Liberty & Prosperity Blog

It isn't easy to find DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas' criticism of Joe Biden's open borders policies . Still, it's there if you look for it. During a rather intense exchange, Mayorkas said " I know the policies of this administration are not particularly popular with U.S. Customs and Border Protection , but that's the reality, and let's see what we can do within that framework." Notice that Mayorkas didn't promise to fight for better policies and better enforcement of our nation's immigration laws. That's totally missing. He essentially told U.S. Border Patrol that they're stuck with Biden's policies so they'd better do the best they can. That's a different way of saying "the beatings will continue until morale improves." If Donald Trump runs again in 2024, expect 90+ percent of U.S. Border Patrol rank-and-file to vote for him. They'll vote overwhelmingly against the Biden ticket. That isn't the only note

When Elon Musk expressed support for the 'Freedom Convoy' of 18-wheelers, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was moved to an undisclosed location "somewhere in the city on Saturday afternoon due to security concerns." Musk, meanwhile, sent out a tweet to his 72,000,000 followers, saying "Canadian truckers rule." Musk wasn't finished with that tweet. Later, he tweeted "If you scare people enough, they will demand removal of freedom. This is the path to tyranny." Apparently, that was too much for Trudeau. The Freedom Convoy consisted of 2,700 big rigs. Further, "around 100 big rigs blockaded a main street running past the Canadian parliament building." Ottawa police chief Peter Sloly said Friday that "These demonstrations are national in scope, they're massive in scale." Additionally, Sloly expressed "concern about the possibility of violent 'lone wolf' individuals carrying out violent acts." Lots o

To modify a line from Fletch Lives, it doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to figure out that Kamala Harris is a radical. Larry Holmes could figure that out. She's the personification of a radical Democrat. During the George Floyd Riots, then-Sen. Harris took to Twitter to instruct her Democrat minions to contribute to the Minnesota Freedom Fund. What's interesting is that MFF advocates for ending cash bail . Until that happens, Harris told her Democrat minions to "chip in now to the @MNFreedomFund to help post bail for those protesting on the ground in Minnesota." At the time, "those protesting on the ground in Minnesota" were rioting in Minnesota and destroying police precincts . That's before getting into Ms. Harris's sleazy attempt to compare ICE agents with the KKK . At a confirmation hearing for Ron Vitiello, who was nominated to be President Trump's ICE director, then-Sen. Harris asked "Are you aware of the perception of many about how

Kamala Harris's sham assignment for finding the root causes for illegal immigration should stop ASAP. It's a waste of time because it's irrelevant. What's relevant is finding out why U.S. Border Patrol agents are leaving and why morale is at an all-time low. It's relevant because the Border Patrol are the front lines in the war against the cartels. It's time to find out why things are cratering for the USBP. Things certainly got ugly when Secretary Mayorkas and U.S. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz visited with agents in Laredo, TX Friday. This isn't going to improve until the administration's policies change dramatically. Morale is "at an all-time low." Thus far, Ortiz, Mayorkas and Biden haven't contributed anything except grief for USBP. It's clear that Mayorkas and Ortiz are going through the motions. During the intense part of the fight, Ortiz's words were more word salad than the substantive words of a leader. Check out this fi

When the news that SCOTUS Justice Stephen Breyer was retiring was leaked, it was met with a certain amount of shock. After a few hours of pontificating, though, the opinion quickly shifted to it being somewhat ho-hum news apart from Joe Biden's campaign promise to pick a black female to the Supreme Court, if given the opportunity. Kim Strassel's Potomac Watch column  states what's quickly becoming a common belief. In her column, Ms. Strassel writes this: Mr. Biden promises a name before the end of February, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer aims to wrap up confirmation in about a month. Barring delays or flashpoints, Democrats could therefore be in April right where they are now politically—with an appointee in the rearview mirror and voters focused again on inflation, Covid and the rest. It’s difficult to see how a relatively straightforward court debate in the spring will spur the liberal base to the polls in November. Breyer is a liberal justice who isn't afra

Julio Rosas said that Alejandro Mayorkas' meeting with U.S. Border Patrol agents "from the Yuma Sector" "didn't go well." Based on the content of Rosas' article, I'd call that understatement. The content of Rosas' article is based largely on "an audio recording of [Secretary Mayorkas'] remarks to the agents, which was obtained by Townhall. In the recording, Secretary Mayorkas said "The job has not gotten any easier over the last few months and it was very, very difficult throughout 2021. I know apprehending families and kids is not what you signed up to do. And now we got a composition that is changing even more with Cubans, Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, and the like, it just gets more difficult." The meeting got intense after that. At one point, an "agent pressed Mayorkas on how DHS can reconcile saying border security is the main mission for Border Patrol, yet agents are unable to patrol the border due to the policies the B

Alejando Mayorkas shouldn't be in law enforcement. That sounds odd considering the fact that he's the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. He's the CEO in charge of enforcing US immigration laws. Rep. Chip Roy and Rep. Michael Cloud wrote this op-ed to make the case for why Secretary Mayorkas should be removed from office via impeachment. It's worth noting that this op-ed isn't a political document like an Adam Schiff op-ed on impeachment of former President Trump. Roy's and Cloud's op-ed is substantive and lists proof of Mayorkas' law-breaking. Roy's and Cloud's chief argument for Mayorkas's impeachment is dereliction of duty. Dereliction of duty is defined as "deliberate or conscious neglect;" of duty. In their article, Roy and Cloud wrote "The secretary has caused CBP to become overwhelmed and less-capable to enforce the law, primarily by failing to utilize tools such as Title 42 and the "Remain in Mexico

Predictably, Jen Psaki's op-ed is filled with pro-Biden administration spin. The White House Press Secretary didn't waste time in getting into the spin. For instance, she wrote "A year ago, few would have imagined that 2021 would be the greatest year of job growth in American history. That the unemployment rate would be at 3.9% now, down from 6% at the start of 2021 – the biggest one-year drop in history." Actually, Trump administration economists expected higher job growth if Trump stayed in office. Further, the economy created more jobs in April and May of 2020 than in all of 2021. In April-May, 2020, the economy created 7,300,000 jobs. Less than 7,000,000 jobs were created in 2021. Then-President Trump called it a "rocket-ship recovery": It isn't possible to honestly say that "few would have imagined that 2021 would be the greatest year of job growth in American history" when there was greater job growth in April-May of 2020 than in the en

 Joe Biden talked frequently about the benefits of going green when Biden's Build Back Better Bill was passed by the House. Having thought that we'd saved America by killing the bill, it was stunning to hear Joe Biden say during Wednesday's presser that he planned on splitting up BBB. Still, it's worth hearing of the total impact of BBB. It's time to crush this bill once-and-for-all. Salena Zito's latest article highlights how the Democrats' policies are hurting Blue Collar America. In the article, Ms. Zito writes about "Berks County dairy farmer Lolly Lesher." Specifically, Ms. Zito writes that the Democrats' Green New Deal is hurting farmers in a new, unanticipated way: The matriarch of this seven-generation dairy-farming family said weather is one of the three variables farmers traditionally have no control over, and that keeps their lives and livelihood in a constant state of uncertainty. "The other two are the politics of trade and t

There's a ton of speculation that the 2022 midterm elections will be another base election. It's my contention that this isn't a base election for Republicans. Justice Democrats, on the other hand, see this as a base election. In fact, they're primarying Blue Dog Democrats . Justice Democrats represent the out-of-touch wing of the Democrat Party. That's the AOC-Bernie wing of the Democrat Party. Justice Democrats shouldn't be criticized, though. They should be ridiculed mercilessly for their absurd policies. To paraphrase the late, great Rush Limbaugh, Justice Democrats liberalism isn't a political belief. It's a mental illness. But I digress. The Democrats getting primaried by Justice Democrats-backed candidates are Henry Cuellar, Jim Cooper, Carolyn Maloney and Danny Davis. Sanford Bishop isn't getting primaried but he is speaking out. He said "Progressives seem to get a lot more press because I guess it’s more exotic and exciting. It sells mo

The title of Kim Strassel's latest Potomac Watch column is What Ails the Biden Presidency . The short answer is Joe Biden. The slightly longer answer is Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Alejandro Mayorkas, Antony Blinken, Janet Yellen, Anthony Fauci, Merrick Garland and Pothole Pete Buttigieg. There's a reason why I nicknamed this bunch the " Never Will Be Ready for Primetime Players." But I digress. There are multiple 'ailments' with this administration, starting with stunning, across-the-board incompetent cabinet officers, often unpopular policies, terrible decision-making and a stubbornness that keeps this administration in trouble. (There's an old family adage that says 'Stupidity is what gets you in trouble. Pride is what keeps you there. If the shoe fits, right?) It isn't a stretch to nickname this administration the Alice in Wonderland administration. More often than not, this administration sees things as they'd like them to be than seeing th

It's apparent that Janet Yellen's thinking is being negatively affected by Joe Biden's thinking. While addressing the World Economic Forum in Davos, Ms. Yellen said "Our new approach is far more promising than the old supply-side economics, which I see as having been a failed strategy for increasing growth. Significant tax cuts on capital have not achieved their promised gains, and deregulation has a similarly poor track record in general and with respect to environmental policies." She also tried peddling the Biden economic agenda as "modern supply-side economics." What she calls modern supply-side economics, most honest people would call socialism. Check this out: "Modern supply-side economics seeks to spur economic growth by both boosting labor supply and raising productivity, while reducing inequality and environmental damage," she said. In other words, Ms. Yellen is calling Biden's Build Back Better Bill "modern supply-side econo

Are Maskers Fellow Travelers with Those Who Support the Theory of a Flat Earth? John W. Palmer, Ph.D. The City Council for St. Cloud, MN will be discussing the topic of “Mask Mandate”. The following is the message sent to the City Council. I am writing this message near the end of my second day of treatment, a regime outside the mainstream for treatment, for COVID-19. If this outlier for treatment was not available, no other treatment could be used. The anti-body treatment is being rationed so the only response of the conventional medical community is to be sick in place and come to the hospital if I get sicker. Now a rush to judgment following the crowd might take away my freedom to make an informed choice on the use of a mask to prevent the spread of the virus when the natural immunity created by being infected is vastly superior to a mask. The sheer number of voices proclaiming what they believe to be the truth is not how science works. The quality of the research desig

The man born as Marvin Lee Aday in Dallas, TX in 1947 died last night . He was surrounded by family and friends the final 24 hours of his life. Though the word legendary is fitting, it isn't the best word to describe Meat Loaf. I suspect that the best word to describe Meat Loaf if transcendent . Meat Loaf "sold more than 100 million albums worldwide and appeared in over 65 movies, including iconic roles in 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' and 'Fight Club.' Meat Loaf's 1977 debut album 'Bat Out of Hell' remains one of the top-selling albums of all time. He also won a 1994 Grammy Award for the song 'I'd Do Anything For Love.'" While he won a Grammy for I'll Do Anything For Love, his greatest hit was I Can See Paradise By The Dashboard Lights. If you haven't watched that video, it's possible that you're from another planet. Here's that video, performed in concert: RIP. Your legend lives on.

Mark Kelly must've opted to spend more time with his wife after the midterm elections. FYI- Kelly's wife is former AZ Congresswoman Gabby Giffords. But I digress. Yesterday, Kelly voted to eliminate the Senate's filibuster. That alone isn't a career-ender by itself. Bernie Sanders isn't in trouble after joining Kelly in voting to eliminate the filibuster. Bernie's from Vermont so he's just fine. Kelly, though, is from purple Arizona. Kelly isn't the only Democrat to walk the plank with their anti-filibuster vote yesterday. He's just the most vulnerable of the senators. Other vulnerable Democrats who voted to eliminate the filibuster who are up for re-election this year include Catherine Cortez-Masto of Nevada, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Raphael Warnock of Georgia and, perhaps, Michael Bennet of Colorado. It's easy to figure out why Sen. Schumer pushed this vote. He's worried that AOC will primary him if he didn't go full-scale crazy

Anyone expecting Glenn Youngkin's first few executive actions to be symbolic got surprised. Instead, Gov. Youngkin's first few executive actions were substantive and action-filled . For instance, one of Gov. Youngkin's first executive actions "fired the entire Virginia Parole Board." The executive order "also gives new Attorney General Jason Miyares the authority to open an investigation into the previous board, which came under fire after state investigations found that members had violated procedure and state law by failing to notify victims' families and local prosecutors before granting parole to people convicted of murder." Count Larry Kudlow as one person who is impressed : Meanwhile, you want to see some strength and toughness and backbone? Take a look in Virginia, where new governor Glenn Youngkin has ended critical race theory, divisions in schools, made masking optional on the advice of parents, and fired the Virginia parole board hours aft

Chamath Palihapitiya is suddenly in the news because he made some rather un-PC statements about China’s human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims in a podcast interview. Prior to this weekend, I didn't know Palihapitiya existed. Apparently, Palihapitiya is "part-owner and director of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors and the venture capitalist founder and CEO of Social Capital." This weekend, Palihapitiya said "Nobody cares about what’s happening to the Uyghurs, OK? You bring it up because you really care and I think it’s nice that you care. The rest of us don’t care. I’m just telling you a very hard, ugly truth. Of all the things that I care about, yes, it is below my line. Of all the things that I care about, it is below my line." Here's a little dose of hard, ugly truth for Palihapitaya: Watching the NBA isn't a priority for tons of people. After Lebron James and the NBA essentially kissed China's ring, hundreds of thousands of NBA fans turned int

Joe Biden's honeymoon lasted longer than normal, thanks to the MSM's help. The honeymoon officially ended with Afghanistan. Getting out of Afghanistan was popular with the American people. Abandoning hundreds of Americans and thousands of Afghani translators/guides blew up the American people's trust in Mr. Biden. When 13 American soldiers died during the evacuation of Kabul, "The Slide" started. His popularity hasn't stopped dropping since. In her latest column , Salena Zito wrote "Biden called those who disagree with his political views on legislation 'domestic enemies.' He compared them to Confederate President Jefferson Davis and former Alabama Democratic Party Committeeman and ardent, violent segregationist Bull Connor." Mr. Biden's speech in Atlanta sealed the fate of Biden's Scranton Joe image. Biden isn't Middle Class Joe. He isn't even a nice guy. He's a divisionist. During his inauguaral speech , Biden said "

This morning, inflation hit its highest year-over-year rate since June, 1982. Core CPI rose 5.5% year-over-year. Core CPI excludes food and energy. Core CPI was the highest since February, 1991. Gone are economists' claims that inflation is "transitory", aka temporary. On another front, Fed Chairman Jay Powell said that "high inflation posed a 'severe threat' to a recovery in the US jobs market as he declared the era of pandemic stimulus was over. " That's a rather provocative statement for a Fed chairman to make while testifying to Congress. This is part of what Chairman Powell said during his confirmation hearing: In testimony during his Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday, Powell, who was nominated by President Joe Biden in November to serve a second term leading the Fed, said the economy no longer "needs or wants" the "highly accommodative" policies that have been in place since the onset of the coronavirus crisis. Powel

With his Marxist agenda collapsing around him, Joe Biden's desperation is showing . Suddenly, Mr. Biden isn't just willing to eliminate the legislative filibuster. He's willing to turn what used to be the world's greatest deliberative body into a miniature version of the House of Representatives. Mr. Biden's agenda is all but officially dead. Build Back Better is on life support. That means progressives aren't happy because the Green New Deal is dead for, at minimum, a decade. That means all of the middle class entitlements are dead, too. The middle class entitlements were the Democrats' highest priority. If those kicked in, it would've been virtually impossible to eliminate them. Eliminating the filibuster is required to get the Democrats' voting bill passed. The bad news is that Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema stand in the way of eliminating the legislative filibuster. For all intents and purposes, the rest of Biden's progressive legislative age

Thank God for journalists who are interested in reporting the truth. Glen Greenwald is a journalist in search of the truth. In this article , Greenwald puts January 6th in historical and statistical context. He cited Vice President Harris's assault on common sense when she compared January 6 with Pearl Harbor and 9/11. Greenwald put things into statistical context by citing the fact that "the number of people killed by pro-Trump supporters at the January 6 Capitol riot is equal to the number of pro-Trump supporters who brandished guns or knives inside the Capitol." It's worth noting that "the number of pro-Trump supporters who brandished guns or knives inside the Capitol" is equal to the number of corporate media elitists interested in finding the truth. The number of people killed during the attack on Pearl Harbor is 2,403. The number of people killed on 9/11 is 2,977. Comparing January 6th with those historic days is ridiculous. Thinking people understand

Equity or Equality By Ramblin’ Rose With the push for Critical Race Theory (CRT), Discrimination, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), Social Emotional Learning (SEL), the revisionist history of the 1619 Project, the proposed Social Studies Standards with newly created (inserted) strand on ethnicity, and the list goes on, citizens know that Marxism is everywhere present in education. The end result is reverse discrimination. The whites are the oppressors and need to suffer and be silenced. It’s working in schools and hauntingly present in the workplace and the military. The non-whites are the victims who will remain downtrodden. As a class, they have no voice; only the “woke” leaders may speak for them. The school board in Mankato, Minnesota, unanimously agreed (policy #466) to employ a statute passed in 2021 by the Minnesota Legislature (122A.70. Subdivision 1.b.1) that provides “additional stipends as incentives to mentors of color or who are American Indian.” They pay non-white mentors mor

Last week, Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris put on a show to tell the American people that our democracy hung by a single, tattered thread on January 6. We were told that we were oh-so-close to losing our beloved democracy. That's a steaming pile of BS. That isn't to say that what happened on Jan. 6th was one of our nation's finest moments. It wasn't that. It's just that the people entering the Capitol didn't pose a risk to the federal government. If the trespassers had succeeded in occupying the Speaker's office, would Merrick Garland's DOJ have stopped harrassing parents in Loudoun County? I wrote here  about a whistleblower who stepped forward to tell House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jim Jordan that the FBI had sent out an email on Oct. 20. This email allegedly was sent on behalf of "Assistant Director of the Counterterrorism Division and the Assistant Director of the Criminal Division." This is the so-called Threat Tag emai

The House version of Joe Biden's Build Back Better Bill has been dead since it was passed. Larry Kudlow's 'Save America. Kill the Bill.' campaign played a major role in killing the bill. Still, Joe Manchin deserves credit for doing the heavy lifting for killing that original bill. Since then, the question has been whether Joe Biden and Sen. Manchin could work out a compromise on a smaller version of Build Back Better. That's looking doubtful at this point. According to this article , Sen. Manchin is walking away from negotiations. According to the article, "Manchin’s proposal would have included funding for universal pre-K and an additional tax on billionaires. However, the WaPo said, there would be no expanded child tax credit in Manchin’s compromise. The latter was considered potentially becoming permanent, vastly increasing the cost of the original Biden proposal." It's impossible to picture the House voting for a bill that's stripped of the Gre

This wasn't a good week for J6 Committee Vice-Chair Liz Cheney, (RINO-WY). You wouldn't know it though because the MSM has hidden the news as best they can. Ms. Cheney's week was ruined after she told the truth about her role on the J6 Committee. After Bret Baier said that she was co-chair of the J6 Committee, Ms. Cheney corrected him, saying that she's vice-chair of the Committee. She then told Baier that Rep. Jim Banks had obstructed their investigation by "sending letters to federal agencies claiming that he is the ranking member of the committee, which he's not." That's easily discredited by Rep. Banks' letter. In Rep. Banks' letter, Rep. Banks said "The House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy appointed me to be the Ranking Member of the Select Committee. Yet, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi refused to allow me to fulfill my duties as Ranking Member." Apparently, Ms. Cheney is exceptionally dishonest or incredibly stupid or both. Rep.

Nancy Pelosi's select committee allegedly looking into the riot of Jan. 6, 2021 is long on style points and preening but short on investigating. That's why it should be given the name of 'The Select Committee About Nothing.' That's apparently this committee's specialty. Kim Strassel's latest Potomac Watch column highlights this committee's penchant for not investigating the important parts of the riot. For instance, how many CNN or MSNBC viewers know that "former Capitol Police chief Steven Sund has attested that before Jan. 6 he approached House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving" about getting National Guard troop assistance for Jan. 6? How many people know that Sund and Irving report directly to Speaker Pelosi? How many people know that the Speaker is atop the chain of command for Capitol security? I'm betting that few people will find out that then-President Trump offered to dispatch up to 20,000 National Guard Troops to the Capitol for Jan.

To say that John Kass is upset with the Chicago Terrorist Teachers Union is understatement. In Kass's latest column , he harshly criticizes the CTU and Lori Lightfoot, the Democrat/Marxist mayor of Chicago. It's clear that Kass is part of a growing and already impressive-sized movement that's upset with the teachers unions' political clout. This first started in Loudoun County, VA, over the issue of opening schools to in-person learning. While that's where it started, the movement quickly morphed to include protests against teaching CRT and trans rights. Let's not forget that this Chicago teaching strike isn't just about the CTU. It's about Lori Lightfoot, too. Until this week, Lightfoot has been on the wrong side of almost every crisis in Chicago. Remember that she criticized stores for not doing more to protect their stores during Chicago's smash-and-grab robbery spree. Parents and employers are getting tired of constantly being jerked around by

VP Kamala Harris just delivered the most hyperbole-filled speech in vice-presidential history. Early in the Vice President's speech, she spoke about dates that live in infamy throughout history. It's time to fisk this speech just on that basis alone. In her speech, VP Harris said this: Certain dates echo throughout history, including dates that instantly remind all who have lived through them where they were, and what they were doing, when our democracy came under assault. Dates that occupy not only a place on our calendars, but a place in our collective memory: December 7th, 1941, September 11th, 2001, and January 6th, 2021. What about November 22, 1963? That's the day JFK was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald. I remember where I was that morning. Our school principal came into our room with tears in her eyes, then told us that the president had been assassinated in Dallas, TX. What about June 6, 1968, the night JFK's younger brother Bobby was assassinated in Los Ange

Just when you hoped the teachers unions would stand with parents, another union decides to play the selfish card . Last night, the Chicago Teachers Union voted to refuse to show for work this morning. On another front, Doug Ducey, Arizona's Republican governor, took proactive action to ensure the continuation of in-person learning. Lori Lightfoot, Chicago's Democrat mayor, said "I have to tell you, it feels like 'Groundhog Day,' that we are here again. There is no basis in the data, the science or common sense for us to shut an entire system down when we can surgically do this at a school level." By comparison, here's what Ducey said in his statement: "In Arizona, we’re going to ensure continued access to in-person learning," said Governor Ducey. "Everyone agrees that schools should stay open and kids need to be in the classroom. With this announcement, we are making sure parents and families have options if a school closes its doors. Paren

Joe Biden couldn't afford another defeat for his Build Back Better Bill. Still, that's what he's getting this month. According to Democrat staffers, Build Back Better is essentially getting shelved for January . It's getting shelved in favor of the Democrats' newest losing propositions, the federal takeover of elections. Sen. Schumer has announced that the Senate will vote on changing the Senate's rules if Republicans don't help get the bill past the filibuster. This is an idle threat and everyone knows it. Joe Manchin is a hard no against changing the filibuster. Ditto with Kyrsten Sinema. That leaves Sen. Schumer with a maximum of 48 votes to kill the filibuster. Once Sen. Schumer knows that he can't eliminate the filibuster, why would he force vulnerable Democrats to walk the plank on a difficult vote? Imagine that vote being called on MLK Day, then having the rule change getting defeated with 45-48 votes. That won't look good going into the midt

After reading just a paragraph or 2 of this op-ed , it's obvious that the MSM isn't interested in listening to people. The op-ed's author is Dean Obeidallah, who is described as "Dean Obeidallah, a former attorney, is the host of SiriusXM radio's daily program "The Dean Obeidallah Show" and a columnist for The Daily Beast." Obeidallah's op-ed is about the January 6 Capitol Hill uprising. Apparently, Obeidallah isn't the most observant person in DC. Here's what he wrote: In the weeks after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, then-President George W. Bush famously stood before a joint session of Congress and declared to the nations of the world: "Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists." As we approach the one-year anniversary of the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, that is the very question we all should pose to any GOP elected official who still downplays the assault or supports the election lie that led to the violence