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From my friends at Townhall:
Elections Have Consequences
It didn’t take long for recently-elected Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to start acting like a tyrant. Any candidate who ran against his regime in the recent election is on notice that they will be targeted by the new administration.
On Wednesday, The Conservative Treehouse reported:
Brazil has fallen. The 50/50 presidential election was decided by a relatively small number of votes. However, once the communist regime of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was declared the winner, 8-minutes later a notoriously corrupt Brazilian Supreme Court Justice, Alexandre de Moraes ordered Flavio Bolsonaro to turn in his passport.
The clenched fist of brutal authoritarian control is now in place. Bolsonaro is not the only target for President da Silva and Judge de Moraes as the pair are also going after any candidate who ran against the regime in the general election.
Reports of regular Brazilian people’s reaction to the election are very sad. Most of the Bolsonaro supporters are now trying to stay off the radar of the openly weaponized govt regime.
…U.S. media are reporting that Flavio Bolsonaro and his family have left Brazil, escaping through Argentina to Ecuador and then potentially to the United States – though nothing is yet openly confirmed as diplomatic risks seem to be part of the public discussion. At 9:31am ET Bolsonaro arrived in Miami.
The article concludes:
(Via AP) — Defeated Brazilian presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro and his family landed in Miami on Wednesday after fleeing Brazil.
The stunning move came after 48 hours in which Bolsonaro refused to concede to Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and then threatened to attempt to annul the election result.
Bolsonaro’s father, Jair Bolsonaro, also fled to Florida after losing the 2022 presidential election to Lula before returning to Brazil three months later. On Monday, the U.S. said that it would grant visas to Flávio Bolsonaro and his family. Bolsonaro, a Trump ally, visited the White House in May.
Bolsonaro first fled from Brazil to Argentina and then Ecuador alongside his wife and two daughters, Argentina’s migration authority said Wednesday — a day after the 45-year-old senator and his family were granted United States visas by the Trump administration.
Brazil is now one of the only major Latin American country that did not turn right in recent elections. Some news sources are comparing Brazil’s election to the 2020 election for President in America. There is no way this was an honest election. The question is whether or not the Brazilian people can find a way to freedom.
The Gulf Between The Rich And The Poor
I read something this morning about the great gulf between the rich and the poor. I would like to point out a few things about that gulf and about some of the attempts to erase it.
The Bible tells us that the poor will always be with us. It also tells us to be compassionate to the poor. We need to define what that compassion looks like and make sure our compassion is actually helping the poor.
In America in 2026, the federal poverty line in the contiguous United States is set at $15,960 for a single individual and $33,000 for a family of four. This is the guideline that determines eligibility for federal assistance programs. Federal assistance programs can range from help with housing, groceries, education, child care, etc. But do these federal assistance programs help eliminate poverty or do they encourage poverty?
There is something called human nature that often tends to take the path of least resistance. It is the reason socialism and communism do not work. If a person knows that they can live comfortably with very little effort, their ambition might suffer. If a person understands that they cannot have the luxuries they want without working for them, their attitude toward work might change. Have our social programs, which have allowed those taking money from the government to have things that go beyond necessities, placed a ceiling on the goals of the recipients? Am I going to be poor for generations because I know I will have everything I need without working? Am I going to teach that value to my children?
Poverty does not have to be forever. Think of the stories we have all heard about legal immigrants who came to America with little or no money and became wealthy. One of my ancestors was a tailor who fled persecution in Europe, came to America, began working as a tailor, and did very well. Another was an Irishman escaping the potato famine who managed to put all of his children through college. The cure for poverty might be in bringing welfare back to our local communities and making it much less comfortable.
If we are complaining about the gap between the rich and the poor, we need to look at the role our government policies are playing in maintaining that gap. The opportunity to learn the skills that lead to success is available in America. We need to encourage people to learn the skills they need to escape poverty and to encourage those in poverty to join the workforce if they have not.
Poverty in America is NOT the fault of people who are considered rich. To say that is class warfare and is a tenet of communism.
Changing The Rules To Help Americans Buy Homes
There are a number of reasons housing costs have risen so dramatically in recent years. There is the basic rule of supply and demand–when you allow millions of people to enter the country illegally, the cost of everyone’s housing increases. Also, when large corporations buy up blocks of houses, the cost of renting or buying increases. President Trump has decided to address these issues. The first issue was addressed when the border was closed and the illegals were deported. The second issue is currently being addressed.
On Tuesday, Just the News reported:
President Trump has filled the first half of his second term instituting legacy-establishing policies and agendas, but a new measure restricting real estate investors may be his biggest legacy yet, according to Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
On Thursday, the Treasury Department proposed a rule implementing elements of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act. Starting January 7, 2027, investors controlling at least 350 single-family homes generally can’t buy more unless an exception applies.
“This is going to be one of President Trump’s biggest legacies in terms of making sure that the American people are reflected in their own communities. And I think you’re going to see it happen here in the next 6, 12, 18 months,” Pulte predicted in an interview on the “Just the News, No Noise” TV show.
Pulte, who also chairs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, continued, “But you’re also going to see it for, you know, 5, 10, 15 years from now. He’s forever changed the makeup of the nature of American neighborhoods by not allowing corporations to dominate our subdivisions.”
The exceptions to the new rule include newly built homes bought within 18 months of completion and renovate-to-rent deals where investors fix code violations. Violations could cost from $1 million to as much as three times the home’s purchase price. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has touted the rule as a booster to homeownership for working families.
The article concludes:
The postwar era built the modern American dream. Homeownership jumped to 55% in 1950 and 61.9% by 1960, powered by Federal Housing Administration and Department of Veterans Affairs mortgages, and Levitt & Sons borrowed auto assembly-line methods to build up to 30 houses a day. By 1960, a quarter of the nation’s housing stock hadn’t existed a decade earlier.
That boom excluded many: The FHA and VA kept redlining, denying mortgages to black and other minority buyers, and no federal law banned housing discrimination until the Fair Housing Act of 1968.
Mortgage rates hit the mid-teens in the early 1980s, and recessions plus high rates pushed homeownership down to 63.8% in 1986. Rates then fell steadily, and ownership peaked at 69% in 2004. Prices peaked in early 2005, and rising foreclosures set off a crisis that rippled through Wall Street, banking, and homebuilding. Homebuilding fell dramatically after 2008, a slowdown many link to today’s shortage.
I lived in a Levitt house as a young child when my father returned from World War II. My parents being able to buy that house as their first house made possible some very nice houses later on.
The List Of Accomplishments
On Tuesday, The Gateway Pundit posted a list of 70 major accomplishments of President Trump. The list is too long to post here, but I will post some of it. Please follow the link to read the rest of the list.
Here is a partial list:
Border Security and Immigration
- Declared a national border emergency on Day One and ended catch-and-release policies, achieving zero Border Patrol releases for 15–17+ consecutive months.White HouseWhite House
- Drove southwest border encounters/apprehensions down dramatically (reported ~95% or more from Biden-era peaks; FY2026 totals at historic lows).CbpCbp
- Recorded negative net migration in 2025 for the first time in at least 50 years.White House
- Removed/deported or induced self-departure of millions of illegal migrants (administration figures of 2.3–3M+ reduction in illegal population; MPI analyses show elevated deportation pace).White HouseMigrationpolicy
- Reduced asylum grant rates to historic lows (~7% from >50%).White House
- Signed the Laken Riley Act and other border/enforcement measures.Voz
- Resumed and expanded border barrier construction (hundreds of miles reported completed or advanced).Cbp
- Reinstated Remain in Mexico and related policies; repurposed CBP One app for self-deportation incentives.
- Targeted cartels (designations as terrorist organizations for groups including Tren de Aragua, MS-13); major drug seizures and fentanyl trafficking reductions reported (~50–60% drops in some metrics).White House
- Revoked hundreds of thousands of visas; terminated or restricted TPS for multiple countries; cut benefits access for illegal aliens.
- Deployed National Guard/military support to the border; established national defense areas.
- Collapsed Darién Gap crossings dramatically (~99% reported declines in some periods).
- Expanded ICE capacity, hiring, and interior enforcement (including “Worst of the Worst” focus and sanctuary city actions).
- Secured Safe Third Country agreements and partner cooperation (e.g., El Salvador).
- Reduced unaccompanied minors and related trafficking metrics to record lows in some reports.
Economy, Taxes, Trade, and Investment
- Signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA, July 4, 2025), permanently extending 2017 TCJA individual tax rates/brackets and standard deduction increases.WashingtonexaminerEn-wikipedia-org.translate
- Implemented temporary no-tax-on-tips, no-tax-on-overtime, and related deductions (through 2028 in key provisions), plus senior deductions and auto loan interest relief.Law.cornell
- Raised SALT deduction cap (to $40,000 for many filers, phased).
- Created “Trump Accounts” (tax-advantaged accounts for children with government seed contributions).Law.cornell
- Included major defense (~$150B) and border/ICE funding increases in OBBBA; Medicaid work requirements and SNAP reforms/state cost-sharing.En-wikipedia-org.translate
- Announced/secured multi-trillion dollars in domestic and foreign investment commitments (White House figures exceeding $11T, including large UAE, Apple, Amazon, and manufacturing pledges).White House
- Reported private-sector job gains (hundreds of thousands to over 1M in some periods), manufacturing expansion, and blue-collar wage growth.Home.treasury
- Imposed or adjusted tariffs (steel, aluminum, autos, copper, and reciprocal measures) aimed at reshoring; multiple bilateral trade deals announced.Voz
- Stock market records (dozens of S&P 500 highs reported in 2025).White House
- Passed rescissions packages cutting wasteful spending; efficiency savings claimed in the hundreds of billions.
- Supported farmers with aid packages and trade adjustments (e.g., soybean deals).
- GENIUS Act signed for stablecoin regulatory framework; crypto-related policy shifts (ending certain prior crackdowns).
- Reported trade deficit reductions in some months and tariff revenue collections.
- Mortgage and housing-related measures (bond purchases, investor restrictions in some proposals).
- Small business optimism and confidence metrics improved in administration reports.
Please follow the link to read the rest of the list. It is impressive.
One Impact Of The Trump Administration
It is becoming obvious that when you deport criminals, crime goes down. What is interesting is the extent that crime has gone down during President Trump’s second term.
On Monday, The Daily Signal reported:
- Data from the Census Bureau’s National Crime Victimization Survey shows violent crime victimization fell 25% and property crime victimization fell 19% during President Donald Trump’s first year in office.
- The survey estimated Americans age 12 and older experienced about 7.5 million violent victimizations in 2025. That’s down from 8.2 million in the final year of the Joe Biden administration and the biggest drop in the survey’s history.
- “This report is proof that President Trump’s ‘Make America Safe Again’ agenda is working,” Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward says.
The article concludes:
Among the most common crimes, property crime victimization fell 19%, from about 18.4 million incidents in 2024 to 14.9 million in 2025, the data says.
Burglary and trespassing victimization fell 25%, from 1.87 million incidents to 1.41 million, while motor vehicle theft victimization dropped 30%, from 1.19 million incidents to 841,000.
The Justice Department argues that crime is falling because more effective policing encourages victims to report offenses. It also credits the increased immigration enforcement at the southern border, citing the removal of more than 400,000 illegal aliens previously charged or convicted of crimes.
The Justice Department further points to stepped-up drug enforcement, citing a reported 25% increase in fentanyl seizures, as another factor contributing to the declines in victimization.
Further, the department notes the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives reported a 57% increase in criminal charges associated with its gun-trafficking enforcement efforts, while the FBI disrupted 1,800 gangs and criminal enterprises.
According to AI, 60 percent of felony arrests are repeat offenders. If you deport the felons, you cut down on the crimes.
If you want America’s streets to be safer, vote Republican. The statistics prove that the Republicans tend to enforce the law, punish the criminals, and protect Americans.
The Results Of An Election That Was Possibly Rigged
On Monday, Townhall posted an article about the recent election in Brazil.
The article reports:
Following his electoral “loss” in the Brazilian presidential election, conservative Flavio Bolsonaro has announced that authorities have seized his passport.
The order to surrender the passport was reportedly issued by Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. This decision followed a motion from Federal Deputy Duda Salabert, a prominent leftist. Salabert is further demanding Bolsonaro’s arrest.
The Brazilian election has been heavily scrutinized following the South American state’s Supreme Court decision to extend voting hours in a fashion that allowed heavily incumbent President Lula da Silva-favored areas to remain open, but required Bolsonaro areas to remain closed. The result was so suspect that the New York Times reported that the result could be annulled and another run-off election may be required.
There is more than one way to steal an election. Choosing which polls remained open and which remained closed may have changed the outcome of the election. Under current Brazilian President Lula da Silva, the country seems to be run as a police state. If you are on the right side of the President, you are fine. If you are on the wrong side of the President, you can be charged with any crime and arrested. President da Silva is evidently planning to send Bolsonaro to prison. President da Silva is also planning to regulate social media. It doesn’t sound as if Brazil is going to be a free country.
UPDATE: I am hearing reports that Bolsonaro has arrived in America through Argentina. Obviously, Argentinian President Javier Milei would not be aligned with Lula de Silva, so it is very possible that he would aid Bolsonaro. I am hoping that Bolsonaro and his family are safely in America.
The Problem With Artificial Intelligence
On Sunday, The New York Post posted an article about the homework policy of a University of California Berkley professor.
The article reports:
A UC Berkeley professor has stopped grading students’ homework for correctness after noticing artificial intelligence tools were helping them rack up top marks.
Richard Borcherds, a renowned mathematician who received the prestigious Fields Medal in 1998, said widespread student use of AI has undermined the value of traditional homework grading.
“Student use of AI for homework is now widespread,” Borcherds told The California Post. “Grading for correctness just adds a huge incentive for them to use AI for homework instead of doing it themselves, and penalizes students for honesty.”
…Borcherds now awards credit based primarily on whether students complete their assignments rather than whether their answers are correct, acknowledging that he does not know of a better solution.
The professor said it has become increasingly difficult to distinguish work produced by artificial intelligence from work written by students themselves.
“There is no easy way to tell the difference between human and AI generated work,” he told The California Post. “Occasionally one could tell it is AI because AI made a few characteristic errors, but AI has now improved so much that it rarely makes obvious mistakes.”
…Borcherds’ concerns about the future of mathematics were also highlighted in an interview with the Daily Californian, UC Berkeley’s student newspaper.
“If AI continues to improve at present rate, then, in a few years, there’ll be nothing human mathematicians can do that AI can’t do better,” Borcherds told the paper.
The professor needs to look at the tactic employed by another college professor to find the students who used IA (article here). That professor set up software that would insert the word “Madagascar” somewhere in the text that was copied. I am sure there would be an unusual set of numbers that could be inserted the same way to expose the use of AI.
All of us are going to be impacted in some way by AI. The goal is to use it for good and to make things simpler for all of us. I am not sure we are going to be able to meet that goal.
You Can’t Ask A Candidate Questions About His Health?
The Senatorial race in North Carolina is getting interesting. The polling shows that Roy Cooper will win the seat, despite a very questionable record as Governor and some interesting ties to Duke Energy. But there is an aspect of his campaign that is troubling.
On October 13th, The North State Journal posted an article by A.P. Dillon about an email asking some very basic questions that was sent to Governor Cooper’s campaign .
The article reports:
In recent years, health related issues have arisen for national figures like former President Joe Biden, as well as Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and the abrupt passing of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).
With that as a backdrop, North State Journal asked former Gov. Roy Cooper’s Senate campaign if he was committed to fulfilling his six-year term if elected in November and if there were any health problems that might impede him. Cooper is 69 years old.
North State Journal (NSJ) has previously emailed questions to the campaign eight times this year, and all but two went unanswered. The ninth time, NSJ received a cease-and-desist letter threatening legal action from the Elias Law Group. The newspaper received that reply within about five and half hours of sending our questions.
The Elias Law Group is run by Marc Elias, the former campaign lawyer for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential bid. Elias has been involved in multiple lawsuits against the state of North Carolina over voting measures and redistricting.
The letter, from Elias Law Group partner Ben Stafford, stated, “Governor Cooper intends to complete his entire term, and any suggestion that he is ‘experiencing a neurological issue,’ or that any health condition would prevent him from completing his term, is categorically false and defamatory.”
Asking a question is not defamatory. The public has a right to know if there are health issues with former Governor Cooper. The fact that the Elias Law Group was brought in tells us all we need to know about Roy Cooper’s friends and connections.
Arresting Criminals Is A Good Thing
On Monday, Breitbart posted an article about some recent arrests in Massachusetts. According to AI, Massachusetts is not officially designated as a sanctuary state, although it has policies that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. Recent legislation and court rulings have contributed to this perception, but no formal sanctuary status has been codified into law.
The article reports:
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers arrested at least 82 illegal aliens during a three-day targeted enforcement operation in the sanctuary state of Massachusetts. Those arrested include criminal aliens with charges that include assault, battery of a child under age 14, possession of child sexual assault material, and other dangerous criminal activity.
…ICE Boston Field Office Director Joseph Sher harshly criticized Massachusetts officials for their sanctuary policies, stating:
Time and time again, sanctuary politicians in Massachusetts have made the dumbfounding choice to prioritize dangerous criminal illegal aliens rather than their law-abiding American citizens. While these politicians continue to waste valuable time, energy and resources passing embarrassingly performative legislation such as the Protect Act, ERO Boston will continue to proudly protect Massachusetts communities from these dangerous criminals.
The article concludes:
“Sanctuary policies only put American citizens at risk by allowing dangerous criminal illegal aliens to walk the street freely, without regard to the crimes they have committed,” ICE officials stated. “Now, under President Trump and Secretary Mullin’s leadership, sanctuary cities are no longer a safe haven for the worst of the worst, such as child predators and sex offenders.”
The targeted sweep underscores the ongoing friction between federal immigration authorities and sanctuary jurisdictions like Massachusetts, where state and local policies often limit cooperation with federal detainers. As ICE continues to prioritize the apprehension of noncitizens with severe criminal records, federal officials maintain that such targeted operations remain essential to removing high-risk offenders from public communities—regardless of local sanctuary protections.
Would Americans who committed these crimes be held accountable? If so, why are people here illegally allowed to break the law?
From my friends at Hot Air:
Sometimes The Lying Is Almost Comical
On Sunday, The Gateway Pundit posted an article about former President Obama’s recent remarks while on the campaign trail for Democrats in the mid-term elections. I have always felt that former President Obama had a casual relationship with truth, but he has recently outdone himself.
The article reports:
Barack Obama was back out on the campaign trail this weekend spewing his latest load of lies.
There’s a reason Obama lost votes during his presidency. He was a radical, America-hating leftist who used every opportunity to smear the United States.
And… he’s still at it. Spewing lies and talking nonsense.
It is stunning that so many people believed this serial liar and still do today.
During his rally in Michigan, Barack Obama started spewing Iranian talking points arguing that Iran is “In a stronger strategic position now than before the war started.”
…Foreign policy expert Tony Shaffer posted the most appropriate response to Obama’s basket of lies:
“If you ever needed to know what team Satan’s Left Testicle, AKA, @BarackObama is actually playing for, look no further than this video.
Iran is defeated. They have no military. Their terror proxies are deflated and mostly ineffective. They, Iran, admitted to having a nuclear program that had adequate amounts of enriched uranium that was “weapons grade” that somehow Obama did not stop them from developing. The daily amount of oil going thru the Strait of Hormuz is back to pre-war levels…and yet he take the side of the largest state sponsor of terror to amplify the Iranian Theocracy’s lie…
Iran is crumbling and Obama is trying to save them…
Iran has attacked the Middle Eastern countries that might have remained neutral, losing them as possible allies. Iran has murdered thousands of its own people. Iran’s current leader has not been seen since early this year. Iran’s economy has crashed. Iran is not in a better position than it was before its nuclear capabilities were destroyed.
The Dangers Of Ukraine Misusing Starlink
Starlink was designed to be used for civilian purposes. There are currently charges that Ukraine was using it for military purposes. The consequences of this could be far-reaching. Elon Musk has acted to prevent Ukraine from using Starlink for military purposes. On Sunday, The Conservative Treehouse posted an article explaining why Ukraine could create a serious problem by misusing Starlink.
The article quotes an X post:
FilmLadd – “Analysts who have been bashing Elon Musk for days over this don’t get it. Russia has the capacity to blow up satellites in space. They proved this on November 15, 2021, by firing a PL-19 Nudol missile at an old satellite of their own.
The impact created a large debris cloud—more than 1,500 trackable fragments plus hundreds of thousands of smaller pieces. The International Space Station was forced to implement safe-haven procedures: the seven-person crew (including Russian cosmonauts) sealed hatches and sheltered in the docked Soyuz and Crew Dragon spacecraft for several hours as the debris cloud repeatedly crossed their orbital path.
The ISS even had to perform thruster burns on multiple occasions over the following months to avoid the debris cloud orbiting the Earth.
If Russia decides that the civilian Starlink satellite network is weaponized and fair game, we risk a serious Kessler syndrome. First modeled by NASA’s Donald Kessler and Burton Cour-Palais in 1978, it describes a scenario in which the density of objects in low Earth orbit gets so high that collisions start producing debris faster than natural processes (mainly atmospheric drag) can remove.
Each collision creates more fragments, which raise the odds of further collisions, leading to a self-sustaining cascade, a runaway cloud of satellite debris that can make certain orbital bands increasingly hazardous.
Space could become unusable for years to centuries.
You like driving around with GPS? Starlink MUST remain a civilian entity.” [source]
The article concludes:
However, if U.S. Starlink satellites are being used by Ukraine, without authorization, to target objectives deep inside Russia, a nuclear-armed power this could develop into a very serious issue. Thus, avoid this problem becomes the issue that Elon Musk is trying to mitigate.
From an operational perspective, Russia now seemingly has a very valid claim that U.S. assets (a nuclear power) were being used to target Russia (another nuclear power). This is not a good scenario.
Zelenskyy is putting the USA in a very difficult position. Musk is essentially trying to mitigate the potential threat from Zelenskyy’s self-centered and short-sighted behavior.
As much as we have criticized him in the past, Elon Musk is the right guy with the right position on this issue.
Please follow the link to read the entire article. There is a lot more technical information in the article.
Changing His Tune On Taxes
The Democrat Party claims to be for the working man, yet when it came time to vote on the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) which cut taxes for the working man, the Democrats in Congress voted against it. Just for the record, the passage of that bill raised federal revenue 3 percent last year. As I have previously reported, “According to the latest “Monthly Treasury Statement,” revenues in FY 2026 came in at just over $5.4 trillion while spending was just under $7.4 trillion, leaving a deficit of $1.992 trillion.” But the Democrats are still complaining that the tax cuts increase the deficit–no, the excess spending grows faster than the increased revenue from the tax cuts.
On Saturday, The Daily Signal posted an article about a tax cut Senator Adam Schiff is actually supporting.
The article reports:
A family in Ohio has worked hard and sacrificed for three generations to keep their small-town grocery store in business, serving a community they live in and love.
A billionaire in California who invests some of his money in the movie industry lives in a beachside mansion in Malibu.
For which of these two entrepreneurs would Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., support a tax cut?
It would be the moviemaker.
When the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act came up in Congress in 2017, The Heritage Foundation published a report summarizing what it would do. “The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is the most sweeping update to the U.S. tax code in more than 30 years,” said Heritage’s analysis. “The recently released bill would lower taxes on businesses and individuals and unleash higher wages, more jobs, and untold opportunity through a larger and more dynamic economy.”
“The framework lowers rates for almost every tax bracket,” said the analysis. “The current seven brackets remain, but with new generally higher income thresholds and lower rates.”
Schiff, who then served in the House of Representatives, was outraged by the proposal.
He argued that he was standing up for the little guy and against increasing the federal debt.
“I just voted NO on the Republican tax plan,” Schiff said in a 2017 Facebook post.
The article concludes:
“A study published just this week found that the share of production spending by U.S. studios on movies that are made primarily or partially in the U.S. declined from 74% to 24% over the last quarter century,” said Schiff. “That is a staggering loss in the industry, but this tax credit, which is a base credit of 20%, with additional 5% credits going up to 30% of a tax credit, is layered upon whatever the state of California or other states do. That is powerful enough for the first time to really bring not just TV production back, but film production back, and all the multiplier impacts that has on the economy.”
“We’ve got to get this done,” said Schiff.
So, the opponent of the Trump tax cuts that reduced the tax burden on small family-owned business all across the country now believes that tax cuts—at least for the movie and television industries in Hollywood—can help this nation’s economy.
Did someone offer him a starring role?
Creating Future Unrest
What is currently happening in France and other parts of Europe will eventually come to America. The seeds have been planted (and are being planted), and we will see the results of those seeds either about the time of the current election or during the lead-up to the 2028 election.
On Wednesday, The Daily Signal reported:
The Democratic Socialists of America is training members to form “militant tenant unions” to organize renters against landlords, with the stated goal of “mass organization.”
The DSA’s Housing Justice Commission is asking members to apply for its program to train “tenant organizers” and support the formation of “militant tenant unions” rather than mere building-level tenant associations.
Supporters describe tenant unions as a way for renters to unite in negotiations with property owners. Critics, however, warn that the DSA’s effort is an attempt to build a permanent political power base.
Left-leaning foundations have generously funded efforts to organize tenant unions. In June, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation gave the National Housing Law Project $3,550,000 “to provide core support to the Tenant Union Federation in countering authoritarianism by building the collective capacity of poor and working-class people to practice noncooperation and civil resistance.”
“Political influence is the goal,” said Nicole Huyer, a senior research associate at The Heritage Foundation. Socialists “will use these tenant unions to create sustained constituencies for rent regulation, eviction restrictions, right-to-counsel programs, social housing, collective bargaining with landlords, and similar policies,” she said.
This is class warfare. It has been used historically to bring in communist rule. It has never worked in America, but I will admit that I am worried. The entitlement attitude that currently permeates many Americans will be used to destroy the benefits they currently enjoy. Communism does not bring a level playing field–it brings wealth to the ruling class and poverty to everyone else. Under communist rule you may be entitled to have a place to live, but you may be sharing a three-bedroom house with four other families. The outcome of this move will be to create social unrest and to feed the attitude of entitlement.
The article concludes:
Huyer acknowledged that renters face serious affordability hurdles, but she emphasized that DSA-style policies will not alleviate their struggles.
“We can absolutely empathize with the economic hardship of young Americans and renters who feel priced out,” she told the Daily Signal. Yet she warned that “the DSA’s plan aims to use those real frustrations to make the case for greater government control of housing rather than fixing the policies that restrict housing supply (and put upward pressure on price) in the first place.”
The DSA is also attempting to infiltrate existing labor union infrastructure.
Watson noted that labor unions have had “over 100 years of experience and perpetual recruiting machines (longstanding unionized workplaces) that tenant unions don’t have,” but he warned that “politicians interested in strengthening tenants’ organizations could model tenancy policies on monopoly unionization, collective bargaining, and compulsory dues arrangements.”
There is no point in organizing labor unions when the people you are targeting may not have jobs!
The Camel’s Nose Under The Tent
On Friday, Townhall posted an article about the “Community Opportunity for Purchase Act” (COPA) passed by the New York City Council.
The article reports:
The New York City Council has passed a measure that’s clearly laying the groundwork for the eventual government seizure of private property. The “Community Opportunity for Purchase Act” (COPA) requires some property owners to delay putting their properties on the open market for 90 days so “community land trusts” and nonprofits have an exclusive shot at buying them first.
The article quotes a New York Post article:
But the new legislation, which was recycled by progressive Brooklyn lawmaker Sandy Nurse earlier this year, is a watered-down version of a prior proposal that included a much larger number of properties.
Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Queens) called the bill’s initial proposal an “attack on private real-estate ownership” in the five boroughs.
“We’re sliding headfirst into a communist dystopia where the government and their apparatchik developers own all the property, and the rest of us get forced into perpetual rentorship, and this legislation is helping to get us there even quicker,” Ariola said at the time.
The tweaks brought some real estate groups on board with the legislation.
The article notes:
It’s absolutely an attack on private real estate ownership. As of right now, this legislation impacts about 2,100 New York City buildings, down from 10,000 under the previous version of the bill. Former Mayor Eric Adams vetoed similar legislation before leaving office.
That’s still too many buildings, and I don’t think Mayor Mamdani will veto the bill.
The article reports:
The board president of the Small Property Owners of New York Ann Korchak told The New York Post that this is “just a foot in the door.”
“COPA, in any form, is a destructive housing policy for renters, owners, and affordable housing,” she said. “COPA will devalue buildings, forcing small often immigrant and multigenerational owners to sell their buildings for pennies on the dollar.”
That’s the entire point. The socialists who run New York City want to devalue property. They want government to own it all. They’re inching their way toward that goal.
I have a feeling the situation in New York City will get worse before it gets better.
Who Comes To America Matters
Before 1965, American immigrants came here mostly from countries that shared western civilization’s values. In 1965, Senator Ted Kennedy played a pivotal role in the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which significantly reformed U.S. immigration policy by eliminating national origin quotas. This legislation led to a dramatic increase in immigrants from Asia, Africa, and Southern and Eastern Europe, reshaping the demographic landscape of the United States. This was the first of many assaults on the western Judeo-Christian culture that united Americans.
On Friday, PJ Media posted an article that illustrates the problem of allowing people who came (or were brought) here illegally who have not become citizens remain in the country.
The article reports:
Just as predicted, the man caught taking a sledgehammer to the Iwo Jima Memorial statue outside the Marine basic at Quantico, Va., is an illegal alien.
Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin shared the update about the Wednesday monument attack late on the evening of October 22. I reported yesterday that Miguel Alonso Maldonado Soriano was quite possibly an illegal alien, and had more than one criminal charge already on his record. Virginia is not only a sanctuary state for illegal aliens, but under Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D), it has released numerous incredibly dangerous killers or sexual criminals.
Once you break the law, you need to be deported. If you don’t want to go back to your home country, we can gladly send you somewhere else.
The article notes:
…Melugin explained, “Per federal sources, Soriano illegally crossed into the U.S. in December 1999. He was granted DACA by the Obama administration in 2014 and had it extended for years, most recently by the Biden admin in 2024, but he lost his DACA status in August of this year when it wasn’t renewed by the Trump administration.”
I understand the plight of the DACA people. Many of them don’t even speak the language of the country they were brought here from. However, they need to be required to take a citizenship test and go through the process of immigration. I realize that is an expensive and lengthy process, so we probably need to find a way to help them overcome the hurdles. That being said, it needs to cost them something so that they will appreciate the country they live in.
The Results Of Lacking A Basic Understanding Of Economics
On Thursday, Breitbart posted an article about the Modern Times Café, the Minneapolis restaurant that eliminated prices for meals to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The cafe has apparently protested itself right out of business.
The article reports:
Owner Dylan Alverson attempted to eliminate prices and operate as a “free and donation-based business” where everyone would be welcome “except ICE,” announced he will be closing the eatery for good by the end of the year.
“For the last six years, I’ve been trying to prove that Modern Times can continue to exist,” Alverson wrote on social media earlier this week. “I’ve exhausted every option without compromising the core fundamentals that make Modern Times what it is.”
He continued, “Because of this, we have made the choice to close at the end of the year. This has been an incredibly difficult decision and one that did not come lightly.”
“I announce this decision now,” he also said. “With the hope that we can spend the next two plus months celebrating the nearly 16 years that Modern Times has stood for creativity over cost, kindness over profit, and uncompromising values as a business in this country.”
In January, Alverson launched an Instagram Post condemning the immigration crackdown in the city, which he labeled an “occupation,” and abandoned traditional pricing in response to the deaths of deaths of protestors Renee Good and Alex Pretti in shootings by immigration officers who claimed they put them in harm’s way.
“Effective tomorrow we are done making money for the fascists that occupy our city,” he wrote. “We refuse to generate taxes under the guise of a functioning for-profit capitalist business aligned with government strategy.”
Well, wait a minute, what do taxes do? They pay for paved roads, infrastructure that supplies electricity and plumbing, law and order (which you don’t seem to support), etc.
I would like to contrast the closing of this cafe with the fact that Jon Bon Jovi’s Soul Kitchen (which has three sites in New Jersey) has been successfully functioning for 15 years. First of all, Jon Bon Jovi has enough sense to keep his politics out of his restaurant. He has also started a foundation that supports his restaurants. That is the difference between a political yahoo and someone who genuinely wants to make a difference.
President Trump’s War On Fraud
On Thursday, The New York Post posted an article about President Trump’s war on fraud. This is one war that will have some immediate results and a lot of long-term results.
The article reports:
Here’s one war that should’ve started years ago: Team Trump’s drive to stamp out fraud is still ramping up, but is already saving the public billions.
This week alone, federal, state and local authorities conducted a string of fresh raids and made arrests, including in New York and California, as part of a nationwide crackdown on Medicaid fraud.
Homeland Security also launched a massive operation to snare illegal immigrants who fraudulently stole $40 million in food stamps, bringing the total in food-stamp fraud ID’d so far to $641 million.
The feds have also destroyed more than 2,200 illegal merchant SNAP devices and disabled more than 2,000 retailer authorization numbers, heading off an estimated $5 billion in potential fraudulent transactions, Fox New reported.
…And in Staten Island, prosecutors arrested two operators for $530,000 in billings for hundreds of phantom seniors.
All this follows the epic fraud scheme uncovered last year in Minnesota, where billions are said to have vanished.
One day-care center there alone, made famous by its misspelled name, the “Quality Learing Center,” was caught collecting millions for nonexistent kids.
Last month, a LexisNexis Risk Solutions study put the true cost of food-stamp fraud — including the costs of uncovering it — at more than four times the amount of the theft itself.
The company’s Haywood Talcove says such fraud is now running at “a trillion dollars a year.” Ouch.
As of August 2026, the U.S. federal government’s budget deficit is approximately $1.97 trillion, so currently the fraud uncovered represents more than half of the deficit.
The article concludes:
In Minnesota, a report found Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison not only turned a blind eye to the thefts, they actually “retaliated against employees who tried to raise concerns.”
In New York, which spends more on Medicaid than any other state, Attorney General Letitia James’ Medicaid Fraud Control Unit has the worst prosecution record in the country.
Fortunately, President Donald Trump’s crackdown, under the leadership of Vice President JD Vance, will send an unmistakable message to the scammers: The jig’s up.
Trump is even offering $30,000 bounties (plus 1% of funds recovered) for tips leading to fraud indictments.
By nabbing current fraudsters and frustrating future ones, this war on fraud should keep paying off for generations — as long as Democrats don’t quietly undo the good work.
For now, it’s hats off to Trump, Vance and the rest: At last, someone is fighting for taxpayers.
If you would like to keep more of YOUR money in the future, vote Republican.
The More You Know…
On Thursday, The Daily Signal posted an article about an effort made by the State Department to avoid bad publicity for the Biden family before the 2020 election.
The article reports:
A former Ukrainian diplomat who was at one point set to give negative testimony about Hunter Biden’s business links appears to have wrongly had his visa to the United States revoked, according to newly released documents.
The White House Task Force on Government Transparency and Election Integrity released the information to reporters late Wednesday about the State Department and Treasury Department taking action in 2020 to revoke the visa of Andrii Telizhenko, the Ukrainian diplomat. Telizhenko had worked for the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington.
Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin had called him to testify in early 2020, shortly after the first President Donald Trump impeachment, regarding the president’s phone call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in which Trump inquired about then-former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden’s links to the energy company Burisma.
Democrats accused Telizhenko of promoting Russian disinformation.
The deep state was (and is) alive and well and working against President Trump.
The article concludes:
The Democrat-led House impeached Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in December 2019, but the Senate acquitted him in February 2020.
Johnson, then chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, announced in a February letter his intention to subpoena Telizhenko. But the interview did not happen after Democrats said he was spreading Russian disinformation.
In October 2020, the State Department revoked Telizhenko’s visa, and in January 2021, the Department of the Treasury sanctioned him, alleging he was tied to Russian efforts to influence U.S. elections.
Somehow I don’t think it was the Russians who were trying to influence U.S. elections.
Getting The Job Done?
On Thursday, Breitbart posted an article about the accomplishments of Muslim Democratic socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. He seems to be more sound and fury than actual accomplishments.
The article reports:
Muslim Democratic socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has signed just one bill into law after 10 months in office, a measure allowing year-round outdoor dining on sidewalks. It’s the only New York City Council-passed bill he’s approved since he was sworn in in January, the New York Post reported.
I haven’t been in New York City for a few years, but it seems to me that year-round sidewalk dining is not the most important issue facing the city.
The article notes:
Nearly 100 other bills have sat on his desk, with some critics calling him “lazy” and more interested in his social media profile than leading the government of the largest city in the country.
“It’s easier to govern by TikTok than to actually perform the duties of the job,” a former City Hall staffer told the Post. “It’s lazy in two ways — one is you are not taking a stand, easier to do nothing than figure out where you stand on something. And lazy from a practical perspective — you can’t focus City Hall staff to hold the hearings, write the briefings, and execute the bill signings.”
Nearly every other bill that sat on his desk eventually became law, though, as city policy stipulates legislation is automatically approved if no action is taken within a four-week period.
While approving legislation has been a secondary concern for Mamdani, his office has apparently spent most of their time focused on social media videos.
The article concludes:
Mamdani made time to call Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu a “war criminal” earlier this year and said he’d asked NYPD to look into how to arrest him, but sat on bills requiring wellness checks on elderly city residents when temperatures rise above 95 degrees and expanding free childcare programs, which he campaigned on last year.
New York has had some colorful mayors in the past (before social media). I always loved Ed Koch, who was mayor from 1978 to 1989. I may not have always liked his policies, but he embodied the spirit of the city. He made New York City fun. Mayor Mamdani just seems to be someone who enjoys the spotlight and accomplishes very little.
This Is NOT Acceptable In America
On Tuesday, Break Free Media on Substack posted an article about charges against Dr. Fakhruddin Attar and Dr. Jumana Nagarwala by the Department of Justice.
This is the Press Release from the Department of Justice (from 2017):
A Detroit physician and his wife were arrested this morning and charged by criminal complaint unsealed today for their alleged participation in a conspiracy that involved performing female genital mutilations (FGM) on minors.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Daniel L. Lemisch of the Eastern District of Michigan, Special Agent in Charge David P. Gelios of the FBI’s Detroit Division and Special Agent in Charge Steve Francis of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) Detroit Field Office made the announcement.
Fakhruddin Attar, M.D., 53, and his wife, Farida Attar, 50, both of Livonia, Michigan, are charged with conspiring to perform female genital mutilations on minor girls out of Fakhruddin Attar’s medical clinic in Livonia. According to the complaint, some of the minor victims traveled interstate to have the procedure performed. The complaint alleges that the FGM procedure was performed on girls who were approximately six to eight years old.
Both defendants were arrested this morning and are scheduled to appear in federal court in Detroit this afternoon.
The defendants are alleged to have conspired with Jumana Nagarwala, M.D., who was arrested in Detroit on April 12, 2017, and ordered detained on April 17, 2017, pending trial. Nagarwala, Fakhruddin Attar and Farida Attar are believed to be the first people charged under 18 U.S.C. 116, which criminalizes FGM.
A complaint is merely an allegation and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
The FBI’s Detroit Division and HSI investigated the case with the assistance of the Livonia Police Department and with support of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Michigan and the FBI’s International Human Rights Unit, Criminal Investigative Division. Deputy Chief Sara Woodward of the General Crimes Unit of the Eastern District of Michigan, Fraud Section Assistant Chief Nick Surmacz and Trial Attorneys Amy Markopoulos and Malisa Dubal are prosecuting the case.
The FBI’s Detroit Field Division has set up a tip line for anyone who has information pertaining to the illegal practice of FGM or Dr. Jumana Nagarwala, Fakhruddin Attar or Farida Attar at 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324). To submit an e-tip, please visit FBI.GOV/FGM.
The article posted at Substack on Tuesday reports:
Meet Dr. Fakhruddin Attar and Dr. Jumana Nagarwala. In 2017, charges of performing FGM on young girls were brought against these two Detroit doctors. However, the charges were dropped as it was ruled Congress did not have the right to criminalize the practice of FGM.
…So, let me get this right. Doctors federally charged with facilitating and performing genital cutting on minor girls are actively marketing pediatric services and receiving reimbursement from taxpayer-funded insurance programs.
The article at Substack notes:
Judge Bernard Friedman threw out the main charges in 2018. He ruled the federal FGM law unconstitutional because Congress had no power under the Commerce Clause to ban what he called a local criminal assault.
“Congress overstepped its bounds by legislating to prohibit [female genital mutilation],” Friedman wrote, calling it a “local criminal activity” for the states to regulate, not Congress.
In 2017, Michigan enacted MCL 333.9159, part of the Michigan Public Health Code, which prohibits cutting, removing, or sewing closed any part of a girl’s or woman’s external genitals for non‑medical reasons. The question then remains as to why Michigan hasn’t done anything about these two doctors.
Indeed, state prosecutors never filed charges, and the Michigan licensing board took no action. Both doctors simply renewed their unrestricted licenses and went back to practicing.
What good are laws if they are ignored.
This is unacceptable in America.
Thank You, President Trump
On Wednesday, Fox News posted an article about the release of Stephen Hubbard, a retired teacher, from Russia.
The article reports:
President Donald Trump secured the release from Russia of a retired U.S. teacher who was locked up on charges of fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine.
“Stephen Hubbard, taken four years ago by Russia during the Biden Administration, was just released from prison, at the request of President Donald J. Trump, made directly to President Vladimir Putin in a telephone conversation last week,” according to a Wednesday morning Truth Social post issued by Trump.
“Stephen is on his way back home and will soon be with his family. The United States, out of respect for President Trump, was not required to give anything in return — an unprecedented situation for Russia. There was no ‘swap’ necessary for this release. This major return should have taken place long ago through the Biden Administration, which got nowhere in its negotiations with the Kremlin. Stephen is on his way back home.
The article notes:
Another Truth Social post issued by Trump added, “Numerous people, who requested that sanctions be immediately imposed on Russia, have called to apologize to President Trump in that they didn’t know that he was negotiating the release of Stephen Hubbard, a truly big and important deal for the U.S. If sanctions would have been placed, certainly those negotiations would have come to a complete and total halt.”
The president added in another post, “Biden should have done the Hubbard release long ago! What a difference a President makes!”
Hubbard, a Michigan man, was sentenced in 2024 to almost seven years imprisonment. Prosecutors said he had signed a contract with the Ukrainian military after Russia sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, and that he fought alongside them until being captured two months later.
This is an example of having a leader who can ignore the slings and arrows of the media. If President Trump had caved and put sanctions in place, Mr. Hubbard would still be sitting in jail in Russia. The media was unaware of what was going on behind the scenes (as usual) and pushed for something that would have been unhelpful in the long run.
Acknowledging The Root Cause Of The French Riots
According to AI, 17% of the population of France is made up of immigrants. A large number of those immigrants are Muslims from third-world countries. Studies have shown that there is a pattern that occurs when Muslims immigrate into a country. When Muslims make up 10 percent of the population, they increase lawlessness as a means of complaining–if anyone offends Islam, there will be an uprising. When Muslims make up 20 percent of the population, there is little tolerance for people who do not practice Islam–hair-trigger riots and the burning of churches and synagogues occurs. That has been the pattern–it is predictable. There are also claims that Jewish businesses were specifically targeted in Marseille.
On Wednesday, Townhall posted an article about a discussion on CNN about the roots of the riots in Paris.
The article reports:
It was quite the fireworks show on CNN — it usually is when Scott Jennings is on the panel. He dueled with liberal Leigh McGowan, who did not take his remarks about the French riots well. Jennings rightly said this was a byproduct of the migrant crisis. Whenever there are rioters, both communist and Palestinian flags appear, so yes, there are whiny little white lefty snobs in this mix, but the Jewish-owned businesses were targeted in Marseille. The rioters had addresses. The Muslim-owned ones were untouched. McGowan tried to claim it was part of the yellow vest movement.
This is the transcript:
Jennings: “France is suffering, and all of Europe is suffering from a migrant crisis, and there are people running wild in France, burning things down, destroying historical landmarks, looting stores, and they’re flying the colors of the Palestinians while they do it. It has nothing to do with anything other than this attempt to tear down Western civilization wherever they perceive weakness, and right now there is weakness in Europe. They have allowed this migration crisis.”
McGowan: “Absolutely false. These things that happen in France are because a bunch of students started it because they didn’t like the way that the country was being run. They weren’t getting enough. It’s the same problem that we have all over the world right now. There is not enough for the people that aren’t at the top. There is not enough education. There is not enough money. We are not being paid enough for our jobs. They were French students that started this protest. Has it gotten out of hand? Absolutely. Are terrible things happening there? Absolutely…”
Where did the French students get their supply of Palestinian flags? What do Palestinian flags have to do with not enough education money?