‘Parents are not domestic terrorists’

NEWS AND OPINION:

The National School Boards Association recently sent a six-page letter to President Biden asking for “federal law enforcement and other assistance” to protect school board members and other education officials in public settings.

“Acts of malice, violence, and threats against public school officials have increased, the classification of these heinous actions could be the equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes,” advised the letter, which can be found at NSBA.org.

“There must be safeguards to be in place to protect public schools and dedicated education leaders as they do their jobs,” the organization said.

The American Principles Project — a Virginia-based nonprofit group that works “to defend the American family in politics” — has pushed back on the idea.

“Parents are not domestic terrorists, period. They are perfectly justified in being upset over the awful state of public education in so many communities. Children are being taught that biology doesn’t matter and that they can ‘change’ their gender. They are being taught to judge each other by skin color and that the country they have inherited is irredeemably racist. And too often, the subjects they actually ought to be learning are being taught ineffectively, or sometimes not at all,” said Terry Schilling, president of the organization, in a statement shared with Inside the Beltway.

“In a sane world, under a sane president, the Department of Justice would be investigating public school officials for a complete dereliction of duty in adequately educating and forming the next generation of American citizens. Unfortunately, it is now clear the current administration is anything but sane. Parents should ignore this latest attempt at intimidation and continue to respectfully and vigorously engage in the political process on behalf of their children. There is no more important issue we could be involved in,” Mr. Schilling said.

DOING THE MATH

A new analysis by the Center for Immigration Studies finds that immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally will receive $8.2 billion annually in cash payments from the new Child Tax Credit, which is part of the stalled budget-reconciliation bill.

“The new program replaces the Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC), which paid cash to low-income workers with children. The new Child Tax Credit (CTC) resembles traditional cash welfare because it drops the old ACTC’s work requirement, while significantly increasing payments,” the analysis said.

“Like the old ACTC, any illegal immigrant with a U.S.-born child is eligible for cash payments from the new CTC. Our analysis shows that legal immigrants will receive $17.2 billion from the new CTC. While it is sometimes called a ‘refundable credit’ it is in fact a direct cash grant to those who do not pay any federal income tax,” the research noted.

Research director Steven Camarota said in a statement that “giving much larger cash payments may help to alleviate the high rates of poverty in immigrant families, but it also means that any immigrant allowed into the country, legal or illegal, to fill lower-wage jobs potentially has a larger negative impact on taxpayers. Moreover, the decision to give illegal immigrants access to the program is likely to encourage more illegal immigration.”

THE FAUCI PRESS

Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Biden, recently suggested that families should consider scaling back their Christmas and holiday gatherings this year — an idea that did not go over well with the public.

A few headlines from the last 48 hours:

“Fauci says it’s ’too soon to tell’ whether Americans should avoid gathering for Christmas” (CBS News); “Anthony Fauci clarifies Christmas gathering remarks, says he will be spending day with his family” (Fox News); “Fauci walks back comments about canceling Christmas after backlash” (Yahoo News); and “Fauci’s ‘maybe no Christmas’ warning confirms why he’s earned the public’s distrust” (New York Post).

MAGA TIMES TWO

Make room in the political arena for one more support entity for former President Donald Trump. That would be Make America Great Again, Again! — or MAGA, Again! for short — explanation points and all.

This is the only “Trump approved Super PAC” organizers say, replacing Make America Great Again Action.

Pam Bondi, former Florida attorney general, will be chairman of MAGA Again! and Kimberly Guilfoyle the national finance chairman.

“We are thrilled to continue to support America First candidates in the midterms and beyond,” Ms. Bondi said in a statement.

FOXIFIED

During the week of Sept. 27-Oct. 3, Fox News Channel remained the leading cable news outlet for the 33rd straight week, with an average prime-time audience of 2.3 million viewers. MSNBC garnered 1.2 million, while CNN only managed to attract 613,000.

Across the entire cable-news realm, Fox News aired 77 of the top 100 telecasts for the week. Mornings were particularly popular. “Fox & Friends” drew 1.3 million viewers, compared to CNN’s “New Day” (386,000 viewers), and MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” (774,000 viewers).

Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott, president and executive editor Jay Wallace, Fox Corporation COO John Nallen plus “Fox & Friends” co-host Steve Doocy and “Your World” host Neil Cavuto were among longtime employees who gathered Tuesday for Nasdaq’s opening bell ceremony to celebrate the network’s 25th anniversary — which is Thursday.

POLL DU JOUR

• 72% of U.S. adults favor accepting people who worked with the U.S. or Afghan government during the war in that nation; 74% of Republicans, 59% of independents and 76% of Democrats agree.

• 18% overall neither favor nor oppose accepting them; 14% of Republicans, 31% of independents and 15% of Democrats agree.

• 9% overall oppose the idea; 11% of Republicans, 9% of independents and 8% of Democrats agree.

• 42% of U.S. adults favor accepting people who fear living in Afghanistan under Taliban rule; 27% of Republicans, 37% of independents and 57% of Democrats agree.

• 31% overall neither favor nor oppose accepting them; 35% of Republicans, 41% of independents and 23% of Democrats agree.

• 26% oppose the idea; 38% of Republicans, 21% of independents and 20% of Democrats agree.

SOURCE: An AP-NORC poll of 1,099 U.S. adults conducted Sept. 23-27 and released Oct. 1.

• Follow Jennifer Harper on Twitter @HarperBulletin.