Liberty & Prosperity Blog

This morning, Joe Biden and the Democrats got a major gut-punch when it was announced that the U.S. economy shrunk by an annualized rate of 1.4% in the first quarter. The Dow Jones estimate was for annualized growth of 1%. The Q4 GDP, by comparison, showed 6.9% annualized growth. This exposes the Biden economic plan as a failure. Going from 6.9% annualized growth to a 1.4% annualized decline in 3 months is a political and an economic disaster. There's no way to spin these numbers. Factor in rising inflation and it's clear that Biden's plan is either ideologically driven, stupid or is proof that socialism doesn't work. Waging jihad against the U.S. fossil fuel industry was Biden's first economic mistake. That's what pandering to the greenies will get you. It was Biden's mistake but it's the American people who will pay for Biden's mistake. Biden's Commerce Department reported the drop in GDP this morning. Rick Santelli made the announcement on CN

When the jobs report comes out each month, Joe Biden delivers his routine message on the economy. First, he mentions that more jobs have been created at the start of his administration than during any other administration. That's technically true but it's misleading. It's misleading because he omits the fact that the economy was creating millions of jobs during the last months of the Trump administration. In April and May of 2020, the US economy added 7,300,000 jobs. Let that sink in a little. Then compare that to Biden's first year of jobs creation. That's less than 7,000,000 for the entire first year. What isn't talked about in Biden's monthly address is that job growth slowed dramatically during Biden's first year. What isn't talked about in Biden's monthly address is Bidenflation. Biden prefers to call inflation "Putin's price hike." This article highlights the dishonesty of that title. It lists industries that Putin can't

Now that the world's richest "free speech absolutist" has purchased Twitter, it's time to pop some popcorn while watching Silicon Valley content management specialists' heads explode. How often do we get the opportunity to watch Brian Stelter look like an idiot on TV? (If you said that he looks like an idiot each time he's on TV, I won't argue with that.) But I digress. Saying that people are divided on what effect this purchase will have on the political landscape is understatement. Liberals' heads are exploding. Capitalists are cheering this news. Apolitical people, aka independents, are mostly interested to see if Elon will keep his free speech promises. In this article , Mr. Stelter quotes a David Rand study that says "the root of the challenge when inferring political bias is that Republicans/conservatives are substantially more likely to share misinformation/fake news..." Apparently, Rand's study didn't consider Twitter's ce

Last week, it was reported that the average home price hit $375,300 . That's a new record. This is another example of Bidenflation running rampant. Existing home prices are going up. New home prices are skyrocketing. Rent is going up, too. Here in Minnesota, property taxes are due on May 15 and October 15 each year unless these dates land on a weekend. I went to the county website where I live to check on how much I owe this year. According to the online statement, my property's value increased 22% last year. I didn't change the house structurally or cosmetically. Despite that information, my property taxes increased by 29% from the previous year. A loyal reader of this blog experienced a similar situation last year. This friend took his case to the St. Cloud City Council. The City Council insisted that my friend hadn't experienced a property tax increase despite the larger property tax payment. The Council's explanation was that they hadn't increased the mill r

Democrats have screamed voter suppression after each election they lose for at least the last 3-4 election cycles. Stacey Abrams is the poster child of the Democrats' suppression movement , with Joe Biden being her chief cheerleader. Woke corporations like Coca-Cola and Delta Airlines have chimed in on this faux issue, too, Apparently, though, Democrats didn't hesitate in ignoring the Constitution when it comes to filing lawsuits that attempted to strip 3 Arizona legislators (2 congressmen and a state legislator) from the ballot. It's quite ironic that Democrats used a front group  to file the lawsuit. It's heartwarming that the judge threw out the lawsuit. The front group is titled Free Speech for the People. The judge who threw out the lawsuit is Christopher Coury. He's the "Maricopa County Superior Court Judge." The Democrats' argument for keeping Biggs, Gosar and Finchem was that Biggs, Gosar and Finchem were part of an insurrection, which is prohi

 Few people have noticed that the Biden administration is waging a policy jihad against our nation's infrastructure. Still, that's what happened this week when the White House Council on Environmental Quality announced that it's revising this nation's NEPA rules. (NEPA is the acronym for the National Environmental Policy Act.) NEPA was signed into law by Richard Nixon in 1970. It was "was intended to prevent environmental disasters." These days, "it has become a weapon to block development." NEPA reform happened during Trump's administration. Unfortunately, Biden's grreen agenda is eliminating Trump's reforms. That isn't productive. It's counterproductive. Then there's this: Some liberal judges, however, have interpreted NEPA broadly to require the study of effects that indirectly result from a project such as CO2 emissions. Now the Biden Administration is mandating this. CEQ’s new rule will require agencies to calculate the

Without beating around the proverbial bush, Joe Biden's administration has extreme difficulty telling the truth. For months, Biden's administration, along with today's Democrats, have said that the Trump tax cuts blew a hole in the deficit. They've said that the Trump tax cuts were the reason for the Biden/Democrat deficits. That's a pile of BS. This WSJ op-ed blows the Biden administration's (and the Democrats') arguments into smithereens. The lefties' arguments don't stand a chance after The Journal's recitation of indisputable facts was published. According to the Journal, "Remember the claims during the 2017 tax debate that reform would drain the Treasury, especially the cut in the corporate income tax rate to 21% from 35%? Corporate revenue was supposed to fall to historic lows as a share of the economy. Big business supposedly got a windfall and government was robbed. The WSJ editorial continues, saying "It hasn’t turned out tha

Jen Psaki's recent rant against Florida's Parental Rights Bill shouldn't be taken seriously. While appearing on Jessica Yellin's News Not Noise podcast, Psaki said "This is an issue that makes me completely crazy. It’s like kids who are bullied and then all these leaders are taking steps to hurt them and hurt their lives and hurt their families." Cry me a river, Jen. She's whining about something that hasn't happened yet. Which 5-year-olds or 6-year-olds have been bullied out of being trans? Better yet, have any 5-year-olds or 6-year-olds been bullied out of being trans? If they haven't been bullied, then this is just an attempt to play to parents' emotions. Until I see proof that 5-year-olds or 6-year-olds have been bullied because of this, I'm not buying Psaki's schtick. She hasn't earned the benefit of the doubt because of her deceptions. The Florida Parental Rights Bill prohibits schools from teaching students in kindergarten t

Stars & Stripes magazine is reporting that the U.S. is sending 18 Howitzers to Ukraine . Further, Stars & Stripes is reporting that we'll train Ukrainian troops on how to operate this weapon system. To the fence-sitters reading this, I'll just say that it's about time we went all-in. This is the right decision strategy-wise. It's just a little late. When Russian troops failed to take Kyiv swiftly, we should've known that Russia's military couldn't live up to the media's hyping of the Russian military. Those of us who are holdovers from the Reagan Doctrine understand that the Russian military is limited. Reagan didn't believe that Russia was a super-power. He knew that they were a nuclear power. He also knew that the Soviet economy was dwarfed by the U.S. economy. Nations that don't have strong economies aren't super-powers. Period. Full stop. According to the Stars & Stripes article, "The training, which will occur outside Uk

Late in the afternoon of Good Friday, the Biden administration dumped some information intended to deceive the people. The Interior Department announced that "the Biden Administration plans to restart oil and gas leasing on federal lands this week." That's intended to make the administration look like they're doing something to lower gas prices without actually doing much to lower gas prices. Fortunately, this Wall Street Journal editorial  highlights the Administration's deception. According to the editorial, "During his first week in office, President Biden ordered the Interior Department to halt oil and gas lease sales on federal lands. Federal judge Terry Doughty last June ruled the ban violated the Mineral Leasing Act, which requires the government to hold quarterly lease sales “for each State where eligible lands are available.” The judge ordered Interior to resume leasing. The editorial continued, saying "Interior appealed while dragging its feet.

The Robe—personal reflections By Ramblin’ Rose Between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, I watched a 1953 fictional Biblical epic film, The Robe. The reviews were not strong, but for a Christian, the message was profound and moving. The film, nearly seven decades old about a world some 2000 years ago, seemed to share circumstances and messages that mesh with a very chaotic and lost world today. The Romans ruled the world; a politician’s son was treated more favorably than others; the rich and famous expected subservience from their inferiors. Marcellus, the senator’s son, bought Demetrius as a slave in the marketplace but released him and asked him to report to his father’s house. He was surprised when the freed man was obediently there awaiting his arrival. Tiberius's regent, Caligula, ordered Marcellus to an abhorrent military assignment in Jerusalem. Demetrius accompanied Marcellus to the post. As they arrived in Jerusalem on a Sunday, the citizens were leaving the city to accompa

Happy Easter, everyone. This is the day that we celebrate Christ's victory over sin and the grave. The Gospel of Luke gives a clear account of what happened that day: Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, " Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.'" You can imagine these ladies' reaction to what they'd just heard. &quo

Thanks to the Democrats' special interests, the Democrat Party isn't connected with the American people. While families struggle with rising food prices, Democrats prioritize federalizing elections. While a tank of gas sometimes costs $100, Democrats worry about gender pronouns for 5-year-olds. While parents get called domestic terrorists, Democrats ignore the crime wave sweeping the nation. There was a time when Democrats paid attention to people who didn't live along the coasts. That Democrat Party died in 2006. That's when Nancy Pelosi first became speaker. Pelosi has pushed an ideological agenda since she became Speaker. In 2009, the economy was hurting and the U.S. immigration system was failing. Her first legislation was the stimulus bill, with a price tag of $850,000,000,000. The next legislation she passed was Obamacare, aka the ACA, aka the Affordable Care Act. The other legislation she passed was Cap and Trade, which was the Democrats' first assault on the

Democrats currently own a censorship cartel. It's called Big Tech. Democrats also aren't afraid to have useful idiots parrot this gibberish. Robert Reich, once Bill Clinton's Labor Secretary, is a reliable leftist crazy who can be counted on to spout the Democrats' propaganda. Glenn Reynolds, aka the Instapundit, is a reliable exposer of the Democrats' propaganda. When he sees Democrat propaganda, he attacks it like Joe Biden attacks ice cream cones. This week, Reynolds identified Reich's latest propaganda. Then he obliterated Reich in his latest NYPost column . Reich made the mistake of commenting on Elon Musk's attempt to buy Twitter. Specifically, the title to Reich's op-ed originally read "Elon Musk’s vision for the Internet is dangerous nonsense: Musk has long advocated a libertarian vision of an 'uncontrolled' internet. That’s also the dream of every dictator, strongman and demagogue." It's safe to say that Reynolds didn't

Something that Newt Gingrich has always been known for is his visionary leadership. While it's been true that he's been self-destructive at times, it's indisputable that Newt is a visionary and a leader. It's indisputable because he's the man who put together the plan that inspired the first House GOP majority in 40 years. He also was the Republican leader who passed the first of 4 straight budget surpluses. This happened when people thought that we'd seen the final balanced budget in our nation's history. Newt also negotiated the Welfare Reform Bill with Bill Clinton. Clinton vetoed it twice but Newt kept passing it until Clinton was forced to sign it, which he did. Newt's interest in a conservative vision is putting him in conflict with Mitch McConnell. Sen. McConnell isn't interested in an issues-oriented campaign. Newt, soon-to-be House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Sen. Rick Scott, the chairman of the Senate Republican campaign committee, are inte

Joe Biden isn't facing a problem with inflation. Joe Biden's Democrats are facing an historic inflation problem . This morning, the Producer Price Index for March "rose 1.4% in March and 11.2% from a year ago, both records for data going back to 2010." The CNBC article opens by saying "The prices that goods and services producers receive rose in March at the fastest pace since records have been kept, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday." Yesterday in Iowa, Joe Biden hinted that inflation would calm down the last half of this year. This PPI report indicates that inflation is just getting started. The PPI "measures the prices paid by wholesalers." This is just the beginning of the spinning by the White House. When the Consumer Price-Index came out yesterday at 8.5%, the Administration tried spinning that report as "Putin's Price Hike." Today's Producer Price-Index isn't showing signs of slowing down. CNBC's Ste

The Democrats' outlook for this year's midterms run from terrible to totally horrific. Gov. Phil Murphy, New Jersey's Democrat governor, insists that first graders in his state will be taught about gender fluidity and gender identity. The worst part is that parents can't opt their children out of those classes short of putting them in private or parochial schools. Crossing parents is downright stupid. If you want to guarantee high turnout against you, piss off a parent. They'll show up with 10 of their neighbors. Teaching first graders about gender fluidity and identity guarantees voting booths filled all day long of upset parents. Unfortunately for Democrats, that isn't the Democrats' only problem. The Democrats' other major problem is inflation. NPR explains in this article how inflation hits the middle- and working-class. This isn't surprising. The middle class and working poor get hit hardest because they're often living paycheck-to-paycheck

This morning, Democrats got the bad news that inflation hit a new 40-year high . This isn't good news for consumers as this is the CPI-all items inflation rate. Undoubtedly, Democrats will tout the core rate because, as Ed Morrissey notes in this post , "There wasn’t great news on that front either, but it wasn’t as bad as overall CPI..." Core inflation subtracts out the inflation caused by groceries and gas. Core inflation might be a helpful tool to economists but families don't get to subtract the money they spend on gas and groceries. CPI- all items is what families care about. Headline CPI in March rose by 8.5% from a year ago, the fastest annual gain since December 1981 and one-tenth of a percentage point above the estimate. Surging food, energy and shelter costs helped account for the gain. Real worker earnings fell by another 0.8% during the month as the cost of living outpaced otherwise strong pay gains. Real worker earnings falling is a fancy way of saying t

Each week, I look forward to reading Salena Zito's articles. Salena's latest article highlights why Democrats are losing the registration battle in Pennsylvania. Near the end of Salena's articles is something that's especially noteworthy: When the Democrats took power in January of 2021, they believed they had won because everyone loved them again. They took this as a license to do whatever they wanted, and they behaved that way with everything they did. They put climate change into everything, racialized every issue they possibly could, and strove for a fundamental transformation of the country. When it came to such concerns as the southern border and Afghanistan, their answer was to ignore the problem. This delusion is hurtling Democrats toward a painful defeat. But any Republican victory will be short-lived in places like Cambria County if they win and then make the same mistake. The easiest way to avoid that trap is to a) solve the problems that are most important

While Joe Biden spent the day in Delaware, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv. They even went for a walk in Kyiv. While visiting Kyiv, PM Johnson promised an impressive amount of lethal military support. According to the BBC's report, "Following the meeting, Downing Street said the UK would send 120 armoured vehicles and anti-ship missile systems to support Ukraine. Senior officials in Mr Zelensky's team praised the UK for support during its conflict with Russia." By comparison, when Biden's Pentagon sends a meager amount of lethal military aid a month late, Ukraine diplomatically says that they are grateful for any military hardware they get. Boris Johnson provided a morale boost to the Ukrainian people: In a statement after the meeting, Mr Johnson paid tribute to "President Zelensky's resolute leadership and the invincible heroism and courage of the Ukrainian people", saying: "Ukraine has defied the odds

It's still too early to predict how big the GOP's midterm wave will be. Still, it isn't too early to start analyzing the factors that likely will influence the election. Barry Casselman's op-ed is a good place to start. Mr. Casselman opens his op-ed by saying "There have been some recent op-eds suggesting that the national midterm elections, now only 7 months away, will not be a red tsunami in U.S. House elections as some have predicted. The arguments fall into two general categories. First, there are those pundits who calculate that the GOP has already picked up several competitive seats in 2020, and thus is limited in the number of pick-ups it can hope for in 2022. They contend that predictors of GOP gains of more than 25-30 seats are way too optimistic. The second group are mostly Republican strategists who do not necessarily believe in a lesser number of gains, but who want to lower public expectations so that the actual results cannot be portrayed as a disapp

It's safe to say that Virginia isn't the only place where school boards have parents worried. This week, Wisconsin voters walloped Democrat school board members . In typical fashion, the St. Louis Dispatch reported "Republican-backed candidates in local school board races came out as big winners in the Milwaukee suburbs that are critical for the Wisconsin GOP in statewide elections, but they had mixed results in other parts of the battleground state." The fact that Republicans were that competitive in that many places should frighten Democrats. The article continues, saying "Former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, a Republican candidate for governor, took the unusual step of endorsing 48 school board candidates. Of those, 34 won including eight incumbents, based on preliminary results. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, a former teacher, school administrator and state superintendent, did not endorse in any race." This should frighten Democrats, too. A whopping 71% of th

Barack Obama was back in the White House yesterday, this time visiting with his friend Joe Biden. After the men chatted privately, Barack spoke publicly. Obama said that Democrats have a story to tell and that they just have to tell that story to the American people. That isn't entirely fiction, though if Obama's speech were another of his books, it'd be sold in the fiction section of the bookstore. When asked by a reporter about the midterm elections, Obama replied "We got a story to tell, just got to tell it." It isn't likely that the Democrats' message will play well with battleground districts. This year, there are tons of battleground districts. This year, the topic that's at the top of most voters' minds is inflation. Let me state this clearly. The top topic isn't the economy. It isn't jobs. It's inflation, aka gas prices, aka groceries. After that, it's woke ideology, cancel culture, energy independence and education, not ne

It's time for Joe Biden to stop thinking defensively about the Putin-Ukraine war. This morning, Biden said that Putin should be subject to "a war crimes trial." There's no disputing that Putin is a war criminal so that isn't what this it's about. What this is about is that the war crimes trial should be held posthumously. It's time to permanently deal with Putin. It's time to give President Zelenskiy the weaponry he needs to defeat Russia and permanently drive them from Ukraine. Once that's done, it's time to stock Ukraine with enough weapons to put it off limits to Russia for a couple generations. Gen. Jack Keane is the founder of the Institute for the Study of War . According to this report , "Russian forces continue to make little to no progress in frontal assaults to capture Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts, their current main effort of the war. Russian units in Donbas face growing morale and supply issues." That sounds like a militar

Volodymyr Zelenskiy knows how to capture the moment. Whatever the stage, whoever his audience is, the man simply knows how to get everyone's undivided attention. He's a former comedian, former actor and a former contestant on the Ukrainian version of Dancing With the Stars. These days, though, his days are spent leading a war-torn country that's acting every bit like David in David vs. Goliath. These days, Goliath has been exposed as overrated and overhyped. These days, David is pleading his case for support in front of the Grammys . A week ago, unserious people were chattering about Will Smith hitting Chris Rock at the Oscars. This week, serious-minded people are talking about President Zelenskiy, aka David, addressing the luminaries in the hall at the Grammys. While the captive audience sat in the hall, the men dressed in tuxedos and the women dressed in gowns, the Ukrainian president appeared on screen in his trademark olive drab green tee-shirt. President Zelenskiy'

Democrats, especially Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, won't listen to Mark Penn's advice. That's good news for Republicans looking for a big red tsunami this November. It's bad news if you're a Democrat running for re-election in a swing district or if you're running to hold a Democrat-held seat. Joe Biden's administration is pushing the wrong policies. What's worse, according to Penn's op-ed , is that most of Biden's nominees to key government positions are hostile, especially with regards to energy policy. Penn highlighted 5 categories where he criticized Biden's policies. Penn cited energy, immigration, crime, education and foreign policy, in that order, as policies that Biden needs to change his position on. Penn started with energy, saying "When Biden entered office, gasoline prices were low. But now they are at a national average of more than four dollars per gallon, and far higher in some states and locales

There's nobody disputing the fact that Ukraine has exposed Russia's military as subpar for a supposed military superpower. Russia's troop morale is definitely subpar. Russia's supply lines are substandard and their equipment is mediocre at best. Ukraine has had the heart of a lion from the start of Russia's invasion. When Joe Biden 'offered' to get President Zelenskiy out of Kyiv, President Zelenskiy replied "The fight is here; I need ammunition. I don't need a ride." It's insulting to President Zelensky to offer him the opportunity to thoroughly abandon his people. Joe Biden assumed that Ukraine would collapse within a week. That didn't happen. He should've known better since Gen. Milley predicted it. This is the Gen. Milley who didn't see the rapid collapse of Afghanistan: Top US General Mark Milley says he wasn’t aware of any intelligence reports indicating the Afghan military and government would collapse in just 11 days —

On the first Friday night of the month, Michael Osterholm is a guest on Almanac to talk about COVID-19 matters. This Friday, one of the issues brought up is a new COVID relief bill that's nearing agreement. Among the things that might be included in the bill in this bill (it's still being negotiated) is "$1 billion in global vaccine funding could be added but only if other funding is cut to keep the total at $10 billion." That's according to "Mitt Romney, the top GOP negotiator on the bill." The GOP needs a better negotiator than Romney. There shouldn't be another penny that should be spent on COVID relief. According to this article , hundreds of billions of dollars were spent in the Pelosi $1,900,000,000,000 COVID relief bill on things that had nothing to do with COVID: The bill boosts the child tax credit (currently $2,000) to $3,600 per child under 6 and $3,000 for children ages 6 to 17. It makes the credit fully refundable — meaning people who w