Rightwinggranny is adding some guest writers to the website this year. The opinions expressed by these writers are not necessarily the opinions of rightwinggranny.
So Exactly What Has The Trump Administration Accomplished?
Reply
On Thursday, American Greatness posted an article listing the domestic policy accomplishments of the Trump administration from October 2025 to the present.
The major highlight of the list was the One Big Beautiful Bill:
The signature domestic accomplishment of the fall and winter was not a new law, but the rollout of the law already signed—H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), which Trump signed on July 4, 2025. Most of its individual-side provisions took effect January 1, 2026, and by the bill’s one-year anniversary the effects were measurable. The law permanently locked in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act rates and the doubled standard deduction, which—absent the OBBBA—would have expired at the end of 2025 and triggered a tax increase on most households. The Tax Foundation estimated the average American taxpayer would see a federal tax cut of roughly $3,752 in 2026, with every state benefiting to some degree.
The bill also delivered on specific 2024 campaign promises: no tax on tips (roughly 7 million workers claimed the deduction) and no tax on overtime (28 million claimants), an increased SALT deduction cap, a $6,000 senior deduction, and reform of Medicaid and SNAP.
Other accomplishments:
The Department of Government Efficiency continued its work despite the litigation and congressional friction noted in that earlier article, with claimed savings pushing toward the quarter-trillion-dollar mark and continued federal workforce attrition through hiring freezes, return-to-office mandates, and automation of processes like federal retirement filing. A rescissions package and impoundment actions targeted programs the administration deemed wasteful, while fraud investigations expanded into state-level abuse of federal benefit programs, including a high-profile Minnesota probe.
…HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s MAHA Commission moved from its September 2025 strategy document (120-plus initiatives) into implementation. The FDA continued working with industry toward eliminating petroleum-based synthetic dyes like Red 40 and Yellow 5 from the food supply by the end of 2026 and is closing the “GRAS loophole” that let food companies self-certify novel additives as safe without FDA review. USDA and HHS released updated Dietary Guidelines for Americans emphasizing whole foods, and the $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program (created in the OBBBA) began funding rural hospitals and MAHA-aligned state policy, including support for regenerative agriculture practices.
Please follow the link above to read the entire article. Other accomplishments mentioned include gaining control of the southern border, appointing judges who believe in the U.S. Constitution, lowering crime in several major cities, and creating a manufacturing boom in America.
Let’s Not Give Money Away To People Who Are Here Illegally
On Wednesday, The New York Post posted an article about a new rule put in place by the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that tightens the requirements for the adoption, child, American opportunity, and earned income tax credits so that only US citizens, US nationals, and qualified aliens can get them.
The article reports:
“Under President Trump, the days of illegal aliens collecting taxpayer-funded benefits are over. The federal law is clear, and Treasury is enforcing it,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.
“American taxpayers should not be forced to foot the bill for benefits going to those who are barred by law from receiving them. These proposed regulations end the abuse, protect the integrity of the tax system, and put Americans first.”
Those four tax credits are refundable, which means people with a larger credit than the taxes they owe get a refund from Uncle Sam.
The administration’s new rule specifically targets the refunded portion of those tax credits. They would still be allowed to use the credits to offset their federal income tax liability.
Nearly 1 million people would be ineligible for the “refunded portion of the affected refundable individual income tax credits” due to the rule change, the Trump administration has estimated.
The estimated savings for taxpayers is $3 billion. That is not pocket change. This is just one of many efforts to shrink the amount of money that the federal government bureaucracy spends.
This May Turn Out To Be A Very Mixed Blessing
On Tuesday, Just The News posted an article about the significant drop in what Americans are paying for prescription drugs.
The article reports:
President Donald Trump’s Most Favored Nation policies and TrumpRx platform have produced the largest annual drop in U.S. prescription drug prices in over 60 years, the steepest since 1963, according to the administration. The update follows years of price increases across much of the sector which had Americans footing the bill for other nations’ usage.
“Without even twisting an arm, without trying to pass a new bill, he [Trump] brought all these players together with TrumpRX to lower the cost of prescription drugs, and he continues to do that because this guy understands leverage. He understands the bully pulpit,” Rep. Jimmy Patronis, R-Fla., told Just The News.
TrumpRx has already generated $700 million in patient savings. GLP-1 drugs that previously exceeded $1,000 monthly now start at $149; many other high-cost medications (insulin, inhalers, fertility drugs, cholesterol treatments) have fallen 50–90%. Prescription prices are down 3.9% since Trump took office and have declined every month of 2026.
Nonprescription drugs fell 2.4% and medical-care commodities 2.7% over the past year.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) also locked in more than $10 billion in pharmaceutical savings this fiscal year, with hundreds of billions projected long-term. The administration states this is the first time a president has actually lowered prescription drug prices.
…Americans have long paid substantially higher prices for brand-name prescription drugs than patients in other developed countries—often three to four times as much, according to RAND analyses of 2022 data comparing the U.S. to 33 OECD nations.
The high prices that Americans pay finance the extensive medical research that takes place in America. The government being involved in any aspect of medicine should be troublesome for Americans. The free market works best. The cost of medical coverage was lower and the choices of medical insurance coverage was better before the government got involved. I am not opposed to Americans paying less for prescription drugs, but I want to make sure that we still leave room to pay for the research to develop new and better drugs.
From my friends at The Patriot Post:
There Is A Difference Between Creating An Incident And Reporting On An Incident
On Tuesday, The Daily Signal posted an article about the church invasion charges against former CNN anchor Don Lemon and independent journalist Georgia Fort. Major media outlets have joined an amicus brief urging a court to dismiss the charges.
The article reports:
Forty-five media outlets and nonprofit organizations joined the brief, including The Associated Press, Dow Jones (which owns The Wall Street Journal), MS NOW, The New York Times, The NewsGuild, PEN America, ProPublica, Slate, and The Washington Post.
Lemon and Fort stand accused of violating federal civil rights laws for their alleged activity in the invasion of Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Jan. 18, protesting the pastor who works for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The Justice Department brought charges against Lemon and Fort under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act and the Ku Klux Klan Act, claiming they took part in the agitation that violated congregants’ civil rights. Lemon and Fort have said they were present at the invasion in their capacity as journalists.
The amicus brief, led by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, argues that if Lemon and Fort are convicted, “federal law would be within arm’s reach of prosecutors to muzzle reporting in the public interest.” Magistrate Judge Douglas Micko of the U.S. District of Minnesota added the brief to the court record Monday.
The article notes:
Agitators, who said they targeted Cities Church because one of its pastors works for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, allegedly stood up in the middle of a service, refused to leave when asked, blocked members of the congregation from getting to their children, and chanted, “Who shut this down? We shut this down!”
The indictment notes that Lemon livestreamed the planning meeting before the church takeover, but he told his audience he was leaving out key details to avoid revealing the target beforehand. It also claims Lemon said “the whole point” of the activity was “to disrupt” the service. It further accuses Lemon of confronting the church’s pastor, refusing to leave when asked, and obstructing churchgoers as they left the building.
The indictment presents fewer concrete claims about Fort’s alleged involvement in the agitation. It alleges that she confronted the pastor and that she blocked a minivan from leaving the church’s parking lot by conducting an interview in front of it.
The actions of Don Lemon were not reporting and are not protected by the First Amendment. As soon as you block someone from exercising their right to participate in a religious service, you have broken the law. I hope the people involved in this protest, which involved trespassing if they stayed after they were asked to leave, are punished for their actions. This was not a protest–it was unlawful activity.
When The Punishment DOES NOT Fit The Crime
On Tuesday, Yahoo News posted an article about Abdinasir Mahamed Abshir, 34, of Lakeville, Minnesota.
The article reports:
A Minnesota man whose food site received more than $5.4 million after falsely claiming to serve about 1.6 million meals to children has been sentenced to 6½ years in federal prison.
Abdinasir Mahamed Abshir, 34, of Lakeville, received a 78-month sentence on Aug. 18 for wire fraud in the massive Feeding Our Future case, according to the latest reporting from FOX 9.
But the fraud itself was not the only conduct that affected his punishment. While another Feeding Our Future trial was underway in February 2025, Abshir approached a cooperating witness who was preparing to testify and asked the man to go into a courthouse bathroom with him to talk.
Abshir later acknowledged that the encounter amounted to obstruction of justice through attempted witness tampering. At sentencing, U.S. District Judge Nancy E. Brasel said the courthouse conduct was a primary reason for the 78-month term.
According to an article posted at Power Line Blog on Tuesday:
Abdinasir Abshir, Feeding Our Future defendant No. 10 (out of 80), was sentenced to 6-and-a-half years in federal prison in a hearing this afternoon. He was ordered to repay the more than $2 million he personally took out of the scheme.
Where do the taxpayers go to get the rest of the $5.4 million?
Yahoo News reports:
Abshir transferred millions of dollars from Horseed Management to himself and other people involved in the scheme. Some of the money went to Calikamin Enterprise, another shell company Abshir created. He also used fraud proceeds to purchase a 2021 Range Rover, which federal authorities seized for forfeiture.
Prosecutors say Abshir paid more than $100,000 in bribes and kickbacks to Abdikerm Eidleh, a Feeding Our Future employee, in exchange for helping sponsor and facilitate Stigma-Free Mankato’s participation in the federal nutrition program.
Feeding Our Future received nearly $420,000 in administrative fees for sponsoring the site, according to the Justice Department. Abshir also paid $5,750 into a GoFundMe account created for Feeding Our Future in December 2021.
I am not impressed with the sentencing. Six and a half years in prison is not enough of a penalty for that amount of criminal activity or to deter someone else from committing a similar crime.
The Search For Voter Integrity
On Monday, The Federalist posted an article about California’s lack of ability to determine how many noncitizens have been removed from its voting rolls or the lack of a policy to investing illegal voting.
The article reports:
For years, Americans have been told that concerns about noncitizens voting are a myth, a right-wing talking point unworthy of serious attention. California’s own secretary of state and attorney general have proven otherwise, however, not by admitting the state has no idea whether, or how often, it’s even happening, but by indicating the state isn’t bothering to track it.
A few weeks ago, the ACLJ (American Center For Law & Justice) submitted two California Public Records Act (CPRA) requests — one to the California secretary of state and one to Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office — seeking records on how the state maintains the integrity of its voter rolls. The Attorney General’s Office took an extension, ultimately responding on Aug. 10.
The Secretary of State’s Office responded first, but refused to provide any records responsive to our request. According to its answer, the statewide voter registration system simply “does not contain” a specific cancellation reason for non-citizenship. In other words, the state cannot tell us how many noncitizens have ever been removed from its voter rolls — because it doesn’t keep that information at all.
The article concludes:
It’s also worth noting that California doesn’t require proof of citizenship or lawful presence for a certain category of driver’s license, AB 60 — the same kind of licensing pathway that triggered New Jersey’s noncitizen voter roll problem. And driver’s licenses are used to establish identity.
The ACLJ isn’t done here. We’re pressing for the records that California’s DOJ says it’s still reviewing, and depending on what — or what isn’t — in that response, our options range from further legal demands to potential litigation for noncompliance with state and federal recordkeeping laws.
The California Secretary of State’s Office has now told the country that it doesn’t know how many noncitizens have been removed from its voter rolls, and the Attorney General’s Office admitted that it has no formal policy for investigating illegal voting when it’s reported. That’s not a technicality. That’s a transparency failure in need of further investigation.
This is no way to run a state!
Avoiding Clean Voter Rolls
When I was a young child, for a short while I lived in Jersey City. I didn’t understand at the time when my parents made jokes about people sometime around October every election year going through the cemeteries with pens and clipboards to register the people there to vote. I have a better understanding of that now.
On Tuesday, The Daily Signal reported:
North Carolina’s Democrat Gov. Josh Stein vetoed an election law reform that requires the state to cross-check voter registration rolls with death records.
The governor vetoed House Bill 958 in the battleground state, which would also reduce the number of early voting days in certain elections and grant the state auditor new powers to review election results.
Republican lawmakers have enough votes to override Stein’s veto, according to WSOC Charlotte. The bill passed along party lines.
Critics of the legislation contend it would hinder transparency for campaign finance and potentially lead to the purging of eligible voters from voter rolls. The bill allows candidates to disclose fewer donations on contributions, loans, and expenditures, increasing the required amount for reporting from $1,000 to $3,000.
“Rather than make your life better, they want to make it harder for you to hold them accountable for their failures,” Stein said Monday of the bill’s GOP supporters, WRALRaleigh reported.
“They would rather change the rules of our elections to secure advantage than to do the work that the voters expect, which is to improve people’s lives,” the governor added.
Republicans have argued that the governor is making elections less secure with his veto, WRAL reported.
So changing the rules of our elections so that dead people don’t vote doesn’t improve people’s lives? How does dead people voting help us in any way?
The article concludes:
Under the legislation, the state and county boards of elections would be required to remove ineligible voters from voter rolls and update addresses of eligible voters. They can enter into data-sharing agreements with other states to cross-check voting records.
The bill would also allow “any registered voter” to challenge the legitimacy of a vote or a voter’s registration. A decision made by the county board may be appealed to the Superior Court in the county where the challenge originated.
Early votes cast in-person must be counted at the time polls close on Election Day. The bill stipulates that if a voter lacks photo ID, he or she will get a provisional ballot.
The bill further bans foreign nationals from donating to a referendum campaign. Numerous other states have banned direct and indirect foreign contributions on ballot measures in recent years.
The only reason to leave dead people on the voter rolls is so you can cheat!
Trump Report Card: Economy
Author: R. Alan Harrop, Ph.D
In a previous article, I stressed the fact that the essence of a true representative republic is elected officials doing what they promised to do while campaigning. That article listed numerous effective actions President Trump has taken to prevent illegal immigration. This article will examine the actions the Trump administration has taken to strengthen the economy.
President Trump’s pledge to “Make America Great Again” is clearly seen in many actions he has taken in his second term. First, he removed the barriers against oil and natural gas exploration and production enacted by the Biden administration. There has been a 55% increase in oil and natural gas drilling permits on public land since Trump’s inauguration. In 2025, U.S. energy production reached record levels, including a record 714 million barrels of crude oil from offshore sites. As a result, the United States is the largest producer of energy in the world. At the same time, the Trump administration has canceled billions of dollars in grants for so-called green energy projects and requirements. The result is a fulfilled campaign promise to ensure abundant energy availability for our nation and eliminate dependence on any other country.
Second, the Trump administration has effectively reduced excessive government regulations that have been stifling economic growth in this country. For every new regulation, Trump requires each federal agency to eliminate ten existing regulations. In addition, his administration has, unlike the Biden administration that significantly increased the federal workforce, reduced the federal workforce by over 60,000 jobs, saving the taxpayers over $2 billion every year. As a result of these and other efforts, the stock market is at an all-time high and inflation is down considerably compared to the Biden administration.
Third, President Trump has taken significant steps to fulfill his promise to return manufacturing to the U.S. No country can be safe, secure, and prosperous when dependent on other countries for essential manufactured products. He has used tariffs and the threat of tariffs as well as other incentives to increase domestic production. Countries like China have been taking advantage of unfair trade policies for decades. We saw a prime example of the problem this can cause during the Covid crisis when essential medical supplies had to be purchased from abroad. As a result of his strong stance on trade negotiations, billions of dollars are being re-directed to manufacturing (with a resulting increase in jobs) in this country. Remember, most leftist Democrats support the concept of a global economy not the American economy. Many states have experienced a significant increase in manufacturing investment as a result of Trump’s actions including North Carolina, which has a projected increase of approximately $140 billion in manufacturing.
Fourth, the Trump administration has been focused on directly helping the American worker and taxpayers. The administration recently announced a program to expand commercial truck driver training for American citizens and curtail the use of many non-English speaking immigrants operating commercial vehicles. Also, importantly, President Trump pushed Congress to pass federal tax reductions such as no tax on tips, overtime, and social security benefits. It is estimated that these changes will save the average taxpayer up to $10,000 per year.
As a result of these and other policy actions, the U.S. economy is strong. While the conflict with Iran is preventing the cost of fuel from dropping as much as the Trump administration had planned, the objective of eliminating the nuclear threat from the world’s greatest sponsor of terrorism is a price the world must pay to ensure safety and security for this and future generations. President Trump has not only kept his campaign promises concerning the economy, he has demonstrated the effectiveness of a free market economy rather than the big government centralized control advocated by the Marxist left.
It is up to patriotic Americans to recognize these achievements and get out and vote to continue them.
The Joys Of Sending Your Child To An Ivy League College
For the academic year 2024-2025, the undergraduate tuition at Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus is $20,644 for Pennsylvania residents and $41,790 for out-of-state students. Parents who send their children there expect them to get a good education and a good start on their adult life. That isn’t always what happens.
On Monday, The Daily Caller posted an article about some recent charges brought against students at Penn State.
The article reports:
Fourteen people ran a cocaine operation out of two Penn State fraternity houses, supplying the drug to fellow students for roughly two years, Pennsylvania prosecutors alleged Monday.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday announced the charges alongside the State College Police Department, according to his office.
Thirteen of those accused attended Penn State at or near the time of the alleged activity in 2023 and 2024, and the remaining defendant is the father of a student, charged with tampering with evidence and obstructing the probe. Sunday’s office later confirmed that at least four of those charged are current students.
Agostino Abbatiello and Thomas Robinson supplied the group with drugs, traveling to Philadelphia and New York to bring back large amounts of cocaine, the attorney general’s office said. Members and pledges of Delta Upsilon and Sigma Chi then cut and bagged the drug at the two houses before selling it to classmates.
“This was a coordinated and highly-profitable drug-trafficking crew revolving around two senior members of the fraternities, other fraternity brothers, and pledges,” Sunday said in a statement released by his office. “In fact, according to the evidence uncovered, cutting and packaging cocaine was, for some pledges, an indoctrination into the fraternities.”
…Abbatiello, Robinson, Mohammed Hurabi and Lars Zeepvat face felony counts of corrupt organizations, conspiracy and dealing in proceeds of unlawful activity, according to the attorney general’s office. Robert Zanolla is charged with felony conspiracy and criminal use of a communication facility. Eight others face misdemeanors. Paul Robinson, the student’s father, allegedly hid a safe holding drugs and cash.
One of the fraternities involved has been placed on interim suspension. The other was never recognized by the college.
The article does not indicate whether all members of the fraternities were involved in the activities, but this case should make parents very aware of what can go on in our colleges. Hug your children and watch them closely!
From my friends at Townhall:
Voting With Your Feet
On Monday, The Gateway Pundit posted an article about another major corporation leaving California for Texas.
The article reports:
Hil Davis, the CEO of Digital Brands Group based in California, shared his blunt reasoning for moving his company’s headquarters to Round Rock, Texas. Davis told Fox News Digital, “Doing business in the state of California sucks.”
The Round Rock Chamber announced the move in a press release.
“Founded in California and known for its innovative approach to blending apparel brands with e-commerce technology and data-driven consumer solutions, Digital Brands Group’s relocation marks a significant win for economic development in Round Rock.”
“The company’s move reflects the accelerating trend of growth-oriented companies choosing Texas for its business-friendly environment, skilled workforce, and strategic position in Central Texas.”
“We are thankful to move to Texas, a business-friendly state, from California. We believe the operating environment and cost of business is significantly better, while also creating a higher quality of life and lower cost of living for employees. We are excited to build our corporate headquarters in Round Rock, especially as we move into our next phase of growth,” Davis added.
The article quotes Fox News:
Davis pointed to California’s high cost of living, long employee commutes and the rising cost of doing business, including defending against lawsuits.
“You start to add all those things up,” he said. “It doesn’t work. It doesn’t make sense. It’s too hard.”
The relocation comes as California wrestles with a much bigger question about whether the state’s costs, taxes and regulations are driving away the businesses and wealthy residents it relies on.
That debate has intensified around a proposed one-time tax of up to 5% on Californians worth more than $1 billion.
California has brought this on itself. One of the most beautiful states in the union has created an environment where the cost of living and the cost of doing business have skyrocketed. A business needs to go to where the cost of doing business is reasonable and the cost of living for its employees is reasonable. California currently meets neither of those two requirements. It remains to be seen if the state can change enough politically to avoid the economic disaster that is currently in its future.
Exactly What Are The Democrat Policies?
On Monday, The Federalist posted an article about some recent policies voted on by the Democrat National Committee (DNC) Resolutions Committee.
The article reports:
When the accomplice media tell you that there is such a thing as a “moderate” wing of the Democratic Party, remember what the Democratic National Committee did on August 15, 2026. And remember that November’s midterm elections come down to the sane versus the insane on the ballot.
In an effort to offer voters varying degrees of insanity, the DNC on Saturday staked out two positions on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement: A resolution seeking to abolish ICE, and another looking to gut it. Each measure passed unanimously by voice vote during the committee’s summer meeting in Austin, Texas.
…The DNC Resolutions Committee advanced the motion (25-12) late last week urging “Democratic members of Congress to craft legislation abolishing ICE and enacting immigration reform that provides pathways to citizenship, protects workers, and ensures dignity for all impacted people,” according to Common Dreams, a left-wing nonprofit “news” organization founded by Dem operative Craig Brown.
In a lame attempt to soften the abolishment proposal, the Resolutions Committee backed a separate advisory resolution calling for “concrete reforms” to ICE.
Neither resolution is binding. The final DNC platform will be set at the 2028 Democratic National Committee Convention in August 2028, in a leftist-led city yet to be selected.
The immigration debate is becoming tiresome. You are not a racist because you want people to come to America to work and add to the country. You are not a racist because you believe that people should follow the law in coming here. You are not a racist because you believe that laws regarding illegal entry into America should be enforced. These used to be mainstream ideas.
The article concludes:
Now a Democratic Party that has been commandeered by the radical left wants to abolish ICE. They can’t pretend they don’t want to do that any longer. They just passed a resolution spelling out their intentions.
“Instead of trying to abolish ICE, Democrats should be thanking ICE law enforcement officers for putting their lives on the line to arrest and remove murderers, rapists, pedophiles, and gang members from American communities,” the White House said in statement.
“Many of these criminals were released from jails by Democrat radical politicians. President Trump’s efforts to remove criminal illegal aliens from American communities is already delivering results including the lowest murder rate in 125 years.”
Trump Report Card
Author: R. Alan Harrop, Ph.D.
All politicians make promises while on the campaign trail. Some of them reflect their true beliefs, while some are made to increase voter support. Various presidents have been guilty of the same hypocrisy. Because of the campaign promises candidates make that they have no intention or ability to fulfil, the power of the people to control the government and ultimately their freedom is undermined. This coming election in November is crucial to the continuation of the policies enacted by President Trump. The Democrats have already promised to undo many, if not all, of the positive actions of the Trump administration through overrides of his executive orders and by curtailing his power by bringing spurious impeachment charges as they did in his first term.
It is time that we examine the actions the Trump administration has taken to “make America great again.” The people who voted for Trump in 2024 must understand what he has done to fulfill his promises and return America to the principles and policies that not only reflect our founding principles but made this country successful. Conservative voters need this information so that they are motivated to get out and vote in numbers that ensure the effectiveness of the Trump administration for the next two years. This, and subsequent articles, are intended to summarize the important positive actions that President Trump has taken to implement the policies he promised to the American people.
In politics, there are people we can classify as revolutionists because their goal is to change the way America is governed. For example, President Barack Obama stated on many occasions that his goal was to fundamentally transform America. Communist New York City Mayor Mamdani has set about accomplishing the same thing. President Donald Trump is actually a counter-revolutionary since his objective is to return this country to its founding principles and policies and then maintain those policies. It is important to remember the distinction between revolutionary and counter-revolutionary since we are clearly facing the greatest internal threat of communism in our history.
Let us start off with border security and see how President Trump is doing. No country can long survive with large numbers of immigrants, both legal and illegal, who do not share the essential principles and beliefs of the host country. History has repeatedly shown this to be true. What is happening currently in many European countries is further proof. Marxists do not believe in the idea of independent countries/nations and are seeking global governance with no effective borders. This has always been the goal of communism. President Trump has a different view and has taken steps to implement his policies. First, he put a stop to the Biden administration’s restrictions on ICE agents to perform their duties. They are now once again not only able to stop illegal immigrants from entering this country, but are arresting and deporting them at high rates. As a result, there have been over 700,000 deportations and over 1,300,000 self-deportations. Instead of seeing caravans of illegals swamping our southern border, the tide has turned and many are choosing to leave on their own. The word is out to the world that we no longer have open borders. The Biden administration lied about their ability to close the border and said they could do nothing without changes in the laws.
Second, the Trump administration has taken action to terminate the temporary protected status granted to over 300,000 Haitians allowed into this country by the Biden administration. This action by the Trump administration was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court by a 6-3 majority opinion.
Third, President Biden not only stopped the construction of the southern border wall, he sold off the material already purchased for its completion for pennies on the dollar. President Trump re-started the construction of the border wall which when completed will extend across the entire 1,954 miles between our country and Mexico.
Fourth, President Trump has taken action to stop “tourists” and other temporary visitors from having babies who, as a result of being born on U.S. soil, are granted immediate citizenship. His effort has been made more difficult by the ridiculous Supreme Court ruling allowing this practice to continue. Congress needs to step up to the plate and support President Trump’s efforts to curtail this so-called birthright citizenship which is being exploited by China. This amendment to the Constitution was intended to ensure that children of slaves after the Civil War were granted citizenship. The Amendment was never intended to allow anyone visiting in this country to have children granted citizenship if they are born here.
There are many other actions that the Trump administration has taken to secure our borders as he promised. He has fulfilled his campaign pledge. The election in November will determine whether these actions favored by the voters who elected President Trump will be retained permanently. We must get out the vote!
One Result Of The Big Beautiful Bill
On Saturday, Just the News posted an article about the impact of the One Big Beautiful Bill on Americans’ tax refunds.
The article reports:
The Internal Revenue Service issued $296 billion in refunds during the 2026 filing season, a 17% increase from the previous year, as millions of Americans benefited from President Donald Trump’s signature tax law, according to a new Government Accountability Office report.
The increase represented $43 billion more in refunds than the IRS had issued during the 2025 filing season for tax year 2024. The average refund also increased by $333, or 11%, compared with the previous year, according to the full report.
The GAO attributed the larger refunds, in part, to millions of taxpayers claiming new deductions created by recent tax law changes in Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB), including provisions allowing deductions for qualified tips and overtime.
The IRS also issued more refunds overall, sending out more than 8 million additional refunds compared with 2025.
The increase in refunds came as the agency faced delays affecting taxpayers who received their money by paper check.
The article notes the advantage of filing electronically and receiving your return electronically:
Still, taxpayers who had filed paper returns or relied on paper refund checks had faced significant delays.
“Most paper check refunds were delayed by weeks,” the GAO reported, as the IRS had moved toward issuing refunds primarily through direct deposit.
The IRS sent approximately 4.2 million notices to taxpayers by early May asking them to provide bank account information to allow for electronic delivery of their refunds.
Taxpayers who had not responded were told they would receive a paper check after six weeks.
As a result, the number of paper-check refunds issued by early April had plunged more than 80%, from about 2.8 million in 2025 to roughly 493,000 in 2026. Those who had received paper checks waited an average of 36 days, compared with 13 days the previous year.
The GAO found that the IRS had therefore taken about three times longer to issue paper-check refunds than it had in 2025.
Taxpayers using direct deposit generally avoided the worst of the delays.
According to the report, nine out of 10 refunds issued through direct deposit had arrived within 21 days.
According to Artificial Intelligence, this is who pays taxes in America:
In the U.S., the top 1% of earners, who make over $663,164, paid approximately 40.4% of federal income taxes in 2022, while the top 50% of earners contributed about 97% of total federal income taxes.
Federal Tax Contributions by Income Group
Understanding the distribution of federal tax payments reveals significant disparities.
-
- Top 1% — They earned 22.2% of total Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) and paid 42.3% of federal income taxes.
- Top 50% — This group accounted for 97% of all federal individual income taxes.
- Bottom 50% — They contributed only 3% of federal income taxes.
- Top 5% — In 2023, they paid over $1.27 trillion in income taxes, about 60% of the total.
- Progressive Tax System — High-income earners pay higher average tax rates, emphasizing the system’s progressive nature.
Whenever someone tells you that the rich don’t pay their fair share, show them these numbers.
The Company You Keep
On Friday, The Washington Free Beacon posted an article about the Islamic Society of North America’s (ISNA) 63rd annual convention in Detroit in September. Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed who is a U.S. Senate candidate from Michigan will be speaking at that event. Some of the people who will also be highlighted at that event are not people who agree with the values of American culture.
The article reports:
The convention features a rogues’ gallery of notorious Muslim figures who’ve engaged in Holocaust denial and the persecution of Christians and have also been unindicted co-conspirators in terror plots, including the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. But one speaker stands out for his particularly noxious record: Tariq Masood, an influential Pakistani cleric who is also on the ISNA roster.
…According to multiple Pakistani media reports, Masood in 2021 admitted in a sermon that he forced his 13-year-old niece into marriage, and advised his followers to do the same with their young female relatives. Masood also said it was a husband’s decision whether or not his wife can go to college or must remain a housewife, citing Sharia, or Islamic religious law. In 2024, Canadian activists urged the government to block Masood’s visa to the country over his “pedophilic rhetoric.”
Masood has also promoted inflammatory views about Jews.
In a 2024 sermon titled “The Final Humiliation of the Jews,” Masood said, according to translations of the event, that Jews’ “cunning minds” had worked to bring the world under their control.
“The Quran condemns Jews,” Masood said, while adding that “not all Jews are the same.” He nevertheless claimed that the amount of “evil and turmoil” among Jews was unmatched by any other community in the world.
…Other speakers include Siraj Wahhaj, a New York-based imam who was an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Texas-based imam Yasir Qadhi, who will appear on several panels over the weekend, has called the Holocaust a “hoax” and said that Adolf Hitler “never intended to mass-destroy the Jews.” Hussam Ayloush, an official with the pro-Hamas Council on American-Islamic Relations, will speak on a panel about civic participation. After Oct. 7, Ayloush said that “Israel should be attacked,” and that if “you want to pick up arms and defend your people and your land, that is a legitimate right.”
There is a possibility that Abdul El-Sayed (as he prefers to be called) will be elected. It depends on the turnout of the Muslim population in Michigan and how many Americans choose to turn out.
Addendum:
How did we get here?
According to Arab America:
The origin story of how the Yemeni community in Michigan is an interesting one. Way back in the early 1900s, Henry Ford started recruiting Yemeni workers to work at Ford’s factories. After a few years, Ford sent for more workers and the Yemeni American community began to grow. People who gained citizenship during their time working for Ford brought family over and started lives in Michigan while remaining close to their family back in Yemen.
Now more than 30,000 Yemeni Americans live in Michigan. In recent years, the civil war in Yemen, and subsequent humanitarian crisis, has driven a new wave of immigration. The Yemeni community lives largely in Hamtramck and Dearborn, but it differs in several ways from other Arab American communities in the area.
“The Yemeni community is a distinct community that really deserves to be looked at in its own right” says Brian Stone. “Often umbrella terms like Middle Eastern or Arab Americans are used, and it really papers over the things that are specific and unique, special about the Yemeni community.”
That is the root of what we are seeing in Michigan now.
Be Careful How You Vote In The Mid-terms
On Sunday, Townhall posted an article about some of the Democrat plans for Congressional action if they take Congress in the mid-terms.
The article reports:
Top Democrat and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has announced plans to completely reshape the Supreme Court in favor of progressives should his party win back power, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.
Jeffries has labeled the Court, which has sided against Trump on key issues of birthright citizenship and the tariff agenda, a “subsidiary” of the Trump administration. Democrats had previously touted plans to reconstruct the Court into a progressive machine by expanding the seats and instituting term limits. Democrats believe that Senate rules preventing such measures can simply be altered.
“[A] variety of different options that are on the table, and I think we can’t foreclose on any single one of them,” Jeffries told the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Atlanta, Georgia.
When pressed by NBC, Jeffries would not explicitly state that he endorses a move to pack the Court, but that he supports “dramatic reform.”
…Republicans have warned that Democrats would seek to reshape the Court for months, even as progressives have scored major wins through activist lower courts that have stifled the Trump agenda. Former Vice President Kamala Harris has explicitly stated her support for packing the Court, and the growing Democratic Socialist wing of the Democrat Party has campaigned on abolishing the body altogether.
If the Democrats take control, even if they don’t pack the Supreme Court, they will undo all of the things that President Trump has done to move the economy forward. The current Congress has been remiss in passing the Trump agenda, but they did pass the One Big Beautiful Bill, giving Americans back more of their money. I am not sure the provisions of that bill will last if the Democrats take control of Congress. The goal of the current Democrat party (which has moved considerably left) is to pack the Supreme Court, admit Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. as states to insure a permanent Senate majority, and create a one-party country indefinitely. If the voters allow this to happen, they will have to live with the results. The results won’t be pretty.
One Consequence Of Closing The Border
On Thursday, Breitbart posted an article about one of the consequences of closing America’s southern border.
The article reports:
Profits for human smugglers, mainly the Mexican drug cartels, are down significantly, a Treasury Department report details, as President Donald Trump’s policies have drastically cut illegal immigration at the nation’s borders.
A Financial Trend Analysis report from the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) found that United States banks flagged some nearly $5 billion linked to potential human smuggling from 2023 to 2025.
“Many human smuggling networks generate profit for larger transnational criminal organizations, including Mexico-based drug cartels,” FinCEN Director Andrea Gacki said in a statement. “Suspicious activity flagged by financial institutions provides critical information, and we will continue to work closely with both the private sector and law enforcement to dismantle human smuggling networks and protect our borders.”
In particular, the report states that human smuggling-related transactions fell 62 percent in 2025, the first year of Trump’s second term, compared to 2024 when former President Joe Biden was in office.
The article notes:
“Again this month, the results are clear: President Trump’s border security agenda is restoring order and putting the safety of the American people first,” Mullin (Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin) said. “DHS remains focused on enforcing our immigration laws, securing the border, and ensuring those who enter our country illegally are removed swiftly.”
In July, fewer than 10,000 illegal aliens were apprehended crossing the southern border. Daily apprehensions, DHS officials said, are down 94 percent compared to the Biden administration.
Securing the border has a lot of financial consequences–human trafficking is down and payments to the cartels are down. Hitting the cartels in the pocketbook is one way to deal with them. It is going to take a lot more than that to get rid of them, but securing the border is a good first step.
Putting The Money Where It Is Needed
On Friday, updated Saturday, Just the News posted an article about a $5.3 billion in investments to improve national rail safety and upgrade Amtrak trains.
The article reports:
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced Friday $5.3 billion in investments to improve national rail safety and upgrade Amtrak trains, diverting nearly half the money from California’s disastrously overpriced and stalled high-speed rail project championed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
About $2 billion of the new Federal Railroad Administration investment will come from savings from Duffy’s decision to end federal support for the California project, which exploded to become seven times over budget and years delayed.
“I would love to see America have high-speed rail. I’m an advocate of it and for it,” Duffy told the Just the News, No Noise television show. “But when California has an initial cost estimate of $33 billion, but over the course of more than a decade, they don’t lay one track. And by the way, the cost projection now for that rail is $231 billion.
“Listen, we’re not going to invest in projects that don’t deliver for the American people. We’re going to invest in the projects that actually show that the hard work of an American taxpayer there’s a deliverable for the money that they give us, and so that’s one example,” he said.
Duffy told Just the News that the new funding will:
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- Close over 30 train crossings and upgrade over a thousand with new infrastructure and technology
- Purchase 43 Made-in-America train sets to replace Amtrak’s aging fleet
- Overhaul 41 locomotives currently serving Amtrak’s Midwest and Pacific routes.
Our railway system is not up to date. This is a much needed upgrade. Plowing money into a high-speed rail project for ten years without any track laid is inexcusable.
Ingenuity Saved Lives
National Geographic is releasing a new docuseries, “9/11 Reunited,” which premieres Aug. 21 at 8 p.m. The three-part series can also be streamed in its entirety the following day on Disney+ and Hulu.
The New York Post posted an article about the series on Saturday.
The article reports one of the stories that will be included in the series:
When al-Qaeda terrorists struck the World Trade Center on 9/11, six strangers found themselves trapped in an elevator in a desperate fight for survival.
As the express elevator climbed to its first stop on the 67th floor, American Airlines Flight 11 plowed into the North Tower at 8:46 am, causing the elevator to shudder and free-fall down the shaft.
One of the passengers pushed an emergency button, but the elevator had already plummeted 15 stories before stopping near the 50th floor.
As a choking cloud of thick white smoke that smelled like chemicals began pouring into the cabin, panic wasn’t an option — it was a death sentence.
So the six men — including a window cleaner and two Port Authority officials — calmly pooled their brains and their brawn.
First, they worked together to open the stuck automatic metal doors with their hands.
But there was no exit on the other end — just a solid wall with the number “50” stenciled on it.
Then, a burst of MacGyver-level ingenuity from someone always on the outside looking in at the WTC.
Window cleaner and Polish immigrant Jan Demczur quickly whipped out the brass squeegee from the bucket by his feet and began frantically pecking at layers of drywall in a circular motion.
Some of the others worked in tandem, punching and kicking the drywall until there was a hole large enough for everyone to crawl out.
They landed in a men’s bathroom, where they met firefighters imploring them to leave.
I am looking forward to watching the docuseries. The stories of survival on that day are amazing and encouraging.
From my friends at Power Line Blog:
Something To Consider
I don’t necessarily agree with this article, but I thought it was interesting.
On Friday, American Greatness posted an article by Fred Fleitz titled, “Why Sharing Peaceful Nuclear Technology with Saudi Arabia and South Korea Strengthens America and Nonproliferation.”
Please follow the link and read the article completely, but here are a few highlights:
The recent U.S.-Saudi nuclear deal, which will allow Riyadh to build nuclear power reactors and enrich uranium for reactor fuel, represents President Trump’s leadership in strengthening and developing America’s relationship with Saudi Arabia and promoting stability in the Middle East. It is also a long-overdue modernization of how the United States should share peaceful nuclear technology with trusted partners and will deliver major wins for U.S. industry. Like the nuclear deal with South Korea, the Saudi deal keeps sensitive nuclear technology under American influence rather than ceding it to rivals.
Both nuclear deals are a matter of trust. South Korea is a model member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and an ironclad U.S. ally. Saudi Arabia is a critical partner in a volatile region. By moving forward with these agreements, the United States is demonstrating confidence in close partners that have repeatedly proven their reliability.
Saudi Arabia is seeking peaceful nuclear power to diversify its energy mix, free up oil for export, and support its broader economic transformation. The U.S. and Saudi Arabia have signed agreements that position American firms—led by companies such as Westinghouse with its AP1000 reactors—to design, build, and help operate those plants. This is a multi-decade, multi-billion-dollar opportunity. U.S. companies will construct the reactors and related infrastructure on Saudi soil. American technology, engineers, and supply chains will be at the center. High-paying jobs and industrial capacity will be created in the United States.
This deal also locks out Russia and China from spreading their less reliable nuclear technology with weaker safeguards.
The article concludes:
Critics are naturally raising concerns that these agreements will undo U.S. agreements and policies that have successfully restricted the spread of nuclear technology with weapons applications. Such critics include many Democrats as well as some Republicans. This criticism is ironic given that the Biden administration unsuccessfully tried to negotiate a similar arrangement with Saudi Arabia. Moreover, criticism that the Trump nuclear deals pose unacceptable proliferation threats ignores the fact that there are other, less scrupulous players standing ready to sell nuclear technology with little or no proliferation protections. The alternative to U.S.-led cooperation is not nuclear-free regions; it is regions in which others set the terms.
The Trump nuclear deals with Saudi Arabia and South Korea represent a modernized and pragmatic path forward with both nations. They deserve strong congressional support.
I totally respect Fred Fleitz’s opinion. His biography on the internet lists his achievements:
Fred Fleitz is former Chief of Staff of the Trump National Security Council and a Deputy Assistant to President Trump. He served for 25 years in US government national security positions for 25 years with the Central Intelligence Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Department of State, and the House Intelligence Committee staff.
I just don’t know if I trust Saudi Arabia or if I believe South Korea will remain independent.
Putting Priorities In Order
On Wednesday, The Daily Caller posted an article announcing that White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt is leaving her role at the end of the month. I am very sorry to see her go–she has been fantastic press secretary. She is leaving because she recently had her second child and wants to stay home and be a mother. Kudos to her for putting her family first.
The article reports:
President Donald Trump said Leavitt is departing her job as press secretary to spend more time with her family and young children. Leavitt, the president said, will remain an outside adviser.
“Our wonderful White House Press Secretary, and one of my most trusted aides, Karoline Leavitt, will be departing her role at the end of the month so she can spend more time with her beautiful young children and family, a decision I totally understand and respect!” Trump wrote.
The article concludes with a statement from Karoline Leavitt:
The outgoing press secretary said in a statement that holding her position was an “honor and the adventure” of a lifetime. Leavitt just returned from maternity leave after having her second child in July.
“The truth is since returning to the White House after the birth of my daughter, I have felt in my heart that I cannot be the best mom my two young children deserve while devoting the constant time, energy, and attention required of the White House Press Secretary — and that is why I have ultimately made the bittersweet decision to depart the White House and embark on a new chapter in my life,” she said.
Young children (and all children) need mothers. It is very difficult to balance a career and a family. Some women don’t have a choice, and they do very well balancing both. However, if you can, it’s wonderful to stay home and spend time with your children.
The Trump Economy
On Thursday, CNBC posted an article about the inflation numbers for July.
The article reports:
- The producer price index was flat in July compared with expectations for a 0.2% increase. Core PPI rose 0.2%, below the 0.3% forecast.
- PPI measures wholesale inflation and was the latest metric to show easing price pressures after months of gains.
The article notes:
Wholesale costs for goods and services were flat in July, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Thursday in the latest positive sign for inflation.
The producer price index, a measure of underlying inflation pressures, was unchanged for the month, below the 0.2% Dow Jones consensus estimate and after falling 0.1% in June. The June figure was revised from a previously reported decline of 0.3%.
Excluding food and energy, the core PPI rose 0.2%, against the forecast for a 0.3% gain. The core PPI excluding trade services increased 0.4%.
On an annual basis, the headline PPI increased 4.7% for the all-items index and 4.2% for core, according to unadjusted figures.
The report follows several other indicators telling a similar story – that after a ramp-up in inflation earlier this year fueled by the Iran war and President Donald Trump’s tariffs, the rate of price increases is beginning to ease.
Stock market futures were positive after the report while Treasury yields were lower. Traders further reduced the odds for a September rate hike from the Federal Reserve.
The article concludes:
On Wednesday, the BLS reported that the consumer price index rose just 0.1% in July as falling energy prices during the month helped lower price pressures. However, the headline annual inflation rate of 3.4% was still well above the Fed’s goal.
Core consumer inflation was considerably tamer, posting a 0.2% monthly gain and 2.5% annual rate that put the level back to where it was prior to the start of the war.
Market expectations have switched in recent days, with traders now pricing in a rate hike in October or December after putting heavy odds that the Federal Open Market Committee would move at its next meeting on Sept. 15-16.
In other economic news Thursday, initial jobless claims rose to a seasonally adjusted 209,000 for the week ended Aug. 8, up 9,000 from the prior period and above the 204,000 estimate.
We need to remember that Rome was not built in a day. Inflation is gradually coming down, trade deficits are down, manufacturing jobs are up, and industries are moving back to America. These are all positive things that are the result of President Trump’s economic policies. If the Democrats are successful in the mid-term elections, most of these good things will disappear.
Accountability
On Wednesday, The Conservative Treehouse posted an article about the Southern Poverty Law Center. The organization has been charged with money laundering.
The article reports:
SPLC Chief Financial Officer Heidi Beirich was previously identified as one of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) leaders who assisted in “opening bank accounts” with “fictitious companies’ names” to make payments to hate group leaders. Apparently, she was in a romantic relationship with a Nazi whom she funded.
According to CNN: Beirich has been charged as part of a superseding indictment with wire fraud conspiracy, conspiracy to submit false statements to a federally insured bank and conspiracy to conceal money laundering.
Obviously, the CNN reporting of the story has a slightly different slant than The Conservative Treehouse story.
CNN reports:
The SPLC has fought the case, arguing that the government is mischaracterizing a long-standing informant program designed to gather intelligence on hate groups, and accused the Justice Department of charging them for political reasons. Attorneys for the SPLC have also said that law enforcement officials have used information gathered by the organization’s informants in the past.
The charges are part of the Justice Department’s case against the SPLC over the alleged payments, which prosecutors say were done through shell companies. In earlier court documents, the department gave details on nine unnamed informants it says received payments through the program, which began in the 1980s.
Despite her role in overseeing the payments — some of which were directed to an Imperial Wizard in the KKK — Beirich allegedly had a romantic relationship with one source who infiltrated a White Supremacy group and stole documents for the SPLC, according to the indictment.
…The documents that person allegedly stole were used as part of an article that the SPLC later published. Beirich then allegedly paid a second informant $6,000 to take the fall for the stolen documents.
“Dr. Beirich is innocent, and this case is without merit,” her attorney, Michael J. Proctor said in a statement. “We believe the charges against her and the SPLC are politically motivated, and Dr. Beirich has been targeted in this case because of the important work she has done to combat hate groups and extremists.”
When you can’t defend yourself with facts, you simply claim that the charges are politically motivated. That is straight out of the Clinton handbook on how to handle scandals!