Counting Your Chickens Before They Hatch Can Be A Problem

The process of making Hillary Clinton President of the United States began in 2012. Unfortunately for the Democrats (and fortunately for America), it did not go entirely as planned. But the party leaders were convinced that 2016 would see a Democratic sweep of the White House and the Senate (and maybe even the House of Representatives). That part didn’t go as planned either. But the Democrats knew they had the media on their side (some pundits believe that in the past having the media was worth 10 percentage points in an election) and they began to make plans. One of the plans was the ‘nuclear option’ passed by the Senate in 2013, led by the efforts of Senator Harry Reid. The ‘nuclear option’ changed the way Presidential appointments are approved by the Senate.

Yesterday The Daily Caller posted a story explaining the irony of the situation.

The article reports:

In 2013, Sen. Reid and other Democrats pushed forward with a rule change dubbed the “nuclear option” to eliminate filibusters for all presidential nominations except Supreme Court justices. This means that a simple majority of 51 votes instead of 60 votes is necessary to confirm executive office appointments.

The Republicans are set to enter 2017 with at least 51 senators and can gain another seat with a likely win in the December senate run-off race in Louisiana.

So while Democratic National Committee interim chairwoman Donna Brazile has called for the senate to reject Trump’s nomination of Republican Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions as attorney general, Trump’s cabinet will get confirmed as long Republicans vote along party lines.

…Sen. Reid’s spokeswoman Kristen Orthman told The Washington Post, “Sen. Reid has no regrets on invoking the nuclear option because of Republicans’ unprecedented obstruction.” She added, “If Republicans want to go on record supporting radicals, that’s their decision and they will have to live with it.”

I find the last comment hilarious. Does anyone remember President Obama appointing Czars so that they did not have to be approved by Congress? Does anyone remember Van Jones?

I wasn’t overly impressed by President Obama’s White House Cabinet Choices, but I believe a President has the right to choose his Cabinet. Oddly enough, the ‘nuclear option’ should allow Donald Trump that privilege. One thing to be prepared for (it has already started) is that the media will attempt to label Donald Trump’s Cabinet choices as ‘radical.’ It has already begun. The Democrats do not have the power to vote down any Cabinet appointments, but they do have the power to work with the media to make the process very ugly. I suspect we will see a lot of that.

Things That Make My Head Hurt

John Hinderaker at Power Line posted a story today reporting that Vice-President-elect Mike Pence was booed last night as he entered a New York Theater to see the play “Hamilton.” It got worse.

The article reports:

The real outrage came at the end. As Pence got up to leave, one of the “Hamilton” cast members read a deeply offensive statement attacking the Trump administration on behalf of the play’s supposedly “diverse” cast. I doubt, of course, that the cast has any diversity at all. If it includes any conservative members, they remained silent. As the actor delivered his smug, superior attack on the incoming Trump administration, most of those in the audience applauded and cheered enthusiastically:

It used to be said that when a political party suffered a crushing electoral defeat, a period of introspection was appropriate. Don’t try to tell that to today’s Democrats. They have learned nothing, and, in their arrogant presumption, they have no interest in learning anything.

So let that sink in for a minute and consider the following. Scott Johnson posted an article on Power Line today about the likely choice to head the Democratic Party, Keith Ellison. The story reports:

Here is a man who was an active local leader of the racist and anti-Semitic cult known as the Nation of Islam until some time past his first attempt at political office as a Democrat, yet who has never acknowledged, accounted or apologized for his activities and expressed beliefs on behalf of the cult. Rather, as I recounted in the Weekly Standard article “Louis Farrakhan’s first congressman” (2006), Ellison has explained them away with lies and deceptions.

In her Jerusalem Post column “The Ellison challenge,” Caroline Glick builds on my research to elaborate on the meaning of Ellison’s rise for any decent Democrat with eyes to see. Joel Mowbray has more to the same effect in his Daily Caller column on Ellison.

Donald Trump does not have a history of discrimination. One of his Florida resorts was one of the first exclusive resorts in America to allow Jewish and black people, and he fought city hall (literally) to make that happen. He also hired the first woman to be the contractor at one of his New York skyscrapers. Kellyanne Conway is the first woman to be campaign manager for a major political party in a presidential race. Trump has met with Ben Carson to talk about ObamaCare changes.There is no reason for a rational person to believe that the Trump administration will discriminate against anyone. Donald Trump’s concerns about Muslim immigration are valid. Rational people understand that we want immigrants who want to assimilate–we do not want immigrants who do not want to assimilate. That is not discrimination–that is common sense. Keith Ellison has a history of discrimination, and he is being promoted to a position of leadership in the Democratic Party. The actors’ concerns are focused in the wrong place.

At any rate, the behavior of the actors in the New York theater last night is both unacceptable and ironic. When you consider that the play was about one of the Founding Fathers, it is ironic that they used that stage to harass a duly-elected official.

Voter Fraud In North Carolina

A website called American Lens posted an article today about voter fraud in North Carolina.

The article cites a few glaring examples:

According to North Carolina law, The Board of Election is required to verify the validity of the applicant’s residence (§163-82.7). In most cases, there is an assumption that the residence is valid, however, a cursory check of the data in Durham County should have raised a flag of concern.

As seen in the snapshot below of our data analysis, it is clear that hundreds of people are listed at the exact same address at Duke University’s campus in Durham.

Our examination of same-day student registrations revealed that 240 students  at Duke University were living at ‘1 Duke University Road, Durham.’

We then looked at online mapping sites, such as Google Maps and Bing Maps to understand why so many people were listed at the exact same address.

The address was a gravel parking lot with a shed.

Further research results were detailed in the article:

Believing the Duke results may just be an anomaly, we looked at the data for other college campuses in both Durham and Wake counties. We found more than 700 voters were registered at a centralized campus locations and not where they sleep.

At North Carolina Central University (NCCU), 340 students were registered to the college’s generic address of 1801 Fayetteville Road, Durham, NC.

Taking into consideration the definition of residence, it would appear that all of these voters mentioned in this article did not meet the voter residency requirements and subsequently voted without a valid registration.

I think we have a problem.

An Interesting Choice

The Washington Times is reporting today that Donald Trump has asked Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn to be his national security advisor. General Flynn is an interesting character who speaks very bluntly and has the background for the position.

The article reports:

Flynn, who turns 58 in December, is a native of Middletown, Rhode Island. He graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 1981 with a degree in management science and was commissioned a second lieutenant in military intelligence. He held various positions in military intelligence throughout his career, including director of intelligence for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the top intelligence officer for the commander of the U.S.-led international military coalition in Afghanistan in 2009-10.

According to a biography published by the DIA during his time as its director, Flynn’s academic credentials include three graduate degrees: a master’s in telecommunications from Golden Gate University; a master’s in military arts and sciences from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; and a master’s in national security and strategic studies from the U.S. Naval War College at Newport, Rhode Island.

He drew public attention in January 2010, during his time in Afghanistan, for his unorthodox decision to have a Washington think tank, the Center for a New American Security, publish his critique of the U.S. intelligence system in Afghanistan.

The report said: “Having focused the overwhelming majority of its collection efforts and analytical brainpower on insurgent groups, the vast intelligence apparatus is unable to answer fundamental questions about the environment in which U.S. and allied forces operate.”

I disagree with General Flynn on Turkey. The article states:

Flynn’s dark warnings about Islam have not extended to the Islamist-leaning authoritarian Turkish government headed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In an op-ed for the Washington newspaper The Hill just before the election, Flynn wrote that “our ally Turkey” needs support and echoed Erdogan’s warnings that a “shady” Turkish leader now exiled in Pennsylvania should not be given safe harbor in the U.S. Erdogan has called for the extradition of the exile, Fethullah Gullen, but the Obama administration has made no move to comply.

Under President Erdogan, Turkey is moving toward becoming an Islamic state. The only advantage in supporting the current government of Turkey is that a change of government through a revolution might result in a civil war and failed state similar to what we have seen in Syria.

Overall, I think General Flynn is a very good choice as national security advisor. He will oppose the spread of radical Islam in ways that the Obama Administration did not. He is also someone who is going to be honest as to what we are up against and the current risk of terrorism.

The North Carolina Governor’s Race Results May Take A While

Yesterday Legal Insurrection posted an article about the North Carolina Governor‘s race. There are some serious questions about voter fraud in a number of the statewide races.

The article reports:

A protest has been filed in Bladen County alleging that a handful of people may have improperly submitted hundreds of absentee ballots, while also getting paid for get-out-the-vote efforts by a community group funded by the N.C. Democratic Party.

According to the protest filed by McCrae Dowless, who won election as soil and water district supervisor, the handwriting on a number of ballots and the signatures of some mail-in absentee witnesses were similar. He said the questioned ballots seem to have been cast in favor of a straight ticket of candidates and also to vote for a man named Franklin Graham, who ran a write-in campaign for soil and water district supervisor.

A letter the Bladen County elections board wrote to the State Board of Elections, and attached to the complaint, raises the same concerns. While some ballots listed witnesses, few include the documentation that would be required if someone had also assisted the voters, according to the letter.

“These are not simply helpful individuals who have attempted to assist a large swath of Bladen County’s voters to cast their ballots,” Dowless wrote. “This is the shocking evidence resulting from a blatant scheme to try to impact the voting results of an entire county and perhaps even sway statewide and federal elections.”

Oddly enough, they might have gotten away with this if they hadn’t added the write-in candidate.

There was also a problem in Durham County:

Bethesda Ruritan Club had to shut down its polls for 90 minutes because the workers ran out of forms, causing people to miss out on voting. Electronic devices in the county malfunctioned, which meant poll workers had to hand out paper forms. These problems had Superior Court Judge Donald Stephens declare that the county “historically hasn’t figured out how to carry out an election properly.”

Officials didn’t count 90,000 early votes until late on Election Day, which caused the flip from McCrory to Cooper. This immediately raised eyebrows within the McCrory campaign with “the sudden emergence of over 90,000 votes.”

The State Bureau of Investigation has also opened an investigation “into whether crimes were committed in last spring’s primary election in Durham County.”

But now the Board of Elections will travel through the “counties to double check the results.” The officials hope to have an official count by November 29. But if they decide to do a recount it could take longer.

The voter ID law that had been in effect in the primary elections worked well and did not disenfranchise anyone. Unfortunately it was struck down by the courts–by Democratic-appointed judges (as other similary laws were upheld) because it was obvious that North Carolina would be a swing state. It would probably have prevented both of these problems.

Hang on to your seats–electing a governor of North Carolina may take a while.

Necessary Changes In The Trump Transition Team

On Tuesday The Washington Examiner posted an article about changes to the Trump Transition team. Chris Christie has been replaced by Vice-President elect Mike Pence, and other changes have been announced.

The article reports:

President-elect Trump’s White House transition team has vowed to go lobbyist-free, after coming under criticism for staffing up on lobbyists despite campaign promises to fight the influence of special interests in Washington.

Vice President-elect Pence and the White House transition have signaled plans to clear out any lobbyists serving in official roles as they begin the 10-week transition process until Trump’s inaugration on Jan. 20, according to a report from Fox News.

Draining the swamp is not going to be easy–there are a lot of people who have a vested interest in maintaining the swamp–it has made them very wealthy.

This Always Happens When The Republicans Win

Ed Morrissey posted a story at Hot Air today about the Democrats‘ reaction to the Republican takeover of the White House and gains in Congress, state houses, and state legislators. The article cites a Washington Post article that explains that even though the Republicans made significant gains at all levels, it wasn’t a mandate, and the Republicans will have to compromise with the Democrats. Somehow when the Democrats win, they are never expected to compromise.

The Washington Post reports:

Americans emerged from President-elect Donald Trump’s surprise victory in last week’s election with passionate and polarized reactions, overall expressing tempered optimism about his presidency but unconvinced that he has a mandate to enact a sweeping new policy agenda, according to a Washington Post-Schar School national poll.

The poll finds Americans still reeling from Trump’s long battle against Hillary Clinton, with more than 7 in 10 saying the campaign made them angry and more than half feeling stressed out by campaign news. Trump’s supporters are largely ebullient when asked how they feel about the result, while Clinton backers range from disappointed to fearful to apoplectic.

Nationally, just 3 in 10 Americans — 29 percent — say he has a mandate to carry out the agenda he presented during the campaign, while 59 percent say he should compromise with Democrats when they strongly disagree with the specifics of his policy proposals.

That 29 percent figure is sharply lower than the 50 percent who said the same for President Obama after his first election in 2008 and the 41 percent for former president George W. Bush after the 2000 election and the contentious recount that followed.

I would love to see the demographics on that poll. Every time a Republican is elected to office, he is told that he will have to compromise. Every time a Democrat is elected to office, it is obvious that everyone approves of everything he wants to do–but the press is not biased! The Democrats chose not to compromise on ObamaCare, and we saw the fallout from that. Had they worked with the Republicans to make ObamaCare a viable program, the Republicans might not have been a majority since 2010.

The article at Hot Air concludes:

With that in mind, just how much trouble will Democrats cause over the next two years? Chuck Schumer might want to act obstructionist, but will Jon Tester, Joe Manchin, or even Tammy Baldwin want to play along after watching the way their states just dumped Hillary Clinton?

In truth, Trump will probably get some to play along just on policy. They’ll be on board for another round of federal stimulus spending, for instance, especially given the potential for seat-preserving pork in their home districts. But when it comes to most other Republican policy priorities and appointments, don’t expect Trump to need much “compromise” to get his agenda through Congress. Republicans painted the map red at all levels on November 8th, as big a repudiation of a party in the White House as we are ever likely to see. Even if voters might still feel some trepidation about Trump, there is absolutely no doubt that the GOP got a governing mandate in any sense of the word.

It is going to be an interesting four years.

 

 

Further Swamp Draining Needed

Yesterday Breitbart reported that Congressional Republicans are already meeting to block Donald Trump’s plans for his Presidency. Why are some Republicans getting ready to fight the Trump agenda? It is against the wishes of their major donors.

Let me mention just one issue. Illegal immigration would have been stopped long ago if Congress wanted to stop it. Why didn’t they? Illegal immigrants provide a cheap labor base for corporate types that hire them–corporate types join the American Chamber of Commerce and give money to Republicans. Illegal immigrants if naturalized are likely to vote Democratic, thus the Democrats have no desire to stop illegal immigration.

The article reports:

Top aides tell Breitbart News that certain members of the House Freedom Caucus are backing the Republican leadership’s agenda by supporting the re-election of House Speaker Paul Ryan, who has long championed globalist donor class policies, such as the uninhibited flow of cheap foreign goods and labor across international borders through expansionist immigration policies and unrestricted free trade.

“At a certain point, we’re going to have to change our group’s name from the ‘House Freedom Caucus’ to the ‘Paul Ryan Caucus,’” one senior aide to a member of the House Freedom Caucus told Breitbart.

The aide continued:

Many members of the Freedom Caucus never opposed Ryan’s positions on trade and immigration the way their constituents do. So they’re more than happy to ignore and cast aside the policies that got Trump elected in exchange for going along with the Ryan’s policies. They’d rather keep the status quo and march lockstep with Ryan than have to stir things up by electing someone who would fight for Trump’s mandate and fight to fulfill the wishes of the American people.

In a power struggle between Donald Trump and Paul Ryan, my money is on Donald Trump. Please follow the link to the entire article. It is very enlightening. It illustrates the battle between the political establishment and American voters.

This Is What Media Desperation Looks Like

This post is not a joke–it comes from the NBC website. The story I am about to tell was posted at NBC today.

I am posting this as screen shots because I hope and want to believe that someone at NBC with a brain will see it later today and take it down.

nbcnewstrump1nbcnewstrumpnbcnewstrump2The article goes on to complain about various other places where the press feels slighted. This is the dumbest thing I have ever seen. First of all, the major media was not unbiased during the campaign. Instead of being neutral, they chose the wrong horse. Why should they be trusted or rewarded? Second of all, since when is taking your family out to dinner a press affair? Remember, this is the same press that saw no problem with a private server that was immune from Freedom Of Information Requests (FOIA). I fear that we are going to have four years of press nitpicking!

Sometimes You Just Have To Shake Your Head

The Gateway Pundit posted an article today about some recent remarks by President Obama.

The article states:

Obama told an audience in Greece today the world must guard against rise of “nationalism” (Trump).

Obama: We have to guard against a rise in a crude sort of nationalism or ethnic identity or tribalism that is built around an us and a them. And I will never apologize for saying that the future of humanity and the future of the world is going to be defined by what we have in common as opposed to those things that separate us and ultimately lead us into conflict.

However, his actions are different than his words:

blacklivesmatter11152016Black Lives Matter is not a civil rights group. They are a black racist group that has undermined law and order in America and endangered the lives of policemen. President Obama has done more harm to race relations in America than any President in recent history. I seriously doubt that Donald Trump could be any worse for race relations in America than President Obama.

The contrast between President Obama and Donald Trump is the contrast between one-world government and American sovereignty. President Obama has shown during his eight years in office that he does not respect the U.S. Constitution and does not respect American sovereignty. The Iran Treaty is a perfect example of that. The treaty was never subjected to the Constitutional procedures for a treaty. Hopefully, Donald Trump will have a greater love for America and its Constitution.

What Does The Democratic Party Represent?

Politicians don’t always tell the truth, so sometimes it is hard to figure out exactly what each party stands for. One way to begin to make educated guesses is to look at the party platform and the choices for leaders within the party. It is very telling that Representative Keith Ellison from Minnesota is being considered to lead the Democratic Party. Fox News posted an article yesterday about some of Representative Ellison’s background and associations.

The article reports:

Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., the first Muslim elected to Congress and a leading progressive among House Democrats, already has picked up the backing of both the Democratic Party’s left – with support from Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren – and its establishment, receiving endorsements from Senate leaders Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and retiring Harry Reid, D-Nev.

Ellison is firmly on the party’s left – he has a fax line in his office, but his website says they will not respond to faxes “for environmental reasons.” He backed Bernie Sanders during the primaries, even introducing him at the convention.

“Bernie sparked the beginning of a revolution y’all,” Ellison said at his address during the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. “Together we call for climate justice, racial justice, wage justice.”

Well, yeah, if that is the direction the Democrats choose to go.

In August 2011, Scott Johnson posted an article about Keith Ellison at Power Line Blog. Please follow the link to read the entire article, but here are a few highlights from Keith Ellison’s past:

Given the media’s disinclination to examine Ellison’s public record, or to get straight what little it has let come to the surface, we set out a Keith Ellison timeline and posted copies of some key articles as a companion to the Standard piece:

1987–Ellison enrolls in University of Minnesota Law School

1989–Ellison publishes the first of two articles in the University of Minnesota Daily under the alias “Keith Hakim.” In the first such article, Ellison speaks up for the Nation of Islam.

1990–Ellison participates in the sponsorship of the anti-Semitic speech by Kwame Ture given at the University of Minnesota Law School (“Zionism: Imperialism, White Supremacy or Both?”). Ellison rejects the appeal of Jewish law students to withdraw sponsorship of the lecture. Ellison graduates from University of Minnesota Law School.

1992–Ellison appears as speaker at demonstration against Minneapolis police with Vice Lords leader Sharif Willis following the murder of Officer Haaf by four Vice Lords gangsters in September.

1993–Ellison leads demonstration chanting “We don’t get no justice, you don’t get no peace” in support of Vice Lords defendant on trial for the murder of Officer Haaf. Ellison attends Gang Summit in Kansas City with Willis.

1995–Ellison supports Million Man March, appears at organizing rally with former Nation of Islam spokesman Khalid Muhammed at University of Minnesota. Ellison acts as local Nation of Islam leader in march at office of U.S. Attorney in Minneapolis protesting indictment of Qubilah Shabazz for conspiring to murder Louis Farrakhan. Ellison charges FBI with conspiring to murder Farrakhan. Ellison writes article under alias “Keith X Ellison” attacking Star Tribune for criticizing Louis Farrakhan.

1997–Ellison appears under alias “Keith Ellison-Muhammad” at Minnesota Initiative Against Racism hearing in support of Joanne Jackson. Ellison defends “the truth” of Jackson’s statement that “Jews are the most racist white people.”

1998–Ellison first runs for DFL endorsement for state representative. Ellison identifies himself as member of Nation of Islam in Insight News article on his candidacy. Ellison runs for endorsement under alias “Keith Ellison-Muhammad.”

2000–Ellison gives speech supporting Kathleen Soliah/Sara Jane Olson at National Lawyers Guild fundraiser. Demands Soliah/Olson’s release. Asks audience to recall time when “Qubilah Shabazz was prosecuted in retribution against Minister Farrakhan.” Speaks favorably of cop killers Mumia Abu-Jamal and Assata Shakur.

May 2006–Ellison writes letter to JCRC asserting involvement with Nation of Islam limited to 18 months supporting Million Man March.

August 2006–Ellison appears at unpublicizied fundraiser with CAIR executive director and Hamas supporter Nihad Awad among featured guests.

In case you have forgotten, CAIR was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation Trial (the case dealt with a charity funding terrorists and revealed the Muslim Brotherhood’s plans for civilization jihad in America). I have posted many articles about the Holy Land Foundation Trial. If you are unfamiliar with the case and the trial, you can find those articles using the search feature at the top of this page.

Remember, this is the man that may become the leader of the Democratic Party. If he becomes the head of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), his election will be an affirmation of principles that are totally contrary to the principles of our Founding Fathers. Representative Ellison’s history and views do not represent the ideas and principles of most Americans. Electing him as the head of the DNC will insure the death of the party.

It is, however, noteworthy that a Bernie Sanders supporter may take over the leadership of the Democratic party rather than a Hillary Clinton supporter. I am also curious to find out exactly what climate justice, racial justice, and wage justice are. I believe in racial justice, but to me that means that all people are treated equally, regardless of race. Wage justice to me means that every person is paid what they are worth in the marketplace. It makes sense to me that a brain surgeon would make more than a sales person in a department store (although with commissions in some stores it might not work that way!). Climate justice I just don’t get. Does that mean that the Democrats think they can control the climate? Good grief!

The Real Numbers About The Budget

This is a picture of the federal budge deficits over the years:

federaldeficitsthrough2016The chart and other related information can be found here.

On Saturday, Conservative Treehouse posted an article about an aspect of the federal budget under President Obama that you may not be aware of.

The article reports:

The last federal budget was signed into law in September of 2007 by President George W Bush for fiscal year 2008.  Since then the entire mechanism of the federal government has been carried out by continuing resolutions, raises in the debt ceiling, and unfettered spending.

Absent of an actual federal budget, all spending falls under a process called base-line budgeting to determine allocation.  Federal distribution of the money within the continuing resolution, is essentially a year-over-year expenditure with a statutory increase based on inflation.  Essentially, whatever was spent in 2009 was respent in 2010 along with a little bit more.   What was spent in 2011 was a little more than ’10, and so forth.

In February 2009  congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or ARRA, commonly referred to as Obama’s stimulus plan.  The stimulus was just shy of one trillion ($986 billion +/-).

At the time of passage this single stimulus expenditure reflected a growth of approximately 20% in total federal spending.  The spending went directly into the deficit.

Approximately 30% of that “one time” trillion dollar stimulus was spent in 2009, the remaining 70% was spent in 2010.  (*note fiscal years run from October 1st to September 3oth annually).

However, absent a federal budget -and because of baseline budgeting- it became a repeated expenditure in each of the following fiscal years.

The $1 Trillion Stimulus was spent eight more times.

The article points out that most Americans cannot tell you what the stimulus was spent on. President Obama put money into the Department of Education to subsidize state education and teachers’ salaries, keeping the teachers’ union happy.

The article reports:

The key point is the $1 trillion 2009 “stimulus” funds, became a tool for President Obama to use in whatever cabinet office need he saw.

So long as congress never passed an actual budget (and the traditional budget appropriations process kicked in), he would always have this massive amount of extra money to play with.  Obama, Pelosi and Reid ensured there was never going to be a budget.

As the economy somewhat gained footing (2012), for the last several years a lot of the money appears to have been spent on propping up ObamaCare and hiding the structural financial collapse.

If Obama didn’t have this extra $1 trillion at his disposal, ObamaCare would have already collapsed.  If you were wondering why ObamaCare didn’t collapse, well, there’s your answer.

This scheme worked brilliantly so long as Team Obama could kick-the-budget-can into successive years.  They did.

…Remember: #1) Obama’s trillion stimulus was a +20% jump in federal spending which has continued year-over-year since 2009, #2) most of that money is now spent on propping up Obamacare via the insurance corridor reimbursement program.

…That $1 trillion in annual expenditure is what initially kept government at full size when originally passed in ’09.  It then transmogrified into a slush fund two fiscal years later, and ever since about 2012 it’s been a way for Obama to fund his priority list – and the UniParty congress has done nothing about it; because, well, essentially, congress agrees with what it’s being spent on.

It’s a staggering amount of money, $986 billion.  If Trump/Ryan eliminate the worst aspects of ObamaCare they can save a massive amount of that expenditure.  However, beyond that – it shows you just how much money can –and hopefully will– be cut out of government by that elimination alone.

It would be wonderful to have a Congress and a President who want to bring federal spending under control, but I am not convinced yet.

Have We Lost Our Minds?

On Thursday, Katrina Trinko posted an article at The Daily Signal about the reaction by some Americans to the results of Tuesday’s election. I guess I should say overreaction.

The article reports:

Just take this comment from someone using the handle “bess marvin, girl detective,” responding to a piece about liberal comedian Samantha Bee noting that a lot of white women had voted for Trump, and addressing “so-called progressive white Jezzies”:

So many comments over over the past few months shows that a lot of y’all don’t want to be liberated, you want to be liked. ‘My (insert relative, loved one here) is voting for Trump but he/she is the nicest, kindest person ever…’ REALLY? How about this? Your loved one or relative is an awful human being. How kind and nice are they that they would push aside everything Trump has said and done to pull the lever?

To which “LesPane” responded:

Some of us white folks did, and it didn’t matter. Some of us asked relatives to leave our houses, and it didn’t matter. Some of us told grandparents that they wouldn’t be see they grandkids again if they talked politics around them, and it didn’t matter.

Though we come from very different places, I’m not actually to blame for this. I understand and share your anger.

Parents denying grandparents access to their grandchildren because the grandparents voted for Trump?  Are the parents afraid that their children might hear both sides of the discussion? What kind of spoiled brats are we dealing with?

The article reminds us:

Again: What? What are the rights that supposedly Trump is going to take away? We’ve been living in a country where, as The Weekly Standard’s Mark Hemingway tweeted, “Obama did sue nuns over birth control for crying out loud,” where religious bakers and florists have been told they have to participate in same-sex weddings, where an African-American fire chief lost his job over a book he wrote about his religious beliefs that included passages on same-sex marriage, and yet, the real threat to rights is from Trump?

Maybe I am looking at the world through rose-colored glasses, but I suspect a Trump Administration will treat most people better than the Obama Administration treated Christians. I would also like to point out that Christians were not rioting in the streets.

I voted for Donald Trump. I read enough Wikileaks not to trust Hillary. I was also around during the 90’s and watched the Clintons play fast and loose with the law back then. The Clinton style has not changed. I couldn’t vote for an obvious crook. I felt the same way when I voted for George McGovern in 1972, although some things I have learned since then have somewhat altered my view on the entire Watergate scandal.

At any rate, the election is over. It is time to remember that all of us want America to be free and successful. How about if the anti-Trump people wait a few months before they start complaining. At least give the man a chance to sit in the Oval Office once before you tear him to shreds.

 

Who Is Paying The Protestors?

Front Page Magazine is a website run by David Horowitz, a red-diaper baby from New York who was involved with the Black Panthers as a well-intentioned liberal before becoming a conservative. His change of heart was partly due to the fact that the Black Panthers were responsible for the death of a friend of his who had done their  bookkeeping. The story is told in his book, Radical Son. Because of his childhood and his personal experience with the Black Panthers, David Horowitz is very familiar with the tactics used by those who are working against the freedom and prosperity we have as Americans.

On Friday, Front Page Magazine posted an article about the origins of the funding being used to pay protestors around the country after the Trump victory on Tuesday.

The article reports:

From reading the various mainstream media accounts of these events, one comes away with the distinct impression that they are grassroots actions that began organically among ordinary, concerned, well-meaning citizens.

But alas, if one were to think that, one would be wrong.

Contrary to media misrepresentations, many of the supposedly spontaneous, organic, anti-Trump protests we have witnessed in cities from coast to coast were in fact carefully planned and orchestrated, in advance, by a pro-Communist organization called the ANSWER Coalition, which draws its name from the acronym for “Act Now to Stop War and End Racism.” ANSWER was established in 2001 by Ramsey Clark’s International Action Center, a group staffed in large part by members of the Marxist-Leninist Workers World Party. In 2002, the libertarian author Stephen Suleyman Schwartz described ANSWER as an “ultra-Stalinist network” whose members served as “active propaganda agents for Serbia, Iraq, and North Korea, as well as Cuba, countries they repeatedly visit and acclaim.”

Since its inception, ANSWER has consistently depicted the United States as a racist, sexist, imperialistic, militaristic nation guilty of unspeakable crimes against humanity—in other words, a wellspring of pure evil. When ANSWER became a leading organizer of the massive post-9/11 demonstrations against the Patriot Act and the U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, it formed alliances with other likeminded entities such as Not In Our Name (a project of the Revolutionary Communist Party) and United For Peace and Justice (a pro-Castro group devoted to smearing America as a cesspool of bigotry and oppression). 

Another key organizer of the current anti-Trump protests is a group called Socialist Alternative, which describes “the global capitalist system” as “the root cause of … poverty, discrimination, war, and environmental destruction.” Explaining that “the dictatorships that existed in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe were [unfortunate] perversions of what socialism is really about,” this organization calls for a happy-faced “democratic socialism where ordinary people will have control over our daily lives.”

…The bottom line is this: The leaders and organizers of the anti-Trump protests that are currently making so much noise in cities across America, are faithfully following the blueprint of Hillary Clinton‘s famous mentor, Saul Alinsky, who urged radical activists to periodically stage loud, defiant, massive protest rallies expressing rage and discontent. Such demonstrations are designed to give onlookers the impression that a mass movement is preparing to shift into high gear, and that its present size is but a fraction of what it eventually will become. A “mass impression,” said Alinsky, can be lasting and intimidating: “Power is not only what you have but what the enemy thinks you have…. The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself.”

And that is precisely what we are witnessing at the moment.

If you have never read Rules for Radicals by Saul Alinsky, now might be a really good time to take a look at it. Mr. Alinsky was one of Hillary Clinton’s heroes and was also admired by Barack Obama.

Peace And Harmony Isn’t Always All It Is Cracked Up To Be

On November 2nd, The Hausman Memorial Speaker Series presented a program entitled, “National Security Chaos: Are We Passing the Tipping Point?” The program was described as a sober discussion, analysis and advice from prominent experts. The experts included General Jerry Boykin, Frank Gaffney, and Tom Trento, all of whom have studied the infiltration of the Muslim Brotherhood and the idea of Sharia Law into the American political and legal culture. Aside from providing information Americans need, the presentation is obviously legal under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. However, not everyone wanted the presentation to take place.

On November 1st, The Center for Security Policy reported:

In response to a top-level national security panel presentation organized by Rabbi Jonathan Hausman at the Ahavath Torah Congregation tonight in Stoughton, Massachusetts, HAMAS-doing-business-as-CAIR (Council on American Islamic Relations) and the notorious jihad incubator at the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center (ISBCC) have joined forces to mount a last-ditch intimidation campaign.

On Wednesday, 2 November 2016, the Ahavath Torah Congregation is scheduled to host an event featuring Center for Security Policy President Frank Gaffney, Family Research Council Executive Vice President Lieutenant General (Ret.) William G. “Jerry” Boykin, and The United West Founder Tom Trento. In response, ISBCC Executive Director Yusuf Vali has coopted nearly 100 interfaith leaders who represent the Christian and Jewish communities in the Boston area in an attempt to pressure the leadership board of Rabbi Hausman’s synagogue to cancel the program, which is dedicated to highlighting the national security threat posed by the Muslim Brotherhood’s global Islamic Movement.

So, by whom exactly have these interfaith collaborators allowed themselves to be conned into this latest Brotherhood-led assault on free speech? It may be recalled that during the 2016 general election cycle, the United States Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO), formed in 2014, described on its website the group’s efforts to “promote peace and harmony in society.” And yet, the principal leader of the Muslim Brotherhood-led USCMO is none other than Foreign Terrorist Organization-listed HAMAS dba CAIR. While CAIR tries to present itself as a civil rights organization, it has here joined forces with the ISBCC, jihad command and control center for the April 2013 Boston Marathon bombers, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

It is quite obvious why the ISBCC didn’t want this presentation to go forward–they themselves are a security threat.

The article further reports:

In early October 2016, USCMO leader CAIR (CAIR-Chicago) unsuccessfully led a campaign with a series of partners including Black Lives Matter – Chicago, Arab American Action Network, and the Center for New Community to cancel the Illinois Tactical Officers Association (ITOA)’s five day Tactical Training Conference (9 -13 October 2016) for law enforcement officers and emergency medical technicians. CAIR also mounted pressure in a botched attempt to terminate the contractual relationships between ITOA and the Cook County, IL Department of Homeland Security & Emergency Management (DHSEM), in addition to other government agencies.

Next, it was CAIR-Oklahoma Executive Director Adam Soltani’s turn to strike out on 25 October 2016, when he took aim at a national security briefing on ‘the ideological roots, nature and magnitude of the jihad threat’ provided to the Oklahoma State Legislature. Oklahoma State Representative John Bennett, a combat veteran Marine in two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, called for an Oklahoma State Judiciary and Civil Procedure Committee’s Interim Study on “Radical Islam, Shariah Law, the Muslim Brotherhood and the Radicalization Process.” During the hearings Bennet sponsored, former FBI agent John Guandolo and Chris Gaubatz of Understanding the Threat provided a clear explanation about shariah as the doctrinal Islamic basis for jihad and set forth a succinct evidentiary legal framework about the subversive Brotherhood network in this country. Frank Gaffney, President and Founder of the Center for Security Policy, and Gen. Jerry Boykin also spoke at the hearing, with Gaffney explaining how zakat, the obligatory annual Muslim tax, according to Islamic Law is required to fund jihad.

Clearly, the facts of the accelerating worldwide jihad are becoming all-too obvious to all—and the only rear-guard action the MB’s U.S.-based jihadis in suits seem able to muster at this point is against the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment guarantee for free speech. Civilization Jihad and Star spangled shariah in action.

This is what CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood are about–imposing Sharia Law on non-Muslims. The goal is to make any negative comments about Islam illegal. In October 2011, elements of the American Muslim Brotherhood wrote a letter to the White House demanding that any information briefings related to Islamic-based terrorism be discontinued and those officers, analysts, and special agents involved be retrained or purged. For whatever reason, the White House agreed to this. I have personally met one of the people impacted by this decision. For further details, see the book Catastrophic Failure by Stephen Coughlin.

We are at a tipping point. Our freedom and free speech is in danger. It is my hope that the new administration will change things. At least Donald Trump has no visible ties to the Muslim Brotherhood–Hillary Clinton does through Huma Abedin. Ms. Abedin’s family is very involved with the Muslim Brotherhood and at one time Ms. Abedin was listed on the masthead of a Muslim Brotherhood publication.

If this is new information to you or you do not understand my concern, please follow the link to the Center for Security Policy and read the Muslim Brotherhood memorandum in their own words on their plans for the United States. It is something all Americans need to be aware of.

Believing The Lie

Last night the protests continued. Some protesters were college students who were upset that their feminist heroine did not get elected. Some protesters were paid agitators who answered Craig’s List ads because they needed the money. Some protesters were illegal aliens who somehow were convinced that they would be deported and their families the day after Donald Trump became President. Protests are fully acceptable in a representative republic (America is not a democracy). However, destruction of property is not. Anyone who smashed a car window or assaulted a person needs to be put in jail and fined. However, let’s look at the idea that families are going to be separated and people deported.

Below is a picture of Elian Gonzalez in 2000 as he was seized and deported by the Clinton Administration (Janet Reno was Attorney General). His mother fled Cuba in 1999 and died trying to escape. Elian was picked up by the U.S. Coast Guard (he was six years old). The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) released Elian to his paternal great-uncle, Lázaro, in Miami. Meanwhile, Elian’s father contacted Lazaro, asking him to be on alert for Elian. Elian’s grandmothers came to Washington to ask that Elian be returned to Cuba, and Elian’s father requested that Elian return.

Wikipedia reports what happened next:

In the pre-dawn hours of Easter eve, Saturday, April 22, pursuant to an order issued by a federal magistrate, eight agents of the Border Patrol‘s elite BORTAC unit as part of an operation in which more than 130 INS personnel took part[20] approached the house, knocked on the door, and identified themselves. When no one responded from within, they entered the house. Pepper-spray and mace were employed against those outside the house who attempted to interfere. Nonetheless, a stool, rocks, and bottles were thrown at the agents.[21] In the confusion, Armando Gutierrez called in Alan Diaz, of the Associated Press, to enter the house and entered a room with González, his great uncle’s wife Angela Lázaro, her niece, the niece’s young son, and Donato Dalrymple (one of the two men who had rescued him from the ocean). They waited in the room listening to agents searching the house. Diaz took a widely publicized photograph of a border patrol agent confronting Dalrymple and the boy.

INS also stated in the days after the raid that they had identified as many as two dozen persons who were “prepared to thwart any government operation”, some of whom had concealed weapons while others had criminal records.[22][23]

This is the picture:

eliangonsolezIt wasn’t a Republican administration that pointed a gun at a six-year-old child and sent him back to a Communist country. Before you scream that Donald Trump as President will separate families and deport children, look at the history of the Democratic Party. Whether you believe Elian should have been allowed to stay or not, who points a gun at a six-year-old child?

In Case You Were Wondering About The ‘Spontaneous’ Protests After The Election…

These pictures from the Free Republic about the protests:

austinprotestbusesThese are the buses from the Austin protest–the protestors were brought in on busses!

This is an ad for a reporter to cover the New York protests:

austinprotestWe are being played by the media. Enough Americans have become aware of this to give Donald Trump the victory. Let’s do what we can so that everyone knows our media has lost its way.

You Can Tell They Weren’t Prepared–This Was One Of The Few Times The Protestors Had Hand-Made Signs!

Yesterday Breitbart posted an article about the various anti-Trump demonstrations around America. The article points out that that demonstrations have been sponsored by MoveOn.org.

The article reports:

The gatherings – organized by MoveOn.org and allies – will affirm a continued rejection of Donald Trump’s bigotry, xenophobia, Islamophobia, and misogyny and demonstrate our resolve to fight together for the America we still believe is possible.

Within two hours of the call-to-action, MoveOn members had created more than 200 gatherings nationwide, with the number continuing to grow on Wednesday afternoon.

WHAT: Hundreds of peaceful gatherings of solidarity, resistance, and resolve nationwide

WHEN / WHERE: Find local gatherings here. Major gatherings include in New York City’s Columbus Circle and outside the White House in Washington, DC.

RSVP: Please email press@moveon.org to confirm attendance.

Protestors are burning flags and rioting. That is not the way Americans act after an election. It’s time to back up and look at who is funding this and why they are supporting something that is so divisive. Do they have anything better to offer or is this simply the new outlet for the anarchists?

Wisdom From The Voice Of Experience

Senator George McGovern was elected to the Senate in 1962. He left the Senate in 1981.

In June 2011, Forbes Magazine noted:

After leaving the Senate in 1981, McGovern hit the lecture circuit and in 1988 decided to invest his speaking fees in the Stratford Inn in Connecticut. He loved the idea of running a hotel. It went bankrupt a few years later, thanks in large part to the withering recession of 1990-91. But the experience gave McGovern new wisdom on how little politicians understand the arduous task of job creation.

I would like to point out that the recession of 1990-1991 was caused by a bi-partisan deal to ‘raise taxes on the rich.’ This was done in the form of instituting a tax on ‘luxury items’ such as expensive boats and jewelry. As boat sales and expensive jewelry sales dropped significantly, people in the boat-building business and some areas of the jewelry industry began to lose their jobs. As these people decreased their spending on going out to dinner, travel, and entertainment, those industries began to suffer and more people lost their jobs. At that point Americans began to curtail their spending in other areas because of fear of a recession, and the recession followed. This was a graphic illustration of the Laffer Curve at work.

The Forbes Magazine article quotes a Wall Street Journal editorial written by Senator McGovern in 1992.

In The Wall Street Journal, Senator McGovern states:

In 1988, I invested most of the earnings from this lecture circuit acquiring the leasehold on Connecticut’s Stratford Inn. Hotels, inns and restaurants have always held a special fascination for me. The Stratford Inn promised the realization of a longtime dream to own a combination hotel, restaurant and public conference facility–complete with an experienced manager and staff.

In retrospect, I wish I had known more about the hazards and difficulties of such a business, especially during a recession of the kind that hit New England just as I was acquiring the inn’s 43-year leasehold. I also wish that during the years I was in public office, I had had this firsthand experience about the difficulties business people face every day. That knowledge would have made me a better U.S. senator and a more understanding presidential contender.

Today we are much closer to a general acknowledgment that government must encourage business to expand and grow. Bill Clinton, Paul Tsongas, Bob Kerrey and others have, I believe, changed the debate of our party. We intuitively know that to create job opportunities we need entrepreneurs who will risk their capital against an expected payoff. Too often, however, public policy does not consider whether we are choking off those opportunities.

My own business perspective has been limited to that small hotel and restaurant in Stratford, Conn., with an especially difficult lease and a severe recession. But my business associates and I also lived with federal, state and local rules that were all passed with the objective of helping employees, protecting the environment, raising tax dollars for schools, protecting our customers from fire hazards, etc. While I never doubted the worthiness of any of these goals, the concept that most often eludes legislators is: `Can we make consumers pay the higher prices for the increased operating costs that accompany public regulation and government reporting requirements with reams of red tape.’ It is a simple concern that is nonetheless often ignored by legislators.

We have just elected a President who has the experience of running a business and dealing with government regulations. Hopefully, he has already learned the lessons Senator McGovern learned after he left office.

The International Repercussions Are Beginning

Breitbart is reporting today that one Egyptian lawmaker has already weighed in on the results of yesterday’s election.

The article reports:

Mustafa Juneidi said he was sure Trump was going to win, and said that “dark days are awaiting the Muslim Brotherhood and their allies.”

He also said that Egypt’s relations with the US “will improve, as Trump already named President [Abdel Fatah] Sisi as a hero and a strong ally who was shunned by the Obama Administration.”

He further said that Trump’s victory signals the victory of social media over the mainstream media that was biased in Hillary Clinton’s favor. “Trump’s election means that people no longer believe what the media tells them.”

The prominent Kuwaiti journalist Fajr al Said, a strong supporter of Sisi, also alluded to a demonstration scheduled for Friday, which the Egyptian government accused the Muslim Brotherhood of organizing.

“I congratulate President Sisi on Trump’s election and hard luck [sic] to the organizers of 11/11 who wanted to harness a Clinton victory to spread anarchy in Egypt.”  

That is what eight years of President Obama have done to America’s image overseas.

One Of The Best Arguments For Voter Identification

Yesterday’s election did not go as many pundits expected. In North Carolina, there were some mixed results. There are also some questions about some of the results.

The Daily Haymaker posted an article today about some voter irregularities in Durham County, North Carolina. Yesterday I posted an article about the money poured into North Carolina by George Soros in order to prevent the voter ID law from being in place during the 2016 general election. We are probably seeing the results of that effort reflected in what happened in Durham County.

The Daily Haymaker reports:

Yesterday, Durham county had some “technical” glitches and got a court order extending voting hours.  They also –*Surprise!* — discovered 90,000 votes that had not been counted from early voting.

Holy Al Franken! (Yes, we’re citing the comedian turned US senator who won his seat mainly due to trunkloads of uncounted ballots mysteriously showing up after the polls closed.)

After all of that got added to the mix, a roughly 40,000 vote lead for Pat McCrory in the governor’s race turned into a 5000 vote lead for Roy Cooper.  Chuck Stuber’s lead in the auditor’s race turned into a 3000 vote deficit.  And Buck Newton’s 40,000 vote lead in the attorney general’s race turned into a 19,000 vote deficit.

You want all legitimately-cast votes counted.  But last-minute stuff like this tars the integrity of an election a lot like a last-second foul or penalty call spoils the integrity of a sporting event’s final score.

This sounds like Chicago in 1960.