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In May in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania the Taste of Sicily restaurant reopened in defiance of state orders. The restaurant had initially closed down for two months in obedience with the original state orders. However in May, the owners of the family restaurant said, “no way.” The restaurant left it up to its customers as to masks and social distancing. They were subsequently fined close to $10,000 for violating Governor Wolf’s (Dem) mandate.

Then the vengeful governor fixated his attention on Lebanon County and the Republican leadership supporting small businesses like Taste of Sicily that defied state orders. Wolf decided to withhold $13 million in funding from the county on July 17, leaving it as the only county in the state to have been cut off from the $625 million package of coronavirus relief funds. Wolf blamed the Republican-controlled Board of Commissioners in Lebanon County.

The restaurant, which is co-owned by siblings Michael Mangano and Christine Wartluft, took its case to court, and was found not guilty in September. A federal judge ruled that Wolf’s gathering restrictions and shutdowns of non-essential businesses during the coronavirus pandemic were unconstitutional.

Taste of Sicily’s  lawyer, Eric Winter, told he Daily Caller that Wolf’s and the Department of Health’s Orders couldn’t be punished under Pennsylvania criminal law.

“The mask mandate, the plexiglass, the social distancing, all of those things that the governor and [Secretary of Health Rachel] Levine were implementing are not an enforceable citation,” Mangano, the owner, told the Daily Caller. “In other words, they can’t legally enforce that. This says that any fine that you get from the state is legally non-enforceable.”

I say it’s about time that small business owners stand up to the diktats of “health commissioners” and governors. The arbitrary designation of businesses into “essential and non-essential” is obviously arbitrary and thus unconstitutional. Hopefully the verdict in Pennsylvania is the needed canary in the coal mine. Perhaps this will embolden more small business owners to stand up for their constitutional rights.

We’ll see.

The following list is from Wayne Grudem, professor of Theology and Biblical studies.

As with other long lists, this list of 25 good things that President Trump has done for America will be in increments. Please forward this list to your email mailing list. ( the various numbers in the text are the specific references, and can be ignored.)

1. Judges: Trump has appointed two Supreme Court justices, 53 federal appellate judges1, and 143 District Court judges2 (as well as two judges for the Court of International Trade3) who have been confirmed by the Senate so far. In addition, 64 more have been appointed and are awaiting Senate confirmation4. All of them are committed to interpreting the Constitution and laws according to the original meaning of the words, rather than according to what a modern liberal judge thinks the law should have said.

Trump’s two Supreme Court appointments have already been responsible for highly significant cases that increase religious freedom, such as the decisions (1) to allow state aid that is given to non-religious schools to be given also to religious schools (Montana decision)5, (2) to protect the right of religious schools to hire and fire employees based on the schools religious convictions6, and (3) to allow religious groups to be exempt from government regulations that would otherwise cause them to violate their consciences in matters of birth control (and, by implication, probably in matters of abortion and same-sex marriage, but that has not yet been tested)7.

2. Historic tax cuts and deregulation: after eight years of high unemployment and meager growth under President Obama’s administration, the Trump tax cuts of 2017 and the relentless progress of canceling excessive government regulation of business have given a tremendous boost to the American economy. Unemployment (before the coronavirus crisis) was at the lowest point in 50 years8, and unemployment among African-American and Hispanic workers was the lowest it has ever been in history.9

On election day, 2016 (11-8-16), the Dow Jones industrial average closed at 18,332.74.

Today (7-21-20 at 2:33 p.m.) it stands at 26,840.40, which is an increase of 46% in 3 ½ years, even including several months of the coronavirus epidemics. This is remarkable.

These changes affect people’s everyday lives. Tens of thousands of people who were unemployed now have the dignity of steady employment. Millions of retirees whose savings were invested in the stock market (including my wife and me) are once again seeing good returns on their savings.

3. A stronger US military: Reversing the massive budget cuts to the military under the Obama administration, President Trump has increased military spending by nearly $150 billion per year from $605 billion in 2016 to $750 billion, steadily rebuilding US military readiness10.

4. Restricting abortion: numerous executive orders have increasingly restricted government funding for abortions (such as the reinstatement of the Mexico City policy)11. On February 22, 2019, the Trump administration announced that it would not allow organizations that provide referrals for abortions to receive federal family-planning money, which implies a cut in funding for Planned Parenthood (the nation’s largest abortion provider) unless they perform abortions in a separate facility and not refer patients to it12. And on May 2, 2019, the Trump administration’s Department Of Health And Human Services issued a new rule protecting healthcare workers who decline on the basis of conscience or religious conviction to participate in procedures such as abortion or assisted suicide13. Trump was the first president ever to personally attend the pro-life March for Life in Washington DC on January 24, 202014.

5. School choice: President Trump appointed Betsy DeVos, one of America’s leading advocates for greater school choice, to be Secretary of Education, resulting in rising support for charter schools, taxpayer-funded vouchers, and tax credits for private-school vouchers, programs aimed at expanding options for parents looking beyond traditional public schools as she brings attention to them. 15

Granted I am for Trump as I think that if Biden gets elected the US is going to be in for, as Toni Fisher sang in her 1959 song, The Big Hurt . . . which starts out, “Now it begins, now that you’ve gone.”

In general I am familiar with the fact that “the polls” are predicting a Biden victory . . . meaning that across the US Biden will get more votes – similar to 2016 where Hillary got more votes. However, as we all know by now, the election will be decided on the number of electoral votes a candidate gets. In 2016 Hillary won the overall popular vote, whereas Trump won the Electoral College and thus he won the election.

In 2016 one polling group was an outlier, and correctly predicted the outcome of that election. This was the Trafalgar Group, who had the best poll in five of the battleground states in 2016, and actually predicted Trump to win 306 to 232 in the Electoral College.

So I researched what that particular polling group was forecasting for 2020. 

Most of what follows is from the National Review, and is basically what the Trafalgar Group is predicting about the upcoming election.

First of all Trafalgar is different from other polls in that it asks far fewer questions (7-9 instead of 25) and does not depend solely on live phone calls. Also Trafalgar does not use relatively small sample sizes of less 1000, and it discounts national polls.

So how does Trafalgar see the 2020 race? 

Fundamentally, as a motivation race, rather than a persuasion race, with perhaps 1.5 percent, at most, of the electorate undecided in battleground states. 

Trafalgar goes through the battleground states one by one, and overall Trafalgar sees another Trump win. “If it all happened right now,” Robert Cahaly of Trafalgar maintains, “my best guess would be an Electoral College victory in the high to 270s, low 280s.”

There it is. Among pollsters, you heard it from Cahaly and Trafalgar  first, and perhaps exclusively — a position it’s been in before.

At this point we can only vote and hope.

I did not watch last night’s debate as I had better things to do . . . e.g. breathe, drink some vodka, and read Stephen King. Actually, I did not need to watch it as I already know who I am voting for.

The following are some cogent comments on the debate.

From Byron York (Washington Examiner):

On Thursday, Trump cooled it down and is likely to reap a benefit for making watching an easier experience for those millions who tuned in a second time.

That appeared to be one lesson from a Zoom focus group conducted after the debate by messaging expert Frank Luntz. Speaking to 15 undecided voters — and yes, they appeared to be really undecided. Biden was “Vague” • “Unspecific” • “Elusive” • “Defensive” • “Grandfatherly” ( these were the words used to describe Joe Biden by Frank Luntz’s focus group). On the other hand, the President was described as “Controlled” • “Reserved” • “Poised” • “Surprisingly presidential.” [for the sake of honesty in reporting, one of those in Luntz’s focus group did refer to President Trump as a “Con artist” . . . this was the one that had a crick in his neck from constantly looking left.]

York continued:

Like so many independent and undecided voters, some members of the group expressed agreement with Trump’s policies while at the same time expressing great disapproval of the president’s demeanor and public persona. “I have cringed in the past three and a half years over President Trump’s tweets and how he has treated people,” said one woman. “The question is whether I could vote for him where I agree on many of the policies.”

At the debate, however, she and others saw a Trump who was — finally, some of them said — presidential. And they liked it.

In the end, several voters expressed continuing unhappiness with both candidates but said the debate had moved them, at least for now, in the direction of voting for Trump. Many seemed to be having an internal debate on presidential style versus substance. “You look at Biden as being a more decent person, but he’s not coming clean on where he stands,” Luntz told the group. “You look at Trump and you know where he stands but you don’t like the way he communicates.”

Which will it be ?

Hopefully these undecideds will pull the lever for DJT, and may God bless America.

Q: Does unemployment make one blue? 

A: If you are referring to depressed, the answer is yes. 

However if you are referring to whether your state of residence is a blue state or a red state, it is more likely that if you are blue, you are more likely to be unemployed.

From the Daily Caller on 10/20/20:

For the most part the news is good as the September unemployment rate nationwide was 7.9%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The number reflects an optimistic outlook, as unemployment has steadily declined since reaching a high of 14.7% in April. 

However, as one might expect the unemployment numbers are not uniformly good. Is there a pattern as to which states have better than average or less than average unemployment numbers?

Q: Using common sense, which states do you think have the worst  unemployment numbers?

A: Democratic controlled states, on average, have a higher unemployment rate than the national average.

In terms of embarrassing unemployment rates seven out of the eight worst states have a Democrat trifecta (governor, state senate, state assembly). These include, in order: Hawaii, Nevada, California, Rhode Island, Illinois, and New York. Massachusetts with a Republican governor comes in at the seventh worst, but New Mexico and Washington D.C. are the next two in the “woe is me, I cannot find a job” line.

I can somewhat understand both Hawaii (lack of tourists) and Nevada (lack of out of state visitors), but those in charge in California, Rhode Island, Illinois, and New York should be ashamed of how they are prolonging the agony of those who cannot find jobs. Of course, I guess that one could argue that those who live in these blue-trifecta states have only themselves to blame as they voted these knuckleheads into office. While this is true, it is highly likely that these blue voters will most likely just continue to pull the D-lever, and wonder why they cannot find work.

How did the red states do?

Republican trifectas have an average unemployment rate of 6.2%, nearly two points lower than the national average, while states that lean Republican (2 of 3) still have a lower unemployment rate than the national average at 6.9%.

Is September a change? 

No, as actually the data mirrors unemployment statistics from July, which also found Democrat trifectas had an average unemployment rate of 11.3% compared to the national average of 10.2%.

Warning: if Blue Biden gets elected, look for all states to have worse unemployment numbers.

For those that don’t know, a boilermaker is a shot and a beer. In some sections of the country the two ingredients are mixed together (referred to as a “fake boilermaker”), and in other areas they are sequential (referred to as a “real boilermaker”). Although he did not drink very much, a boilermaker was one of my dad’s favorite drinks especially when he had a bad day. In Illinois back in the day, his boilermaker was always sequential, with the whiskey first and the beer to follow. 

Today I came across a Biden campaign ad featuring a bartender in Michigan, and I got to thinkin’ about how a boilermaker was served in his bar.

The ad had been hailed by California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell as the

“Best ad of 2020 just hit. Empty bars & live music venues = 

@realDonaldTrump’s America. Time for 

@JoeBiden.”

The Michigan bar is the Blind Pig and the co-owner is Joe Malcoun, the star of the ad. In the ad, he complains that he is in deep economic trouble because of President Trump:

“We don’t know how much longer we can survive not having any revenue. A lot of restaurants and bars that have been mainstays for many years will not make it through this,” Malcoun said in the ad. “My only hope for my family, this business and my community is that Joe Biden win this election.”

Well it turns out that there are two basic problems with this “best ad of 2020.”

First of all, Joe Malcoun lives in Michigan where his Democratic Governor has kept a tight lid on economic activity. Plus he was only telling half-truths as 

Malcoun also acknowledged in a tweet that his bar is “technically ALLOWED to be open at reduced capacity right now…we are closed because it’s UNSAFE and irresponsible to be open.”

However the second problem with “best ad of 2020” takes the cake . . . Joe Malcoun is actually a wealthy tech investor who contributed $5000 to Biden’s campaign. What a coincidence! 

Finally, I would bet that he serves “fake boilermakers” in his bar.

Because the list of President Trump’s accomplishments is so long, a single blog listing them would be way too long. Therefore, I am going to divide his list of accomplishments into multiple parts.

Please forward each of these to your entire email mailing list:

Moved U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

Agreed to a new trade deal with Mexico & Canada that will increase jobs here and $$$ coming in.

Reached a breakthrough agreement with the E.U. to increase U.S. exports.

Imposed tariffs on China in response to China’s forced technology transfer, intellectual property theft, and their chronically abusive trade practices, has agreed to a Part One trade deal with China.

Signed legislation to improve the National Suicide Hotline.

Signed the most comprehensive childhood cancer legislation ever into law, which will advance childhood cancer research and improve treatments.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act signed into law by Trump doubled the maximum amount of the child tax credit available to parents and lifted the income limits so more people could claim it.

It also created a new tax credit for other dependents.

In 2018, President Trump signed into law a $2.4 billion funding increase for the Child Care and Development Fund, providing a total of $8.1 billion to States to fund child care for low-income families.

The Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC) signed into law by Trump provides a tax credit equal to 20-35% of child care expenses, $3,000 per child & $6,000 per family + Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) allow you to set aside up to $5,000 in pre-tax $ to use for child care.

In 2019 President Donald Trump signed the Autism Collaboration, Accountability, Research, Education and Support Act (CARES) into law which allocates $1.8 billion in funding over the next five years to help people with autism spectrum disorder and to help their families.

In 2019 President Trump signed into law two funding packages providing nearly $19 million in new funding for Lupus specific research and education programs, as well an additional $41.7 billion in funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the most Lupus funding EVER.

Another upcoming accomplishment to add: In the next week or two Trump will be signing the first major anti-robocall law in decades called the TRACED Act (Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence.) Once it’s the law, the TRACED Act will extend the period of time the FCC has to catch & punish those who intentionally break telemarketing restrictions. The bill also requires voice service providers to develop a framework to verify calls are legitimate before they reach your phone.

[Prior to the coronavirus pandemic] US stock market continually hit all-time record highs.

Because so many people asked for a document with all of this listed in one place, here it is. No links provided to remove bias as Google search is easy. Print this out for family, friends, neighbors, etc. I encourage you to drop this list off to voters before the 2020 election too!

Trump did all of this while fighting flagrant abuse and impeachment charges.

A few months ago I was outside chatting with my new neighbor. Keep in mind that I have lived in California for about forty years, but I am not a native. My neighbor was born in San Diego, went to school here, and basically has never left California, and to boot, he is a teacher. Do I have to say any more about his presumed political leanings? 

Anyway as we were b.s.-ing about nothing, he said something that could easily be construed by anyone including his four year old daughter as being anti-Trump. I thought, “should I be neighborly and just ignore it” or . . . “nip it in the bud?” So after thinking it over for a nano-second, I said, “Just so you know, I am a big Trump guy.” I think I stunned him! I could see him thinking, “how could such a nice neighbor be for Trump?” He asked, “Why?” 

Since his original anti-Trump comment had to do with a tweet, i started off slowly, by saying that I did not always agree with his tweets, but that he has been one helluva a President. He responded “How so?”

My immediate thought was where to start. I started with the spectacular rise in the economy before the coronavirus hit. I added record low unemployment numbers, especially for minorities. 

Next I commented on his over-the-top support for the military and mentioned how he often goes to Dover Air Force Base to welcome home the remains of those killed in action . . . something that our previous president did rarely and only when the cameras were rolling.

Oops at this point the four year old was bored, and so the conversation ended. Interestingly he has not mentioned President Trump again.

Today I thought if I were asked “why,” again what would i say, knowing that there would be time only for two responses. What would each of you say?

After mulling it over, I have decided that the following would be my two answers:

First – He does what he says that he is going to do. His campaign promises are not “say it, but have no intention to do it” promises, like so many politicians. In business, if you promise something, you do it, otherwise the word spreads quickly that you are a phony . . .and one thing Donald Trump is not, is a phony.

Second – He believes in the law. He has appointed about 200 judges . . . judges that believe in and will follow the Constitution. Similarly, with these riots and their accompanying destruction, he is solidly in the corner of law and order not anarchy.

Oops, I’ve gotta go as my four year old granddaughter is now bored.

President Trump is going gangbusters on rallies since his recovery from Covid. These rallies are well attended . . . probably by a bunch of Trump retreads from 2016. Right?  Err, not exactly. In fact, many of these energetic individuals are not Trump voters from 2016. 

Who are they?

From GOP chairwoman, Ronna McDaniel, vis Townhall here are some of stats from recent rally signups.

Des Moines,

10,139 voters identified

48.5%  NOT Republican

29.4%  Democrat

25.0% did not vote in 2016

13.7% did not vote in the last 4 elections

GEORGIA,

11,940 voters 

21.8% Democrat, 

27.9% Black 

27.5% didn’t vote in 2016.

FLORIDA,

13,749 voters 

54.3% Women

23.8% not Republican 

24.4% didn’t vote in 2016.

Nevada,

15,038 signups for Carson City rally

18.4% not Republican

30.0% did not vote in 2016

Muskegon, Michigan,

11,842 voters matched

Only 48.3% Republican

36% who did not vote in 2016

Janesville, Wisconsin,

11,842 voters matched

Only 48.3% Republican

36% who did not vote in 2016

When you look at these stats, in general there are a few things that stand out concerning who is signing up for these Trump rallies.

First: 24-36% did not vote in the 2016 election. These are not potential cross-over voters, but rather “new” 2020 voters. If these new voters are interested in Trump rallies, it is reasonable to conclude that most of then will be voting for DJT.

Second: Not all of the signups identify as Republican, and for some of these rallies a fair number of signups (20+%) identify themselves as Democrats. Are these potential crossover voters?

Keep in mind that these stats are mainly from those who signed up for these rallies, and not all of the signups made it to these rallies. Be that as it may, these numbers are not what I would have anticipated from Trump rally signups.

I would agree with Ms. McDaniel that these numbers are both interesting and encouraging. Without question just attending a Trump rally would be an exciting, potentially bucket-list item. If one is a “no way am I voting for Trump” person, would he/she waste one’s time filling out a questionnaire, or going to a rally. Not likely.

Keep your fingers crossed, and may God bless America.

In the next four years the President of the United States will be called upon to make multiple critical decisions about a multitude of things, many of which are not yet on the horizon. Who knows what will happen in 2021, 2022, etc.? After all who could have foreseen the Covid pandemic?  What will be the next critical decision that must be made by our next President?

The best any of us can do is look at what the candidate is saying now about certain things, and then project what he might say and how he would respond to certain issues.

Right up front, I did not watch the Biden ABC Townhall. However, a few days later I saw his response to the question from a mother of a transgender child. (At this point whatever your thoughts are on transgenderism, they are irrelevant.) The shocking thing to me was Biden’s response.

Biden told the child’s mother the following: “The idea that an eight-year-old, a 10-year-old, decides, you know, I decide I want to be transgender. That’s what I think I’d like to be, it would make my life a lot easier—there should be zero discrimination.”

That is certainly worth reading again and then take a second and see what he is saying! He is saying that an eight year-old should be able to decide about his/her gender. I have met and spoken to many eight year olds in the past. Most of them are not mature enough to decide what kind of birthday party might be best for them. None of them, and I emphasize, NONE OF THEM are mature enough to decide about their gender. What kind of a nincompoop would think that this kind of a decision should be made by a relatively young child?

To put this in poker parlance this is a big tell. (Tells help poker players decide how that opponent will act in similar situations.)

How can someone who is running to be our president say something so foolish? Everyone knows that the questions on Biden’s Townhall were screened and handpicked. Consequently in general, he knew what kind of questions were coming, and still he says:

“The idea that an eight-year-old, a 10-year-old, decides, you know, I decide I want to be transgender. That’s what I think I’d like to be, it would make my life a lot easier—there should be zero discrimination.”

OMG! Help!

How could any reasonable person agree with his nonsensical response. 

For a minute just think of what kind of ludicrous response he might give if he didn’t know what question was coming ahead of time. If it is reasonable for an eight year old to decide this sort of issue, why not let them vote?

If Biden gets elected, God help us all!