There was a great deal of criticism of President Joe Biden’s press conference from his refusal to take questions on the Afghanistan situation to his calling for the use of Civil Rights laws to oppose any state laws barring mask mandates. One line however received little attention but contained a breathtaking and troubling pledge: “If a governor wants to cut the pay of the hard-working education leader who requires masks in a classroom, the money from the American rescue plan can be used to pay that person’s salary 100%.” With that line, Biden pledged to indemnify people who violate state laws, including orders upheld by the courts. For the states, one can understand if the line between a federal subsidy and a federal accessory is difficult to discern.
Biden’s call to use civil rights laws to challenge anti-mask mandates was itself controversial. Indeed, it could create another major loss for the Administration. The Administration racked up an impressive array string of losses by the first six months in court. That dubious record has continued. In states with anti-mask mandates, the states are making a public health decision. Such decisions (like those made by the CDC) are generally afforded great deference from the courts. These states believe that the health and educational costs for children outweigh the risks for the virus. Many disagree with that judgment but it is a policy that applies to all children and families equally. That makes this a tough case to win.
Yet, that was not the promise that stood out in the press conference. Indeed, I assumed that I had misheard Biden in promising to pay teacher salaries and waited for transcripts. What the President is saying is that the federal government will indemnify teachers who knowingly violate state laws. I cannot recall any such prior presidential pledge to subsidize unlawful conduct and it raises serious questions over the use of federal funds to encourage violations of lawful state orders. Again, many disagree with these orders but they are issued under state laws affording governors this power.
It is not clear where the funds would come from to fulfill the pledge. Obviously states were given most of the pandemic funds. Biden may be suggesting that districts that received the money for school expenses and programs could use them for funding defiant teachers. Alternatively, there might be money available through the Department of Education.
I previously criticized how the Congress appropriated trillions of dollars for states during the pandemic without any meaningful limits. This has allowed states like Ohio to literally giveaway millions of federal dollars as part of a state vaccine lottery. President Biden has relied on the lack of limits in simply declaring that states should give people $100 for taking the vaccine.
Now this lack of any limits has allowed a president to pledge that he will pay the salaries of any teachers who knowingly violate their contracts and state law. Before we get to the legal and constitutional issues, Biden failed to put any practical limits on his pledge. He just told teachers to defy their state while assuring them that any lost wages will be indemnified. What if a teacher is suspended? Biden just promised to cover potentially years of lost wages. What if the teacher is fired? Will the federal government effectively pay a pension? Indeed, this pledge could create a perverse incentive for states to move to dock or suspend pay to pass such costs to the federal government.
Legally, the President just pledged to indemnify the violation of state law. It is an attempt to do indirectly but he cannot do directly. The pledge is meant to circumvent federalism barriers for federal mandates. Biden has gone back and forth on such mandates. He has asserted that he has the power to impose mandates on states and then claimed that he does not. Most recently, Biden then said that he might use federal authority to bar anti-mark mandates. The position of the Biden Administration on the issue is now completely conflicted and incoherent. The only certainly is a pledge to pay the salaries of any teacher suspended or fired for violating state laws on such mandates.
Biden’s pledge was made after the Texas Supreme Court upheld one of the most cited anti-mask mandates. So the President is responding by promising to fund violations of an order found lawful and constitutional by the highest court in the state (which is usually the final word on such issues even for the United States Supreme Court).
In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis adopted a rule that lets families opt out of locally ordered school mask mandates. In addition, the state board of education approved a policy to allow parents to use vouchers for their children to attend a different school if they encounter pushback on their refusal to use masks. Those orders have not been successfully challenged.
Biden is not alone in supporting such violations. Democrats in Washington have lionized Texas legislators who fled the state to prevent the passage of election reforms. These same Democrats have denounced the filibuster to block bills as a denial of democracy in Washington. The Texas order for the arrest of the legislators has been upheld by the Texas Supreme Court.
The Texas Supreme Court issued a temporary block on mask mandates in Bexar and Dallas counties on Sunday evening. Even though the decision was not a final ruling on the merits, most schools complied and suspended their mask mandates. However, a lower court judge effectively reinstated the Bexar mandate for public schools. District Judge Antonia Arteaga declared “I just wanted to apologize to all those parents, school administrators, the superheroes that we call teachers for what someone called the equivalent to a legal tug of war, unfortunately where our children are right in the middle.” There is no “tug of war” between a state supreme court and a lower court. The lower courts are supposed to carry out the rulings of the highest court in the state. Likewise, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins also claimed in a tweet that justices “did not strike down my face mask order.” It is true that the Supreme Court did not issue a final order but felt that there was sufficient support to lift the lower orders pending any decision. However, there are conflicting rulings on these mask mandates that the state courts are working through as part of expedited appeals.
The sharp public disagreements between these courts is unusual but will be quickly sorted out in the issuance of final orders. What President Biden is pledging is something entirely different. He is promising that, despite what the courts rule, the federal government will subsidize continued defiance of state law. Imagine if Texas pledged to subsidize any CDC employee who refused to carry out public health care orders or any border official who refused to release undocumented persons into the country. It would be immediately denounced as an attack on federal authority under the Constitution.
Biden’s pledge could create some new law. The Supreme Court has long held that it is unconstitutional to coerce or commandeer states to undermine their authority under federalism guarantees. Now a president is openly calling for the defiance of state laws by state employees and promising to financially support such violations. He is moving from commandeering state legislatures to commandeering state employees.
When he ran in 2020, President Biden promised that he would end Trump’s disrespect for the courts and return the country to “the rule of law, our Constitution.” Subsidizing the violation of state law is a curious way to fulfill that earlier pledge.
We really dodged a bullet by getting rid of Trump. Imagine how bad things would be if we had a president who constantly tried to usurp the authorities of the other branches of the federal government or the states. Oh…. Wait a minute…. Never mind.
Never thought I would see the federal government paying people to become scofflaws.
In my state, some of the schools required young children to wear masks even outside, while playing. This contravenes all science on the matter. My friend’s son would get pale and sweaty, and felt like he was going to pass out. I homeschooled, but we wore masks as required at public places. I had to take my son’s mask off when he ran while wearing it, and began to feel like he was smothering.
There are serious health consequences for children exercising in masks. Strangely, there is a trend of people who get testy about this fact, rather than just look it up.
Mask wearing is not appropriate for very young children for a few reasons. The youngest children are at extremely low risk to get Covid. They are too young to follow mask hygiene, therefore their masks quickly become absolutely filthy. They wipe their runny noses on it. They switch masks with their friends. They drop it on the bathroom floor, pick it up, and wear it again. They smear food all over it when they put it down to eat and then wear it again. By the time they get home, it’s like they have a used Kleenex they then dropped in the bathroom and then tied around their face. Studies have shown an extraordinary density of pathogens on these masks after a single day’s use.
Unless there’s a study I’ve missed, which is possible, the science does not support mask wearing in young children.
I am very sympathetic to people who have to wear masks all day in the hot, humid parts of the country. As an asthmatic myself, if I wear a mask for a long period of time, or exert myself, such as lifting heavy feed bags, then I get light headed. There are sincere reasons why some people object to wearing masks that do not involve homicidal tendencies.
Wearing a mask helps keep your heavy droplets to yourself. I’ve long supported the wisdom of wearing a mask. Yet there have been studies showing limited to no benefit in some cases.
This administration seems to have a tendency to ignore the Constitution and the separation of federal and state law. For example, trying to impose nationwide mail in ballots without the voter’s request, or the CDC imposing an eviction moratorium.
In Israel:
“Finally, studying during the pandemic means that every student from first grade and upwards will be required to wear a mask in their classroom and at all indoor educational activities. Masks will also be required on school buses and in any outdoor setting attended by more than 100 people.” -The Jerusalem Post
“Two weeks until Israel’s school bells ring: A complete COVID-19 guide”
“Schools are set to begin on September 1, and the Health and Education ministries devised a five-layered plan to help keep children safe and ensure their studies. Here is what you need to know.”
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/two-weeks-until-israels-school-bells-ring-a-complete-covid-19-guide-676697
You, again, pretending to know more than experts in health and law? As to masks, I’ve heard the same little speech about masks being dirty, kids slobbering all over them, smearing food all over them, trading them with others, so this must come from alt-right media. I’ve never seen actual kids doing these things, but if they do, it’s up to the schools and parents to teach them not to and why they should not do so. It’s part of the education for being considerate of others, just like waiting your turn, washing your hands after using the restroom and before you eat. No reliable public health official supports children not wearing masks. It’s a fun game for some of them.
The “administration” did not try to “impose nationwide mail in ballots without the voter’s request”. A voter must always request a mail-in ballot, and must be registered to receive one. In some states, in 2020 due to the Trump Pandemic, applications for mail-in ballots were sent out to every registered voter. This was an APPLICATION for a mail-in ballot, not an actual ballot, a distinction your fat hero and alt-right media sources don’t make, because this sounds very bad, but it’s a lie. The voter had to file the request and go through the same vetting and proof of ID before receiving and casting their mail-in ballot. Some states exclusively use voting by mail, and there has never been any widespread voter fraud.
“You, again, pretending to know more than experts in health and law? As to masks, I’ve heard the same little speech about masks being dirty, kids slobbering all over them, smearing food all over them, trading them with others, so this must come from alt-right media.”
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Then I guess you heard that the data shows that kids are not susceptible (“incredibly rare”) to the disease barring also rare underlying medical conditions and wearing the mask is just you Leftists’ way of conditioning obedience to your god, the government. Sorry not buying. Let the disease run its course and chips fall where they may. Dying is better than listening to your obsequious bleatings about how the government will save us all from the bogey man who kills two tenths of one percent of us.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01897-w
“Let the disease run its course and chips fall where they may. Dying is better than listening to your obsequious bleatings about how the government will save us all from the bogey man who kills two tenths of one percent of us.”
Obesity is a risk factor, but don’t let mespo kid you. He’s vaccinated.
“Go Ahead. Vaccinate the Kids.”
“The risk of vaccinating children will never be zero, but the alternative is so much worse.”
By Aaron E. Carroll
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/08/vaccinate-kids-under-12-delta-covid/619752/
“Of course, all of this depends on the FDA authorizing the vaccines for younger children. That could happen before the end of this year. It will take longer to monitor for rarer side effects as doses start to be delivered in large numbers, which means that mandates for kids in school might take more time after that.
“After examining this issue from all angles, as a parent I’m confronted with this: As variants become more and more infectious, we face the reality that nearly everyone is likely to get COVID-19 at some point unless they’re vaccinated. Even for kids, the latter is so, so much better than the former. That makes the decision pretty easy. For the sake of everyone, we need to start vaccinating younger children as soon as possible.”
About the author: Aaron E. Carroll is a professor of pediatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine.
“Dying is better…” -mespo
Said like a guy without much experience with death & dying.
Anyone who has ever been in a bad marriage knows that there are some things far worse than death.
Tell that to thousands of kids suffering from covid in hospitals across the country. Hell, the director of the main children’s hospital in Alabama states yesterday that all of the state’s pediatric ICU beds are full with kids with covid.
So what material are those suffocating masks made of? Cling Wrap?
As a recently-retired former grants manager for State and local agencies, I would want to see how the authorizing and appropriating legislation was written, and any regulations that have been issued.
But as a rule, when Congress gives the Executive a virtual blank check, there should be no surprise when the Executive treats it as such. With very few individual exceptions, Congress is fundamentally lazy and irresponsible and has been for many decades. They are happy to take credit for broad legislation that claims noble intent, but places very few limits on how the Executive implements it, hence no guarantee that intent will be realized… if the whole thing is even in the realm of possibility, anyway (e.g., “No Child Left behind”–NO child?) This goes back at least to the Great Society legislation of the mid-1960s, but its roots are even deeper, in the New deal and the Progressive Era.
There is a pattern of Democrats rolling Republicans on this, esp regarding domestic matters, but on national security it has sometimes gone the other way, so a pox on all of them.
One war was already fought over States Rights. Do not want to see this happen again. But somewhere the rule of law has to be followed by the FEDERAL government who has run rough shod over established law and making policies that are actually Making law which is beyond their authority.
Perhaps, if we could go back in time, we could get Lincoln’s opinion on this.
Those who can: do.
Those who can’t: teach.
Those who can’t teach: teach teachers
“Two weeks until Israel’s school bells ring: A complete COVID-19 guide”
“Schools are set to begin on September 1, and the Health and Education ministries devised a five-layered plan to help keep children safe and ensure their studies. Here is what you need to know.”
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/two-weeks-until-israels-school-bells-ring-a-complete-covid-19-guide-676697
“Finally, studying during the pandemic means that every student from first grade and upwards will be required to wear a mask in their classroom and at all indoor educational activities. Masks will also be required on school buses and in any outdoor setting attended by more than 100 people.”
White House Strategy Meeting
“We need to get the Afghanistan debacle off the front page.”
“Let’s gin up the Covid panic. They always fall for that.”
“And make it about the children. The children!”
Sam has his views…, which don’t always sync with reality.
“Israel, Once the Model for Beating Covid, Faces New Surge of Infections”
“One of the most vaccinated societies, Israel now has one of the highest infection rates in the world, raising questions about the vaccine’s efficacy.”
August 18th
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/18/world/middleeast/israel-virus-infections-booster.html
And kids will be wearing masks when they go back to school.
Vaccines ARE harming people too. Look up this story:
“The people of Waterford Ireland are devastated to learn that a local hero @WaterfordFCie captain Roy Butler died on Monday of a massive brain bleed 3 days after getting the @JanssenUS J&J vax. He was a player, coach, mentor, beloved by friends and family. Media silent re vax. “
raising questions about the vaccine’s efficacy.”
Nurse friends around the state are reporting 30% to 50% of those being hospitalized are fully vaccinated. Hospitals are not tracking if Natural immunity is included in those admitted. It may very well be true, natural immunity should have been promoted rather than isolation.
If we would have required in class learning, we would be well on the way to herd immunity in our under 18 population.
A quick look at our states data shows zero deaths of those under 18
Is is so very typical of an alt-right disciple–accepting rumors and allegedly anectodal stories about un-named “nurse friends” who allegedly report statistics that conflict with the actual statistics of your state health department. Why not post a link to you state’s data, so we can see for ourselves?
Then, there’s the “herd immunity” theory. How many children would have died and how many adults would they have spread their COVID infection to, and how many of these adults would have died if schools hadn’t closed and people hadn’t gotten vaccinated? How long does “natural immunity” last? More importantly, how many children would be long-termers, with organ damage, brain fog and other health issues, and can these long-term effects cause long-term impairment and early death? This is why NO public health official anywhere supports letting kids get sick just to see what might happen. This is just like those anti-vaxxers who wouldn’t let their children receive the pertussis, measles and mumps vaccines, but held “parties” in which they intentionally exposed their children to other children carrying these diseases: some of them died, all of them suffered, some more than others. Measles can cause encephalitis, which is inflammation of the brain. But, somehow, some people believe they know more than public health officials. They like to believe lies and think this makes them smart and knowledgeable.
These “progressives” will continue to eat away at the edges of law and order, undermining the United States Constitution, stomp on states rights and continue their path to infringing on individual rights and federalizing everything. “Progressives” have no respect for the law, the United States Constitution or individual rights. “Progressives” and their totalitarian ideology are an enemy the United States of America and its people.
Social Justice Warriors: The 21st Century Scourge
Enemy of the ________!
Steve’s back again, today, trying to lure people to his blog.
“Progressives” have no respect for the law, the United States Constitution or individual rights. “Progressives” and their totalitarian ideology are an enemy the United States of America and its people.”
Divisive and hateful. Pure rubbish.
Anonymous the troll wrote, “Steve’s back again, today, trying to lure people to his blog.”, “Divisive and hateful. Pure rubbish.”
Don’t you hate it when I post observed facts that you can’t refute.
If it’s “pure rubbish” then I’m sure you could counter what I wrote with intelligent counter arguments, but all I ever see from you is the usual attack dog nonsense. Well how about you take your nonsensical trolling attack dog and go sh!t on someone else’s lawn.
FYI: I only post links to my blog when they are relevant to the topic at hand, so you can bite me if you don’t “like” it. An actual intelligent person would go to my blog, pick a point they disagree with and counter that point with their own intelligent arguments but I suppose since I have posted rules on my blog that would probably eliminate a troll like you from participating in honest debate.
You have a “nice” day.
“Don’t you hate it when I post observed facts that you can’t refute.”
I choose not to engage with you, for the most part.
And I don’t respond to clickbait.
“I choose not to engage with you, for the most part.”
Yup we all know; you choose to attack the messenger, deflect from the topic, demean others and troll. Those are your choices and they reflect your character.
Actually, the whole point of progressivism is to do ignore the US Constitution and establish a Marxist utopia in the United States. This has been well-known from the get-go when progressivism started gaining a foothold in the US in the early Twentieth Century.
+1,000,000,000
With your vote you own this flaming garbage Mr Turley
Meanwhile, in Israel, mask mandates are back:
“Face masks will be mandatory in all closed spaces, apart from one’s place of residence, as well as in outdoor gatherings of at least 100 people. Masks are already mandatory in public indoor spaces.”
https://www.timesofisrael.com/health-ministry-unveils-new-caps-on-gatherings-mask-mandate/
Interesting conflict on this issue between state and federal jurisdiction:
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/education/2021/08/18/west-des-moines-schools-snubs-federal-mask-mandate-buses-transportation-students-covid-delta-variant/8187705002/
What do you expect from someone who barely made the bottom 10% of his law school class.
And a feckless sellout whose family is bought and paid for by China millions. China is getting a great return on its investments.
Is that you, Allan, buddy?
“What difference does it make?”
In the words of Hillary Clinton who was the incompetent Secretary of State who lost an embassy before THIS incompetent SoS lost an embassy…both during incompetent Democrat administrations.
“Is that you, Allan, buddy?”
Allan is an example of hypocrisy in action.
The election of Biden and his crony government was truly a catastrophe. The Biden administration is either: 1) an evil cabal of leftist advisors intent on destroying America; or 2) a group of inane millenials with no experience and degrees of academic inanity. Obviously Biden raised Hunter, a truly disgusting individual. So we know Joe has no intellect or morals. The question is how did so many Americans vote so ineptly. The answer is the media propagandists.
The Biden administration is either: 1) an evil cabal of leftist advisors intent on destroying America; or 2) a group of inane millenials with no experience and degrees of academic inanity. — highlyeducatedsuburbanwoman
The former narrcissists
Sorry… wrong “button”.
The Biden administration is either: 1) an evil cabal of leftist advisors intent on destroying America; or 2) a group of inane millenials with no experience and degrees of academic inanity. — highlyeducatedsuburbanwoman
The former are (greedy) narcissists and sociopaths; the latter, useful idiots with no experience suffering from academic insanity…
The answer is the media propagandists.
On both “sides”… divide and rule. Democrat and Republican.
“Progress is difficult because idiocy is renewed with each generation, and evil often deepens with age.” — unknown
Biden is correct. Covid is real and a threat and if states are passing laws that actively promote the spreading of covid then the federal government can step in and help. Just because some nuts (including judges) think it is cute to be part of the Trump death cult does not mean the rest of us have to go along with it.
Biden is correct about nothing. Open your eyes.
Mr. Magoo strikes again.
The Supremacy Clause is not a blank check for top down rule. You need to brush up on the 10th Amendment.
This comment is laughable. Actually, COVID is a very mild disease in most people, no worse than the common cold. However, like other diseases, it can cause problems in the elderly and those with certain preexisting conditions, such as being grossly obese, Less than ten percent of Americans have EVER had the disease over the past two years and only a tiny fraction of those who had it died, and at least 94% of them – by the CDCs own records – were attributed solely to COVID. The media goes nuts with disinformation. For example, Texas Governor Gregg Abbott (who is tested EVERY DAY) just came up with a positive test but he has no symptoms at all, Yet Democrats and the media are trying to throw some kind of blame for something at him and see if it sticks. As far as the Federaal government goes, it is incompetent and has been incompetent for a long, long time.
But now you are seeing that double vaxxed people are now coming down with covid in rather large numbers. And many don’t but are asymptomatic and are “shedding” and spreading covid. So the vaxxed are dangerous to us in a way that a mask won’t help prevent. So the worry about the unvaxxed is totally unnecessary. Covid is 98% curable if you are not in risk category. If you are in category, you need to isolate a lot and protect yourself…. not make whole world revolve around you. (I would be in that group).
“A mom who died of COVID shortly after her husband did had one final wish: ‘Make sure my kids get vaccinated’”
Aug. 18, 2021 at 6:44 am Updated Aug. 18, 2021 at 1:19 pm
https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/mom-who-died-of-covid-days-after-her-husbands-death-had-a-final-wish-for-her-kids/
“A mom who died of COVID
#37 on the list of signs leftists have no factual basis to debate an issue.
Heavy relience on emotional personal stories( that are must likely created from thin air)
laws that actively promote the spreading of covid then the federal government can step in and help.
Outside of the constitution which does not speak to such a power, Exacty what is the problem with the ‘spread’ of covid? Put another way, what is the goal you strive for> Put another way, by what metric will you declare covid Over?
Now what evidence to you have that scientifically supports the use of simple cloth face covering preventing the spread of a virus in a community setting? Surface cleaning? Social distancing?
Chicago just held Lollapalooza outdoor music festival with tens of thousands attending. They did not require masks. There was no Covid superspreader. Not a covid outbreak in South Dakota motorcyle rally either.
Masking children all day long is not “following the science” They need to shut up about it already.
Yesterday, I saw this vivid and what I view as an apropos description of the current President of the United States: “Stunning Incompetence.”
The world watches in dismay and people suffer. It does not take a rocket scientist to see that he appears incapable of leading this nation. However, he does it in such a nice manner.
Addressing everyone in the country as “Folks” does not make Biden a leader or even a “nice guy.” It’s his “schtick.” In reality, Biden is an arrogant, incompetent, corrupt, lying, and just plain nasty SOB politician with an attitude of “how dare you question ME.” The worst kind.
And I thought he was so nice and had a really great family. Wow, looks can be deceiving.
He’s a very nice man.
Biden’s verbal promises are worth the paper they are written on.
If a teacher relies on Biden’s word, then they are too stupid to teach.
By the way Lefty posters, miss Trump yet?
The Biden administration has adopted the Soviet rule regarding generals:
“Better a reliable incompetent than a competent unreliable.”
That was OK for the Soviets until they met a competent adversary during Barbarossa.
Prof. Turley wrote “Biden’s pledge was made after the Texas Supreme Court upheld one of the most cited anti-mask mandates. ” But the Texas Supreme court did NOT rule on the mask mandate itself. It merely overturned a TRO by a trial court before an evidenciary hearing had been held.
I think you are using “State Law” loosely to refer to Governor’s edits that are not passed by the legislature and may not be upheld by the courts.
I cannot recall any such prior presidential pledge to subsidize unlawful conduct and it raises serious questions over the use of federal funds to encourage violations of lawful state orders.”
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Well, in all fairness, the Dims are the Crime Party:
Rule of law? Quaint notion!
Federalism? What’s that?
Respect for the other guys’ opinions? Well, they’re wrong and we -undoubtedly — are omniscient!
Up for kissing rings anyone?
No, but I think the teachers union can kiss a$$.
It’s a neat contortionist trick but they do!