Some Important News You may Have Missed . . .

Trump Vows ‘New Day’ for Venezuela -NBC News “The people of Venezuela are standing for freedom and democracy, and the United States of America is standing right by their side,” President Donald J. Trump said on Monday at Florida International University in Miami. The President also addressed the American far left. “To those who want to try to impose socialism on the United States, we again deliver a very simple message: America will never be a socialist country.”

Border Apprehensions Jump 84 Percent, 606,000 Expected This Year -Washington Examiner “January saw a surprising surge of 22,000 more apprehensions of illegal immigrants at southwest border crossings over January 2018, prompting a key predictor to suggest that border officers will make over 600,000 apprehensions this year,” Paul Bedard reports. “The year-over-year increase was 84 percent, from 25,975 in January 2018 to 47,893 last January, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.”

An Illegal Immigrant Killed My Daughter. Trump's Right—We Must Complete the Border Wall. -USA Today Retired educator Dan Ferguson writes that his beloved daughter Mandy, a 28-year-old sixth-grade teacher, was killed last year by a criminal who should never have been in the United States. “In his declaration of a national emergency on our southern border, President Trump recognized the Americans who experienced the consequences of that emergency firsthand: angel moms and dads. I never expected I would be one of them.”

Trump Officially Directs Pentagon to Create Space Force Legislation for Congress -CNBC “President Donald Trump signed a directive on Tuesday that ordered the Department of Defense create a Space Force as a sixth military branch,” Michael Sheetz and Amanda Macias report. “The directive orders the Pentagon draft legislation for Congress that would create the Space Force as a part of the U.S. Air Force.” This move sets in motion the creation of America’s first new military branch in more than 70 years.

Ivanka Trump Examines UPS Training at Facility in Gwinnett -The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Advisor to the President Ivanka Trump toured a UPS driver training facility in Duluth, Georgia, with Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA) on Wednesday, detailing the Trump Administration’s focus on workforce development. Last year, UPS “signed a pledge in support of President Trump’s workforce development initiative, committing to offer opportunities for career advancement to more than 50,000 employees.”

Opinion: Trump Stays Tough on Socialism -The Detroit News “President Trump’s speech Monday afternoon in Miami wasn’t just directed at Nicolas Maduro and the socialists of Venezuela — it was also a stark reminder to left-leaning Americans that socialism's days are ‘numbered,’” Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer writes. “As Democrats rally around radical proposals such as ‘Medicare-for-all,’ free college tuition, enormous minimum wage increases, and even guaranteed basic income, it was President Trump’s responsibility to remind us that socialism’s sweeping promises are always empty.”

Lower Tax Refunds Show How the Republican Tax Cut is Keeping Money in Your Hands All Year -USA Today Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) explain that tax refunds are lower today because taxes are lower—keeping more money in Americans’ hands all year long. First, Democrats were wrong that tax cuts would hurt our economy. Now, they are “peddling the scary elixir that ‘lower tax refunds mean higher taxes.’ Wrong again . . . This claim about refunds, as the Washington Post’s fact checker observed, is ‘nonsensical and misleading.’”