Category: President Trump’s Actions

Mr. President, I Wish…”

March 20, 2020

This isn’t “Make-a-Wish” Day. Maybe it should be.

I’ve heard this from numerous of my conservative friends, relatives, and, of course, from numerous anti-Trumpsters: “I wish President Trump would just tone down his rhetoric. Presidents aren’t supposed to speak as he does. And he doesn’t seem ‘Presidential.'”

One thing I know, he doesn’t do anything I have seen accidentally — it always purposeful. But that’s a story for another day. Let’s just imagine we can change that in him: “I Wish, Mr. President, you would start sounding more Presidential!”

Every American, whether a Trump supporter or an opponent, hear things said by President Trump that act like a sharp stick in the eye. When hearing those, some go crazy, some are merely disappointed, but many Americans feel some of what he says hurts him — not what he says, but many times it’s the context in which they are told or how he says them.

Let’s face it: he’s been a very successful business tycoon. Many will argue that point, but he built an empire mainly on his own. Yes, just as happens to almost every entrepreneur, there are often problems in structuring and operating after implementation that cause significant difficulties. In business, sometimes such challenges make the business enterprise unviable. There’s no successful entrepreneur that will disagree with that.

Being President is a bit different. President Trump is learning that. Many Americans are accustomed to past presidents who were proficient at giving speeches using the art of “political correctness” in their speeches. In interviews, especially with the Media, presidents like Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George H.W. Bush exhibited such correctness. Donald Trump adopted a significantly different process in his communications.

When giving a speech with the use of a teleprompter, Mr. Trump’s delivery is usually calm, direct, and proficient. When off script, the President almost always delivers his message to those to whom he is speaking in a manner vastly different from a politically correct perspective.

Personal Insults

President Trump has a an itch which he loves to scratch naming folks he’s not particularly fond of. Take, for instance, his opponents for President.

  • Joe Biden

Within hours of Joe Biden’s announcement, Trump dubbed the 76-year-old former vice president, “Sleepy Joe,” and called him someone whose “intelligence” had been “long in doubt.”

Weeks later, Trump amended the nickname ever so slightly, dubbing Biden “SleepyCreepy Joe.”

Trump insulted Biden as “another low I.Q. individual” after the former Delaware senator accidentally admitted he was going to run for president, and then corrected himself.

  • Elizabeth Warren

Trump has repeatedly used the slur “Pocahontas” against Warren, dating back to the 2016 presidential race, when the Massachusetts senator emerged as a fierce critic of Trump. He also slammed her as “goofy Elizabeth Warren.”

  • Mayor Pete Buttigieg

“Alfred E. Neuman cannot become president of the United States,” Trump told Politico in an interview about Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

  • NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio

“De Blasio Trump tweeted, “is the worst mayor in the U.S.” and “a joke,” adding that “NYC HATES HIM!”

  • Carly Fiorina

Trump said of his former Republican primary competitor, Carly Fiorina: “Look at that face, would anyone vote for that?”

  • Cher

Trump said of Cher: “Stop with the bad plastic surgery.”

There are many, many more who bear nicknames with which he branded on them. Some will wear their names permanently, like “Pocahontas” for Warren, “Mini-Mike” for Michael Bloomberg and “Low Energy Jeb” for Jeb Bush.

Fake News

The mainstream news media has been the perpetual thorn in Mr. Trump’s flesh since he declared his run for the presidency. We all remember the laughs on the evening talk shows, morning news shows, and even the comedy shows during the 2016 campaign. None could fathom a scenario in which they saw Donald Trump as a candidate, yet alone as President. Who can forget when Conservative author Ann Coulter responded to Bill Marr’s question at the very beginning of the campaign cycle, “Whch presidential candidate do you picture winning the presidency in 2016?” Coulter immediately responded, “Of those already running? Donald Trump!” Marr, every one of his guests along with his entire studio audience, doubled-over with laughter.

When Trump won, the media ratcheted up their rhetoric, their jabs, and jokes about and against President Trump. After all, he not only defeated Hillary Clinton — their “Anointed One” — in doing so he  blew a huge hole in the bottom of the Democrat Party Ship set to take the Obama Administration’s plans to the next level under Hillary: Socialism. The media factored heavily in the policy-making and White House voicing during the Obama years. With Trump, they saw their inside track for all things politics obliterated. So they set out to diminish the President in every way possible.

We will not go into details: we all know hundreds (if not thousands) of instances where their animus, disdain, and certain goals have been illustrated in news reports since his election. Our basic premise is that this media, for the most part, do not like President Trump. Subsequently, much of their reporting is nasty, often untrue (or slanted negatively) and nasty about Mr. Trump and his family.

So he responds. He calls them out. He invented and presented the media with his name for them: “Fake News.” On the most part and most of the time, his doing so about specific stories are appropriate — unfortunately for the Nation.

Many, if not most Americans would love for President Trump to lighten-up on the press. Many feel that the way he handles talking to and about the media is crass and unnecessary. Although they love his policies and their results, Americans would love for the President to soften his tone with the media. I doubt that will happen.

When he recently left the White House headed to Marine One going somewhere out of town, he, as usual, stopped to talk to the White House media. One reporter asked, “Mr. President, will you consider stopping with your tag of ‘Fake News’?” The President responded in two parts: “I can’t do that. Most of the news about my administration and the things that we are doing are mentioned untruthfully in the press. Not all in the media use fake news about us. But most do.”

The reporter followed up with this: “But, Mr. President, Americans don’t understand why you put names on everybody: people you don’t like, people in the media, even leading newspapers in the country. Isn’t that important enough for you to consider stopping?”

The President’s response (paraphrased): “Some Americans don’t understand, but many do. The media is NOT going to put our message out in the public: our good economy, our trade deals, unemployment, new jobs, corporate expansion, and tax cuts. I want Americans to know about all these and other good things that have happened in our Administration. Because the Fake News doesn’t report on those things, I’m the only one who can get it all out there. That’s why I use Twitter so much. My message goes to millions of Americans on Twitter without being filtered, misreported, or just flat lied about.”

Who can forget this happening in the White House:

He has a point! CNN’s Jim Acosta demonstrated the very worst of today’s media in that White House briefing.

Good News

Let’s be honest: this media is horrid to President Trump. Non-partisan media monitor groups have audited every news outlet numerous times and reported this: news about Mr. Trump in most cases has been negative more than 90% of the time — and in some cases 95% of the time. Much of their reporting has been incorrect, misrepresented, and sometimes just downright false.

I’m a journalist. There has NEVER been a time when so many “reputable” news sources like the Washington Post, New York Times, ABC, CBS, NBC, and even the Wall Street Journal have withdrawn stories about the President — sometimes with a formal retraction, sometimes by just editing and re-releasing stories. I know factually that process happens ONLY when the editor of any of those stories approves its written or electronic details as presented. That happens only when those editors wish to discredit Mr. Trump.

Why is that so? Read the line at the beginning of this article that states: “The media factored heavily in the policy-making and White House voicing during the Obama years. With Trump, they saw their inside track for all things politics stomped out. So they set out to diminish the President in every way possible.”

“I Wish…”

In a perfect world, those who support President Trump but would really enjoy seeing moderation in his messaging, would in large part utter a collective sigh “IF” the President tamped it down. In closing this today, why don’t we list a few of our “I Wishes” about and to President Trump.

“I Wish…”

  • The Media would collectively begin to tell the truth about ALL things “Trump” — both good and bad.
  • The Media would stop narrating with their “political perspectives”  in news stories or newscasts and would simply just give us the news! Wouldn’t it be wonderful if they did so trusting that Americans are smart enough to figure things out on our own?
  • The Media would give the credit due Mr. Trump and this Administration for each of their monumental accomplishments during the past 3.5 years for the American people. NO other President has achieved such results in such a short time.
  • The Media would callout all those on the Left and those on the Right — EVERYBODY — guilty of publishing reports termed “news” that are incorrect, sourced incorrectly or not at all, and force each other to be real journalists and reclaim the attribute of journalists that existed for 200 years that this crop of reporters threw away: INTEGRITY AND TRUTH IN REPORTING.
  • The President would continue to speak to Americans the way he has for the past two weeks. He has softened his messaging, calmed his delivery, and has seldom uttered the negative words and names he has used incessantly during his first 3.5 years. It’s important to mention this: much of what we are seeing and hearing from his own mouth and those of the members of his Coronavirus tactical team would certainly have been translated into “politispeak” by the media in reporting the content of these daily briefings, IF they were not televised live. That is the primary reason Mr. Trump has contributed heavily in almost all of those daily reports. I wish he did not feel it necessary to do so for that reason.

Summary

I predict Donald Trump will win the November election. There: you have me on record!

Some will say, “Dan, aren’t you fearful that the Left will hang the economic downturn experienced during the Coronavirus pandemic on the President? Won’t they hammer through all of their reporting that he didn’t know what he was doing, he didn’t prepare sufficiently to prevent further spread of the virus and the death of so many Americans?”

Here’s what I know: the undergirding of the American economy is such that has not been experienced at any other time in my 66 years. It’s strong, it’s wide, and it’s deep. With the measures the President has already ordered that have and are being implemented right now along with those still on the drawing board, Americans will beat Coronavirus!

Because of the huge growth in the economy, the losses that have happened primarily from fear in the marketplace will NOT kill the economy. In fact, I predict during the six months immediately following the end of this pandemic, the U.S. economy will soar again — but to NEW HEIGHTS! The facts show how this never-before-seen economy happened on his watch. That cannot be credibly disputed.

Sit back and relax. Yes, we are in a horrible time. Yes, people will get sick and people will die. Few remember that in 2009, 16 million Americans were infected with H1N1 and 1000 died. Let’s pray (and I believe) we will not see Coronavirus even remotely close to those numbers.

Hey, when Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) said this about President Trump: “Politics aside, this is incredible and the right response in this critical time,” WE KNOW HE MUST BE ON THE RIGHT TRACK!

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Is Coronavirus Taking Over Earth? Dr. Drew Weighs In

March 1, 2020

So it’s either President Trump, and the members of his Coronavirus White House advisory group are all wrong, OR the hoards of media pundits from coast to coast are wrong. Do you want to bet which group is?

I’ll answer that with another question: When someone screams over and over again that they did not do “it” and that someone they’re screaming about really did “it,” who usually did “it?”

Regarding the coronavirus and who is responsible, who is screaming the loudest: Democrats or the Media? 

Maybe — just maybe — they’re the same! Remember: we have felt for a long time that the Mainstream Media have allowed themselves to become the “unofficial” media arm of the Democrat Party. That may not be an assumption anymore.

I often feel that when Nancy Pelosi accidentally breaks wind during a speech, Anderson Cooper quickly says, “Excuse me!”

It’s that bad.

Democrats Have the Answers

Democrats on Capitol Hill and campaigns across the country are telegraphing their next big move. They are watching the coronavirus outbreak in the United States and working with their media proxies to spin this crisis in the minds of Americans as President Trump’s fault. Every statement regarding the virus will have the President’s name and his responses to the disease attached to it, and it will be painted in a negative light. Meanwhile, the true culprits who sparked this soon-to-be pandemic — China’s Communist Party — get a pass in the eyes of Democrats and the media.

The level of propaganda regarding this outbreak is going far beyond their previous efforts to take down President Trump, which is saying a lot considering they’ve kept the anti-Trump volume at 11 for over three years. But they have a few significant problems, not the least of which is their need for the coronavirus to take a very nasty turn in our nation. It’s arguably the most disgusting aspect of modern American politics that opposition parties must inwardly (and sometimes outwardly) cheer for disaster to harm their political rivals.

Their biggest problem is, of course, fighting the facts. The President was lambasted by Democrats and the press when he initiated the travel ban from China. They called it a “racist” move that was premature. Of course, there were no retractions or apologies when the wisdom of his move become evident. They simply moved on and found a new angle from which to attack. Then, the President asked for $2.5 billion to fight the virus, at which point Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said it was insufficient. As Speaker of the House, she has more control over the nation’s purse strings than anyone else. The President responded to her in a speech regarding the coronavirus. He stated that if she thought it was insufficient, she has the power to allocate more.

The economy is another significant risk factor for the President as it’s probably his most significant selling point for reelection. The coronavirus is in the process of creating massive damaging of the world economy, including ours. There’s no way to know where the “coronavirus bottom” of the Stock Market and other economic measures is. Supply lines have been affected dramatically already. The stock market is plunging. Democrats and their media allies are being careful not to blame this side-effect on the President yet, but they’re keeping their eyes on it. Any moves the President makes to turn things around will be instantly labeled ineffective in the Left’s efforts to create a “We told you so” prophecy. In times of crisis, the sentiment is the most prominent driving force behind major rises and falls of economic indicators, and the Left will try to keep everyone scared.

But there’s a problem with this for Democrats. Most economists have been expecting the economy to slow dramatically at some point soon. We’ve never experienced sustained growth for this long, and a downturn has been due, even if only as a significant market correction. Well, here it is. It’s the one silver lining regarding the coronavirus, at least from the President’s perspective. A downturn caused by an act of God followed by a rebound leading into the November elections is an ideal scenario for the President politically. One of the biggest risks to his reelection hopes was an ill-timed downturn with no outside factors making it happen. If the coronavirus can be contained or eliminated by late spring or early summer, the President can ride the growth that follows as a testament to his economic leadership despite a disaster. Don’t think that this thought has been lost on Democrat Party Leadership. They have, on multiple occasions, watched as they seem to have President Trump in a trap from which escape was impossible. He finds victory in every one of those so far!

If the coronavirus is contained, the economy rebounds nicely, and the fears of the people go away, it will be challenging for Democrats to claim it happened despite the President when they’re busy pinning all of the blame for it ahead of time. They’ll still try, but they’re giving Republicans plenty of ammunition to demonstrate their hypocrisy when general election season ramps up.

Democrats and the media want Americans to think of this outbreak as the “Trumpvirus” or “Corona-Gate.” Their doing so is indeed ridiculous, but it’s the best election option they have right now. Hopefully, Americans will recognize the ridiculousness of the claim.

Hollywood

And then there’s Hollywood. Nowhere else in the world is there a group of people who live in one of two small regions of a country. And those in those two regions all think exactly alike. Every member of that group is in locked-step with every other member regarding one specific thing: Donald Trump is evil.

It’s Hollywood! And they are quick to put 100% of the blame of coronavirus at the feet of Donald Trump.

51-year-old actress Debra Messing took to Twitter in response to a Washington Post article claiming the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is poised to cut its global disease prevention efforts by 80 percent.

“THIS is why Trump MUST GO! He puts Americans in mortal danger,” the “Will and Grace” actress tweeted while sharing a link to the article.

Debra Messing

But, “Uh-Oh!” There’s a problem with Ms. Messing’s angry tweet. The article is dated Feb. 1, 2018, and the CDC statistic is old news and never happened!

(By the way: Democratic presidential hopefuls Mike Bloomberg and Joe Biden have recently made similar erroneous claims that Trump cut funding for the CDC)

Actors like Matt Damon, Amy Schumer, Amber Rose, Margaret Cho, Chelsea Handler, Shakira, George Clooney, Ashley Judd, George Takei, Jennifer Lawrence, Eva Longoria, Lena Dunham, John Legend, Chrissy Teigen, Andy Cohen, Ariel Winter, Chris Evans, Johnny Depp and Cher are all rabid Trump-haters. To a person, they have blamed this president for not acting timely regarding the coronavirus “epidemic” — which it is not — and refusing to let experts take control of “all things corona” to make certain the “right” people are making the decisions to protect us all. And that list is a concise list of those in Hollywood that are willing to let Earth dissolve if that will help put Donald Trump out of office! (That may be a slight exaggeration — Nah, it’s not!)

Virus “Hater-in-Chief”

President Trump on Saturday rejected reports that Dr. Anthony Fauci — the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases — was muzzled from speaking to the public about the dangers of the coronavirus.
The New York Times on Thursday reported that Fauci had been instructed by the White House not to say anything else without clearance after he had said the virus had adapted well to human species and had a higher mortality rate than influenza. Fauci responded:

 

We could give you example after example of the media taking what seem to be coordinated shots at President Trump about every aspect of his responses to coronavirus. Those shots come in print primarily from the Washington Post and New York Times. Broadcast and Cable news seem to all be complicit with MSNBC and CNN taking point.

Summary

It would be easy to spend scads of your time giving an example after example of the unified vitriol of Democrats and the Media regarding Mr. Trump and coronavirus. But none of this should be a surprise to any. Before his inauguration, similar attacks had begun and have continued without pause. I expect they will continue until long after he leaves office. He is today and probably will be remembered as being the most attacked president by members of the opposition party using coordinated messaging with the Media. That’s sad.

Do you know what is the saddest? There should be NO partisan divide in anything to do with coronavirus. Millions of Americans could very well be directly affected. Billions of people around the world can as well. We all should unify in taking care of those who have been exposed, finding a vaccine to stop its spread, and crafting unified worldwide methods to mitigate damages that result from its spreading from those who have been exposed but yet don’t know that.

Instead, we scream at each other. No one can say it better than as did Dr. Drew:

There’s no need to discuss anymore. Democrats are going to say what they wish to say with no concern for its impact on Americans. The Media will be the messengers for the Democrats. Who is lost in all that? Americans are pummeled with false news reports around the clock. And nothing gets accomplished by their party or the media towards stopping coronavirus!

Whoever in the Democrat Party said they are “all about stopping coronavirus” were not telling the WHOLE truth. That sentence should continue, “…while making certain Donald Trump receives blame for every negative event that occurs during the coronavirus epidemic, regardless of that being true or not.”

That’s the nation in which we live, unfortunately.

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And You Just Thought Adam Schiff Was Evil

February 22, 2020

If you wish to hear today’s podcast, click on this link. (Our hosting company has a temporary technical glitch)

https://truthnewsnet.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/And-You-Thought-Adam-Schiff-was-Evil-22120-9.06-PM-1.mp3

If you’re a regular at TruthNewsNetwork, you already know our stance regarding Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA): NOT because he’s a Democrat, NOT because he’s from California, and NOT because he’s a Congressional heavyweight. Our opposition to Mr. Schiff is because of his dishonesty, mischaracterizations of the Law, his disdain for every American who disagrees with him, and his eagerness to twist the Law in continued efforts to use it to defend his political positions.

His February 21st Op-Ed in the Los Angeles Times confirms our animus for Rep. Schiff. There’s no better way to illustrate our concerns than to let all read Mr. Schiff’s own words on President Trump. Here’s his letter from the LA Times:

“The impeachment trial of President Trump has ended, but the threat to our democracy continues. In the short time since the trial concluded, the president has proven that the House managers’ warning to senators that he will never change was prescient. President Trump’s actions demonstrate the need to develop and pass legislative reforms to safeguard the checks and balances of our democracy. Building new guardrails to defend against authoritarian-minded presidents must now be a top priority for Congress.

Within days of the Senate vote, Trump began to exact revenge against officials who complied with lawful subpoenas and told the truth to Congress. He had a security escort remove Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a decorated combat veteran, from the White House’s National Security Council, along with his twin brother, who served as an ethics attorney. The president’s vengeance against civil servants is disturbing enough, but it occurred alongside an even greater danger that has come into sharper focus this week: the politicization and potential weaponization of the Department of Justice. Trump insists he has the absolute right to direct the actions of the department. His efforts to obstruct investigations into his own misconduct and that of his associates — firing FBI Director James B. Comey, seeking to fire Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III and much more — are well documented. And now, the president has found his Roy Cohn in Atty. Gen. William Barr, who has shown himself willing to be the president’s political fixer and do his bidding at the expense of the department’s independence.

The severity of the threat to our democracy was made plain last week in a succession of troubling actions by the Justice Department.

Last Monday, the department recommended that Roger Stone, the president’s longtime political advisor, and self-proclaimed “dirty trickster,” be sentenced according to standard federal guidelines for the serious crimes he committed. Mr. Stone was convicted last year on seven charges related to lying to Congress about his dealings with the president and WikiLeaks — the platform publishing Russian hacked emails beneficial to the Trump campaign — and witness tampering. Late that same evening, the president tweeted in outrage, calling the recommendation “a miscarriage of justice.” The next morning, at Barr’s urging, the department reversed course and recommended a more lenient sentence, using language so unusual for the DOJ that it looked like it could have been written by Stone himself.

Barr claims he had planned to intervene in the case before reading the president’s tweet, but he does not deny his personal involvement. It is exceedingly rare for attorneys general to overrule the sentencing recommendation of their career prosecutors. Doing so in a case involving the president’s own wrongdoing may be unprecedented. As a result, the career prosecutors on the case demonstrated something in short supply in the White House but abundant among public servants — moral courage. One by one, they withdrew from the case, and one resigned altogether.

By the end of the week, reports emerged that Barr had ordered the review of other “politically sensitive” criminal cases, including that of President Trump’s former national security advisor, Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators to cover up the nature of his own interactions with the Russians. This follows yet another Barr-ordered review intended to sow doubt about intelligence community findings that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to help then-candidate Trump, and a nearly successful effort to cover up the whistleblower complaint that ultimately led to Trump’s impeachment.

These interventions by Barr to benefit the president have profound implications for the rule of law and our democracy. With a willing attorney general and compliant congressional Republicans, Trump is attempting to utilize the instruments of justice for his political benefit, something that would give him immense power to punish and harass his political opponents and protect his friends. We cannot let that succeed. Institutions are only as strong as the people who protect them. Public servants, at personal cost, stepped forward in the impeachment inquiry and in the wake of the Stone sentencing reversal. Judges have also demonstrated a vital independence from this lawless president. Congress must also do its part through vigorous oversight, and also by enacting a new set of reforms to prevent presidential abuses akin to those passed after Watergate. Work on these is already underway. The president has continually taken advantage of the slow judicial review process to delay oversight of his administration. In response, Congress should enact legislation to expedite judicial review of congressional subpoenas, an idea House Republicans favored unanimously under President Obama.

There is also a clear need to legislate a stronger firewall between the Department of Justice and the White House, one secured by more than regulations or norms. One first step was introduced by my fellow House impeachment manager, Hakeem Jeffries, to require logging and disclosure of White House contacts with DOJ. But more will be required to prevent an unethical president from initiating or interfering in cases that involve the president’s enemies, allies or family members. Along these lines, I have introduced legislation to constrain the abuse of the pardon power. President Trump has repeatedly dangled pardons to his associates as they face federal criminal investigations. The bill would ensure that in the event, the president issues a pardon in a case related to him or his family members, the complete investigative files would be provided to Congress to ensure he could not obtain the corrupt benefit of covering up his own misconduct.

Some of these reforms may not become law while Trump remains in office, but that must not stop us from getting started. The future of our democracy depends on it.”

Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) represents California’s 28th Congressional District in the House of Representatives, where he serves as chairman of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

Analysis

Our record of many of Schiff’s historical lies to Americans and in Congressional hearings are documented. There will be no re-hashing of those previous events and our conclusions. We know you’re familiar with those and we want to honor your time in this discussion today. But his comments in this LA Times opinion letter are so outrageous and untruthful they scream for a truthful response. I’ll be brief: (Schiff’s words are in red)

  • Schiff’s accusation is that POTUS had Vindman removed from the White House and the National Security Council as vengeance for Vindman’s testimony before Schiff’s committee during impeachment. Schiff left out a couple of facts. Vindman’s supervisor had felt and previously reported that Vindman had been secretly leaking information to the press. Additionally, Vindman verbally proclaimed his disagreement with several of Mr. Trump’s foreign policy positions. Vindman was NOT removed for his  testimony. He was removed because of National Security information being passed on with no authorization. Schiff “hinted” that Vindman was fired. He was not. He was simply reassigned to his original post at the Pentagon from which he was transferred to the White House in a “temporary position.” Schiff forgot to include that information in his letter.
  • “And now, the president has found his Roy Cohn in Atty. Gen. William Barr, who has shown himself willing to be the president’s political fixer and do his bidding at the expense of the department’s independence.” Schiff accused the Attorney General of being evil, devious, and willing to do the bidding of his boss, no matter if doing so violated the law. Did Schiff give an example that explained the logic of that attack on AG Barr? No. He simply explained it by adding additional unfounded allegations. By any legitimate historical basis, the sentence for Stone as recommended by those Mueller prosecutors was outlandish, excessive, unwarranted, and partisan. Remember: those prosecutors were Democrats, hated Trump, and had failed in their attempt to remove POTUS from office. They saw Stone as a way to get even. Schiff said Stone’s sentence was a “sentencing reversal” — that’s a blatant lie. Stone had NEVER been sentenced. There had been no sentencing hearing! The seven-to-nine-year sentence was merely a recommendation to the judge by those prosecutors. Such recommendations are often changed by federal judges. In fact, the judge in the case, (who was anti-Trump all the way) Amy Berman Jackson, commented that it was unusual for the Department of Justice to take the side of any defendant in a trial that their department prosecuted — especially to request easier sentencing. But she concurred that the final Stone sentence of 34-40 months was historically much more realistic and appropriate than the original seven-to-nine years. Schiff forgot to include that in his letter.
  • Schiff blasted AG Barr’s authorization for the examination of the Michael Flynn case in which Flynn was pretty much forced to plead guilty to lying to keep his son out of prison. Schiff didn’t mention that. He also failed to mention that in the Flynn case, Flynn’s attorney has petitioned the court to allow the withdrawal of his guilty plea and for a new trial. Schiff claimed that in these “interventions,” Barr was doing so “to benefit the president and have profound implications for the rule of law and our democracy.” For the life of me, I cannot understand how Barr’s actions could possibly be viewed in that light! Barr like millions of Americans feels the Mueller Investigation was tainted, and he stated that in his Congressional testimony during his Senate confirmation hearing. Facts uncovered so far confirm that. Barr cannot change anything already done in the courts. But he, as would any other Attorney General, would make certain there was equal justice under the law for all those caught up in the partisan battle by the Left to unseat President Trump. If there was no wrongdoing there, Barr will not do anything. Schiff forgot to include that information in his letter.
  • Schiff declared that Congress intends to put serious restrictions even on just the contact between the White House and the DOJ — even demanding a log recording every such contact! The audacity of Schiff’s claim — and his fellow Congressman Hakeem Jeffries for drafting legislation to do that — is mind-boggling. They in doing this, if successful, would subvert the separation of powers mandated in the Constitution. They both must feel the Department of Justice is part of the Judiciary — that third co-equal branch of government. It’s not: it’s part of the Executive branch. President Trump heads the Executive Branch and therefore has all Constitutional authority over the DOJ. Schiff nor any other member of Congress has any authority to take any actions to change that structure. Congress has no authority to tell members of the Executive or Judiciary Branches of government what to do. Schiff forgot to include that information in his letter.

That’s enough of my sentence-by-sentence “analysis” of Mr. Schiff’s letter. You can better analyze it than can I. The content of his letter as egregious as it is does not surprise me. Americans have learned this warped justice perception is the justice system in which Mr. Schiff functions.

Have you ever speculated as to the source of Adam Schiff’s alternate perception of the Rule of Law? What is the basis on which he has developed such factless political positions regarding legislation?

He represents the 28th California Congressional District. It includes West Hollywood, Burbank, parts of Pasadena, Glendale, the Verdugo Hills communities of Sunland and Tujunga, as well as parts of central Los Angeles including Hollywood, the Hollywood Hills, Echo Park, Silver Lake, and Los Feliz. As it includes Glendale and Little Armenia, it has the largest Armenian-American population of any district in the country. The district also includes two of Southern California’s more significant gay enclaves, West Hollywood and Silverlake. Knowing his district’s geographical coverage explains a bit of the acceptance of his constituents of his mostly far-left political ideals. The majority of citizens in his district embrace a left-leaning political perspective. His certainly confirms the reality of his quest for a much larger, more powerful and much more controlling federal government. Reading his comments that Congress needs to take more control of the Executive Branch of government in spite of the Constitutional separation of power reveals his hunger and quest for power.

Summary

Schiff is not alone in his power-grab agenda. Those on the far-left and many in the middle of the Democrat Party agree with Schiff. Their philosophy is simple: “Give our government the power to rule all parts of the lives of Americans. We can do better ‘for’ them than can they for themselves.” And Schiff certainly feels he is the best to put such a government together. He also feels conservative Americans are nothing more than a necessary evil. He’d prefer there to be no conservatives at all so as to not mess with the top-down government utopian vision he holds for the U.S.

How many others share those feelings? Sadly, it’s probably more than we can even imagine. Rep. Schiff and many other Democrats still function politically as if they have no concern for the truth nor what the majority of Americans feel.

I have argued with many who feel that Adam Schiff is evil, that he purposely misleads in most if not all of his communications with voters. I am no longer in the “disagreement mode” in that regard. I don’t know if he’s evil — I don’t know his heart. But as we were taught in the Bible, “Out of the abundance of the heart a Man speaks.” If that’s true, (and I’m certain it is true) Adam Schiff hates conservatism and conservatives. He has made a conscious decision that HIS lies are OK because it is him speaking them. He certainly feels like political expediency as he defines it is the only way Washington should run.

My belief in those things about him are based on Scripture. The following is based on my opinion:

Adam Schiff has his eyes on a larger more important role in Washington. I’m certain he thinks often about becoming U.S. Senator for California. Too, on his plate, are wishes for the office of Attorney General and someday even 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

I have news for Mr. Schiff: I have faith in the American people — far more faith than what I have in him. I’m certain that most Americans feel the same. I have no pulse of the feelings of Californians from his Congressional district or the remainder of California voters. But I think I have more of an unbiased opinion of them than does Adam: I trust that as CNN and MSNBC give him more airtime, the LA Times publishes more of his OpEd’s, and more of his committee hearings are televised, more Americans will catch on. They’ll see for themselves how narcissistic he is and how little he feels for them. He’s destined to go back to private law practice.

Wait a moment: I think he’s over-qualified to be California governor!

“The State of the Union is Fine”

February 8, 2020

The State of the Union address by President Trump Tuesday evening was, in the words of a Reagan, Bush 41, and Bush 43 speechwriter, “Epic.” I can only remember State of the Union addresses from a few other presidents. But in the state of things in Washington pertaining to THIS president — like a pending impeachment Senate removal vote — I concur: President Trump’s address was Epic.

We normally here on Saturdays present our Bullet Points presentation that contains snippets of the week’s most important events that impact our partners. Today is a bit different. On your behalf, we took the President’s Tuesday speech and tore it apart. Each bullet point today is one of the most outstanding points he made in Tuesday’s speech.

In the hustle of your life, I encourage you to do two things: ALWAYS pray for our leaders — regardless of Democrat or Republican, black or white, male or female, ones you like and ones you dislike. Regarding the President: he certainly uses previously unseen methods in communicating, he sometimes says things that seem over-the-top and come from a place of his personal anger, and he can be rude. But he’s human!

Remember this: I may not care too much for the pilot of the jet in which you find yourself. But you certainly want the pilot to be successful in the flight!

Mr. Trump was elected Constitutionally. He’s President Constitutionally. He’s OUR President. Pray for him.

The Second thing: stay close to TruthNewsNetwork. We are a news detail organization who researches, ferrets out facts and gives them to you bare so that you can interpret for yourselves. Every American needs that. We don’t get it from very many other sources.

SOTU Bullet Points

♦♦ “A new chapter of America greatness is now beginning. A new national pride is sweeping across our nation. And a new surge of optimism is placing impossible dreams firmly within our grasp. What we are witnessing today is a renewal of the American spirit.”

♦♦ “In nine years, the United States will celebrate the 250th anniversary of our founding… It will be one of the great milestones in the history of the world. But what will America look like?… I will not allow the mistakes of recent decades past to define the course of our future.”

♦♦ “The rebellion started as a quiet focus spoken by families of all colors and creeds … who just wanted a fair shot for their children. For them, the quiet voices became a loud chorus as thousands of citizens now spoke out together… Finally, the chorus became an earthquake and the people turned out by tens of millions and they were all united by one very simple and crucial demand: that America must put its own citizens first. Because only then can we truly make America great again.”

♦♦ “We’re going to stop the regulations that threaten the future and livelihood of our great coal miners. We have cleared the way for the construction of the Keystone and Dakota Access Pipelines, thereby creating tens of thousands of jobs. And I’ve issued a new directive that new American pipelines be made with American steel.”

♦♦ “We will stop the drugs from pouring into our country and poisoning our youth and we will expand treatment to those who have become so badly addicted.”

♦♦ “At the same time, my administration has answered the plea … for immigration enforcement and border security. By finally enforcing our immigration laws, we will raise wages, help the unemployed, save billions and billions of dollars, and make our communities safer for everyone.”

♦♦ “We will soon begin the construction of a great, great wall along our southern border. As we speak tonight, we are removing gang members, drug dealers and criminals that threaten our community and prey on our very innocent citizens. bad ones are going out as I speak. To any in Congress who do not believe we should enforce our laws, I would ask you … what would you say to the American family that loses their jobs … or loved ones because America refused to uphold its laws and defend its borders.”

♦♦ “I have kept my promise to appoint a Justice to the United States Supreme Court … to defend our Constitution. I am greatly honored to have Maureen Scalia with us in the gallery tonight. Her late great husband … will forever by a symbol of American justice.”

♦♦ “94 million Americans are out of the labor force … 1 in 5 people in their prime working years are not working … In the last eight years, the past administration has put on more new debt than nearly all of the other presidents combined. We’ve lost nearly 1/4 of our manufacturing job since NAFTA … Our trade deficit in goods with the world last year was nearly $800 billion and overseas we’ve inherited a series of tragic foreign policy disasters. Solving these … will require us to work past our differences of party. It will require us to tap into the American spirit that has overcome every challenge … To accomplish our goals, we must restart the engine of the American economy…”

♦♦ “I’m going to bring back millions of jobs, protecting our workers also means reforming our system of legal immigration. The current outdated system depresses wages for our poorest workers and puts great pressure on tax cuts. Nations around the world have a merit-based immigration system. IT’s a basic principle that those seeking to enter a country ought to be able to support themselves financially, yet in America, we do not enforce this rule. … Our current immigration system costs American taxpayers many billions of dollars a year. Adopting a merit-based system, … it will save countless dollars, raise workers’ wages, and help struggling families… enter the middle class and they will do it quickly and they will be very, very happy indeed.”

♦♦ “To improve jobs and wages for America, to strengthen our nation’s security, and to restore respect for our laws. If we are guided by the wellbeing of American citizens, then I believe Republicans and Democrats … can achieve an outcome that has eluded our country for decades.”

♦♦ “Dwight D. Eisenhower initiated the last truly great national infrastructure program. The time has come for a new program of national rebuilding. America has spent approximately six trillion dollars in the Middle East, all the while our infrastructure at home is crumbling…”

♦♦ “I will be asking Congress to approve legislation that produces a $1 trillion investment in infrastructure in the United States… This effort will be guided by two core principles: buy American and hire Americans.”

♦♦ “Tonight I am also calling on this Congress to repeal and replace Obamacare… Mandating every American to buy government-approved health insurance was never the right solution for our country. The way to make health insurance available to everyone is to lower the cost … and that is what we are going to do.”

♦♦ “Remember when you were told that you could keep your doctor and keep your plan. We now know that all of those promises have been totally broken. Obamacare is failing and we must act decisively to protect all Americans.”

♦♦ “We will respect historic institutions, but we will respect the foreign rights of all nations, and they have to respect our rights as a nation also… America respects the rights of all nations to chart their own path. My job is not to represent the world, my job is to represent the United States of America.”

♦♦ “We want harmony and stability, not war and conflict. America is friends today with former enemies. … This history should give us all faith in the possibilities for a better world. Hopefully, the 250th year for America will see a world that is more peaceful, more just, and freer.”

♦♦ “Think of the marvels we could achieve if we set free the dreams of our people… American footprints on distant worlds are not too big a dream. Millions lifted from welfare to work is not too much to expect. And streets where mothers are safe from fear … and jobs where Americans prosper and grow are not too much to ask. When we have all of this we will have made America greater than ever before… We can only get their together, we are one people with one destiny. We all bleed the same blood. We all salute the same great American flag. And we all are made by the same God.”

♦♦ “The time for small thinking is over. The time for trivial fights is behind us. We just need the courage to share the dreams that fill our hearts … and the confidence to turn those hopes and those dreams into action. From now on America will be empowered by our aspirations, not burdened by our fears. Inspired by the future, not bound by failures of the past, and guided by a vision, not blinded by our doubts. I am asking all citizens to embrace this renewal of the American spirit. I am asking all members of Congress to join me in dreaming big and bold… I’m asking everyone watching … to seize this moment, believe in yourselves, believe in your future, and believe once more in America.”

God bless President Trump. And God bless the United States of America.

 

 

Death of Soleimani Ushers in Armageddon

January 8, 2020

Unless you have been for the last week in a coma, one of the World’s greatest terrorists died in a U.S. missile strike at Baghdad Airport. Iranian General Qasem Soleimani — that’s right, an Iranian General who was in Iraq — was the target of that missile strike. Who was this guy, and why did the U.S. take him out?

Follow this Bullet-point explanation:

  • President Trump ordered the attack on Major General Qassem Soleimani, a master terrorist and the head of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), on January 2nd.  He was killed along with seven others as he arrived at the Baghdad Airport.  Here are key facts about this man, who was responsible for the deaths of untold numbers of people around the world.
    Soleimani was the most potent Iranian general.  While other generals may have outranked him, as Commander of the Quds Forces, he answered only to Iran’s Supreme Leader.  His authority was outside the usual military chain of command in Iran, and he was given carte blanche authority for the export of terror around the world as he coordinated and directed the numerous Iranian militias and proxies worldwide.
  • The Quds Forces were responsible for assassinations, terrorism, and unconventional warfare that Iran exports and executes globally, including places like Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen.  He was the benefactor of Hamas and Hezbollah.  Soleimani participated in assassinations and assassination attempts in the U.S., Germany, India, and Argentina.
  • He was also linked to the deaths of over 600 U.S. service members in Iraq, as he supplied enhanced Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) to the insurgency there.  Thousands of U.S. troops were wounded and maimed by these weapons.  The IRGC was responsible for 17 percent of all U.S. casualties in Iraq between 2003 and 2011.
  • We are in a War on Terror since September 11, 2001.  Iran is the leading state-sponsor of terrorism, and the Quds Forces have been declared a terror organization.  In war, a general officer of an enemy force is a legitimate military target.  This was not an assassination.  It was the killing of an enemy soldier in a war.
  • According to Secretary of State Pompeo, Soleimani died not killed because of his past deeds, but because the U.S. learned of planned attacks by Soleimani on U.S. personnel and others.  The attacks were imminent.
  • Because of this, President Trump was not required to notify Congress in advance.  Under his Article Two powers in the U.S. Constitution, and following the War Powers Act, the president can take military action if a threat against the United States is imminent.
  • The attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad were not mere demonstrations.  They were coordinated attacks on the U.S. compound and its personnel directed by Soleimani and his Quds Forces, in coordination with Kataib Hezbollah in Iraq.
  • Soleimani was also responsible for the deaths of hundreds of demonstrators in Iran as they protested against government corruption and a failing economy in Iran.
  • Over the last several weeks, hundreds of Iraqi demonstrators died as they protested against Iranian influence in their own country and government corruption in Iraq.  The use of live ammunition against these demonstrations in Iraq can also be traced back to Soleimani.

Reaction

The events of the last several days are a reminder that there are evil people and terrorist forces who seek to do us harm.  When they chant “Death to America” and “Death to Israel,” they genuinely mean it.

As with the death of Osama bin Laden, one would expect the entire American government to applaud the elimination of the world’s most vicious and most potent general who was personally responsible for the deaths of at least 600 Americans plus involved in the extermination of hundreds of thousands in Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East. Democrats and Republicans alike in the aftermath of bin Laden’s death congratulated President Obama and those 23 military heroes who sneaked into that Pakistani compound to get Osama bin Laden.

Republicans applaud President Trump’s actions to eliminate Soleimani. Democrats: not so much. Their venomous responses and continued attacks on President Trump just escalated in the wake of Soleimani’s death.

Here are just a few:

  1. Sen.Tom Udall (D-NM) claimed that Trump is “bringing our nation to the brink of an illegal war with Iran with no congressional approval.”
  2. Sen. Tom Carver (D-DE) noted that the Trump administration has “chosen rash provocation over any coherent strategy” and expressed fear that this most recent activity may be more of the same.
  3. Rep. Andy Levin (D-MI) noted that he has “serious concerns about this President’s execution of a potential act of war without authorization of Congress.”
  4. Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) “Trump’s apparent assassination of Soleimani is a massive, deliberate, and dangerous escalation of conflict with Iran. The President just put the lives of every person in the region – U.S. service members and civilians – at immediate risk. We need de-escalation now.”
  5. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) “Trump Admin owes a full explanation of airstrike reports—all the facts—to Congress&the American people. The present authorizations for the use of military force in no way cover starting a possible new war. This step could bring the most consequential military confrontation in decades.”
  6. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) “Soleimani was a murderer, responsible for the deaths of thousands, including hundreds of Americans. But this reckless move escalates the situation with Iran and increases the likelihood of more deaths and new Middle East conflict. Our priority must be to avoid another costly war.”
  7. Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) “When I voted against the war in Iraq in 2002, I feared it would lead to greater destabilization of the region. That fear, unfortunately, turned out to be true. The U.S. has lost approximately 4,500 brave troops, tens of thousands have been wounded, and we’ve spent trillions.”
  8. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) “So what if Trump wants war, knows this leads to war and needs the distraction? The real question is, will those with congressional authority step in and stop him? I know I will.”
  9. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) “American leaders’ highest priority is to protect American lives and interests. But we cannot put the lives of American service members, diplomats, and others further at risk by engaging in provocative and disproportionate actions.”

I know of not a single Democrat who has verbalized any support for the elimination of Soleimani. But, of course, the Democrat-News Media were quick to demonize President Trump for the attack, even to the point of memorializing Soleimani!

Breaking news: Airstrike at Baghdad airport kills Iran’s most revered military leader, Qasem Soleimani, Iraqi state television reports https://t.co/NbZW4DaWvD
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) January 3, 2020

In addition to that quick tweet from The Post, the television leftist shows all abandoned their “normal” Trump-bashing and have gone all-in on Soleimani. I honestly did not know there were so many military and intelligence experts regarding administrative responsibilities for the notification of Congress before such covert actions are taken! Dozens of “military and legal experts” flood news shows on CNN, MSNBC, even the big three, ABC, NBC, and CBS, urging every American to run to their storm shelters to make sure they’re fully stocked for the imminent Armageddon that Soleimani’s death triggered.

Examples?

Those are just a few. In the last few days, such allegations against the President have escalated dramatically.

The Legality

No President has the unilateral authority to start a war. The War Powers Act details steps mandated for the U.S. to enter into a war. However, since 2001 and the World Trade Center attacks, things in the world of Intelligence and Terror have changed.

Regarding this specific action by President Trump, the Pentagon said Gen. Qassem Soleimani was “actively developing” plans to kill American diplomats and service members when he died. “That would appear to place the action within the legal authority of the president, as commander in chief, to use force in defense of the nation under Article II of the Constitution,” said Bobby Chesney, a professor at the University of Texas School of Law who specializes in national security issues.

“If the facts are as the Defense Department said, then the president relatively clearly has Article II authority to act in self-defense of American lives,” Chesney said.

“That justification would apply even if Soleimani hadn’t already launched an attack under the established doctrine of ‘anticipatory’ self-defense,” according to Jeff Addicot, a retired Army officer and expert in national security law at St. Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio. “Legally, there’s no issue,” Addicot said. “Politically, however, it’s going to be debated, whether it’s the correct response. In my opinion, it’s the appropriate response, but it’s certainly legal.”

Summary

I’m said today — said that our country is so divided and so political. However, history shows us that American citizens have since the first Americans came ashore have had different ideas about government, rules and laws, and the way our country should operate. They with much debate created a template with which the majority agreed to use as the basic structure of living in America.

But things were different then. Early Americans while disagreeing, found ways to work through those differences, discuss, argue, and sometimes even come to blows or duels. But there was one common goal: to reach agreement so as to adhere to the articles of the U.S. Constitution, even when some of those articles were not appreciated by some of those settlers. It was called (and still is) “The Rule of Law.”

I’m disappointed that those from one political party have simply drawn a red line between their party and the party on the other side and said, “It’s our way or the highway.” And that is happening on every issue.

I see no end in sight.

What is causing all this? It boils down to two things: power and control. A large group of bureaucrats have sold their souls to the objective of snatching all the power of government that can be snatched, and with that power, instigate control over every aspect of the government of the United States.

What other explanation for what’s happening is there?

I’ll end with this:

“Tonight, I call upon all of us to set aside our differences, to seek out common ground and to summon the unity we need to deliver for the people. This, in fact, is our new American moment. There has never been a better time to start living the American dream.”

“So tonight I am extending an open hand to work with members of both parties, Democrats and Republicans, to protect our citizens, of every background, color, religion and creed.”

Those words came from Donald Trump’s first State of the Union Address. He’s a Republican reaching out to Democrats for unity. Every president reaches to those in the opposition for unity. They each know (and most have adopted that as their policy) that this country — a Democratic Representative Republic — MUST have agreement between those with opposing views of government to maintain its fundament status. Thankfully, our leaders have always ultimately worked through differences to reach a consensus.

It’s critical that we do on this issue, too. Instead of pointing fingers and name-calling, there needs to be an emphasis by all that at the end of the day, we are ALL Americans and we are “One Nation under God.”

It needs to remain what it is today.

Trump Did This?

January 1, 2020

Even though Democrats and others on the Left constantly complain about President Trump’s legislative inaction during the first years of his presidency, facts do not bear out their wild allegations. In fact, few presidents have ever achieved as much as has this President while in office. When taking into consideration the fact that almost everything he HAS accomplished has come with a huge Democrat battle in every case, it is more amazing that so much has been accomplished.

This time every year we take a look back and provide a list of some of the Trump Administration’s most notable accomplishments the previous year. Today, we’ll take that one step further: find below a synopsis of Trump’s accomplishments summarized for the entirety of his first three years.

Let’s get started.

(scroll to the bottom to download this list in .pdf format)

The “Trump Show”

  • Trump signed three bills for Native people. One gives compensation to the Spokane tribe for the loss of their lands in the mid-1900s, one reauthorizes funding for Native language programs and the other gives federal recognition to the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians in Montana
  • In December 2019, Trump finalized the creation of Space Force as our 6th Military branch
  • In December 2019, Trump signed a law to make cruelty to animals a federal felony so that animal abusers face tougher consequences
  • Violent crime has fallen every year he’s been in office after rising the 2 years before he was elected
  • Trump signed a bill making CBD and Hemp legal
  • Trump’s EPA gave $100 million to fix the water infrastructure problem in Flint, Michigan
  • Under Trump’s leadership, in 2018 the U.S. surpassed Russia and Saudi Arabia to become the world’s largest producer of crude oil
  • Trump signed a law ending the gag orders on Pharmacists that prevented them from sharing money-saving information
  • Trump signed the “Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act” (FOSTA), which includes the “Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act” (SESTA) which both give law enforcement and victims new tools to fight sex trafficking
  • Trump signed a bill to require airports to provide spaces for breastfeeding Moms
  • The 25% lowest-paid Americans enjoyed a 4.5% income boost in November 2019, that outpaces a 2.9% gain in earnings for the country’s highest-paid workers
  • Low-wage workers are benefiting from higher minimum wages and corporations that are increasing entry-level pay
  • Trump signed the biggest wilderness protection & conservation bill in a decade and designated 375,000 acres as protected land
  • Trump signed the Save our Seas Act which funds $10 million per year to clean tons of plastic & garbage from the ocean
  • Trump signed an executive order this year that forces all healthcare providers to disclose the cost of their services so that Americans can comparison shop and know how much less providers charge insurance companies
  • When signing that bill he said no American should be blindsided by bills for medical services they never agreed to in advance
  • Hospitals will now be required to post their standard charges for services, which include gross charges, the negotiated rates with insurers and the discounted price a hospital is willing to accept from a patient
  • He signed a bill in 2019 allowing some drug imports from Canada’s prescription prices to go down
  • In the eight years prior to President Trump’s inauguration, prescription drug prices increased by an average of 3.6 percent per year. Fast forward to today, and prescription drug prices have seen year-over-year declines in nine of the last ten months, with a 1.1 percent drop as of the most recent month. In June 2019, the United States saw the largest single-year drop (2.0 percent year-over-year decline) in prescription drug prices since 1967
  • Created a White House VA Hotline to help veterans and principally staffed it with veterans and direct family members of veterans
  • VA employees are being held accountable for poor performance, with more than 4,000 VA employees removed, demoted, and suspended so far
  • Issued an executive order requiring the Secretaries of Defense, Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs to submit a joint plan to provide veterans access to access to mental health treatment as they transition to civilian life
  • Because of a bill signed and championed by Trump, In 2020, most federal employees will see their pay increase by an average of 3.1% — the largest raise in more than ten years
  • Trump signed into a law up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave for millions of federal workers
  • Trump administration will provide HIV prevention drug for free to 200,000 uninsured patients per year for 11 years
  • All-time record sales during the 2019 holidays
  • Trump signed an order allowing small businesses to group when buying insurance so they can get it at a better price
  • President Trump signed the Preventing Maternal Deaths Act which was written by a Republican lawmaker that provides funding for states to develop maternal mortality review committees to better understand maternal complications and identify solutions & largely focuses on reducing the higher mortality rates for Black Americans
  • In 2018, President Trump signed the groundbreaking First Step Act, a criminal justice bill that enacted reforms that make our justice system fairer and help former inmates successfully return to society. The First Step Act’s reforms addressed inequities in sentencing laws that disproportionately harmed Black Americans and reformed mandatory minimums that created unfair outcomes
  • Over 90% of those benefitting from the retroactive sentencing reductions in the First Step Act are Black Americans
  • The First Step Act expanded judicial discretion in the sentencing of non-violent crimes
  • The First Step Act provides rehabilitative programs to inmates, helping them successfully rejoin society and not return to crime
  • Trump increased funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) by more than 14%
  • Trump signed legislation forgiving Hurricane Katrina debt that threatened HBCUs
  • Made HBCUs a priority by creating the position of executive director of the White House Initiative on HBCUs
  • Trump received the Bipartisan Justice Award at a historically black college for his criminal justice reform accomplishments
  • New single-family home sales are up 31.6% in October 2019 compared to just one year ago
  • The poverty rate fell to a 17-year low of 11.8% under the Trump administration as a result of a jobs-rich environment
  • Poverty rates for African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans have reached their lowest levels since the U.S. began collecting such data
  • Pres. Trump signed a bill that creates five national monuments, expands several national parks, adds 1.3 million acres of wilderness, and permanently reauthorizes the Land and Water Conservation Fund
  • Trump’s USDA committed more than $124 Million to help rebuild rural water infrastructure
  • Consumer confidence & small business confidence at an all-time high
  • More than 7 million jobs created since the election
  • More Americans are now employed than ever recorded before in our history
  • More than 400,000 manufacturing jobs created since his election
  • Trump appointed five openly gay ambassadors
  • Trump ordered his openly gay ambassador to Germany, Ric Grenell. to lead a global initiative to decriminalize homosexuality across the globe
  • Through Trump’s Anti-Trafficking Coordination Team (ACTeam) initiative, Federal law enforcement more than doubled convictions of human traffickers and increased the number of defendants charged by 75% in ACTeam districts
  • In 2018, the Department of Justice (DOJ) dismantled an organization that was the internet’s leading source of prostitution-related advertisements resulting in sex trafficking
  • The Office of Management and Budget published new anti-trafficking guidance for government procurement officials to more effectively combat human trafficking
  • Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations arrested 1,588 criminals associated with Human Trafficking
  • The United States law enforcement officers are collaborating with Mexican law enforcement officials to dismantle human trafficking networks operating across the U.S.-Mexico border
  • Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services provided funding to support the National Human Trafficking Hotline to identify perpetrators and give victims the help they need
  • That hotline identified 16,862 potential human trafficking cases and provided 14,419 referrals to services between October 2017 and March 2019
  • Trump’s DOJ provided grants to organizations that support human trafficking victims – serving nearly 9,000 cases from July 1, 2017, to June 30, 2018
  • The Department of Homeland Security has hired more victim assistance specialists, helping ensure that victims have the proper resources and support
  • President Trump has called on Congress to pass school choice legislation so that no child is trapped in a failing school because of his or her zip code
  • The President signed funding legislation in September 2018 that increased funding for school choice by $42 million
  • The tax cuts signed into law by President Trump promote school choice by allowing families to use 529 college savings plans for elementary and secondary education
  • Under his leadership, ISIS has lost most of their territory and been largely dismantled
  • ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi was killed
  • Signed the first Perkins CTE reauthorization since 2006, authorizing more than $1 billion for states each year to fund vocational and career education programs
  • Executive order expanding apprenticeship opportunities for students and workers
  • President Trump’s issued an Executive Order prohibiting the U.S. government from discriminating against Christians or punishing expressions of faith
  • Signed an executive order that allows the government to withhold money from college campuses deemed to be anti- Semitic and who fail to combat anti-Semitism
  • President Trump has ordered a halt to all U.S. taxpayer money going to international organizations that fund or perform abortions
  • Trump imposed sanctions on the socialists in Venezuela who have killed their citizens
  • A finalized new trade agreement with South Korea
  • Made a deal with the European Union to increase U.S. energy exports to Europe
  • Withdrew the U.S. from the job-killing TPP deal
  • Secured $250 billion in new trade and investment deals in China and $12 billion in Vietnam
  • OK’d up to $12 billion in aid for farmers affected by unfair trade retaliation
  • Had over a dozen US hostages freed, including those Obama could not get freed
  • Trump signed the Music Modernization Act, the biggest change to copyright law in decades
  • Trump secured Billions that will fund the building of a wall at our southern border
  • The Trump Administration is promoting second chance hiring to give former inmates the opportunity to live crime-free lives and find meaningful employment
  • The Department of Education is expanding an initiative that allows individuals in prison to receive Pell Grants to better prepare themselves for the workforce
  • The Department of Justice and Bureau of Prisons launched a new “Ready to Work Initiative” to help connect employers directly with former prisoners
  • President Trump’s historic tax cut legislation included new Opportunity Zone Incentives to promote investment in low- income communities across the country
  • 8,764 communities across the country have been designated as Opportunity Zones
  • Opportunity Zones are expected to spur $100 billion in long- term private capital investment in economically distressed communities across the country
  • Trump directed the Education Secretary to end Common Core
  • Trump signed the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund into law Trump signed measure funding prevention programs for Veteran suicide
  • Companies have brought back over a TRILLION dollars from overseas because of the TCJA bill that Trump signed
  • Manufacturing jobs growing at the fastest rate in more than 30 years
  • Stock Market has reached record highs
  • Median household income has hit the highest level ever
  • Recorded African-American unemployment is at an all-time low
  • Hispanic-American unemployment is at an all-time low
  • Asian-American unemployment is at an all-time low
  • Women’s unemployment rate is at a 65 year low
  • Youth unemployment is at a 50-year low
  • We have the lowest unemployment rate ever recorded
  • The Pledge to America’s Workers has resulted in employers committing to train more than 4 million Americans
  • Ninety-five percent of U.S. manufacturers are optimistic about the future— the highest ever.
  • As a result of the Republican tax bill, small businesses will have the lowest top marginal tax rate in more than 80 years
  • A record number of regulations eliminated that hurt small businesses
  • Signed welfare reform requiring able-bodied adults who don’t have children to work or look for work if they’re on welfare
  • Under Trump, the FDA approved more affordable generic drugs than ever before in history
  • Reformed the Medicare program to stop hospitals from overcharging low-income seniors on their drugs—saving seniors hundreds of millions of dollars this year alone
  • Signed Right-To-Try legislation which allows terminally ill patients to try any experimental treatment that wasn’t allowed before
  • Secured $6 billion in new funding to fight the opioid epidemic
  • Signed VA Choice Act and VA Accountability Act, expanded VA telehealth services, walk-in-clinics, and same-day urgent primary and mental health care
  • U.S. oil production recently reached all-time high, so we are less dependent on oil from the Middle East
  • The U.S. is a net natural gas exporter for the first time since 1957
  • Withdrew the United States from the job-killing Paris Climate Accord in 2017 and that same year the U.S. still led the world by having the most substantial reduction in carbon emissions
  • NATO allies increased their defense spending because of his pressure campaign
  • Created Space Force and got it signed into law as our 6th military branch
  • Has his circuit court judges being confirmed faster than any other new administration
  • Had his Supreme Court Justice’s Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh confirmed
  • Moved U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem
  • Agreed to a new trade deal with Mexico & Canada that will increase jobs here and $$$ coming in
  • Reached a breakthrough agreement with the E.U. to increase U.S. exports
  • Imposed tariffs on China in response to China’s forced technology transfer, intellectual property theft, and their chronically abusive trade practices H
  • as agreed to a part 1 trade deal with China (Still negotiating part 2)
  • Signed legislation to improve the National Suicide Hotline
  • Signed the most comprehensive childhood cancer legislation ever into law, which will advance childhood cancer research and improve treatments
  • The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act signed into law by Trump doubled the maximum amount of the child tax credit available to parents and lifted the income limits so more people could claim it. It also created a new tax credit for other dependents
  • In 2018, President Trump signed into law a $2.4 billion funding increase for the Child Care and Development Fund, providing a total of $8.1 billion to states to fund child care for low-income families
  • The Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC) signed into law by Trump provides a tax credit equal to 20-35% of child care expenses, $3,000 per child & $6,000 per family + Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) allow you to set aside up to $5,000 in pre-tax $ to use for child care
  • In 2019 President Donald Trump signed the Autism Collaboration, Accountability, Research, Education and Support Act (CARES) into law which allocates $1.8 billion in funding over the next five years to help people with autism spectrum disorder and to help their families
  • In 2019 President Trump signed into law two funding packages providing nearly $19 million in new funding for Lupus specific research and education programs, as well an additional $41.7 billion in funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the most Lupus funding ever

Note: Another upcoming accomplishment to add: In the next few weeks, Trump will sign the first primary anti-robocall law in decades called the TRACED Act (Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence)
Once it’s a law, the TRACED Act will extend the period the FCC has to catch & punish those who intentionally break telemarketing restrictions. The bill also requires voice service providers to develop a framework to verify calls are legitimate before they reach your phone. The TRACED Act requires carriers to share tools & the ability to block spam callers with customers for free. It also changes the fine imposed on spam telemarketers from $1,500 to $10,000 PER CALL. Earlier this year (2019) Trump’s FCC fined one robocall guy $120 million

Summary

I know, the list is exhaustive! But isn’t it encouraging that even with the constant, non-stop push-back this President has received, he has been able to get this many bills passed, executive orders signed, and deals negotiated? That in itself is a miracle, even forgetting the content of each act! Just imagine how much more could and would have been accomplished if Democrats and Trump-resistant Republicans in Congress had simply joined Mr. Trump to get even more done.

What’s ahead for 2020? I dare not foretell! With Donald Trump in the White House, there is no telling what will be accomplished. But, one thing we know for certain is there will be many opportunities for many additional policies, legislation, and programs implemented under President Trump. Let’s see if Congress will join the “Trump Show!”

Feel free to click on this link and download the above list of Trump’s three years of accomplishments. Share with your friends.

The Trump Show

Big City/State Leadership: No Accountability

December 30, 2019
The feud between the leadership of the two largest states by population and Washington D.C. has reached monumental levels. California Governor Gavin Newsom and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo have far more than professional “issues” with President Donald Trump. “They hate the guy.” Having such feelings should make everyone sad. But in this case, because of who is involved, it makes everyone uncomfortable. Political leaders are supposed to work together for the common good of their states and the nation. It is hard to find “common good” when both governors and the President feel the others are inept and inferior leaders.
This personal animus goes far beyond the standard policy disagreements that are so common between those from different political parties. It has consumed these two governors so much that they each have stopped even trying to fix dire situations in their states in their war with Mr. Trump. And while they continue to hurl insults toward the Potomac, their states are falling apart.

Homelessness

The nation is struggling with homelessness. The levels to which homelessness has risen is unconscionable. According to the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, California has 129,972 living in the streets while New York has 91,897.  No other states are even close.
Both states receive billions of dollars of federal assistance earmarked for social issues. California gets $376 Billion (for the Fiscal year 2017) but does not explicitly budget for handling the homelessness situation. Most of that money goes to specific obligations like Social Security, Medicare, and other social agencies. New York receives about the same.
The “story” is that neither governor accepts responsibility for the homelessness in their states, nor do they have concrete plans to address that issue. Instead, both point toward D.C. and blame President Trump for not just their homelessness, but pretty much every other issue within their states. That is called “No Accountability.”
Their stance on refusing any accountability has spread through their state governments and trickled down into county and city governments. Every politician wants the money but declines responsibility.
Therein lies the problem we face today. Instead of rolling up sleeves and digging-in for solutions, these and many other governors prefer to point to others who should be accountable.
Want some more examples?

The “Left” Coast

President Trump supporters will clean up excess feces in the Democratic city of San Francisco
The city of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has a big problem concerning homelessness, and that includes the issue of feces. For this reason, pro-Trump activists decided to take action to assist with a group cleanup in the city of San Francisco, California.

TheDaily Signal reported that the San Francisco Department of Public Works responded to 30,136 cases of “human or animal waste” this year, up from 28,353 in 2018. The city launched a $750,000 “poop patrol” in September 2018 to combat the plague of feces, but that didn’t stop this year’s numbers from exceeding last year’s. This data shows that the city of San Francisco, governed by the Democratic Party, is becoming increasingly dirty.

A Twitter post quoted in the Conservatives article reported that homeless people are defecating in grocery stores. For this reason, pro-Trump supporters decided to organize a cleanup activity in the city.

According to The Gateway Pundit, Donald Trump posted a tweet for Nancy Pelosi about the complicated situation on Thursday, Dec. 26, “California leads the nation, by far, in both the number of homeless people and the percentage increase in the homeless population—two terrible stats. Crazy Nancy should focus on that in her very own district, and helping her incompetent governor with the big homeless problem!” he wrote.

Conservative pro-Trump activist Scott Presler announced on Dec. 26 that he would head to San Francisco for a day of organized cleanup. Presler has previously done this community work in the cities of Baltimore, Chicago, and Los Angeles.

“I’m coming to San Francisco for a cleanup. I hear that SF has a “Poop Patrol,” so we’re going to wear hazmat suits as we did in LA. My goal is to go into America’s dirtiest cities, register voters, & do the job that no one else will do,” he said on his Twitter account.

One would think that San Francisco — especially as the home of the most powerful member of Congress — would be the first in the U.S. that would receive any and all resources necessary to take care of homelessness and other problems. Remember: homelessness comes with more than just a housing problem: there’s drug abuse, mental health issues, and criminal  activities that have paralyzed the once beautiful “City by the Bay.”

But it gets worse:

Consequences of progressive policies in San Francisco: Oracle cancels conference moves to Las Vegas

Technology giant Oracle announced that starting next year, it will move its renowned annual conference from San Francisco to Las Vegas. Previous visitors to OpenWorld had complained about “poor street conditions” and high hotel rates in the Californian city.

The decision by the major Silicon Valley company raises “concerns” about whether the Democrat-governed city can host significant business events that have long been a pillar of its tourism, according to a San Francisco Chronicle report.

High hotel costs, homelessness, open drug use, and incidents of street violence that alarm visitors are among the challenges the city faces.

OpenWorld is a technology conference that has been held in San Francisco for the past two decades, attracting some 60,000 visitors each year.

The San Francisco Travel Association estimates the move will cost San Francisco $64 million a year, according to an email to its members.

We did not even include similar problems like these in Los Angeles and Sacramento. Local leaders in all these cities plus every member of California’s Washington D.C. Congressional contingency refuse personal, local, or state accountability for these and other issues crippling their state. Yet they in unison point to the White House and place blame directly on the Trump Administration.

By the way: the homelessness and criminality problems in California began its precipitous escalation during the first Obama term, long before Trump’s election.

The “Other” Coast

The “Big Apple.” No, New York City is NOT the whole of the state of New York. But it dominates the state in every way. Many don’t even realize New York’s capital is upstate: Albany. But Manhattan sucks up most of the oxygen anywhere in New York.

The two most powerful men in NY state and local government are Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. Both carry the exact same feelings for the President as do California’s governor and Congressional members. Both Cuomo and de Blasio struggle with homelessness, massive drug abuse, and rampant criminal issues that are all escalating rapidly. They have no fixes. So, how do they handle it? They blame the Trump Administration.

New York’s mayor — in spite of the massive federal dollars that pour into his city to help with homelessness — wants and expects more from President Trump. He wants the feds to issue more housing vouchers to let people staying in shelters move into rental homes. He’s aiming to eliminate long-term homelessness in the city over the next five years.

“The problem ultimately is Donald Trump has not shown any willingness to give us the tools we need, most especially Section 8 vouchers, which allow people to live in rental housing, de Blasio said. “That’s the single-strongest piece we need from Washington that we are not getting right now.”

In addition to these problems is a rash of hate crimes that of late have been targeted at members of the Jewish Community in Manhattan and elsewhere. Anti-Semitic hate speech is flooding the nation but is especially vicious in New York because of the vast Jewish populace. It’s not just a vitriolic speech. It has spread to violence — even murder.

The New York Police Department is increasing its presence in several Brooklyn neighborhoods as it investigates at least nine possible anti-Semitic attacks that took place in recent days. All of the suspected hate crimes took place in Brooklyn, known for being home to a large number of Jewish residents. “Anyone who terrorizes our Jewish community WILL face justice,” Mayor de Blasio wrote on Twitter. “Anti-Semitism is an attack on the values of our city — and we will confront it head-on.”

The mayor continued: “An atmosphere of hate has been developing in this country over the last few years. A lot of it is emanating from Washington, and it’s having an effect on all of us,” he said.

When asked if he was blaming Trump, he said, “not just the president,” but said “we need a different tone, starting in Washington … that encourage this country to actually find some unity and some common ground” that he does not think the country has had in recent years.

Accountability

Folks, in big cities all across American and most of our largest cities, there is no accountability shared among their leaders!

They refuse to be accountable to those who they are supposed to answer to voters. It’s not just in L.A., San Francisco, other California cities, and New York City and State and other cities — it’s in almost every large city in the U.S. and their respective states. These leaders, along with many of their Congressional representatives in D.C., shirk the accountability that goes with the responsibilities they accepted when they each took an oath of office. How do they handle it? They all point at the White House and loudly cry, “It’s Donald Trump’s Fault!”

There is a common denominator in most of these circumstances: the states are controlled by Democrat governors and state legislatures, and their Congressional members are almost all members of the Democrat Party.

I am not saying Democrats are the problem. What I AM saying is that there is an adopted attitude of political elitism that permeates the leadership of the Democrat Party that says, “I am responsible for everything. When things go well, they do so because I am in charge. When things go poorly, they do so because Republicans obstruct my leftist wishes and destroy what was to be a long list of accomplishments!”

The wheel always stops at “Donald Trump” on their “Wheel of Blame!”

Summary

It’s become nothing but a comedic taking point when these leaders always blame the GOP and the President. GOP leadership in D.C. has known the spiel perfected by Dems. What’s different today is that under this President’s direction, Conservatives are no longer content to ignore it and just let Democrats spin their stories. GOP leaders are now encouraged to stand up and shout the truth in each circumstance.

Dems are not used to having real leaders in the federal government. Trump is a leader. Trump is a problem solver. He identifies issues, determines how it repairs those issues, puts the resources and leadership in place to right the issues, and then holds those in leadership over each area accountable! 

Democrats are always quick to find problems, blame each problem on their political opponents, cry that more money needs to be spent to fix the problems, allocates the money, the problems are never fixed, and no one is held accountable for the break-downs!

The list of Trump accomplishments in his presidency is exhaustive. We have published them each year and will do so for 2019 in a few weeks. That list will once again prove that Donald Trump became President because voters wanted problems solved, and there were no problem solvers in D.C.

There have been some things he’s tried that when implemented, did not (or have not yet) accomplished their expected objectives. Some call those “failures.” Mr. Trump calls them “obstacles.” Most often, when those things happen, those who request them failures quit and walk away. Mr. Trump operates this way: “There were good reasons to go after this. We just hit a snag. Let’s find ways to learn what part of the process did not work and find a better way.”

His way is NOT traditional in Washington, D.C. But his way most often DOES work.

I laugh until I cry when Democrats continually refuse to acknowledge his many positive results for ALL Americans. Instead, they throw everything they can muster to make him look bad — even in the midst of something working perfectly! 

Once again, the Left thinks Americans are stupid. I’ll finish by quoting that great American Historian, Forrest Gump: “Stupid is as Stupid does.”

FISA: Time to Reform or Time to Go?

December 18, 2019

Unless you live in a barrel, you have heard in numerous conversations the word “FISA.” “FISA” actually stands for “Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.” FISA legislation regulates the United States Government’s ability to surveil (or “spy”) American citizens who may be communicating with people outside the U.S. Such surveillance is governed by a special court called “FISC,” or “Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.” Why would this ever be necessary?

The United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC, also called the FISA Court) is a U.S. federal court established and authorized under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) to oversee requests for surveillance warrants against foreign spies inside the United States by federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Such requests are made most often by the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

In 2013, a top-secret order issued by the court, which was later leaked to the media from documents culled by Edward Snowden, required a subsidiary of Verizon to provide a daily, on-going feed of all call detail records—including those for domestic calls—to the NSA. The Edward Snowden matter brought the FISA process to light and thrust it into the forefront of intelligence agencies’ process operations. This was the first time average Americans knew anything about this process.

How Does FISA Work?

Each application for one of these surveillance warrants (called a FISA warrant) is given to an individual judge of the court. The court may allow third parties to submit briefs. When the U.S. Attorney General determines that an emergency exists, the Attorney General may authorize the emergency employment of electronic surveillance before obtaining the necessary authorization from the FISC, if the Attorney General or their designee notifies a judge of the court at the time of approval and applies for a warrant as soon as practicable but not more than seven days after approval of such surveillance, as required by 50 U.S.C. § 1805.

If one judge of the court denies an application, the federal government is not allowed to make the same application to a different judge of the court but may appeal to the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review. Such appeals are rare: the first appeal from the FISC to the Court of Review was occurred in 2002 (In re-Sealed Case No. 02-001), 24 years after the founding of the court.

Also rare is for FISA warrant requests to be turned down. During the 25 years from 1979 to 2004, 18,742 warrants were granted, while only four were rejected. (this is important and will be discussed later) Fewer than 200 requests were modified before being accepted, almost all of them in 2003 and 2004. The four rejected applications were all from 2003, and all four were granted in part after being submitted for reconsideration by the government. Of the applications that had to be modified, few were before the year 2000. During the next eight years, from 2004 to 2012, there were over 15,100 additional warrants granted, and another seven were rejected. Over the entire 33-year period, the FISA court issued 33,942 warrants, with only 12 denials – a rejection rate of 0.03 percent of the total requests. This total does not include the number of warrants that were modified by the FISA court.

FISA Corruption

It’s easy to see how the FISA process could easily be corrupted for partisan and covert purposes. The fact that FISA corruption is so easy to implement has given pause to numerous of those on Capitol Hill, who are both concerned with the obvious actual and attempted electronic intrusions into multiple U.S. companies and even the government itself. The most recent of such alleged FISA abuse occurred during the FBI Trump Campaign investigation. It allegedly began with a FISA warrant submitted to the FISC for authorization to surveil the communications of Carter Page, who was an associate of the Trump Campaign. Uproar ensued about alleged “wiretapping” of then Candidate Donald Trump shortly after a visit to Trump Tower by former NSA head Mike Rodgers. Speculation is that Rodgers, in that meeting, informed Mr. Trump that his campaign headquarters at Trump Tower was electronically surveilled. The next day, the Trump Campaign moved its headquarters to New Jersey.

NOTE: unless and until President releases to the American public the FISA warrant applications filed by the FBI to obtain FISA warrants, we will not know the specifics of the basis for that surveillance. It is expected for those to be released at any time

It is uncanny how partisan are the comments and analyses of the findings of DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz as published in his 500+ page report a few days ago into FISA abuse alleged to have occurred during the Trump Campaign investigation. It depends on whom you speak or listen as to whether the Horowitz findings vilified the FISA process during the FBI investigation or supported it. Shortly after its release, Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana made this request of the President:

“The Inspector General report showed the FBI was willing to do anything in order to spy on Carter Page, including making 17 significant inaccuracies and omissions. The American public deserves to know everything the FBI did,” Kennedy said in a statement. I’m asking President Trump to declassify the entire record so that Attorney General Barr and FBI Director Wray can release it to the American people. If the FBI wants to continue the employment of rogue, politically-motivated agents, then let the public read the entire record.”

As does Senator Kennedy, numerous Americans both inside and outside of Washington feel the structure of the Court gives the government an “open season” on surveillance of Americans — ALL Americans — that apparently have and could going forward be for partisan and political purposes. Remember this: only twelve of 33,942 FISA warrants filed in its history did the FISA Court deny.

Fix FISA or Dump FISA

The House recently voted against an amendment to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Section 702, proposed by Reps. Justin Amash of Michigan and  Zoe Lofgren of California. FISA Section 702, which was inserted as an addition to the 1978 FISA Act in 2008, was intended to be used solely to monitor communications by foreign nationals outside of the United States.

In recent years, Edward Snowden’s revelations showed that Section 702 provided the government with a legal cover to collect data on communications between millions of U.S. citizens without warrants or probable cause. According to a National Security Agency (NSA) transparency report from April 2019, in 2018, communications by U.S. citizens or residents were queried 9,637 times, over 2,000 more queries than the previous year.

The Amash-Lofgren Amendment would have withheld funding for Section 702 in the budget for the fiscal year 2020. If it had passed, any requests for Section 702 funding by governmental bodies such as the NSA would have had to make an express commitment to not use those funds on the warrantless collection of U.S. citizens’ data.

Forty-seven organizations, including the ACLU, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and FreedomWorks, urged Congress in a June letter to pass the amendment to “significantly advance the privacy rights of people within the United States.” Two Republican representatives, Chip Roy of Texas and Jim Jordan of Ohio, rose to defend the amendment during the ten minutes of debate that was afforded. Despite these endorsements, the change was struck down 252-175, with over 100 members of each party voting against it.

Unfortunately, as ordinary American citizens, we find ourselves in something of a conundrum. It’s hard for us to say, “Yes, we support FISA and want it to continue,” or “No, we think the Government with FISA has too many unchecked opportunities to abuse the FISA system, so we want it abolished.”

Summary

Here’s what a legal writer Mark Wauck stated about whether we should keep or abolish the FISA process:

“It seems to me that since Watergate our politics have been almost totally transformed, with the Left feeling ascendant, despite occasional setbacks. At the same time that the Left has taken over education and most other public institutions, the Intelligence agencies–and of course the FBI in particular–have assumed a huge role in domestic intelligence. It’s true that this is partly the result of the GWOT (“Global War on Terrorism”) and FISA’s application to it, but I believe it was happening anyway.

The current abuses that we’re seeing coming to light attributable to the Obama Administration, are very scary. However, given that the Left feels no constraints about our traditional liberties, is it possible that FISA actually gives them a bit of pause, slows them down a bit just to hide what they’re doing? If they were to have 8 years with no constraints, with the total and enthusiastic cooperation of Big Data companies, what might the result be?

This is what worries me. Would the abolition of what is undoubtedly unconstitutional lead to Big Brother?”

Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul — a Libertarian at heart — has long questioned the validity of the FISA system in regards to the Constitutional protection of the rights of Americans. According to the Senator, the process in its purest forms should work correctly. But there is a problem: people with partisan opinions and perspectives of its purposes:

Should we fix the process hoping for good results? Or should we simply ax it to once again rely on a prosecutor presenting evidence to a judge sufficient to justify a surveillance warrant?

There is far too much corruption at the DOJ and FBI that has been exposed in the last few years for me to feel comfortable recommending continuation of the FISA process. Too many people in powerful positions that impact FISA investigations have been shown to be grossly politically biased. Unless and until the Intelligence agencies have demonstrated their commitment to strict adherence to not just the letter of FISA warrant applicant and subsequent warrants, but to the FISA process, I recommend that FISA be ditched and we return to the 250-year-old process to obtain warrants: convince a judge with facts of any case when presenting a sworn warrant application for a surveillance warrant. If facts in evidence justify such a warrant, that judge can issue it.

If there’s “meat on the bone,” justice will be served. And the personal lives of Americans will once again be protected from Big Brother or surveillance abuse who once gains power seldom every relinquishes it.

NEWS BULLETIN!!!!!!

In a rare public order Tuesday, the chief judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court [FISC] strongly criticized the FBI over its surveillance-application process, giving the bureau until Jan. 10 to come up with solutions, in the wake of findings from Justice Department Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz.

The order, from the court’s presiding judge Rosemary M. Collyer, came just a week after the release of Horowitz’s withering report about the wiretapping of Carter Page, a former campaign adviser to President Trump.

“The FBI’s handling of the Carter Page applications, as portrayed in the [Office of Inspector General] report, was antithetical to the heightened duty of candor described above,” Collyer wrote in her four-page order. “The frequency with which representations made by FBI personnel turned out to be unsupported or contradicted by information in their possession, and with which they withheld information detrimental to their case, calls into question whether information contained in other FBI applications is reliable.”

“As [FBI Director Christopher Wray] has stated, the inspector general’s report describes conduct by certain FBI employees that is unacceptable and unrepresentative of the FBI as an institution,” the bureau responded in a statement Tuesday night. “The director has ordered more than 40 corrective steps to address the report’s recommendations, including some improvements beyond those recommended by the IG.”

Horowitz said he did not find significant evidence that FBI agents were involved in a political conspiracy to undermine Trump’s candidacy in 2016. However, the report did find numerous errors and inaccuracies used by FBI agents to obtain permission to monitor Page’s phone calls and emails.

While Collyer’s order did not specify exactly what reforms the FBI needed to implement to its policies for obtaining permission to wiretap people under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, the order did say that the FISA court will weigh in on whether the reforms are deemed sufficient.

“The [FISA court] expects the government to provide complete and accurate information in every filing with the court,” Collyer wrote. “Without it, the [FISA court] cannot properly ensure that the government conducts electronic surveillance for foreign intelligence purposes only when there is a sufficient factual basis.” (FOX News)

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The “Trump Train”

November 15, 2019

Yessiree: I jumped on the “Trump Train” Thursday night at the CenturyLink Center in Bossier City, Louisiana. The President joined 15,000 of his closest friends inside the arena and a large number (uncountable) of those looking in from the outside who could not enter because of capacity limits. The picture to the left was taken from a suite about 100 yards from the stage. I used it here so that all could see just how crowded the event was and how close he was to the crowd. I came away with many unexpected feelings and opinions.

  1. Mr. Trump seemed much more gracious and thoughtful when I listened to his entire speech and actual conversation with the large and biased crowd. I guess that when I’ve looked in to see his other rallies at other locations, most of what I saw were edited or at least just partial segments of those rallies. In context, he certainly showed a communication prowess I did not expect.
  2. He connects with an audience. I was not a fan of The Apprentice. Quite honestly, I never watched an entire episode. But in retrospect, even on that television show, he spoke to a small number of people gathered around a table at the end of the teaching show. In Bossier City, it was a huge crowd that were there to see him and experience interactions with him. No one was disappointed. He spoke “To” those 15,000+, not “At” them. They responded in kind.
  3. I was surprised at the makeup of the crowd. Because of news reports that I’ve seen and heard from a year prior to the 2016 election and since, I fully expected to be there with nothing but redneck white supremacists dressed in camo or white sheets. There certainly were a number of folks from Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas who looked to be working-class Americans, but I saw dozens and dozens of people I know who are business owners, retired wealthy people, and many elected officials at local, state, and federal levels that I was shocked to see in attendance in a Congressional election off-year. To my surprise Mr. Trump has an appeal to a diverse cross section of Americans.
  4. The President was actually respectful on the most part when speaking of his opponents from the Democrat side: that is, except of Rep. Adam Schiff of California. Remember: this was actually a rally for the GOP Candidate for Louisiana Governor in Saturday’s election. Eddie Rispone — a south Louisiana businessman — is running against a one-time heavily favored incumbent Democrat, John Bel Edwards. This was Trump’s third trip to Louisiana stumping for Rispone. And polls show those first two trips at least gave Rispone a couple of large bumps. We’ll see what this the third such trip will accomplish.

Summary

Let’s be honest: it’s late here. I wanted to share with you my initial feelings about the Trump Rally while they are still fresh in my mind. Additionally, there were no impeachment inquiry hearings on Thursday and I felt I could give you a break. They will resume on Friday. On Saturday we’ll reconvene to discuss and share our thoughts on the Friday testimonies. But one bit of news was released to coincide with Mr. Trump’s arrival when he stepped off Air Force One: The Ukraine Foreign Minister released some information regarding the Trump “Ukraine-Gate” debacle.

Ukraine Foreign Minister Prystaiko released the following on Thursday regarding Ambassador Sondland’s comments and conversations about links between U.S. aid to Ukraine being delayed that was tied to initiation by Ukraine investigations into Joe and Hunter Biden and Burisma.

Ukraine did not hear from U.S. Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland about a link between the delay in military assistance to Ukraine and the investigation into the case of Burisma Holdings, where son of former Vice President Joe Biden Hunter worked.

“Ambassador Sondland did not tell us, and did not tell me exactly, about the relation between the [military] assistance and the investigations. You should ask him. I do not recall any conversation with me as with foreign minister. It was not we, the Ukrainian officials (who were told this),” Prystaiko told the journalists in Kyiv on Thursday.

He said he had no contact with Sondland as an official.

“I have never seen a direct link between investigations and security assistance. Yes, investigations were mentioned, you know, in a presidential conversation. But there was no clear connection between these events,” the minister said.

Once again, an official from Ukraine has countered U.S. Democrats continuous assertions that in that telephone conversation between Presidents Trump and Zelensky, Mr. Trump threatened to hold foreign aid from Ukraine unless Ukraine restarted their corruption investigation into Hunter Biden and the Ukrainian company whose board on which he served: Burisma. That alleged extortion or “quid pro quo” was the fuel that lit the fire of the whistleblower that came forward anonymously. That jump started this latest Trump impeachment investigation.

Apparently, there’s “no there there.”

Oh well, they’ll be plenty more to divert the attention of Americans away from the actual extortion by an American politician who demanded Ukraine fire a prosecutor investigation then Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter and his Ukrainian gas company, Burisma. Vice President Biden was caught on tape explaining how he had told the former president of Ukraine that unless that prosecutor was fired within six hours, the U.S. would NOT pay to Ukraine the nearly $1 Billion of aid Congress had authorized. Biden’s actions documented by his own confession was NOT a quid pro quo. It was extortion and blackmail.

Do you like me wonder why no one on the Left has assigned any importance at all to what the VP did? Also, why do they continue to simply shop for wrongdoing by Mr. Trump while ignoring the 900-pound gorilla in the room!

Back tomorrow (Saturday) with analysis of Round 2 of the public impeachment inquiry testimony.

Trump Thunderstruck

November 9, 2019

I’ll bet you that you have not yet seen this video. I cannot think of a better way to start a Saturday in November that with a hot cup of coffee, the volume on my audio/video system turned WAY up, and watching and listening to members of this “integrous” group of professional journalists who each earn six-figure annual salaries — some more than that — to be what their title denotes: Journalists. Few are that. What are they?

I’ll let the President with the help of AC/DC answer that question.

Turn it up!

Oh, I forgot:

“Geaux Tigers — Beat Bama!”