Breaking news today on Sekulow, a big victory over the Biden administration, Pelosi, and Schumer. Keeping you informed and engaged, now more than ever, this is Sekulow. We want to hear from you.
Share and post your comments or call 1-800-684-3110. And now your host, Jordan Sekulow. What a big victory. This is in the district court. It's actually out of Alabama, but the case involved, remember, 13 states challenging the American Rescue Plan Act. That was the first stimulus through with the Biden administration.
We represented at the ACLJ 78 members of the U.S. Senate and House in this case. And listen, it's at the district court level, but it is a big win for states, and here's why. Remember in the American Rescue Plan Act that it prohibited states that took stimulus funding, so COVID stimulus funding, from doing any kind of revenue cutting. So what it really meant, just to explain it, was if you take these funds, you can't lower taxes. You can't lower property taxes. You can't lower city taxes, state taxes. I mean, it was all-encompassing.
It was inserted kind of in the last minute in the language. Well, again, this move by states to kind of restrict their ability to do what's best for their state or at the local level was immediately challenged, that the federal government didn't have the power to say, you need these stimulus funds, but we're also going to tell you that you can't do what's best for your state. It didn't say that you must cut taxes or that you have to cut taxes, but that if your state's considering a tax cut or a different kind of revenue shift, that it can do that. And this is a big victory starting out in the district court, the trial court level, and the ACLJ representing 78 members of Congress, including members of the Senate and the House. It's a very significant win on a number of levels, Jordan. First of all, like you said, for federalism on state authority to set its own taxation policy. Jordan, on the limits of the federal government not being able to intrude into states to set policy that's reserved for the states.
Jordan, you're right. In this case, in Alabama representing 13 states, we represent 78 members of Congress, 20 senators, 58 members of the House. Our leads in the House, Jordan, are Jim Banks and Kevin Brady. In the House, it's Tim Scott and Jim Risch. Jim Risch is the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and Senator Scott, Jordan, as you know, he is on this largely because of the impact that he's concerned about it having on states pushing forward school choice initiatives.
Of course, if you grant a tax credit for a school choice voucher, that would reduce revenue and would trigger this provision. So Jordan, with this great win out of the Alabama court, that joins the other case that we had filed on behalf of members in Ohio. So now, Jordan, two states, two main challenges to this provision have gone our way as we've represented members of Congress. Folks, you could give us a call at 1-800-684-3110 if you want to be on the broadcast.
I'm holding in my hands right here. Here's the brief that we filed on behalf of the members of Congress. And this, again, 78 members of the U.S. Senate and House.
So that speaks to, again, the trust in the ACLJ to represent those members who knew that this legislation, this partisan action in this legislation was wrong. They believed it violates the state's rights to be able to, again, like Thanh was just explaining, it's not just about blanket tax cuts, though that would be wrong, too. But it's also about new programs that might provide a tax incentive that could be interpreted as a tax decrease.
So this, again, we'll get into it further. We come back for the break. But it's a big victory for all of you. Because if you live in a state, if you're lucky enough to live in a state that is a low tax state or a state that's thinking about reducing tax burdens, at least you now know the federal government can't use these stimulus funds and then hamper the state's ability to lower as the Democrats, lower revenue, which means cut taxes, to cut out unneeded bureaucracy at the state level. This is a very important victory. We'll have more information up at ACLJ.org as well.
And we'll take your call to this because it was an attempt, like we have seen time and time again from this administration to increase federal power out of Washington so that it can dictate to states, you need this relief money, but don't think about cutting tax anymore. I mean, it's such a partisan move, but an ACLJ victory. Support our work at ACLJ.org, a matching challenge month of November.
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Take part in our matching challenge today. You can make a difference in the work we do, protecting the constitutional and religious freedoms that are most important to you and your family. Give a gift today online at ACLJ.org. Only when a society can agree that the most vulnerable and voiceless deserve to be protected is there any hope for that culture to survive. And that's exactly what you are saying when you stand with the American Center for Law and Justice to defend the right to life. We've created a free, powerful publication offering a panoramic view of the ACLJ's battle for the unborn.
It's called Mission Life. It will show you how you are personally impacting the pro-life battle through your support. And the publication includes a look at all major ACLJ pro-life cases, how we're fighting for the rights of pro-life activists, the ramifications of Roe v Wade 40 years later, playing parenthood's role in the abortion industry, and what Obamacare means to the pro-life movement. Discover the many ways your membership with the ACLJ is empowering the right to life.
Request your free copy of Mission Life today online at ACLJ.org slash gift. So this goes back to that initial stimulus by the Biden administration, the American Rescue Plan Act. It was about $360 billion to states. And they, at the last minute, inserted this provision to try and say that these states, if they used any of this, if they accepted the resources that Congress said they were going to send out to help the American people, that the states or localities would then be hampered, they could not reduce revenue.
What does that mean? That means you can't provide new tax incentives, so that'd be like school choice programs, but also tax cuts at all. So if they were looking at a decrease in property tax or income tax or whatever it may be, I mean, this is a very broad provision that they tried to tie to this funding. And the district court in Alabama, the federal court, said, no, you cannot do that. They've been permanently enjoined from moving forward and preventing these localities and states. We represented, we're not just talking about this victory, ACLJ directly involved representing 78 members of Congress, including Leader McCarthy, senators, members of the House.
And the list is there, the brief, and you can see it at ACLJ.org, has a list of the members of Congress who signed on. But I want to go to Harry right off the bat, because Harry, these kind of moves by the Biden administration, it is so partisan because it is saying to these states, we think that your people need these resources, but we also think if you're a low tax state or a red state, don't think twice, you're not going to lower any taxes on it. And they always think that because if you lower taxes, somehow that's going to hurt everyone. And it's instead of what it usually is, it's cutting out unnecessary bureaucracy and state funding that doesn't work or isn't necessary.
Absolutely. So this provision at issue, and this is a great ACLJ victory, but the provision at issue represents the left's undying commitment to one thing and one thing only, control and power. They believe that they know best, not only with respect to what the American people do with their monies, but they believe they know what's best with respect to states. And the one thing that the left really hates is true diversity. So if you look at the United States Constitution, it was an experiment in federalism.
This enabled states to experiment, for instance, with school vouchers, school choice, and other initiatives designed to eliminate disadvantage in our country. But that particular idea is not acceptable to America's left. And so I think we need to continue to be eternally vigilant, and we need to examine each and every provision in the currently pending legislation, the so-called reconciliation bill. Because I think if you look at that bill carefully, if you look at each and every paragraph, each and every comma, you will find the tentacles of control, authority, and authoritarianism issuing forth from the progressives in the Democratic Party. Then we see this time and time again by Congress, especially on the left, when people are up against the wall and it's a tough time economically. And so they say, okay, stimulus is always what they want to do.
We're going through another one of those, like Harry said, right now. And this provision, they try to slip it at the last minute, but it's to control. And it's such a partisan move, too, because the blue states out there, they don't cut taxes. They're raising taxes usually. So it was directly targeted specifically at conservative-led states and localities that wanted to do what's best. This was done because we're told we need these stimuluses because people were hurting, businesses were hurting, people were hurting. And so we needed this influx of money. And you would think at that same time, well, maybe you'd reduce people's tax burden as well.
Maybe that would help as well. But they don't think that way. That doesn't work with the left's ideology. So they try to put these provisions in it. As Harry said, it's all about how much control they can have.
It's not about helping people. Well, Harry's point is very well taken, Jordan, because if you think back to 2020, when the first five stimuluses were passed in the wake of the COVID pandemic unleashing, they were all bipartisan, Jordan. I mean, they all got 90-plus votes in the United States Senate and then were signed into law by President Trump. But when the elections happened and control of the Senate and the White House rolled over, this administration chose to go another route. They chose to use the reconciliation process and go only with Democrat votes. They did it, Jordan, not because they couldn't get another stimulus with bipartisan votes.
Obviously, that was proven that we could with the previous five. They did it to get provisions like this one that had nothing to do with stimulus and everything to do withdrawing authority to the federal government to do what? To punish red states, Jordan. And look, if you want another proof that that's what they were doing in this, look at the expiration date of the authority of the clawback provision here.
Any state that was found to reduce taxes or reduce revenue could have their American Rescue Plan resources revoked and actually clawed back, Jordan. When was that expiration date? It was 2024. What else is happening in 2024? It's the next Presidential election. And guess what voters like? Voters like candidates who tell them that they will do what? Reduce their taxes. That's a very popular thing.
And this was a way that the left in Washington, D.C. could tell prospective candidates for President and in the relevant state legislatures, you may not reduce your taxes. Why? Because the voters, Jordan, they would like that. Here, I want you to share this with your friends and family. If you're watching on a social media platform, click that share button now, because this is a significant victory. ACLJ will continue fighting on this issue. We represent 78 members of Congress. And this is very important because it's fighting back against that overreach. This administration was, time and time again, we have seen various ways where I think people have seen mandates and you can't try to instruct whether it's individual states, businesses. And so while they're over kind of trying to overwhelm the system with all these mandates, we're fighting back. And this is one of those examples when they have overreached on their power, the courts agree.
Right. And I realize this bill was passed a while back, but so much of the actions of the left in Congress and Democrats in particular, you know, I think they realize as time goes by that their time in the majority is limited. And so more and more there is this this type of overreach.
Of course, this is one from several months ago. Here's the thing. The left in Congress keep talking about they want to do a transformation of America. They want to transform America. What that means for them is a stronger than ever central government. They are very, very comfortable with the federal government controlling most of what happens in the United States of America.
Think China, the Western hemisphere. And so federal government control of your life is their agenda. And they do that through the coercion of your state and your local community. I'm reminded of the words of Ronald Reagan.
He was President when I was just in college. But he said, you know, government is not the answer to your problem. It is the problem.
And yet the left in Congress, they are quite comfortable with a strong, strong central federal government that overpowers individual rights, as well as the principles of federalism and the state's rights to control their own people and their own programs. Yeah, I mean, this to me, I think what's interesting to fan is that it points out that when we have these, we have to fight back against bad legislation, you can do it. I mean, it's again, you always want to, we fight at every level.
So you don't want to have to get to that point. But when the numbers are stacked against you in Congress, and at the White House, what you can do is you can, why the ACLJ exists is you can ultimately go to court. Yeah, I mean, you got to fight it at every level, Jordan. I mean, look, sometimes you can win it in legislation, even when the votes are stacked against you. I think we did that in the last couple of weeks on the IRS snooping provision in the current reconciliation bill, which by the way, Harry's also correct on this, there are going to be similar provisions in this bill as it moves forward.
And we're going to have to continue to scrub them out. But look, the legislative process at the end of the day, it's about votes, Jordan. And sometimes they can get these things through. They did that with this unconstitutional provision. But then we're prepared to then partner with members of the legislature, as we did in both of these cases, and take that challenge to the courts. This is clearly an infringement, Jordan, on state's ability to set their own taxation policy. We made that argument on behalf of these members in front of both of these courts.
And guess what happened in both of them? We won. I mean, Jordan, they got this through the House, they got this through the Senate, and they got it signed into law. But we challenged it in court. And what this order that you're talking about today does is it permanently enjoins this provision from being enforced. Of course, we're going to have to continue to litigate it. There will likely be appeals in both cases. But Jordan, just because you lose a legislative battle because, you know, recent elections didn't go your way, it doesn't mean you don't have a fight to make. And we're prepared to make those. And in this case, the Constitution prevailed, federalism prevailed, and all of these states prevailed.
And at the end of the day, Jordan, the American taxpayer prevailed as well. We're going to continue to talk about this. We've also got, you know, second half hour, we're going to get into what happened that we know about in the first face-to-face virtual meeting between President Biden and President Xi of China. Coming up next, Rick Grenell joining us live. He's going to discuss, he's got a new piece up, it just posted at ACLJ.org, how Joe Biden and Germany have given the green light to Vladimir Putin's aggression in Eastern Europe. And specifically, we're seeing that 100,000 troop buildup on Ukraine's border.
We've already seen under the Biden, under the under the Obama years, the annexation of Crimea, a part of Ukraine, and nothing done by the US then under by the Obama administration. So we're gonna talk to Rick about that. Remember, this is a key month to support our work. It's a great example of how this work turns to victories that you care about. Support our work at ACLJ.org, double the impact your donation today. Only when a society can agree that the most vulnerable and voiceless deserve to be protected.
Is there any hope for that culture to survive? And that's exactly what you are saying when you stand with the American Center for Law and Justice to defend the right to life. We've created a free powerful publication, offering a panoramic view of the ACLJ's battle for the unborn.
It's called Mission Life. It will show you how you are personally impacting the pro-life battle through your support. And the publication includes a look at all major ACLJ pro-life cases, how we're fighting for the rights of pro-life activists, the ramifications of Roe v Wade 40 years later, play on parenthood's role in the abortion industry, and what Obamacare means to the pro-life movement. Discover the many ways your membership with the ACLJ is empowering the right to life. Request your free copy of Mission Life today online at ACLJ.org slash gift. At the American Center for Law and Justice, we're engaged in critical issues at home and abroad. Whether it's defending religious freedom, protecting those who are persecuted for their faith, uncovering corruption in the Washington bureaucracy, and fighting to protect life in the courts and in Congress, the ACLJ would not be able to do any of this without your support.
For that, we are grateful. Now there's an opportunity for you to help in a unique way. For a limited time, you can participate in the ACLJ's matching challenge. For every dollar you donate, it will be matched. A $10 gift becomes $20.
A $50 gift becomes 100. This is a critical time for the ACLJ. The work we do simply would not occur without your generous support. Take part in our matching challenge today. You can make a difference in the work we do, protecting the constitutional and religious freedoms that are most important to you and your family. Give a gift today online at ACLJ.org. All right, welcome back to Sekulow. We are going to start taking your phone calls in the second half hour of the broadcast at 1-800-684-3110. Rick Rinnell joining us now, Senior Advisor for National Security and Foreign Policy, former Acting Director of National Intelligence. Rick, you've got a new piece up at ACLJ.org.
It literally just posted. The title is Joe Biden and Germany Give a Green Light to Putin's Aggression. We just heard in the break from people who were watching online, they saw that they're talking about the space issue and this test that has caused a mess there. But there's also, back here on Earth, real problems with Russian aggression, it looks like now, a buildup on Ukraine's border. But talk about Germany's role too because you were also the ambassador to Germany.
Look, we all can see this, Jordan. Russia has been unleashed and they feel like the Biden administration has just rolled over. I mean, we've, in the Trump administration, tried to stop this pipeline, Nord Stream 2 pipeline, gas into Europe. And it's always important to tell people that Nord Stream 1, the United States was okay with, but Nord Stream 2 went too far. And the reason we say that is because Europe needs to be careful that they're not getting an over-reliance on Russia.
And Nord Stream 2 does that. It allows Putin not only to have a gas pipeline into Germany, the largest economy in Europe, but it really is a pipeline of influence. And the rest of Europe doesn't like it, but the Germans have put themselves in a position where they need it. I think it's outrageous that the German government is allowing this to happen. They claim to be pro-Europe. But I have to say this, Jordan, this is a controversial statement, but when you look around the world, the biggest mess of the world, all of the crises, all of the problems seems to be in Europe these days.
And so I would put this 100% to blame on the Germans who are the leader and the largest economy, but have really had a Germany-first model and not a Europe-first model. And so the rest of Europe is really experiencing lots of problems because of Russia and because of Germany's weakness, and the Biden team is not even noticing. When Russia is building up, it's got 100,000 troops again on the border of Ukraine. We've already seen them take this action before under the Obama years with Crimea. But you would think that these other major players in Europe, like Germany and other countries, would come together and say, you know, there's things that might be in our interest like you said, but if we're going to move forward with any of this, we've got to be able to counter this aggression.
And instead, it looks like the world is just looking the other way. I mean, there's some news reports on it, but it doesn't seem to be that anybody's going to come to Ukraine's defense. Well, let's also remember that the rewriting of the European borders when Crimea was taken by Putin, that happened under Barack Obama and Joe Biden as vice President. And so now in the Biden presidency, we're seeing Russia on the rise again. The same person that has been around during the rise of Russia and the Russian offense has been Joe Biden when he was vice President and now when he's President. And so I think that we've got to be very careful.
The messages that the Biden team is sending out to the world, it certainly looks like Putin has taken the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, put it in his pocket and he's off to the races to even collect more trophies. And we've got to be able to stand up to him. Certainly we can't rely on Europe alone. We're going to have to have an administration that pushes back and I don't see that happening.
And this is hopefully an alarm sounding. I want to say one good thing, which is Senator Ted Cruz is not giving up. He's a fighter. He is looking for ways to make sure that the pipeline is not opened up. It looks like it's over, but he's still not giving up. And thank God for Ted Cruz.
Yeah. I mean, this is again, because it puts future administrations, it hamstrings their ability to move forward. And also, I mean, can this be corrected? Because we're seeing it time and time again. We see both Russia and China seems like they both feel like this is the time to take their most aggressive action internationally. Well, one of the things that's the most galling to me is to hear for four years, the Democratic Party slammed the Trump administration for being too close to Putin and to have this Russian collusion hoax narrative. And now what we see is that the Trump administration was quite tough on Putin.
We certainly didn't give him a Nord Stream 2 pipeline. It's the Biden administration. It's the Democrats that have completely caved to Putin, even going so far as to say that the Hunter Biden laptop, which was found to be a cachet of information about the Biden team, the Biden family's ties to China, that whole thing was labeled Russian disinformation. They blamed all of the Hunter Biden laptop information on Russia.
That is not true. And the White House press corps needs to be able to hold the Biden team to account here. Russia is clearly the topic that they'd like to talk about, but certainly they don't take any action. A sound and steady China-U.S. relationship is required for advancing our two countries' respective development and for safeguarding a peaceful and stable international environment, including finding effective responses to global challenges, such as climate change, which you referenced, and the COVID pandemic. So right there, Rick, we hear the word consensus there from China.
There was not a lot of takeaway from this summit, a lot of action items. We acknowledge the genocide going on there, but then again, as President Xi said, this is his old friend, and he seems happy to be dealing with the Biden administration who's not really pushing back at all. Yeah, and China gets to spin things like they want to help on the global pandemic of COVID-19. I mean, the whole COVID-19, as our U.S. intelligence agencies told us, COVID-19 started in Wuhan, and then the cover-up from the Chinese happened, and the UN didn't do anything about it.
And then let's talk about climate change. I mean, the reality is that China is the real problem. They aren't doing anything. They go to the Paris Accord and make a couple of pronouncements, but are not held to account. The Biden team, meanwhile, is shutting down manufacturing in the United States, shutting down pipelines over climate change, and yet they're not understanding that if we're going to have a global agreement on climate change, then the first step is India and China are going to have to start doing something first. I just think that this rhetoric from China, which is all baloney, and yet it seems to be landing with the Biden administration, and they're accepting the rhetoric as reality, and the Chinese rhetoric is not reality. And somebody in Washington needs to shake the Biden team and say, wake up, you've been outsmarted by Russia and China, and this has got to stop. Rick's New Peace is up at ACLJ.org. It literally just went up minutes ago.
Joe Biden in Germany gave the green light to Putin's aggression. Check that out at ACLJ.org. Share it with your friends and family. Rick, as always, we appreciate you being on. Support our work at ACLJ.org as well. So when you go and look at Rick's New Peace, also think about this is a great time to support our work at ACLJ.
It can double the impact your donation. Matching Challenge Month in November as we get towards the end of the year, not only preparing for what's coming ahead, but the fights that are happening right now, whether it's a federal court in Alabama representing 78 members of Congress or what's happening around the world. We'll be right back.
Second half hour. Secular coming up. At the American Center for Law and Justice, we're engaged in critical issues at home and abroad. For a limited time, you can participate in the ACLJ's Matching Challenge. For every dollar you donate, it will be matched. A $10 gift becomes $20.
A $50 gift becomes 100. You can make a difference in the work we do, protecting the constitutional and religious freedoms that are most important to you and your family. Give a gift today online at ACLJ.org. Announcer Keeping you informed and engaged, now more than ever, this is Secular. And now your host, Jordan Secular. Jordan Secular Alright, welcome to the second hour of Secular.
We are going to take your calls to 1-800-684-3110. I want to go back to, again, this key victory from the ACLJ. So if you're just joining us or you joined us in the final segment of the first half hour, we were talking to Rick about this Russian aggression and Germany's kind of acquiescence to the Russian aggression because they're kind of looking the other way on what's happening in Ukraine right now with another 100,000 troop build up by Russia. Looks like a potential invasion into Ukraine. But then on top of that, you've got, of course, these situations like in China. So we're going to get into China more. But I want to let people know and continue to share with your friends and family, this is a big victory occurred today in federal court.
I know that there's other cases there in the news right now people are waiting verdicts on. But when you're talking about fighting back against the Biden administration, Democrat power grabs, Pelosi's power grabs, Schumer's power grabs, this is a key victory. So you might remember, I want to take you back to the beginning of the Biden administration. There was a stimulus put through the American Rescue Plan Act.
I think it was the fifth or sixth stimulus that we have seen through COVID. And this specifically, again, went to the states, COVID relief, people economically hurting, so you want to help them, right? But then in the law, they said, by the way, any states or localities that utilize these funds cannot lower revenue.
Now, what does that mean in just basic terms? You can't cut taxes, you can't provide a new tax credit. So if you wanted to institute a new school choice tax voucher, can't do it. If you need to do something at the local level, maybe because people were hurting economically, still are, and you want to look at cutting taxes, can't do it if you utilize these funds. And if you did do it and utilize the funds, the federal government was going to come back and get them back from you.
So punish you. And as they had explained, right up till 2024, the next Presidential election, we have won. ACLJ, we represented 78 members of Congress, both senators and members of the House of Representatives. States filed, we filed a brief representing the members of Congress. We have won in the district court and the trial court, has permanently enjoyed this provision from going into action.
When you look at the Biden administration overreach, when you look at their power grams, this was one of the first examples of how they were trying to hamstring the abilities for states and localities to do what's best for their citizens, while at the same time, trying to provide them the relief that the federal government, whether you voted for it or not, that the federal government was handing out to these states, putting it in a situation that was wrong when it comes to law. We have won in court. And Thea, this is, you use this example and it's a unique way that we're positioned to ACLJ, because of course we fight it out at every step of the way. So legislatively right now, we're fighting out like the IRS provision in the latest, you know, the Build Back Better stimulus reconciliation plan, which was done the same way this was done through reconciliation, as well that you have to go line by line, fight that. And then ultimately, if you can't win legislatively, ACLJ is of course set up to go right into court. Absolutely, especially for a provision like this that steps over the constitutional boundaries, Jordan. And look, I don't think there's any accident that the trends that we're seeing across the country are for citizens fleeing to states like Florida and Tennessee that don't have state income tax, that have more friendly tax policy. And it's a provision like this that is trying to stop that trend, Jordan. But you think about the breathtaking power grab that it is as well. I mean, you know, the rationale behind this provision was allegedly, well, we don't want you to use these federal dollars to offset by passing along state tax cuts, nevermind that that's an authority the federal government doesn't have.
But Jordan, how are they going to implement that? They were going to say that Secretary Yellen, Secretary of the Treasury, had the unilateral ability to determine what an offset was. It didn't have to be direct.
In fact, it specifically could have been indirect. So any choice that a state made on revenue measures could be determined by the Secretary of the Treasury to require a payback of funds and that could last all the way up till 2024. Jordan, we knew that was a violation of the Constitution. We made it in two federal courts on behalf of these 78 members of Congress and we've been victorious in each of those cases now. You've got to look for every time they want to spend this kind of money, they are trying to put strings attached to it to assert more federal control. And if they could do that, set a precedent which here they were not, we stopped it.
But that's what they're looking to do each time. Say, well, we'll give you the handout, but this is what you got to do for us or you can't do for us. We'll be right back on Secular.
Share it with your friends and family. Support our work, ACLJ.org. At the American Center for Law and Justice, we're engaged in critical issues at home and abroad. Whether it's defending religious freedom, protecting those who are persecuted for their faith, uncovering corruption in the Washington bureaucracy, and fighting to protect life in the courts and in Congress, the ACLJ would not be able to do any of this without your support.
For that, we are grateful. Now there's an opportunity for you to help in a unique way. For a limited time, you can participate in the ACLJ's matching challenge. For every dollar you donate, it will be matched. A $10 gift becomes $20.
A $50 gift becomes $100. This is a critical time for the ACLJ. The work we do simply would not occur without your generous support.
Take part in our matching challenge today. You can make a difference in the work we do, protecting the constitutional and religious freedoms that are most important to you and your family. Give a gift today online at ACLJ.org. Only when a society can agree that the most vulnerable and voiceless deserve to be protected is there any hope for that culture to survive and that's exactly what you are saying when you stand with the American Center for Law and Justice to defend the right to life. We've created a free powerful publication offering a panoramic view of the ACLJ's battle for the unborn. It's called Mission Life. It will show you how you are personally impacting the pro-life battle through your support and the publication includes a look at all major ACLJ pro-life cases, how we're fighting for the rights of pro-life activists, the ramifications of Roe v. Wade 40 years later, play on parenthood's role in the abortion industry and what Obamacare means to the pro-life movement. Discover the many ways your membership with the ACLJ is empowering the right to life.
Request your free copy of Mission Life today online at ACLJ.org slash gift. Welcome back to the second. I want to shift gears a little bit here to talk China because last night as we you know we talked about yesterday this was happening. President Biden and President Xi of China had their first meeting.
It was virtual but it was kind of set up like they were across the table from each other. President Xi has not left the country in a very long time so again whether I guess they're usually excused of COVID. It's kind of you know interesting and I don't want to say funny because not there's nothing funny about COVID but that the country responsible for it in some shape or form it originated there and whether through gross negligence that would be criminal in most cases or intentionally lab created and then escaping from a lab but of course they've shut down any investigation into that and we haven't seen a lot from the intel community on briefing the Biden administration. Nothing has become public yet that they've been able to do anything else because there is no cooperation with China. We also know China is engaged in a genocide against Muslims.
A Muslim minority in China in Western China and that is also was acknowledged by the Trump administration under Secretary Pompeo but also under Secretary Blinken and the Biden administration. They didn't come in and reverse that position so you think about the systematic elimination of a group of people that's ongoing. The forced labor is ongoing but yet we had this summit and West they had their meeting and there was literally the report from the Biden team was expect nothing and that's what happened. There was nothing came from it.
There wasn't a single deliverable or an action item that you could actually kind of pin down other than we hope to work together. Yeah sometimes politicians say you know they're going to lower the bar lower expectations. They didn't just lower the bar they moved the bar.
There is no bar. There were no expectations. This meeting by all indications was pretty weak and inconsequential. The White House had indicated that President Biden was not going to using their words hold back that he was going to be candid and firm with President Xi and it seems the opposite happened. President Biden did not really force the issue on the origination of the COVID-19 pandemic or China's refusal to let scientists really investigate the pandemic in China. That didn't happen but on the other hand President Xi made it very clear concerning Taiwan using again their words that if we interfere with that that the U.S. will be playing with fire and that we will get burned. Meanwhile as you mentioned China continues its abuse of human rights as genocide of the Muslim Uyghurs. They continue to dominate world commerce by using slave labor to produce their products.
The intellectual theft and cyber crimes go unchecked. It continues to invade Taiwan airspace and the waters around Taiwan is continuing its militarization of the South China Sea and claiming land in the Pacific in violation of international law. The list goes on and on and yet the Biden administration is not willing to take a stand and to confront what is an adversary of the United States and I think anytime that U.S. leadership is perceived as vacillating and weak our adversaries pick up on that and they take advantage of America and I think that's what's happening.
Harry we see this all over the world and we just were talking to Rick Grenell he was the ambassador to Germany he was the acting director of national intelligence. I mean he's he knows the difference between how an administration just perceived by these these different leaders and what we're seeing whether it's Putin or President Xi and in this case because the the summit last night focusing there on China. The fact that the the strongest warning came from the Chinese leader it was the Chinese leader who said don't think don't don't think about you know getting more involved with Taiwan basically ignore that. China is about to be again rewarded at the world stage hosting a winter Olympics allows them to put on their entire propaganda that they that they are experts in delivering.
So when you look at this from the U.S. perspective it's like we just got told you better be one watch your back if you try to push too much with Taiwan and then and then two everything else was just general terms I mean it was it was yeah we need to work together on some things like climate change but we all know that uh you know if you're the most serious climate change activist uh the worst offender is China and the countries like China from big economies that we treat like developing nations so they don't have to meet the same standards that we do. I think you're precisely correct Biden has no will he has no principles except his willingness to allow foreign governments to essentially walk over the United States. This summit at least in my view achieved virtually nothing except to substantiate the Biden administration's weakness which we all witnessed in Afghanistan. Biden in my judgment accomplished nothing in this particular summit he did not force the Chinese government to allow a fair and impartial investigation of COVID's origins. Biden did nothing to stop the eradication the systematic eradication of human beings in terms of the Uyghurs and he did nothing to fully establish Hong Kong's autonomy.
So I think at the end of the day what we experienced was nothing less than a talk festival which accomplished nothing. Than in what is it since I mean I again congress there's only they have a role to play in foreign policy because they have the power of the purse but once they they they give the power of the purse over the the executive branch it's the President has a lot of a leeway when it comes to conducting foreign policy that's for republicans and democrats and now you know the Biden administration but these kind of moves I've seen the members of congress a lot of our friends that are they're going out there trying to warn people whether it's the Russian aggression and the pipeline at Senator Cruz like Rick was talking about or it's it's actions like China and just say we are not taking this seriously we have a space is extremely dangerous right now because of of Russian weapons testing that was absolutely reckless. Yeah Jordan I think there's widespread recognition on the hill and even support for the idea that for America to have the strongest foreign policy possible you do need to have a singular voice advocating for it so I don't think there's any any dismissal of that but at the same time Jordan I think there's genuine concern growing among the legislative branch and you're you're seeing it start to get more vocal that this administration is not doing that effectively it's not that congress is trying to take the authority away they're trying to convince that the chief diplomat the President of the United States to take this responsibility seriously and Jordan I think I think ironic is probably the kindest word that members of congress would use when talking about the fact that this cozying up to China is happening in the wake of this pandemic look at a bare minimum China needs to acknowledge that they did not spread stop the spread of that virus when they shut down domestic flights but did not shut down international flights there were a number of other measures they did not take Jordan but the fact that this administration is not starting with that in these conversations is causing great angst on the hill and the the other issue you know Harry mentioned the Uyghur genocide look I know secretary Blinken has been in the right place on this but there was a dragging of feet on the left in Washington DC to call this genocide and to take it seriously look genocide is the extermination of a people group there is widespread acknowledgement that what is happening with the Uyghurs is a forced sterilization Jordan that might not be an immediate extermination of a people group but it is absolutely the extermination of a people group and the foot dragging that happened on the left in Washington DC just should not be tolerated and yet that's exactly what happened so when you put those two together I think you see a legislative branch that realizes that their role is limited but wants a whole lot more from the chief executive out of it so this is this is where I think this stands folks we we have got to continue to raise our voices we've got we've got the team like secretary Pompeo like Rick Renell to continue to get you as updated as possible with information you're not going to get anywhere else and of course we're working on the there's work behind the scenes there's work publicly but we we can't just let this go because this will get to a point where even if there is a change in the administration or change in congress sooner that that you let Russia go this much further you let China go this much further west you're very you're very concerned that post olympics we're going to see real military action in Taiwan oh yeah they are actually you know violating Taiwanese airspace in order to test their defenses because every time they violate it the Taiwan government has to send up aircraft and activate additional radar weapon systems to counter them they are getting intel from Taiwan they're testing their defenses the only reason that they have not blockaded Taiwan and or attacked them yet is because they know if they do that that the world will will raise up rise up and try to boycott the olympics which is in February my prediction is after the olympics end China is going to take very aggressive action to forcefully reunite Taiwan with the mainland and that will be a real crisis in the world and it should be here's President Xi again through a translator in that summit last night take a listen by 24. China and the United States should respect each other coexist in peace and pursue win-win cooperation I stand ready to work with you mr President to build consensus take active steps and move China-US relations forward in a positive direction doing so would advance the interests of our two peoples and meet the expectation of the international community it would advance the interest of China if we just sit back and say let the Chinese do whatever they want let this let the you know let them continue on with their their genocides let them continue over their forced labor and let's keep feeding this dragon if you will with with our economic and we'll keep relying even with the the the problems in our supply chain a lot so much of that because we're reliant so heavily on good only when a society can agree that the most vulnerable and voiceless deserve to be protected is there any hope for that culture to survive and that's exactly what you are saying when you stand with the American Center for Law and Justice to defend the right to life we've created a free powerful publication offering a panoramic view of the ACLJ's battle for the unborn it's called Mission Life it will show you how you are personally impacting the pro-life battle through your support and the publication includes a look at all major ACLJ pro-life cases how we're fighting for the rights of pro-life activists the ramifications of Roe v Wade 40 years later play on parenthood's role in the abortion industry and what Obamacare means to the pro-life movement discover the many ways your membership with the ACLJ is empowering the right to life request your free copy of Mission Life today online at ACLJ.org slash gift at the American Center for Law and Justice we're engaged in critical issues at home and abroad whether it's defending religious freedom protecting those who are persecuted for their faith uncovering corruption in the Washington bureaucracy and fighting to protect life in the courts and in congress the ACLJ would not be able to do any of this without your support for that we are grateful now there's an opportunity for you to help in a unique way for a limited time you can participate in the ACLJ's matching challenge for every dollar you donate it will be matched a ten dollar gift becomes twenty dollars a fifty dollar gift becomes one hundred this is a critical time for the ACLJ the work we do simply would not occur without your generous support take part in our matching challenge today you can make a difference in the work we do protecting the constitutional and religious freedoms that are most important to you and your family give a gift today online at ACLJ.org let me remind you right off the bat too because I know different people you're joined at different times if you're sharing it on social media you might be watching the broadcast at different times there's a big ACLJ big victory today we represent 78 members of congress it was out of the U.S. district court in Alabama it was against the Biden administration specifically as we represent members of the house and the senate and this was part of the first stimulus put through through the Biden administration via reconciliation so it was the first first plan this was the American Rescue Plan Act and part of when you go through that reconciliation process is you know the slipping line items in and one of the items in was that if you utilize as a state or locality any of the COVID relief funds from that stimulus which was billions of dollars potentially for your state and local governments to provide relief to people who are hurting economically you can't do anything to decrease your state or local revenue now what does that mean no tax cuts no new tax credits no you can't you can't get creative about school choice so we represent Senator Tim Scott this was this is a key victory because we see time and time again this was kind of the beginning of it actually from the left from the Biden administration trying to utilize this crisis to increase the ability of the federal government to control and decrease state power it was a real pivot in how we were handling the COVID pandemic Jordan I mean up to that point most of the debate was whether or not to pass stimulus dollars and what what level was appropriate and look that debate was vigorous Jordan but it was a debate across party lines this was when the debate pivoted away from just providing stimulus to the states and into what sort of social policies are we going to try to jam into it and pass with it Jordan clearly this is not providing a stimulus to states that are suffering from COVID pandemic clearly this is about trying to coerce states into adopting a certain tax policy and look we've we've been very straightforward on this broadcast Congress does have the constitutional authority to condition how the use of funds that it authorizes and that it appropriates how a state can use that but what they can't do Jordan is coerce a state to adopt their preferred policies or to sort of usurp that tax power that's what they did in this case that's why we went to court in both of these cases it's why we recruited members of Congress to join us and Jordan if I could I just wanted to mention our four leads very quickly again because they did a lot of work on this case on the Senate side you had the chairman or the I'm sorry the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee Jim Risch and you had Senator Tim Scott who I'm sorry Mike Crapo the the ranking member also Tim Scott from South Carolina and then in the house Jordan Kevin Brady who's the ranking member of the Ways and Means Committee and then Jim Banks who heads up the Republican Study Committee those four came together helped us build this coalition of members to push back against this infringement and here's one of the things that I think was the was the best about the message that that put out it was a collection of members from across the country Jordan that stood up for the rights of their states these are federal officials saying no the federal government does not have this power that power belongs back in our states and today Jordan those 78 members are victorious and to me these are these are key victories if you talk about federalism you talk about uh the where does the power stop which is a question I think people are asking themselves over and over through the pandemic especially it's kind of brought that to to a boiling point and and this is one of those examples where if you fight back you can win in court and the power can be stopped but you've got to fight I mean you have to fight because we engage with these members of Congress both the House and the Senate we're able then to when necessary if it's necessary to go to court of course that's what we do with the ACLJ ultimately we have to these members of Congress they trust us to represent them in federal court and here was an example it was an early example of an early move by the Biden administration to try and control how states respond to this pandemic but also how they respond to uh receiving relief funds I think that's precisely correct so the progressive playbook seeks to federalize virtually every issue from the pandemic to trade uh to interstate commerce beyond the parameters allowable by the United States Constitution so I think it's very very important for listeners to remember that the ACLJ is prepared to fight back so if you look at this particular case involving uh this contested tax provision the court in that case held that the tax mandate in the American rescue plan exceeds Congress's power under the spending clause under the United States Constitution article 1 section 8 clause 1 in other words the tax mandate at issue sought to grant Congress the power to constrain to sorry to constrain states tax power this constitutes an unconstitutional assault on state sovereignty and I would be willing to submit if you look for instance at the reconciliation bill and if you look at every page of the 2500 page um bill you will find an attempt to attack not only state sovereignty but individual rights and I think the American people need to be energized to oppose each and every provision in that particular bill uh and to try to make sure that it is never passed yeah I mean this is it's an example again why you have to be vigilant the sneaky nature of the left when it comes to these power grabs some are very you know some are very apparent we're going to mandate we're going to force this we're going to do this some are these these items that are slipped in the last minute through a reconciliation process so you get around the normal legislative process and you say okay well if you take you this money you can't lower taxes you can't can't provide tax incentives for anything even while people are hurting there's a whole point of right if you believe that you need the stimulus then the people are hurting and maybe a way to to decrease some of that pressure on people was to provide some tax incentives or some new tax credits and provide them some opportunities and we were represent a lot of families over a thousand who were facing significant difficulties just for the education process they were told okay school's going virtual well what if you didn't have access to high speed internet or you'd have the right tablet or your student had special needs uh and they were just kind of left to fend for themselves we stepped in I mean we stepped in and assisted them individually how they needed to how they needed to be helped so we are there we are there and you know I appreciate Joan on Facebook she wrote a thank you Jay Jordan the entire ACLJ team for all of your hard work and bringing truth to people but let me turn that around and say thank all of you because the reason why we're able to do this work the reason why we've gotten to a point in Washington DC and where the members of congress on issues like a federal power grab and a tax issue will come to the ACLJ to write the brief representing them it is because of your support for the ACLJ because we've been able to put together a team uh teams of experts in in various areas of law uh to expertise public policy uh on the government of Sayers side the work you have to do behind the scenes there in Washington DC what we bring you every day on this broadcast it all works together when Rick joins us today the new piece is up at ACLJ.org so you can take his type of the broadcast but you can really get into the issue of how how Europe has acquiesced to this Russian aggression and European powers that we should also be you know pushing and pressuring more from our standpoint but you know I appreciate Joan's comment but I want to thank all of you we can't do any of this without your support uh you know we exist because of your financial support for the ACLJ we're in a matching challenge right now whatever you donate to the ACLJ it's doubled because we have donors that will match all the donations that come in through the month of November donate today at ACLJ.org if you support this work let's continue at ACLJ.org and thank you for your support at the American Center for Law and Justice we're engaged in critical issues at home and abroad for a limited time you can participate in the ACLJ's matching challenge for every dollar you donate it will be matched a ten dollar gift becomes twenty dollars a fifty dollar gift becomes one hundred you can make a difference in the work we do protecting the constitutional and religious freedoms that are most important to you and your family give a gift today online at ACLJ.org
Whisper: medium.en / 2023-07-22 08:18:21 / 2023-07-22 08:40:21 / 22
