Cross-Examination

• Latest Twitter Files drop: On Tuesday, the latest in an ongoing series of revelations into Twitter’s behind-the-scenes management practices was dropped via investigative journalist Matt Taibbi. This latest Twitter Files tranche exposed the increasing degree of the federal government’s involvement in Twitter’s censorship decision-making process. What started as a trickle with the FBI “consulting” Twitter on “dangerous misinformation” turned into a flood by 2020, as demands made by more government agencies to crack down on “mis/disinformation” increased exponentially. These demands included “requests” to ban upwards of 250,000 accounts, which included journalists. Using the guise of “Russian disinformation,” the government’s target for censorship broadened especially to COVID-related claims. Furthermore, more government agencies sought to get in on the act. Taibbi notes that the Global Engagement Center, which he describes as “a fledgling analytic/intelligence arm of the State Department,” wanted “to use intel from other agencies to ‘insert themselves’ into the content moderation club that included Twitter, Facebook, the FBI, DHS, and others.” This revelation shows just how broad the federal government’s collusion with Big Tech became in its efforts to censor information. This is yet more apparent evidence of the federal government infringing on Americans’ First Amendment rights. It establishes the fact that federal bureaucrats are actively invested in censoring speech if they find it politically problematic. It also shows that all of the major social media companies are caught up in this censorship gambit.

• Colorado’s Polis pulls an Abbott on immigration: New York City Mayor Eric Adams blasted a recent move by Colorado Governor Jared Polis to send a number of illegal aliens to the Big Apple. “This is just unfair for local governments to have to take on this national obligation,” Adams moaned. “We’ve done our job. There is no more room at the inn.” Polis, a Democrat, took a page out of Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott’s immigration playbook and has been busing migrants to major Democrat-run cities like New York and Chicago. Polis justified the move by contending that 70% of the illegal aliens arriving in his state were simply passing through and he’s just helping them “safely reach their desired final destination.” Last month, Denver’s Democrat Mayor Michael Hancock declared a state of emergency as over 3,500 migrants arrived in the city. Meanwhile, Abbott noted that as of Monday he has bused nearly 5,000 migrants to New York City. While Adams is complaining about not having enough room, he should be aiming his ire squarely at Joe Biden, since it is his open-border policies that allowed these migrants to pour into the country.

• A long way from a balanced budget: Comparing the federal government’s spending to that of drunken sailors is a slight against drunken sailors. In 2022 alone, Washington spent $1.4 trillion over federal revenue, and in doing so pushed the national debt to almost $31.5 trillion. A recent analysis out of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School observed that the nation’s fiscal policy is in “permanent imbalance as current debt plus projected future spending outstrips future tax revenue.” The study further noted, “The fiscal imbalance must be zero for a fiscal policy to be sustainable without future changes.” Therefore, in order to balance the books, the study found that the federal government would either have to cut spending by 30% or raise taxes by 40%. Of course, based on the current course set by Joe Biden and the Democrats, with their new spending bills that are estimated to add $4.8 trillion to the deficit by 2031, let’s just say the prospect of spending cuts appears unlikely.

Headlines

• McCarthy opponents unmoved as speaker election drags on (Roll Call)

• White House mum on Biden’s 2024 plans after signaling final decision over holidays (Washington Times)

• Biden gets ready to turn to executive action as Republicans take House (Washington Examiner)

• DOJ hiding hundreds of Hunter Biden, James Biden records, lawyer claims (NY Post)

• Ten scandals to keep your eye on in 2023 (The Federalist)

• Too big too fast? Skeptics see dangers in IRS rush to expand (Washington Times)

• Texas National Guard places razor wire, other fortifications along southern border (American Greatness)

• Army guidance says vaccine mandate repeal does not apply to National Guard, reserves (Daily Caller)

• Kamala Harris requires negative COVID tests for Senate swear-in photo op (NY Post)

• CDC urges teachers, administrators, school nurses to adopt LGBT curriculum, endorse transgender identity (Daily Signal)

• Ontario College of Psychologists threatens Jordan Peterson with “mandatory social media retraining” (PM)

• Democrat megadonor Bankman-Fried pleads not guilty in FTX fraud case (Free Beacon)

• Satire: “60 Minutes” interviews population control expert Thanos (Babylon Bee)

For more editors’ choice headlines, click here.