Liberty & Prosperity Blog

I wrote this article in July of 2025 to highlight the bitter rivalllry between the Democrat-FArmer-Labor Party, aka DFL, and the DSA, aka Democrat Socialists of America. In the article, I opined that "This morning, the DFL will attempt to prevent the DSA, aka the Democrat Socialists of America, from getting the DSA candidate endorsed for the mayor's position. Will Omar Fateh, the DSA candidate, get endorsed? Or will Jacob Frey, the DFL candidate, get endorsed to run for a third term? This might be a battle for the ages, the political equivalent of a cage match in wrestling." In this articles , I wrote that the Democrat Socialists of America were attempting a hostile takover of the DFL. According to Marjorie Simon, "The DSA is in the midst of a hostile takeover of the DFL right now. That's the report from Marjorie Simon, a lifelong Democrat. Ms. Simon is quoted as saying 'When Aisha Chughtai became the council member, I noticed a disaster. She is a bona fide ...

During Friday night's Almanac Political roundtable discussion , Cathy Wurzer had coming-out party of sorts. At 8:50 into the video, Cathy Wurzer said "I wanted to ask you, Fritz Knaak, why is the President taking on the Pope?" Not that this is surprising but Cathy Wurzer's bias is shining through. In the past week, President Trump spoke to the Artemis II astronauts right after they came out from behind the dark side of the moon. Then he invited the crew to the White House. After that, President Trump surprirsed the world by shutting the Strait of Hormuz with a naval blockade. That, for all intents and purposes, finished the U.S.-Israel war with Iran. Few military experts saw this coming, especially China's generals and admirals. Unlike Ms. Wurzer, who made light of President Trump, rest assured that Xi Xinping isn't laughing. That's because President Trump has essentially cut off China's cheap oil. With China's economy struggling, China needs cheap...

Minnesota needs a major discussion on preventing Medicaid fraud. The good news is that 2 major parts of eliminating Medicaid fraud have either been eliminated (Jodi Harpstead) or have announced their retirement at the end of this term (Gov. Tim Walz). While I'm thankful that Harpstead and Gov. Walz won't look the other way on fraud, it's still disturbing to know that others will continue their work of fostering an atmosphere of unaccountability. The best way to establish an atmosphere of accountability, in my opinion, is to install Faye Bernstein as Commissioner of Minnesota's Department of Human Services. Faye Bernstein provided emotional testimony at a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee. At the hearing Bernstein said "The retaliation and the smear campaign is strong. I was called everything from incompetent to — a favorite is racist. People who speak about fraud at state agencies, the first thing that leadership goes to is racism. And that is very hard to ...

On Sunday, I wrote a post titled Is the DFL failing K-12 students ? In the post, I quoted from Ben Bakeberg's weekly legislative update . In Principal Bakeberg's weekly legislative update, he wrote 'Over time, we’ve moved away from clear standards and meaningful measures of academic readiness. Teachers are handling more classroom disruptions, and that takes away from students who are there to learn. In some cases, it’s becoming a safety issue. Schools are also being stretched thin and have been for some time. There are roughly 65 mandates coming out of St. Paul that districts are expected to follow, many without funding . That forces schools to shift time and resources just to stay in compliance. Meanwhile, spending continues to grow in areas that don’t reach the classroom like the Minnesota Department of Education." With class sizes already too big, St. Paul is requiring schools statewide to shift manpower away from classrooms to pay for other things. That's down...

For years, Minnesota's campaigns have been about personalities, name recognition and a shortage of political talent. It's impossible to look at Tim Walz or Mark Dayton and think that either have enough talent to be worthy of being elected to anything. On the GOP side of things, Commissioner Jeff Johnson is a good policy guy but lacks personality and fundraising abilities. Tim Pawlenty has ppersonality, was iffy on policy and lacked in fundraising ability. That's because he wasn't a solid, reliable conservative. Important Elections, Big Ideas Important elections require big debates on big ideas. In Minnesota, the biggest issues were Medicaid fraud, License tab fee hikes, property tax hikes, unfunded mandates that caused the property tax hikes and repealing the 2023 DFL Trifecta's $10,000,000,000 tax hike. Each of these listed items contributed to Minnesotans' standard of living. Minnesota's standard of living dropped compared to the Dakotas and Iowa. Red stat...

When Savanah Hernandez was attacked outside the Whipple Federal Building, Alpha News MN was the first to report on the incident. Sunday night, I taped the 10:00 news on KSTP and KARE11 to see if they'd covered the event. Both stations whiffed. Monday night, I checked the Fox9 website and found their article on the incident. They reported "The Hennepin County Sheriff's Office said it was investigating the incident outside the Whipple federal building on Saturday. Deputies said four people will be charged in connection to Saturday's protest. Deputies say three will be charged in connection to the assault of a journalist and a deputy." According to the Fox9 article, "The fourth individual is set to face charges related to gross misdemeanor obstruction with force against a deputy, the sheriff's office adds." I don't know if this family was charged in Mary Moriarty's jurisdiction in Hennepin County. I'm certain, though, that Assistant AG Harm...

It's apparent that the DFL and their anti-ICE militants won't back down from their harassment of anyone associated with ICE or who is rtporting the truth about the anti-ICE militants. According to Alpha News's reporting, "Turning Point USA (TPUSA) reporter Savanah Hernandez was assaulted by multiple protesters on Saturday outside the Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis during continued anti-ICE demonstrations at the location, video from the incident shows. Hernandez said she was on site to capture B-roll footage from Whipple and wasn’t there to interact with or interview anyone." That's verified by videotaped footage from the Whipple Federal Building . That footage includes multiple people hitting Ms. Hernandez or violently harassing her. This wasn't First Amendment-protected speech. This was violence. This tweet highlights the violence visited upon Ms. Hernandez at the Whipple Building: BREAKING - One of the men who attacked conservative journalist ...

Earlier this week, Gov. Walz published a tweet bragging how Minnesota's K-12 graduation rate had hit a new record high for the second straight year. It didn't take long to discredit Gov. Walz's bragging. I did that in this article , which cites as fact "State assessment data shows reading and math scores have largely stagnated since testing resumed in 2022 (following a pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic), with little improvement through 2025." Ben Bakeberg is the principal of the middle school in Jordan, MN. He's also the GOP Co-Chair of the House K-12 Finance Committee. Each week, he sends out a legislative update telling his constituents what happened that week. This week, he wrote "This week, the Governor and legislative Democrats took a victory lap over Minnesota’s high school graduation rate, now just under 85 percent for the 2025 class. We should continue to push for more student success while ensuring the diploma students receive retains its value...

Since the DFL is intent on obstructing each piece of legislation that'd help families, Minnesota's House Republicans are proposing a state-record pro-family tax cut . By contrast, DFL politicians promised Minnesotans a $2,000 Walz check. That year, the DFL spent the entire $18,000,000,000 projected surplus, then raised license tab fees and other taxes by another $10,000,000,000. The DFL didn't help families. Instead, the DFL helped bureaucrats. Let's get into the article. The article reports "Minnesota House Republicans unveiled a budget proposal that would deliver the largest tax cut in state history, while reprioritizing state spending. The plan, dubbed the 'North Star Comeback,' includes $3.8 billion in tax reductions and is built around three priorities: protecting family budgets, making government work and creating a working-class economy." The DFL is certain to vote this pro-family tax plan into oblivion because a) DFL politicians are pro-family ...

Anyone that's paid attention to this year's legislature has noticed that the House DFL morph into the NO PARTY! On bill after bill, on vote after vote, the vote for GOP bills is 67-67 on the final vote or 7-7 in committee. Walter Hudson's latest legislative update highlights the DFL's obstructionist habits perfectly. It opens by saying "This week, House Republicans attempted to advance three bills aimed at protecting safe and fair competition in girls sports. Simply declaring that biological males cannot play girls sports should not be controversial, but House Democrats went ahead and sided with the radicals by blocking all three bills." Apparently, the DFL isn't interested in protecting teenage girls from teenage boys. Parents, how much do you trust teenage boys using the same locker room or same bathroom with your teenage daughter? Let's put it differently. How many boys who identify as a girl are scamming the authorities to stare at young girls? ...

The nation knows that Tim Walz is a self-described "knucklehead." They know that because a) Kamala Harris made a major mistake in picking him as her running mate on the Democrat ticket in 2024 and b) he admitted that during that year's Vice-Presidential Debate. According to this Alpha News article , he might obtain another title. That title might be criminal. While I don't think that'll happen, it makes me smile just thinking about the possibility. The article starts by saying "A watchdog group is asking U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to review Gov. Tim Walz’s response to the federal government’s recent immigration enforcement efforts in Minnesota and determine any 'military-related punishment that should be administered.'" It continues, saying "In January, Walz was among several Minnesota officials who were subpoenaed by the U.S. Department of Justice as part of an investigation into whether he obstructed immigration enforcement efforts...

Apparently, 3 things are obvious. First, DFL politicians are stupid beyond belief. Next, DFL politicians hate teenage girls. Why else would House DFL representatives vote to keep boys competing with teenage girls? Third, it's apparent that DFL politicians took too many activist classes in high school while not taking any high school biology classes. Anyone who'se taken a high school biology class knows that people born with 2 X chromosomes are females. It doesn't take Elon Musk or one of the Artemis II astronauts to figure that out. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that a DFL politician who votes to keep boys playing in girls' sports is an ideological nutjob. Despite the fact that there isn't a high percentantage of boys participating in girls' sports, the DFL keeps voting in lockstep against girls. Here's a question for parents that needs to be asked. Do you trust a teenage boy sharing a bathroom or locker room with your daughter? The article rep...

I'm old enough to remember when license tabs fees dropped in price each year. I even remember when tabs were cheaper than your car payment. I'm betting that you're old enough to remember those times, too. Thanks to the 2023 DFL Trifecta, which spent the entire projected $18,000,000,000 surplus then raised taxes and fees by another $10,000,000,000, the days of affordable license tab fees are history and then some. When the House GOP tried returning to the pre-Trifecta prices, the DFL (this is rich) accused the House GOP of "blowing a $740,000,000 hole in the surplus." Let's compare a $740 million hole with a $28 BILLION HOLE in the 2023 surplus. The DFL Trifecta hole of $28,000,000,000 is 38 times larger than the PROJECTED $740,000,000 hole. And the DFL is LECTURING THE GOP ABOUT AFFORDABILITY?? The reason I'm writing about this is because of this Alpha News article . It reports "A 25-year veteran of vehicle sales in central Minnesota says customers...

When Tim Walz published this tweet , he intended to brag about Minnesota. Instead, he highlighted a failure in K-12 education. He wrote "Minnesota’s graduation rates just reached another record high. From day one, we set out to build a better future for our students. I’m proud that every student who receives that diploma is better equipped to build a future they feel excited about." This Alpha News article slams the door on Gov. Walz's bragging in a NY split-second. The article opens by saying "Minnesota high school graduation rates hit a record high for the second straight year, even as test scores show little recovery from pandemic-era learning loss. New data from the Minnesota Department of Education shows the class of 2025 recorded a four-year graduation rate of 84.9%, the highest in recorded state history and an increase of 0.7% from the previous year’s record." That's nice happy talk but it won't eliminate this real-world reality: But academic p...

Apparently, Sen. Amy Klobuchar needs to get permission from Education Minnesota to see if it's ok to help K-12 students . Sen. Klobuchar is running for governor for Minnesota, a job that REQUIRES decision-making skills. This is different from Sen. Klobuchar's question-ducking skill. Apparently, Sen. Klobuchar's question-ducking ability is greater than her decision-making ability. According to the article, "Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a candidate for Minnesota governor, is silent on whether she would opt Minnesota into a federal tax credit program that could generate millions of new dollars for the state’s K-12 students. Why is she silent? According to the article, "Last year, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act created a federal tax credit which gives individuals a dollar-for-dollar reduction in their federal tax bill up to $1,700. In order to qualify for the tax credit, a taxpayer must donate to a scholarship-granting organization (SGO)." The money doesn't come out...

Anyone that thinks that the U.S. and Israel won't start dropping bombs on Iran shortly before or shortly after 8:00 PM EDT is kidding themselves. Pakistan's latest proposal is filled with uncertainty. CNBC reports "Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday asked President Donald Trump for a two-week extension of his threat to wipe out the 'whole civilization' of Iran unless Tehran strikes a deal that includes reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Sharif in an X post also asked Iran’s leadership to agree to open up the strait for two weeks 'as a goodwill gesture.'" Based on this wording, it sounds like Iran hasn't agreed to the proposal. I'm not certain they've even talked with Pakistan about it. At this point, why would President Trump agree to something that I'd view more as a Hail Mary pass than as a serious proposal. Further, President Trump sits in the power position right now. "We also urge all warring parties to observe a...

Monday afternoon's press conference was inspirational on a host of different fronts. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth made the most of his moment, highlighting as fact that he's a man of deep faith. Secretary Hegseth said "You see—shot down on a Friday, Good Friday—hidden in a cave, a crevice, all of Saturday—and rescued on Sunday, flown out of Iran as the sun was rising on Easter Sunday." Personally, I had chill-bumps when he said that. Other than President Trump, Secretary Hegseth is the most-hated man in this administration. It isn't that people hate Godly men. It isn't that people hate the military. It's that people hate the media's intentionally dishonest depictions of this administration. Secretary Hegseth also said "The United States military has once again proved why we possess the greatest fighting force the world has ever known. In two extraordinary combat search-and-rescue operations deep inside enemy territory in Iran, our warriors execu...

It's pretty obvious that Rahm Emanuel is still living in the past when Barack Obama, his former boss, was still considered electric and a great orator. Obama, though, has a major problem in that his policies are mostly worthless, starting with the Unaffordable Care Act. Emanuel has an Obama-sized millstone tied around his neck over Obamacare. It was Emanuel who said " never let a crisis go to waste ." That's how we got Obamacare shoved down our throats. I can't say that Obamacare is a total waste. I'm confident, though, that it's hurt more than it's helped. Mark Shepard, Harvard Kennedy School associate professor of public policy, is quoted as saying "It’s true that this shutdown fight is about a seemingly technical issue: whether to extend more generous 'enhanced' health insurance subsidies that have been in place since 2021. If Congress doesn’t act, those subsidies will expire at the end of this year, and out-of-pocket insurance premium...

Happy Easter everyone. While today is a fun day for little kids on Easter Egg hunts, Easter remains all about Jesus' resurrection. My favorite Bible account of Christ's crucifixion, death and resurrection is from Luke's Gospel. The Repentant Sinner's Crucifixion : Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, [j]“If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us." But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, "Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong." Then he said to Jesus, "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom." And Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise." Jesus Dies on the Cross Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was t...

It took a little time. I'm betting that there were lots of tense moments. When it was over, though, I'm betting that the people involved in the rescue mission experienced the adrenaline rush of a lifetime . Jennifer Griffin broke the story that "The CIA launched a 'deception campaign' inside Iran before the Pentagon initiated its rescue mission for a missing U.S. weapons systems officer, Fox News has learned. Before the service member was found, the CIA spread word inside Iran that U.S. forces had already located the missing colonel and were moving him on the ground for exfiltration, Fox News' Jennifer Griffin reported, citing a senior administration official." The article continues, saying "Griffin reported that while Iranian forces were confused and uncertain about what was happening, the CIA used its “unique, exquisite capabilities” to locate the American service member. She described the effort as 'like looking for a needle in a haystack,'...

The clock is ticking on Iran's existence. So says Donald Trump in the Hill via his Truth Social Post. Specifically, he said "Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT. Time is running out - 48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them. Glory be to GOD! President DONALD J. TRUMP". I'm betting that Iran will ignore President Trump's warning. That's Iran's problem. They think that if they die as a martyr for Allah, they'll be rewarded with 72 virgins in Heaven. On that, they are wrong. They're worshiping the wrong god. If Iran thinks that Presiddent Trump is bluffing, that's a terrible bet. Haven't they learned from Operation Midnight Hammer? Apparently, Iran didn't learn from Trump's bombing of Qassim Soleimani. That's their crisis. “IT IS TIME FOR IRAN TO MAKE A DEAL BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE, AND THERE IS NOTHING LEFT OF WHAT STILL COULD BECOME A GREAT COUNTRY!” Trump wrote on Truth Social ...

It isn't a secret that communists want to take over the U.S. They've been planning a hostile takeover for years. They've seen the U.S. as the personification of evil since the Russian people rejected Soviet oppression in exchange for American rights and liberties in the early 1990s. It's historical fact that President Putin thinks that the collapse of the Soviet Union was a tragedy . He's quoted as saying "It was a disintegration of historical Russia under the name of the Soviet Union. We turned into a completely different country. And what had been built up over 1,000 years was largely lost." The DSA is in the midst of a hostile takeover of the DFL right now. That's the report from Marjorie Simon , a lifelong Democrat. Ms. Simon is quoted as saying "When Aisha Chughtai became the council member, I noticed a disaster. She is a bona fide member of the Democratic Socialists of America. She doesn’t like to respond to emails or calls or voicemails or ...

It looks like Schumer's Shutdown will soon come to its finish line. That means Democrats will take credit for a bill that Senate Democrats initially proposed. Democrats will break their arms praising themselves about that. First, Thune and Johnson will follow a 2-track process to fully fund the Department of Homeland Security. Speaker Johnson and Leader Thune issued this blistering joint statement through Speaker Johnson's Twitter account. The key part said "In the coming days, Republicans in the Senate and House will be following through on the President’s directive by fully funding the entire Department of Homeland Security on two parallel tracks: through the appropriations process and through the reconciliation process." If I understand this correctly, the House will accept the Senate Democrats' bill that will fund most of the Department of Homeland Security. The exceptions are that the Democrats' bill wouldn't fund "ICE and Customs and Border P...

Just when I thought I could move on from the Cities Church Invasion , Alpha News runs an article like this that start the negative emotions flowing again. According to the article, "Attendees of Cities Church in St. Paul continue to be harassed by anti-ICE protesters every Sunday when they attend worship services, a churchgoer recently told Crime Watch Minneapolis." Then it continues, saying "Cities Church was invaded by an anti-ICE mob on Jan. 18 when individuals halted the service and encircled churchgoers and pastors, screaming chants and recording." I'm thankful that these Cities Church parishioners have taken the turn-the-other-cheek approach in dealing with these low-lifes. Who are these low-lifes with no integrity? I'm thankful you asked that. Again, according to the article, "The mob, led by activist Nekima Levy Armstrong and St. Paul school board member Chauntyll Allen, entered the sanctuary after the sermon began and interrupted lead pastor J...

While I wish I could say that President Trump's address to the nation about the status of the Iran War was all positivity, I can't do that without crippling my integrity. My reputation and integrity would still be higher than CNN's, but it would still take hit. According to the transcript of President Trump's speech , he opened by saying "As we speak this evening, it’s been just one month since the United States military began Operation Epic Fury, targeting the world’s No. 1 state sponsor of terror, Iran. In these past four weeks, our armed forces have delivered swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield. Victories like few people have ever seen before. Tonight, Iran’s navy is gone. Their air force is in ruins. Their leaders, most of them, terrorist regime, they led, are now dead. Their command and control of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is being decimated as we speak. Their ability to launch missiles and drones is dramatically curtailed. A...

It's patently obvious that the DFL realizes that they can't compete with the GOP on the issue of education. That's because they're owned by Education Minnesota, the biggest teachers union in Minnesota. Think of Education Minnesota as the puppeteer. Think of the DFL as the puppet. This article highlights the EdMinn/DFL relationship perfectly. According to the article, "Last year, federal lawmakers created a tax credit which gives taxpayers a dollar-for-dollar reduction in their tax federal tax bill if they donate to a scholarship-granting organization (SGO). An SGO is a nonprofit that gives education-related scholarships to K-12 students. The tax credit goes up to $1,700, meaning a taxpayer can donate $1,700 to an SGO and receive an identical reduction in their federal tax bill. Funds given out by SGOs could be used for private school tuition or eligible expenses at public schools." It's a great idea. Why shouldn't society establish a scholarship fund ...