector, are much stronger and much more effective when it comes to cyber attacks in general and so-called ransomware in particular. But we also need countries around the world to make commitments and then make good on those commitments not to harbor criminal enterprises that engage in these attacks, and on the contrary, to seek them out and to stop them and to bring them to justice,” Blinken added.

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CHINA

This June 4 marks the 32^nd anniversary of the Chinese massacre in Tiananmen Square. The State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson, Jalina Porter, announced only that the “United States condemns actions by Hong Kong authorities that prompted organizers to close the June 4th Museum that commemorates the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.” When questioned at the press briefing on Wednesday if the US was sending any particular messages, she quipped “No, we’re not sending any direct messages at this time, other than saying that Hong Kong and Beijing authorities continue to silence dissenting voices by also attempting to erase the horrific massacre from history.” 

PALESTINE

A statement released by the State Department this week said that the United States is “in the process of providing more than $360 million in assistance to the Palestinian people. This includes $38 million in new assistance to support humanitarian efforts in the West Bank and Gaza.  This new assistance includes nearly $33 million for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in support of its West Bank and Gaza operations, and an additional $5.5 million to humanitarian partners.”  

The Department called the funds “critical” and said the money will provide needed support for humanitarian organizations to provide emergency shelter, food, relief items, and health care, as well as mental health and psychosocial support for those who experienced trauma.

DARIA NOVAK served in the United States State Department during the Reagan Administration, and currently is on the Board of the American Analysis of News and Media Inc., which publishes usagovpolicy.com and the New York Analysis of Policy and Government.  Each Saturday, she presents key updates on U.S. foreign policy from the State Department.

Illustration: Pixabay

Decades ago, China’s paramount leader Deng Xiaoping said: “No matter if it is a white cat or a black cat; as long as it can catch mice, it is a good cat” (不官黑猫白猫，捉刀老树九十好猫). The former paramount leader meant that if it works in practice, it can be used by China to achieve the country’s end goals. Earlier, during the Qing Dynasty, author Pu Songling wrote that “The black raccoon, the one who wins the rat. This is not empty talk.” The racoon in Pu’s story may not have had stripes but it won. China still likes to win.

At a Monday meeting of the Politburo, China’s top decision-making body, President Xi Jinping followed Deng and Pu by modernizing the saying to “tell China’s story well” (讲好中国故事).The characters may vary over time, but the message remains the same. It doesn’t matter what it looks like, China will use whatever power it has, and do whatever it takes, to achieve its ambitious global goals. Today, those are no less than hegemonic domination.

According to the China Media Project (CMP), some analysts are noticing a language reset is underway in China. But, did this week’s collective study session of the Politburo decide to soften China’s tone because it was too belligerent sounding or does the CCP have another reason for restraining its wolf warrior diplomats? Too often the West has fallen into the China trap, seeing only what Beijing floats above the surface, and failing to examine the depth of the glacial threat. David Bandurski, director of CMP, says the characterization of the tonal change reverts to the Maoist era and is labeled by the CCP as fixing a “public opinion struggle.” Friends in a compliant media, according to China, comply. Enemies in the media, academics, and politicians who complain are neutralized.

A Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) expert advising the Politburo, Zhang Weiwei, explained that China’s one-party system is superior and performs better than other forms of governance. He is known for saying that China has “learned a lot form the West and will continue to learn in the future, but we have a vision today that goes beyond the West… [a] post-Western discourse… [a] new world order.” 

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That should send chills down Western leaders’ spines. He justifies China’s aggressive moves overseas because they offset Western resistance. Zhang places the all the blame on the West who he says fail to understand China’s rightful place at the center of the world. He argues that the West urgently needs to accept the “glories” and “infallibility” of the Chinese model. One German diplomat recently told CMP that “Dialogue is now conditional on us not criticizing China.” Is this to be our future?

Zhang appears to be the architect, not a moderating voice, in China’s supposed change of tone, according to Bandurski. He says Zhang’s “crossing of the swords” is not new. In a 2020 TV interview Zhang claimed that “The Chinese have a culture of ‘being kind to others’ and of giving face to others, which the West does not have.” Zhang argues that confrontation is the only method of communication understood by the West.  China’s lone wolf warrior diplomats may not be as quiet this summer as some envision. As China approaches the 100^th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party next month, the West can expect to hear more about China’s plans to remake the world in its image. 

What Western leaders cannot afford to do is once again, believe China has reformed and is complying with the norms of the international rules-based system. Propaganda remains a central tool for Xi Jinping and the CCP. Given the Covid pandemic, however, Chinese propaganda may not be capable of forcing the Western world to turn a blind eye to its moves against Taiwan, Hong Kong, its Uighur Muslim minority, military fortification of the South China Sea, intellectual property theft, predatory lending practices in the developing world, and its weaponization of space, to name only a few of the challenges China presents to the world.

DARIA NOVAK served in the United States State Department during the Reagan Administration, and currently is on the Board of the American Analysis of News and Media Inc., which publishes usagovpolicy.com and the New York Analysis of Policy and Government.  Each Friday, she presents key updates on China.

Google is the predominant vehicle for research. That presents key challenges to a nation in need of objective information.

According to a study by Pew Research, educators report that students overwhelmingly use Google for research, to the extent that “Research = Googling.” Teachers told Pew that 94% of  teachers surveyed said students were likely to use Google of similar search engines for their work.

Even a cursory search of Google results during the 2020 election cycle revealed its prejudices.  

USA Today reported that there was overwhelming evidence that the Big Tech giant tilted its results to show those sites that agreed with its corporate biases.

Although the organization has dismissed claims, and used preexisting algorithms as an excuse, there are substantial indicators that it seeks to manipulate the outcome of events such as elections, large and small.

 A Consumer Watchdog letter first reported by Fox Business News outlined how the web behemoth sought to mislead its users by obscuring relevant material in a state initiative regarding online privacy, an issue it had a significant corporate stake in.

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“A search for Prop 24 at Google serves up a link to the official voter guide at the Secretary of State’s website. Most voters would reasonably assume this is a link to unbiased information provided by the government. Instead, the snippet of text Google includes with the link is not the title of the measure, or the nonpartisan state summary of the measure, but the “CON” or No on 24 argument…”

The internet research organization Can I Rank reports that Google search results are almost 40% more likely to contain pages with a “Left” or “Far Left” result…Moreover, 16% of political keywords contained no right-leaning pages at all within the first page of results…the Google algorithm itself may make it easier for sites with a left-leaning or centrist viewpoint to rank higher in Google search results compared to sites with a politically conservative viewpoint.”

A Breitbart review discusse “The Good Censor,” an 85-page briefing leaked to Breitbart News, admitting that under the leadership of Google and other tech giants, the internet has moved away from its original ideals of unfettered free speech, and towards a “European” model of speech that “favors dignity over liberty and civility over freedom.”

In 2019, according to mindmatters.ai. “senior Google engineer Gregory Coppola contacted watchdog group Project Veritas to talk about the Google bias that affects the information users get about political choices… According to Coppola, Big Tech’s agenda is dangerous, in large part, because it is hidden…widely published behavioral research psychologist Robert Epstein (who described himself as ‘center/center-left’ before a Senate committee) [testified] ‘Data I’ve collected since 2016 show that Google displays content to the American public that is biased in favor of one political party …No private company should have either the right or the power to manipulate large populations without their knowledge. …If you were to examine the data I have been collecting over the past 6-and-a-half years, every one of you would put partisanship aside and collaborate to reign in the extraordinary power that Google and Facebook now wield with unabashed arrogance.”

There may be another alternative. Conservatives rightly objected to the dangers of government control inherent in classifying internet providers as “common carriers.”  But, traveling a path as precise as threading a needle, a modified version of the common carrier concept could be applied without the overlay of government control that proponents of the concept maintain is necessary for the more physical world of trains and planes.  That highly modified common carrier concept could warrant—without any other government intrusion, regulation, or oversight– that monopolistic internet giants such as Twitter and Google treat all users equally.

The Air Force plans to procure both a new long-range bomber, known as the B-21, and a new long-range standoff (LRSO) cruise missile during the 2020s. DOE is also modifying and extending the life of the B61 bomb carried on B-2 bombers and fighter aircraft and the W80 warhead for cruise missiles. Are these additions enough to supplemented the severely shrunken U.S. nuclear deterrent?

According to Navy Adm. Charles “Chas” A. Richard, the commander of the U.S. Strategic Command “Given Russia and China’s expanding capabilities in increasingly aggressive behavior, and those posed by nuclear North Korea and possibly Iran, we must reinvigorate the national conversation on the importance of strategic deterrence,” he said.

During the last 30 years, however, the Defense Department has focused on capabilities-based development and planning, because there was no existential threat, he said. “Our post-Cold War experiences of operating in uncontested domains are over. Our adversaries took advantage of this period, emboldened … their aggressive behavior, expanded their capabilities and reconsidered their tactics and strategies.” 

But, as the commander in charge of employing strategic deterrence capabilities for the nation and U.S. allies, Richard said he simply doesn’t have the luxury of assuming a crisis conflict or war won’t happen. 

“I know I painted a pretty sobering picture, but I really want to highlight the reality in front of us. It’s also important to understand how our modernization programs support and integrate with our efforts to rethink how we do strategic deterrence,” he noted.

The admiral said the DOD must prioritize the sustainment modernization of U.S. intercontinental ballistic missile bombers, ballistic missile submarines, weapons complex and its nuclear command, control and communications systems, also known as NC3.

Richard said he is committed to investing in modernizing NC3 systems to be more robust and survivable against physical, electromagnetic and cyber attacks. 

To shape the strategic environment to the U.S.’ advantage, the DOD must first face the reality that its adversaries have blurred the lines between conventional and nuclear conflict, and have developed capabilities to directly challenge the strategy, doctrine and advantages the United States has held as a nation and alliance. 

“We can no longer expect our potential adversaries to act within our long-standing, self-imposed constraints based on our rule sets or values, particularly between conventional and nuclear,” he said.

Richard has challenged Stratcom to revise its 21st-century strategic deterrence theory that considers U.S. adversaries’ decision calculus and behaviors and identifies threat indicators or conditions that could indicate potential actions. Crafting this revised theory, he added, minimizes risks inherent in competing against another nuclear-armed state. 

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“It’s an exhaustive assessment to fully account for current conditions, emerging capabilities, changing norms and rule sets, and potentially unintended outcomes within a spectrum of conflict,” he noted. 

“By the end of the decade, if not sooner, we will face two nuclear-capable peer adversaries who have to be deterred differently. We’ve never had to face that situation in our history,” Richard said.

Additionally, the DOD must engage in the environment early to shape its potential adversaries’ actions, using a synchronized whole-of-government and integrated global mindset, he said. 

“Our ability for globally integrated planning, communications and execution in a defined, shared understanding of the threat and what we do about it may be our last remaining advantage over the adversary,” the Stratcom commander said.

The DOD must advance its abilities to integrate its coordination processes across the globe and across all domains, Richard said, adding that will include rethinking how DOD executes its NC3. 

“As advanced kinetic capabilities are developed, we must have the ability to detect, identify, track and integrate our command and control architecture. NC3 architecture is a patchwork of deliberate systems that have been piecemealed over decades, [and] it works quite well, but it needs to be updated,” he said.

Illustration: Planned B-21 bomber (USAF)

The nation has not seriously considered the possibility of engaging in competition through a crisis or possible direct armed conflict with a nuclear-capable armed adversary in more than 25 years, Navy Adm. Charles “Chas” A. Richard, the commander of the U.S. Strategic Command stated at a International Security at the Nuclear Nexus conference hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

According to a Congressional Research study,  the United States has reduced the number of warheads deployed on its long-range missiles and bombers, consistent with the terms of the 2010 New START Treat.

In 1990, as the Cold War was drawing to a close and the Soviet Union entered its final year, the United States had more than 12,000 nuclear warheads deployed on 1,875 strategic nuclear delivery vehicles. As of July 1, 2009, according to the counting rules in the original Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), the United States had reduced to 5,916 nuclear warheads on 1,188 strategic nuclear delivery vehicles. Under the terms of the 2002 Strategic Offensive Reduction Treaty (known as the Moscow Treaty) between the United States and Russia, this number was to decline to no more than 2,200 operationally deployed strategic nuclear warheads by the end of 2012. The U.S. Department of State reported that the United States had reached that level, with only 1,968 operationally deployed strategic warheads in December 2009. The New START Treaty, signed by President Obama and Russia’s President Medvedev on April 8, 2010, reduced those forces further, to no more than 1,550 warheads on deployed launchers and heavy bombers. According to the U.S. Department of State, on September 1, 2020, the United States had 1,457 warheads on 675 deployed ICBMs, SLBMs, and heavy bombers, within a total of 800 deployed and nondeployed ICBMs, SLBMs, and heavy bombers.

Moscow has a history of cheating on nuclear arms deals, so it is appropriate to ask whether they have carried out their end of the bargain. China, which has become the predominant military threat, is not a signatory to nuclear arms deals, and remains free to build up their arsenal beyond any limits.

At the present time, the U.S. land-based ballistic missile force (ICBMs) consists of 400 landbased Minuteman III ICBMs, each deployed with one warhead, spread among a total of 450 operational launchers. This force is consistent with the New START Treaty. The Air Force has modernized the Minuteman missiles, replacing and upgrading their rocket motors, guidance systems, and other components, so that they can remain in the force through 2030. It has initiated a program to replace these with a new Ground-based Strategic Deterrent beginning around 2029.

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The U.S. ballistic missile submarine fleet currently consists of 14 Trident submarines. Each can carry 20 Trident II (D-5) missiles—a reduction from 24 missiles per submarine—with the total meeting the launcher limits in the New START Treaty. The Navy converted 4 of the original 18 Trident submarines to carry nonnuclear cruise missiles. Nine of the submarines are deployed in the Pacific Ocean and five are in the Atlantic. The Navy also has undertaken efforts to extend the life of the missiles and warheads so that they and the submarines can remain in the fleet past 2020. It has designed and is beginning production of the new Columbia class submarine that will replace the existing fleet beginning in 2031.

The U.S. fleet of heavy bombers includes 20 B-2 bombers and 40 nuclear-capable B-52 bombers. The B-1 bomber is no longer equipped for nuclear missions. This fleet of 60 nuclear-capable aircraft is consistent with the U.S. obligations under New START. The Air Force has begun to retire the nuclear-armed cruise missiles carried by B-52 bombers, leaving only about half the B52 fleet equipped to carry nuclear weapons.

The Report concludes tomorrow.

Photo: Adm. Charles “Chas” A. Richard, the commander of the U.S. Strategic Command (DoD)

Judge John Wilson analyzes the “American Rescue Plan.”

In March of 2021, President Joe Biden signed a $1.9 Trillion economic stimulus bill, called the American Rescue Plan Act (the ARPA). This legislation provided for $656.18 Billion in “Direct Financial Assistance,” of which $402.2 Billion took the form of $1400 stimulus checks; $40.16 Billion for Transportation, of which $1.7 Billion was given to Amtrak alone; $362 Billion for “State and Local Fiscal Recovery Plans,” of which $219.8 Billion was allocated to states and $130.2 Billion earmarked for cities and counties, “based on each county’s share of US population”;  and $56.27 Billion for “Assistance to Individuals and Families,” which represented an enormous expansion of the welfare state, providing for $5 Billion in “Tenant Based Rental Assistance,” another $5 Billion in “Homelessness Assistance,” $21.6 Billion in “Emergency Rental Assistance,” $150 Million for something called “Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting” and $37 Million for the “Commodity Supplemental Food Program,” which claims to “improve the health of low-income persons at least 60 years of age by supplementing their diets with nutritious USDA foods.”    .

Many of these are clearly the usual “Great Society” social programs that have been unsuccessfully fighting the “war on poverty” for the last 50 years.  Others are clearly payoffs to Democrat controlled counties and states (a review of the most populous counties and cities will include places like New York, Chicago and Los Angeles at the head of the list).  Others, like any funding for Amtrak, are just a waste of taxpayer funds.

But some of these giveaways are discriminatory, and patently unconstitutional.

One provision which faces an immediate challenge provides states with $200 billion in financial aid.  However, under Section 602(c)(2)(A) of the ARPA, states cannot use these funds to finance a reduction in their state taxes.  “The intent was clear: to prevent Republican states from using the funds to offset tax cuts.” 

Shortly after the Act was signed into law, 21 Attorney Generals from states including Georgia, Arizona and West Virginia wrote to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, asking “that the Department of the Treasury take immediate action to confirm that certain provisions of the American Rescue Plan Act (the “Act”) do not attempt to strip States of their core sovereign authority to enact and implement basic tax policy…(the relevant) language could be read to deny States the ability to cut taxes in any manner whatsoever…this provision would amount to an unprecedented and unconstitutional intrusion on the separate sovereignty of the States through federal usurpation of essentially one half of the State’s fiscal ledgers.” 

Not bothering to join the other Attorney Generals, Ohio forged ahead with a lawsuit of their own.  “This coercive offer of federal funds violates the Constitution. The Spending Clause empowers Congress to ‘provide for’—that is, to spend money in support of—the ‘general Welfare.’ Art. I., §8. c.1. But while ‘Congress has substantial powers to govern the Nation directly, including in areas of intimate concern to the States, the Constitution has never been understood to confer upon Congress the ability to require the States to govern according to Congress’ instructions.’ New York v. United States, 505 U.S. 144, 162 (1992). And Congress may not circumvent that limitation by using its spending power to ‘indirectly coerce[] a State to adopt a federal regulatory system as its own.’ NFIB, 567 U.S. at 578 (op. of Roberts, C.J.). That is precisely what the Tax Mandate attempts to do: it seeks to ‘drive the state legislatures under the whip of economic pressure into the enactment’ of Congress’s preferred tax policies. Steward Mach. Co. v. Davis, 301 U.S. 548, 587 (1937).”

At last count, 13 states have joined into a separate lawsuit filed in the US District Court in Alabama to challenge the Tax Mandate, including Utah, Alabama, Florida, South Dakota, and Alaska. 

As described by Josh Blackman in Reason, “(s)omeone in the White House must know this case is a loser. And even if Secretary Yellen issues some favorable guidance, I don’t think Ohio’s injury will be satisfied…if the spending provision is ambiguous, the government cannot cure that separations of powers problem through guidance documents. The remedy for an ambiguous spending provision is to declare it unconstitutional. Merrick Garland knows all too well how this case will end.”  

While the rest of the American Rescue Plan might survive the severance of the unconstitutional Tax Mandate from the balance of the bill, there is a more fundamental issue which may spell doom for the majority of the bill.  At heart, the bill is discriminatory, providing for the distribution of its funds on the impermissible basis of race.

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“The ARPA, which passed along party lines and was signed into law by President Joe Biden, appropriated $28.6 billion to a Restaurant Revitalization Fund to be doled out to applicants. Section 5003 of the bill requires the SBA (Small Business Association) to prioritize applicants who are women, veterans, and socially and economically disadvantaged business owners… Economically disadvantaged individuals are defined as those whose ‘ability to compete in the free enterprise system has been impaired due to diminished capital and credit opportunities as compared to others in the same or similar line of business who are not socially disadvantaged.’”

In response to these regulations, “The Texas Public Policy Foundation and America First Policy Institute have sued the U.S. Small Business Administration… Greer’s Ranch Café vs Guzman was filed against the SBA and its acting director, Isabella Casillas Guzman, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas… ‘These race and sex preferences are patently unconstitutional, and the Court should promptly enjoin their enforcement,’ the complaint states. ‘Doing so will promote equal rights under the law for all American citizens and promote efforts to stop racial discrimination.”’

Quoting further from the lawsuit: “SBA is currently disbursing funds on a first-come, first-serve basis, but only to ‘priority’ applicants, having pushed all disfavored applicants—mostly white males—to the back of the line, regardless of when they applied… In enacting this program, Congress did something it has never done in the modern era. It created a huge government program in which the great majority of the funds will be made available on the basis of race and gender. All (or almost all) racial minorities who are not veterans are preferred to all (or almost all) white males who are not veterans. The priority is dispositive: no one who does not enjoy a priority will get a dime.” 

Even more blatantly discriminatory is the Emergency Relief for Farmers of Color Act, which provides for $5 Billion  “to provide assistance for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers and socially disadvantaged groups,”  by directing the Secretary of Agriculture to “forgive the obligation of each socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher who is a borrower of a farm loan made by the Secretary to repay the principal and interest outstanding as of the date of enactment of this Act on the farm loan” as well as “pay to each lender of farm loans guaranteed by the Secretary an amount equal to the principal and interest outstanding as of the date of enactment of this Act on all farm loans held by the lender, the borrowers of which are socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers.” 

Under 7 USC Sec 2279(5) and (6), a “socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher”  is defined as a member of  ” a group whose members have been subjected to racial or ethnic prejudice because of their identity as members of a group without regard to their individual qualities.” 

It didn’t take long for this law to be challenged.  “An organization led by former Trump White House adviser Stephen Miller is suing the Agriculture Department over the definition of socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers that Congress used to create a $4 billion debt relief plan for minority farmers…(t)he lawsuit challenges Sections 1005 and 1006 of the pandemic relief law as unconstitutional…America First Legal is providing the lawyer for the plaintiff, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, who is acting in his capacity as a farmer and rancher.” 

Further, “Scott Wynn from Jennings — about 90 minutes west of Jacksonville in Hamilton County (Florida) — sued U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in Jacksonville federal court Tuesday over a loan-forgiveness program that was folded into the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan.  The lawsuit says the program for ‘socially disadvantaged’ farmers uses race as a standard for getting financial help, whether the farmer who’s applying is financially strained or not.” 

And that’s not all; “The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty last week filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the alleged race discrimination in the American Rescue Plan. Specifically, the organization targets a provision to offer loan forgiveness based on racial categories. The organization filed the lawsuit Thursday on behalf of five plaintiffs from Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Ohio.” 

Let us give the last word on this topic to former New York Lieutenant Governor Betsy McCaughly; “Most Americans oppose racial preferences, though Democratic politicians push them. Voters in California and Washington state, two of the bluest states, recently rejected ballot measures for affirmative action. The public agrees with Chief Justice John Roberts that ‘the way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race’… (f)or now, the battle to defeat the anti-white provisions of Biden’s American Rescue Plan will be fought in court. Fortunately, that’s where the Constitution still matters.” 

Illustration: Pixabay