Democrats will make Virginia much like California and Minnesota

January 27, 2026

Democrats in the General Assembly wasted no time in getting to work ending the Commonwealth’s movement toward sensible governance in the preceding four years, and heading in the direction of California and Minnesota.

Newly elected Governor Abigail Spanberger also wasted no time discarding the phony badge she wore saying she was a “moderate” candidate.

From the Americans for Tax Reform website: “Under unified Democrat control, Virginia is poised to become a tax-hiking outlier in a region full of states that are phasing out their income taxes. Immediately upon seizing control of government, Virginia Democrats introduced the following bills that seek to impose an array of new and higher taxes:

“HB 378 – Imposes a 3.8 percent net investment income tax on individuals, trusts, and estates beginning in taxable year 2027. If enacted, HB 378 would raise VA’s top marginal income tax rate on portfolio and passive income to 9.55percent.

“HB 900 – Authorizes sales tax hikes in various transportation districts, imposes a new tax on each and every retail delivery in Northern Virginia (Amazon, Uber Eats, FedEx, UPS, etc.), similar to the one imposed in Minnesota by Gov. Tim Walz (D). 

“HB 919 – Imposes a firearm and ammunition tax equal to 11 percent of the gross receipts from the retail sale of any firearm or ammunition by a dealer in firearms, firearms manufacturer, or ammunition vendor, as such terms are defined in the bill. 

“HB 978 – Extends the retail sales and use tax to dry cleaning, landscaping, and other previously exempt services.”

Some suggest that Virginia’s tax rate could rise from 5.75 percent to 13.8 percent, the highest in the nation.

And then there is House Bill 863 which moves down the path toward soft-on-crime government. The bill contains language that would effectively eliminate minimum sentencing requirements for such crimes as manslaughter, rape, possession and distribution of child pornography, and assaulting a law enforcement officer. Democrats are said to also seek to remove the mandatory five-day minimum sentence for certain first-time DUI offenses.

Along that same line of mis-thinking, Spanberger took the oath of office and a couple of breaths, and then signed 10 executive actions. One of those was to fulfill a campaign promise to rescind the executive order of her predecessor, former Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin, which required Virginia law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration officials.

So, the new governor wants Virginia to become another Minnesota?

Defending this foolish decision, Spanberger commented that "State and local law enforcement should not be required to divert their limited resources to enforce federal, civil immigration laws – it is the responsibility of federal law enforcement," and that "Virginia state and local law enforcement officers must be able to focus on their core responsibilities: investigating crime and community policing."

There is also a move that would require government contracts under $100,000 to be awarded to minority-owned and women-owned businesses. It instructs the executive branch of Virginia’s government to base the awarding of at least 42 percent of its contracts on DEI criteria, rather than to whatever businesses appear to be the most qualified or best suited. It also requires allocating a certain portion of those contracts to certified DEI businesses.

Spanberger also announced Virginia would rejoin the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) – a move she said would lower costs.

"For me, this is about cost savings. RGGI generated hundreds of millions of dollars for Virginia — dollars that went directly to flood mitigation, energy efficiency programs, and lowering bills for families who need help most," Spanberger said. "Withdrawing from RGGI did not lower energy costs. In fact, the opposite happened — it just took money out of Virginia's pocket. It is time to fix that mistake." 

Republican State Senator Glen Sturtevant said, however, that the RGGI is a 501(c)(3) carbon tax entity that taxes member states through citizen’s electric bills, meaning electric bills will increase. He said further that by withdrawing from RGGI, Youngkin saved Virginians between $500 million and $1 billion.

There is also a bill to regulate gas-powered leaf blowers and other electric landscaping equipment. These machines are quite noisy. But, they are also quite efficient.

However, the most troubling topics deal with voting. There is a bill to end hand counting of ballots that can be read by a scanner. Scanners, of course, can be controlled online. 

And there is talk of proposing a constitutional redistricting amendment. Attempting to justify this, Spanberger said during a joint session of the Virginia General Assembly that "Virginia's proposed redistricting amendment is a response to what we're seeing in other states that have taken extreme measures to undermine democratic norms." 

However, critics claim this move would give Democrats a 10-1 advantage in voting districts, since their goal is keeping control.  Many districts vote Republican, although the large eastern districts near D.C. and Richmond vote Democrat.

Spanberger’s new-found love of redistricting is wholly partisan. Back in 2019 she commented that “Gerrymandering is detrimental to our democracy and it weakens the individual voices that form our electorates. Opposing gerrymandering should be a bipartisan priority.”

And, Spanberger’s often mentioned plan for improved “affordability” is just words, not actions.

Virginia will join California and Minnesota, and the people will suffer.

Last year saw many positive things happen in our country

January 20, 2026

Well, the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term has now been completed. Yes, the United States of America still has problems. It always has had, and it always will have. But some improvements have been recorded.

Let’s be clear, Trump is not perfect; he has his problems. But the same is true of Joe Biden, Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, Kamala Harris, Adam Schiff, Elizabeth Warren, Maxine Waters, Hakeem Jeffries, Hillary Clinton, Jasmine Crockett, Eric Swalwell, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar and every other human being.

But Trump may be the most heavily criticized POTUS ever, or at least he is in recent memory. 

It truly appears that some people oppose what Trump does because of how much they dislike him, irrespective of what he is doing that may be is good for the country.

Michigan Republican Congresswoman Lisa McClain gave an example of just how wild and crazy the dislike of Trump is, saying, “President Trump could have the cure for cancer and the Democrats would still be upset."

But despite the fog that interferes with how some folks view things, the economy has some positive aspects, and some other factors will likely improve as time passes. The following information was provided by WhiteHouse.gov.

Egg prices are down 84 percent; gas is less than $3.00 per gallon for the first time in four years; the federal deficit is down 40 percent, the lowest since 2019; we have global contracts of $170 billion, which is 14 times as much as in the Biden administration.

Michael & Susan Dell donated $6.25 billion to fund Trump Accounts for 25 million children; Black Friday showed a record-breaking $11.8 billion in online spending; we have $12 billion in aid for American farmers; the trade deficit fell to $52.8 billion, down 35 percent, year-over-year; Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent projects 3 percent GDP growth this year, despite the shutdown.

Eli Lilly will build a $6.5 billion Texas plant; tariffs will bring Volvo XC60 production to the US.

On the foreign policy front, there has also been some positive movement. According to the U.S. State Department, “Under the first year of President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s leadership, the State Department has implemented a bold America First foreign policy focused on making America safer, stronger, and more prosperous.

“Since January, the State Department has helped stop the flow of deadly drugs into the United States, created American jobs by advancing commercial interests abroad, secured additional defense investments from our allies, streamlined foreign assistance programs, and ushered in a new era of peace through strength, all while slashing waste and reorganizing the agency to ensure that our government serves the American people as efficiently and as effectively as possible.”

The State Department has also done some house-cleaning. It “secured cost savings of $270,860,693 via 659 descoped contracts and 533 contracts that were terminated or not renewed, as reflected in the Federal Procurement Data System. The Department trimmed travel budgets, spending $100 million less on travel than last year.”

The Cato Institute reports that the number of federal employees has dropped from about 3,000,000 at the beginning of 2025 to less than 2,750,000, a reduction of approximately 250,000 as of early December. Fewer federal employees require less tax money for their salaries, lowering federal spending a bit.

One of the areas drawing the most anti-Trump opposition is the effort to remove illegal aliens from the country, focusing primarily on those with criminal records or criminal charges. Illegal entry is a misdemeanor, and illegal reentry is a felony.

Numbers from December show that more than 2.5 million illegal aliens have left the U.S. because of the administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration, including an estimated 1.9 million self-deportations and more than 622,000 deportations, as reported on the DHS website.

Last year, between Jan. 20 and Dec. 11, about 595,000 illegal aliens had been arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The Department of Homeland Security reported that 70 percent, or approximately 416,000 illegals, had "criminal convictions or pending criminal charges" in the United States.

While so many Democrats/leftists/progressives condemn the actions of ICE to remove illegal and often criminal aliens from blue cities and states, the number of that group who have expressed sorrow or horror because of the many Americans who have been murdered or otherwise attack by illegal aliens remains quite small.

 The Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (ALIPAC) posted a list of hundreds of Americans who were murdered by illegal aliens, or were died from actions such as vehicle wrecks.

In comments prior to the list of those killed, ALIPAC noted the following: “We did not include our thousands of documented cases of illegals raping, robbing, assaulting, and harming Americans in other ways to focus this section on those who lost their lives due to our government's failure to protect our states and citizens from invaders.”

The Trump administration has a long way to go to get things where Trump wants them to be, and where the 77 million Americans who voted for him want them to be. But many of these items take time to evolve, and things are moving in the right direction.

Violent protests quite frequently produce terrible results

January 13, 2026

The chaos that developed last year in opposition to the efforts of the Trump administration to remove illegal aliens from the country, especially the dangerous ones, has recently increased substantially. A woman who recently had been obstructing ICE agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota was shot and killed, and in another incident, two illegal aliens were shot by ICE agents when they resisted them.

It is perplexing that so many Americans vigorously oppose the removal of people who are in the country illegally, many of whom are murderers, rapists, drug/child/female traffickers, etc.

And, whatever natural dislike for this action one may have, this anti-law enforcement attitude has been intensified by the actions and vile messages of many prominent Democrats. Some serve in Congress, others are state governors, city or town mayors, political candidates, or celebrities.

The Babylon Bee, a mostly satirical and humorous website, posted an article about this. This situation is not funny. Particularly when people — either protesters or law enforcement personnel — are injured or killed. However, part of the article is not funny, and actually describes how some on the political left view this situation.

“Following recent ICE-related shootings, Democrat leaders stepped forward to remind the nation that everything would be much safer if law enforcement would just stop enforcing the law.

“According to Democrat lawmakers, the recent spate of violence and rioting could all have been avoided if law enforcement agents had just avoided conflict and sought peaceful resolutions by not preventing criminals from continuing to break the law.”

In their effort to end the valid removal of persons in the country illegally — a crime — protesters have well exceeded the U.S. Constitution’s protection of the people “peaceably to assemble,” leaving behind the idea of peaceful assembly. These protests are more appropriately labeled “riots.” They focus on interfering with law enforcement personnel, and often physical contact with them is part of trying to stop them from carrying out their duties.

There have been other such activities in our past, like those of the late 60s and early 70s brought on by the Vietnam War, and other things. Those gatherings started as peaceful protests but degenerated into riots with violence. However, these events started with inappropriate and illegal behavior.

In addition to the physical efforts to prevent law enforcement personnel from doing their job, these supporters of illegal aliens are threatening the agents, physically attacking them, doxing and vilifying them, and threatening their families, forcing them to wear masks.

As law enforcement tries to remove illegal aliens from the country to make it safer, these radical people are making things less safe and secure in an effort to stop them.

The woman who died was 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good. Those who support blocking efforts to deport illegal aliens described her as a terrified mother and poet who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Evidence suggests that description is inaccurate.

She was driving with her wife — her lesbian partner, identified as Becca Good — in the Minneapolis neighborhood where the active ICE operation was being conducted. She stopped her SUV diagonally across the road, deliberately blocking traffic. 

In a video, ICE agents are shown approaching Good’s SUV and issuing lawful orders for her to exit the car. She remained in the driver’s seat.

The video shows that her expression was not one of fear, but one resembling defiance. At the same time, Becca Good taunted the officers from behind the vehicle, saying, “You want to come at us? I say go get yourself some lunch, big boy.”

The officer who ultimately fired the fatal shot was wearing a video camera. The video shows Good backing the SUV up a little bit. She briefly made direct eye contact with the agent, who was then standing in front of the SUV, and then gunned the engine, and moved forward. Shots were then fired.

There have been opinions offered that the agent is alive and not seriously injured because of how he reacted. He was in danger and acted to protect himself, they say.

Renee and Becca Good, and others, were there specifically to interfer with ICE agents who were doing their job. They were there to create confrontation with law enforcement. And that is exactly what happened.

Becca Good, near the SUV where her spouse died, blamed herself for her having been killed. Speaking to a bystander who came to see what the commotion was, she replied, “I made her come down here, it’s my fault,” she said. “They just shot my wife.”

Most people do not want to see law enforcement personnel or protesters be injured or die. It is sad that Renee Good died. 

However, it is not difficult to prevent things like this from happening. If people want to protest what law enforcement is doing, they should do that peacefully, like carrying signs or chanting. But do not be involved in illegally interfering with law enforcement personnel performing their legal duties.

This woman’s tragic death and the injury to the ICE agent should be a lesson and a warning to those who may want to criminally interfere with law enforcement in the future.

Every New Year offers many opportunities for improvement

January 6, 2026

As we begin 2026, the 250th year of our country’s existence, and we look at the current state of affairs, we realize how far the country has moved away from our original values and traditions. Many wonder if the country can possibly move back to the traditions and values that made it great. And will it? 

Quite a few troubling things have happened in recent years. One of the most recent is the election of Zohran Mamdani as the Mayor of New York City. He identifies as a Shia Muslim and a democratic socialist. And he took the oath of office on the Islamic Quran when he was sworn in early on January 1, not on the Bible, as is customary.

He is not the first Muslim to serve in public office, of course, but is the first one to serve as New York’s mayor. He ran on and was elected on a radical, non-traditional platform of socialist/communist concepts. Yet he had wide support in the election, showing that lots of New Yorkers are fully behind his heavy socialist/communist beliefs and intentions, which run contrary to the traditions of America.

We have seen this attitude of moving away from traditions creep into education, resulting in many students graduating from high school underprepared for college or life in general. School systems and teachers improperly made changes in curricula and grading standards, and that has produced students with lower abilities, and non-traditional, and often inaccurate, beliefs.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in 2025 showed some of the worst scores ever. As reported in Newsmax magazine, some of those results are: 

* High school seniors reading comprehension is the worst since the early 1990s.

*More high school seniors were deficient in math and reading than in any previous NAEP assessment.

* High School seniors recorded their lowest scores ever.

* Only one in three U.S. high school seniors is adequately prepared for college math.

Perhaps as a result of these less well-prepared graduating seniors, many colleges and universities dropped using SAT or ACT scores for undergraduate admissions. Because so many students’ scores were below the acceptable level, admission requirements had to be eased, or students would not be admitted. Students were then admitted based on elements other than their academic abilities and learning level, such as the much loved, but dangerously foolish DEI concept — diversity, equity and inclusion.

Speaking to the change in the educational culture over recent years, Brian Mueller, president of Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona, noted that “It’s very dangerous when we have 20- and 21-year-olds in our country who don’t understand 20th-century Western civilization and its history.”

And, there is a generation gap where younger generations have different ideas about such things as work ethic, moral values, the respect they show others, political views, religious beliefs, free speech, and marriage and having children.

Where crime is concerned, people’s attitudes towards dealing with criminals is somewhat troublesome. A poll in 2025 asking about the best way to fight crime showed that only 25 percent of respondents thought tougher sentencing was the most effective way to reduce crime. More mental health and addiction services were preferred by 28 percent, 22 percent liked a greater police presence as the best approach, and 16 percent thought more community programs were best. Harsh punishment for serious crimes is a better support for law and order.

The high number of violent crimes — such as murder, rape, and assault — committed by persons previously convicted of crimes, but given light sentences, or no sentences, ought to be a wake-up call to the soft-on-crime prosecutors and judges in office, of which there are far too many. Hopefully, it will be.

During the Biden administration the Justice Department indicted Venezuelan “President” Maduro and his wife for crimes against America, offered a huge reward for his capture, but nothing happened. Last weekend, the Trump administration sent military and law enforcement personnel there and arrested the Maduros after those crimes continued in Trump’s first year of office, despite warnings and actions to stop the drug boats smuggling drugs into the U.S. 

Venezuelans in Venezuela, America and all over the world, are thrilled and celebrating that the man who ruined their country and their lives has been arrested. But American leftists are outraged, either not knowing or not caring that similar actions have been legally and constitutionally taken by former presidents Biden, Obama, Clinton and both George Bushes.

There are some signs of returning to the better days. In higher education, for example, civics and traditional American values are showing up, again. Harvard, Brown and Princeton universities are tightening up acceptance requirements. 

Law professor Jonathon Turley commented that those changes to lower standards was an “ill-conceived and poorly supported movement to achieve greater equity and diversity by eliminating standardized testing in higher education.” “In other words, test scores remain the best indicator for continued performance in college,” Turley added.

If our country is to remain strong and the leader of the world in individual freedom and sensible, productive ways of doing things, we must restore the traditional values that built the nation and successfully sustained it for more than 200 years.

As 2025 ends, we should be thrilled that it isn’t like 2024

December 30, 2025

President Donald Trump’s critics are complaining that the world is ending because not everything he campaigned on has been completed. And his popularity is suffering.

But the facts say otherwise: inflation is down significantly, the markets are up, GDP is growing, borders are far more secure, and trade is booming.

Another of the good things that Trump worked on was to end or reduce conflicts between countries. And agreements have been achieved between Israel and Gaza; Israel and Iran; the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda; Armenia and Azerbaijan; India and Pakistan; Thailand and Cambodia; and Egypt and Ethiopia.

Trump has had a varying degree of involvement with resolving these conflicts, being more involved in some than with others. But he has done quite a lot to broker peace among nations in conflict. And, he has been credited for his role by nearly all of these nations.

Crime analyst Jeff Asher has said the United States is on track for the largest one-year drop in murders ever recorded. He cited year-over-year data from the Real Time Crime index showing that the murder rate has decreased nationally from 2024 to 2025 by almost 20 percent.

The growth rate of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the fourth quarter of calendar year 2024 was just slightly higher than recessionary levels, a pitiful 2.4 percent. However, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis tells us that by the third quarter of 2025 — the last complete quarter — the rate was 4.2 percent. This shows that the economic policies of the Trump administration have increased the growth rate of GDP by 79 percent over the last year of the pathetic Biden administration. 

This was accomplished in less than a full year, and the Trump team calls this an historic economic achievement.

The Washington Examiner reported that since Trump took office about 595,000 illegal aliens have been arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) between Jan. 20 and Dec. 11, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

According to ICE, 70 percent, or approximately 416,000 illegals, had "criminal convictions or pending criminal charges" in the United States. This supports Trump’s promise to focus on getting the "worst of the worst.”

ICE officials also noted that even those without criminal records in the U.S. can still pose threats to public safety, saying that many are wanted for violent crimes in other countries, or are tied to gangs, terrorism and serious crimes.

And, illegal border crossings are at the lowest level ever recorded, according to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem.

“In President Trump’s first year back in office, more than 2.5 million illegal aliens have left the U.S. because of the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration, including an estimated 1.9 million self-deportations and more than 622,000 deportations,” as reported on the DHS website.

As deportations — both voluntary and by government — continue, and border security virtually stops illegal entry, the country is much safer. Murders, rapes, drug and child trafficking and other crimes caused by illegal aliens are much less common now.

Gas prices in 2024 were averaging around $3 per gallon for regular. Today, that per gallon average price is $2.85, but some much lower prices are available. Prices are as low as $2.25 in some places.

It should be recognized that reducing prices is much more difficult and takes longer than raising prices. Prices can be raised at any time, and for no reason at all. Lowering prices, however, depends on other factors, such as the price of components used in producing products, transportation costs, and economic conditions, and can take a fairly long time.

Some good things have happened in 2025.

And now for something completely different.

One of the bright spots for many people is following the comments of Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana. He has a way with words that is certainly entertaining.

Some examples:

“For my first eight years I lived in a small, overpriced one-bedroom apartment. … I would describe the design aesthetic as ‘early Salvation Army.’” 

“Either way, I have to dodge reporters, who are like stray dogs — once you feed them, you can’t get rid of them. … Reporters are also like hyenas. They hunt in packs.”

“This amendment is all Henry and no Kissinger.”

“But it’s undeniable that many Americans believe that the brain is an amazing organ — it starts working in the mother’s womb and doesn’t stop until you get elected to Congress.”

“For as long as I can remember, one thing has been true about me: I have the right to remain silent, but not the ability.”

“Welfare, I believe, was meant to be a bridge, not a parking lot.”

“Most nights, when I come home to my little Capitol Hill apartment, I’ve got two wheels down and my axle dragging.”

“Put another way, you don’t have to be crazy to serve in the Senate; they will happily train you.”

“I observed to a reporter one time that you can lead a person to Congress but you can’t make him think.”

“Maybe it’s because we both understand that you can’t make everyone happy unless you are alcohol.”

Happy New Year!

Some areas of controversy of 2025 will continue into 2026

December 23, 2025

As the end of 2025 draws near, there are a few things of interest that will still be with us after the New Year arrives.

There is a proposed $6.2 billion merger of two large media organizations, Nexstar and Tegna. If this deal goes through, the merged company would be the largest TV organization in the country, and would reach more than 80 percent of U.S. households. 

Opposing the merger are some conservative groups, including the Conservative Political Action Conference, Newsmax, and the Zionist Organization of America. Their argument opposes the huge degree of coverage the company would have, viewing it as a threat to viewpoint diversity, particularly at the local news level.

On their side is the Telecommunications Act of 1996, amended in 2004, which limits the degree of television ownership at 39 percent, which is slightly less than half of the 80 percent level of ownership the merger would represent.

The Federal Communications Commission Chairman (FCC), Brendan Carr, has supported raising the cap, which would allow the merger to go through.

However, a legal analysis by appellate scholars titled "The FCC Lacks Statutory Authority to Revise the Telecommunications Act's 39% National Ownership Cap for Television” concludes that the FCC does not have the authority to raise, eliminate, or waive the long-standing 39 percent cap. Only Congress has the authority to make such changes, the analysis states.

Given what we have seen in the news and on social media involving the controlling of certain ideas that the media organizations dislike, having one giant voice that covers 80 percent of the country is a very dangerous prospect.

And, as we have seen, questionable court actions have only added to the concerns that our legal system is sometimes driven more by politics than it is by the law and the Constitution. This trend may continue in 2026.

Federal district judges have been issuing orders with nationwide effect. One example: U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ordered President Donald Trump’s administration to immediately halt efforts to remove criminal illegal aliens until he has more time to consider whether Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act was illegal. And, there are other instances where a district judge has also intervened in a presidential action.

There are 94 federal judicial districts and each one has at least one district judge, who is appointed for a life term. In total there are more than 670 federal district judges in the U.S. And as some of these judges see it, each of them, having judicial authority over a very small area of the country, somehow has the power to overrule the President of the United States.

A theory on what has led to many judges making rulings and taking other actions beyond their actual authority is the existing assumption that judges hold absolute immunity for their actions. There are cases where obvious errors and deliberately improper actions by judges have been ignored. Judicial immunity has been awarded to judges by other judges.

However, in a fairly recent 6-3 ruling stemming from Trump's bid to end birthright citizenship, the court said nationwide injunctions issued by district court judges "likely exceed the equitable authority that Congress has granted to federal courts."

"Federal courts do not exercise general oversight of the Executive Branch; they resolve cases and controversies consistent with the authority Congress has given them," said Justice Amy Coney Barrett, author of the opinion.

"When a court concludes that the Executive Branch has acted unlawfully, the answer is not for the court to exceed its power, too," Barrett said in the opinion joined by five other justices on the court.

Unwanted pregnancies that are ended by abortion is a topic that is frequently in the news. Many people favor abortion, and many others oppose it. There is a great deal of emotion on both sides of that discussion.  

This part of the column is not about abortion, per se; it does not speak for it or against it. It is to address a fairly recent and very serious related issue.

Nine states — including New Mexico, Colorado, Minnesota, Maryland, and Oregon, plus the District of Columbia — already allow abortion up to the moment of birth.

California passed a bill that would allow infants to be “aborted” up to 28 days after birth, and Governor Gavin Newsom signed it. Maryland tried to pass a similar law, but it was defeated.

A language device used to “justify” this horrific idea is replacing the term “prenatal” in the written law with the term “perinatal.” “Prenatal” means before birth, but “perinatal” includes a period after birth. This subtle change legalizes infanticide, or murdering newborn children.

How any of us may feel about abortion, this is not permissible or acceptable. It is more than a little frightening to learn that some people in this country would try to justify killing living babies. Could this conceivably be extended to a full year, or more?

While there are other on-going problems in the country, it is possible that one or more of the three issues discussed will be resolved next year. Certainly, we can cross our fingers for that.

Venezuela’s actions deserve the attention they’ve been getting

December 16, 2025

The Trump administration’s efforts to stop drug-laden boats from Venezuela from reaching the U.S. has drawn heavy opposition from Congressional and other Democrats. These are the same Democrats who fiercely defend illegal aliens being in the country, which is a rather strange conflict of interests.

It appears from their reactions to the two topics that the Democrats are more concerned with illegals being deported than they are with Americans being killed by illicit drugs that are smuggled into the country.

And a recent action in the seizing of a Venezuelan oil tanker has added fuel to the Democrat’s fire.

Among the Democrats who have concerns about this is Sen. Chris Coons from Delaware, who said on NewsNation that he is “gravely concerned that [Trump] is sleepwalking us into a war with Venezuela.” Coons is the ranking member on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, and said that he has not received anything from the administration regarding a potential war with Venezuela.

This same concern was expressed by Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky. Paul thinks the seizure could increase tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela. The libertarian senator, who is a sometimes critic of the Trump administration, added that it isn’t “the job of the American government to go looking for monsters around the world, looking for adversaries, and beginning wars.”

However, other GOP senators had a different response to the event, saying they were awaiting more information. Republican Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri, Jon Husted of Ohio and Roger Marshall of Kansas commented that they did not know the specifics of the seizure. 

Hawley said, as he walked into an elevator, “I will look into it.” Husted commented that he had been in meetings and was not able have been briefed on the matter. And Marshall said that the seizure is “news to me,” but that the U.S. “should be pushing back on Venezuela.” He said that he is “concerned about the drug cartel that is running” the South American country.

The administration offered information that somewhat clarifies its position on the matter. Attorney General Pam Bondi released a video of the seizure on X (formerly Twitter). She commented that the FBI, Homeland Security, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Pentagon had executed the seizure warrant on the tanker, because it was transporting sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran.

The sanction was due to Venezuela’s “involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations,” Bondi said.

Adding to Bondi’s comments, White House deputy assistant Sebastian Gorka said on Newsmax’s "Rob Schmitt Tonight" that the tanker is part of a growing "shadow fleet" of vessels evading sanctions and breaching international law.

"This is a member of a shadow fleet," he said. "The attempts to evade sanctions, and also to just do an end run around international law with flags of convenience — we're not going to allow this anymore."

"So, whether it's Venezuela or whether it's other countries like Iran that are making money in ways that are illegal and counter to the U.S. national interest, as elucidated so very, very eloquently in the president's national security strategy that we published on Friday, we are very serious," Gorka continued.

He warned that the U.S. will be on the watch for any and all illegal maritime operations, including narcotics smuggling, and oil tankers operating in violation of sanctions.

"Whether it's drug boats, whether it's illegal tankers, we're going to take action where we see fit and where it threatens our national security interests as the United States," he said.

Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz commented that the seizure indicates it is “a bad idea to be a drug trafficker,” but said he did not anticipate the U.S. being in a war with Venezuela. 

While Cruz did not respond to a question regarding whether the president should ask Congress to declare war, he did say that, “If you’re a narcotrafficker, and you’re thinking about getting on a speedboat that is filled with a bunch of cocaine, you’re having second thoughts right now because President Trump is saving the lives of Americans.”  

“The poison that Maduro is flooding into this country is killing Americans and President Trump is fulfilling his responsibility as commander in chief, by saying we’re going to stop this poison that’s killing our kids,” he added.

Democrats are great at one thing: criticizing Donald Trump. It appears they will go to any lengths, use any criticism to try to make Trump look bad. And, apparently it doesn’t matter to them if they turn their backs on the harm that illegal aliens and their counterparts in rogue nations cause, in order to cast aspersions on Trump and his administration.

And let us not forget that so much of this craziness is the direct result of the foolish and dangerous policies of the Biden/Harris administration in ignoring the border crashing by illegals and the death and destruction they brought along with them.

The Trump administration is focused on things that need to be dealt with to restore the country’s national security and other assets. Slowly but surely things should improve. We should applaud this, not criticize it.

Progressive policies create disasters for the American people

December 9, 2025

Back in May the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) posted an article that addressed “Americans Killed by Illegal Aliens Driving Under the Influence.”

It named 14 Americans who are now dead, which it described as “just a handful of Americans whose lives were taken too soon at the hands of illegal aliens driving under the influence.”

Of those 14, eight were less than 20 years-old, three were 10 years-old or less, two were in their 40s and one was 70. Most of the drunk drivers were from Honduras, with others from Venezuela, and Mexico. 

Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin commented that “Far too many American lives have been lost because of illegal aliens driving drunk.”  “These Americans killed by drunk-driving illegal aliens should still be with us today, and we feel their absence in our schools and offices, at our dinner tables, and throughout our communities. President Trump and Secretary Noem have reopened the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) office to serve all victims of illegal alien crime and their families.”

The VOICE office was opened in 2017 by the Trump administration. It is a resource for those who have been victimized by crime that is related to immigration, the article said. However, the Biden/Harris administration closed the office, leaving victims of crimes by illegal aliens without access to many support services and resources.

Worse, yet, are the number of Americans who have been murdered, with illegal aliens having been charged with the crime.

Among those victims are: 

* Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student who was murdered on the University of Georgia campus, allegedly by Jose Ibarra, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela, in February 2024. 

* A 12-year-old girl named Jocelyn Nungaray killed in Houston, Texas. She was found murdered in a creek in June 2024. Two Venezuelan nationals, Johan Jose Rangel Martinez and Franklin Jose Pena Ramos, who had recently entered the U.S. illegally, have been charged with capital murder.

* Rachel Morin, who was the mother of five, was found murdered in August 2023 in Maryland. Another illegal alien, a Salvadoran national who was in the country illegally, was later arrested and charged in connection with her death.

* A Missouri police officer, 44-year-old David Lee, was killed in 2024 by Honduran Ramon A. Chavez-Rodriguez, an illegal alien. 

These are only a few of the victims. Even one death at the hands of an illegal alien is too many.

There are two problems in the horrors these Americans and their families and friends have experienced at the hands of illegal aliens in the country. First is them being here at all. Second is the ridiculous frequency with which some of these illegals have been treated with kid gloves instead of getting the punishment they so well deserve.

Going easy on criminals is an insult to their victims, and a disgusting failure of prosecutors and judges.

One example is the case of the death of 22-year-old Logan Frederico, who was brutally murdered by a criminal during a break-in at the home where she was visiting friends. Her killer had a record of 39 arrests and 25 felonies. Despite this record, and the accumulated felonies, he had spent less than 2 years in jail.

The state attorney general had assigned an accomplished death penalty litigator to this case, but the progressive district attorney called this “premature” and “reckless.”

Then there is the murder of Iryna Zaruska, a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee who was tragically murdered in an unprovoked stabbing attack while riding a light-rail train in Charlotte, North Carolina last August. A video showing the attack was aired soon afterward.

Decarlos Brown Jr., a 34-year-old homeless man with 14 prior arrests for various offenses, including armed robbery, has been charged with first-degree murder.

Yet, despite his criminal history dating back over a decade, known mental health issues, and having forfeited bond on three occasions, a soft-on-crime judge released him back onto the streets following his most recent arrest last January, and he was able to murder an innocent woman.

Some in law enforcement positions, like prosecutors and judges, charged with prosecuting crimes and punishing criminals to protect the public, seem to think rehabilitation is a superior path to jail time.   

Over the last few years we have seen such “solutions” to crime and police work as “reimagining policing,” diverting 911 calls away from the police department, finding alternatives to arrest, prioritizing “restorative justice,” “deemphasizing” some felonies, and eliminating cash bail. 

GovFacts.com explains the sensible, traditional idea of dealing with criminals. It tells us that “punishment and retribution form the core mission. Society demands consequences when someone breaks the law. A proportional punishment acknowledges the moral weight of criminal acts and provides victims with a sense that justice has been served.”

The idea is for punishment to be so unpleasant that the perpetrator regrets his/her actions, and not do it again, and to discourage others from committing crimes.

But the progressive idea is to merely tell the criminal, “don’t do that anymore” and that will be all that is really needed. As with all “woke” ideas, these sound good, but don’t work, and in reality, are just stupid.

We need harsh punishment. Lawbreakers must pay a real price.

To make important decisions, all points of view should be heard

December 2, 2025

The earliest drafts of the U.S. Constitution did not include a bill of rights. Among those working on the Constitution who thought a bill of rights was important were Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, now known as the “father of the Constitution.”

When the delegates of the Constitutional Convention provided the document to the states for ratification, they realized that without a rights declaration, ratification could be difficult.

Some states quickly ratified the document, however, others had hotly contested debates. When those states did ratify the document, they included features that they wanted to be added.

Eventually, the elements of the Bill of Rights were added to the Constitution as amendments.

What ultimately became the First Amendment to the Constitution was the one protecting the establishment of religion, and its free exercise; the freedom of speech and the press; the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Of those First Amendment items, the idea of free speech is the one that is currently the most prominent.

Over the past several years, the charge has been that various sources — including newspapers and magazines, radio and television news organizations and social media — had been censoring what they regarded as “misinformation,” “disinformation,” “false information,” etc. 

There is no doubt that certain things were banned, as the censors admitted as much. But whether they should have banned those opinions and contrary ideas is still being defended.

Those who censored comments claimed they were protecting the public from false information, as if it was their duty, and within their ability to make such judgements. In a country with a constitutional defense of a right of free speech, it was neither of those things.

However, the ability of the people to express their thoughts and ideas about what is happening, what should happen, or what should not happen should be banned only under very special circumstances.

Throughout our history there have been many explanations of why even unpopular speech should not be regulated or banned.

Here are some of them:

* “If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.” George Washington (1783)

* “We can never be sure that the opinion we are endeavouring to stifle is a false opinion; and if we were sure, stifling it would be an evil still.” – John Stuart Mill, On Liberty (1859)

* “He who stifles free discussion, secretly doubts whether what he professes to believe is really true.” – Wendell Phillips (1870)

* “Some people’s idea of [free speech] is that they are free to say what they like, but if anyone says anything back, that is an outrage.” – Winston Churchill, (1943)

* “If liberty means anything at all it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear…” – George Orwell (1945)

* The U.S. Supreme Court in Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. said, in part, “We begin with the common ground. Under the First Amendment, there is no such thing as a false idea. However pernicious an opinion may seem, we depend for its correction not on the conscience of judges and juries but on the competition of other ideas.”

* “Freedom of speech is indivisible; unless we protect it for all, we will have it for none.” Law professor Harry Kalven

* “If you are afraid to say it, that is exactly why it needs to be said.” Journalist Andy Rooney

* “If you had to pick one freedom that was the most essential to the functioning of a democracy, it has to be freedom of speech. Because democracy means persuading one another, and then ultimately voting, and the majority, the majority rules. You can’t run such a system if there is a muzzling of one point of view. So, it’s a fundamental freedom in a democracy.” Former U.S Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, speaking at the National Press Club

* Yet, historically, the greatest threat to citizens has come not from those who state falsehoods but those who claim the right to regulate what is true and false.” Jonathon Turley, law professor and author of “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage”

However, even the First Amendment to the Constitution does not protect certain types of speech. These categories are types of speech that may be dangerous. These include obscenity, fraud, child pornography, speech integral to illegal conduct, speech that incites lawless action, speech that violates intellectual property law, and true threats.

Speech that may be obviously untrue, but not actually harmful, as are those in the preceding list, may not be banned.

Notice that political speech by Democrats or Republicans or whomever, are not included in the list of speech which may be banned.

So, let’s be honest and open about the differences in ideas. We should combat ideas that we find unpopular, but not with cowardly censorship, but with better and more sensible ideas.

Freedom of speech is one of the several ideas that sets the United States of America above other nations, and we must not allow it or the others to be taken away.

Six Democrats urge military personnel to ignore Trump’s orders

November 25, 2025

The latest event in the Democrat war against President Donald Trump is a video by a group of Democrat lawmakers with military and intelligence backgrounds in which they urge military service members to "refuse illegal orders." 

Those appearing in the video are Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich.; Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz.; Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Pa.; Rep. Maggie Goodlander, D-N.H.; Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa.; and Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo. The six lawmakers noted their prior military and government service to give credence to their message. The branches and agencies represented were the Army, Navy, Air Force and Central Intelligence Agency.

A favorite phrase from the 1.5-minute video is, "You can refuse illegal orders. You must refuse illegal orders," which was repeated frequently. The basis for this event is what the group terms "threats to our Constitution [that] are coming from right here at home."

Two of the group, Slotkin and Crowe, have introduced legislation aimed at stopping or limiting Trump’s actions to deploy National Guard members domestically, or to launch military action against narco-terrorists without congressional approval.

As reported by Fox News, “Slotkin’s ‘No Troops in Our Streets Act,’ detailed in a Nov. 13 release, would give Congress the power to block National Guard deployments inside American cities. President Trump has expanded National Guard operations to Los Angeles, Portland and Chicago amid violent crime.

“Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., simultaneously introduced a War Powers Continuing Resolution … to block the president from ordering strikes on drug traffickers in the Caribbean — actions Crow described in a release as ‘unauthorized and illegal.’”

Describing the action of the Democrat 6, Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., said: "At the end of the day, they’re mad the American people chose Trump and now they’re calling on the Military and Intelligence Community to intervene. Sounds a little ‘subversive to democracy’-ish."

What makes this event even more controversial than just an organized political opposition movement is that the Democrat 6 speak as if Trump’s orders to the military are patently obvious illegal orders. Even if they were or are illegal, this broad encouragement that every E2, E3, E4, et al, military person should act on their personal evaluation is foolish. As if those with lower ranks and minimal service time are equipped to make such judgements.

Anyone who has served in the military for even a few years knows that you follow orders, without question. This is a standard established in the first few hours of basic training.

All members of the military services are governed by the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). In it is the concept that obeying orders is not optional, except in cases where the illegality is plain as day. In such cases, service members risk punishment if they act before a superior authority has ruled the order unlawful.

Fox’s Morgan Phillips’ report on this event includes this information: “The UCMJ’s Article 90 states that any service member who ‘willfully disobeys a lawful command’ of a superior officer can face up to five years’ confinement, loss of all pay and allowances and dishonorable discharge. If the offense occurs in wartime, the punishment can be death or any lesser penalty a court-martial decides.”

“Military law sets an extremely narrow standard for refusing an order: it must be manifestly unlawful — so clearly illegal that ‘a person of ordinary sense and understanding’ would recognize it as a crime on its face. Examples include commands to kill civilians, torture detainees or overthrow the government.”

Military lawyers remind us that those provisions are the basis of the strict level of discipline that exists in the military services. That is the very system the Democrat 6 video challenges.

Following the release of the video, Trump called for the six Democrat lawmakers to face arrest and trial. “It’s called seditious behavior at the highest level,” Trump charged in a post on Truth Social. “Each one of these traitors to our Country should be arrested and put on trial. Their words cannot be allowed to stand - we won’t have a Country anymore!!! An example must be set.”

In his response to the video’s message, Trump mentioned the punishment outlined in the UCMJ, including the part saying that under certain circumstances, the death penalty could apply.

He had also reposted a comment by another Truth Social user: “Hang them, George Washington would!!” These comments led to the charge that Trump had called for killing the Democrat 6. Trump supporters said that he wasn’t calling for them to be killed, merely noting that the death penalty was a possible penalty for sedition.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La, defended Trump’s declaration that the Democrats engaged in “sedition.” He said they were being “wildly inappropriate” in suggesting military personnel consider Trump’s orders unlawful. He added that in mentioning seditious behavior was punishable by death, that Trump was merely “defining the crime of sedition.”

And always remember that when someone says something, there is how the listener interprets it, and what the speaker actually intended.

It is quite disturbing, perhaps criminal, that former military personnel — who should thoroughly understand military discipline, and the chaos that disobeying orders could cause — would strongly encourage military personnel to disobey orders.

A topic that gets a good bit of attention is media neutrality

November 18, 2025

Republicans and conservatives have for quite a while complained about many, or perhaps most, of the major news media in the country having a strong leftist bias. Donald Trump’s entrance into the political world has made this bias much more obvious.

The brilliant economist and commentator Thomas Sowell has addressed this reality several times, and one of his comments is this one from a publication in 1999: “The press has always claimed to be a watchdog, but too often it has been a lapdog — or an attack dog, depending on the politics of the moment. What is truly remarkable is not the bias itself, but the utter lack of self-awareness about it.” 

One of the critical principles of reliable news journalism is neutrality, meaning that reporting must include equal amounts of the various points of view. Seemingly, that is often not the case, these days. This may be at least partly the fault of college journalism education, which, like so much of higher education recently, has sacrificed traditional teaching of the curricula for pushing political philosophies.

As Sowell mentioned, there was indeed a lack of self-awareness of bias in journalism for many years, but more recently, rather than subconscious failure of bias awareness, there has been a deliberate implementation of bias to suit the political desires of the writers.

Accusations of this bias have been roundly denied by the perpetrators. But recently, a major news provider has come clean, acknowledging its bias.

“The BBC, one of the world’s biggest broadcasters, has been plunged into crisis after two top executives quit after a leaked memo [suggested] that it had misleadingly edited a speech by President Trump that preceded the Jan. 6 Capitol riot,” as reported by The New York Times.

The executives who resigned after this information went public are Tim Davie, BBC’s director general, and Deborah Turness, chief executive of BBC News. 

In early comments on that day, Trump said, "I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard." He also said, “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women, and we’re probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them.”

However, the BBC report deleted part of his comments, and added some comments from roughly 50 minutes later, that were on the subject of U.S. elections and corruption allegations, not marching down to the Capital. The BBC falsely reported Trump saying, “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol … and I’ll be there with you … and we fight. We fight like hell.” 

Clearly, the BBC’s fake reporting supported the attitude of Trump’s critics, enabling them to suggest that Trump was inciting violence. And that false perspective became a very popular one with Trump’s media and political enemies.

Director General Davie said in his resignation statement that the BBC was "not perfect, and we must always be open, transparent and accountable." And later, CEO Turness stated, “I'd like to make one thing very clear — BBC News is not institutionally biased."

The BBC issued a statement in which it said it "regrets the error" and issued a personal apology to Trump, but has declined to provide financial compensation for its action. Trump has threatened a lawsuit if some financial penalty is not paid. He is claiming that the BBC defamed him in its biased story.

This sort of political chicanery is dishonesty on parade. It defies the very nature of what news journalism is assumed to be, supposed to be. And, it demonstrates the serious and profound lack of integrity and professionalism that is required of news journalists that exists in much of the news media.

The type of false reporting done by the BBC is also being done by several American media outlets that do not like Donald Trump. Those here at home just haven’t yet been caught and outed by insiders who have the integrity and courage to expose their dishonest brethren.

The U.S. faces serious problems in the loss of professional integrity in some fields that are critical to our constitutional republic’s being able to survive. Among these important areas are science, education, journalism and politics.

These important areas have a significant effect on the people, what they believe and what they do, and their constitutionally guaranteed freedoms. And in fact, these weaknesses threaten our very existence as the country with a government system that is superior to all others. That system is one which we have enjoyed for the more than two centuries of our existence. 

All great nations eventually fall. And they fall due to serious problem within. We must hope and pray that enough of the American people realize this, and stand up for returning our country to its original state provided to us by our Founding Fathers, and reverse the dishonesty and lack of professional integrity in these important areas of life.

If we fail to make these changes, take a hard look at places like Iran, Russia Cuba and Venezuela, and prepare to join them in disaster.

The search for power, and using it to control the country

November 11, 2025

Since the colonies became fed up with the heavy-handed rule of the British crown more than 250 years ago, a government design opposite to that arrangement has been the goal. A government of the people, by the people and for the people became the dominant theory. And that idea was the basis for our constitution and the government that it created.

But the benefit of that concept has gradually faded through the years, leading to decades of actions that weakened that system, and has taken control out of the hands of the people, and put a growing degree of power in the hands of those serving in government.

Today we see a larger and more controlling government body than our Founders could ever have imagined would evolve from their system.

The tri-partite government consisting of a legislative branch, an administrative branch and a judicial branch, each independent of the other two, and no single branch being more powerful than the others, has been weakened.

Our federal government has grown in the number of administrative departments and employees. Along with that growth has come more and more interference with the freedoms recognized in the U.S. Constitution as belonging to the people, and protected by the government, not provided by it.

In many cases, the growth of government and the accompanying loss of personal freedom that resulted may have been intended to accomplish good things. And perhaps some good did result. However, the weakening of the system is ultimately a greater harm than the relatively small degree of good that may have been gained.

For example, what one may now do with their property is now controlled by volumes of laws and regulations from all levels of government. If, for example, you have a pond or some small water feature, you likely will have to get government approval to change it, or do away with it. Other similar restrictions apply over almost everything.

This negative change in how our government operates is dealt with by Mark Levin in his new book On Power. Levin, a constitutional lawyer, author and syndicated talk show host, comments in his chapter titled, “On Negative Power,” the following: “Given the ubiquity of the federal government and its reach into virtually all areas of society, this is an enormous betrayal of representative government by the supposed representative branches.”

He notes that for a century or so the three branches have been involved in “the construction of a massive administrative state, the contours of which are elusive and seemingly boundless, and constructed without a constitutional foundation.”

And he cites the failure of the judicial branch to call a halt to this development and legitimization of the fourth branch of government: the bureaucracy, which is not in the U.S. Constitution.

In the last 100-plus years, 10 new federal departments have been created:
1903 - the Department of Commerce and Labor, which was separated in 1913 into two departments: the Department of Commerce and the Department of Labor
1953 - the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
1965 - the Department of Housing and Urban Development
1966 - the Department of Transportation
1977 - the Department of Energy
1979 - the Department of Education
1980 - the Department of Health and Human Services
1989 - the Department of Veteran’s Affairs
2002 - the Department of Homeland Security

About this growth and movement away from our governmental design, Levin notes that the failure of the judiciary to intervene, as it can legally do, has given this movement an appearance of legitimacy. “The delegation of representative government to a non-representative, ever-expanding bureaucratic behemoth is, by intent and design, the overthrow of actual representative and consensual government,” he wrote.

“As a result, the unelected judiciary and bureaucracy hold enormous power over the people by literally removing their participation and consent.”

Recognition of the rise in bureaucratic power and authority, and the accompanying loss of individual freedom, is not a new thing. And efforts to do an about-face and restore our republic to its original status are not unheard of, but so far have not been strong enough and not very successful.

President Donald Trump and his administration are making efforts to straighten things out a bit. But that is a long and steep road.

A White House Fact Sheet, released last February, focuses on the idea of dramatically reducing “the size of the Federal Government, while increasing its accountability to the American people,” and ending “ineffective government programs that empower government without achieving measurable results.”

As with everything Trump says and does, criticism and resistance abound. The criticism and resistance of the opposing political forces is expected. And they do not hesitate to exaggerate and mis-represent what is happening. But resistance has also surfaced in the judiciary, reinforcing what Levin said about that. Actions by federal district court judges, many of which have been determined to have been inappropriate, are interfering with Trump’s efforts.

And then there is the criminal activity in much of the resistance. Interfering with federal law enforcement in their efforts to arrest and deport illegal criminal aliens, for example, is not an approved peaceful protest, it is against the law.

On property taxes, and dangerous and violent political language

October 4, 2025

There is a concept in America that the greatest asset that you can own is a home. 

Recently, the point has been made a few times that we do not really own our home. The reasons cited are, first, that if you owe money on a loan and fall on hard times and don’t make your payments, the lender may take your home. From that point of view, you don’t own your home, you are in essence renting it from the lender, and the lender could push you out of it if you can’t pay the loan.

Another is that even if you have paid off the loan you got to buy it, if you cannot pay the property taxes on it each year, the state can take your home. And once again, you don’t really own your home, the state does, and you are merely renting it.

And, in many cases, property taxes on a home are one of the biggest expenses people have each year.

Realwealth online tells us that “The average American homeowner spends around $2,869 on property taxes for their homes every year.” And depending upon the property, it quite often is much more than that. Realwealth goes on to say that “23 states also have a personal property tax on vehicles, adding another $440 for residents. Unfortunately, every state in the U.S. has some type of property tax.”

Some observers have asserted that while property taxes are a huge part of tax collections, they are not necessary. Those taxes payments can be partially made up by additional purchases citizens will make through increased sales taxes on the things they will buy with the property tax money they get to keep, and use for their benefit.

Other savings by the governments that collect taxes on real property can be made by more sensible spending decisions, using that tax money only to support things are truly in the best interest of its citizens.

While this idea has a good bit of support, it has not been the focus of much action, until now.

In March, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said what others have said: "Property taxes effectively require homeowners to pay rent to the government. Florida residents need relief."

DeSantis has stated a desire to eliminate all residential and commercial property taxes, although what may actually happen is that only some commercial property will be tax free.

He is currently proposing doing away with property taxes on primary residences, or homestead properties where Floridians actually live. At this point, vacation homes, rental properties, and commercial real estate will remain taxable.

While several states besides Florida have no income tax, the Sunshine State could become the first state with no income tax and no property tax on primary residences, if DeSantis gets his way. 

However, this will require an amendment to the state’s constitution, and that means that 60 percent of both houses of the Legislature must first approve it. Then, 60 percent of voters will have to vote for it. And, the 60 percent bar is a higher level of support than any presidential candidate has ever achieved among Florida voters. 

The likelihood that this proposal, or one of a few other options, will pass seems quite likely, but uncertain at this time.

These days we are seeing talk in the political realm that is unnecessarily harsh and often dangerous. While both major parties engage in over-heated rhetoric, the Democrats are clearly winning that battle.

One fine example is the language of Democrat Virginia Attorney General candidate Jay Jones in a text to a House delegate in 2022.

“Three people, two bullets,” Jones wrote about former Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert, Adolf Hitler and Pol Pot. “Gilbert gets two bullets to the head.”

“Spoiler: put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets every time,” Jones wrote. 

Despite this disgusting rant, Jones is still supported by Democrat leaders and voters.

And last month another Democrat issued similar thoughts about political opponents.

Democrat Texas state Rep. Jolanda Jones said on CNN that her party should get rid of every Republican and slash their necks.

“I’m from the hood, okay? So, when a bully comes, like, if there are no rules, you literally have to figure it out. So, Donald Trump has changed things, and people trying to do what’s always been done is not going to work,” she said. “And I think that’s why Democrats are losing black people, that’s why they’re losing poor people, because poor people, all they want is for us to fight.”

“So, if you hit me in my face, I’m not going to punch you back in your face, I’m going to go across your neck, because we can go back and forth fighting each other’s faces. You’ve got to hit hard enough where they won’t come back,” she continued. 

There is no place in American politics for such violent trash talk. The attitude that produces it is the same attitude behind the past violent riots and the current criminal resistance to federal law enforcement’s efforts to rid the country of violent illegal aliens. It must end.

Creating an event structure and destroying the White House

October 28, 2025

Now that the “No Kings” protest is over, it’s time for new criticisms of President Trump to be launched. And the topic this time is the White House ballroom project.

A few of the comments:

* California Governor Gavin Newsom grumbled that Trump is “literally destroying the White House.” 

* "It’s not his house," Hillary Clinton posted on X. "It’s your house. And he’s destroying it." 

* Jessica Tarlov, a Democrat who co-hosts “The Five” on Fox News, called the ballroom project “a monstrosity.” It is “nothing like any of the other renovations” taken on by past presidents and “almost double the size of the White House itself, she said.”

* “The erasure of the East Wing isn’t just about marble or plaster — it’s about President Trump again taking a wrecking ball to our heritage, while targeting our democracy, and the rule of law,” said Chelsea Clinton.

That last one got a response from Donald Trump, Jr., who told Chelsea: “LOL, your parents tried stealing furniture and silverware from the White House … and let’s not talk about the intern. Sit this one out.”

And, unsurprisingly, there’s another criticism that features some shenanigans.

As reported on PBS, “At this moment in time, of course, the ballroom is really the president’s main priority,” [Karoline] Leavitt said in a five-second clip that leading Democrats, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., shared on X.

“Jeffries’ Oct. 23 post decried Leavitt’s comment: ‘The Trump administration just declared that erecting a ballroom is the President’s main priority. Meanwhile. The cost of living is way too high and the Republican health care crisis threatens millions of Americans.’

“The clip of Leavitt’s statement is real, but Jeffries and the House Democratic Caucus clipped her comments in a misleading way that removes the context. Leavitt never said the ballroom is a more important priority for the president than inflation, health care or ending the federal government shutdown.”

Along with the deliberate exaggeration about the project, and the deliberate misinformation provided, these criticisms also ignore an important fact: Donald Trump is not the first or only president to make modifications to the White House. These modifications date back almost to the early days of the White House.

Here are some of the more recent modifications, provided on yahoo.com: 

* 1902: Major renovation and expansion beyond the White House residence under President Theodore Roosevelt. First lady Edith Roosevelt hired architects to separate the White House’s living quarters from its offices. They also enlarged and modernized the White House’s public rooms, redid its landscaping and redecorated its interior.

* 1909: Expansion of the West Wing and creation of the Oval Office under President William Howard Taft, who expanded the existing, temporary building southward, covering the tennis court, and created the first Oval Office.

* 1927: Renovation of upper floors and attic of the White House under President Calvin Coolidge. He replaced the White House’s original wood trusses with steel while rebuilding the roof and adding a third-floor.

* 1929 and 1930: Renovation and reconstruction of the West Wing under President Herbert Hoover. In 1929, Hoover spent seven months remodeling the West Wing, excavating a partial basement and supporting it with structural steel. But on Christmas Eve of that year, a four-alarm fire significantly damaged his newly completed project, and Hoover was forced to rebuild the West Wing.

* 1934 and 1942: Overhaul of the West Wing and construction of the current East Wing under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1934, Roosevelt added a second floor and a larger basement while relocating the Oval Office to its current location; in 1942, he built the current two-story East Wing office building primarily to cover the construction of an underground bunker. 

* 1948 to 1952: Full structural reconstruction of the White House under President Harry Truman, whose "total reconstruction" project preserved its exterior walls while rebuilding its foundation, adding steel and concrete to its structure. In the process, Truman added six rooms and two new sub-basements, bringing the total square footage close to where it is today.

* 1975: President Gerald Ford built a roughly 1,200-square-foot outdoor pool to replace the indoor pool that his predecessor, Richard Nixon, had covered and converted to the press briefing room five years earlier.

* 2007: The James S. Brady Press Briefing Room covers roughly 2,200 square feet and is surrounded by small offices for the White House press corps. President George W. Bush modernized the whole area.

Some people, who look at things other than their dislike for Trump and the public criticisms, think the ballroom is a good idea, even The Washington Post.

It’s difficult to hold large audience events now, as it requires using tents, heaters, chairs and lights, all of which must be set up, then taken down, and may have to be rented. This way, there is a facility that is set up and ready to use, and is a very nice facility. The need for this facility is so obvious that the idea was first proposed by President Harrison—back in 1891.

Is it possible that Trump Derangement Syndrome epidemic will fade, and what he does will be objectively evaluated?