Tuesday, February 7, 2017

School choice gets a real chance with DeVos confirmation!

It took Vice President Pence breaking a 50-50 tie, thanks to NEA Republican hacks Murkowski and Collins. Still in the end, Betsy DeVos was confirmed as our new Education Secretary!
This is a real positive for school choice! Charter educational options were significantly stymied under the common core uniformity of an Obama administration. Hopefully, that's about to change. And here’s a few things Heritage says DeVos should do now:
Posted by an ebb and flow at 6:44 PM

Monday, February 6, 2017

Judicial supremacy BLOWS UP Trump's temporary 'pause'

Well, Trump's temporary 'pause' in immigrant travel across 7 'countries of concern' that the media (and unfortunately he) has referred to as a travel ban or 'Muslim ban' has all but fallen apart thanks to one of the progressives' greatest weapons: rogue judiciary.

 Starting Friday and through the weekend:


So, starting with a progressive Bush appointee, no less, and ending with the liberal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals by Sunday denying his appeal, they have dictated to President Trump, 'That's enough winning for you,' and have essentially dismantled this executive order.

Steve Deace questioned this morning if Donald Trump will be the one to put rogue courts in their place? But in doing so, he raises an even more profound question concerning the courts' jurisdiction (in bold):
CR: It didn’t take long for President Trump to run smack dab into the progressives’ weapon of mass destruction, and trust me this is only their opening salvo.

On Friday, a federal judge in Seattle decided he somehow had the authority to determine our immigration policy, despite the fact the Constitution grants him no such authority. Nonetheless, his stay against Trump’s ban of importing foreigners from seven countries dominated by Islamic radicalism was upheld by the Department of Homeland Security, which immediately ceased implementing the president’s instructions. Essentially nullifying one of the key issues that determined the 2016 election.

Because that’s what the American Revolution was all about, rebelling against “no taxation without representation” so we could have “societal transformation without representation” in its place.

Thus begins what is likely to be a reoccurring theme. Rest assured every time Trump is serious about keeping his promise to change the status quo in our government, the Left is going to find a federal judge somewhere to say that’s verboten, whether he/she has jurisdiction to say so or not.

You really can’t blame the progressives from playing their “trump card” against Trump already, because it’s worked for them for a generation. To wit:
  • When courts invented a right to kill your own kid, and then demanded it decreed nationwide, we took it. 
  • When courts invented a new definition of the Establishment Clause and shredded the First Amendment, and then decreed it nationwide, we took it. 
  • When courts invented a right for illegal aliens to have access to taxpayers’ money, and then decreed it nationwide, we took it. 
  • When courts invented a right to confiscate private property not just for eminent domain but economic development, and then decreed it nationwide, we took it. 
  • When courts invented a new definition of marriage, and then decreed it nationwide, we took it. 
  • When courts invented a new definition for words like “mandate” and “state exchanges,” and then decreed it nationwide, we took it. 
  • Currently courts are inventing a new definition of gender, decreeing it nationwide, and we’re taking it.
Soon — very soon mark my words — courts will invent a right to immigrate to America. And my guess is, unless Trump truly is the reincarnation of Andrew Jackson his supporters claim/hope he is, we’re just going to take that, too.

 Begging the question exactly what insidious and ridiculous attack upon our life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness could the courts conjure up that would cause us to reject the progressive canard of judicial supremacy? Before the last syllable of our Constitution is erased by the courts for good, might there be some cause for us to once and for all say “you’re welcome to your opinion, but you’re not welcome to your own jurisdiction.”

And no, Mr. President, the courts aren’t going to wilt at the threat of being blasted on your Twitter account the way the elected political class has been prone to do. This is going to require a true reassertion of constitutionalism, separation of powers, and political courage that has been sorely lacking on the Right for decades now.

 However, Mr. President, you can rest assured that if you’re not up to such a task you will eventually see your entire agenda — no matter how righteous and/or popular it may be — completely undone by what the Founding Fathers intended to be the weakest of the three branches. And now is not only the strongest, but the superior branch of government all others bow the knee to — including the will of the people.
So if the progressive Left's litigate attack dogs and court disciples react this way over something as simple as a 'pause', imagine how they'll go after everything else. Better make certain Constitutional t's are crossed and i's dotted when entering these battles. Moreover, as Deace observes, it's time to see the political courage throughout the other branches that it will take to reassert the constitutional separation of powers missing from America's governmental structure for what some would argue has unraveled over the past century.

Madison, Hamilton, Adams and others warned us of a rogue judiciary. Jefferson was frank about it: "Nothing in the Constitution has given the judiciary a right to decide for the Executive, more than to the executive to decide for them." Pretty clear what the Founders and Framers intended. It's time for the "shall hold their offices during good behaviour" clause of Article III Section 1 to be strictly enforced & properly determined that this has never meant lifetime appointment!

Related link: Next Trump Executive Order May Revise Visa Program
Posted by an ebb and flow at 3:12 PM

Friday, February 3, 2017

Texas CRACKDOWN on 'sanctuary cities'

First Gov. Abbott made it abundantly clear at his State of the State address, among his emergency items. Simultaneously, Republican lawmakers tightened TX's ban on sanctuary cities:



He's warned these rogue counties and individuals for months that if they didn't uphold law, there'd be hell to pay. Guess they didn't believe him. Well, BELIEVE IT!
TRS: Texas Governor Bad-Ass, also known as Greg Abbott, is slapping down sanctuary cities in Texas, and he’s starting with the weepy hipsters in Austin and making them an example!!
Suck on that.

Time for other states to follow suit and restore the rule of law (on this and the governor's other emergency items as well).
Posted by an ebb and flow at 11:11 AM

Thursday, February 2, 2017

a Thatcher-esque beatdown...

So, while we were all caught up with our own prez election last year, you might have heard that the Brits got a new PM. And with a fiery exchange like this one, it's no wonder that folks are comparing Prime Minister Theresa May to the late, great Maggie Thatcher!



BOOM!

 I look forward to hearing more from this lady, and I hope her policies can produce a leadership uptick from the past few decades that our British ally has endured.

Oh, and a note to our Dem friends here: THIS is the caliber of woman you should be supporting!

Related link: Theresa May rejects calls to block Donald Trump's state visit in fierce exchange with Jeremy Corbyn
Posted by an ebb and flow at 10:08 PM

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Turning the tables on obstructionist Democrats: CONFIRMATIONS all around!

YES! Finally, some balls! First through committee, Treasury & HHS picks...
TRS: Democrats decided to boycott the committee nominations of both Tom Price and Steve Mnuchin, leaving the committee without the quorum needed to vote. Therefore, Republicans turned the tables on them by suspending their rules and confirmed both nominees:
WT: Republicans who lead a key Senate panel suspended their own rules Wednesday and advanced President Trump’s picks to lead the Treasury and Health and Human Services departments unilaterally, saying they had no choice after Democrats boycotted committee votes for a second day in a row.

The Senate Finance Committee advanced Steven Mnuchin to lead Treasury and Rep. Tom Price as health secretary on Republican votes along, clearing the way for a confirmation vote before the full chamber. Both nominees made it out of committee on 14-0 votes.

The votes were supposed to occur on Tuesday. Yet Democrats derailed the markup by refusing to show up, which meant the panel didn’t have the quorum needed to do business. At least one Democrat must be present.

They failed to show for the rescheduled markup early Wednesday, leading to the rule change.

“They have nobody to blame but themselves,” Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, Utah Republican, said.
Next through committee, the Attorney General spot that Democrats have equally obstructed...
TRS: Trump’s pick for Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, was just confirmed in committee despite Democrats unanimously voting against it.

So now the Sessions nomination will go the floor and Democrats, as we expected, will be unable to block this nomination.
Maybe Republicans should send Harry Reid a thank you letter for killing any chance Democrats have to block Trump’s nominees.
Then finally, Trump sends a clear message to McConnell on his Supreme Court pick: 
"If you can, Mitch, GO NUCLEAR, because that would be an absolute shame if a man of this quality was caught up in the web. So I would say, it's up to Mitch, but I would say GO FOR IT!"
The way the Democrats on Capitol Hill have acted thus far, yes, it is a necessary, viable options.
TRS: Donald Trump just said that if we have the same gridlock in Washington that we’ve had during the Obama administration, he would encourage Mitch McConnell to go nuclear to get SCOTUS nominee Neil Gorsuch confirmed:
I’m so glad Trump green lighted the nuclear option, giving McConnell the needed support to pull the trigger on this.

I just hope McConnell doesn’t cower at the last minute in the face of heavy media attacks, because you know they are coming!
Looks like this is the fight we've needed for a long time in D.C. Middle-finger-to-the-DemocraticSocialist-collective spectacular!

ADDENDUM: Moving through the day, onto Secretary of State with a full vote in the Senate...
TRS: Rex Tillerson was indeed confirmed by the Senate a few moments ago in a 56-43 vote that included a few Democrats:
Related link: Trump’s Education Secretary nominee’s confirmation hangs in the balance!
Posted by an ebb and flow at 12:05 PM

Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Trump selects Gorsuch to fill Scalia's seat on SCOTUS!

The decision has finally been made! President Trump has selected Judge Neil Gorsuch to fill the late Justice Antonin Scalia's seat on the Supreme Court.


Gorsuch is described as a constitutionalist, adhering to “originalism” when interpreting the U.S. Constitution. In other words, he believes the Constitution should be interpreted as America’s Founders intended.
TRN: Should he be appointed, Gorsuch would follow in the footsteps of the late Justice Antonin Scalia, as he has come to be known as a “textualist,” or someone whose interpretation of laws is based on the actual text rather than trying to decipher the “intent” of lawmakers or other potential consequences.

“Judges should instead strive, if humanly and so imperfectly, to apply the law as it is, focusing backward, not forward, and looking to text, structure, and history to decide what a reasonable reader at the time of the events in question would have understood the law to be,” Gorsuch said in a speech to Case Western Reserve University’s law school shortly after Scalia passed away.
And to boot, this picture is worth a thousand words:

(Gorsuch and Scalia on a Colorado fishing trip)

If you'd like more info on who Neil Gorsuch is, check out Nate Madden's article at ConservativeReview to find out ten things you need to know about Trump's Supreme Court nominee. Notably, #10 is exemplary of the hostile environment Democrats have created in D.C. and across the country over far too many years, but particularly now that conservative policies are beginning to rollback all their destruction...
10. He won’t be that easy to confirm:
With a resume this impressive, Senate Democrats are going to put up one hell of a fight to get someone more “mainstream,” as Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. (F, 2%) has demanded. Republicans will either have to get rid of the filibuster for judicial nominations or invoke the two-speech rule to get Gorsuch onto the bench.
It's time to fight back.

Related links: TRUMP SUPREME COURT PICK: It's Neil Gorsuch
Trump’s Supreme Court Pick: Religious Freedom Defender Neil Gorsuch
Posted by an ebb and flow at 7:50 PM

You're FIRED! Trump relieves AG Yates who 'betrayed' DOJ 'by refusing to enforce a legal order'

Change that to HAD!

A Democratic holdover wouldn't do her job under a new Republican administration? See ya!
CNSNews: “Monday night massacre!,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) exclaimed on the Senate floor late Monday night, as he blasted President Trump for firing Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, an Obama appointee, who refused to defend Trump’s executive order on immigration.

Schumer called Yates “a profile in courage.” And he blasted President Donald Trump: “You just can’t sit down, Twitter something out, then think, ok, let’s enact it,” Schumer complained.

By Tuesday morning, Joe Scarborough, the liberal host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” was blasting Trump for using the word “betrayal” in connection with Yates. “It’s frightening! That’s what an autocrat would use,” Scarborough said. “Take that to Venezuela, okay? We don’t really want to use that sort of language here.”

The word “betrayal” appeared in a White House statement issued Monday night, which reads as follows:
The acting Attorney General, Sally Yates, has betrayed the Department of Justice by refusing to enforce a legal order designed to protect the citizens of the United States. This order was approved as to form and legality by the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel.

Ms. Yates is an Obama Administration appointee who is weak on borders and very weak on illegal immigration.

It is time to get serious about protecting our country. Calling for tougher vetting for individuals travelling from seven dangerous places is not extreme. It is reasonable and necessary to protect our country.

Tonight, President Trump relieved Ms. Yates of her duties and subsequently named Dana Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, to serve as Acting Attorney General until Senator Jeff Sessions is finally confirmed by the Senate, where he is being wrongly held up by Democrat senators for strictly political reasons.
Boente, the new acting attorney general, also issued a statement, saying in part:
At approximately 9:00 p.m., I was asked by the President to serve in the capacity of Acting Attorney General.…

Based upon the Office of Legal Counsel’s analysis, which found the Executive Order both lawful on its face and properly drafted, I hereby rescind former Acting Attorney General Sally Q. Yates January 30, 2017, guidance and direct the men and women of the Department of Justice to do our sworn duty and to defend the lawful orders of our President.
At the same time all this was happening, Trump adviser Stephen Miller, who helped draft the executive order on immigration, appeared on Fox News, telling Tucker Carlson that Yates had “betrayed the Department of Justice by refusing to enforce a legal order designed to protect the citizens of the United States.” Miller also said the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel had cleared and approved the executive order as “fully legal.”



Miller said Yates has been replaced by “somebody who will enforce the laws of the United States.”
BOOM. That's the effective way to drain the swamp.

Democratic Senators have delayed Trump's nomination for Attorney General by a week. They're now boycotting confirmation votes for Trump nominees to head HHS & the Treasury. And effective Step #2 would be for the Republican controlled Senate to suspend the filibuster rule, vote these nominees in on a simple majority and move on with business. McConnell now holds the keys...another one, IMHO, who needs to be fired, but that's up to Kentuckians.
Related links: Trump Fires Obama Holdover Acting AG After She Tells Justice Department Staff Not to Defend His Refugee Order
Trump Fires Acting Attorney General Yates For "Betrayal"
LOL! Donald Trump slaps Democrats around on Twitter, gives Chuck Schumer a NICKNAME
Posted by an ebb and flow at 12:38 PM

Monday, January 30, 2017

Separate fact from SICK media fiction: Trump's temporary moratorium on Obama's 'countries of concern' (UPDATES)

"There is a lot of confusion swirling around the events that transpired this weekend as a result of Trump’s executive order on immigration. Make no mistake: every word of Trump’s executive order is in accordance with statute." ~ Daniel Horowitz
So much whining over the weekend exclusively based on ignorance. From protesters to the media echo-chamber, "Muslim ban!" is all we've heard. First, if it were a Muslim ban there'd be a helluva lot more countries included! That's not the case at all, but then this pervading perspective is anchored more in mob hysteria than in reality. Let's get this part straight: It's a moratorium...
Is this a ban on Muslim immigration? No, it’s a moratorium on immigration or re-entries from seven individual countries and a temporary moratorium on refugees from all countries, subject to case-by-case exceptions.
Now that we got that out of the way, next question: How exactly did Trump pick those 7 countries for his immigration moratorium? These were countries already selected by the Obama administration as countries of concern:
CNN: The seven Muslim-majority countries targeted in President Trump’s executive order on immigration were initially identified as “countries of concern” under the Obama administration.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer on Sunday pointed to the Obama administration’s actions as the basis for their selection of the seven countries. Trump’s order bars citizens from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen from entering the U.S. for the next 90 days.

“There were further travel restrictions already in place from those seven countries,” Spicer said on ABC’s “This Week.”

“What the president did was take the first step through this executive order of ensuring that we’re looking at the entire system of who’s coming in, refugees that are coming in, people who are coming in from places that have a history or that our intelligence suggests that we need to have further extreme vetting for.” ...

In December 2015, President Obama signed into law a measure placing limited restrictions on certain travelers who had visited Iran, Iraq, Sudan, or Syria on or after March 1, 2011. Two months later, the Obama administration added Libya, Somalia, and Yemen to the list, in what it called an effort to address “the growing threat from foreign terrorist fighters.”

The restrictions specifically limited what is known as visa-waiver travel by those who had visited one of the seven countries within the specified time period. People who previously could have entered the United States without a visa were instead required to apply for one if they had traveled to one of the seven countries.

Under the law, dual citizens of visa-waiver countries and Iran, Iraq, Sudan, or Syria could no longer travel to the U.S. without a visa. Dual citizens of Libya, Somalia, and Yemen could, however, still use the visa-waiver program if they hadn’t traveled to any of the seven countries after March 2011.

Trump’s order is much broader. It bans all citizens from those seven countries from entering the U.S. and leaves green card holders subject to being rescreened after visiting those countries.
This temporary moratorium last for 3 months to give the Trump administration time to review our immigration policies and implement appropriate vetting processes for these countries of concern.

It's also now been clarified that green card holders are exempted from this executive order.

So, none of this has anything to do with philosophy or faith. It's based solely on national security, specifically in regard to immigration, law enforcement and sovereignty. More broadly, it's rediscovering the rule of law...how diabolical, NOT!
So again, all the whining of political hacks on the left and unfortunate right, all the clogging up of airports by ill-informed protesters over the weekend, all the outrage and rhetoric flying around is once again fueled by media incitement in two little words: Muslim ban. It's time for cooler heads to prevail and separate fact from sickening media fiction:
It’s important not to conflate political arguments with legal arguments, as many liberals and far too many “conservatives” on social media are doing. ... These seven countries are failed states or enemies of the U.S. (in the case of Iran). As such, there is absolutely no way to share data with the host countries and properly vet them. Somalia has been one of the biggest trouble spots. The other countries are marred in Islamic civil wars. Moreover, these are the countries that existing law targets for travel restrictions, and that Obama’s own DHS listed last year.
Read more of Horowitz's piece to understand what the order actually does. Please, share the facts with your friends and families. We don't need anymore contributions to the mob mentality on this one.

Related links: The Obama-Clinton Ban on Muslims
HERE WE GO: Washington State files federal lawsuit over Trump’s temporary immigration ban
'We love refugees, but...': A look at Trump's travel ban supporters
Hollywood Goes Nuts, Demands Open Borders And More Terrorists

ADDENDUM: Levin was ON FIRE last night over this topic...


On Monday’s Mark Levin show, The hate America first party, the Democrat Party has exposed itself yet again with their reaction to President Donald Trump’s recent executive order on immigration. Trump has placed a temporary ban on immigration from 7 countries for national security purposes. If you listened to the left you would think that Trump is rounding up all Muslim Americans and putting them in internment camps. However, this is false. Trump is trying to prevent carnage in the U.S. against American citizens on his watch. He’s being brutalized and attacked for it by the same leftists who defy immigration law and claim Trump has no authority to enforce the same law. If you object to such a modest executive order then you hate your country and are willing to tolerate terrorist attacks against America. In addition, Chuck Schumer is surrounding himself with American Muslims at a press conference. However Muslim Americans are not the one being deported. This has to do with would-be immigrants not immigrants who are already here in America. After that, no person who is a citizen outside of America has constitutional rights. Nobody else on the planet has a right to immigrate to America. The purpose of immigration is to improve America. Later, the Republican retreat has started. Lamar Alexander, Bob Corker, Susan Collins, John McCain and others have spoken out against Trump’s executive order. The competence and gutlessness of the Republican Party continues to march backwards.
Related links: Sound the retreat! Here are the members of the GOP surrender caucus attacking Trump’s immigration order
Obama 'heartened' by protests, spokesman says
OBAMA stmt: “The President fundamentally disagrees with the notion of discriminating against individuals because of their faith or religion”
Sen. Murphy’s Refugee Plan: Adopt European Model Plus Gun Control
Trump ban ‘will probably give ISIS more propaganda’ – John McCain
Chuck Schumer wants delay on Rex Tillerson vote, possibly other nominees, after executive order

UPDATES: On Tuesday, Speaker Ryan and DHS Secretary Kelly fielded questions from the press...

Ryan supports the pause and the president's right to make sure the vetting process is up to par:
Ryan addressed the 'dangerous' rhetoric' (i.e., the hysteria from Democrats and the Left):
And though the rollout may have not been the smoothest, but Ryan has no concerns with it going forward:
Following, Sec. Kelly clarified with the press that this was NOT a travel ban...
This is not a Muslim ban...
This is about protecting the American people under a restored rule of law:
H/t: TRS

 Related link: You're FIRED! Trump relieves AG Yates who 'betrayed' DOJ 'by refusing to enforce a legal order'
Posted by an ebb and flow at 1:28 PM

Friday, January 27, 2017

There might be a way to repeal MOST of Obama’s onerous regulations…

Congressional follow-through is key!
TRS: It looks like there’s going to be a regulatory showdown in Washington DC and Republicans will have the upper hand based on new understanding of a law passed way back in 1996:
WSJ: Here’s how it works: It turns out that the first line of the CRA requires any federal agency promulgating a rule to submit a “report” on it to the House and Senate. The 60-day clock starts either when the rule is published or when Congress receives the report—whichever comes LATER.

“There was always intended to be consequences if agencies didn’t deliver these reports,” Mr. Gaziano tells me. “And while some Obama agencies may have been better at sending reports, others, through incompetence or spite, likely didn’t.” Bottom line: There are rules for which there are no reports. And if the Trump administration were now to submit those reports—for rules implemented long ago—Congress would be free to vote the regulations down.
Wow! So if the Trump administration starts sending reports on regulations that the Obama administration never sent – all the way back to 2009- then in just two months those rules can be repealed by Congress!

That’s pretty amazing and will be epic if they follow through and do that. Congress should have far more control of the regulations being put out by the executive branch, whether Republican or Democratic.
Come on! Do it!! Do it NOW!!!

ADDENDUM: More from Trump on Monday, easing regulations for small businesses...
...past time for Congress to step up as well. Send the reports, then vote Obama's old regs down!
Posted by an ebb and flow at 3:53 PM

March for Life in DC!


It's been so long, America, but our pro-life movement made strides today...









And for the first time EVER, a sitting Vice President spoke at the 44th Annual MARCH FOR LIFE!
TRS: Today Vice President Mike Pence gave a great speech at the 44th annual March for Life. It’s the first time a sitting VP has ever spoken at the March for Life and the highest ranking official ever to do so. His being there was momentous for the movement – not to mention all the cable news stations carried his pro-life speech LIVE.


Kellyanne Conway, Senior Counselor to President Trump, also spoke to the gathering...



Also speaking this morning was Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), Rep. Mia Love (R-UT), Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York City, Benjamin Watson - Tight End for the Baltimore Ravens, Abby Johnson - Former Planned Parenthood Director and founder of “And Then There Were None”, Karyme Lozano - Mexican telenovela star, Eric Metaxas - #1 New York Times Bestselling Author and host of The Eric Metaxas Show, and Bishop Vincent Mathews Jr. - President at Church of God In Christ World Missions.

But above all else, the women (and men) of virtue, a new pro-life generation, who made this happen...








Additional resources: C-SPAN | LifeNews

Related links: Why I march for life: Column
March for Life live: Mike Pence, others urge end to abortion
Liberals paint Trump as a monster with stat that PROVES pro-lifers RIGHT about abortion
Posted by an ebb and flow at 12:33 PM
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