2 months ago
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PULSE POINTS:
❓What Happened: Nearly 400 books were removed from the U.S. Naval Academy’s library following a directive from the defense secretary’s office to eliminate materials promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion.
👥 Who’s Involved: U.S. Naval Academy, the office of the Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, Pentagon officials, Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind, and other military academies.
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📍 Where & When: The removal occurred at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. The directive was given late last week, and the removal was completed by Monday.
💬 Key Quote: Sean Parnell, a Pentagon spokesman, stated, “All service academies are fully committed to executing and implementing President Trump’s executive orders.”
⚠️ Impact: The action aligns with efforts to remove diversity-related content from federal entities, raising concerns among lawmakers and citizens about the elimination of historical content.
IN FULL:
The U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis removed around 400 books from its library after being instructed by the defense secretary‘s office to remove materials promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). This decision aligns with ongoing Trump administration initiatives to scrap such content.
Officials at the academy were tasked late last week with conducting a library review, evaluating around 900 books. The academy swiftly moved to eliminate almost 400 titles by Monday, ahead of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s visit.
A Pentagon representative, Sean Parnell, indicated, “All service academies are fully committed to executing and implementing President Trump’s executive orders.”
The directive impacted not only the Naval Academy but also prompted curriculum reassessments at the Air Force Academy in Colorado and West Point in New York. Due to their collegiate status, these institutions had previously been exempt from DEI-related executive orders targeting K-12 education.
Previously, President Donald J. Trump’s administration scrapped a bizarre $2.3 million virtual reality DEI program for U.S. military personnel. The program, which used a VR avatar, attempted to simulate difficult conversations and teach de-escalation strategies.
PULSE POINTS:
❓What Happened: Former Vice President Mike Pence, who is pushing the GOP to reembrace unpopular globalist economic policies, is criticizing President Donald J. Trump’s imposition of extensive global tariffs, claiming they represent the largest peacetime tax increase in U.S. history.
👥 Who’s Involved: Mike Pence, Donald Trump, and America First conservatives, including Trump’s trade advisor Peter Navarro.
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📍 Where & When: Pence posted criticism to X (formerly Twitter) Wednesday evening following President Trump’s “Liberation Day” event.
💬 Key Quote: “The Trump Tariff Tax is the largest peacetime tax hike in U.S. history,” claims Pence.
⚠️ Impact: Critics like Pence claim the tariffs could cost American families over $3,500 per year, destroy jobs, and weaken conservative political standing. Additionally, the Pence-led Advancing American Freedom PAC contends the tariffs will counteract the benefits of previous tax cuts.
IN FULL:
Former Vice President Mike Pence publicly criticized President J. Donald Trump’s imposition of a 10 percent blanket global tariff and additional targeted tariffs in response to pre-existing foreign trade barriers, claiming the new import duties will result in significant economic burdens for American families. Additionally, in a Wednesday night post on X (formerly Twitter), Pence asserted the tariffs represent the most substantial peacetime tax increase in U.S. history.
“The Trump Tariff Tax is the largest peacetime tax hike in U.S. history,” Pence claimed, adding: “These Tariffs are nearly 10x the size of those imposed during the Trump-Pence Administration and will cost American families over $3,500 per year.” Attached to Pence’s X post was a screenshot of anti-Trump tariff talking points pushed by his Advancing American Freedom PAC.
Advancing American Freedom PAC’s claim that the tariffs will cost American families over $3,500 per year is based on a Goldman Sachs estimate, which pegs the total tariff revenue at around $300 billion annually. However, Pence and his Advancing American Freedom PAC appear to assume that American families will bear the bulk of the tax burden imposed by the tariffs—a fairly unlikely scenario—and not foreign companies attempting to maintain their market share in the United States.
Meanwhile, Pence’s assertion that Trump’s tariffs are “the largest peacetime tax hike in U.S. history” is on equally shaky ground. While tariffs are technically taxes, they are not entirely borne by Americans, with at least part of the import duty paid by foreign companies. Additionally, Advancing American Freedom PAC states that Trump’s tariffs are the highest imposed since the 1800s, claiming the imposed rate is higher than the Smoot-Hawley tariffs from the Great Depression.
The first claim is dubious at best, though the assertion that the Trump tariff rate is higher than those imposed under Smoot-Hawley is patently false. Pence and Advancing American Freedom PAC are playing fast and loose with what they consider the average tariff rate to make the claim. The Smoot-Hawley tariffs imposed a 59.1 percent rate on dutiable goods, though around 63 percent of foreign imports were not considered dutiable under the law. This places the average tariff rate under Smoot-Hawley at just under 20 percent.
President Trump’s tariffs include a blanket 10 percent tariff on all imports with additional target tariffs on specific countries with pre-existing trade barriers against American exports. Estimates regarding the average rate range from around 15 percent to 20 percent, though the lower side of the range appears more likely.
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