Tag Archives: The New York Post

Keeping Children Safe

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There may be an alternative to arming teachers to keep children safe, and one school seems to have found that alternative.

On Monday, The New York Post reported:

A Long Island school has rolled out what it says is one of America’s most advanced security systems – able to autolock doors and assess threats in split seconds.

“It’s going to save lives,” XSponse CEO Lee Mandel said of Plainedge High School’s new state-of-the-art protective system unveiled ahead of the new school year.

…Announced a day after the tragic shooting of Mass at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis, each classroom at the North Massapequa campus has been outfitted with doors that autolock during emergencies and high-tech video monitors that first responders can access in real time.

“No one has been able to put eyes into a classroom. We’re, in essence, putting a first responder in every single classroom,” added Mandel.

School officials — each of whom carries a special smart-ID badge to activate the system — can make both announcements and livestream video through the devices to classrooms sheltering in place.

Badges have a Life Alert-esque panic button that, when pressed, sends a hyperlocal GPS location to its exact whereabouts in the building through a detailed, color-coded map of campus shared with responding authorities.

“Having that makes it incredible to really speed up the reaction time and the response for first responders,” Mandel said.

The badges also correspond to an active second in-classroom device that can communicate to the outside. Panic buttons are also placed around the school for students to use in emergencies.

The article notes:

What XSponse is doing in Plainedge — a blueprint for other schools across the nation — has been supported by two parents who have lost their own children during the Parkland school shooting of 2018.

Andrew Pollack, whose daughter Meadow was killed in the senseless attack, now works with the company to promote school safety.

“My daughter would want to know I’m making a difference in the world,” Pollack, originally of Oceanside, said.

“It’s amazing technology. I went to a board meeting in Plainedge, and it was a big turnout…they all wanted to see it.”

Ryan Petty, who lost his daughter Alaina in the shooting, emphasized how significant even a few split seconds taken off a response time can be.

“Parkland was over in under six minutes,” Petty, now a member of the Florida State Board of Education working with XSponse, said.

This is something all School Boards should investigate.

Common Sense Arrives

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On Friday, The New York Post posted an article about the federal funding for offshore wind projects.

The article reports:

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced Friday that $679 million in federal funding has been withdrawn for 12 “doomed” offshore wind projects – including three in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

The scrapped funding includes $10.5 million for Connecticut’s Bridgeport Port Authority Operations and Maintenance Wind Port project, $20.5 million for New Jersey’s Wind Port at Paulsboro and $48 million for Staten Island’s Arthur Kill Terminal. 

The Trump administration plans to spend the withdrawn funds on “real infrastructure” and “restoring American maritime dominance.” 

“Wasteful, wind projects are using resources that could otherwise go towards revitalizing America’s maritime industry,” Duffy said in a statement.

“Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg bent over backwards to use transportation dollars for their Green New Scam agenda while ignoring the dire needs of our shipbuilding industry,” Duffy said. “Thanks to President Trump, we are prioritizing real infrastructure improvements over fantasy wind projects.”

At a White House Cabinet meeting earlier this week, President Trump fumed that wind projects were “ruining our country.”

“We’re not allowing any windmills to go up,” the president said. “They’re ruining our country. They’re ugly, they don’t work, they kill your birds. They’re bad for the environment.”

In July 2024, I posted an article about an environmental disaster caused by the failure of a windmill blade off Nantucket in Massachusetts (article here). The failure not only caused the island to have to close beaches because of contamination caused by the disintegration of the blade, but oysters and mussels in the area were contaminated by hazardous fiberglass particles that can cause harm to humans.

In 2020, I posted an article about two Massachusetts town that put up wind turbines in 2016 and voted to remove them in 2020 after approximately 360 complaints from residents in the area. Complaints include shadow flicker, nausea, vertigo, sleep disturbance, headaches, anxiety and sound disturbances. The towns were Bourne and Plymouth. The windmills were situated on Route 25.

We don’t fully understand the impact of low-frequency vibrations on people. Until we do, it might be a good idea to keep windmills away from populated areas.

There may come a day when we find a practical, economical and safe way to harness wind energy, but we are not there yet.

The Key To Peace In Ukraine

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One of President Trump’s strong points is his ability to use economic leverage to solve international issues. He has begun to use that principle on Russia and Ukraine, but so far both countries have resisted his efforts–Russia because it wants a warm-water port and Ukraine because of the amount of money flowing into the country that is unaccounted for.

On Monday, The New York Post posted an opinion piece with some suggestions that might speed along the negotiations.

The opinion piece states:

President Donald Trump wants to stop the killing in Ukraine, but Russia’s foot-dragging is making it abundantly clear that he’ll need to apply far more pressure before any serious negotiations can begin.

To do so, Trump will have to squeeze Russia’s primary source of income, its oil revenues — without upending the global energy market in the process.

In an interview that aired Sunday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov rejected US-backed security guarantees for Ukraine and balked at Trump’s push for direct talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Putin insists that Ukrainian forces withdraw from the Kyiv-controlled parts of the country’s eastern Donbas region — an idea Ukraine has rightly dismissed as a non-starter — and demands a host of other concessions aimed at making what’s left of Ukraine a vassal state.

So long as Putin conditions the war’s end on maximalist terms, fighting will continue.

…The simplest, most impactful move would be to threaten a new sanctions regime against any company or bank involved in the purchase of Russian oil.

If done right, Trump could bolster America’s negotiating leverage without spiking oil prices.

State-run oil refiners in both India and China have so far flouted Trump’s tariffs, but those firms would run scared from US financial sanctions, which would render those companies — and the banks processing their transactions — toxic to the global financial system.

As part of a new energy sanctions framework, the Treasury Department could allow Chinese and Indian firms to continue importing Russian crude only if they gradually reduce those purchases — and then deposit the money owed Russia in escrow accounts in Beijing and New Delhi.

This would sever Moscow’s access to much-needed revenue without suddenly cutting off global access to the barrels themselves, keeping the oil market stable.

Such a move would simultaneously facilitate the purchase of more American energy, as Trump continues his multi-dimensional trade talks with India, China and others.

Crippling the Russian economy would end the war. How to deal with the corruption in Ukraine would be a different challenge. At some point in the future, we may find out that much of the money going to Ukraine somehow winds up in American political campaign coffers. That might explain why so much of Congress is not really interested in peace.

Getting To The Root Of The Problem

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The Democrat party has turned non-profits and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) into cash cows. That is one of the reasons Democrats were so upset about defunding the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Even if the Democrats (and some Republicans) were not skimming money directly, the boards of many of these organizations included their relatives who were paid exorbitant sums of many.

On Monday, The New York Post posted an editorial explaining how some of this works and what can be done to stop it.

The editorial states:

Starting to lift the lid off a far, far larger scam, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick just nixed $7 billion in “advance payments” that Biden administration staffers aimed to divert to a “nonprofit” controlled by other Democratic insiders.

The bigger scam being, of course, how the left (and lots of plain-old Dem machines) feeds off government-funded “charities.”

It’s a huge part of the “swamp,” though of course its denizens pretend their motives don’t reek.

In this case, the Bidenites were in too much of a hurry to make the theft fully legal: After President Donald Trump’s victory last November, high-level staff all across the executive branch rushed to corral cash that hadn’t yet gone out the door, lest the MAGA crew actually vet where it was going.

So some plugged-in Dems quickly created Natcast, a public-private not-for-profit — which the Bidenites immediately chose to direct tens of billions of dollars in subsidies to tech firms under the CHIPS Act.

Except that law never allowed for such a cut-out to handle the outlays — which made the diversion plainly illegal: Even if nobody ever goes to jail for it, Lutnick can at least claw back the funds.

That was just part of the looting frenzy; another scheme parked $20 billion at CitiBank with an eye on ensuring the “environmental justice” grants went to Democratic allies, such as one linked to Stacey Abrams, the failed Georgia gov candidate and election-denier.

EPA chief Lee Zeldin moved to rescind that insider dealing after getting wind of Bidenites at his agency “throwing gold bars” away before the Trumpies could take over.

Please follow the link above to read the entire article. This is information voters need to know.

It Is Being Reported That Elon Musk Has Changed His Mind

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On Wednesday, The New York Post posted an article updating Elon Musk’s plans to create a third party. Although I often share his frustration with today’s two political parties, I am glad that he is moving away from that idea. It would be at least ten years before a new political party to become competitive, and I am hopeful that the current leadership in the Republican party is moving toward sanity making a new party unnecessary.

The article reports:

Elon Musk is reportedly putting the brakes on launching his new political party in order to maintain ties with prominent Republicans — especially Vice President JD Vance, whom the billionaire is eyeing to back in 2028.

Musk had vowed that his “America Party” would challenge the two-party system, but he told those close to him that he’d rather focus on his businesses than pull voters away from his Republican allies in Washington, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The Tesla CEO is particularly keen on maintaining ties with Vance, who, it has been widely speculated, will inherit the MAGA movement after President Trump completes his second term.

The article concludes:

Trump and Musk appear to have squashed their beef — at least for now — as Musk has refrained of late from criticizing the president or other Republican politicians.

Vance could massively benefit from Musk’s money and influence if he’s tapped to succeed Trump.

When reached for comment by the Journal, Vance’s team pointed to an interview from earlier this month with conservative outlet the Gateway Pundit in which the vice president said it would be bad for conservatives to break with MAGA and hoped Musk would “come back into the fold” by the midterm elections.

Musk, without commenting further on the Journal’s report, posted on X, “Nothing @WSJ says should ever be thought of as true.

Meanwhile, where are the spending cuts?

Aiding Terrorists

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On Wednesday, The New York Post posted an article about a film that was removed from the Toronto Film Festival.

The article reports:

A new documentary about the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas has been booted from the Toronto International Film Festival — because organizers insist the filmmakers need the rights from the terrorist group to use their horrific footage of the massacre.

The festival claims the movie, called “The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue,” did not meet certain requirements to screen at the prestigious September event, widely attended by Hollywood stars and bigwigs, including not securing so-called “legal clearance” to use Hamas’ livestreamed video of the rape, murder and kidnapping of Jews.

The stunned filmmakers, including Canadian director Barry Avrich, slammed the decision, telling Deadline that TIFF has “defied its mission and censored its own programming by refusing this film.”

Avrich declined to comment further.

“The Road Between Us” tells the story of retired Israel Defense Forces General Noam Tibon, who set out to save his family and others during Hamas’ deadly attack, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage.

It includes widely seen videos taken by the terrorists of their murders of Israelis at the Nova music festival and in nearby communities.

While TIFF alleges they required permission from Hamas to use the footage, the documentary’s line producer, Talia Harris Ram, told the Times of Israel that their rationale was ridiculous.

The article includes pictures from the October 7th terrorist attack. Showing this film would remind people why Israel is attacking Gaza. Israel is trying to rescue any remaining hostages and also trying to insure that an October 7th attack never occurs again. As long as Hamas is allowed to exist in an area next to Israel, there will be a risk of another October 7th attack. The Hamas members who attacked Israel were the same people Israel routinely allowed into Israel on work permits because they could not find work in Gaza. When Israel left Gaza in 2005, Gaza quickly became a terrorist state. They dismantled the greenhouses that had provided income and jobs for the people of Gaza and used the water pipes to make rockets. What happened in Gaza after 2005 made it clear that a Palestinian state would have as its purpose the destruction of Israel. That is still part of the Hamas Charter.

Refusing to show a film that documents the truth is supporting a false narrative.

The Cost Of The Trans Fad

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On Saturday, The New York Post posted an article about Miles Yardley, formerly a very successful New York City model.

The article reports:

In Catholic churches across Manhattan and Brooklyn, Salomé captivated the congregation, uplifting the faithful with her soulful singing and skilled organ playing. The New York Archdiocese Organist Training Program enrollee’s musical gifts had her booking gigs across the city.

But for years, Salomé’s bashful smile and angelic voice concealed a secret — one not even known in the shadows of the confessional. She was a he: Salomé was born Miles.

His story is one that’s becoming all too familiar: A child with unconventional interests, swayed by strange ideologies on the internet, is hustled by doctors into a life of medical dependency — only to find himself questioning everything years later.

“They very quickly put me on hormones without really any discernment. Looking back, if I were a doctor, I would think this is a much larger decision than the kid thinks that it is,” he tells The Post.

Miles Yardley, as his female persona Salomé, arrived in the Big Apple in 2022 from his native Pennsylvania. He (then she) quickly became the toast of New York’s downtown fashion scene.

Yardley signed a modeling contract, was featured in a Marc Jacobs perfume ad shot by famed photographer Juergen Teller, exhibited for Enfants Riches Déprimés, and strutted Fashion Week runways for designers Batsheva and Elena Velez — all while singing in parishes and mentoring Catholic schoolchildren in music.

Soon Yardley was a regular bohemian socialite, a fixture on podcasts, was even flown to Romania to meet the Tate brothers, with virtually everyone unaware of Salomé’s secret.

Please follow the link to read the entire article. It is a lesson to all of us not to rush major medical procedures on anyone without seriously considering the consequences and fully examining the situation.

The article concludes:

As for those doctors, Yardley is surprisingly merciful. “I don’t believe, as a Christian, that people are setting out to do evil for evil’s sake. I don’t think anyone has that in their heart,” he said.

“But I think it has a lot to do with an overreach of professionals and a lot to do with money. Hospitals make a lot of money from these procedures. They benefit from having lifelong patients, which is what transgender people are. You need the hormones to maintain the identity.”

If he could go back, would he change any of it? “There’s no way to live your life without making mistakes or going down the wrong path,” Yardley says.

“My life would be totally different if I made different decisions at 15 years old, so I can’t really conceive of a different path. I don’t live in a regret state. In many ways, I’m extraordinary lucky.”

He does, however, wish that doctors would learn to be more open-minded.

“If you’re a gender-nonconforming kid, you should be allowed to be yourself. I think that was the biggest problem. I didn’t feel like I could be confident in who I was. And if that person happens to like singing and dancing and cooking and Barbie dolls, who really cares? You can be a boy who likes that,” Yardley says.

“At the time, nobody in my life told me that was possible.”

When The Keystone Cops Do An Investigation

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On Monday, The Daily Caller posted an article about the investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s private email server. Evidently, it was not a very thorough investigation.

The article reports:

An FBI draft memo from May 2016 stated reviewing the thumb drives would be necessary to conduct a “thorough and complete investigation,” including assessing national security risks associated with the private server. Yet the agency “never finalized the memorandum or submitted this request to the department,” according to the document released Monday by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley.

On Monday, The New York Post reported:

But the feds declined to “comprehensively” analyze those drives due to concerns about individual data caught up in the hack — despite an internal draft memo concluding it was necessary to “assess the national security risks” pertaining to Clinton’s private server use.

“This document shows an extreme lack of effort and due diligence in the FBI’s investigation of former Secretary Clinton’s email usage and mishandling of highly classified information,” said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) of the appendix.

The report was penned by then-DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz, who currently holds the same position at the Federal Reserve Board and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The investigation carefully avoided getting anywhere near the truth. Meanwhile, Bill Clinton met with Attorney General Loretta Lynch on the tarmac at Phoenix Airport on June 27, 2016, while Attorney General Lynch was overseeing the investigation, but it was just a coincidence that they happened to meet. I truly hope that the people who lied and ignored the law will be brought to justice at some point.

The Fight For Fiscal Sanity

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On Tuesday, The New York Post reported the following:

Vice President JD Vance cast two tie-breaking votes in the Senate Tuesday to move forward a $9.4 billion rescissions package — which would rip federal funding from PBS and NPR — in the upper chamber. 

The Senate deadlocked, 50-50, on two procedural votes to start debate on the multibillion-dollar spending clawback package before Vance’s votes advanced the measure requested by the White House. 

Three Republicans — Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) — joined all Democrats in opposition to the bill. 

The article includes this statement:

Collins defended her “no” vote by arguing that OMB didn’t provide senators with details about what programs would be scrapped as a result of the clawback.

How many times has Collins voted on a bill without knowing exactly what is in it?

The article notes:

The Maine Republican also described the cuts to public broadcasters as “excessive” and expressed concern that PBS viewers would lose access to “popular programs like ‘Antiques Road Show’ and ‘Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood.’”

“I share the frustration with the biased reporting by NPR, and I would support defunding it,” Collins continued. “Nevertheless, local TV and radio stations continue to provide important coverage.”

She noted that CPB funding in Maine supports the state’s emergency alert network and allows high school basketball games to air on television.

PBS should be required to stand on its own just as other broadcasters are. They have no official commercials, but they fund raise and name sponsors. Frankly, if they had had any copyright lawyers worth their salt in the early days of Sesame Street, they would have been set for life on Tickle-Me Elmo.

The article concludes:

The Senate now has at least 10 hours to debate the measure before amendments are voted on and a final vote takes place.

The House, which passed the measure 214-212 in June, would then need to consider the changes the Senate makes to the bill.

Slowly Getting Judicial Confirmations Done

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On July 10th, The New York Post posted an article about Whitney Hermandorfer, the first of President Trump’s judicial appointments to be confirmed this term.

The article reports:

The Senate on Thursday cleared the way to confirm the first judicial appointment of President Trump’s second term, marking a slower tempo than at the same point of both his first term and that of President Joe Biden’s.

By a 51-43 party-line vote, the Senate moved to conclude debate on Whitney Hermandorfer’s nod for the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, teeing up an expected vote next week.

At this stage of Trump’s first term, the Senate had already confirmed two court nominees — Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and Sixth Circuit Judge Amul Thapar.

By next week, that figure will shoot up to three, including US District of Idaho Judge David Nye, who was confirmed in July of 2017.

Meanwhile, former President Joe Biden and Senate Democrats had already wrangled through 14 judges at this stage of 2021.

The Democrats have decided to fight President Trump’s agenda through the courts and are probably going to drag their feet in confirming the President’s judicial nominees. This is one of many reasons that the Republicans need to gain Congressional seats in the mid-term elections.

The article notes:

In the past, confirmations used to be more cumbersome because they had to clear the 60-vote threshold needed to break a filibuster from the minority party. In 2013, then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) used the nuclear option to eliminate that in most instances.

Republicans won back the Senate the following year.

Reconfiguring the ideological composition of the judiciary has been a key goal of administrations from both political parties. But the GOP-led Senate has been busy with other priorities as well.

Harry Reid was warned that using the nuclear option would come back to bite him in the future. It did. The Democrats were so used to being in the majority that they couldn’t envision losing that majority.

Recognition Long Overdue

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I first heard of the Culper Spy ring when I read Brian Kilmeade’s book George Washington’s Secret Six: The Spy Ring That Saved the American Revolution. The spy ring was based on Long Island and generally consisted of people who had known each other since childhood. That is how they avoided being infiltrated. The book is fascinating, and I strongly recommend it. Among other things, it deals with Benedict Arnold, how he was discovered, and why he was not returned to America to stand trial.

On July 4th, The New York Post reported:

Long Island’s newest steakhouse is a fascinating nod to the Culper spy ring, a local group of Revolutionary War double agents whose heroic espionage efforts saved the colonial forces on multiple occasions.

“As we were going through school, we learned about the spy ring and the effect it had on the American Revolution,” Scott Brittman, part owner of Culper’s 1778, which opened in Setauket two weeks ago, told The Post.

…The new eatery is filled with Revolutionary War-themed decor, including prints of the Battle of Setauket, a print of the Declaration of Independence, a life-size replica musket, and an original US flag, to name a few.

However, Brittman’s team truly committed to the theme by tracking down and recreating George Washington’s spiced cherry brandy drink of choice, which he often carried, as per the first president’s journal.

“The Commander,” as it’s called, is served infused with lemon and cinnamon and stands among a bevy of Colonial cocktails — like Benedict Arnold’s “The Traitor,” made with vodka and, fittingly, tea.

There is also the gin-based “Agent 355,” a nod to a female member whose identity is still unknown, in addition to “The Clothesline” Ketel One libation, which pays homage to how Setauket Culper spy Anna Smith Strong sent signals by laying out her laundry in covert patterns.

“There’s been a lot of people that have come in here from different towns who are big history buffs,” Brittman said, adding that Culper’s will be closed on July 4 in observance of Independence Day.

The article explains who the Culpers were:

Washington’s secret agents were a brave band of at least seven known members, according to Christopher Judge, a longtime educator at Oyster Bay’s Raynham Hall Museum, which is the former home of Cupler spy Robert Townsend.

Setauket native Benjamin Tallmadge led the clandestine group on British-occupied LI alongside his tight-knit allies, Abraham Woodhull and Caleb Brewster, circa 1778, the year in which the restaurant is named.

“They were all childhood friends, and they knew they could trust each other with their lives. They all agreed to stand against what they considered the tyranny of the British,” said Judge.

“You could almost say that they were the CIA of the time — and predecessor to James Bond.”

Sounds like a wonderful restaurant to visit!

Lying To Congress Is Not A Good Idea

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Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has been in President Trump’s doghouse lately for his refusal to lower interest rates despite the lack of inflation. He has now tripped over his feet in his testimony to Congress about the plans for revamping the central bank’s Washington headquarters.

On Monday, The New York Post reported:

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is being accused of lying to Congress after he denied that a $2.5 billion revamp of the central bank’s Washington headquarters will load the facility with lavish amenities — and some are demanding that he be punished, The Post has learned.

Powell called The Post’s exclusive report in April about the bloated renovation project — which led Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) to liken it to the “Palace of Versailles” during a grilling by the Senate Banking Committee last week — “misleading and inaccurate.”

“There’s no VIP dining room, there’s no new marble. There are no special elevators,” Powell insisted under questioning from the powerful panel on Wednesday. “There are no new water features, there’s no beehives, and there’s no roof terrace gardens.”

Well, not so fast.

The article continues:

But Powell — who is meanwhile facing heat from President Trump over a failure to slash interest rates — directly contradicted the project’s own planning documents, which were signed off on by government pen pushers in 2021 — and which haven’t been revised since.

“The private dining rooms on Level 4 (of the Fed’s Eccles building) will be restored,” reads one excerpt from the filing with the National Capital Planning Commission. “The Governors’ private elevator will be extended to discharge at the dining suite level.”

The documents also expressly mention “vegetated roof terraces” that will welcome “urban wildlife and pollinators” as well as new marble and water features.

Andrew T. Levin — a professor of economics at Dartmouth College who served as an economist and advisor to the Fed’s board from 1992 to 2012 — urged Congress to step in and punish Powell for lying to lawmakers.

“A top Fed official cannot be permitted to make false statements under oath at a congressional hearing. Such statements must be promptly corrected, and in egregious cases, subject to censure by the Senate,” Levin said.

…The revelations are controversial at a time when the Fed is struggling with mounting losses, which stand at a total of $233 billion from the past three years.

Stay tuned. There may be some changes coming sooner than expected at the fed.

The Problem With Ranked-Choice Voting

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Ranked-choice voting in the New York City mayoral primary gave a victory to Zohran Mamdani, a member of the New York State Assembly from the 36th district, based in Queens, since 2021. He is a member of the Democratic Party and the Democratic Socialists of America. (see previous article referencing the Democratic Socialists of America.) 

Here are a few of Zohran Mamdani’s ideas according to his campaign website:

1. As Mayor, Zohran will immediately freeze the rent for all stabilized tenants, and use every available resource to build the housing New Yorkers need and bring down the rent. The number one reason working families are leaving our city is the housing crisis. The Mayor has the power to change that.

2. Zohran won New York’s first fare-free bus pilot on five lines across the city. As Mayor, he’ll permanently eliminate the fare on every city bus – and make them faster by rapidly building priority lanes, expanding bus queue jump signals, and dedicated loading zones to keep double parkers out of the way. Fast and free buses will not only make buses reliable and accessible but will improve safety for riders and operators – creating the world-class service New Yorkers deserve.

3. Zohran will create the Department of Community Safety to prevent violence before it happens by prioritizing solutions which have been consistently shown to improve safety…Police have a critical role to play. But right now, we’re relying on them to deal with the failures of our social safety net—which prevents them from doing their actual jobs. Through this new city agency and whole-of-government approach, community safety will be prioritized like never before in NYC.

4. Zohran will implement free childcare for every New Yorker aged 6 weeks to 5 years, ensuring high quality programming for all families. And he will bring up wages for childcare workers – a quarter of whom currently live in poverty – to be at parity with public school teachers.

He may provide living proof of the Margaret Thatcher quote, “The trouble with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.” The only question is going to be how long that will take in New York City. The city avoided bankruptcy in 1975 (article here).

Just to add some perspective, the following headline was posted at The New York Post on Wednesday:

Luxury real estate brokers say wealthy New Yorkers are already looking to flee after Zohran Mamdani’s primary win

The Republican candidate for Mayor is Curtis Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels. However, generally speaking, Republicans do not win mayoral races in New York City. Eric Adams is running as an independent candidate.

Setting The Captives Free

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I just finished reading the book A Time To Betray by Reza Kahlili (obviously not his real name). It is the story of a man who believed that the Iranian Revolution on 1979 would bring freedom to his country. He realized he was wrong rather quickly. One of the things that added to his disillusionment was the fact that the new government was putting innocent people in prison and torturing them. One of this friends and his friend’s brother and sister were put in Evin Prison, tortured, sexually abused, and eventually killed. Reza Kahlili eventually went to work for the American CIA. His book tells his story.

On Monday, The New York Post reported:

Israel hit key Iranian targets in a fresh series of devastating airstrikes Monday, attacking the headquarters of the country’s elite military police force and blowing off the front of its most notorious, brutal prison.

The most intense bombing yet of government sites around Tehran came a day after the US joined Israel’s war on thwarting the Islamic Republic from being able to build nuclear bombs.

“The Iranian dictator will be punished with full force for attacking the Israeli home front,” Israel’s Defense Ministry said of the latest attacks.

…Shocking security footage shows one missile strike blasting open the doors of Evin Prison, where the Islamic Republic held its opponents and critics in brutal conditions, with public hangings.

The article concludes:

“The IDF is currently striking with unprecedented force regime targets and governmental repression bodies in the heart of Tehran, including the Basij headquarters, the Evin Prison for political prisoners and regime opponents, the ‘Destruction of Israel’ clock in Palestine Square, the internal security headquarters of the Revolutionary Guards, the ideology headquarters, and other regime targets,” Katz said in a statement.

Further strikes in Iran hit the access roads to the Fordow nuclear facility, one of three sites in Iran hit during US air strikes over the weekend.

The strikes were intended to “disrupt” accessibility to the underground nuclear enrichment center, the IDF claimed.

We may be about to see regime change in Iran.

Getting To The Root Of The Problem

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There are a number of problems with the current regime in Iran. If they had simply minded their own business instead of sponsoring worldwide terrorism, the world might not be particularly concerned about their weapons programs. However, continually shouting “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” does not create an image of a peaceful country. Also, the intelligence gathered by Israel in recent years reveals that Iran is building a nuclear weapon. This is a problem for America, Israel, and the rest of the world. Radiation does not stay in one place.

On Tuesday, The New York Post posted an article detailing what it would take to destroy the Fordow fuel enrichment plant built some 300 feet inside a mountain near the city of Qom, two hours south of Tehran. The Iranians saw what Israel did to the Iraqi nuclear program, because of that they have protected their main nuclear reactor well.

The article reports:

Israel needs a 15-ton “bunker buster” bomb to destroy the last untouched nuclear facility in Iran, but only the US has one.

Such a powerful weapon — the largest non-nuclear bomb in the US arsenal — is needed because the target, the Fordow fuel enrichment plant, is built some 300 feet inside a mountain near the city of Qom, two hours south of Tehran.

The heavyweight explosive is known as a GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator and was designed by Boeing for the United States Air Force.

Its huge weight means it can only be delivered with a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber — a jet that Israel’s air force does not possess.

As much as I would hate to see America get involved in the war between Israel and Iran, I suspect that if America supplied the weapon and the reactor was taken out, most of the world would rejoice. However, I also suspect that Israel may have their own method of doing the job.

The article concludes:

US intelligence has long agreed that taking out Fordow is key to disabling the Iranian nuclear program.

“If you don’t get Fordow, you haven’t eliminated their ability to produce weapons-grade material,” Brett McGurk, who served as Middle East coordinator for several American presidents of both parties, recently told the New York Times.

In a less-than-ideal scenario, a state-of-the-art bunker buster is not the only solution.

It’s also possible, said Spencer, that, without help from the US, Israel could do a jerry-rigged attack on Fordow.

“Israel has cornered the market on what they call drilling,” said Spencer. “They drop one bomb that reaches a certain depth, then another and another, at different angles, within seconds, to get to where they want to go. But you put multiple people and multiple aircraft at risk. The GBU is one and done.”

Considering that option, Spencer concluded, “There are many ways to destroy the nuclear program in Iran. But this is the effective and efficient one. It gets to the objective quicker and is the perfect solution.”

The article has a picture explaining how the bunker buster works. It would be the most useful tool in this situation.

Interfering With America’s Food Supply

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On June 10th, The New York Post reported:

Cityslicker state lawmakers from the Big Apple want to limit the number of cows on New York’s dairy farms – a green push that opponents argue would cripple an industry that needs to be beefed up.

The bill would prohibit dairy farms from reaching or exceeding 700 cows as a way to keep bovine farts from spewing the greenhouse gas methane into the atmosphere, as well as “billions of pounds of manure” from polluting waterways.

But Chris Noble, co-owner of the 1,800-cow Noblehurst Farms in Livingston County, argued the “arbitrary” cow cap would create an economic burden on dairy farms such as his.

The proposed moo-ve has also sparked an upstate-downstate beef between lawmakers from rural and urban districts — with even Gov. Kathy Hochul viewing the bill as “insane,” according to a source close to the Democratic leader.

“Let’s be clear: this bill makes no sense,” Sen. Mark Walczyk (R-Jefferson) said in a statement.

“By restricting dairy farm expansions, we are undermining successful farmers in an industry that is already incredibly challenging. Why are New York City lawmakers trying to create mandates for farmers in our rural communities? They have no business doing so.”

The bill’s sponsors are Democratic Socialists of America member state Sen. Jabari Brisport (D-Brooklyn) and Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal (D-Manhattan). Other supporters include fellow DSA member Assemblywoman Emily Gallagher (D-Brooklyn) and downstate Democrats, including Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal (D-Manhattan) and Assemblywoman Jo Anne Simon (D-Brooklyn).

Notice that none of the sponsors of the bill are from areas that have dairy farms–they all represent areas of New York City.

The article concludes:

Critics claim Brisport and Rosenthal – the two sponsors of the bill – don’t understand how farming and upstate agriculture work.

“Our family-run, sometimes women-owned farms take great pride in caring for our land, animals, and communities,” said Jefferson County Agricultural Coordinator Jay Matteson in a statement provided by Walczyk’s office.

“Many of these farms provide important income to minorities and disadvantaged people.”

GOP House Rep. Elise Stefanik, who is eyeing a run for governor, called out the legislation as did a rival looking to pick up her congressional seat.

Stefanik called the proposal an “anti-farm bill” while Democrat Blake Gendebien, a St. Lawrence County farmer, complained “New York City Dems don’t get agriculture.”

Walczyk said state lawmakers from the city should focus on the five boroughs and “leave Upstate out of it.”

“Our farmers deserve support, not obstacles,” he stated. “This legislation will drive farms out of New York altogether.”

The farms the bill would impact provide the residents of New York City with milk, butter, and cheese. The legislators sponsoring this bill would do well to consider that.

Winning

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On Wednesday, The New York Post reported that America had reached a trade agreement with China.

The article reports:

President Trump announced early Wednesday that the US had reached a trade agreement with China following two days of negotiations in London.

“Our deal with China is done, subject to final approval with President Xi and me,” Trump revealed in an all-caps post on Truth Social. “Full magnets, and any necessary rare earths, will be supplied, up front, by China.”

“Likewise, we will provide to China what was agreed to, including Chinese students using our colleges and universities (which has always been good with me!). We are getting a total of 55% tariffs, China is getting 10%. The relationship is excellent! Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

The article concludes:

The commerce secretary said the new arrangement would see China ease barriers on rare earth minerals “in a balanced way,” without elaborating on specifics.

Lutnick (Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick) claimed that the framework brokered in London put “meat on the bones” on the Geneva consensus and would allow China to ease barriers on rare earth minerals “in a balanced way,” without elaborating on specifics.

China’s Vice Commerce Minister Li Chenggang had similarly confirmed late Tuesday that an agreement in London had been reached, subject to Trump’s and Xi’s approval.

I really would like to see a limit on the number of Chinese students allowed in our universities, but overall I think this will turn out to be a good deal.

Sports Records That Need An Asterisk!

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On Thursday, The New York Post posted an article about the high school girls’ Minnesota state softball championships.

The article reports:

A controversial high school softball team has made the Minnesota state championships for the first time after their star transgender pitcher smashed two doubles and pitched a complete game in a walk-off win.

Trans athlete Melissa Rothenberger’s performance helped her Champlin Park team beat White Bear Lake 3-2 on Wednesday, leading a girl on the losing team to cry and ask her father, “Why can’t you do something?” according to OutKick.

Rothenberger, a junior, went 2-3 at the plate for Champlin Park, sparking her team’s comeback victory after falling behind 2-0 and sending them to the Group 4A state championship Friday.

I guess to that coach, winning is more important than a level playing field.

The article concludes:

“You’re looking at a whole team of future Republicans,” one dad said.

The Minnesota State High School League [MSHSL] permits students to compete under gender identity, despite President Trump’s executive order barring all biological men from women’s sports.

The league has said that the inclusion of trans athletes is protected and “determined by state law, through the Minnesota Human Rights Act and the Minnesota Constitution,” Outkick reported.

While national governing sports organizations such as USA Softball and the NCAA have implemented female-only policies in women’s sports, state-level laws have created loopholes that allow trans athletes to participate.

If the general public does not support this, why is it continuing? Do people remember these things when they vote? If they don’t, we are doomed to have them continue.

When The Engineers Don’t Quite Get The Math Quite Right

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On Thursday, The New York Post posted an article about North Korea’s launch of its new navy destroyer. It didn’t go well.

The article reports:

North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un was left red-faced and furious after a navy destroyer was badly damaged during a botched launch as he looked on.

The hermit dictator slammed the incident as a national embarrassment and vowed to punish those responsible in a rare public admission of failure, according to state media.

Kim suffered a humiliating blow when the newly built 5,000-ton destroyer became unbalanced during its christening at the port of Chongjin on Wednesday.

The malfunction caused the vessel to slide prematurely into the water, crushing parts of the hull and leaving the bow stuck on the shipway, Korean Central News Agency reported.

The article concludes:

Seoul intelligence claim the Choe Hyon was likely built with Moscow’s assistance following last year’s strategic military partnership summit between Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

While North Korea’s naval forces are considered far inferior to South Korea’s, its destroyer program is still viewed as a serious threat by the West, given Kim’s nuclear arms.

Hours after releasing the report of the damaged destroyer, North Korea fired multiple cruise missiles from an area near the northeastern town of Sondok, according to South Korea’s military.

The hermit leader of North Korea is not someone to be taken lightly. His anger can easily be misplaced and misdirected in ways that could be a serious threat to world peace. I guess getting your shipbuilding plans from Russia might not be a great idea.

Getting Rid Of A Really Dumb Car Feature

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On Tuesday, The New York Post posted an article about a common-sense decision by Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin.

The article reports:

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin hinted Monday that he’s preparing to roll back one car feature that every driver “hates.”

“Start/stop technology: where your car dies at every red light so companies get a climate participation trophy,” Zeldin tweeted Monday in a post that has since racked up more than 8 million views.

“EPA approved it, and everyone hates it, so we’re fixing it.”

The feature kills internal combustion engines at red lights and has been touted by proponents for being able to conserve fuel and cut down on pollution.

Critics have questioned whether the feature can wear down the car’s battery or engine more quickly.

The “off-cycle CO2 reducing” tech has its origins in a federal rule proposed under President Barack Obama in 2012 — but didn’t take effect until new fuel economy standards to reduce greenhouse gas emissions five years later.

Between 2012 and 2021, the number of vehicles produced with a stop-start feature due to the carbon credits surged from 1% to 45%.

Up to 65% of vehicles had the technology included in new models by 2023.

For those of us who grew up driving clunkers while in high school, this feature is nerve wracking. The carburetor in my 1954 Lincoln used to jam causing the engine to stall. This often happened at stop lights. When my husband’s car shuts off at stop lights, it brings back really bad memories. There were times when we shoved a board into the engine to unstick whatever it was that stuck! That’s what I think of every time we are stopped at a traffic light–I am ready to get the board out of the trunk and go to work!

Rescuing The Children Impacted By The Open Border

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On Tuesday, The New York Post reported that Homeland Security agents in California rescued two teenage migrant sisters who were sex trafficked after they came across the southern border as unaccompanied minors.

The article reports:

It’s the latest effort by the Trump administration to track down more than 320,000 migrant children who went missing under President Joe Biden’s watch — kids whom whistleblowers have warned are vulnerable to exploitation.

Special agents with Homeland Security Investigations saved the girls, ages 16 and 18, Saturday from captivity at a hotel in West Covina, California, where Christopher Ramirez was allegedly “pimping” the young sisters out, sources told The Post.

Cops with the West Covina Police Department initially found the girls and arrested Ramirez on local charges.

The feds are still looking for co-conspirators who helped move the migrant girls, who are from Honduras, from Texas to California and forced them into prostitution, sources said.

The article concludes:

The Trump administration recently found that approved migrant sponsors were providing fake or doctored photos in their applications to HHS.

Tara Rodas, who became a whistleblower on the issue after she was recruited as a federal government employee to help HHS with an influx of migrant kids in 2021, told The Post that “targeting criminal sponsors is a simple yet powerful tool” the Trump administration can use to “save the children.”

“By targeting fraudulent sponsors, the Trump administration is sending a powerful message to predators who commit crimes against children,” she said.

Of the 320,000 missing migrant kids, 291,000 were released into the US and never given a date to appear in immigration court — meaning there is no way to track their whereabouts, according to the 14-page report — which tracked a period from October 2018 to September 2023.

Another 32,000 children were released with hearing dates but then failed to show up to their immigration hearings.

All of these children need to be located, assuming they are still alive. What happened at America’s southern border under the Biden administration was a disgrace. The cartels got richer, and innocent people paid the price.

The Spies We Love?

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On Saturday, The New York Post posted an article about Ming Xi Zhang, known as “Sushi John, Ya Ya Noodles in Montgomery Township, NJ. On March 24, Sushi John was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Newark.

The article reports:

Zhang was convicted in April 2024 of acting as an unregistered agent of the Chinese government and sentenced to three years’ probation. In May 2021, he pleaded guilty to having served as an agent of China in 2016 without notifying the U.S. Attorney General.

ICE says he legally entered the U.S. in 2000 but later “violated the terms of his lawful admission.”

…“Any illegal alien conducting activities related to espionage, sabotage or export control against the United States is subject to deportation,” said ICE Newark Field Office Director John Tsoukaris.

Zhang met with Chinese security officials in the Bahamas in 2016 and delivered $35,000 to an unnamed individual in New Jersey, according to NJ.com. He also admitted to twice hosting a Chinese government agent at his Princeton home that fall.

He’s being held at the Elizabeth Detention Center awaiting immigration proceedings, a worker at his restaurant told the Post on Saturday.

“He’s doing good, I mean, given the circumstances,” the worker said. “But yeah, he’s just kind of waiting… to get let out.”

The community surrounding Zhang’s restaurant has apparently rallied around him and his restaurant in the days since his arrest. 

“The whole town has been really supportive,” the worker said. “Everyone’s been coming in, offering phone numbers, talking to his family . . . everyone’s really supportive.”

What is wrong with Americans? The man was spying for a country that would very much like to eliminate America and its freedom. During World War II, would they have treated a Nazi spy this well?

How Could They Be So Cruel?

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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.

An American Prisoner Returns Home

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On Thursday, The New York Post reported that George Glezmann, who had been kidnapped by the Taliban in December 2022 has been released and is on his way back home.

The article reports:

A Georgia man held by Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers since December 2022 was on his way back to the US Thursday after Trump administration negotiators secured his freedom, a diplomatic source told The Post.

The Taliban kidnapped George Glezmann, 65, while he was visiting Afghanistan — but he has just been released following negotiations brokered by Trump special hostage envoy Adam Boehler, Taliban officials and Qatari officials.

Boehler and former US envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad met with Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman and senior adviser to the prime minister Majed Al Ansari as well as Afghanistan foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi to finalize Glezmann’s release earlier Thursday.

Glezmann later left Kabul en route to Doha following weeks of three-party talks.

It is wonderful that he is being returned, but why was he visiting Afghanistan? There are better places to go on vacation.

The article notes:

Former Secretary of State Antony Blinken testified before Congress in 2023 that at least 175 Americans remain stranded in Afghanistan, though he didn’t divulge how many were being wrongfully detained by the Taliban.

Qatar is taking the lead in providing support for Glezmann’s immediate repatriation and any necessary medical assistance as he flies back to be reunited with his family.

President Trump “has made the freedom and homecoming of Americans held abroad a high priority,” Khalilzad said on X. “It is an honor to assist in this important effort.”

“We extend our deepest appreciation to the State of Qatar, who’s steadfast commitment and diplomatic efforts were instrumental in securing George’s release,” added the State Department in a statement.

“Qatar has consistently proven to be a reliable partner and trusted mediator, facilitating complex negotiations,” the department added.

“George’s release is a positive and constructive step. It is also a reminder that other Americans are still detained in Afghanistan. President Trump will continue his tireless work to free ALL Americans unjustly detained worldwide.”

The work to return all overseas hostages to America needs to be a priority. American citizens need to have the full force of the government behind them when they travel overseas.

Scaring Up Voters–Literally!

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One of the signs held up by the Democrats at President Trump’s speech on Tuesday said “Save Medicaid.” Just for the record, Medicaid is not in danger. That is a scare tactic to try and persuade voters to vote Democrat.

On Wednesday, The New York Post reported:

Get ready to be bombarded with ghoulish ads warning about grandmothers dying and children denied needed cancer treatments “just to make billionaires like Elon Musk even richer.”

The ads, paid for by a Democratic PAC, started running Monday. And Monday night Democrats attending President Donald Trump’s speech to Congress held up paddles with the message “Save Medicaid.”

It’s demagoguery in full swing to combat Republican efforts to control federal spending on Medicaid and stabilize the nation’s debt.

Gov. Kathy Hochul is claiming, “House Republicans just voted to rip health care away from up to 1.8 million New Yorkers — all to bankroll giveaways for billionaires.”

The article notes:

These are lies. The needy are not going to lose their health care, and the demagogues know it. 

Truth is, congressional Republicans are finally sticking up for working people who resent covering the bills for healthy folks who refuse to work.

To control Medicaid spending, Republicans are calling for a “work requirement” for able-bodied adults without children or an elderly dependent.

“Work” overstates the toughness.  Anyone who is employed for 80 hours a month, or attends school, a training program or drug-recovery program and is low income will still be eligible for free care. Just not moochers.

Just a reminder–in 1996, President Clinton added a work requirement to welfare payments. President Obama removed it in July 2012. President Trump reinstated it in 2017. President Biden removed the work requirements for Medicaid and food stamps.

The article reminds us of the recent history of Argentina:

Take it from Javier Milei, Argentina’s president, elected one year ago.

He campaigned with a chainsaw, pledging deep cuts to his government’s out-of-control spending.

At that time, his country had one of the highest inflation rates in the world. A year later, inflation is coming down fast.

Republicans aren’t taking a chainsaw to Medicaid, but slowing its spending growth will help deter inflation and allow them to renew Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, which are about to expire.

Before 2017, the US was losing 10 multinational corporate headquarters a year to countries with lower corporate taxes.

After Trump’s 2017 cuts, the exodus stopped.

Renewing those corporate tax cuts is essential to save American jobs. Possibly yours.

When you hear the demagogues oppose Medicaid “cuts,” think of the guy sitting on the couch, while you go to work to pay his health-care tab.

Don’t fall for the phony sob stories.

Remember, there is no legal requirement for political ads to tell the truth.