The Defense Department admits to the war on terror costing the taxpayers $250 MILLION a day for the past 16 years. The Defense Department being what it is, probably underestimates this by at least half. Of course, this only includes the war on Afghanistan and Iraq. It also does not include the costs of death benefits or veteran disabilities. It also does not include the costs of the intelligence world.(1 comment)

We all heard about how President Trump getting the US out of the Paris Climate Change agreement was the precursor to the end of the world. We heard how all those countries that did sign up were so much morally better than us. Well, imagine the latest, where the UN reports that the countries that tried to shame us haven’t even met the quotas that they agreed to. …

This is really old news. The headlines should be that the DNC rigged the deck for the candidate of choice of those who control the party. The so called “super delegate” system that the DNC has in place was a response to the 1968 Presidential Election, where George McGovern ran a grass roots campaign and got the nomination. Those who controlled the Democrat Party where stunned and of course the election was lost. They vowed not to let this happen again. So they created the super delegate system. The two political parties only control primary elections. They make the rules and the primaries work the way they want them to. That is the real way they protect incumbents and the major reason why we rarely have choices. Oddly enough, the RNC didn’t like the way we the people got Trump through the primaries. They are actually trying to figure out how to create a super delegate system of their own. This one actually is somewhat easy to influence, but most of us won’t. Local precincts elect county parties. The county parties select delegates to the district and state party conventions. The state party conventions select those who go to the national conventions and vote on the rules. It’s not easy or fun, but it can be done.

em>I’ve been a fan of Judge Napolitano for some time now. He has a unique way of analyzing legal issues in an objective constitutional war. A classical “knowledge” method instead of histrionics and popular opinion. Today he talks about the real rule of law. It’s about prosecuting foreigners in a foreign country with American laws. Clearly unconstitutional and wrong.(3 comments)

The notion of “secret” trials and witnesses being “squeezed” to tell things to prosecutors that they want to hear goes against everything that America stands for. Jurors should take everything that these snitches say with huge skepticism. A look at Papadopoulos’s role in Trumps campaign shows a very low level guy who seems to have gone out of his way to get the campaign involved in illegalities. He was regularly turned down. What “proof” can he possibly have other than innuendo? Was he possibly a deep state operative to influence the campaign? (1 comment)

The notion that there are two political parties representing different constituencies has been dispelled a long time ago. They’ve gotten away with it for so long because we haven’t recognized it. In reality, the Neo Cons and the Neo Libs are both the war party. The constitution says that only Congress can declare war for an extended time. We’ve been in the never ending wars for 16 years now, and Congress has yet to declare war. I guess that Congress has a different definition of “extended time” than you or I do. And they continue to defend it, even as the never ending wars expand into Africa, South American and if they get their way, North Korea and Iran.(1 comment)

Private property should mean just that. If you own the property, you should enjoy the reasonable expectation that you are free from government instrutions and that you can keep trespassers from wandering over your property. Well, not only is that not the case in Pennsylvania, but the Supreme Court ruled in 1975 that property owners are barred from federal courts until they survive a series of expensive, time-consuming procedural traps. A new law suit seeks to correct this.(1 comment)

One of the overlooked aspects of the Houston flooding is that some of it was caused by actions of the US Army Corps of Engineers! The Corps has built many man made reservoirs over the years to control flooding. Although made to control flooding, they quickly become scenic places to build houses to enjoy recreation and scenic views. Many neighborhoods in Houston actually weren’t flooded out during the disaster. However, as water levels rose, the Corps decided to breach the dams and such that made the reservoirs. Large scale flooding occurred because of this decision. Do the people have a right to claim damages?(1 comment)

St. Louis, Missouri is a 487 County, so little of what they do politically is too much of a surprise. Like many cities with failing public schools, St. Louis has created Magnet Schools, Charter Schools and other alternatives. While the argument is that they are making better choices, in reality most of these “better” schools are designed to keep parents from pulling good kids out of the public school systems. If they can keep them, then scores overall go up and it creates the illusion that progress is being made. Well, imagine one families surprise to discover that only white children are allowed in these alternative schools! Yes, this very liberal city is denying the opportunity for a child to get an education based on his skin color!(1 comment)

The Republicans own the Diversity Visa program. It was created and made into law via the Immigration Act of 1990. Those with a good memory will recall that George H.W. Bush was the president in 1990. In the words of the first Bush,
"S. 358 accomplishes what this Administration sought from the outset of the immigration reform process”
Ironically, it never would have passed without the Republicans. Even the Democrats voted against it, and they had the majorities in the House and Senate. Take a look at the numbers and look at who voted for and against it. Sadly, 27 years later you’ll see names of folks who are still around. Let’s look at the law. Sponsored by Ted Kennedy. Co sponsored by two Republicans. Only 171 Democrats voted for it. It was the 93 Republicans who voted for it that allowed it to pass. The so called gang of 8 over the years have offered to eliminate the program. But the trade off was to allow for many more to come in. In other words, drop the 50,000 and replace it with programs that allow for millions more to come in. This is the point in the blog where I usually ask you to write your congress folks to create laws to abolish the diversity visa program. Well, imagine my surprise to find out that there are actually bills to eliminate the program in the house and senate. The senate bill was introduced in February. The house bill in March. Yes, your conclusions are correct at this point. They have been sitting on them! They haven’t even been sent to committee. Cynics in the political world suggest that the Republicans in the house and senate on sitting on them in order to trade the eliminating the program for some other program that increase the number of immigrants. So, now we get back to the “contact” your congress folks. How do we influence them? Obviously voting them out of office is the best way, but in the interim, let’s look at what works. According to studies, a live in person visit is the most influential method. That’s impractical for most of us, so let’s look at the best two ways that we can do it. Individualized emails to them and letters to the editor of the local paper where you name the congress folks by name (not merely the issue) are the two most influential. Phone calls are virtually worthless. Facts on what the Diversity Visa program is and how it’s supposed to work.
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