Monthly Archives: August 2024

Some Things To Be Aware Of

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Kamala Harris’ choice of Tim Walz for her Vice-Presidential nominee is an interesting choice. The mainstream media is touting Walz as a long-serving veteran of the National Guard, but there is other information indicating that his service did not necessarily end as indicated in his publicity information.

On August 8, Red State posted an article detailing some of the problems with Tim Walz using his military service as a positive talking point.

The article notes:

The media has been torn over the subject. CNN debunked Walz’s claims that he served in combat (see Even CNN Torches Tim Walz in Blistering Fact Check About Carrying Weapon ‘In War’ – RedState). But the preponderance of evidence is beginning to indicate that Walz himself portrayed his service as duty in combat. A Bloomberg profile posted the day of Walz’s announcement specifically says that Walz served in Iraq. It has since been edited with no explanation of how the error came to be (see NEW: The Tim Walz Stolen Valor Scandal Just Got Much Worse Following Bombshell Report – RedState).

The Harris campaign has sought to minimize Walz’s lack of manliness by denigrating JD Vance’s service in the US Marine Corps in Anbar Province, Iraq. A top Harris surrogate claimed that Vance had not served in the military; see Top Harris Surrogate’s Claim About Vance’s Military Service Is So Disgusting Jim Acosta Has to Jump In – RedState and Harris and Walz Using the ‘Big Lie’ With No Media Pushback Portends a Very Ugly Campaign – RedState.

It is pretty obvious that Walz left the National Guard to avoid being deployed. A lot of people did that. It is not unusual. The problem in Walz’s case has to do with his role in his unit. One of the lessons learned in Vietnam was that units that were deployed intact had a better success rate than units where individuals were swapped out as individuals. Unit continuity is an important part of success, and units that trained together and deployed together generally had better survival rates. Walz was the top non-commissioned officer in his unit, and the unit depended on his leadership. When he left abruptly after saying he would stay, he left a large vacuum. That is a problem the most veterans will acknowledge. Whether or not they will vote for him I don’t know, but it is a problem.

Please follow the link to the article for further illustrations of the media attempting to put a lot of lipstick on a pig.

Kamala Harris Has Selected Tim Walz For Her Vice-President Running Mate

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On Tuesday, Breitbart introduced us to Tim Walz.

Here are some basic facts the article reports about the Minnesota Governor who has been Governor since 2019:

Below are seven things to know about Waltz’s record:

    1. A June report from Minnesota’s legislative auditor found that Walz’s administration “failed miserably in its duty to properly oversee millions of federal dollars it administered to nonprofits to feed children.” The report said that Walz’s alleged incompetence “created opportunities for fraud.” Axios reported: “The report highlighted several ways in which the Walz administration failed to rein in the fraud, undercutting the governor’s longstanding claims that his agency staff deserve credit, not criticism, for their efforts to catch and stop it.”
    2. Walz signed legislation to allow minors to get sex-change operations in Minnesota. He signed a bill to require schools to stock period products in boys’ bathrooms.
    3. Walz allegedly failed to anticipate and react to riots in Minneapolis after the death of George Floyd. Even the liberal mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey, slammed Walz’s response to the riots.
    4. Under Walz’s leadership, Minnesota gives free college tuition to illegal immigrants.
    5.  Walz signed a bill into law that will give driver’s licenses to potentially 77,000 eligible illegal aliens.
    6. Walz openly championed socialism last week during a “White Dudes” for Harris event.
    7. Waltz was also a radical member of the House of Representatives, with Heritage Action giving him a lifetime score of 13 percent

Honorable mentions:

    • Authorities arrested Walz for DUI.
    • Walz said it was “ageism for Americans to be concerned about Biden’s fitness for office.

Walz is considered to be politically somewhere to the left of Bernie Sanders.

On Tuesday, Steve Hayward of Power Line Blog posted:

First, the fact that a choice of running mate did not leak out prior to the announcement this morning likely means Harris didn’t make up her mind until yesterday. She’s indecisive.

Second, the Walz pick suggests the progressive anti-Semitic left successfully intimidated Harris out of picking Josh Shapiro. So she’s weak, too.

A confident Democratic nominee would have picked Shapiro. He could have helped Harris nail down the all-important state of Pennsylvania, and represented for Harris a “Sister Souljah” moment of repudiation to the progressive left that the newly “centrist” Harris badly needs. Shapiro, and perhaps Mark Kelly, would have been a move to add the veneer of ideological diversity (heh) to the ticket, like Michael Dukakis’s pick of Lloyd Bentsen in 1988, JFK picking LBJ in 1960, or Al Gore selecting Joe Lieberman in 2000. Instead she has doubled down on progressivism.

As Scott’s analysis reveals, Walz’s record is almost as target rich as Harris’s. Cue the Trump campaign ads displaying “Kamala’s San Francisco” and “Tim’s Minneapolis” from the summer of 2020. (By the way, will Trump’s nickname be “Tiny Tim”?) The only pick from the field that would have been better from a Republican point of view was Pete Buttigieg. The ghost of Lee Atwater smiles.

The election is going to need a LOT of popcorn.

Where Our Money Is Going

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It would be really nice to have people in Congress who understand basic budgeting. If you have the money to buy something, it’s okay to buy it. If you don’t have the money to buy something, it isn’t okay to buy it. It’s called fiscal responsibility.

On August 5th, The Federalist posted an article detailing how some of our taxpayer money is being spent.

The article reports:

With its July 22 announcement that it is disbursing $4.3 billion in taxpayer-funded grants for an assortment of climate projects around the country, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) secured the loot for grateful recipients before President Joe Biden leaves office in January.

The money will go to 25 projects across 30 states (some will cross state borders) and will target greenhouse gas emissions from “transportation, electric power, commercial and residential buildings, industry, agriculture/natural and working lands, and waste and materials management,” the EPA said in a press release. Funds for the grants were provided from the Climate Pollution Reduction Grants Program anchored in the 2022 misnamed Inflation Reduction Act, the Biden administration’s landmark climate law.

That was the law that Joe Manchin said he would not vote for and was bribed to vote for with some concessions on fossil fuel exploration that were later reneged on.

The article lists some of the people receiving taxpayer dollars:

Among the projects receiving the federal largesse are statewide decarbonization initiatives in Pennsylvania targeting cement, asphalt, and other materials; $307 million for measures in Nebraska to promote “climate smart” practices ostensibly to reduce emissions from agriculture and waste; and an effort to install EV chargers for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles along a highway on the East Coast.

An air management district in Southern California will receive $500 million to help decarbonize the region’s transportation and freight sectors, including at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. EPA’s grants to the region will provide funding for “electric charging equipment, zero-emission freight vehicles and conversion of cargo handling equipment to lower emissions.”

The article concludes:

The ruling class repeatedly claims to protect the masses from whatever “existential threat” suits their purposes. Time and again, their follies blow up — usually not in their faces, but in the faces of ordinary people who bear the brunt of their hubris. The billions EPA is spreading around will have no effect on the climate, but it will ensure more precious resources are wasted.

I agree.

How You Draw The Districts Determines The Vote

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On Friday, The Daily Signal posted an article about a recent decision by the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals regarding voting districts. There was a county is Texas where a voting district was carved out specifically to make sure a minority-race Democrat would be elected. The Court ruled that was not acceptable.

The article reports:

In Petteway v. Galveston County, the full appeals court concluded that Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act does not protect or “authorize coalition claims, either expressly or by implication.” Coalition districts are districts in which no single minority group constitutes a majority of the voters. Instead, in those districts, there is a combination of different minority racial, ethnic, or language groups that make up a majority of voters. 

The citizen population of Galveston County is 58% white, 22.5% Hispanic, and 12.5% black. Although the black population is concentrated in the center of the county, the Hispanic population is evenly dispersed throughout. The county commission consists of five seats: four elected from specific districts and one elected at-large. Neither the black nor the Hispanic population of Galveston County is large enough and concentrated enough to draw a single commission district in which either group constitutes a majority of the voters in that particular district.

As a result, in 1991, the county drew one coalition district that combined the black and Hispanic population in one district, which was represented by a black Democrat as of 2021. The other seats were all held by Republicans, including a black Republican. However, in the 2021 redistricting, the county eliminated the coalition district, which had a black citizen population of 31% and a Hispanic citizen population of 24%. 

The NAACP and the Justice Department led by Attorney General Merrick Garland, along with a number of individual plaintiffs, sued Galveston claiming that this was a violation of federal law because coalition districts are required by Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. 

This case is not the only one involving coalition districts. Please follow the link to the article for further details.

Recognizing Marxism

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Author: R. Alan Harrop, Ph.D 

Since WWII, America has resisted Marxism at home and abroad. The reason for that  resistance is not only that Marxist ideology is contrary to the founding principles of our country, but also because no Marxist country has ever brought economic success and freedom to its people. Unfortunately, some Americans do not recognize the extreme threat that Marxist ideology presents to our freedom. It is essential, that all of us recognize when our politicians, leaders, and the media, are advocating for Marxist principles and leading us on a destructive path.

Here are some Marxist principles that should raise a red flag. First: Central government control. Marxism cannot exist without strong central government control over people’s lives. Expanding the size of the federal government and allowing federal agencies to issue increasing numbers of regulations directly limits our freedom. The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that federal agencies are exceeding their authority by issuing increasing numbers of regulations with the force of law, without congressional approval.  There are currently over 3,000 federal rules and regulations spanning 90,000 pages.  Second:  Income equality. Marxism advocates reducing income differences so that everyone earns the same. This would eliminate rewards for effort and creativity essential to economic growth and prosperity. Examples are increasing the minimum wage, guaranteed minimum income, reparations, and many existing and proposed welfare programs. Third: Disarming citizens.  Every Marxist government prevents citizens from owning firearms; for example: China, Russia, North Korea, Venezuela, etc. They obviously want to remove the ability of the people to resist their authoritarian dictates. Some countries, such as Australia, have moved in this direction through mandatory firearm buyback programs. Fourth:  Destroying traditions. Cultural cleansing attempts to remove the history and traditions that are an essential part of a country’s identity. Removing statues, rewriting history books, re-naming military bases and schools, are some examples of cultural cleansing that then allows the central government to impose its own Marxist culture. Open borders allow the influx of diverse people who do not share American principles and beliefs. Fifth:  Destruction of the traditional family, which has always served as the primary mechanism to teach essential cultural values. Homosexual marriage, government funded childcare, Head Start programs, marrying later in life, if at all, have undermined the integrity of the family.  As Hillary Clinton once said “ … it takes a village”  to raise a child, thus putting the government in charge of child rearing. Sixth:  Information control. If the government can control the people’s access to the truth, they can control their decisions and behavior.  Social media and the broadcast news outlets are increasingly relaying government dictated information. A free press is essential for a free people. Marxist governments want the people to rely on so-called  “experts” who are controlled by the government.  Seventh:  Indoctrinating the youth. All Marxist governments control the education of their youth to ensure that they are committed to the correct principles. Public education from kindergarten to the universities are used to ensure this indoctrination.   Homeschools and private schools are threats to this process.

When evaluation any candidate for public office, especially for president, it is critical to examine their prior actions and stated goals to see if they advocate any of the above seven Marxist principles. If you want to preserve this country’s freedom for future generations, you will know what to do.

The Impact Of American Elections

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On Sunday, John Hinderaker at Power Line Blog posted an article about the recent prisoners swap with Russia. The article made a few observations on why the swap took place now instead of after November.

The article quotes a Wall Street Journal article:

[Deputy chief of the foreign secret service BND Philipp] Wolff’s team saw an opening when their Russian counterparts said they wanted to wrap up the deal before the U.S. election in November. Some officials deduced that the Russians were either concerned about an unpredictable Donald Trump coming again to the presidency, or they feared that [German Chancellor Olaf] Scholz would no longer be willing to help a president who rarely misses an opportunity to criticize Germany.

“We then decided to push it to the limit,” a senior official involved in the talks said.

The article speculates that the real reason for the rush to complete the deal before November is based on the fact that if President Trump is elected, his administration will be much better negotiators than the Biden administration. The article reminds us that the Iranian hostages of the 1970’s were released as soon as Ronald Reagan became President.

Some Americans may get caught up in the ‘never Trump’ movement, but have they thought about the consequences. The Biden administration has given us a small taste of what a Harris administration would be like–higher taxes, weak economy, more unemployment, shrinking middle class, etc. Don’t get caught up in the media spin that says President Trump is a threat to democracy (we are not a democracy) when the Democrat party candidate for President has been put in place without a single vote in the primary election. All of the Americans who voted in the Democrat primary have had no say in who the candidate is–their votes didn’t count. So who is the threat to ‘democracy?’

 

The States Are Taking Action Because Congress Is Not

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On Sunday, The Daily Signal posted an article about eight states that are going to put citizen-only voting on their ballots in November.

The article reports:

States set to vote on whether to amend their constitutions to prevent noncitizens from voting are Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Wisconsin.

In previous election cycles, such amendments to state constitutions passed overwhelmingly.

It will be interesting to see how the voters vote this time.

The article notes:

The House last month passed the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or SAVE Act, which would require that states obtain documentary proof of U.S. citizenship from someone before he or she may register to vote. The bill would amend the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, known as the “motor voter law.”

The Democrat-controlled Senate, however, is unlikely to take up the House bill.

In the states, the proposed constitutional amendments in effect would prevent local governments from expanding voting rights to noncitizens, as has occurred in California, Maryland, and Vermont. 

“States can take action constitutionally to protect citizen voters,” Kerri Toloczko, executive director of the Election Integrity Network, told The Daily Signal. 

“Opponents [of banning noncitizen voting] say it’s already illegal for foreign nationals to vote. It’s also illegal to steal a car,” Toloczko said. “There are so many loopholes in the National Voter Registration Act.”

As noted in my book “The Myth of Voter Suppression,” there have been numerous adjudicated cases of foreign nationals registering to vote and voting in past elections. 

A 1996 federal law specifically prohibits noncitizens from voting in federal elections for president or members of Congress. However, the law doesn’t dictate what local governments can do.

In addition, the 1993 National Voter Registration Act requires voter registration at states’ motor vehicle departments and social services agencies. 

There are some cities in America that allow non-citizens to vote in local elections, but what happens when a local election is included on a national ballot? When America was first founded, only land-owners were allowed to vote. The idea was that they were ‘stakeholders’ and were going to protect their own interests. What interest does someone who is not a citizen have in America’s success?

This Isn’t Really Surprising

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Israel is taking a long time to defeat Hamas. Part of that is due to their extreme concern to avoid civilian casualties–to the point of telling Hamas ahead of time where they will attack. Another part of the problem is America slow-walking our promised military equipment and the fact that the corruption in the Middle East is such that supporting terrorism can be lucrative. There is also the fact that Hamas knows that the longer the war goes on, the better their chances of winning the public relations war. And there are also numerous tunnel complexes that make fighting very difficult.

On Sunday, Breitbart reported:

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced Sunday that soldiers had uncovered a massive smuggling tunnel underneath the border between Gaza and Egypt in the area of Rafah — where the U.S. had cautioned Israel not to go.

How many countries are quietly undermining the Israeli war effort? We know that the Biden administration shares the goal of the Obama administration to increase the role of Iran in the Middle East and lessen the role of Israel.

The article concludes:

Prior to May, the Biden administration had warned Israel not to enter Rafah, even withholding weapons to pressure Israel to stay out of the area. Israel decided to enter Rafah anyway due to its strategic importance to the war against Hamas.

IDF control of the Philadelphi Corridor, which is a road along the border, has been at stake in recent negotiations with Hamas over a hostage-ceasefire deal. Hamas and the U.S. want Israel to cede control of the corridor, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been reluctant to give it up.

Control of the corridor allows the IDF to choke Hamas’s weapons supply; Israel does not trust Egyptian or U.S. guarantees to monitor the border effectively.

Israel is smart not to trust Egypt or the U.S.

 

This Should Anger Every American

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On July 18th, Military.com reported the following:

The Department of Veterans Affairs expects to be nearly $15 billion short of what it needs to pay for benefits and health care this year and next, in part because more veterans are using VA services than expected, officials told Congress this week.

An increase in benefits claims driven by the PACT Act could leave VA benefits accounts $2.9 billion short this year. Meanwhile, health care accounts could be nearly $12 billion short next year because of higher-than-expected staffing and prescription drug costs, among other factors.

In a statement Thursday morning, the VA said it is working with the White House and Congress to address the budget shortfalls in a way that doesn’t harm veterans.

The article also notes:

Congress has yet to approve government funding for fiscal 2025, meaning lawmakers could still allocate more than the VA requested, but they also would have to reach a bipartisan agreement to ignore the previously approved budget caps.

The budget request anticipated that there would be a staffing cut of about 10,000 employees in the Veterans Health Administration. But the agency now expects to have about 20,000 more employees than the budget projected for next year, which is about 5,000 more than there are right now, according to the slideshow.

Pharmacy and prosthetic costs for next year could also be about $4 billion higher than expected if they follow the same trends in price increases as this year, the slideshow said.

More veterans using community care is also a factor in the budget shortfall, the VA said in the slideshow. The community care program allows veterans to see doctors outside the department using VA funding. The department had originally projected a 12% increase in community care costs next year, but now foresees a 16.5% increase.

Let’s remember where some of these cost increases come from. In December 2023, I reported the following (here) (here):

When an illegal immigrant under ICE detention requires healthcare, they are typically treated on-site by medical professionals. However, if specialist or emergency care is required, they may be transported to an independent private provider.

In such cases, ICE contracts with the VA’s Financial Service Center (VA-FSC) to process reimbursements to those providers. According to a report from July, ICE has hundreds of letters of understanding in which ICE’s Health Service Corps (IHSC) will reimburse providers at Medicare rates. That uses the VA-FSC’s Healthcare Claims Processing System — a portal that allows providers to submit and view claims and access other resources.

When you add administrative oversight to something new, it increases the cost. The Biden administration and much of the current Congress are not veteran’s friends. We owe our veterans a whole lot more than we owe people who are here illegally.

Is Anyone Looking Out For National Security?

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On Saturday, The Gateway Pundit reported that according to a report issued by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), between 7 to 9 million visa holders in the United States have not undergone proper vetting procedures.

The article reports:

The report, “Management Alert: CBP Has Limited Information to Assess Interview-Waived Non-Immigrant Visa Holders,” details how the customary vetting process for foreign nationals seeking entry into the U.S. has been largely disregarded under the current administration.

Traditionally, applicants must complete an in-person interview at a U.S. consulate or embassy in their home country, undergo fingerprinting, and pass local background checks.

These measures are designed to identify potential criminals or terrorists before they set foot on American soil. However, it appears that these critical safeguards have been waived, leaving millions of individuals unvetted and potentially dangerous.

The Inspector General’s Report states:

“According to Dos, from calendar years 2020 through 2023, it granted nonimmigrant visas to approximately 7.1 million individuals without conducting in-person consular interviews. Dos also did not collect fingerprints for an unknown number of visas during the same period. In December 2023, Dos and OHS agreed to expand the categories of visas and applicants whose consular interviews could be waived beginning on January 1, 2024.

The fingerprint waiver program ended in December 2023. During our ongoing audit of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP} Screening of Visa Holders That Received Waivers from Department of State (24-011-AU D-CBP), we found that CBP Office of Field Operations (OFO) port directors at some U.S. ports of entry had not been aware of the interview and fingerprint waiver program.”

I would like to think that everyone who is currently coming to America (legally or illegally) wants a better life and wants to contribute to the well being of the country in the process of seeking that better life. However, recent events have convinced me that is not always the case. We need to vet all immigrants carefully and keep the number of immigrants at a level where the new Americans can be assimilated into the American culture. The Biden administration does not seem to be interested in doing this.

 

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Rightwinggranny will celebrate 16 years this month. I honestly feel that I have said all I have to say. I would like to retire from the site at the end of December. The domain name and the server (it’s not on the Word Press server so that I could have taken ads if I had chosen to do so) are good until Summer and Spring respectively. I have been approached by advertisers to put ads on the site, but chose not to do it for various reasons. I am hoping to find a conservative who would like to take over the site. Hits on the site generally run anywhere between 20,000 and 50,000 a day, averaging out in the 30,000 range. If you follow the site, you know that I generally post three articles a day (two and a meme on Saturday). Depending on the day, that represents anywhere from one to three hours of work. If you are interested in taking over the site or know someone who might be interested, please contact me at rwg51718@yahoo.com.

Is Anyone Paying Attention?

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Every day on Facebook I see people posting about how we are not taxing the ‘rich’ enough and billionaires should pay their fair share. No one has yet explained to me what business it is of mine how much anyone makes or is worth or how much tax they pay. What we should all be more concerned about is where our tax money is going and what we can do the help the government spend less of it.

On July 30, Judicial Watch posted the following:

Less than a year after Judicial Watch reported that the Taliban has established fake nonprofits to steal millions of dollars in U.S. aid to Afghanistan, a new investigation reveals that the terrorist group has also received hundreds of millions in development assistance from Uncle Sam because the State Department fails to properly vet award recipients. At least $239 million have likely filled the coffers of the extremists running the Islamic republic since the 2021 U.S. military withdraw, according to a report published this month by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR). The money was disbursed by State Department divisions known as Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) and International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) to implement development projects intended to help achieve American foreign policy and national security goals in Afghanistan.

Investigators found that the State Department failed to comply with its own counterterrorism partner vetting requirements in Afghanistan before awarding at least 29 grants to various local entities. The agency has a system to identify whether prospective awardees have a record of ethical business practices and is supposed to conduct a risk assessment to determine if programming funds may benefit terrorists or terrorist-affiliates before distributing American taxpayer dollars. In the more than two dozen cases examined, the agency did not bother and failed to keep proper records. “Because DRL and INL could not demonstrate their compliance with State’s partner vetting requirements, there is an increased risk that terrorist and terrorist affiliated individuals and entities may have illegally benefited from State spending in Afghanistan,” the SIGAR report says. “As State continues to spend U.S. taxpayer funds on programs intended to benefit the Afghan people, it is critical that State knows who is actually benefitting from this assistance in order to prevent the aid from being diverted to the Taliban or other sanctioned parties, and to enable policymakers and other oversight authorities to better scrutinize the risks posed by State’s spending.”

The watchdog found issues with 29 awards distributed by DRL and INL. For instance, DRL failed to properly screen the recipients of seven awards totaling about $12 million, investigators found. INL did not provide any supporting documentation for 19 of its 22 awards totaling about $295 million so there is no way to determine if they complied with the vetting requirements. The State Department acknowledged that not all its bureaus have complied with document retention requirements, which makes it conveniently impossible to fully assess the magnitude of its transgressions. The explanation offered for INL not retaining records is “employee turnover and the dissolution of the Afghanistan-Pakistan office,” according to the report. SIGAR points out that, given the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, it is critical that U.S. government activities adhere to the laws, regulations, and policies intended to prevent certain transactions with terrorists.

Do you think we could lower the deficit by giving less money to terrorists?

 

I Guess The Focus Group Didn’t Go As Planned

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A lot of decisions made in Washington are the result of focus groups, and there are a lot of focus groups. Recently, someone in the Defense Department negotiated a deal with some of the 9/11 planners who are in prison in Guantanamo that would allow them to avoid the death penalty. Many Americans were unhappy with the deal, and it has been reversed. Just the News posted an article Friday (updated Saturday) about the situation.

The article reports:

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday withdrew from a pretrial agreement with three alleged 9/11 plotters, after the department came under scrutiny for reaching a plea deal with terrorists, the New York Times has reported.

The specifics of the plea deal were never released, but the New York Times previously reported that it removed the possibility of the death penalty. At least two Congressional inquiries into the plea deal have been launched.

The Pentagon released a memorandum on Friday that withdrew the plea deal after releasing retired Brig. Gen. Susan K. Escallier, who oversaw the plea deal, of her oversight on the case. 

“Effective immediately, in the exercise of my authority, I hereby withdraw from the three pretrial agreements that you signed on July 31, 2024,” Austin wrote.

Because Guantanamo is a military installation, Secretary Austin evidently has the authority to override the agreement. I am glad he did. As long as those men are alive in  Guantanamo, there is a chance that someone will kidnap someone and demand a prisoner swap.

Thank you, Secretary Austin.

Encouraging Future Bad Behavior?

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We should all celebrate the return home of the hostages taken by Russia. However, we should also examine the price that was payed for their return and what it will mean in the future.

On Thursday, The Washington Examiner posted an article about the prisoner swap.

The article notes:

President Joe Biden deserves credit for the prisoner swap agreement that led to Russia releasing Americans Evan Gershkovich, Alsu Kurmasheva, Paul Whelan, and other Germans and Russians on Thursday. While this deal carries a heavy risk of boosting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s appetite for aggressive intelligence operations, it deserves support.

Biden and his key negotiator, CIA Director Bill Burns — I’ll write more on Burns in my next piece — deserve particular credit in terms of the parameters of the agreement. After all, Biden likely could have reached a deal earlier if it only involved Americans and some Germans detained by Russia. Instead, the deal included a significant number of German citizens, possibly including some German BND foreign intelligence service agents and officers, and prominent Russian dissidents. It would have been challenging to persuade the Kremlin to release political opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza, for example. That bears noting amid prior claims by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump that he could have made a prisoner swap deal without significant U.S. concessions.

The Israelis are said to have a policy of not negotiating with terrorists. They have, at times, been forced by circumstances to alter that policy, but have generally remained steadfast. The problem with negotiating with terrorists is simple–it encourages them to take more hostages in the future.

The article concludes:

As Putin now escalates his sabotage and assassination plots in the West, and as he threatens ever more dastardly consequences for Western support for Ukraine, the U.S. should recognize Putin for what he is: a leader who is bold and opportunistic, but also one who makes decisions based on how his opponents have previously responded to his pressure tactics.

The next time an American is taken hostage or U.S. interests are otherwise attacked by Russia, the first U.S. response should not be to enter a long process of negotiations. Instead, the U.S. should escalate in riposte.

Putin and other dictators and terrorists are not stupid. They can easily look at the price they paid (or didn’t pay) for taking hostages to trade for warriors. Let’s make taking hostages uncomfortable and unprofitable.

The Economic News Is Questionable At Best

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On Friday, The Epoch Times posted an article about the latest unemployment numbers. Bidenomics does not seem to be all that it is cracked up to be.

The article reports:

The U.S. economy created fewer jobs than expected while the unemployment rate increased, signaling that the labor market could be going through a rapid deceleration at a time when the Federal Reserve could soon be cutting interest rates.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), there were 114,000 new jobs in July, down from 179,000 in June. This fell short of the consensus estimate of 175,000.

The unemployment rate rose to 4.3 percent, up from 4.1 percent, and higher than economists’ expectations of 4.1 percent. This represents the highest jobless rate since October 2021.

Average hourly earnings eased to a smaller-than-expected pace of 3.6 percent year-over-year. On a monthly basis, average hourly earnings edged up 0.2 percent.

The labor force participation rate inched higher to 62.7 percent, from 62.6 percent. Average weekly hours slipped to 34.2, from 34.3.

Health care accounted for much of the jobs, with 55,000 new positions added last month. This was followed by construction (25,000) and government (17,000).

The article also noted:

Additionally, the household portion of the monthly jobs report, which removes duplication, showed the economy created 67,000 new jobs.

The number of people working two or more jobs surged to 8.473 million, up from 8.34 million. Full-time workers advanced by 448,000, while part-time workers declined by 325,000.

The divergence between U.S.-born and foreign-born workers widened compared to a year ago. U.S.-born workers tumbled by more than 1.2 million from July 2023. By comparison, foreign-born workers increased by roughly 1.3 million.

The economy right now has high inflation and wages that are not keeping up with inflation. The easiest way to ease inflation would be to resume domestic drilling and cut federal spending. Both would require the voters to make changes in both the White House and Congress in November.

Will Congress Actually Uncover What Happened?

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On Tuesday, Real Clear Politics posted an article about some of the decisions that may have paved the way for the assassination attempt on President Trump.

The article reports:

Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe was directly involved in denying additional security resources and personnel, including counter snipers, to former President Trump’s rallies and events – despite repeated requests by the agents assigned to Trump’s detail in the two years leading up to his July 13 attempted assassination, according to several sources familiar with the decision-making.

Rowe succeeded former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, who resigned last week after bipartisan calls following her widely panned testimony before the House Oversight Committee. But both Rowe and Cheatle were directly involved in decisions denying requests for more magnetometers, additional agents, and other resources to help screen rallygoers at large, outdoor Trump campaign gatherings.

It was Rowe’s decision alone to deny counter sniper teams to any Trump event outside of driving distance from D.C., these sources asserted.

Rowe and FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate are set to appear Tuesday before a joint hearing of the Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security and Government Affairs committees.

The article concludes:

America wasn’t a banana republic. Is it becoming one? After the years of hoaxes and lawfare, the only thing keeping us from saying it is the reserve of credibility is empty. 

Director Rowe must go. He is exactly the wrong person to be in charge of this investigation since he should be one of the people investigated. Don’t be fooled by his empty mea culpas. Admitting that there was a failure is the easiest thing to do because it is incontrovertible. He is engaged in a coverup of something, and we need answers from somebody not involved. 

Was there a government plot to assassinate the former president? Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and unless you can prove that Majorkas or somebody similarly high up actually was involved in this event, I am not convinced. 

But he and those around him clearly were involved in stripping the security around Trump. They denied resources, incited violence, and waited for somebody to take an opportunity. 

And on July 13th, that happened. 

Will the security for President Trump be better in the future? I sure hope so.

Follow The Money

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On Thursday, Just the News posted an article about the safety of using puberty blockers on children.

The article reports:

Five months before the Food and Drug Administration issued a health warning on puberty blockers widely used off-label to treat minors with gender confusion, undermining a Department of Health and Human Services office that claimed “early gender affirming care is crucial to overall health and well-being,” an FDA leader acknowledged other health concerns.

Pediatric patients exposed to “gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists,” most with central precocious puberty (CPP) and “a handful … transgender kids using the drugs off-label,” had an “increased risk of depression and suicidality, as well as increased seizure risk,” Division of General Endocrinology clinical team leader Shannon Sullivan told colleagues.

The 2017 safety review by the FDA’s Division of Metabolism and Endocrinology Products (DMEP), cited by Sullivan, contradicts claims by American medical groups and Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine that gender affirming care is “suicide prevention,” as the government’s highest-ranking transgender official said at the 2022 Out For Health Conference.

Telling parents that if they don’t allow their child to submit to puberty blockers the child will commit suicide was always a lie. It was the medical complex participating in the child’s blackmail of their parents. If you child came to you and said, “If you don’t buy me a BMW, I am going to commit suicide,” would you give in? I doubt it. So why are parents giving in on the puberty blockers issue? Possibly because there are those in the medical profession telling them that if they don’t give in, the child’s suicide will be the parents’ fault.

The think to keep in mind here is that a transgender patient is a patient for life. Their body is continually trying to switch back to where it started, so continual drugs and hormones are needed for the patient’s entire life. With any luck at all, the patient’s health insurance pays the bills, but in many circumstances, the taxpayers pay the bill. There are other less permanent ways to help adolescents get through puberty.

 

Making A Mockery Of The Olympics

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The Olympics have gone farther over the top–it has allowed a biological male to compete against women in boxing. The Daily Caller posted an article about the match.

The article reports:

A two-time Olympic gold medalist in women’s boxing called a Thursday Olympic boxing match between a biological male from Algeria and a female Italian boxer “scary.”

Angela Carini ended the match against Imane Khelif after 46 seconds following a series of hard blows to the head that left the Italian boxer with a broken nose. Claressa Shields, who won gold medals in the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, said on “America’s Newsroom” that the Olympic committees “dropped the ball.”

“I couldn’t imagine getting inside the ring with a biological man,” Shields told “America’s Newsroom” co-hosts Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino. “Even though I sparred against a man, but fighting for the Olympics is way bigger than that and so much more on the line to have to go with a opposite gender. Women fight against women and men fight against men, so, I don’t see how the Olympics could have done something like this.”

You used to be put in jail for beating a woman. Now it’s an Olympic sport. I don’t think this is a good image to show either your son or your daughter.

The article concludes:

“Listen, I don’t have anything against transgender women or transgender men,” Shields said. “All I’m saying is men should fight against men, women should fight against women and transgenders should fight against transgenders. That is how I fell, I will stand with that. I’m not homophobic or anything like that or against the gay community, but that’s not right.”

Remember way back when there was a concern about the East German women weightlifters? I guess that wouldn’t be a problem today!

This Is Total Insanity

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On Thursday, The New York Post reported the following:

The two illegal Jordanian migrants who are charged with trying to breach Marine Corps Base Quantico in May posted thousands of dollars in bail and were allowed to leave federal custody, The Post can exclusively reveal.

Hasan Yousef Hamdan, 32, and Mohammad Khair Dabous, 28, were released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention despite their immigration status — Hamdan had crossed into the country illegally in April and Dabous had overstayed his student visa and is subject to removal proceedings, law enforcement sources told The Post.

They were arrested on May 3 for trespassing onto the military installation and handed over to ICE officers because of their immigration statuses.

The article notes:

Hamdan and Dabous were charged with misdemeanor trespassing on military property and appeared before a judge for the first time on July 22, when they were ordered released on the conditions that they show up to court for their immigration proceedings and stay away from Quantico or other military bases, according to the court documents, which were first reported by Todd Bensman of the Center for Immigration Studies.

Federal prosecutors supported their releases on those conditions, according to the court documents.

Hamdan entered the US illegally via the southern border in San Diego in April, when he was released due to a lack of detention space, federal law enforcement sources told The Post.

Dabous was in the US illegally after overstaying his student visa, sources said.

Where did the thousands of dollars come from? If they were allowed to leave federal custody, what is the realistic expectation that they will ever be seen in America again? Do we really believe that they will show up for their immigration proceedings in court (the hearings are scheduled for September)? Does anyone involved in this situation have any common sense?

Remove The Income Tax On Social Security? Horrors!

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President Trump has suggested that he would like to remove the income tax on Social Security income. Let’s look at the history of taxing Social Security income.

The first time Social Security benefits were subject to federal income taxes was after the passage of the 1983 Amendments to the Social Security Act, starting in 1984. That law made 50 percent of Social Security benefits taxable for recipients with incomes above $25,000 for an individual and $32,000 for married couples filing jointly. To provide some perspective, $30,000 in 1984 would be approximately $91,000 today. The people supporting the new tax claimed that it would only tax the rich (a claim that is always made when taxes are increased–a claim that was made in 1913 when the personal income tax was introduced).

In 1993, more taxes were placed on Social Security income. A second tier of taxation was introduced under the Clinton administration. Using the same formula as above — i.e., MAGI plus one-half of benefits — single filers and couples filing jointly with more than $34,000 and $44,000, respectively, will be subjected to this second tier. This new tier allows up to 85% of Social Security benefits to be taxed at the federal ordinary income tax rate. The $44,000 in 1993 would be equal to about $96,000 in today’s dollars. These rates have never been adjusted for inflation, so the tax originally intended for ‘the rich’ impacts the middle class. Unfortunately, that is the way it always works.

Now, let’s look at how taxing Social Security has impacted the federal deficit.

In the first year Social Security was taxed, the federal deficit actually went down. After that, Congress simply concluded that they had more money to spend and spent it. When the second taxation of Social Security happened, it coincided with Newt Gingrich’s Contract With America–a tax plan that actually did lower the deficit for a number of years.

Taxing or not taxing Social Security is really NOT the issue. Until the government learns to spend less, the deficits will grow. The problem with asking the government to spend less is that in Washington, control of money equals power. The more money you control, the more powerful you are. It’s the spending–not the income. The only difference not taxing Social Security will make is to give senior citizens more spending power, which might in the long run help the economy.

Be Careful What You Say About Your Political Opponent

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The internet is awash with responses to the Democrats’ referring to J D Vance as weird. Considering some of the Democrat antics in the past four years, J D Vance is simply an average American with a wife, a few children, and an impressive academic record. I won’t post some of the pictures I have seen of Democrat antics here because I try to keep this site rated “G,” but the tweets remind us of a transgender person exposing breasts on the White House lawn, naked cavorting in a conference room in the Capitol building, a transvestite cabinet member convicted on stealing other people’s luggage on airplanes and more. The list is very long.

On Tuesday, American Greatness reported the following:

In an uncanny display of synchronicity, the Harris campaign, Democrat lawmakers and their allies in the media have in the past couple of days all settled on one word to describe Senator J.D. Vance (R-Ohio):  “Weird.”

The Democrat-media propaganda campaign kicked into full gear over the weekend, with liberal talking heads robotically using the same talking point over and over again to smear the Republican vice presidential nominee over his past comments on childless women.

If you wonder why the mainstream media sometimes seems to use the same words, look up Operation Mockingbird. You will find contradictions in what you find, so look at what the news is doing and draw your own conclusions.

The article also notes:

“They should mix up the propaganda more. This is way too obvious,” billionaire Elon Musk commented on X in response to the supercut. “Just like when they were parroting before the debate that Biden was ‘sharp as a tack.’”

“Democrats are using the Mean Girls strategy of labeling Republican candidates as ‘weird’ because Democrat policies poll so poorly,” cartoonist Scott Adams explained on X. “It is a solid strategy for pleasing their base. Everyone can play because it requires no actual knowledge.”

This election season is going to need a LOT of popcorn.

Paperwork Matters

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On Tuesday, Townhall reported that a complaint has been filed against the political campaign of President Biden and Kamala Harris.

The article reports:

A complaint filed with the Federal Election Commission last week by Citizens United and a number of state Republican Party chapters, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are accused of violating federal law in the hours after Biden dropped out of the 2024 race for the White House on July 21.

“This complaint is filed pursuant to 52 U.S.C. § 30109(a)(1) against Kamala Harris (FEC DI P80000722), Harris for President (f/k/a Biden for President) (FEC DI 00703975), and Keana Spencer, in her official capacity as Treasurer, for an unprecedented $96 million violation of 52 U.S.C. §30116(f),” the complaint, submitted July 24, 2024 states. “Importantly, Biden and Harris were not their party’s nominees for President and Vice President, respectively, for the 2024 general election at the time this all happened. Notably, there also is no record on the FEC’s website that Biden filed any paperwork with the Commission announcing that he was no longer a candidate for President, as other candidates do when they withdraw from a race.'” 

When Biden announced he would not seek re-election, weeks prior to being nominated at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, his campaign war chest of $96 million was transferred to Kamala Harris after a name change on FEC paperwork. 

The rules are there for a reason. The transfer of the $96 million from President Biden to Vice-President Harris is not automatic–there is serious paperwork involved. Evidently, neither of the people involved sought to honor the paperwork requirements.

The article notes:

“In fact, while Harris filed paperwork with the Commission announcing that she was no longer seeking reelection as Vice President, 6 Biden did not file any corresponding paperwork.

It will be interesting to see if the rules are going to be followed or ignored.