Is This Constitutional? Do We Still Have A Constitution?

On September 21st, Hot Air reported on the first cabinet meeting President Biden has held in almost a year. It was not a normal cabinet meeting.

The article reports:

I suppose this has happened often enough during this administration that we probably shouldn’t be all that shocked, but that doesn’t mean that this behavior should be normalized. As we have noted here multiple times in the past, It’s been almost a year since Joe Biden sat down for a meeting with the members of his cabinet to discuss world affairs and get their agenda in order. That changed yesterday when the first such cabinet meeting in more than eleven months was held at the White House… sort of. A meeting was indeed called to order, but Joe Biden’s entire participation in it was comprised of his introductory remarks where he welcomed the person who would actually be chairing the meeting. That would be his wife, Jill Biden. Dr. Jill wound up doing almost all of the talking while Joe disappeared into the background before departing. This jarring event led many observers to yet again as the same question we’ve been wrestling with all year. Who is actually running the country right now?

Can you imagine the uproar if Melania had held a cabinet meeting?

The article concludes:

No matter what you may have thought of the outcome of the 2020 elections, the fact is that we did hold an election. Not a single person voted for Jill Biden to hold any sort of official office or power over the fundamental operation of our country. And yet she is obviously the person in charge of America’s government today. Are you okay with that? If the elected President is unable to discharge his duties (as clearly seems to be the case) the Founders provided us with various options to ensure the orderly transition of power, with further clarification coming from the addition of the 25th Amendment. It is impossible to imagine the authors of any of those fundamental documents writing, “If that doesn’t work out, don’t worry. There will be another election coming along soon enough. Let’s just hope for the best, shall we?”

As the Post correctly notes, Joe Biden has been officially on vacation for two-thirds of the days of the past month. I specify “officially” because there is typically so little on his schedule each day that it’s difficult to discern which days are vacation days and which are “work days” when he simply does basically nothing. Looking around that room and seeing the collection of DEI appointees for cabinet positions that Biden has assembled, it’s difficult to say who – if anyone – is actually running anything anymore. 

They were happy to show up and clap like trained seals for Jill Biden and she seemed to be enjoying the experience fully. How nice for her. Meanwhile, the world is on fire and the Vice President (who should have already replaced Biden under more normal circumstances) is busy campaigning while taking no questions and refusing to discuss her policy plans. This is no way to run an airline, folks. Fasten your seatbelts. We still have several months to go before we can officially say goodbye to Joe Biden and it will probably turn out to be a very rocky ride.

This is no way to run a country.

I Guess That Didn’t Go Exactly As Planned

Evidently all is not roses and sunshine in the Democrat party right now. Although it seems that Kamala Harris is the candidate, not everyone is thrilled. I don’t know if there will be a bait and switch at the Democrat Convention next month, but I am not ruling it out. Once you ignore the votes of all the people who voted in your primary elections, I suspect that you can do pretty much anything you want to at your convention.

On Friday, The New York Post reported the following:

There’s buzz swirling within the Biden camp that the president’s swift endorsement of Kamala Harris was his revenge on prominent party leaders — including Barack Obama — who pressured him to bow out of the race against his will, sources told The Post.

Joe Biden, who said he was dropping out “in defense of democracy” during his public address Wednesday, had been told by Obama to allow delegates at next month’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago to decide a new candidate, a source close to the Biden family claimed.

“It was Joe’s big f–k you,” the source said. “Joe said, ‘If I’m out, then I am endorsing her.’”

Talk among insiders is that Biden saw this as a final way to assert some control over his ouster.

It is my impression that there are three camps in the current Democrat party–the Clinton camp, the Obama camp, and the Biden camp. Keep in mind that the Clinton and Biden camps both are not fans of the Obama camp. Also remember that the Clinton camp got a little closer to George Soros and his money and influence recently when Huma Abedin announced her engagement to Alex Soros, the son of George Soros. Speculation is that President Obama’s choice for the Democrat presidential candidate was Mark Kelly of Arizona. Kelly would have been a better candidate and might have had a positive impact for Democrats on the down ballot in Arizona.

The article concludes:

According to a source close to the Biden family, prominent Democrats threatened to invoke the 25th Amendment of the US Constitution and urge the vice president and the cabinet to remove Biden from office, the source said.

The source said that the belief within the family is that Obama wanted to get Biden out of the race — and an op-ed written by George Clooney in the New York Times, asking him to step aside, was a part of that plan.

Calls to the offices of Obama and Biden, as well as the Democratic National Committee, were not returned.

Obama persuading Biden not to run for the presidency in 2016, allowing Hillary Clinton a shot at the Oval Office, has since been a sticking point between the two men, according to reports.

“He was not encouraging,” Biden later told the New York Times, referring to Obama.

As for the race ahead, Obama has little faith in Harris, the source close to the Biden family claimed.

“Obama knows she’s just incompetent — the border czar who never visited the border, saying that all migrants should have health insurance,” the source said.

“She cannot navigate the landmines that are ahead of her.”

It is possible that the Democrat Convention will be very interesting. I don’t think President Obama gives up easily.

The Damage To Our Economy That Is Still Possible

President Biden will spend the last five months of his presidency as a lame duck. That is if he is not forced out by the 25th Amendment (which I consider highly unlikely). Because he remains as President, he can still do considerable financial damage to America by promoting certain policies.

On July 15th, The Federalist posted an article about the Biden administration’s latest healthcare proposal. The Biden administration proposal would extend a “temporary” increase in Obamacare subsidies, create new federal spending and undermine the current healthcare system. The higher subsidies were part of the Democrats’ partisan “stimulus” bill in early 2021. These subsidies were then extended for three years in 2022. These subsidies will expire at the same time the Trump tax relief package expires.

The Congressional Budge Office (CBO) reports that this increase in subsides would result in a “3.5 million decrease in enrollment in employment-based coverage.” The budget office explained that “the decline in employment-based coverage would be larger under a permanent [subsidy] extension,” because “more employers would change their offers of health insurance if the policy became permanent.” In other words, if you like your plan, tough luck — your employer could cancel it for you.

The article at The Federalist also notes the although extending the subsides would increase the number of insured Americans by 3.4 million, under the proposal 3.5 million Americans would lose employer-based coverage.

The article further notes that from the Exchanges’ launch in 2014 through 2021, only households with incomes under four times the poverty level ($124,800 for a family of four this year) qualified for subsidies.This year that 750 percent-of-poverty threshold stands at $112,950 for an individual, and $234,000 for a family of four.

The administration has also allowed Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients to qualify for subsidies. You don’t even have to be an American to get money from the government! The DACA policy will cost $9 billion in the coming decade plus $1.6 billion in interest costs.

Congress needs to say “NO” to any Biden administration proposals that increase the deficit. Any members of Congress that agree to spending more money during the end of this lame duck presidency need to be voted out of office.

Changing The Rules

On Friday, Victor Davis Hanson posted an article at The New York Post detailing how the Democrat party has changed some of the basic rules of our Republic in recent years. It’s a long list.

Here are the highlights of the list:

1. When in control of the Senate, demand the end of the filibuster; when not, don’t.

2. Call for the end of the Electoral College — but only if it appears to recently favor the candidate of the opposition.

3. In an election year, change any state balloting laws deemed unhelpful through administrative fiat or court order to favor your political candidate.

4. Seek to flip electors from voting in accordance with the popular vote count in their states; indict as an insurrectionist any of the opposition who dare do the same.

5. Raid the home of any opposition ex-president who removed classified files; exempt any sitting president of your party who did the same.

6. Swarm the private homes of, and then bully and intimidate, any Supreme Court officials, politicians or citizens you oppose.

7. Appoint two special counsels: one to go after the current chief presidential opponent in an election year; the other to exempt and excuse the sitting president for the very crimes charged against his rival.

8. Lobby to remove any oppositional president through the 25th Amendment; smear anyone as ageist who suggests a cognitively challenged sitting resident of your party should be subject to similar invocations of the 25th Amendment.

9. Exempt thousands of arrested rioters from charges of 120 days of arson, looting, injuring 1,500 law enforcement officers, and assault — but only if they are radical supporters of your party.

10. Excuse any demonstrator or rioter for desecrating public monuments and cemeteries or shutting down bridges and freeways, or swarming and disrupting the Capitol Rotunda — but only if they agree with you and/or are pro-Hamas. Otherwise, ensure the charged face lengthy prison sentences.

That’s just the top ten. Please follow the link to the article to read the next ten. It’s amazing how far we have fallen in recent years. When you read the list of things that used to be considered out-of-bounds that have been done since 2016 or so, it is scary.

 

 

 

This Really Isn’t A Good Look

The catastrophe in Hawaii is horrible. I can’t even imagine what the people there are going through. It would have been nice if the leader of the country had been more sensitive to their plight. Unfortunately, he wasn’t.

On Tuesday, Townhall posted an article about President Biden’s total mishandling of the tragedy in Hawaii. The article lists nine missteps that could have easily been avoided.

Here is the list:

1. Lying on the Beach While Maui Burns to the Ground

2. “No Comment” While on Vacation

3. No Comments for a Full Week

4. Refused to Visit Maui for Two Weeks

5. Maui Residents Blast Biden’s Lack of Response

6. Biden Uses Maui Visit to Tell Unintelligible Jokes About “Hot Ground”

7. Biden Offers Devastated Maui Households a Cool $700 Each

8. Biden Uses Maui Tragedy to Lie About Nearly Losing His Home and Wife

9. Biden Dozes Off During Ceremony Honoring Maui Victims

Unfortunately, non of this is surprising from a President who seems to be in the throes of dementia. It is very obvious that President Biden needs to retire and live quietly at home. The Democrat party has been cruel not to allow him to do that. Impeachment, although probably deserved, is really not the right answer–the 25th Amendment should be used to remove President Biden. As much as I don’t think the current Vice-President is qualified to be President, at least she is basically coherent.

 

Harsh Words, But True

The Federalist posted an article today by Fred Fleitz, who is currently president and CEO of the Center for Security Policy. He served in 2018 as deputy assistant to the president and chief of staff of the National Security Council. Fleitz held national security jobs for 25 years with the CIA, DIA, Department of State, and the House Intelligence Committee staff. He believes that the only way back to some sort of credibility for America after the Afghanistan fiasco is to replace President Biden’s top national security advisers with experts who have the experience, principles, and gravitas to reverse the damage Biden is doing to our national security and will stand up to future unsound and dangerous decisions by this president.

The article reports:

In a perfect world, Biden would immediately resign, be impeached, or be removed from office under the 25th Amendment for this unprecedented incompetence and dereliction of duty.

To remove the president under the 25th Amendment, the vice president and the majority of the cabinet would need to determine that Biden is unfit for office. Congress would then need to approve that process by a two-thirds vote in both chambers. It is hard to see how a majority of Biden’s cabinet or two-thirds of the Democrat-controlled Congress would agree to such action.

Impeachment would require passage of articles of impeachment by a majority of the House and conviction and removal by a two-thirds vote in the Senate. Democrats will not permit this now, but it might be possible in early 2023 if Republicans take control of Congress in the 2022 midterm elections.

The article notes that removing President Biden from office is probably not possible right now. When you talk about removing President Biden from office, you need to remember that he will be replaced by Vice-President Kamala Harris. At that point, the Democrats lose their 51st tie-breaking vote in the Senate. That fact may partially explain why Joe Biden has not already been removed.

The article reports:

It is pointless now for National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley to claim or leak to the press that they opposed Biden’s decision to rapidly withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan. They knew this decision was wrong and dangerous. They were duty-bound to resign and report Biden’s reckless decision to Congress.

Making this worse, most of Biden’s senior national security advisers are unqualified yes-men. Putting aside buffoonish Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan are third-stringers out of their league. And Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin apparently has so little influence with Biden that the president forgot his name at a press conference.

The article concludes:

Biden’s senseless Afghanistan policy and unmistakable signs of his mental decline strongly suggest he is not capable of serving as commander-in-chief. Democrats almost certainly will not agree to remove him, so their Republican colleagues must pressure them to pursue the next best option: surrounding Biden with highly qualified and principled national security experts who will not tolerate more irrational national security decisions.

To safeguard America’s national security and global leadership, we need bipartisan action now to compel President Biden to take this action.

Our country’s security is in danger as long as Joe Biden is President.

 

Silliness In Congress

After a while, you have to wonder why Democrats in Congress are so anxious to get President Trump out of the White House. He has eight days left to serve as President, can’t they just leave him alone? I guess not.

The Epoch Times reported yesterday that Representative Alex Mooney, a Republican from West Virginia, blocked Democrats from introducing a resolution via unanimous consent to call on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove President Donald Trump.

The article reports:

The Democrat-backed resolution calls on Pence and the Cabinet to “declare what is obvious to a horrified Nation: That the President is unable to successfully discharge the duties and powers of his office.”

…Mooney said Pelosi “should not attempt to adopt a resolution of this magnitude without any debate on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives,” noting that “it is wrong to have sent members of Congress home and then try to adopt without any debate a precedent-setting resolution that could imperil our Republic. The U.S. House must never adopt a resolution that demands the removal of a duly elected president, without any hearings, debate, or recorded votes.”

Whatever happened to the Democrat’s calls for unity? I don’t think misusing the 25th Amendment to unlawfully remove a Republican President creates unity.

What Are They Afraid Of?

Just the News reported the following today:

Nineteen Democratic lawmakers signed on to a letter on Wednesday urging Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in order to remove President Trump from office.

“For the sake of our democracy, we emphatically urge you to invoke the 25th Amendment and begin the process of removing President Trump from power,” the letter says. “President Trump has shown time and again that he is unwilling to protect our Democracy and carry out the duties of the office.”

This represents the coup they have been planning since President Trump took office. Why would they do that with only 17 days left until the inauguration? Maybe because the President could still declassify a lot of information that might be a problem for the people in Congress and for the incoming administration.

The article continues:

Rep. David Cicilline tweeted that if the vice president does not make such a move, Congress should impeach Trump.

Multiple legislators on Wednesday called for the president to be impeached: “I am drawing up Articles of Impeachment,” Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar said in a tweet.

“Impeach,” Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote in a one-word tweet.

“Donald J. Trump should immediately be impeached by the House of Representatives & removed from office by the United States Senate as soon as Congress reconvenes,” Democratic Rep. Ayanna Pressley tweeted.

This is somewhat amazing. When you look at the economic accomplishments of President Trump, the foreign policy successes, the development of a vaccine for the coronavirus, the fact that the middle class has prospered during the Trump administration, and the fact that we have gone four years without a new war, you wonder what in the world they are talking about.

The 12th rule of Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals is:

RULE 12: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.”

Unfortunately for our country, we have watched that rule in action for the past four years. That does not say good things about our future.

This Is Ridiculous

The Epoch Times reported  the following yesterday:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) announced a bill to create a “Commission on Presidential Capacity to Discharge the Powers and Duties of Office” that would possibly attempt to invoke the 25th Amendment of the Constitution to enable Congress to “help ensure effective and uninterrupted leadership in the highest office in the Executive Branch of government.”

The article continues:

Earlier on Thursday, Pelosi said Democrats were planning to discuss the 25th Amendment, but she did not elaborate. At the same time, she called on President Donald Trump, who tested positive for the CCP virus, to reveal his latest test results.

“I think that the public needs to know the health condition of the president,” Pelosi said in a news conference. “Before he got the virus and admitted to it, when was his last negative test?”

According to the Constitution, Section 4 of the 25th Amendment allows Congress to come up with a body to declare whether a president is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.”

“In emergency situations, Congress could pass a concurrent resolution requiring the Commission to examine the President, determine his/her ability to execute the powers and duties of the office, and report its findings to Congress. If presidential incapacity exists, the Vice President would immediately assume the role of Acting President,” said Raskin’s office in a news release.

It really is time to take the House of Representatives away from the Democrats. They have done nothing for the past four years but try to undo the 2016 election. They keep asking President Trump if he will accept the results of the 2020 election if he loses, but they have never accepted the results of the 2016 election. Their actions are causing harm to America. They are creating division and doing nothing to help Americans deal with the coronavirus. This bill needs to die quickly, and those who sponsor it need to be removed from office in the November election. This is a horrible example of partisan politics that is harmful and divisive to the country.