Scores of the Week: May 9th, 2023
Great articles and some cutting tweets from this past week.
Here’s what I’m reading this week. And if you like it and feel like others might enjoy, please share.
First, here is the latest from The Scorecard, an excellent media criticism piece by my friend and contributor Justin Hayes on how the largest newspaper in the state of Tennessee failed to provide proper vetting to the largest taxpayer subsidy to an NFL team ever. In the piece, Justin argues that The Tennessean served not as an independent watchdog of the deal but as its biggest cheerleader.
Now, here is the next installment of Scores of the Week…
What I Saw at the Southern Border
In a riveting piece for The Bulwark, senior fellow at the National Immigration Forum and former Reagan Administration director of public liaison Linda Chavez shows the human side of the border crisis not often portrayed in many conservative circles. Chavez writes about how not all those who come across the US-Mexico border are Latin American:
Despite the common perception that most people who come across our southern border are from Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America, virtually all the single men present at Casa Alitas the day I visited were from South Asia or Africa, about 85 percent from India and others from Mauritania and elsewhere. Some of these men have trekked the long, dangerous walk to the border from as far away as the Darien Gap, having flown into various locations in Latin America.
Chavez notes that the changing demographics at this border facility are due to Biden Administration measures to open up more pathways for Latin American asylum seekers without them having to cross the US-Mexico border. But she says that these policy changes don’t really help most of the folks at this facility:
The changing demography at Casa Alitas is largely the result of changes in policy by the Biden administration, which created pathways for asylum seekers from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, for example, to apply without crossing the southern border. Under the Biden plan, some 360,000 migrants from those four countries will be given temporary status through private sponsorship by the end of 2023—a number that the New York Times recently noted is greater than the total number of immigrant visas issued to individuals from those four countries over the last 15 years. Other changes have encouraged asylum seekers from Central America and elsewhere to apply before reaching the border through an online application, though the program has been plagued by delays and glitches. On April 27, the Biden administration announced a new family reunification parole process for El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, and Columbia, in addition to setting up new regional processing centers in Columbia and Guatemala. What’s more, the United States has admitted more than 300,000 Ukrainians through various programs and some 76,000 Afghans—although none of these groups is being given permanent legal status yet. A bill to give permanent status to Afghans has so far failed to pass Congress, which is problematic given many of those who fled Afghanistan in August 2021 will lose their temporary protections soon.
All these measures provide new avenues to admit more people into the United States legally, even if only for a temporary period. But they won’t be much help to the men at Casa Alitas. Though most of them will be applying for asylum status, their chances of being granted that status is slim. They will enter a system already clogged with nearly 1.6 million pending applications, which can take years to adjudicate. Some—perhaps most—will try to find work even without authorization, living in immigrant enclaves across the country.
Read the whole piece here.
GOP moderates privately panic over debt ceiling deal
In Axios, Juliegrace Brufke writes about tension within the GOP House caucus over efforts to stave off a debt ceiling crisis:
Some House Republicans are fretting about whether they'd be able to pass a watered-down version of their debt ceiling bill once the terms are negotiated with Senate Democrats and the White House, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: House moderates say House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and GOP leadership aren't doing enough to tamp down expectations with the right-wing Freedom Caucus — harming the chances for any compromise bill.
State of play: Several GOP lawmakers believe clawbacks to unspent COVID funding is the most realistic spending cut to remain in a Senate bill, with one GOP member referring to the House-passed debt ceiling bill as “a fairy tale” and “not real.”
But "there are people who actually think ... they're gonna get (the current House bill) and even more a year from now," a House Republican told Axios.
A Freedom Caucus member disputed that characterization, saying the "understanding is there ... that you might not get 100% of what the House passed, but we put Kevin in a very good negotiating position."
Brufke points out that several GOP lawmakers believe the current process has hamstrung other legislative pushes:
Three House Republicans told Axios there were major grievances from a portion of the conference over McCarthy’s decision to appoint Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.) to play a leading role in rounding up votes — saying that deals made by McCarthy and Graves were not run by other key players.
Multiple members said they were irritated by promises made to Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) about movement on bills related to gun control, reproductive health and cannabis laws.
They also felt blindsided by changes on ethanol subsidies and work requirements for food stamps and Medicaid, despite repeatedly being told the bill wouldn't be changed.
Read the whole piece here. And keep tabs on the meeting between President Biden and Congressional leadership on trying to craft a path to avoiding a default on our debt happening at time of publication.
Emails Reveal ‘Jaw-Dropping’ Herschel Walker Money Scandal
In a stunning piece for The Daily Beast, political reporter Roger Sollenberger reveals a fundraising scandal unlike any we’ve ever seen and one that could land former 2022 GOP Senate candidate and Heisman trophy winner Herschel Walker in significant legal trouble. Sollenberger writes:
When Herschel Walker emailed a representative for billionaire industrialist and longtime family friend Dennis Washington in March 2022, he seemed to be engaging in normal behavior for a political candidate: He was asking for money.
But unbeknownst to Washington and the billionaire’s staff, Walker’s request was far more out of the ordinary. It was something campaign finance experts are calling “unprecedented,” “stunning,” and “jaw-dropping.” Walker wasn’t just asking for donations to his campaign; he was soliciting hundreds of thousands of dollars for his own personal company—a company that he never disclosed on his financial statements.
Emails obtained by The Daily Beast—and verified as authentic by a person with knowledge of the exchanges—show that Walker asked Washington to wire $535,200 directly to that undisclosed company, HR Talent, LLC.
And the emails reveal that not only did Washington complete Walker’s wire requests, he was under the impression that these were, in fact, political contributions.
Sollenberger notes that Walker’s actions could mean more than just violations of campaign finance laws but also more serious wire fraud charges against him:
In the best possible circumstances, legal experts told The Daily Beast, the emails suggest violations of federal fundraising rules; in the worst case, they could be an indication of more serious crimes, such as wire fraud.
Sollenberger lays out the problem from a campaign finance law perspective:
Federal law prohibits candidates from converting campaign donations to personal use. The law also limits how much money individuals can contribute to a campaign, as well as how much candidates can solicit from donors. Candidates also cannot solicit, accept, or facilitate contributions in the name of another person.
According to legal experts, campaign finance violations become criminal if the violation was “knowing and willful”—essentially, if the person understands the laws.
At the time of the first email, Walker had already been a candidate for half a year, raising millions of dollars along the way. And he was repeatedly coached on fundraising limits and restrictions since the beginning of his campaign, according to a person involved in those conversations—a fact that is demonstrated in the emails when Walker provides a breakdown of federal donation limits.
Read the whole piece here.
Some Great Tweets…
On the latest corruption done by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas (original story here from WaPo)…
An excellent response to a ludicrous tweet from Megyn Kelly on gun control measures after the shooting in Allen, TX Saturday…
A great response to a pundit who often engages in “both-sides-ism” bemoaning that there will be no 2024 Democratic presidential primary debate (original tweet from said pundit here:)
A hilarious and in my opinion very pro-American patriotic response to the Coronation of King Charles III…
And finally, a spot-on tweet on the news that closed out the week (the verdict in the E. Jean Carroll rape case against Donald Trump)…
Have a great rest of your week, friends!