Nation

Rep. Murphy rips vaccine passports, accuses Dems of wanting ‘police state’

Published

2 years ago

March 30, 2021

North Carolina Rep. Greg Murphy (R) slammed the emerging concept of COVID-19 “vaccine passports” as a civil liberties issue, and accused Democrats of wanting a police state.

Appearing on Tuesday’s episode of “The Sara Carter Show” podcast, the congressman joined the growing chorus of conservatives in opposing such measures—whether or not these are government- or business-enforced.

“As far as these passports go, it is something of civil liberties,” said Murphy, who is also a urologist. “You know, when I see patients, the first thing I asked him, ‘If you had the vaccine, you’re going to get the vaccine.’ And that’s what it needs to be. […] I don’t ask people if they’ve had the flu vaccine, or if you’ve had this other vaccine, I don’t ask them what their cholesterol is. If they’re just in a public setting, I don’t think that’s good.”

“We’re turning into a police state, if that is the case, which is honestly what the Democrats want. They want a police state,” he continued. “But I don’t think that’s going to hold water in the free states in the United States.”

Host Sara Carter agreed with Murphy’s thoughts on the matter, and soon the conversation turned toward voter ID laws.

“Well, it’s funny, Sara—think about this: the Democrats don’t want voter ID, right? They don’t want you to be able to show who you are, when you come up to vote. You have to have it for all the other things. You have to get it to get food stamps, you have to get it to apply for credit. You have to use ID for everything,” Murphy argued.

“But now they do want an ID to show that you’ve had a vaccination. So […] where’s the logic in that?” he said. “So let’s just turn that back on themselves and say, ‘Look, this is there’s a reason for voter ID.’ But I don’t believe that we should ever get into the avenues of passports and everything else.”

You can follow Douglas Braff on Twitter @DouglasPBraff.

Nation

Biden Administration Proposes Rule to Fortify Federal Bureaucracy Against Republican Presidency

Published

2 days ago

September 22, 2023

Alexander Carter

In a strategic move, the Biden administration has unveiled a proposed rule aimed at reinforcing the left-leaning federal bureaucracy, potentially hindering future conservative policy implementations by Republican presidents. This move has raised concerns about the efficacy of democratic elections when a deep-seated bureaucracy remains largely unchanged, regardless of electoral outcomes.

Key points of the situation include:

Presidential Appointees vs. Career Bureaucrats: Of the 2.2 million federal civil workers, only 4,000 are presidential appointees. The vast majority, made up of career bureaucrats, continue in their roles from one administration to the next. This continuity is facilitated by rules that make it exceedingly difficult to discipline or replace them, resulting in a bureaucracy that tends to lean left politically.

Union Political Affiliation: A striking 95% of unionized federal employees who donate to political candidates support Democrats, according to Open Secrets, with only 5% favoring Republicans. This significant political skew among federal workers raises questions about the potential for political bias in the execution of government policies.

Obstructionism and Challenges for GOP Presidents: Some career bureaucrats have been accused of obstructing Republican presidents’ agendas, leading to policy delays and challenges. For example, during the Trump administration, career lawyers in the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division declined to challenge Yale University’s discrimination against Asian American applicants, prompting Trump to seek legal counsel from other divisions. The case was subsequently dropped when Joe Biden took office.

Biden’s Countermeasures: President Biden has taken steps to protect the bureaucracy’s status quo. In October 2020, Trump issued an executive order aiming to reclassify federal workers who make policy as at-will employees, but Biden canceled it upon taking office.

Proposed Rule and Congressional Actions: The rule unveiled by the Biden administration seeks to further impede a president’s ability to reinstate Trump’s order. Additionally, some Democrats in Congress are pushing to eliminate the president’s authority to reclassify jobs entirely. This has been referred to as an attempt to “Trump-proof the federal workforce.”

Republican Candidates’ Pledge: GOP candidates such as President Donald J Trump, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Ron DeSantis have pledged to address this issue. According to reports from Fox News, Ramaswamy has gone further, advocating for the elimination of half or more of civil service positions, emphasizing the need for accountability.

Debate on the Merit of the Civil Service: While Democrats and their media allies argue that civil service protects merit over patronage, critics contend that the system has evolved into a form of job security for federal workers with minimal accountability. Federal employees often receive higher salaries and more substantial benefits than their private-sector counterparts.

In summary, the Biden administration’s proposed rule and broader actions to protect the federal bureaucracy have sparked a debate over the role of career bureaucrats in shaping government policy.

Republican candidates are vowing to address these concerns, highlighting the need for accountability and ensuring that government agencies work in alignment with the elected president’s agenda. This ongoing debate raises important questions about the relationship between the bureaucracy and the democratic process in the United States.

Information in this article was retrieved from Fox News.