Down Memory Lane

Yesterday in Washington was horrible. It was horrible because the Capitol was breached and people killed, but the other casualties of the day were honest, transparent elections and any hope of consistency from our media and elected officials.

Yesterday The Scoop posted an article about an event people may have forgotten.

The article notes:

When far-left radical communists protesting against the appointment of Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court took over the Hart Senate Office Building atrium on Capitol Hill on October 4, 2018, leftists on Twitter PRAISED them.

The article includes the following screenshot:

That was then, this is now.

Now let’s take another trip down memory lane to July 2, 2020. The Federalist reported the following:

Thursday afternoon, Democrats killed a resolution aimed at curbing mob violence. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) introduced the bill after a man in Utah was mobbed then shot by a group of rioters. The non-binding resolution offered a statement of support for peaceful protesters and law enforcement who do their job well, while condemning violence and the desecration of monuments across the country.

“A non-binding resolution is the tiniest first step of a response,” Lee read as he introduced it. “We need to do much, much more… but in this divided political moment,… showing that Senate Republicans and Senate Democrats are able to speak with one voice against woke mob violence and in defense of equal justice and civic peace would be a welcome step.”

The resolutions itself states that the country was “founded on universal principles of freedom, justice, and human equality.” It also acknowledged that “throughout our nation’s history, Americans have struggled to realize those ideals … but nonetheless made greater progress toward them than any nation on earth.”

The resolution was immediately attacked. The article reports:

The intended bipartisan resolution swiftly ran into problems. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) spoke directly after Lee to kill the bill. “The resolution reeks of supremacism. Reeks of supremacist views. And it seeks to mischaracterize overwhelmingly peaceful protests across the nation.”

Menendez then offered to support the resolution on one condition: if it condemned President Trump. He stated that if a sentence was added condemning “politicians who incite violence, especially President Trump,” the resolution would be acceptable. He then attacked the president for retweeting a video of two homeowners pointing firearms at a mob that stormed the gates to their private neighborhood.

What happened yesterday was tragic, but those in Congress and in the media need to look in the mirror before blaming others.

Have We Elected Anyone Who Will Protect Jobs For Americans?

Breitbart posted an article yesterday about a recent segment on the Tucker Carlson show. At this point I would like to mention that one of the reasons I like Tucker Carlson’s show is that he calls out Republicans and Democrats when they are doing things that are against the interest of Americans.

The article reports:

Tucker Carlson of the Fox News Channel says Senate Republicans are attempting to pack foreign workers into high-paying U.S. jobs while nearly 18 million Americans are jobless.

On Thursday evening, Carlson slammed Senate Republicans for failing to stop Sen. Mike Lee’s (R-UT) green card giveaway that will allow Indian nationals to effectively monopolize employment-based green cards for at least a decade and tech corporations to privatize the system.

The giveaway solidifies that employment-based visas only go to temporary foreign visa workers, mostly on H-1B visas, who have been imported to the U.S. by corporations to replace American workers, thus rewarding companies who outsource American white-collar jobs.

As noted by Carlson, the giveaway comes as the Justice Department files suit against Facebook — which lobbied for the giveaway — for allegedly discriminating against Americans in favor of foreign workers.

“We’ve known for a long time that Silicon Valley wants foreign workers to dominate our economy,” Carlson said. “They don’t care what kind of effect that has on Americans. What’s surprising is that in a time of mass unemployment — and that’s what we have now, mass unemployment — the Republican Party of all people is helping them do it. That’s happening.”

Foreign workers do not demand the salaries and benefits American workers demand. That is why Silicon Valley wants more of them. It is interesting that this bill came from a Republican. Most Republicans have more sense than this. increasing the number of H-1B visas would reward Silicon Valley for their efforts on behalf of Democrat candidates. The censoring of information as well as large donations helped Democrats in the recent election. Information is still being censored, and it is a safe bet that most Americans have no idea of the testimony that has been given about voter fraud or the videos showing voter fraud.

The article notes that passage of the bill is not a sure thing:

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) has indicated that she plans to bring the giveaway to a standstill by amending the legislation in the House which would then send it back to the Senate where it would need to be approved before Congress adjourns for the holiday season.

This is a bad bill and needs to be stopped in its tracks.

Insert Poison Pill To Block Common Sense Legislation

Yesterday The Epoch Times reported that Senator Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) blocked a resolution that condemns “mob violence.” That sounds like a common sense resolution that should easily pass the Senate, but it was blocked.

The article notes:

Lee (Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) ) took to the Senate floor in Washington Thursday to announce his belief that it was important for the Senate to go on record “condemning the rising tide of mob violence we see across the country and the increasingly prevalent mob mentality that’s fueling it.”

Lee cited several recent instances, including the shooting by a protester in Utah, the assault of a Wisconsin state senator by a group that tore down two statues, and the berating of law enforcement officers for standing at their posts.

While some Americans have organized peaceful protests, other events have devolved into rioting, looting, and violence, Lee noted.

The article continues:

Menendez said he objected, arguing that the resolution made no mention “of America’s original sin, which is slavery.”

Many New Jersey residents don’t believe the United States is morally committed to justice, he argued, which would clash with the third paragraph of the resolution. That paragraph states: “The United States is a diverse nation committed to cultivating respect, friendship, and justice across all such differences, and protecting the God-given equal rights of all Americans under the law.”

“I would consider not objecting to the senator’s request if he also recognized and added to his resolution the fact that we have a president of the United States who ultimately provokes—provokes insightful language and violence,” Menendez added, noting that President Donald Trump recently shared a video that included a man saying “white power.”

Lee was willing to accept the proposed revisions except for the part about Trump, saying lawmakers shouldn’t point to one specific individual.

So Senator Menendez was not willing to condemn violence unless the resolution specifically attacked President Trump. Wow. It’s interesting that the Senator blames President Trump for provoking the violence when the violence is generally committed by people who oppose him. That’s like accusing France of starting World War II because they responded when Germany attacked them. Every rioter is responsible for his/her own actions. They can blame no one but themselves. When they are arrested, they will be held responsible. How dumb does Senator Menendez think the American people are?

A Different Solution To America’s Spending Problem

The national debt has doubled since 2007.  It is now approximately $19,000,000,000,000. Congress has not been successful at stopping spending, and the economy is struggling along with the burden of debt and over-regulation. One Congressman has a proposal that will deal with at least part of the problem.

Yesterday PJ Media posted an article about a proposal by Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah).

The article reports:

Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.), Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) and Rep. Dave Brat (R-Va.) joined Lee to formally introduce the Article I Regulatory Budget Reform Act, which would require Congress to cast a vote on the “total regulatory burden” federal agencies are able to enforce on the private sector each fiscal year.

“Federal regulations come with a cost, albeit a hidden one. The American people can look up in the federal budget and see a monetary cost for the IRS and the EPA. They should also be able to look up what the regulatory cost for these agencies are as well. Beyond making the cost of federal regulation transparent, a regulatory budget will help restore accountability for the cost of regulation onto the people’s elected representatives,” Hensarling said at Hillsdale College’s Kirby Center in Washington.

“With a regulatory budget, it would become so much more difficult for members of Congress to simply pass the buck and blame the faceless, nameless bureaucrats for the cost of regulations on the American people’s families and their businesses,” he added.

Under the U.S. Constitution, Congress is charged with making laws. They are supposed to be held accountable for the laws they pass. Unfortunately, we have wandered into a system where unelected bureaucrats are making our laws, and we can’t vote them out of office.

The article adds:

Lee argued that most of the major bills Congress has passed only “establish aspirational guidelines,” which gives the executive branch the power to determine the specifics. He said Congress should establish “regulatory-cost limits” for federal agencies to follow.

“For the rule-writing bureaucrats, these open-ended laws are gifts that keep on giving. For instance, in the years since Congress first passed the Clean Air Act in 1977, federal bureaucrats have used the law to enact more than 13,500 pages of regulations – roughly 30 pages for every page of legislative text,” Lee said.

“But for the American people, this kind of government without consent is a violation of the social compact at the heart of our republic and exactly why they no longer trust the federal government,” he added.

The U.S. Constitution is an amazing document. The government it established works. Unfortunately we have altered that government to the point where it barely works and is not trusted by the American people. We need serious reform in Washington. Senator Lee’s proposal might be a good place to start.