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Author and conservative commentator Candace Owensjoined "Life, Liberty & Levin" Sunday to discussDemocrats' hypocrisy on election reform legislation, as well as theborder crisis under President Biden's watch.

Owens told host Mark Levin that "over the last four years, it really has been my mission and my purpose to make sure Black Americans and all minorities in this country recognize that" the Black community is being used as"cover" for the imposition of a radical leftist agenda.

"I feel that the Democrat Party represents Black Americalike plantation owners represented slaves,the irony here being is that the Democrats were the slave owners [in the 1800s]," she added.

On Friday, Biden called a new Georgia state election law"Jim Crow in the 21st Century." The law strengthens voter identification procedures,shortens the absentee votingwindow, and prohibits distributing "money or gifts, including, but not limited to, food and drink" to people waiting in line to vote.

"They're using language, referring to things like Jim Crow," Owens toldLevin. "Who was the party that implemented Jim Crow in this country? It was the Democrats."

She also accused Democrats oftrying to "rewrite" history and make the public believe that they have always been the champion ofminority communities.

"That's the deep, sinister evil of the Democrat Party, that they're really just rewriting what they authored in the beginning," she said. "These were the slave-masters, and they understand the system better than anybody else because they wrote it. It is it is the fabric of the Democrat Party."

The "Blackout" author compared the practice of critical race theory in America's public schools to 19th-century slave codes that prohibited Black people from learning how to read or write.

She compared critical race theory to the way the Slave Codes in the 19th CenturySouth prohibited Black people from learning how to read or write.

"They understand that an educated mind can not be enslaved," she said. "They need to make sure there are no educated minds. What better way to ensure that than to pretend that you're educating Black Americans, but instead you're filling our minds with absolute filth, making us see the world in Black and White?

"And itmakes me so angry that they are still doing this and that they're now broadening their reachand saying, you know what, not just Black America ... [because]the growth rate population-wise, is not significant enough. So now they're bringing in a new class of voters."

She pointed to the flood of migrants and illegal immigrants from Central American countries coming across the southern border from Mexico.

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Owens said the border "crisis" is not a crisis, but an intentional "border plan" by Biden and the Democrats to import a new electorate and displace American citizens.

"They are trying to import a new class of voters. They are trying to say to the [migrants]coming over the border,'We will help you. We'll give you free stuff like we gave Black Americans free stuff ...after Jim Crow ended, we're going to welfare-ize you'."

She said the Democrats plan to "marry" the new migrants to the government: "like we married Black Americans to the government."

"It's pure evil," she concluded.

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Candace Owens: Democrats gaslighting with 'Jim Crow' election law claims; trying to 'import' new voters - Fox News

Democrats have spent the last several years clamoring to raise taxes on corporations and the rich, seeing that as a necessary antidote to widening economic inequality and a rebuke of former President Donald Trumps signature tax cuts.

Now, under President Joe Biden, they have a shot at ushering in the largest federal tax increase since 1942. It could help pay for a host of spending programs that liberal economists predict would bolster the economys performance and repair a tax code that Democrats say encourages wealthy people to hoard assets and big companies to ship jobs and book profits overseas.

The question is whether congressional Democrats and the White House can agree on how sharply taxes should rise and who, exactly, should pay the bill. They widely share the goal of reversing many of Trumps tax cuts from 2017 and of making the wealthy and big businesses pay more. But they do not yet agree on the details and because Republicans are unlikely to support their efforts, they have no room for error in a closely divided Senate.

For Biden, the need to find consensus is urgent. The president is set to travel to Pittsburgh on Wednesday to unveil the next phase of his economic agenda: a sprawling collection of programs that would invest in infrastructure, education, carbon-reduction and working mothers and cost $3 trillion to $4 trillion.

The package, which follows on the heels of Bidens $1.9 trillion economic aid bill, is central to the presidents long-term plan to revitalize American workers and industry by funding bridges and roads, universal prekindergarten, emerging industries like advanced batteries, and efforts to invigorate the fight against climate change.

Biden plans to finance that spending, at least in part, with tax increases that could raise upward of $2.5 trillion in revenue if his plan hews closely to what he proposed in the 2020 presidential campaign. Aides suggest his proposals might not be entirely paid for, with some one-time spending increases offset by increased federal borrowing.

I think what youre going to see is the administration is going to put a pay-for on the table for at least some and maybe all of the infrastructure plan, said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va. If Team Biden makes a proposal, Im sure well make adjustments, but thats a good way to start.

Others in his party, including his own transportation secretary, have pushed Biden to explore tax plans he did not campaign on, like taxing consumption, wealth or vehicle miles traveled. (A Transportation Department spokesperson said Saturday that there would be no vehicle-miles-traveled tax in the infrastructure proposal.) Biden has stressed his broad-brush desire to increase the tax burden on wealthy Americans who largely earn their money through inheritance or investment, to fund spending programs meant to help people who earn their money primarily through wages.

I want to change the paradigm, Biden said Thursday during a news conference. We start to reward work, not just wealth.

Democratic lawmakers have promised for decades to raise taxes on companies and the wealthy, a desire that kicked into overdrive after Trump signed a tax-cut package that delivered an outsize share of its benefits to corporations and high earners. But they have struggled to muster the votes for large tax increases since President Bill Clinton signed a 1993 law that included a variety of hikes intended to help reduce the budget deficit. Business groups, conservative activists, lobbyists and donors across the ideological spectrum have largely blocked such attempts.

President Barack Obama campaigned on ending tax cuts for the rich signed into law by President George W. Bush, but after the 2008 financial crisis, he cut deals with Republicans to extend those cuts before allowing some of them to expire at the end of 2012.

Liberal economists say this year could be different, thanks to the unique political and economic circumstances surrounding the recovery from the pandemic recession. With Bidens signing of a $1.9 trillion economic relief bill, financed entirely by federal borrowing, forecasters now expect the economy to grow this year at its fastest annual clip since the 1980s. Republicans and some economists have begun to warn of overheating growth spurring runaway inflation, which could reduce the salience of warnings that tax increases would cause growth to stall.

Public polling shows broad support, even among many Republican voters, for raising taxes on large corporations and high-income individuals. The most conservative Democrats in the Senate, who hold great sway over Bidens legislative agenda, say they favor trillions of dollars in infrastructure spending, so long as there is a plan to pay for it.

That includes Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., who told reporters this week that Bidens infrastructure plan was going to be enormous and that its costs needed to be covered. He signaled openness to making changes to the 2017 tax overhaul, adding that the benefits in that legislation were weighted in one direction to the upper end.

Where do they think its going to come from? How are they going to fix America? he said, when asked about Republican resistance to tax increases. I dont think thats reasonable.

Democrats widely share a desire to raise the corporate income tax rate after it was cut to 21% in 2017. And they want to raise the top marginal rate for individuals back to 39.6% from 37%.

But there are disputes in the rank and file, with some favoring Bidens plan to set the corporate rate at 28% and others preferring a lower one, like 25%. There are also questions over which high-earning individuals should see a tax increase.

Biden has pledged not to raise taxes on people earning less than $400,000. Some of his progressive allies, including Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, have advocated raising taxes on a broader group. Democrats like Manchin have pushed him to consider additional tax plans that do not solely target the rich, like a European-style tax on consumption, though that type of tax could fall more heavily on low-income Americans than wealthy ones.

Republicans are unlikely to support any plan to raise taxes, leaving administration officials and leading congressional Democrats to hammer out a plan on their own. But absent Republican support in the Senate, where both parties hold 50 seats and Vice President Kamala Harris can break ties, Democrats would need to secure total consensus within their caucus to pass the legislation and use a fast-track budget process known as reconciliation to bypass the 60-vote threshold for ending a filibuster.

Business groups and Republican lawmakers, who supported the 2017 tax cuts, predict that any tax increase will slow economic growth and undermine the competitiveness of U.S. companies. They contend that the economic and wage growth in the run-up to the pandemic prove that Trumps tax cuts worked, an argument Bidens advisers reject, citing research from the International Monetary Fund and others.

He wants a massive tax increase, and he wants to allocate the tax responsibility in this country on the basis of class, said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La. Thats a hell of a way to make tax policy. Sound tax policy is made on the basis of economics.

Republicans who favor some form of an infrastructure bill have struggled to offer alternative ways to fund such an undertaking, which they argue should be significantly smaller than what Biden has floated. Some, however, are noodling on tax changes should a bipartisan plan emerge. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, the top Republican on the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, said this past week that her committee would examine changes to the gas tax or a related tax that also charges a fee to users of electric vehicles as discussions continue about a funding mechanism.

Many liberal economists say there are good reasons to raise taxes, starting with using those funds to invest in workers and help build economic opportunity. Spending on physical infrastructure, like roads and water pipes, or on programs like education and child care that are meant to help people earn more money could help curb persistent inequalities in income and wealth. The economists also say that tax increases that are properly set up would provide incentives for multinational companies to keep jobs in the United States and not shift profits to lower-tax foreign countries.

Key Democrats are trying to bring the party to consensus. The top tax writer in the Senate, Ron Wyden, D-Ore., is drafting a series of bills to raise taxes, many of them overlapping with Bidens campaign proposals.

Ill be ready to raise what the Democratic caucus decides is required to move forward, Wyden, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, said in an interview.

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Under Biden, Democrats are poised to raise taxes on business and the rich - WION

Nine Democrats who chair House committees sent letters to more than a dozen federal and local agencies on Thursday, kicking off a major investigation into what happened before, during and after the insurrection at the Capitol. House Democrats say they are still pursuing the creation of an independent commission, too -- but privately Democratic lawmakers and aides tell CNN the move forward on the congressional probe is the clearest sign yet that an agreement on a commission may not be possible.

"I think it's close to dead," one Democratic member said.

Pelosi herself expressed frustration with the lack of progress and accused Republicans of being unwilling to bend in particular on the issue of the scope of the investigation.

"I'm optimistic," the California Democrat said before correcting herself. "I'm persistent, in terms of, we have get to the truth now."

But both Republicans and Democrats involved in the negotiations say the talks on the issue have ground to a halt with little communication between the two sides. While Pelosi has not agreed to 50-50 partisan split on the commission, she argues that the real problem is a GOP unwillingness to focus the probe specifically on what led to insurrection. Republican leaders have argued that political violence in general should be a topic of the investigation.

"We have to find the truth. And we're not walking away from that," Pelosi told reporters Thursday. "Now, we'd love it to be as bipartisan as possible. But we have other, shall we say, paths, should there not come -- we can't come to something that would be similar to the 9/11 Commission."

At loggerheads

"If you start with the premise that you only want it one-sided, you understand what the outcome is going to be," McCarthy said. His office said Friday that the negotiations have made no progress.

"Leader McCarthy is still requesting a bipartisan commission where Republicans and Democrats have equal representation and subpoena power, the same as it was for the 9/11 Commission," said a House GOP leadership aide. "So far the speaker continues to insist on carrying out a partisan process."

While Democrats could muscle through a commission plan with just Democratic votes in the House, they need Republican buy-in in the Senate, where 60 votes would be required to approve legislation for the outside panel. Pelosi said McConnell had told her he was serious about a commission but that he then went to the Senate floor and "dumped all over" her proposal.

Pelosi said Thursday that she was willing to have her committee chairs reach out to rank-and-file Republicans to see if they would be willing to cut a deal. But even that, she conceded, has gone nowhere. "Some of them have been receptive," Pelosi said. "But then they'll say, 'Well, the leadership doesn't want us to do anything. We won't do anything.' "

'Walk and chew gum'

Democrats say they are moving forward with their committee investigations while still laying the groundwork for an independent commission to be created later. In the Senate, bipartisan leaders of the Homeland Security and Rules committees are conducting a joint investigation too, with plans to issue a report on their findings later in the year.

"Even though Democrats are in agreement that a bipartisan 9/11-style commission is necessary, we can't wait to get started and it's clear Republicans want to drag this out," said a senior Democratic aide. "By modeling our work on what's happened after other national tragedies -- from Katrina to 9/11, when the Congress began investigations with broad information requests -- we can both do the work now and ensure we're collecting the necessary information to turn over when a commission starts."

Another Democratic aide told CNN that the broad request from committee chairs relating to the insurrection should not be seen as an effort to replace the independent commission. Even if the commission does go forward, the aide argued that committees can still conduct their own investigations: "We can all walk and chew gum."

But with negotiations between Democrats and Republicans stalled, largely over what the commission should be investigating, the aide admitted there is a time limit for how long Democrats are willing to wait before moving forward on their own. The aide predicted that the committees could move forward unilaterally in "a matter of weeks" if there's no progress.

"I think a commission is still our number one priority," the aide said. "If there's no, you know, agreement to be had with Republicans on the commission, then at that point we have a responsibility to do something unilaterally."

The document requests issued by the Democratic committee chairs on Thursday went to a broad stretch of agencies connected to the response to the insurrection, including the White House, the FBI, the Justice Department, the Capitol Police, the National Guard and Washington's Metropolitan Police Department. The requests for documents are an opening salvo in an investigation that could be ramped up further even if an agreement is reached for an outside commission.

The chairs noted that some of the information they are requesting is related to the sprawling FBI investigation into the attack, which has led to hundreds of arrests related to the breach of the Capitol and attacks on police officers. "We are happy to work with you to ensure that the document requests in this letter do not interfere with ongoing investigations and prosecutions," the chairs wrote.

Democrats are also preparing to release a security supplemental funding bill based on Honor's task force recommendations earlier this month, which included updates to security like mobile fencing at the Capitol and the hiring of hundreds of Capitol Police officers. The funding proposal, which is likely to account for costs associated with enhanced security and the damage to the Capitol, is expected in the coming week, according to a Democratic aide, and it's likely to turn attention on Capitol Hill back to how Congress is responding to the January 6 attack.

The House is already upgrading its security. During the recess this week, crews were in the process of installing bulletproof doors on the entrances to the gallery, and eventually all doors leading to the House will be replaced. It's an improvement that aides say was in the works before the insurrection.

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Bipartisan panel on Capitol riot in danger as Democrats proceed with their own investigation - CNN

Senate Democrats are planning to use their legislative authority to roll back just a handful of Trump-era regulations, disappointing someactivistswho hoped they would be more aggressive in usingmaneuverstotopplethe former president's legacy.

Senate Majority LeaderCharles Shumer (D-N.Y.) announced Thursday that Democrats would use the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to overturn two different Trump-era regulations, one that weakened regulations on methane and another that limited workplace discrimination protections.

But by committing to attempt to nix just a few rules, Democrats are taking a sharp turn from the strategy employed by Republicans, who after Trump was elected used the act on 16 different regulations.

I think it's a powerful tool, said Alison Kamhi, an attorney with the Immigrant Legal Resource Center who helped analyze which of the many Trump immigration regulations could be good CRA targets.

It's not the only tool, but its a tool, and you want to see the Democrats using every tool in the toolbox," Kamhi added. "So I would have hoped for more rules to be introduced for potential CRA disapproval.

Its possible more will be coming.

Democrats have introduced resolutions that would unwind two different Trump financial regulations, including one that significantly weakens predatory lending regulations. But so far Schumer hasnt committed to a vote on either.

Democrats have some reason to be hesitant to use the CRA. Scrapping a rule reverts policy back to whatever was in place before it was adopted which can leave weaker regulations in place.

There is also concern over statutory language in the CRA that then blocks the relevant agency from crafting another rule thats substantially similar, a feature some fear could hinder future necessary regulation.

The CRA is a blunt tool, so you have to be careful when you're using it that youre not going to tie the hands of the administration going forward, said Aaron Weiss, deputy director of the Center for Western Priorities, which tracked Trumps environmental rollbacks.

So its not surprising that Congress is going to use it judiciously this year considering how quickly the Biden administration is moving toroll backTrumps environmental legacy the right way, he said.

The CRA process also eats up about 10 hours of floor time, something in short supply in the Senate after Trumps second impeachment trial and various 30-hour holds placed on several of Bidens nominees.

Still, Democrats could be giving up a significant number of opportunities if they just use the CRA twice.

A coalition of various advocacy groups identified 28 different Trump rules ripe for CRA use that they hoped the Senate would prioritize.

On the list: changes to the asylum process, a rule opening up logging in Alaskas Tongass National Forest, a rule weakening unfair and deceptive practices regulations for airlines, and a rule that would have sunset all Department of Health and Human Services rulesmore than 10 years old if they werent reviewed within the next few years.

Its an extremely powerful tool because the alternative is typically to repeal through notice and comment rulemaking, and notice and comment rulemaking could take years and then thats followed by one year of judicial review, said Richard Revesz, a professor at New York University School of Law, who warned of legal challenges.

The CRA allows for the definitive undoing of a bad policy very quickly.

The two rules that will get a vote are ones Democrats view as particularly dangerous.

The methane rule short circuited existing regulations for the oil and gas industry, allowing them to spew heat-trapping methane a gas several times more potent that carbon into the atmosphere.

The other was an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regulation that critics say tilted the scales in favor of employers fielding challenges from employees claiming they faced discrimination.

To be successful, Democrats will have to wrangle votes from each of their 50 senators or secure Republican backing a potentially heavy lift with such tight margins.

But advocates are also hopeful Schumer will see fit to bring additional CRA resolutions to the floor, regulations they argue wont trip up any future rulemaking.

That includes an Office of the Comptroller of the Currency rule targeted by Sens. Chris Van HollenChristopher (Chris) Van HollenDemocrats disappoint by not going after more Trump regs with CRA Senators to unveil bill banning permanent Capitol fence SEC adopts measure aimed at cracking down on Chinese firms from US exchanges MORE (D-Md.) and Sherrod BrownSherrod Campbell BrownDemocrats disappoint by not going after more Trump regs with CRA American Rescue Plan: Ending child poverty let's make it permanent Meeting between Trump, Ohio Senate candidates turns tense: report MORE (D-Ohio).

This is a terrible rule, said Lauren Saunders, associate director of the National Consumer Law Center, who said the federal government has no right to help payday lenders skirt state laws that cap interest rates.

So the simplest thing to do is to just get rid of the rule.

The bills came just in the nick of time.Public Citizenestimates lawmakers have until April 4 to file resolutions that comply with the law, leaving little time to file additional measures. Schumer has until mid-May to bring them to the floor before the CRA clock runs out.

Immigration advocates have yet to secure a CRA resolution for one of their top priorities a regulation that barred asylum to those from any number of countries who passed through Mexico to arrive at the Southern border. Its since been enjoined by the courts, but it has not yet been struck down.

The reason that was our top priority is because its a rule that could bar asylum eligibility for vast numbers of people, if it were to go into effect, and were not concerned about the potential effects of CRA disapproval because thats a place where we don't want there to be rules issued, Kamhi said.We don't think there should be rules barring people from applying for relief based on where they transited through.

Democrats may also not be eager to let Republicans set a precedent. The CRA had only been used once since it was first adopted in 1996 until the GOP heavily used it in 2017.

The Biden administration has already opted to use a number of more traditional tactics, using a freeze memo to block regulations that had not yet taken effect, while striking some internal memos and directives. Theyve also flipped positions on a number of existing challenges to Trump era regulations, leaving the courts as another viable path for striking many of them down.

Thats part of the reason Weiss doesnt think Democrats should rely too heavily on the CRA.

Theyre moving so quickly on everything else, he said, and when there are bad regulations the courts generally step in and do the right thing anyway. And when a court throws out a rule it tends to not tie the hand of the agency going forward. It just means they go back and do it right the next time.

But Revesz worries that Democrats are too cautious about the CRA language blocking any future regulation that is substantially similar.

I understand that argument floats around, but for this administration it shouldn't be considered a bar even in cases where they actually want to replace a regulation, he said. Strengthening something not substantially the same as weakening something.

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Democrats disappoint by not going after more Trump regs with CRA | TheHill - The Hill

House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel said full-day kindergarten is one of their top priorities before the session ends.

BOISE, Idaho Idaho lawmakers will have significant work to finish when they return from the two-week COVID-19 pause. When they return, Idaho Democrats remain focused on accomplishing progress on the education front. House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel told KTVB that they are focused on passing legislation they have pushed hard for.

Funding of full-day kindergarten is really top of the list, this would be historic. It would be the biggest thing thats happened in education access in decades since half-day kindergarten was created decades ago by Cecil Andrus," Rubel said. "We have the bill ready to go, I think it would have moved forward had we still had a House Education Committee but of course they all went down with COVID. That though we really are optimistic to see go through this year.

Rep. Rubel (D-Boise) said another battle on the education front is making sure the Idaho Lottery continues to be a part of the Powerball game.

Earlier in the session, lawmakers nixed Idahos future participation because of Powerballs plans to expand internationally. Idaho would miss out on about $14 million for education funding that is generated from Powerball sales. Democrats are working on new legislation to get Idaho back on board.

Seriously, its a real concern. I think there is a bill in the works that is similar to the first one that got killed," Rubel said. "I think they are hoping that maybe with more work on it this time it can get done. I think they were blindsided, I dont think anybody saw that bill going down it didnt occur to them that this committee would just kill $14 million in education for really no reason."

Democrats have worked for years to help better Idahos foster care system and Rubel believes they are close to passing a major difference-maker.

The foster care extension, this is something that the Democrats have been working on for a long time heading into session," she explained. "To extend the age for foster care up to 21, right now people get kicked out of the foster care system when they are 18 and the results are very poor and are much improved for those that are able to remain in the system until 21. So, they dont instantly become homeless the day they turn 18. So that is something that made it through the House and would be a really good thing if it could get through the Senate when we get back."

Idaho Democrats will also focus on pushing against legislation moving through the Statehouse including a bill that would change the threshold for qualifying a citizens initiative for the ballot.

We really want to see a lot of things blocked, most notably the attack on citizens ballot initiative rights and some of the voter suppression bills. In particular, Senate Bill 1110, which would basically shut down citizens' ballot initiative rights forever, Rubel said.

There is also a focus on the tax cut plan that recently passed the House. Democrats argue it is a cut disproportionately benefiting the wealthy and say the use of general fund dollars for the cut could be put to better use.

So we would very much like to see that blocked," Rubel said. "If we lose that $400 million that will lock us in at last place in education for the foreseeable future. So, that is a top priority to block.

Attention is also on passing meaningful property tax legislation that Idaho Democrats said will help homeowners while not killing local budgets that pay for vital services.

The Legislature could very easily restore the indexed homeowners exemption which would give people a big break," Rubel said. "The Legislature has refused to increase the circuit breaker in 15 years now, which is relief for low-income seniors and veterans and those who really need it. The Democrats have a lot of proposals on property taxes that would leave those vital services intact. We just havent been allowed to get hearings on any of them."

Idaho lawmakers are expected to return to the Statehouse on April 6 to resume the session.

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Idaho Democrats focused on education issues before end of legislative session - KTVB.com