Tag Archives: President Trump

The Cost of War

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War is expensive. It costs lives, loss of infrastructure, problems with the food supply, and a basic disruption of everything when it occurs. Unfortunately, it is also profitable for some people. It should also be noted that those who declare war are rarely the people called to fight the war they declare.

Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Since that time, America has given roughly $175 Billion dollars to Ukraine to fight that war. President Trump is now in the process of attempting to end that war.

Who is profiting from that war? Obviously, the defense industry’s weapons making business is doing well—they have to replace the weapons being used. But there seem to be other people profiting from the war as well. President Zelensky claims that Ukraine has only actually received $75 Billion. I have heard reports that the difference is simply a bookkeeping technicality, but I am not necessarily convinced of that.

Let’s look at some of the things that made it possible for Russia to invade Ukraine. Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The price of a barrel of oil in February 2022 was $107.69. To provide some perspective, in January 2021, when President Biden took office, oil was selling for $63.68 a barrel. Because of the Biden administration’s energy policies which ended American energy independence, by February 2022 the price of a barrel of oil was $107.69. The Russian economy is dependent on oil exports. Oil prices are determined internationally. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has some control over oil prices, but that control lessens when America is exporting oil. Because the Russian economy is dependent on oil exports (and thus dependent on the cost of a barrel of oil), when the price of oil falls, Russia experiences fiscal deficits, a weaker economy, and a weaker currency. When President Trump was in office, the price of oil was low, and Russia could not afford to invade Ukraine. The invasion of Ukraine had to do with a weak President (President Biden), but it also had to do with the escalating price of oil. That is no longer the case. Oil prices today are roughly $70 a barrel.

It is quite possible that we will see the war in Ukraine end in the coming weeks. To some degree that is due to the negotiating skills of President Trump, but it is also due to the economic and energy policies of President Trump. We are learning that putting a man in the White House with business skills will help all Americans economically as well as pave the way for peace by using economic leverage.

The Actions Of A Nasty Little Man

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On Saturday, Townhall posted an article illustrating one way the Biden administration was involved in the lawfare against President Trump. There were many aspects of the actions of the Biden administration that were clearly illegal.

The article quotes Fox News:

The Biden White House turned over government cellphones belonging to President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence to the FBI in May 2022 as part of a bureau probe into the aftermath of the 2020 election, tying Trump to that investigation without sufficient predication, Fox News Digital has learned.

The FBI did not need a warrant to physically obtain the government phones from the Biden White House.

But after acquiring the devices, agents began drafting a search warrant to extract the phones’ data, sources familiar with the investigation told Fox News Digital.

“The Biden White House played right along with the FBI’s ‘gotcha’ scheme against Trump,” a source familiar with the investigation told Fox News Digital. “Biden’s Office of White House Counsel, under the leadership of Dana Remus and Jonathan Su, gave its blessing and accommodation for the FBI to physically obtain Trump and Pence’s phones in early May 2022. Weeks later, the FBI began drafting a search warrant to extract the phones’ data.”

The phones were obtained and entered as evidence as part of the FBI’s original anti-Trump 2020 election investigation, which eventually was taken over by special counsel Jack Smith. That case was known inside the bureau as “Arctic Frost” and was opened April 13, 2022, by anti-Trump former FBI agent Timothy Thibault.

Thibault, according to whistleblowers, broke protocol and played a critical role in opening and advancing the bureau’s original investigation related to the 2020 election, tying Trump to the probe without sufficient predication. Thibault broke protocol by taking action to open the investigation and involve Trump despite being unauthorized to open criminal investigations in his role. Only special agents have the authority to open criminal investigations.

There were a lot of rules and policies ignored in the treatment of President Trump during the Biden administration. It would be nice to see the people who ignored those rules and policies held accountable. Unfortunately, if the case of Former FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith is any indication, there will not be serious consequences for their actions. Clinesmith lied on the FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) application. His lie resulted in the illegal surveillance of President Trump and his campaign and to the Russia Hoax. Clinesmith in August pleaded guilty to “one count of making a false statement within both the jurisdiction of the executive branch and judicial branch of the U.S. government, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of five years and a fine of up to $250,000.” He was given 12 months probation, 400 hours of community service, and no fine.

The Stories We Have Been Told

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On Thursday, Victor Davis Hanson posted an article at Front Page Magazine about the myths we have been told about Ukraine.

He reminds us of much of the history of Europe:

Fable one: Trump is appeasing Russia?

Who wiped out the Wagner group in Syria? Who sold offensive weapons to Ukraine first? Who warned Germany not to become dependent on the Russian Nord Stream II deal?

Who withdrew from an unfair missile deal with the Russians? Who cajoled and berated NATO members to meet their military investment promises made following the 2014 invasion of Ukraine?

Fable two: A trade war?

President Donald Trump is not wildly slapping tariffs on Europeans.

He is simply saying that 1945 is now 80 years past and that the asymmetrical tariffs that Europe imposes on U.S. imports should be corrected. The massive trade surpluses Europe accumulates each year should give way to fairer, more balanced trade.

Fable three: America is bullying Europe?

The U.S. does not actively interfere in European elections and politics.

In 2024, Europeans, especially the British Laborites, bragged about sending over campaign “volunteers” to work against Trump and, earlier, his conservative predecessors.

British subject Christopher Steele sought to sabotage an entire American 2016 election with a falsified “dossier.”

The Ukrainian ambassador in 2016 wrote an op-ed all but endorsing Hillary Clinton and trashing her opponent.

Fable four: Negotiating with Putin is selling out?

In the long history of Western diplomacy with mass-murdering tyrants, Putin doesn’t even rank among the worst. Just ask his former reset partners Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

FDR fueled mass-murdering “Uncle Joe” Stalin’s Red Army as a way to defeat Nazi Germany.

Richard Nixon flattered and cajoled the greatest mass murderer in history, Mao Zedong, to triangulate China against the Soviet Union.

Fable five: Europe is going to save Ukraine?

Europe rushed to congratulate and celebrate with Zelenskyy after his pre-planned White House blow-up. They are loudly announcing that a supposedly isolationist and appeasing U.S. — which has sent more aid to Ukraine than all nearby European nations combined — will now be supplanted by a “new” muscular and rearmed Europe.

We sincerely hope so.

The article concludes:

Aside from all the present posturing and mock-heroics, the only way to save Ukraine is for the U.S. president, Donald Trump, to reflect joint Ukrainian, American, and European interests in stopping the war, forcing Putin as far back eastward as possible where he started in 2022, and creating a credible deterrent along with a DMZ/industrial corridor tripwire to stop another 2008, 2014, and 2022 invasion.

Anything else is empty carnival barking.

Hopefully, the current negotiations will finally end the war.

This Has Not Been Widely Reported

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On March 7th, NewsMax posted an article about the February Jobs Report. The media is ignoring the shift from foreign-born workers to American workers. That is good news.

The article reports:

President Trump praised the February jobs report for indicating that American-born workers gained 284,000 more jobs, while jobs held by foreign-born workers contracted by 87,000, Brietbart reports.

“Big gains for native-born Americans,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Friday. “For the first time in 15 months, the job gains for native-born Americans, people born in America, exceeded job gains for migrant and foreign-born workers.”

The article reminds us:

During the Biden administration, when inflation rose a cumulative 21.3%, Americans lost earning power in the labor in the labor and housing markets, as well as workplace productivity and training.

White-collar jobs and factory jobs were outsourced, while local communities became unstable due to progressive policies such as Defund the Police and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, says Steve Camarota, a researcher at the Center for Immigration Studies.

Further, as expanding blocs of migrants-turned-ethnic-voters demanded benefits, native-born Americans lost political power, Camaraota says.

There is room for more improvement for native-born Americans in the labor market, as current data shows that the share of Americans with jobs remains at historic lows.

For instance, Camarota notes, the labor force participation of U.S.-born men without a bachelor’s degree between the ages of 18 and 64 is 75.6%, down from 80.6% in 2006 and nearly 90% in the 1960s, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Unfortunately, the Workforce Participation Rate has continued to drop slightly since September of last year, but hopefully that can be turned around quickly.

How The Freed Hostages View The Trump Presidency

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On Thursday, The Times of Israel posted an article about the meeting between President Trump and eight former Hamas hostages.

The article reports:

“[Trump and Witkoff] made a deal possible, they got us all home,” Keith Siegel is quoted saying in the statement released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. “We urged them to continue their enormous efforts. They have done so much. We trust them and we know they will get the job done to get all the rest of the 59 remaining hostages held in Gaza back to their families, back to Israel.”

Fellow freed captive Eli Sharabi says the group met with Trump “to ensure that the 59 hostages still being held will be released through an agreement for their return as soon as possible,” and thanks the US president and Witkoff for being “committed to this goal.”

A March 6 article at The Geller Report quotes some of the former hostages:

Naama Levy: “You were our hope when we were there and now you are their hope.”

Trump: “Until I came along you didn’t think you would get home?”

Former Hostages: “No.”

Listen to several of the freed Israeli hostages describe the brutality of Hamas captivity to President Trump. No member of Hamas should walk the earth.

“My family and I believe you were sent by God to rescue the hostages,” said one surviving hostage to President Trump. Thank you to President Trump for taking the time to listen to these former hostages in the Oval Office.

President Trump has issued an ultimatum to Hamas telling them to free the remaining hostages. We have no idea how many hostages are still alive, but it is time to go in and destroy Hamas. We cannot allow the remaining hostages to continue to be mistreated. Where is the international outcry?

View From the Lair

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Topsy Turvy

It is fascinating to watch the reactions being created by President Trump from all the people who think they know what to expect. As if this time around it will in any way resemble his first administration. It isn’t and it won’t. People who hate him will be absolutely blindsided by his works; people who like him will be delighted.  President Trump doesn’t think outside of the box; he thinks outside of the planet.

Yet so many people expect him to do things the way that they have always been done, just a little bit differently. WRONG! And people are beginning to have their eyes opened. Zelensky actually thought that he could push POTUS around like he did Obozo and Brandon. That didn’t work out well for him. It did give Lindsey Graham an opportunity to get on the right bus. Graham couldn’t just flip flop without a good reason. Okay, he could have, it’s not like some people who do it all the time and expect no one to notice. But it gave him plausible deniability to change his position on Ukraine.

POTUS didn’t push Graham, he pulled.

He has threatened tariffs on countries that are contributing to the harm to our people. He has threatened tariffs on countries that impose tariffs on our goods entering their country. Traditional conservative economists (unlike Paul Krugman, an example of just how moronic the Nobel Committee is) bemoan tariffs as destructive to the economy, inflationary, protecting laborers and companies from their own inefficiencies.

And, yes in a traditional, classical economic environment they may have a point. This is anything but a classical economic environment.

What too many people are not comprehending is that POTUS is using tariffs as a negotiating tool. What is more important – increasing the price of goods imported from Mexico or Canada or reducing the amounts of illegal drugs coming in from either country? Or perhaps using the threat, even imposing them for a while, in order to get the leaders of both of the other countries to understand that POTUS means what he says. This is POTUS’ greatest weapon – He says what he means and DOES WHAT HE SAYS! This is such a totally unusual behavior that people –both friends and foe– just can’t wrap their heads around it.

The result by many on the Marxist side is to bluster and babble and run to their attorney. Good. Once the SCOTUS gets a hold of it, leftist minds will really start to explode. I can’t wait!

By following through on his promises and getting the results expected, he will pull even some anti-Trumpers over to the right side, if only to not look like perfect fools. Of course there will be some – AOC, etc. who delight us in being fools. They can’t help it; it’s what they are. But eventually some of even the die-hard dummycrats will wake up from their wokeness and realize that their bus has left them behind. And under it.

ciao

The Snark

A Short History Lesson On Ukraine

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In August 1991, Ukraine separated from Russia. This was roughly two years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. In December 1994, a treaty called the Budapest Memorandum was signed which stated that Ukraine would give away its nuclear missiles (it had the world’s third-largest nuclear stockpile) in exchange for guarantees that the U.S., the U.K. and Russia would respect the independence and sovereignty of its existing borders. Obviously that treaty was not worth the paper it was written on.

In March 2014, Russia annexes Crimea. There was a referendum with the vote in Crimea favoring secession, but the results of that vote have been disputed. The Obama administration and U.S. allies in Europe imposed sanctions on Russia. Also in 2017, Petro Poroshenko is elected President of Ukraine. He stays in office until 2019 when Volodymyr Zelenskyy is elected on a promise to end the corruption in the country. President Obama asigns Vice-President Biden as the administration’s front man in Ukraine. On January 23, 2018, Vice-President Biden gives a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations telling the story of getting the Ukrainian prosecutor investigating Hunter Biden fired after the Vice-President threatened to withhold $1 Billion in foreign aid to Ukraine. I guess the corruption was still there even after Zelenskyy was elected. Some of the people involved with Ukraine under the Obama administration were Victoria Nuland and Alexander Vindman. You may recognize the name Alexander Vindman from the first impeachment trial of President Trump.

On Friday, February 28, 2025, there was a meeting in the Oval Office between President Trump and President Zelenskyy. Various other people were in attendance, among them JD Vance and Ukrainian Ambassador Oksana Markarova.

This is the reaction of the Ukrainian Ambassador as the events of that meeting unfolded:

The purpose of the meeting was to sign an already-agreed-to treaty about mineral rights in Ukraine. President Zelenskyy had already agreed to the treaty but had repeatedly declined opportunities to sign the deal in Kyiv or Munich. He requested the meeting at the White House. Before the meeting, he met with a number of Congressmen from both political parties. Also included in that meeting were U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and National Security Advisor Susan Rice, Deputy Secretary of State under President Obama and National Security Advisor to then-Vice President Joe Biden and former Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Victoria Nuland, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs from 2013 to 2017 and U.S. Ambassador to NATO from 2005 to 2008, and Alexander Vindman, a retired United States Army lieutenant colonel who was the Director of European Affairs for the United States National Security Council until he was reassigned on February 7, 2020. You may remember Alexander Vindman from the first impeachment trial of President Trump. This group advised Zelenskyy to ask for a White House meeting with the intention of causing President Trump to lose his temper in order generate sympathy for the Ukrainian cause and President Zelenskyy. The idea was to force President Trump to put American troops in Ukraine and continue the war.  This group is a representation of what is referred to as ‘the deep state.’ They all have connections and investments that profit from the corruption and the continuing war in Ukraine.

Why would anyone want to continue the war? Well, as usual, follow the money. According to CBS News in September 2023, some of the things we are funding in Ukraine include seeds and fertilizer for Ukrainian farmers, salaries of Ukraine’s first responders (57,000 of them), divers clearing unexploded ammunition from the rivers–to make them safe again for swimming and fishing. We are subsidizing small businesses-paying salaries and taxes. We are essentially supporting the country.

Corruption is rampant in Ukraine, and we have no accountability as to how the money we are sending is being spent. If the war continues and our spending continues, the people who are getting kickbacks from the spending will continue to thrive as the citizens of Ukraine suffer. I have read over the weekend that Zelenskyy has stated that he is now willing to sign the treaty. If that is true, this will be the fourth time he has said that. Let’s hope this time he means it.

What Is Zelensky Fighting For?

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Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the White House on Friday. It did not go well for him. First of all, in my opinion, showing up at the White House to meet the President in gym clothes is disrespectful. There are restaurants who wouldn’t let Zelensky in dressed like that! Second of all, evidently the agreement had been worked out beforehand, as is the custom with these events. Instead of simply signing the previously worked out agreement, President Zelensky decided he wanted some things changed. He made his request publicly instead of in private, as is the custom. The first rule of holes is to stop digging; President Zelensky chose to ignore that rule. The look on his Ambassador’s face tells the whole story. She at least understood what was happening.

On Friday, Breitbart posted an article about the meeting.

The article reports:

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) praised President Donald Trump for giving “a masterclass on how to stand up for America” after kicking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky out of the White House after he made several “disrespectful” comments.

As Breitbart News’s Katherine Hamilton previously reported, Zelensky’s comments were made “in front of the media ahead of planned private talks and the expected signing of the much-discussed minerals deal.”

After Zelensky was kicked out of the White House, the “White House confirmed” that Zelensky had not signed the minerals deal and Trump issued a statement in a post on Truth Social stating that he had “determined that President Zelensky is not ready for Peace if America is involved.”

I have a feeling that the gravy trail with kickbacks that has been going to Ukraine for the past few years is about to end.

The Result Of Losing Accountability

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On Friday, The Federalist posted an article about President Trump’s recent firing of a number of  high-ranking military officers.

An article posted at Military.com in August 2020 reported:

…In April 1945, when we had four five-stars and 13 four-stars…

Wikipedia states:

There are currently 38 active-duty four-star officers in the uniformed services of the United States:

We won a major war with 17 generals. We haven’t won one since.

The article at The Federalist points out:

An “Appeal to Congress” from five former secretaries of defense warns that Donald Trump is firing flag officers, which is unprecedented and an assault on American political norms. This letter is an appalling package of dangerous claims and dumber than a box of rocks. But let’s take a helpful detour before we get into the details.

An essay Thursday from a professor at the U.S. Naval War College makes a similar argument and perfectly represents the moment:

…The president does have the authority to remove these officers; three- and four-star officers hold that rank only while they possess the position of importance and responsibility to which they have been specifically nominated by the president, and they serve at the pleasure of the president. But just because something is legal does not make it wise.

The article summarizes problems with the case made by the generals protesting their firing:

  1. These measures constitute a crisis;
  2. The president does have the authority to remove these officers… and they serve at the pleasure of the president.

It’s a crisis that the president of the United States is exercising authority that he has.

The article at The Federalist concludes:

Ricks (Thomas Ricks, who wrote A History of American Generals) asked three important questions as he noted the sharp trend away from the view that generals can be fired: “How and why did we lose the longstanding practice of relieving generals for failure? Why has accountability declined? And is it connected to the decline in the operational competence of American generals?”

The current president’s decision to fire flag officers isn’t a break with American law and tradition. The “Appeal to Congress” from former secretaries of defense certainly is. The warning about a crisis is the crisis. This dangerous argument needs to be hammered into its grave, quickly and forcefully.

It is time to clean house ALL through the government.

There Are Financial Reasons Some Judges Are Fighting President Trump

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Om Thursday, The Daily Signal posted an article detailing the background of some of the judges opposing the agenda of President Trump.

The article notes:

Federal judges ruling against President Donald Trump’s recent executive actions have been almost entirely appointees of his two Democrat predecessors.

Some were previously activists, others were steeped in Democrat politics, and one is a former clerk for then-Judge Sonia Sotomayor. These judges have issued rulings to block Trump’s policies on immigration, federal spending, the Department of Government Efficiency, and other matters. 

Plaintiffs have been “forum shopping” to attain more favorable rulings, said Curt Levey, president of the Committee for Justice. Forum shopping means they search for specific parts of the country where judges are more likely to be liberal and sympathetic to their case.

Here is some information on some of the judges involved:

A one-time major Democrat donor, U.S. District Judge John McConnell Jr. of Rhode Island, recently sided with a group of Democrat state attorneys general in a lawsuit to block Trump’s attempted funding freeze for numerous federal grants to nongovernmental organizations. 

From 2000 until when President Barack Obama nominated him to the federal bench in 2010, McConnell contributed about $60,000 to Democrat candidates. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce opposed his nomination, noting his long career as a lawyer who sued over lead paint and tobacco, Forbes reported. 

…In a separate case targeting the order on the funding freeze, U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan of the District of Columbia, an appointee of President Joe Biden, imposed a restraining order on the freeze. AliKhan was previously on the District of Columbia Court of Appeals and the D.C. solicitor general. 

U.S. District Judge Amir Ali of the District of Columbia, a Biden appointee, enforced a restraining order to prevent the spending freeze on foreign aid disbursed by the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development. In 2020, Ali contributed $1,500 to Biden’s presidential campaign, according to OpenSecrets.org. He also made modest contributions to numerous other Democrat candidates. 

…U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang of the District of Maryland, an Obama appointee, blocked the Trump administration from conducting immigration raids and arrests at certain houses of worship. 

During much of Obama’s time in office, Chuang was the deputy general counsel for the Department of Homeland Security. Before that, from 2007 to 2009, he was the deputy chief investigative counsel for the Democrat majority on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. He was also a past contributor to several Democrat candidates, including giving $750 to Obama’s 2008 campaign and $1,250 to the 2004 presidential bid of Democrat John Kerry. 

You get the picture. Please follow the link above to the article for information on some of the other judges involved. None of these judges can realistically be expected to be objective.

The Double Standard In The Church

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On Tuesday, The American Thinker posted an article about some of the recent comments made by the Catholic Church.

The article reports:

Within days of Donald Trump’s November landslide, Bishop Mark Seitz, head of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ migration committee, warned that Their Eminences were preparing to “’raise our voice loudly’” if Trump’s immigration policy “’violates basic human rights.’”

This episcopal loudness signals the end of the USCCB’s scrupulously-maintained four-year vow of silence through the entire presidency of the “devoutly” Catholic Joe Biden.

Their silence spoke volumes to Catholics witnessing Biden doing his utmost to wage open war on the most fundamental teachings of the Church. Not only was this “‘good Catholic’” (Biden claimed Pope Francis described him this way during a 2021 audience), the most extreme pro-abortion president in history, but his DoJ used federal law enforcement to imprison peaceful pro-lifers, and target traditional Catholics as “potential domestic terrorists.”

Biden proclaimed “transgender equality” to be “the civil rights issue of our time,” and weaponized his administration to pressure international medical experts to abandon limits on trans surgeries for minors. He transformed the White House lawn into a Pride Celebration freakshow of gender deviants, which went viral thanks to one particularly repulsive “transgender woman” flashing his fake breasts for the cameras.

The article concludes:

Last October, a survey of Catholic Trump supporters showed an astounding 76 percent agreeing with the statement, “I support Trump because of his stance on immigration.” Are Pope Francis and the American bishops really telling all these Catholics their consciences are “wrongly-formed”? and their sole recourse is to renounce MAGA and embrace the Left’s disastrous erasure of our national borders?

This is a grave indictment. Yet, for some reason, Catholic Democrats are spared such pastoral rebukes. On one side we have a formal papal letter effectively anathematizing any Catholic who agrees with deporting illegal immigrants; on the other, an offhand interview remark entrusting President Biden’s intransigent abortion extremism to his “‘good Catholic’” conscience. 

As far as the bishops go, too much of this incoherence is the fruit of Marxist thought prevalent in Catholic seminaries in the 1960s. The USCCB’s one-sided social-justice hectoring exemplifies Herbert Marcuse’s “liberating tolerance” — “intolerance against movements from the Right, and toleration of movements from the Left.”

Millions of Catholics, watching how their bishops publicly fawn over politicians like Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden — whose progressive views on climate change or income redistribution they share — infer falsely that “good Catholic” and “good Democrat” are interchangeable. The Babylon Bee headline, “Pope Francis Announces That God Agrees With Whatever It Is Democrats Want To Do Right Now,” has a disturbing basis in reality.

President Trump has emerged as a sort of litmus test to see if people in authority actually have principles. When they become so anti-Trump that they will justify open borders knowing that it includes drug and human trafficking in order to support a Democrat President, they have lost their moral compass.

The Money Machine Is Drying Up For The Cartels

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On Monday, Breitbart posted an article about the migrant smuggling machine that has made so much money during the past four years.

The article reports:

What was once a “well-oiled migrant smuggling machine” into the United States has collapsed thanks to President Trump’s border enforcement and promise to deport every illegal alien in the country. So, to make money now, many of these same smugglers are taking self-deportees back to Venezuela.

Naturally, the far-left Associated Press reports on this as though it’s a bad thing…

“They once braved the jungles of the Darien Gap, trekking days along the perilous migrant passage dividing Colombia and Panama with a simple goal: seek asylum in the U.S.,” reports the AP. “Now, boat-by-boat, those migrants … have given up after President Donald Trump’s crackdown on asylum, and are returning to the countries they once sought to escape.”

Hey, all Trump did was enforce the law. If people want asylum, there is a legal way to ask for asylum at a point of entry. These folks didn’t do that. Former President Joe Biden tried to aid and abet their lawlessness with an app that would grant them an asylum hearing, but that’s now how it works, that is not the law, and Trump killed the app.

So now, tee hee…

After explaining that the boats had until recently been “part of a well oiled migrant smuggling machine” that was extremely lucrative for the smugglers, who took advantage of a seemingly unending influx of “hundreds of thousands” heading in the United States, AP came to my favorite part:

“But now that much of the Darien’s migrant smuggling industry has collapsed, some smugglers are taking advantage of the reverse migration to charge steep costs to migrants – between $200 and $250 per person, including minors – for the boat rides.”

I admit that our immigration system is broken and needs to be fixed. However, as long as we elect politicians rather than patriots, that system is not going to be fixed. Meanwhile, we need to enforce the laws as they are written. When illegal aliens self-deport, it saves the government money. That is not a bad thing.

Spending Taxpayer Money On Americans

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On Thursday, President Trump signed an Executive Order to ensure taxpayer resources are not used to incentivize or support illegal immigration. The fact that taxpayer money was giving people who are here illegally rooms in luxury hotels in New York City and prepaid credit cards is a disgrace. We have Americans who need help with housing, homeless people, and military people in need of medical care, and we are prioritizing people who are here illegally.

The White House webpage states the following:

Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order to ensure taxpayer resources are not used to incentivize or support illegal immigration.

    • The Order directs Federal departments and agencies to identify all federally funded programs currently providing financial benefits to illegal aliens and take corrective action.
    • It ensures that Federal funds to states and localities will not be used to support “sanctuary” policies or assist illegal immigration.
    • It mandates improvements in eligibility verification to prevent benefits from going to individuals unlawfully present in the United States.
    • President Trump is committed to safeguarding Federal public benefits for American citizens who are truly in need, including individuals with disabilities and veterans.

We need Congress to pass a law codifying this Executive Order.

When The Objections Illustrate The Problem

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If your news sources are limited to the mainstream media, you might think that now is not a good time to visit Yosemite National Park–you might not be able to get into the restroom! Obviously that is ridiculous, but not to everyone.

On February 23rd, Townhall reported the following:

There’s something about being exposed that causes stupidity; a kneejerk reaction to push back against reality, no matter how obvious. As DOGE and President Donald Trump work to expose and fight government waste, fraud and abuse (how sad is it that they have to FIGHT Democrats to end those things?), more ways in which the federal government has been doing those things is coming to light.

…One of the dumbest and most hilarious cases of this very phenomenon was on display in a story in the Washington Post this week. It opens with this paragraph, “At California’s Yosemite National Park, the Trump administration fired the only locksmith on staff on Friday. He was the sole employee with the keys and the institutional knowledge needed to rescue visitors from locked restrooms.”

I have questions.

Why is there a locksmith on staff, as a locksmith, when you could just contract with one when needed? How often in your life have you said, “Damnit, why isn’t there a locksmith on staff?!” At the most, I’d say one time. But the odds are heavily in favor of never.

Next, why is this guy the only person with keys? Is that the source of his job security? “Fire me and you’ll never get into any building or room again, because I will destroy every key!” Doubtful, as other locksmiths exist, not to mention the fact that changing a lock isn’t all that hard.

The article concludes:

I promise you there are hundreds of thousands, if not millions of examples of other things too stupid to believe that our government pays for because no one is accountable for wasting money or cares. 

This is the system Democrats and Republicans created over the years, but only Democrats defend now. They wouldn’t run their family’s finances this way, and if they ran a company’s books the way they allow government to function they’d all be in jail. 

Remember that the next time you have an argument with one of your liberal friends about how “evil” Trump and Elon Musk are. Of course, there’s a better than average chance you’d be having that argument through a bathroom door with your friend “trapped” inside as they await the locksmith’s arrival, which makes the whole conversation pretty easy to avoid.

I am totally convinced that Yosemite National Park could put a locksmith on speed dial to avoid any problems firing the current one might cause.

View From the Lair

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Remember the Elephant

The symbol of the Republican Party is an elephant, representing dignity and strength. It didn’t start that way; cartoonist Thomas Nast portrayed Republicans as such in a number of different settings, some not so kindly. Elephants are also noted for their excellent memory. I don’t think that that particular elephantine talent always translates to the Republican Party. It should. It better.

Now that the Trump-Musk BullDOGEr has crushed and chewed its’ way into the Deep State Swamp the rats are scrambling. Leftist’s wails and screams and gnashing of teeth are music to my ears. They are attempting to fight back, of course. This time President Trump and Elon Musk are far better prepared not just to do battle but to eviscerate their opposition. Good for them.

There is a new book out, you might have seen it advertised – I’m reading it now and comparing it to the revelations being exposed by The BullDOGEr.

“The Woketopus: The Dark Money Cabal that is Manipulating The Federal Government” was published and released before the BullDOGEr got started but it reveals the tentacles and kudzu like morass of NGO’s, government agencies and dark money from the likes of George Soros. Possible also from Satan, though it’s hard to tell the difference.

“Woketopus” is one of, if not THE, most researched and footnoted books I’ve ever read. It follows the money trail from and through the government to all of the myriad Marxist agencies infecting our government.

Trump and Musk are making fabulous – and frightening – progress in slashing both the size of government and fraud, waste and abuse. We can hope that their efforts will be long lasting.

Yet I fear that Republicans (not to mention the general public) will not long enough remember what has been done to our Republic that they are having to undo. Marxists are nothing if not tenacious. They play the long (and dirty) game. They are not like a simple weed that can be plucked from the lawn or garden and discarded forever.

No, they are more like kudzu or Poison Ivy, that even after being cut, sprayed and pulled, the tiniest remnant will return to infest the lawn and garden, stealing the strength and sapping the energy of the honest bureaucrat (yes, an oxymoron. Though a few might exist. Like unicorns.) who is actually trying to spend our hard-earned tax dollars wisely and efficiently. (You have no idea how hard that concept is for me to grasp. Or type.)

We MUST remember. We MUST insist on transparency. We MUST refuse to sit back and expect this lesson to be learned. Because the Donkey party is stubborn. They are obnoxious. And they will fight back. They must be treated like General Sherman treated Georgia. On second thought – compared to what the Marxists deserve, Sherman was too kind.

ciao

The Snark

It Pays To Check The Facts Before You Lecture

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On Saturday, Townhall posted an article that essentially fact-checked a recent statement by MSNBC host Rachel Maddow. Rachel Maddow was criticizing President Donald Trump for giving Elon Musk a $400 million contract to buy armored Teslas. The only problem with the criticism was that the contract was not awarded under President Trump, but under President Biden.

The article reports:

MSNBC host Rachel Maddow has once again found herself in hot water after making false claims about President Donald Trump giving Elon Musk a $400 million contract to buy armored Teslas. The liberal pundit, known for her questionable takes and liberal meltdowns, fabricated this narrative despite no evidence to back up the allegation. This latest misstep only adds to the growing list of inaccuracies from Maddow and other left-wing media figures attempting to distort the truth to discredit Trump and Musk.

…Although Maddow accused Musk of “self-dealing” regarding the multi-million dollar armored Tesla deal, she neglected to mention that the procurement list was revised under Biden on December 13, 2024— several weeks before Trump took office. The State Department stated that the Biden administration had requested it to explore options for adding armor to off-the-shelf electric vehicles, and the project was still in its initial phases.

Anyone who still watches the mainstream media and believes what it says is not only uninformed–they are misinformed.

Reversing A Bad Decision

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There are still a lot of questions about the Covid-19 vaccine. There are questions about its effectiveness and its risks. It was rushed through as an emergency measure with the claim that we had no effective cure for Covid. It seems that there may have been a cure that was squelched. I am not a doctor, so I can’t say for sure, but many reputable doctors have claimed that ivermectin cures Covid. The restrictions that were put on the unvaccinated were unfair. The masks were ineffective, and according to one pulmonary specialist I have talked to, interfered with basic immune function and led to a spike in pneumonia cases. So the bottom line is that we have more questions than answers. That is what makes President Trump’s Executive Order on funding schools with vaccine mandates a reasonable action.

On Friday, The Daily Signal reported:

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday cutting off federal funding to schools that mandate the COVID-19 vaccine, fulfilling a promise he made repeatedly on the campaign trail.

“OK, that solves that problem,” said Trump after he signed the order in the Oval Office.

The order prohibits “federal funds from being used to support” any educational institution “that requires students to have received a COVID-19 vaccination to attend in-person education programs.”

In many places, the vaccine was reserved for the elderly and those who had some sort of medical condition. School-age students generally were able to survive Covid, develop natural immunity, and go on with their lives.

The article concludes:

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., who has emerged as one of the Senate’s most passionate supporters of Trump’s and Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda, told The Daily Signal that he wholeheartedly supported the move to grant parents more control over their children’s health care.

“Mandating the COVID injections for anyone, much less children, was an outrage and violated the principle of informed consent,” said Johnson. “Ending what never should have happened is obviously welcome.”

Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., who in 2021 voted to block then-President Joe Biden’s attempts to mandate vaccines for millions of workers, likewise praised the move.

“I fully agree with President Trump’s decision to stop federal funds from going to schools that mandate the COVID-19 vaccine,” said Lummis in a statement given to The Daily Signal. 

“This type of unscientific overreach is a blatant violation of Americans’ personal freedoms and has no place in schools supported by the American taxpayer,” she said.

Because the government was able to send the American people into a panic, many of our Constitutional freedoms were ignored. We cannot let that happen again.

Pay Attention To Who Is Screaming The Loudest

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President Trump and Elon Musk have certainly shaken things up in Washington. You would think everyone would get on board with cleaning up fraud and waste in the government and cutting spending. It kind of makes you wonder why anyone would oppose those things. Well, we are starting to find out why.

On Wednesday, Hot Air posted an article about one group who is opposed to all of the sunlight currently shining on government expenses. I know that this is an incredible coincidence, but one of the groups opposed to looking into and cutting the spending has received a lot of money from the government agency doing the spending.

The article reports:

It might be easier to keep a list of who in the Establishment DOESN’T get USAID funding than those who do. 

As everybody in the Elite screams from the top of their lungs about the injustice of it all, it turns out that cuts to USAID are so offensive to them because USAID is nothing but a piggy bank for every damn one of them. 

The article includes the following:

That might explain the following:

The article notes:
Senator Kennedy, who can always be counted on for interesting comments, is quoted on X:
The article concludes:

I want to see where every dollar goes. Every self-righteous organization, by complaining, is outing itself as yet another grifter that subsists off the hard work of the people they are working to suppress.

This is a war between the Establishment and the people. Nothing less.

Stay tuned and get out the popcorn!

View From the Lair

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Where does the Rabbit Hole Lead?

We’ve all seen – some have marveled joyously, others sobbed bitter tears (but not enough yet) while watching DOGE do their thing.  President Trump is rolling through the swamp like a bulldozer, spreading fear and panic among the leftist bureaucrats and congress critters alike.  News agencies have been revealed to have been supported by tax dollars through subscriptions. These aren’t simple magazine subscriptions – site access running as much as $20K per month. PER SUBSCRIPTION! Not that such largess would lead to any bias towards the woke flunky who approved of such graft.

We’re discovering that USAID spent billions – yes BILLIONS on woke Marxist causes around the world.  Some of my Facebook “friends” (yes, I do occasionally go there) are bemoaning the loss of money for all of the food and sustenance support that USAID delivers. Like support for terrorists. It’s understandable that the leftists would want the graft to continue, after all that is their whole justification for advancing their socialist agenda. Let Uncle Sugar pay for his own destruction.

But is that the only reason that congress critters and NGO’s are upset? Yes, loss of influence is important. But what if there is more?  Maybe much more? The leftists in congress are proud of the $200 billion in aid that they have sent to Volodymyr Zalenskyy for his futile war against Russia. Never mind that it could have -and should have- been ended three years ago. But Zelenskyy claims that Ukraine only received $100 Billion. So what happened to the other half of the grift? Did resident Brandon collect his 10%?  Or …maybe more?  Where did the money go?  Did Zelenskyy and his pals spirit it off to a bank in the Caymans?  Or Switzerland? Did some of it find its way back to the pockets of some well-placed government benefactors?

DOGE is finding that there were NO restraints on whomever was doling out big bucks. It didn’t matter if the recipients were terrorists, whether they had a SS number, or if they were in the country legally or not. Just pay ’em.

Resident Brandon made sure to pardon almost everyone he (or someone) could think of that might have committed an indiscretion. Except himself. But what about possible crimes committed since then? Fair game. Did Fauci benefit more than he revealed? For that matter, what has he even revealed? Did any of the money that was sent to Wuhan come sneaking back to its benefactor? Were all of the royalties he received (and what was it he did to earn them?) Was all of the taxable income reported? And paid?

How many are really upset because their gravy train has been derailed? Mayor Pete to the rescue! Finding out how much money was spent -and subverted – is extremely important. But once the funds are accounted for (as much as it can be done) then it’s time to follow that money. Both to find out who was responsible for spending it and to find out to really received it.

Ciao,

The Snark

The Trump Effect Overseas

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On Tuesday, MSN reported that Marc Fogel, an American teacher, held prisoner in Russia for three years has been released and is returning to America.

The article reports:

The Trump administration secured the release of Marc Fogel, an American teacher detained for more than three years in Russia, in an “exchange,” the White House announced Tuesday.

The deal to release Fogel, who was designated as wrongfully detained by the US State Department, was negotiated by President Donald Trump, Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff, “and the President’s advisers,” according to a statement from national security adviser Mike Waltz.

The statement did not provide any details about the “exchange,” other than to say it was “a show of good faith from the Russians and a sign we are moving in the right direction to end the brutal and terrible war in Ukraine.” The National Security Council declined to offer further details.

In an extraordinary move, Witkoff personally went to Russia to bring back Fogel, the statement indicated. There has been no known high-level US travel to Russia since the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022.

The article concludes:

Fogel’s family said Tuesday they “are beyond grateful, relieved, and overwhelmed that after more than three years of detention” he is coming home.

“Thanks to the unwavering leadership of President Trump, Marc will soon be back on American soil, free where he belongs,” Jane, Ethan and Sam Fogel said in a statement.

“This has been the darkest and most painful period of our lives, but today, we begin to heal,” the family said. “For the first time in years, our family can look forward to the future with hope.”

America’s position on the world stage has obviously changed.

Taking Economic Action Against Iran

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On Friday, The Jewish News Syndicate reported that the Trump administration has put sanctions on Iran’s oil shipments. The money from Iranian oil has been used to fund terrorism around the world. Iranian oil paid for the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

The article reports:

The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Thursday on an oil smuggling network generating hundreds of millions of dollars for Iran.

Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff used front companies to ship oil and used the revenue to fund terrorist groups, including Hamas, the Houthis and Hezbollah, according to the department.

“The Iranian regime remains focused on leveraging its oil revenues to fund the development of its nuclear program, to produce its deadly ballistic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles and to support its regional terrorist proxy groups,” stated Scott Bessent, the U.S. treasury secretary. “The United States is committed to aggressively targeting any attempt by Iran to secure funding for these malign activities.”

Thursday’s action is the first round of new sanctions on the Islamic Republic since U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday re-imposing a policy of “maximum pressure” on Iran.

The sanctions target part of Iran’s “shadow fleet” of oil tankers and shell companies that help Iran smuggle oil and ultimately sell it to China.

When President Trump left office in 2020, Iran was collapsing financial because of the sanctions the Trump administration had put in place during President Trump’s first term. Unfortunately, one of the first things President Biden did was remove those sanctions. We may have missed a golden opportunity for regime change in Iran. Hopefully, the new sanctions will have the same impact the old sanctions had.

Why Greenland?

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Author:  R. Alan Harrop, Ph.D.   

President Trump has started his second term off with a flourish not seen by any other president in my lifetime. Only a true businessman could take over and rapidly make all the changes he has initiated. While most of his actions were anticipated based on election speeches, his comments about Greenland were quite surprising. It does show how wide ranging his thoughts are and his concern to do everything in his power to ensure the security of our nation. Let’s take a look at what is at stake with Greenland; it may surprise you.

Seemingly out of touch with reality, the European discoverers named an ice-covered island Greenland.  Actually, when discovered in 985 AD by Erik the Red, the climate in the northern hemisphere was in the midst of a warming period. Consequently, it is certainly probable that the vegetation in southern Greenland at that time was sufficient to warrant that label. Recent glacier melting has exposed numerous tree trunks and other evidence of vegetation that have not been able to grow there in hundreds of years. Recent ice melting bodes well for a future of a more livable climate.

Since Greenland is a part of North America and is in a very strategic location from a U.S. security perspective, efforts have been made to secure access for the U.S. military.  In 1951, at the beginning of the Cold War with Russia, then President Harry Truman offered to buy Greenland from Denmark for $100 million dollars in gold.  Denmark declined but Truman was able to work out an arrangement where the U.S. could install and operate military bases.  As a result, Thule Air Base, still operational by the way, was built and has served as a vital defense base against Russian aggression.  In fact, in 2019, President Trump offered to buy Greenland from Denmark, but the offer was not accepted.  Greenland is a semi- sovereign country that is closely aligned with Denmark.  In 2009, Denmark altered its agreement with the residents of Greenland; allowing them to terminate their dependence on Denmark by passing a referendum to that effect.  A recent poll showed that a majority of Greenland’s citizens would welcome closer ties to the United States.

There are several issues that make Greenland important to the U.S.  First of all, 40% of Greenland is above the Arctic Circle, giving it a critical location for defenses against Russia and China.  The Thule Air Base is 695 miles above the Arctic Circle and 947 miles from the North Pole.  Second, it is the largest island in the world; and at 836,000 sq. miles, it is far larger than Alaska, which is 663,000 sq. miles.  It contains enormous natural resources such as lithium, uranium, coal, oil, and natural gas.  China and Russia would love to get control over these resources, which would greatly shift the balance of power into the hands of communist oligarchs.  China’s moves around the world to control natural resources, called the Belt and Road Initiative, must be taken seriously.  The melting of the ice around the Arctic is making shipping much more feasible and allowing access to previously difficult areas.  Russia currently has a large fleet of diesel- and nuclear-powered ice breakers that can crush ice up to 14 ft. thick.  Our most powerful ice breaker, the U.S. Healy, can only manage ice 4 ft. thick.

Recently, the government of Denmark admitted that it is incapable of defending Greenland.  It is past time for us to take this threat seriously.  At least President Trump is concerned and likely to take needed action.  Look at all the money the Biden administration has spent on the USAID (aide to foreign countries) for such nonsense as transgender surgeries, DEI, providing condoms to Hamas, etc.  Thankfully, we finally have an adult in charge, so there is hope for the future.

The Art Of The Deal In The Presidency

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On Wednesday, Breitbart posted an article about a recent development concerning the Panama Canal. The government of Panama has already agreed not to extend its Belt and Road agreement with China and may possibly end it early. But there’s more!

The article reports:

The Department of State announced on Wednesday that United States government vessels would be allow to travel through the Panama Canal without facing “charge fees.”

In a post on X, the Department of State highlighted how, since U.S. government ships would no longer face fees, this would save the U.S. “millions of dollars a year.”

“U.S. government vessels can now transit the Panama Canal without charge fees, saving the U.S. government millions of dollars a year,” the Department of State wrote.

The announcement from the Department of State comes as President Donald Trump has remained adamant about the U.S. retaking control of the Panama Canal. In December, Trump threatened to retake the Panama Canal, and has accused Panama of ripping off the U.S. and charging U.S. ships “exorbitant” transit fees.

Trump has also accused Panama of allowing China to have control over the Panama Canal.

Giving away the Panama Canal was a mistake made by a weak President with bad advisors. This compromise may be the solution to the Chinese encroachment on the canal.

Some Of These Court Cases Are Going To Be Fun

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The Democrats seem to have decided that the only way to stop President Trump from actually doing what he was elected to do is through the courts. Unfortunately, they seem to be unaware (or assume the public is unaware) of the precedents for what President Trump is doing.

I found this amazing letter at The American Presidency Project:

April 04, 1995

More than 2 years ago, I promised to fix the Federal Government. I was firmly convinced that we could do more with less, that we could create a Government that was leaner but not meaner, and that we could make Government our partner rather than a problem.

I established the National Performance Review and put Vice President Gore in charge. He and his team have helped to transform Government, to cut bureaucracy and redtape, and to find ways to give the American people the service they deserve. At the same time, my economic plan is bringing down the deficit by more than $600 billion, and we are proposing another $81 billion in deficit reduction in the budget I recently sent to Congress.

A major element of my strategy was my commitment to streamline and cut the Federal work force. For too long in Washington, we have had too many layers of bureaucracy, too many workers whose main job was to check on the work of other workers rather than to perform useful work themselves. As the National Performance Review noted, we had good people trapped in bad systems. I promised to cut the work force, and that’s what I’m doing. Through our efforts, we have already cut the work force by 102,000 positions and we are on track to cut it by a total of 272,900 positions, bringing it to its smallest size since John Kennedy was President.

While committed to cutting the work force, we want to do it in a humane way. We faced the same dilemma that confronted many private companies; they needed to downsize but wanted to avoid firing large numbers of loyal employees. Many of them have given people an incentive to leave by offering “buyouts.” We wanted to do the same.

Early last year, Congress approved my request to allow non-Defense agencies to offer buyouts of up to $25,000 a person. The Defense Department and a few other agencies already could offer buyouts under existing law. Because normal attrition will help us downsize in the future, we offered buyouts only until March 31, 1995, which was last Friday.

Looking back, I can safely say that our buyout program has been a huge success. It achieved what we had hoped: to help us cut the work force in a fiscally responsible and humane way.

To reduce the work force by 102,000 positions by the end of fiscal 1994, we offered about 70,000 buyouts. Several non-DOD agencies have offered deferred buyouts that will take place between now and March 1997. Defense will be using buyouts as it continues to downsize through 1999. Counting those, we expect to buy out another 84,000 workers through 1997 as we reduce the work force by a total of 272,900 positions.

The buyouts were not offered in a random fashion, however. We targeted them to reduce the layers of bureaucracy and micro-management that were tying Government in knots. We made sure that departments and agencies tied their buyout strategies to their overall plans to streamline their bureaucracies. As a result, almost 70 percent of our buyouts in the non-Defense agencies have gone to people at higher grade levels, such as managers.

I’m proud that our buyout program was so successful. It shows that we can, in fact, create a Government that works better and costs less.

William J. Clinton, Statement on the Buyout Program for Federal Employees Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/221790

President Trump is obviously much more generous than President Clinton was, although I suppose the value of $25,000 was significantly more than it is today.

When Your Past Actions Come Back To Haunt You

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We all remember when in 2022 fifty illegal immigrants showed up on Martha’s Vineyard and were escorted off of the island in record time. The residents of the island claimed that it was a ‘humanitarian crisis’ that they were there.I guess being a sanctuary island only works when no one can get to you easily. Well, the actions of the residents of the island need to be remembered in light of recent events.

On Tuesday, Red State posted an article explaining that the residents of the Island are now planning to resist President Trump’s efforts to send illegal aliens home.

The article quotes Breitbart:

Residents of the wealthy, liberal enclave … defended illegal aliens as the Trump administration has ramped up deportations.

Several older residents of Martha’s Vineyard reportedly attended a rally, with some people holding signs that read, “I pledge to resist,” and “Protect people, resist hate,” according to the MV Times. 

[…]

One rallygoer, Marina Kaufman told the outlet that they “have to protect” illegal aliens, citing how “they are part of the workforce of the Vineyard.”

“We have to protect these people because they are part of the workforce of the Vineyard,” Kaufman said. “And they’re human beings. They have children in schools, they’re scared. And it breaks my heart, it really does.”

They are resisting what they actually did a few years ago! They only want to protect illegal aliens when they are not on their island!

The article notes:

Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters last Tuesday that all illegal aliens are criminals because they illegally entered the United States after a reporter asked, “How many have a criminal record versus those who are just in the country illegally?”

Leavitt responded:

All of them because they illegally broke our nation’s laws, and therefore, they are criminals, as far as this administration goes. I know the last administration didn’t see it that way, so it’s a big culture shift in our nation to view someone who breaks our immigration laws as a criminal, but that’s exactly what they are.

We seem to have forgotten that breaking the law should involve penalties. Otherwise, what incentive is there to follow the law?