Speaking Out Of Turn

On Thursday, Red State posted an article about some recent comments by New York Senator Chuck Schumer.

The article reports:

As RedState reported on Thursday, Sen. Chuck Schumer decided to engage in a bit of foreign election interference by going to the Senate floor and proclaiming that Israel must hold new elections. 

That comes as the American ally gears up to finish Hamas off in Gaza once and for all. In the face of that, Democrats have faced significant pushback from their radical, pro-terrorist base. 

As Jennifer Van Laar shared in her initial report, Schumer’s behavior is insanely inappropriate and telling. 

Schumer’s speech is stunning for a few reasons. First, we usually keep our attempts at regime change a little less public. Second, it reveals Schumer’s evil focus on keeping Netanyahu from quickly and decisively winning this war and obliterating the rapists and child murderers of Hamas. Third, it shows that despite all evidence that a two-state solution will never work, Schumer is still invested in using the United States government to make that happen…

…As I was listening to Schumer’s public statements, knowing that so much more about our government’s interference in foreign elections goes unsaid, the thought hit me once again: If he’s this blatant about his desire to ensure regime change in a sovereign nation, what won’t he and his allies do in this country to ensure that the person they want elected president wins?

The article concludes:

So if Israelis are largely united, with the vast majority opposing a “two-state solution,” what’s this really about? As mentioned above, this is about American domestic politics. Schumer is such a coward that he’s willing to bend the knee to literal terrorist supporters in his party for what he sees as short-term political gain. It’s not going to work, though. Israel isn’t going to heed his call, and the pro-Hamas wing of the Democratic Party will continue to lose its mind. 

It is unfortunate that we have members of a major political party that support a terrorist organization that has engaged in the activities that Hamas engaged in on October 7th and still holds hostages.

Stopping Attempts To Keep Americans Safe

On Wednesday, Yahoo News reported on a bill in the Senate that would have required all illegal immigrants who commit violent crimes be detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Senator Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, attempted to bring the bill to the Senate floor, but the bill was blocked by Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who objected to the request.

The article reports:

Ernst requested unanimous consent from her colleagues in order to advance Sarah’s Law to the floor for a vote. During her speech, she pleaded with colleagues to pass her bill, recalling the death of Sarah Root and also referencing the recent death of Laken Riley, both allegedly at the hands of illegal immigrants.

The bill would require ICE to take into custody illegal immigrants who are arrested and charged with causing the death or serious injury of another. This was reiterated by Ernst during her speech: “It would merely require ICE to detain, just to detain, otherwise deportable illegal immigrants charged with killing or seriously injuring another person,” she said.

Durbin said the bill would detain victims of trafficking or domestic abuse who were charged with crimes. According to him, the bill would “deprive immigrants of the due process that everyone is afforded.”

The due process happened when it was established that they were here illegally. At that point it should be legal to detain and deport them. Why are we harboring criminals that don’t even have the right to be here?

The article concludes:

The senator pointed to the immigration practice known as “catch and release” in which illegal immigrants seeking entry on the basis of asylum are released during the processing period.

“Instead of being detained while he was processed, he was released into our country — never to be heard from again,” she said.

While Ibarra may have been prevented from allegedly killing Riley had he been detained upon entry to the country, Sarah’s Law would not have stopped the attack because Ibarra’s criminal record doesn’t include crimes in which others were killed or injured.

Our laws are supposed to protect us–not endanger us.

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.

 

 

 

Finally!

On Wednesday, The New York Post reported that Mitch McConnell will step down as Republican leader in the Senate in November. He became a Senator in 1985. It was not mentioned in the article, but I suspect Senator John Thune will be selected by the uni-party to replace Mitch McConnell as the Republican leader.

There have been a few problems with Senator McConnell–mainly  the fact that his wife is part of one of Communist China’s richest families (they are involved in the shipping industry). Obviously, you don’t get rich in Communist China without the approval of the government. To me that is an uncomfortable connection.

The article at The New York Post reports:

He noted that when he arrived in the Senate, “I was just happy if anybody remembered my name.” During his campaign in 1984, when Reagan was visiting Kentucky, the president called him “Mitch O’Donnell.”

McConnell endorsed Reagan’s view of America’s role in the world and the senator has persisted in face of opposition, including from Trump, that Congress should include a foreign assistance package that includes $60 billion for Ukraine.

…Trump has pulled the party hard to the ideological right, questioning longtime military alliances such as NATO, international trade agreements and pushing for a severe crackdown on immigration, all the while clinging to the falsehood that the election was stolen from him in 2020.

McConnell and Trump had worked together in Trump’s first term, remaking the Supreme Court and the federal judiciary in a far more conservative image, and on tax legislation. But there was also friction from the start, with Trump frequently sniping at the senator.

Their relationship has essentially been over since Trump refused to accept the results of the Electoral College. But the rupture deepened dramatically after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. McConnell assigned blame and responsibility to Trump and said that he should be held to account through the criminal justice system for his actions.

President Trump has not pulled the party hard right–he has pulled it back to where it was before the days on George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush. President Trump seems hard right because the uni-party, the press and the culture have moved so far left.

Us or Them?

Author: R. Alan Haarrop, Ph.D

George Washington warned us to avoid getting involved in foreign wars. Like most concerns of the Founding Fathers, his warning was right on target. We are fast approaching the two year anniversary of the war between Russia and Ukraine. It appears to be at a stalemate. The spending bill recently passed by the Senate (with the support of North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis) would provide another $60 billion in addition to the $ 75 billion already authorized and spent. This is the most amount of U.S. foreign aid to a European country since the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe after WWII during the Truman administration. Of course, this is borrowed money which will only add to the current national debt of over $34.3 trillion and counting (see U.D. National Debt Clock). Thanks to the Biden regime, the interest payments on the national debt are now more than the entire military budget.

The question we must ask is, “What is the endgame of our involvement in Ukraine?” Biden’s comment that we are committed to funding Ukraine  “ …As long as it takes” is just not acceptable. We cannot afford to fund endless wars! In addition to the monetary cost, there is real danger of a widening war with Russia which could lead to a nuclear conflict. As history has shown on many occasions, so-called limited wars readily escalate into total war where there are no restrictions or limits. This is especially dangerous in the age of nuclear weapons. It should be noted that this is the closest we have come to a direct war against Russia which has a nuclear arsenal equal to ours.

So what should we do about this omnibus foreign aid bill that actually totals $95 billion? First, the Biden regime must be required to tell us what their endgame objective is. Second, no more aid to Ukraine without a strict accounting for all expenditures. For example, we are being told that some of the aid money will pay for the pensions of Ukrainian government employees. Third, Ukraine should be required to enter into negotiations to end the war, or no more funds from us.

The other disturbing aspect of the $95 billion bill passed by the Senate is the $10 billion slated to go to Hamas. They start a war with one of our allies with a brutal, savage attack against defenseless civilians and we are going to give them money? This would be the equivalent of us sending money to Japan right after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Unbelievable. The Palestinians voted for Hamas as I recall.

Finally, there is no funding in this bill to seal our southern border or to begin deporting the millions of illegals who have entered this country under the Biden regime. Our country’s security should always come first, as George Washington advised.

The U.S. Senate Does Not Want Patriots Or Critical Thinkers!

Recently a news story broke about Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake being asked to step down from politics for two years. She was pretty much offered anything she wanted. She recorded the conversation, fearing it would be a threat, and has recently released the tape.

On Wednesday, The Hill reported:

The chair of the Arizona Republican Party announced he will resign Wednesday after leaked audio appeared to show him attempting to pay Senate candidate Kari Lake not to run for office in 2024.

Jeff DeWit said that the audio was “selectively edited.” He explained, however, that he chose to resign because he was threatened by members of Lake’s team that more tapes would be released if he did not step down. Lake’s campaign has denied the allegation.

Lake publicly demanded DeWit resign over the audio Tuesday, calling him “corrupt” and “compromised.”

The audio recording was first reported by The Daily Mail.

“There are very powerful people who want to keep you out,” DeWit reportedly told the Senate hopeful in the recording, saying only that these figures were from the “east.”

I do not doubt that the tape is real and unedited. I also suspect that any well-informed American can make an educated guess as to who the person who put Mr. DeWitt up to this. Unfortunately this is where we are. The deep state uni-party in Washington is trying to protect their turf. President Trump is a threat, but a Congress that supports him would make him an even bigger threat to the status quo. Many Americans believe that the status quo needs to be gone.

 

At Least One Committee Is Moving In The Right Direction

On Sunday, Townhall reported that the House Budget Committee passed three bills out of committee with bi-partisan support. That is good news. Now if we could just close the border, we would have it made.

The article reports:

The Fiscal State of the Nation Act (H.R. 6952) was passed with strong bipartisan support on a voice vote and without amendments. That bill will require the Comptroller General of the United States, a position I held from 1998-2008, to provide an in-person annual report on the country’s financial condition and fiscal outlook of the country to a joint session of Congress. 

The Debt to GDP Transparency and Stabilization Act (HR 6957) passed without amendment with a 22-12 bipartisan vote. That bill will require the President’s annual budget submission to provide information on the current state and projected outlook of federal debt/GDP based on the President’s proposed budget.

The Fiscal Commission Act (H.R. 5779) was the most important piece of legislation and was the subject of a vast majority of the markup session. It would establish a sixteen-person statutory commission that would, among other things, educate and engage the American people on our nation’s financial and fiscal challenges. Twelve of the commission members would be sitting members of Congress equally divided between the House and Senate and each major party. These twelve would be the voting members. Four of the commission members would be fiscal experts who would not have a vote. After receiving input and deliberating various options, the commission would make a package of fiscal reform recommendations designed to stabilize debt/GDP at no more than 100% within ten years and ensure the long-term solvency of various trust funds. Everything would be on the table – discretionary, mandatory, and revenues. If a majority of the commission’s voting members recommend a package of reforms with bipartisan support, it would receive an expedited vote in both houses of Congress and only require a simple majority vote in both houses for passage. The commission would issue its report in December 2024 or, depending on the final passage of the Fiscal Commission Act, no later than May 2025. 

Fiscal responsibility should be a bi-partisan effort. The inflation cased by our bloated federal spending impacts all of us either directly or indirectly. The plan proposed years ago to take one penny away from every dollar spent by the federal government still has validity. Someone simply has to have the courage to stand up and demand budget cuts.

Beware of Wolves In Sheep’s Clothing


I am on Facebook. There is also a Right Wing Granny group on Facebook (that anyone can join) where I place articles that I may later write up for the blog. Recently there has been a group on Facebook claiming to be mainstream Republicans (they are actually never-Trumpers) posting things saying that the Democrats want President Trump as the candidate because they know Joe Biden can beat him. They have also recently posted that if President Trump is the nominee, the Republicans will lose their majority in the House and will lose Senators. They have the freedom to post whatever they want, but let’s look at this more closely.

First of all, when you see a post similar to the ones mentioned above, find out who is funding the group. There are a lot of uni-party groups claiming to be Republican that are being funded by groups that we know do not want Republican success—or at least the success of Republicans who are not part of the uni-party.

I want to address the claim that if President Trump is the nominee, the Republicans will lose their majority in the House and will lose seats in the Senate. Frankly, if the Republicans in Congress don’t start acting like Republicans, they deserve to lose both the House and the Senate. Whatever happened to closing the southern border? Can’t they find any Democrats who are willing to work with them on closing the southern border? What about cutting spending? What about sending money we don’t have overseas and refusing to audit how that money is being spent? Can’t the Republicans at least make these things an issue every day? Shut down the government if you have to—there are worse things. I believe that the dumbest thing America ever did was air condition government buildings in Washington—if we had not done that, the politicians would have gone home during the summer! That would have been good for the country.

At any rate, don’t believe the trolls on Facebook. Anyone can form an organization and claim to be something they are not. If the Republicans don’t start acting like Republicans, none of them deserve our vote.

Unequal Justice For Protests

On Sunday, The Federalist posted the following headline:

8 Times Left-Wing Protesters Broke Into Government Buildings And Assaulted Democracy

This is the list:

1. Interior Department Overtaken

On Oct. 14, 2021, climate activists breached the Interior Department, with demonstrators who were left outside struggling with law enforcement officers as they reportedly tried to force their way in, shouting “Go inside! Go inside!” Some activists vandalized a building, while others pinned police against a wall. The ordeal resulted in a number of injuries, according to multiple sources, with a police officer being transported to the hospital.

2. President Moved to Bunker After White House Fence Breach

3. Wisconsin Capitol Overwhelmed

4. Portland Federal Courthouse Overtaken by Violence

5. Democracy Halted at the Texas Capitol

6. SCOTUS Police Lines Breached, Senate Overwhelmed by Anti-Kavanaugh Activists

7. Senate Bombed by Left-Wing Terrorists

8. Senate Chamber Breached by Biden Himself

I’m not totally convinced the last one really happened.

At any rate, how did the Justice Department handle these cases. How long were the people who did these things kept in jail? How long did they wait for their trials? You get the picture. Please click on the link above to read the details.

Sometimes Congress Actually Does Something When It Directly Impacts Them!

On Tuesday, The Daily Wire posted an article about the Department of Justice’s spying on members of Congress.

The article reports:

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) announced on Tuesday that he subpoenaed Attorney General Merrick Garland for information on alleged efforts to surveil members of Congress and congressional staff — including during the Russiagate controversy that rocked former President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign and administration.

In a cover letter to Garland, which noted potential legislative reforms could follow, Jordan said his panel “must resort to compulsory process” because of the “inadequate response to date” by the Department of Justice (DOJ) following his request for details about the apparent use of subpoenas to obtain private communications of Legislative Branch employees.

The DOJ previously informed the committee that the legal process it used related to an investigation into the “unauthorized disclosure of classified information in a national media publication,” the letter said. Jordan cited news reporting that indicated the inquiry pertained to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) surveillance of one-time Trump campaign associate Carter Page, reliant on an effort to get FISA warrants that the DOJ inspector general heavily criticized and the DOJ itself later conceded had relied on “insufficient predication” to last as long as it did.

The article concludes:

The Executive Branch appears to have used its “immense law-enforcement authority to gather and search the private communications of multiple Legislative Branch employees who were conducting Constitutional oversight of the Department’s investigative actions — actions that were later found to be unlawful,” Jordan wrote.

“Because the Department has not complied in full with our requests, we cannot independently determine whether the Department sought to alleviate the heightened separation-of-powers sensitivities involved or whether the Department first sought the information through other means before resorting to legal process,” Jordan added. “The Committee also has concerns that aspects of the Department’s investigation may have been a pretext to justify piercing the Legislative Branch’s deliberative process and improperly access data from Members and staff involved in conducting oversight of the Department.”

After watching the Department of Justice in recent years, I have concluded that the upper management of the Department has very little respect for the rule of law. They need to be replaced.

Remember When The Democrats Screamed That Donald Trump Ruined The Decorum Of Washington?

The circus that is the Biden administration and the Democrat party continues. If you haven’t seen the video of the White House Christmas dance, please spare yourself. During the summer there were bare breasts on the White House Lawn. Now there is gay sex in the Senate hearing room. I’m so sorry that President Trump ruined the decorum of Washington.

On Saturday, Townhall reported:

At the time of this post, an aide to Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), who allegedly filmed himself having gay sex in a Senate hearing room, tried to play the victim card when the clips were leaked. This staffer was identified last night, and Cardin’s office issued a classic crisis management response, which some could view as throwing the aide under the bus. It was a prelude to an employment termination. Immediate action was required. Yet, for now, that’s the least of that office’s worries. I do not envy the Cardin communications staff right now.

The article includes the following quote:

Aidan Maese-Czeropski posts a statement on LinkedIn after having sex in a senate hearing room where he says that he is “being attacked for who I love to pursue a political agenda” and that “I would never disrespect my workplace.” 

Sir, you were not fired because of who you love–you were fired for actions that were grossly inappropriate in the setting in which they occurred. No one really cares what you do  in your bedroom, but they do care what you do in a Senate hearing room.

The article notes:

Are the adults in charge again? We’ve had someone bring cocaine into the White House, with the perpetrator being as elusive as D.B. Cooper. Breasts were exposed on the White House lawn, and now gay sex in the Senate. What a circus 

Remember when Biden was elected that all the Democrats said the grownups were in charge again. These are very strange grownups.

The Importance Of Primary Elections

On Thursday, The Liberty Daily posted an article about primary elections.

The article cites a recent illustration of the importance of primary elections”

Another day, another betrayal by the Republican wing of the UniParty Swamp. The House overwhelmingly passed the NDAA and failed to strip out the extension of FISA domestic spying. Oddly, Senate Republicans actually did a better job of attempting to stop it than their House partners. Both still failed to do the will of their constituents and defend the Constitution.

Rather than write up a long rant about what needs to be done to reform the party or to hold our elected officials accountable, I’m going to cut to the chase. The primaries are EVERYTHING. Another election in which we’re forced to choose between the lesser of two evils in legislative races could be the end of our nation. We need America First constitutional conservatives. Having the letter (R) next to the name is not enough.

Fortunately, this is a presidential election year so the vast majority of attention by media, donors, and voters will be spent on the top of the ticket. This is an opportunity for patriots to have a greater impact on down ballot races during the primaries. Less money and effort will be spent propping up RINO legislative candidates so if we’re selective with our support and we loudly voice our opinions, we have a chance of putting fellow patriots on the general election ballots.

If we want to protect the rights that are guaranteed by our Constitution, we need to pay very close attention during the primary elections.

Please follow the link to see how conservatives can make a difference this primary season.

Breaking Rules Is Not A Problem If No-one Holds You Accountable

On Thursday, Townhall posted an article about the Democrats in the U.S. Senate ignoring the rules of the Senate. I suspect there will be no consequences for their actions because the Republicans have become experts at rolling over and playing dead.

The article reports:

Senate Democrats threw out the rules of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday in order to launch an unprecedented attack on the United States Supreme Court. More specifically, on conservative justices and their friends. 

For months Chairman Dick Durbin and Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse have been trying to issue subpoenas to longtime conservative activists Leonard Leo and billionaire Harlon Crow. Leo and Crow, both private individuals, are also friends to Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. 

Earlier this month, Durbin briefly backed off his conquest to subpoena Leo and Crow. Today, he blatantly disregarded Senate process and voted to do just that. 

“Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats have been destroying the Supreme Court; now they are destroying the Senate. I will not cooperate with this unlawful campaign of political retribution,” Leo released in response to the move. 

The article concludes:

Republicans on the Committee argue that because the vote was taken before noon, any subpoenas issued to Leo or Crow are invalid. 

While Democrats voted to subpoena friends of conservative justices, Durbin blocked efforts to do the same for staff of liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor. 

Until the current Republicans in the Senate develop a spine or new group of Republicans is elected, we can expect more of the same.

This Is How Checks And Balances Are Supposed To Work

Despite what the mainstream media is telling you, the midterms were not a total disaster for the Republicans. The youth vote played a major role in the lack of success for Republicans–many gen X and millennials voted for student loan forgiveness and unfettered abortion rights. The student loan promise has already been taken from them. Possibly that might be a lesson for them. The popular vote was Republican, with certain Democrat strongholds preventing the Republican party from taking control of the Senate. There were some computer anomalies and ballot harvesting, but that has come to be part of elections in America. As I have previously stated, unless our voting paradigm changes, we will never see another Republican President.

Meanwhile, some of the Democrats have realized that the policies of the Biden administration are not popular with many Americans and have decided to protect their political future.

On Wednesday, Trending Politics posted the following headline:

13 Democrat Senators Revolt After Midterm Election, Deal Massive Blow to Biden’s Agenda

The article explains that thirteen Democrat Senators voted to to end the Covid “public health emergency” that the Biden administration had recently extended until April 2023.

The article reports:

While it is unclear if the House of Representatives will immediately take up the measure, Speaker Nancy Pelosi is now on borrowed time. Her tenure at the top of Congressional leadership is set to come to an end on January 3, 2023 with the projected incoming Republican-led House.

12 Democrats joined in with the Republicans to put an end to the Covid public health emergency declaration: Sen. John Hickenlooper (CO), Sen. Tim Kaine (VA), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (MN), Sen. Joe Manchin (WV), Sen. Chris Murphy (CT), Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (NH), Sen. Jon Tester (MT), Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (AZ), Sen. Mark Warner (VA), Sen. Cortez-Masto (NV), Sen. Jacky Rosen (NV) and Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (NY). Sen. Angus King (ME) is officially an Independent, but caucuses with Democrats.

The article notes:

Ending the declaration would weaken the federal government’s ability to respond to Covid-19 surges, the OMB claimed.

“Preserving our ability to respond is more important than ever as we head into the winter, when respiratory illnesses such as Covid-19 typically spread more easily,” the statement said. “Strengthened by the ongoing declaration of national emergency, the federal response to Covid-19 continues to save lives, improve health outcomes, and support the American economy.”

However, as the CDC earlier pointed out, over 95% of Americans have some form of protection to Covid-19. The currently predominant BA.4 and BA.5 variants are far less deadly than earlier strains, and an estimated 97% of Americans have natural immunity from prior infection, according to CDC data.

Ending the emergency would also impact the use of the vaccine, which is approved only for emergency use and would therefore end vaccine mandates.

What we saw during 2020 and 2022 was government tyranny. The government decided who could do business and who could not. The vaccine mandates created two classes of people. Many unvaccinated people were called ‘grandma murders’ despite the fact that they might have had natural immunity. Relatives were denied access to dying family members. In some states, Covid patients were sent into nursing homes to expose the most vulnerable to the disease. The government handled the Covid pandemic so badly that I sincerely question whether or not we should ever give them emergency powers again.

Is This The Person We Want In The Senate?

On Friday, The Washington Examiner posted an article about Democratic Senate nominee John Fetterman of Pennsylvania. On Tuesday, NBC News aired an interview with Mr. Fetterman, who is currently the Lt. Governor of Pennsylvania. Dasha Burns conducted the interview and mentioned that she felt that Mr. Fetterman had difficulty communicating during the small talk before the interview. Her comments were not well received by others in the liberal media. However, her comments are extremely relevant.

The Washington Examiner reports:

Republicans have put up (and even elected) a bevy of awful federal candidates this year and in the recent past, but none of them are any more unfit for office than Democratic Senate nominee John Fetterman of Pennsylvania.

With all due sympathy for a man recovering from a stroke, it must be said: Fetterman was a ludicrous candidate even before his stroke, and now he shouldn’t even be in the race. Just a few weeks after his May 13 stroke, it should have been evident that his health was not adequate for one of the top jobs of public service in the world. Only 100 people, out of some 330 million, are given the burden and privilege of being senators. It’s an office that performs a vital function; it’s not a merit badge and shouldn’t be a rehabilitation center.

The article concludes:

Voters in Pennsylvania and elsewhere need to take their own responsibilities more seriously. Getting public policy right really does take knowledge, understanding, and, usually, experience. Voters who want to blow off steam, follow cultural cues (which can be easy to fake, by the way), and “send messages,” rather than hiring/electing people with relevant skills and knowledge (not to mention cognition), are elevating to high office people who just can’t do their jobs well.

This isn’t a call for rule by a self-selected elite of supposed experts, but it is an insistence that there is a level of competence below which voters shouldn’t accept a candidate. Fetterman has done absolutely nothing, even when healthy, to show the right abilities or wisdom to be a good senator. Now that he has been victimized by bad health, he shouldn’t be anywhere near that office.

Unless Pennsylvania Democrats want to try the same sort of exotic candidate switch that Georgia Republicans should but won’t do, Fetterman will remain on the ballot. The box by his name, though, certainly should not be checked.

I am not in total agreement with the last statement, but I do believe that Mr. Fetterman needs to go home and recover from the stoke he suffered. He does not belong in Congress. But I do wonder–if he is elected and says that he cannot serve, does Governor Wolf, a Democrat, get to appoint his replacement?

Looking For A Few Patriotic Democrats In The Senate

Remember the campaign promise by President Biden that he would bring back unity. Well, his definition of unity is when everyone does what he wants them to do. There is no room for any other action or opinion. That is becoming very obvious in the way the infrastructure bill is being handled.

Just the News is reporting today that the bipartisan infrastructure bill that was worked out that did not include the $1.8 trillion American Families Plan will be modified to include the $1.8 trillion American Families Plan and then passed by reconciliation in the Senate. If you are not familiar with the Cloward-Piven strategy, this would be a really good time to look it up.

The article reports:

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal told Just the News that there will be a filibuster-proof reconciliation bill passed in the Democratic-led House that includes President Biden’s entire American Families Plan.

The article concludes:

Neal was asked if he thinks the entire American Families Plan will be weaved into a reconciliation bill if it’s left out of the bipartisan infrastructure framework congressional negotiators have reached with the White House.

“Yeah, it seems to be as though, based on some of the early comments the president had that it looks to me, not knowing all the details yet, that there’s going to have to be a reconciliation bill,” Neal said on Thursday. 

The $1.2 trillion bipartisan framework does not include the new spending programs that would be created if Biden’s American Families Plan is enacted. 

Essentially, the bi-partisan agreement that was worked out is going to be scrapped in favor of what the Democrats wanted in the first place. Hopefully there might be a Democrat in the Senate that would vote against this, but I wouldn’t count on it.

Let’s See If This Holds

On Wednesday, The New York Post posted an article about a recent pledge by West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin.

The article reports:

West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin has pledged that under “no circumstance” will he vote to eliminate the filibuster amid a push by his other members of his party to reform the rule.

“I have said it before and will say it again to remove any shred of doubt,” Manchin, a moderate, wrote in a op-ed published in The Washington Post on Wednesday.

“There is no circumstance in which I will vote to eliminate or weaken the filibuster,” he wrote.

“The time has come to end these political games, and to usher a new era of bipartisanship where we find common ground on the major policy debates facing our nation.”

Removing the filibuster allows the majority party to pass legislation without bothering to consult or compromise with the minority party.

The thing to remember here is that Senators come up for re-election every six years. If the Democrats in the Senate ram through policies that hurt the average American, they will be in danger of losing their majority. Another thing to remember is that almost two-thirds of the voters in West Virginia voted for President Trump. They may not react too favorably to a Senator who participates in the undoing of the Trump administration policies that were successful.

 

 

Chris Wallace Must Be Getting Heat For His Debate Performance

Yesterday The Daily Caller posted an article about an interview on ” Fox News Sunday.” Chris Wallace, who hosts the show, was conducting an interview of Democratic Delaware Sen. Chris Coons.

The article reports:

Wallace specifically asked Coons to weigh in on the idea of adding justices to the Supreme Court, and the Delaware Senator pivoted to argue that the Trump administration’s focus on filling judicial vacancies amounted to court packing.

For once, Chris Wallace got it right. The article notes:

“Let me just say — I’m just going to say, that’s a different issue than packing the court,” Wallace concluded. “If that’s the question, whether or not the court should — the Senate should vote to confirm Barrett, that’s different than changing the number of justices on the court. Senator Coons, I got to leave it there, thank you.”

For the record, packing the court means adding more justices to the Supreme Court in order to impact the balance of liberal and conservative judges. Filling judicial vacancies is one of the responsibilities of the President. Because of the increasing rancor in the Senate, a large number of the nominees of President Obama were not confirmed, and there were a lot of judicial vacancies when President Trump took office. He promptly began to fill these vacancies. Getting judicial nominees passed is much easier when the President and the Senate are held by the same party. Our Founding Fathers did not intend for that to be the case (they disliked the idea of political parties), but that is where we are today.

I give credit to Chris Wallace for at least correcting Senator Coons on his talking point.

The Senate Actually Passed A Bill

One America News is reporting today that the Senate has passed a bill sanctioning Chinese officials over the country’s actions against Hong Kong. The bipartisan Hong Kong Autonomy Act passed with unanimous consent Thursday.

This is good news. China needs to pay a price for what it has done to Hong Kong. Otherwise Taiwan is next. Taiwan is probably next anyway, but at least we can try to slow things down a little.

The article reports:

The bill would place sanctions on businesses, individuals and police that interfere with Hong Kong’s freedoms. This came after China announced a national security law that is expected pass on June 30, which is threatening Hong Kong’s autonomy.

A resolution introduced by Sen. Josh Hawley (r-Mo.) was also approved, formally condemning China’s’ actions.

“The Senate needs to act now, Mr. President, to send a clear signal now that we will stand up to this aggression,” he stated. “…to rally free peoples now in defense of the rights and liberties of Hong Kong.”

Hitting China in the pocketbook is probably the only was to deal with them successfully.

This Could Be Very Interesting

This week will be the beginning of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on the Russia and Ukraine investigations. The first witness will be former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. It’s a pretty safe bet that he will not remember things or claim that he cannot answer a lot of questions because of classified information involved. We shall see.

Just the News posted an article yesterday that details nine items to look for. I am posting the list. Please follow the link to the article to read the details.

Here is the list:

1.) Will Rosenstein admit to failures and talk about the 25th Amendment fiasco?

2.) Will the ODNI declassify more documents, including former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes’ secret report to the CIA Inspector General highlighting flaws in the Intelligence Community Assessment of Russian interference in the 2016 elections? 

3.) What will the DC Circuit Court of Appeals do in the Flynn dismissal case?

4.) Who else will Graham’s committee interview or subpoena?

5.) Will any congressional committees zero in on former President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden’s conduct in the Russia case?

6.) Will Attorney General William Barr and the special prosecutors he named, like U.S. Attorney John Durham of Connecticut, to investigate the Russia case investigators bring any criminal charges?

7.) Will the Democratic strategy firm Blue Star Strategies comply with a subpoena in the Senate investigation into Hunter Biden’s Ukrainian business dealings?

8.) Who else might Johnson subpoena in the Ukraine probe?

9.) Will Johnson’s committee issue an interim report this summer on the evidence it has already uncovered about Hunter Biden, Joe Biden and Burisma?

This does have the potential of being a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing, but there is always the possibility that Congress might actually do its job and investigate the corruption that is Washington.

Another Broken Promise By China

Yesterday Hot Air posted an article about what is about to happen in Hong Kong. As you may remember, the agreement between China and Britain in 1997 stated that China would respect Hong Kong’s independence for the next 50 years. Well, fifty years sure went by fast.

The article reports:

You may recall that the months of protests in Hong Kong were prompted by an attempt to introduce a new law which might have made it possible for China to extradite people to the mainland for trial. That proposal was eventually withdrawn because of the protests. This time China is simply holding the vote in a place where protests won’t matter. And China is using the authoritarian’s favorite gimmick, claiming opposition to the Chinese Communist Party in Hong Kong isn’t home-grown but based on collusion with “external forces.”

In a clear effort to head off international concerns, China’s Foreign Ministry sent a letter on Thursday night to ambassadors posted to Beijing, urging them to support the legislation and laying out the government’s position.

“The opposition in Hong Kong have long colluded with external forces to carry out acts of secession, subversion, infiltration and destruction against the Chinese mainland,” the letter stated.

American Senators are aware of what is going on. The article notes:

Senators Rubio, Risch, and Gardner also released a joint statement:

“Reports that the CCP will introduce legislation implementing Article 23 of the Hong Kong Basic Law at this week’s National People’s Congress indicate Beijing will begin an unprecedented assault against Hong Kong’s autonomy. The Basic Law states clearly that the authority to advance Article 23 legislation rests with the executive and legislative branches of the Hong Kong government, and not with Beijing. The Chinese government is once again breaking its promises to the people of Hong Kong and the international community.

“This comes on the heels of a series of other serious blows to Hong Kong’s self-rule in recent weeks, including the advocacy of a law criminalizing disrespect of the national anthem of the People’s Republic of China and pressure on Hong Kong’s legislature that led to the sidelining of pro-democracy legislators.

“The United States will stand resolute in its support of the Hong Kong people. These developments are of grave concern to the United States, and could lead to a significant reassessment on U.S. policy towards Hong Kong.”

China is looking for a way to distract the global community from the Chinese responsibility for the coronavirus. If they can end freedom in Hong Kong at the same time, that’s a side benefit for them. This action should lead to a strong response from western countries. I am not sure it will–but it should. China needs to keep its promise.

 

 

A Step In The Right Direction

By now most Americans have realized that China is not our friend–they have stolen intellectual property for years, the have manipulated their currency to gain trade advantages, and they have gifted the world with the coronavirus. Well, someone in Washington is attempting to take action to prevent further bad behavior.

The Washington Free Beacon reported yesterday that Republican Senator John Kennedy and Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen sponsored a bill in the Senate that could prevent some Chinese companies from listing their shares on U.S. exchanges unless they follow standards for U.S. audits and regulations. The bill passed by unanimous consent. It still has to pass the House of Representatives and be signed by President Trump.

The article reports:

“The Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act” bars securities of any company from being listed on any U.S. securities exchange if it has failed to comply with the U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s audits for three years in a row.

The measure also would require public companies disclose whether they are owned or controlled by a foreign government.

The bill is written to apply to all foreign companies, but it is targeted at China, and follows intense criticism of Beijing by Republican President Donald Trump that has been echoed by Republican and Democratic lawmakers.

Trump and other officials in his administration insist that China mishandled the novel coronavirus during the early weeks of an outbreak that has spread into a global pandemic that has killed more than 320,000 people and cratered global economies.

Beijing denies such allegations.

“There are plenty of markets all over the world open to cheaters, but America can’t afford to be one of them. China is on a glidepath to dominance and is cheating at every turn,” Kennedy said in a statement.

“For too long, Chinese companies have disregarded U.S. reporting standards, misleading our investors,” Van Hollen said.

Let’s hope this bill becomes law.

We Have Seen This Happening Locally

The Gateway Pundit posted an article yesterday with the following headline, “Eight Democrats and Independents in Mississippi Switch Parties to Republican — Leaders Express Concern Over Socialist Bernie Sanders.” This is the result of a group of extremists taking over the Democrat party. This ultra-left group appeals to the younger generation by promising them free things. Unfortunately, this segment of the younger generation, in addition to wanting free things instead of working, does not always have the ambition to get out and vote.

The article quotes WLOX, a local news station:

The Mississippi Republican Party is welcoming some new members and all of them were elected public offices as Democrats or Independents in this most recent election cycle.

The Mississippi Republican Party Chairman says he doesn’t expect this will be the last time they are welcoming new members to the GOP.

“We have had a relentless focus on switching conservative Democrats over to the Republican party,” explained MSGOP Chairman Lucien Smith. “They recognize increasingly that there is only one party that represents the conservative values of our state and that is the Republican party.”

All eight of the latest party switchers were from Smith and Covington Counties and one District Attorney whose district covers those areas. But the conservation didn’t take long to expand to the national party ties.

“We are in a scenario in this country where you can choose to be a member of the party led by Donald J. Trump or you can choose to be a member of the socialist Democratic party led by Bernie Sanders,” noted Governor Tate Reeves.

There is genuine concern in the establishment Democrat party that if Bernie Sanders wins the nomination the Democrats will lose their majority in the House of Representatives and will lose seats in the Senate. The Democrat party may be taking a sharp left turn, but a vast section of American has chosen not to follow.

 

A Very Easy ‘Follow The Money’

The Washington Examiner is reporting today that the House is planning to vote next week on a law that would override right-to-work laws in the 27 states that have those laws.

The article reports:

House Education and Labor Committee Chairman Bobby Scott, a Virginia Democrat, argued that such “right-to-work” laws are unfair to unions and the workers that back collective bargaining, necessitating his bill, the Protecting the Right to Organize Act.

“Under current law, unions are required to negotiate on behalf of all employees, regardless if they belong to the union or not,” Scott told the Washington Examiner. “The PRO Act simply allows workers to decide that all workers represented by the union should contribute to the costs associated with negotiating on their behalf.”

Scrapping the state laws would force potentially millions of individual workers to give away part of their salaries, whether they wanted to or not, said Greg Mourad, vice president of the National Right to Work Committee, which represents workers in cases against unions. “The term ‘right to work’ means the right to not have to pay for union so-called representation that workers don’t want, didn’t ask for, and believe actually goes against their interests,” he told the Washington Examiner.

The article notes:

Right-to-work laws say that employees cannot be forced to join or otherwise financially support a union as a condition of their job. Specifically, the laws prohibit union-management contracts from including so-called fair share fee provisions that require all workers to support the union financially.

When you consider that unions donate large amounts of money to Democrat campaign coffers, this bill is not a surprise. However, it seems to me that it is a violation of the Tenth Amendment–the federal government does not have the authority to determine right-to-work laws in individual states.

The article concludes:

The resurgence in right-to-work laws may now be ebbing. No other state appears poised to adopt one. Missouri would have been the 28th state, but voters last year approved a referendum stopping the measure before it went into effect.

The PRO Act would rewrite the NLRA to undo the 1947 amendment. “This bill, and others we’ve seen in various states, tries to subtly redefine ‘right to work’ to mean only the right to not have to formally be a member of the union, which is already guaranteed by the Supreme Court,” Mourad said. Nonmembers would still be obligated to support unions financially.

There has long been support for scrapping right to work on the Left, but the PRO Act enjoys unprecedented support among Democrats. The Senate version of the PRO Act was introduced with 39 original co-sponsors, comprising almost the entire Democratic caucus. The legislation is certain to pass the Democrat-majority House but is unlikely to be taken up in the Republican-led Senate.

“They’re testing the waters for the next time they are in the majority,” Vernuccio said.

In this instance, the Democrats are standing for the unions–not for the working man. This is simply a scheme to take more money our of workers’ pockets, give it to unions, and have unions give it to Democrat candidates. Democrat majorities in Congress are not helpful to the average American.