The Medlock Post

5/10/2023

A failed attempt to understand 'Bidenomics'

May 10, 2023

Richard Blakley figures ol' Joe didn't take Economics 101 at Syracuse University

In a 1987 briefing, then-Sen. Joe Biden verbally attacked a reporter, stating that he went to Syracuse University on a full academic scholarship, graduated in the top half of his class, was the outstanding political student, earned three degrees and had a much higher IQ than the reporter to whom he was speaking. This interaction is at 2 minutes and 50 seconds into Jesse Watters' Fox program or at one of several other locations.

While Biden's comments were meant to intimidate and belittle the reporter, this did not prevent honest mainstream investigative reporters of 1987 from seeking confirmation of the senator's statements. They determined that Joe did not go to college on a full academic scholarship, did not graduate in the top half of his class, but instead graduated 76 out of 85, which means he was in the bottom half of his class, was not the outstanding political student and did not earn three degrees, but graduated with one. The only thing left to consider is Biden's comment about his IQ, which I think speaks for itself. How could you miss on this many things? Note that this was before he was senile.

Everything you've heard about the debt limit is wrong

May 10, 2023

James D. Agresti: 'If there is a default, it will only be because the Biden administration breaks the law'

Contrary to widespread claims that the U.S. government will default on its debt if Congress doesn’t raise the debt limit, federal law and the Constitution require the Treasury to pay the debt, and it has ample tax revenues to do this.

Nor would Social Security benefits be affected by a debt limit stalemate unless President Biden illegally diverts Social Security revenues to other programs.

The debt limit is a valuable tool for transparency, accountability, and giving voters an ongoing say in how their money is spent.

5/09/2023

Federalism for Families

May 9, 2023

Red states should engineer policies to encourage higher birth rates and to attract large families.

ount me as one of those generally skeptical that tax breaks, tax credits, housing allowances, and other economic incentives for parents will decisively increase birth rates. In general, values like honor, pride, and shame affect how people behave more than any economic incentives. When family life—especially motherhood—is dishonored, birth rates decline; when honored, they rise.

South Korea has been throwing billions at families to encourage natality for more than a decade, only to see birth rates crater to historically unprecedented lows. Israel has the same family incentives it had two decades ago, but its total fertility rate has skyrocketed to more than 3.0, making it the only developed nation in the world whose population is growing exclusive of immigration. Family-friendly economic policies such as those in Hungary and Poland are not irrelevant, but not as important as other normative factors.

Senators feast on taxpayer-funded earmarks for pricey projects

May 9, 2023

Through largely hidden budget earmarks, S.C. senators have proposed a total of more than $314 million for projects next fiscal year mainly in their respective legislative districts – including dozens of $1 million-plus requests, a review by The Nerve found.

The 46-member Senate two years ago changed its rules purportedly to require more disclosure of historically secret taxpayer-funded earmarks, but the chamber hasn’t posted online its latest earmark list, though it passed a $38-billion, fiscal year 2023-24 state budget version on April 19.

The Nerve recently obtained the Senate earmark list under the S.C. Freedom of Information Act. A separate request under the open-records law was made for any House earmarks; House Clerk Charles Reid in a written response said the 124-member chamber has “no document(s) responsive to your request.”

George Soros Gives Left-Wing Candidate Big Campaign Boost

May 9, 2023

A PAC bankrolled by Democratic megadonor George Soros is flooding a western Pennsylvania race with cash to help a liberal public defender become the top prosecutor, contributing more than 90 percent of the total funds the candidate raised.

The Justice and Safety PAC has spent $734,000 on advertisements supporting Matt Dugan, the candidate running for Allegheny County district attorney in a primary against a moderate Democratic incumbent, Steve Zappala. Dugan raised just $76,764.17 excluding the Soros cash, the Washington Examiner reported.

McCarthy says no progress in debt ceiling talks with Biden: ‘I didn't see any new movement’

May 9, 2023

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Tuesday he saw no new movement from President Biden during a White House meeting on debt limit negotiations, just weeks before the federal government is set to run out of cash to pay its bills by June 1.

"Everybody in this meeting reiterated the positions they were at. I didn't see any new movement," the speaker said. He said nothing has changed for Biden since they met on the same issue on Feb. 1.

McCarthy said the next steps on the issue is for staff-level meetings to take place over the rest of the week, and then hold another meeting between Biden, McCarthy and other congressional leaders.

Trump Can Win

May 9, 2023

Odds are that 2024 will look a lot more like 2016 than 2020.

The final RealClearPolitics polling average for the 2016 race showed Hillary Clinton beating Donald Trump by 3.2 points. As of May 1, 2023, the same polling average shows Trump ahead of Joe Biden by 1 point.

Of course, Trump can’t win. Any Republican would do better. Every pundit says so. And when have they ever been wrong?

Trump didn’t enter the 2016 race until June 2015, so a direct comparison between his current polling numbers and those of the last cycle isn’t possible. But those who remember the 2016 race will remember that for most of the cycle, Trump trailed Clinton by rather more than the 3.2 points—as shown in the final RCP average. And of course, Trump won. The press underestimated his appeal.

US Economic Optimism Takes a Nosedive in IBD/TIPP’s May Poll, With the Six-Month Outlook Plummeting 16.8%

May 9, 2023

The Presidential Leadership and National Outlook indexes also show significant declines as financial stress remains high.

The IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index, a leading national poll on consumer confidence, today revealed that economic optimism has fallen. After three consecutive months of improvement, the May index dropped 12.2% overall, with specific components exhibiting even greater percentage changes. This month’s reading of 41.6 was down from April’s 47.4. The index has now been in negative territory for 21 consecutive months. A reading above 50.0 signals optimism and below 50.0 indicates pessimism on IBD/TIPP indexes.

‘Bear The Brunt’: Dems Rip Biden’s Plan To Handle Migrant Surge After Trump-Era Border Policy’s End

May 9, 2023

Several Democrats are lashing out against the Biden administration for not preparing sufficiently for a migrant surge expected when the Trump-era border order Title 42 ends May 11.

Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs and Democratic Arizona Rep. Ruben Gallego criticized the Biden administration for not doing enough to prepare for the migration wave when Title 42 ends. The Biden administration has put forward a plan it hopes will address the surge that consists of erecting migrant processing facilities in Latin America and increasing legal pathways to entry.

Hobbs said Friday that her state is prepping for the expected migrant influx “largely without support from the federal government,” according to The Washington Post.

In 1958 Communists Had 45 Goals to Take Over the U.S. Without Firing a Shot. Here Are the Ones They've Already Achieved

May 9, 2023

The 1958 book by Cleon Skousen, The Naked Communist, set forth 45 goals communists need to achieve to take over the United States without firing a shot. Some of them are outdated and immaterial. Some are debatable. Let’s see how many commie goals have been achieved.

7. Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the U.N.

DONE. The United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 made Communist China a member of the U.N. Today, China is one of five permanent members.

15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States.

DONE. Communists were once hunted in the U.S. Today, Democrats like Bernie, AOC, and the Squad, with ideas that are clearly socialist, if not communist, are re-elected with ease.

17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers’ associations. Put the party line in textbooks

American Maoism

May 9, 2023

Rage meets self-pity as the permanently offended root out false thought.

Those of us who care about the survival of ordered liberty are daily faced with a conundrum: Do we painstakingly chronicle the constant assaults on the life of the mind and civilized norms and risk the charge of being one-note Johnnies? Or do we turn to other, more noble concerns and preoccupations, doing the right and the good? The latter path might seem more high-minded, rooted in a refusal to have our intellectual and political agendas determined by the rage of others. Why should our concerns be determined by the transparently false agendas of those who tear down and repudiate, and who offer nothing constructive in place of our civic and civilized inheritance? Let them pursue the thankless path of total critique, while we teach, build, construct, and sustain a civilized order worthy of human beings.

Equal Justice Under the Law?

May 9, 2023

When it comes to riots, that may depend on which side you're on.

Many J6 protestors have been sentenced to lengthy jail terms without evidence that they engaged in violence. The “QAnon shaman” Jacob Chansley, for example, was sentenced to four years imprisonment for obstructing an official proceeding, though it was subsequently reported that he had been escorted to the Senate floor by Capitol police. Another protestor, Kevin Seefried, got three years for marching into the Capitol carrying a Confederate flag (less than the seven-year sentence prosecutors had requested).

Border Patrol clears way for more migrant releases to city streets, sources say: 'The dam is about to break'

May 9, 2023

Tens of thousands of migrants are expected to surge into the United States as Title 42 expires on May 11

The Biden administration's top border officials in Washington, D.C., have decided to authorize all Border Patrol sectors to begin "safe" mass releases of migrants to city streets if non-governmental organizations don't have the capacity to hold them, multiple sources tell Fox News.

The consequence of this decision is that migrants will be mass released at bus stops, gas stations, supermarkets and in towns and cities across the border as Customs and Border Protection facilities are already over capacity in multiple sectors, according to CBP sources who were not authorized to speak publicly.

NGOs are quickly approaching their limits to house migrants and tens of thousands more migrants are expected to surge into the United States once the Title 42 public health order is lifted on May 11. The city of El Paso, Texas has already seen thousands of migrants camped out on the sidewalks.

The Ethicist

May 9, 2023

David W. Miller weighs right and wrong, creativity and courage

In a time when what’s right and wrong seem to depend on who’s asking, ethics is still a field where people look for timeless answers to what matters over time. David W. Miller, director of Princeton University’s Faith & Work Initiative and an ordained Presbyterian minister, argues that personal faith — in any form — can help us to figure that out. That’s why he takes his own spirituality to work, where he conducts research, lectures on business ethics and social responsibility, and consults with corporate clients.

Biden’s bizarre view of women’s sports puts female athletes at risk

May 9, 2023

American voters want to save women’s sports from Biden’s dangerous decisions

How to Bring People to God and Religion

May 9, 2023

There are four primary reasons fewer and fewer people in America and the West take God, the Bible or religion seriously.

1. The belief that science disproves religion.

2. The belief that reason and feelings supplant God and the Bible as the only necessary vehicles to morality.

3. The “progressive” ideologies of at least 100 years that seek to replace religion.

4. The failure of religious people to convince the next generation to be religious.

Catholic hospitals' attorney reacts to win against Biden admin's 'shocking' threats to force closures

May 9, 2023

'I've been doing religious liberty work for a long time and I was shocked,' the attorney for St. Francis' hospital system said

The Catholic hospital system the Biden administration had nearly forced to lose its accreditation over an eternal flame in its chapels is relieved that, after it threatened litigation, the federal government backed off, its counsel told Fox News Digital Monday.

The federal government had attempted to force the St. Francis Catholic hospital system Oklahoma to choose between losing its accreditation for Medicaid and Medicare or removing eternal flames from its chapels, which is central to their faith. The hospital system refused, citing their First Amendment rights and religious beliefs.

"St. Francis is relieved they've always served God and serve their community. Those two things go hand in hand, and they're happy to continue doing it," said Lori Windham, the Vice President and Senior Counsel The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.

Riley Gaines calls on famous female athletes to choose a side in trans debate. Here's who she's starting with

May 9, 2023

Former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines asks tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams how they 'feel about males competing against women'

Riley Gaines, a former NCAA swimmer who speaks out against trans athletes competing in girls and women’s sports is calling on famous female athletes to join her cause.

"Each day for the next week I'm going to call on well-known female athletes to take a stance on this issue because silence is complicity...we need their voices," Gaines, who swam with the University of Kentucky, tweeted.

Her first tweet asked the world-famous tennis star sisters Serena and Venus Williams how they "feel about males competing against women."

This is America’s surprising youth drug crisis

May 9, 2023

Legalized drug crisis is harming young people far more than most realize

The data is in and it’s becoming increasingly clear that the impacts of commercial marijuana industry are even worse than we thought, particularly for America’s young people. A new report released by Smart Approaches to Marijuana shows the reality in "pot-legal states" paints a vastly different picture than the common sales pitch of the industry and supporters of legalization.

The marijuana industry, which spent billions to lobby elected officials and bankroll legalization referendum campaigns, is following the playbook pioneered by Big Tobacco. They recognize that the road to big profits runs through the heaviest users. As such, they have increased potency of the drug by more than four times since 1998, hoping to hook kids while they are young and vulnerable. The numbers show that it’s working.

Americans Lack Confidence in Major Economic Leaders

May 9, 2023

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- With the U.S. facing a deadline to increase the nation’s debt limit and the threat of an economic recession looming, Americans lack confidence in a variety of key U.S. leaders on economic matters. Gallup finds between 34% and 38% of U.S. adults expressing a "great deal" or "fair amount" of confidence in President Joe Biden, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and congressional leaders in both major parties to do or recommend the right thing for the economy.

The Battle Within the Club is Escalating Now

May 9, 2023

As the geography narrows before us, it is important to remember the stakes and avoid the distractions. As a consequence, the baseline must be reaffirmed. It is critical to understand that both the DNC and RNC are private corporations with no affiliation to government.

It is a difficult shift in thinking, but the party system in U.S. politics revolves around two distinct private corporations, two clubs that feed from the same corporate trough and position for influence and affluence within a political dynamic they control.

The priority for both clubs, Republican and Democrat, is NOT politically or culturally ideological.

In the modern era, the corporate priority first begins with a battle over who controls each corporation.

As long as there is no challenge, the clubs operate without issue. However, when there is a battle for control of the corporation, a battle that will ultimately determine the financial outcome, the internal battle becomes the priority.

Robert Kennedy’s Movement

May 9, 2023

A broad new coalition won’t let COVID crimes be forgotten.

Up until a week ago, the 2024 presidential election campaign was by and large an uninteresting slog. The arrest of President Trump had shown some promise of injecting life into the race, but just a few short weeks later it is all but forgotten. Events that used to carry great significance which would be etched into the public memory for decades—like the investigation, prosecution, or impeachment of a president—have now been reduced to farcical shadow-play, gone in a moment. To generate lasting outrage or even attention, a story needs some element of surprise or departure from normalcy. But the new norm in politics is to destroy all norms. And since mainstream press catastrophizing has been dialed up to 11 since at least 2016, it rings hollower with every passing cycle. To anyone who has been paying attention, not even the most breathless histrionics on the part of professional observers makes a mark.

Dems Pull Out All the Stops Ahead of Debt Limit Talk

May 9, 2023

Pass a clean debt limit increase, no strings attached. We will not negotiate! That was the line parroted by the president and Democrat lawmakers alike as time ticked away toward the disastrous default they say is coming sometime in early June. But then House Republicans passed a debt limit bill of their own – one with considerable budget cuts and a limit to spending hikes in the future – and the Democrats started singing a slightly different tune.

Nonnegotiating Negotiating?

After months of refusing to discuss the borrowing cap at all short of simply repeating his “clean bill” demand, President Joe Biden on Monday, May 1, called Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) with an invitation to meet up and talk on Tuesday, May 9. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre clarified the next day that the talk was not a sign that Biden would negotiate on the debt limit, and that it was the duty of Congress to raise the cap in order to pay the nation’s debts.

But if there’s nothing to discuss, why ask McCarthy for a meeting?

Government-Funded Censors Violated Congress’s Mandate To Target Only Foreign ‘Disinformation’

May 9, 2023

‘None of the funds … shall be used for purposes other than countering foreign propaganda and misinformation,’ Congress mandated. But the State Department didn’t care

The State Department’s Global Engagement Center (GEC) served as one cornerstone of the Censorship-Industrial Complex, colluding with nongovernmental organizations and tech giants to silence disfavored speech during the 2020 election cycle. An investigation by The Federalist now indicates GEC violated its congressional mandate by financing activities and organizations that targeted the speech of Americans.

The Medlock Post Ep. 146: World Totalitarianism

May 9, 2023

Around the world, politicians have either just passed or are on the cusp of passing sweeping new laws, which would allow governments to censor ordinary citizens on social media and other Internet platforms.

Under the guise of preventing “harm” and holding large tech companies accountable, several countries are establishing a vast and interlinked censorship apparatus, a new investigation by Public finds.

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