Tag Archives: Townhall

Refusing To Learn From History

Posted on by
Reply

Minneapolis raised its minimum wage to $15 an hour in 2017. I have previously posted articles about the results of increasing the minimum wage (here and here). Those of us who understand economics knew exactly what the results of that increase would be. Unfortunately, the writers for The Minnesota Star Tribune had no idea.

A Townhall article from Tuesday quotes The Minnesota Star Tribune (Townhall added the emphasis_:

When the Minneapolis City Council approved a controversial $15 minimum wage in 2017, no one knew what would happen next.

Workers and business owners made dueling predictions of boom or bust that would result from the citywide wage hike. Cities with similar policies were still phasing in the $15 minimum, so it was impossible to say who was right.

Nearly a decade later, businesses in Minneapolis and St. Paul — which passed its own similar law in 2018 — say they’re stretched thinner than ever, and both cities have lost thousands of jobs.

Pressure on the hospitality industry is particularly acute. Restaurants and other leisure-related businesses say shrinking margins have left them less able to weather economic shocks, such as the federal immigration crackdown that forced many to temporarily close this winter.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, which has studied the effects of the $15 minimum wage in Minneapolis since 2018, recently reported minimum wage policies have resulted in higher hourly pay but fewer available hours and positions. That has meant lower earnings: Between 2017 and 2021, the average decline in wage earnings across all industries was 1% in Minneapolis and about 2% in St. Paul. The research controlled for the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and unrest after George Floyd’s murder in 2020.

The article at Townhall notes:

We all knew exactly what would happen. Because we have years of minimum wage hikes that demonstrate the same pattern.

You don’t have to be a genius to predict that despite the empirical evidence that minimum wage hikes don’t help workers, more cities and states will implement them in the near future.

When Medicine Becomes Totally About Money

Posted on by

On Wednesday, Townhall posted an article that illustrates what happens which the practice of medicine becomes more about money than about helping people.

In the Wikipedia (general accurate on this sort of thing) entry about the Hippocratic Oath it says:

“First do no harm”

Main article: Primum non nocere

Although it is often said that “First do no harm” (Latin: Primum non nocere) is a part of the original Hippocratic oath, no such phrase from which “First” or “Primum” can be translated appears in the text of the original oath, although a similar intention is vowed by, “I will abstain from all intentional wrong-doing and harm”. Another related phrase is found in Epidemics, Book I, of the Hippocratic school: “Practice two things in your dealings with disease: either help or do not harm the patient”[18] and it likely took shape from longstanding popular nonmedical expression.[19]

In the early days of the Oath, it was understood that the Oath was not in favor of either abortion of euthanasia. However, the current medical profession seems to have overlooked that fact.

Townhall reported:

Critics of government-approved “assisted suicide” programs have warned for years that such programs are a slippery slope to wholesale euthanasia at the hands of the state. In Canada, the Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) program now euthanizes more people per capita than there are gun deaths in America and more people than dogs. Those people include those with eating disorders, depression, and autism, as well as veterans, the poor, and the chronically ill who can’t get treatment under Canada’s failing socialized medicine system. These people do not have terminal illnesses, which was the selling point of MAiD, remember. They’re just inconvenient, and it’s cheaper for the state to kill them than provide support services.

Every single dire prediction made about MAiD has come true, and Canada is poised to offer the service to infants and children, too.

But they’re not the outlier here. In Switzerland, a woman who lost her son was euthanized. She was reportedly a perfectly healthy 56-year-old woman who needed counseling and support.

Instead, she was killed.

Please follow the link to read the entire article. It is heartbreaking. This is a lady who could have lived a happy, productive life with the proper counseling and emotional support.

The Culture Of Violence

Posted on by

On Sunday, Townhall posted an article about a school shooting stopped by the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office.

The article reports:

A Virginian transgender substitute teacher has been arrested for planning to commit a “murder spree” at a local school, the New York Post reported on Friday.

Police took Hadyn Dollery, a 19-year old male who identifies as a female, into custody after he bragged about his plot online and made references to a “kill list” over Discord. His target is said to have been John Champe High School in Aldie, Virginia near the Washington, D.C. area.

He had been considered a “nonlicensed substitute” in the 2025 to 2026 school year, but his information was removed from the school district’s database shortly following his arrest, according to the Post.

Authorities say that they learned of the thwarted attack due to a tip received by the police department’s Safe2Talk app.

I don’t like to put the blame on a specific community, but the numbers are adding up. I am very glad this man was arrested before he could carry out his plans. I have stated before–mixing testosterone with PMS is not a good idea. It might be a better idea to deal with transgender people by finding the underlying issue in their transgenderism and dealing with that rather than simply applying drugs and surgery without really knowing the motive behind the desire to transition.

The Double Standard Is Still With Us

Posted on by

On Monday, Townhall posted an article about John Eastman being disbarred by the California Supreme Court. In 2024, a judge on California’s State Bar Court ordered John Eastman’s disbarment, but the decision was appealed. In the meantime, John Eastman was suspended from practicing law.

The article reports:

The California Supreme Court officially disbarred President Donald Trump’s former attorney, John Eastman, last week over his work assisting Trump to dispute the 2020 election results. Eastman merely provided options for Trump to consider in a legal memo — some of which would have resulted in Joe Biden winning the election — and drafted and filed a brief for him in the election challenge Texas v. Pennsylvania. In contrast, none of the attorneys involved in the 2000 election challenge representing Al Gore over “hanging chads” in Florida were disciplined.

John Eastman’s background is impressive. He is the founding director of the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, a public-interest law firm affiliated with the Claremont Institute. He is a former professor and former professor and former dean at Chapman University School of Law. He is also a former law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. At one point he was a frequent guest on the Hugh Hewitt radio show discussing the law and current issues. He is a very clear thinking lawyer. He is a man I would love to see on the Supreme Court. He should not have been disbarred, and I am sure the decision will be appealed.

The article concludes:

Other leftist attorneys around the country are also getting free passes from state bars. Marc Elias, working with Perkins Coie, paid Fusion GPS to produce the Steele dossier and concealed the payment structure in FEC filings. The FEC fined the DNC and Clinton campaign for misreporting the payments as legal services. Special Counsel John Durham prosecuted Michael Sussmann for lying to the FBI about whether he was representing the Clinton campaign. Sussmann was later acquitted. Andrew Weissmann aggressively prosecuted Arthur Andersen, destroying the company, but the Supreme Court unanimously overturned the conviction. Critics accused Weissman of Brady violations — failing to disclose exculpatory evidence to the defense and eliciting false testimony from a key government witness. Other witnesses testified that they felt pressured by the prosecution.

The disbarment of Eastman has set a terrible precedent. The law has been used to punish people merely for practicing their profession. Fortunately, the adults on the U.S. Supreme Court are likely to take his appeal. Although they only accept about 80 cases a year, they favor high-profile cases. This issue personally relates to them as lawyers, and Eastman is widely considered the top constitutional scholar on the right.

We have a lot of work to do to clean up our justice system.

Go, Grandma!

Posted on by

In today’s world, many elderly people live alone. Their families generally check on them on a regular basis. Sometimes those checks have interesting results.

On Thursday, Townhall reported:

When West Lake, Ohio police got a call for a welfare check on a 91-year-old grandmother, they feared the worst. Both the family and the authorities tried to call the woman but were unable to reach her. The woman was part of the city’s ‘Are You Okay?’ program, where participants agree to get a daily welfare check call, and she wasn’t answering those, either.

Police showed up at her house to find her garage partially open and her car in the garage. When they entered the home, however, they found a plot twist they did not expect.

That unnamed grandma was alive and well, but so deeply engrossed in beating her personal record on a video game that she was simply ignoring all attempts to reach her.

News 5 Cleveland shared some of the police bodycam footage of the welfare check.

This is the link to the video:

https://x.com/JakeSucky/status/2044468294267125895?s=20

The article does not mention whether or not she broke her personal record! Go, Grandma!

Undermining The American Republic

Posted on by

America is a Representative Republic. We send people to Washington to represent us. The Electoral College gives less populated states a voice in presidential elections. Without the Electoral College, America would be governed by the people elected by New York, California, Massachusetts, Texas, Pennsylvania, and Illinois. Of those states, only one is economically strong and relatively well-governed. Only one of those states has people moving to it and not out of it. The Electoral College protects us from taking the voice away from Americans in smaller states. But some people want us to be permanently governed by the people who ruined the states mentioned above.

On Tuesday, Townhall reported:

In another move to capture power, Virginia Democrats have signed the state onto the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, an agreement to award the state’s electoral votes to the presidential candidate who wins the popular vote even if the state would have otherwise granted its electoral votes to the other candidate.

So, Virginia doesn’t care how the residents of the state voted.

The article notes:

The legislation only comes into play in the event that the candidate who received the popular vote would not win the presidential election through the Electoral College. In such an event, the states who made up the compact would instead choose to act as unfaithful electors. To clarify: this new law blatantly disenfranchises Virginian citizens.

The article concludes:

They had not dreamed of a scenario in which Republicans could win the popular vote once again. 2024 was surely a hiccup, but ultimately didn’t factor into anything as Trump took the Electoral College as well. Instead, this is simply an attempt to prevent a Republican from laying claim to the presidency by winning the Electoral College while not receiving the popular vote.

Signatories currently make up 222 votes, with another 45 votes from states with outstanding attempts to enact the measure. Only 270 are needed for the popular vote to reign supreme, and with Democrats working tirelessly to allow illegals to vote in our elections, the danger is real.

The work to secure American elections continues to become more vital as Democrats across the country attempt to seize power.

This needs to be declared unconstitutional.

The Bloom Is Off The Rose

Posted on by

What approval ratings indicate is subject to debate, but it’s interesting to see how some elected officials’ poll numbers have changed since they were elected. Zohran Mandani was elected with about 50 percent of the vote. He currently has a 47-35% favorability rating. It should also be noted that New York voters support raising personal income taxes on New York City residents who make at least $1 million by a 54-29% margin. (source here). The favorability ratings for Abigail Spanberger have also dropped.

On Tuesday, Townhall reported:

Well… well… well, Abigail Spanberger lied. She’s a Democrat. You don’t need to convince me that she was bad news. I didn’t vote for her, but many Virginians did. She won by a 15-point landslide in the 2025 elections, which also saw a total lunatic, who wishes death upon his political rivals and their families, rise to the attorney general’s office. People in this state are idiots.

So, she campaigned as a centrist when we all knew she was a radical leftist, and then her party introduced an avalanche of tax hikes and other nonsense. The result: a landslide win turned into an approval rating that’s in the 40s a few months into her term (via WaPo): 

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s approval rating stands at 47 percent two months into the Democrat’s term, with 46 percent of voters disapproving and 7 percent expressing no opinion in a Washington Post-Schar School poll.

Spanberger won in a 15-point landslide last year after touting her reputation for bipartisanship built on three terms representing a conservative-leaning district in Congress. But her current ratings reflect sharp polarization among Virginia voters in their views of the state’s first female governor.

Nothing she has done should come as a surprise. In the past ten years, Democrats have made no secret of who they are–open borders, higher taxes, political redistricting, ignoring the Second Amendment, etc. I just hope Virginia can survive four years of Governor Spanberger. It is good news that in Virginia Governors cannot serve consecutive terms, so even if the voters love her, she cannot run for re-election in 2029.

Why Was This Woman Not In Jail?

Posted on by

On Tuesday, Townhall reported that a pregnant Charlotte, North Carolina, woman was stabbed while taking her child out of the car in the Harris Teeter parking lot.

The article reports:

The victim said she had never seen the woman before and had no idea why she was attacked, but she and her unborn child are okay.

That attacker was identified as Marvina Hardy, who was arrested in Florida with the assistance of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, Florida Highway Patrol, and Florida law enforcement.

…It turns out Hardy has a lengthy criminal record with dozens of prior arrests and charges.

…Hardy, who also goes by Marvina Hardy-Butler, is in custody in Flagler County, Florida, awaiting extradition to North Carolina.

The article includes the following X Post:

Part of our crime problem in America is illegal immigrants, but another major part of our crime problem is judges and laws that allow repeat offenders back out on the streets where they can continue to break the law.

Good News For Taxpayers And Pro-Life Americans

Posted on by

On Friday, Townhall posted an article about the legal challenges by Planned Parenthood to the ban on taxpayer money being used to fund abortion.

The article reports:

When President Trump signed the “Big Beautiful Bill” on July 4, 2025, cutting off federal Medicaid reimbursements to large abortion providers under Section 71113, the abortion industry immediately launched a coordinated, multi-front legal assault to force the money to keep flowing. The ACLJ jumped into the fight on Day One – and never looked back.

…Planned Parenthood filed suit in the Massachusetts federal district court within days of the bill’s passage. When the district judge granted two sweeping preliminary injunctions – claiming the defunding violated Planned Parenthood’s First Amendment rights – we filed four amicus briefs fighting back, including urging the First Circuit to issue an emergency stay. The First Circuit granted the stay on September 11, cutting off Planned Parenthood’s funding while the case proceeded – and later issued a unanimous landmark ruling upholding Section 71113 in its entirety and vacating both injunctions. Win.

Maine Family Planning opened a second legal front in Maine federal district court. We filed amicus briefs there at both the district and appellate levels arguing that no court can force Congress to spend money it specifically voted not to spend. The district court denied their injunction entirely, and after the First Circuit’s decisive ruling in the Planned Parenthood case, Maine Family Planning abandoned its appeal altogether and stipulated to dismissal. Win.

Even as those cases were resolved, California organized a coalition of 22 states to file their own lawsuit – California et al. v. HHS – seeking to reimpose Planned Parenthood funding across their jurisdictions. We filed our seventh amicus brief there, and the First Circuit handed California a decisive defeat, granting a stay that allowed Section 71113 to take effect even in the plaintiff states. With no viable legal theory remaining, the coalition has now dismissed its own case, seeing the writing on the wall. Win.

The article concludes:

As monumental as today’s victory is, Section 71113 of the “Big Beautiful Bill” cuts off Planned Parenthood’s Medicaid funding for one year. The abortion lobby will regroup. The only way to make this permanent is through Congress. The ACLJ will be at the forefront of that fight, just as we have been at every stage of this one.

I don’t know if we will ever be able to end legal abortion, but at least we can stop the taxpayers being forced to pay for it.

This Is No Way To Treat Voters

Posted on by

On Wednesday, Townhall posted an article about the continuing partial shutdown of the government. This is a government shutdown brought about by petulant Democrats who have decided that they want to control how the Executive Branch administers border control and immigration enforcement. At the present time, Congress is not inconvenienced by the long lines at the airport because people who serve in Congress are immediately escorted to the front of the line. They don’t have to deal with the consequences of their actions. But it gets worse.

This was posted on X:

It should not be to goal of elected officials to make the people who elected them hurt!

Another X post included in the article:

The article concludes:

Whoever told the Democrats that this was a winning strategy doesn’t understand the American people. With the exception of the Leftist loon fringe, most of us do not approve of being used as political pawns, and we do not like it when the Democrats inflict pain on us for their gain.

More than that, after years of seeing illegal immigrants kill our citizens, increase crime in our cities, and flout American laws, we’re not going to look kindly on returning to the policies of the Biden years.

This will backfire on Democrats.

No Democrat who has supported this shutdown deserves your vote in November.

The Media Mocks A Really Good Idea

Posted on by

In the age of smart phones and people addicted to them, we have lost the art of inter-generational communication. How many people under the age of 30 can communicate with anyone over the age of 50? One of the reasons we have lost this art is that we have given up eating dinner as a family. In the age of dinosaurs when I was raising my children, we made every effort to have dinner together every night. As the children got older, that was more of a challenge–high school sports, part-time jobs, etc., but we still made the effort. Our children’s friends were sometimes invited also. There were discussions about school, work, events in the neighborhood, etc. The topics didn’t really matter–what mattered was that everyone was included and everyone was heard.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has suggested that bringing back eating dinner together as a family would help strengthen our families and communities. I agree.

On March 9th, Townhall posted an article about this idea.

The article reports:

It’s honestly amazing what some outlets will say just to get a headline.

Secretary Kennedy recently gave a speech about families eating meals together and strengthening their communities — and The Daily Beast somehow turned that into “RFK Jr. Gives Bonkers ‘Anti-Demons’ Health Advice.”

Wish I was kidding. Apparently, encouraging people to spend time with their families is now controversial.

Secretary Kennedy’s message about the strength of community and the importance of sharing meals together should surprise absolutely no one. Like much of his and President Trump’s platform, it’s rooted in something (seemingly) fairly radical these days: common sense.

But common sense doesn’t generate clicks like outrage does. Because let’s be honest for a moment here…

It’s not bonkers to say we’re in a cultural — even spiritual — battle right now.

It’s not bonkers to say that spending more time with your community is good for your health.

It’s not bonkers to want kids spending less time glued to their phones and more time interacting with actual humans.

And it’s certainly not bonkers to suggest that families sitting down to eat together might actually matter. In fact, the research backs it up.

He also mentions that a lot of us need to learn how to cook. That might be true also.

Please follow the link to read the entire article. RFK, Jr., has some good ideas.

When Someone Doesn’t Follow The Script

Posted on by

One of the rules for trial lawyers is never ask a question you don’t already know the answer to. Generally, the left-wing media also follows that rule, but sometimes they get answers they are not prepared for.

On March 6th, Townhall reported on one example of a very quick ‘cut to commercial’:

Kian Tajbakhsh appeared on CNN last night to discuss the Iranian operation. It wasn’t confrontational like Scott Jennings, Kevin O’Leary, or Ben Ferguson; he simply presented facts. He should know, as a former political prisoner. We discussed how liberals are trying to frame Operation Epic Fury as a new endless war, but it’s not new: Iran has considered itself at war with the United States since the Iranian Revolution. Tajbakhsh was present when officials stated this—we’ve been at war with the Islamic Republic since 1979.

This is the quote that caused a very quick cut to commercial:

TAJBAKHSH: “What happened with President Obama, I’ll just say this very quickly.”

“And I was in the State Department in the 2000s when we implored the Bush administration not to restrict the engagement with Iran simply to the nuclear file.”

“What happened with president Obama is that, for better or worse — and I’m not going to litigate that here — he decided that given the four big problems that have always been on American objectives with Iran, that is enrichment, ballistic missiles, proxies and democracy inside Iran, that he would put all the last three aside and focus only on the nuclear deal.”

“Now, I’m not going to say that was good or bad. I don’t think it was a great idea, but what we have seen and this is also maybe controversial and I think a lot of my liberal friends are going to hate me for this…”

“Is that unfortunately you can draw a straight line from the 2015 nuclear deal to October 7th.”

“I think that what the Trump administration is—”

PHILLIP: “We…we…we do have to go to a break here.”

TAJBAKHSH: “Okay.”

Thank you, President Trump, for putting an end to a terrorist state that unfortunately had the money to export its terrorism.

When The Predator Becomes The Prey

Posted on by

On Saturday, Townhall posted an article which might explain President Trump’s decision to attack Iran on Friday night.

The article reports:

Now we have more information on why the strikes happened today, from Salem Radio host and CNN contributor Scott Jennings. Jennings is reporting that intelligence indicated Iran was planning strikes on U.S. military and civilian targets in the region, which would have resulted in mass casualties.

The article quotes a CNN report:

A senior administration official said today that they believed Iran was preparing to potentially launch preemptive missile strikes, a factor that influenced President Donald Trump’s decision to initiate military action.

“We had indicators that they intended to use it potentially, preemptively, but if not, if not simultaneous, against with any actions against them, immediately against us,” the senior administration official added. “And the president decided he was not going to sit back and allow America’s forces in the region to absorb attacks from conventional missiles.”

“We are not going to be held hostage by them, and we are not going to let them hit us first, because it would have substantially increased the risk to our troops in the region and to our allies,” the official added.

However, a source familiar with the intelligence contradicted that assertion to CNN, saying that there were no indications that the Iranians planned to strike US forces or assets first — unless they were attacked by Israel or the US.

Given the choice between having civilians and American military killed by a regime that murdered thousands of its own people in cold blood and ending that regime, I choose ending that regime. Iran has been at war with America since 1979, when they began chanting “Death to America.” We have ignored those chants for too long. We have allowed the women of Iran to live as non-persons for a long time. Where are the feminists?

I commend President Trump for taking much-needed action. I pray that the people of Iran will finally be free.

Just a note–much of the military hardware Iran was using to protect itself came from Russia and China. The same was true for Venezuela. Are Russia and China not giving their allies their best technology, or are they both not as advanced as we thought? It’s too late now, but if I were aligned with either Russia or China, I would be asking them for better air defenses!

How Does This Help Anyone?

Posted on by

On Friday, Townhall posted an article about the Democrat party’s plans once they regain power. It is most easily explained as Trump Derangement Syndrome gone wild.

The article reports:

Several prominent Democrats have been open and vocal about their plans to punish members of the Trump administration, including civilian ICE agents, if they regain power. Eric Swalwell has vowed to make ICE agents’ lives a living hell if he’s elected governor of California, Rep. Shri Thanedar said Dems will prosecute ICE and Border Patrol agents, as has Philly DA Larry Krasner, and Mehdi Hasan wants the next Democratic president to run on a platform of prosecuting conservatives.

Now Suan Rice, the former Obama National Security Advisor and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, as promised that Democrats will punish those who “bent the knee” to President Trump.

“When it comes to the elites, the corporate interests, the law firms, the universities, the media…it is not going to end well for them, for those that decided…that they would act in their perceived very narrow self interest,” Rice said, “which I would underscore is a very short-term self-interest and take a knee to Trump.”

“I think they’re not starting to realize…this is not popular. Trump is not popular. What he is doing, whether on the economy and affordability, or immigration now, is not popular, and that there is likely to be a swing in the other direction, and they are going to be caught with more than their pants down. They’re going to be held accountable by those who come in opposition to Trump and win at the ballot box,” Rice said.

Whatever happened to “If I am elected, I will do everything I can to create jobs and lift people out of poverty”?

The article concludes:

This is the scariest comment of all (emphasis added): 

“There will be an accountability agenda,” Rice promised. “Companies already are starting to hear they better preserve their documents, they better be ready for subpoenas. If they’ve done something wrong, they will be held accountable. And if they haven’t broken the law, good for them; if they’ve done the right things, good for them. That also will be noted and remembered. This is not going to be an instance of forgive and forget. The damage that these people are doing is too severe to the American people and our national interests.”

There it is, folks: Democrats are making a list of their political enemies, and anyone who didn’t adequately resist President Trump is on it. They will use the full weight of the federal government to crush their enemies and reward their allies. Democrats cannot regain power in 2026, and they cannot regain power in 2028. This doesn’t end with corporations, big tech, or universities that “bent the knee” to Trump. 77 million Americans voted for him and the Democrats will come for each and every one of us, too.

Somehow she never what exact damage that the Trump administration is doing. Is it enforcing the border, making cities safer, taming inflation, giving Americans a tax break, or lowering gas prices?

Washington Really Is A Sewer!

Posted on by

On February 16th, Townhall posted an article about a recent occurrence in Washington, D.C., that the mainstream media is working very hard to ignore.

The article reports:

Washington DC faces a severe crisis. Recently, a ruptured underground sewer line leaked over 200 million gallons of waste into the Potomac, creating a major biohazard. The situation isn’t safe, and conditions were already poor before this event. Repairing the damage is expected to take nine to ten months, highlighting the city’s ongoing infrastructure challenges. David Gadis, appointed to the National Infrastructure Advisory Council by Biden in 2022, is the CEO and general manager of DC Water. Yes, there’s a Biden connection, which explains why The Washington Post is steering clear of this story. As David Burge, aka Iowahawkblog, once posted in 2014:

The media is not covering the story. Why is no one asking the question, “Why is it going to take nine to ten months to repair the damage?”

The article includes the following X post:

At this point, I would like to share a quote from James A. Garfield:

Now, more than ever before, the people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless, and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness, and corruption. If it be intelligent, brave, and pure, it is because the people demand these high qualities to represent them in the national legislation.

If the next centennial does not find us a great nation…it will be because those who represent the enterprise, the culture, and the morality of the nation do not aid in controlling the political forces.

That quote applies to ALL levels of government. We the people are responsible for the government we have. If you are not happy with the competency or morality of your current city, state, or federal government, get out and change it!

Ending One Area Of Government Interference Into Private Enterprise

Posted on by

On Sunday, Townhall posted an article about an attempt by Biden-Harris FTC, Chair Lina Khan to prevent manufacturers from giving better prices to companies that bought their products in bulk. She is now the co-chair of Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral transition team. Communism has its rewards.

The article reports:

She loved using a little-known Great Depression law, called the Robinson-Patman Act, to crack down on companies that offered bulk pricing discounts to their customers.

For example, in December 2024, Khan’s agency sued Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits, an alcohol distributor, for giving better deals to national chains like Costco, Total Wine, and Kroger while charging independent liquor stores more for the same products.

Then, on January 17, 2025 — just days before President Trump’s inauguration — her FTC filed a similar suit against PepsiCo over promotional terms that she claimed favored Walmart and other giants over smaller grocers.

These companies weren’t raising prices; they were lowering them. But they still got sued by Biden’s administration through the Robinson-Patman Act.

Robinson-Patman wasn’t written to stop companies from competing on price. That, after all, is the entire point of free enterprise. The act was written to stop companies with real market power from rigging prices with the intention of squeezing out competitors unfairly.

Yet neither of these two Biden administration Robinson-Patman Act cases pointed to a single direct harm consumers faced from this price-cutting.

At the time, then-Commissioner Ferguson called this egregious Biden abuse of power out for what it was. In his January 2025 dissent on the PepsiCo case, he labeled the filing “purely political,” accusing the outgoing Democratic majority of “march[ing] staff into court with no evidence to support the most important allegations in the Complaint.” He called it an “insult to the Commission’s credibility, its hardworking and talented staff,” and “a waste of taxpayer dollars.”

Ferguson was right on target — and when he took the FTC’s reins from Khan once Trump was sworn into office, he dismissed the PepsiCo case.

The article concludes:

Which raises the question: How could the Biden team be so tone-deaf in filing these cases?

Perhaps they have never done their own grocery shopping and thus didn’t understand how we all shop or what we prioritize.

Or — and I fear this might be more likely — perhaps they know exactly what we all do, but they didn’t take that into consideration when filing the cases, because shaping the world to more closely resemble their progressive, anti-capitalist worldview was more important to them than protecting consumer welfare.

Maybe the Biden holdovers tried to take away your Costco deals because they truly hate capitalist business efficiency that much. But Chair Ferguson and the rest of the Trump administration are making sure they won’t succeed. 

If that’s not grounds for a free lifetime Costco membership, then I don’t know what is.

This is very real example of the reason elections matter.

The Chats Tell The Story

Posted on by

On Monday, Townhall posted an article about some Signal Chats among the people causing the disruptions in Minneapolis. There are a lot of angles to this story, so please follow the link and read the entire article.

The article reports:

They got exposed, but that doesn’t mean they’ve gone away or stopped. They’re a roach infestation. These leftists in Minneapolis, causing mayhem for our law enforcement, had their secret Anti-ICE chat on Signal exposed, but new ones have been established, and the older ones nuked from existence. 

…Still, the chats revealed a coordinated system from which these psychopaths could engage in targeted harassment and assault of federal law enforcement. Reporter Cam Higby dropped this nuke over the weekend, and now they’re scattering. Some said they’re fleeing the country and going to Cuba, which was amusing:

The article also notes:

Here are some of the contents from the initial story Higby dropped over the weekend. RedState broke down the mayhem even further, diving into the funding and who was on it. We know that ‘Flan,’ the alleged codename for Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, was part of this chat, along with Alex Pretti, the latest leftist shot and killed by immigration officers, which led to the second wave of lefty mayhem in the city. Pretti was carrying a firearm, though he didn’t have his proper ID with him*, at this protest, but things went awry, and he was killed. Again, interfering with federal law enforcement operations will lead to dire consequences for the agitator. The Left claims this was another execution. The bodycams from the Border Patrol agents involved are being analyzed.  

You can read the various messages in the article, but the article includes an X post by Cam Higby that is disturbing:

This is not a grassroots operation. This is politicians caught with their hands in the cookie jar trying to distract from their crimes.

Good News

Posted on by

President Trump has negotiated a framework to set up a security deal with Greenland.

On Wednesday, Townhall posted the contents of a post on X by President Trump:

Based upon a very productive meeting that I have had with the Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, we have formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic Region. This solution, if consummated, will be a great one for the United States of America, and all NATO Nations. Based upon this understanding, I will not be imposing the Tariffs that were scheduled to go into effect on February 1st. Additional discussions are being held concerning The Golden Dome as it pertains to Greenland. Further information will be made available as discussions progress. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, and various others, as needed, will be responsible for the negotiations — They will report directly to me. Thank you for your attention to this matter! DONALD J. TRUMP PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

This is about security. The Golden Dome will protect the United States and Canada. It is an advanced version of the iron dome system used by the Israelis. It is a defensive system–it stops incoming weapons–it does not launch offensive weapons other than the ones aimed at incoming weapons. Setting up that system will be good news not only for North America, but for the world.

The Question Is…

Posted on by

On Wednesday, Townhall posted an article with this headline, “Why Did Tim Walz and Jacob Frey Release Nearly 500 Criminal Aliens?” That is a very good question. The probable reason is that their sentences or holding time were up and he didn’t want to turn them over to the The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The article reports:

“For example: One of the things we’ve asked Gov. Walz and Mayor Frey is to give us just the criminals you have in jail,” said Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. “They’ve released 490 murderers, and rapists, and drug traffickers onto their streets, rather than just give them to us — and that’s what I don’t understand.”

The Trump administration has argued that Democrat politicians in Minnesota have conspired to impede federal immigration enforcement operations, resulting in subpoenas for Walz, Frey, Attorney General Keith Ellison, and others.

…In the interview, Noem also disputed the claim that federal agents have strayed from standard practices. “We’re doing the same thing that law enforcement has done for years — under this administration, under the Biden administration — all of them,” Noem stated.

Since the launch of Operation Metro Surge in December, ICE has apprehended 3,000 aliens in Minnesota alone. The “Worst of the Worst” were featured on Noem’s social media accounts on Tuesday.

Noncooperation with ICE seems to be a Democrat policy. That is puzzling to me. I think most Americans want criminals in jail or out of their neighborhoods, why would the Democrats stand so firmly on this issue? Right now Americans may not understand that criminals are being let out into their neighborhoods, but eventually they will. If the policy of letting illegal alien criminals out of jail, we can expect more violence in our cities in the future. Eventually that violence will make its way out to the rural areas of the country. I know a few rural sheriffs who will not put up with this!

This Shouldn’t Be A Surprise

Posted on by

On Thursday, Townhall posted an article about Cea Weaver, director of the New York City Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants, and her plans for New York City. The Founding Fathers are not turning over in their graves–they are spinning like tops!

The article reports:

Communists have always, invariably, hated the middle class. That’s why their policies destroy the middle class; they need the impoverished masses, over whom they can rule, and the wealthy class (of which they’re a part). Everyone else is an obstacle to their communist agenda.

…”I think that the United States public policy has done a really, really good job of pitting cash-poor homeowners and working class homeowners and middle class homeowners against renters,” Weaver said. “And we need to figure out how to navigate that as organizers. It’s really quite diffiuclt, right? Because, yes, Blackstone is a bigger and worse target than like, Mrs. Smith who owns 15 buildings, but Mrs. Smith who owns 15 buildings still, like, kind of stucks and has a lot more stability than renters. And there’s more of them than there are of the Blackstones.

“So it’s just like this challenging dynamic that white middle-class homeowners are a huge problem for a renter-justice movement,” Weaver added.

She’s intentionally conflating two things: the ownership of rental properties and homeownership. Weaver hates both, of course, so conflating the two is part of her agenda.

The article concludes:

Thankfully, the Constitution prevents the outright seizure of property, but as we’ve seen with civil asset forfeiture and all that, there are ways for the government to get around those pesky Constitutional rights.

Has Weaver’s mother sold her $1.6 million Tennessee home yet? Has Weaver herself moved out of Crown Heights after complaining about gentrification?

The answer to both of those questions is no, and that’s what we should tell Weaver: No. You’re not getting our property.

Another great example of “do as I say, not as I do!”

Good News On The Economy

Posted on by

On Thursday, The Western Journal posted an article about the December jobs numbers.

The article reports:

The top economist at the Heritage Foundation made a compelling case for why President Donald Trump’s jobs numbers are better than the headline figure indicates.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported last week that a total of 50,000 jobs were added to the economy in December. That’s a holding-steady number. Given the country’s population, it takes upward of 50,000 new jobs to keep the unemployment rate about constant.

Such was true last month when the unemployment rate dropped slightly, by 0.1 percent to 4.4 percent.

The Heritage Foundation’s chief economist, E.J. Antoni, pointed out in a piece for Townhall.com that if you look a little deeper at U.S. employment, there’s some very encouraging information, especially for those holding down multiple jobs to make ends meet.

He highlighted the discrepancy between the 50,000 news jobs figure and the survey of households’ total, finding that the number of people employed in the country jumped by 232,000.

“There’s an explanation for this difference if we dig further into the report, and it indicates a very positive development in the labor market,” Antoni argued.

“The number of multiple jobholders plunged by 444,000 last month, the second-largest drop since the government-imposed Covid lockdowns. Simultaneously in December, the number of part-time jobs declined by 740,000 while full-time employment shot up by 890,000,” he added.

The article notes:

But, Antoni noted, “All the net job growth in 2025 came from the productive private sector, while government jobs declined, due entirely to federal layoffs. It’s a positive development, but it drags down the headline jobs number.”

The BLS reported that federal employment is down 277,000 from January of last year.

Biden presided over a nearly 6 percent increase in the size of the full-time federal workforce during his tenure, with the total cresting 3 million in September 2024 for the first time since 1990, according to USA Facts.

The current number of federal employees is 2.744 million, the lowest since late 2014.

Finally, under Trump, people’s real income is going up, since wage increases are outpacing inflation.

Trump told the Detroit Economic Club on Tuesday, “After real wages plummeted by $3,000 under Sleepy Joe Biden, real wages are up by $1,300 in less than one year under President Trump.”

Inflation is a major tax on all Americans. Just bringing inflation down to manageable levels increases affordability.

Freedom Is Expensive

Posted on by

The men who signed the Declaration of Independence paid a high price for America’s freedom. Five of them were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War. They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they? Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated. But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.  (source here)

Many Americans paid a heavy price for America’s freedom. Now Iranians are fighting for their freedom and already paying a heavy price.

On January 13th, Townhall reported:

Iranian security forces have begun killing civilians not even involved in the country’s mass protests, according to witness accounts, as the country’s officially reported death toll surpassed 2,000 on Tuesday.

However, even that number has been eclipsed, according to the Editorial Board of Iran International, which says the death toll has risen to over 12,000, with the vast majority of those taking place last Thursday and Friday.

…Accounts began emerging late on Monday, after citizens were finally able to make international calls. The country had cracked down on most major forms of communication, including the internet and most international traffic, but then selectively restored and allowed limited channels of communication. Several Iranians were able to contact the foreign press.

According to a witness, Iranian security forces on motorcycles were seen opening fire on protesters in the city of Fardis, just outside the capital city of Tehran. Others have reportedly been operating from unmarked vehicles, patrolling alleys and murdering local residents, including people not involved in the protests.

One woman told the press that the worst of the slaughter occurred on Friday in Tehran.

“Security forces only killed and killed and killed. Seeing it with my own eyes made me so unwell that I completely lost morale. Friday was a bloody day,” she said. “In war, both sides have weapons. Here, people only chant and get killed. It is a one-sided war.”

I don’t know if the resistance in Iran has the leadership or the strength to stop the killing and remove the thugs from power. I hope they do. I also hope that Israel and America have undercover people in Iran helping and working toward freedom for the people of Iran.

Complying With The Spirit Of The Law

Posted on by

On Friday, Townhall posted an article about Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s shutting down on state funding of travel for abortion.

The article reports:

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has successfully shut down San Antonio’s abortion travel fund, his office announced on Friday.

…In April 2025, the city had reportedly allocated $100,000 of taxpayer funds to the so-called “Reproductive Justice Fund” which would cover travel expenses for out-of-state abortions in order to circumvent the state’s pro-life policies. Soon after its establishment, Paxton sued the city, citing the Gift Clause of the Texas Constitution.

A state Court of Appeals issued a temporary injunction to prevent the funds from being dispersed, according to the Texas Tribune. The city then abandoned the fund after the injunction.

“Texas respects the sanctity of unborn life, and I will always do everything in my power to prevent radicals from manipulating the system to murder innocent babies,” said Paxton. “It is illegal for cities to fund abortion tourism with taxpayer funds. San Antonio’s unlawful attempt to cover the travel and other expenses for out-of-state abortions has now officially been defeated.”

The people who are constantly complaining about ‘white privilege’ need to take a look at abortion statistics.

According to GROK:

  1. Black women account for approximately 38% of all abortions, despite making up about 13% of the U.S. population.
  2. Hispanic women represent around 25% of abortions, reflecting their growing demographic in the country.
  3. White women have the lowest abortion rate among ethnic groups, comprising about 36% of total abortions.
  4. The abortion rate is higher among women living below the federal poverty line, which disproportionately affects minority communities.
  5. Access to reproductive health services varies significantly by ethnicity, impacting abortion rates.
  6. Studies indicate that systemic factors, such as healthcare access and education, contribute to these disparities in abortion statistics.

There is a reason most abortion clinics are located in minority neighborhoods. We need to go back to teaching young people (and older people) moral standards. Stricter abortion laws will help, but what would be more helpful is more resource centers to encourage women to keep their babies, mentor them through their pregnancies, and help them be self-sufficient after the baby is born.

Some Serious Irony

Posted on by

On Tuesday, Townhall posted an article about Senator Schumer’s response to the arrest of Nicolás Maduro and his wife. The Senator is complaining that Congress was not notified beforehand about the attack plan. Considering the leaking record of Congress, that is probably why the plan succeeded!

The article includes the following X Post:

I think that pretty much sums it up!

NOTE: In case you are wondering SCIF stands for sensitive compartmented information facility.

Somebody Wants To Come Back And Be In Charge

Posted on by

On Friday, Townhall posted an article about a recent post on X directed at Iranians from Reza Pahlavi, the eldest son of the former Crown Prince Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

The article reports:

Now, Reza Pahlavi, the eldest son of the former Crown Prince Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was overthrown in the 1979 Iranian Revolution, took to X to post instructions for the people, and specifically addressing the people of Tehran.

“My fellow compatriots,” Pahlavi wrote, “Today, I want to share with you a clearer picture of what is necessary and essential to bring down this regime. My words are especially addressed to the people of Tehran, who with their courage have initiated this new wave of the national uprising. The Islamic Republic is striving to prevent the formation of gatherings in Tehran; because it well knows that the seizure of the streets of Tehran and other major cities will seriously accelerate its downfall.”

The post continued, “The Islamic Republic is striving to prevent the formation of gatherings in Tehran; because it well knows that the seizure of the streets of Tehran and other major cities will seriously accelerate its downfall. To achieve this, first we must all overcome our fear and realize that if we seize the streets, the regime will quickly lose its ability and will to repress.”

Note: He is posting that from a safe location. He is not actually on the ground in Iran.

The article concludes:

With the Ayatollah’s regime on edge and Iranians taking to the streets, the coming hours and days could determine the course of Iran. Does the Ayatollah and the IRGC (Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps) still have control or have the people gained momentum in ousting the regime? Only time will tell, but it seems that — unlike 2009 and 2022 — there is a clear message, the opposition is unified, and Pahlavi is pushing for the Iranian people to take back their country.

This also has global implications. Iran is the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism and the spread of Islamism around the globe. The fall of the IRGC and Ayatollah could fracture that entire movement.

Please follow the link and read the entire article. There is a lot going on here that the mainstream media is ignoring.