Greetings! Here are the topics for Tuesday’s independent commentary:

• Sheehy Endorses
• Mass Deportation Plan
• Stricter Gun Laws

SHEEHY ENDORSES:

Lee Newspapers is reporting that Republican Sen.-elect Tim Sheehy endorsed former Democratic congresswoman turned Republican Tulsi Gabbard’s nomination to head the Department of National Intelligence, making Sheehy one of the first of his colleagues to back her.

It does not appear that Sheehy answered any questions about his endorsement. I suspect he is still too chicken to face members of the press unless they supported him. There are many questions that he needs to answer. 

The headline to the story in the Helena IR kind of said it all:

Sheehy endorses some Trump cabinet picks, declines to respond on others

Check out the article HERE.

MASS DEPORTATION PLAN:

It might be time to get the popcorn ready if President-elect Donald Trump goes through with his mass deportation plan on Day 1 of his administration. 

ABC News reported that last week while appearing on Donald Trump Jr.’s podcast, the president-elect’s son asked incoming “border czar” Tom Homan what border and immigration-related action the public can expect to see on Day 1 of the new Trump administration.

“Shock and awe,” Homan responded. “Shock and awe,” he repeated with a smile.

Reports say that about 11-12 million undocumented immigrants live in the USA. (Source) 

How far will Congress go in funding the 2025 version of “Shock and Awe?”

The interesting question is what will the Trump Administration do to replace the approximately 7-8 million undocumented immigrants working in the USA. Many work in construction, restaurants, agriculture, landscaping, and food processing. 

We do have an immigration problem and Trump wanted to use it as a campaign tool. The ball is in his court now. 

STRICTER GUN LAWS:

Gallup has a new poll out this week that found that majorities still back stricter gun laws and an assault weapons ban, but they found the support for a ban on handguns in the U.S. has dropped to a near-record low.

Here is what they found:

A stable 56% of U.S. adults support stricter laws covering the sale of firearms in general, while 33% prefer the laws be kept as they are now and 10% want them to be less strict.

Americans continue to oppose an outright ban on handgun possession. In fact, the 20% of U.S. adults who would favor a law banning the possession of handguns, except by the police and other authorized persons, is down seven percentage points from last year and statistically tied with the 19% record low in the 65-year trend.

Americans are much more inclined to favor a ban on assault weapons, with a slim 52% majority saying there should be a ban on the manufacture, possession and sale of semiautomatic guns, known as assault rifles. However, the current level of support is lower than what Gallup measured in two prior surveys.

Check out the full report HERE.

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