| Unleash Prosperity Hotline – Weekend Edition Issue #309 06/18/2021, 06/19/2021, 06/20/2021 |
| 1) Happy Juneteenth, Another Billion Dollars Down The Drain The end of slavery in America is certainly worth celebrating, but these federal holidays are getting mighty expensive. Today’s Juneteenth paid holiday for all federal employees comes just as the government was starting to reopen. Most federal employees have gotten full pay over the past year for “working” remotely at home for more than a year, so a paid holiday to stay home when many are just getting back to their offices and behind seems excessive, to say the least. Our friend Adam Andrzejewski of OpenTheBooks calculated that federal employees now can get 44 paid days off each year – at least two more weeks off than what most private sector workers earn. No wonder Federal employment is commonly spoofed as Club Fed. Club Fed – Paid Days Off Federal Holidays 11 Sick Days 13 Vacation Days 20 Andrzejewski estimates that each paid Holiday costs federal taxpayers more than $800 million. And that doesn’t include some in the military and postal workers. When adding those employees, the cost is approaching $1 billion for this day off. Oh, and don’t forget that the Democrats in the House passed a bill now in the Senate that would make Election Day every two years a federal holiday. What about Gay Pride Day? Should that be a holiday? Are you a homophobe if you oppose that? How about Cinco de Mayo? Certainly, Saint Patrick’s Day should be celebrated in remembrance of the discrimination faced by the Irish (“Irish Need Not Apply!”). We are getting very close to federal employees, many, if not most who make more than $100,000 a year when including benefits, working the equivalent of four days a week. https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamandrzejewski/2021/06/17/with-juneteenth-federal-employees-now-get-44-paid-days-off-on-average/?sh=44b4a1f23477 |
| 2) The Democratic Compromise “Voting Rights” Bill Is A Sham Democrats are making their move to unilaterally override the election rules of all 50 states and force a highly partisan set of laws. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will hold a vote next Tuesday, and Joe Manchin, the lone holdout Democrat on the bill says he will stick with his party to push the bill forward. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-17/schumer-set-to-challenge-gop-with-vote-to-advance-election-bill Manchin has just released a series of standards he says he can support in any final bill. They include making Election Day yet another national holiday, a mandated period for early voting, taking the power to draw Congressional districts away from state legislatures, and counting provisional ballots even if they’re cast by voters in a precinct where they can’t vote for some of the candidates on that ballot. State voter laws mandating a photo ID would be swept away and replaced with a weak tea alternative that lacks needed security provisions. The Manchin alternative isn’t as horrendous as the original Democratic bill, but it still represents a dramatic and unprecedented takeover of state election laws in the pursuit of partisan advantage. It’s telling that left-wing UC-Irvine law professor Rick Hasen offered his instant appreciation on Slate:  |
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