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Shutdown Fallout: Trump May Declare National Emergency Over Border Wall

On this episode of The Critical Hour, Dr. Wilmer Leon is joined by Monica Biscoe, Maryland Strategic Consulting VP of marketing and communications; and Dr. Jack Rasmus, professor of economics at Saint Mary's College of California.
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The partial shutdown that has impacted a quarter of the US government and some 800,000 federal employees is now 17 days old, with no end in sight. President Donald Trump and his team seem focused on finding a way around Congress by using emergency powers to redirect money for the proposed border wall, which would be challenged in court immediately. The president plans to address the nation over the situation at the southern border on Tuesday and visit the border on Thursday. Meanwhile, the partial government shutdown is extending into its third week, and the fallout is having devastating affects on everyday Americans.

A new bill could impose penalties for entities that boycott Israel. In his recent MintPress article titled, "New Senate Anti-BDS Bill Unconstitutional and Ineffective at Curbing Boycotts," Alex Rubinstein writes, "Pro-Israel lawmakers in Washington, undeterred by the partial shutdown of the United States government, are pursuing their agenda full speed with the introduction of the first piece of legislation before the 116th Senate — a bill that aims to stifle the free-speech rights of American critics of apartheid Israel. BDS seeks to place economic pressure on companies and institutions that support Israeli ones operating in illegally occupied areas in Palestine, in order to pressure the Israeli government into compliance with international law and to cease its practices of apartheid, ethnic cleansing and the ongoing encroachment of Israeli settlements." What's going on here, and why is the US so protective of Israel?

In the recent Gray Zone Project article, "Senate Report on Russian Interference Was Written By Disinformation Warriors Behind Alabama ‘False Flag Operation,'" writer Dan Cohen states: "… the authors of one of the reports soon suffered a major blow to their credibility when it was revealed that they had engaged in what they called a 'Russian style' online disinformation operation aimed to swing a hotly contested special Senate election. The embarrassing revelation has already resulted in one of the authors having his Facebook page suspended. The well-funded deception was carried out by New Knowledge, a private cyber intelligence firm founded by two self-styled disinformation experts who are veterans of the Obama administration: Jonathon Morgan and Ryan Fox." What's behind the deception and propaganda, and why isn't mainstream media talking about it?

GUESTS:

Monica Biscoe — VP of marketing and communications for Maryland Strategic Consulting

Dr. Jack Rasmus — Professor of economics at Saint Mary's College of California and author of Central Bankers at the End of Their Ropes: Monetary Policy and the Coming Depression, who also writes at jackrasmus.com.

Dan Cohen — Correspondent at RT America, filmmaker and director of Killing Gaza, and writer for The Gray Zone Project.

Alexander Rubinstein — Staff writer for MintPress News based in Washington, DC. He reports on police, prisons and protests in the United States and the United States' policing of the world. He previously reported for RT and Sputnik News.

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