Democrats Have Gotten This Big Endorsement for Nearly 40 Years; Kamala Just Lost It

By Teri Christoph | RedState.com

AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

Kamala's been looking everywhere for the union label, but she just can't seem to find one. 

In the latest blow to her campaign, the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) has followed in the footsteps of the Teamsters union and declined to endorse a candidate in the 2024 presidential race. This breaks with a decades-long tradition of the IAFF endorsing nearly all Democrat presidential candidates. 

A post that appeared on the IAFF's X account Thursday stated that their executive board voted not to endorse after "taking unprecedented steps to hear our members' views and the policy issues that matter most to them" over the past year. In other words, the union doesn't like Kamala, but also doesn't want the blowback they'd get from endorsing Trump. So they do nothing.

It sounds an awful lot like the Teamsters' decision to not endorse back in September. In a sentiment echoed by the IAFF in its decision, the Teamsters chose not to make an endorsement after taking into account the views and priorities of its members:

“Our mission as union representatives is clear: to be honest and upfront, to be inclusive and, above all, to be transparent with our membership. As the strongest and most democratic labor union in America, it was vital for our members to drive this endorsement process. Democrats, Republicans, and Independents proudly call our union home, and we have a duty to represent and respect every one of them."

As the tweet below shows, the IAFF's decision is not good news at all for Kamala, who is one of only two Democrat presidential candidates since 1984 to not receive the endorsement. The other candidate? Hillary Clinton.

This is going to ruffle a lot of leftist feathers. Many will undoubtedly see some kind of misogyny in the union's decision to not endorse the Democrat Party's two female presidential candidates. Leaving out the fact that the left collectively cannot define what a female or a woman is, the male-dominated unions will surely be excoriated for daring not to endorse the women. 

Others will see it as a betrayal because, for decades now, Democrats took these kinds of union endorsements for granted. They were the party of the working man (wink, wink), therefore, deserved the endorsements. Democrats have bought union endorsements for time immemorial, so something has gone very, very wrong here. 

Things are trending in a very bad direction for Kamala. As RedState reported earlier Thursday, Kamala has embraced the striking dockworkers, despite the potential devastating effects for the U.S. economy, calling for them to receive their "fair share" of the profits earned by the companies that keep the strikers employed. She, in return, is getting little or no support from the picketing longshoreman.

Bottom line here is that Kamala Harris is deeply unlikable to vast swaths of the electorate, even to traditionally Democrat voting blocs like unions, despite the best electioneering efforts of the corporate media. 

FEMA Is Out of Money After Helene, and You'll Never Guess Where It Went

By Stephen Green | PJ Media

AP Photo/Mike Stewart

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas admitted on Wednesday that "FEMA does not have the funds to make it through the season.” One reason for that is that under Biden-Harris, FEMA spent $650 million this fiscal year providing services and housing to illegal aliens. And $364 million the year before that. 

If you thought the Federal Emergency Management Agency was just in the business of providing relief to Americans of all creeds and colors when disaster strikes, let's just say that the Biden-Harris administration has broadened the agency's portfolio to include non-emergency aid to folks who aren't even supposed to be here.

Did I really put "you'll never guess where it went" in the headline? I should have given you more credit because I'm sure you totally guessed that one.

Oilfield Rando — one of the best follows you could possibly have on X — has the receipts.

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Post on "X"

Oilfield Rando @Oilfield_Rando

Hi Michael, Biden has been using FEMA funds to house illegal immigrants all over the country his entire Presidency.

It’s called the Shelter and Services program. 

$941 million in 2023 and 2024 alone.

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Congress was supposed to pick up the slack — in fact, our congresscritters got halfway there before campaign season interrupted hurricane season preparations:

Congress recently replenished a key source of FEMA’s response efforts, providing $20 billion for the agency’s disaster relief fund as part of a short-term government spending bill to fund the government through Dec. 20. The bill also gave FEMA flexibility to draw on the money more quickly as needed.

Both chambers of Congress are scheduled, however, to be in their home states and districts until after the election, as lawmakers focus on campaigning.

That sound you hear is crickets instead of congresscritters racing back to Washington to finish what they started. 

Imagine blowing your family's rainy day money on a down payment for a car you can't properly afford. You tell yourself you'll put the money back before the next rainy day crisis comes along. But before you do, a hailstorm takes out your roof.

That's how the government spends your money because when the hailstorm hits and there's not enough money for the insurance deductible, they aren't the ones who have to suffer.

"But wait, there's more!" as the late, great Ron Popiel used to say.

Trucker Ryan Tyre, who has done private-sector disaster relief — you know, providing the stuff that shows up on time and under budget — laid bare yesterday FEMA's dirty little secret. While his group was trying to bring in supplies to the Florida Keys, isolated by Hurricane Irma in 2017, authorities tried turning them away:

The federal agencies had US1 shut down just South of Key Largo and wouldn't let anyone in or out, even though the road was okay to pass. 

We explained to them that we had boats, Jet skis, food, water, chainsaws and fuel to bring these people. 

They didn't care and wouldn't let us in. 

Tyre and his people snuck in by boat anyway, and a Key West local — thrilled to be getting water and other necessities from Tyre — explained that "FEMA had set up a command center at a local high school on the island, but that they weren't doing anything to help the residents, not even bringing them WATER!"

For five days.

Later at an Emergency Operations Center (EOC) meeting, Tyre learned that only supplies from "approved vendors" are allowed into FEMA sites. "So accepting outside donations" from groups like Tyre's, "even though they are on location and can help people NOW, they would rather let people suffer so they can get their kickbacks."

Disasters bring on more chaos than ordinary people can handle. That's why they're called disasters and why we have FEMA. But they blow the money on illegals and never refill the coffers. The added chaos — the government-mandated chaos — is all intentional, and even the accidents are tainted by corruption and graft at worst and damnably shortsighted irresponsibility at best.

_________________

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How Hurricane Helene Will Affect the Election

JD Vance Put the Smackdown on Tim Walz in VP Debate Showdown

By Matt Vespa | Townhall.com

AP Photo

Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) and Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz faced off in CBS News’ vice presidential debate Tuesday night. It wasn’t a particularly nasty debate, as the two men took an ‘agree to disagree’ attitude toward one another. But we know the truth: the two men have made their mutual dislike for one another well-known.

It was a good night for Republicans, which was evident regarding the liberal media reaction which we’ll get to later today. They had a total meltdown on the usual networks. With all due respect to former President Donald Trump, Vance is probably the best debater in this cycle. While he said he was nervous in the spin room with Sean Hannity, Vance didn’t exhibit any sign of being uncomfortable. He was in command of the facts, knew how to pivot on the question aimed to trip him up, and engaged Mr. Walz on his record well. 

Walz was all over the place. He had moments of clarity and precision regarding delivering his lines, but he was bug-eyed, rattled, and wholly unprepared for some discrepancies in his record. He claimed he was in China during the Tiananmen Square Massacre, which is a lie. Even more damning is that there is no pivot; he’s on record in a 2019 radio interview regarding this tall tale. It was a mess of an answer. 

Vance did well to tie the 2024 Democratic ticket to Joe Biden and his failed policies, ripping away the window dressing that anything the Harris-Walz ticket promotes is anything new—it’s all Biden initiatives. Vance delivered a master class in pivoting on a loaded question about climate change in the wake of the Hurricane Helene disaster. 

Without being too aggressive, Vance was able to run Walz into a ditch on a host of issues, like Minnesota’s insane abortion law and immigration. Concerning the Second Amendment and gun control, Walz did have a cringeworthy moment where he misspoke, saying he was a friend of school shooters. One of the high points of the debate was when Vance caught Walz flat-footed on trade, the economy, and how to make things better for America’s working class. Even CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell was forced to bring up voters’ preference for Donald Trump when handling the economy. 

It wasn't a Joe Biden-like trainwreck, but Walz was the inferior opponent. Will it matter? Who knows, but we understand why this man isn’t allowed to do interviews alone.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH JD VANCE'S FULL CLOSING STATEMENT

How Do You Debate a Deranged Muppet?

By Derek Hunter | Townhall.com

AP Photo/Morry Gash

The big debate is tonight between JD Vance and Tim Walz. Between someone who actually deployed to a war zone and Mr. Stolen Valor Fraudie Murphy who lied for years about having done it, then blamed his lies on bad grammar. Between a man who came from nothing and rose to wealth and political office and someone who bounces around like a Division III college mascot who got into the team’s medicine cabinet. What can JD Vance expect in his debate with a deranged Muppet?

Tim Walz is the kind of guy you leave a neighborhood BBQ when he shows up, because you know he’s going to get loud and embarrassing; the type of person who think noogies are still funny after the age of 12 and oddly touches other people’s kids while talking about “how big they’ve gotten.” He’s just kind of gross.

He is not anyone people choose to be around for long periods – an Irish Setter of a person who has families putting fragile valuables on the top shelf when he’s coming over to keep them from breaking. He’s every character Chris Farley played: funny to watch, as long as you don’t have to deal with him.

He’s hard to take seriously, let alone talk to. 

But Vance has to take him seriously, and can do some serious damage to the Democratic ticket if he does it well enough, which I hope he will do.

Walz was chosen as a nod to the radical left. Kamala had to lie about every position she’s ever held (no, that’s not a Willie Brown joke) in order to stand a chance, so picking Fraudie Murphy was a wink and a nod to the left that she’s really on their team, even if she talks about things they despise like securing the border, Israel or just the country in a positive way. 

He’s a committed radical with an affinity for China, having bragged about visiting the country as a guest of the tyrannical regime 30 times. Sure, like most of his life – the rank he retired at in the military, his deployments, carrying weapons in war, claiming to be a championship coach when he was an assistant coach who didn’t make the calls to turn the football program around – Tim Walz is a shameless liar. The guy loves to tell crowds that he believes in “leaving people the hell alone” but set up a hotline to encourage citizens to rat out anyone who didn’t obey his COVID lockdown rules. These “deviants” include people who went to church, played basketball and hugged a neighbor. Even East Germany didn’t go that far.

It's hard to seriously debate someone it’s hard to take seriously, but that was Vance has to do. He’s not debating Tim Walz, he’s got to use Tim Walz to hit Kamala Harris – and hit her he must on every issue.

Whatever the question, smack Walz and go right after Harris. 

Tim will do the same in the other direction. Look, he’s dumb and unaccomplished. Anyone can lie about their lives and get elected, if they’re a Democrat. But, honestly, that doesn’t matter. No one is going to vote for or against either ticket based on who the number two is, it’s just not going to happen. It’s about the top of the ticket, period.

Tim Walz knows this. He’s not even trying to sell Kamala Harris to anyone, he knows voters will either recoil at the prospect of Trump winning the presidency again or not. Those who can’t stand the idea are the people he has to encourage to look past the gag reflex they have at the prospect of a Harris administration (no, this isn’t a Willie Brown joke either). 

It’s an easier sell, the idea that you’re not the other team, because people are going to buy something, and Vance has to keep that in mind. You may hate a bologna sandwich, so whatever else is available will be your default choice, but if discover that choice is haggis it may change your mind about what to have for lunch.

The Democratic ticket is the haggis of politics, people just need to be reminded of it. It offers the promise of being a delicacy in Scottland but delivers the fact that it’s layers of boiled gross to the point that you being to take the side of the English is all their years of oppression. 

More than selling Donald Trump, JD Vance has to expose who the Democratic ticket is, what they’ve done and what they want to do. By probing Kamala’s record and exposing it to the public for the first time, really, JD can get people to see who the radical left is and the sick, disgusting things they want to do to everyone, should they get into a position of power…and that is a Willie Brown joke, just like they all were.