“A lot of big companies, even outside the tech sector, are announcing the elimination of executive positions.”

The below is taken from today’s National Review “Morning Jolt” – Jim Geraghty.

The Economy Is Starting to Buckle

On the menu today: Remember how, at the end of July, President Biden and his team insisted that two consecutive quarters of shrinking GDP didn’t mean the country was in a recession? Well, companies big and small are announcing layoffs more frequently these days, indicating that we’re in a period of not-so-subtle belt-tightening. Meanwhile, the projections for energy costs ahead of this coming winter are increasingly ominous, the decline in unleaded-gasoline prices has stopped, and a long-simmering national housing shortage may be catching up with us. But hey, apparently Biden intends to tout his economic record as the midterm elections approach.

The Quiet Recession

About two weeks ago, a smart friend of mine who works on supply-chain issues observed that, “Based on what I’m hearing throughout all the industries that I work with, this month’s job report might be brutal. People are getting skinny everywhere they can, so that they don’t lose their [butts]. Unfortunately, that means huge groups of people getting fired.” (“Getting skinny” means cutting operating costs.)

And, like everything else, once you start looking for something, you start seeing signs of it everywhere.

• Related: Special House Subcommittee to Study Workforce Shortages

Meta — you know, Facebook — plans “to cut expenses by at least 10 percent in the coming months, in part through staff reductions.” Google is eyeing similar cuts, with CEO Sundar Pichai characterizing it as “being a bit more responsible through one of the toughest macroeconomic conditions underway in the past decade.” Twilio has announced plans to lay off 11 percent if its workforce, and Snap has announced plans to lay off 20 percent of its workforce.

A lot of big companies, even outside the tech sector, are announcing the elimination of executive positions. The Gap is eliminating 500 corporate jobs. Boeing has announced that it will eliminate about 150 positions in finance and accountingin October. Last month, Walmart announced that it would eliminate 200 corporate jobs.

FedEx is enacting a hiring freeze and closing more than 90 FedEx Office locations.

It’s not just big brand companies: It’s also an ice-cream plant in New York; it’s also a slew of hospitals nationwide. God help you if you work in real estate: “Some of the biggest players in the real estate industry, including RE/MAX, Redfin and Wells Fargo, have announced layoffs in recent months totaling thousands of jobs. Industry analysts are projecting the cuts could eventually be on par with what was seen during the housing crash of 2008.”

None of these individual company moves, by themselves, are likely to make a big difference in the national jobs numbers, and you can find companies announcing layoffs in any month. But cumulatively, these announcements suggest that we’re in a period of not-so-subtle belt-tightening. Businesses doesn’t know what to expect in the coming months, except higher costs to heat their facilities this winter. The stock markets are jittery. Sooner or later, those rising interest rates will reduce customer demand — which should reduce inflation, but will also lower sales, profits, and eventually, jobs.

Of course, in some people’s minds, the economy can’t be sputtering, because the guy they like is in the White House, and the party they prefer controls Congress. And the pressure to align an assessment of the economy with partisan needs is never stronger than in the final months and weeks before Election Day.

Last week, President Biden attended a Democratic National Committee event held at National Education Association headquarters — yet another sign of how those two organizations are now so symbiotic that they’re becoming indistinguishable — and took a victory lap about how well the economy is doing:

We passed the American Rescue Plan, which lifted this nation from economic crisis to economic recovery. And every single Republican voted for it. [Note: Biden meant every single Republican voted against it.] Nearly 10 million more jobs have been created since I’ve been President — the highest number of jobs in that period of time of any President of the United States of America. We have a 3.7 percent unemployment rate, the lowest in 50 — more than 50 years; a record number of new — record number of new small businesses created; and over 668,000 new manufacturing jobs in America.

The same day, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre offered this remark:

This is one of the strongest job markets that we have seen on record. And, and so, what we are seeing – and I’ve said this before; you’ve heard this from Brian Deese — is a transition to a more steady and stable growth. And that’s what we’re currently seeing and in the process of moving the economy into.

That “steady and stable growth” she’s referring to is two consecutive quarters of declining GDP. The White House message is, “You’ve never had it so good.

For Islander readers: Spoiler: He never even mentioned his campaign promises on “criminal illegals” after he was elected. 

“This ad is drawing attention to my commitment to keeping our families safe” –@BrianKempGA defends his politically incorrect ad pic.twitter.com/XIMN06sGhF

— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) May 12, 2018

There they go again. Today’s AJC “Jolt” run by editor Patricia Murphy leaps of the screen with a headline telling readers about “outrage after GOP warns Stacey Abrams is crossing ‘border’ for visit.” As you can see below the Patricia Murphy scare takes us back to 1912 – when the Democrats ran Georgia and Forsyth County. She failed to mention that in today’s race baiting “racial cleansing” plug for the 2018 runner-up for Georgia governor. So we did.

Melissa Clink, who chairs the local Democratic party, blasted the “dangerous and embarrassing rhetoric” from their GOP counterparts and singled out the line noting Abrams is “crossing our border.”

“Forsyth County’s history of racial cleansing and being a documented sundown town make this line especially incendiary, disgusting and shameful.”

She’s referring to the racial cleansing in 1912 that forced the Black population of roughly 1,100 to flee Forsyth County.

Clink added: “You will not silence us. If anything, your actions will make us louder.”

Photo: NBC4 Washington

8 U.S. Code § 1324 – Bringing in and harboring certain aliens

(a)Criminal penalties

(1)

(A)Any person who—

(i)

knowing that a person is an alien, brings to or attempts to bring to the United States in any manner whatsoever such person at a place other than a designated port of entry or place other than as designated by the Commissioner, regardless of whether such alien has received prior official authorization to come to, enter, or reside in the United States and regardless of any future official action which may be taken with respect to such alien;

(ii)

knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien has come to, entered, or remains in the United States in violation of law, transports, or moves or attempts to transport or move such alien within the United States by means of transportation or otherwise, in furtherance of such violation of law;

(iii)

knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien has come to, entered, or remains in the United States in violation of law, conceals, harbors, or shields from detection, or attempts to conceal, harbor, or shield from detection, such alien in any place, including any building or any means of transportation;

(iv)

encourages or induces an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States, knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that such coming to, entry, or residence is or will be in violation of law; or

(v)

(I)

engages in any conspiracy to commit any of the preceding acts, or

(II)

aids or abets the commission of any of the preceding acts,

shall be punished as provided in subparagraph (B).

(B)A person who violates subparagraph (A) shall, for each alien in respect to whom such a violation occurs—

(i)

in the case of a violation of subparagraph (A)(i) or (v)(I) or in the case of a violation of subparagraph (A)(ii), (iii), or (iv) in which the offense was done for the purpose of commercial advantage or private financial gain, be fined under title 18, imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both;

(ii)

in the case of a violation of subparagraph (A)(ii), (iii), (iv), or (v)(II), be fined under title 18, imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both;

(iii)

in the case of a violation of subparagraph (A)(i), (ii), (iii), (iv), or (v) during and in relation to which the person causes serious bodily injury (as defined in section 1365 of title 18) to, or places in jeopardy the life of, any person, be fined under title 18, imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both; and

(iv)

in the case of a violation of subparagraph (A)(i), (ii), (iii), (iv), or (v) resulting in the death of any person, be punished by death or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, fined under title 18, or both.

(C)

It is not a violation of clauses [1] (ii) or (iii) of subparagraph (A), or of clause (iv) of subparagraph (A) except where a person encourages or induces analien to come to or enter the United States, for a religious denomination having a bona fide nonprofit, religious organization in the United States, or the agents or officers of such denomination or organization, to encourage, invite, call, allow, or enable an alien who is present in the United States to perform the vocation of a minister or missionary for the denomination or organization in the United States as a volunteer who is not compensated as an employee, notwithstanding the provision of room, board, travel, medical assistance, and other basic living expenses, provided the minister or missionary has been a member of the denomination for at least one year.

(2)Any person who, knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien has not received prior official authorization to come to, enter, or reside in the United States, brings to or attempts to bring to the United States in any manner whatsoever, such alien, regardless of any official action which may later be taken with respect to such alien shall, for each alien in respect to whom a violation of this paragraph occurs—

(A)

be fined in accordance with title 18 or imprisoned not more than one year, or both; or

(B)in the case of—

(i)

an offense committed with the intent or with reason to believe that the alien unlawfully brought into the United States will commit an offense against the United States or any State punishable by imprisonment for more than 1 year,

(ii)

an offense done for the purpose of commercial advantage or private financial gain, or

(iii)

an offense in which the alien is not upon arrival immediately brought and presented to an appropriate immigration officer at a designated port of entry,

be fined under title 18 and shall be imprisoned, in the case of a first or second violation of subparagraph (B)(iii), not more than 10 years, in the case of a first or second violation of subparagraph (B)(i) or (B)(ii), not less than 3 nor more than 10 years, and for any other violation, not less than 5 nor more than 15 years.

(3)

(A)

Any person who, during any 12-month period, knowingly hires for employment at least 10 individuals with actual knowledge that the individuals are aliens described in subparagraph (B) shall be fined under title 18 or imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both.

(B)An alien described in this subparagraph is an alien who—

(i)

is an unauthorized alien (as defined in section 1324a(h)(3) of this title), and

(ii)

has been brought into the United States in violation of this subsection.

(4)In the case of a person who has brought aliens into the United States in violation of this subsection, the sentence otherwise provided for may be increased by up to 10 years if—

(A)

the offense was part of an ongoing commercial organization or enterprise;

(B)

aliens were transported in groups of 10 or more; and

(C)

(i)

aliens were transported in a manner that endangered their lives; or

(ii)

the aliens presented a life-threatening health risk to people in the United States.

(b)Seizure and forfeiture

(1)In general

Any conveyance, including any vessel, vehicle, or aircraft, that has been or is being used in the commission of a violation of subsection (a), the gross proceeds of such violation, and any property traceable to such conveyance or proceeds, shall be seized and subject to forfeiture.

(2)Applicable procedures

Seizures and forfeitures under this subsection shall be governed by the provisions of chapter 46 of title 18 relating to civil forfeitures, including section 981(d) of such title, except that such duties as are imposed upon the Secretary of the Treasury under the customs laws described in that section shall be performed by such officers, agents, and other persons as may be designated for that purpose by the Attorney General.

(3)Prima facie evidence in determinations of violationsIn determining whether a violation of subsection (a) has occurred, any of the following shall be prima facie evidence that an alien involved in the alleged violation had not received prior official authorization to come to, enter, or reside in the United States or that such alien had come to, entered, or remained in the United States in violation of law:

(A)

Records of any judicial or administrative proceeding in which that alien’s status was an issue and in which it was determined that the alien had not received prior official authorization to come to, enter, or reside in the United States or that such alien had come to, entered, or remained in the United Statesin violation of law.

(B)

Official records of the Service or of the Department of State showing that the alien had not received prior official authorization to come to, enter, or reside in the United States or that such alien had come to, entered, or remained in the United States in violation of law.

(C)

Testimony, by an immigration officer having personal knowledge of the facts concerning that alien’s status, that the alien had not received prior official authorization to come to, enter, or reside in the United States or that such alien had come to, entered, or remained in the United States in violation of law.

(c)Authority to arrest

No officer or person shall have authority to make any arrests for a violation of any provision of this section except officers and employees of the Service designated by the Attorney General, either individually or as a member of a class, and all other officers whose duty it is to enforce criminal laws.

(d)Admissibility of videotaped witness testimony

Notwithstanding any provision of the Federal Rules of Evidence, the videotaped (or otherwise audiovisually preserved) deposition of a witness to a violation of subsection (a) who has been deported or otherwise expelled from the United States, or is otherwise unable to testify, may be admitted into evidence in an action brought for that violation if the witness was available for cross examination and the deposition otherwise complies with the Federal Rules of Evidence.

(e)Outreach program

The Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of State, as appropriate, shall develop and implement an outreach program to educate the public in the United States and abroad about the penalties for bringing in and harboring aliens in violation of this section.

(June 27, 1952, ch. 477, title II, ch. 8, § 274, 66 Stat. 228; Pub. L. 95–582, § 2, Nov. 2, 1978, 92 Stat. 2479; Pub. L. 97–116, § 12, Dec. 29, 1981, 95 Stat. 1617; Pub. L. 99–603, title I, § 112, Nov. 6, 1986, 100 Stat. 3381; Pub. L. 100–525, § 2(d), Oct. 24, 1988, 102 Stat. 2610; Pub. L. 103–322, title VI, § 60024, Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 1981; Pub. L. 104–208, div. C, title II, §§ 203(a)–(d), 219, title VI, § 671(a)(1), Sept. 30, 1996, 110 Stat. 3009–565, 3009–566, 3009–574, 3009–720; Pub. L. 106–185, § 18(a), Apr. 25, 2000, 114 Stat. 222; Pub. L. 108–458, title V, § 5401, Dec. 17, 2004, 118 Stat. 3737; Pub. L. 109–97, title VII, § 796, Nov. 10, 2005, 119 Stat. 2165.)

Read it here.

The original story on the complaints is here and the OIG initial response along with my reply and request for reconsideration is here. I added links to the OIG’s response in an effort to make it easier to digest.

• Note: We filed three complaints, one against Gov. Brian Kemp one against Gwinnett Sheriff Keybo Taylor and one against Cobb Sheriff Craig Owens. The complaint against Gov Kemp is still under consideration at OIG.

The below was received via email on Sept. 12, 2022. I am grateful to Mr. McAfee for his reply.

_____

Good afternoon Mr. King,

  I appreciate your consideration of our office for your complaint. To be clear, declining an investigation does not mean we’ve taken any position on the merits or thoroughness of your concerns. We must simply “stay in our lane” and only execute the powers delineated to us by executive order. In my mind, that executive order is clear. OIG does not police all executive powers, constitutionally created or otherwise, only the “agencies of state government” and “state agencies within the executive branch.” I’ve attached a copy of our founding executive order for your convenience.

While county sheriffs may perform state and executive branch functions as your cited AG opinion points out, the fact remains that county sheriffs are not state agencies but rather instrumentalities of county government. See, e.g., O.C.G.A. § 15-16-1 (a) (“the sheriff is the basic law enforcement officer of the several counties of this state”); Veit v. State, 182 Ga. App. 753, 756 (1987). OIG has not been granted jurisdiction to investigate anything considered executive in function. Only “state agencies.”

  Feel free to call me anytime at the number below. I’m happy to talk through your concerns and explain our position in greater detail. And disregard any previous reference to DOC, as I agree that DOC would not be the appropriate venue for your complaint.