Biden's Illegal Election Scheme
Prior to the 2024 election, President Biden issued Executive Order 14019. This order authorized the use of tax money to fund Democrat voter registration efforts. Using government revenue to support partisan voter registration drives is illegal.
Now, House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil (R-Wisc) is demanding that the 14 federal agencies that participated in the implementation of this corrupt scheme turn over the documents and records detailing how they carried it out. Among the agencies involved were the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Small Business Administration (SBA), the Department of Education, and the Department of Justice.
The laws violated include the Anti-Deficiency Act, which explicitly bars federal agencies from spending funds on unauthorized activities--like helping an effort to increase the number voters of one Party and the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from engaging in partisan political activities while on duty. Yet, Order 14019 directed government workers to register and mobilize voters for the Democrat Party. The Biden administration refused to honor oversight requests from Congress in both 2023 and 2024.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), pointed out that "Steil's accusation overlooks the fact that there is ample precedent for what President Biden was trying to accomplish. Two of this nation's greatest presidents--FDR and Barrack Obama--took similar steps to increase voter participation. Steil's scheme is just another attempt by Republicans to try to suppress voter access to the ballot."
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) added "we are organizing protesters to attend Republican town halls to drown out their lies with the truth. Once these MAGA enemies of democracy learn that our freedom of speech will stifle theirs we will win back the voters who have been turned against us by the blizzard of misinformation that enabled them to win the 2024 elections."
Judge Boasberg Threatens Trump
Incensed that he isn't getting obedience from President Trump regarding his several orders related to the deportation of more than 200 members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, Federal District Court Judge James Boasberg pointed out "my term of office is for life. Mr. Trump's is only for four years. I can easily outlast him. If he doesn't comply with my orders I can hold him in contempt. I can fine him. I can order him held in jail until he complies. He can't win this battle with me."
US Attorney General Pam Bondi pointed out that "Judge Boasberg's victory dance is premature. He is only a district judge. Donald Trump is President of the United States. Tren de Aragua is an internationally recognized dangerous criminal organization. Its members who have entered the US illegally are subject to immediate deportation for that offense alone. Tren de Aragua has engaged in drug smuggling, kidnapping, rape, human trafficking, extortion, and murder. They are violent invaders of our country. No one can seriously argue that they ought to be able to stay inside our country to continue to victimize the American people."
Boasberg rebutted Bondi's assertions, saying "none of those that Trump ordered deported have been convicted of crimes committed here. If some of them are suspected of committing crimes here it is Ms. Bondi's responsibility to prosecute them. Until they are convicted of those crimes their civil rights must not be infringed. A judge will decide whether they must post bail or be released on their own recognizance while awaiting trial. As for gang members not currently suspected of any crimes--they must be immediately released and provided with free transportation to the destination of their choice within the United States. This is the policy Mr. Trump inherited from President Biden. If he wants to alter that policy he must convince a court that he ought to be allowed to do so."
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) confirmed Judge Boasberg's position, saying "we put 235 progressive judges on the bench when Biden was president for the express purpose to defend our democracy in the event that we lost the 2024 election. I'm extremely pleased to see that this is precisely what they are doing. Whether it be restoring the right of undocumented persons to reside in our country that President Biden gave to them or for federal employees to continue doing the work they had been doing for decades without the interference of a chief executive who disapproves of that work, these progressive judges are coming through with flying colors."
Hundreds of Billions in Entitlement Fraud
Based on its study of data from fiscal years 2018 through 2022, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) estimates that the federal government loses between $230 billion and $520 billion annually to fraud. Fraud is a subset of the larger category of "improper payments." Improper payments are payments that shouldn't have been made, were made in an incorrect amount, or lacked sufficient supporting documentation.
"Even the lower end of the estimate shows a substantial opportunity for reducing the waste of taxpayers' money," Elon Musk observed. "Since the GAO reports to Congress all the members of that legislative body know about this problem. Yet, we see many Democrats adamantly opposed to the efforts of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to examine the payments system and recommend methods for reducing this waste. Resistance to reducing waste threatens the long-term viability of the entitlement programs."
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) couldn't refute the magnitude of waste nor the potentially dire consequences to the programs or the country, but questioned "whether it is worth it to even try to deal with the waste. Having this issue in the news creates a significant amount of anxiety among the folks who are dependent on the government giving them the money they need to live. Maybe putting up with the waste is a better option than scaring people to death."
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) claimed "Elon Musk is saying it plainly: Republicans' big goal is to 'eliminate' Social Security and Medicare benefits. Since, at worst, only a third of the Social Security payments made are fraudulent it seems to me that putting up with the theft of the lesser amount is the price the American people would choose over eliminating the program."
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt pointed out that "Since President Trump has said numerous times that he will not cut Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid benefits, the 'trade-off' Sen. Schumer deems acceptable isn't even an option. DOGE is going to identify the fraud and waste that can be cut so legitimate recipients of Social Security can continue to receive the benefits they've earned. Criminals who have been pilfering the funds will be cut off. I think voters understand the distinction that Sen. Schumer refuses to see."
In related news, Schumer denounced "greedy Americans whose attitude is, 'I made my money all by myself. How dare your government take my money from me?' Well, we dare because these selfish individuals have more than they need. Those with the talent and ambition to make their own living have a moral obligation to share their good fortune with those who lack the talent and ambition to support themselves. Democrats understand this and have been working since FDR was president to ensure that the greedy fulfill this obligation."
Immigration Gold Cards a Success
This week Department of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick sold 1,000 immigration gold cards for $5 million apiece. Purchasers of these cards can legally immigrate to the United States and be put on a track to become naturalized citizens. Lutnick said "the $5 billion in revenue from this sale and the revenues from additional sales going forward offer another option for reducing the federal government's deficit other than raising taxes on American citizens."
Laura Collins, Director of the Bush Institute-SMU Economic Growth Initiative, expressed some doubts about the effectiveness of the approach, saying "we currently have eight million job vacancies that need filling. It seems unlikely that folks who can afford to pay $5 million to become legal residents are going to fill these jobs when they move here. Most likely they will buy expensive homes and other luxury goods. I think this will tend to aggravate the labor shortage that already exists."
Lutnick disagreed: "There are tens of millions of Americans who are not in the labor force. Most wealthy people invest their money one way or another. Bringing in more of them will increase the chances for these currently unemployed Americans to get jobs. Weather the new gold card residents directly invest by starting a business or indirectly by putting their funds into stocks, bonds, or banks--either way, more higher paying job opportunities will be created."
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt) called the gold card idea "just another ploy to enable capitalists to exploit the working class while the Trump Administration fires millions of hard-working government employees in a desperate attempt to punish a key Democrat voting bloc. We should be expropriating the capitalist exploiters of their ill-gotten wealth. Government should own and operate all of the economy's industrial assets. Without the need to earn a profit costs to the consumer would be lower and poverty would be abolished. We have been taking baby steps toward this ideal for more than 100 years. Now, with the courts on our side we can defeat Trump's anti-democratic reforms and install the socialism that Karl Marx predicted would free the working men and women to enjoy total equality."
Illinois Dem Wants More Education Regulation
A majority of the public schools in Illinois are failing to adequately educate their students. According to the National Assessment of Education Progress, more than two-thirds of eighth graders are not proficient in reading or math. Only 16% of black eighth-graders are proficient at reading, and only 8% of black eighth-graders do math at grade level. In addition, reports of teachers and staff sexually assaulting students number in the hundreds every year. In Chicago Public Schools, the office of the inspector general has logged more than 400 investigations into sexual assault by teachers and staff every school year since 2018.
Nevertheless, Chicago Democrat Terra Costa Howard is targeting parents who teach their children at home for stricter regulations. "Right now, the only state regulation of homeschooling is to specify the subjects that must be taught," she complained. "The laws of this state do not adequately protect homeschooled children in situations when notification of the type of schooling of the child would help reduce vulnerabilities to abuse and neglect. That's why I've sponsored the 'Homeschool Act,' also known as HB2827."
If HB2827 is enacted as drafted parents will be required to file reports to their local school district, this includes a "portfolio" of their children's work at any time, at any interval and frequency, until that portfolio meets the public school's satisfaction. If their child participates in any public school activities on or off school grounds, the parent must submit proof of all immunizations and required health examinations. Parents who do not satisfactorily perform these tasks face Class C misdemeanor charges, which are punishable by up to 30 days in jail.
"I know the results of our public schools aren't very good compared to results achieved by homeshooling, but our public school teachers are burdened with substantial paperwork that consumes time that could otherwise be devoted to teaching," Howard pointed out. "So, requiring parents to bear some paperwork burdens evens the metrics a little bit. Ideally, there would be no alternative to public schools. That would ensure that every child gets an equal education. We can't do much about parents who can afford to send their children to better private schools right now, but if we can make homeschooling less pleasant for parents more of them will opt to send their children to the local public school. Later, if can ban private schools the performance stats of the public schools will be boosted by the addition of these better educated children to the mix."
