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Adversity temporarily visits a strong man but stays with the weak for a lifetime. -
.... why on Jan 6th during the riots in DC, when Trump was 1st time President, did he say he did not have the authority to call in the national guard , he now calls in the military?
DC is peaceful today and has been for many months but tourists are shunning the city not wanting to risk crossing ICE spot checks and roadblocks.Comment
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Adversity temporarily visits a strong man but stays with the weak for a lifetime.Comment
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Jeanine Pirro says people who carry rifles, shotguns in DC will no longer face felony charges
The change affects rifles, shotguns and large-capacity magazines
Federal prosecutors in Washington, D.C., will no longer slap people with felony charges for possession of rifles or shotguns in the nation's capital, according to U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro.
The change means federal prosecutors will not seek charges under the D.C. law that made it illegal to carry rifles or shotguns in the district, except in limited cases for permit holders.
Under the new policy, the U.S. Attorney's Office will continue to bring charges when a person is accused of using a shotgun or rifle in a violent crime or has a criminal record that prohibits them from possessing a firearm. The new policy also covers large-capacity magazines, but it does not include handguns.
... what better way to discourage tourism in DC than to see locals and visitors walking around with rifles and shotguns hanging off their bodies.
Tourism is a major economic force in DC and it is under threat from gov't overreach.Comment
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Trump’s federal takeover is disrupting Washington, DC’s ailing economy
Business has never been this slow for Jovan Richards, who sells shirts, hats and souvenirs emblazoned with the likeness of the nation’s capital.
Every day for the past four years, Richards and her husband have set up a table to sell merchandise near the Washington Monument. Richards, 56, said she made made less than $100 in sales last week, when President Donald Trump announced plans for a federal takeover of the city’s police force. On a good day of sales, she typically makes around $1,500.
“I’m not making any money, so I’m just sitting here wasting my time,”
Federal troops have descended near tourist attractions and bustling neighborhoods in Washington, DC, on Trump’s command to crack down on crime (which, according to police data, is down compared to recent years). In response, residents and visitors are hunkering down, directly cutting into the profits of businesses around the city.
But the takeover could have a more severe effect on Washington’s ailing economy — already strained by mass federal layoffs — if convention planners pull the plug on future events.
“If there’s a perception that DC is turning into a police state, then there’s going to be some hesitancy to go out and explore the city,” said Adam Kamins, director of regional economics at Moody’s. “That would be true of visitors from overseas but also of local residents who just want to steer clear of all of this.”
“But the bigger concern if this persists for longer is if conference organizers start to look elsewhere,” he added.
Economic activity is dropping off
Washington’s streets have been quieter than usual over the past week.
Despite Trump’s claim earlier this week that DC restaurants have been “busier than they’ve been in a long time,” reservations tracked by OpenTable have been down recently. On August 11, when Trump announced the takeover, seated diners dropped 16% compared to a year ago. Two days later, when troops mobilized around the city, seated diners fell 31% compared to a year ago.
“Definitely a huge drop in our weekday business, for sure,” said Patrick Marshall, assistant general manager of a popular sports and betting bar in Washington. “We used to see huge crowds walking by, but it’s just been very, very quiet. People aren’t coming out like they used to.”
And the takeover couldn’t come at a worse time for DC restaurants. It’s currently the district’s annual summer “Restaurant Week,” in which restaurants offer deals and special menus. Restaurant visits were down 22% compared to last year, as of Monday, according to OpenTable.
“We’ve already had a record number of restaurant closures happening this year,” said Shawn Townsend, president and CEO of the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington, which organizes Restaurant Week. “We are still grappling with pandemic-like issues that other industries have have been able to move past, and now there’s this.”
And it’s not just restaurants. Visits at various different kinds of stores in Washington have been down over the past week, according to data provided by pass_by, a retail technology firm.
In the week starting August 11, foot traffic was down about 81% of retail-store categories in Washington compared to data from a year ago, according to pass_by, with car dealerships, department stores, convenience stores and beauty-supply shops seeing some of the steepest drops.
“There are no lines on the street to get into clubs,” said Miguel Trinidade Deramo, an advisory neighborhood commissioner for a district in Northwest Washington. “Everyday people just don’t want to be out there when there are masked federal agents who refuse to identify which agency they’re with.”
Several DC bars have detailed in media interviews how business has tanked since Trump announced his takeover. Mark Rutstein, a co-owner of Crush Dance Bar on U Street and 14th, a hub of DC nightlife, told WUSA9 that the gay bar just had its “worst Friday in history.”
“We lost a little more than $15,000 that night,” he said. “Three more weeks of this? I mean, we’re talking about a couple hundred grand.”
A key source of economic power under threat
Conventions play a crucial role in fueling Washington’s hospitality industry, which employs tens of thousands of people. But the increased law enforcement presence has some organizers on edge.
The American Chemical Society, which held its annual fall conference this week, emailed attendees about Trump’s attempted takeover of the city police department. The organization said in a statement that it was trying to offer “clear guidance to attendees to ensure a safe, respectful, and inclusive environment.”
Elliott Ferguson, president and CEO of Destination DC, the city’s tourism marketing arm, said he has reached out to convention planners with upcoming events to tell them that the data doesn’t back up Trump’s claim that the city is experiencing a crime surge.
“Convention are extremely important because they’re tied to the economics of our city,” Ferguson said. “Now we’re dealing with a depiction of Washington as a crime infested city, which is not accurate, and there was already a lot of hesitancy before that.”
Saifullah Omar Nasif, a PhD student from Australia, is visiting Washington for the first time to attend the ACS conference. He told CNN that he’s uneasy about the increase in police presence, planning to only stay in his hotel and attend conference sessions.
“As a foreign citizen visiting here, I don’t feel comfortable roaming around,” Nasif said on Saturday at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center while picking up his badge for the conference.
For now, the full economic impact of Trump’s police takeover of Washington remains in up in the air.
“It’s safe to say that the leisure and hospitality sector could be seeing signs of a slowdown with fewer international travelers, concerns about federal job cuts, as well as concerns about national guard personnel patrolling popular nightlife spots, but most evidence is anecdotal at best,” said Barbara Denham, a senior economist at Oxford Economics.
“But a continued or growing presence of (law enforcement) personnel could hurt the sector if they were to stay through the busier fall season when Congress is back in session and business travel resumes,” she added.
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OMG: South Park DEMOLISHES Trump over his military deployment
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OMG!!!! South Park!!!!!! LOL!!!!! Love that show.Comment
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Democrats are really are slow to catch on. They lost in a landslide by lying about crime committed by illegals. They're lying again about crime in D.C. Stupid.Adversity temporarily visits a strong man but stays with the weak for a lifetime.Comment
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The 2024 presidential election was close, not a landslide
But the small victory hasn't stopped Trump from claiming a mandate.
Was the 2024 presidential election close?
It certainly didn't feel that way on election night and in the days immediately after. It became clear that President-elect Donald Trump was on pace to win relatively early in the evening. Interactive maps of election results showed the entire country shifting right. By Thursday, Trump had won 51 percent of the votes that had been counted thus far, more than 3 percentage points ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris. Headlines declared that Trump's victory was "resounding" and a "rout." His allies proclaimed it was a "decisive win" and claimed a mandate.
But ballots were still being counted. As we've gotten more data and had the time to put the 2024 election in perspective, the truth has become clear: Yes, the 2024 presidential election was close. With more ballots counted, Trump's national popular vote lead is down to 1.6 points, and Harris could have won if she had done just a couple of points better in just a few states. Any argument that the 2024 election was a "landslide" is misleading. It relies on a combination of recency bias and using the wrong measuring sticks.
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Words are difficult for some and "landslide" just shows this, kinda like claiming to be the party of "law & order"....please.
If it was a football game the score would have been 45-32, hardly a blowout....
Failing to plan is planning to fail!!!Comment
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Again, I ask you if you really believe what you post?.. 🤷
And, can you post FACTS from known RELIABLE sources, that are accepted as that by the majority of the rest of the world, that don't have their own agenda, to back up what you say?
Or is it just 'facts' from the multitude of U.S.A. click bait news sources that agree with your standpoint?
Again, I'm just asking...Comment
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