Senate passes budget resolution
Thursday night, the Senate passed a Republican budget resolution that funds President Trump’s agenda of border security, immigration law enforcement, rebuilding the military and....
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Daily Bible Verse
And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
1 Corinthians 13:13
Senate passes budget resolution
Thursday night, the Senate passed a Republican budget resolution that funds President Trump’s agenda of border security, immigration law enforcement, rebuilding the military and restoring American energy dominance. The vote was 52-48 (Rand Paul was the only Republican "no" vote, along with all of the Democrats), and it came after 10 hours of failed Democrat amendments, points of order and assorted futile delaying tactics. This included amendments filled with loaded rhetoric for no reason other than to force Republicans to vote against them so the Dems can use their votes in campaign commercials. So let us be the first to predict that in 2026, the Democrats will be running misleading campaign commercials.
Now, it’s up to the House to pass a similar bill so the two can be reconciled and pass the full Congress. By the way, the reason Trump’s agenda needs to be in one “big, beautiful bill” packaged as a budget resolution is because those can pass the Senate on a simple majority instead of needing 60 votes, so the Democrats can’t block it with a filibuster.
When that happens, we’re likely to hear a lot of screaming about dictatorship and the end of democracy, but remember, that’s exactly what they’ve done for years. It’s one of the reasons why we have an unaccountable bureaucracy and a $36 trillion debt.
Trump ends all federal aid for illegal immigrants
President Trump signed an executive order to end all federal aid for illegal immigrants. The order also cuts off funding for “sanctuary” cities and states that are incentivizing illegal immigration by offering free benefits and refusing to cooperate with ICE. Democrats who keep screaming about DOGE cutting waste and fraud while claiming that, of course, they want to end waste and fraud, could try hopping on a popular issue by siding with Trump on this. But they probably won’t.
If anyone thinks this EO represents chump change, think again. The feds are quite generous with our money when it comes to supporting illegal immigrants. A study by the Federation for American Immigration Reform found that in 2023 alone, the federal government spent $66.5 billion of our money on benefits like food stamps, Medicaid, Obamacare, Supplemental Security Income and more on people who weren’t even supposed to be here. Despite claims by the left that illegal immigration is a net plus for the economy, each new illegal immigrant costs US taxpayers about $170,000. That’s a lot of money so that rich liberals can get below-minimum-wage landscaping work and Chuck Schumer can have cheap guacamole at his Super Bowl party.
Add in state and local expenditures, and the cost of illegal immigration totaled $182 billion a year. And the House Committee on Homeland Security estimates that over the four loooong years of the Biden Administration, the feds spent a total of $451 billion on aid to illegal immigrants. Could you think of a better way to spend nearly half a trillion taxpayer dollars?
Whenever someone suggests cutting any federal benefit spending, the left cries about the poor “victims” of the cuts, but never gives a thought to the deserving people who would benefit. For instance, if we cleaned up Social Security fraud, hard-pressed seniors could get a raise that reflects the real inflation rate. And as Trump pointed out, the money we’re blowing on supporting illegal immigrants should be going to protect American citizens in need, such as veterans and the disabled.
A Trip of a Lifetime
To learn more about the trip, go to www.TheGreatestTrip.com.
Trump and Elon interview, Part 2
Wednesday night on Fox News, Sean Hannity ran part two of his joint interview with President Trump and Elon Musk. You can see it or read about it here:
https://www.foxnews.com/media/trump-musk-emphasize-importance-full-transparency-doge-efforts
One of the best points was made by Musk, who addressed all the wailing over DOGE’s budget cuts and falsely claiming they’re cutting Medicare and Social Security: with our $36 trillion debt and huge deficits, cutting spending is not optional. Musk said if we don’t eliminate deficit spending, our entire revenue will be going to nothing but servicing the debt, and then all of those programs will collapse, as will the US economy. And don’t think you can escape to some other country: we’re the pillar of the world economy, and if we go down, so does everyone else.
The point we would add is that if Democrats and free-spending Establishment Republicans are upset that the cuts are too painful, then they should have thought of that years ago when they were being warned to get their spending under control or it would be a lot harder in the future. Well, the future is here. They’re the ones who kicked the can down the road until now, it’s kicking them back.
Trump kills congestion pricing
President Trump issued an executive order killing the new $9 “congestion pricing” surcharge on anyone driving into New York City below 60th street. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called it “a slap in the face to working class Americans and small business owners,” adding, “Every American should be able to access New York City regardless of their economic means. It shouldn’t be reserved for an elite few.”
Trump announced the order with a Truth Social post showing a parody Time magazine cover of him as a king, with the message, “CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED! LONG LIVE THE KING!”
Not surprisingly, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul didn’t get the joke. She took to the cameras to defend the surcharge, claiming it has reduced traffic, increased the use of taxis and subways, and was becoming more popular. She also grimly declared that New Yorkers hadn’t been ruled by a king in 250 years, and she would fight this assault on her state’s sovereignty. She declared, “We’ll see you in court,”
https://thehill.com/policy/transportation/5154242-hochul-trump-congestion-pricing-court/
A few points: First, we have no doubt New Yorkers are using more taxis and taking the subway, but she didn’t ask them if they actually want to do that – especially taking the subway, which can be a deadly voyage these days. They’re doing it because $9 for every trip into Manhattan over a typical five-day/50-week work year totals an extra $2,250 a year for working commuters.
And let’s get real: The Democrats who run the state aren’t taking that money because they want to reduce pollution or traffic congestion; they’re taking it because they love taxing and spending. And they’ve got a lot of illegal aliens to spend “sanctuary” benefits money on these days.
Also, why do Democrats think that when a Democrat is in the White House, challenging the federal government is insurrection; but the minute a Republican is back in, they become staunch believers in the 10th Amendment and states’ rights?
Finally, it’s true that New Yorkers once fought a war to get rid of the rule of a king. But what was one of the major reasons? Because he taxed them without giving them representation. Did she and the Democrat legislators bother to ask New Yorkers if they wanted to pay an extra $2,250 a year just to drive to work? Maybe it's time for New Yorkers to stage a revolution at the polls and revolt against taxation without representation.
RELATED: Rather than taking Trump to court, Gov. Hochul should figure out a way to keep her state's courts from releasing actual dangerous criminals back into the streets.
Least Surprising News of the Day!
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco unanimously blocked President Trump's order to end birthright citizenship. This was 100% predictable and might actually help hurry up the Supreme Court ruling on it, which was where it was always going to end up anyway.
Second Least Surprising News of the Day!
Democrats: "We must fund Planned Parenthood because they protect women's health!" Us: Read this...
Not really news that this happened…
DOGE has found $2 billion earmarked by the Biden Administration for a “green” organization called “Power Forward Communities” that’s linked to perennial Georgia sore loser and Democrat Party celebrity, Stacey Abrams. Before getting the massive taxpayer windfall, the group’s records showed it was in operation for just three months and had revenues of only $100.
While others might be shocked to learn of this attempt to dump truckloads of tax money onto undeserving Democrat grifters, readers of this newsletter shouldn’t be. We told you in December that the Biden White House was trying to spend all the money in the “Inflation Reduction Act” before Trump could get in and cancel it, and that they were shoveling out billions to cronies who’d just launched shady “green” groups with no record or revenue. The only news here is that Stacey Abrams was one of the recipients. But really, is that news?
Brave New World:
The showbiz Bible, Variety magazine, finally did a cover story on Greg Gutfeld, who has been drawing a bigger audience than the leftist late night hosts they slobber over for years.
https://instapundit.com/703706/
The poor Variety writer who attended a “Gutfeld” taping still didn’t seem to get it. Expressing shock at jokes about subjects such as the Oscar-nominated “trans” actor (and apparently believing it’s now universally offensive to use a “trans” person’s original name – nope, just where you live in L.A.), the writer describes “Gutfeld!” as being like entering an “alternate universe.” No, you’re just entering the real universe, one where people tell jokes that are funny and laugh at leftists who are ridiculous. Stick around, you might find that you actually enjoy Reality.
Kash Patel confirmed as FBI Director; Dems lose their freaking heads
“No one is a bigger, more dangerous sycophant than Kash Patel,” said Adam Schiff outside FBI headquarters on Thursday. “This political hack does not deserve to be in this building.”
That was pretty funny, coming as it did from the Senate’s ultimate political hack, but Shifty was just one of a number of Democrats who staged their usual Schiff-show on Thursday when Patel was confirmed, 51-49 (close, but at least without the need for a VP tie-break), in the culmination of what has been a remarkable first month for President Trump. This wraps up all his top Cabinet nominations, including the three deemed “controversial.” We’re sorry but not surprised to hear that usual suspects Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska were dissenters within the Republican ranks when it came to Patel. (Ultra-cold weather appears to paralyze certain GOP senators’ brains.) But Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, to his credit, did vote for Patel.
Speaking of political hacks, Vermont Sen. Peter Welch said that “Kash Patel is a crown jewel in this lawless rampage. He’s an instrument of Donald Trump’s effort to destroy the Justice Department and the FBI...He willingly agrees to carry out the ‘Vengeance Tour’ of Donald Trump.” Never mind that we have seen no evidence of vengeance (as opposed to measured justice) on Trump’s part whatsoever. If Trump wanted to enact real eye-for-an-eye vengeance, there would be quite a few from the Biden administration in jail already.
Patel IS a crown jewel, but in a good way, not in the way Sen. Welch twists the expression. Patel is there to restore the FBI to what it was supposed to be.
Recall that Schiff personally might not have to worry much about going to jail because Biden gave HIM one of those sketchy blanket pardons on his way out the door. (Side Note: In Burdick v. US, 1915, the SCOTUS wrote that “Acceptance of a pardon implies an acknowledgement of guilt.”)
https://x.com/2piecehotnspicy/status/1892667443106996615
Even so, Patel might still be able to shed light on a few things that publicly humiliate the new U.S. Senator from California. That didn’t stop other Democrats from joining Schiff to non-persuasively call Patel “evil” and “a real danger and a real threat.”
We have to agree, Patel is a real danger and a real threat, but only to those in government who have broken the law. Given his extensive background, he probably knows exactly who did.
Thursday evening, FOX NEWS’ Laura Ingraham called Patel’s confirmation “a stern and beautiful rebuke of the left for its weaponization of the DOJ and the FBI against Donald Trump and conservatives.”
She spoke with Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson specifically about why Schiff might be worried about Patel. According to Sen. Johnson, “Adam Schiff is afraid of the truth, because he’s a habitual liar. Talk about a political hack --- he is one, but now he’s unfortunately a U.S. Senator.”
He fully expects FBI Director Patel to be, number one, transparent. (That’s a big change.) “We’re going to work very closely with Kash Patel,” Sen. Johnson said, “to give the American people the truth, to expose all the corruption, the partisanship within the FBI, even the Department of Justice. This can’t go on. We’re gonna return integrity, restore integrity, to the FBI. That is Kash’s mission [as he said during his confirmation hearing].”
Patel wants to send agents into the field and make prosecutorial decisions “out there, outside the politics of Washington, DC.” Sounds like just the opposite of a political hack, doesn’t it to you?
He wants to return to “a single system of justice, one for all Americans,” Sen. Johnson said. One would think ALL AMERICANS would be in favor of this, but Schiff & Friends obviously are dead-set against it.
Sen. Johnson pointed out what we and many others have said: that the Democrats accuse us of doing exactly what it is THEY are doing, “in orders of multitude worse.”
“They are brazen, they are hypocrites, they were rejected at the polls...the truth is going to be exposed, across the board, throughout these government agencies. That’s why they’re screaming so loud, with Elon Musk and DOGE exposing all the waste, fraud and abuse within THEIR GOVERNMENT.”
“...They use Big Government to fund their radical left ideology; hopefully that’s coming to an end.”
Of course, executive orders can be undone, so Congress has to act to make spending reductions permanent. Sen. Johnson offered reassurance that the reconciliation process would bring spending down to pre-pandemic levels. “That’s going to defund an awful lot of the Deep State,” he said. In addition, the Congressional Review Act can undo many bills that came “within a certain time frame” so that “they can’t come back.” A future President can’t just reinstate them.
About 50 laws can be eliminated this way, he said, “So we need to be very aggressive about using the Congressional Review Act...”
https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF10023
The full Ingraham segment goes on to cover the similarly pardoned Dr. Anthony Fauci and our country’s possible role in funding the Wuhan Lab. Sen. Johnson says finding out about this is “probably his top priority” as chairman of the Senate subcommittee investigating it. “That pardon is a double-edged sword for them [Fauci and others],” he noted, “because now they have no protection from the Fifth Amendment.” In other words, they have to testify fully and truthfully or they COULD STILL go to jail. Sen. Johnson fully intends to get the truth exposed.
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6369129345112
Here’s more on the left’s paltry protest from THE WESTERN JOURNAL. As they report, “half a dozen” Democrats were participating with Adam Schiff in front of FBI headquarters and in front of an invisible crowd. That sounds pretty pathetic.
“This is someone we cannot trust!” Schiff said of Elon Musk with unintentional humor. “This is someone who lacks the character to do this job, someone who lacks the integrity to do this job.” (We’ll wait while you fall to the floor laughing helplessly.)
Recall that Schiff was the man who was tossed from the House Intelligence Committee after falsely claiming from the House floor that he had evidence of Trump colluding with Russia. He also, as chief prosecutor for the first impeachment committee, helped stage the first phony impeachment of President Trump, based on “whistleblower” Eric Ciaramella’s fraudulent depiction of President Trump’s phone call with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. What a waste of everyone’s time. And we haven’t even mentioned his alleged conflicting real estate documents about where his primary residence is, depending on what’s more advantageous for him mortgage rate or tax-wise.
Perhaps Schiff is speaking up now because Patel called him “the worst criminal in Congress in the last 250 years.” Well, not sure if he’s THE worst, as there’s some stiff competition, but just from what we already know, he’s in the ballpark.
The White House rapid response team reports that Patel has already set up an X account. In his first post, he said, “I am honored to be confirmed as the ninth Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Thank you to President Trump and Attorney General Bondi for your unwavering confidence and support…”
“...For those who seek to harm Americans, consider this your warning. We will hunt you down in every corner of this planet.”
Read the full statement here:
https://thelibertydaily.com/fbi-director-kash-patel-now-has-official-government/
In another win for Trump, a DC federal judge has ruled that the unions don’t have standing to block his firing of government employees. U.S. District Judge Chris Cooper ruled against the National Treasury Employees Union and four other labor organizations that requested a temporary halt (another TRO) to the mass firings (or buyouts), which could affect half a million federal workers.
What?? You mean, the President of the United States actually has the authority to fire government employees? Who knew?
Well, Judge Cooper didn’t rule definitively on that --- too bad --- but he did say the plaintiffs needed to take their dispute to the Federal Labor Relations Authority.
We thought it was amusing that part of the unions’ argument against the firings was that the union stands to lose “up to half its revenue and around half the workers that it represents” if these workers are fired. Ah, so this is about the UNIONS (and, by extension, the Democrat causes that they support with those dues.) Excellent analysis here…
RELATED: Regarding DOGE’s work, which is now going on at the Department of Education, the DOE has been found, through undercover video taken by Project Veritas, to be using an encrypted app to hide their operation of essentially a rogue “sanctuary” program for illegal aliens.
In the video, Travis Combs, Branch Chief of Applied Innovation at the U.S. Department of Education (how do they fit these titles on a business card?), describes how his department is deliberately using the encrypted app Signal to hide what they’re doing from Congress and DOGE.
“The one nice thing about the program,” Combs says to the undercover reporter, “...is that we don’t ask [citizenship] status, and we’ve been able to keep that out of our federal statute. So, we don’t ask them when they enroll what their status is.”
“If Congress actually knew that we don’t have [citizenship requirements]...there would be probably a lot of uproar,” he says. They would be “positioned like being a sanctuary city program, where we’re spending federal dollars on illegal immigrants.”
“...I mean, if you want to have a conversation with somebody [now that DOGE is there], you do have to take it offline [to Signal], but you’re not supposed to.”
And this: “There’s a lot of maneuvering you have to do at the federal level with Congress.” When Congress tries to push through laws, “then we block it...We just hide it in the law, hide it in the bill...When they mark up a bill, they only read, like, sections of it. And so if you can squeeze something in, do that.”
It’s getting clearer and clearer how the bureaucracy has taken control. That is ending.
Oh, and when Combs is asked what he’ll do if he loses his Department of Education job, he actually says this: “I’m like, go to the beach on the taxpayer’s dime…So, if you hear from me and I’m in Mexico on the beach, that’s why.”
Thanks, Project Veritas! The full video (just 7:19) is a must-see…
UPDATE on Dallas Police chief refusing to cooperate with ICE
Last week, the Huckabee writers, based in Dallas, expressed frustration at the lack of national attention given to stories out of Big D --- most specifically, the stunning announcement by Dallas Police Chief Michael Igo that he would not cooperate with ICE.
Dallas, like other big cities in Texas, leans increasingly blue for being in such a red state, and these cities naturally experience the same problems with crime, illegal immigration, poor education and wasteful spending that other blue cities do.
But, thankfully, Laura Ingraham, on her Wednesday evening FOX NEWS show, included a segment on this illegal immigration story out of Dallas, finally bringing it more national attention.
As you know, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has been working hard to communicate to the rest of the country the severity of the illegal immigration problem, in part by (genius!) sending busloads of illegal aliens to other states, helping them find out for themselves how bad it is instead of continuing to think of it in the abstract. He’s also been working with the Trump administration to get them deported, especially the violent criminal element. BUT...
“Meet Dallas Police Interim Chief Michael Igo,” Laura reported Wednesday, “who says he will openly defy federal immigration law.” She then played the video we reported on last week, of Chief Igo making it clear that “the Dallas Police Department is not assisting any federal agency on somehow detaining people that are either documented or undocumented in the City of Dallas.”
Ingraham commented that this official, tasked with keeping Dallas safe from criminals, “instead focuses on keeping it safe for DEI radicals.”
As Igo said in a video posted to Facebook on January 29, “Dallas’ diversity is our strength. It contributes to the economic and cultural vibrancy of our community. The federal government is permanently responsible for enforcing immigration laws...DPD and other departments are guided by the Dallas Welcoming Strategic Plan, which seeks to serve as a plan for civic, economic and linguistic social integration and inclusion for the Dallas diverse communities.”
Ingraham had as her guest Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who said his priority was that the Texas Legislature would pass Senate Bill 8, “so that everyone in Texas has to conform with 287G programs, so that they’re trained --- their jailers are trained, their jailers have a database so they can turn people over to ICE that are on a detainer.”
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6369069993112
Patrick went on: “Now this chief may track down people with warrants, not knowing whether they’re legal or illegal. The problem here is that you have a liberal City Council, and some cities in Texas have a ‘strong mayor’ form [while] others have a city manager and the Council runs it.
“And so, this city manager and this Council, they’re a woke...far-left Council, and they’ve told this chief, ‘Do not participate with ICE and the round-ups of illegal immigrants. And he’s an interim chief --- he wants the job --- so he’s kind of under the thumb.
“And the problem is, they say, ‘Well, you could round up the bad guys, but don’t help ICE when they round up everyone else. Well, in the group of people they round up, there may be some very dangerous people, and that’s the problem with the City Council and what the chief is doing in Dallas.”
If this interim police chief had any integrity that might make him truly worthy of having the job permanently, he should stand up to the City Council and say he refuses to endanger the people of Dallas.
Ingraham goes on to talk with Lt. Gov. Patrick about Trump’s firing of immigration judges at the Justice Department, which has the left freaking out. (Of course, everything Trump does has the left freaking out.) These judges had been serving as “rubber stamps” for anyone who wanted to remain in the U.S.
Patrick spoke with enthusiasm and 100 percent approval: “Trump is doing everything right,” he said. “I talk to people every day...they get up and say they can’t wait for the next day. What is Donald Trump going to do as President? And he’s turning government upside down. They hate it, And everything he’s doing, the American people are with him on.”
Thank you for reading our newsletter.
Great Newsletter as usual Mike. God speed you and your fine team. And Trump picked another winner in you for Ambassador to Israel 🏆 🇺🇸🇮🇱
Another Great Newsletter!!!!
1 Corinthians 13:13 Amen!
President Trump signed an executive order to end all federal aid for illegal immigrants. (aliens) All I can say is Thank the good LORD!
I wish My Wife and I could have made 170000.00 a year PERIOD!!!! Illegals got it just by showing up! GRRRRRRRRRR!!!
GOOOOO Patel!
I can hope Schiff,s district in California wake's up and send him the way of Biden Crime Family!!!!
"COULD STILL go to jail" and if that happens I hope it is for a long time!!!!
I am so guilty of this "they get up and say they can’t wait for the next day" To see what Trump Does!!!!!!!!