Marriage and a traditional family are still the bedrocks of a stable society

In a few days, a new year will be upon us. And after the disaster of 2020, and the nearly-as-bad 2021, we can all hope for a much better 2022.

We might wish for a return to normal, but that is a bit too optimistic. Maybe we can be satisfied with several steps toward normal.

There is a long list of the things that need to be rolled back to where they used to be. We have seen how crime, destruction and death have risen since foolish ideas like defunding or reimagining the police were put into place in some cities.

Another mistake is destroying our history instead of learning about it and learning from it. And, the so-called cancel culture that attacks people with the goal to destroy them for no better reason than that they don’t agree with them about something is irrational.

But a very important way to fight off these destructive ideas is to rebuild our culture through an emphasis on marriage and the traditional family, as well as how we educate our children. Much of the damage to our culture can be traced to these areas.

The devolution of the family is something that started years before the pandemic came along, and has continued to devolve during it. It is something that desperately needs to be reborn.

Those of us who were fortunate enough to have been brought up in one of those traditional families understand just how important they were, and are.

Marriage and the traditional family are bedrocks of a stable society, and were a critical part of what made America the world-leading nation it became. Today, we see that the traditional family and its stable rules of the road have fallen by the way-side, and that has had a serious negative impact on our culture and our lives.

In 1960, 73 percent of children lived in a two-parent household with parents in their first marriage, another 14 percent lived with two parents who had remarried, and only 9 percent lived in a single-parent home, a Pew Research Center study tells us.

Through the years, those statistics showing 87 percent of children living in a two-parent home have taken a beating. In 2014, only 46 percent of children lived in a two-parent, first-marriage household, 15 percent were in a two-parent re-married family, and 26 percent were in a single-parent household. Things have not improved over the last seven years.

In the 60s, Pew’s study said, “babies typically arrived within a marriage, today fully four-in-ten births occur to women who are single or living with a non-marital partner.” And then there are the millions of babies who were conceived, but never born because of abortion.

The traditional family put children in a stable setting in which most learned valuable life lessons. That stability occurs far less today. That does not mean that today’s parents do not love and take good care of their children. It simply means that the benefits of the traditional family are available to fewer children today.

And whatever the situation is for children and their parents, education from elementary grades through high school and college have changed, too. And not for the better.

In many elementary and secondary schools, tried and true methods of learning how to read, write and do arithmetic have been done away with. Some schools have done away with GPAs and class rankings. And some colleges have abandoned ACT and SAT requirements to enter their institutions. 

Many schools today underhandedly push Critical Race Theory on their students, teaching them that, depending upon their skin color, they are either an oppressor or are oppressed. 

Some advocate the idea that math, as traditionally taught, is racist. And, believe it or not, some are trying to encourage children suffering from gender dysphoria to go through the dangerous process of changing genders before they are even old enough to consider such decisions. 

Some schools are trying to impose equality of outcomes on students — referred to as “equity” — instead of encouraging them to earn rewards through hard work. These efforts to treat everyone as if they are the same, as if everyone has the same level of skills in all areas, are destroying the idea of excellence. 

If everyone is assumed to have the same abilities, if everyone’s’ strengths and weaknesses are hidden under a blanket of equity, people will never fully develop their strengths. How will our country be able to reach the high levels of performance needed to measure up to the rest of the world if, while other nations focus on achieving excellence, we focus on preventing it?

If we cannot achieve our highest possible level of performance, aggressive nations with negative intentions — like China, Russia and Iran — will gain control of the world, and we will be at their mercy.

America must refocus its attention on being the best it can be, which is what made it the best in the world. 

By refocusing on those fundamental concepts that provide stability, like marriage and family, and an education system that is focused on helping every student achieve to their highest levels, we can begin to recover what has been lost.

Our elections must be made more secure ahead of the mid-terms

An Associated Press review of potential cases of voter fraud in the six battleground states — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — found fewer than 475 cases. That number would have made no difference in the 2020 presidential election, according to an article on apnews.com.

The review was directed toward the six states that were disputed by former President Donald Trump.

Most Americans will likely be pleased with this determination. And while this review found a tiny fraction of the vote fraud needed to prove a stolen election, it also reminds us that the election systems in the 50 states are not fraud-proof, and with the mid-term election coming up in less than a year, we would be smart to examine our election procedures and methods and make them more secure.

By contrast, The Lincoln Institute published a report saying, “the fact of the matter is that the 2020 election had hundreds of thousands of votes counted that should not have been, and the distribution of those votes could have affected the outcome in several closely-decided states.

Many will choose to believe one; many will choose to believe the other. Which one is more accurate?

With tens of millions of people voting in thousands of polling places, and with tens of thousands of election workers in those polling places, it would be a miracle of epic proportions if there weren’t any problems or crimes. Therefore, we can acknowledge, without calling an election stolen, that there is fraud, abuse and carelessness in every election. The only question is, how much?

The AP review focused on only six states and found an average of 79 issues in each state. How many other examples of fraud existed, but were not discovered?

Here are some methods of cheating in elections, according to The Heritage Foundation:

• Forging voter signatures on candidate ballot qualification petitions.

• Voting in someone else’s name in person or through absentee ballots.

• Registering and voting under a false identity or in a district where the individual does not actually reside.

• Submitting fraudulent, altered, or forged absentee ballots.

• Registering in multiple locations within a state or in different states to vote multiple times in the same election.

• People voting even though they’re not eligible because they’re felons or noncitizens.

• Paying, coercing, or intimidating people to vote for certain candidates.

In addition, the U.S. Constitution mandates that election procedures are to be controlled by state legislatures. Officials in four of the battleground states mentioned previously — Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin — changed election procedures in the 2020 election by circumventing legislative action. Assuming the best of intentions on the part of the wrongdoers, these changes were nonetheless illegal/unconstitutional. Were any election results — local, state or national — affected by these actions?

In a case before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2008 where the Court upheld Indiana’s voter-ID law by a 6-3 margin, Justice John Paul Stevens, who is not a conservative justice, said in the majority opinion that “flagrant examples of such fraud … have been documented throughout this Nation’s history by respected historians and journalists … that demonstrate that not only is the risk of voter fraud real, but that it could affect the outcome of a close election.”

“Absentee ballots are the tools of choice of vote thieves,” Heritage noted, “because they are the only ballots cast outside the supervision of election officials and outside the observation of poll watchers, destroying the transparency of the election process that is a fundamental hallmark of a healthy democracy.”

Heritage produced the “Election Integrity Scorecard — Assessing the Status of State Election Fairness and Security.” Here are some of the results. Finishing in first place, with a score of 83, is Georgia. Coming in last, with a score of 26, is Hawaii. Virginia scored 67, and placed 15th, while West Virginia placed 30th, with a score of 54.

In its discussion of the condition of our elections, Heritage reported, “In 2012, the Pew Foundation released a report on the voter registration systems maintained by the states. The report found that:

• Approximately 24 million — one in every eight — voter registrations were either no longer valid or significantly inaccurate.

• More than 1.8 million deceased individuals were listed as voters.

• Approximately 2.75 million individuals were registered in more than one state.”

These weaknesses invite fraud, and must be corrected. 

The list of things one cannot do in America without a valid photo-ID is long, and includes: buying alcohol or cigarettes; opening a bank account; applying for food stamps, social security, and many jobs; and get on an airliner. Photo IDs are generally pretty easy to acquire, and every voter should be required to have one.

Elections are too important to have security methods weakened, for example, just to make voting easy. The easier it is to vote, the easier it is to cheat. If Americans have to sacrifice a little convenience in the name of election security, so be it.

Our elections must be made more secure. That is fundamental in a democratic republic like the United States, where the people select those who serve them in all levels of government. We cannot depend upon an honor system to guarantee free and fair elections.

America’s crime wave is a direct result of liberal policies

One of the most serious and most common stories these days is that crime is rampant in many cities across the U.S. 

Twelve major cities have new homicide records. These cities are: Albuquerque, New Mexico; Austin, Texas; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Columbus, Ohio; Indianapolis, Indiana; Louisville, Kentucky; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Portland, Oregon; Rochester, New York; St. Paul, Minnesota; Toledo, Ohio; and Tucson, Arizona.

This high crime situation follows the violence-ridden summer of 2020, where people protested the killing of George Floyd by a police officer. There were riots and criminal activities in several cities, which also featured the popular, but baseless, claims of systemic racism and extensive police brutality against people of color.

This criminal activity is the direct result of liberal policies toward crime and criminals. Many of those in positions of power deliberately did not uphold the laws to protect both public and private property.

Author and activist Tammy Bruce released a book in 2003 titled, “The Death of Right and Wrong - Exposing the Left’s Assault on Our Culture and Values.” Looking at what is happening in America recently, she must be recognized for accurately seeing into the future.

Early in the book, Bruce wrote, “The Left has had to restrict individual freedom of thought and deed in order to destroy the concept of judgment and undermine notions of right and wrong that have been held nearly universally for millennia.”

The accuracy of her predictions is borne out by such plainly obvious foolishness as: 

• Defunding the police, where city boards have voted to cut funding for police departments.
• No cash bail for many crimes, where those arrested for the designated crimes are merely released into society after a court appearance.
• Prosecutors refuse to prosecute many crimes, which leaves perpetrators unpunished for their harm to society.
• *Suggestions by the soft-on-crime faction to close federal prisons.

Today, we see people whose duty is to uphold law and order by prosecuting criminals through the legal system deliberately not doing their job.

George Gascón may be the most notorious of the renegade prosecutors. Born in Cuba in 1954, he is now the district attorney of Los Angeles County. Prior to this, he was a practicing attorney and a police officer, and previously served as the district attorney of San Francisco from 2011 to 2019. 

To win his current position, Gascón defeated District Attorney Jackie Lacey, who had been targeted by Black Lives Matter as being pro-police. Lacey is the former San Francisco district attorney who “authored the controversial Proposition 47, which is being blamed for the violent crime wave in Los Angeles because it downgraded many felonies to misdemeanors,” according to the Washington Examiner. Gascón has dutifully followed in those footsteps.

To give some idea about his perspective on crime and criminals, Gascón once said that “arrest is traumatic and dehumanizing” to those arrested. A forthright prosecutor would understand the obvious reality that if you don’t want to be traumatized and dehumanized, don’t commit crimes. But not Gascón.

The predictable result of these policies is very symbolized by what happened at the Waukesha, Wisconsin Christmas parade.

The man accused of driving his SUV into participants and observers of the Christmas parade, killing six and injuring dozens of others, had a substantial criminal record, had been arrested days before, and was set free after paying a small bail fee.

Darrell Edward Brooks Jr, was arrested 21 days prior to the Waukesha attack for hitting his ex-girlfriend with his car during a domestic dispute. Charges for that case include second-degree recklessly endangering safety with domestic abuse assessments, a felony; disorderly conduct with domestic abuse assessments; misdemeanor battery with domestic abuse assessments; and obstructing an officer. He was released on only $1,000 bail two days before the Waukesha attack.

Police officers who are charged with upholding the laws, and arresting law-breakers are frustrated with the leniency being forced upon them. Los Angeles, California is a good example.

Last week, Jamie McBride, the head of the LA Police Protective League, which represents LAPD officers, told Fox 11 News that crime was a big problem in the city, and he would urge people to stay away.

“It is so violent, we are telling people don’t visit because we don’t think we can keep you safe right now,” he said.

Referring to the new lax policies, McBride said, “Right now, you can literally go out, do whatever you want, commit crimes, and you’ll be out [of jail] faster than the officers can finish the report,”

Rachael Rollins, whose nomination as U.S. attorney for Massachusetts was recently approved by the U.S. Senate, had a list of 15 crimes she thought should not be routinely prosecuted in her previous position, including trespassing, drug possession, disorderly conduct, minor in possession of alcohol and resisting arrest.

Yes, these are somewhat minor crimes. But failure to prosecute them is a dis-service to victims, and sends a bad message to the criminal element.

These soft-on-crime ideas are foolish in the extreme, and weaken the very foundations of our country. Ultimately, if not stopped, America will be destroyed from the inside, and turned into another failed country like Cuba and Venezuela. Restore our proven system and save America.

Many people see electric vehicles as our environmental salvation

“Specifically, the President will sign an Executive Order that sets an ambitious new target to make half of all new vehicles sold in 2030 zero-emissions vehicles, including battery electric, plug-in hybrid electric, or fuel cell electric vehicles,” the Whitehouse Fact Sheet tells us.

“The Executive Order also kicks off development of long-term fuel efficiency and emissions standards to save consumers money, cut pollution, boost public health, advance environmental justice, and tackle the climate crisis,” the Fact Sheet continues.

The EO outlines President Joe Biden’s plan “for the U.S. to lead in electric vehicle manufacturing, infrastructure, and innovation,” by investing in:

* A national network of electric vehicle charging stations.

* Point-of-sale consumer incentives to spur U.S. manufacturing and union jobs.

* The retooling and expansion of the full domestic manufacturing supply chain.

* The next generation of clean technologies to maintain our competitive edge.

The Fact Sheet says that “Over the last decade, we have seen a transformation in the technology costs, performance, and availability of electric vehicles. Since 2010:

* “Battery pack costs dropped by 85 percent, paving the way to sticker price parity with gasoline-powered vehicles.

* “Average vehicle range increased dramatically as charging times shortened.

* “Electric models available to U.S. consumers expanded to over 40 last year – and growing.”

How much will all of this cost, and where will the money come from? The recently passed infrastructure bill earmarks $7.5 billion for electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure.

And, as CBS News reported: “A credit of up to $7,500 for an electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle. ... An additional $500 credit for a car with a battery pack made in the U.S. An additional $4,500 credit for cars assembled at a unionized U.S. plant. (Currently, only plants owned by GM, Ford, and Stellantis qualify [formerly, Fiat-Chrysler].)”

The provision is a tax credit — up to federal income tax owed — not a refund. And, CBS also noted that there is an income limit to the credit: You cannot make more than $500,000 for married couples and $250,000 for single buyers.

“This credit is at the point of purchase — it’s not a credit that you apply for,” Kristin Dziczek, senior vice president of research at the Center for Automotive Research, said. “It’s going to come straight off a loan or the price of the vehicle.”

So, the federal government will pay people to buy certain types of cars from certain manufacturers, and pay them more if they buy a union-made car. Why did that factor come into play? Was it because the unions opened their wallets?

And with these tax deduction incentives, won’t that cause an even larger deficit in the false concept that “it’s paid for?”

Even the best ideas have downsides. Here are some problems with electric vehicles.

Lithium is a part — the expensive part — of EV batteries, and it is getting more expensive these days. Where do we get lithium? Not here at home. Australia is the world’s biggest supplier, followed by Chile, Argentina, China, and Zimbabwe in the top five.

Lithium is finite, and it is becoming more expensive because of the demands made by automakers. 

Coal-fired power plants are the single-largest source of greenhouse gas pollution in the U.S., yet that is what supplies electricity to charge electric cars. As EV use increases, so then will the demand for more electricity to charge them. One of the main reasons EVs are preferred over gas-burning vehicles is to reduce pollution. 

After the two different kinds of batteries now used in EVs are no longer useful — after about 20 years — there is not yet a market for the used batteries to recycle them and their parts. 

If you run out of juice on the road, you cannot get a jump start to get back on the road. If a problem with your electric motor develops, you cannot just take it down the street to the shop and find someone who can fix it. Dealers will be the only source of repair.

Speaking of “re-fueling” an EV, how long does that take? According to avtowow.com, “Charging most EVs using 220 volts will give you a full charge in as little as 3-4 hours to anywhere between 10-12 hours (depending on the battery size).”

And what about road-trips? “Charging electric vehicles using 440-volt systems during road trips adds a considerable amount of time to the trip. For example, a trip from Washington, DC to Little Rock, Arkansas could take 17 hours in a regular car,” avtowow.com says. Charging stops will add hours to the trip. And charging on a regular home’s 110-volt power supply could take up to 45 hours.

EVs may well be a sensible option for future transportation. But the industry is not yet up to speed, and won’t be for years. Trying to rush this “solution” into reality is foolish, and will likely make things worse, at least for a while. Which, of course, is usually not a consideration when liberals think they have a problem solved.

Better to let things develop at their own pace. The industry is working toward that end. It will take longer, but the result will be better. And, that will cost taxpayers less money.

Government spending; what the ice says; and troubled democracies

The federal budget for fiscal year 2021 was $6.8 trillion, and revenue was only $4.05 trillion. That added nearly $3 trillion to the $29 trillion national debt.

Congress just passed an infrastructure bill with bipartisan support of $1 trillion. And the House recently passed the Democrats' sweeping $1.9 trillion budget reconciliation package, which still needs Senate approval. Both of these spending packages will add nearly $3 trillion more to the national debt.

A meme on Facebook asked that we consider how long 1 trillion seconds is. One million seconds equals: 16.67 billion minutes; 277.8 million hours; 11.6 million days; and 23,800 years, counting leap years.

Then, it said, think about money. So, what can $1 trillion buy? 1 million houses that cost $1,000,000; 2.86 million houses at $350,000; 16.7 million cars that cost $60,000; 40 billion hours of labor at $25/hour, or a year’s wages for 19,200 people at $25/hour.

At the rate that the Democrats are spending money we don’t have, pretty soon, we will be talking about real money.

At some time, we must address this gargantuan debt, and start spending only what we collect, and that spending must include paying down the debt.

* * *

A recent emailed video contained a presentation from several years ago by Jorgen Peder Steffensen, Professor of Physics - Ice, Climate and Earth, at the Niels Bohr Institute.

In the presentation, Steffensen said that the NorthGRIP (Northern Greenland Ice Project) was reopened to drill the last few meters through the ice sheet to the rock beneath the ice station.

“The ice core, over 3 kilometers in length, has been hauled up to the surface piece by piece, and holds important data on the history of the climate of the Earth,” he said. “It bears the fingerprints of climactic conditions for more than 120,000 years.”

Steffensen used a chart showing the temperature changes in the ice core over a period of 8,000 years. The temperature changes are shown on a chart using 4 gradations, top to bottom, with 4.0 being the warmest, and 0.0 being the coldest. Remember, ice forms at 0 degrees Celsius and 32 degrees Fahrenheit.

The warmest temperatures are 3.7 on the 4-gradation scale starting 7,500 years ago, lasting until about 4,800 years ago. At that time a long period of cooling began, ending roughly 2.6 gradations cooler 2,100 years ago. The temperature at that time was at 1.1 on the scale.

Then a warming period occurred, during which the temperature rose to about 2.5 on the scale about 1,000 years ago, which Steffensen identified as the Medieval Warm Period. That temperature was about 1.0 gradation warmer on average than today.

Other core samples from elsewhere in Greenland confirm that the Little Ice Age ended 140 or so years ago, Steffensen said, the coldest point in the last 10,000 years, at 0.6, near the bottom of the scale. 

So, the warmest temperatures detected by NorthGRIP were 3.7 on the scale, and the coolest temperatures were 0.6 on the scale, a difference of 3.1 units on the 4-gradation scale.

Steffensen said, “I agree completely that we have had a global temperature increase in the 20th Century. But an increase from what?” 

The answer: From the Little Ice Age’s 0.6 mark. From there to today’s 1.5 mark is an increase of 0.9, which is less than the rise during the Medieval Warm Period.

NorthGRIP showed that Earth was much warmer 8,000 years ago than it is today, and a good bit warmer during the Medieval Warm Period about a thousand years ago than today.

While Earth’s temperature has been rising since the start of the 20th Century, this warming follows the coldest temperatures in 8,000 years. And a warming period is a natural occurrence after a cooling period.

Perhaps the visions of climate catastrophe we see all around us are not really warranted.

* * *

The Washington Post reported last week on a report released by the Stockholm-based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA). The report, the Global State of Democracy 2021, listed “back-sliding democracies,” and for the first time, the United States is on that list.

The Post quoted from the report: “The United States, the bastion of global democracy, fell victim to authoritarian tendencies itself, and was knocked down a significant number of steps on the democratic scale.”

The organization bases its analysis of about 160 countries, looking at 50 years of democratic indicators.

“The study, which analyzed trends from 2020 and 2021, found that more than a quarter of the world’s population now lives in democratically backsliding countries,” The Post wrote, “which International IDEA defines as nations seeing a gradual decline in the quality of their democracy.”

The International IDEA report said, “The world is becoming more authoritarian as non-democratic regimes become even more brazen in their repression and many democratic governments suffer from backsliding by adopting their tactics of restricting free speech and weakening the rule of law, exacerbated by what threatens to become a ‘new normal’ of Covid-19 restrictions.”

Along with the other disturbing news we are dealing with, this is especially disturbing for those of us living in the “land of the free.”

Media blows it on Rittenhouse, and some Thanksgiving thoughts

Much of the news media is politically liberal and agenda-controlled. It is not accurate or balanced in its reporting.

These politically-driven persons and agencies have forsaken journalistic integrity, if they every had any, and misinform their audience.

The media coverage of the charges against Kyle Rittenhouse and the ensuing trial are an excellent example of media malfeasance.

Some of the “shoot first, don’t ask questions” modus operandi of the agenda media in the Rittenhouse matter was proudly on display before and after the trial. This gross misreporting could easily have been prevented by doing basic journalistic work, if good journalism was ever the intent.

Instead, the public was treated to incompetence, gross ignorance or deliberate lies, on several elements of the reporting.

Rittenhouse, the then-17-year-old, was reported to have been driven across the state line from his home nearby in Illinois by his mother, armed with an AR-15, as if he had no connection to Kenosha, WI. But while he lived in Illinois with his mother, relatives, including his father and grandmother, lived in Kenosha. And he had a job there. 

Other problems with that story: The gun was not in the car with him, but already in Wisconsin, at the home of a friend’s step-father. And his mother did not drive him there.

He had a gun with him because he had been asked to help protect a used car lot. Rioters were violent and some were armed. He used the rifle to defend himself against three attackers, all of whom had criminal charges in their past.

The agenda media reported that the gun was illegal. Wrong. Under Wisconsin law, he was entitled to possess the AR-15 as a 17-year-old. The trial judge dismissed the phony gun charge. The prosecution never should have charged that crime, or any of the others. They must have gotten their info from the fake news media, or reacted to public emotional outcry.

Rittenhouse’s attackers were not nice guys attending a polite protest. They were rioters with criminal records committing crimes.

Joseph Rosenbaum had a very serious criminal record, was on the Wisconsin sex offender registry for an Arizona child molestation case. He received 10 years in prison in 2002 for sexual contact with a minor, and then was sentenced to another 30 months for sexual contact with a minor related to the same 2002 incident. Charges included anal rape and oral sex with minors. He was seen swinging a chain prior to attacking Rittenhouse, who shot and killed him in self-defense.

Anthony Huber also had a criminal history. He was found guilty of a felony for strangulation and suffocation, domestic abuse. He was also convicted in that case of felony false imprisonment with a dangerous weapon, domestic abuse. He also threatened his brother with a butcher knife, according to The New York Post. Rittenhouse was able to defend himself against Huber’s attack with a skateboard. The assailant died as a result.

Gaige Grosskreutz, who survived Rittenhouse’s defense of his attack, also had a criminal history in Wisconsin. He had a prior misdemeanor conviction for intoxicated use of a firearm, according to court records. He had a concealed carry permit revoked, and was illegally carrying a concealed weapon, which he pointed at Rittenhouse before being shot in the arm.

Rittenhouse was not a white supremacist, he did not kill two Black BLM members, or murder two people because he went to Kenosha to kill people.

Perhaps these examples of gross incompetence and corruption will cause the perpetrators to learn and practice good journalism. Don’t hold your breath.

In two days, we will celebrate Thanksgiving, when Americans get together for a day of feasting and family. 

Virginia’s 9th District Congressman Morgan Griffith emails his constituents at least weekly. For the Thanksgiving holiday he sent a special email about the holiday.

“Four hundred years ago, the Pilgrims of Massachusetts held their first Thanksgiving.

“Four hundred and two years ago, the first American Thanksgiving was held.

What’s the distinction? Read on.

“Most Americans recall the story of the Pilgrims who crossed the Atlantic on the Mayflower in 1620 and arrived in what is now Massachusetts – although their original destination was Virginia. After a difficult year establishing Plymouth Colony, they held a Thanksgiving feast with the Native Americans who had been indispensable to the colony’s survival.

“Without doubt, the Thanksgiving in Plymouth was an important event in American history. It simply wasn’t the first Thanksgiving.”

His story went on to tell of a trip begun on September 16 a year earlier, when 35 settlers and their leader, Captain John Woodlief, set out for land in Virginia aboard the “Margaret.” And they landed there and established the settlement known as Berkeley Hundred. Upon landing on December 4, they disembarked, and prayed: “We ordaine that this day of our ships arrival, at the place assigned for plantacon, in the land of Virginia, shall be yearly and perpetually kept holy as a day of Thanksgiving to Almighty God.”

Thanksgiving has changed greatly since those first two observances, and we have much to be thankful for.

Best wishes to all for a great Thanksgiving with your family.

A decades-old prophecy is materializing, right before our eyes

A long time ago, decades ago — 1965, to be exact — one of the best commentators ever to grace the airwaves, Paul Harvey, delivered a commentary titled “If I Were the Devil.” It rocked his listeners then, as they saw elements of this prophetic vision around them already. Today, we see even more of it, although some things have yet to become completely or precisely fulfilled.

“If I were the devil …” he began, “If I were the Prince of Darkness, I’d want to engulf the whole world in darkness. And I’d have a third of its real estate, and four-fifths of its population, but I wouldn’t be happy until I had seized the ripest apple on the tree — Thee.”  

“So I’d set about however necessary to take over the United States. I’d subvert the churches first — I’d begin with a campaign of whispers. With the wisdom of a serpent, I would whisper to you as I whispered to Eve: ‘Do as you please.’”

Much of this commentary does not yet exist in a word-for-word form, but the general ideas are there for all of us to see. The devil’s goals are much nearer.

Religion had to be attacked, because no more-powerful being could be allowed to exist in the devil’s new world.

“To the young, I would whisper that ‘The Bible is a myth.’ I would convince them that man created God instead of the other way around. I would confide that what’s bad is good, and what’s good is ‘square.’ And the old, I would teach to pray, after me, ‘Our Father, which art in Washington…’”

Then he took aim at the way we live, and the things we do. “And then I’d get organized. I’d educate authors in how to make lurid literature exciting, so that anything else would appear dull and uninteresting. I’d threaten TV with dirtier movies and vice versa. I’d pedal narcotics to whom I could. I’d sell alcohol to ladies and gentlemen of distinction. I’d tranquilize the rest with pills.”

“If I were the devil I’d soon have families that war with themselves, churches at war with themselves, and nations at war with themselves; until each in its turn was consumed.”

Next came our major influences, such as education and the media, where the devil’s workshop exists, doing his work. “And with promises of higher ratings I’d have mesmerizing media fanning the flames. If I were the devil I would encourage schools to refine young intellects, but neglect to discipline emotions — just let those run wild, until before you knew it, you’d have to have drug sniffing dogs and metal detectors at every schoolhouse door.

And then the weakened culture would receive more attacks. “Within a decade I’d have prisons overflowing, I’d have judges promoting pornography — soon I could evict God from the courthouse, then from the schoolhouse, and then from the houses of Congress.”

“And in His own churches I would substitute psychology for religion, and deify science. I would lure priests and pastors into misusing boys and girls, and church money. If I were the devil I’d make the symbols of Easter an egg and the symbol of Christmas a bottle.”

“If I were the devil I’d take from those who have, and give to those who want until I had killed the incentive of the ambitious.”

“And what do you bet I could get whole states to promote gambling as the way to get rich? I would caution against extremes and hard work in Patriotism, in moral conduct. I would convince the young that marriage is old-fashioned, that swinging is more fun, that what you see on the TV is the way to be.” 

“And thus, I could undress you in public, and I could lure you into bed with diseases for which there is no cure. In other words, if I were the devil I’d just keep right on doing what he’s doing.”

And following all of that seeing into the future, he closed with his famous conclusion: “Paul Harvey, good day.”

Apparently, the devil heard Paul, and followed his prophetic vision. 

Today, the American spirit has been attacked and weakened. Millions somehow do not know how great — although not perfect — our country is. They don’t understand how much better it is than other places these misinformed masses wish to emulate.

When some of us find one thing someone did or said that they don’t like, they seek to cancel them, to remove every last vestige of that person, forever. A life of true excellence can be over-written by one thought or deed from years or decades before.

Factions work to destroy the nation’s true history, attempting to redefine each of us as either the oppressed, or the oppressor, depending upon the color of our skin. This fallacious point of view ignores the profound, sensible aspiration of Martin Luther King, Jr., who understood and preached that one’s skin color is far less important than one’s character.

Truth is under attack; political reality is more important. Not even our Constitution is held above being subverted.

If Paul were alive today, he might warn us, “Don’t be ‘woke,’ be awake!”

Virginia’s red wave fueled by parents fighting for their children

The Nov. 2 state elections were certainly noteworthy, with Republicans making inroads into Democrat strongholds in several states. A very tight race for governor in New Jersey was an unexpected too-close-to-call situation throughout Tuesday night’s election coverage. Incumbent Democrat Phil Murphy ultimately defeated Republican Jack Ciattarelli by a very narrow margin.

The Virginia election also stands out, since the controversy surrounding the Loudoun County school system and the actions by its school board that angered parents had gotten so much attention, along with similar situations elsewhere in the Commonwealth.

Former Democrat Governor Terry McAuliffe, the party’s candidate for a second term as governor, was defeated by a non-politician running his first race for political office. Republican Glenn Youngkin won the governor’s race, Republican candidate Winsome Sears defeated Democrat candidate Hala Ayala in the Lieutenant Governor’s race, and Republican candidate Jason Miyares defeated incumbent Democrat Mark R. Herring for Attorney General.

After post-election counting of mail-in and absentee ballots late Friday night, Republicans officially won control of the House of Delegates by a slim 51-49 margin. One more seat could go Republican when the winner is determined in a Virginia Beach district.

What in the world is going on? Both New Jersey and Virginia gleamed bright blue after the 2020 election. But Virginia turned a bright red last week, and New Jersey had a red election glow, until the next day.

The situation in Virginia is no mystery. Democrat candidates suffered losses due to unpopular positions taken by many candidates and particularly by McAuliffe, who further fired up voters by saying that parents have no role in the education of their children. This comment came after the Loudoun County school board treated parents as intruders in the school system’s operation. In another incident, a father whose daughter was sexually assaulted in a girl’s bathroom by a boy wearing a skirt challenged the school board that had hidden that fact.

Parents have also been upset by the mandate to wear masks in school. Children wearing masks for hours has been shown as harmful to them. And they object to the teaching of Critical Race Theory (CRT) in Virginia schools. Opposition to both of these issues drew harsh reactions from some school officials, and others.

McAuliffe denies that CRT is being taught, and claims that it has "never been taught in Virginia," and accused those concerned about CRT of promoting a divisive "dog-whistle." And liberal news sources CNN and MSNBC joined in the chorus of those denying that CRT is being taught.

MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace said during the network’s Election Night coverage that critical race theory "isn’t real," and criticized Republican candidate Youngkin for his positions.

Last week John King, CNN Inside Politics host, took the side of Democrat strategist Paul Begala, agreeing that Republican criticisms of CRT were just racist dog whistles for “suburbanites who don't like diversity.” 

But the lies and/or ignorance of these naysayers has been proven by other news sources, such as The Fairfax County Times, National Review, Fox News, The Federalist, and ABC 13 WSET-TV, Lynchburg, Va.

WSET reported, “As part of the program's ‘Culturally-Responsive Teaching and Learning Principles,’ public schools were encouraged to ‘embrace critical race theory,’ and ‘engage in race-conscious teaching and learning,’ according to [a] leaked presentation first reported by investigative journalist Christopher Rufo.”

The report continued, “In addition, Va. Superintendent of Public Instruction James F. Lane sent a memo to all school districts in 2019 encouraging school leaders to read a book that calls critical race theory ‘an important analytic tool’ for addressing ‘power and privilege.’”

What is Critical Race Theory? According to Britannica online, “Critical race theory is an intellectual movement and a framework of legal analysis according to which (1) race is a culturally invented category used to oppress people of colour and (2) the law and legal institutions in the United States are inherently racist insofar as they function to create and maintain social, political, and economic inequalities between white and nonwhite people.”

CRT represents a vastly different look at America’s past. And, more importantly, it is a perspective that is being sneaked into classrooms without having been publicly offered and properly approved as a modification of the traditional curriculum that has been taught for more than a century.

Why would school officials want to underhandedly implement such a drastic change to the history curriculum? And why would news agencies and “journalists” support this clandestine action by openly attacking those who oppose it?

The obvious answer is that they fear that the public would not accept CRT if it was handled honestly and openly.

CRT has its roots in “Critical Theory,” a doctrine of Karl Marx. Many or most people may not know that connection. What they do know is that they don’t like CRT, and other things that are being done to their children against their wishes. These parents are fighting for their children. 

Last week, enough people in Virginia expressed a different opinion at the polls than those in liberal northern Virginia and the other population centers that put the Democrats in power. This is also happening in other parts of the country, and it’s a good thing.

Biden’s ‘Build Back Better’ tax and spend dream is being whittled down

In the span of just eight months since January 20, President Joe Biden has given us the border crisis, the Afghanistan debacle, the issues with China and Russia and North Korea, a broken supply chain, ridiculously high gas prices, and staggering inflation throughout the economy. 

That works out to nearly one catastrophe for each month. Some are wondering if America will be able to survive another three-plus years of Biden rule.

If many of the desired elements in Biden’s “Build Back Better” agenda are approved, the answer to that is: America will be moving even farther from the country our Founders designed.

Some of the things in that agenda are not legitimate roles for the government of a democratic republic that was founded on the principal of individual, God-given freedoms. They are wrong for a nation which was created by its individual states, and that gave themselves a degree of independence from the federal government. They are wrong for a nation with a government of limited authority.

Our system of government purposefully gave us the ability to follow our desires for how to make a good life for ourselves, and not be dependent upon the government to take care of us from cradle to grave.

If you want to ply a particular trade, participate in a particular profession, start a business, or work in some other way to build your life so that you support yourself and perhaps a family, or just live independently, go for it. You may succeed, or you may not. If not, you are free to try something else.

Eventually you may make a decent living, a pretty good living, or become wealthy. What you choose to do is up to you. It is not the government’s place to tell you what you can or cannot do, beyond some common-sense laws, or to take care of you if you decide you don’t want to try anymore. And in the case of some who have bad luck and are unable to support themselves, the most generous people in the world — the American people — will most likely help you when you need it.

Yes, it is true that through the decades our government has grown well beyond its desired size, costs far too much, goes well beyond its designed restrictions, and interferes in our lives more than it was designed to do. That is not good. But it can be corrected.

Instead, the left in America is working overtime, not at trying to make their individual lives better, but to make our government even larger, more expensive and more controlling.

Some of the things President Biden and the Democrats, who still hold tenuous control of the government, want to do are simply improper. Such things as paying for child care, “free” community college, $450 billion for government-run preschools, are not the proper role of our government.

Some other things, such as amnesty for more than 8 million illegals, complete with payments of $450,000 for some; doubling the size of the IRS to monitor bank accounts of citizens; and spending $3.5 billion for a “Civilian Climate Corps” of Climate Change activists, are not good for the country, or our freedoms.

As Congress struggles to get support to pass Biden’s “Build Back Better” agenda, the monstrous $3.5 trillion, 2,465-page tax and spend leftist dream is being whittled down. Even though it now spends less money and uses less paper, it is still way too expensive and much too heavy. And Biden’s tax and spend agenda is still a disaster.

One really goofy idea for funding some of the multi-trillion-dollar spending plan is a tax on the “unrealized capital gains” of anyone who makes more than $100 million a year, or whose worth is at least $1 billion. This idea is likely unconstitutional. But if not, it most certainly is an oxymoron. 

A capital gain is the profit you make when you sell an investment asset for more than you paid for it. If you buy an asset for $1,000 and sell it for $5,000, you would pay tax on the additional $4,000. But this weird tax idea would be applied to the increased value of the asset before it has been sold.

If the asset later lost some or all of its gain, would the government return the taxed amount? Nope. This concept beautifully illustrates the twisted understanding many liberals/socialists have for economics.  

The left is determined to transform our nation of maximum individual freedom and world-leading prosperity into a government-run nation like Cuba and Venezuela, and all the others that have failed.

And some of our citizens, who have never seen worse times than these pretty good times of the 21st century, do not understand how things have improved through time in America, and how good of a country they have been blessed to live in. They don’t understand that America’s poor are so much better off than those that live in the poorest nations. 

They are eager to see the left succeed, believing that socialism — and ultimately communism — will make things better for us. It won’t. Let’s hope this effort fails.

U.S. military below acceptable standards, according to analysis

Among the numerous troublesome topics bedeviling our lives today is this: “The U.S. military is only ‘marginally’ prepared to defend America’s interests at a time when adversaries are ramping up military capabilities.” This dose of reality comes from the 2022 Index of U.S. Military Strength, an annual 600-page look at our armed forces, started in 2015 by The Heritage Foundation. This edition was released earlier this month.

Of late, the concern for national security has transitioned toward cultural, social and political issues. And “military unreadiness” is the direction our armed forces leadership has moved over the last decade or so.

The military has a very narrow, critical mission. Its overriding concern is national security, and when it comes down to it, effectively fighting and winning against armed enemies. The vision held by any and all nations that might dream of defeating the United States must be that such actions will be met with overwhelming force by what is known worldwide as the most powerful and adept military on Earth. 

That is the goal that must never be sacrificed for political correctness, or social justice distractions.

Throughout history presidents have removed military commanders they viewed as inadequate or insubordinate, based upon the philosophy of the individual president. But that action must never result in weakening our national security.

President Barack Obama, tenure 2009 to 2017, declared at a political rally prior to his election that “We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America.” Among other things, Obama worked to transform the U.S. military, including imposing significant budget cuts.

An editorial in Investor’s Business Daily in October of 2013 noted that since his inauguration, Obama had purged at least 197 military officers. And that included nine senior commanding generals in 2013.

A senior retired general told The Blaze — on the condition of anonymity, because he provided services to the government and feared retribution — that "they're using the opportunity of the shrinkage of the military to get rid of people that don't agree with them or do not toe the party line.” 

“For President Obama, the military of a once-feared superpower is an anachronistic vestige of an America whose exceptionalism and world leadership require repeated apologies,” the editorial stated. “It must be gutted and fundamentally transformed into a force wearing gender-neutral headgear only useful for holding the presidential umbrella when it rains. It is to be ‘his’ military and used only for ‘his’ purposes.”

As a result, the highest levels of military leadership became dysfunctional.

“The Index of U.S. Military Strength assesses the ease or difficulty of operating in key regions based on existing alliances, regional political stability, the presence of U.S. military forces, and the condition of key infrastructure,” states the executive summary of the Index. “Threats are assessed based on the behavior and physical capabilities of actors that pose challenges to vital U.S. national interests. The condition of America’s military power is measured in terms of its capability or modernity, capacity for operations, and readiness to handle assigned missions.”

The Index’s aggregate rating for all military branches is “marginal.” The individual rankings are as follows: 

Army: Marginal. A force only about 62 percent the size it should be earns the service a “weak” rating for capacity. However, 58 percent (18) of its 31 regular brigade combat teams are at the highest state of readiness, thus earning the Army a score of “very strong” on readiness and conveying the sense that the service knows what it needs to do to prepare for the next major conflict.

Navy: Marginal. The Navy is rated “marginal” on a downward slope to “weak” in readiness. It desperately needs a larger fleet of 400 ships, but current and forecasted levels of funding will prevent this from occurring for the foreseeable future.

Marine Corps: Strong. The score rose from “marginal” for two reasons: 1) The 2021 Index changed the threshold for capacity, lowering it from 36 infantry battalions to 30 in acknowledgment of the Corps’ argument that it is a one-war force that also stands ready for a broad range of smaller crisis-response tasks, and 2) because of the Corps’ extraordinary efforts to modernize and enhance its readiness during the assessed year.

Air Force: Weak, down from “marginal.” Though the Air Force possesses 86 percent of the recommended combat aircraft, public reporting of the mission readiness and physical location of these planes indicates difficulty to respond rapidly to a crisis. Its ability to recruit and retain pilots adds to its challenges.

Dismissal of senior officers that didn’t fit the president’s desires — admirals and generals, primarily — and budget cuts have reduced military readiness.

Retired Marine Lt. Col.Dakota Wood, senior research fellow with Heritage, said “This is not an indictment in any way of the men and women who serve in the military.”

Retired Army Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, national security adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence, touted former President Donald Trump’s foreign policy accomplishments, including the rebuilding of the U.S. military after nearly a decade of decline under the Obama administration.

This is yet one more area of governing that President Joe Biden would be well advised to continue. But that doesn’t fit into the Democrat’s play book.

Once upon a time, U.S. border security was an important concern!

The disgraceful chaos at the southern border is a topic of great concern to sensible Americans. It is a given that nations need secure and impenetrable borders, and levelheaded people understand that. And sometimes border policies and practices need reworking, such as after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

“Unbelievable as it may seem to us today, it was only 15 years ago — with the 9/11 terrorist attacks still fresh in our minds — when Congress came together in a bipartisan effort to pass the Secure Fence Act of 2006.” That comment came from Mark Morgan, in a speech delivered this past July at Hillsdale College. 

Morgan served as acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the Trump administration, and as chief of U.S. Border Patrol in the Obama administration, and provided details on this action. “The Secure Fence Act directed the Department of Homeland Security to take appropriate actions to achieve ‘operational control’ over U.S. land and maritime borders to ‘prevent unlawful entry.’” The measure had the support of 80 of the 100 U.S. Senators.

“It defined operational control as the prevention of all unlawful entries into the U.S., including terrorists, instruments of terrorism, narcotics, and other contraband,” he continued. “And it specifically set the goal of providing ‘at least two layers of reinforced fencing, installation of additional physical barriers, roads, lighting, cameras, and sensors.’ It added thousands of Border Patrol personnel, mandated the acquisition of new technologies, and resulted in the construction of more than 650 miles of physical barrier along the southern border of the U.S. between 2006 and 2011.”

With those actions, the southern border became even more secure than it had been, sparked by concerns of additional terrorist efforts to kill Americans. And Morgan noted that there was substantial support for this action in the Congress before and after those actions were taken. 

In 2005, then-Senator Barack Obama said: “We simply cannot allow people to pour into the United States undetected, undocumented, unchecked, and circumventing the line of people who are waiting patiently, diligently, and lawfully to become immigrants in this country.” 

And Senator Chuck Schumer said in 2009: “Illegal immigration is wrong, plain and simple … People who enter the United States without permission are illegal aliens and illegal aliens should not be treated the same as people who enter the U.S. legally.”

And then there was this comment: “Let me tell you something, folks, people are driving across that border with tons, tons — hear me, tons — of everything from byproducts from methamphetamine to cocaine to heroin, and it’s all coming up through corrupt Mexico.” That comment was voiced by then-Senator, and current President, Joe Biden, in 2006.

But since that time, something has happened. Congressional Democrats seemingly no longer care about security at the southern border. “Some attribute the breakdown of the bipartisan consensus on securing the border to the fact that Democrats came to look on illegal immigrants as much-needed Democrat voters,” Morgan said. “For whatever reason, a decade later these same Democratic leaders were lambasting President Trump’s border wall policy as ‘immoral and ineffective,’ even ‘racist,’ and fiercely opposing any and every serious proposal aimed at enforcing immigration law.”

“One of the most ridiculous criticisms I’ve heard.” Morgan noted, “is that the wall is ‘a fourteenth century solution for a twenty-first century problem.’ The same could be said of the wheel, which also still works pretty well.” 

In the minds of at least some of today’s Congressional Democrats, the tighter and more successful border security methods of the recent past are immoral and ineffective, and trying to prevent drug dealers, child traffickers, and terrorists from entering the country is racist. Brilliant!

One of the most effective and sensible programs dealing with illegal aliens crossing the border was called the Remain in Mexico Program. It required people illegally entering or being smuggled into the country with a minor to be returned to Mexico as opposed to being released into the U.S. with only a date for a hearing that most ignore.

Joe Biden, almost as soon as he drew a breath after being sworn in, canceled the Remain in Mexico Program, replacing it with the senseless “catch and release” method that existed prior to the Trump administration’s successful alternative.

Now, however, according to Morgan, “In response to a lawsuit brought by the Texas Attorney General, a federal judge has recently ruled that the Remain in Mexico Program must be reinstated, and the U.S. Supreme Court has refused to overturn that ruling.”

This may be the best thing to occur in the Biden administration’s brief but catastrophic tenure, and Biden had nothing to do with it, other than to have cancelled it early on, and opposed its reinstatement.

It is projected that 1.7 million illegal aliens will enter the U.S. in 2021. Border Patrol documents show that more than160,000 illegal aliens have been released into the U.S. since March, often with little to no supervision.

These illegal aliens have not been vaccinated, and they have not been vetted. What could possibly go wrong? 

Need we even ask that question?

Wildly exaggerating things is a cheap, repulsive political tactic

Lately, we have seen two occasions where certain parties have exaggerated descriptions of some events to make them seem more serious than they actually were. Two immediately come to mind: The January 6th “insurrection” at the U.S. Capitol; and the “domestic terrorism” at some local school board meetings.

Let’s take a look at these terms and allegations.

Insurrection: What it is: a violent armed uprising by a group or movement acting for the specific purpose of overthrowing the constituted government and seizing its powers.

What it isn’t: Insurrection is not a lot of people, nearly all of whom were unarmed, who illegally entered a government building, even if they were intent upon interrupting the work of those who occupy that building. The January 6th event at the U.S. Capitol Building was illegal and wrong — perhaps even an actual riot — but it was not an insurrection.

This common-sense evaluation was confirmed by the FBI, which Reuters reported “has found scant evidence that the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was the result of an organized plot to overturn the presidential election result, according to four current and former law enforcement officials.”

When parents attend their children’s school board meeting and issue complaints against activities, and criticism of the school or the school system, even if they are angry and accusatory, they are not “domestic terrorists.” And if there were threats made against those associated with the school system, they may be minor crimes, but not “domestic terrorism.” This allegation and misuse of the term is irrational and disgraceful.

As reported by The Daily Signal, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland ordered the FBI and federal prosecutors to meet with federal, state, and local leaders to look into a “disturbing spike in harassment, intimidation, and threats of violence” allegedly being made against “school administrators, board members, teachers, and staff.” 

Garland’s directive followed soon after the National School Boards Association (NSBA) requested President Joe Biden to assist in looking into behavior it absurdly classified as “domestic terrorism.”

And even if there is unlawful behavior at local school board meetings, it is the responsibility and clearly the purview of local law enforcement to deal with it. The federal government has no business or authority to involve itself in local and state affairs such as the goings-on at local meetings.

However, the actions favored by the NSBA, if granted, are likely to inhibit the ability of voters and parents to make their opinions known to the board. Even the foolish mischaracterization of these events is enough to inhibit some from exercising their constitutional rights and responsibilities in speaking out against what their children’s schools are doing.

This is yet one more episode where the federal government is improperly imposing its will over the guaranteed freedoms of the people.

This increasing misapplication of terrifying terms to make things seem far worse than they are is not the proper way to do things in America. It is a cheap political ploy designed to arouse false negative feelings, and to stifle opposition to unpopular policies. This is especially true when these preposterous over-reaches are done by public servants and/or elected representatives.

Most local school boards are elected by voters, and are therefore accountable to those voters and the parents of school children. They do not have the luxury of ignoring complaints and appeals for change. 

They also do not have the luxury of stifling the free speech of those voters and parents simply because they disagree with their complaints. They are elected servants of the people, not the rulers of the people.

This school board hoopla has spurred the idea of finding alternatives to government schools. This authoritarian behavior is the biggest boost to that idea that has come along lately.

An unresponsive school board runs the risk of parents saying they are finished with the arrogant attitude of the board, and will remove their child or children from the public school to one of the alternatives: charter schools, so long as they retain their independence; private or religious schools; or home schooling.

To what are these parents objecting? In what is likely the most reported of these conflicts, Loudoun County, Virginia, the Democrat-controlled board of supervisors and school board are trying to promote Critical Race Theory (CRT), and silence the opposition, as reported by Real Clear Politics (RCP).

“Supporters of [CRT] claim white racism is embedded in American institutions, and some go so far as to blame whites for poverty and crime in black communities,” RCP wrote. “Opponents claim [CRT] is inherently racist, teaching people to judge by skin color: all whites are oppressors, all blacks are victims.”

Much of the thousands of tax dollars related to CRT has gone to “the ‘Equity Collaborative,’ a group that seeks to expose and eliminate ‘the dominant (male, White, heterosexual) ideology’ and teaches tenets like ‘Whiteness as property’ and “Permanence of racism,’” RCP wrote.

Such a radical change in the history curriculum, without even notifying parents, let alone asking their opinion, does not sit well with true Americans, who expect — and deserve — transparency from their elected public servants.

We must not allow public education to become indoctrination.

The transformation of the United States of America is ongoing

Today, we are living in crazy and dangerous times. Tens of thousands of people from many countries travel many miles to get to Mexico so that they can enter the United States illegally.

There are different reasons why they want to be here, just as there are different types of people coming here. Some come with criminal intent, such as gang members and drug dealers. Some come because they know they can get a lot of stuff for free.

The most desirable ones, however, realize that America is so much better than where they came from. They can have a good life here. We have freedom, jobs and opportunities, due to the crystal-clear vision of the Founders.

The number of illegal entrants coming into the country is likely above any previous level, with more than 1.4 million people coming in illegally the first nine months of 2021, according to U.S. Border Patrol and the Office of Field Operations Encounters.

This high number is due to the failure of the Biden administration to do its job of providing border security, whether that is through ignorance of why borders are important, or is a deliberate effort to attract illegal aliens to our country.

Of course, the Biden administration insists that the borders are not open. Perhaps one of them can tell us how open borders, as they imagine them, would actually look, and be worse than what we see with our own eyes.

Even as those migrants from socialist, communist and otherwise poor countries come here to enjoy living in what is regarded by many as the best country on Earth, people in the government of this country continue to increase the control of the government over its people, gradually moving it toward the kind of places these illegal migrants could not wait to get away from.

The Democrats in Congress and the administration are busy transforming America into a government-controlled “paradise” where many things are free, except, of course, the individuals under the thumb of a government that seeks to control important things like healthcare, jobs and many current freedoms.

U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, D-WV, is a strong opponent of the Democrat’s multi-trillion-dollar efforts to increase dependence on government, calling these proposals that total some 5.5 trillion dollars "fiscal insanity" paid for with "vindictive" tax hikes, that will basically change “our whole society to an entitlement mentality." 

In a shocking display of abysmal ignorance about economics, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki responded to a question about raising taxes on businesses by saying, “In the past, companies have passed on these costs to consumers… We feel that that’s absurd and unfair, and the American people won’t stand for that,” she said.

She apparently perceives economic matters like most “progressives,” which does not include understanding economics, specifically that every cent a business spends — for materials, wages, advertising, loans for new equipment or expansion, taxes, etc. — is paid for with income from consumers that buy its product or service. And when taxes and other costs go up, prices have to go up to pay for them.

Perhaps this is why they see no problem with humongous spending bills that will add trillions more to the already-gigantic national debt of $28.8 trillion.

A New York Post opinion column by Betsy McCaughey had this to say about the spending bill: “The colossal bill Democrats in Washington, DC, are assembling this week is a slap in the face to Americans who work, pay taxes and support their families. It demeans the work ethic and glorifies government handouts, sending the message that work and self-sufficiency are for suckers: better to climb on Uncle Sam’s gravy train, which will now provide cradle-to-grave benefits.”

McCaughey mentions “Biden bucks,” which are monthly payments to almost all parents, based on how many children they have. Unsurprisingly, it doesn’t even matter whether the parents work or not. She notes that Democrats also promise “virtually free child care until the children turn 5, free community college and, for seniors, new Medicare and elder-care benefits,” and “12 weeks a year paid leave for anyone who claims a family member — even a distant relative like a spouse’s grandmother — needs care.”

“This bill pours money down a rathole,” McCaughey wrote. “It allocates a whopping $45 billion to make community college free. Students won’t have to spend a single dollar on tuition or fees — or pursue studies that prepare them for work. Only about one in five students now finishes community college within two years. A big reason is lack of academic skills when they enter. Nothing in this program will change that.”

Manchin urges “needs testing” to see who really needs these freebies and financial bonuses. That’s moving in the right direction, but the real question that needs an answer is, “are these measures, which will dramatically increase the peoples’ dependence on government, really a proper role for our government?”

The answer to that is a definite “No!” Our government is supposed to be as small, inexpensive and unobtrusive as possible. That’s how it started; that’s what built the country to which so many want to come;  and that’s how the country works best.

Biden and the Democrats want to increase the size and cost of government

President Joe Biden’s rushed and ill-conceived exit from Afghanistan was a true disaster, with 13 American military personnel and other innocent lives lost, and many Americans and allies still trying to get out of there, without any American assets left in the country to help make that happen.

This colossal mess has damaged our relations with some allies, caused others to question our strength and direction, and has strengthened our adversaries.

Our southern border, which the Biden administration insists is “closed,” still allows and encourages thousands of illegal aliens to enter the country every day. These people — whose identity and character are unknown, and few if any of whom have been vaccinated against the Covid virus — are mostly left in the country, while some are deported.

In the chaos at the border our Border Patrol (BP) officers are now under fire for doing their job: trying to prevent people from illegally entering the country. 

People who see what they want to see, or who never fact-check their perceptions, falsely accused the mounted BP officers of carrying whips and beating the illegal migrants, when in fact the only migrants who received any sort of physical action were those who refused to obey the officers, or were trying to interfere with them by grabbing the reins of their horses as the officers tried to keep them out of the country.

Why aren’t these critics more concerned with the safety of our BP officers than that of the trespassers?

After launching an attack on Border Patrol officers, now Biden has launched an attack on wealthy Americans and large corporations, saying, "I'm sick and tired of the super-wealthy and giant corporations not paying their fair share in taxes. It's time for it to change."

First, let’s look at who pays what in taxes. The bottom 50% who make less than $43,600 per year pay only 3% of total income taxes; those making $43,600 to $87,000 pay 10%; those making $87,000 to $152,000 pay 16%; those making $152,000 to $218,000 pay 11%; those making $218,000 to $540,000 (the top 2% to 5%) pay 20%; and the hated top 1% making more than $540,000 pay 40% of total income taxes, according to data from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

If 1% of taxpayers pay 40% of income taxes and the top 5% pay 60%, while those in the lowest tax bracket pay only 3%, what would the fair share of total taxes paid be?

Just like there is some fraud in elections, there is some fraud among tax payers. But you likely would find that most wealthy people and large corporations follow the tax code pretty strictly.

If corporations are not paying enough in taxes, or maybe nothing in taxes, don’t suggest they are “un-American,” change the tax code.

Biden wants to change the reporting requirements for financial institutions, and for the IRS to be able to view transactions of all bank accounts with $600 or more in them. This is aimed at anyone who doesn’t report their income accurately, the tax dodgers. But it puts most people under the IRS microscope.

Biden’s “American Families Plan calls for banks and other financial institutions to report more than just a taxpayer’s interest earned, capital gains and losses,” Forbes magazine reported. “Banks and other financial institutions would also be required to report ‘aggregate account outflows and inflows.’

“In other words, the IRS will know about all of your bank accounts, whether you earned income on that account or not, how much is in the account in a given year, and how much was transferred in and out of the account,” the Forbes report continued. “It is unclear how this would work, but what is clear is that this new reporting obligation will create a massive compliance effort on the part of financial institutions, and eliminate a massive blind spot that the IRS is currently enduring.” Some good things, but also some bad things.

This new big government plan prompted Sen. Chuck Grassley, R–IA, to say, "Instead of promising a chicken in every pot, Biden's plan promises an auditor at every kitchen table."

And to make sure all bank accounts properly report everyone’s financial activities, the IRS will hire 87,000 new employees, and everyone can expect more scrutiny of the flow of money to and from their accounts.

Assuming that these employees make minimum wage, each one will receive gross pay of $15,080 for a year of 40-hour weeks. Figured for all 87,000 new IRS workers, that comes to an additional $1,311,960,000 per year. Most likely, they will make a bit more than the minimum wage, and probably at least double that figure. And that is only the wage cost of the new employees, not including office space and the needed equipment, etc.

Supposedly, this process will find additional income to be reported and taxed. But what it also does is increase the size and cost of government, and increase the weight of government on the shoulders of those who pay the salaries of Joe Biden, and everyone else who is employed by the federal government.

None of this represents the government that our Founders designed.