Politics Archives - Page 1105 of 1725

Here Are The Obama-Era Officials Allegedly Behind The Alabama False Flag Campaign

January 8, 2019/in Elections, Must Read, Politics, Waste, Fraud and Abuse/by The Daily Caller

Two Obama-era officials were instrumental in the false flag operation in Alabama ahead of the special election in 2017, reports show.
One of the Obama-era officials behind the misinformation campaign in Alabama finally opened up about his group’s role in the caper.
Two of the people involved in the social media misinformation campaign in Alabama are denying their roles in the operation, reports indicate.

A trove of reports show two Obama-era officials are partially responsible for a misinformation campaign designed to derail Republican Roy Moore’s senatorial campaign in Alabama.

Former President Barack Obama campaign organizer, Mikey Dickerson, was instrumental in a disinformation campaign targeting Moore, reports show. He was not alone. Evan Coren, who has worked for the National Archives unit since Obama’s first term, also targeted the Republican’s campaign.

Coren, for his part, is a progressive activist who handles classified documents for the Department of Energy. He has not responded to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment about the nature of the campaign, which was designed to fool conservatives into believing Moore intended to reimpose prohibition.

Democrat Doug Jones, who won the special U.S. Senate election against Republican candidate Roy Moore, speaks during a news conference in Birmingham, Alabama, U.S., December 13, 2017. REUTERS/Marvin Gentry

Coren and other operatives created a “Dry Alabama” Facebook page with a blunt message attached: Alcohol is evil and should be prohibited, The New York Times reported Monday, citing sources familiar with the matter. The page included images of car wrecks and ruined families, the report notes. Its contents were targeted at business conservatives who are inclined to oppose prohibition.

Two wealthy Virginia donors who wanted to defeat Moore funded the project, according to a person who worked on the project and who spoke on condition of anonymity. The Dry Alabama project was one of two $100,000 campaigns designed to help Moore’s Democratic opponent, Doug Jones, who barely won the 2017 special election.

Jones previously stated his campaign was unaware of the project and is also calling for an investigation into who is behind the antics. Political analysts believe allegations that Moore sexually assaulted underage women three decades earlier likely played a larger part in his loss. Coren’s false flag operation happened alongside a similar campaign by Dickerson, a former Obama official known for fixing the government’s notoriously glitchy Obamacare website.

Operatives with New Knowledge, a group affiliated with Dickerson, created thousands of Twitter accounts posing as Russian bots to boost the election-year chances of Jones — the accounts began following Moore’s Twitter account in October 2017. The project created a slew of Facebook accounts as well that were designed to troll conservatives into opposing Moore.

But the misinformation project attracted attention from local and national media, falsely suggesting Russia was backing Moore’s candidacy. The Montgomery Advertiser, for one, was the first to cover the story using the Russian-bot angle. National media outlets quickly followed suit.

“Roy Moore flooded with fake Russian Twitter followers,” read the headline on a New York Post story, which cited the Advertiser. WaPo focused its reporting on the fact that Moore blamed Democrats for the fake accounts. Other major national outlets picked up on the story shortly thereafter, with many pundits mocking Moore for blaming Democratic operatives.

The cost of the effort, which was funded by liberal billionaire Reid Hoffman, totaled $100,000 — the identical amount Facebook says the Russian Internet Research Agency spent trolling people on social media leading up to the 2016 presidential election. Dickerson, who has not responded to TheDCNF’s repeated requests for comment about the campaign, finally responded to reporters Monday.

“I received the report in early 2018, which is when I first learned about the false flag and write-in tactics,” Dickerson said in a press statement, referring to a 12-page report from New Knowledge detailing crucial elements of the project.

Jonathon Morgan, head of New Knowledge, denies knowledge of most of the activities described in the Project Birmingham document. He also denies Dickerson’s claim that New Knowledge authored the report.

COLUMN BY

Chris White

Energy Reporter. Follow Chris White on Facebook and Twitter.

EDITORS NOTE: This column with images by The Daily Caller is republished with permission. Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

Democrat Party’s Presents For Putin

January 8, 2019/in Must Read, National Security, Policy, Politics/by Simona Pipko

Yes, Christmas of 2018 was Putin’s best ever. It doesn’t mean that Putin likes Christmas, not at all, but his mortal enemies, the United States of America and President Trump, do sincerely like and traditionally celebrate Christmas and accompany it with millions of good deeds. That is the reason that on December 26, 2018 the Kremlin chose to announce the successful test of a new hypersonic missile. One capable of entering their enemy’s airspace without being detected. The Soviet Union ceased to exist on that very day twenty-seven years ago, December 26, 1991. Keep in mind what Putin said about the collapse of the USSR. He hated it. So, he keeps the asymmetrical war against Western civilization going on the same way it has proceeded twenty-seven years ago—the vindictive ideology of Soviet Fascism is alive and well…

The Christmas 2018 has been extremely good for Oligarchic Socialist Vladimir Putin, because of the negative events in the West, America and Trump’s administration, events he has actively participated in. A devoted disciple of Stalin/Andropov, Putin enjoys the fruits of a one-hundred war waged against Western civilization by his KGB under the banner of Soviet Fascism. Using the term KGB, I mean the entire Russian Intel—it is a collective image–those three letters are familiar to the vast majority of Americans. Western civilization is crumbling under aggressive asymmetrical war waged by the forces of the Soviet Socialist mafia in Europe for the last hundred years … Just take a look at the globe:

For the second month France is boiling in protests: French police have fired tear gas at ‘gilets jaunes’ protesters in Paris, and other cities. The protest-movement against gasoline taxation to fight “climate change” has stopped normal life. Socialist France, on their way to becoming a 3rd world country chants: WE WANT TRUMP…In England, Prime Minister Theresa May is fighting for her survival. Her approval rating has fallen to a record low amid government turmoil over her Chequers Brexit plan speech, according to a new poll. Germany’s culture, now contaminated, will never get over the Muslim Invasion orchestrated by Putin’s KGB. Here is the evidence: Muslim Takeover: German Court Says Child Marriage is Just Fine, Total Conservative, and December 2018.

The Stalin/Andropov Legacy in America

As Western civilization is crumbling under aggressive asymmetrical war in Europe, unfortunately, the same result is being realized in our America the Beautiful. To grasp it, let me give you a short excursion into history, because history will never forget the horrifying years of Show Trials, Purges, the killing and deporting of innocent people in the 1930-40s Russia. It was time when Stalin built his Soviet Socialism—the time of incredible abuses by the KGB, a gross misuse of power against innocent people, the time Stalin was creating a lawless system and the ideology of Soviet Socialism, a heinous ideology I renamed Soviet Fascism sixty years later. As a student of history, I have described those shocking and disturbing years in my books and numerous columns. Yet, some important events should be reminded for Americans…

It was then, Stalin said: “show me the man and we will find the crime he has committed.” His KGB has interpreted his words both ways, often “show me the crime and we’ll find the man who had committed it…” In both cases the exculpatory evidence was never used, because they did not exist, only the KGB’s abusive use of power. As history is the Mother of all sciences, to grasp the modern American reality, you have to know the history, especially the history of Soviet Fascism, the system manufactured and fabricated by Stalin. As with any fascist ideology, it focused on exploiting identity, race, sex, and nationality. It is an ideology where the presumption of innocence doesn’t exist, but the presumption of guilt does! Soviet Fascism is an International Scam to fight the American political system left to us by our Founding Fathers. The rule of Law is a determining factor in American exceptionalism and the agenda of Soviet Fascism was and is trying to delegitimize our political system by infiltrating and subsequently destroying it from within.

The Stalinist system politicized all major departments of the government: Intelligence, Judiciary, Prosecutorial Power, Law Enforcement, and so on… crisis after crisis kept the Russian multi-national population in a constant state of agitation…It is for this reason I dedicated many pages to show the criminal activities of Soviet Fascism and the KGB in Russia and across the globe. The ideology was the banner and nucleus of the Kremlin’s war against the West. Everything from kindergarten to the government had been politicized. We, the former citizens of the Socialist countries, are familiar with the situation very well.

With science and new technology, Stalin’s ideas have been developed and widened by all his devoted disciples further and especially by the KGB Chairman Yuri Andropov during his time at the helm. As a former Soviet defense attorney my work within the legal community coincided with his term and my knowledge derives from my experiences during that time. By the 1960s the KGB had already infiltrated and influenced the world, except America. It was Yuri Andropov, who had a plan to do that and transform America. I named his plan—Soviet Operation Barbarossa.

Look at the world of the year 2019: Stalinist North Korea and China in Asia, Russian mercenaries in Syria, the terrorist Hamas, Hezbollah, ISIS, and Iran in the Middle East, socialist Venezuela in South America have now established an epicenter for the Axis of Evil, fighting for control and power under Kremlin’s umbrella and leadership today. Watch Pakistan and Turkey, they are on their way to join the Axis. All of them adhere to the ideology of Soviet Fascism, inculcated by Moscow over many decades. They all are the enemies of the United States, using the same tactics strategy, method, and tricks taught by the KGB—dispersing their ideas globally…

Andropov wanted to transform America the same way, and considering events in the 21^st century, his plan Soviet Operation Barbarossa is working. Andropov’s plan had two major avenues: to infiltrate the entire security apparatus and to change the way Americans think, by infiltrating and subordinating American social media, making it a dominant political force. Andropov needed the social media to disrupt capitalism, stop its social mobility, pit American against American and create chaos, to act the way it was implemented in the Eastern Europe by the Soviets—a coordinated effort of several institutions against the opposition. The road to enhance and widen Stalin’s design has never ended–if Stalin had the ideas to destroy America, Andropov worked out the strategy and tactics for the KGB of how to achieve that destruction.

His monumental plan was designed and aimed at destruction of American capitalism through infiltration of America’s security apparatus, transforming it from within into something resembling the KGB, subordinated to the top ideological leadership of the country. So, the Operation Barbarossa had two wings to fly to America, acting in concert, to destroy our country. The drugs design, described in my books was an additional wing existing before Andropov. Yet, all three corresponded to the initial design made by Stalin. If you want to know why our children are dying from opiates, read in my books about an important official Russian document dated the year 1955…

As a Globalist-Chairman of the KGB, Andropov’s plan has been more than those two wings, it was a multi-frontal design to cover completely Stalin’s ideas for taking over the world, recognizing that it might take several generations to accomplish. Andropov introduced Palestine as a legitimate Muslim nation, Whites as the Oppressors of the Blacks in the KGB pamphlet; the BLACK Coordinating Committee’s Message to the Black Movement, A Political Statement from the Black Underground, published in America in 1972. If you want to know who orchestrated a media-lynching of an American hero, Justice Clearance Thomas, read the KGB pamphlet and keep in mind Soviet Fascism’s agenda…

To perceive Andropov’s personality, character, and behavior, please listen another KGB General Pacepa talking about him: “In 1972 the Kremlin decided to turn the whole Islamic world against Israel and the U.S. As KGB Chairman Yuri Andropov told me, a billion adversaries could inflict far greater damage on America than could a few millions. We needed to instill a Nazi-style hatred for Jews throughout the Islamic world, and to turn this weapon of the emotions into a terrorist bloodbath against Israel and its main supporter the United States. No one within the American/Zionist sphere of influence should any longer feel safe.” Russian Footprints by Ion Mihai Pacepa, National Review Online, August 24, 2008.

General Pacepa wrote in the same article: “According to Andropov… the Muslims had a taste for nationalism, jingoism, and victimology. Their illiterate, oppressed mobs could be whipped up to a fever pitch. Terrorism and violence against Israel and her master, American Zionism, would flow naturally from the Muslims’ religious fervor, Andropov sermonized.” This is a real portrait of the ideologue Yuri Andropov and his dislike of America. Those who read my books and columns know how all terrorist groups have been built and activated by the KGB during the last several decades when the Dems were soft on socialist ideology. During this time an army of KGB operatives infiltrated our government, democratic institutions, social media, and education, propagating the ‘virtues’ of Socialism… Watch out for the Trojan horse Bernie…

Soviet Fascism: The Real Russia Collusion in Washington D.C.

I am writing about an actual ideology – Soviet Fascism – in the reality of the 21^st century. It is not Liberal Fascism, Classical Liberalism was nearly annihilated by the Stalinism of the 20^thcentury. We are dealing with a radical army of leftists, comprising a Soviet Socialist Mafia. The radical Left is using all Stalinist methods and tricks: lies, fraud, deceptions, mob-tactics, and outlandish propaganda to remake America. Don’t ask me why the leftists always “go all in” when it comes to destabilizing America! The explanation is obvious as follows in an analysis of the current Democrat Party:

The Dems want open borders, sanctuary cities, abolish ICE, and confiscate your guns to make you defenseless against terrorists, criminal-gangs, spies, but mostly Big Brother Government. Don’t be surprised by the Dems’ policy which goes against the national security of the American Republic. Actually, this is Stalin/Andropov’s idea of Western civilization’s destruction—a real danger to America and free Americans. This country is being flooded with illegal aliens that are draining our resources originally designed to help us, the citizens of this country, not illegal aliens. The country is politically divided; Republicans are fighting to protect personal liberty, our own freedoms from being taken away by the Dems. As a result we have:

The Left vs. The Right
Socialists vs. Capitalists
Democrats vs. Republicans
Blacks vs. Whites
Women vs. Men
Gays vs. Straights
Anarchy, Social Justice Warriors vs. Law and Order
Chaos, Criminality, Those under the Influence of Drugs, Pills, and Alcohol vs. Sober

The radical Left is using all Stalinist methods and tricks: lies, fraud, deceptions, mob-tactics, and outlandish propaganda to divide and remake America. Do you remember the public attempt to lynch Judge Clarence Thomas? Now some media outlets — including CNN and The Washington Post — are targeting Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ wife, Ginni for making what they call “bizarre,” “slightly paranoid,” “far-right” posts on Facebook:

“How is it that when hundreds of thousands of votes are ‘found’ days after the election in multiple states… they overwhelmingly favor only Democrats?!” Ginni was absolutely right, I knew KGB’s handwriting and wrote the same in my column: Socialist Power Grab in America, November 24, 2018, in this e-magazine. “Russia is the mortal enemy of the American Republic! Therefore knowledge of Russia and its Intelligence Services is a Must for every American politician. Knowledge of Russia is also a Must for all Republicans to determine who colluded with Russia and how they did it. The chaos we were witnessing in the midterm election is the result of the absence of that knowledge.” Alas, many politicians don’t have it.

Dear Paul Gigot; we didn’t have a fair Midterm election, it was an election by Putin’s way not some ‘Blue Wave’. When Paul Ryan congratulated Nancy Pelosi a thought flashed through my mind: he was an ignorant man, who had betrayed the Republican Party, helped the Dems to win the House, and stolen two years of the Trump Presidency. The November 2018 Midterm election was stolen from Republicans by the “Criminal cabal,” a long-term collaboration of the DNC leadership with Putin’s KGB. Look at Byron York’s tweet: Who needs Russian election interference when Democrats will do the same thing right here at home? From NYT: ‘Secret Experiment in Alabama Senate Race Imitated Russian Tactics.’

Do you remember a painful story of the candidate for Senate in Alabama, Republican Moore? The Dems’ collaboration with the KGB defeated him by a common Soviet fraud. The report exposed it: We orchestrated an elaborate ‘false flag’ operation that planted an idea about the Moore campaign which was amplified on social media by a Russian botnet, the report says. The project’s operators created a Facebook page on which they posed as conservative Alabamians… It involved a scheme to link the Moore campaign to thousands of Russian accounts that suddenly began following the Republican candidate on Twitter, a development that drew national media attention. It was another scheme by Dems with the KGB. Has all accountability ceased to exist in America, like it never existed in Russia?

The Dems have been fighting Donald Trump and the Americans who voted for him over the border wall since the day Trump took office. Invited to the WH, neither Pelosi nor Schumer wanted to know the facts of a humanitarian disaster at the border, reported by the Homeland Security Secretary Nielsen. They even didn’t want to hear her telling that caravan is full of criminals and gang members from South America. They rejected her facts. When Trump calls the caravan an invasion, the Dems lie about who he’s attacking, showing pictures of young children and women while ignoring mobs of criminals roaming around in the caravan. Let me refresh your memory about ideology of Soviet Fascism:

In 1980 Jimmy Carter and Fidel Castro came to an agreement to allow refugees from Cuba to come to America. The Mariel ship or boat was supposed to bring them. When the ship was closed to our shore, it was discovered that the refugees included criminals from Cuba’s jails and people from Cuba’s mental health facilities. It was a typical Stalinist design to destroy the American Republic by fraud and deceit. Please remember everything connected to Russia is radioactive like the ideology of Soviet Fascism itself.

And there is another reminder— Syria. The country has been a Muslim Soviet Republic since 1971, when Papa-Assad was recruited by the KGB. Read my columns. I don’t know the military strategy, but I know that any proximity of our troops to Russians is dangerous to our forces. I don’t want a repetition of the Beirut bombing that was executed by the Russian military against Reagan administration in 1983… On October 23, 1983, two truck bombs struck buildings in Beirut, Lebanon, housing American and French service members of the Multinational Force in Lebanon (MNF), a peacekeeping operation during the Lebanese Civil War. The attack killed 307 people: 241 U.S. and 58 French peacekeepers, 6 civilian, and the 2 attackers. The explosives used were later estimated to be equivalent to as much as 9,500 kg (21,000 pounds) of TNT.^[6][7]

Don’t be surprised by the Dems’ victory, they have been collaborating with the KGB since two American Manchurian Presidents opened the gate of America for the KGB political operatives. You will see now how those Socialists in the House will tear apart the unique system left to us by our Founding Fathers. They will continue to angrily divide our country with typical Stalinist hatred, with the help of George Soros-a KGB agent for over thirty years, not exposed by our incompetent Intel. Some military veterans are deceived and inculcated by a cosmetic version of Socialism, they voted for Dems-Socialists. Mark Zuckerberg admits he has ‘Tremendous Respect’ for George Soros. What a Shame! Don’t be surprised by Russia’s infiltration of Facebook and other media giants; it is Andropov’s design for America. Read it in my books and columns. Yet, infiltration is even more pervasive than what you know. You have to know the KGB’s methods and tricks…

Knowing the Russian methods, agenda, and its proclivity to mold Soviet style charlatan-leaders around the world to engineer cadres of fifth columnists, I believe there are two types of people committing betrayals: those who do not like the system established by our Founding Fathers and are trying to transform it– they are currently collaborating with the KGB to destroy America the Beautiful, and those people who haven’t a clue about the KGB infiltrations, hence becoming their unwitting accomplices—a huge present to President Putin, who is running the anti-Trump show…

The FBI, and other current Security and Intel people won’t be able to identify those culprits without reading my books and columns. We are dealing with an Axis of Evil under the Kremlin’s direction and command. Americans must be aware of the need to save the American Republic–we must expose the Dems’ collaboration with Putin’s KGB. Newly-elected Senator Rick Scott of Florida should know it now… I am not sure whether the Mueller probe is “an illegitimate scam” or not, but Mr. Mueller definitely doesn’t know the Russian KGB and he is missing or avoiding the real crime. Looking for the Russia/Trump collusion, he is spending millions, but he is investigating a Hoax—Trump had no collusion with Russia, yet contrary to the Mueller investigation collusion exists and you know it now..

For some reason, talking about Mueller Russia Probe, I try to be objective and very rarely commented on the investigation, though the actions of the FBI often resembled the KGB and surprised me. As a former attorney, I know that to start investigation, you have to have factual grounds about a crime, a guide line directed to analyze and prove it. Those factual grounds were not present in this Russia probe. In my opinion the investigation started after the publication of the Trump/Dossier document. I would insist, as I described it two years ago–the Trump/Dossier is a Russian Fallshivka, a fraud, the familiar to me as a common KGB production. When I watched it the first time, it took me only a couple of seconds to realize the KGB’s fraud. No experts of our Intel identified the fraud, however, and the FBI used it as a legitimate document, beginning the investigation and spying against President Trump. What a shame!

There are two things I learned directly from Andropov’s statements in his first year as the Chairman of the KGB; his phrase: “information is the most valuable commodity in politics.” I remembered it for life. That helped me to detect the KGB involvement over many years. When Obama’s people had revealed information about 200 or 300 Americans, they unmasked them for the KGB. I reacted instantly by my column, because the KGB’s involvement was clear to me—the KGB needed information. I called it The Russian Connection. The second thing I learned in Andropov’s first year was “the Controlled Opposition.” It is the infiltration of the agent to the opposite group or party to destroy it from within. I had already explained the meaning in my column some time ago, now, in the Russia Probe investigation I saw it clear in the case of Michael Cohen.

Michael Cohen is a liar, the court has confirmed it. Yet, something even more dangerous and intriguing exists within his case: his lawyer Lanny Davis. It is widely known that Lanny Davis has very close ties with Bill Clinton—Davis is a prominent member of the Clinton mafia. I don’t know whether Lanny Davis has ties to the KGB, but I know that Bill Clinton has. What we see in the Cohen case is an actual Dems’ operation of “Controlled Opposition” within the Russia Probe investigation. We know about twelve angry Dems members within the Muller Special Council, we now see even more alarming and frightening abuse of power—international conspiracy against the American Republic… Where is our Intelligence apparatus????

The Failed American Intelligence

The Dems’ hateful resistance to the GOP is not only in revenge for losing the 2016 election; the main and real reason of resistance and offence is to cover-up the sinister crime of TREASON that they have committed over several decades. The Clinton Foundation is a criminal enterprise–the eyes and ears of the KGB. This crime of the Dems’ leadership should be a major topic in the fight against Soviet Fascism in preparation for the 2020 election. President Trump poses an existential threat to Putin and Dems’ plans for America. That unites the anti-Trump forces, which accuse him of racism and of collaboration with Putin. You know now that it is an absurd! You have to know Soviet Fascism’s tricks to grasp them. You witness now the ideology of Soviet Fascism and how it assaults and confronts Americans on our soil with the help of the Dems!

I was warning you about a Socialist Revolution in America for many years. Watch Pelosi’s House and you will recognize the Socialist Mafia that has been planted there quite easily. They are talkative and arrogant, aggressive and vulgar, but not very smart. Some of them even don’t understand that they are promoting the ideology of Soviet Fascism in America. Like the Soviet apparatchiks, they are condescending and rude, they are not servants of the people, but authoritarians. With Speaker Pelosi you will see how Socialist mafia under the KGB rules has executed Socialism in America: Putin doesn’t want a border wall and the Dems will not appropriate any money for the wall. It is a familiar obstruction, a strictly political issue. Dems will create a crisis, use Stalinist PC and confuse the issue with semantic debates calling building a wall “immoral,” as it used to be under Stalin then and under Putin now in Russia. Socialism always uses lies, fraud, and deceit to remake America…

As a matter of fact, Putin’s KGB had been using our Southern border since 1955. Under KGB’s direction the drugging of America, human trafficking, activities of terrorists, and criminal gangs were going on since then. Now, with the help of the Dems in America, the Caravan was organized easily by the KGB… Putin definitely doesn’t want a border wall and border security in America. He likes government shutdown and chaos at the border. But there is an even more serious danger for America on the horizon. There are thirty-two Dems’ candidates for the 2020 election. Several of them are sponsored by the KGB, which is preparing the third American Manchurian President. We need people with authentic knowledge of the KGB, its tactics, techniques, methods, and tricks to expose a global spy-ring running the DNC to divide and remake America!

There are circumstances that can’t wait for the next Presidential election—“the criminal cabal” run by the KGB in America must be investigated immediately. The upcoming new Attorney General will have his hands full to do the job on both fronts domestically and internationally. The last thirty years, started with Bill Clinton, have allowed massive infiltration of foreign agents to our system, undermining it from within. The same patterns of policy were then continued by Obama. My columns and books analyses that, revealing and displaying the Clinton mafias and Obama/Putin’s conspiracy against the U.S., particularly the book Socialist Lies: From Stalin to the Clintons, Obamas, and Sanders. Xlibris, 2016.

Russian interference is not a matter of dispute, it has been going on for a hundred years. That is the reason I am focusing on the anti-American Socialist Mafia that has been coordinated by the KGB since 1969. I haven’t counted here all the Dems’ gifts to Putin, I rely on you, but before doing that, please consider my personal case. I have been writing about Russia, the KGB, and Soviet Fascism fighting our America the Beautiful on dozens of fronts for the last thirty ears. Unfortunately, the information about my books and columns was suppressed by a corrupt FBI to deprive you and the rest of the world the real knowledge of the enemy of humanity…

It was done by the FBI, submitting my name to the FISA court to have a probable cause to block information about my writings. I suspect some people who could execute it: Andrew McCabe, James Comey, or Robert Muller himself. It was done by the Democrat Party, the way Bill Clinton had demolished the Russian Studies in many Universities, the fields of Sovietology and Kremlinology ceased to exist, leaving America the Beautiful defenseless, blind, deaf, and mute…

Meanwhile, don’t underestimate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, she is vocal and a very officiant propagandist of Soviet Socialism, I renamed Soviet Fascism. The Republican leadership has two immediate tasks:

To learn the ideology of Soviet fascism and disseminate the knowledge among the American public.
To present to the public the work of Tom G. Palmer: The Morality of Capitalism.

Those two sources will expose the Dems’ Socialist mafia for what it really is and help Republicans to win the 2020 election.

My fellow Americans! God gave us the last chance to save our county—President Donald J. Trump! Don’t allow Dems’ Socialism to take over the American Republic. Fight the ideology of Soviet Fascism and save the legacy of our Founding Fathers and the American Republic!

Knowledge is Power! Good Luck my beloved America the Beautiful!

To be continued www.simonapipko1.com or at www.drrichswier.com/author/spipko/.

EDITORS NOTE: The featured photo is by Lysander Yuen on Unsplash.

Is Hyatt actually renting to hate spewing Islamists while banning certain Christian and Jewish groups?

January 8, 2019/in Culture War, Policy, Politics, Religion, Waste, Fraud and Abuse/by Florida Family Association

Florida Family Association published an article on October 20, 2018 titled Will Hyatt actually comply with Sharia law by banning groups that criticize Islam? The article reported in part:Latimes.com published an article titled Hyatt hotels won’t rent to hate groups, CEO says; Muslim group claims a victory.DCist.com reports in part that CAIR wants Corporate America to ban associations with groups that openly criticize Islam.

Hyatt Crystal City is hosting on January 10, 2019 a Council on American Islamic Relations event featuring Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib.

Ilhan Omar mocked Vice President Mike Pence’s Christian faith.

Rashida Tlaib profanely attacked President Donald Trump.

CAIR has hundreds of articles posted on its news release web page that openly and aggressively attack government officials, companies, teachers, professors, candidates for office and individuals who dare say anything negative about Islam, Sharia law or Muhammad.

Where is Hyatt’s concern about Ilhan Omar’s hate for Mike Pence’s faith, Rashida Tlaid’s hate for President Donald Trump and CAIR’s hate for patriotic, law abiding citizens? There has been no new news reports since Hyatt announced its plans to censor organizations it deems as “hate groups.” Why has Hyatt taken this posture when other hotel chains have not? Is Hyatt actually allowing hate spewing Islamists to rent facilities while banning certain Christian and Jewish groups?

Florida Family Association has prepared an email for you to send to express concern to Hyatt officers and directors regarding how it appears that Hyatt is renting to hate spewing Islamists while banning certain Christian and Jewish groups? Please feel free to change the Subject line and Email Content.

Click here to send your email to Hyatt officials.
For Gmail, Yahoo and other email clients that require comma separation of addresses.
YAHOO works best in Yahoo Mobile App, not so well with internet browser.

Click here to send your email to Hyatt officials.
For Outlook and other email clients that require semicolon separation of addresses.

The 116th Congress is Off and Running … But Where To?

January 8, 2019/in Budget and Finance, Commentary, News, Policy, Politics/by Tim Bryce

The 116th U.S. Congress was sworn in on January 3rd. As expected, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (CA) was elected Speaker of the House, who has the unenviable job of binding up a divided chamber of Congress, as well her own party, the Democrats. This will be Mrs. Pelosi’s last hurrah and will likely mark her legacy in the history books. Whereas the House is in the hands of the Democrats, the Senate remains under Republican control. Translation, nothing of substance will happen for the next two years as the two chambers will be hopelessly gridlocked. In terms of House Democrats, the Speaker will likely have trouble controlling the far left who fought her election as Speaker.

Beginning from Day One, the Democrats have drawn a line in the sand to confront Republicans and President Trump. The subject of impeaching the President raised its ugly head again and as I predicted the desire to do so will prove to be irresistible to Democrats. Frankly, the charges are frivolous, and veteran House Democrats know even if it is passed in their chamber, the president will be exonerated in the Republican controlled Senate. So, why go through this futile exercise? To simply besmirch the character of the president as a prelude to the 2020 presidential election. The only problem is, they will likely raise the ire of the American people who elected Mr. Trump, and this is what concerns the party’s leadership. It is more about character assassination as opposed to introducing legislation to solve our problems.

Freshmen Democrats are already rattling sabers. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (MI) unapologetically called the president a Mother******. This was followed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez accusing the president of being a “no question” racist in a 60 Minutes interview. Neither taunts will play well in Poughkeepsie.

More trouble is in the offing though. Rep. Steve Cohen (TN) introduced legislation to eliminate the Electoral College in presidential elections, relying on the popular vote instead. Devised by our founding fathers, the Electoral College is simply brilliant in terms of maintaining parity between the interests of rural America and large metropolitan areas. Unfortunately, it is not well understood in the country anymore, particularly since Civic classes are no longer being taught in high schools. Should this legislation pass the House, it will not see the light of day in the Senate, as it would mean people in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Miami, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, will dictate who becomes president, with little regard for main stream America. This is precisely the scenario our founding fathers hoped to avoid.

Rep. Cohen also introduced legislation to prohibit presidents from issuing pardons to themselves, their families, their administration or their campaign staff. This is a major change as the presidents have long possessed the right to pardon. What they want to avoid is a situation, such as in the final days of President Bill Clinton’s administration where he pardoned his Whitewater cronies, such as Susan McDougal. This too will likely not pass the Senate.

Also, legislation has been introduced mandating the publishing of tax returns of presidential candidates and executives in office. As I have reported in the past, this has always been an optional report for candidates to produce. It is likely the main stream media is driving this initiative. Personally, I believe your finances are your own personal affair. If you want to disclose it, fine, if not, that is fine also. Frankly, if the Democrats believe strongly in this, this should be made equally applicable to ALL government officials, including Congress and the Supreme Court, along with state, county, and municipal governments. What is good for the goose, should be good for the gander. This legislation will likely not pass as well.

Last, but certainly not least, the House and the president are at a stalemate regarding reopening the government and funding a wall for the southern border. The irresistible force has met the immovable object, and no amount of negotiations is going to change anything as it will be viewed as a sign of weakness by both sides. The one exception might be if President Trump does as he suggests and declares a national emergency which would allow him to appropriate funds for the wall. This will likely happen as the president has been releasing data and testimonies of the problems at our southern border in recent weeks. Should the president declare an emergency, it offers Democrats a way out of the confrontation without losing face, and the government can start back up again.

All of this highlights the gridlock in the nation’s capitol which we better get used to. The intent of the Democrats is to make the president look bad as we approach 2020. In addition to the legislation listed here, we will likely see a flurry of subpoenas designed to tie up the president and his administration, thereby obstructing his agenda. Because of the gridlock, we will not see anything of substance resulting from the 116th Congress, certainly not health care reform (which the Democrats campaigned on).

The only possibility might be in the area of addressing the nation’s decaying infrastructure but I am not optimistic about passage of such legislation as we are now embroiled in a game of one-upmanship, and neither side want to give the other a win.

Rep. Pelosi’s legacy will likely be defined by the gridlock of the Congress and the Democrat’s inability to bring this president to heel. If their shenanigan’s persist, they will run the risk of angering the American people, and assuring the Republicans regain the House, not to mention securing President Trump a second term. It will also likely fracture the Democrats, leaving us wondering who will become leader of their party in the House following Mrs. Pelosi’s tour of duty. People like Rep. Steny Hoyer (MD), Rep. Ray Lujan (NM), and Rep. James Clyburn (SC) will likely be viewed as clones of Mrs. Pelosi and may very well be rebuffed by younger Democrats who will want to chart a new course to the left.

The only thing we know for sure about the next two years is that it certainly will not be boring and the news media will support whoever emerges as an effective leader of the party.

Keep the Faith!

EDITORS NOTE: This Bryce Is Right column is republished with permission. The featured photo is by Jomar on Unsplash. All trademarks both marked and unmarked belong to their respective companies.

Sweden Isn’t Socialist [+Video]

January 8, 2019/in Budget and Finance, Culture War, Economy, News, Policy, Politics, Waste, Fraud and Abuse/by The Daily Signal

For years, I’ve heard American leftists say Sweden is proof that socialism works, that it doesn’t have to turn out as badly as the Soviet Union or Cuba or Venezuela did.

But that’s not what Swedish historian Johan Norberg says in a new documentary and Stossel TV video.

“Sweden is not socialist—because the government doesn’t own the means of production. To see that, you have to go to Venezuela or Cuba or North Korea,” says Norberg.

“We did have a period in the 1970s and 1980s when we had something that resembled socialism: a big government that taxed and spent heavily. And that’s the period in Swedish history when our economy was going south.”

Per capita gross domestic product fell. Sweden’s growth fell behind other countries. Inflation increased.

Even socialistic Swedes complained about the high taxes.

Astrid Lindgren, author of the popular “Pippi Longstocking” children’s books, discovered that she was losing money by being popular. She had to pay a tax of 102 percent on any new book she sold.

“She wrote this angry essay about a witch who was mean and vicious—but not as vicious as the Swedish tax authorities,” says Norberg.

Yet even those high taxes did not bring in enough money to fund Sweden’s big welfare state.

“People couldn’t get the pension that they thought they depended on for the future,” recounts Norberg. “At that point the Swedish population just said, ‘Enough, we can’t do this.’”

Sweden then reduced government’s role.

They cut public spending, privatized the national rail network, abolished certain government monopolies, eliminated inheritance taxes, and sold state-owned businesses like the maker of Absolut Vodka.

They also reduced pension promises “so that it wasn’t as unsustainable,” adds Norberg.

As a result, says Norberg, his “impoverished peasant nation developed into one of the world’s richest countries.”

He acknowledges that Sweden, in some areas, has a big government: “We do have a bigger welfare state than the U.S., higher taxes than the U.S., but in other areas, when it comes to free markets, when it comes to competition, when it comes to free trade, Sweden is actually more free market.”

Sweden’s free market is not burdened by the U.S.’s excessive regulations, special-interest subsidies, and crony bailouts. That allows it to fund Sweden’s big welfare programs.

“Today our taxes pay for pensions—you (in the U.S.) call it Social Security—for 18-month paid parental leave, government-paid childcare for working families,” says Norberg.

But Sweden’s government doesn’t run all those programs. “Having the government manage all of these things didn’t work well.”

So they privatized.

“We realized in Sweden that with these government monopolies, we don’t get the innovation that we get when we have competition,” says Norberg.

Sweden switched to a school voucher system. That allows parents to pick their kids’ school and forced schools to compete for the voucher money.

“One result that we’ve seen is not just that the private schools are better,” says Norberg, “but even public schools in the vicinity of private schools often improve, because they have to.”

Sweden also partially privatized its retirement system. In America, the Cato Institute proposed something similar. President George W. Bush supported the idea but didn’t explain it well. He dropped the idea when politicians complained that privatizing Social Security scared voters.

Swedes were frightened by the idea at first, too, says Norberg, “But when they realized that the alternative was that the whole pension system would collapse, they thought that this was much better than doing nothing.”

So Sweden supports its welfare state with private pensions, school choice, and fewer regulations, and in international economic freedom comparisons, Sweden often earns a higher ranking than the U.S.

Next time you hear Democratic Socialists talk about how socialist Sweden is, remind them that the big welfare state is funded by Swedes’ free-market practices, not their socialist ones.

DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS.COM

COMMENTARY BY

John Stossel

John Stossel is host of “Stossel” on the Fox Business Network, and author of “No They Can’t! Why Government Fails—But Individuals Succeed.” Twitter: @JohnStossel.

RELATED VIDEO: Sweden: Lessons for America? – Full Video by the Free To Choose Network.

EDITORS NOTE: This column with images by the Daily Signal is republished with permission. The featured photo by is John Fornander on Unsplash.

The Daily Signal depends on the support of readers like you. Donate now

Cash-Desperate Illinois Is Now Taxing Lap Dances

January 7, 2019/in Budget and Finance, Culture War, Economy, Policy, Politics, Taxes, Waste, Fraud and Abuse/by Foundation for Economic Education (FEE)

Government is now taxing lap dances. What does it mean?

As anyone who’s ever stepped into a “gentlemen’s club” knows, lap dances can get pretty pricey. But owners of an Illinois strip joint believe the nearly $2 million tax bill they received for lap dance services provided is a bit much.

Court records show that proprietors of Polekatz Gentlemen’s Club, a strip club in Bridgeview, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, are suing Cook County, alleging its revenue department is illegally demanding $1.7 million for lap dances under its “amusement tax.” That figure includes interest and penalties, according to The Cook County Record.

What Are Amusement Taxes?

Some people may not be familiar with “amusement taxes,” which are relatively new.

In fact, in the late 1970s, when this writer was born, amusement taxes were almost non-existent, accounting for just $120 million in aggregate revenue among the 90,000 government units in the US. But as state and local governments grew (see below), so did their need to find tax revenues to sustain them.

By 1997, amusement tax revenue had increased more than tenfold to nearly $1.95 billion, according to the data website Statista. Less than a decade later, the figure had tripled to more than $6 billion nationwide (see graph below).

Still, compared to sin taxes, which exceeded $32 billion in state revenue alone in 2014, amusement taxes are rare—outside of Illinois, that is.

Statistic: State and local amusement tax revenue in the United States from 1977 to 2016 (in billion U.S. dollars) | Statista

Illinois: An Amusement Tax Pioneer

The Land of Lincoln has been perhaps the nation’s boldest pioneer on the amusement tax front. While Chicago’s 2015 ruling, which expanded the amusement tax to cover streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu (and has since landed on Playstation users), has captured most of the national headlines, local governments such as Cook County and the city of Bloomington have also found ways to tax fun.

In fact, this isn’t the first time Illinois has been accused of illegally taxing strip joints (which are natural targets for revenue-hungry public do-gooders) with an amusement tax.

More than a decade ago, the 1st District Appellate Court in Chicago said that Chicago and Cook County ran afoul of the law with their amusement tax on strip clubs. Lawmakers had exempted live performances from the tax but failed to include establishments offering nude dancing, prompting a three-judge panel to rule that the tax constituted “content-based regulations on speech.”

Illinois politicians and bureaucrats have learned a few things since then, however. The language of Cook County’s current law (and Chicago’s) is much more inclusive. Amusement is defined as follows:

Amusement means any exhibition, performance, presentation or show for entertainment purposes, including, but not limited to, any theatrical, dramatic, musical or spectacular performance, promotional show, motion picture show, flower, poultry or animal show, animal act, circus, rodeo, athletic contest, sport, game or similar exhibition, such as boxing, wrestling, skating, dancing, swimming, riding on animals or vehicles, baseball, basketball, softball, soccer, football, tennis, golf, hockey, track and field games, bowling, or billiard and pool games.

Unlike Cook County’s previous amusement tax, strip clubs do not appear to be unfairly or unlawfully targeted. Polekatz, located about a dozen miles southwest of the Chicago Loop, is simply one of hundreds of Cook County businesses designated an “amusement operator;” therefore, the club is unlikely to receive legal protection on free expression grounds.

Polekatz’s legal strategy appears to reflect this. According to the Cook County Record, Polekatz is not arguing that the amusement tax is unconstitutional. Rather, they say the nearly $1.7 million tax bill they received is “excessive.”

All Taxes Are Created Equal

To most people, the idea of taxing lap dances sounds as absurd as courts deciding if stripping is a form of artistic expression, as one New York strip club argued in 2012 in the hopes of getting a tax exemption. (In the end, after several years of litigation, a New York judge concluded that pole dancing is art; lap dances are not.)

Indeed, the idea of taxing amusement sounds a little strange to us. People are generally more comfortable with “sin” taxes, which tax naughty things like cigarettes and alcohol. But the truth is amusement taxes and sin taxes are equally awful. We give lawmakers too much credit if we assume they want or know what’s best for us.

If anything, the rise of amusement taxes illustrates an important truth: Government really doesn’t care what they tax. They’ll tax anything—work, play, or “sin”—if it sustains their ravenous appetite for spending, which is precisely the case with Illinois.

“America’s Most Messed up State”

The political and economic dysfunction in Illinois is well-chronicled.

In 2017, as Illinois appeared poised to become the first US state with a “junk” credit rating, CNN ran an article explaining how Illinois became “America’s most messed-up state.”

That Illinois is on the verge of economic disaster is hardly a secret.

“We’re not Greece or Puerto Rico yet,” Adam Schuster, an economist with the Illinois Policy Institute, told The Weekly Standard in October. “We’re not functionally insolvent. But we’re right on the doorstep.”

But it’s not just the state government that’s a total mess. As City Journal recently reported, Chicago finds itself facing an incredible $28 billion pension gap, not to mention another $9 billion in outstanding debt owed to general-obligation bondholders.

The city’s plan? Borrow another $10 billion through a bond offering (despite the fact the city’s bonds are already rated as “junk.”)

The Power to Destroy

It’s no mystery why the people of Illinois find themselves in this mess. Lawmakers are making extravagant promises to give people things with other people’s money. Amusement taxes are just the latest and most convenient device to help them achieve this, though hardly sufficient.

Illinois gives proof to Chief Justice John Marshall’s famous axiom: The power to tax is the power to destroy. Fortunately, the Founders created a system that allows Americans to vote with their feet, which evidence suggests many are doing. New census data show an exodus from tax-punishing states is underway.

So, if Illinois residents decide taxes on their lap dances are just a bit too creepy, they have the freedom to say enough is enough.

COLUMN BY

Jon Miltimore

Jonathan Miltimore is the Managing Editor of FEE.org. Serving previously as Director of Digital Media at Intellectual Takeout, Jon was responsible for daily editorial content, web strategy, and social media operations. Before that, he was the Senior Editor of The History Channel Magazine, Managing Editor at Scout.com, and general assignment reporter for the Panama City News Herald. Jon also served as an intern in the speechwriting department under George W. Bush.

EDITORS NOTE: This column with images by FEE is republished with permission. The featured Image by StockSnap on Pixabay.

How Medicare For All Could Become the Leading Cause of Death In America

January 7, 2019/in Culture War, Healthcare, Must Read, Policy, Politics, Taxes, Waste, Fraud and Abuse/by Foundation for Economic Education (FEE)

People assume universal health insurance would equal better health outcomes. This isn’t true.

The top three leading causes of death in the US are heart disease (614,348), cancer (591,699), and seeking medical treatment. Yes, you read that correctly. According to a 2016 study by Johns Hopkins, medical errors contribute to the deaths of more than 250,000 Americans annually, which places it as the third leading cause of death in the US.

Other estimates have actually placed those numbers even higher at around 440,000 annual deaths because errors by health care providers are not included on death certificates.

Our current health care system is based on a fee-for-service (FFS) reimbursement model that rewards doctors for providing more treatments than necessary because payment is dependent on the quantity, not quality, of care.

Each time you visit the doctor’s office, consult a specialist, or stay in a hospital, you pay for every single test, treatment, or procedure, even though some of these services may be unnecessary.

These unnecessary tests and treatments have accounted for $200 billion annually and have been found to actually harm patients. That’s because the FFS system is volume-based, not necessarily value-based. Therefore, any increases in the volume of care equal increases in medical errors.

Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) contribute to the deaths of nearly 100,000 people annually, leaving almost two million of the total afflicted population requiring treatments that cost over $25 billion a year. These costs could be passed along to taxpayers under Medicare for All, instead of private insurers and employers, as they are now.

Preventable Deaths and Proper Procedures

Take one HAI, for example: central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs), which occur when germs enter the bloodstream from a catheter (tube) that health care providers insert in the veins (neck, chest, or groin) of patients to supply them with medication or fluids or to collect blood.

According to an article in the New England Journal of Medicine, CLABSIs may cause an “estimated 80,000 catheter-related bloodstream infections and, as a result, up to 28,000 deaths among patients in intensive care units (ICUs).” These deaths often occur after patients have spent a significant amount of time and money in the hospital.

The CDC admits the infections are preventable, yet ICUs still experience high numbers of them. A 2003 study conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins revealed that hospitals can eliminate CLABSIs entirely and very cheaply simply by requiring physicians and hospital staff to follow a five-step checklist when inserting central lines, which include obvious sterilization and precautionary measures.

The researchers tested the checklist at 103 ICUs in Michigan and published their findings a few years later. They found the rate of CLABSIs fell by two-thirds while saving over 1,500 lives and $200 million.

The simple explanation for most medical mistakes is human error; in CLABSIs’ case, neglecting simple precautionary measures. The problem is hospitals have no incentive to change the issue because they generate more money from treating infections than preventing them.

It’s evident that iatrogenic events caused by medical oversights or mistakes spur higher health care consumption. An article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that issues with quality in outpatient care and medical errors exclusively caused “116 million extra physician visits, 77 million extra prescriptions, 17 million emergency department visits, 8 million hospitalizations, 3 million long-term admissions, 199,000 additional deaths.”

Patients from HAIs spend, on average, an additional 6.5 days in the hospital and are five times more likely to be readmitted and twice as likely to die, while surgical infections add another $10 billion in annual costs.

If third-party payers (insurance companies, government, employers) weren’t obscuring the true cost of health care by covering patients’ medical bills, patients would be less likely to permit hospitals to give them highly profitable, easily preventable infections.

“Medicare for All” Would Only Exacerbate This Costly System

If Medicare for All covered all 325 million Americans—which include the nearly 30 million uninsured Americans and the 41 million more with inadequate health insurance—it would be the most disastrous third-party payer ever, once cost was not a primary factor.

Including fatal medical errors and the hundreds of thousands of deaths resulting from longer wait times—already exhibited by VA health care—this could presumably make Medicare for All the single biggest factor to the leading cause of death in the US.

Medicare for All would not only be benefiting those who didn’t contribute 40 or more years into the Medicare Trust, but it also wouldn’t substantially improve conditions because it would forcibly thrust all Americans into a system that costs billions of dollars in unnecessary treatments that don’t necessarily improve patient outcomes but rather impose tremendous harm.

The fundamental flaw people assume about health care is that being universally insured equals better health outcomes. Not true!

Canada has a single-payer system, and not only are they experiencing increased wait times every year (average of 21.2 weeks from primary care doctor to specialist for treatment) for health care but their mortality rates from diseases such as cancer (22 percent) are actually 3.5 percent higher than US cancer deaths (18.5 percent) relative to population size. Canadian deaths from heart disease (14.3 percent) fall only 5.4 percent lower than US deaths from heart disease (19.7 percent), so Canada is not significantly healthier because of its single-payer system.

US Medicare is wasteful, ineffective, and expensive. The Dartmouth Atlas documents variations in health care utilization in the US, and it can reveal spending differences on Medicare patients in separate geographical locations with demographically homogeneous populations.

Further, studies show the variances between patients in these separate regions were not due to differences in prices of medical services or levels of illness but rather the aggregate amount of medical services, which did not generally correlate with better patient outcomes.

More spending in the higher-cost regions results in “supply-sensitive” services by providers: more frequent doctor visits mean more use of diagnostic tests and procedures, which result in more costly hospital visits.

Medicare currently enrolls 57 million Americans and suffers $60 billion in annual fraud, waste, abuse, and improper payments (a single payer would reduce some improper payments) using up 10 percent of Medicare’s total annual budget. Adding another 268 million Americans under Medicare for All would certainly raise that annual $60 billion significantly higher.

Medicare reimbursement rates are set by physicians, which leads to inflated pricing of medical services, and most enrollees are covered by traditional FFS Medicare so there’s no guarantee Medicare for All would decrease the volume of services or the associated negative effects which, altogether, would equate to higher taxes, increased medical injuries, and more fraud under Medicare for All.

Medicare doesn’t cover all health care expenses for its enrollees, so expecting a Medicare for All plan to cover 325 million Americans for “free” looks a lot more like “Medicaid for All” than “Medicare for All,” which would be an even more dreadful scenario.

One Simple Solution to Improve Health Outcomes

The private insurance market largely follows Medicare’s reimbursement rates and the types of health care services Medicare reimburses. Changing what Medicare reimburses would change the entire incentive structure because private insurance companies could cover evidence-based treatments that improve health outcomes, and provider services would be aligned with what insurers cover so it would transform the entire health care industry.

Successful attempts have been made by identifying high-cost, high-tech medical interventions such as cardiac catheterization, coronary angioplasty, and stent implantation that are less effective than low-cost, low-tech interventions such as intensive cardiac rehabilitation (or lifestyle medicine)—which actually reverses heart disease.

Value-based strategies such as lifestyle medicine that address lifestyle factors (i.e. nutrition, physical inactivity, and chronic stress) improve health outcomes of patients, and these strategies should be implemented into the current system before committing $32 trillion in new costs for a Medicare for All plan that is more a political talking point than a medical solution to improve the overall health outcomes of Americans.

COLUMN BY

Nicholas DeSimone

Nicholas DeSimone is a policy researcher for Reason Foundation in Washington, D.C. He holds a B.A. in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and has written for Reason Foundation, The Daily Caller, Townhall.com, New Jersey Libertarian Party, and Penn Political Review. Follow him on Twitter.

EDITORS NOTE: This column with images by FEE is republished with permission.

Turns Out California Democrats Used Illegals For Ballot Harvesting

January 7, 2019/in Elections, Featured, Policy, Politics, Waste, Fraud and Abuse/by Rod Thomson

Sometimes a clueless leftist media is a conservative’s best friend.

The Los Angeles Times published a big mushy kiss of a puff piece on New Year’s Day about how Dreamers got deeply involved in the 2018 midterm elections that turned so many red Congressional seats blue — particularly in the days after the election through ballot harvesting.

Nowhere were the Dreamers more active than in California, where the almost entirely Republican blue Orange County flipped to 100 percent Democrat red and where these DACA beneficiaries were very active.

Here’s the story’s lead:

“Gabriela Cruz, who was brought to the U.S. illegally when she was 1, couldn’t vote, but in the final hours before the Nov. 6 election, she was making one last run to get people to the polls.

The sun was setting in Modesto when she found Ronald Silva, 41, smoking a cigarette on a tattered old couch behind a group home. He politely tried to wave her off until she reminded him he had a right that she as an immigrant without citizenship didn’t have.

“It could really make a change for us,” said Cruz, 29.

Half an hour later, she was helping Silva look up candidates as he filled out his ballot by the light of her phone. “I’m glad you guys came,” he said. “I was going to leave it in my drawer.”” (Emphasis added)

The notion of an ethnic “us” in America has always been poisonous. It requires the opposite and equal reaction of a different ethnic “them.” Divisive poison that the LA Times flatters.

So a foreigner, a non-citizen of the United States, was openly working to affect the outcome of our elections. In another context, this is a scandal of enormous proportions. In this context, it is a wonderful of example of immigrant civic involvement.

VIDEO: What Does Diversity Have to Do with Science?

January 7, 2019/in Commentary, Culture War, Policy, Politics, Science, Waste, Fraud and Abuse/by Prager University

Do you care about the race of your doctor, or the gender of the person who built the bridge you drive across? The latest trend across STEM fields claims you should. Heather Mac Donald, Fellow at the Manhattan Institute and author of The Diversity Delusion, explains where these destructive ideas are coming from.

Check out Heather Mac Donald’s latest book, The Diversity Delusion. Click here.

EDITORS NOTE: This column with video by PragerU is republished with permission. The featured photo by Ousa Chea on Unsplash

VIDEO: The Ties That Divide

January 7, 2019/in Culture War, Healthcare, Policy, Politics, Religion, Video/by Church Militant

TRANSCRIPT

As we get into the new calendar year, all signs point to an explosive year for the Church, a great disruption, a great divide. The year was barely 48 hours old and the U.S. bishops had begun to meet on retreat about the scourge of sexual abuse among the clergy.

But even here, on this topic, there is a divide among so many of the bishops. A few well-balanced ones who don’t really have any connection to the errant theology and formation from the 1970s know and say that the problem is homosexuality.

But the vast majority of them, because they are slaves to that malformation of the 1970s, refuse to admit this reality even in the face of overwhelming evidence.

They are, frankly, a pitiful crew to behold. Even with the feds and state attorneys general raiding their chanceries looking for secret files covering up cases of sexual abuse of minors — 80 percent of whom were teenage boys — even still, they will not admit the reality.

And that’s because too many of the bishops themselves are gay. And let’s be very clear here: One gay bishop is too many. But in the USCCB, it would be the height of naivete to not understand that many of the men sitting in that room saying it’s not a gay problem are gay themselves, so of course they are going to say that.

Others who are not directly sexually attracted to other men are still complicit, because they refuse to either admit the horror of this sin, or, they turn a blind eye to it because they do not wish to face the wrath and rage of gay priests in their dioceses, like Abp. Allen Vigneron here in Detroit.

According to his own seminary faculty member, Mary Healy, who said publicly that he will not end the homosexual anti-Catholic group Dignity’s weekly Mass because he’s afraid to anger the gay priests here in Detroit.

He and others like him, however, never seem to be so concerned about angering traditional Catholics or people fighting for the Faith in their own lives. And all this with news now spreading that the much-anticipated $200 million fundraising campaign is going to be announced in the next week or two. It’s disgusting.

Here’s the gist of the problem on this question of “division.” It’s a smokescreen, the charge that someone is “divisive” or causes division. What a panty-waist accusation to hurl at someone. Seriously, from a bishop, “You are divisive”?

Do they not know how all the prophets and patriarchs, apostles, saints and martyrs spoke routinely? And, oh yeah, the Son of God. All these men were “divisive.” That’s the point.

But the limp-wristed, light in the loafers, emasculated theology of most of today’s bishops has as its greatest sin giving offense. Anything, and we mean anything else, is acceptable, worthy of a second, third or even fourth chance, but if you come off as socially impolite, you’re done.

The homosexual or homosexual-minded man should not be ordained in the first place, and all Hell breaks loose when they are consecrated to the office of bishop.

They sacrifice truth and its bold preaching to their own disgusting femininity and cowardice and lack of authentic masculinity and hide behind the skirts of calling people divisive.

Catholicism is all about division, bishops. Do you not understand that? What do you think Heaven and Hell is all about?

What do you think being in a state of grace versus a state of mortal sin is all about?

But see, the combination of their poisonous homosexuality and intellect-rotting malformation they got back in seminary in the 1970s has made them unable to see this truth.

They want the Church to be this big soft, squishy “all are welcome” cacophony of confusion so they hide in it and rationalize their psychological illness of sodomy.

If some of the collateral damage happens to be some teenage altar boys happen to get raped along the way, oh well.

If thousands and thousands of seminarians are driven from the seminary and lose their vocations, and even sometimes their faith, oh well.

And if some of these young men end up in lives of addiction and sexual exploitation and even kill themselves, oh well.

As long as we all get along and not say things that are divisive, that’s all that matters. The bishops themselves are the cause of the division in the Church, especially the homosexual bishops and their allied bishops who now exercise great control over vast portions of the Church.

They are a cancer in the episcopate, they are destroyers of souls, and without repentance, they will suffer outrageous tortures in Hell for eternity, which is why they spend so much time ignoring Hell or promoting the spiritually insane idea that we have a reasonable hope all men are saved.

That is homosexual-think, not sound theology, and bishops who say it, promote, defend it or let it slide need to be called out.

See, the Faith itself is always whole, always pure, always a unity. But too many of these men — many, perhaps most, but not all being homosexual — are the ones who have brought about the division and then stood on their sacred office and promoted it.

Then when faithful Catholics shine the light on the division they have caused, they accuse us of creating it. That’s exactly what you expect from the mind of someone who has given himself over to the demonic.

To reveal the already existing division in the Church caused by these bishops, to bring it to light, is the work of God. There exists today in the Church a great division, largely between a huge number of bishops and the faithful.

To be frank, we and they don’t believe the same faith, just like St. Peter and Judas did not believe the same thing about Our Lord. One said He was the Messiah, the Son of God, the other betrayed Him — not the same faith.

Father James Martin and I do not believe the same faith. Cardinal Blase Cupich and I do not believe the same faith. Cardinal Joseph Tobin and I do not believe the same faith. They obfuscate and deceive souls on the altar of sodomy and support of it. What they preach is not the authentic Catholic faith.

It is they and their ilk that divide; they divide souls, separate from the truth. In what manner could it be said we accept the same foundations of the faith? It can’t. Now, many of you watching this have the same reality, just because someone in your circle says they are Catholic doesn’t mean they are, and they should not be allowed to remain in that mindset.

They either need to understand that they are mistaken about Church teachings or, if they reject them, then leave the Church in practice, because they already have in soul. All of this has been brought you by the modernist heretics crowd, largely fueled by warped and sick homosexual bishops and those among them sympathetic to it.

Want to know where all the division is from, look there — not at faithful Catholics trying to expose it.

EDITORS NOTE: This column with video and images by Church Militant is republished with permission.

VIDEO: Vaping in the Classroom

January 7, 2019/in Culture War, Education, Healthcare, Policy, Politics/by Mercedes Schneider

One of the challenges of being a public high school teacher is developing a constant awareness of what is transpiring in my classroom. Even when I conference individually with my student, my eyes and ears are open in a hyper-observant manner that I have cultivated over decades.

Of course, times change, and over those decades, what I’ve needed to pay attention to has evolved– including smoking, it seems.

Now, there’s vaping.

I saw a commercial for vaping in which the advertiser stated that vaping is meant to help smokers who are trying to quit.

Nice try.

As that advertiser was speaking, I was hearing my own high-school-classroom, overlay script:

Vaping makes it easier for teenagers to access nicotine without being detected. Why, they can even vape during class, and many teachers would not even realize it because it would not occur to them to even consider that it could. Oh, yet, and that means we will make a load of money off of teens even as we promote the idea that Smoking Is Bad for Your Health.

Vaping in class– during class! I learned that this was possible only months ago. And part of the problem for many school districts is that they may not have adjusted their smoking policies to include vaping. As any student caught vaping would likely (and quickly) point out, a vape is not a cigarette. That is true. Vaping involves inhaling vaporized nicotine, and the exhale is not nearly as noticeable as that of a cigarette.

What complicates detection is that the vaping instrument may look like a flash drive to the untrained eye. (The vaping device may be longer than a flash drive, but not always, I have learned.)

Juul vaping device charging via USB port (looking like an elongated flash drive) (EdWeek)

One Juul pod has the same amount of nicotine as a pack of cigarettes (EdWeek) and lasts for about 200 puffs (TIME)

According to coverage in a March 2018 article on vaping in TIME, the teen appeal was not part of intentional marketing:

Ashley Gould, chief administrative officer at Juul Labs, says that the product was created by two former smokers specifically and solely to help adult smokers quit, and that the company has numerous anti-youth-use initiatives in place because “we really don’t want kids using our product.” Gould also notes that Juul uses age authentication systems to sell only to adults 21 and older online, though most of its sales take place in retail stores, where state laws may allow anyone 18 and older to purchase the devices.

The design, she adds, was not meant to make the device easier to hide.

“It was absolutely not made to look like a USB port. It was absolutely not made to look discreet, for kids to hide them in school,” Gould says. “It was made to not look like a cigarette, because when smokers stop they don’t want to be reminded of cigarettes.” …

Does Juuling help you quit smoking?

It’s not yet clear. Gould acknowledges that Juul doesn’t have great end-user data since its products are mostly sold in retail stores, but she says the company is actively researching the effectiveness of its devices.

Research about the efficacy of nicotine replacement therapy using tools such as e-cigarettes and nicotine gum is relatively inconclusive. A new study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine even found that smokers trying to quit may actually have less success if they use e-cigarettes.

Even so, both the vape device and the vape action are easy to hide in plain sight in the public school classroom– all the more reason for school admin, teachers, and staff to educate themselves on the issue.

On July 31, 2018, EdWeek published the following video on vaping (also known as “Juuling,” derived from a brand name, Juul):

Regarding the long-term effects of vaping, not much is known yet because vaping is still relatively new. That noted, common sense dictates that vaping is problematic because nicotine is addictive, and the young person vaping is opening the door to chemical addiction by repeatedly inhaling concentrated nicotine and may well be damaging or otherwise impeding healthy growth and development.

Regarding the effects of vaping, the March 2018 TIME article offers the following:

While e-cigarettes contain fewer toxic substances than traditional cigarettes, the CDC warns that vaping may still expose people to cancer-causing chemicals. (Different brands use different formulations, and the CDC’s warning did not mention Juul specifically.)
It’s not clear exactly how e-cigarettes affect health because there’s little long-term data on the topic, says Dr. Michael Ong, an associate professor of general internal medicine and health services at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles. “We just don’t have a lot of information as to what the harms potentially are going to be,” he says. “There likely would be health risks associated with it, though they’re not going to be the same as a traditional cigarette.”
Doctors do know, however, that each Juul pod contains nicotine equivalent to a pack of cigarettes. That’s troubling, because nicotine is “one of the most addicting substances that we know of,” Ong says. “Having access to that is certainly problematic,” Ong adds, because it may get kids hooked, which could potentially lead them to later take up cigarettes.
Juul’s products come in flavors including mango, fruit medley and creme brûlée — and the chemicals used to flavor vaping liquid may also be dangerous, Ong adds. “Even if the manufacturer doesn’t intend it to be something that’s kid-friendly, it’s kid-friendly,” he says. A 2016 study suggested that these flavoring agents may also cause popcorn lung, a respiratory condition first seen in people working in factories that make microwave popcorn.

There we have it teachers: Vape Detection 101.

Watch out for those flash drives.

EDITORS NOTE: This column with images by deutsch29 is republished with permission. The featured photo is by Cianna Jolie on Unsplash.

Will Mitt Romney be the Democrats Nominee for President of the United States?

January 7, 2019/in Commentary, Policy, Politics/by Dr. Julio Gonzalez

Following the publication of Mitt Romney’s misguided op-ed piece in The Washington Post slamming President Donald Trump (the link to which can be found in the Library), a fundamental question immediately pops up: Can Mitt Romney defeat Joe Biden in the Democratic presidential primary?

Image may contain: 1 person — Senator Mitt Romney. Photo: Twitter

To say the least, the publication of Romney’s op-ed represents a mammoth misstep.  The words he shared about the President were not only openly hostile, but also demonstrated Romney’s misperception of what the American people want in a President.

For example, Romney wrote, “Trump’s words and actions have caused dismay around the world.  In a 2016 Pew Research Center poll, 84 percent of people in Germany, Britain, France, Canada and Sweden believed the American president would “do the right thing in world affairs.”  One year later, that number had fallen to 16 percent.”

This was a terrible sentence.  For one, it opened the door for the President to emphasize his disregard for his European approval numbers while astutely pointing out that any drop in his European popularity serves as a direct testament to his zealous representation of the United States in the world’s stage.

Engrained in Romney’s criticisms of Trump’s approval numbers was a more subtle, but much more substantive point. Romney demonstrated that he, as opposed to Trump, follows European approval as a measure of a President’s success.

This latter point brings us to our next issue: it is simply because Romney cares about European approval numbers and Trump does not that Mitt will make a terrible president.

There are many who wonder why Mitt Romney would make such a misguided and ill-advised move.  Indeed, his actions defy all logical explanations, except one: the op-ed was Romney’s first salvo against the President of the United States whom he intends to take on for the Republican nomination.  Yet his comments were so arrogant and so out of touch with the viewpoints of rank and file Republicans that he has absolutely no chance at touching Trump in a primary challenge.  Indeed, Romney’s misstep was so colossal that he stands a much better chance of winning the Democratic nomination.  (And not by way of complementing Romney, but he would immediately become the Democrat’s best candidate.)

All of this brings us to a much bigger point; the issue of character, which Romney has consistently played as his strong suit.  During his run for President and again in his campaign for Senate, Romney eagerly sought Donald J. Trump’s blessings.  Despite the misgivings that arose between the two during Trump’s 2016 race, the President still gave Romney his blessings.  Yet, even before Romney has the opportunity to take the oath of his new office, he turns around and stabs the President in the back.

The point here is very simple and laced with irony.  The fundamental and inescapable problem with Mitt Romney’s op-ed yesterday is that while he eagerly attacks the President’s character, he brings to full view the blatant flaws in his own.

And that’s the reason why Romney will never win another Republican nod for any office outside of his reelection in six years; provided, of course, that he stops messing up.

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared in The Federalist Pages. The featured photo is by Srikanta H. U on Unsplash.

The Constitution’s Affirmation Option Was Not Designed To Accommodate Secularists.

January 6, 2019/in Courts & Law, Culture War, Policy, Politics, Religion/by Dr. Julio Gonzalez

It’s one of the most often utilized arguments by secularists when making the case that the Constitution is a secular document and that the nation’s Founders, in thirteen short years, went from affirming the central role of the Creator in informing the relations of man and government to a complete abandonment of God.  As the argument goes, so dismissive were the Framers of religion’s role in governance that the even the Oath was given an elective role in the swearing of a public servant’s allegiance to the United States and the Constitution; a role that was equal in standing to the godless affirmation.

In point of fact, nothing could be further from the truth.

There are two major reasons for the Constitution’s apparently secular tone.  First, it was a working document designed to serve as a blueprint for government. Unlike the Declaration of Independence, it did not have an aspirational or declaratory purpose, nor did it need to explain itself “to a candid world.”

Second, the Constitution had to specifically avoid, as much as it could, any references to religion because, as discussed by countless sources of the time and memorialized in the subsequent First Amendment to the Constitution, religion was to remain within the purview of the states, not under the auspices of the new national government.  This is also why the Framers prohibited any religious test from being employed to determine the qualifications of any of its members.

Even so, deference to God is still encountered within the Constitution of the United States in at least two locations.  First, the Constitution specifically references God in acknowledging that the date of attestation took place “in the year of our Lord.”  Second, the Constitution skips Sunday in the number of days allowed for the President to return a bill passed by Congress.  There is no coincidence that this day was skipped because it was one of rest and worship amongst Christians.

Secularists foolishly argue that notwithstanding those two references, the placement of the affirmation as an alternative to an oath clearly demonstrates the Framers’ secularist intent and their secularist design for their new nation.  That assertion is wrong.

In Article II, the Framers required an incoming President to take an “Oath or Affirmation.” Additionally, in Article VI, the Framers wrote, “The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the members of the several states, shall be bound by oath or affirmation, to support this Constitution.”

The importance of this requirement is striking when one considers that an “oath” is often defined as “a solemn promise”[i]with the words “calling on God” as witness included in many definitions.[ii] It is viewed as an appeal to God to witness the veracity or solemnity of the words or actions about to be taken.[iii] No greater act of contrition, or of subservience to God, can be required of one about to undertake an action than to require the person to make the statement under the direct appeal to God.  The oath requirement within the Constitution of the United States is a preeminent acknowledgment of the existence of God and of the subservience of every American elected official to Him.

However, what about the affirmation?

In point of fact, the affirmation was designed to accommodate those with an ostensibly greater subservience to God; not to secularists.  According to Professor Steve Sheppard, a law professor at the University of Arkansas, in including the affirmation as an option, the Framers were attempting to appease the faith requirements of Quakers and those like them, whose fears of God was so great that they were prohibited from undertaking an oath.[iv] Consequently, the affirmation inscribed within the Constitution was far from Godless, as some would like to argue today. It was merely an option to be exercised by those whose fear and respect for God was so great that they could not bring themselves to invoke His name in an oath, but would nevertheless place themselves under the threat of perjury when making their declaration.

It stands as indisputable that the Constitution is a document divinely inspired.  Man could not arrive at such a solemn document, albeit with its many imperfections, without some guidance from God. However that modern-day secularists should use a capitulation made in honor of the most pious as an affirmation of the document’s secularity, is as ironic as it is false.

REFERENCES:

[i] American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Ed. (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company).
[ii] Ibid.
[iii] West’s Encyclopedia of American Law, 2nd ed.. (The Gale Group, Inc.: 2008),
[iv] Steve Sheppard, “What Oaths Meant to the Framers’ Generation: A Preliminary Sketch,” Cardozo Law Review,de Novo 27, (2009): 279.

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared in The Federalist Pages. The featured photo is by John Bakator on Unsplash.

The American Way of Life Was Assaulted in the Murder of Cpl. Ronil Singh

January 6, 2019/in Courts & Law, Immigration, National Security, News, Policy, Politics, Waste, Fraud and Abuse/by NRA Institute for Legislative Action

During an early morning traffic stop in a small town near the Bay Area, everything we fight against came together in a perfect storm and led to the death of a man who symbolized everything we at NRATV stand for. The man in question was a police officer, a legal immigrant, a father and a husband. But he served a community bound by laws that put him last.

Illegal immigration, the war on cops, illegal-weapons possession, all embodied by a man in a pickup, joined together and ended the life of a law enforcement officer. With no regard for life, no respect for law enforcement, and no regrets for his actions, an illegal immigrant, who escaped deportation twice because of sanctuary-city laws, wielded an illegal weapon and carried out an attack on one of America’s finest.

For days, the murderer was on the run, asking for help from those who would, doing everything he could to traverse the hundreds of miles back to his home country of Mexico. He sought refuge from the demands of American law.

He had crossed the border into Arizona illegally years before, but that didn’t matter to the California state government. They welcomed it.

He was a prime candidate for deportation, but that didn’t matter to state law enforcement. They concealed it.

He had already been arrested twice for driving while intoxicated, but that didn’t matter to the judge. He pardoned it.

Gustavo Perez Arriaga was a product of political correctness, disrespect for the rule of law, and prosecutorial discretion run amok. Because of the implementation of these progressive positions, Gustavo Perez Arriaga was enabled to kill Cpl. Ronil Singh.

All Ronil Singh ever wanted was move to the United States and become a cop. To him, there was no better place than America and no nobler profession than that of police officer—at least that’s what he told Newman Police Chief Randy Richardson almost eight years ago. “[I] came here solely to be a police officer and be a part of this country,” the Fiji native said, “to protect what was given and allowed to [me].”

But on the day after Christmas, during what seemed to be a relatively routine call, Cpl. Singh came face to face with a deadly and counterfeit version of the American dream and lost his life.

Gustavo Perez Arriaga, who was later revealed to actually be named Paulo Virgen Mendoza, fled the scene, but after a two-day manhunt, he was caught 200 miles away from the scene of the crime.

For the 12 years he served as governor of California, Jerry Brown gave his stamp of approval on countless bills that have resulted in anti-cop legislation and California’s current and illegal status as a sanctuary state. California is a place where neither the law nor the Second Amendment matter—a place where political correctness reigns freely and the lives of law enforcement officers are just a bump in the road to Utopia.

California is a place where neither the law nor the Second Amendment matter.

The laws aren’t unique to California, though. The House of Representatives is controlled by the party of open borders, sanctuary cities, and the war on cops. They continue to pursue an agenda that will leave countless in its wake, solely for a strengthened voting bloc and perpetual power.

It’s up to us—those who are members of a group we call freedom’s safest place—to make our voices heard, to make a stand for the American dream, for legal immigration, for a secure border, for the lives of our officers, and for a safe and prosperous country.

EDITORS NOTE: This NRA-ILA column with images is republished with permission.

What America Could Learn from Singapore’s Social Welfare System

January 6, 2019/in Culture War, Economy, Policy, Politics, Waste, Fraud and Abuse/by Foundation for Economic Education (FEE)

To take a look at how and where a minimal standard of welfare design has been implemented successfully, one need only look at the city-state of Singapore.

A common libertarian view when it comes to welfare is that the role of the state should simply be restricted to providing a safety net. Such a basic net would guard society’s most economically vulnerable against falling through the cracks. Milton Friedman proposed a negative income tax as a way of encouraging the poor to work their way out of poverty. In one of his most oft-quoted passages (for reasons of ideological axe-grinding, no doubt), F. A. Hayek similarly espoused such a view in The Road to Serfdom:

There is no reason why, in a society which has reached the general level of wealth ours has, the first kind of security should not be guaranteed to all without endangering general freedom; that is: some minimum of food, shelter and clothing, sufficient to preserve health. Nor is there any reason why the state should not help to organize a comprehensive system of social insurance in providing for those common hazards of life against which few can make adequate provision.

It is clear why this policy is consistent with a free-market-oriented philosophy: It understands that the wealth of nations are retarded when incentives to work are eroded by easily accessible state welfare. At the same time, it does not dogmatically apply the pure logic of economic efficiency within a political vacuum. This view forgoes any grand illusions about big modern governments possibly abolishing its bloated welfare state bureaucracy and realizes that real-world social problems like unemployment and homelessness can potentially spur democratic backlashes and lead to worse anti-market outcomes.

To take a look at how and where such a minimal standard of welfare design has been implemented successfully, one need only look at the city-state of Singapore. The Singapore welfare system is considered one of the most successful by first-world standards. World Bank data shows that Singapore’s government health expenditure in 2015 is only 4.3 percent of GDP, a small fraction in comparison to other first-world countries—16.9 percent in the US; 11 percent in France; 9.9 percent in the UK; 10.9 percent in Japan, and 7.1 percent in Korea—while achieving comparatively equal or better health outcomes of low infant mortality and higher life expectancies. While most of Europe, Scandinavia, and North America spend 30-40 percent of GDP on social welfare programs, Singapore spends less than half as much while maintaining similar levels of economic growth and a society relatively free of social problems.

An Emphasis on Self-Reliance

The first thing to know about Singapore’s welfare system is that qualifying for welfare is notoriously difficult by the standards of most of the developed Western world. The Singapore government’s position on welfare handouts is undergirded by a staunch economic philosophy of self-reliance and self-responsibility where the first lines of welfare should be derived from one’s individual savings, the family unit, and local communities before turning to the government. The state, in other words, should not act as a guarantor of means but merely a guardian of final recourse.

One of the most substantial organizational forms of welfare in Singapore are the state-guided self-help community groups that are structured along racial lines. They were formed to help tackle poverty alleviation for the lowest-income citizens by helping them through various schemes of general education to improve their economic opportunities. This welfare program started within the Malay community in 1981 and was deemed so successful by the end of the decade that the government gradually expanded it to form similar self-help organizations for the “under-performing” groups of the Chinese, Indian, and Eurasian races, too.

The Singapore government’s involvement in these community groups goes only as far as a general regulatory oversight. Unlike typical welfare states, funds for these welfare organizations are not mechanically funneled from a large taxpayer-funded pool into an ever-increasing bureaucracy. Instead, funding is derived from a mixture of government schemes that draw a token sum of one to two dollars from each citizen’s government savings account (in other words, crowdfunding), as well as encouraging optional charity from the general community.

Most importantly, the discretionary processes involved with allocating welfare to the low-income members are left to the community group leaders. This privatized form of welfare where key decision-making is carried out at a decentralized level has proved to be a far more economically efficient form of welfare.

This philosophy of self-reliance and responsibility is prominent not only in social welfare but is also replicated in the Singapore government’s approach to retirement savings, health care, education, and housing. For instance, the state’s preferred policy of ensuring individuals have sufficient resources for a rainy day is via the Central Provident Fund, a government-mandated savings account where a portion of one’s monthly salary is deducted and deposited into it. These funds can be used only for health expenses/insurance, the purchase of a home, or at the age of retirement, reflecting the government’s encouragement of self-reliance where you should “help yourself before asking others for help.”

By compelling Singaporeans to save, welfare in Singapore has traditionally been internalized first to the individual and the family/grassroots level. This forms the crux of the government’s “Many Helping Hands” social policy where the role of the family and immediate community in welfare provision is emphasized over government-funded programs. Such a form of privatized charity is neither new nor unique, as a wealth of research shows how mutual aid societies predated modern welfare states in the 20th-century United States and the 19th-century United Kingdom.

Decentralizing Welfare

There is an important lesson to be drawn from the Singaporean case study. The success of the Singapore government’s approach to welfare stems from its decentralized design that revolves around communities at the grassroots level. This approach has worked well because it fundamentally overcomes critical knowledge problems that welfare programs have to deal with.

Remember that poverty alleviation is just that: alleviation. Softening economic hardship temporarily is entirely different from the goal of upliftingthe poor out of poverty. Welfare that is efficient must perform the former without encouraging dependency or destroying the incentive for the poor to work. Even if poverty is a collective problem for “society,” the knowledge required to solve individual cases of poverty is never collectively centralized in a state bureau. On the contrary, such knowledge is widely dispersed and would differ radically across different cultures, religions, communities, occupations, and individuals.

The causes of social poverty can stem from persisting cultural practices, personal habits, or other local institutional problems. Such contextual knowledge and incentives are rarely available to far-removed government welfare bureaus. It is easy to place the duty of welfare provision on an abstract entity we call the “government.” But it is often far more complex for state bureaucrats to allocate taxpayer-funded welfare efficiently, as seen by the trillions of wasted dollars that have failed to help the poor or the gargantuan costs wasted in merely administrative purposes in the US welfare state.

Effective welfare programs that are managed at a private, decentralized level are better equipped with the contextual knowledge required to cope with the existing environment. When decision-making is decentralized, the unique circumstances and life stories of each individual can be better assessed, thereby also offering a more robust safeguard against potentially opportunistic welfare recipients. Singapore’s hybrid private-public model of welfare provision offers useful lessons to those who believe that comprehensive welfare programs can be easily designed to eliminate poverty in a stroke. Such simplistic views stem from undeniably benevolent intentions. But poverty alleviation will be far better tackled through a market-based approach that recognizes the epistemological limits of policymakers, as Singapore’s decentralized approach has shown.

COLUMN BY

Donovan Choy

Donovan Choy is a Students For Liberty Charter Teams Member. You can learn more about the situation in Singapore by contacting him at choydonovan@gmail.com.

EDITORS NOTE: This column with images by FEE is republished with permission.