Crying About the Kids' Failures Doesn't Help Them Succeed

 

We have all seen the video of the frustrated teacher crying for his senior class on Instagram and on X. The New York Post filled in the details, teaching us more about this depressed academic.

Here’s a key entry from the Post:

A Texas high school teacher was reduced to tears and broke down in front of his class when he realized the seniors he was teaching couldn’t complete a writing exercise.

Darius Williams, a teacher for Houston Independent School District’s Wheatley High School, said he couldn’t get through the first class of the second day of school before his students’ poor literacy skills were too much for him.

“I just finished a three-hour class, and I literally broke down in the middle of class,” Williams said in an Instagram video during his lunch break on Tuesday.

Mr. Williams should be furious. His kids have not been learning, yet he’s expected to give them the last comprehensive review of English literature. Students usually learn about American Lit their junior year, and by the senior year, they’re taking English literature, from Beowulf to the Bloomsbury Group.

These failures within Houston ISD have been festering for a long time.

In 2015, Texas State Rep. Harold Dutton (D-Houston) pushed through a bill allowing the Texas Education Agency to take over Houston ISD. In fact, Rep. Dutton shared in his 2015 interview with The Defender Network that he noticed Houston’s failures as far back as 2003.

Houston ISD was performing so poorly that a Democratic lawmaker wanted Texas to take over the district. He knew he faced political backlash from his own party for standing up to teachers’ unions and putting the needs of children first, but he could not look away and ignore the chronic academic failure of his home district.

Dutton’s bill passed over ten years ago. Eleven years later, the teacher featured above, who teaches at Rep. Dutton’s alma mater no less, has broken down and cried on camera in his classroom because the students can’t write four words.

This failure is systemic and generational. This is institutional collapse of the highest—or lowest—order, and all guilty parties should not slide.

Who allowed these students to advance from grade to grade without any competence? Don’t the standardized tests mean anything? Where were the teachers beforehand? How far back does this culture of failure stretch? I remember talking with fellow teachers in South Gate, CA, and we were all working at a brand-new school on the west side of town. One English teacher confided to me that he had sought out the transcripts of his current students in his English classes. Throughout their middle school years, the students just advanced, even if they were earning straight Fs. Where’s the accountability? Where are the resources to hold students back who do not master basic skills or content in order to face the next grade level?

And think about the students! They have to endure grade after grade, falling further behind, even though the district pushes them forward unearned. I remember teaching an eighth grader during my student teaching. He literally looked at the book, the assignment, then me, and admitted: I can’t do this.

Horrible!

Some school districts require students to retake courses they failed, or they direct students to remedial or alternative education. Those continuation schools pose different problems for the kids. The environment becomes a malaise of students who refuse to work, who often go to class only half the day, working on basic contracts outlining all the work they must do to graduate. All of this does not ensure that kids will learn anything.

Will they recover their credits? Will they graduate? Many school districts simply dump these failing kids into remedial education just to maintain higher test scores for the regular schools. Unethical, to say the least.

Regarding the standardized tests, sure, they matter. They provide a broad indication of how well or badly things are progressing in the district.

And this time, time itself is another problem.

The reform efforts started more than twenty years ago, when a politician recognized that the local school district was failing the students. He introduced legislation over ten years later to fix the problem. More than a decade after that, the school district is still failing the students.

This is beyond outrageous. The bureaucracy wins again. Moving the ship of state is hard enough, but should children suffer the whole time? More parents are fighting back, realizing that their children don’t have ten or twenty years to make up for the lack of education in their public schools.

And how many parents are taking the lead to do what is best for their kids? Go to any school board meeting across the country. Aside from the national outrage over mask mandates and obscenity in the libraries, most parents have nonchalantly checked out of their children’s education. It took COVID-19 and the massive lockdowns to force parents to pay attention!

How many generations get harmed by the institutional setback of a bad education? How many families struggle because the children graduate from high school with some expectation that they can start a job, grow a career, build a family, and make a life for themselves … only to run into the relentless reality that they possess no competence to accomplish anything?

This is too much to bear. No wonder teachers are so overwhelmed.

I wanted to cry when listening to Darius Williams’ fraught frustration.

Which invites another set of tough questions …

What has Mr. Williams done to turn the tide on this tragedy of failed education? Or better yet, what can he do? One great teacher can’t make all the difference on his own. Teaching English to seniors depends on the effectiveness of all the teachers in freshman, sophomore, and junior years. You might work your heart out, and the kids come out smarter than the students at the local community college, but will the next teachers carry on your legacy of success?

 I don’t understand why so many teachers remain in these failing schools, aside from a sense of last-ditch hope that they can turn things around. If the system in the school district is failing that much, the best thing that a teacher can do is to flee.

Lo and behold, that’s precisely what is happening.

Good teachers need to get out of bad schools, because they cannot turn them around, and they should not enable or take the blame for their collapse. Look at the celebrated case of Jaime Escalante at Garfield High School in South Los Angeles. He challenged the kids, trained up enough of them to take the AP Calculus exam, and many of them passed. Despite the ETS suspicions that they had cheated—due to the students making the same mistakes—the students retook the exams and showed the world that students in a failing school district could succeed.

The ridiculous union rules, the feckless demands of administration, and the pushback from jealous faculty frustrated Escalante, and he eventually found a more welcoming school. Mr. Williams should consider Escalante’s course. He should either find a better district or just give up on public education entirely.

The NRA Is Resetting, Aiming for Higher Targets

The NRA has been through tough times:

·         The 1994 assault weapons ban.

·         The “academic” consensus that gun control would control gun crime.

·         “Conservative” presidents like Ronald Reagan signaling support for gun restrictions.

The latest setback involved Wayne LaPierre, the previous EVP and CEO. He wisely and courageously rebuffed the post-Sandy Hook mass shooting hysteria with “The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is with a good guy with a gun.” Recently, LaPierre was found liable for misappropriating NRA funds. Internal dramas exploded to the forefront, distracting from the core mission: protect the gun rights of Americans and ensure full enforcement of the Second Amendment.

The good news is that the NRA is getting back on track, based on the latest meeting of the South Bay, Los Angeles County NRA chapter in Redondo Beach, CA.

California is about as hostile as it gets for gun rights, and Los Angeles is one of the most hostile sections on top of that. Why would the NRA show any signs of hope, let alone comity, there?

Four reps from the NRA addressed the club: National Manager David Holbrook, Managing Director Lexi Higgins, Grassroots Field Coordinator Darius Diggs, and California state director Clay Kimberling. They gave upbeat updates. The worst of the NRA leadership drama is over. Better executives have taken, and their focus is winning, even in gun-control hellhole California.

State Director Kimberling discussed key bills, good and bad, working their way through the state capitol. In the midst of all the bad news, one good bill passed: AB 1948. Newsom recently signed off on this legislation, which allows CCW permit holders to renew their permits only every three years, instead of every two years. I had to press in on this news, since Newsom is the last guy who would want to look pro-gun.

Kimberling explained that sheriff’s departments throughout the state were complaining about their increased permit renewal backlogs, and they need some relief. Starting June 30^th, 2026, California residents who obtain a CCW can wait three years before having to renew. Of course, we would prefer to carry without having to obtain a permit, but every step towards freedom is better than nothing.

Unfortunately, one of the notorious pieces of legislation in Sacramento, as if the hyperbole seems unfitting or unnecessary, is Senate Bill 948. The radical former mayor of the People’s Republic of Berkeley, CA (and now state senator), Jesse Arreguin has filed this bill.

 

This legislation would require every prospective gun owner in the state to take a 4-hour training class before they could take the firearms safety certificate questionnaire—in order to have permission to buy guns! What’s the real purpose? National Manager Holbrook explained that SB 948 is about enacting a de facto gun ban. How many are prepared to jump through a bunch of hoops, take extra time, and spend $200 at a shooting range looking for a trainer so they can get the 4 hours in, and then take a written test, which they also must pay for? Can you imagine any state imposing a set of certificated requirements for you to publish an opinion? Or to write a blog? 

Can you imagine any state requiring you to take a class and be certificated so that you could assert your 4th amendment rights against unreasonable search and seizure? All of this is ridiculous. And yet this is the latest deceptive legislative scam that California gun-control fanatics are pushing. The legislation has already passed the state senate and it's facing a vote before the State Assembly appropriations committee in the next month. There is some good news, however, as even some Democratic lawmakers are uncomfortable with the extra, onerous requirements in SB 948. 

Of course, the NRA and its grassroots networks have found success not just in stopping bad bills, not just in getting good pills to pass, even in California, but have won key court cases with their excellent legal team. From the NYPRA v Bruen in 2022 to today, the United State Supreme Court and lowers courts have rendered more decisions favoring gun rights and upholding the strength of the Second Amendment. 

Aren’t legal victories a good enough remedy for dealing with bad laws coming out of California? It's important to recognize that California Democrats are pushing horrific gun laws precisely so that they can bleed gun owners and gun rights groups dry with vexatious litigation and forced appeals. The whole purpose of the left’s legal onslaught against our constitutional rights is about discouraging citizens from exercising them in the first place! 

The four NRA advocates could not make it clearer: don't stop making the phone calls, don't stop confronting your representatives, don't stop making your voices heard. 

James Ma, the South Bay NRA chapter leader, stressed winning not just at the state level but the local level. Gun control advocates are using every tool, including targeting local planning commissions so that gun stores cannot open in cities. In 2022, Torrance, California, was considering a gun store in the Downtown area. Gun owners and gun rights activists throughout the region were convinced that the mayor and a majority of council members would do the common-sense thing and allow the gun store to open. However, the local school district and local indivisible groups lined up and induced high school students to attend the city council meeting all calling for the gun store to be denied.

And they won.  This loss reminded everyone that the price of Liberty is eternal vigilance, and gun owners need to stay alert. The NRA leaders stressed this principle, too.

One of the most engaging of the four speakers, Darius Diggs, reminded the South Bay audience of how free and open gun culture is next door in Arizona. The residents of the Grand Canyon State don’t even have to obtain a Firearms Safety Certificate to purchase guns. How much are California gun owners willing to tolerate? This is outrageous! Diggs invited the room to join the NRA as FrontLines Activist Leaders. Don’t just make phone calls from home. Network with fellow gun owners and Second Amendment advocates. Come prepared to testify for and against gun-related bills in Sacramento.

The NRA leaders left the South Bay NRA chapter with one final point: the fight for gun rights matters even in the bluest of states. Most gun control plots emanate out of California. If we can stop them here, we keep them from advancing across the country. 

According to Managing Director Higgins, the Trump Administration has been the most gun friendly administration in our nation's history. She identified steady victories from the Trump DOJ, plus their ongoing lawsuits and piecemeal legislative victories, passing good policy and stopping a lot of bad legislation. With these victories, California can be a battleground for long-term victory in the fight to protect our constitutional rights 

The upbeat but serious speeches from the four NRA advocates encouraged everyone with hope and purpose. The large turnout for the chapter meeting showed that the NRA outreach is working. A new spirit is invigorating the NRA, and if gun owners sense hope in California, you know that things are looking good for the rest of the country.

Ben Sasse Wants to Make the US Senate Great Again (And I Could Not Agree More!)

US Senator Ben Sasse (R-Nebraska) is a consummate constitutionalist.

He does not do whatever President Trump wants, and he is not afraid to demand jealous safeguarding of the United States Senate and its institutions.

Indeed, the Framers of the United States Constitution never intended to the United States Senate to operate as an extension of the House of Representatives. The US Senate was never intended to be an extensive democratic chamber.

The US Senators were supposed to be elected by the legislatures, and they were supposed 

Make the Senate Great Again

To restore the world’s greatest deliberative body, we need to think big.

What would the Founding Fathers think of America if they came back to life? Their eyes would surely bug out first at our technology and wealth. But I suspect they’d also be stunned by the deformed structure of our government. The Congress they envisioned is all but dead. The Senate in particular is supposed to be the place where Americans hammer out our biggest challenges with debate. That hasn’t happened for decades—and the rot is bipartisan.

Many on the left think the problem is the filibuster, which requires a supermajority to end debate and enact most legislation. But ending the filibuster would allow political parties to change the direction of the country dramatically with a succession of shifting 51-49 votes. That’s a path to even more polarization and instability. The Senate’s culture needs dramatic change aimed at promoting debate, not ending it. Here are some ideas:

• Cut the cameras. Most of what happens in committee hearings isn’t oversight, it’s showmanship. Senators make speeches that get chopped up, shipped to home-state TV stations, and blasted across social media. They aren’t trying to learn from witnesses, uncover details, or improve legislation. They’re competing for sound bites.

There’s one notable exception: The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, the majority of whose work is done in secret. Without posturing for cameras, Republicans and Democrats cooperate on some of America’s most complicated and urgent problems. Other committees could follow their example, while keeping transparency by making transcripts and real-time audio available to the public.

• Abolish standing committees. The Senate is supposed to be the world’s greatest deliberative body, but it operates on about 20 permanent fiefdoms. Dividing legislative work is important, but there’s no corporation that would tackle its problems by creating 20 permanent committees and running every decision through them. The Senate should instead create temporary two-year committees, each devoted to making real progress on one or two big problems. Committees should draw power from their accomplishments, not based on which industries need to supplicate before the gavel.

• Pack the floor. Serious debate happens only if senators show up. Ninety-nine percent of the time you see a senator talking on the floor, he’s speaking to a chamber with somewhere between zero and two colleagues present. The Senate’s rules privilege the majority, which controls the agenda and floor time. Senators ought to be packed on the floor having real debates. We can do that by changing the rules to allow committees to control some floor time. Elections have consequences, so the majority leader should control the majority of the Senate’s time, but committees should be able to command specific times for specific debates.

• Live together. A lot of time is spent demonizing the opposition, but most senators can get along quite well. Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii is as liberal as the day is long, but he’s my friend. Senators should live, eat, and meet in dormitories when the Senate is in session. It’s hard to demonize people you spend time with every day.

• Cancel re-election. One of the biggest reasons Congress gives away its power to the executive branch is that it’s politically expedient for both parties to avoid the decisions that come from the work of legislating. Lawmakers are obsessed with staying in office, and one of the easiest ways to keep getting re-elected is by avoiding hard decisions. We ought to propose a constitutional amendment to limit every senator to one term, but we should double it from six years to 12. Senators who don’t have to worry about short-term popularity can work instead on long-term challenges.

If that’s a bridge too far, at least ban fundraising while the Senate is in session in Washington. It’s an everyday experience to sit down at a $2,000-a-plate lunch fundraiser and then run over to make committee votes. Lobbying is protected by the First Amendment, but it shouldn’t be the primary focus of senators when we’ve got work to do.

• Repeal the 17th Amendment. Ratified in 1913, it replaced the appointment of senators by state legislatures with direct election. Different states bring different solutions to the table, and that ought to be reflected in the Senate’s national debate. The old saying used to be that all politics is local, but today—thanks to the internet, 24/7 cable news and a cottage industry dedicated to political addiction—politics is polarized and national. That would change if state legislatures had direct control over who serves in the Senate.

• Sunset everything. For decades Pennsylvania Avenue has been a one-way street, as authority flowed from Congress to the executive branch. When the unelected bureaucracy gets power, it doesn’t let go. We ought to end that by having the Senate create a “super committee” dedicated to reviewing all such delegations of power over the past 80 years and then proposing legislation to sunset the authority of entire bureaucracies on a rolling basis. Does, say, the Health and Human Services Department ever answer for its aggressive regulatory lawmaking? Of course not. Sunset all its authority in 12 months and watch lawmakers start to make actual laws.

• Make a real budget. The power of the purse is Congress’s primary lever—and the area where Congress is most unserious. The budget process is completely broken, and every couple of months lawmakers are faced with a monumentally stupid decision: Shut the government down or spend 102% of what was spent last year, with no oversight. It’s an endless series of all-or-nothing brinkmanship fights—continuing resolutions, omnibus spending deals and debt-ceiling hikes. We ought to fix that with two-year budgeting that includes all federal spending, including on entitlements. We ought to end the distinction between appropriation and authorization. Legislation that authorizes federal action should also appropriate the money to pay for it.

These aren’t partisan proposals, because congressional dysfunction isn’t a partisan problem. Lawmakers—Republicans and Democrats—don’t make laws. Over years, Congress made the choice to shirk its duty and cede power to the executive branch. Recovery will be hard, but it’s time for Congress build some muscle and figure out how to serve the American people by doing our constitutionally mandated jobs again.

Mr. Sasse, a Republican, is a U.S. senator from Nebraska.

Here are my reflections on the above set of suggested reforms:

I agree with the vast majority of US Senator Ben Sasse's (R-Nebraska) suggested reforms.

The Senate’s culture needs dramatic change aimed at promoting debate, not ending it."

Agreed. Here are reforms that would restore the deliberative core of the US Senate:

1. Repeal the 17th Amendment. The Senate was designed to represent STATES, not individuals. Senators should not be elected by popular vote. The United States is not a democracy, although one chamber does indeed represent the more democratic impulse in the country: The House of Representatives

2. Cut the cameras. Hearings should be audio-recorded only (just like Supreme Court hearings), and transcripts can be provided afterwards. No more videos, no more playing to the cameras.

3. Abolish standing committees. YES! Every committee should be ad hoc (set up for a specific task, then decommissioned once the task is completed). Standing committees have allowed The Swamp to gain considerable power in Washington at the expense of the states and the people (cf. Ninth and Tenth Amendments)

4. "Pack the Floor" -- Senators need to show up and speak. Sasse points out that most US Senators speak on the floor to only one or two people. There is no real discussion or deliberation, just a lot of pontification and monologue. By extension, US Senators must be present when invoking a filibuster. They cannot "call in" to object to a legislative motion, and that alone suffices. Blue paper motions must also be scrapped. If a home state senator wants to block or delay a judicial or executive nominee, he needs to make the case to the entire body.

5. "Sunset everything", i.e. give regulatory or legislative action and commission assignments a 12-month time limit. There should be no bureaucratic process in place beyond one year. Every legislative action of such a caliber should have a required "sunset" clause. This reform from Senator Sasse is excellent.

6. I disagree with his call for term limits. No term limits for legislators. The best term limit is an election. Instead, we need to make it easier for every citizen to challenge incumbents. Enactment of recall for federal officials would be far more appropriate.

7. "Make a real budget ... We ought to end the distinction between appropriation and authorization. Legislation that authorizes federal action should also appropriate the money to pay for it." Yes. No more "all or nothing" budget bills which waste money on frivolous projects with no oversight.

The biggest reform needed, of course, is the full repeal of the 17th Amendment. Make America a Republic Again.

Organizing of Action: Dangerous Group Imperiling the American Republic?

The article below has been circulating all over the Internet, especially on Facebook. A friends have tagged me with posts of this article.

I decided to repost and comment on it.

For the record, I researched whether Charles Krauthammer, the conservative columnist for the Washington Post, actually wrote the article below, and there is nothing to support that conclusion.

For now, I will recognize Krauthammer as the author for now.

By Charles Krauthammer (Attributed)

I do not understand how living in a country with its democracy established over 200 years ago, and now, for the first time in history, suddenly we have one of our former presidents set up a group called "Organizing for Action" (OFA).

Organizing for Action was designed to push the rigorous, unflinching, progressive agenda of President Barack Obama, and the whole movement dragged down the Democratic Party, since OFA was obsessed with Obama only but paid no attention to future leaders.

OFA is 30,000+ strong and working to disrupt everything that our current president’s administration is trying to do. This organization goes against our Democracy, and it is an operation that will destroy our way of governing. It goes against our Constitution, our laws, and the processes established over 200 years ago. If it is allowed to proceed then we will be living in chaos very much like third world countries are run. What good is it to have an established government if it is not going to be respected and allowed to follow our laws?

If you had an army some 30,000 strong and a court system stacked over the decades with judges who would allow you to break the laws, how much damage could you do to a country? We are about to find out in America!

There needs to be more evidence of what OFA is doing to destroy our Constitution. I fear that the bigger threat to our constitutional Republic is not a rag-tag group of angry protesters, but the bureaucratic Deep State in Washington DC which does not want to see its power and control over the federal government finished off.

I do not feel that these dire concerns are irreversibly detrimental to our country, either. The bigger concern is the large number of college students who are attracted to socialism, communism, and government command-and-control intervention.

Instead of going after OFA per se, how about conversing with college students and changing their minds on these contentious issues.

Our ex-president said he was going to stay involved through community organizing and speak out on the issues and that appears to be one post-administration promise he intends to keep. He has moved many of his administration's top dogs over to Organizing for Action.

OFA is behind the strategic and tactical implementation of the resistance to the Trump Administration that we are seeing across America, and politically active courts are providing the leverage for this revolution.

Yes, but let' s not forget George Soros, the Deep State, and the Establishment GOP more interested in holding onto their own power than doing right by the US Constitution.

Looking over the OFA website, it's pretty obvious that their actions and movement is not as strong as other conservative forces fear.

OFA is dedicated to organizing communities for "progressive" change. Its issues are gun control, socialist healthcare, abortion, sexual equality, climate change, and of course, immigration reform.

That weasel phrase "immigration reform" is an insult. The Left wants full-blown amnesty and grants of legal status, even citizenship for illegal aliens. There can be no reform when there has been no enforcement in the first place!

Sexual equality is an insane, Marxist agenda, too. Men and women are distinctly, essentially different. No one is going to change that, no matter how much time or effort is forced into the process. All the hormones and surgical procedures in the world cannot turn a man into a woman, and vice versa.

OFA members were propped up by the ex-president's message from the shadows: "Organizing is the building block of everything great we have accomplished Organizers around the country are fighting for change in their communities and OFA is one of the groups on the front lines. Commit to this work in 2017 and beyond."

Here's more reason to hope, actually. All the organizing (and voter fraud, and government handouts) could not get Crooked Hillary elected. There was no way that 

OFA's website says it obtained its "digital" assets from the ex-president's re-election effort and that he inspired the movement. In short, it is the shadow government organization aimed at resisting and tearing down the Constitutional Republic we know as AMERICA.

Paul Sperry, writing for the New York Post, says, “The OFA will fight President Donald Trump at every turn of his presidency and the ex-president will command them from a bunker less than two miles from the White House."

Whatever fighting they claim to be accomplishing, it isn't working, especially since his party holds the reins of power in both chambers of Congress.

Sperry writes that, “The ex-president is setting up a shadow government to sabotage the Trump administration through a network of non-profits led by OFA, which is growing its war chest (more than $40 million) and has some 250 offices nationwide. The OFA IRS filings, according to Sperry, indicate that the OFA has 32,525 (and growing) volunteers nationwide. The ex-president and his wife will oversee the operation from their home/ office in Washington DC.

Think about how this works.. For example: Trump issues an immigration executive order; the OFA signals for protests and statements from pro-immigrant groups; the ACLU lawyers file lawsuits in jurisdictions where activist judges obstruct the laws; volunteers are called to protest at airports and Congressional town hall meetings; the leftist media springs to action in support of these activities; the twitter sphere lights up with social media; and violence follows. All of this happens from the ex-president's signal that he is heartened by the protests.

The lawfare waged by the ACLU and the Muslim interest groups should be taken far more seriously. If OFA is the money behind all of this, then indeed we need to pay close attention. Tort reform is a must in our political culture, especially when rogue federal judges announce that they can strike down key portions of President Trump's duly empowered executive orders.

If Barack Obama did not do enough to destroy this country in the 8 years he was in office, it appears his future plans are to destroy the foundation on which this country has operated on for the last 241 years.

I say "Good Luck!" to that!

If this does not scare you, then we are in worse trouble than you know.

So, do your part. You have read it, so at least pass this on so others will know what we are up against. We are losing our country and we are so compliant. We are becoming a "PERFECT TARGET" for our enemy!

Charles Krauthammer

Final Reflection

Yes, I am well-aware that President Obama was going to stay hard and heavy in American politics. Unlike other Presidents, he had no intention of retiring from trying to fundamentally transform the United States.

The good news, however, is that men and women across the country are awake and aware, and they are organizing for action of their own against the disgusting attacks and undermining cult of the Left to take down the United States.

The political correctness and the left-wing agendas which tumbled out of the entertainment, education, and information industries has fallen down, crashing and burning. No one is going to stop the American people, now fully enraged with the disgrace and disregard of the Obama Administration against American citizens.

Organizing for Action is a real force, but they are not a strong force. I suggest Americans spend more time focusing on the Deep State and work with local and independent media to expose corrupt politicians and failing, left-wing agenda makers. We should also thank God for Trump, and that he has willing partners in the United States Senate who have brushed aside the arbitrary dilatory tactics of the Democratic minority against judicial nominees. Trump is going to fill up an unprecedented number of vacancies throughout the federal judiciary. Those appointments will stifle OFA's abusive lawfare.

With Hollywood, Big Labor, and left-wing corporations losing revenue, these left-wing operations will struggle to fundraise and carry on their aggressive progressive agenda, too. Let's not forget that Heritage Foundation has set up their own media and organizing efforts, too, and they are succeeding!

Reseda Town Hall with AG Becerra: We Got Another Runner!

For this town hall, held at Reseda High School in Reseda, the Valley section of Los Angeles, I wanted to ensure that Becerra answered all questions and everyone go to hear his answers.

For some reason, this statewide officer has no interest, no willingness to listen to constituents or answer their questions. Let's tell the truth, though, about his frequent visits to different sections of the state. Becerra is campaigning for re-election, nothing more, and he is using the California State Attorney General's office to push a destructive, regressive, anti-Trump agenda.

He has lost numerous cases while suing to stop the Trump Administration, and let's hope that we can knock him out so that he does not get re-elected in 2018.

This town hall was hosted with Assemblyman Matt Dababneh, who is trying to show himself having bipartisan credentials, so that he fight back against Republican and Democratic challenges for his seat in 2018. Susan Shelly almost won the seat in 2013 during a special election, but she lost by a razor thin 200 votes.

When I started talking with members of the audience, I found that there were a number of people who shared views similar to mine. One man commented that he had worked hard for nearly 50 years, saved his money, ensured for his retirement, and despised the state government for stealing his money and handing it out to local and county governments which refuse to budget properly.

Here is the first, extended video I had recorded at the Dababneh--Becerra town hall:

The best line from him? "Health care is not a human right."

Thank you. It's a commodity, a good,  a service.

Steve Crowder helps explain the crucial difference among these different terms:

There were some natty young people there who wanted to fight with us, but I also met other residents in the Valley area who supported Donald Trump and hated the illegal immigration, the high taxes, and the poor services offered by the state of California. Pensions, potholes, and problems galore, and the Democrats just want to give us more!

Enough!

Matt Dababneh held court for a great period of time. As often happens with the Brad Sherman town halls, Dababneh spent more time touting his legislative accomplishments than listening to questions or hearing the concerns of his angry, frustrated constituents.

Finally, Becerra showed up, and then Dababneh and company launched into more presentations and awards.

I was really frustrated at that point, and I called out "Question! Ask a question."

Becerra actually received one of my own. "Will you sue colleges which refuse to protect the First Amendment?"

Unbelievable but true, he refused to speak to my concern, which is that colleges and cities connected to them refuse to defend protesters and demonstrators who want to exercise their First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and assembly.

The most egregious example of this lately occurred at UC Berkeley, when I was chased down the street, my hat, cape, and glasses were stolen, and then I was pepper-sprayed and glitter-bombed.

It was really bad for me, and worse for others, including a cameraman who got beat up!

Becerra wanted to shame us Trump supporters and call us rude.

The only reason I shouted out at him was that he refused to answer my question.

Other members of the audience were angry because Becerra is not working with ICE enough. Let's not forget that he wants to stop the border wall and protect young illegals rather than enforce the federal immigration laws in cooperation with Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

The outrage reached a fevered pitch when Becerra chose to run away rather than face us.

I could not believe that we had to endure this!

Of course, we refused to simply let Matt Dababneh get away with raising our taxes, reducing the penalties for knowingly infecting someone with AIDS, and turning California into a sanctuary state for illegal aliens:

Dababneh realized that he was surrounded, and that angry constituents were not going to tolerate being ignored and pushed aside as though they do not matter.

After he fled the scene, LA County for Trump celebrated yet another victory of the people against corrupt, arrogant, and undocumented politicians.

They have no good traits which I can mention!

Final Reflection

I was really impressed that there were many other like-minded people in the audience along with all of us. The anger from overburdened, exasperated California voters has reached a feverish pitch, and we are not going to put up with all of this abuse any longer.

Enough is enough. For myself, I cannot tolerate these elected officials pissing on my leg and telling me that it's raining. The state of California is in a bad state, and we California citizens want this state to remain in a strong viable state for ourselves and our future.

I was born in California, raised in this state, and I cannot think of any better place in the world to live. It's wrong, it's a total criminal for these represents, whether by district or across the state, to steal our money, abuse our rights, and destroy our quality of life.

I was really pleased that people came up to me after Becerra and Dababneh shut down their meeting to call out Becerra for ignoring illegal immigration. I have met at least two Democrats from the West Valley who voted for Donald Trump! This is incredible!

It's time that more citizens, more angry Californians started rising up and taking on the rampant evil from our state and locally elected representatives! Nothing can hold us back!

Minnesota Republicans Reform Budget, Even Though They Control One Branch of Government

Republicans Close the Deal for Minnesotans An important step forward Last night, Republicans proved they can lead by closing the deal for Minnesotans. As the 2017 Legislative Session came to a close, legislative leaders overcame the obstacles that Democrats and Governor Dayton continuously put in the way of reform and tax relief. The result was a series of bills that will benefit Minnesotans. Republicans passed the largest tax relief package in nearly two decades. They lowered taxes for senior citizens, removed an “extra” tax on small businesses, reduced taxes for many individuals paying student loans, and provided property tax relief for many farmers. Republicans invested a historic level of existing funding to repair our roads and bridges, and stopped Governor Dayton and Democrats from increasing the gas tax. Republicans lowered health care costs and increased options, keeping their campaign promises that they would work to fix the devastation caused by Obamacare. Republicans funded education while enacting many key reforms, including ending the detrimental “Last In, First Out” layoff policy, expanding school choice through pre-K scholarships, and fixing the teacher licensure system to help address the teacher shortage. Republicans have the policy solutions. This session proves Republicans can lead and enact policies that benefit Minnesotans. The missing piece is a Governor who champions real solutions instead of standing in the way.

More Winning: Trump Rolls Back Obama's Regulatory Behemoth

 President Trump is not just keeping promises from the campaign trail.

He is exceeding those promises!

Check out what Never-Trumper US Senator Ben Sasse shared with his constituents:

A Quick Note from Ben

In 2016, President Obama's Department of Education published a rule that hit states with new federal mandates for how to judge teachers. Like No Child Left Behind, these new mandates overrode state and local responsibility with Washington-based systems that rely heavily on student test scores.

Thankfully, after a bipartisan vote in the Senate, the President signed our legislation repealing the Department of Education’s harmful rule on teacher education programs this week.

This is a win for kids and for common sense. Everyone in Washington wants good teachers for our kids but that doesn’t give them a license to micromanage thousands of teacher training programs. With this legislation, we put student-focused innovation ahead of top-down regulation.

Here's an article from MSN--they had no choice but to let the good news roll out for all!

WASHINGTON — President Trump rolled back more Obama-era regulations Monday, signing four bills that reverse rules on education, land use and federal purchasing.

How about rolling back and throwing away the entire Obama Administration?

I would be happy with that!

Let's go along with columnnist Charles Krauthammer's final statement: "The Obama Administration will become a parenthesis"

Promising to "remove every job-killing regulation we can find," Trump said even more regulation-cutting bills were on the way.

I love this guy!

Go Trump Go!

The resolutions of disapproval reached the president's desk through the Congressional Review Act, a rarely used tool that allows Congress to fast-track a bills to reverse regulations. Before Trump, the law had been used successfully only once in its 21-year history.

Perfect. Republicans are learning the art of fine-tuned and archane legislating. Now that they have been in power for more years than not over the last two decades, they are mastering the rules of the House and the United States Senate.

Trump has now signed a total of seven, a pace that has surprised even experts. "There are several that weren't on my radar at all," said Susan Dudley, director of the Regulatory Studies Center at George Washington University.

Incredible! There's a term for that. It's called "High Energy."

 Previous bills have reversed Obama regulations banning Social Security recipients with a mental impairment from buying a firearm, restricting the dumping of mining waste in streams and rivers, and requiring energy companies to disclose how much they're paying foreign governments.

WOW! Laws which protect Americans jobs and lives. Who could ask for more!

Don't stop there! Don't stop now!

In fact, now half of all bills Trump has signed so far have been these regulation-killing resolutions. White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Monday many of the bills "cancel federal power grabs that took decision-making away from the states and local governments."

What is it about the federal government and the undermining of our local and state economies?

One would think that more people would learn their lessons about all of ths.

The rules canceled by Trump's pen include:

So much to enjoy! So much to celebrate.

► The "Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces" rule, which barred companies from receiving federal contracts if they had a history of violating wage, labor or workplace safety laws. That regulation, derided by critics as the "blacklisting" rule, was already held up in court.

Let's let companies and corporations grow and compete for wages and workers. The federal government only wants to make nice with Big Labor. How about helping the Little Guy?

"The rule simply made it too easy for trial lawyers to go after American companies and American workers who contract with the federal government," White House press secretary Sean Spicer said.

There is no greater reform that I can think of than preventing trial lawyers from getting rich off of frivolous lawsuits!

President Obama had pushed the rule through an executive order in 2014. But with the rule wiped off the books, Trump then signed an executive order revoking Obama's order and directing agencies to rescind any policies implementing it.

What's good for the loser is now great for the winner. And Trump uses Executive Orders in line with his legal prerogative.

► A Bureau of Land Management rule known as "Planning 2.0," that gave the federal government a bigger role in land use decisions. The rule was opposed by the energy industry.

Let's allow individuals and local governing boards to decide what is best.

► Two regulations on measuring school performance and teacher training under the Every Student Succeeds Act, a law Obama signed in 2015 with bipartisan support.

US Senator Ben Sasse was talking about this rollback victory (see above).

Trump's action effectively precludes federal action on any of those rules, since the administration is now barred from issuing any new rule that is "substantially similar" to the ones that were just overturned.

Now that is brilliant. Don't just roll back bad regulation. Make sure that no one can revive them in the future.

That's one reason Congress has used the Congressional Review Act so sparingly in the past. Dudley said this Congress clearly has an appetite to cut even some more obscure regulations. "If there's a really focused group that is interested in this regulation and doesn’t like it, Congress might take it up," she said.

Let the red-tape cutting begin!

Trump signed the bills in a ceremony in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, handing out pens to members of Congress. "This was a lot of work by a lot of people to get this done," he said. "It will lead to a lot more jobs for a lot more people."

I am certain that Trump handed out pens to men and women in Congress who had not supported his bid for President in the past.

This is really exciting. Trump has been quite the magnanimous President, doing what is best for the country, and now worrying about special interest hustles against him.

Final Reflection

I see so many old rules and traditions getting blown out of the water with the Trump administration.

All the talk about eternal government programs is wasting away as they are getting cut.

Big ideas with a big agenda are becoming forefront actions.

I expect to see a real Republican program roll out of Washington finally. It's too bad that a complete outsider had to make it happen--or maybe this outcome is the best thing to happen, since grassroots activists and individual voters are finally taking back their party as well as their government.

I Accept Seiler's Advice for CAGOP: Audacity All the Way!

I don't often read articles on the Fox and Hounds website.

There's so little time, but at least FlashReport reminds me that I can find good articles on that site.

Then I found this article:

Advice for California Republicans: Audacity! Audacity!Always Audacity!

Finally, someone is reading my mind, sharing my sentiments.

The California Republican Party has continually chosen accommodation instead of confrontation. There is not enough fight in Sacramento, and Republicans are not grabbing enough of the headlines. While the rest of the RNC conference has learned to overcome the media and play offense--just as Donald Trump did--California Republicans are still playing defense, trying to look good in the eyes of the press.

Consider this dual interview on ABC 7 between CAGOP Treasurer Mario Guerra and LA County Supervisor Hilda Solis. Click here.

I have a lot of respect for Mario Guerra. He stands strong for family values. He is very attentive to the state measures hurting the working class.

But when he shared a dais with Hilda Solis, he spent a lot of time talking about finding common ground. He did not mention the millions of dollars that Solis and her colleagues are wasting to protect illegal aliens instead of fighting for California's citizens.

There were plenty of changes for Guerra to slam and shame Solis' failing policies.

And we are not seeing enough of this fight.

On the other hand, state assemblywoman Melissa Melendez (R-Menifee) excoriated her colleagues for their anti-Trump resolutions from December.

She has just introduced legislation to turn California into a Second Amendment "shall issue" state. What a great policy, even if the bill has no change of passing (or does it?).

Did anyone see what happened to state senator Janet Nguyen on the floor of the State Senate this past week?

Here's a video clip:

I am so proud of Senator Nguyen having the courage to speak out against the atrocities of the Vietnam War. She also criticized the late Senator Tom Hayden for his opposition to the Vietnam war, which lead to the deaths of many more Vietnamese.

Hayden was a raging, anti-American leftist. More people should be criticizing that men and spare not venting.

This is the kind of audacity we need to see more from our California Republican representatives.

I also appreciated Assemblyman Gallagher's vocal opposition to anti-First Amendment Attorney General Xavier Becerra:

How about Assemblyman Travis Allen's boldness to shame State Senator Holly Mitchell's misguided law which has decriminalized child prostitution? Let's state the facts plainly--this legislation has essentially legalized the ongoing exploitation of children on California's streets.

More Californian's should embrace and champion State Senator Joel Anderson's drive to end sanctuary cities. This initiative should have happened last year, but I say better late than never.

This is the kind of audacity I want to see in Sacramento.

It was both astonishing are sections of John Seiler's article about Audacity!

If Donald Trump’s victory has taught Republicans across the land anything, it’s to follow Danton’s cry to the Assembly (the French one, not the one in Sacramento): Audacity! Audacity! Always Audacity!

Donald Trump did not shy away from conflict and controversy. That's wrong. Californians need to stop being afraid of the press or the hatred of the libreal media. They are going to denounce conservatives, anyway, so why should we care? Besides, Trump has trounced the media so savagely, that no one listens to them or believes what they say anymore.

The Bush-Dole-Bush-McCain-Romney sellouts on so many issues, of blending with the Democrats’ socialism, is over. California’s version is the Pete Wilson-Arnold Schwarzenegger-Meg Whitman sellouts, which wimpified the party in this state. That’s why Republicans keep losing.

That's a great way to put it: the wimpification of the CAGOP. Republicans in Sacramento act like weak beta males who don't take the first step

Wilson, actually, is the exception that proves the rule. After winning the governorship in 1990, he wimped out and joined Democrats in raising taxes a then-record $7 billion. More taxes came in 1993. Down and seemingly out for his re-election in 1994, he grasped the Proposition 187 limitation in immigration and beat Kathleen Brown.

After reviewing Wilson's record, it was pretty substantive how much he caved and accommodated the Democratic agenda in Sacramento. I have noticed that other Republican governors stressed trying to work together with the legislature rather than focusing on long-term conservative solutions and refusing to back down from that agenda.

Wilson needed Prop 187 for his re-election bid. That initiative passed by 59% in "liberal" California.

Forget the media narrative which tells Republicans that they alienated Hispanic voters with this law. Hello! Republicans used the law to prop up their election bids, but nothing more. When the arrogant, unconstitutional federal judge struck down the initiative, they GOP wimped out. They should have fought harder or pressed for impeachment and removal of that arrogant judge!

Seiler then reminds readers that Cesar Chavez opposed illegal immigration, and pressed on his UFW members to report illegals to ICE

When will Republicans start celebrating Chavez? Can anyone imagine the shockwaves that would break out throughout Sacramento and the state of California if Republicans began championing this labor leader? Then they could add to their praise for Chavez: "I support this farmer worker because he supported secure borders and opposed illegal immigration."

BAM!

Notice how Seiler stresses that California Republicans should work with Trump, not against him.

Here's another issue that Republicans can champion, that has been all but ignored by the major parties: housing.

Elephant Decal (Credit: Ebay)

Republicans should embrace the old middle-class ideal of affordable housing – not through government subsidies, but through ending zoning restrictions.

WOW! What a concept. The problem is that the Republicans are not actively fighting for this need.

Seiler then listed other wining issues for California Republicans:

1. Cut taxes massively
2. Cut bureaucracy and waste
3. Redo unfair trade deals
4. Rebuild the infrastructure 
5. Reform welfare,
6. End “environmental” restrictions
7. Bring back good manufacturing jobs

A theme of standing out, fighting back, and making a difference stands out. With Republicans back to a super-minority status, the temptation is great to slink back and play nice, or give up entirely

Not me, and I hope that California Republican elected officials step out of their shell and fight back.

Even if Republicans lose, they can go down with all flags flying. What do we have to lose?

And I submit that we have a great deal to gain!

Donald Trump: Already Enforcing Our Immigration Laws ... Even in California!

President-Elect (soon to be President) Donald Trump is already kicking rump.

He has ushered in a business expansion renaissance into the United States. I believe a great majority of it is due to his campaign promises to allow businesses to grow, rather than look for more ways to tax and regulate them into oblivion.

He has a track record keeping manufacturing in the country. He is putting larger corporations on notice not to stab Americans in the back. Congressman Darrell Issa has introduced legislation to stop H-1B abuses, too!

On the immigration front, his very presence in the White House is putting an end to rampant lawlessness within our state, on our streets, and over the borders.

1. Illegal aliens are not enrolling their children in schools, or at least more of them are afraid to do so.

NPR's Southern California affiliate reports:

And over the last few months, 16-year-old Armando has conducted a daily risk assessment of whether the benefits of his little sister’s early education outweigh the risk of his dad simply driving her to and from preschool.

"I say she should go to school so she can learn," Bautista said. "But at the same time it's worrying because my parents could get stopped while just taking [her] to preschool."

Here's an idea: how about attaining legal status the legal way, just like millions of other immigrants who have come to this country?

The public school system is enabling illegal immigration as long as children or their parents do not have to demonstrate legal status in order to enroll. This abuse of taxpayer dollars must cease. Notice how the left-wing media love to play up the singular sob stories of the illegals and their families. When will the media report on the hurts, economic woes, and physical suffering of Americans?

A federal, taxpayer-funded program has been providing education specifically for children of migrant workers, and now they don't have enough kids enrolling!

It’s a situation that many farmworker families find themselves in, said Lourdes Villanueva, director of programs for RCMA. In fact, for the first time in its history, RCMA is struggling to fill its head start classrooms. This year the program has a gulf of unfilled seats, 43 percent in fact.

Because there is a new sheriff in town, illegal aliens are no longer brazenly walking around in the sunlight. They need to return to their nations of origin and come in legally. It's that simple.

2. Illegal aliens in California are no longer applying for drivers licenses (although they should not be able to attain them in the first place!). Barack Obama and the state of California's action to allow for temporary deferral of deportation has not only brought millions of illegal aliens out of the shadows, but have now set them up to be deported, since their information will become readily available to the federal authorities:

The Pacific Standard Magazine reports:

[W]ith the incoming Trump administration seemingly committed to deporting undocumented individuals, there is worry among immigration advocates that the identifying data collected as part of these programs — names, addresses, copies of foreign passports — could be used by federal authorities looking to send people back to their home countries.

OUCH!

Obama's lawlessness did not take into account that a successor to the White House would use this information to target and expel foreign nationals in our country. When will the voters in this country recognize that the Democratic Party never wanted to solve the immigration problems in the United States? They have only wanted to exacerbate and exploit this problem for votes and to paint the pro-law enforcement Republicans as hatemongers and bigots.

Now, their petty lawlessness has set up the illegals in our country for a fate they had hoped to avoid under the Obama Administration. Heckuva a job, there, Barrio Barry!

3. Farmers in California are adjusting to a new reality, that they will no longer get cheap labor from the pool of illegal workers pouring across the border. One contact in Fresno told me that illegal alien migrant workers have found a more tightly-controlled border looming at them as they try to migrate back and forth from their home countries to the United States.

The Associated Press reported in Trump's deportation vow spurs California farmers into action 

FRESNO, Calif. — Days after Donald Trump won the White House vowing to deport millions of people in the country illegally and fortify the Mexican border, California farmer Kevin Herman ordered nearly $600,000 in new equipment, cutting the number of workers he'll need starting with the next harvest.

Herman, who grows figs, persimmons and almonds in the nation's most productive farming state, said Trump's comments pushed him to make the purchase, larger than he would have otherwise.

"No doubt about it," Herman said. "I probably wouldn't have spent as much or bought as much machinery as I did."

Others in California's farming industry say Trump's tough campaign talk targeting immigrants in the country illegally — including a vast number of farmworkers — spurred them into action, too.

Many amnesty advocates claim that guest worker programs and amnesty are necessary to ensure robust harvesting and competitive prices in our local markets. They neglect to mention what happened in Alabama when the state legislature passed strict laws against illegal immigration. Men and women of all backgrounds--men and women living in the country legally, by the way--lined up for work which have been denied to them because illegal aliens were taking all the work.

The farming industry will adjust when the labor market restores Americans as the priority work forces. It is unconscionable for any industry to claim that men and women with legal status in this country will not do the work which illegal alien migrants will do. That is a lie.

They're calling on congressional representatives to educate the incoming president on the workforce it takes to feed the country, and they're assuring workers they'll protect them.

What an immoral thing for these farmer to do. They should be submitting to federal law.

As always, the liberal media will hone in on the sob story of one illegal alien to amplify enforcement advocates as hate-mongers.

Leticia Alfaro, a food-safety supervisor at the farm, said in an interview that many of her friends who work in the fields don't have proper documentation like her, and they take Trump's threats seriously.

"They're terrified by his comments," Alfaro, 53, said in Spanish.

They should have been terrified two decades ago when they entered the country in violation of federal law. They should have been terrified to cross the border in the first place without following prior, legal channels.

Roughly 325,000 workers in California do the back-breaking jobs that farmers say nobody else will do, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Manuel Cunha Jr., president of the Nisei Farmers League farming association, estimates 85 percent of California farmworkers live in the United States illegally.

Shifting markets and resources will make these determinations, not the federal government. Our government has a responsibility to secure the borders and secure the rights and safety of all citizens, though, regardless of the demands from the agricultural industry. Consumers should realize that they are paying out so much in exchange for lower grocery bills. A little extra at the checkout stand is nothing compared to the billions that our state and federal governments dispense on account of illegal immigration.

Let's not forget the toll and risks which our communities absorb because of illegal aliens, either. Just ask any Angel Mom in the Remembrance Project.

No illegal immigration

Herman, the farmer who bought three new almond sweepers, said Trump influenced him on top of California's rising minimum wage and a new law giving farm laborers overtime rights that are equal to workers in other industries.

Plus, Herman said, he's heard too many workers question whether they'll return from their holiday trips to Mexico. "It's stories like that that have motivated me to become efficient and upgrade my equipment," Herman said.

Trump is already making Making America Great Again!

Tom Nassif, a Trump adviser and president of the powerful trade association Western Growers, said farmers shouldn't fear the president-elect. Trump isn't interested in deporting their workers, he said.

Nassif said he isn't privy to the details of Trump's immigration policy. He's recommended that Trump allow farmworkers to stay by putting immigrants in the country illegally who are otherwise law-abiding residents on a period of probation under conditions that they pay taxes, learn English and obey all laws.

We have tried this provisional, probationary nonsense for decades. It's time to cut the cord and enforce the laws on our books. No more illegal immigration. Period.

Final Reflection

Donald Trump has turned immigration into a national issue, and opened up the mouths of Americans who are tired of the federal government refusing to enforce our immigration laws, Men and women have lost jobs, peace and safety, and even in their lives because of the rampant lack of enforcement along our borders and in our cities.

God Bless Donald Trump for standing his ground on this issue, and shame on the deceptive, corrupt liberal media for playing on the heart strings of readers to push amnesty and open borders, all at the expense of working men and women across the country.