JD Vance Contrasts Own Biography, Youth With Biden Record

Sen. JD Vance of Ohio accepted the Republican vice presidential nomination Wednesday night, vowing to never forget where he came from as he highlighted his life story and the failures of the Washington political class.

“America’s ruling class wrote the checks; communities like mine paid the price,” Vance, 39, said in accepting the nomination for vice president at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. “For decades, that divide between the few, with their power and comfort in Washington, and the rest of us only widened.”

Former President Donald Trump announced his choice of Vance as his running mate Monday, the first day of the convention. Together, they plan to take on President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, although many Democrats continue to urge Biden to step aside as their nominee.

“From Iraq to Afghanistan, from the financial crisis to the Great Recession, from open borders to stagnating wages, the people who govern this country have failed and failed again,” he said. “That is, until President Donald J. Trump came along.”

Vance, elected to the Senate in 2022—five decades after Biden was first elected to the Senate—contrasted his youth to Biden’s while also saying Biden has been wrong on most policies and issues in five decades in office.

Biden has been the champion of “every major policy initiative to make America weaker and poorer,” Vance said.

“When I was in the fourth grade, a career politician by the name of Joe Biden supported NAFTA, a bad trade deal that sent countless good American manufacturing jobs to Mexico,” he said of the North American Free Trade Agreement. “When I was a sophomore in high school, a career politician by the name of Joe Biden gave China a sweetheart trade deal that destroyed even more good middle-class jobs. And when I was a senior in high school, Joe Biden supported the disastrous invasion of Iraq.”

The Ohio Republican went on to highlight the struggles of Americans, especially in several battleground states in the Nov. 5 presidential election.

“Each step of the way, in small towns like mine in Ohio, or next door in Pennsylvania, or in Michigan and other states across our country, jobs were sent overseas and children were sent to war,” Vance said.

Vance’s wife Usha introduced him at the GOP convention.

“I met JD in law school when he was fresh out of Ohio State, which he attended with the support of the G.I. Bill,” she told delegates. “He was then, as now, the most interesting person I knew. A working-class guy who had overcome childhood traumas that I could barely fathom to end up at Yale Law School. A tough Marine who had served in Iraq but whose idea of a good time was playing with puppies.”

In his speech, Vance talked about his life, chronicled in his bestselling memoir “Hillbilly Ellergy,” later made into a movie directed by Ron Howard. He discussed growing up in rural Middletown, Ohio, as his grandmother or “Mamaw” took care of him when his mother had addiction issues. He enlisted in the Marines after 9/11 and later graduated from Yale Law School.

He said the movement is “about single moms like mine, who struggled with money and addiction but never gave up.”

“I am proud to say that tonight my mom is here, 10 years clean and sober,” he said. “I love you, Mom.”

The crowd in the convention hall chanted, “JD’s mom, JD’s mom.”

Acknowledging that his economic views sometimes clash with those of traditional Republicans, Vance said, “Our disagreements actually make us stronger.”

“My message to my fellow Americans is: Shouldn’t we be governed by a party that is unafraid to debate ideas and come to the best solution?” he said. “That’s the Republican Party of the next four years: united in our love for America, and committed to free speech and the open exchange of ideas.”

Vance also talked about the assassination attempt on Trump on Saturday evening, noting: “Instead of a day of celebration, this could have been a day of heartache and mourning.”

He said Trump’s enemies have told many lies about him, but his toughness was clear after the shooting at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

“They said he was a tyrant. They said he must be stopped at all costs,” Vance said of Trump’s political opponents.

“He called for national unity, for calm,” after the shooting, Vance said. “He remembered the victims of the terrible attack, especially the brave Corey Comperatore, who gave his life to protect his family.”

https://www.dailysignal.com/2024/07/18/jd-vance-contrasts-own-biography-youth-with-biden-record/

**************************************************

Conservative Group Goes After Investment Giant, Accusing It of Anti-Israel Bias

The conservative nonprofit Consumers’ Research launched a campaign on Tuesday going after investment firm Morgan Stanley Capital International for “embracing” an anti-Israel stance in its environmental, social, and corporate governance ratings.

The Consumers’ Research six-figure ad campaign features a new website, a national mailer, digital marketing ads, and a mobile billboard outside of MSCI’s headquarters in New York City.

The campaign came after a coalition of Republican state attorneys general opened an investigation over allegations that MSCI had implemented policies from the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement against Israel.

“MSCI is yet another example of a massive investment firm pushing their anti-Israel agenda instead of following their fiduciary duty,” Will Hild, executive director of Consumers’ Research, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “It’s especially appalling, given the attack on [Israel] last October.”

In March, the Jewish News Syndicate reported that MSCI’s ESG policies allegedly downgraded several companies that “it said committed ‘human rights violations’ simply for conducting business in Judea and Samaria and eastern Jerusalem.” Soon after, the coalition of 18 attorneys general, led by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, sent MSCI Chairman and CEO Henry A. Fernandez a letter expressing “great concern” over the Jewish News Syndicate report.

“In other words, it appears that MSCI is embracing the BDS movement’s false narrative of Israeli occupation and taking actions designed to pressure companies to Boycott Israel—specifically by downgrading those companies’ EGS scores if they do business in Israel,” the letter reads.

“According to [the Jewish News Service], MSCI deducted ESG points from an Israeli company specifically because of the company’s “participation in the construction of security and surveillance barriers designed to protect Israelis from terrorists,” the letter reads. “It is unthinkable to us that MSCI would stand by this position following the terrorist attacks on Israel last October.

MSCI is not the only asset management company to receive scrutiny for anti-Israel bias. In April 2023, Consumers’ Research also launched a campaign against another investment firm, Morningstar, for also assigning ESG scores to negatively impact companies with connections to Israel.

This campaign was announced after 17 state attorneys general sent a letter in August 2022 highlighting concerns that a Morningstar subsidiary, Sustainalytics, “may be furthering the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement against Israel.” This letter came after then-Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt opened an investigation in July 2022 after Morningstar conducted an internal review and admitted to its anti-Israel bias.

Anti-Israeli bias has become more pronounced across cities and college campuses following the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack. Between Oct. 7 and Jan. 7, incidents of antisemitism skyrocketed 360% to a total of 3,291 incidents, compared with the same period in 2022-2023, which saw 712 incidents, according to data from the Anti-Defamation League.

Conservative groups and lawmakers have attacked this bias within finance firms, particularly by pushing back on ESG. In July 2022, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, proposed legislation to ban state fund managers from taking ESG practices into consideration when investing state funds, saying its been “utilized to impose an ideological agenda on the American people.”

“The American people are sick and tired of the ESG elites allowing their personal progressive politics to interfere with their legal fiduciary duties,” Hild told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “If MSCI can’t do their job without applying an unfair double standard to Israel, then they shouldn’t be trusted by their customers or the American people.”

https://www.dailysignal.com/2024/07/17/conservative-org-goes-after-investing-firm-anti-israel-bias/

*****************************************************

Subway worker is accused of refusing to serve customer for wearing a controversial t-shirt

So much hate towards Christians

Subway has been accused of religious discrimination against Christians after an outlet in Wisconsin refused to serve customers because of the anti-abortion and anti-gay messages on their T-shirts.

Street preacher David Grisham was in town for the Republican National Convention when he and three friends popped into a Waunakee branch of the fast-food franchise to grab a sandwich.

But they were forced to go elsewhere when a young woman behind the counter confirmed she was refusing to serve the group because of the messages on their T-shirts.

The world's largest restaurant operator has now been hit with a deluge of angry comments from Christians after video of the exchange went viral, with some warning the company it risks a Bud Light style boycott.

'I don't care what kind of response Subway comes up with,' wrote one. 'I will never set foot in one of their filthy little stores again.'

Grisham, from Amarillo in Texas, insisted that his group 'did not purposely try to antagonize anyone', with their neon T-shirts bearing slogans including 'abortion is murder', and a paraphrase of Romans I, denouncing gay sex as sin.

Was the employee justified in refusing service?

'A local pastor was buying us dinner and we had only been inside for less than a minute and hadn't said a word to anyone,' he wrote on Facebook.

'She just saw our shirts and blurted out profanity and said she wouldn't serve us.

Title II of the 1964 Civil Rights Act bans restaurants from discriminating against customers on the grounds of religion.

But in 2022 the Supreme Court ruled that Denver baker Jack Phillips was within his rights to refuse an order for a wedding cake celebrating the marriage of a same-sex couple.

The American Civil Liberties Union said the baker was advocating for a 'license to discriminate' that could have broad repercussions beyond gay rights.

But, in a landmark case, the court ruled 7-2 that his refusal was protected by Constitutional guarantees to freedom of speech and expression, and the free exercise of religion.

In the video, labelled 'Subway Karen refuses service to Christians in Wanaukee, WI' (sic), the woman behind the counter nods when a voice asks: 'Are you refusing to serve customers?'

'She's refusing to serve us,' the man says to his friend.

'What are you talking about?' the friend demands, 'so we have to go somewhere else?'

'I want her to say it again,' says the man doing the filming.

'I am refusing you service,' the woman confirms as she carries on preparing another customer's sandwich.

Asked why, she says 'That is a personal matter', before her thwarted customer demands 'because of my T-shirt?

'Yes,' she replies.

'OK, sure Subway Corp will love to hear that,' the man says.

Subway franchisee River Subs which operates 48 outlets filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last month, and some former customers seem determined that more will now follow suit.

'Subway, I recommend you get ahead of this!' wrote one. 'It's an ugly, ugly look, and Taco Bell is right across the street. Easy switch.'

'Is Subway discriminating people who wear, Hijab or Yamaka or other religious symbols?' demanded another.

'If he was wearing a gay pride shirt and an employee refuse to serve him in some states they would call the police for discrimination,' claimed a third.

'I work at Subway in Dawson Springs,' wrote Laura Gray from Kentucky, 'and anytime you are in the area, you are welcome to come here.'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13645155/Subway-christian-t-shirt-wisconsin-grisham.html

************************************************

Top doctor hits out at plans to introduce a 'sin tax' on sugary drinks in Australia

Nick Coatsworth has hit out at a proposed tax on sugary treats arguing that '$8 cans of coke' will only punish the poor and fail to fix the nation's obesity crisis.

A recent Senate report recommended a 20 per cent tax on unhealthy products such as soft drinks in order to curb surging obesity rates, particularly in children.

But the prominent doctor, who became the face of Australia's Covid vaccine campaign as the national deputy chief medical officer, argues that implementing a so-called 'sin tax' is misguided and echoes the draconian government overreach seen during the pandemic.

'It's hard to escape the conclusion that sin taxes are proposed by rich people looking down on the behaviour of the sinful masses,' Dr Coatsworth told Daily Mail Australia.

'Can you imagine a can of Coke costing $8? Is that what it will take to reduce consumption?

'In regional and indigenous communities I predict it will reduce consumption by precisely zero.'

He noted that while governments can legitimately regulate things such as age of consumption of products such as alcohol and penalise people who sell harmful products to children, it should be cautious in applying such restrictions to adults.

'The recent trend to is to make penalty and prohibition the first choice and not the last resort, and this is leading to bad policy choices,' Dr Coatsworth said.

'If you're struggling to make an income and support your family there is much less capacity to make good health choices, and the 'sins' help you get through a tough day.

'A sin tax that does nothing to lift people into a position that they can make positive health choices.'

Dr Coatsworth also warned there are limits in trying to legislate people into being healthier.

'We've just been through a very disturbing episode in our lives where we criminalised or harshly penalised legitimate actions of citizens in the name of public health,' he said referring to the Covid period.

'As a basic principle public health should operate by consent of the community not by coercion.

'This applies as much to current debates as it did to Covid.'

The Australian government already imposes similar taxes on tobacco products and raises the excise every year to make it prohibitively expensive. It currently stands at about 75 per cent of the sale price.

Although the rate of smoking has decreased from above 20 per cent in 2001 to 11 per cent now, illegal vaping rates have soared along with the illicit tobacco trade.

'It's a law of diminishing returns,' Dr Coatsworth said.

'Tobacco excise had climbed so high that a black market has blossomed.'

'It's clear that the Australian Federal Police can't stop illicit tobacco coming into the country, let alone illegal vapes and it's creating a problem for state policing who now have to deal with the emergence of organised crime.

'It's bizarre that the same people who acknowledge that a 'war on drugs' is the wrong way to tackle hard drug use passionately declare that a 'war on vapes' is likely to work.'

Despite Dr Coatsworth's opposition to raising taxes on unhealthy food and drink, he does agree that there is an 'obesity crisis in Australia and that diabetes is an enormous cost-burden for our health system'.

'There is a big gap between agreeing with that and asserting that sugar taxes will have a meaningful impact on either,' he said.

'The classic behaviour of the activist is to surf a moral panic and then criticise an opponent as being an enemy of the public good.

'Labelling someone as being an enemy of public health is a very effective way of silencing debate.'

Earlier this month a Senate report recommended the federal government implement a levy on sugar-sweetened beverages and look to international examples to fix prices.

It pointed to the British example of 'tiered tax' where the levy grows with the amount of sugar in a product.

The Parliamentary Budget Office estimated applying a 20 per cent tax on all sugar sweetened drinks would bring in about $1.4billion annually

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13638369/Nick-Coatsworth-sin-tax.html

****************************************

All my main blogs below:

http://jonjayray.com/covidwatch.html (COVID WATCH)

http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)

http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://australian-politics.blogspot.com (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)

http://snorphty.blogspot.com (TONGUE-TIED)

https://immigwatch.blogspot.com (IMMIGRATION WATCH)

http://jonjayray.com/short/short.html (Subject index to my blog posts)

***********************************************