Curious about today’s topics on The Larry O’Connor Show? Below are a few stories on the radar. Be sure to listen to The Larry O’Connor Show Monday – Friday 3pm – 6pm on WMAL.
AG nominee William Barr promises to look into FBI bias (The Washington Times)
Attorney General nominee William Barr promised Tuesday that, if confirmed, he will look into allegations that political bias influenced FBI investigations related to the 2016 election.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican and chairman of the Judiciary Committee, asked if Mr. Barr would “promise” to look into such claims, including anti-Trump texts between two former top FBI officials, Peter Strzok and Lisa Page.
‘Gang of 20’ emerges in Senate to push for a border wall deal (Washington Examiner)
Senate lawmakers have formed a new bipartisan “gang” to try to resolve the impasse over border wall funding that has caused the longest government shutdown in history.
The group includes 20 Senate lawmakers — 10 Republicans and 10 Democrats — according to Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. Cornyn is not in the gang but is a member of the GOP leadership team and has been briefed on the discussions so far.
“My hypothesis is when federal employees start missing their paychecks, that changes the picture,” Cornyn said. “A lot more Senate Democrats are under pressure. If people start breaking off, maybe there is a chance to end the impasse.” [Read More]
$15 Hourly Minimum Wage Passes Committee in Virginia (NBC Washington)
After dozens of women rallied at the Capitol on Monday, a legislative committee passed one of their key priorities — a bill to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour in Virginia.
SB 1200 would take effect July 1, initially raising the minimum wage to $10 an hour, then to $13 an hour in 2020 and $15 an hour in 2021. The bill, which passed the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee on a 6-4 vote, will advance to the full Senate for a vote.
Currently, the minimum wage in Virginia is the federal minimum — $7.25 an hour. Raising the minimum wage was one of a number of legislative items — including access to reproductive health and paid family and medical leave — supported by the women’s advocacy groups at the rally. [Read More]
The New, New Anti-Semitism (National Review)
The old anti-Semitism was mostly, but not exclusively, a tribal prejudice expressed in America up until the mid 20th century most intensely on the right. It manifested itself from the silk-stocking country club and corporation (“gentlemen’s agreement”) to the rawer regions of the Ku Klux Klan’s lunatic fringe.
While liberals from Joe Kennedy to Gore Vidal were often openly anti-Semitic, the core of traditional anti-Semitism, as William F. Buckley once worried, was more rightist. And such fumes still arise among the alt-right extremists. [Read More]
Judge rejects citizenship question for 2020 U.S. census (Reuters)
NEW YORK, Jan 15 (Reuters) – A federal judge on Tuesday rejected the Trump administration’s plan to add a U.S. citizenship question to the 2020 census, the first ruling in a handful of lawsuits nationwide that claim the question will hurt immigrants.
U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman in Manhattan said U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross concealed his true motives in adding the question last March, ostensibly to help the government enforce the federal Voting Rights Act. Only American citizens can legally vote in federal elections. [Read More]
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