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April 7, 2021 - Epoch Times
19:34
Poverty Program Excludes White Families; Minority Families Get $500/Month in Oakland | Facts Matter
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Good evening.
Yesterday, the governor of Arkansas has signed a new bill into law that will ban biological males from participating in women's sports.
This makes Arkansas the second state in the country to do this.
Meanwhile, over in California, particularly in the city of Oakland, they are trying a new universal basic income program.
However, the catch is that in order to qualify, you cannot be white.
Now, over at the southern border, according to a new report, the Biden administration's plan to put migrants in hotel rooms will cause the American taxpayers $72,000 for every border crosser.
And lastly, a Marine Corps officer has warned Congress that the military has issued training material that identifies Catholics and evangelical Christians as religious extremists, alongside the KKK, Al-Qaeda, and Hamas.
Let's go through these stories together.
This is your daily Facts Matter update, and I'm your host, Roman, from the Epoch Times.
Now let's begin today's discussion by talking about California, particularly Oakland, California.
Three days ago, the mayor of Oakland announced that they will be piloting a privately funded program to give guaranteed income to poor families.
It's a program similar to the concept of universal basic income.
But what's the catch here?
Well, this pilot program will choose 600 poor families and give them $500 per month to do anything they want with.
And in order to qualify, you must have at least one child who's under the age of 18, your income must be at least 50% lower than the median income of the local area, and you cannot be white.
That's right.
This public program in Oakland is exclusively for low-income families of color.
And so if you belong to a poor white family, you don't qualify, because the eligibility for this program is strictly limited to black, indigenous, and people of color communities.
Here's what the mayor said in a video statement.
Our vision is an Oakland that has closed the racial wealth gap and where all families thrive.
We believe that guaranteed income is the most transformative policy that can achieve this vision and whose time has come.
Now, while this is not the first program of its type in the nation, there have been other mayors throughout America who have launched small temporary programs like this, universal basic income.
But this is the first program in America to limit the program criteria based on race.
In explaining why white families were excluded from this program, the mayor of Oakland cited a report, this one here, called the Oakland Equity Index, which showed that white households in Oakland make about three times as much annually than black households, at least on average.
Although it's questionable how much solace that statistic offers to extremely poor white families in that community.
Now the question here is this.
Is this program actually legal?
Well, according to a civil rights attorney, as well as the founder of the Center for American Liberty, she said this during an interview with Fox News.
It's illegal on multiple grounds.
The United States Supreme Court has long ruled that any race-based qualifications are noxious, is one word that's used, pernicious is another word that's used, and any such categorizations are subject to strict scrutiny when the government is imposing them.
Now, furthermore, during that same interview, she added that the California Constitution itself, the state constitution of California, contains specific provisions that make it illegal for benefits to be handed out on the basis of race.
For instance, inside of the California Constitution, if you go to Article 1, Section 31, it says this...
The state shall not discriminate against or grant preferential treatment to any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting.
However, there might be a bit of a loophole in this Oakland program, because even though it's run by the government, it is actually funded privately.
But this lawyer says that it doesn't matter.
Oakland is going to say in court that this is being funded by private nonprofits that are giving this money.
But it's still the government that's handing it out.
It is still excluding people on the basis of race.
Our country was founded on the basis that we don't do that, and the 14th Amendment of the Constitution absolutely forbids this type of race-based classification, so it's like there was no lawyer involved in designing this ridiculous program.
Now, thus far, this pilot program, which by the way is officially called the Oakland Resilient Families Program, has raised close to $7 million from private donors.
And likely, what will actually wind up happening is that when this program starts up, civil lawsuits will be brought up against it, challenging it in court on constitutional grounds.
And we here at the Epoch Times will be keeping an eye on that and will report on what happens as these developments come about.
Now, there are two things along this case.
I'd like to know your thoughts about this program.
Is it reasonable to exclude white people from this type of funding?
Will it help potentially correct the larger problems or historical wrongdoings that have been committed against communities of color, particularly black people?
I don't know.
I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Please leave them in the comments section below.
I'll be reading them tonight.
And secondly, if you'd like to read more about this program, including all of the details about it, that link will be in the description box below this video for you to check out.
And now, before we move on and talk about the crisis on the southern border, I would like to mention something.
You probably already know about the state of the media in this country right now.
The legacy media outlets, by and large, do not seem to be in the business of reporting the truth any longer.
Instead, they seem to be pushing a certain worldview upon America.
They have established narratives, and the facts, the real-world facts, they can be spun to accommodate those narratives.
They frame stories in a certain way, they set up confines of what can be discussed like a box, which limits the public discussion.
And if you dare to step outside of that box...
Well, then you're branded a heretic.
And then you know exactly what happens after that.
Social media, which is in total lockstep with the legacy media, they begin to block your access to any information that runs counter to the established narrative.
And so, as this vice group of censorship is just getting tighter and tighter, if you would like to fight back, if you would like to support honest journalism, if you would like a source of news that questions the established narratives, that digs into the facts, that reports openly, honestly, and transparently, then I would recommend that you subscribe to The Epoch Times.
I'll throw a link into the description box below this video for you to subscribe.
It only costs a few dollars every month, but in return, you will get access to all of our reports, which, by the way, with all of this censorship that's happening right now, are, in my opinion, extremely critical.
And specifically, I actually want to mention something about our China coverage.
The Chinese Communist Party is, by my best estimate, alongside maybe socialist subversion in America generally, is the biggest threat to this country.
Militarily, ideologically, economically, and pretty much just across the board.
But generally, the media outlets in this country, they do not seem to be reporting on this accurately.
They do not seem to be reporting accurately on the communist regime.
And that could be for various reasons.
Some are afraid to get their visas revoked.
Some have economic interests with China.
Some have just been straight up duped by the Communist Party's talking points and so on.
However, we here at the Epoch Times, we expose communism in all of its forms, especially the Chinese Communist Party.
In fact, you might not know this, but 20 years ago, our staff of reporters and editors who were actually inside of China, they were arrested, they were jailed, and some of them were even tortured for reporting the truth.
And this literally forced us to develop a system and an underground network of sources for getting real news out of that country.
And amidst everything that's happening right now, whether it's the pandemic, the lies that are surrounding the pandemic, the saber rattling, the militarization, the cyber warfare, the economic theft, our team is able to bring you the real situation.
Basically, things that Americans need to know right now.
And so again, that link will be in the description box below this video to subscribe to The Epoch Times.
I hope you click on it, and I hope that you check it out.
And now let's talk a bit about the crisis on the U.S. southern border.
Now, we already discussed in one of our previous episodes how the Biden administration is planning to spend $86 million on hotel facilities for illegal immigrants.
But one thing that we did not mention in that earlier episode, but something that I think you should definitely be aware of, is that when you crunch the numbers, American taxpayers will be paying $72,000 for each border crosser that's being housed.
This number, by the way, came from a report from the Center for Immigration Studies, and what they did was that they divided the $86.9 million which was allocated to this project by the number of beds that are going to be rented, which is 1,239 beds, and that comes out to be about $72,000 for every illegal immigrant.
And by the way, we here at the Epoch Times, we actually reached out to the Department of Homeland Security, and they confirmed to us.
They told us that this money is going to be used for hotel facilities.
And this fact, it prompted Mark Meadows, who is the former White House Chief of Staff, to describe the situation this way.
Joe Biden and congressional Democrat leaders have managed our border so poorly, they're now having to spend your taxpayer money to house migrants in hotels.
It's also worth noting that, according to the director of ICE, besides lodging, these illegal immigrants will also get medical checkups, COVID testing, and they will likely be fed, and so that $72,000 does not only go to housing.
But it does appear that that is how much we are spending for every border crosser.
Here's how a fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies described it.
That works out to $71,666 per migrant, paid by your tax dollars, meaning that you are now a co-conspirator to one of the largest smuggling schemes in history.
Now, criticism of these policies have begun to mount.
For instance, we here at the Epoch Times, we recently had a chance to sit down with Brian Babin, who is a congressman from Texas, and he told us that, in his opinion, Biden's rhetoric was fueling a humanitarian and national security crisis.
When talking about the administration's policies, he described them this way.
Come on up here.
Step one foot in and you will be admitted.
And eventually, you will be on a path to citizenship and you will receive an education.
You will get free health care and you will even get stimulus checks.
Now, what he mentioned there about citizenship, that actually refers to how, soon after taking office, Joe Biden proposed a pathway for citizenship for millions of people who were in the country illegally.
And actually, likewise, three days ago, the president of Mexico, he also cast blame on Biden's policies, saying that they created certain expectations that are ultimately spurring illegal immigrants to make the trip.
Here's what the Mexican president said.
Expectations were created that with President Biden's government, there would be a better treatment of migrants.
This has caused Central American migrants, and also from our country, to want to cross the border, thinking that it is easier to do so.
And that, in fact, does seem to be the case.
Because right after these changes in immigration policy, there was a surge in illegal crossings, especially by unaccompanied minors, many of whom, by the way, are right now being kept in overcrowded facilities.
In fact, there are so many illegal immigrants right now that the Biden administration has just converted a third convention center, this one in San Antonio, Texas, to house them.
Well, at least to house the ones that are not going to hotels.
Now, likely, because the situation has gotten so bad, and because criticism has been mounting to the level that it has, the Biden administration has recently come out and taken a harder posture on the border, going so far as to actually say that the border is now closed.
In fact, the director of Homeland Security, this is what he recently told media.
Furthermore, in order to combat this crisis, two days ago, Joe Biden announced that Kamala Harris will lead the administration's efforts to Joe Biden announced that Kamala Harris will lead the administration's efforts to stop the influx of illegal He said that Kamala Harris was the most qualified person to handle the job, adding that...
This increase has been consequential, but the Vice President has agreed to lead our diplomatic effort and to work with those nations to accept the returnees and enhance migration enforcement at their borders.
She is leading the effort because I think the best thing to do is put someone who speaks for me, doesn't have to check with me.
She knows what she's doing.
Now, in terms of what Kamala Harris actually plans to do, here's what she said upon accepting this role.
I look forward to engaging in diplomacy with government, with the private sector, with civil society, and with the leaders of each level in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras to strengthen democracy and the rule of law and ensure shared prosperity in the region.
Now, if you would like to read more about the border crisis, about the causes behind it, or about what is now being done to address it, all those links will be in the description box below this video for you to check out.
And by the way, that is that same little description box that is right below that like button that I hope you take a moment to smash.
Because it goes without saying that videos that are like this, talking honestly and openly and transparently about what's happening in this country and this world right now, are routinely centered by big tech giants like YouTube.
However, when you smash that like button that's below this video, you are forcing the YouTube algorithm to share this video out to potentially thousands of more people, letting the truth be known far and wide.
Yesterday, the governor of Arkansas signed a bill into law that will ban biological males from participating in women's sports.
This makes Arkansas the second state in the union to do this.
Mississippi was the first about a month ago.
Now, in signing the bill, which is called the Fairness in Women's Sports Act, the governor said that his intention was to protect opportunities for female athletes and To recognize the inherent biological differences between males and females, and to also recognize how this biological difference results in different athletic capabilities.
In fact, here's how it's worded itself.
Here's how the bill is worded itself.
And after signing the bill into law, here's how the governor explained his rationale.
I signed the law as a fan of women's sports, from basketball to soccer.
This law simply says that female athletes should not have to compete in a sport against a student of the male sex when the sport is designed for women's competition.
This will help promote and maintain fairness in women's sporting events.
Now, after this new law was passed in Arkansas, it met with stark opposition from the LGBTQIA rights groups who claimed that it would expose Arkansas to...
And among many other things that they might be referring to there is the fact that the Arkansas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, which is a left-leaning advocacy group, released a statement indicating that...
Suggesting that a legal challenge could occur in the near future.
And this type of legal warfare in the realm of transgender sports is not specific to Arkansas.
In fact, last year, a federal judge blocked Idaho from enforcing a similar law, which barred transgender student athletes from competing in women's sports.
And by the way, just for your reference, that case in Idaho is still ongoing, and the appeal is actually scheduled for May of this year.
And so how these cases will ultimately wind up playing out in Arkansas and Idaho will have very big implications for the rest of the country.
That's because, for one, Republicans in at least 20 different states are pushing for similar types of laws.
And secondly, the Biden administration has indicated that it actually supports biologically male students from participating in women's sports.
In fact, Joe Biden signed an executive order which states, among other things, that children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the restroom, the locker room, or school sports.
And so within the next coming few months and years, this is set to not only be a conflict within these states themselves, but also between the state and federal levels of our government.
If you'd like to read more about this law out in Arkansas, or about these similar measures being enacted or being pushed forward in 20 other states, those links will be in the description box below this video for you to check out.
And now let's talk a bit about the U.S. military.
According to an officer in the Marine Corps, when the Department of Defense was giving a training, one of their slides identified Catholics as well as evangelical Christians as being religious extremists, alongside members of the KKK, Al-Qaeda, and Hamas.
During testimony to the Armed Services Committee, here's what this Marine said.
Included among those listed are Al-Qaeda, Hamas, and the Ku Klux Klan as groups that use or advocate violence to accomplish their objectives and are therefore rightly classified as extremists.
But also included are evangelical Christianity and Catholicism who most assuredly do not advocate violence.
Surely, the fact that evangelical Christians and Catholics hold fast to millennia-old views on marriage and human sexuality does not make them extremists who are unfit to serve.
Now, the training manual in question is currently being used by the Secretary of Defense, who recently issued a stand-on order and is working to identify and root out what he's calling extremism in the U.S. military.
Now, this, of course, came after the January 6th breach of the U.S. Capitol, in which some of the participants were military veterans.
How many veterans, exactly?
Well, according to Pat Fallon, who is a congressman from Texas, he said that 37 of those who were arrested in connection with the January 6th breach were either veterans or reservists.
He added that there are 18 million U.S. military veterans.
34 were rioters.
That means that 17,999,966 of us were not.
However, the Secretary of Defense issued those stand-on orders saying that they were necessary because extremism and extremist ideology, views, and conduct that run counter to everything that we believe in.
He also added that extremist views are not new to our country and sadly, it's not new to our military.
Now, in terms of which views specifically they're targeting, what is permissible and what is not, well, it's a little bit vague still.
Although, according to that slide we discussed earlier, it looks like the Christian church might be on the list.
In fact, at a congressional panel on this issue, Mike Rogers, who is a congressman from Alabama, he said this...
It is important to point out that we lack any concrete evidence that violent extremism is as rife in the military as some commentators claim.
And in terms of who the big winner of all this is, well, according to Mike Waltz, who is a congressman from Florida, he said that this military effort against extremism will play into the hands of the Chinese Communist Party's efforts to damage the U.S.' image overseas.
Here's what he said.
There's an active propaganda campaign being prosecuted by the Chinese Communist Party right now, attempting to portray our country as an evil, racist hellscape with no authority to lecture them on human rights.
I worry that we may be playing into our adversary's hands, and I do worry it will undermine our ability to fight and win wars in the future.
If you would like to read more about this training manual which identifies Christians as potential extremists, that link will be in the description box below this video for you to check out.
And now lastly, once again, I hope you subscribe to The Epoch Times.
Again, that link will also be in the description box below.
And also, if you have an Instagram account, consider following me at Epoch Times Roman.
I post behind-the-scenes photos and updates on different stories we're working on there, so it's a way that we can keep in touch.
And now lastly, if you haven't already, smash that like button for the YouTube algorithm, subscribe to this YouTube channel in order to get honest news content delivered directly into your YouTube feed while they still allow it.
And until next time, I'm your host, Roman from the Epoch Times.
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