Tag Archives: Senator Mike Lee

Sometimes It’s Hard To Remember That In America People Are Innocent Until Proven Guilty

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The preliminary hearing of Tyler Robinson in Utah is continuing. Some of the evidence is overwhelming.

On Thursday, Breitbart reported:

Robinson, the man accused of killing Turning Point USA (TPUSA) founder Charlie Kirk, allegedly admitted to the killing on multiple occasions, both in text messages and to an acquaintance. Lee said that he witnessed State District Judge Tony Graf admit the highly compelling and “damning” evidence while sitting in the courtroom behind the victim’s family.

“I was in the courtroom today sitting next to Jack Posobiec and just behind Erica Kirk when evidence was admitted by Judge Graf. That evidence, the evidence admitted today, is absolutely compelling. It’s damning,” Lee (Senator Mike Lee) said. “It contains multiple confessions by the defendant, Tyler Robinson, acknowledging not only that he killed Charlie Kirk, but acknowledging that he did so having planned it in advance in great detail. And acknowledging at one point that he was motivated by hate.”

When did it become appropriate to kill someone because you disagreed with their lifestyle or political views?

The article concludes:

The state is pursuing capital punishment, with prosecutors actively seeking the death penalty if the case goes to trial and ends in a conviction.

I hate the possibility of such a young person being executed, but my brain can’t really wrap around the fact that someone so young would take it upon themselves to kill someone because he didn’t like what the person stood for.

Moving Toward The Country Our Founding Fathers Envisioned

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Under our Constitution, there are three branches of government–Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. Each branch has specific duties. The legislative branch is supposed to make the laws. The legislative branch is held accountable for the laws they make by the election process–the House of Representatives every two years, the Senate every six years. The Founding Fathers did not want an elected Senate–they wanted Senators appointed by the states to make sure the Senators represented their home states. The Seventeenth Amendment, ratified in 1913, began the direct election of Senators. Currently, most of our laws are not laws–they are regulations created by unelected bureaucrats. That was never the intention of the Founding Fathers. It seems as though Congress may be getting ready to reclaim its responsibility.

On May 12, The Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC) reported the following:

While President Donald Trump has made reining in the unelected federal bureaucracy a top priority of his second term, the Republican Congress has thus far largely failed to get in on the action. But that could be set to change with a new bill that strikes at the heart of the Deep State and runaway executive power.

The Regulations From the Executive In Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act , which Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced in the Senate earlier this year (Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL) also introduced a companion version in the House)(H.R.3058) requires that all federal regulations with an economic impact greater than $100 million be passed through Congress. As Politico put it, the REINS Act “would turn Congress into a gatekeeper for certain major rules and allow lawmakers to roll back countless regulations for the remainder of President Donald Trump’s term.” The outlet further described the legislation as a “rule-busting bill” and “rule-shredding proposal.”

While Democrats like Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois have criticized the bill as a “war on regulations” (a criticism that will no doubt read as high praise to conservatives), Republicans argue the REINS Act is a long-overdue check on the power of the unelected bureaucracy to impose regulations that have an enormous impact on the economy. “For those who say it would make a radical change, a radical departure from the status quo of rulemaking, I’d say, ‘Thank heaven above for that,’” Lee said.

The article concludes:

The urgency of addressing regulatory burdens is further highlighted in a 2024 report by the Competitive Enterprise Institute. The conservative think tank found that regulations under the Biden-Harris administration imposed $15,000 in annual costs on the average American household. That’s a serious number, particularly when the median household income is only $80,000 per year.

Congress has an opportunity to lower costs for American consumers and fuel an economic boom by passing the REINS Act – it should seize the chance now.

It would be really great if Congress would pass this bill.

Let’s Allow Our Elected Officials To Make Laws

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For a number of years, we have been governed by bureaucrats making regulations. The people we elect to Congress are not making our ‘laws’ and are not being held accountable for those laws. On Friday, American Greatness posted an article about that problem.

The article reports:

Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) is stepping up efforts to restore the lawmaking authority of Congress by encouraging support of the Make Elected Leaders Vote Again (MELVA) movement to bring accountability to federal laws.

Lee has been strongly urging passage of the Regulations from the Executive In Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act as a means of preventing unelected bureaucrats from making rules that carry the force of law.

The REINS Act would require bureaucrat-made laws to be approved by Congress before taking effect.

Lee says most laws are never voted on by Congress, despite the fact that Congress alone has the power to make federal law.

Requiring laws to be approved by Congress would be a way to hold our elected officials accountable. If a Congressman consistently votes in a way that contradicts the wished of his constituents, he would be voted out of office.

The article includes a screenshot of a post on X:

The article concludes:

In a hearing with former Congressman Dan Bishop (R-NC), who is the next Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Lee asked Bishop to explain why American voters who assume that their elected Senators and Representatives vote on everything are mistaken as to who has really been running the country.

Bishop shared a graphic illustrating the striking difference between the number of laws voted on by Congress each year versus the regulatory output of the unelected bureaucrats.

Bishop also reminded Sen. Lee that President Trump is pursuing an aggressive agenda of reforming the regulatory state by seeking to take 10 regulations down for every new one to come along.

The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) at the OMB will be at the heart of that effort, according to Bishop.

Let’s go back to the plan of our Founding Fathers, where elected officials who were accountable to the voters made the laws.

Down Memory Lane

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Yesterday in Washington was horrible. It was horrible because the Capitol was breached and people killed, but the other casualties of the day were honest, transparent elections and any hope of consistency from our media and elected officials.

Yesterday The Scoop posted an article about an event people may have forgotten.

The article notes:

When far-left radical communists protesting against the appointment of Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court took over the Hart Senate Office Building atrium on Capitol Hill on October 4, 2018, leftists on Twitter PRAISED them.

The article includes the following screenshot:

That was then, this is now.

Now let’s take another trip down memory lane to July 2, 2020. The Federalist reported the following:

Thursday afternoon, Democrats killed a resolution aimed at curbing mob violence. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) introduced the bill after a man in Utah was mobbed then shot by a group of rioters. The non-binding resolution offered a statement of support for peaceful protesters and law enforcement who do their job well, while condemning violence and the desecration of monuments across the country.

“A non-binding resolution is the tiniest first step of a response,” Lee read as he introduced it. “We need to do much, much more… but in this divided political moment,… showing that Senate Republicans and Senate Democrats are able to speak with one voice against woke mob violence and in defense of equal justice and civic peace would be a welcome step.”

The resolutions itself states that the country was “founded on universal principles of freedom, justice, and human equality.” It also acknowledged that “throughout our nation’s history, Americans have struggled to realize those ideals … but nonetheless made greater progress toward them than any nation on earth.”

The resolution was immediately attacked. The article reports:

The intended bipartisan resolution swiftly ran into problems. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) spoke directly after Lee to kill the bill. “The resolution reeks of supremacism. Reeks of supremacist views. And it seeks to mischaracterize overwhelmingly peaceful protests across the nation.”

Menendez then offered to support the resolution on one condition: if it condemned President Trump. He stated that if a sentence was added condemning “politicians who incite violence, especially President Trump,” the resolution would be acceptable. He then attacked the president for retweeting a video of two homeowners pointing firearms at a mob that stormed the gates to their private neighborhood.

What happened yesterday was tragic, but those in Congress and in the media need to look in the mirror before blaming others.

Have We Elected Anyone Who Will Protect Jobs For Americans?

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Breitbart posted an article yesterday about a recent segment on the Tucker Carlson show. At this point I would like to mention that one of the reasons I like Tucker Carlson’s show is that he calls out Republicans and Democrats when they are doing things that are against the interest of Americans.

The article reports:

Tucker Carlson of the Fox News Channel says Senate Republicans are attempting to pack foreign workers into high-paying U.S. jobs while nearly 18 million Americans are jobless.

On Thursday evening, Carlson slammed Senate Republicans for failing to stop Sen. Mike Lee’s (R-UT) green card giveaway that will allow Indian nationals to effectively monopolize employment-based green cards for at least a decade and tech corporations to privatize the system.

The giveaway solidifies that employment-based visas only go to temporary foreign visa workers, mostly on H-1B visas, who have been imported to the U.S. by corporations to replace American workers, thus rewarding companies who outsource American white-collar jobs.

As noted by Carlson, the giveaway comes as the Justice Department files suit against Facebook — which lobbied for the giveaway — for allegedly discriminating against Americans in favor of foreign workers.

“We’ve known for a long time that Silicon Valley wants foreign workers to dominate our economy,” Carlson said. “They don’t care what kind of effect that has on Americans. What’s surprising is that in a time of mass unemployment — and that’s what we have now, mass unemployment — the Republican Party of all people is helping them do it. That’s happening.”

Foreign workers do not demand the salaries and benefits American workers demand. That is why Silicon Valley wants more of them. It is interesting that this bill came from a Republican. Most Republicans have more sense than this. increasing the number of H-1B visas would reward Silicon Valley for their efforts on behalf of Democrat candidates. The censoring of information as well as large donations helped Democrats in the recent election. Information is still being censored, and it is a safe bet that most Americans have no idea of the testimony that has been given about voter fraud or the videos showing voter fraud.

The article notes that passage of the bill is not a sure thing:

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) has indicated that she plans to bring the giveaway to a standstill by amending the legislation in the House which would then send it back to the Senate where it would need to be approved before Congress adjourns for the holiday season.

This is a bad bill and needs to be stopped in its tracks.

Insert Poison Pill To Block Common Sense Legislation

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Yesterday The Epoch Times reported that Senator Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) blocked a resolution that condemns “mob violence.” That sounds like a common sense resolution that should easily pass the Senate, but it was blocked.

The article notes:

Lee (Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) ) took to the Senate floor in Washington Thursday to announce his belief that it was important for the Senate to go on record “condemning the rising tide of mob violence we see across the country and the increasingly prevalent mob mentality that’s fueling it.”

Lee cited several recent instances, including the shooting by a protester in Utah, the assault of a Wisconsin state senator by a group that tore down two statues, and the berating of law enforcement officers for standing at their posts.

While some Americans have organized peaceful protests, other events have devolved into rioting, looting, and violence, Lee noted.

The article continues:

Menendez said he objected, arguing that the resolution made no mention “of America’s original sin, which is slavery.”

Many New Jersey residents don’t believe the United States is morally committed to justice, he argued, which would clash with the third paragraph of the resolution. That paragraph states: “The United States is a diverse nation committed to cultivating respect, friendship, and justice across all such differences, and protecting the God-given equal rights of all Americans under the law.”

“I would consider not objecting to the senator’s request if he also recognized and added to his resolution the fact that we have a president of the United States who ultimately provokes—provokes insightful language and violence,” Menendez added, noting that President Donald Trump recently shared a video that included a man saying “white power.”

Lee was willing to accept the proposed revisions except for the part about Trump, saying lawmakers shouldn’t point to one specific individual.

So Senator Menendez was not willing to condemn violence unless the resolution specifically attacked President Trump. Wow. It’s interesting that the Senator blames President Trump for provoking the violence when the violence is generally committed by people who oppose him. That’s like accusing France of starting World War II because they responded when Germany attacked them. Every rioter is responsible for his/her own actions. They can blame no one but themselves. When they are arrested, they will be held responsible. How dumb does Senator Menendez think the American people are?

A Different Solution To America’s Spending Problem

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The national debt has doubled since 2007.  It is now approximately $19,000,000,000,000. Congress has not been successful at stopping spending, and the economy is struggling along with the burden of debt and over-regulation. One Congressman has a proposal that will deal with at least part of the problem.

Yesterday PJ Media posted an article about a proposal by Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah).

The article reports:

Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.), Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) and Rep. Dave Brat (R-Va.) joined Lee to formally introduce the Article I Regulatory Budget Reform Act, which would require Congress to cast a vote on the “total regulatory burden” federal agencies are able to enforce on the private sector each fiscal year.

“Federal regulations come with a cost, albeit a hidden one. The American people can look up in the federal budget and see a monetary cost for the IRS and the EPA. They should also be able to look up what the regulatory cost for these agencies are as well. Beyond making the cost of federal regulation transparent, a regulatory budget will help restore accountability for the cost of regulation onto the people’s elected representatives,” Hensarling said at Hillsdale College’s Kirby Center in Washington.

“With a regulatory budget, it would become so much more difficult for members of Congress to simply pass the buck and blame the faceless, nameless bureaucrats for the cost of regulations on the American people’s families and their businesses,” he added.

Under the U.S. Constitution, Congress is charged with making laws. They are supposed to be held accountable for the laws they pass. Unfortunately, we have wandered into a system where unelected bureaucrats are making our laws, and we can’t vote them out of office.

The article adds:

Lee argued that most of the major bills Congress has passed only “establish aspirational guidelines,” which gives the executive branch the power to determine the specifics. He said Congress should establish “regulatory-cost limits” for federal agencies to follow.

“For the rule-writing bureaucrats, these open-ended laws are gifts that keep on giving. For instance, in the years since Congress first passed the Clean Air Act in 1977, federal bureaucrats have used the law to enact more than 13,500 pages of regulations – roughly 30 pages for every page of legislative text,” Lee said.

“But for the American people, this kind of government without consent is a violation of the social compact at the heart of our republic and exactly why they no longer trust the federal government,” he added.

The U.S. Constitution is an amazing document. The government it established works. Unfortunately we have altered that government to the point where it barely works and is not trusted by the American people. We need serious reform in Washington. Senator Lee’s proposal might be a good place to start.