Protecting Americans From Ridiculous Expenses

On Sunday, Townhall posted an article about the ongoing recovery efforts in California after the disastrous fires. A little sunlight brought into the recovery will result in charitable contribution money being spent on those impacted by the fire–not on administrative costs.

The article reports:

Steve Soboroff, Los Angeles’ “Recovery Chief,” agreed to work without pay after Special Envoy Ric Grenell, Trump’s White House representative in California, exposed his $500,000 salary. The revelation sparked public outrage, prompting Soboroff to forgo his compensation in a bid to quell the backlash. The controversy comes as Soboroff oversees the city’s recovery efforts, with many questioning the large salary in light of residents’ ongoing challenges.

The salary was going to be for three months of work.

The article notes:

Facing criticism over his hefty $500,000 salary for just 90 days of work—money he would have earned from the misfortune of L.A. residents—Soboroff has backed down and agreed to work for free. Democrat L.A. Mayor Karen Bass confirmed he would receive no compensation, which would have been funded entirely by charitable organizations.

“Steve is always there for LA. I spoke to him today and asked him to modify his agreement and work for free. He said yes. We agree that we don’t need anything distracting from the recovery work we’re doing,” Bass said in a statement.

Soboroff, appointed last month as Bass’s wildfire recovery czar, was brought in to boost Bass’s political career after her initial response to the emergency drew nationwide criticism. Although the mayor’s office declined to disclose which organizations would fund Soboroff’s salary, critics found it “infuriating” that Bass had even considered that option.

Ric Grenell posted on X that he was glad there will be strings on federal money for California.

How To Bring Prosperity Back To Average Americans

The American economy was designed to be based on free market capitalism. Somewhere along the way it began to look more like crony capitalism. That is what I think we have become. So how do we get back to the place where every man has an equal opportunity to become wealthy? Oddly enough, Elon Musk has a few ideas on the subject.

On Tuesday, Townhall reported:

What people actually paying attention know? Is Big Business and Big Government work in tandem – to their ongoing mutual benefit. And the country’s destruction.

Big Business writes laws making Big Government bigger.  Which Big Government then passes.  Bigger Big Government then works to make Big Business even bigger.  Bigger Big Business then writes laws… Lather, rinse, repeat…

Nauseatingly over-remunerated Big Bank employees become Big Government bureaucrats.  Who then help the Big Banks get even bigger.  Then the Big Government bureaucrats are rewarded by becoming nauseatingly over-remunerated Big Bank employees. Who then become…  Lather, rinse, repeat

To wit: I give you the United States’ financial sector.  The Big Banks are titanic, dominant forces that control great and growing percentages of the market.  The Big Government agencies that allegedly exist to prevent Big Bank abuses?  The Federal Reserve and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) chief amongst them?  Are titanic, dominant forces that control great and growing percentages of the market.

Together?  They dominate and have destroyed their huge portion of the US economy.

The article reminds us:

Dodd-Frank massively increased the power of the unconstitutional, unaccountable Fed.  And created the unconstitutional, unaccountable CFPB.     

The allegedly “independent” Fed and CFPB have now been so powerful and so unaccountable for so long?  Their bureaucrats respond with anger and revulsion to even the thought of anyone even prospectively reining them in.  

Fed chairman Jerome Powell is a government villain too cartoonish even for Ayn Rand

“Jay Powell says Donald Trump couldn’t fire him even if he tried….’Not permitted under the law,’ the central bank chair said Thursday in curt but clear responses to reporters who asked about his views on any legal authorities Trump might have in terms of firing or demoting him or any other top Fed officials.”  

The article concludes:

Which brings us back to the Trump Administration and its DOGE – The Department of Government Efficiency.  

One of the two co-czars of DOGE is Elon Musk.  Who has said some VERY promising things about both the CFPB and the Fed.

Musk Calls for End to CFPB

Elon Musk Reposts Call to End the US Federal Reserve Bank 

Yes, please.  And yes, please.  

The first two letter of DOGE are “DO.”  As in it let’s DO it.  Times two.

Just a reminder:

Another Day, Another Hurdle Placed In Front Of President Trump By The Biden Administration

This is one of the nastiest peaceful transfers of power I have seen in my lifetime.

On Saturday, Townhall reported the following:

In a move that has many critics up in arms, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas has granted amnesty to 850,000 illegal immigrants, further exacerbating concerns about the Biden administration’s border policies. With just days away from being outgoing President Joe Biden’s last week in office, critics argue that this decision, which effectively shields hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens from deportation, signals an alarming disregard for the rule of law and sets a dangerous precedent for future immigration enforcement. With the U.S. southern border already overwhelmed by record numbers of illegal crossings, conservatives contend that this blanket amnesty acts as a stab in the back to President-elect Donald Trump’s mass deportation plans.

With just days left as Biden’s border czar, Mayorkas announced the 18-month expansion of the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) amnesty, which includes the 234,000 illegal immigrants from El Salvador who first got their TPS status after a 2001 earthquake that destroyed the nation’s economy. The mass amnesty also includes 600,000 economic migrants from Venezuela.

However, the once struggling economy is now growing, thanks to the successful crackdown on gang crime led by the country’s popular president, Nayib Bukele.

That’s correct—Mayorkas cited “bad weather” as the reason for not sending the illegal aliens back to their home countries. 

The probably outcome of this move is that the deportation plans of the Trump administration will be tied up in court for at least two years. At that point, the Democrats running for Congress can run on the ‘broken promise’ of the Trump administration. I hope I am wrong about that, but because of the way politics works in America, any significant changes in policy in the Trump administration will have to be accomplished in the first eighteen months. After that, Congressional campaigns begin, and nothing gets down. I hope that the Trump administration has figured out how to get around all of the roadblocks the Biden administration is placing in its path.

The Difference Between The Two Parties

The Republicans have taken control of the Senate. They have announced some of their plans. Generally speaking, their goal is to govern America in a way consistent with the Constitution and in a way that works for most Americans. The Democrats should be very grateful for that.

On January 3rd, Townhall reported:

The 119th Congress has just begun, and Republicans have a new leader in the Senate with Sen. John Thune (R-SD). As Thune has been saying ever since he was selected as majority leader in November, he plans to protect the filibuster, the very institution Senate Democrats fought so ferociously to destroy when they were in the majority. They would have ramped up those efforts even further, had they kept control of the chamber. For Friday’s speech, Thune plans to again reference his commitment to the filibuster. 

…Under Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Democrats tried multiple times to nuke the filibuster, including when it comes to attempts to pass legislation that would lead to a federal takeover of our election laws and attempts to pass legislation that would expand Roe v. Wade by allowing for abortion up until birth without legal limit in all 50 states. Such efforts failed, though, thanks to Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona. Both ultimately left the Democratic Party and became Independents, and neither ran for reelection in 2024. 

…Leading up to the 2024 election, far-left groups made it clear that they prioritized nuking the filibuster and packing the U.S. Supreme Court. In the final weeks of the campaign, Vice President Kamala Harris expressed her support for such a plan in order to make it easier for legislation to do with her her pet issue of abortion to get passed. Sen. Bob Casey Jr (D-PA) and Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX), who was running against Republican Sen. Ted Cruz in the U.S. Senate race, expressed the same views. Harris, Casey, and Allred all ended up losing their races. 

Oddly enough, now that they are no longer in control of the Senate, the Democrats are less interested in getting rid of the filibuster. Wow! How things change.

Some Very Rational Comments From Eric Adams

The Daniel Penny trial continues in New York City. As you probably remember, Daniel Penny is being tried for the murder of Jordan Neely in a subway car. Neely was behaving strangely and threatening the passengers in the car when former Marine Daniel Penny put him in a strangle hold to restrain him and protect the other passengers.

On Thursday, Townhall reported:

Democrat New York City Mayor Eric Adams is publicly defending Daniel Penny and his heroic actions.

…Adams appeared on a November 30 episode of “The Rob Astorino Show,” where he praised Penny for “doing what we should have done as a city,” protecting the people of New York.

“The young man [Neely], in this case, was going within our system, throughout the revolving door of our system. Now, we’re on the subway where we’re hearing someone talking about hurting people, killing people,” Adams told the show’s titular host, formerly a GOP candidate for New York governor. “You have someone [Penny] on that subway who was responding — doing what we should have done as a city.”

“Those passengers were afraid,” Adams added. “I’ve been on the subway system. I know what it is like as a police officer to wrestle or fight with someone.”

Adams went on to criticize the city’s mental health support system.

The article concludes:

At the time of Neely’s death, there was an active warrant out for his arrest.

During closing arguments, the defense told jurors: “The government wasn’t there. The police weren’t there. Danny was.”

“And when he needed help, no one was there. The government has the nerve to blame Danny because police weren’t there. Blame Danny for holding on when police weren’t there,” Penny’s defense attorney Steven Raiser said.

Penny faces up to 19 years in prison if convicted on both counts.

Jury deliberations began on Tuesday following a month-long trial.

Adams said he hoped jurors would “make the right decision” when rendering Penny’s verdict.

“I’m hoping that the jury will hear all the facts, based on all the facts that’s laid out, a jury of his peers would make the right decision,” he stated.

“That could have easily been a case where you saw three innocent people murdered on our street two weeks ago,” Adams said Saturday, referencing a recent mid-November deadly stabbing spree in Manhattan.

“It is imperative that we look at the totality of this problem,” Adams urged.

I am not in favor of people taking the law into their own hands, but in this case, Daniel Penny probably saved at least one life.

The Saga Of Fani Willis Continues

On Wednesday, Townhall posted an article about the ongoing legal troubles of Fani Willis.

The article reports:

A Fulton County court has found Democrat DA Fani Willis in default for failing to comply with court deadlines in an open records lawsuit brought by government watchdog Judicial Watch. As a result, the anti-Trump prosecutor is ordered to produce potential documentation of communications Willis may have had with Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office and the U.S. House select January 6 committee.

In March, Judicial Watch launched a lawsuit after Willis denied possessing any records responsive to an August 2023 public records request. 

The organization, which investigates government misconduct, suggested in the civil action complaint that Willis likely lied about the purported lack of responsive records on hand.

As proof, Judicial Watch referenced a December 2021 letter Willis wrote to Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), then chairman of the congressional January 6 committee. In the letter, Willis officially requested the committee’s help with her Trump investigation and offered to trek to Capitol Hill to convene at the committee’s convenience.

“It may well be most efficient for your staff and effective for our understanding of my staff and me to meet with your investigators in person. We are able to travel to Washington…” Willis wrote, also asking for access to congressional records, such as recordings, transcripts of witness interviews and depositions, communications, and travel documents.

The letter to Thompson is clearly a responsive record, Judicial Watch noted, yet it was neither produced in response to the request nor claimed to be subject to exemption under state law.

The article concludes:

In October 2023, Judicial Watch sued the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), seeking communications between Smith and Willis regarding requests and receipt of federal funding in the Fulton County-level investigation of Trump. To date, the DOJ is refusing to confirm or deny the existence of such records, claiming that to do so would interfere with enforcement proceedings. Judicial Watch’s litigation challenging this claim continues.

House Republicans have called on Willis to disclose her crew’s contacts with the J6 committee. Willis refused, claiming the request “violates well-established principles of federalism and separation of powers.” She told U.S. House Judiciary Committee chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH): “You cannot—and will not—be provided access to any non-public information about this.”

This month, the Georgia Court of Appeals was supposed to hear oral arguments about the slew of prosecutorial misconduct claims against Willis after a Fulton County judge’s non-disqualification decision allowed her to remain in charge of the Trump case. However, the appeals court abruptly canceled the December 5 hearing “until further order.” It’s still unclear why the proceeding was scrapped.

The claims of equal justice under the law have had a rough week.

Avoiding The FBI Until It Can Be Repaired

On Wednesday, Townhall posted an article explaining how President Trump is avoiding the traps the FBI set for him during his last administration.

The article reports:

President-elect Donald J. Trump isn’t buying into the FBI’s games, nor should he. The Justice Department has targeted the man and has gone multiple rounds with its lawyers, including a federal raid on his home—all of which was to derail his 2024 candidacy. But he won the election.

He’s in charge, and I hope he takes a baseball bat to the J. Edgar Hoover Building. And yes, no appointee should subject themselves to an FBI background check for security clearances until he’s sworn in and gets his people to run the show. The Biden DOJ cannot be trusted. In a massive middle finger to the bureau, Trump is going to give every appointee a security clearance until his appointees can be reined in and begin the process of cleaning house at the FBI, which has devolved into the Democrats’ political police force (via The Guardian): 

Donald Trump’s transition team is planning for all political appointees to receive sweeping security clearances on the first day and only face FBI background checks after the incoming administration takes over the bureau and its own officials are installed in key positions, according to people familiar with the matter.

The move appears to mean that Trump’s team will continue to skirt FBI vetting and may not receive classified briefings until Trump is sworn in on 20 January and unilaterally grant sweeping security clearances across the administration.

Trump’s team has regarded the FBI background check process with contempt for months, a product of their deep distrust of the bureau ever since officials turned over transition records to the Russia investigation during the first Trump presidency, the people said.

The article concludes:

Many of our enemies still work at the FBI and the Justice Department. Look at what’s transpired, not just during the first Trump presidency, but this 2024 cycle—the incoming administration is rightly suspicious of this agency that has ruined countless lives to get Trump.

I’ll support anything that makes the FBI miserable, frustrated, and appear small. They’ve earned it.

This is definitely a different Trump administration than the one that took office in 2016.

Generally Speaking, The Voters Support President Trump’s Transition Actions

On Monday, Townhall posted an article about recent polls taken to see how Americans are acting to President Trump’s transition moves.

The article reports:

We recently explored the question of whether Donald Trump has been given an electoral mandate by voters, with my bottom line being, ‘yes, but mandates are fickle and only last as long as voters remain on board.’  Seasoned and insightful political observer Brit Hume, however, has warned Trump’s team not to treat their victory as some sort of triumphal, full embrace: “This was a clear and convincing win for Mr. Trump, to be sure, and — particularly when you think of all the stuff that had been thrown at him as he tried to be elected again — it’s impressive,” he said before adding a few cautionary notes:

Joe Biden won a narrow victory — convincing, perhaps, but narrow — in 2020, and once he got control of the Senate and had control of both houses, he started thinking that he was going to be the new FDR, and was going to pass all kinds of great social legislation, some of the results of which were an outbreak of inflation, from which his candidacy and his campaign never recovered,” Hume said. “So, you have to be careful about these things. Mandates, real mandates, are rare, and landslides are perhaps even rarer.” … “My thought about this is: The president would be wise to ignore the talk from his supporters about what an enormous mandate he has and what a great landslide he won, because thinking that can lead to trouble,” Hume added. Hume said Trump following through with his promise of mass deportation would be an appropriate reading of Trump’s mandate, given how clear the president-elect was on his goal. “Particularly on the deportation of illegal migrants,” Hume said, “he does, I think it’s fair to say, have an authority to do that, and the voters understood that that’s one of the things he said he was going to do, and he never back away from it.”

The article includes a number of screenshots illustrating where President Trump’s support is coming from and the amount of support President Trump has. Most Americans are on board with the idea of deporting people who do not legally belong here.

Small Steps As The Path To Victory

Our Founding Fathers were very wise. Townhall reminds us that James Madison said, “I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.” The election we just saw was an example of one party reaching past the political mindset of the majority of Americans and going too far too fast. Most Americans don’t want their children undergoing major surgery that will prevent them from having children later on. Most parents want to see more crayons and fewer drag queens in our children’s classrooms.

Townhall reports:

Mighty and loud revolutions have happened in history and with some degree of frequency. However, the most insidious “revolutions” are the ones mentioned by James Madison in the quote above. That kind of revolution is, no doubt, the one the Democratic Party and Marxist Left have in mind for America because they have been trying to impose it upon the country for the past two generations.

They almost succeeded but got too greedy the past four years, and the American people stopped them this year. But if we think the Left is finished, if we think they will give up, if we believe their attempt to continue their overthrow of the American Revolution of 1776 is over, then we are, of all people, most naïve. They aren’t going to stop; they are only going to regroup and redouble their efforts.

No doubt, the Left was knocked back on its heels a bit by this year’s election. Their arrogant smugness, sense of elite superiority, the belief that they were right about everything and surely the American people would never reject them—all of this received a severe blow and shocked them significantly. They still have no clue why they lost because they have no clue how utterly abhorrent their agenda is to true, patriotic, God-fearing Americans—and to many others who simply want to pay their bills and not have the Left’s communistic, licentious, anti-scientific garbage rammed down their throats.

The article notes:

“An educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people” (Thomas Jefferson). That education starts with virtue, something our education system has utterly and miserably failed to inculcate into our children the past several decades. “To suppose that any form of government will secure liberty or happiness without any virtue in the people is a chimerical [fanciful] idea” (James Madison). Electing Donald Trump to the Presidency was a good start, but there is so much more to do. If the king is righteous but the people are wicked, the country will still be rotten and headed for destruction.

The Left knows—or will figure out soon—that, even with Donald Trump as President, they will eventually win IF they can continue to control the education system of America (including the media). We better figure that out, too. We didn’t get into this pit overnight and won’t climb out of it overnight. But we’d be wise to get started before the pit gets deeper.

Another reason to remove the Department of Education from the federal government.

Even The Washington Post?

The election is over. At least we thought it was. However, Bob Casey, Jr., is trying to steal the Senate seat that has been awarded to Dave McCormick. Even the Washington Post has had enough of the Democrats ignoring the decisions of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court regarding legal votes.

Townhall reports:

The Washington Post’s left-leaning editorial board published a scathing article about Pennsylvania Democrats who voted to count invalid ballots during the Senate race recount between Bob Casey (D-PA) and his Republican challenger, Dave McCormick.

On Sunday, Townhall quoted The Washington Post:

“Democrats thumb their nose at the rule of law in Pennsylvania”

The mere attempt to defy judicial rulings is corrosive to democracy and invites similar behavior in future elections. Democrats would surely protest if a Republican commissioner made the same statement to justify tipping the scales for their party’s Senate nominee — and they would be right. Elections need rules established in advance of the voting, and those rules must be applied equally and consistently.

Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court, by the way, includes five justices elected in partisan elections as Democrats and just two elected as Republicans. Even if that partisan balance were reversed, however, the court’s authority would be equally legitimate.

I don’t know what the solution is when one political party refuses to abide by a decision made by the Court regarding the rules of an election. It seems to me that the voters in Pennsylvania need to get new election officials. The judges got it right, the officials chose to ignore the judges.

UPDATE:

On Monday, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ordered the counting of ballots to stop immediately. We will see if the Democrats are ready to obey the law.

This Is The Plan

On Thursday, Townhall posted an article detailing President Trump’s plan to drain the Washington, D.C. swamp.

Here is a brief summary:

In arguably one of the most critical first announcements Trump has made as president-elect, he vowed to immediately reissue the 2020 executive order to restore the president’s authority to remove “rogue bureaucrats aggressively.”

Second, Trump said he would fire all of the corrupt individuals in the country’s national security and intelligence organization so that bureaucrats would no longer be able to target and persecute conservatives and Christians.

…Third, the incoming 47th president said he would reform FISA courts, and fourth, to expose the abuses of power done so by the left.

Trump then announced he would form a Truth and Reconciliation committee to “declassify and publish all documents on Deep State spying, censorship, and corruption.”

Trump also said he would crack down on government workers who collude with the left-wing media to create false narratives.

…Sixth, he plans to make every Inspector General’s Office independent from the departments they oversee to ensure they do not become a part of the Deep State.

Seventh, Trump will create an independent auditing system that will monitor intelligence agencies to make sure they are not spying on Americans or secretly running disinformation campaigns against them.

The president-elect also vowed to relocate parts of the federal bureaucracy to states other than Washington, D.C., or the District of Columbia.

…Ninth, he will ban federal bureaucrats from working at companies they regulate, such as big Pharma and big tech.

And tenth, Trump promised to establish a constitutional amendment to impose term limits on Congress members.

This sounds like fun. However, I don’t agree with Congressional term limits unless you also term-limit Congressional staffs and high-level federal employees.

It’s Time To Protect The Children

On November 9, Townhall reminded us what one of the first priorities of the Trump administration should be–locating and rescuing the children who have gone missing after crossing America’s southern border.

The article reports:

On Day One, President Trump must take immediate action to protect migrant children by completely overhauling the Office of Refugee Resettlement within the Department of Health and Human Services. The current catastrophe has resulted in thousands upon thousands of children vanishing into the unknown, many into the hands of traffickers. The true number remains unknown as the government has lost track of so many of these vulnerable souls. Those in the current administration who have deliberately weakened or eliminated crucial sponsor vetting procedures must be removed. The safety of vulnerable children cannot be sacrificed for administrative expediency.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement, with its extensive capabilities and expertise in immigration proceedings, should assume primary responsibility for vetting sponsors and monitoring these children’s whereabouts. Just as ICE successfully manages its Alternatives to Detention program through vetted contractors, similar frameworks could be established to track and protect unaccompanied minors. By leveraging ICE’s resources and coordinating with other agencies’ direct support, we can create a robust system that actually protects these children rather than abandoning them to potential traffickers.

The article concludes:

As we confront this ongoing crisis, our resolve must be stronger than ever. We must work together to create a world where no child is subjected to the horrors of trafficking or falls through the cracks of a failing system. This is more than a call for action; it’s a demand for justice and a plea to our collective conscience to treat this issue with the seriousness it deserves.

Every day we delay, more children vanish into the shadows. Their fate will be our legacy. The time for action is now. Our government’s first duty is to protect the vulnerable. When it comes to migrant children, we’re not just failing – we’re actively enabling their exploitation. This must change, and it must change now.

Matthew 18:6 in the New King James Bible states:

“But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

I’m not suggesting we drown anyone, but let’s hold the people who are exploiting these children accountable.

Some Common Sense After The Election

On November 6th, Townhall posted an article about some of the media analysis of the 2024 election. Some of the most helpful and intelligent commentary came from Scott Jennings on CNN.

The article reports:

As Townhall has been covering this election cycle, Scott Jennings has been a breath of fresh air and at times the only voice of reason during CNN panels that otherwise would go completely off the rails. He’s been ramping up the warnings as to how the tactics of the Harris-Walz campaign just weren’t working, and sure enough that proved to be true. Early on Wednesday morning, Jennings tried to offer his fellow panelists some insight, if only they’d take such a free gift.

When Anderson Cooper asked Jennings his thoughts, Jennings reminded that Trump won “a huge victory” and “a mandate,” but also addressed it in the context of how Trump “has an opportunity here to try to unite the country” after such a win. Trump indeed won the popular vote, the first time a Republican has done so since 2004, which CNN’s Harry Enten had also been warning viewers about as the election was approaching. “This is a big deal, this isn’t backing into the office, this is a mandate to do what you said you were going to do,” Jennings continued, as he mentioned Trump’s priorities centered on the economy, crime, and immigration.

“I’m interpreting the results tonight as the revenge of just the regular ‘ol working class, the anonymous American who has been crushed, insulted, condescended to, they’re not ‘garbage,’ they’re not Nazis, they’re just regular people who get up and go to work every day and are trying to make a better life for their kids and they feel like they have been told to just shut up, when they have complained about the things that are hurting them in their own lives,” Jennings continued, as he reminded his panelists of the ways in which President Joe Biden and the Harris-Walz ticket have insulted their political opponents. One could hear a pin drop as such points were made.

Please follow the link to the article to read the rest of Scott Jennings’ comments. I am amazed that he is on CNN.

This Needs To Be Corrected Immediately!

On Saturday, Townhall reported the following:

GOP Reps. Brian Mast (R-FL), Bill Huizenga (R-MI), and Mike Waltz (R-FL) sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin citing their “grave concern over deficiencies in the Defense Department’s protocols” for the U.S. military because they said the absentee ballot stockpile has been “depleted and had not been replenished.”

“Our nation’s brave men and women in uniform brought to our attention that there has been inadequate education at the administrative level on how to register to vote, request an absentee ballot, and fill in a federal write-in absentee ballot if their state-issued ballot does not arrive in time,” the letter reads. “Other service members also stated that when a request for a federal write-in absentee ballot was made, they were told the base’s stockpile of such ballots was depleted and had not been replenished.”

…The Republicans demanded that the Pentagon take extraordinary measures to ensure that the nation’s “elite warriors” have an opportunity to cast their vote in the upcoming election. However, with only three days until Election Day, lawmakers fear the government has not yet taken action.

The article concludes:

“Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have mobilized federal manpower, resources, and tax dollars to block state-level election integrity measures, including in Georgia and Virginia, through lawsuits and smears,” Mast said in a press release. “They claim to care about democracy and the right to vote, yet they’ve failed to plan accordingly to facilitate the right to vote for every single one of our nation’s brave men and women in uniform. Our nation’s elite warriors deserve to have every opportunity to vote for the next commander-in-chief, especially since that person will be making life-and-death decisions for our troops.” 

The incident comes after President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have refused to acknowledge that U.S. military members are serving overseas in combat. During a debate, Harris claimed that no active service members were on the battlefield.

The election should not be declared until all military ballots have been received, proven to be valid, and counted.

An Interesting Turn In The Campaign For President

Follow the money is a principle that works in a lot of different settings. In politics it sometimes tells us who is behind certain policies and laws, and in business it sometimes explains decisions that seem to have no logical basis. In elections, it can provide information into what a campaign’s internal polling numbers are telling them.

On Tuesday, Townhall reported:

While we’ve been saying that this election will likely come down to seven key battleground states, and it still could, former and potentially future President Donald Trump is enjoying momentum so strong he may not just win in most or in all of those states, but in other states not traditionally considered to be battleground states. Now, in the final days before the election, there looks to be more states seriously in play, and it looks like Vice President Kamala Harris knows it too, which may explain why she’s pulling her ads from North Carolina markets.

The article concludes:

This always was going to be one of the potentially trickier swing states, given how other than Trump’s win in 2016, it’s gone for the Democratic nominee every year since 1984. RCP still has Trump leading by +0.5, while Silver has Harris up by +0.4 there, though the state has trended Republican as well, by +0.3 over the last week and by +1.5 over the past month. 

Beyond the polls, though, the momentum from the Trump campaign is undeniable, as is the panic from the Harris campaign. As Kinnett himself has predicted, we could very well end up finding out the results by the very next afternoon after Election Day, with Wisconsin a win for Trump and Virginia coming close to it.

There is a lot more early voting this year than usual. Part of that is due to what happened on election day in 2020 when election machines failed and people waited in line for hours in some states. Part of that is also due to the Trump campaign’s encouraging voters to vote early. It will be interesting to see how many people will have voted by election day and how quickly the votes can be tabulated.

Before You Take His Statements Too Seriously, Look At His Record

Somehow a lot of the rules in the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) were ignored when President Trump was in office. One of the people who broke a lot of those rules but was never held accountable was the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley. On Saturday, Townhall posted an article about some of his past actions and some of his recent statements.

The article reports:

Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, recently called Donald Trump a “fascist to the core” and “a wannabe dictator.” That such a senior military leader would feel comfortable saying this about his former boss is remarkable given that similar statements by officers have, in the past, resulted in severe punishment. The U.S. Constitution makes the president—the only democratically elected leader in the chain of command—commander in chief. Military leaders serving under the president owe him both deference and respect, regardless of whether their policy preferences differ.  

General Milley is challenging this foundational principle of American government. Although General Milley’s recent statements are not subject to Article 88 because President Trump was no longer in office at the time the general made them, his previous attempts to undermine Trump’s authority could be. Indeed, General Milley has recognized as much, expressing concern that he may yet face court-martial for his conduct during the Trump administration. Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has revealed that General Milley discussed with her ways in which the military could ignore a hypothetical order from President Trump to deploy nuclear weapons, and that he agreed with the speaker’s suggestion that President Trump was “crazy.”

The article notes what I consider the most egregious act of General Milley:

Others have alleged that General Milley worked behind the scenes to frustrate the Trump administration’s plan to pull troops out of Afghanistan, ultimately succeeding in delaying withdrawal until President Biden was in office. Most egregiously, a 2021 book by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa details how General Milley—without knowledge or authorization from the president—offered to warn a senior Chinese military official “ahead of time” in the event that President Trump ordered an attack against the communist state. This latter conduct, if true, goes beyond even insubordination—it borders on outright treason, which can be prosecuted through court-martial or by the Department of Justice under Title 18, Section 2381 of the U.S. Code.

General Milley is a disgrace to the uniform.

Why The Secrecy?

On Wednesday, Guy Benson posted an article at Townhall wondering why CBS News is so reluctant to release the full audio of its interview with Vice-President Kamala Harris.

The article reports:

As we recently outlined, it has been a damaging, credibility-harming few weeks for CBS News.  The network violated its own debate rules with a disputed-to-misleading ‘fact check’ of JD Vance at the Vice Presidential debate, then cut off his microphone as he calmly picked apart their assertion.  Their morning show was thrown into chaos when some employees melted down over an anchor asking pointed, tough questions of an anti-Israel zealot, resulting in angry recriminations, tears, and a series of embarrassing leaks.  Then there was the curious 60 Minutes edit of Kamala Harris’ answer regarding US-Israeli relations, which looked completely different in a teaser clip, compared to what aired on the broadcast itself.  As a refresher, here’s the side-by-side juxtaposition:

Neither answer really said anything!

The article includes a quote from The Federalist reminds us why President Trump was not interested in sitting down for an interview with CBS News:

During the interview [with Trump] — which aired on Oct. 25, the week before the 2020 election, and garnered nearly 17 million views — longtime anchor [Leslie Stahl] flat-out denied that the Biden family was under any sort of scandal at all. The interview was so combative that the Trump campaign released the full raw footage before network publication. “He’s in the midst of a scandal,” Trump said in reference to emails from the laptop revealing Joe Biden was lying about involvement with Hunter’s overseas business ventures. “He’s not,” Stahl said, interrupting the president to outright dismiss the criticism. “He’s not, no.” Stahl went on to deny that then-Vice President Joe Biden spied on the Trump campaign in 2016, and claimed Hunter Biden’s laptop couldn’t be verified.

We all know that was lies. The other part of that story is that numerous sources have claimed that there was child pornography on Hunter’s laptop. Why has he not been charged for that? The mainstream media is not the friend of the American people.

Where The Money In The Inflation Reduction Act Actually Went

On Wednesday, Townhall posted an article detailing where some of the money the government spent in the Inflation Reduction Act actually went. It wasn’t only a green energy bill, it was also a left wing political activism bill.

The article reports:

A glaring example comes from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA,) which distributed grants to organizations that train activists to oppose infrastructure projects under the guise of “environmental justice.” For instance, the EPA sent $50 million to the Climate Justice Alliance, which has a network of 90 affiliates. Last November, the group organized a march in Washington, D.C. where protestors proclaimed “Free Palestine Is a Climate Justice Issue.” Your tax dollars at work.

In another instance, the Gulf of Maine Research Institute received $500,000 to build “capacity” for disadvantaged waterfront communities, which is essentially code for teaching activists how to block offshore wind development—ironically, a project supported by the Biden administration. So, the same taxpayer dollars funding offshore wind are also protesting the same offshore wind. It’s government efficiency at its finest. 

Worse still, some of the most troubling beneficiaries of this funding have nothing to do with the environment at all. As U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) has pointed out, millions of dollars are being funneled to radical anti-immigration enforcement groups. The New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice and the New York Immigration Coalition, both recipients of IRA funds, advocate against federal immigration enforcement and border control, further highlighting how poorly aligned these investments are with reducing inflation. However, they always seem magically aligned with paying organizations that support the political left. Or more specifically, funding paychecks for potential Harris voters.

The article concludes:

It is a convenient scenario for Harris where activists are funded to organize, and bureaucratic inertia prevents effective oversight. All the while, the broader public is left holding the bag—facing higher costs and fewer jobs. Surprising absolutely no one, the Climate Justice Alliance has endorsed Kamala for President.

It turns out if you rob Peter to pay Paul, then Paul will surely support you for president. In that sense, the Inflation Reduction Act is working exactly as Kamala Harris wants.

If we had a media that actually reported on corruption, the Inflation Reduction Act would never have passed.

History Predicts The Future

Does anyone remember January 2017? There was serious property destruction, weird pink hats, and veiled threats made against the new President. No one was ever held accountable for the property damage. No one was kept in jail for four years for a minor offense, and there were no consequences for bad behavior. Are you naive enough to believe that the bad behavior will not be repeated since there were no consequences last time?

On Saturday, Townhall posted an article reminding us of some of the comments made by Democrats regarding certifying the 2024 election if President Trump wins.

The article notes:

What they’re saying: Raskin [Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.)], the House Oversight Committee ranking member and former Jan. 6 committee member who objected to Trump electors in 2017, told Axios in an interview that if Trump “won a free, fair and honest election, then we would obviously accept it.”

Asked if he assumes a Trump victory would be free, fair and honest, however, Raskin said: “I definitely don’t assume that.”

…Zoom in: House Rules Committee Ranking Member Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), who also objected to Trump electors in 2017, said Democrats would certify a Trump victory “assuming everything goes the way we expect it to.”

It helps to understand how much the Washington establishment loses if President Trump is re-elected. The uni-party has enriched itself at the expense of the people it’s supposed to represent. Our laws are being written by lobbyists or un-elected bureaucrats, so no one actually writing the laws can be held accountable by the voters. The polls showing a close race are there to camouflage the planned cheating (illegal aliens voting, rigged voting machines, bogus mail-in ballots)–all of the things that happened in 2020. Unless enough Trump supporters vote to overcome the cheating, we are in for a very rough four years.

The article concludes:

This party (the Democrats) has weaponized the Department of Justice against Republicans, along with engaging in prolonged lawfare against the former president. So, who’s the real threat? FBI agents weren’t visiting the homes of pro-life activists or those who shared anti-Democrat memes on social media. That all happened under Biden.

Our institutions have been wrecked under Biden, and now congressional Democrats are peddling supremely anti-democratic shenanigans because they’re so triggered over the prospect of another Trump presidency.

Have no fear; the results will be certified, no matter who wins, and if it’s Trump—I can’t wait for the tears.

Another Reason It Is Hard To Cut The Federal Budget

Theoretically the federal budget is controlled by the House or Representatives. They are supposed to send a budget to the Senate and the Senate is supposed to vote on it and pass it on to the President to sign. Unfortunately the last time Congress completed all bills on time was 20 years ago, in 1996. We have operated under Continuing Resolutions for a long time and federal spending has ballooned because of it. Why do we keep electing people who are not interested in cutting spending? The following information might be a clue,

On Wednesday, Townhall reported the following:

The state of Florida had a population of 22,610,726 as of July 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That ranked third among all states — exceeded only by Texas, which had a population of 30,503,301; and California, which had a population of 38,965,193.

As of this September, federal, state and local governments in this country employed a record total of 23,421,000 individuals, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In other words, government payrolls were populated by more people than lived in the state of Florida or in any of 47 other states. Only California and Texas had populations that exceeded the number of people who work for government in this country.

The article notes the incredible coincidence that government employees vote Democrat–they want to preserve their jobs.

The article concludes with a few examples:

In Maryland’s District 4, 12.29% of workers work for the federal government. It is represented by Democratic Rep. Glenn Ivey. In Virginia’s District 11, 12.06% of workers work for the federal government. It is represented by Democratic Rep. Gerald Connolly. In Maryland’s District 3, 10.72% of the workers work for the federal government. It is represented by Democratic Rep. John Sarbanes.

Imagine what our Congress would be like if 10% or more of the workers in every congressional district worked for the government.

That’s how the system works.

The Government Relief Efforts For Hurricane Helene Are Not Being Handled Well

On Saturday, Townhall posted an article about the government relief efforts for the victims of Hurricane Helene. Unfortunately, the government is being more of a hindrance than a help.

The article reports:

Into this hellscape of destroyed cities, overturned cars, and shattered lives have parachuted the Presidential “nominee” of the Democratic Party—the one nobody actually voted for—Kamala Harris. Conservative estimates of the cleanup in Helene’s wake exceed $ 300 billion…but the tone-deaf Harris put on her cheeriest face and announced that victims would be getting reparations from Washington. In an October 2nd speech in Augusta, GA (https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2024/10/02/remarks-by-vice-president-harris-on-response-and-recovery-efforts-following-hurricane-helene-augusta-ga/) Mrs. Time To Turn The Page stunned onlookers with these words:

“…And the federal relief and assistance that we have been providing has included FEMA providing $750 for folks who need immediate needs being met, such as food, baby formula, and the like. And you can apply now.”

Wow! Your home has been leveled, your car is crushed under tons of rubble, your streets are closed, and your cell phone is useless. But it isn’t all bad news: you can “apply” for a $750 gift card from Kamala Harris.

And where’s the Federal Emergency Management Agency? FEMA—according to its inept and impeached head Alejandro Mayorkas, speaking on Air Force One–“…does not have the funds to make it through the hurricane season.”

The article notes:

What rubbish. FEMA—crying crocodile tears about not having enough funds—isn’t mounting any substantial operations in many stricken areas. In fact, FEMA left hundreds of thousands of Helene victims without even cellphone communications until Donald J. Trump stepped in and tapped Elon Musk to provide StarLink™ trucks which are now operating in areas where cell towers collapsed during the hurricane.

This is not to diminish in any way the heroic work of the National Guard, state and local authorities and private citizens who have worked tirelessly in the wake of Helene’s fury to rescue people in their communities. Additionally, we all are blessed that groups like Franklin Graham’s Samaritan’s Purse, The Salvation Army and Team Rubicon immediately rolled up their sleeves and mobilized to literally save lives throughout the hurricane’s path. God bless every one of them.

The private sector always does it better! On August 12th, 1986, US President Ronald Reagan said, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’” He was right.

 

It Doesn’t Pay To Lie To People Who Know The Truth

On Tuesday, Townhall posted an article about a recent appearance on CNBC by Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. It did not go according to the Secretary’s plan.

The article reports:

Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo needs to stop going on CNBC. It might be time for anyone in the Biden-Harris orbit to drop going on a network that reports on the economy because they know the talking points, the spin for this shoddy economy left to us by this administration. Raimondo tried to sell the Democratic Party line on it, but Squawk Box co-host Joe Kernen wouldn’t allow this propaganda to go unchallenged.

He torched Raimondo, adding that there was no recession under Donald Trump, wages were up, the stock market was booming, and the tariff policy he pushed was continued under Biden. Raimondo was trying to paint a picture of economic chaos, only for Kernen to say that everything is in shambles and wages are down under Biden. There’s also an open border and crime crisis engulfing the nation.

These are facts. They are inconvenient to some Americans, but they are facts.

The article notes:

All Raimondo could say was that’s not true, without citing any facts to push against the reality that Biden’s America is one heaping lawless wasteland with no economic activity. The stock market performance right now isn’t sustainable, with everyone and their mother warning that a reset is coming. The unemployment that Democrats like to attach to Trump was over the hysterics brought about by COVID.

Also, no one in the media wants to ask Raimondo and others what happened to the one million jobs never created in 2023. The revised numbers wiped out that figure, discovering they were never created. It’s another damning economic development that Raimondo seemed unfamiliar with, so what does she do all day?

If voters consider the facts and vote for President Trump, we can regain what we have lost under President Biden.

When Your Business Is Ruined By Illegal Immigrants

On Monday, Townhall posted an article updating the situation regarding the apartments taken over by the Venezuelan gang in Aurora, Colorado. It’s not a pretty picture.

The article reports:

A Colorado landlord has agreed to sell an apartment complex because it was taken over by the violent Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua. 

According to the New York Post, landlord Zev Baumgarten had been fighting with Aurora, Colorado leadership after the city accused him of allowing Aspen Grove apartments to become a “trash-ridden, gang-infested hellhole.”

…Now, Baumgarten’s company has now agreed to sell, lease, or find some “similar disposition” for the complex. The complex was closed in August, reportedly displacing 300 residents. His company must pay to clean up the site (via NYP):

The article concludes:

Townhall previously reported how the gang had taken over apartment complexes in Aurora, terrorizing the residents.

Despite this, Democrat Gov. Jared Polis called the anger and fear that’s arisen from this situation “imagination.”

Polis’ press office offered the “snarky” statement in response to the New York Post’s reporting on the issue. 

“The Governor has already let the Mayor know that the State is ready to support the local police department with assistance from state troopers and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation if needed,” Shelby Wieman, a spokesperson for the Democratic governor, told The Post.

“But, according to police intelligence this purported invasion is largely a feature of Danielle Jurinsky’s imagination,” Wieman added. Jurinsky is a member of the Aurora City Council and has sounded the alarm on the illegal immigration crisis impacting the community. 

Why are we expecting people who broke the law to come into America to respect the laws of our country once they get here?

The Problems With The Harris Tax Plan

Kamala Harris will raise our taxes if she is elected. She says she will only raise taxes on the rich, but that was the same promise made when the Income Tax was passed in 1913–it would only impact the top 1 or 2 percent of the wealthiest Americans–the rest of us would not have to pay any taxes. We know how that went.

On Friday, Townhall posted an article about Kamala Harris’ tax plan.

The first thing you need to be aware of is the Laffer Curve:

It has been proven historically that lower taxes result in higher tax revenue. Why should you take the risk and do the work of starting a business of  you know the government is going to take most of what you earn?

The article at Townhall states:

Experts are warning against Vice President Kamala Harris’ proposed tax strategy, which they say would threaten the future of the United States economically.

The Cato Institute commented:

Harris’s 28 percent federal corporate tax rate and 44.6 percent top capital gains and dividend tax rate would give the United States the highest total tax rate on corporate income in the developed world when combined with state taxes. As I recently explained, workers ultimately bear most of the cost of the corporate income tax through lower wages and fewer job opportunities. Because the corporate income tax is one of the most economically destructive ways to raise revenue, the total economic cost of Harris’ proposed tax hike will likely be multiple times larger than the tax revenue it raises. The Harris plan would also increase top federal income tax rates so that combined state, local, and federal tax rates would be on the wrong side of the Laffer curve in 36 states and Washington, DC—the point at which higher tax rates create so much economic distortion that they no longer bring in additional tax revenue. Via Cato Institute.

I would like to continue to live in my house as a senior citizen on a fixed income. Harris’ plan to tax unrealized capital gains would make that impossible.

Sometimes It May Not Be Wise To Run As Part Of A Current Administration

Vice-President Harris is attempting to run her campaign as someone who will come into the White House and fix everything that is currently broken. Unfortunately for her, she has been working as part of the White House for the past three and a half years. It has also become apparent that the current President has probably not been making a lot of the decisions. That doesn’t help her case.

On Wednesday, Townhall posted an article about the idea that Kamala Harris represents a change from the current administration.

The article notes:

JD Vance is torching the Harris-Walz campaign over this simple fact: they’re the incumbent party. It’s become a laughable exercise regarding how Harris’ campaign and the media treat her as if she isn’t in the White House right now. Every aspect of Harris’ agenda is Joe Biden’s; the reversals don’t count. We all know what type of politician Kamala Harris is at heart. Yet, the media is doing everything they can to make her not seem like she’s part of the current administration. The most brazen attempt was by Politico, which had this headline: “Our corrupt leadership’: Vance tries to tether Harris to Biden during Michigan rally.” 

The screenshots of Tweets in the article are quite entertaining:

The article concludes:

This ill-fated attempt at interference is probably one of the funniest chapters in the media’s concerted effort to cast Harris as some outsider. She’s not. This election is there for Trump’s taking—but he needs to tighten things up a bit on the messaging.

The entire Harris-Walz campaign is stating that they will fix things on day one. Both have been involved in politics for years. Why haven’t they fixed things before?