House Passes Massive Power Grab For Biden Administration

The Build Back Better bill has passed the House of Representatives but has a major uphill battle in the Senate. There are a lot of problems with this bill that we’ve told you about. For instance, the increased funding of $80 billion dollars for the IRS to hire 87,000 new enforcement agents. However, it could’ve been worse. The $600 threshold for the IRS to snoop on your bank account did not make it into this bill.

They passed this nearly $2 trillion bill during an inflation crisis and supply chain crisis. In the midst of this dangerous bill, we have to celebrate the fact that we fought to get this provision out and we were successful. ACLJ Director of Government Affairs Thann Bennett explained this win:

It is a big win. I mean look, even in the midst of very problematic legislation it is so important to dig in the weeds on the most problematic provisions. Look, because of the American people standing up and saying we will not tolerate this, they had to pull it out of the bill. I think there will be an opportunity in the United States Senate to go after that overall funding increase. . . . That IRS snooping provision, had it ended up in the house version originally passed, I think it would have been very difficult to remove. So, even though there will be challenges going forward, getting that most problematic provision out of the House bill. That is really a huge win in the midst of a trying night here.

Because of the support of our ACLJ members, we are able to fight in Congress over the Build Back Better bill while simultaneously working on a pro-life case in the City of Louisville. At the core of the ACLJ, fighting for the unborn has remained a central issue for us. In a recent case, we filed a lawsuit over the City of Louisville’s new pro-abortion buffer zone law that prevents pro-life free speech specifically related to sidewalk counselors outside of abortion clinics. ACLJ Senior Counsel Frank Manion explained what this case is about:

This is core ACLJ work. You have argued two of these cases at the Supreme Court. One of those Hill vs. Colorado, the cities and towns across the country are still focusing on. Even though in 2014, the McCullen v. Coakley case, a unanimous Supreme Court . . . placed sidewalk counseling by pro-lifers at the top of the hierarchy of free speech and struck down a buffer zone ordinance in Massachusetts. Most importantly in the context of this case, completely ignored Hill v. Colorado. In other words, they didn’t explicitly overrule it, essentially, they said that case doesn’t have any impact or any effect on what we are doing here. What is happening is local governments . . . have simply ignored the McCullen case. And in our case against Louisville, we are calling them into account and saying you just can’t do this. . . . You don’t shut down part of the traditional public forum to peaceful sidewalk counselors.

To read more about this case, click here.

We are gaining momentum in the pro-life movement. As technology advances, it is clear a baby’s life begins inside the womb and lawyers around the country are revisiting the abortion arguments in the United States.  On December 1st, the case that could overturn Roe v. Wade will be heard at the Supreme Court. We have fought this issue for 30+ years, and we will continue to fight for the unborn.

We are also fighting to hold this Administration accountable for their foreign policy failures. Right now, the Marriott hotel in Prague has decided to not host a Uyghur Muslim conference because they are afraid of China’s power. The company wanted to stay neutral in the political arena, however that has not always been the case – especially when it came to Donald Trump. ACLJ Senior Advisor for National Intelligence and former Acting Director of National Security Ric Grenell discussed this decision by Marriott:

Look, it is happening in Europe. And I wonder if it would be able to happen here in the United States. I am all for companies getting to choose who comes and who doesn’t come. But I think that people need to realize that there are consequences to Marriott deciding that they want to stay politically neutral. I haven’t seen Marriott stay politically neutral in the cancel culture for instance in the United States. Certainly, there are groups that they don’t want at their properties that are affiliated with Donald Trump. And we’ve seen some of those examples of that. I think you have to live and die by your choices. If Marriott decides they don’t want to take a hard stance against China . . . I think they will find a lot of Americans and Europeans are gonna say that is not what I value, I don’t want to stay there. We can vote with our pocketbooks.

Another mistake the Biden Administration is making when it comes to foreign policy is cozying up to Iran at a time when two Iranian nationals have been indicted for attempting to influence in the 2020 election. Ric explained this hypocrisy:

Look, this is hypocrisy of Washington, D.C. because what we heard during the Russia, Russia, Russia collusion hoax was a blanket punishment of Russia not doing business because of the misinformation and propaganda campaign they were pushing. Now we see an aggressive Iranian regime activity, and there is all but silence from the implications of what that means for our policy. If we are to be consistent, then we should shut down any negotiations of the nuclear deal to punish them for the Iranian regime for their manipulation of the American election.

This is just another day at the ACLJ. All of these issues are important to the American people and therefore important to us. We are utilizing all of our resources here at home and all around the world thanks to our ACLJ members.

Today’s full Sekulow broadcast is complete with even more analysis of the Build Back Better bill, China, and Iran. 

Watch the full broadcast below.

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