“Conservatives who want to seal the border because liberal elites have taken over are directing their wrath at the wrong people. The problem isn’t the immigrants, it’s the elites and their multiculturalist predilections who want to turn America into a loose federation of ethnic groups. Conservatives are right to complain about bilingual education advocacy, anti-American Chicano studies professors, Spanish-language ballots, ethnically gerrymandered voting districts, La Raza’s big government agenda, and so forth. But these problems weren’t created by the women changing the linen at your hotel, or the men building homes in your neighborhood.” — Jason Riley
— Republicans argue that Democrats are treated better in the House than Republicans are in the Senate: House Republicans are arguing that they have a more open legislative process than Senate Democrats under Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV). “In the House, amendments sponsored by Democrats to spending measures have actually been approved by the entire chamber. They include measures to fund improvements in gun background check systems, prevent federal interference in state medical marijuana laws and restrict the NSA’s ability to search for Americans’ communications in its database,” The Hill notes. “The House has had roll call votes on more than 180 amendments offered by the Democratic minority since last July, compared to just 12 roll call votes on amendments from the Republican minority in the Senate during that period.” Reid argues that Republican are unwilling to work with him, but a lot of that has to do with the Majority Leader’s unwillingness to allow the minority to offer amendments, which could put his vulnerable members up for reelection in a tough spot. Still, House Republicans are hammering home their message. Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) tweeted out an infographic (below) late last night showing that the House has been more active on legislation, appropriations bills, and the number of amendments adopted from the floor.
— Voters in competitive races are pretty skeptical of intervention: Politico released a comprehensive poll this morning finding that likely voters in competitive House and Senate races don’t want to intervene in Ukraine or the Middle East despite escalating tensions. “Asked whether the U.S should do more to counter Russian aggression in Ukraine, just 17 percent answered in the affirmative. Thirty-one percent said the current policy is correct and 34 percent said the U.S. should be less involved,” Politico reports. “More than three-quarters of likely voters say they support plans to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2016. Only 23 percent oppose the plan.” A plurality, 44 percent, say they want less involvement in Iraq, which is facing a threat from ISIS, while just 19 percent say they want to increase our involvement. Twenty-three percent believe the current level of intervention is appropriate. “Likely voters prefer less involvement in Syria’s civil war over more involvement, 42 percent to 15 percent,” Politico notes. “Twenty-six percent of likely voters support the current, limited level of involvement.” There’s a lot of information in the poll, including views of the economy and Obamacare. Overall, Politico surveyed likely voters in 16 states with competitive Senate races and 66 House districts. The full poll results can be found here.
— Oh, and one more thing about that poll: Despite all the positive press she’s received lately, an endorsement from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) may not sway voters as much as pundits think. “Among Democratic voters, an endorsement from President Barack Obama and Bill and Hillary Clinton is most likely to sway voters, while Sen. Elizabeth Warren has sway over a relatively narrow slice of the electorate,” Politico explains. “Obama and the Clintons were essentially tied, with 7 in 10 Democratic respondents saying a nod from any of them would make them more inclined to back the endorsed hopeful. The figure dropped to 52 percent for Vice President Joe Biden and only 27 percent for Warren. (Sixteen percent said Warren’s support would make them less likely to support a candidate.)” On the Republican side, Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush, and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) make the most impactful endorsements. “Among Republican voters, 53 percent said Romney’s support would make them more likely to vote for a candidate. Behind him was Bush at 47 percent, and nearly tied was Paul, whom 46 percent of Republicans said would affect them positively,” the story continues. “In the case of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who advocated a government shutdown last year over changes to Obamacare, 30 percent of Republicans said he would have a positive influence on their decision, while 15 percent said he would be a negative.”
— U.S. Chamber opposes candidates who support free enterprise: Forget what the U.S. Chamber of Commerce says about its support for free enterprise. Actions speak louder than words. And the fact that it has decided to target Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) says a lot about what the Chamber truly is. “Amash is arguably the strongest defender of free enterprise in the House. His rating from the Club for Growth is 100 percent. He comes in second out of 435 House members on the National Taxpayers Union scorecard. This consistency earned him a primary from Grand Rapids businessman Brian Ellis,” Tim Carney writes at the Washington Examiner. “Let’s just all admit what’s going on here: The GOP Establishment and the business lobby aren’t about Team Play or Free Enterprise. They’re about the GOP Establishment and the business lobby.”
— The Republican wave that isn’t: While most observers acknowledge that Democrats face huge obstacles in the 2014 mid-term election, most of all the frustration with their guy in the White House, Republicans have failed to capitalize on voter dissatisfaction. “The anti-Democratic wave might still arrive. But with three and a half months to go until November’s elections, the promised Republican momentum has yet to materialize,” Nate Cohn writes at The Upshot. “The race for the Senate, at least right now, is stable. There aren’t many polls asking whether voters would prefer Democrats or Republicans to control Congress, but the Democrats appear to maintain a slight edge among registered voters. Democratic incumbents in red Republican states, who would be all but doomed in a Republican wave, appear doggedly competitive in places where Mitt Romney won by as much as 24 points in 2012.” Republicans, obviously, could still win the majority in the Senate, but they’re not exactly running the most inspiring candidates in several of the competitive races and they’re not offering a real agenda to voters. Running against President Obama simply isn’t enough.
— Rand Paul on the minimum wage and the value of work: Speaking to the audience at the Reboot conference this weekend in San Francisco, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) explained how his view on the minimum wage differs from President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. While the Obamas say they want their kids to work to show them that “getting a paycheck is not always fun, not always stimulating, not always fair,” Paul says it provides a way to show how hard work rewards. “[The minimum wage is] a chance to get started,” said Paul, according to Politico. “I see my son come home with his tips. And he’s got cash in his hand and he’s proud of himself. I don’t want him to stop there. But he’s working and he’s understanding the value of work. We shouldn’t disparage that.” Exactly. But the difference between Paul and the Obamas is philosophical. The Obamas see a job as an inconvenience and a chore. Paul, however, is glad that his son takes pride in his work and wants him to hone that to be successful in life, which is a selfish point of view. And that’s not a bad thing. We need more “proud producers” in society.
— Paul, Cardin team up to host voting rights briefing: Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Ben Cardin (D-MD) will give the opening remarks for a panel briefing on the restoration of voting rights to felons who’ve paid their debt to society. Both Paul and Cardin have introduced legislation, the Civil Rights Voting Restoration Act (Paul) and Democracy Restoration Act (Cardin), that would accomplish that goal to varying degrees. The panel will be moderated by Nicole Austin-Hillery, director and counsel of the Brannan Center for Justice’s Washington office; Deborah Vagins, senior legislative counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union; and Bernard Kerik, former New York City police commissioner. The panel will be held on Tuesday, July 22 at 2:30 in room 562 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
— Jeff Sessions uses Microsoft layoffs to slam Bill Gates on immigration: But the Alabama Republican gets it wrong. Sessions was responding to an op-ed written by three billionaires — Sheldon Adelson, Warren Buffett, and Bill Gates — who were calling on Congress to take a look at immigration reform. Sessions, one of the most vocal restrictionists in Congress, took aim at Gates and the 18,000 jobs that Microsoft will cut over the next year. “That is a significant thing. Indeed, Microsoft employs about 125,000 people, they’re laying off 18,000. And the company laid off 5,000 in 2009,” Sessions said from the Senate floor on Thursday. “Yet, their founder and former leader, Mr. Gates, says we’ve gotta have more and more people into our country to take those kind of jobs.” Sessions went onto blast proposals to expand H-1B visas — or STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) visas. United Liberty spoke to someone familiar with the layoffs and he noted that Sessions is off-base. Most of the layoffs are coming from Nokia, the Finland-based communications company that Microsoft acquired last year. These particular layoffs deal with shifts in cell phone and communications industries more than anything else.
— LeBron James’ big move has big tax implications: Yeah, we really don’t care about basketball. But we’re interested in what King James’ move from Miami, Florida to Cleveland, Ohio means for his personal bottom-line. Because, you know, tax policy. Michael Smith of Americans for Tax Return has crunched the numbers and found that, based on his two-year, $42.2 million contract, will mean $18.3 million in federal income taxes, $2.2 million in state income taxes, $844,000 in city taxes. That brings his two-year total tax liability to $21.4 million. “Over the life of the contract, LeBron will lose over half of his earnings to federal, state, and local taxes,” Smith notes. “At twenty-nine years-old, LeBron is entering the prime of his career in his quest to bring a championship to Cleveland. In the meantime, Uncle Sam is happy to collect on the King’s earnings.”
— Sarah Palin is still talking about impeachment: Stop trying to make impeachment happen. It’s not going to happen. “There’s only one remedy for a president who commits high crimes and misdemeanors, and it’s impeachment,” Palin said this weekend at the Western Conservative Summit. “It’s the I word. You don’t need some fancy law degree hanging on your wall there to know laws are not being enforced today. Illegal immigrants all over the world also know that.” We’ve already explained why Palin’s argument for impeachment doesn’t make much political sense.
— Russia bans 13 Americans from visiting the country: Sorry, Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA), you won’t be able to visit Russia after your retirement from Congress. “Russia has placed a U.S. lawmaker and 12 other people connected with the Guantanamo Bay detention camp and the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq on its list of those banned from entering the country,” Politico reports. “In a statement Saturday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said congressman Jim Moran, a Democrat from Virginia, was banned in response to the July 2 U.S. ban on Russian parliament member Adam Delimkhanov. He said Moran had been repeatedly accused of financial misdeeds but didn’t elaborate.” Moran told Politico that he believes he was banned because he sponsored an amendment prohibit purchase of helicopters from the Russian arms manufacturer Rosoboronexport. Others banned include General Ricardo Sanchez, who commanded U.S. ground forces in Iraq from 2003 to 2004 and unsuccessfully ran for U.S. Senate in 2012, and Col. Janis Karpinsky, who commanded Abu Ghraib prison.
— United Liberty on the Hill: United Liberty’s Matthew Hurtt (pictured left below) and Jason Pye (right) visited with Staff for Liberty, a group of liberty-minded congressional aides and interns, on Friday to talk about what we’re doing and what we’re planning to do in the future. We also hosted a “Liberty on the Hill” happy hour for them later in the evening. (Yeah, there was a lot of Liberty. Sorry, we’re not sorry.) It was inspiring to meet these guys. They’re dedicated and doing amazing work for liberty in Washington. Thanks for having us!
Other items we’re reading this morning:
Big brother is watching — your waistline (Politico)
An Interactive Timeline of the Export-Import Bank (The Daily Signal)
Kevin McCarthy, Steve Scalise: Parallel paths to leadership (Politico)
White House not worried about Ruth Bader Ginsburg retirement chatter (The Hill)
The GOP’s 2016 Hillary paradox (The Hill)
The CIA’s Twitter #fail (Washington Examiner)
Dark money fuels Democrats’ push against other dark money (Washington Examiner)
Senate Dem: Under Obama, The World Doesn’t Know What the United States Stands For (National Review)
A look inside “progressive comedy” at Netroots Nation 2014 (HotAir)
Feds Want to Conscript FedEx to Block Your Cheap Medicine (Reason)
Why Conservative Reformers, and the Rest of the Right, Should Adopt a Foreign Policy of Caution (Reason)
Foreign Policy Hawks Ignore Data (Cato at Liberty)
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