Monthly Archives: September 2026

Private Property Rights?

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In 2010, I posted an article about the relationship between private property rights and the wealth of a country. One of the things that has made America prosperous is the private property rights that Americans enjoy. Unfortunately, those rights are under attack, both by people in Congress and people wanting to be in Congress.

On Sunday, The Gateway Pundit posted an article about some recent statements by Maine U.S. Senate nominee Troy Jackson.

The article reports:

Far-left Maine U.S. Senate nominee Troy Jackson just told a crowd of mobile-home park residents that the government should be able to take private property when he doesn’t like who owns it.

At a Labor Day weekend campaign stop Saturday at Blueberry Ridge Mobile Village in Wells, Jackson said the state should step in and take over parks owned by out-of-state companies and private equity firms.

“I feel strongly that, if needed, the state should be able to come in, to take these places over,” Jackson told residents gathered in a backyard, according to the Portland Press Herald.

He added that the state should hold the sites until residents can take them over “so you don’t see these private equity (firms) coming in and making a killing on these parks.”

It is not the state’s job to run mobile home parks until the residents can take them over. This may be a place where a truly free market would solve the problem. If the private equity firms are overcharging, all you need is an entrepreneur to open a less expensive park nearby. The private equity firm is not going to make money if everyone moves out. The idea of the government simply taking the land is not constitutional or wise.

The article notes:

Jackson is the progressive logger and former Maine Senate president who supports abolishing ICE, Medicare for All, and ending arms sales to Israel. Party insiders coronated him after Platner’s sexual-assault allegations ended that campaign. Mainers never nominated Jackson in a statewide Senate primary.

TGP also reported that Jackson’s longtime partner is his second cousin and the mother of his two adult sons. His campaign called coverage of the family relationship “shameful and desperate.” It did not deny the facts.

If the people in Maine vote for this man, they deserve what they get. Unfortunately, the rest of us will have to live with his presence in the Senate if he wins.

What Happens When You Clean Up The Voter Rolls

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On Friday, The Gateway Pundit posted an article illustrating what happens when a state cleans up their voter rolls. If states are willing to verify their voters, the mid-term elections could be very different than the current predictions.

The article reports:

The Democrat Party’s once-dominant voter-registration advantage in Nevada has been virtually erased following an enormous statewide voter-roll cleanup, California Globe reported.

Today, are hanging on to a statewide lead of just 672 voters, down from an 87,000-voter lead.

New figures released by Democrat Secretary of State Francisco “Cisco” Aguilar show Nevada’s active voter rolls dropped 50,130 in August alone after routine list maintenance.

Nevada now has 2,062,136 active registered voters:

    • 796,805 are Nonpartisan (38.64%);
    • 569,337 are Democrats (27.61%);
    • 568,665 are Republicans (27.58%);
    • 82,903 are members of the Independent American Party (4.02%);
    • 13,620 are members of the Libertarian Party of Nevada (0.66%); and
    • 30,806 are members of other minor political parties (1.49%).

Of the 426,577 inactive registered voters in Nevada:

    • 196,289 are Nonpartisan (46.01%);
    • 105,481 are Democrats (24.73%);
    • 91,185 are Republicans (21.38%);
    • 19,770 are members of the Independent American Party (4.63%);
    • 4,416 are members of the Libertarian Party of Nevada (1.04%); and
    • 9,436 are members of other minor political parties (2.21%).

Voter fraud is a problem in America. A great deal of that voter fraud involves mail-in ballots. All active registered voters in Nevada automatically receive mail-in ballots unless they opt out. This system has been in place since 2021, ensuring that voters can participate in elections conveniently without needing to request a ballot each time.

The article notes:

For accuracy, voters designated inactive have not been permanently removed and remain eligible to vote. However, they will no longer automatically receive .

Under federal law, inactive registrations may eventually be canceled if the voter fails to respond to an address-confirmation notice and does not vote in two consecutive federal general elections.

We will not survive as a nation without honest elections.

The Need To Protect Free Speech In America

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The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) is a Muslim organization that was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation Trial (the charge was funding terrorism). The organization is part of the lawfare attack being waged by the Muslim Brotherhood on America and the rights of Americans. A recent example of that occurred in Quincy, Illinois.

On Friday, Front Page Magazine posted an article about a call by CAIR to remove Alderman Mike Adkins of Quincy, Illinois.

The article reports:

“Never forget where we came from. I will remember this for as long as I am alive. I thought I was going to get called back into service but I didn’t. God bless our troops and god bless all the hero’s from that day,” Alderman Mike Adkins of Quincy, Illinois posted in commemoration of the upcoming 25th anniversary of the Islamic terrorist attacks on America.

One of his posted images included a billboard favoring President Trump’s immigration ban noting that “19 Muslim immigrants killed 2977 Americans” on September 11, 2001.

The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), which was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in a terrorism funding trial, whose leader has endorsed Islamic terrorist attacks, and which was banned as a terrorist group by two states so far, is demanding that Adkins be removed for ‘Islamophobia’.

The article concludes:

Even as the media outlets smear Alderman Mike Adkins over his Facebook posts, other patriotic and humanitarian messages posted by Alderman Adkins included a commemoration of a massacre of Jews during the Holocaust and of WWII hero Audie Murphy.

Should CAIR, a hostile foreign Islamic organization which has been accused of ties to terrorists, have the ability to threaten American elected officials?

Free speech is not a right in Islamic countries. Islamic law defines blasphemy as anything that makes the hearer unhappy or anything that denigrates Islam. In Sharia Law, the crime of blasphemy has nothing to do with whether or not what the person said is true. In an Islamic country, Alderman Mike Adkins would be arrested for blasphemy and be eligible for the death penalty. The fact that CAIR is calling for his removal is a step in that direction. Bringing thousands of people into America who have no intention of assimilating but instead want to import their legal system is a recipe for disaster. Americans need to understand and be ready to defend their constitutional rights.                        

Setting A Really Bad Precedent

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On Saturday, John Hinderaker posted an article at Power Line Blog about the Lindsay Clancy trial in Massachusetts. The article notes that under Massachusetts law, the question was not one of guilt or innocence, but one of whether or not Lindsay Clancy “retained the substantial capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness or criminality of [her] conduct and to conform [her] conduct to the requirements of the law.”

The article notes:

The simple fact that Clancy waited until her husband had left the house to murder her children is strong evidence that she knew it was wrong to kill them, and was able to control her homicidal impulse until it could be carried out successfully.

The holdout juror was, it seems to me, a voice for civilization in a world that seems willing to dispense with the most fundamental norms. Kudos to him.

What I really want to comment on is the behavior of Clancy’s lawyer, Kevin Reddington, and the apparent spinelessness of the trial judge, William Sullivan. Reddington repeatedly attacked the holdout juror in open court and on television, both as the jury was deliberating and after the court had declared a mistrial. While deliberations were still going on, Reddington accused the juror of “lying to the court” and refusing to follow the court’s instructions.

The article notes:

I have never seen anything like this. I tried many jury cases, and I can’t imagine how a trial judge before whom I appeared would have come down on me if I had publicly attacked a particular juror, or group of jurors, as the trial was in progress. It is unheard of. And Judge Sullivan let Reddington get away with it, while, at Reddington’s insistence, holding hearings in open court, in front of television cameras, that should have been conducted privately in chambers. Given this behavior, it is hard to see how the court will be able to find jurors willing to serve in a potential retrial.

As I have previously stated, whether she is found guilty of innocent Lindsay Clancy should not be out on the street after murdering her three children. A mental institution for the rest of her life or a jail would be appropriate. This is not a crime that someone should simply walk away from.

Trump Report Card:  Health

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Author:  R. Alan Harrop, Ph.D.   

Obviously, our health is one of our prime considerations and concerns. It has been amazing to observe the wide range of topics that the Trump administration has addressed since Donald Trump has been back in office. No other president in my lifetime has addressed so many diverse topics. Health is a prime example.

First, his administration initiated the DOGE project with the assistance of Elon Musk, which among many things revealed the waste and abuse in government sponsored health programs including Medicaid. Many of these abuses have been occurring for decades without ever being addressed by a President As we have seen in Michigan, California, Illinois, and many other states, the government bureaucrats who are supposed to oversee these programs were not doing their jobs. In some cases, such as with Governor Walz of Minnesota, it is apparent that the people in charge knew of these abuses but failed to address them. The abuses were particularly rampant among the Muslim communities where millions of hardworking taxpayer’s dollars went to schemers who did not provide the services for which they billed the government. Where was the Biden administration during all this fraud? At the very least, asleep at the wheel, and just as likely maintaining and supporting a system that helped keep them in power. This is typical of big government Marxist regimes which rely on taking from the so-called rich and giving to their constituents. It also reflects the belief of many on the Left that people have a right to things they have not earned because they have been taken advantage of by the white privileged class.

Second, President Trump has taken action to reduce the prices on many prescription drugs that Americans rely on to maintain their health. For many years, Americans have been paying drug prices that are far beyond what those same drugs cost in other countries, even though the drugs were created, tested and produced in this country. Instead of ignoring the problem, he has pursued a “Most Favored Nation” drug pricing strategy to ensure that prices in this country are aligned with the lowest prices paid in other developed countries. He also established a TrumpRx platform which provides a mechanism for consumers to purchase high-cost name brand drugs and generic medications at discounted, international parity prices. These steps have resulted in the steepest decline in prescription drug prices since 1963.

Third, in terms of freedom to choose, he is the only President to implement a “right to try” policy that allows the patient to try drugs, especially for terminal illnesses, that may not have completed or passed the stringent requirements for drug approvals. Recently, the Trump administration has given parents greater freedom in deciding which vaccines are administered to their children. This action reduced the number of federally recommended routine vaccines for children from 18 to 11 and separated some previously combined vaccines. This gives parents more freedom to consult with their doctors in deciding what is best for their children. Contrast these actions with the mandated requirements imposed by the Biden administration–not only mandatory unproven vaccines, but requirements to wear face masks, stay 6 feet apart, etc., none of which were YOUR choice. Marxist big government thinking at its worst.

Fourth, a recent action by the Trump administration that potentially impacts your health and wellbeing is their crackdown on non-English speaking, non-citizen truck drivers. There have been multiple injuries and deaths caused by semi-truck drivers who cannot speak or read English and do not understand road signs or verbal directions given by policemen. The Trump administration has closed 110 truck driver schools that have allowed non-English speaking commercial truck drivers to be licensed.

This does not represent all that the Trump administration has done to fulfill President Trump’s campaign pledges to the American people, but it clearly shows his commitment to do so. Why would anyone in their right mind want to reverse these actions by voting for anyone who opposes the president and his policies? Very good question. If you support President Trump’s actions, make sure you get out and vote for people who will support his policies!

What Difference Did It Make?

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In June 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court released the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision. The decision basically stated that the U.S. Constitution does not confer the right to an abortion and that abortion laws should be left up to individual states (essentially reinforcing the Tenth Amendment). That ruling should not have been a surprise—Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had stated when she was on the Court that Roe v. Wade was bad law.

After Roe v. Wade was overturned, there were approximately 609,360 abortions reported in 2022 and an estimated 1,037,000 in 2023, marking an increase of 11% from 2020. So why did the number of abortions increase rather than decrease after the law changed? First of all, there was the increased use of the abortion pill, making abortion something you could do at home. Unfortunately, there are some real concerns about the safety of that pill, but it is being used frequently despite the concerns. Secondly, the people supporting the overturning of Roe v. Wade saw abortion as a legal problem—not a cultural problem.

Laws reflect the culture. If you change the law without changing the culture, the behavior the law is aimed at will not change. The cultural problem behind the large number of abortions in America is sexually immorality and the devaluing of life. Abortion is a symptom of both of these.

The sexual revolution of the 1960’s and the availability of abortion in the 1970’s changed the demographics of American society. In 1970 the median age for a first marriage in America was 23.2 for men and 20.8 for women. In 2024, the median age for a first marriage in America was 30.2 for men and 28.6 for women. In 1970, the age for first-time mothers was 21.4, in 2023 that number was 27.5. It should be noted that the divorce rate since 1970 has gone down because many people are choosing to live together rather than get married. That is also a reflection of the cultural decline of our society.

The trends of later marriage and fewer children are not good for our society. They are a reflection of the devaluing of motherhood and life that will eventually collapse our society. The answer to the problem of both abortion and the significantly lower birth rate is to go back to the time when America had a Biblically-based culture that valued chastity. Our culture is no longer Biblically based–it is based on the whims of Hollywood and the news media. Until the moral values of the nation change, we can make all the laws we want regarding abortion, but there will be no change in the number of abortions. Let’s start teaching our children the value of sexual morality and the risks they run when they are promiscuous—disease, heartbreak, unplanned pregnancy, etc. Let’s teach our daughters to value their purity and our sons to respect the women around them. Ideally, we could reach a point where laws against abortion are not necessary—it is just understood that the killing of babies is evil.

Bring On The Class Warfare

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On Wednesday, Issues & Insights posted an article about tax-the-rich idea to end the federal deficit.

The article reports:

The theater kids who have taken over the Democratic Party have brought to the forefront the long-held proposition of the left to tax the rich to pay for a utopian future. Even before the DSA surge, the party insisted there is plenty of money out there, all the government had to do was grab it and problems would be solved. It’s nonsense of course. An even more draconian tax structure than the one we have now wouldn’t fund the federal government for even a year.

Washington, now facing a $40 trillion debt, spent more than $7 trillion in fiscal 2025, doling out an average of almost $21,000 per person. Democrats have always argued that if they could just tax the rich hard enough, they could erase all of society’s ills while eliminating deficits and debt. Either they know better and can’t help but lie, which is an organizational foundation of communism, or their math is below grade-school level.

Using IRS data to make its case, the Cato Institute says that if the federal government in 2023 “had confiscated every dollar earned over half a million dollars, it still would have run a budget deficit.”

If that won’t work, then try harder, right? Go after the villains, the billionaires. So what if Washington seized every asset they owned, not just their annual income, but “every home, property, business, investment, car, and yacht, right down to their kids’ teddy bears — and sold it all for full market value?” asks researcher Jessica Riedl.

Wouldn’t that get the job done? Nope.

“That would raise enough revenue to finance the federal government for nine months,” she says. But not nine months every year. Nine months one time only. “Then, with no billionaires left to pillage, it’s gone — as is your 401(k), because most of that wealth would’ve been liquidated out of the stock market.”

It has been stated before–the problem is not the revenue–it’s the spending. These wonderful ideas of confiscating wealth fail to take into consideration that the wealthy have tax attorneys, places offshore to move valuables to, and other ways to avoid wealth confiscation. Also, why are you taking away the incentive to be successful just to fund an inefficient government that is rife with fraud and waste? It would make more sense to eliminate the fraud and waste.

A Preemptive Strike

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On Tuesday, Just the News posted an article about a House of Representatives vote on a  Constitutional Amendment to cap the U.S. Supreme Court at nine justices.

The article reports:

House Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday announced that the House would vote on a constitutional amendment to cap the number of justices on the Supreme Court at nine.

Speaking to reporters, Johnson criticized the Democratic Socialists of America over their calls to pack the Supreme Court and insisted the chamber would force Democrats to go on the record on the issue.

“So we’re going to put that bill on the floor tomorrow on suspension because it requires a 2/3 vote of both chambers of Congress to amend the Constitution,” he said. “And we will have them put their money where their mouth is.”

If the amendment is passed with a 2/3 vote, it will prevent the Democrats from adding four liberal justices to the Supreme Court, something they have said they will do if they gain control of Congress. They have also stated that they want to give Puerto Rico, Guam, and Washington, D.C., statehood (which would probably give them a permanent majority in Congress).

The Democrats have morphed into a political party that wants to be the only political party in America and hold power forever. This is not healthy for the country. The Democrats were depending on illegal alien voters to put them in power and keep them there, but the deportations and tightening of voter registration laws have made that less likely. Now they are threatening to add states to the union and justices to the Supreme Court.

If you value the America you have known, you will not vote for a Democrat this election. There may be local Democrats who love the country and will do a good job if elected, but on a national level, the Democrat has become something Democrats from the 1960’s or 1970’s would not recognize. The party that once represented the working man now only represents its own quest for more power.

This Should Have Been A Large Majority Vote

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On Tuesday, Legal Insurrection posted an article about a recent vote in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The article reports:

Two House Democrats rescued a resolution that condemns socialism.

By voting yes, they advanced the resolution. It almost failed when five Republicans voted against it: Andy Harris (MD), Clay Higgins (LA), Ralph Norman (SC), Chip Roy (TX), and Pete Sessions (TX).

From Fox News:

Five Republicans voted against the rule, which was poised to fail until Reps. Jared Golden, D-Maine, and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., provided two critical votes to get the GOP over the finish line in a narrow 209 to 208 vote.

—

The rebels’ issue was not with the measure itself, nor the bills it would have allowed the House to pass. Their votes were a protest against how their leaders handled a plan to avert a government shutdown just before the midterm elections, a short-term funding bill called a continuing resolution (CR). That measure passed just before the rule vote began.

“NO ON CR. NO ON RULE THAT DOES NOT ALLOW US TO AMEND AND FIX THE CR: The House of Representatives will be voting for a government funding continuing resolution TODAY that FAILS to deliver on common-sense policies for the American people,” Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, wrote on X.

…Instead of speaking out about socialists taking over their party, the Democrats chose to criticize it. From Fox News:

Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., called the bill “nonsense” and argued it did little to better the lives of Americans.

“So you’re concerned about rising gas, or are you concerned about grocery prices? You know, don’t worry. Republicans in Congress are passing another non-binding resolution condemning socialism,” McGovern said.

Tensions erupted at one point as Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., clashed with Committee on House Administration Chairman Bryan Steil, R-Wis., over the definition of socialism.

Neguse had attempted to press Steil on whether he would see President Donald Trump trying to take a “20% stake” in Kroger grocery stores as socialism, to which Steil replied he would “want to see the details.”

“Oh, you’d want to see the details,” Neguse yelled as the two men spoke over each other. “You said if the government owns grocery stores, that would be socialist. But if, of course, Donald Trump were to announce an equity stake in a grocery store, well, ‘I’d have to really see the details,’ because we all know the play.”

Any time the Democrats do not want to be held responsible for their actions, they simply bring up the name of President Trump. The Democrat party has a socialist problem. They need to educate their members (and the voters) on the history of socialism.

It’s Been 25 Years

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On September 11, 2001, America changed. It was a moment as illusion-shattering as the assassination of President Kennedy or the attack on Pearl Harbor. In 1993 the World Trade Center was bombed by Islamic terrorists. That was one of the first acknowledged Islamic terrorist attacks in America. It was quickly moved off of the front page of the newspaper, and most of us forgot about it.

But there were some people who didn’t forget and understood the significance of that attack and what it meant for the future. One of those people was Rick Rescorla. Rick Rescorla was the head of security for Morgan Stanley. According to AI, Morgan Stanley was located on the 72nd floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center. Rick Rescorla was not always the most loved person in the company—he routinely required evacuation drills where the entire company had to climb down those 72 floors of stairs. He had the stairwells painted in light colors (one of the problems in the evacuation in the first World Trade Center bombing was dark stairwells). He appointed people to make sure that everyone in their department was accounted for and designated meeting places outside of the building. When the Tower was hit on September 11th, Morgan Stanley’s employees got out. Rick Rescorla went back into the building with two employees to help with the rescue and was killed when the buildings collapsed.

There was another man who understood that another attack on the World Trade Center was coming. His name was John O’Neill. In February 1995, he was appointed chief of the FBI’s counter-terrorism section. He was eventually driven out of the FBI because his focus on Bin-Laden and his focus on the fact that a second attack on the World Trade Center was coming. On August 22, 2001, he resigned from the FBI. On August 23, 2001, he started work as the Security Director for the World Trade Center. He was also killed when the buildings collapsed.

Sometimes we forgot the impact of what happened on September 11. We forget about the parking lots in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Massachusetts where people never showed up to drive their cars home from work or travel. We forget the school children in New York City who were kept in school until the school made sure that at least one parent was alive. We have heard the stories of missed appointments that resulted in saved lives.

On September 5th at 6 am and September 6th at 11 am and 8 pm, the Coastal Carolina Taxpayers Association will broadcast Wake Up Call on WTKF 107.1. The show will be available at cctaxpayers.com after the 6am broadcast. The show will feature the compelling story of someone who worked in the South Tower with Rick Rescorla and was in the building when the airplane hit. She has some very interesting observations about that day. One observation is that when she went to get her hot, buttered roll at the kiosk in front of the World Trade Center, the kiosks were not there that day. My daughter, who lived in the area at the time, tells me that there were no taxicabs on the street that day. That just may be an incredible coincidence, but somehow, I think the Arab community was told to stay home, that something was up.

Please tune in to the show this weekend to hear the story from someone who was there. The show will also be posted at cctaxpayers.com.

Finding The Truth

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We have all heard varying reports on how much oil is actually getting through the Strait of Hormuz. President Trump cites one number and the mainstream media cites a much lower number. So what is going on?

On Tuesday, John Hinderaker at Power Line Blog posted an article that explains the discrepancy.

The article quotes Politico:

Energy Secretary Chris Wright says about 9 million barrels of oil are moving through the Strait of Hormuz every day.

But nonpartisan oil tanker trackers say it’s likely 7 million barrels at best, or more likely, closer to 5 million.

So where is the problem? Did someone flunk third-grade math? Actually, the answer is much simpler.

The article reports:

Only–oops–it turns out that President Trump and Secretary Wright, one of his cabinet’s most impressive members, were right all along, as Kpler (a commodities firm) now confirms:

An average of 8.6 million barrels of oil a day have been flowing through the Strait of Hormuz — more than previously reported, maritime analyst firm Kpler confirmed in a new update that matches estimates from the Trump administration.
***
Kpler and other trackers had initially put the number closer to 5 million, but new data includes “dark transits,” where ships turn off their transponders and secret ship-to-ship transfers, which the group wasn’t previously tracking.

The nature of the transits left Kpler and other analysts to report only a handful of crossings every day, figures that were picked up by media outlets and used to point out the discrepancy between what was being reported and what the Trump administration was claiming.

ExecutiveBranch

The White House has long-maintained that the data firms were missing a chunk of the exports due to the dark transits, with Kpler now confirming the fact as the dark ships start reappearing and painting a clearer picture of the oil flow.

The article concludes:

I haven’t bothered to go back to the dozens of media outlets that called Trump officials liars, based on Kpler’s incorrect count, to see whether they have corrected their stories. But you can probably guess what proportion have made the correction.

And the mainstream media wonders why we don’t trust them!

Bringing Manufacturing Back To America

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On Tuesday, Breitbart posted an article about what is happening in the manufacturing sector of the American economy.

The article reports:

Job openings at U.S. factories rose in July to the highest level since January 2023, boosted by a surge in durable goods manufacturers looking for workers.

Available positions in manufacturing rose to 580,000 from 501,000 in June, data from the Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey showed Tuesday. A year ago, manufacturers were looking to fill 428,000 positions.

Vacancies in durable goods manufacturing climbed to 429,000, up from 353,000 in June and 255,000 a year ago.

The figures suggest surging demand for U.S. manufactured goods. Last week, the Commerce Department said durable goods orders at U.S. factories rose 1.1 percent, more than twice what was expected. Reports from the Federal Reserve banks of Kansas City, Dallas, New York, and Philadelphia have recently indicated strong growth in the manufacturing sector.

Fed chairman Kevin Warsh has recently suggested that the labor market is near full employment, with the unemployment rate historically low at 4.1 percent and jobless claims at the lowest in over four decades. The number of layoffs fell to 1.666 million, one of the lowest figures on record excluding the immediate post-pandemic period. The rate of layoffs ticked down to one percent, also one of the lowest on record apart from the pandemic rebound.

This is a result of the Trump tariffs. As the cost of bringing imported goods to the American market increases, companies are looking at the lower cost of making those goods here. In many cases, the quality of the goods made in America is superior to the quality of goods made in some countries.

The article concludes:

This may be weighing on hiring, as businesses struggle to find workers. Despite the rise in openings in July, hiring in manufacturing fell to 288,000 from June’s extraordinarily high 330,000. In durable goods, hiring fell to 177,000 from June’s strong 208,000. Even after the declines, July was a solid month for manufacturing hiring by historical standards.

Total job openings across the economy rose to 7.3 million from 7.2 million and hiring fell to 5.05 million from 5.33 million. Openings rose in healthcare and social assistance, financial activities, and information, while hires declined in each sector. Retail openings were flat, and hiring fell.

The number of quits, a measure of workers leaving their jobs voluntarily, changed little at 3.1 million and the rate ticked down to 1.9 percent over the month. The steady number of quits could imply that workers lack confidence that they can find better work. Alternatively, it may indicate that employers are doing a better job at retention, given the difficulty of hiring in the current full-employment labor market.

As the cost of energy decreases (as it will in the near future), it will be interesting to see how fast the American economy grows.

It’s Hard Sometimes To Vote Republican

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I vote Republican because I think the other side is crazy. I have on occasion voted for a Democrat in a local election when that candidate held conservative views and would stay with them, but that is becoming very rare. However, the Republican party does not really seem to care what its grass roots think. They have illustrated this many times.

On Monday, The Federalist posted an article that illustrates the problem with the Republican elite.

The article notes:

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., took a break from making folksy quips to let the mask slip during a Sunday interview about Texas’ Senate race between Republican Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico. While often unpredictable in its accuracy, public polling has shown the race to be one of the most contested in the country.

Yet, despite the race’s apparent closeness and major fundraising disparities between the two candidates, the milquetoast Kennedy wouldn’t commit to the Senate GOP deploying money to aid Paxton’s election. He said that the Senate GOP’s campaign arm simply doesn’t have the money to spend in Texas (after pouring millions into the state primary alongside other establishment forces to try and save incumbent Sen. John Cornyn).

“There’s no sense bubble wrapping it — we’ve got a race in Texas. … [Paxton] is going to have to point out the deficiencies of Mr. Talarico. … [But] you can’t win an election by saying the other guy’s worse than me. Money is an issue,” Kennedy said. “We in the Senate don’t have the money budgeted for Texas. We need help from the president. The president says he has $850 million in his campaign accounts. That’s a lot of jack.”

Put another way, “Sorry, Ken, you’re on your own!”

On the surface, it seems particularly rich that the Senate GOP is now running to Trump for help after refusing to pass the SAVE America Act and other conservative priorities. But there’s actually a bigger dynamic at play here that voters should pay attention to.

Whenever an establishment-backed crony wins the GOP nomination in any given primary, conservative voters are told to fall in line and back the party’s candidate, no questions asked. But when Republican voters nominate a grassroots candidate who will actually fight for their interests, those same establishment voices are more than happy to leave that candidate out to dry.

Every year the conservative voters are asked to support candidates that they know will not move the conservative agenda forward. That needs to stop. I may reach a point where I will vote for a Democrat in a national election rather than elect a Republican who doesn’t represent me. At least I know the Democrat won’t represent me, so I won’t be disappointed when that happens!

We Don’t Need To Import Criminals–We Have Enough Already

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On Tuesday, The New York Post posted an article about a recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) operation in New York City. I will admit that some of the people coming here illegally are simply good people looking for a better life. However, there are other people who have come here illegally that need to be deported quickly.

The article reports:

ICE nabbed nearly 2,200 illegal migrants, including convicted murderers, rapists and drug traffickers, in New York in the past month alone — and more agents and sweeps are on the way, the feds said Tuesday.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency caught up to 2,197 criminals in the Empire State between July 27 and Aug. 29 as part of “Operation Rotten Apple” — which Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin noted was conducted “with no help” from either New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani or Gov. Kathy Hochul.

“These arrests included gang members, rapists, murderers and child predators — which I believe there is a special place in hell for those individuals,” Mullin told reporters at a press conference.

“Operation Rotten Apple did what sanctuary politicians in New York City and the state of New York refuse to do: made the Empire State safer,” he added in a statement. 

The article concludes:

“Democratic politicians in New York and elsewhere say that they care about public safety, but won’t let immigration law enforcement officers into their jails to take criminals into custody, instead they release them to their streets,” said Trump administration border czar Tom Homan in a statement.

Mullin said the federal government should not send a single cent to New York until it complies with immigration authorities. President Trump is looking into options, he said.

“I don’t think we should be sending one federal penny to sanctuary states and sanctuary cities. And I know President Trump is looking at options there. In my opinion, I don’t think taxpayer dollars from the great people of Oklahoma or any other red state should be funding a state that embraces these criminals like New York,” Mullin said.

Some of the amenities given to the illegals who came to New York City were totally ridiculous and created problems for the residents of the City. Upscale hotels became places where tourists were afraid to go. The quality of life in New York City suffered because of the Sanctuary City policies. It’s good to see the people who were committing crimes removed.

Making Our Roads Safer

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On Monday, Townhall posted an article about a move by Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy to make our highways safer.

The article reports:

One hundred ten commercial trucking schools are being shuttered following an emergency order from the Department of Transportation.

Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said that the schools were responsible for “5,000 of the violations for English proficiency.”

“You have to speak English to operate a commercial vehicle. I didn’t create that rule; President Trump didn’t create that rule. That rule has been in place for a decade,” Duffy said during a Detroit news conference on Monday.

“We have schools that know the rule, and still pass people through their school who can’t speak the language,” he added.

“As of today, those schools are shut down,” he continued, noting that 160 schools were also shuttered for not being able to actually put hopeful truck drivers behind the wheel first, as well as “unlicensed instructors.”

“One school that we’re shutting down was so flippant […] their classroom was the school bus that was in the backyard. That was the classroom for which they were training new truck drivers,” he said.

According to AI, in 2025, it was reported that language barriers among truck drivers, particularly those who could not speak English, were linked to approximately 814 deaths annually in truck crashes. If you can’t read the road signs or understand the verbal instructions given to you in case of an emergency, you shouldn’t be driving in America.

The article concludes:

Duffy’s latest action is part of a new interagency agreement between DOT, the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department to crack down on the issue.

“These schools are passing off these CDLs to people who haven’t earned them– putting forty-ton weapons into the hands of people who are illegal immigrants who can’t speak English, and then they hurt real Americans,” Andrew Ferguson, chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, said.

There may be a shortage of truck drivers, but putting people behind the wheel who don’t speak or read English is not the answer.

A Quiet Attack On Religious Freedom

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Jenna’s Side, a substack blog, posted an article on Monday about New York State’s financial attack on Amish schools.

The article reports:

In a display of audacious evil, the Empire State has fined three tiny Amish schools a combined $118,000 for allowing unvaccinated children to sit in single-room schoolhouses with other unvaccinated children. The schools—Dygert Road, Pleasant View, and Shady Lane—have accumulated $52,000, $46,000 and $20,000 in penalties, respectively. Under New York law, each breach carries a fine of up to $2,000, and the state considers each day an unvaccinated child attends school a separate violation. In this case, however, officials graciously calculated the first two schools’ penalties using just one day of violations per child. (If they were counting every day, ten pureblood kids showing up for a single school week could theoretically add another $100,000 to the tab.)

…The three schools in question aren’t sprawling state campuses where kids are being bussed in from fourteen zip codes. These are mostly one-room, Little House on the Prairie-style classrooms serving a dozen or two kids from the surrounding community. They sit on private land. They get no public funding. The families keep to themselves. They aren’t asking taxpayers to pay for their healthcare, their kick scooters, or their beard oil. All they’re asking is to be left alone.

Apparently, this is an impossible ask.

When the fines were first imposed, the Amish sued. They lost in federal district court. Then they lost at the Second Circuit. Then the Supreme Court vacated that judgment and told the appeals court to reconsider in light of its recent religious-liberty precedent. So the Second Circuit reviewed the case and basically said “Yeah, still no.”

One has to wonder what grave threat a self-sufficient, self-isolated, charmingly old-timey community presents to the region at large. I mean, if the rest of the state is all juiced up on the full glorious regime of immune-boosting jabs, how are the Amish a danger even if they hitch up their buggies, breach containment, and storm the closest Target?

The Amish are located in a number of states. They are small, peace-loving, old-fashioned communities that are a threat to no one (except maybe some of the control freaks in government positions). Their disease rates are considerably lower than those of the people outside their communities, and the Amish are a threat to no one. The State of New York needs to leave them alone.

The Long-Term Consequences Of 9/11

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On Monday, The New York Post posted an article about the cancer deaths among the 9/11 survivors.

The article reports:

The number of 9/11 cancer victims has skyrocketed 1,680% over the past decade — fueled by rare variations of the disease, according to new statistics released as the grim 25th anniversary of the attacks nears. 

Cancer certifications among Twin Tower survivors, downtown Manhattan residents and workers on and near The Pile have exploded from 3,204 in 2015 to 57,044 this year, reveal figures compiled by the World Trade Center Health Program.

“Sadly, we lose roughly two clients a day and see a new cancer certification every 50 minutes,” said lawyer Michael Barasch, whose firm represents thousands of people enrolled in the World Trade Center Health Program.

For the first time, the number of cancer cases among survivors who resided, worked or attended school near Ground Zero has now surpassed the amount of emergency responders such as firefighters and police who had prolonged exposure, statistics show.

Survivors accounted for 28,913 of the overall cancer cases to date, a staggering 4,066% increase from the 694 cases reported in 2015. Responders made up 28,131 of the cancer cases.

The article notes that many of the cancers that are now showing up are very rare forms of the disease:

For example, there are 82 cases of cancer of the thymus gland, a small organ located in the upper chest behind the breastbone. Such tumors represent fewer than 1 percent of all cancer cases.

There also are 591 cases of neuroendocrine cancers, which are uncommon tumors found most often in the pancreas, bowel, lungs or adrenal glands, affecting the stomach and bowels. The number of such cases jumped 6% from March through June among 9/11 survivors.

The article notes:

James Ryan, 65, an electrician, helped light up sites at Ground Zero, including in and around the Pile, and rewiring the WTC PATH train sites.

He said he later went for a regular check-up and that blood was found in his urine. He underwent an MRI, and his pancreatic cancer was discovered in an early stage.

He had part of his pancreas removed in 2019.

“I got very lucky,” Ryan said.

Barasch said there’s more work to be done.

He said only about 15% of the civilians who had exposure to the 9/11 toxins have enrolled in the World Trade Center health program.

His firm represents former students who attended high schools and colleges near the World Trade Center who have been stricken with illnesses at a young age. Students from Stuyvesant High School, Borough of Manhattan Community College, PACE University and elementary and middle schools were in the danger zone.

He said it’s best to join the WTC Health Program and get checked out.

“Early detection is the difference between life and death,” Barasch said.

This is a serious problem. I have family members that were impacted by the pollution at the site after the event. The people who were there deserve the best medical treatment possible.

The Lobbyists Go Into Action

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On Sunday, The Conservative Treehouse posted an article about the unintended consequences of the changes the Trump administration has made to the visa entry processes.

The article reports:

CTH (Conservative Treehouse) strongly emphasizes two key policy sectors, Maganomics and Immigration enforcement; they go together. We cannot achieve the economic results we want for the American people unless strong and powerful immigration enforcement is in place.

While the Dept of Homeland Security (DHS) navigates the deportation and removal process (painfully slow in my opinion), Secretary of State Marco has revoked, blocked and restricted visa entry processes. The State Dept effort is strong, but continually encounters resistance from the Lawfare communists who are trying to destroy U.S. nationalism.

NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Service Companies) is an Indian non-governmental trade association and advocacy group that primarily serves the Indian technology industry. Founded in 1988, NASSCOM operates as a nonprofit organization and serves as a key entity within the Indian technology sector. NASSCOM is the primary advocacy group for manipulating the U.S. visa entry system.

The article concludes:

As noted by Amanda Louise on X: “[NASSCOM’s] concern wasn’t that jobs would go unfilled because America lacked skilled workers. It was that companies like Infosys would have to “hire many more local Americans, which would be expensive.”

“Americans weren’t described as unavailable. Americans were described as the more expensive alternative.

And they acknowledged the other half of the problem.. companies with a “strong local American presence” would have a competitive advantage if visa-dependent companies lost easy access to that labor.

That tells Americans exactly what this business model does. Use visa labor to lower costs. Compete against companies that hire more Americans. Win their contracts. And now those American-employing companies have fewer jobs to offer too.

The American worker loses twice.
So why are we still debating what these visa programs are being used for? Their statements tell us the incentive. The immigration filings show us the scale. The layoffs show us who pays the price.

How much more evidence does Congress need before it answers why U.S. immigration policy gives companies a competitive advantage for hiring visa workers instead of Americans?”

Maybe the foreign money that needs to come out of politics isn’t all found in election campaigns.