Posse Incitatus

The Changing Nature of College Sports

Almost exactly seven years ago to the day, I posted on the Posse my opposition to paying college athletes. That commentary dealt with this issue on a more limited scope -- athletes from private universities were ruled eligible to form labor unions by the National Labor Relations Board.

Much has changed since then. The courts have ruled that universities -- public and private -- prohibiting their athletes from earning money for selling their personal brand or likeness is a violation of antitrust laws.

The U.S. Supreme Court this week will begin hearing appeals, with the NCAA, Big Ten Conference and U.S. Department of Justice all involved. If SCOTUS leaves the lower courts' rulings in place, college athletes will be able to make money by engaging in activities like appearing at an auto dealership grand opening to sign autographs, or selling autographed photographs of themselves.

I love college sports -- particularly football and basketball, but also other sports including hockey, baseball, and volleyball. I do not want college sports to get bogged down in the swamp that sullies professional sports: obscenely large contracts, holdouts, walkouts, strikes, arbitration, agents, attorneys, salary caps, free agency, contracts, never-ending litigation, and complacent, arrogant athletes who love the big bucks but choose to coast rather than work hard. 

In recent years, with the so-called "transfer portal" that enables players to transfer out of one university and start playing for another university without sitting out one season, we've been moving in that direction. And if players are allowed to cash in on their fame, this opens the door to a lopsided competition for talent. Large universities with plenty of wealthy alumni will be able to effectively pick the talent pool clean with their offers of huge money for modest activities. Some smaller schools may elect to just shut down their football programs rather than shell out the big money only to get repeatedly trounced and see revenues crater.

What if, for instance, a billionaire alum and booster was willing to pay an athlete $1 million each time that athlete showed up at the oligarch's Christmas party, children's birthday parties, and the like? What if that same booster made it "understood" that if five-star prospect Joe Blow signs on the dotted line with a certain university, his autographed selfies and pictures taken with the booster's family members will go for, oh, let's say $200,000 apiece.

We may be so far down that road that it's too late to turn back. But let's remember, the vast majority of college athletes do not become pro athletes. Many of them end up using their degrees to work as white collar professionals; some end up coaching or getting into sports management, others become announcers or commentators for one of the myriad sports networks.

Although athletes don't cash in on their likeness (yet), and universities make multi-millions off of TV contracts, ticket/concession sales and apparel bearing the names of star athletes, the athletes do receive scholarships often worth $50,000 to $100,000 or more.

And no one is forcing them to play for the universities. Athletes who think they're good enough can go try out for an NBA or NFL team, or any other pro sports team. Not many are good enough to do what LaBron James did in 2003 or Al Kaline in 1957 -- go straight from high school to the pros (the Cleveland Cavaliers and Detroit Tigers, respectively). But there are minor leagues, developmental leagues, and European basketball. Many NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball teams occasionally offer open tryouts.

If these athletes playing the highest profile sports of football and basketball (and in a few schools, hockey or baseball) command big money, the current paradigm of lucrative sports subsidizing less popular sports will come to an end. Right now, talented golfers, swimmers, and players in other sports such as tennis, volleyball, track and field, and women's basketball, can get scholarships even though the fan interest in their sports is minimal compared to men's hoops and football. The big money brought in by football and basketball keeps those lesser sports afloat. When jerseys, posters, highlight films, video games and the like bearing an athlete's name are sold in the future, that athlete, not his university, will reap the financial rewards.

It's quite possible some of these less popular sports will become "club sports" -- i.e., those that compete competitively with other universities but are not regulated by the NCAA and do not qualify for varsity status. Federal Title IX regulations, however, will undoubtedly preserve scholarships for some of these female athletes.

Some sports may be discontinued, and universities will undoubtedly have to grapple with the dilemma of male athletes who play football or basketball raking in far more money than any of the female athletes. The equity fiends will no doubt have a field day. Multiple cans of worms await us, and it ain't gonna be pretty.

Oh well, I'm going to stop worrying about it and go watch some March Madness. Have a nice day.

A Different Take on the Filibuster

Those who have read this blog for a while know that I am not afraid to admit when I'm wrong. In fact, I've long felt that a little self-flagellation is a healthy thing. It is liberating to admit failure or wrongheadedness, to learn from your mistakes, and resolve to do better in the future.

So here goes, before I get into the current hot topic -- the filibuster in the U.S. Senate -- allow me to self-flagellate: I was naive and foolhardy when I supported the Patriot Act and creation of the Department of Homeland Security in 2003. I didn't realize that it would result in a pervasive, all-encroaching surveillance state that was malleable and susceptible to abuse by whatever administration was in power. Former President Barack Obama made full use of the surveillance tools at his disposal, creating the most Orwellian surveillance state America has ever known. Technology continues to advance, and there's no doubt in my mind that A) Donald Trump did little or nothing to roll back the surveillance state; and B) the surveillance state continues to worsen by the day under Sleepy Joe Biden.

I was dead wrong when I supported the Iraq War in 2003. (I never dreamed how inept G.W. Bush would be once Saddam was overthrown, but that's a topic for another day.) I failed to recognize that despite Saddam's vicious brutality, he was the lesser of two evils. A vacuum resulting from his absence would eventually lead to the bloodthirsty monsters of ISIS, and far worse treatment for Christians and Jews than what happened under Saddam. And suffice it to say, it is appalling that thousands of Americans were killed, and thousands more maimed physically and psychologically, plus trillions of dollars were spent, all to turn Iraq into a corrupt Iranian proxy.

So fast forward to 2020-21. I have sounded the alarm about the possibility of the hard-left Democrats taking us into a Stalinist, totalitarian regime within a matter of months. How would they do so? Well, I am not sure in what order these catastrophic developments could have occurred, but elimination of the Senate filibuster would have been the impetus.

Once the filibuster, which essentially increases to 60 senators the number necessary to move legislation or a nomination forward, is eliminated, a razor thin margin held by one party can enable that majority party to ramrod its agenda down the opposition's throat. The Senate is 50-50, and Vice President Kamala Harris is the tiebreaker. So, if the senators agree to eliminate the filibuster, their grab-bag of goodies to ensure permanent Democrat rule over the White House, Senate and House for a century (at least), would consist of a number of actions:

• Grant statehood to the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, thus ensuring four more Democrat senators for perpetuity;
• Stack the U.S. Supreme Court with leftist justices so that SCOTUS would serve as a rubber stamp for any legislation passed by the Democrat Congress, no matter how unconstitutional;
• Eliminate the Electoral College, thus disenfranchising sparsely populated states in flyover country (How many people? More than 100 million?); and
• Dramatically water down the voting process, including mandating mail-in ballots, opposing requirements for voter ID cards, allowing ballot harvesting, permitting felons to vote, restricting audits and cleanup of outdated voter rolls, and allowing people to register on the same day they vote.

Although the Democrats have already attempted the fourth bullet point (H.R.1), I am optimistic this abominable legislation that would turn us into a banana republic will not succeed. For one thing, many court challenges will be made, and Donald Trump appointed hundreds of conservative, constitutionalist judges during his four years in office. So many of H.R.1's provisions would be struck down.

But before it even gets to that point, there are at least a couple of dozen House Democrats who have expressed reservations about H.R.1, and are likely to vote against it. Why? Because they come from districts that are either 50-50 Dem-GOP, or districts that went for Trump in 2020. They would rather preserve their jobs than vote the party line. Sorry, Nancy & Chuckie.

Now let's get back to the filibuster. It's not a done deal, despite the anguish I expressed a few months ago.

West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin and Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema have repeatedly stated they oppose eliminating the filibuster. And just in the past few days, CNN interviewed New Hampshire's two Democrat senators, Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan, both of whom said they oppose absolute elimination of the filibuster. (Caveat: Shaheen and Hassan did say we need to "reform" the filibuster, whatever that means.) 

It's worth noting that Hassan squeaked by in the 2016 election, defeating Kelly Ayotte by .1 percent (1,017 votes out of about 740,000 votes cast). She faces a tough re-election in 2022, and perhaps understands that in the state whose motto is "Live Free or Die," it would be imprudent to vote for abolition of the filibuster.

A few weeks ago, National Review columnist Ramesh Ponnuru penned an opinion piece about why many Democrat senators secretly hope the filibuster remains in place. He raises a salient point: They can talk a good game about being onboard with progressive policies and actions, but know deep down inside that if they adhere to that agenda and "walk the walk," they may well lose in their re-election bids.

Without the filibuster, these politicians will be held much more accountable for controversial and potentially unpopular legislation they vote to pass, because their "yes" vote will in many cases help enact the legislation since 60 affirmative votes would no longer be needed.

But in the current M.O., senators from red or purple states can support their party's agenda and heave a sigh of relief whenever a controversial bill fails to pass because the Dems couldn't muster up 60 votes for cloture (cutting off debate). They can continue to appease their leftist supporters, but retain crucial independents come election time. Let's face it: Insincerity and phoniness are intrinsic in politics. It comes with the territory.

To many Democrat senators, getting rid of the filibuster is, counterintuitively and to use a favorite liberal expression, an "existential threat." Hmm, must be that "systemic" bullshit.

The Marionette Survives His First Test

The choreographed Joe Biden made it through his first press conference today, about 9 weeks after he was sworn into office.

No doubt the questions were vetted and efforts were made to keep the most menacing reporters away. Despicably, the White House did not allow a reporter from conservative network NewsMax into the press conference. As is typical of today's fascistic Democrat Party, the thinking is that anyone who doesn't subscribe to the left's narrative and groupthink is spouting disinformation or promoting wild-eyed conspiracy theories.

This is not unlike the idiotic talking point leftists spout whenever confronted with conservatives' efforts to ensure integrity and accountability in elections: "It's voter suppression," they cry. Jim Crow on steroids! Right. Requiring voter ID's, restricting paper ballots and auditing voter rolls is tantamount to the poll taxes and literacy tests of Reconstruction. Gotcha. Oh well. There's not much we can do if millions of people are just plain stupid or choose to live in a fantasy world and spout bald-faced lies.

Who knows how many weeks Sleepy Joe had to practice and prep for today's news conference. During the presser, which lasted 1 hour and 15 minutes, the president only called on 10 reporters, and seemed to be often reading from notes. Although teleprompters cannot be used at live press conferences, there's no doubt in my mind the Big Guy had an earpiece and key advisors whispering advice to him whenever he grasped for the right words while responding to a question.

Even so, he had some embarrassing moments such as this 35-second brain fart. We've become accustomed to these moments of ineptitude because most anyone who's not a partisan Democrat acknowledges that the president is in a state of mental decline. Some have even accused his wife, Jill, of elder abuse for encouraging him to run for president and helping others to prop him up and coach him through his challenging days. At times it seems as if she's his nurse, seemingly at his side almost every moment. When the two are sitting down for an interview and she helps answers questions or completes his answers, "the optics are bad," as they say.

A couple weeks ago, the president forgot the name of his Secretary of Defense, then doubled down by saying the former general (Lloyd Austin) is "the guy who runs that outfit over there..." (i.e., the Pentagon). And then there was the president's struggle climbing the steps of Air Force One  -- alarming, to say the least.

Think about it: We only see what is in public. Who knows what's going on behind the scenes. Just as Harry Reid probably lied about how he got that black eye a few years ago (A treadmill, my ass!), I'll bet China Joe fabricated his story about playing with the dog after he got out of the shower, leading to an ankle injury several months ago.

American Thinker recently ran a piece -- "The Great Pretender" -- that, although probably bordering on black humor, raised the very real possibility that at times the president might confuse a movie or delusions with reality. Another piece on that website, titled "Joe's Long Decline," (March 5 -- I cannot get link to work), provides some harsh facts about encroaching dementia and how it is exacerbated by stress and anxiety. Once again, elder abuse is a central theme.

I take no pleasure in witnessing this sad situation. My mother died of Alzheimer's Disease, and I wouldn't wish it upon my worst enemy. But the president's precarious situation, and the unconscionable, manipulative reprobates around him, make our current lurch to the nihilistic left all the more alarming. 

We live in dangerous times, and fervent prayer may be our only recourse.

Staggering Incompetence

As the crush of indigent people at the Mexican border continues to overwhelm officials and residents of border communities, the incompetence of President Joe Biden comes into clearer focus.

Let's start with this incredible fact: During a 2019 debate involving candidates for the Democratic nomination for president, Biden stated that if elected president, he would encourage a surge to the border. He and other Democrats also went on record as stating they favored having the government pay for healthcare for illegal immigrants. It's a sad fact that tens of millions of Democrats are so far-gone, so utterly delusional, that they think both of these policies are a good idea. 

In recent weeks, we've seen Biden administration officials fluctuate wildly from one idiotic excuse or talking point to another. Some blame the border meltdown on Donald Trump, and lie flagrantly about Trump's policies (e.g., Trump "gutted" and "completely dismantled" the asylum system.) Others tried to emphasize that the surge is a positive thing because it demonstrates these poor people's faith in the United States. "We offer hope," they said.

The frequently evasive and condescending press secretary, Jen Psaki, repeatedly denied the border fiasco was a crisis, instead trying to call it a "challenge." A few days ago, she slipped up and used the word "crisis," then corrected herself. 

Biden himself now is backtracking, claiming he's discouraging the immigrants from coming. "Don't come. We're in the process of getting set up," he told George Stephanopoulos on ABC News. What a moron! 

Alejandro Mayorkas went on the Sunday talk shows a few days ago and pretty much made a fool of himself. He's one of several Baghdad Bobs speaking on behalf of the Biden administration. This whole thing is pathetic, and would be funny except for the rapes, assaults, molestations, fentanyl, heroin, COVID-19, and MS-13 thugs. That's right: Horrible things are happening at the border, and it's only going to get worse.

Many of the children are being abused en route to the United States; immigrants who test positive for Coronavirus are nevertheless put aboard buses and driven to the interior of our country; and bad guys are finding it super easy to walk across the border. Their strategy is simply to cross in areas a long ways away from the peak surge areas. The congestion and chaos attract the vast majority of border control and immigration officials, thus leaving long stretches of the border totally unguarded and susceptible to criminal infiltration.

The super spreaders will end up causing people to die. So will the heroin and fentanyl. So will the vicious gangsters. Scores of girls and young women will be scarred for life after being abused by those who helped smuggle them across the border. And the exorbitant fees the coyotes charge to get people across the border will, of course, fund gangs and drug cartels. The harsh truth is that the heartless Democrats are doing this to pad their voter rolls. It is reprehensible, but the Dems have no conscience.

But as the late Rush Limbaugh pointed out many times, even the left-leaning media at some point will stop covering for egregious Democrat policies. Why? Because many of these reporters, anchors and editors are egotists and want to beat their competitors in breaking stories and getting "exclusive" interviews with important government officials. Greater salaries and book deals down the line are incentives. So even MSNBC and CNN as well as the broadcast networks, have been reporting on the border crisis and complaining about the administration's lack of transparency.

In the coming weeks, Biden is almost guaranteed to revert back to many of Donald Trump's policies, including having immigrants wait on the Mexican side of the border until their cases can be adjudicated. I believe he will also pressure Mexico's president to seal off Mexico's southern border with Central America to cut off the flow. If he doesn't take these steps, he will be responsible for a GOP landslide in the 2022 election. Be sure not to run out of popcorn; the idiocy promises to continue.

MEDIA, DEMS SAY 'DAMN IT!' -- The person arrested for killing 10 people Monday in a Boulder, Colorado supermarket is a Muslim from Syria who hates Donald Trump. The media and Democrats are bitterly disappointed that he's not a Christian, white Trump supporter. They must be thinking, "Damn it! How could he piss all over our narrative?" The suspect was reportedly on law enforcement's radar screen for quite some time. The vermin on the left really wanted to take this and run with it, just like they did with the Atlanta spa killings a couple weeks ago. Thankfully, they cannot do so.

The Shape of Things in Michigan

There's plenty of bad news to dissect on the federal level, but today I thought I'd take a break from that and comment on a few goings on in my home state of Michigan, which also is reeling under leftist leadership.

It's no secret that I've been a frequent critic of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, whose extreme lockdown policies have harmed many thousands of small business owners and employees and dramatically reduced the quality of life for millions of Michiganders. She may also be grouped in with New York's vile Gov. Andrew Cuomo, as well as Governors Gavin Newsom (CA), Phil Murphy (NJ) and Tom Wolf (PA) as being called on the carpet for sending COVID19 patients into nursing homes, obviously resulting in many seniors getting infected and dying.

All of the governors have their spinmeisters working 'round the clock to deny, deflect and deceive (and, of course, to blame Donald Trump, the CDC or anyone else at the federal level -- "I was just following federal guidelines!").

In Michigan, the bombastic Republican Peter Lucido, a former state senator and now Macomb County Prosecuting Attorney, has opened an investigation into Whitmer's nursing home policies. He has asked his county's medical examiner's office to create a committee to review nursing home deaths related to COVID-19. Not surprisingly, Michigan's militant leftist Attorney General, Dana Nessel, has declined to investigate her buddy.

Lucido also announced an online form for families to file with law enforcement to investigate fatalities, and as of mid-March stated he had reviewed hundreds of complaints. Additionally, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Charlie LeDuff is also suing Whitmer, seeking the release of nursing home virus data by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. It will be interesting to see if we can get to the bottom of this.

Madame Governor is also in deep (pun intended) with the energy company Enbridge, which wants to build a concrete-enclosed pipeline underneath the Straits of Mackinac (the connecting point of Lakes Michigan and Huron). The new line would replace a portion of a 68-year-old pipeline that transports light crude oil and natural gas liquids. The entire pipeline runs 645 miles, from Superior, Wisconsin through Michigan's Upper Peninsula to the southeastern Lower Peninsula and then across the international border, from Port Huron, Michigan to refineries in Sarnia, Ontario.

The governor has ordered Enbridge to cease operations with the existing line by May, and is seeking to block construction of the proposed new line, which would be built in bedrock as far as 100 feet beneath the lake bed. The Democrats are petrified the existing line will spring a leak and contaminate the Great Lakes, even though it has been transporting energy products safely for well over six decades. Besides, a leak would be quickly discovered, and the flow cut off before much damage was done.

One of the major problems is that many Upper Peninsula homes and businesses rely on propane for heat, and U.P. winters are, for the uninitiated, long and brutally cold. Gov. Whitmer has implemented a so-called "Propane Security Plan" that is almost as cumbersome and convoluted as last year's micro-managed COVID19 zones dictating where restaurants and businesses needed to be closed and where they could be open -- and to what extent they could be "open."

The bottom line is that closing the pipeline would increase prices of gasoline and propane for U.P. residents, and would necessitate transport of millions of gallons of fuel by truck and train. The chances of catastrophic and fatal accidents (both of which would harm the environment) are MUCH greater with this type of fuel transport. But such rational thinking never enters the heads of idealistic liberals.

We'll see what the courts say; this could take several months to resolve. Suffice it to say, Whitmer is in love with power and control, and despises the thought of a private sector company winning out over government in addressing Michigan's energy needs. Her mindset exemplifies the same destructive statism advocated by the Washington, D.C., Democrats who are doing their level best to implement Venezuelan type policies before the Republicans kick their asses out of Congress in 2022. If Whitmer is re-elected that year, I swear, I will be leaving Michigan for good.

END OF THE LINE FOR MSU SPARTANS -- Michigan State's basketball Spartans managed to keep their 23-year streak intact with an appearance in the NCAA Tournament "play-in" game on March 18. Alas, they lost in overtime to UCLA, 86-80. The Spartans were actually ahead at the half, 44-33, but choked in the second half. This team is lacking in chemistry, and will lose several key players to graduation or, in the case of junior forward Aaron Henry, a likely departure to enter the NBA Draft. Coach Tom Izzo has made some poor choices in his recruiting in recent years, and several of his highly touted players have not developed as expected. He must shore up his roster by signing some talent through the transfer portal, or the 2021-2022 season will be as painful as this one was. Here's hoping for the best.

WOLVERINES STILL ALIVE -- The Michigan Wolverines won the regular Big Ten championship, but their Final Four chances took a severe blow when senior forward Isiah Livers, a certain NBA prospect, sustained a severe stress injury to his right foot, knocking him out of the tournament. Michigan won its first game on Saturday, 82-66, and faces No. 8 LSU on Monday. 

For the People?

One thing leftists love to do is couch their authoritarianism in positive sounding titles and names: "The People's Republic of China," the "Democratic People's Republic of Korea," the "Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela," and so on. And, of course, there's the ubiquitous "comrade" that the old Soviet apparatchiks loved to use. 

The same can be said for today's Democrats, whose naked power grab designed to bring about permanent, one-party (Democrat) governance for the next century (HR1) has been named the "For the People Act." For the people my ass!

As I ranted a few days ago, this legislation greases the skids for paper ballots, ballot harvesting, no voter ID requirements, a dragged out election process, felons voting and more. A Democrat effort to lower the voting age to 16 fell short, thankfully.

Like so much of what Sleepy Joe Biden and his merry band of radicals have implemented, "for the people" really means "screw the people" and be for someone or something that is bad.

In the delusional minds of Democrats, Biden's policies -- be they executive orders or legislation -- are "FOR THE PEOPLE." Translated, they mean:

• For the Mexican drug cartels;
• For pedophile coyotes;
• For letting immigrants spread Coronavirus far and wide;
• For "kids in cages";
• For Tehran Islamofascists;
• For the CCP;
• For raising gasoline prices and spiking utility bills;
• For relegating urban black children to failing schools;
• For pervert guys who dress like women so they can get into girls' restrooms and locker rooms;
• For shysters like Solyndra that promise green wonders and laugh all the way to the bank;
• For ballot harvesters;
• For convicted rapists, child molesters and murderers -- let 'em vote!;
• For blackmailing U.S. Supreme Court justices;
• For the deep state and its penchant for surveillance, harassment and intimidation;
• For the IRS. Happy days are here again! Time to go after China Joe's political enemies.
• For the secular progressives and anti-Christian bigots.
• For the anti-Semites.
• For mask manufacturers, the beer and liquor industries and food delivery services;
• For fiscally reckless blue state governors and lawmakers;
• For the heartless, shameless teachers' unions;
• For public employee unions;
• For Planned Parenthood and other abortionists;
• For the race baiters and kooky academicians;
• For the garbage media;
• For reparations for slavery;
• For top-down, bureaucratic healthcare;
• For federal domination over local zoning and housing laws;
• For higher taxes;
• For more regulations;
• For welfare without work;
• For critical race theory;
• For the lie of systemic racism;
• For the lie of human-caused climate change;
• For the communist canon of "equity";
• For the spirit of Saul Alinksy.

For the people? Hardly. More like, "For the Formation of Venezuela North."

Will Southern Border Become Joe Biden's Guantanamo Bay?

Back in 2006-2008, Democrats and their media lapdogs were obsessed with the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. They used it as a cudgel to bash the hapless George W. Bush, and lied repeatedly about supposed torture and heinous treatment of prisoners even though in actuality, Guantanamo Bay's conditions weren't bad as prison camps go.

The camp is located at the U.S. Naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and was established just a few months after 9/11 to detain, interrogate and prosecute suspected Islamic terrorists. 

Guantanamo Bay was to the 2008 Democrat/Garbage Media juggernaut what theRussian Collusion lie was to the same disreputable Democrat propaganda machine in 2015-2019. Clearly, the Democrats are very good at emulating Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels. Repeatedly, they have lied like a rug and had their media cheerleaders enthusiastically spread the B.S. far and wide. Sadly, millions of gullible Americans buy into the bullshit. Elections have consequences, sure. But so does propaganda.

Despite Barack Obama making closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp one of his major campaign promises, this was something he did not accomplish in eight years. Why? Because even he wasn't radical enough to release dangerous terrorists while U.S. soldiers were engaged in Iraq and Afghanistan and millions of Americans still felt very uneasy about our vulnerability to devastating terror attacks.

It's easy to forget, but during Obama's time in office, many Islamic terror attacks took place stateside (Ft. Hood, San Bernardino, the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, to name a few), and many were stopped before they could be carried out (the "Underwear Bomber" on the plane over Detroit in 2009, the Times Square vehicle loaded with explosives in 2010, a Pakistani-American arrested for plotting a bomb attack on the Washington Metro subway, a plot to blow up American airliners over the Pacific Ocean...)

There's no doubt that realists in Obama's administration spoke sternly with the idealistic community organizer and told him it would be reckless and irresponsible to hastily close down Guantanamo and release many of its detainees. Obama did succeed in dramatically reducing the number of inmates there, from over 600 in the early Bush years to 41 when Obama left office.

Fast forward to 2021. Joe Biden claimed to be a moderate and claims he wants to unify Americans, but his radical leftist actions show him to be just another in a long line of progressive liars. I won't attempt to recite the wrecking ball list of executive orders he's signed to hollow out America, but one of his pet projects is opening up the southern border to illegal immigrants (aka undocumented Democrats).

I didn't like Obama or his policies, but I'll grant him this: He was a million times smarter and more shrewd than Biden, who comes across as a naive dupe and idiot. Judging from the human catastrophe going on at the Mexican border (which only promises to get worse), Biden and his band of clowns obviously didn't think this through. They simply have a reflexive hatred and loathing of every single Trump policy, and will reverse those policies ASAP, without contemplating the consequences.

In the past few weeks, we've learned more about the horrible abuses and deprivation going on at the border. Many unattended children or children accompanied by coyotes or drug runners are showing up after a harrowing journey from Central America. Sexual and physical abuse of these children are commonplace. Some have serious diseases; many are infected with Coronavirus.

There's no social distancing, and little mask wearing. Hundreds of immigrants who reportedly tested positive for Coronavirus are being put on buses and transported to the interior of the country. Many are squeezed into what the media used to call "cages" when Donald Trump was president. Such cramped conditions are a hotbed for spread of the virus, and some children must stand and wait hours until they can take their turn lying down on a cement floor to get some sleep.

It's getting so bad that even some of the mainstream media is covering this unfolding humanitarian disaster. Incredibly, some of the questions directed at airhead press secretary Jen Psaki have become more pointed in recent days. Better late than never.

Despite denying that it's a crisis (instead calling it a "challenge" and trying to downplay criticism), Biden has called out FEMA to help relieve the dire conditions. He even has backtracked a bit and decided to send some of the immigrants back.

One of the silly excuses Biden's team is using to excuse the Democrats' reprehensible initiative to pad their future voter rolls is that climate change has destroyed farming conditions in El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua, thus forcing many of their residents to flee for opportunity in the United States.

Biden may hate Trump with every fiber of his being, and may hope like crazy that every single policy and action taken during his administration will be 180 degrees opposite of what the Trump administration did. But like Guantanamo Bay to Barack Obama, this nettlesome border issue is going to fry Biden if he doesn't come to his senses.

Voting Wars

Forget Star Wars, the Punic Wars, the Greco-Persian Wars and the French and Indian Wars....We will soon embark on a ferocious 21st century clash: Voting Wars.

In a nutshell, it mainly boils down to state and local officials versus the federal behemoth with its endless power-hungry overreach and relentless deep state, always to be employed ruthlessly to torment and coerce the peons of flyover country.

The U.S. Constitution clearly stipulates that state legislatures are in charge of setting election laws, policies and regulations for their residents. But since when did the constitution stop Democrats from doing whatever they damn well please?

Enter House Resolution 1, another abomination by the party of megalomaniacs.

They call HR1 a "reform act," but in reality, it's more of a voting fraud facilitator; a kick-start to hasten our metamorphosis into a banana republic. HR1 is a perfect storm of irresponsible, dumbed down policies that will grease the skids for permanent Democrat rule in the near future.

If the often brain-dead and somnolent Republicans can't get their dander up to fight this tyrannical proposal, they deserve to be permanently shut out of power.

There are so many horrible aspects to HR1 that I can't name them all. But here are a few of the highlights (or LOWLIGHTS, as it were):

• HR1 creates a federal right to a mail-in ballot, no excuse necessary.
• Registered voters could not be made to submit any form of identification as a condition of obtaining an absentee ballot except for a signature or "affirmation."
• The new federal law would trump state laws requiring that mail-in votes be notarized or signed by witnesses.
• Ballot harvesting would be allowed. State laws prohibiting it would be overruled, and there would be no limit on how many voted and sealed absentee ballots any person could return to elections officials. This opens the door to corrupt partisans and activists. They're sure to have a field day.
• Same-day voter registration would be allowed, as would 15 days of early voting. (As with federal "free money" and my sarcastic recommendation that every American be guaranteed a $100K income, why not just make voting a 24/7/365 proposition? Why confine it to 15 days, 2 months or 6 months? Better yet, why not just calculate in advance who will vote Democrat, and automatically count them in every future election (even after they're dead).
• Convicted felons would be allowed to vote. In some cases, they could vote in federal but not state elections. Would county officials thus have to keep two sets of voter lists and two sets of ballots? Wonderful! Gum up the works. Democrats LOVE chaos, confusion and dysfunction. It's their natural milieu.
• Public funds would match small political donations at a 6-to-1 rate. A $200 donation would garner $1,200 from Uncle Joe - er, Uncle SAM.
• Now here's one of the most egregious and Orwellian provisions: HR1 would require the judiciary to create a code of conduct for Supreme Court justices. This is really beyond the pale and shows the naked power grab Democrats are seeking. One can only imagine the phony ethics complaints and calls for conservative justices to recuse themselves from certain cases. Maybe it won't be necessary to pack the court after all.

I have one question for the Democrats: Do you remember the fiasco surrounding New York’s 22nd Congressional District election last summer, which didn’t have a victor for 97 days? Is this the kind of clown show you want for the whole nation? (Rhetorical question; these charlatans would never give an honest answer.)

Radio talk show host Mark Levin has long lamented the Republicans' utter negligence and incompetence in not "lawyering up" for the 2020 election when it was clear the Democrats had formed armies of lawyers in every state to litigate 'til the cows come home for mail-in ballots, ballot harvesting, lax voter ID requirements and many other banana republic policies to ensure Sleepy Joe would win on Nov. 3.

The Republicans should have been prepared to aggressively lock horns with Democrats in every state, going to elections boards, state legislatures, secretaries of states and various courts to plead their case. But they got caught flat-footed.

Be forewarned: The same scenario is playing out here. The Republicans need to marshal their resources and, to paraphrase scripture, "gird their loins" for battle.

We're in for the fight of our life. If HR1 runs roughshod over state elections laws -- a blatantly unconstitutional proposition -- it won't even be necessary to stack SCOTUS, eliminate the Electoral College or grant statehood to the twin cesspools of D.C. & Puerto Rico. The dirty deed will have been done, and crushing, brutal, nihilistic Democrat totalitarianism will soon snuff out liberty, free speech, religious worship and the rule of law in the world's greatest nation.

I kid you not.

For the Umpteenth Time: Economics 101

The science of economics can seem daunting to those who have difficulty working with numbers, formulas and equations. Money multipliers, pump priming, fractional reserve banking, quantitative easing, John Maynard Keynes, Milton Friedman, the Laffer Curve... enough already!

The reality is that economics actually rests on common sense, human nature and responsible public policy. Forget the formulas and symbols, and concentrate on what an economic transaction means to you. Do you trust the currency and what it can buy for you? Are you reasonably certain that if you keep working, you will continue receiving that currency, and if you keep saving and investing, that when it's time to retire the money will be there to support you?

Much of this rests on sound fiscal policy. However, in just the past year, our so-called leaders have been moving away from responsible fiscal policy at warp speed.

Raising the cost of production (higher wages and/or higher prices for raw materials) can lead to "cost-push" inflation unless productivity also increases. The same can be said for expanding the money supply without something to back it up -- namely, an increase in the value of goods and services.

Just as tens of millions of Americans are utterly ignorant about history and the U.S. Constitution, so are scores of people ignorant of basic economic laws. Advice to those seeking a crash course on the devastating effects of an oversupply of money and extreme devaluation of currency: Google "Weimar Republic inflation."

Economists may quibble about how much we've increased our money supply since the 2008 financial collapse and the beginning of the Federal Reserve's quantitative easing policy. In this age of digital money, you don't really need to crank up the printing presses. No one is actually counting physical bills and coins.

But by continuously spending money we don't have -- by running up outrageous, obscene annual deficits of 5, 6, 7 trillion dollars (debt piled onto generations not yet born), we are in effect increasing our money supply without increasing productivity.

I don't have enough money to buy a $1 million home on the oceanfront at Miami Beach, or to purchase a gold-plated Bentley. But if creditors were foolish enough to lend me the money with the knowledge I planned to make these purchases (and if I were reckless enough to do so), I could "expand my money supply" on credit and live in high style.

I wouldn't have a prayer of paying back the money while also taking care of my current obligations and retirement. But if I acted like the morons in Washington, D.C., I wouldn't give a shit. "Let her rip," would be my motto. Let the chips fall where they may. I'll be six feet under, pushing up daisies by the time the loans come due.

Some people think our $28 trillion national debt and $125 trillion of unfunded liabilities don't matter; that we can continue spending wantonly with no consequences. This is stupid, reckless, foolish, and disastrous.

For one thing, if it doesn't matter, then why the hell haven't we just purchased new homes and cars for every person in America? Why raise the minimum wage to just $15 an hour? Why not pay everyone $100,00 per year? I addressed this asinine mindset adhered to by simpletons such as AOC in my satirical July 2019 post, "The Beaucoup Party." Believe it or not, there is talk in the D.C. cesspool of implementing a guaranteed income for all Americans. The end is near.

Reality check: If millions of people are guaranteed a fat income, a home, a car, free food, and that all of their bills will be paid, why the hell would they bother getting out of bed and going to work? What if everyone had money, but if you wanted to buy a car, there were none because the autoworkers all decided to quit and just hang out and drink beer? What if no one showed up for work at grocery stores, restaurants, auto repair shops, hospitals, dental offices….. (add your product or service of choice)….. If you worked an unpleasant job on the GM assembly line in Detroit and had nagging back pain and aching knees after 30 years of standing and lifting heavy auto parts all day, and suddenly you won millions in the lottery, would you still show up for work? 

Remember last summer when many employers complained they couldn't get their laid off employees to return to work, nor could they attract new workers, because the combined state and federal unemployment benefits were far more generous than paychecks. Stay home and relax and make more than I did working! Yeah, what a deal!

We are on an unsustainable, devil-may-care course. Pure lunacy. An ominous descent into madness has vitiated politicians of both parties, but especially Democrats.

Again, prescription drugs, marijuana and alcohol are probably culpable co-conspirators as our nation lines up for its sip of Jim Jones' Kool-aid.

Sorry, but there's a shitload of stupidity about. Don't say I didn't warn you.

 

The Work at Home Paradigm

I'm one of the lucky ones. I've been able to work at home since the pandemic lockdown started in March 2020, as have other people whose work involves many hours spent on the computer.

We realize that we are blessed, and that it's impossible for many employees to work at home. Millions who are employed in service industries, for example, plus factory workers, grocery store employees, plumbers, roofers, electricians, HVAC repairers, personal caregivers, truck drivers, public safety officials, and others must leave home to do their often vital work.

My employer may be moving people back into the office within a couple of months, albeit possibly on a limited basis. Word is that many employees will still be working at home at least a couple days a week so as not to convene too many people at one time in one place, which would make social distancing more difficult.

I recall reading a quarter century ago that many companies were experimenting with telework or telecommuting -- in some cases for only a day or two per week. But the technology of that era was primitive compared to today, thus making work-at-home a more daunting and less productive proposition.

Skepticism about this novel paradigm was also rampant. Managers, it was said, were opposed to the concept of letting employees work at home because they feared their bosses would look around at all of the empty cubicles and wonder, "What do we need these managers for?" The workers and work they did were often out of sight and out of mind.

We've come a long way since those days, and many studies have shown that employees are as productive at home as in the office, and sometimes more productive. A Harvard Business Review study conducted during the current pandemic found that the lockdown helps at-home employees focus on the work that really matters. Less time is spent in drawn-out meetings, and more time interacting with customers and external partners. 

Additionally, at-home employees take more responsibility for their own schedules, engaging in up to 50 percent more activities through personal choice -- deeming them important -- than because these were assigned activities.

Improved productivity is one thing, but cost savings may be an even bigger incentive for employers in the public and private sector to support more work-from-home arrangements. Across the nation, companies, government offices, institutions, nonprofits and all manner of mom-n-pop businesses have saved considerable money on overhead since sending large numbers of employees home. Utility bills are way down -- water consumption and use of electricity are reduced -- and employers may choose to lease less office space and/or shutter or sell unneeded buildings.

Employees are finding their utility bills are up considerably (take it from me), and this may well be evolving into a key issue when it comes time to complete income tax forms. I'll leave it to the tax accountants to figure out the IRS implications. 

A nettlesome problem that is currently being hashed out in the courts and may make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court is how government jurisdictions assess income taxes when employees who used to be physically in one state, city or county are now working from another jurisdiction. According to the Wall Street Journal, an estimated 2.1 million workers commuted across state lines to their jobs prior to the pandemic lockdown. At least six states are attempting to charge income tax to nonresidents working at home for companies located in those states.

My physical office is located outside of Lansing, Michigan, so I do not have to pay the .5 percent city income tax assessed on nonresidents who work in the city. However, the department I work for has its headquarters in Lansing. Will they find a way to slap that tax on me? (Regrettably, the lemmings in my town of East Lansing voted FOR a city income tax in 2018, so there's no escaping that regardless of where my office is located as long as I'm a homeowner here.)

The tax liability issue is another a can of worms (not unlike the Internet sales tax issue that played out in the courts and state legislatures for years), and promises to keep lots of lawyers and accountants flush in the years to come. Like so much of what has transpired in the past year, the work-at-home paradigm presents plenty of new challenges demanding new perspectives.