Liberty & Prosperity Blog

I'm old enough to remember when Minnesota was a prosperous state that people actually moved into. I hate admitting it but that's when I was in high school, which is almost 50 years ago. In 2023, Minnesota's economy isn't focused on innovation, prosperity or productivity. Fifty years ago, the major employers were 3M, Cargill and Control Data. Today, the 3 biggest employers are (not necessarily in order) the state government, federal government and local government. 3M moved its production to Texas. Control Data is ancient history and Cargill has moved substantial parts of their operation out-of-state. Mayo Clinic opened a major campus in Arizona, too. I attribute Minnesota's decline to the DFL's socialist policies. Check out Tim Walz's budget . For instance, the executive summary for Walz's budget says that his budget "Invest[s] in Minnesota's Economic Future." The executive summary says "Governor Walz and Lieutenant Governor Flanagan a...

Special thanks to HotAir's David Strom for fighting against the tyranny of Keith Ellison. David isn't like your average pundit. He's willing to fight for the things that matter most to him. In this post , David has identified Keith Ellison, Minnesota's Attorney General, as a tyrant. Most Minnesotans who don't live in downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul think of Ellison that way, too. In this instance, David uses Dr. Scott Jensen's tweet and video, which I'll embed into this article after this paragraph, as the basis for his opinion of Mr. Ellison. David writes "So far, he has been forced to defend his medical license 4 times, based upon complaints that have nothing to do with his medical practice, but rather based upon claims that he spread "misinformation" about COVID and the "vaccines." (I put vaccine in quotes because it doesn’t actually vaccinate people against getting COVID, but rather serves as a pre-treatment for people who catc...

James Comer, the new chairman of the House Committee on Oversight & Accountability, appeared Monday morning on Fox & Friends First. The topic du jour was Biden classified documents. Chairman Comer said "the investigation into President Biden's alleged mishandling of classified information is of the 'upmost importance' after it was revealed the FBI discovered notebooks in his Delaware home that may contain classified material." Where doesn't Biden have classified information? Miranda Devine reports that "A Rasmussen poll out Monday, and exclusively revealed here, shows that almost three-quarters of voters (72%) regard the president’s handling of classified records as a scandal. That includes a majority (55%) of Democrats." This discovery isn't that surprising. Neither is the poll result. Democrats are likely willing to look past Biden's mishandling of these sensitive documents but they've got to know that mishandling top secret ...

 It's now official. Kevin McCarthy will meet with Joe Biden on Wednesday at the White House. The two are expected to discuss the raising of the debt ceiling. According to the AP, "The speaker pledged that cuts to Social Security and Medicare would be off the table." Actually, Joe Manchin has raised the topic of reforming Social Security and Medicare. Sen. Manchin has also said that he's willing to meet with Speaker McCarthy about spending cuts and raising the debt ceiling. There's little doubt that Biden will stick with his my-way-or-the-highway approach, insisting that he'll only accept a clean debt ceiling bill. Similarly, there's little doubt that Kevin McCarthy will insist that any debt ceiling bill will include future spending cuts. The AP report says "McCarthy, R-Calif., said he wants to address spending cuts along with raising the debt limit, even though the White House has ruled out linking those two issues together as the government tries to...

Right now, Donald Trump is the only declared presidential candidate in either party. Apparently, he misses a crowded field because he's already sniping at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Yesterday, he talked with CNN and Politico. In that interview, Trump "lashed out against Florida governor Ron DeSantis and called him 'disloyal' as the governor weighs whether to run for the 2024 Republican nomination against his former political benefactor." That isn't close to the truth. The definition of disloyal is "false to one's obligations or allegiances; not loyal; faithless; treacherous." What obligation does Gov. DeSantis have to President Trump in terms of not running for president? I'd argue that Gov. DeSantis doesn't have any obligations to President Trump, or anyone else, about running for president or any office. Trump also said that DeSantis wouldn't be Florida's governor if not for Trump's endorsement. That's quite possibly t...

Just 6 months ago, few people outside the financial world knew what ESG was. That's changing now that 25 state attorneys general have filed a federal lawsuit against the Biden administration. Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes filed the lawsuit, then was quickly joined by 24 other state AGs, including those from Louisiana, Texas and Virginia. In their lawsuit, these AGs challenge "a Department of Labor (DOL) rule unveiled in November and which is set to go into effect on Jan. 30. The rule would open the door for fiduciaries to factor so-called environment, social and governance (ESG) considerations into Americans' retirement accounts, an action the states argued could significantly harm the financial interests of customers." In a statement, Reyes told FOX Business "The Biden administration is promoting its climate change agenda by putting everyday people’s retirement money at risk. Americans are already suffering from the current economic downturn." Then Reye...

At around 3:30am this morning, the Minnesota State Senate passed the PRO Act, aka the Protect Reproductive Options Act by a straight party line vote of 34-33. The bill already passed the Minnesota House on a straight party line vote, too. The DFL campaigned last summer on the promise that they wanted to codify Roe v. Wade into law. That's what the DFL promised. That isn't what the DFL delivered. The key section of the PRO Act states "Every individual has a fundamental right to make autonomous decisions about the individual's own reproductive health, including the fundamental right to use or refuse reproductive health care. (b) Every individual who becomes pregnant has a fundamental right to continue the pregnancy and give birth, or obtain an abortion, and to make autonomous decisions about how to exercise this fundamental right." What isn't in the bill is as important as what's in the bill. What isn't in this bill are any restrictions. The bill says t...

As one of Dan Wolgamott's constituents, I get all of his email updates whether the legislature is in session or not. The highlight of this week's Constituent Report is Rep. Wolgamott's explanation for his vote on what's getting called the Blackout Bill. First, Rep. Wolgamott wrote "Last night, I voted YES to help our state address climate change and prepare for a carbon-free future. We just passed HF 7, to set a new standard to produce 100% carbon-free electricity by 2040." That's a fantasy. This doesn't have a snowball's prayer in h-e-double-toothpicks of happening. I'd bet the proverbial ranch on that. The closest thing to "100% carbon-free electricity" is nuclear power. Even that isn't 100% carbon-free but it's the best in terms of not polluting. (Sorry Greenies. It's better than wind and solar.) Next, Rep. Wolgamott wrote "The last eight years globally have been the hottest on record, and Minnesota is among the t...

Friday night, Peggy Flanagan, Minnesota's DFL Lt. Gov., stopped by Almanac's studios to chat about the Walz-Flanagan budget . Suffice it to say that it was a cringeworthy interview from the standpoint of a capitalist. In response to Eric Eskola's first question, which asked if this budget would improve Minnesotans' lives, Flanagan replied "this is the budget that I have been waiting for my entire life, especially as a child advocate. One of the things that I'm most excited about is the child tax credit. It's $1,000 per child up to $3,000 per family. This policy alone will reduce child poverty in Minnesota by 25%, which I think is incredible." Flanagan continued, saying "We also have our dependent care credit, which will make childcare more affordable for families, $1.5 billion in housing stability from a full spectrum of housing from our neighbors experiencing homelessness to first-time homeowners, indexing education to the funding formula to infl...

Let's be clear about something concerning Russia's invasion of Ukraine. If we had a real commander-in-chief instead of Joe Biden, this fight would've been over 6 months ago. It's been obvious since the opening weeks of this war that Russia's troops were overmatched against Ukraine's troops. On the second or third night of the war, Jennifer Griffin attended a briefing at the Pentagon. During that briefing, the general conducting the briefing said that they were surprised at how inefficient Russian troops were at night fighting. They had the same problems 31 years earlier in Iraq. In 31 years, Russia still hadn't fixed their night-fighting problem. Gen. Mike Milley, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, predicted that Kyiv would fall within the first week of the war. It still hasn't fallen after 11 months of fighting. Sen. Tom Cotton sits on the Senate Committee on Armed Services and the Senate Committee on Intelligence. He's written this great op...

Yesterday, Joe Biden travelled to northern Virginia to start testing his campaign message. While there, Joe did what Joe does best -- he told some whoppers . He said some misleading things, too. Joe spent some time criticizing Republicans, too. (Actually, that's when the whoppers started flying.) Then he finished by selling his economic policies as the best invention since sliced bread was invented. Misleading statements Joe said "Economic growth is up, stronger than experts expected, at 2.9 percent we’re growing." That 2.9% growth is the result of rebuilding companies' inventories. It wasn't the result of a booming economy. Further, that 2.9% growth came after Biden's first half recession. Biden's economy grew by a pathetic 1% in 2022. And wages are up, and they're growing faster than inflation. Over the past six months, inflation has gone down every month and, God willing, will continue to do that. This is misleading, too. What Joe Biden didn't s...

A little over a week ago, an editorial in the Wall Street Journal got everyone's attention. In the editorial, it was reported that Democrats wanted to eliminate gas stoves. (I wrote about the editorial in this post .) Virtually immediately, CPSC Commissioner Richard Trumka Jr. insisted that this was hysteria, most likely from MAGA Republicans. The hysteria isn't disappearing, thanks in large part to Kim Strassel's latest column . Ms. Strassel's latest column is dedicated to exposing the environmental activist organizations that are quietly funding this movement. According to Ms. Strassel's column, "The reason gas stoves are in the news is simple: There is a coordinated, calculated—and well-funded—strategy to kill them off. It’s the joint enterprise of extremely powerful climate groups, working with Biden administration officials who have publicly stated their aim to eliminate all 'combustion appliances' in homes. Only after the GOP called them out did a...

As a senior citizen, I know the pain inflation causes people living on fixed incomes. I know the pain it causes because I'm dealing with it. While I dealt with Bidenflation, I didn't know how to quantify its effects. Thanks to this survey commissioned by the Nationwide Retirement Institute, I now can quantify the effects of Bidenflation. For instance, the Nationwide Retirement Institute survey "shows that over the past 12 months, nearly one in five American households (17%) received food or goods from a food bank (22% for Millennials), and the same amount stopped buying healthier foods (organic or high-priced healthy foods)." That's compared with this Census Bureau report from the Trump administration. According to the report, "Data released by the Census Bureau today show that 2019 was a historic year for raising Americans’ living standards. Real median household income reached a record high, and poverty reached a record low. Improvements in income and po...

It's indisputable that Joe Biden's classified documents fiasco is getting tons of attention. Another thing that's getting tons of attention is the debt ceiling limit. That won't disappear anytime soon. Actually, the debt ceiling won't disappear as a topic until Biden negotiates a deal with Kevin McCarthy. That deal must include spending cuts in future budget cycles. That's the only way this works. Daniel Henninger's weekly column lays out why it's required. Henninger wrote "Joe Biden promised normalcy. This spending isn’t normal, and the American people know it. If Mr. Biden can’t find the words to talk about it, voters may start looking for someone who will." Earlier in the article, Henninger wrote "The spending rivers included a bipartisan Covid-relief bill of $2.2 trillion; the American Rescue Plan’s $1.9 trillion, and then a bipartisan infrastructure bill of $1 trillion. Mr. Biden’s 2023 budget proposal was for $5.7 trillion. In Decem...

The media wing of the Democrat Party has a truth-telling problem. They won't admit it but it's there in plain sight. One of the prolific providers of less-than-truthful statements is the Bulwark website. In her latest article , Jill Lawrence worries about "the Judiciary Committee’s new Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government led by Rep. Jim Jordan." Ms. Lawrence continues, saying "Jordan has long complained about the supposed persecution of conservatives by the FBI and other agencies. Now he’s claimed broad powers to do something about it—including mucking around in open investigations." There's nothing supposed about the DOJ's persecution of conservatives, especially religious conservatives. Just ask Mark Houck, now on trial in federal court. Initially, the Philadelphia Planned Parenthood contacted the Philadelphia PD to report the incident. Officers responded but the Philadelphia DA didn't prosecute . After that incid...

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds just made history by signing into law Iowa's school choice law . Predictably, the teachers' unions aren't happy. Equally predictable is that Corey DeAngelis is happy with the passage and signing of the bill. DeAngelis said "Iowa’s now going to be a national leader on education freedom. And I’m happy that the governor, Kim Reynolds, has been a staunch supporter of parental rights in education, and this just cements that fact even further." Meanwhile, Sen. Molly Donahue, D-Cedar Rapids, said "Spending public money with no accountability is reckless. Our public schools and students deserve better. Until we are willing to provide adequate funding for the vast majority of our public school students, we should not be creating a private, exclusive school entitlement program with unknown costs and unlimited funding — a blank check." At the bill-signing ceremony, Gov. Reynolds said "Public schools are the foundation of our educational ...

Just recently, Karine Jean-Pierre, aka KJP, accused Republicans of trying to raise gas prices. Later this week, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise plans on teeing up a vote on legislation involving the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, aka the SPR. The legislation would require "the White House to lay out a plan to increase the share of federal land leased for oil and gas production by 5% if it wants to draw down the reserve by 5%." This legislation paints the administration into a corner. Biden has repeatedly said that he's doing everything he can to lower gas prices. That's a lie. He's done everything he can to lower gas prices without putting together a legitimate long-term plan for increasing oil exploration and production. By teeing up this vote, members won't be able to pretend to be pro-oil without voting for oil exploration and production legislation. Scalise did a magnificent job laying out the history of SPR in this speech from the House floor: Thanks ...

Last night, Speaker McCarthy kept his promise to strip Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell of their spots on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Committee. Speaker McCarthy also prevented Ilhan Omar, an oft-criticized anti-Semite bigot, from her position on the powerful House Foreign Affairs Committee. In a joint statement, Omar, Schiff and Swalwell stated "It's disappointing but not surprising that Kevin McCarthy has capitulated to the right wing of his caucus, undermining the integrity of the Congress, and harming our national security in the process. He struck a corrupt bargain in his desperate, and nearly failed, attempt to win the Speakership, a bargain that required political vengeance against the three of us." Actually, the reasons for McCarthy's actions aren't nearly that sinister. As a member of the Intel Committee, Adam Schiff repeatedly lied about having seen incriminating evidence that President Trump had conspired with Russians to win the ...

From the time that Joe Biden moved out of the Naval Observatory, the official residence of the Vice President, to the time he started his presidential campaign, Joe Biden held a no-show job . For those 3 years, Biden was paid $900,000 not teach classes and to not host any events at the Penn-Biden Center of Diplomacy and Global Engagement. It's now being reported "that donations and contract payments from entities in communist China to Penn ballooned to $61 million in the think tank’s initial three years of operation , raising questions about potential Chinese influence on the university and about who may have had access to the classified materials." Honestly, it doesn't raise "questions about potential Chinese influence." It confirms Chinese influence over the Biden administration. The Penn-Biden Center is the first place where classified documents were found. It's been highlighted that the Penn-Biden Center didn't open until February of 2018. That m...

Karine Jean-Pierre, aka KJP, has said some thoroughly dishonest things from the White House Briefing Room podium in her short time as WH Press Secretary. Yesterday, KJP said something utterly outrageous when she said "As many of you are tracking this week, House Republicans will vote to raise gas prices on American families. The contrast in priorities could not be more stark, but the president spent the last two years, as you know, doing everything he could to lower gas prices for American families. And prices are down about $1.60 a gallon since last summer. Now, House Republicans are using their narrow majority to force the American people to pay higher gas prices, just as big oil companies are amassing record profits." That's simply breathtaking. House Republicans will vote to put the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, aka the SPR, off-limits for anything other than national emergencies. Biden, House Democrats and KJP want to use the SPR to manipulate gas prices. When KJP sa...

While Democrats, starting with Joe Biden, insist that Republicans pass a clean debt limit bill, that won't happen. That ship has left the shipyard. The next thing to determine is how Republicans win this fight. Predictably, Newt Gingrich has some ideas on this . It starts with proposing something reasonable. Fortunately, the public agrees with reining in government spending. Newt said "Republicans are for a responsible debt ceiling increase – and oppose an irresponsible debt ceiling increase. Passing another debt ceiling increase with no modifications to the current unsustainable spending and projected deficits would clearly be an example of an irresponsible debt ceiling increase." In this post , I said "if I was advising McCarthy, I'd advise him to walk into that meeting with a set of stipulations that Republicans will take off the table. The statement should say Republicans aren't interested in cutting Social Security or Medicare. Further, it should say th...

Once Democrats determine that you're an enemy to their cause, they won't let go of that until that enemy is eliminated or, at minimum, incapacitated. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh is a perfect example of that. Protesters showed up at his family's home in Chevy Chase, MD, to protest his vote to eliminate Roe v. Wade. Protesters came armed with posters saying things like "our rights are not up for debate," "abortion saves lives" and "abortion is healthcare." They protested in front of Justice Kavanaugh's home and in front of Chief Justice Roberts' home. After the protest, many of the protesters attended a fundraising concert for the DC Abortion Fund. According to the Daily Signal's reporting, "The group chanted as they marched in the rain, saying things like 'cut his time short, a rapist should not rule the court,' and 'no privacy for us, no peace for you.'" Let's remember that "Nicholas Joh...

Gianno Caldwell came face-to-face with the new Jim Crow Southern Democrats. He and a group of new friends went to a restaurant called Paradis Books and Bread in North Miami, Florida for breakfast. According to this article , "the restaurant owner approached Caldwell and said that she had been listening to their conversation and decided that they 'were not welcome' in her restaurant." That's breathtaking. I thought we lived in a civilized society. This is proof that you can wipe Jim Crow laws off the books but you can't eliminate Jim Crow Democrats. This is proof that Jim Crow Democrats will forever be with us. Appearing Sunday morning on Fox & Friends Weekend, Caldwell said "This situation reminds me of something that MLK said in 1963, a very simple truth. He said, 'Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.' And what I experienced yesterday, me and some of my neighbors, who I'm just getting to know, was an injustice. It was a g...

Thus far, Democrats have insisted that they won't negotiate when it comes to raising the debt limit. That isn't a realistic position. That position is about to collapse, in my estimation. Apparently, others are reaching that conclusion . Democrats in the media are beginning to grudgingly admit that Democrats have to negotiate, that history dictates negotiation. While that's true, that doesn't mean that the media is liking siding with Republicans. That isn't likely to happen anytime soon. According to the Hill's reporting, "Strategists and policy experts in both parties believe Democrats will have to come to the bargaining table soon to negotiate a debt ceiling deal that would avoid an economic catastrophe." Notice the charged language of avoiding "an economic catastrophe." Thank God for clear-thinking politicians like Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy. He's a national treasure as well as being a journalist's go-to quote machine. This week, ...

Each day, it seems as though a new set of classified documents are found. There's a definite drip, drip, drip feel to this. The first rule of scandals is to get everything out at once so there isn't that drip, drip, drip feeling. The Daily Mail is reporting "The long and winding document trail that leads classified documents from Joe Biden's vice presidential office to the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Washington, D.C. and now back into the hands of the government, includes yet another stopover: a temporary facility in the nation's capital , a source tells DailyMail.com." While it's totally believable that the Biden family is that corrupt, this feels like someone is trying to sabotage Biden. This is going on too long for it to just be explained away as incompetence, arrogance or corruption. The question now is 'which Democrat stands to gain the most if Biden doesn't run?' Atop that list is Gov. Gavin Newsom, (D-Calif...

The bombshells keep hitting home. Specifically speaking, DOJ investigators searched Joe Biden's Wilmington home . DOJ investigators were accompanied by Biden's personal attorneys and attorneys from the White House Counsel's office. Bob Bauer, Biden's personal attorney, issued a statement Saturday evening, saying "At the outset of this matter, the President directed his personal attorneys to fully cooperate with the Department of Justice. Accordingly, having previously identified and reported to DOJ a small number of documents with classification markings at the President’s Wilmington home, and in the interest of moving the process forward as expeditiously as possible, we offered to provide prompt access to his home to allow DOJ to conduct a search of the entire premises for potential vice-presidential records and potential classified material." Saying that Biden allowed the DOJ to conduct a search of the entire premises" is spin on steroids. Once the seco...

 If anything is obvious about Joe Biden, it's that anything negative that happens during his administration is someone else's fault. One of Biden's biggest ongoing failures is illegal immigration and border security. Speaking at the U.S. Conference of Mayors winter meeting, Biden dishonestly said "The first bill I introduced was a comprehensive reform legislation on immigration. But because of some in the Congress, they refused to consider it. They found it a better issue to campaign on than an issue to solve." It's indisputable that the first bill he sent up to Congress was a comprehensive immigration bill. What I'm disputing is the suggestion that Republicans had the ability to stop the bill. For 2021-22, aka the 117th Congress, Democrats had control of the House and Senate. There likely were enough Senate Republicans who would've co-sponsored the bill, thereby defeating any attempt to filibuster the bill. That means Biden's comprehensive immigr...

From time-to-time, Joe Biden says or does something that makes people's jaws drop. Friday night sounds like one of those nights. According to this article , Joe tweeted "Two years in, and I've never been more optimistic about America's future." Predictably, that little 9-word tweet caused the Twitterverse to erupt. One person replied "Well, that makes one of us." Comedian Tim Young chided: 'Gas is up 40 cents from last month and eggs are $9.' 'You’re not even awake. Put the phone down, intern,' another tweet said." This isn't the first time Biden has used that line. He's used that line before in an attempt to portray himeself as an optimistic president. Biden isn't an optimist. He's one of the most mean-spirited people in politics. To a mostly black audience, Biden said that Romney wanted "to put you all back in chains." That's clearly a reference to slavery. What type of person does that? That isn't...