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Republicans Mull Shutting Down the Government Over Vaccine Mandate Funding

An increasing number of Republican Senators are ready to shutdown the federal government to prevent President Joe Biden’s vaccination mandates. The House did not vote on Wednesday as expected to pass a temporary budget resolution that would have kept the government open beyond Friday’s expiration of the current spending authorization.

The Republicans demand that the next budget deal not include funds to enforce vaccine mandates from the Biden government.

The House Freedom Caucus sent a letter to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R–Ky.) He is asked to employ all procedural tools to ensure that a continuing resolution against funding of unAmerican and unlawful vaccine mandates can be passed.

The Senate is echoing this sentiment.

Sen. Mike Lee (R–Utah) is reportedly leading the effort, and urged his fellow GOP senators to support a shutdown at a lunch on Wednesday, reports Politico.

“I think we should use the leverage we have to fight against what are illegal, unconstitutional and abusive mandates from a president and an administration that knows they are violating the law,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R–Texas) told reporters on Wednesday, reports The Washington Post.

Cruz was the one who led a successful effort to stop another spending bill from being passed in 2013. It contained funds for Obamacare. The federal government was shut down for 16 days.

Many Republican senators were critical of Cruz’s maneuvering at the time, arguing—correctly, as it turns out—that the GOP would be blamed for a government shutdown that had no hope of actually ending Obamacare.

The backlash from that episode perhaps explains why a number of anti–vaccine mandate Republicans are nevertheless trying to throw cold water on their colleagues’ demand for a shutdown over funding said mandates.

“Shutdowns almost never work out,” said Sen. Roy Blunt (R–Mo.) to Politico.

McConnell was very tight-lipped regarding the entire affair. According to reports, McConnell said little at the luncheon where Lee requested senators support a continuing resolution that no funds vaccine mandates. He instead chose to eat silently two pieces of chicken.

On Tuesday, he told reporters that no shutdown would occur. Post.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D–N.Y.Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senate Majority Leader, said the two sides are moving forward in their budget talks and cautioned GOP senators to avoid causing what he described as “needless Republican government shut down.”

These budgetary maneuvers are just the beginning. A host of legal issues surround the White House’s mandates for vaccines.

Late November saw the Biden administration ask an appeals court for a lifting of a stop on its vaccination mandate for private employer. This stay was issued earlier that month by the U.S. Court of Appeals of the 5th Circuit. Sidney Powell (an ex-Trump lawyer) represented several military personnel who sued for the requirement that all servicemen get the jab, or risk being dishonorably discharged.


FREE MINDS

A new U.S. Supreme Court precedent could be coming down on abortion. The case of Mississippi against its ban on abortions occurring after fifteen weeks was heard oral arguments. The state’s law violates past Supreme Court rulings that prohibit states from restricting abortion prior to “fetal viability”—meaning the fetus can survive outside the womb. Viability can be considered as beginning around 23-24 weeks after the start of pregnancy.

The action takes place mainly in Reason’Jacob Sullum, yesterday’s story, was about six conservative justices in Mississippi considering whether or not they can uphold Mississippi’s laws without completely overturning any decisions. Roe V. Wade And Casey vs. Planned Parenthood This was the foundation of this viability standard.

Sullum writes that Sullum’s comments and questions do not bode very well for anyone hoping the Court will preserve the essence its abortion precedents, even though it allows Mississippi’s law to stand. A majority of justices could conclude that “half measures” won’t be enough, given the insatiable justification of the viability rule as well as the absence of promising alternatives.

Sullum also wrote about the reasons why the viability standard currently in place and its potential replacements are all arbitrarily chosen.


GRATIS MARKETS

A Federal Reserve new report says that current economic growth has been hampered due to supply chain issues and shortages of labor. That’s the takeaway from the Fed’s Beige Book—a collection of interviews with business leaders, economists, and market experts on the state of the economy—that was published on Wednesday. The Wall Street Journal summarizes:

Despite robust hiring during the period covered by the report—early October through mid-November—businesses contacted by the Fed “reported robust demand for labor but persistent difficulty in hiring and retaining employees.” Child care issues, Covid-19 safety concerns and retirements were the top issues cited for the labor crunch….

All across the nation, businesses reported increasing input costs. They also claimed they passed them onto customers. A majority of the firms in the Cleveland Fed District surveyed reported higher input costs during the last two months. All costs are going up: gas, electricity, food and raw materials. [up]”A logistics company said.


QUICK HITS

• ReasonThe webathon for ‘Free Minds and Free Markets is still ongoing We are grateful for your support in allowing us to continue providing content that advocates free minds and free market.

• Judge Glock argues over at the Breakthrough Institute that suburbia is actually good for the environment, and states should stop trying to prevent “sprawl.”

• A new poll of Los Angeles County voters finds that a majority support a new state law that will allow duplexes to be built on almost all residential land in the state, including in once single-family neighborhoods.

• San Francisco officials are going to keep their indoor mask mandate in place “indefinitely” in response to the new omicron variant. What could we have hoped for?

• The White House has a new plan for fighting the virus that includes easier access to at-home testing, more booster shots, and more travel restrictions.

• The Michigan student who killed four people at Oxford High School earlier this week had apparently provoked concerns from school administrators prior to the Tuesday shooting.

• Over at National ReviewPhilip Klein believes that the omicron variation is an excellent example of why COVID-19 should be removed and we can get on with our lives.