February 2023 – We The People Speaking

“FIGURES DON’T LIE BUT LIARS DO FIGURE”, Mark Twain. COMPARATIVE GOVERNANCE

High taxes, debt, deficit spending, welfare excesses, declining population; those are descriptors that we often associate with Democrat-led states like California, Illinois, New Jersey and New York. The Wall Street Journal recently published a simple comparative chart with a few figures representing Florida and New York that speaks volumes about Democrat vs Republican governance. The figures from the Wall Street Journal are in bold, the discussion and conclusions are mine.

POPULATION:

Ten years ago, the population of New York state (19.6 million) and Florida (19.5 million) were obviously very similar. But the mass migration from the Northeast in general and New York in particular has resulted in Florida with 22.3 million, a 2.7 million edge over the population of New York with 19.6 million. Florida is the fastest growing state in the America.

But there is more to the story than just numbers of people. It is not the poor folks who are moving to Florida, it’s a “wealth migration.” More wealth is moving into Florida than any other state by far. In 2020 taxpayers with a net total of $23.7 billion in adjusted gross income migrated to Florida; Texas was a distant second, gaining $6.3 billion. Correspondingly, IRS data tells us that New York tax revenue shrank by $19.5 billion and those losses pile up on top of each other year after year.

TOP STATE INCOME TAX RATE in Florida 0%; New York 10.9%.

TOP INCOME TAX RATE in Miami 0%; New York City 14.8%.

STATE SALES TAX RATE in Florida 6%; New York 4% (but the combined NY state and city sales tax is 8.9%).

STATE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE (December 2022) in Florida 2.5%; New York 4.35%.

LATEST ANNUAL STATE BUDGET:

This is amazing; Governor Hochul’s state budget this year is $227 billion while Governor DeSantis’ is $114 billion; about half of that in New York but with 2.7 million more citizens. Florida budgets for $5,112 per person while New York’s is $11,581 per person.

The current NY budget contains a $310 million deficit which is expected to balloon to $6.2 billion by 2027 under the current rate of spending and reduced revenue. New York is a classic Democrat tax-and-spend economy and people are speaking out with their U-Hauls as they head down interstate 95. Meanwhile Florida is projecting a surplus of $13-15 billion per year through 2026.

TAX CUTS AND TAX INCREASES:

Here is an example of New York planning: County budgets in NY are of course already set for this year. On February 17^th2023 Governor Hochul announced that on April 1^st she plans to keep part of the federal funding the state relays to counties to help pay their massive Medicaid costs. She will withhold $626 million that the counties would otherwise get this year. County officials say they will certainly raise property taxes to cover the loss.

Two years ago, New York City raised its top marginal income tax rate to 52% on ultra-high earners; the highest personal income tax hit in the U.S. This year Hochul’s plan is to increase the top payroll tax from .34% to .50% on employers and self-employed individuals in New York City and seven suburban counties to generate $800 million revenue per year. Additionally, she proposes to increase the rate imposed on the net earnings of a self-employed business owner to .42% this year and to .50% in 2024. And so it goes in New York, tax and spend with no relief in sight.

Meanwhile, a May 2021 headline: Governor DeSantis Signs Florida Tax Cut Package designed to provide savings for families and businesses.

Followed in May 2022; Governor DeSantis signed into law a $1.2 billion package of tax breaks, including the elimination of the state sales tax on diapers for a year, along with four sales tax holidays lasting one or two weeks each.

February, 2023 DeSantis unveiled a $1.2 billion sales tax reduction focused mainly on eliminating sales taxes on household items under $25 to provide families relief from inflation. And, so it goes in Florida with relief already legislated and more relief in sight.

MEDICADE SPENDING FY 2021:

Florida: $8.95 billion (total $28.76 billion with federal share).

New York: $26.47 billion (total $73.27 billion with federal share).

MEDICAID RECIEPIENTS in December 2022, 5.6 million in Florida (25% of the population) and 7.8 million in New York (38.6% of the population).

OK, why are 1 out of 4 Floridians getting Medicaid while in New York it is 1 out of every 2.5? Are New Yorkers less healthy? No, it’s the New York welfare-state mentality. They have constructed the eligibility requirements to get a larger number of citizens dependent on the program.

For Florida seniors to receive nursing home Medicaid in 2023, they must have income under $2,742 per month and have assets under$2,000.

For New York seniors to receive nursing home Medicaid in 2023, they must have income under $1,563 and have assets under $28,133. The point here is that the number of individuals in New York with assets under $28,133 is massive and allows the Medicaid eligibility to be unreasonably high. Medicaid recipients are another Democrat identity group who will faithfully and consistently vote Democrat.

GDP GROWTH (2016-2021) Florida 17%; New York 8%. That is an important statistic because it brings us to a discussion of Econ 101.

There is one simple equation in the very complex world of economics that the Democrats just will not abide by as they pursue their tax-and-spend programs that are putting this nation in serious financial jeopardy. Econ 101 goes like this:

Cut taxes across the board and:

Individual discretionary spending goes up.
Business discretionary spending goes up; business expansion, create jobs, increase wages.
When spending goes up manufacturing goes up.
Suppliers and transporters have more business; more jobs, higher wages.
More jobs are created.
Unemployment goes down.
Wages, salaries, bonuses and dividends go up.
The overall Gross Domestic Product goes up.
As gross income goes up; greater income tax.
Federal and state tax revenue increases.

It’s not rocket science; this formula worked when President Trump cut taxes in 2017 (which was criticized by every Democrat as a tax cut for the rich) and by 2019 U.S. tax revenue was the highest in history. Republican Econ 101.

Republican economics, if you want to spend more grow the economy more; 2017 -2020.

Democrat economics, if you want to spend more, tax more; 2009-2016, 2021-2022. Case in point; during the Obama/Biden administration the economy grew more slowly than was projected in 2009. New legislation cost $5 trillion. Obama/Biden left behind a budget with higher entitlement spending, higher taxes and lower discretionary spending. You can Google up the full list of 21 Obama/Biden tax hikes while the national debt doubled. Democrat Econ 101.

Historically GDP growth has averaged 3% annually; Obama/Biden average was 1.59% and in their last year in office it was 1.7%.

Wall Street Journal Editorial Board conclusions concerning Florida and New York economics. The comparative statistics don’t tell the whole story but they do show that better Governance yields better fiscal and economic results. And these results in turn attract more people, which contributes to faster growth and more tax revenue without an income tax. We don’t expect the denizens of Albany to care, but they should.

Let’s move the discussion of governance from Florida/New York to the federal level.

BIDEN’S DREAM GOVERNANCE SCENARIO:

Amnesty for tens of millions of illegal migrants thus giving them access to all 83 federal welfare programs. A huge vote-buying identity group initiative.

Child tax credit: $3600 per year for children under age 6 and $3000 per child age 6-17. Families will get full credit if they make up to $150,000 per couple or $112,000 for a single parent. Sounds good but let’s do the math on this one (round numbers for ease in understanding).

-There are 74 million children in the U.S. age 0-17.

-There are about 132 million households, (single-parent and two-parent).

-80% of the households have income less than $150,000.

-So, there are about 106 million households that qualify for a child credit and about 59 million kids in those households.

– The average credit per child is $3,176 per year for 17 years.

-The child credit program would cost the taxpayers $3,176 times 59 million kids equals about $187 billion paid out to 106 million qualifying households per year.

Bottom line for child credit is that it makes sense as a safety net for low-income households. But for damned sure a couple making $149,999 a year does not need a government safety net to raise their kids. This is pure Democrat vote buying to regain some political traction in the middle class.

Wealth tax: This is not an income tax; it is a tax on households worth more than $100 million in accumulated assets. Biden’s proposal is that the wealth tax would claim a minimum of 20% from high earners. When it comes time to pay your wealth tax, in all probability one would have to sell assets to have the cash to pay the IRS. At some future point you are no longer wealthy. This proposed tax is a gift to the far-left socialists, the likes of Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. President Biden explains this to the American people as, the wealthy paying their fair share, never having to explain what fair share actually means.

Unrealized capital gains tax: If your assets rise in value during a year, you will pay taxes on that increase even if you realized no actual gains through a sale. If you lack the ready cash you might have to sell assets to pay the tax bill. Conversely, if your assets fall in value, you would not be authorized to deduct the full loss from your income.

Corporate stock buyback tax: This year there is a new 1% tax on corporate stock buybacks. Biden’s intent is to quadruple that tax rate to 4%.

Why all of these new taxes? Biden needs more revenue because he’s also proposing trillions of dollars in new social spending. Fortunately, the Republican-controlled House can prevent this from happening now but it is what Biden plans to campaign on for the 2024 election.

This deranged economic thinking began with Obama’s intent for the nation which he revealed on a hot-mike during the 2008 campaign; “wealth transfer.” It didn’t make economic sense then and it does not make sense today.

CONCLUSIONS:

Does anyone see a pattern here? The larger Democrat goal is more political control over you, over business, over everything. Big centralized government. Massive uncontrolled bureaucracies. Out of control spending and debt.

Democrat welfare has nothing to do with safety nets for those unable to care for themselves. Democrat welfare is all about building dependency, aka buying votes of multiple identity groups to the point they will never have to contend with a Republican House or Senate again. Clearly the emphasis is on Party over we-the- people.

Welfare needs a do-over. Democrat welfare promotes disincentivization to work. We need to go back to the Bill Clinton/ Newt Gingrich Welfare-to-Work program. It was very successful and millions came off the welfare rolls until Obama/Biden changed a few rules in order to go full-bore on their wealth transfer philosophy.

BOTTOM LINE: “Governance” is a soft sounding seemingly harmless word. But when it comes to running a state or the nation, governance is a deadly serious endeavor as illustrated by the Wall Street Journal with a small chart of a few comparative numbers.

Comparative governance is another good subject for the Republicans to campaign on for the 2024 election.

Numbers are meaningful because, as Mark Twain so eloquently explained to us, “Figures don’t lie but liars do figure.”

Marvin L. Covault, Lt Gen US Army, retired, is the author of VISION TO EXECUTION, a book for leaders, and a new book May 2022, FIX THE SYSTEMS, TRANSFORM AMERICA as well as the author of a blog WeThePeopleSpeaking.com.

RNC AND CAMPAIGN’24

MEMO for Ronna McDaniel, Chairwoman, Republican National Committee

Congratulations on being reelected to your RNC position. You have less than 21 months until the 2024 Presidential election and the first primary, South Carolina 3 February 2024, is less than a year away.

LET’S BEGIN WITH THE BOTTOM LINE ON THE 2024 ELECTION. NO ONE IS IN CHARGE, THERE IS NO PLAN (JUST LIKE 2022 WHICH WAS TO HAVE BEEN A SLAM-DUNK) AND HOPE IS NOT A PROCESS!

The point being, if you settle back into your Chairwoman position at the RNC and proceed with business-as-usual the 2024 election will likely be as big a failure as the 2022 election was. In case you haven’t noticed, Biden is already campaigning and if the past is prologue to the future, you and your organization, in all likelihood, do not yet have a plan. Beginning now, spend the next 30-60 days doing two things in support of the 2024 election; organize the RNC for action and build an operations plan for Campaign 2024.

Are there any indications the RNC is looking to 2024? New entry in the RNC website entitled, Resolutions Adopted During the 2023 Winter Meeting. There are nine resolutions, to include Honoring the life of Congressman (John Doe); honoring the life of Dr. (Jane Doe); support for the U.S food supply chain; oppose antisemitism; RNC commitment to life, etc. A complete waste of time; resolutions going nowhere at the speed of light. What about the 2024 election? No plan, no one in charge.

ORGANIZE FOR ACTION: First Ms. McDaniel, you need to optimize your organization. Focus every person on the election every day. Streamline their work process to make them as efficient and effective as possible. Here is a list of ten topics to begin with:

One, BUILD A CAMPAIGN PLAN: A campaign is a series of organized actions aimed at accomplishing a stated purpose and typically focused on a path toward an identifiable end-state. Trial-and-error is a process but not very effective. You need to build a specific campaign plan for the next election. Everything that happens in the RNC in the next 21 months must be focused on one thing, call it Campaign ’24.

Two, USE FORCE MULTIPLIERS: It would seem there are never enough people and too many tasks to perform. As you move forward leading your organization towards a slam-dunk victory in 2024, concentrate your effort around a series of force multipliers. A force multiplier is an issue, concept, procedure or action that, when concentrated on and exploited, can provide an extraordinarily positive return in relation to the limited time and effort invested in its use. Colin Powell used to say, “A leader’s positive attitude is a force multiplier.” More examples throughout this paper.

A clear statement of intent from you is a force multiplier. Why? Because intent is the tool that links all the leadership levels and binds them together toward an identifiable end-state.

You will need help, lots of it. Effective use of a chief of staff, war council, senior advisors, a red team, brain trust, and coaches are all force multipliers.

Three, USE AFTER ACTION REVIEWS: AAR is a professional discussion discovering what happened, what did not happen, and why. AAR is a comparison of actual output with intended outcomes. It is NOT a critique; critique means to criticize; there is time for that in private. AAR explicitly links past experience to future actions. What did we do good? What could we have done better? How can we immediately institutionalize changes going forward. It’s all about accountability.

There should be brief, 15-20-minute AARs ongoing throughout the organization every day. Create a mind-set that an event, no matter how small, is not concluded until the AAR is completed. AAR is simple, free and can become the ultimate force multiplier for the organization top to bottom.

Four, ESTABLISH NATIONAL LINKAGE AND ALIGNMENT: Beginning at your level, establish linkage and alignment between and among yourself and the RNC Chairpersons in every state to facilitate near instant communications, initiatives and dealing with a crisis. Then, demand that your subordinates at the national RNC establish the same linkage with their counterparts in every state.

Five, CREATE AGILITY: Agility is a principle descriptor of great organizations. Agility is in one sense a leader’s mindset. An agile leader is always on the lookout for a target of opportunity and when it is identified they are quick to act on it. They are never satisfied with the status quo. An agile leader is in a constant state of taking the organization elsewhere. An agile organization is one that readily supports change; recognizes the need for change and its members are quick to suggest innovative ways to change the way the organization operates. Agility is a huge force multiplier.

Six, DELEGATE OR DIE: Ms. Daniel, I do not know what your leadership style is but if you demand that every decision passes through you before execution, the RNC will grind down to an ineffective, nonresponsive, behind-the-power-curve organization and Campaign ’24 will end up looking like election 2022. The question you have to ask yourself is, do my subordinate leaders “feel” empowered to deal with increased workload, short suspenses and potential crises situations and then back-brief me on their decisions?

Seven, USE A BRAIN TRUST: Too often in the next 21 months you will face situations that need an immediate decision to head off a possible crisis; you need help. Select a small number of subordinates perhaps 3-5. in whom you have ultimate trust and confidence. They need to be your best and brightest who see the big picture, are discreet and not afraid to challenge you. Whenever you need help or someone to listen to a new idea, tell your executive assistant or the chief of staff, “Get the Brain Trust in here right now.” Remember, it is lonely at the top but that does not mean you need to be alone.

Eight, BUILD A RED TEAM: Select a small number (3-5) of your brightest subordinates and give them an additional duty to, “become died-in-the-wool Democrat thinkers.” Rely on them frequently to tell you how they believe the Democrats will react to “X”. What is the Democrat’s next initiative? How can/should we counter a Democrat initiative? Have them sit in on high-level meetings to comment. A Red Team is a force multiplier; do not proceed without one.

Nine, PUT TOGETHER A SENIOR COUNCIL: Ask a small number (3-5) senior retired Republican superstars to advise, review and comment on Campaign ’24 initiatives. Newt Gingrich, Condoleezza Rice, Mike Huckabee, William Bennett are names that come to mind.

Ten, BUILD A NEW WEB SITE: In its current state, the RNC website is useless to support an election. For example, OUR RULES AND RESOLUTIONS, all 43 pages of it, should not be front and center; hide them somewhere at the end of the website or delete it. OUR PLATFORM section is three whole sentences. Ridiculous.

Start over with a blank page and a new concept for the website. It should serve two purposes. One, is to become a one-stop reference warehouse for every local, state and national Republican candidate across the nation who will use the data for building their campaign speeches and debate preparation. Secondly, it should be a one-stop-shopping center for voters of all parties who want to be better informed about the issues. This reference library will NOT be filled with long, wordie essays. It will consist of multiple individual Fact Sheets for every policy and issue the Republicans are for and every Democrat issue and policy we are against and why. Every Fact Sheet must be filled with irrefutable and fact-checkable data. Update the site daily if necessary. Every paper should include in the first sentence, Posted (date) or Posted (date), Updated (date). The sum total of all this IS THE PLATFORM FOR 2024.

For example, on the subject of election reform. Task every state to investigate and report the approximate number of ineligible voters on their Voter Registration Rolls (it’s millions in California). Then do a fact sheet on the subject pointing out the millions of ballots that would therefore be mailed out with no accountability. Do a fact sheet with factchecked examples from every state on the danger of voter fraud with ballot harvesting and drop boxes. Do a fact sheet demonstrating that voter fraud will be nearly nonexistent with voter ID cards. From Biden on down the Democrats call voter ID “racist.” The Republican counter to that ridiculous charge should be this question, “Are you saying that nonwhite Americans are incapable of going to the DMV and getting a voter ID card? Point out that on May 7^th, 2025 every air traveler 18 years of age and older will need a REAL ID-compliant driver’s license to fly within the U.S. and the Democrats claim it is racist to require an ID that will protect us from abusing voting, a sacred foundational element of this nation.

An estimated 90 million eligible voters did not vote in the 2016 election; 80 million did not vote in 2020. RNC should press Speaker McCarthy right now to pass legislation calling for new election dates in 2024. Polls should be open on Saturday November 2^nd, Sunday November 3^rd and Monday 4 November will be an election holiday. The only way to vote will be in person 2-4 November or by absentee ballot.

OPERATIONS PLAN CAMPAIGN ‘24

With the organization energized, it’s time to build and execute an operations plan: Every good op plan works its way through three distinct pieces; first Chart a course, secondly declare expectations and finally create conditions for success. In simplest terms an op plan is about answering who, what, when, where, why and how.

CHARTING A COURSE, vision and strategy.

VISION: All great plans begin at the end; that is, with a vision of the end state. Vision answers the question where we are taking the organization. A leader is someone who is taking the organization elsewhere. There doesn’t have to be a lot of detail in the vision statement; just enough to feel it and see it.

The vision for Operations Plan Campaign ’24 is a slam-dunk Republican victory in the 2024 election across the country and thereby change the direction of America.

STRATEGY: How are we, in general terms, going to go about achieving the end state? Strategy is a game plan. Strategy is the alignment of assets to their greatest advantage. There are three rules for strategy; have one, two, keep it simple (be able to explain your strategy in a few words) and three, if the strategy is working, do not abandon it. Strategic planning begins with a detailed analysis of external and internal factors that lead to a game plan.

The strategy for Campaign ’24 is for the RNC to become the center of gravity for planning with dynamic information, data and guidance flowing to every Republican candidate, local, state and national. Get out front, dominate the political narrative and put the Democrats on the defensive. Get ahead and stay ahead.

DECLARING EXPECTATIONS: The beginning of communications throughout the continuum of leadership with mission, intent and boss’ guidance.

MISSION: What it is we all are going to do; it’s the launch point.

The RNC mission for Campaign ’24 is to tailor the entire organization to focus on the 2024 election and proactively provide guidance on Republican policy issues, programs, changes to Biden administration policy and to generally change the destructive path America is on today.

INTENT: Answers who, when, where and why. The most powerful tool available to a leader, vision binds the organization together in a common cause. Without intent, the organization will lack direction, flounder and probably fail.

It is my intent (the leader, Ms. McDaniel owns intent) for the RNC to make it possible for Republicans to win big in 2024 and thereby change the direction of our nation.

This organization will necessarily change its focus in order to support, on a daily basis, every Republican 2024 candidate in America, work faster and more efficiently, interact continuously with counterparts at the state level and produce products that are irrefutably factual in building cases for the Republicans and against the Democrats.

We are doing this because 70-80% of Americans believe the nation is off-track and headed for a massive train wreck with few survivors.

I intend to use two paths to success. First is the totality of RNC internal change; forget about the old RNC. Reinvent your job description. Understand the Campaign ’24 end-state and focus on the new mission. You are the Republican Party’s staff and brain trust for Campaign ’24. Support down to the states to the points of execution. Secondly, getting the Governors and state Republican Chairpersons to sign on to and support Operations Plan Campaign ’24.

BOSS’ GUIDANCE: Bound the problem, prioritize, define operational considerations, set a timetable and fix responsibility.

Every new idea for the Republican Party is in play. Nothing, as long as it is factual, is off-limits with regard to the Democrat’s tax-spend-power-control agenda.

Your work day; make everything you do more achievable for Campaign ’24. There are no second priorities.

Redefine how you work; agility, synergism, create force multipliers, always have an After Action Review, there are no bad new ideas. Age-old saying, “If you think you can, or if you think you can’t, you are probably correct.” Get on board or get out of the way.

CREATE CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESS:

Centers of Gravity: A place, person, thing, belief, circumstance or condition that is central to success for you and/or the competition. Before every phase of the operation, confer with the brain trust, senior council and red team to determine a very short list of issues that fall into the center of gravity category and monitor the status every day. Potential show shoppers (centers of gravity) must be identified early and then contingencies developed to deal with them. This is a dynamic, never-ending process of identify/take action, identify/take action, phase by phase throughout the campaign. Centers of gravity is another force multiplier.

Assumptions: You will never have all the facts. Consider carefully the assumptions you make, write them down and track them. Eventually every assumption must be proven to be valid or false. Either way, there may be significant ramifications. If you base the whole strategy on an assumption, be prepared for a hard fall if you let the campaign play out too long and get too close to the assumption before you determine its validity. Moving a campaign forward based on an invalid assumption can be a death knell.

Critical Information Requirements: A short list of potentially time-sensitive issues the boss wants everyone in the organization to watch for. If someone sees it, feels it or smells it, get the information directly to the RNC Chairperson. Update the list frequently. Head off small problems before they become big problems. Another force multiplier.

Control the Battlespace: Every problem has a defined battlespace (operating environment) and every battlespace is configured such that you either have the advantage or are in a disadvantaged position. For example, are all of the Republican Governors and the state Republican Chairpersons on board? Is the congressional leadership tuned in and responsive? Be proactive and control the battlespace thereby creating another force multiplier.

Leader Backbriefs: For the most part meetings are a colossal waste of time; but also, leaders have to remain informed on a wide range of issues. Create a culture of brief, frequent, stand-up subordinate leader backbriefs. Yes, another force multiplier.

Dynamic Planning by Phase: Some organizations believe you can just build a massive to-do list of several hundred items and say, “Go”. Well intentioned subordinates will be moving in multiple directions, no prioritization, too many assumptions, soon chaos and finally the boss says, “Well we tried and it just can’t be done.”

Why phase an op plan? There are two good reasons. First, let’s say we are building a 2-year 4-phased plan and we have established a reasonable end-state in general terms that is easy to understand (similar to Campaign ’24). At this point how much detail do we know about phase 4? Not much. How about phase 1? In phase one it is clear that we need to organize for action and build an operations plan. There are already many details associated with accomplishing those two things.

The second reason why we need to phase an operation is because of the existence of a situation called DKDK; that is, at this early date we Don’t Know what we Don’t Know. How can we plan in detail for something that may or may not ever occur? The point being, every phase is new and different. How so? New facts, new assumptions, new challenges, changing levels of expertise, new centers of gravity, new situational awareness requirements, new battlespace shaping actions required, new time-sensitive information requirements, different horizontal integration requirements, changing priorities, etc. Have you heard people say, “A plan is never done.” They are correct because you will be in a constant state of discovery.

Task Lists: For every phase leaders at all levels will produce a critical task list to insure they stay on schedule to be able to move on to the next phase. For the RNC Chair, in phase one, that list will include meeting at an off-site with all the Republican Governors, the Speaker of the House and the Minority Leader in the Senate where she will brief Operation Plan Campaign ’24 in great detail and seek their approval and participation.

Also, during the off-site meeting the RNC Chair will lead the discussion of the first cut of the 2024 campaign platform to include but not limited to:

-Achieve energy independence again

-Stop the movement towards near total government control

-Clean up weaponized government bureaucracies

-Tax reform

-Election reform

-Cut needless spending

-No more multi-thousand-page bills in Congress

-Cut needles spending by outlawing earmarks on legislation

-Decentralize and reform education

-Strengthen the military and reverse the DEI movement

-Lock up criminals and reform the system that keeps them on the street

-Secure our borders

-Drastically reduce the size and power of out-of-control federal bureaucracies

-Term limits

-Campaign finance reform

-New infrastructure spending to include water reserves, nuclear power and a

more secure Power Grid system.

Explain to the off-site attendees that for every platform issue the RNC will be building a library of hundreds of irrefutable Fact Sheets on the platform issues that will be available to every Republican candidate, local, state and national. For example, the Washington D.C. city council recently passed a new law that would allow an estimated 50,000 noncitizens, to include illegal immigrants and diplomats from foreign countries, the right to vote in local elections. The D.C. mayor vetoed the law and the city council overrode the veto. The D.C. law was voted down by a House of Representatives vote of 260-162; a Senate vote is pending. The point of this type of fact sheet would be to point out that 162 Democrats in the House believe nonresidents should have the right to vote. This is the type of information Republican candidates need to be armed with because it will resonate with their voters.

The RNC library will, in its totality, focus on two things. One being what the Republican Party is planning to do for all Americans and secondly to lay out in great detail what the Democrats have done and will continue to do to all Americans.

CONCLUSIONS:

Going forward toward the 2024 election, there are two options; one, let things play out and react to whatever happens or two, become proactive and shape the environment thereby enabling a best-case scenario to emerge. The longer we wait to do something positive about the 2024 Republican campaign, the less likely it is that we will do anything.

No leader, no plan, no success in 2024.

BOTTOM LINE: The RNC needs to redefine its purpose and organize to fulfill it.

THEN (January 2021) and NOW (January 2023)

THEN (January 2021) and NOW (January 2023)

UNITY, then: On inauguration day, January 2021, we listened intently and with hope as our new President spoke to the nation about his plan for unity.

Now: As we look back on the last two years, we (about 70 million voters) recall vividly being repeatedly called racist, white supremist, domestic terrorists and MAGA extremists by President Biden in particular and many Democrat leaders in general. Unity?

ENERGY, then: Our nation was energy independent for the first time since 1957.

Now: We beg for oil from Saudi Arabia, they say “no” and we prop up the Venezuela dictator by rejuvenating their oil production industry.

GASOLINE, then: We could buy a gallon of gas in most places for about two bucks.

Now: The national average is $3.51 per gallon down from a high of $4.96. And, no Mr. President the rise in U.S. gas prices was not caused by Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. By then, February 2022, the price had already increased by 78% to $3.57 a gallon and steadily rising.

INTEREST RATES, then: Interest on a 30-year mortgage averaged 2.5%.

Now: 6.5% and probably rising in 2023.

INFLATION, then: 1.4%.

Now: 7,0% (down from a high of 9.1% June 2022. A few hours after being inaugurated, President Biden signed an Executive Order that created instant turmoil throughout the oil and gas industry. As a result, by 6 June 2021 the average price of a gallon of gas had doubled which was a trigger to drive inflation. Everything we buy, at some point comes out of a truck that is burning increasingly expensive fuel. The inflation rate continued to rise with the increasing cost of gas and diesel fuel.

HOME SALES, then: Sales in 2020 hit the highest point since 2006.

Now: Sales last year were the slowest in a decade.

INDIVIDUAL RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS, then: $11.8 trillion.

Now: $9.25 trillion. A trillion dollars is a difficult number to grasp; stated another way, Americans’ retirement savings have gone down by 2,550 billion dollars

KEYSTONE PIPELINE, then: The pipeline was scheduled to begin operations in 2023 with a capacity of moving 830,000 barrels per day carbon free. Biden killed it on day-one destroying 11,000 jobs and about $2 billion in wages.

Now: That crude oil is moving by truck and train burning millions of gallons of carbon-producing diesel fuel.

FENTANYL, then: In FY 2020, 4,476 pounds of fentanyl was seized at the southern border.

Now: In FY 2022, 14,000 pounds of fentanyl was seized at the southern border and the data for FY 2023, after only four months, is already about 7,000 pounds. Biden is not talking about fentanyl.

TERRORISTS, then: Three illegal immigrants on the terrorist watch list were apprehended in 2020.

Now: 98 in 2022. But how many terrorists that are not on the watch list entered the U.S.?

ILLEGIAL MIGRANT ENCOUNTERS, then: 646,000, FY 2020

Now: 2,776,000, FY 2022, a 330% increase.

WELFARE, then: $847 billion.

Now: $1.3 trillion.

FOOD INFLATION, then: 3.9 %.

Now: 10.4 %.

HOME HEATING OIL, then: $1.94 per gallon.

Now: $3.13 per gallon, a 61% increase.

CRIME, then: In FY2020 the FBI reported 8.9 million criminal actions in 23 offence categories. Not good.

Now: Crimes across America are breaking previous records every month. Murder, rape and aggravated assault increased by 25% last year. As an example of how crime is affecting masses of Americans, last year there were over 4,000 auto thefts in New Orleans. Police are under manned, demoralized and under-funded. Prosecutors and judges create revolving doors for criminals with long rap sheets.

CARTELS, then: We knew the cartels existed and were instrumental in moving illegal immigrants across the southern border.

Now: The cartels are moving illegal immigrants to the border in numbers (December 2022, averaging over 8,000 per day) that exceed the record number for each previous month. Cartels are now operating throughout the U.S. in the distribution of drugs. Biden will not talk about cartels because his administration’s position is that, “the border is secure. “

IRAN SANCTIONS, then: Maximum sanctions imposed on Iran to pressure their leaders and weaken their economy. It was working.

Now: Biden rescinded sanctions on Iran to get a new deal with them; the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism.

ISRAELI RELATIONS, then: U.S. recognized Israel as their long-time friend and most important ally in the Middle East. Through a U.S. driven initiative, for the first time ever a number of Middle East Muslim-dominated nations were officially recognizing Israel and exchanging ambassadors.

Now: As with the Obama administration, Israel is not a Biden priority especially with the conservative Israeli leadership.

EDUCATION and SCHOOL CHOICE, then: In January 2021 education results in general across the nation were poor, especially in public schools.

Now: Education is on a clear path to become much worse. With a woke agenda and an equity culture the future labor force will be flooded with functionally illiterate high school graduates. Also, while all the data shows that Charter and private schools outperform public schools, Biden is dead set against school choice because of the mutual admiration between himself and the education unions that predominate in public schools. Biden has declared war on Charter Schools by directing the Department of Education to use obscure bureaucratic rules to kill the federal charter-school program without having to explain why.

STRATEGIC OIL RESERVE, then: 638.1 million barrels

Now:371.6 million barrels. Biden released the strategic reserve to bring down gas and diesel prices before the 2022 election. At that level the “strategic” reserve becomes a national security issue.

REGULATIONS, then: Trump campaigned on reducing prohibitive government regulations with a “two-out, one-in Executive Order. In FY 2020 he eliminated $144 billion in overall regulatory costs.

Now: On day-one, Biden cancelled Trump’s Executive Order.

NORTH KOREA, then: Before his departure in January 2021, President Trump had traveled to Asia and met with Kim Jong-Il on three separate occasions and discussed North Korea’s nuclear and missile testing. Following the talks, all testing ceased.

Now: Within days of President Bidens inauguration, North Korea resumed testing with 10 missile launches in 2021 and 67 in 2022 of at least 14 different type missiles to include submarine-launched, cruise missiles and intercontinental ballistic missiles to include (NK claims) a hypersonic-capable missile.

MILITARY MUNITIONS INVENTORY, then: No problems, supply was sufficient to cover training and war plans.

Now: There is a dilemma for the U.S. support to Ukraine. On the one hand, without our critical munitions (various 155mm artillery rounds, antitank rockets, air defense missiles, long-range artillery guided rockets, etc.) the Russians would probably be in control of a greater part of Ukraine if not all of it. But our stocks are running low and for most of them it will take 5-8 years of production (while also supplying U.S. training requirements) to bring inventories up to strategically sufficient levels. More munitions for Ukraine may create a national security deficiency and training will be negatively impacted.

Additionally, the Center for Strategic and International studies (CSIS) recently concluded a war game simulation of a conventional war with China in the Taiwan Strait. They concluded that we are, “Not adequately prepared for a protracted conventional war with an enemy with a large military like China. Some inventories of long-range precision munitions would be depleted in a week. The bottom line is the defense industry is not prepared for the security environment that now exists.”

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION (DEI), then: Equal opportunity for all was the goal in a merit driven culture. Military readiness was high and deterrence was active.

Now: On 25 June 2021, President Biden signed an Executive Order that: “Establishes a government-wide initiative to advance diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in all parts of the Federal workforce.

Charges all agencies with assessing the current state of diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility with their workforces, and developing strategic plans to eliminate any barriers to success faced by underserved employees.

Directs agencies to seek opportunities to establish or elevate Chief Diversity Officers within their organizations.”

That order, of course included the Department of Defense. The DoD is a different type of organization by design and necessity. They take in a cross-section of Americans and indoctrinate them into a culture of accountability, trust and respect. They are trained to kill and blow things up and defeat any and all enemies and do it without losing their moral compass. It’s a tall order and not easy to accomplish. It begins the day an American raises his/her hand and takes a solemn oath. From that moment forward they live and breathe in a culture that provides every single service member equal opportunity and freedom to not only succeed but to excel as an individual and team member; to be all they can be. And the entire organization is set up to operate in a climate that is strictly merit-based.

Diversity? President Truman, Executive Order 9981, Integration of the Armed Forces, 26 July, 1948. The U.S. military has led the nation over the past 75 years in creating a cohesive organization from a cross-section of all Americans.

Inclusion? The U.S. military has been and is today the master of the culture of acknowledging, embracing, supporting and accepting those of all racial, sexual, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds. All a soldier needs to know is that those to his right and left have his back. He/she could care less about their heritage.

Equity? Equity is pure poison to the military ethos. All military training is based on standards for every military action; how, how many, how fast, how far, how good. Every day some soldier somewhere will perform some action to a new, higher, better, faster standard and thereby set the precedent for all future training of that action or activity. Not everyone can or is expected to meet that new standard but it is there for everyone to try. To have a military built around the concept of equity (“ensure everyone can achieve the same outcome”) serves only to dumb-down the entire organization to the point that it becomes mediocre from top to bottom.

That is what is happening to our military right now and remarkably it has taken only two years to degrade our capabilities. Why is that important? Our strength for decades has provided deterrence. Deterrence means our potential enemies believe we can take them on and defeat them; it keeps them at bay. With degraded strength/deterrence our enemies no longer fear us and our allies can no longer trust us to deliver.

How does President Biden enforce DEI in the military? First by indoctrinating all of our future leaders with DEI front and center in all of our military academy’s curriculum. Secondly, each of the academies has a non-military Advisory Board that oversees what is going on at each campus. Biden fired all of the Trump appointees. Third, all nominations for flag officers to be promoted to 3 and 4-stars and all 4-star reassignments must be forwarded by the president for Senate confirmation. Do you believe any of these nominees are not committed to DEI?

General/Secretary Austin and JCS Chairman General Milley each spent decades in the military service as described above. I cannot believe deep down in their soul that they believe DEI is good for the U.S. military. I also seriously doubt that President Biden understands the harm he has forced on the military. There comes a time when senior leaders have to put principle ahead of self and tell the boss (in this case the Commander in Chief) that indoctrination of the military with DEI is simply something they cannot, in good faith, accommodate. But they haven’t and won’t.

One of the most powerful people in the DOD now is someone you probably have never heard of; Cyrus Salazar serves as Director of the DOD Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and reports directly to the SecDef.

As part of the DEI program on 4 February 2021, two weeks after Biden’s inauguration, SecDef Austin ordered all branches of the military to enact a “stand down” within the next 60 days so they can address supposed internal threats posed by white supremacy and other forms of extremism. The final 21-page report published ten months later stated, “Extremist activity within the Department of Defense is rare.” Any commander at any level in the military could have told SecDef Austin that in the first 24 hours of the stand down.

CLIMATE CHANGE, then: Dealing with climate change was not a high priority issue in the Trump administration.

Now: Biden has stated that climate is “an existential threat to human existence as we know it.” He appears obsessed with a U.S. transition to electric vehicles.

There are about 190 million vehicles in the U.S. As the number of EVs increases the price of lithium and the other scarce minerals for lithium batteries is going up and up. The price for lithium doubled in 2022.

The climate change advocates’ hyperbolic rhetoric too often consists of exaggerated claims, The world will end in 12 years” etc. rather than a well thought out long range strategic plan. For example, when the majority of U.S. vehicles (let’s say 150 million) are powered by lithium batteries, what happens when the U.S. expends our limited lithium mineral reserves and we have to beg China for a delivery and they say, “no”? China currently controls about 80% of the world’s known lithium reserves. It is details like that that no one, including the president, is talking about. The president has no coherent long-range plan for dealing with carbon buildup.

INTENT: The intent of this essay was to point out the then-and-now associated with a broad spectrum of issues facing We-The-People every day; the objective was not to just pick on President Biden’s performance over his first 24 months in office. But the findings do seem to confirm what Americans told an NBC poll, 23 January 2023; 72% say the country is headed in the wrong direction.

CONCLUSIONS from then to now:

What is most alarming is that at least six of the above findings have serious national security implications.

One, open Borders: Border agents have confirmed that since Biden took office there have been 1.2 million gotaways were observed but not apprehended. Plus, an unknown number of gotaways were not sighted or apprehended. We can only conclude that potentially hundreds of thousands of criminals, gang members, terrorists, human and drug traffickers have entered the U.S. on Biden’s watch with potentially catastrophic results in the years ahead.

Two, the strategic oil reserve is at its lowest point since 1984. We live in a bad world; we may need that oil, all of it.

Three, our seriously depleted munitions inventory places us at risk of not being able to conduct a sustained conventional conflict.

Four, the long-term impact woke culture is having on military readiness and our declining deterrent posture is very dangerous.

Five, the administration’s do-nothing attitude towards North Korea threatens our very existence.

Six, the ever-increasing criminal activity throughout America has become a threat to every citizen’s safety and security every day.

The president’s number one priority is to look after the safety and security of Americans, all Americans. Old saying, “Take care of the big stuff and the little stuff will take care of itself.”

BOTTOM LINE: On 7 February, President Biden told us, “The state of the Union is very strong.” We-The-People disagree. Various polling results tell us that between 71 and 88 % of Americans believe we are on the wrong track. “You can ignore reality but you cannot ignore the consequences of reality.”

Following the mid-term elections, Biden stated that he would, “change nothing” going forward. The consequences of continuing on the same path are potentially too dangerous and threaten America’s future. Leadership 101; listen to those you lead!

This brings us to the age-old question, are you better off “now” than you were “then”? You decide.

BIDEN’S NOT-SO-DISCRETE UNDOING OF AMERICA

Unemployment defined, sort of: If you do not have a job but are looking for one you are unemployed. Makes sense, I got it. But you are not unemployed if you do not have a job and are not looking for a job. Surely there is one too many “nots” in that sentence. Nope, that’s our government at work.

Take a walk down just about any commercial street in America and you will see numerous HELP WANTED signs in the windows. There are currently (round numbers because no one knows the real ones) about 11 million jobs that need to be filled. And there are about 7 million able-bodied men ages 25-54 who are not only not working, they are affirmatively not looking for jobs.

THE REAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE: It seems that every time the so-called unemployment rate goes down a tenth of a percent our president is quick to call a press conference, point out the new rate and inform us how great the entire economy is doing. There are problems with relying too heavily on the national unemployment rate as a meaningful indicator of the state of the economy and its workforce. One, the rate does not account for those who are under-employed.

Two, as pointed out earlier, those who have given up actively seeking a job are not counted.

Three, self-employed Individuals who recently lost clients are not counted as unemployed.

Four, also the rate does not specify whether workers are part-time or full-time employees.

The unemployment rate we are fed and use is always factually incorrect. As of 11 January, the government’s latest report showed the jobless rate dropped to 3.5% from the December, 2022 rate of 3.6%.

Unemployment rates are computed two different ways by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The U-3 measure is what is commonly referred to as the official unemployment rate (3.6% December, 2022); whereas the U-6 rate also accounts for those marginally attached to the labor force, those employed part time and those discouraged from looking for a job (6.4% December, 2022).

Politicians use the U-3 numbers simply because they are less scary even though they are wrong and misleading. When a president tells us what the unemployment rate is, double it and you will be close to the correct answer.

WHAT DO ALL THE ABOVE NUMBERS TELL US? The potential total U.S. civilian labor force December 2022 was 165 million men and women who could work. At the same time the participation rate was about 62%. That’s about 102 million Americans working and 63 million not working. Obviously in many cases the head of household has a sufficient income and the spouse stays home.

A recent study by Nicholas Eberstadt, American Enterprise Institute, sums up the problem this way: “We’ve now got this incredible peacetime labor shortage and we also have a drop in the number of people in the workforce. The unemployment rate is at an enviable 3.5 percent, businesses still have 10 million unfilled positions, and yet the labor force participation rate languishes at a miserable 62.3 percent, more than a percentage point lower than before the pandemic. In 2022 for every 25–54-year-old guy who is out of work and looking for a job, there were four guys neither working nor looking for work. What this trend creates is slower economic growth, wider income and wealth gaps, more dependence on government welfare programs, more pressure on fragile families, less social mobility, less involvement in society, and a lot more despair.”

So, what are individuals and families doing for income? The answer leads us directly to a discussion on welfare.

WELFARE: The primary purpose of government welfare programs should always be to act as a safety net for the truly needy. But that objective has long since been pushed aside by the, currently active, 85 “entitlement” programs that provide cash, food, housing, medical care, social services, training, and targeted aid to low-income families. The federal government spent $1.1 trillion on welfare in 2021, not counting COVID-19-related costs. Additionally state and local governments spent about $744 billion, for a total of $1.8 trillion.

Of course, most of this funding is directed at low-income families. One sure way to get into the low-income category and become a standing member of the welfare state is to not have a job and not look for one.

WELFARE REFORM: It is interesting to look at the views of our presidents over the past 40 years:

RONALD REAGAN eloquently put it: “Welfare needs a purpose: to provide for the needy, of course, but more than that, to salvage these, our fellow citizens, to make them self-sustaining and, as quickly as possible, independent of welfare.”

BILL CLINTON’S 1992 presidential campaign placed welfare reform at its center, claiming that his proposal would, “End welfare as we have come to know it.” Four years later, with a Republican-dominated Congress, (this was a time when members of opposing political parties could still have a civil discussion on major issues) Clinton delivered on his campaign promise by signing The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. The law gave states control of welfare with federal block grants and state matching funds. He created the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (TANF). TANF added work requirements for aid, shrinking the number of adults who could qualify for benefits. This legislation also created caps for how long and how much aid a person could receive, as well as instituting harsher punishments for recipients who did not comply with the requirements.

With its emphasis on work, time limits, and sanctions against states that did not place a large fraction of its caseload in work programs and against individuals who refused to meet state work requirements, TANF was a historic reversal of the previous entitlement welfare program and by 2005, the national caseload declined about 60 percent.

OBAMA/BIDEN administration effectively gutted TANF in 2012 by releasing a policy directive that allowed states to waive work requirements; the heart and soul of TANF.

Why destroy welfare work requirements which had successfully become the heart of welfare support? It is not difficult to understand when one considers two things about Obama. During his first presidential campaign, October 2008, he explained in a private conversation with “Joe the plumber” that his intent was to, “spread the wealth.” That is just one piece of his desire to, his words, “fundamentally transform” America. By vastly expanding the welfare state he spread a great deal of wealth from hard-working middle-class taxpayers into the hands of lazy Americans who felt entitled to their monthly government check while doing nothing in return.

TRUMP campaigned on creating an economy in which Americans would move from welfare to work. The totality of his efforts was a combination of the TAMF caseload reduced by 900,000 individuals, the number on Social Security Disability Insurance down by about 400,000 and Medicaid and Children’s’ Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and the Department of Agriculture reported that 7.7 million individuals came off the food stamp rolls as the Trump economy took off.

PRESIDENT BIDEN, is doing all he can to expand the number of people receiving welfare and there are lots of ways to make it happen. The current count is 34 housing programs run by seven Cabinet departments; 23 programs providing food or food assistance; 13 health care programs; and 15 cash or general-assistance programs.

There were about 90.6 million people enrolled in Medicaid as of August 2022, about 28 percent of the U.S. population. That’s an increase of 19.3 million under the Biden administration. The recent $1.7 trillion Omnibus bill will end some expanded Medicaid enrollment so the Democrats are now scrambling to get those individuals into The Affordable Care Act.

Biden’s most egregious initiative is the push to continue and expand the refundable Child Tax Credit. Biden’s American Rescue Plan increased the Child Tax Credit to $3,000 per child age 6-17 and $3,600 for children under age six. In addition, it increased the income levels to $112,500 for singles and $150,000 for married couples. He wants to make this a permanent piece of the welfare state.

As of December 2022, there were over 49,000 U.S. households with at least one child below the age of 18 and there are about 104 million households with income below $150,000. Given those figures, it is possible Biden’s Child Tax Credit initiative is the largest vote-buying proposal ever by a sitting president. Disgusting.

Wait a damned minute; are we saying Biden wants to give couples making $149,999 a year $7,200 for a couple of kids under age 6? Yes, that is apparently his new definition of low income.

There’s more, but you get the point; Biden has relentlessly, and often successfully, tried to grow and expand the welfare state.

There is, however, one part of the Biden welfare system we have not heard much about; fraud. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Serices, “The 2022 Medicaid improper payment rate was 15.62%, or $80.57 billion.”

In addition, “For the Children’s Health Insurance Program for low-income children, the 2022 improper payment rate was 26.75%, or $4.30 billion.”

As for the Earned Income Tax Credit, 28% of those payments are improper.

But a recent reveal of unemployment payments may be the granddaddy fraud of them all. Last week the Department of Labor stated that of the $669 billion payouts under various pandemic unemployment programs from April 2020 through September 2021, at least $60 billion is “unaccounted for” and assumed to have been paid out to fraudsters. What is equally interesting is that the U.S. Government Accounting Office pointed out that, “The department (Labor) has yet to develop an antifraud strategy based on leading practices from GAO’s Fraud Risk Framework as required by law.”

The GAO continued, “Without an antifraud strategy, DOL is not able to ensure that it is addressing the most significant fraud risks facing the system.”

Meanwhile, a watchdog agency is reporting the loss may be, “substantially higher.”

Notwithstanding this incredible loss, we should not be too quick to criticize. After all our president has told us he appointed, “the most diverse cabinet in history.” Are we to believe diverse outbids talented and qualified?

Have we heard the Biden administration complaining about massive welfare fraud and abuse? Nope. If your objective is to get as many people as possible on welfare, why get upset if a few thousands or millions of ineligibles are fraudulently taking advantage of the program. More people on welfare is part of the success, not a failure.

There is one more point to be made about work requirements for welfare before we get to some conclusions:

Technically, the federal food stamp program had a modest work requirement for able-bodied adults without dependents. They were limited to three months of food stamps unless they are working part time or participating in job training or community service.

However, in 2009, the Obama/Biden administration suspended the work requirement for two years. However, after two years most states were able to continue bypassing the work requirement by using work waivers. But in 2014, Maine chose to stop waiving the work requirement for food stamps and within three months the caseload of able-bodied adults without dependents dropped by 80%.

How can we ensure that welfare acts as a safety net for the truly needy and not as a handout to able-bodied adults who can work? Work requirements serve as a gatekeeper to ensure that those truly in need receive welfare assistance. Ninety percent of Americans agree that able-bodied adults receiving welfare assistance should be required to work or prepare for work.

CONCLUSIONS: I began this essay with a discussion of unemployment. But I hope you can understand how that subject morphed into welfare. They are inexorably linked.

Conclusion one: In this country every president and Congress should first of all strive to grow an economy to the point where welfare is necessary only as a safety net for those incapable of caring for themselves. We should measure welfare’s success by how many people leave the welfare programs, not by how many are added. Welfare-to-work programs are essential.

Conclusion two: Welfare programs that are regulated and administered by multiple separate government departments and agencies are bound to end up with fraud, waste and abuse.

Conclusion three: We must ponder why Obama and now Biden are so hell-bent on creating a massive welfare state. Several points on this question.

Let’s not forget about Obama’s obsession with wealth transfer and transformation of America; the former leads to the latter.

Also, looking back in time, the Democrats controlled the House of Representatives continuously from January 1955 until 1995. Given that legacy, it has become the Democrat’s dream to regain that kind of power and control. Since losing control in 1995, they have moved toward developing various bases of support called “identity groups.”

Identity politics is defined as, “A political approach wherein people of a particular race, nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation social background, social class or other identifying factors develop political agendas that are based upon these identities. Identity politics is deeply connected with the idea that some groups are oppressed.”

Biden has opened the borders; the number of illegal immigrants residing in the U.S. numbers in the tens of millions and they continue coming at an average of over 8,000 apprehended per day during December 2022. Plus, about 600,000 got-aways in FY 2022, that were observed but not apprehended. Plus, an unknown number of got aways that were not sighted or apprehended. Notwithstanding that many of the got-away population consists of criminals, gang members, terrorists, human traffickers and drug traffickers, Biden and the Democrats in Congress look for every opportunity to slip a provision into their multi-thousand-page legislation calling for “amnesty for all” thereby creating an enormous and perhaps overwhelming identity group.

Additionally, Biden’s welfare state in general and in particular the seven million or so able Americans who are “not unemployed, not working and not looking for a job” and are living on your tax dollars comprise a substantial loyal Democrat voting bloc.

Conclusion four: Able-bodied Americans who refuse to work are a sad commentary compared to the will-power and work-ethic that set this country apart and made it the most admired nation in the world.

BOTTOM LINE: A Gallop pole of over 1,000 Republicans and Democrats released 30 January tells us that lack of leadership by President Biden and the Congress is, “The most important problem facing this country today.” What Biden is doing to, not for, America will not end well.