A new potato policy

NEWS AND OPINION:

It’s never too early to be prepared, perhaps. The nonprofit People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals — that’s PETA for short — has a timely message for the White House.

“Ahead of the annual White House Easter Egg Roll, PETA sent a letter to First Lady Jill Biden today asking the first lady to modernize the celebration by replacing eggs with dyed Easter potatoes,” the animal rights organization said in a statement shared with Inside the Beltway.

“PETA notes that an annual ’White House Potato Roll’ would please everyone who doesn’t eat these cholesterol bombs for health, cultural, religious, or environmental reasons or because they don’t want to support filthy factory farms, where hundreds of millions of hens are confined to cages smaller than a letter-size sheet of paper, unable to stretch even one wing. In starch contrast, potatoes are cheaper and healthier than eggs and leave birds in peace,” the organization said, potato pun and all.

“Children love animals and would be sad to learn that the eggs used for fun and games at the White House come from tormented hens whose lives are spent in cages that afford them less space than a standard sheet of typing paper,” said PETA President Ingrid Newkirk in a statement.

“Easter should be a time of renewal and joy for all sentient beings — and that means hens, too,” she said.

The Easter Egg Roll is April 1.

THE TEXAS WAY

Let’s recall that in 2021, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott launched Operation Lone Star to push back against illegal immigration in his state. The effort has deployed the Texas National Guard and Texas Department of Public Safety to the southern border with an around-the-clock effort to secure the border; stop the smuggling of drugs, weapons and people into Texas; and prevent, detect and interdict transnational criminal activity between ports of entry.

How’s the effort going? The governor’s office has released the numbers.

“Since the launch of Operation Lone Star, the multi-agency effort has led to over 503,800 illegal immigrant apprehensions and more than 40,400 criminal arrests, with more than 36,100 felony charges. In the fight against the fentanyl crisis, Texas law enforcement has seized over 469 million lethal doses of fentanyl during this border mission,” the office said in a statement released Friday.

“Operation Lone Star continues to fill the dangerous gaps created by the Biden Administration’s refusal to secure the border. Every individual who is apprehended or arrested and every ounce of drugs seized would have otherwise made their way into communities across Texas and the nation due to President Joe Biden’s open border policies,” the statement said.

THE BUDGET PRESS

President Biden has delivered his proposed 2025 budget to Congress and at $7.3 trillion, it is a whopper, has 11 zeroes and looks like this: $7,300,000,000,000.

“It’s more of a wishlist than a plan of action,” NPR said in an analysis.

The implications behind the new budget are subject to interpretation, of course. Here are a few headlines from the last 24 hours:

“Biden’s proposed budget includes $4.7 billion emergency fund for border migrant surges” (NBC News); “Biden budget seeks more aid for families, higher taxes on wealthy households, corporations” (The Wall Street Journal); “Biden budget plans lays out his vision for a second term” (The Associated Press); “Biden’s annual budget hits populist economic themes as general election campaign kicks off” (CNN); “Biden’s budget underscores divide with Republicans and Trump” (The New York Times); “Biden’s 2025 budget calls for taxing the rich and corporations” (CNBC); “The battling budget blueprints of 2025 are here” (Forbes); “House GOP leaders tear up Biden’s new $7.3T budget proposal: ’Reckless spending’” (Fox News).

NEVER A DULL MOMENT

The president made a nimble visit to New Hampshire on Monday, flying into Manchester aboard Air Force One and emphasizing his aforementioned $7.3 billion budget proposal in a speech at a YMCA.

“This is the kickoff to the general election campaign. We had Super Tuesday. That left Trump as the last Republican standing. We had the president’s State of the Union address, where he laid out themes that I think we’re going to see echoed during his campaign for re-election this year,” St. Anselm College professor of politics Chris Galdieri told WMUR, an ABC affiliate based in Manchester.

“I think this visit on Monday is just the beginning of what Granite Staters are going to see between now and November,” the professor said.

Some are not buying it.

“Given Joe Biden’s refusal to reverse course on Bidenomics or participate in the First in the Nation primary, it’s clear that he doesn’t care about inflation or the people of New Hampshire,” said Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley in a written statement shared with Inside the Beltway.

“If President Biden wants to help American families, he should stop pushing tax-and-spend budget plans and support House Republicans’ bills to drive down costs,” he continued.

“Granite Staters and voters across the country are eager to buck Bidenomics at the polls and vote for President Trump this November,” Mr. Whatley said.

POLL DU JOUR

• 65% of U.S. adults are dissatisfied with the position of the United States in the world today; 91% of Republicans, 67% of independents and 38% of Democrats agree.

• 68% of women and 62% of men also agree.

• 33% are satisfied with the position of the U.S. in the world; 8% of Republicans, 31% of independents and 60% of Democrats agree.

• 31% of women and 36% of men also agree.

• 1% don’t know or refused to answer the question; 1% of Republicans, 0% of independents and 1% of Democrats agree.

• 1% of women and 1% of men also agree.

Source: A Gallup Poll of 1,016 U.S. adults conducted by telephone Feb. 1-20 and released March 11.

• Follow Jennifer Harper on X @HarperBulletin.