President Joe Biden’s border policies have led to monthly records of illegal immigrants crossing our southern border and being shipped, most often by the federal government, to different cities across the nation. In fact, some 2.2 million people have taken advantage of Biden’s aversion to enforcing immigration law, meaning the nation is on track to see close to 5 million new illegal immigrants by the time Biden leaves office.
But despite the border being out of control, most voters continue to say inflation is their uppermost concern. Since Biden took office, the price of a loaf of bread is up 13 percent — which, shockingly, isn’t even as bad as the increased prices of other necessities.
In the Northeast, the price of heating oil has more than doubled, rising 123 percent from $2.57 per gallon to $5.73. That means the cost of a typical 200-gallon fill leaped from $514 to $1,146. Because times are tight, many homeowners had to resort to paying these bills with their credit cards, which, to make things worse, are now charging higher rates of interest.
In California, where Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom risibly claims that oil industry collusion — and not his party’s anti-American energy agenda — is causing high gas prices, the average for a gallon of regular gasoline is $5.82, up $1.30 per gallon, or 29 percent from a year ago.
With Democrats panicking, they’re pulling out every device in their bag of tricks to stave off a red election tsunami.
In Texas, this effort may take the form of direct intervention in the election by the now hyper-weaponized Biden Justice Department in Harris County, America’s third-largest county, which is home to Houston, America’s fourth-largest city. There, the Justice Department has been asked by the local Democratic machine to intervene in the November election by sending federal monitors.
First, a little history. Because of Harris County’s sloppiness in administering its elections, Texas’s secretary of state announced last September that it would conduct a “full forensic audit of 2020 General Election in four Texas counties.”
The 2020 election, marred by the bending and breaking of election law to accommodate fears over Covid-19, saw Harris County fumble the chain of custody for 14 polling locations and their electronic mobile ballot boxes. The number of votes in question totals 184,999.
With regards to government, we shouldn’t ascribe to malice that which is more easily explained by incompetence. In fact, Harris County’s election administrator was so inept that she resigned under pressure in the wake of irregularities during the March 1, 2022, primary election.
Thus, the Texas Secretary of State’s Office and the Texas Attorney General’s Office announced on Oct. 18 that they would send inspectors, security trainers, and legal advisers to Harris County to try to ensure the giant county runs its November election competently and fairly.
But in a letter to the Biden Justice Department dated Oct. 20, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo claim the state of Texas’s plan to send in election inspectors amounts to an effort to “disrupt and intimidate local election workers.” Further, they claim, the state intends to “chill voters’ trust in the election process.”
Republican State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, who represents Harris County, remains concerned about the county’s election administration competence, saying, “The essential question Harris County Elections must answer is how did the 2020 Election results get tabulated while 14 MBBs (Mobile Ballot Boxes) had no chain-of-custody? Some didn’t even use the same ID number from the polling place. This is a massive chain-of-custody breach.” Bettencourt went on to say, “This violation of State and Federal election law that requires 22-month election records rendition is clear, and the County no longer has the software to operate the MBBs.”
In response, the new elections administrator for Harris County assured a representative of the Texas Secretary of State’s Office in an Oct. 24 letter that prior election process shortcomings have been addressed.
Republicans are expected to retain their statewide offices in Texas. They also look competitive in the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas as Hispanics sour on the leftward march of the Democratic Party.
But Democrats are feeling particularly concerned in Harris County, where a close race for county judge features first-term leftwing incumbent Hidalgo facing off against a strong Republican challenger in Alexandra del Moral Mealer. Mealer, a former U.S. Army captain and veteran of Afghanistan, has been particularly critical of Hidalgo’s record on crime as Harris County has seen a surge of homicide and assaults since Hidalgo’s election.
These factors make Harris County an enticing target for Biden’s politicized federal law enforcement operation.