Biden tells Netanyahu US will not engage in Iran counteroffensive, calls Saturday victory for Israel

 President Biden told Israeli Prime Minister that nothing of “value” was hit in Iran’s airborne attack Saturday and asserted American forces will not be participating in any offensive against Iran, according to a report.

The president called Israel’s defense during the attacks a win — telling Netanyahu Israel’s ability to intercept nearly all of the hundreds of missiles and drones showed its military superiority, a US official told CNN. 

Biden also made it very clear that the US would not be engaging in any military offensive against the Islamic Republic, the senior official told the channel

Israeli Defense Forces said it had shot down the “vast majority” of projectiles outside of Israel’s borders. It was assisted by the US military. 

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Iran launches drone attack against Israel.x @Toxicity_______

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Biden told Netanyahu that US would not be participating in any offensive against Iran.AP

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Benjamin Netanyahu and Biden spoke on the phone following Iran’s attack on Israel Saturday night.Israeli Prime Minister's Office
“At my direction, to support the defense of Israel, the U.S. military moved aircraft and ballistic missile defense destroyers to the region over the course of the past week,” Biden said in a statement Saturday night after his phone call with the Israeli leader, according to readout of the call released by the White House.

“Thanks to these deployments and the extraordinary skill of our servicemembers, we helped Israel take down nearly all of the incoming drones and missiles,” he added.

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Israeli Iron Dome air defense system launches to intercept missiles fired from Iran, in central Israel, Sunday, April 14, 2024AP

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Most of the drones and missiles launched by Iran were intercepted, officials said.Xinhua/Shutterstock

A handful of missiles made it through, with one striking an Israeli base, but damages were minor and no injuries were reported, according to IDF officials.

A senior US official told CNN that the US forces intercepted more than 70 drones and at least three ballistic missiles. The missiles were shot down by two guided missile destroyers deployed in the eastern Mediterranean.

US fighter jets also helped defend Israel from the barrage, another official told the outlet.

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Front cover of the New York Post on April 14, 2024.

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Biden said he will meet with G7 leaders on Sunday “to coordinate a united diplomatic response to Iran’s brazen attack.”

“While we have not seen attacks on our forces or facilities today, we will remain vigilant to all threats and will not hesitate to take all necessary action to protect our people,” the president said.

https://nypost.com/2024/04/14/world-news/biden-tells-netanyahu-us-will-not-engage-in-offensive-against-iran-calls-saturday-a-win-for-israel-report/

Biden, Netanyahu speak after ‘Iran’s brazen attack’

 President Biden and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke following “Iran’s brazen attack” that targeted Israel on Saturday.

“Earlier today, Iran—and its proxies operating out of Yemen, Syria and Iraq—launched an unprecedented air attack against military facilities in Israel,” Biden said in a Saturday night statement. “I condemn these attacks in the strongest possible terms.” 

The president said he reaffirmed U.S. support for Israel and condemned Iran’s missile and drone attacks during the call.

“I’ve just spoken with Prime Minister Netanyahu to reaffirm America’s ironclad commitment to the security of Israel,” Biden said. “I told him that Israel demonstrated a remarkable capacity to defend against and defeat even unprecedented attacks – sending a clear message to its foes that they cannot effectively threaten the security of Israel.” 

Iran launched a wave of drone and missile attacks on Saturday. They were anticipated in light of Tehran’s public threats towards Israel after an alleged Israeli strike in early April near Iran’s consulate in Damascus, Syria killed two senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) officers. 

Israel said it intercepted most of the missiles with the help of allied defense systems, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Ramon air base in southern Israel was struck by seven missiles, Iranian state-run media outlets reported, while also some hit Nevatim air base. 

“At my direction, to support the defense of Israel, the U.S. military moved aircraft and ballistic missile defense destroyers to the region over the course of the past week,” Biden said. “Thanks to these deployments and the extraordinary skill of our servicemembers, we helped Israel take down nearly all of the incoming drones and missiles.” 

Biden said that he will convene with G7 leaders on Saturday to “coordinate a united diplomatic response to Iran’s brazen attack.”

“My team will engage with their counterparts across the region,” the president said. “And we will stay in close touch with Israel’s leaders. And while we have not seen attacks on our forces or facilities today, we will remain vigilant to all threats and will not hesitate to take all necessary action to protect our people.”

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/4592815-biden-netanyahu-speak-after-irans-brazen-attack/

Illegal Immigration Costs American Households Hundreds Of Billions Annually

 by Chadwick Hagan via The Epoch Times,

Illegal immigration weighs heavily on the wallets of hardworking American taxpayers - to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars annually.

Still, the Biden administration turns a blind eye to these fiscal strains, neglecting the toll on our economy, the structural integrity of our nation, and the safety of our citizens.

Estimates suggest that illegal immigrants cost each household about $1,000, adding up to more than $120 billion a year.

Sources such as Newsweek hint that the true cost may be even higher, possibly reaching $150 billion annually, an amount shared by both federal and state governments. In all actuality, the financial impact could be much worse.

The situation continues to deteriorate by the day. Just this past December, Border Patrol recorded 249,785 arrests along the Mexican border, a 31 percent spike from November 2023 and a 13 percent surge from the December 2022 record.

Since President Joe Biden’s inauguration and the adoption of his open borders approach, more than 7.2 million illegal immigrants have streamed into the United States through the southern border, a number surpassing the population of 36 states.

Some estimate that number to be nearer to 10 million. The lawlessness makes it impossible to keep an accurate count.

The repercussions of illegal immigration cast long shadows over various aspects of our society, from heightened crime rates to suppressed wages to the depletion of taxpayer resources. Public services face strain, with illegal immigrants accessing emergency health care, enrolling their children in public schools, and tapping into social welfare programs. Some argue their willingness to accept lower wages drives down earnings, leading to reduced tax revenues and increased reliance on social welfare programs among low-wage workers, citizens, and legal residents alike. Even our property tax is paying for illegal immigrants. This generational problem demands pragmatic consideration and competent leadership.

To exacerbate matters, if illegal immigrants operate solely within cash transactions, much of their income goes undocumented.

This is why I advocate for measures such as the Fair Tax Act, which replaces income tax with a consumption tax, ensuring revenue from cash transactions is taxed.

While proponents argue that illegal immigrants are paying into our tax system, and even our Social Security system, it is hard to tell the difference between fact and fiction.

According to a 2023 National Bureau of Economic Research paper (Working Paper 31086, “Measuring the Characteristics and Employment Dynamics of U.S. Inventors”), the majority of innovation in America is driven by white and Asian (including Indian) individuals.

The paper estimates that 96.5 percent of U.S. inventors were white or Asian as of 2016.

The question remains: Why are we allowing our borders to be overrun by illegal immigrants when we need controlled and tactical immigration to pay into our depleted social systems and kick-start the next wave of innovation?

Why would the United States prohibit valuable workers from becoming American citizens while on work visas yet entice unskilled and impoverished workers to enter the country and stay illegally?

These unanswered questions only add fuel to the fires of conspiracy and intrigue.

Giving priority to visas for highly skilled workers will not only strengthen our domestic initiatives but also stimulate innovation and bolster economic growth. It is beyond puzzling that the United States of America continues to welcome unskilled workers when our nation’s prosperity hinges on innovation and skilled labor. The Democratic Party’s reluctance to use the term “illegal immigrants,” echoed by figures such as Nikki Haley, is equally confusing. As Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis rightly pointed out, coming to this country illegally is illegal.

We need to fast-track immigrants who are likely to innovate and create wealth instead of prioritizing low-skilled workers.

It’s time for responsible leadership to step up and implement immigration policies that benefit the United States and the American people.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/illegal-immigration-costs-american-households-hundreds-billions-annually

Oh, to be a fly on the wall when Fani Willis met Kamala Harris ...

 By Monica Showalter

Was the garbage prosecution of President Trump in Georgia something Kamala Harris cooked up with her best bud Fani Willis?

That's what congressional investigators are seeing.

According to Raw Story, citing Newsweek:

Embattled Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis met with Vice President Kamala Harris before she indicted Donald Trump in his election interference case, according to a lawyer who shared White House records during a Georgia Senate hearing.

The meeting, according to Attorney Ashley Merchant's testimony, took place on February 28, 2023, just months before Willis indicted Trump in August of that year, Newsweek reported.

Well what a coincidence. Since when does the vice president of the United States meet with a lowly district attorney over anything, really, given the separation local, state and federal jurisdictions? It sounds like the pair giggled their way into it together.

But it's just like Harris to be involved in something of this sort.

Back in California when she was state attorney general, she plotted with everyone from the Los Angeles Police Department to get free police protection even when she went out partying, to the governor's office, conspiring to keep prisoners in prison past their terms in order to ensure that they served as firefighters for the coming fire season.

She wiped out critical evidence in a death penalty case and threw dozens of petty drug offenders in prison in order to get the Democrat governor's soft-on-crime polling numbers up.

After that, she gave many indications of being in on the Jussie Smollett racial hoax in a bid to smear MAGA and Get Trump.

Seems she's always in on some colorful plot, and who better for the purpose this time than Fani Willis herself, a running joke as a prosecutor in her own right

One wonders what the depth of the friendship was, given how much the pair had in common, mixing business with pleasure.

Harris slept her way to the top with political kingmaker Willie Brown and partied with the Pacific Heights set in San Francisco, apparently selling her 'wares' for power, while Willis slept around with traffic attorney Nathan Wade as a sort of toyboy tool, taking cruises, and then promoted him to chief prosecutor of President Trump to Get Trump, mixing business with pleasure again.

Both have viewed the law as something to be abused, Harris with pot smokers thrown into prison for long terms and others, Willis with her complete garbage prosecution of President Trump.

Both had communist fathers active in the intellectual and radical activist communities of their times. Both have zero scruples and flexible morals.

Willis, though, seems stupider than even Harris, though that's arguable, raising questions as to whether this was a girl's night out affair, or Harris finding and directing someone even more stupid than she is? We don't know. We do know they should be answering some questions about this.

How about it, Congress and mainstream media?

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2024/04/oh_to_be_a_fly_on_the_wall_when_fani_willis_met_kamala_harris.html

Washington’s Latest Health Care Whipping Boy

 By Deane Waldman, M.D.

U.S. healthcare is failing (obviously).  Over the years, Washington and their complicit media have identified many different groups as blame-worthy, including wealthy insurance companies, greedy doctors, Big Pharma, and over-charging hospitals.  Their newest target and designated bad boy is private equity.  The true guilty party remains in shadow and protected. 

The Biden administration’s latest healthcare culprits are private equity firms, who have invested more than $1 trillion purchasing healthcare facilities such as hospitals and nursing homes as well as medical practices.  “Private equity acquisitions of U.S. physician practices rose sixfold over a decade, from 75 deals in 2012 to 484 in 2021.”  Currently, approximately 8 percent of U.S. hospitals are owned by for-profit, private equity companies.

Washington has begun a federal probe into private equity in healthcare citing a single government-funded study reporting substandard outcomes.  Their investigation sends a clear message: “Our failing healthcare system is their fault!”

A recent study instigated by the NIH, performed by Harvard, and published in JAMA shows higher post-operative infection rates and more frequent patient falls in privately owned hospitals.  With the COVID scam fresh in American minds, the reliability of such reports, especially coming from those particular sources, is dubious.  The COVID experience has taught the public that censorship, including once prestigious Harvard and JAMA, is very real in healthcare.  Many ostensibly reliable scientific studies are in fact written for ideological advocacy and political gain rather than revealing objective, reliable medical facts.

Interestingly, the study noted above, while emphasizing the adverse impacts in private equity hospitals, also mentioned, then explained away, a slightly lower death rate. 

Washington downplays Americans’ major complaints about healthcare, which are unaffordability and inaccessibility.  Low quality is rarely if ever mentioned.  Federal politicos point to purported low quality in the eight percent of healthcare facilities that places where care is unavailable and too expensive.  They say, look at increased complications in a small number of patients.  They say, don’t look at death-by-queue in many Americans, especially in Medicaid or Tricare, where “47,000 veterans may have died” waiting for care. 

Washington focuses our attention on profit motive that may, rarely, cause low quality of medical care.  Washington doesn’t want us to notice that enrollment in Medicaid and ACA insurance goes up, Americans’ access to care goes down.  They hail the reduction in the uninsured rate while ignoring the seesaw effect.  As more people have government insurance, it becomes harder to get care, of any quality!  Federal politicos say, don’t think about why your government insurance doesn’t get you care, look at what those money-grubbing for-profit places are doing to you.

Washington’s diversionary use of private equity as whipping boy is not limited to healthcare, although healthcare attacks get more airtime than other targets, such as housing.  A recent study infers that the high cost of rent is driven by private equity acquisition of rental properties.

U.S. healthcare system failures cannot be attributed to private equity, venal insurance companies, or high-priced doctors.  The reason healthcare is dying and taking Americans with it is...Washington’s control.  The federal government diverts attention away from its own culpability.  For example, Washington points to whatever profit private equity generates so we won’t notice that 31 percent to more than 50 percent of all U.S. healthcare spending goes to...drumroll, please...the federal bureaucracy. 

The people doing the whipping are the ones who should be whipped. 

Federal politicians and bureaucrats are making medical as well as financial decisions in healthcare.  The people who should be making these decisions are We the People, or as I prefer, We the Patients.  After all, it is their money and their lives.

If people could shop for their own care and decide how to spend their own money (out of a large, unlimited family HSA), profit-motive would work to improve quality as well as access while simultaneously reducing costs.  Two trillion dollars (!) of healthcare spending — on interfering and unnecessary government regulation — could be saved.  The infusion of free market forces, glaringly absent from healthcare today, could achieve timely, quality, affordable, compassionate health care.  All we need to do is put We the People in charge instead of Them those Bureaucrats.  

Deane Waldman, M.D., MBA is professor emeritus of pediatrics, pathology, and decision science; former director of the Center for Healthcare Policy at Texas Public Policy Foundation; former director, New Mexico Health Insurance Exchange; and author of 12 books including the multi-award winning Curing the Cancer in U.S. Healthcare: StatesCare and Market-Based Medicine.

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2024/04/washington_s_latest_health_care_whipping_boy.html

Snopes Changed Fact-Check After Pressure From Biden Administration: Emails

 by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,

The fact-checking website Snopes changed one of its ratings after pressure from President Joe Biden’s administration, newly disclosed emails show.

Snopes on Jan. 10, 2023, said that there was some truth to a claim that President Biden’s administration was planning to ban gas stoves.

Under a heading of “what’s true,” Snopes said that “The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), a federal agency, is currently considering a ban on gas stoves if they can’t be made safer, due to concerns over harmful indoor pollutants that cause health and respiratory problems.”

Under another heading, it said that the ban has not been put in place.

The article quoted Richard Trumka Jr., a CPSC commissioner, as saying that “any option is on the table” when dealing with gas stoves. “Products that can’t be made safe can be banned,” Mr. Trumka told Bloomberg a few days prior.

Pamela Rucker Springs, a spokeswoman for the CPSC, hours after the rating was published contacted Snopes writer Nur Ibrahim, the newly disclosed emails show.

She said she it was “not accurate to say that CPSC is ‘considering a ban on gas stoves’ and that Mr. Trumka’s views ”do not represent official statements on behalf of the commission.”

“We would appreciate a correction to this story,” Ms. Springs said.

Mr. Ibrahim responded the following day saying Snopes would “correct the article.”

Snopes then changed the fact-check rating from “mixture” to “false.”

The CPSC “is not currently considering a ban on gas stoves, though a commissioner said ‘anything is on the table’ if they can’t be made safer,” the updated article states.

Ms. Springs sent a link to the updated page to White House official Michael Kikukawa, the newly disclosed documents show. “Sent over tough letter to this writer yesterday when the initial claim was rated as ’mixed,'” she wrote.

“Nice!! So helpful going forward,” Mr. Kikukawa responded.

Mr. Kikuwaka told Ms. Springs in another email that the White House would be circulating a statement “making clear POTUS does not support banning gas stoves” and sharing social media posts from the commission and Mr. Trumka. “Will also be pushing people your way,” he wrote.

The emails were obtained by the Functional Government Initiative nonprofit through the Freedom of Information Act.

“A commissioner appointed by President Biden wanted to ban gas stoves, and he got caught, provoking a public outcry. So, the CPSC staff leaned on Snopes, seeking to counter the narrative by splitting hairs about commission processes. And the White House finds this ‘helpful.’ Helpful with what?“ Pete McGinnis, spokesman for the nonprofit, said in a statement.

”This goes beyond dysfunction—the government using sympathetic media to censor inconvenient news. The American people deserve both to keep their gas stoves and to know the truth about what regulations government officials are considering.”

Snopes did not respond to a request for comment.

Closer to Ban

The CPSC framed the possibility of banning stoves as solely on Mr. Trumka, issuing a statement from Alexander Hoehn-Saric.

The chairman of the commission said, “I am not looking to ban gas stoves and the CPSC has no proceeding to do so.”

At the same time, CPSC officials acknowledged that they were investigating emissions from gas stoves and were “exploring new ways to address any health risks.”

Mr. Trumka said in an internal memorandum reviewed by The Epoch Times that there was “sufficient information” for the commission to issue a notice of a proposed rule “proposing to ban gas stoves in homes.” He told Peter Feldman, another commissioner, that “emerging evidence” showed that “gas stoves in homes emit toxic gases that cause illnesses and that lower-cost, safer alternatives are available.” The Committee to Unleash Prosperity, which obtained the memo, said that it proved the administration ”intended to ban gas stoves.”

The CPSC later approved a final notice of rulemaking offered by Mr. Trumka asking for “proposed solutions” to “hazards” from gas stoves.

That notice has not appeared to have resulted in a new rule as of yet.

Separately, the U.S. Department of Energy issued a proposed rule that would ban about half of the gas stoves on the market. When the final rule was released in January, though, it had been watered down and only affected about three percent of gas stoves.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/snopes-changed-fact-check-after-pressure-biden-administration-emails

US shoots down Iranian drones bound for Israel

 The US has shot down Iranian drones headed to Israel after Iran launched its retaliatory attack early on Sunday.

The UK meanwhile said its Royal Air Force (RAF) would intercept drones "as required".

Both US president Joe Biden and Rishi Sunak, the UK's prime minister, condemned Iran's attack and reiterated their support for Israel.

US officials said Mr Biden was being regularly briefed on the situation.

Tehran launched its overnight attack in response to the killing of its Quds Force Commander, Major General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, who was killed two weeks ago in an air strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria.

Iran blamed Israel for the attack shortly after and had vowed to retaliate.

Daniel Hagari, the spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), said that around 200 drones and missiles were launched towards Israel by Iran.

The vast majority of them were intercepted by the IDF and its partners, he added.

The escalation forced President Biden to cut short a planned visit to his home state of Delaware, as he rushed back to the White House to meet with national security officials.

The White House later shared a photo of the president in the White House situation room, surrounded by top officials including Jake Sullivan, his national security adviser, and Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin.

White House National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said Mr Biden was "in constant communication with Israeli officials, as well as other partners and allies."

"Our support for Israel's security is ironclad," she added. "The US will stand with the people of Israel and support their defence against these threats from Iran."

Drones shot down

Two US officials meanwhile told CBS, the BBC's partner in the US, that American forces had shot down several Iranian drones, but did not specify where or how they were intercepted.

The RAF is also assisting in the region. A statement by the Ministry of Defence said British jets were ready to intercept attacks within range of the UK's existing missions in the Middle East.

Additional help has been deployed, the UK ministry added, including more jets and air refuelling tankers.

Iran's delegation at the UN said Tehran considered that "the matter can be deemed concluded" with its salvo but warned it would strike again if there were reprisals by Israel or its allies.

"Any support or participation in attacking Iran's interests will have a fierce response from Iran's armed forces," the Iranian Revolutionary Guard said in a statement.

Mr Sunak condemned Iran's attack in a statement, calling it "reckless", adding that the strikes "risk inflaming tensions and destabilising the region".

Other nations, including France and Canada, have also condemned Iran and expressed support for Israel.

An administration official told CBS that the NSC meeting lasted around two hours. The official added that Mr Biden would speak to Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, later today.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68810519