Liberty & Prosperity Blog

Earlier tonight, the U.S. and Israel launched a crippling attack against Iran . According to the Jerusalem Post, "Israel and the United States launched an attack on Iran on Saturday morning, with Iranian state media reporting explosions heard in Tehran, Qom, Isfahan, Kermanshah, and Karaj." According to Trey Yingst's reporting for Fox News, the first strike in the daring daytime attack was on the Ayatollah's compound. Further, the JPost is reporting "A security source confirmed to Walla that the United States is involved in the strikes. A US official also told Reuters American strikes in Iran were "underway," adding that strikes against Iran are being carried out by air and sea. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement, saying that the aim of the operation was to remove the Ayatollah's regime from power . " It's worth noting that hitting the Ayatollah's compound in broad daylight sends the unmistakable message that the U.S. ...

Apparently, the city of Mankato intends to fight a losing fight against ICE . According to the article, "The Mankato City Council passed an ordinance to prohibit Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers from wearing masks or refusing to identify themselves while conducting enforcement operations, following a unanimous vote Monday. The emergency ordinance — which took effect immediately — applies not just to ICE, but to all law enforcement agencies, including federal, state and local officers." This isn't surprising, though it's foolish. What happens if? During debate of the ordinance, "City Attorney Pam Whitmore repeatedly cautioned council members that Mankato does not have authority over federal agencies, and that enforcement would be challenging in real time. 'If we pass this, and an agency comes into town, and is performing their duties and is wearing a face mask, what will happen?' asked council member Jessica Hatanpa. 'What will our o...

After President Trump's Tuesday night's State of the Union Address, Virginia Gov. Abigail Scamberger Spanberger delivered the Democrats' response . She would've been better off taking the night off. After President Trump's triumphant Address, Spanberger asked some foolish questions. She asked "Is the President working to make life more affordable for you and your family? Is the President working to keep Americans safe — both at home and abroad? Is the President working for you?" The honest answer to those questions is a) yes, b) yes and c) yes. President Trump's triumphant speech made Gov. Scamberger's speech irrelevant at best. At best, the Democrats could've hoped that Gov. Scamberger's speech would be forgotten. This year, they weren't that fortunate. President Trump has made life more affordable. Incomes are rising. Inflation is slowing. The One Big Beautiful Bill's tax cuts are kicking in. Takehome pay is increasing. In othe...

During Tuesday night's SOTU Address, aka State of the Union Address, Minnesota's DFL delegation sat on their hands rather than admit that their "first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens." Considering how upset "Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Rep. Angie Craig, Rep. Kelly Morrison, Rep. Betty McCollum, and Rep. Ilhan Omar" got during Operation Metro Surge, it isn't surprising that they sat on their hands this past Tuesday night. It seems like they've protected illegal aliens more than Minnesota citizens. Alpha News reports "While speaking about illegal immigration, the president initiated a remarkable moment of audience participation. That moment yielded a shocking response from Democrats. Partway through his speech, Trump asked the audience of Republican and Democrat lawmakers to stand if they agreed with the following statement: 'The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens,...

Prior to Tuesday night's State of the Union Address, aka SOTU Adress, pundits across the political spectrum opined that President Trump faced a difficult task in delivering this SOTU Address without hitting some person's or group's wrong nerve. After watching President Trump's speech from start to finish and after reading this entire transcript of his speech, I'd say President Trump's speech was triumphant, defiant and patriotic. At times, President Trump's speech hit all the right nerves. Early in the speech, President Trump set the tone for the speech, saying "This July 4th, we will mark two and a half centuries of liberty and triumph, progress and freedom, in the most incredible and exceptional nation ever to exist on the face of the Earth. And you've seen nothing yet. We're going to do better and better and better. This is the golden age of America. When I last spoke in this chamber 12 months ago, I had just inherited a nation in crisis wit...

First, let's expect tonight's State of the Union Address, aka SOTU Address, to be one of the longest in history. I'm expecting that because President Trump told us we should expect that. saying that he had lots of accomplishments to talk about. Of course, the media is spinning the speech in advance . The AP wrote "One year back in office, Trump has emerged as a president defying conventional expectations. He has executed a head-spinning agenda, upending priorities at home, shattering alliances abroad and challenging the nation’s foundational system of checks and balances. Two Americans were killed by federal agents while protesting the Trump administration’s immigration raids and mass deportations." If things were this out-of-control for President Trump, Democrats wouldn't be boycotting the event in large numbers. They'd be there in the chamber and available for interviews after the Address. Instead of attending, these do-nothing Democrat senators will in...

This past Saturday, Senate District 14 Republicans, aka SD-14 Republicans, held their endorsing convention to pick their candidates for HD-14A, HD-14B and SD-14. SD-14 delegates "gathered Saturday at Jubilee Worship Center in St. Cloud" to endorse their candidates. KNSIRadio reports that "Bernie Perryman received the State Senate endorsement unopposed, earning a unanimous vote. In the House races, John Jose won the endorsement for House District 14A on the first ballot, defeating St. Cloud City Council Member Mike Conway. Sue Ek also won on the second ballot for House District 14B against Wayne Boyce." It's reported that Sue Ek and Wayne Boyce agreed that they'd abide by the endorsing convention's decision prior to the endorsing convention. Since Rep. Perryman ran unopposed for the SD-14 endorsement, the question is moot. That leaves the question of whether Council President Conway would abide by the convention's endorsement. According to sources I ...

Matt Norris is fast becoming the House DFL's chief obstructionist with his fight against SF856. SF856 is the Senate's bill for fighting fraud. Norris's chief objection to the bill appears to be that it isn't approved of by Tim Walz. Apparently, Norris's biggest objection is that he hates GOP victories on behalf of Minnesotans. It's sad that this year's DFL opposes GOP or bipartisan legislation. Norris wants a gutted piece of legislation that can make recommendations but can't investigate or prosecute. That isn't worth the paper it's printed on. This article highlights the fight between the GOP and the unserious DFL. It reports "Kreun has referred to the law enforcement section of SF 856 as the 'teeth' of the bill. He previously said he believes 'there was probably some involvement by the governor’s office' in Norris’ efforts to change the existing language of the bill." Why should people think that Tim Walz is serious a...

It's simple proving that the DFL isn't serious about preventing Medicaid fraud. It took just a single hearing to prove that accusation beyond a reasonable doubt. According to the article, "During that hearing, DFL State Rep. Matt Norris tried to delete the contents of the bill and replace it with his own OIG proposal. However, that effort was blocked by Republicans. On Thursday afternoon, Kreun said Norris’ effort would have removed the portion of the bill that gives the OIG its own law enforcement division. Kreun said that section is 'a critical part of this bill that our [bipartisan] working group spent a lot of time on last year. It’s what puts the teeth into that office ,' Kreun said of the law enforcement division in the proposed OIG. Kreun said that he is open to minor changes to his and Gustafson’s OIG bill, but 'we're not gonna move backwards.'" Friday night on Almanac, House DFL Leader Zack Stephenson as just a routine amendment. Routine...

It isn't difficult to determine whether the DFL, Amy Klobuchar and Tim Walz are serious about preventing fraud. Based on this KSTP article , the DFL, Amy Klobuchar and Tim Walz AREN'T seerious about preventing Medicaid fraud. KSTP reports that "Rep. Matt Norris, DFL-Blaine," tried eliminating a bill's content. It reports that Rep. Norris "introduced a so-called 'delete everything' amendment that essentially completely replaced a Senate bill that passed the DFL-controlled Senate by a wide margin. Last year, the Minnesota Senate passed a fraud prevention bill by a 60-7 margin. That's a WIDE MARGIN! Then Norris is quoted as saying "Minnesota deserves an OIG with independence, transparency, and the sweeping investigative powers to get this essential work done." The report then states " his bill makes big changes to the Senate bill, including elimination of an enforcement bureau within the OIG, leaving that to the Bureau of Criminal App...

After the 2023 DFL Trifecta year budget was signed into law, the DFL proudly declared that the DFL had "fully funded" K-12 education. Before the start of 2024, it was discovered that the DFL's fully funded K-12 education budget had left some public school systems with significant deficits. Therefore, it isn't surprising to learn from this Alpha News article that "Minneapolis Public Schools’ projected deficit for the 2026–27 school year has grown to more than $50 million, up from earlier estimates." Further. the article reports "District leaders say the number could still change before the budget is finalized in June, but the widening gap only highlights ongoing financial and leadership turmoil inside one of Minnesota’s largest school districts." I suspect that the "leadership turmoil" that they're referencing is a fight between Education Minnesota and the taxpayers. Education Minnesota always wants more funding while taxpayers want s...

Tim Walz was right at least once during his vice presidential debate with then-Sen. JD Vance. Gov. Walz was apparently right he said that he's sometimes a knucklehead. Tim Walz, soon-to-be former DFL governor, thinks that ICE created "generational devastation" to businesses in Minneapolis. Tim Walz " wants the state legislature to pass a $10 million 'relief package' for small businesses affected by Operation Metro Surge." The GOP should tell the DFL that they'll look at such legislation after the DFL passes a 'Fraud reparation package' and Tim Walz signs it into law. Simply put, the DFL wasted BILLIONS MORE DOLLLARS through fraud than ICE could cause in 10 years of law enforcement operations. Further, Alpha News reports "On Monday, DFLers held a press conference where they accused ICE agents of racial profiling, violating the law, and kidnapping people. DFL Sen. Erin Maye Quade said Operation Metro Surge had brought 'generational d...

Starting immediately, Minnesotans should ask DFL politicians if they support Defend612, an organization that "seeks to support 'resistance to the ICE occupation in Minneapolis,' is promoting two virtual sessions titled 'The People’s Pardon or Jury Nullification,' scheduled in the coming weeks." Jury nullification is illegal because of the oath jurors take before getting seated before trial. As such, teaching people how to break the law is itself breaking the law. Alpha News reports "A Minneapolis-based activist network is now openly advertising 'jury nullification training,' raising new concerns about the integrity of jury trials in the Twin Cities. Defend612, which seeks to support 'resistance to the ICE occupation in Minneapolis,' is promoting two virtual sessions titled 'The People’s Pardon or Jury Nullification,' scheduled in the coming weeks." The oath taken by jurors requires them not to formulate an opinion until all e...

Decades ago, when Democrats had men of national security gravitas, we could look at heavyweights like Sam Nunn, Scoop Jackson, Daniel Patrick Moynihan and JFK, just to name some of their heavyweights. By comparison, today's Democrats are littered with national security idiots like Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Tim Walz, Chris Murphy and AOC. Recently, AOC put together a word salad reply that would've made Kamala blush. AOC said "Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat who represents parts of the Bronx and Queens, said: 'Um, you know, I think that I, uh, this is such a, you know, I think that this is a, um, this is of course, a, uh, very longstanding, um, policy of the United States,' she began. 'And I think what we are hoping for is that we make sure we never get to that point and we want to make sure that we are moving all of our economic, research and our global positions to avoid any such confrontation and for that question to even arise,' she finished." THAT'S ...

It just wouldn't feel right if a day went by without Democrats didn't whine about Jim Crow 2.0. It doesn't matter that it's pure BS. What's required is the accusation getting made. This week's highest profile Jim Crow 2.0 accusation was made by Sen. Chuck Schumer. It should be noted that Sen. Schumer has the creativity of dirt. To prove my point, I'll highlight the fact that Sen. Schumer plagiarized that phrase from JOE BIDEN! Salena Zito got it right by writing "Kemp argued that the wave of what he called false hysteria created real economic fallout across the state, hitting small businesses especially hard. He noted that many of the vendors who lost opportunities tied to the relocated MLB All-Star Game were local entrepreneurs, including many minorities, who had hoped to recover from a year of pandemic-related losses by selling food, merchandise, and other goods during the event. "They overplayed their hand," Kemp told me, adding that the c...

.,/pIt's painfully obvious that Keith Ellison isn't a man of integrity. During Thursday's hearing, Ellison tried dodging criticism by telling people that they'd gotten the story wrong, that things hadn't happened that way. In replying to Sen. Moreno, AG Ellison intentionally dodged a question about a murder victim by trying to say he's prosecuted criminals. The question wasn't whether he'd prosecuted criminals. The question was whether he'd prosecuted the person who'd allegedly murdered a specific young woman. The article opens, saying "Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison found himself in the hot seat Thursday as Republican senators accused him of encouraging people to obstruct federal immigration enforcement, emboldening anti-ICE activists, and maintaining troubling ties to individuals later charged in the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme." Sen. Ron Johnson "accused Ellison of encouraging 'trained activists to put themse...

We are heartbroken beyond words by the tragic and senseless loss of our beloved daughter, Hallie Marie. Hallie was a bright light in our lives and in the lives of so many others. She was kind, compassionate, and full of promise. The pain of losing her in this way is something no family should ever have to endure, and we are still struggling to comprehend this unimaginable reality. We want to express our deepest gratitude to our family, friends, and even strangers for the overwhelming outpouring of love, prayers, and support. Your messages, tributes, and acts of kindness have brought us comfort and your prayers are sustaining us as we navigate this difficult journey. We are also thankful to law enforcement for their ongoing efforts. As we grieve and begin the difficult process of laying our daughter to rest, we respectfully ask for privacy from the media during this incredibly painful time. In the midst of this tragedy, we also want to acknowledge the importance of mental health suppor...

When I first read this article , I thought 'who'd want to hire these losers?' The article opens by saying "A quartet of University of Minnesota students chained themselves to a campus building on Friday afternoon to demand the school president declare UMN a sanctuary campus and sever all ties with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, aka ICE." The article then reports that 3 of the 4 activists were arrested. Next,the article reports "According to The Minnesota Daily, the four chained students were joined by two others at Morrill Hall, and represented the groups Young Democratic Socialists of America, Students for Justice in Palestine, and Students for a Democratic Society." What type of employer wants a bunch of disruptive employees that don't respect law enforcement? If you had a business that relied on productivity and innovation, this quartet's resumes would be put at the bottom of the pile. Let's remember that Omar Fateh, 'the Mamdani...

The Daily Caller News Foundation, aka DCNF, is reporting "Removing adolescents’ healthy body parts under the guise of treating gender dysphoria could soon become a 'thing of the past' as doctors reckon with the reality of financial penalties." It's possible that changing the financial incentives for that procedure will stop these mutilations. Further, it's essential that disincentives get put into place. DCNF is also reporting "A detransitioner’s landmark $2 million victory in her malpractice case and the first major medical association’s new opposition to 'gender-affirming' surgeries for minors will force medical professionals to seriously weigh the consequences of offering these procedures, advocates told the Daily Caller News Foundation." Look at how Democrats have euphemized the English language. The word detransitioner suggests that the person initially transitioned. Was there some sort of breakthrough where DNA tranaitioned from XY to ...

Kelly Morrison put on one of the most dishonest performances in the history of Almanac. During the interview, Eric Eskola questioned whether there was an opportunity to pass comprehensive immigration reform. Rep. Morrison replied "I certainly hope so. We're decades in the making of a standstill. As you both know, there was a pretty comprehensive bill that had been negotiated led by a pretty conservative Republican senator from Oklahoma named James Lankford." That's a lovely-sounding story but it's a whopper. While it's fact that Sen. Jim Lankford negotiated a somewhat comprehensive immigration bill, it wasn't comprehensive immigration reform because there a ton of poison pills in the bill. I read the bill. It would've codified into law Joe Biden's open borders policies. Further, the comprehensive immigration bill wasn't required. Within 2 weeks of President Trump getting sworn in, the border crisis was finished. Apparently, Rep. Morrison doesn...

reported A group of Minnesota mayors held a press conference Wednesday to once again urge state government officials to bring change to Minnesota’s finances. The group began as an individual, aka Mayor Purfeerst. Then it grew to 8 mayors from the Brainerd Lakes Area. Then it grew to 241 mayors statewide representing 1,092,129 people. That's about 20% of Minnesota's population. "We are here today to address two issues that are actively harming every hardworking Minnesotan: rampant fraud that continues to drain public trust and taxpayer dollars, as well as the failed economic direction of our state," said Mayor Jackson Purfeerst of Crosslake. The DFL's budgeting impact has been gigantic. Since that first letter more mayors have signed onto a different letter: Additionally, the mayors said they are seeing "businesses struggling to expand, workforce shortages, rising costs, and families choosing to leave Minnesota altogether." Since that letter was publishe...

Alpha News reported "An unsettling scene unfolded on Minneapolis streets over the weekend as anti-ICE activists turned public roadways into impromptu checkpoints and blockades, while Minneapolis police at one point looked on and walked away. It looks like in our system your plates came up as an ICE plate,' an activist said in a video recorded Monday. In another, anti-ICE agitators are seen assaulting reporter Jorge Ventura." The fact that MPD officers didn't help an ICE officer is disgusting. It's one thing for them not to assist this ICE officer. It's another when MPD officers won't enforce Minnesota laws. Alpha New's Genna Gloeb reported "Minneapolis police politely ask anti-ICE protesters blocking a street with recliners and gates to clear the way for emergency vehicles." Then she reported "We have fire trucks and ambulances that might need to get through here.' Protesters argue back. Police just walk away.'" Brian O...

Durig the latest version of Schumer's shutdown, Democrats insist that ICE agents muat stop wearing masks. Republicans are holding firm on this, citing as fact that they need to wear those masks to protect themselves and their families from protesters/rioters. Federal judge Katie Menendez's ruling provides the GOP with the ammunition they sought. In the ruling, Judge Menendez wrote "Defendants also presented evidence broadly discussing how immigration enforcement agents have been met with resistance and, in some cases, threats and violence by protestors." Thanks to this ruling, that claim is no longer just an allegation. It's now a finding of fact. The next time Chuck Schumer or the insufferable Hakeem Jeffries says 'if you've got nothing to hide, take off the mask,' I'd reply that 'my family's life isn't negotiable.' Then I'd add that these supposedly peaceful protesters are the opposite of peaceful. This says it all: "D...