NEWS AND OPINION:
Numbers speak the loudest as the Republican Party approaches its first 100 days as the House majority in the 118th Congress.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Louisiana Republican, noted that 59 bills have been passed in his chamber so far — compared to 37 bills passed by the House in the comparable period during the Democratic-controlled 117th Congress.
“House Republicans were elected to the majority in the 118th Congress with the commitment to pass common-sense policies that preserve freedom, strengthen our economy, protect communities, and hold the government accountable. We are fulfilling those promises to the American people,” Mr. Scalise said in an emphatic statement.
“In our first 100 days, the Republican House majority has passed more bills, sent more rule bills to the desk of President Biden, and had more rule bills signed into law than the 117th Congress in its first 100 days. We’ve done so despite having a Democrat Senate and White House, while last Congress, Democrats had one-party control,” the Louisiana lawmaker said.
“Even with Democrat control in the Senate and White House, we are fighting and winning for American families. Through common-sense legislation, we repeatedly put Democrats in the tough position of having to choose between supporting American families or pushing their woke agendas — forcing President Biden to cave and ultimately getting legislation signed into law that Democrats said would never get past the president’s desk,” Mr. Scalise said.
“In March, we broke the record for the most hearings in a single day with an amazing 42 hearings. House Republicans are just getting started. We’re not going to slow down. We’re not going to stop working. We will continue to bring legislation to the floor that follows through on our Commitment to America and combats Democrats’ radical policies,” Mr. Scalise said.
THE CHEESEBALL FACTOR
Let’s venture back to the days of yore and recall that a jumbo hunk of cheese was once presented with much ado to President Thomas Jefferson by a group of admirers from Massachusetts. The year was 1802.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals — that’s PETA for short — is wondering whether that particular gesture should be repeated.
The animal-rights group points out that Monday marks National Cheeseball Day — which celebrates all those orange puffballs which turn up in lunchboxes and during the cocktail hour. National Cheeseball Day indeed exists, cited by multiple websites that recognize national holidays.
“Times have changed since the early 1800s, when President Jefferson was presented with a 1,235-pound ball of cheese, inspiring National Cheeseball Day. This April 17, we hope you, as the world’s ‘Big Cheese,’ will accept a huge wagonload of delicious little vegan cheeseballs from PETA for you to enjoy and distribute,” PETA president Ingrid Newkirk said in a letter to President Biden.
It’s complicated.
“In Thomas Jefferson’s time, there was no factory farming and cheese consumption was a fraction of what it is today. Modern dairy farming is cruel to cows, harms people’s health, and contributes to greenhouse gases that endanger the planet. PETA urges President Biden to set an example for all Americans by switching to tasty vegan cheeses like cashew, almond, and soy varieties,” said Ms. Newkirk, who also noted that the organization was donating vegan cheese to elementary schools in the nation’s capital.
ON THE MOVE
Millions of people have “voted for Donald Trump since 2020 — with their feet,” advises an Issues & Answers editorial.
“Over the past two years, vast numbers of Americans picked up and moved. In a mobile society like ours, that’s not news. What is news is where they are moving from, and where they are going to. Turns out, there’s a mass exodus underway, with people leaving Biden strongholds and heading to MAGA country,” the editorial said.
“New Census data show that, from 2021 to 2022, more than 2 million people moved out of urban areas that are largely controlled by Democrats and relocated to exurbs and more rural areas that largely voted for Donald Trump,” the editorial continued.
“Los Angeles County, for example, had a net ex-migration of more than 363,000 over the past two years. Cook County, Illinois, lost 200,000. In New York, New York County lost 109,000, Queens County, 158,000, and Kings County, 187,000. Philadelphia County sank by 52,000,” it said.
“They are moving out of blue states entirely. New York and California alone had net losses that totaled more than 1.5 million over the past two years. Add on deep-blue Illinois, Massachusetts, and New Jersey and the population loss tops 2 million,” the editorial noted — citing high taxes, “onerous regulations” and “rampant crime” among the causes.
What’s to be done?
“Those of us who believe in liberty, a civil society, equal justice, who want limited government and free markets, who believe in personal responsibility, who want criminals behind bars and people free to live their faith, those who want parents to be in control of their children’s education, we need to stop cowering to the left,” the editorial said.
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POLL DU JOUR
• 31% of U.S. adults “strongly agree” that the Supreme Court “gets too mixed up in politics”; 17% of conservatives, 33% of moderates and 47% of liberals agree.
• 31% “somewhat agree” with the idea; 34% of conservatives, 33% of moderates and 31% of liberals agree.
• 13% “somewhat disagree” with the idea; 23% of conservatives, 13% of moderates and 8% of liberals agree.
• 10% “strongly disagree” with the idea; 12% of conservatives, 10% of moderates and 8% of liberals agree.
• 15% are not sure; 14% of conservatives, 11% of moderates and 7% of liberals agree.
SOURCE: An Economist/YouGov poll of 1,500 U.S. adults conducted April 8-11.
• Contact Jennifer Harper at jharper@washingtontimes.com
