From my friends at Townhall:
Monthly Archives: March 2025
DOGE And The Cloward-Piven Strategy
The Cloward-Piven strategy was developed by two sociologists and activists (Richard Cloward and Frances Fox Piven) in 1966. It aims to overload the US public welfare system and replace it with a national guaranteed income. This theory was the basis for a lot of policy changes that have taken place in recent years. We have all heard the cries that Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are all going broke. Some recent discoveries by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) may explain some of the reasons for those programs having financial challenges.
On Monday, Scott Johnson at Power Line Blog quoted a post on X by Elon Musk reporting that in 2021, 270,000 non-citizens got social security numbers. In 2024, 2.1 million non-citizens got social security numbers. Human traffickers made $13-15 billion dollars during the time our southern border was open. Elon Musk has stated that DOGE is going to stop the Social Security payments that are going to illegals. Because these illegals have Social Security numbers, many of them have registered to vote and have voted. This is voter fraud.
I don’t know how the people responsible for this thought they were going to get away with this unless they planned on preventing any investigation of the fraud and keeping control of the Department of Justice indefinitely. Obviously, they have not been successful in either area.
The problem has now been identified. There are three steps that need to be taken. The first step is to stop any benefits being paid to people who are not American citizens. The second step is to identify the people behind the fraud and put them in jail. I don’t care how well-connected or powerful they are—they need to go to jail. The third step is to set up a system that will ensure that this never happens again. I have no idea how to do that, but I am sure that Elon Musk and his team of geniuses can find a way.
I suspect we may hear more about the discovery of this fraud in the near future.
The Constitutional Power of the Executive
Author: Pastor Daimon – CCTA Chaiman
*Facebook post: “This country is currently in a Constitutional crisis; Who is in authority, the President or the judges?
*My response: “We the People!” Then, the President carries forth the power of the people.
This conversation was provoked due to US Federal and District Court judges attempting to interfere with President Trump’s mass deportation of illegal aliens. Title 50, Chapter 3 of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 makes that very clear, that the President’s authority is law, especially in the time of deporting illegal aliens. US Code 21 in Chapter 3 of Title 50 makes it clear that the Constitutional Executive Power of the President is unchallenged. He is the Commander in Chief and the Chief Executive.
US Code 21 – ‘Restraint, Regulation and Removal.”
Only Congress has the power to deliberate with the President in a war-time act ONLY in a “declaration of war” against another nation, unless our boarders have been breached by invaders, such as illegal aliens and foreign gangs that have been classified as terrorist organizations. In this case, the President has the authority to act on his own to protect the nation. This is the “Constitutional Power of the Executive.”
No district or federal court judge has the authority to stop or hinder the operations of the President. The US Supreme Court is the highest judiciary in the land. They are the ONLY ones that can be a part of the President’s acts and orders with regard of domestic issues…only as petitioned by Congress. Deporting illegal aliens is an act of international intervention as they are considered foreign invaders of US territory. And, due to the fact that many of them have been ordered by their governments to invade the US by illegally breeching our boarders, it is now legally considered an act of war. Those groups deemed terrorists that have brought violence and death upon the citizens of the United States of America, are foreigners who are attacking America on American soil. This is deemed an “act of war!” Therefore, the Commander In Chief has the full Executive Authority to enforce US Code 21 – Restraint, Regulation, and Removal, and dispose of these invaders UNIMPEDED by any judge or courts, US Supreme Court included. US Code 23 in Chapter 3 under Title 50 makes it clear that the judiciary is responsible to comply with the President in His removal of these invaders.
US Code 23 – “Jurisdiction of the United States Courts and Judges.”
US Code 24 in Chapter 3 of Title 50 – “Duties of Marshalls.”
Marshalls are to be in cooperation with the judiciary who are to recruit the Marshalls in compliance to the President’s US Code 21 operation. This is just a small insight into the Constitutional Power of the Commander in Chief in His Presidential responsibilities in regards to removal of illegal aliens and other illegal, boarder breeching invaders. Remember, the President’s primary, responsibility as Commander in Chief is to protect the citizens of the United States of America! Those who harbor and protect the invaders can be and shall be impeached, prosecuted and charge with treasonous crimes against the Constitution of the United States of America!
How Could They Be So Cruel?
I hope that as you read this article, you will realize the headline is dripping with sarcasm.
On March 25th, The New York Post reported the following:
Trump administration officials have severed $620,288 worth of federal funding that was aimed, in part, at pregnancy prevention for transgender boys, a senior official confirmed to The Post.
The grant, titled “inclusive teen pregnancy prevention program for transgender boys,” was given to the Center for Innovative Public Health Research, a non-profit public health research group, by the National Institutes of Health.
All of the $620,288 in funding has been saved after the grant was cut off earlier this month, according to the official, who confirmed the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) claim about the cut.
“Youth who are assigned female at birth (afab) and identify as transgender … not as girls, are at risk for negative sexual health outcomes yet are effectively excluded from sexual health programs,” grant data given to the government explained.
When dealing with the concept of transgender, follow the money is always a good idea. Gender dysphoria when treated with drugs and surgery results in a medical patient for life. Gender dysphoria has always been relatively common in children at certain ages. In the past, the treatment was to let the child outgrow the idea that they were in the wrong body. Sometimes counseling was used to tell the child they were not a mistake–they were exactly as they were supposed to be. Unfortunately, today a counselor is more likely to encourage surgery and drugs. I am familiar with a case where a young boy told his parents he wanted to be a girl. His parents sent him to a counselor who found the root of the problem. He had a handicapped sister and thought he would get more attention if he were a girl. A solution was found, and he continues his growth as a young man. Unfortunately, many of the medical treatments given to teenagers with gender dysphoria are not reversible, and if the patients later change their minds, there really is no going back.
The article concludes:
Other recent cuts made across the Department of Health and Human Services include $1,344,044 from Boston Children’s Hospital for a “TransHealthGUIDE” initiative; $222,977 in savings from a University of Miami program to monitor migroagressions against black women with HIV; and $573,588 to the University of Michigan to research prevention for HIV spread in transgender women/men.
Some in the medical profession have forgotten their oath to do no harm.
What Election Fraud?
The election of a Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice this Tuesday has gained national attention. The reason for the attention is that the outcome of this election could change the balance of power in the U.S. House of Representatives. If Democrat-backed Dane County Circuit Court Judge Susan Crawford wins this election, it is expected that she will redistrict the state in a way that will result in two additional Democrat Representatives and the loss of two Republican Representatives. The Republicans currently have a 5-member majority in the House, but there are four vacancies. That is why this race is crucial. Unfortunately, there are already questions about fraud in this race.
On Friday, Just the News reported:
Nearly 5,000 allegedly illegal voter registrations on Milwaukee voter rolls have been found by an election integrity watchdog ahead of the Wisconsin elections on Tuesday.
With the high-profile elections for the Wisconsin Supreme Court and enshrining voter ID in the state constitution just days away, Fair Elections Wisconsin (FEW) challenged 4,878 allegedly illegal voter registrations that had cast ballots in the November election in Milwaukee. The grassroots group’s challenges were unsuccessful, however, as the city election commission declined to investigate them.
FEW President Justin Gavery on Wednesday submitted a list of 4,878 allegedly illegal voter registrations to the Milwaukee Election Commission. Ballots were cast in the November election for all 4,878 of these voter registrations.
According to Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) data and United States Postal Service’s National Change of Address data reviewed by FEW, there are 281 voters who moved out of the county before October 24th, 2024, and 377 who moved out of state before that date.
On the commission’s website, it states that people registering to vote must include their complete and current full name and residential address.
However, according to FEW’s review of the data, instead of registering with their correct residential address, 2,926 addresses have missing or incorrect apartment/suite/unit numbers; 540 voters moved from the registered address; 501 physical addresses have been changed to P.O. boxes; 217 voters left no forwarding addresses before October 24th; 24 registered voters used commercial addresses (usually UPS or FedEx stores), and 11 used a U.S. Post Office address.
The money being spent on this race is outrageous:
Election spending has reached nearly $81.5 million in the race, and might reach $100 million by Election Day.
More than $17 million has been spent by groups funded by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who is supporting Schimel. Musk also gave the Wisconsin Republican Party $3 million this year.
Schimel has raised more than $12 million, including more than $6 million from the Wisconsin Republican Party. Meanwhile, Crawford has raised more than $25 million for the race thus far, including $5.5 million from the Wisconsin Democratic Party.
Crawford’s financial supporters include progressive billionaire George Soros and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D). Soros donated $1 million to the Wisconsin Democratic Party, and Pritzker gave the state party $500,000.
Defeating the Cartels
Author: R. Alan Harrop, Ph.D.
Over the past several years, the Mexican drug cartels have been responsible for the deaths of more American citizens than all previous wars we have fought. Illegal drugs, and especially deadly fentanyl, prepared and sent across our southern border have been allowed to enrich the criminal cartels. Aided by China, which provides the ingredients and expertise to produce these drugs, and the Biden administration’s open border policy, the cartels have become a force to be reckoned with. They have accumulated wealth that has allowed them to purchase sophisticated weapons and technology more like a modern army than a gang of criminals. A recent report showed that over the four years of the Biden administration, the drug cartels made over $13 billion–truly a staggering sum.
In president Trump’s recent speech to Congress, he stated that the drug cartels have been waging a war on us and it’s time for us to wage a war on them. The question becomes how do we go about it. The first thing in any war is to fully understand the capabilities of your enemy. According to a recent article in the Epoch Times, the drug cartels not only have ample supplies of the usual firearms and weapons, but now have undetectable drones, military grade encryption, and even access to the Israeli created Pegasus spy system that can break into any cellphone system undetected. The drones are used to ferry drugs across the border, surveil our military bases, and carry explosives with pinpoint accuracy. They are equipped with self-contained GPS guidance that does not require detectable guidance from a central location, making them untraceable.
In addition to their increasing technological advancement, the cartels are recognizing the potential threat from the Trump administration and banding together as a united force instead of separate entities. They are being aided by the Chinese, who continue to provide technical support and training. The Attorney General of Oklahoma, Gentner Drummond, has reported that due to the pressure exerted on the cartels by Texas Governor Abbott, the cartels are increasingly using Oklahoma as their base of operations within the United States. Many of the centers for these activities are the marijuana farms which were created when Oklahoma legalized medical marijuana and are now being controlled by cartels and Chinese immigrants
What are our options in defeating this enemy? Direct military intervention is complicated by the obvious fact that they are mostly controlled from within Mexico and not directly accessible to our forces. Trump has once again put pressure on Mexico to close the border and help eliminate the cartels as he did in his first administration. These efforts should reduce the money going to the cartels. It remains to be seen how effective this will be since in many ways the drug cartels control the Mexican government, especially locally. Before fighting an enemy, it is crucial to define what the endgame will look like. Viewing the drug cartels as terrorist organizations like Isis may provide effective blueprint. The most effective strategy appears to be a counterinsurgency operation that targets the cartels’ operational structure. A covert special operations campaign to take down the cartels appears to be the best option at this time. We will need the cooperation of Mexico and the will to take this on.
I believe that President Trump has the will to deal with this and is truly concerned about saving the lives of our people, unlike the previous administration. Let’s get to it.
Returning Transparency To Colleges
On Friday, The Epoch News reported that HR 1048, a bill that will require American colleges and universities to disclose all foreign gifts and contracts from countries of concern, had passed the U.S. House of Representatives. The vote was 241 in favor and 169 against. Thirty-one Democrats voted with the Republicans to pass the bill. One Republican, Representative Don Bacon (R-Neb.), voted against the bill. The bill now moves to the Senate.
The article notes:
The measure would lower the reporting threshold for foreign gifts and contracts from $250,000 to $50,000 and require disclosure of any amount from countries or entities deemed of concern, such as China and Russia.
It would also prohibit institutions from entering contracts with such countries or entities without obtaining a waiver from the Department of Education.
In addition, the bill would require schools to disclose financial ties between covered individuals—such as faculty researchers—and foreign sources. Private universities with large endowments would be required to report foreign investments annually.
…Supporters of the bill said it addresses concerns that increased reporting requirements would be burdensome or threaten faculty privacy, which critics have raised.
A fact sheet from the bill’s backers refuted those claims, noting that faculty disclosures would only apply to gifts above the same threshold that applies to members of Congress.
The bill also passed the House in late 2024 but was not taken up in the Senate by then-Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (R-N.Y.).
The bill now heads back to the U.S. Senate, where it is more likely to be taken up this session under Republican Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.).
Unfortunately, money buys influence. That is the reason many of our universities have whitewashed the violations of civil rights in Muslim countries under Sharia Law. That is the reason we have the absurdity of “Gays for Palestine” on some of our college campuses. The students are not informed enough to know that homosexuals are killed in Muslim countries for being homosexual. This law is needed, and I hope the Senate will consider it and pass it.
From my friends at Power Line Blog:
Working For Food Stamps
On Thursday, The Daily Caller posted an article about some changes Republican leaders want to make to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
The article reports:
GOP lawmakers are proposing major reforms to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), including work requirements for a vast swathe of eligible participants, the Daily Caller News Foundation (DCNF) has learned.
Republican Oklahoma Rep. Josh Brecheen and Utah Sen. Mike Lee will reintroduce the SNAP Reform and Upward Mobility Act (SRUMA) Thursday. The legislation would impose work requirements on food stamp recipients between the ages of 18 and 64, including individuals with children of six years of age or older
Able-bodied adults with no dependents between the ages of 18 and 54 are currently eligible for three months of SNAP benefits over three years before work requirements start to kick in, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which oversees the program.
The article notes:
Nearly two-thirds of Americans support work requirements for individuals receiving SNAP benefits, according to a 2023 poll conducted by the Axios-Ipsos American Health Index.
Eight in ten registered Republican voters told the survey they back work requirements for SNAP or Medicaid recipients.
Brecheen and Lee’s proposal to rein in the cost of the entitlement program comes as GOP lawmakers are aiming to slash trillions in federal spending to help offset the cost of the president’s tax and spending priorities Congress is currently negotiating.
More than 42 million Americans received monthly SNAP benefits in fiscal year 2023, according to USDA data. Since the 1990s, federal SNAP spending has risen from less than $20 billion to more than $110 billion, according to information shared by Brecheen’s office.
Another suggested revision to the SNAP program is to prohibit the use of SNAP benefits to purchase soft drinks and most junk food. I may be cynical, but I suspect that if that rule is put into place, we will see a lot of food products suddenly renamed to avoid the restriction.
Change is needed. I don’t mind helping a person buy food in a time of need, but I also believe that people who are able to work should be required to work at least part time to get government benefits.
Energy Independence Is Good For Everyone
On Thursday, Red State posted an article about the Trump administration’s resumption of drilling in Alaska.
The article reports:
Donald Trump’s 2024 election victory over Kamala Harris is one of the better things that has happened in our nation for some time, and all of the various benefits of that win are still making themselves known. One of the areas in which Americans will benefit from this is in energy, and in Alaska, that benefit will be felt not only in reduced energy prices, but in jobs.
Alaska’s economy depends in large part on mining and energy development, and on the North Slope, where many of Alaska’s Native communities are found, as much as 95 percent of the local economies are dependent on oil and gas development. Those communities are about to get a big economic boost, and they are on record applauding the Trump administration’s resumption of drilling.
The article notes the reaction of someone representing the Alaskan Native Americans:
“It’s cautious optimism,”Nagruk Harcharek, president of Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat, (VOICE) a nonprofit organization that represents 21 different Native American corporations and communities in Alaska, told the DCNF (Daily Caller News Foundation). “We feel like we’re going to be able to get some things done with a more favorable administration, but we’re also being careful about it because we don’t want to threaten that cultural base and lifestyle that we rely on every day.”
…Harcharek noted that 95% of the North Slope budget comes from oil and gas infrastructure taxes. “The economy in the North Slope is oil and gas activity,” he said. Schools, healthcare, roads and running water all came from the “economic base our early leaders ensured that we had access to,” Harcharek said, expressing concerns that without access to oil and gas resource development, their community is forced “to rely on the state and the federal government.”
The article notes a very important aspect of the debate over drilling in Alaska:
So, jobs, or dependency. Nothing could more starkly illustrate the difference in the two major political parties; one is in favor of development, of abundant, inexpensive energy and the economic benefits that come with it, and jobs, good-paying jobs, for communities in one of the most isolated places on the planet. The other is the party of dependency, who would yank the North Slope jobs and place the Native communities on government handouts and the loss of pride that goes with it.
Let’s let the Native Americans in Alaska thrive!
Should Trump Ignore the Lower Courts?
Author: R. Alan Harrop, Ph.D.
The Left is at it again. They lost the last election to President Trump by a large margin, but since they do not respect the voice of the people, they are now using the courts to block his administration’s efforts to do what he promised the people. Remember, this is not just an attempt to block President Trump, but to negate the will of you the voters. Let’s look at some facts.
The reality is that our country is increasingly being run by unelected, lifetime-appointed judges. Just as we saw the left pursue lawsuits against President Trump to prevent Americans from being able to vote for him and elect him, the left is now judge-shopping for Democrat appointed judges to delay and block his actions. Whether they ultimately win or not, their tactics are to slow down and keep him from restoring this country to what the Founding Fathers intended. Never forget–with the Biden administration we were on a course towards socialism/communism that would have been difficult if not impossible to reverse had Kamala Harris won the election. We cannot let this opportunity to restore America be blocked.
The U.S. Constitution created three branches of government: the legislative, executive, and judicial. Importantly, the U.S. Supreme Court is the only federal judicial entity mentioned in the Constitution. Currently, there are 677 authorized federal district judge positions all of which are appointed for life. A significant majority of these judges were appointed by Obama (329) and Biden (235). Consequently, the Left has no trouble finding a judge to support their socialist agenda. Another critical aspect of the federal judicial system is that a decision made by a single federal judge in an isolated district is now allowed to overrule the President who in Trump’s case was elected by a large margin of the voters. So here we have the top authority in the executive branch being overruled by a single minor judge in the judicial branch. Do you believe the Founding Father’s intended this? I don’t. Makes no sense whatsoever. But that is what we are living with at this moment in time. One man, an unelected judge, overrides the will of the people!
There is a historical event that dealt with this on at least one occasion. President Andrew Jackson, when told that a judge on the Supreme Court had overridden his action against establishing a federal bank, said to the effect: “…he made his decision, now let’s see him enforce it”. A major case in point now is a decision by a federal district judge named Boasberg (appointed by Obama) that threatens to derail Trump’ s efforts to deport illegal aliens connected to Venezuelan gangs or otherwise here illegally. Deporting these criminals is an action supported by a large majority of Americans. By the way, we should note that President Eisenhower was able to deport over 3 million illegals on his own authority in the 1950’s without court interference. President Trump believes that the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 gives him the authority to deport members of foreign terrorist groups. Of course, the hair-splitting Leftists are saying that the law only refers to enemy “countries” not terrorist groups. The fact that there were no organized terrorist groups at that time does not bother the Leftists who are using this parsing of the language to stop Trump. That is typical lawyer strategy that once again defies common sense.
So, what should Trump do? If he allows these judicial rulings to stop him, it is likely his term of office will be over before they are resolved. On the other hand, if he defies this minor federal district judge, he will be protecting the security of the people in this country and fulfilling his election promises. Ask yourself, what would you do if you were in his place and knew that you were doing the will of the people not some leftist judge? Now, some have argued that if Trump defies the judge he could possibly be impeached. This is highly unlikely since the Republican’s control the House of Representatives who would have to initiate the impeachment. Politically, this would be the death knell of the Democrat Party to defy the will of the people, as demonstrated in the last election. Not a hill they would choose to die on. Even if President Trump were successfully removed from office, I am certain that Vice President Vance would stay with the same policy, so it would avail the Democrats nothing.
When in a crisis situation, oftentimes bold action is needed. The future of the country is at stake. This is worth considering by President Trump.
More Good Economic News
On Wednesday, The Daily Energy Insider reported that Entergy Louisiana is planning to increase energy production in Louisiana in anticipation of the steel manufacturing facility that Hyundai Steel Company (HSC) is building in Louisiana. This is what happens when tariffs are put in place–there is a positive trickle-down effect.
The article reports:
Entergy Louisiana is planning major transmission projects on the Westbank of the Mississippi River and in south central Louisiana that provide additional load-serving capacity for new economic development projects, such as the $5.8-billion new manufacturing facility announced Monday by Hyundai Motor Group.
Such transmission projects, which include significant new high-voltage transmission lines, will enable Entergy Louisiana to serve major new developments like Hyundai’s and improve service reliability to all of its customers, according to the utility.
“This historic investment will help set up Louisiana for long-term economic success, creating thousands of high-quality jobs and positioning our state as a leader in next-generation, low-carbon steel production,” said Entergy Louisiana President and CEO Phillip May. “Partnerships like this between industry leaders, elected officials, local communities, and economic development partners are critical to driving transformative projects that benefit future generations.”
The ultra-low carbon steel production plant will be located on roughly 1,700 acres in Donaldsonville, La., anchoring the RiverPlex MegaPark on the Westbank of the Mississippi River in Ascension Parish.
Hyundai Steel Company (HSC), a member of Hyundai Motor Group, is expected to create more than 1,300 direct new jobs with an average salary of $95,000. Louisiana Economic Development estimates the project will result in about 4,100 indirect new jobs, for a total of 5,400 potential new jobs in the region.
“Entergy Louisiana is proud to support Hyundai Steel Company with the reliable, sustainable energy solutions needed to power such an ambitious and forward-thinking facility,” May said. “Together, we are building a stronger, more sustainable future for our state.”
This is wonderful news. Among other things, it further distances Hyundai from any problems that may occur between North and South Korea. It provides jobs and income for people in Louisiana and will have a positive impact on their tax rate. In January 2025, the Louisiana unemployment rate was 4.5, ranking 40th among the states. I expect that to change as the Hyundai steel plant is being built and after it is built.
Slowly Moving Toward Justice
On Tuesday, The Daily Caller reported that President Trump had pardoned Devon Archer. Devon Archer is a former business partner of Hunter Biden.
The article reports:
President Donald Trump pardoned Hunter Biden’s former business partner Devon Archer on Tuesday.
Trump signed the pardon on Tuesday, saying that Archer was a victim of a “crime” and treated “very unfairly.” Archer had been facing a year and a day in prison for his role in defrauding a Native American tribe and other clients by fraudulently issuing and selling over $60 million worth of bonds.
“Devon Archer was a former business partner of the Biden family. He was prosecuted relating to a fraud investigation, but notably, the tone and tenor of that prosecution changed dramatically after he began to cooperate with congressional investigators and serve as a witness against Hunter Biden and the Biden family. We believe that was an injustice, and therefore we’re asking you to pardon him,” White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf told the president, showing him the executive order.
The article concludes:
Both Hunter Biden and Archer are former Burisma board members, and both made over $80,000 per month at one point while working for the company during Joe Biden’s vice presidency, bank records show.
Archer testified that the former president had spoken with Hunter Biden’s former business associates around 20 times and specifically described a spring 2014 dinner with Russian oligarch Elena Baturina and a spring 2015 dinner that the former president attended with Burisma executive, Vadim Pozharskyi.
Trump promised Archer a pardon on Saturday, according to the New York Post, when the pair met at the NCAA Wrestling Championship. President Biden issued a full pardon to his son and other family members before leaving office.
The Biden family will probably never be brought to justice for their influence peddling, but at least the people the Biden family used the justice system to attack can be pardoned.
Good Economic News
On Wednesday, Breitbart posted an article reporting some economic news that looks good for the direction of the American economy.
The article reports:
Orders for durable goods rose far above expectations in February, climbing 0.9 percent to $289.3 billion, according to the Commerce Department’s report released Wednesday.
Economists had forecast a 1.0 percent decline, but instead, businesses continued to invest heavily in big-ticket items, particularly automobiles, computers, and machinery.
Even excluding transportation, which can be volatile due to large aircraft orders, new orders increased by 0.7 percent, exceeding the forecast of a 0.3 percent gain. The strength of the overall durable goods orders report is further demonstrated by robust gains in key categories.
Auto orders were notably strong, with orders for motor vehicles and parts rising 4.0 percent. Shipments of motor vehicles and parts also surged by 3.9 percent, indicating strong demand from consumers and businesses alike.
The decline of 0.3 percent in core capital goods orders—non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft—appears to be a pullback following the strong 0.9 percent gain in January. This decline also undermines claims that businesses are rushing to buy equipment ahead of potential tariffs. Even with February’s decline, core capital goods orders are still up by 7.3 percent year-to-date, indicating that business investment remains robust.
The article concludes:
The durable goods report is the latest piece of so-called “hard data” that indicate actual economic activity continues to expand despite “soft data”—such as consumer and business surveys—indicating anxiety over policy uncertainty and tariffs. Earlier this week, the Commerce Department reported new home sales rose solidly and inventories of new houses for sale increased. Last week, the Federal Reserve said industrial output climbed 0.7 percent in February, including a 0.9 percent rise in manufacturing output.
We have a businessman in the White House–not a professional politician. It makes a difference.
The “Guardians Of Justice” Are Suddenly Awake
On Wednesday, Red State posted an article about some of the judges who are issuing Temporary Restraining Orders to stop President Trump’s policies. Oddly enough, they were never concerned when the Biden administration ignored the law or refused to enforce the laws already on the books.
The article reports:
Where were these Guardians of Justice when Joe Biden illegally invited and lured in millions and millions of “new Americans and undocumented immigrants?” Where? Why nowhere, of course. These robes seemingly had very little to say about U.S. Code § 1325 (based on Article IV, Section IV of the Constitution) and its undeniable violation. A violation that has, and will continue to for decades, fundamentally changed the history of America. Letting in millions and millions of aliens, and then making the citizenry pay for their everything from schooling, health care, drunk driving deaths, rapes, murders, and any other crimes they committed while here has changed life for us all on many different levels.
Now, progs like to use descriptors from “hard-working, good people seeking a better life” to “who will pick our crops and make up our hotel beds?” (Note to any progressives in the unlikely event of reading this: The latter sounds an awful lot like “who will pick our cotton and sweep up around the Big House?”) Basically, I don’t care if they are good people; I only care if they are bad people because they should not be here in the first place. We have plenty of our own good people and really don’t need any new bad ones.
Still, where were these judges when Biden (or whoever was pushing the knobs behind the curtain) was busy border-busting? This newfound sanctimony and sudden respect for the rule of law was absent over the last four years, and the impact it will have on this country is going to be generational.
The article concludes:
Trump, in his last term and nearly 80 years old, could also simply ignore these rulings and enforce his own orders anyway. Joe Biden defied a SCOTUS ruling and forgave $48 billion in student loan debt, and nothing happened to him/his administration. No federal judge — neither on the circuit nor the highest court there is — seemed to have anything to say about that. Well, why shouldn’t Trump do the same thing and just ignore them?
Because as tempting as that might be, Trump has more integrity than that, and he knows it would help to wreck the system even more so than it already is. So he goes through the appellate process and tries to right the wrongs, relying on the same judiciary system that screwed him in the first place. I just hope there are still some good judges left in that pool.
When Government Gets In The Way Of Progress
In early January of this year, the Palisades Fire destroyed large areas of Pacific Palisades, Topanga, and Malibu. It is estimated that more than 1,200 commercial and residential structures were destroyed in the fire. So how is the rebuilding going?
On Wednesday, Breitbart reported:
Members of the Los Angeles City Council voiced their frustrations on Tuesday after learning that the city had only issued four building permits since the Palisades Fire — while paying $10 million to Hagerty Consulting for a “report.”
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass proudly announced in February that the city had set up a “one-stop” center for residents affected by the fire to obtain permits to rebuild their homes without enduring the usual city bureaucratic processes.
However, as local ABC News affiliate KABC-7 reported, only four permits have been issued in the past six weeks.
I don’t think the “one-stop” center is working.
The article notes:
Likewise, City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez questioned the $10 million the city spent on Hagerty Consultants:
“We have city departments who know how to do this recovery, who have been involved in recovery efforts in the past,” Councilmember Monica Rodriguez told ABC7. “And yet they can’t be afforded the opportunity to hire the personnel that they need, but we can give a $10 million contract to an outside agency to help write a report for us.”
Rodriguez called the Hagerty contract “obscene.”
As Breitbart News reported in February: “the city hired the consulting firm in a secretive process. The amount and terms of the contract have yet to be revealed to the public. Hagerty was hired despite two former consultants for the firm recently pleading guilty to defrauding New York City of federal relief funds during the Hurricane Sandy disaster recovery.”
This is simply another example of government being the problem rather than solving the problem. California needs to hire someone who can actually cut through red tape rather than just spend taxpayer money.
Who Is Supposed To Govern America?
On Tuesday, The Federalist posted an article about the federal judges who seem to think it is their job to run the country.
The article reports:
On March 7, I argued in The Federalist that President Donald Trump should ignore a Supreme Court that would allow lower courts to refuse to uphold the Constitution and instead encroach on executive authority. Recent new encroachments prove my point. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan has blocked the EPA from terminating $14 billion in climate grants awarded by the Biden administration, funds now sitting in a Citibank account. Judge Ana Reyes has ordered the military not to enforce Trump’s ban on trans-identifying service members.
These rulings are not mere disagreements, as Chief Justice John Roberts claimed last week when he rejected Trump’s call to impeach a judge who ruled against his deportation policy. They are direct assaults on the president’s constitutional power. I urged Trump to defy such orders then, and I stand by that now — Trump must confront the courts!
Since Jan. 20, a pattern of politically motivated judicial overreach has emerged. Chutkan’s decision overrides Trump’s executive authority to redirect the EPA, preserving Biden-era spending. Reyes’ ruling interferes with his control over military policy, a domain the Constitution assigns to the president and the president alone. In February, a Rhode Island judge forced the release of frozen federal funds, and multiple courts blocked Trump’s efforts to end funding for so-called “gender-affirming care” for minors.
These single district judges, often appointed by past Democrat administrations, issue nationwide injunctions that halt the president’s agenda. This is not judicial review — it is judicial governance. Roberts’ call for “normal appellate review” ignores the reality: Unelected judges are hijacking executive policies in the name of judicial review, and while appeals wind through the courts, executive action stalls, sometimes for years.
This is simply a continuation of the lawfare that has been directed at President Trump since he declared that he was running for President. It is amazing that the judge who is complaining about flying criminals who are here illegally out of the country never said a word when President Biden was flying illegal immigrants into cities around the country. The courts need to go back to being courts–not try to be governing bodies.
Helping Americans Who Need Housing
On Tuesday, American Greatness reported that Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will begin working with the Department of Homeland Security to make sure illegal aliens do not take advantage of housing programs meant for American citizens. This is not a novel idea–the immigrants that came to America for most of the past two hundred years have had to prove that they had a way to support themselves or that someone was willing to sponsor them. Access to America’s safety net was not part of being an American immigrant–it didn’t matter if you were here legally or illegally, you were required to support yourself.
The article reports:
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Scott Turner has announced a new partnership with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem to ensure illegal aliens cannot exploit housing programs meant for Americans.
In an interview on Newsmax on Monday, Turner announced that he and Sec. Noem had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) focused on ending “the wasteful misappropriation of taxpayer dollars to benefit illegal aliens instead of American citizens.”
Turner denounced what he described as “terrible” Biden administration immigration and border security policies that prioritized illegal aliens over Americans.
Under the MOU, Turner said he and Sec. Noem would work to to ensure that American taxpayer dollars, particularly those allocated under HUD, will only go to the American people.
The article concludes:
Turner indicated that, under the Trump administration, Americans will no longer take a back seat to illegal aliens, adding, “This agreement will leverage resources including technology and personnel to ensure American people are the only priority when it comes to public housing. We will continue to work closely with DHS to maximize our resources and put American citizens first.”
The agreement comes a month after President Trump signed an executive order directing government departments to “ensure taxpayer resources are not used to incentivize or support illegal immigration.”
We have a spending problem. We need to start correcting that problem. A good place to start is to use taxpayer dollars to help American citizens.
The Need For Cooperation On Border Security
On Monday, Red State reported the following:
A former officer in the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) says the number of illegal aliens fleeing the United States over the northern border into Canada has surged due to President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement policies.
And an actual Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel smuggler confirmed business is booming in the opposite direction as illegals, through his assistance, are self-deporting to the Great White North.
The news comes from a “60 Minutes Overtime” segment airing Sunday night.
Kelly Sundberg, who spent 15 years with the CBSA and now researches border security as a professor at Mount Royal University in Calgary, spoke to the CBS show. He fretted that Trump’s policies have already increased the number of illegals flowing into Canada, and he expects a coming “tsunami.”
“Canada can expect a tsunami of illegal immigrants fleeing American authorities and coming into our country,” said Sundberg. “The numbers already are going up.”
“I hope I’m wrong, but it would appear that we’re going to be overwhelmed by the illegal immigrants fleeing American authorities coming into our country,” he added. “And they very well might be bringing guns and drugs with them.”
The article includes the human smugglers perspective:
Not content with Sundberg’s assessment, “60 Minutes Overtime” spoke to a drug and human smuggler working for the Sinaloa drug cartel who confirmed he’s seeing a significant increase in requests to cross the northern border from the US into Canada.
“Most of them are Venezuelans,” he told CBS. “Those people are afraid of being deported to their countries. Normally before, we didn’t see that much, maybe out of every 30 people we crossed, three or four would come up.”
“Now, maybe out of every 10 we cross, five go up [to Canada].”
Based on that obviously rough estimation, the smuggler’s personal numbers have jumped from about 10 percent to 50 percent of those looking to leave America.
Considering the smuggler admits that he not only moves people – including babies – across the northern border, but also significant quantities of fentanyl and weapons, it’s good that his business is moving in the other direction.
I think it’s time for the countries opposed to the drug and human smuggling cartels to work together to stop both.
From my friends at Townhall:
Tyranny Has A Pattern
There is a pattern involved in establishing and keeping a tyrannical government. It was evident in Nazi Germany and it is evident today in countries where Sharia Law is the law of the land. Syria is a current example.
Tyranny in Germany began with Paul Von Hindenberg’s appointment of Adolf Hitler as Chancellor on January 30, 1933. In March 1933, the first concentration camp, Dachau, opened as a place to house political prisoners. The demonization of German Jews began shortly after Hitler took power. In April 1933, citing overcrowding in the schools, the government limited the number of Jewish students that could attend school. The year 1938 brought Kristallnacht, a night when German Nazis attacked Jewish persons and property. There were no consequences for the violence against Jews and Jewish businesses. The few Christian pastors who refused to allow the government to dictate what was preached from their pulpits were arrested and placed in the concentration camps. One of the major factors in establishing a tyranny is not holding those who break the law but have the correct political view accountable. Those who have the wrong political views may be arrested or held prisoner for almost anything.
President Trump is something of a litmus test. The people who hate him are willing to overlook almost any lawlessness as long as it opposes him. Until January 20, 2025, those who oppose President Trump were operating within a justice system that was not going to hold them accountable. The attempted Watergate wiretapping resulted in the end of the Nixon presidency and in people going to jail. The wiretapping of the 2016 Trump campaign and transition team resulted in very little consequences for those involved. Kevin Clinesmith, who altered an email to allow the wiretapping, was sentenced to12 months’ probation, 400 hours of community service, and no fine. The people involved in the Russia Hoax were never held accountable for their lies. The Washington Post got to keep its Pulitzer Prize, and people still buy the newspaper. Adam Schiff said he had seen proof of Russian collusion by President Trump. We now know that was a lie, and he is still in Congress. Lawfare became on acceptable way of doing business. Lawfare against President Trump and the raid on Mar-a-Lago were acceptable actions to many Americans. The majority of the people who assaulted police and burned cities during the summer of 2020 were never held accountable. Kamala Harris encouraged Americans to contribute to a bail fund for them. In contrast, people who peacefully walked through the Capitol after police opened the doors for them were hunted down and arrested for trespassing. Most of them even stayed between the ropes set up to guide visitors! When there is a two-tiered justice system, the seeds of tyranny are being planted.
Currently we are seeing Elon Musk and President Trump demonized. How could the President be so cruel to send murderers who were here illegally to prison in El Salvador? Elon Musk is going to take away America’s safety net (no, he’s not.) The difference now is that people who are breaking the law are being held accountable. Protesting is legal. Free speech is legal. However, destroying other people’s property is not legal. Threatening or assaulting Jewish college students is a crime. Someone who is not a citizen and commits a crime needs to be sent back to where they came from.
The slouch toward tyranny can be stopped by implementing equal enforcement of the law—upholding the rule of law. Again, protesting is legal, but assault or destruction of property needs to result in jail time.
Shutting Down Human Smuggling
On Sunday, Just the News reported that federal and local law enforcement officers have shut down one of the largest human smuggling operations in history.
The article reports:
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Border Patrol and Inglewood Police investigators in California launched an investigation that led to the arrests of four Guatemalan human smuggling ringleaders who were all living illegally in the U.S.
They were charged and indicted on multiple counts for orchestrating what law enforcement said was one of the largest human smuggling organizations in America.
They were indicted on charges of smuggling roughly 20,000 Guatemalans into the U.S. over a period of five years. Overall, the smuggling operation was active for roughly 12 years nationwide, according to a recently unsealed indictment.
The article concludes:
For an additional fee, the smuggled Guatemalans paid to be transported throughout the U.S., including to Los Angeles. Those who couldn’t pay were allegedly held hostage in a stash house in the Westlake neighborhood near downtown Los Angeles, according to the complaint.
Renoj-Matul also orchestrated a process for the human smuggling proceeds to be transported from Los Angeles to Phoenix, given to Mexican smugglers “to pay the expenses incurred by Renoj-Matul’s transnational criminal organization,” according to the complaint.
If convicted of all charges, each of the four Guatemalan ringleaders face a maximum sentence of death or life imprisonment.
Authorities also arrested two additional illegal foreign nationals and alleged lieutenants in the Renoj-Matul transnational criminal organization. Rolando Gomez-Gomez, who was previously deported, was arrested in South Los Angeles, charged with “one count of being an illegal alien found in the United States following removal.” Juan Lopez Garcia was arrested in Downtown Los Angeles on a civil removal matter.
The smuggling bust occurred after a record nearly one million Guatemalans illegally entered the U.S. under the Biden administration, The Center Square reported.
What a nightmare for people who choose to come to American illegally. We need to reform our immigration policies so that people who want to come here to work (not just collect money for being here) and assimilate can come here easily.
You Can’t Believe Everything You Read Or Hear
Recently, there has been some talk about the large attendance at rallies being held by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders. These two figures claim that they are energizing the Democrat party while in fact they are simply moving it further away from its base. The large attendance figures may not be all they seem to be. Sometimes technology can be a problem for those lying to the public.
On Monday, The Western Journal reported:
After Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez discussed the size of their recent political rally in Denver, Colorado, a data expert and entrepreneur raised doubts about the size and supposed grassroots nature of the crowd.
Sanders claimed that the Friday rally, which was part of a tour against government efficiency initiatives and the influence of technology billionaires like Elon Musk on the Trump administration, was his most attended event ever, according to a report from The Colorado Sun.
“The video speaks for itself. 34,000 people out in Denver. Largest political rally there since 2008,” Sanders wrote on social media alongside footage of the crowd.
The article notes some problems with those numbers:
But Tony Seruga, an entrepreneur and data expert, questioned the claim on social media, asserting that a substantial number of devices present at the rally in Denver were also present at other Democratic political events.
According to GPS, there were only 20,189 devices at the rally, meaning the crowd size appeared to be smaller than what Sanders had claimed.
Seruga said that “84% of the devices present had attended 9 or more Kamala Harris rallies, antifa/blm, pro-Hamas, pro-Palestinian protests,” while “31% had attended over 20.”
…Seruga therefore claimed that some “90% of those in the above 84%” of repeat rally attendees were likely working with one of five progressive groups: Disruption Project, Rise & Resist, Indivisible Project, Troublemakers, and the Democratic Socialists of America.
“This is based [on] a very sophisticated algorithm that looks at the behavioral metrics for each device, including the physical 1:1 proximity to leaders and paymasters from these groups in the past,” he emphasized.
It has been proven that many of those attending these rallies are paid to attend. I am not sure there is enough money in the world to persuade me to attend an Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders rally.
The War On Common Sense Has A Lot To Do With Money And Power
Not too long ago, no one would have questioned flying a criminal who was in America illegally out of America. No one would have cared that he was being deported or where he was going. Yet now some people in power want to keep criminal illegal aliens in America. These are people who entered the country illegally, breaking our laws, and then went on to commit horrendous crimes. Why should we want to keep them here? What is going on?
A partial answer to that question can be found in a statement made by Senator Chuck Schumer in an interview on the Public Broadcasting Network last week. The Senator said “…we did put 235 judges—progressive judges, judges not under the control of Trump last year on the bench, and they are ruling against Trump time after time after time.” What about judges who uphold the rule of law? Did you put any of them on the bench>
One of the benchmarks of a healthy republic (we are not a democracy) is the peaceful transfer of power. It seems to me that the Democrat party is using these judges to prevent that transfer.
There is a financial aspect to this resistance. Many of these judges have family members that are working in NGO’s that receive money from USAID or other government programs. The salaries and other benefits paid to people in some of these organizations are astounding. There is also some question as to how a lot of the money given to NGO’s is spent.
From 2020-2024, the United Nations and NGO’s spent $6 Billion financing the mass migration of people entering America illegally. How much of this money went to drug cartels? The plan was for the United Nations and the NGO’s to spend $1.4 Billion on the migration trail in 2025 and $1.2 Billion more in 2026. Has there ever been an audit of this money?
The caravans who arrived in America under President Biden had new-looking sneakers, clothes that did not look worn out, many had cell phones, and everyone looked well-fed. Someone was financing this, and the cartels were receiving more income than they had seen for a long time. It is also likely that a large percentage of the money given to the NGO’s went to overhead—benefits and salaries to the people running the NGO’s. I am grateful that someone is trying to stop the funding for this.
View From The Lair
Carpet Bombing
A well-known phrase from bomber pilots is “You know when you’re over the target when you are taking flak.” President Trump is taking flak from all sides: anti-aircraft, rockets and anything the Marxists can throw at him. None of it is reaching him, of course.
And Friday he pulled another unexpected counter to their attacks on him: AG Bondi is ordered to investigate past litigation to uncover “frivolous, unreasonable, and vexatious litigation” against the US as well as conduct that could justify sanctions, disbarment or security clearance reviews. So now the shoe is on the other foot. He ordered the AG to start investigating law firms that have been involved in the lawfare attacks against him both during his first term and since. The serious catch there is that the DOJ doesn’t actually do all of the litigation, a lot of gets parceled out to private law firms as contractors. And since much of it may contain classified material, if they don’t have the status, they don’t qualify for the contracts. WHOOPS!
This term he has picked an AG that is squarely in his corner and itching to take the fight to Marxist law firms that have been attacking him. And he doesn’t have to spend his own money to do it.
During the Vietnam Debacle, the newly installed B-52 bombers initiated a practice called “Operation Arc Light”. During these operations the B-52’s were flying through the stratosphere, well above visual and auditory range. I didn’t have the opportunity to observe one of these operations, but as described by people I know who did see them, it was described as watching the sudden end of the world from a distance. The targets were hit with a literal carpet of ordnance, devastating everything in its’ path. No warning, just instant death from the sky.
This has been the nature of POTUS’ return to power. Give no warning, take no prisoners. In this move he has cut the legal legs out from under the opposition, making them scramble for their very existence.
There has been a tremendous amount of legal and historical research to provide the details, timing and creation of the executive orders that has started a real demolition of the bureaucracy. The swamp is draining. The swamp critters are screaming, flailing and failing.
Now, as the Marxists co-ordinate attacks on Tesla dealers and vehicles, the DOJ isn’t just sitting and watching. The terrorists are being caught and charged. As will the other Marxist supported anarchists that had enjoyed a free reign of terror during the previous administration.
Promises made. Promises kept.
Thank you, President Trump.
ciao,
The Snark
ps: Please pass the popcorn.