Liberty & Prosperity Blog

The next time Joe Biden, Jared Bernstein or KJP tells the American people that Bidenomics is working, I'd recommend throwing some reality in the Democrats' face. The best way to do that is to use this report that the U.S. Senate Joint Economic Committee Republicans just published. According to CBS's reporting, "The typical American household must spend an additional $11,434 annually just to maintain the same standard of living they enjoyed in January of 2021, right before inflation soared to 40-year highs, according to a recent analysis of government data." Also contained in the article is a sentence saying that the report "taps government data such as the Consumer Price Index and Consumer Expenditure Survey to examine the impact of inflation state by state." Joe Biden isn’t fooling anyone when he tells people Bidenomics is working. He might get away with that BS when talking with families solidly entrenched in the middle-class or perhaps if they’re par...

Anyone thinking that today's Democrats are like the Democrats of the 1960s is kidding themselves. In the 60s, Jews marched with African-Americans to help African-Americans obtain civil rights and to pass the Civil Rights Act. These days, a significant portion of Democrats think that Jews have committed genocide against the Palestinians. At Oakland, CA's latest city council meeting, citizens commandeered the microphone to share some of the strangest conspiracy theories in history. According to the article, one person actually said "There have not been beheadings of babies and rapings,” one resident said during the meeting in a video clip posted to X by Huffington Post writer Yashar Ali. 'Israel murdered their own people on October 7th!'" How do you deal with people who deny things that are videotaped? Why would people think that Israel would murder their own people? Was that person recently institutionalized? Had she just used some drugs from Hunter’s stash? T...

  A Long Ignored Topic: Minnesota Policy on Higher Education John W. Palmer Ph.D. Professor Emeritus November 30, 2023 Recent developments (enrollment decline, financial challenges and departure of the current President) at St. Cloud State University (SCSU) and discussions with past and present SCSU faculty prompted me to look for an electronic version of a twenty four year old task force report published as part of the Center of the American Experiment’s Minnesota Policy Blueprint. As co-chair of the task force, I have fond memories of the work done to provided guidance for the future of higher education in Minnesota. Although my search did not find an electronic copy of the task force report, I did find some interesting information regarding higher education in Minnesota and the nation. This information is reported in the next paragraphs and will be followed with a summary of the task force’s statement of principles and recommendations. A Minnesota State website page offers some ...

If I've heard it once, I've heard it 100 times. Joe Biden has been strong in supporting Israel, we're told. To that, I'll use one of Col. Potter's favorite lines: Buffalo bagels! Biden has been a strong supporter of Israel the same way a fox is excellent at guarding hen houses. Let's get serious about what's considered strong support. What we've seen from Joe Biden isn't strong support for Israel. What we've seen is skillful posturing by Biden. The latest major development in the Qataris intervention on Hamas's behalf is a proposal to end the IDF's war to eliminate Hamas. The WSJ is reporting "The chief brokers of the Israel-Hamas hostage-prisoner exchange are pushing the two sides to prolong the truce in Gaza beyond the current two-day extension and start talks that would end the war, Egyptian and Qatari officials said." The Biden administration is already pushing the Israelis towards significant concessions: The Biden adminis...

Abbe Lowell is one of Washington, DC's most high-priced attorneys. He's the guy you hire when you  must win a difficult case. That's why Hunter Biden hired him. That doesn't mean he'll win the fight against Jamie Comer, the chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability. It simply means that he gives the Biden Crime Syndicate, my nickname for the Biden family's influence-peddling operation, their best shot at winning. Lowell isn't Superman but Chairman Comer might be Sherlock Holmes. The things that Chairman Comer have going for him are the piles and piles of documentation and testimony he's compiled thus far. Comer is a former bank executive so he's an expert at deciphering what suspicious activity reports (SARs) and bank records. In the legal profession, there's a saying that, if you have the facts on your side, you pound the facts, if you have the law on your side, you pound the law and if you don't have either, you pound the...

I've been writing about MnSCU reform and SCSU reform since 2012 or perhaps sooner. When the news was reported that SCSU President Wacker wasn't returning for AY2024 (Academic Year 2024), I wrote this article . Included in the article was a paragraph highlighting a worthwhile opinion from a well-informed friend of mine. The opinion is " SCSU is an admin policy arm of the Left wing of the DFL. That has failed miserably. " That led me to ask some questions, starting with "Why hasn't anyone gone to a major newspaper and called for change?" Another question I asked is "Dorholt was the vice-chair of the House Higher Ed Committee from 2013-16. Wolgamott is currently the Speaker Pro Tempore. What good are these lofty titles if they don't translate into positive change to one of St. Cloud's major institutions?" A retired professor who left Minnesota after retiring from SCSU wrote "To save the institution, they need a real leader, but I’m af...

In a surprise bit of news this morning, St. Cloud State University announced that President Robbyn Wacker isn't returning for a second term. The announcement opened by saying "Robbyn Wacker, who has led St. Cloud State University as its president since 2018, announced Nov. 27 that she will be leaving her position on June 30, 2024, upon completion of her contract." The announcement quotes President Wacker as saying "Serving as SCSU’s president has been an honor and a privilege. I am proud to have had the opportunity to serve our amazing students, faculty, staff and administrative leaders. This decision was extremely difficult; however, I feel great about what I and my leadership team have accomplished in the past six years, and the time is right to hand the reigns over to the next leader." With all due respect to President Wacker, her legacy won't be a positive legacy. That isn't meant as a criticism to her. To be fair, she inherited a difficult situatio...

This past Friday, Democrat Dean Phillips announced that he isn't seeking a 4th term in Congress . Phillips said "Representing our nation’s most civically engaged community in Congress has been the most joyful experience of my life. Now it’s time to pass the torch — with gratitude and optimism." This isn't surprising. Phillips burned most of his DFL bridges when he announced his run for the Democrats' nomination for president in 2024. After that announcement, Phillips' bridges were all but officially burnt. Weeks ago on Almanac, Abou Amara and Javier Morillo both lit into Phillips for running. They made it clear that they weren't happy with Phillips. Had Phillips not retired, the DFL primary would've moved significantly to the left. Kelly Morrison announced that she's announcing her candidacy for Phillips' congressional seat. Morrison "sponsored a number of politically divisive bills at the State Capitol, including: making Minnesota a ranke...

Donald Trump is famous for the trashy company he keeps. From Roger Stone to Michael Cohen, Trump isn't afraid to employ trash-talking troublemakers. Thankfully, Jonathan Turley called out Stone for his vulgarity in his attack against Casey DeSantis. Stone didn't like Mrs. DeSantis' references to her children on the campaign trail so he didn't waste time before going on a profanity-laced tirade. Turley wrote "Casey often refers to her children, a common point of reference for possible first ladies. However, the highlighting of the DeSantis children sent Stone into a signature tirade, including using a coded word for c**t to refer to Casey. Stone is a diehard supporter of Donald Trump. Nothing says unhinged, recreational rage like attacking a mother for referencing her children." Then Prof. Turley wrote "Stone posted 'Casey Desantis campaigning: ‘I have a 6, 5 and a 3 year old’ ‘I have a 6, 5 and a 3 year old’ ‘I have a 6, 5 and a 3 year old’ ‘I have ...

A little 9-year-old Irish-Israeli girl named Emily Hand has been returned to her family . Emily's father told Fox News Digital that he initially thought that she'd been killed in the Oct. 7 Massacre. According to the article, "Emily Hand spent 'her birthday in the tunnels of Gaza' her father told Fox News Digital last week. "No party. No friends. She won’t even know if it’s day or night. There’s no light down there. So she won’t know it’s her birthday." The article continues, saying "After waking up at a friend’s house in the kibbutz of Be’eri in southern Israel on Oct. 7, Hand, her friend, Hila, and her friend’s mother, were all kidnapped by Hamas terrorists. Hand was still wearing her Disney pajamas." This NY Post article reports "After weeks of trauma, this is a precious and deeply moving moment for the Hand family,' Irish Tánaiste Micheál Martin, the country’s second most senior official, said in a statement. 'The people of Ire...

This afternoon, Hamas accused Israel of reneging on the hostages-for-terrorists deal . Israel threatened Hamas that there's be consequences if Hamas didn't release the hostages before midnight local time. It's amazing what happens with the proper motivation. Just before midnight Israeli time, Hamas released 13 Israelis and 4 foreigners . Shortly after hearing Israel's threat , Hamas all-but-admitted that the IDF frightens Hamas. In the threat tweet, Israel's threat said "Israel sends a message to Hamas: If the second group of hostages are not released by midnight (Israel time), the ground operation in Gaza will resume." Within an hour, Hamas announced that the swap was back on. The key to getting the hostage-for-terrorist swap back on schedule was Israel’s credible threat of lethal military force against Hamas. Without that credible threat and the IDF’s opening assault against Hamas, the hostages would still be in Gaza. ABC News is reporting that the hosta...

There was a time when watching a Trump speech was enjoyable. It wasn't that the material was that great. It's that he was a great showman. Notice that I'm using the past tense these days. IMO, Trump reached his political sell-by date. Trump still has a following, though that isn't as stout-hearted as it used to be. This morning, I came across this tweet , which I connected with almost immediately. The part of the tweet that I connected with most said "I attended many rallies and watched almost all the rest. I believe there were voting irregularities in the swing states. I also believe the 2020 election is long OVER and in the history books. Trump’s 'HIRE and FIRE' management style may have worked for him in business but it proved to be a destructive way to run a Presidential administration." I also strongly agree with Fair Deal Dave when he said "America needs a prolonged state of NORMAL; A new leader who has a tested and proven track record of wi...

Despite Joe Biden's statements that there's no daylight between his administration and Israel, proving that statement is BS isn't difficult. The opening paragraphs of this article is proof that there's lots of daylight between Biden's administration and Israel. The article opens by saying "US President Joe Biden said Friday's release of a first group of hostages taken by Hamas was just a 'start' and that there were 'real' chances to extend a temporary truce in Gaza." Biden then totally undercut Israel, saying "it was time to 'renew' work on creating a two-state solution to achieve peace between Israel and the Palestinians." I wrote here that "Hamas is essentially the 21st Century version of the Nazis. They hate Jews every bit as much as the Nazis did. If the world looked away from Israel, there's no doubt in my mind that Hamas would attempt another Holocaust." I wrote here that "It should be clear...

Today's hostages-for-terrorists exchange needs to be seen in its proper perspective. This isn't a victory for diplomacy. It's proof that appeasement doesn't work. Let's be clear about this. Israel isn't the appeaser in this situation. Biden's administration is the appeaser because his administration caved to pro-Palestinian, pro-Hamas political pressure. Rather than stand on firm moral ground, Biden's administration pushed for a pause or cease-fire. Today, Israel paid the first installment of convicted terrorists-for-innocent civilians . Israel agreed to return 150 Hamas terrorists in exchange for 50 innocent Israeli civilians. When Biden pushed for the cease-fire, Israel didn't have a friend left in the world. This is and was a civilians-for-terrorists swap. It's foolish to think that the Biden administration will learn what President Reagan knew about negotiating -- that putting the fear of God into the people you're negotiating with yields...

Joe Biden can't resist the opportunity to impose his will on the American people. Biden's dirty little secret is that he's an autocrat. This morning, he cited the Defense Production Act as his authority for "injecting government cash into American production of electric heat pumps, an alternative to gas-powered household furnaces." My question is simple: where's the data that shows electric heat pump provide enough heat in colder temperatures? What happens when temperatures dip into the teens or lower? Last week, I had to get some work done on my furnace. I spoke to the repairman about electric heat pumps. He told me that they're effective until the temp drops below freezing. After that, he said, you'll need a furnace. This is just another front in Biden's war on fossil fuels. Getting rid of gas furnaces goes hand-in-hand with getting rid of natural gas in Biden's mind. Biden cited the DPA to instruct manufacturing companies what they’ll manuf...

 The day before Thanksgiving, I received a bunch of emails from legislators, starting with Ben Bakeberg, then moving onto Mary Franson, Bernie Perryman and finally Dan Wolgamott, my representative in the legislature. Bernie Perryman's email update focused on Thursday's Thanksgiving Day feast. It was short and to the point. Here's Rep. Perryman's email celebrating Thanksgiving: I don't have the ambition to post Dan Wolgamott's Thanksgiving update so I'll direct you to his website so you can view it for yourself . It's telling that the title line of the communication says "Legislative Update - Investing in St. Cloud." This is the first paragraph: I hope you’re all having a great fall. Personally, with the Storm freshman football team concluding our season in victory, I’m having a fantastic one. We defeated Moorhead 32-26, and I couldn’t be more proud of my guys for their hard work and growth this season. From there, it says this: Coaching aside...

I had a great deal to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Fortunately, I was able to celebrate Thanksgiving with wonderful friends who've become like family. Now that the celebrating is over, though, it's time to return to writing about Israel hunting down Hamas terrorists. According to this article , "Israel’s Mossad national intelligence agency has orders to assassinate the top leadership of Hamas anywhere in the world, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed on Wednesday." That's the right thing to do. Hamas has repeatedly proven themselves to be untrustworthy, especially with the Jewish people. There's no reason not to make Hamas's leadership living in Qatar feel exceptionally uncomfortable. Hamas's leadership team acted on the orders of the Iranian mullahs. They likely acted after Hamas received special training from the IRGC. Pres. George W. Bush got it right when he said that we should take out the terrorists before they left their tra...

Thus far, pundits have discounted the importance of Bob Vander Plaats' endorsement. These pundits have highlighted Vander Plaats' endorsements of Mike Huckabee in 2008 and Rick Santorum in 2012, each of whom went on to win the GOP's Iowa Caucuses. One such pundit/anchor is Special Report's Bret Baier. Yesterday, Baier interviewed Mr. Vander Plaats , where the first question he asked Mr. Vander Plaats was who he was endorsing. Mr. Vander Plaats replied "I'm thrilled to throw my personal endorsement and support behind Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida." Shortly thereafter, Vander Plaats said "The reason it's not a surprise is that we need to find somebody who can win in 2024. And what we saw in 2022, the supposedly red wave really only happened in Florida and in Iowa. Governor DeSantis took a reliable toss-up state in Florida and made it complete red, won by 20 points, won in demographics that we haven't won in." Then Vander Plaats got into the ...

It's been interesting to see Bill Clinton essentially blow up the fantasy known as the Israeli-Palestinian 2-State Solution. I wrote in this post that "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that you shouldn't attempt to put Palestinians right next to Israelis. Palestinians hate Jews to the point that they've stated in Hamas's charter that their goal is to eliminate the Jewish state." Apparently, I'm not the only person with common sense to realize the 2-State Solution isn't the solution. It's the Uniparty's default position in the same way that comprehensive immigration reform is their default position on immigration. Steven Hayward's article highlights Bill Clinton setting the facts straight on his proposed 2-State Solution. Clinton said "I killed myself to give the Palestinians a state. I had a deal they turned down that would have given them all of Gaza... between 96 and 97% of the West Bank, compensating land in Is...

At certain inflection points, people and societies are called to make society-altering decisions. Glenn Reynolds' latest column highlights the fact that we're at one of those inflection points right now. The column opens, saying "In some parts of the country, standing up for Israel is controversial, even dangerous. The column continues, saying "On the campuses of places like Harvard, Columbia and the University of Pennsylvania, anyone who dares to wave an Israeli flag, or, increasingly, wear a kippah in public, is at risk of being assaulted by angry mobs of people with their faces covered. In Los Angeles, a pro-Israel protester was allegedly killed by a pro-Palestinian computer-science professor. (Judge Ryan Wright slashed the prof’s bail from the original $1 million to just $50,000.) Many parents of Jewish students are concerned, and rightly so, about their kids’ safety at these institutions." Thankfully, there are places where it isn't controversial to sup...

Until this morning, I'd accepted that Police Officer Derek Chauvin had gotten a fair trial. That's changed since watching the video from the officers' body-worn cameras at the scene of the arrest. The video is part of this article . According to the article, the documentary was crowd-funded and "was produced by Alpha News journalist Liz Collin and directed by Dr. J.C. Chaix." The article quotes Ms. Collin as saying "I saw for myself the dangerous narrative the media and politicians pushed in the days following the death of George Floyd. We are still paying the price three years later." Dr. Chaix is quoted as saying "Hopefully, this documentary will show how politicians and the media desperately ignored even the most basic facts while turning their backs on reasonable doubt and common sense." As for the video from the body-worn cameras, multiple times it showed George Floyd saying 'I can’t breathe.' Floyd also said that he didn’t want to...

Apparently, Democrats live in the land of delusion. After reading Juan Williams' op-ed , it isn't difficult to think that Juan's guzzled the DNC's Kool-Aid. That's right. He didn't sip the DNC Kool-Aid. He didn't drink the DNC's Kool-Aid. He must've guzzled that stuff. The title of his article is "Republicans’ hatred for America is showing." Williams then wrote "Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.), is on tape saying that America is 'so dark and depraved.' Trump famously described America as sick and defined by 'American carnage.'" To understand Speaker Johnson's characterization properly, it's imperative to know that Johnson is speaking as a Christian. Especially at this time in America, we see much of the U.S. conduct as depraved. The definition of depraved is "corrupt, wicked, or perverted." Anyone looking at the Bidens and not seeing corruption is delusional. The difference between depra...

After Saturday's game against the Milwaukee Bucks, Dallas Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving wore a keffiyeh to the postgame interview. According to this Outkick article , "a 'keffiyeh' is an Arab symbol of resistance and solidarity, and is popular in Palestine." Outkick also reported that "the Mavericks superstar confirmed that he converted to Islam in 2021, so the keffiyeh simply could’ve been a way he chose to identify with his religion." Given all that's happening in Gaza, though, and the NBA's reputation for being attracted the world's worst despots, it's most likely that Irving wanted to make a point. The weird thing is that "no reporter asked him the motive behind his choice." The Outkick article continues, saying "While wearing a keffiyeh doesn’t automatically make you anti-Semitic, it’s certainly suspicious given Irving’s past with this issue." That's obviously true but it's equally true that Irving is...

The DC Uniparty, aka the Swamp, aka the Establishment just won't learn their lesson. This year, Nikki Haley is their candidate for the GOP presidential nomination. She lost what I'm calling the Mark Levin Primary. Yesterday (Saturday, November 18th), Levin posted this tweet criticizing Haley. In part of the tweet, Levin said "I was relatively neutral on Nikki Haley when she announced her candidacy. I was open to seeing how she would campaign and what she would say, since her record as governor was thin to worse. But it was what I call the Disney moment when she exposed herself." FYI- Donald Trump had a similar moment , criticizing Gov. DeSantis while hinting that he'd cut a deal with Disney. So much for Trump's draining the Swamp. Except that that's the April version of Trump. The November version of Trump is singing a different tune . November Trump "has called out Disney while on a tour stop as a part of his campaign for a second presidential te...

After attending what's now getting called "the Vander Plaats Primary", several event attendees suggested that Iowa polling might be skewed. In 2016, Trump's campaign insisted that there was such a thing as "the hidden Trump voter." Most 'experts' scoffed at the notion. Come Election Day 2016, the 'experts' found those hidden Trump voters hidden in rural parts of battleground states like Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa. Back then, Obama won each of those states twice. In the case of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin hadn't voted Republican since George H.W. Bush won in 1988. After the Vander Plaats Thanksgiving Family Forum, people gathered at a "nearby hotel restaurant." According to the report, "As DeSantis fans gathered outside a nearby hotel restaurant for his post-forum reception, some attendees found it hard to square the number of supporters in line with his standing in the polls. Does th...

Nobody has mistaken Joe Biden as intelligent. People haven't mistaken Biden as a constitutional scholar, either. People that love the Constitution cherish freedom. Joe Biden definitely doesn't fit that description. It's time for people to stop tolerating Biden's war against freedom . In its current manifestation, Biden's war against freedom is another chapter in his war against appliance choice. Friday, the Energy Department said that "the U.S. will fund nine projects with $169 million from last year's climate bill to speed manufacturing of heat pumps, systems that can heat and cool homes and businesses more efficiently." This morning, I woke up in a home whose furnace wasn't working. The room temp had dropped to 62 degrees so I called a repair guy. The furnace is back working properly. While the repair guy was here, I asked him about heat pumps. He told me that they're efficient until the temperature drops into the 20s. They're pretty much...