Posted originally on the conservative tree house on May 10, 2022 | Sundance

The republican senate leadership team held a press conference today announcing their support for the priority agenda of Joe Biden and the White House.

As Leader Mitch McConnell noted at the beginning of his remarks, “we all agree, the most important thing going on in the world right now is the war in Ukraine,” and with that statement McConnell announced he and Joe Biden have agreed to advance a massive package of $40 billion to pay the salaries and retirement benefits of the Ukrainian government.

Comrades, you must put aside any stress about how to afford groceries and still fill your gas tank, there are people in the government of Ukraine who need your tax dollars more.  WATCH (45 seconds):

No gas money, no grocery money, no infant formula, no voting integrity…. Meh, no problem.  We’ve got Ukrainians to support.

DECEPTICONS ♦ Senate Republican Leader: Senator Mitch McConnell♦ Assistant Minority Leader: Senator John Thune♦ Conference Chairman: Senator John Barrasso♦ Senate Republican Conference Vice Chairman: Senator Joni Ernst♦ Senate Republican Policy Committee Chairman Roy Blunt♦ National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Rick Scott♦ Corporate Public Relations Firm, Fox News

Posted originally on the conservative tree house on May 10, 2022 | Sundance 

During a Q&A session at the Financial Times Future of the Car summit, a small-minded man of dubious connection to historical truth decided to make inquiries about Elon Musk’s perspective on Twitter.  Specifically, whether the account of Donald Trump should be restored on the platform.

Elon Musk did not equivocate in advocating for the returned voice of Donald Trump; noting that banning speech from a platform does not mean ending that speech, it only drives that speech into another venue.  The decision to perma-ban Donald Trump from Twitter was “morally wrong and flat out stupid.”  WATCH:

Again, Musk did not equivocate, and that is an important element to consider when we evaluate the direction of his intent.  Musk is aware that his position will draw extreme attacks from the moonbat wing of the political spectrum, yet he stands firm in the face of predictable adversity.  I think we can all respect that, even if we disagree with Musk on nuances of his position toward other matters.

Posted originally on the conservative tree house on May 10, 2022 | Sundance

When Donald Trump won the 2016 election, even before he took office, CTH warned about the permanent bureaucratic class in Washington DC and what it meant for an outside to enter this system.  With a consistent question being raised, it is well worth the reminder – because the answer has nothing to do with Donald Trump.

First the question:

The short answer is, it’s not that complicated. There is one permanent bureaucratic class in/around DC (two wings, same bird). The pool of appointees comes from this UniParty system. Donald Trump as an outsider faced animosity from the system itself. There are no MAGA bureaucrats.

That said, the more fulsome answer is the real issue. Because it doesn’t matter who the ‘outsider’ is, they are going to suffer the same fate until a structural change takes place.

If you take a small potential pool of America-First administrators, and then overlay the DC filtration system in the Senate, ‘advise and consent’, what you realize is that any appointment has to be approved by the same system that is opposed to the agenda the nominee would represent.

In essence, the DC system is designed to protect itself.

It doesn’t matter who the next presidential candidate is. If that President wants to advance a policy agenda in favor of the American people, they will face the same problem.  So let me give one perspective on how to tackle the issue.

To give one example as a baseline, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell did not block President Trump’s ability to have recess appointments because the republican controlled Senate supported Donald Trump.

Senator McConnell blocked President Trump because the DC system was opposed to President Trump.

Machiavelli said, “It must be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than a new system. For the initiator has the enmity of all who would profit by the preservation of the old institution and merely lukewarm defenders in those who gain by the new ones.”  A prescient and oft repeated quote that is pertinent to the situation.

When our founders created the system of government for our constitutional republic, they built in layers of protection from federal control over the lives of people in the states.  Over time those protections have been eroded as the federal bureaucracy has seized power.  One of the biggest changes that led to the creation of the permanent political class was the 17th amendment.

Our founders created a system where Senators were appointed by the state legislatures.  In this original system the senate was bound by obligation to look out for the best interests of their specific states.  Under the ‘advise and consent‘ rules of Senate confirmation for executive branch appointments, the intent was to ensure the presidential appointee -who would now carry out regulatory activity- would not undermine the independent position of the states.

When the 17th amendment (direct voting for Senators) took the place of state appointments, the perspective of ‘advise and consent’ changed.  The senate was now in the position of ensuring the presidential appointee did not undermine the power of the permanent bureaucracy, which is the root of power for the upper-chamber.

Senate committees, Homeland Security, Judiciary, Intelligence, Armed Services, Foreign Relations, etc. now consists of members who carry an imbalanced level of power within government.  The senate now controls who will be in charge of executive branch agencies like the DOJ, DHS, FBI, CIA, ODNI, DoD, State Dept and NSA, from the position of their own power and control in Washington DC.

In essence, the 17th amendment flipped the intent of the constitution from protecting the individual states to protecting the federal government.

Almost every source of federal issue: ex. spending, intervention and foreign assistance, conflict with the states, burdensome regulation, surveillance and spying on American citizens, the two-tiered justice system and the erosion of liberty & individual rights (see COVID examples), can be sourced back to the problem created by the 17th amendment.

As long as the United States senate is more concerned with retaining their own power, no executive branch office holder can break through that system.

In the balance of power dynamic, the Senate has an inordinate amount of unilateral power within the congressional branch.  This power dynamic is a direct outcome of the 17th amendment.  Indeed, many have argued – myself included, that no single modification to the constitution was as structurally damaging to the framework of government, specifically the balance of power within it, as the 17th amendment.

The House of Representatives was created to be the voice of the people, ie, “The Peoples’ House.”  However, the U.S. Senate was structurally created to be the place where state government had representation in the federal government decision-making.  The 17th amendment completely removed state representation, and we have been in an escalating battle over state’s rights ever since.

It doesn’t matter who the President is, they do not choose their cabinet.  Ultimately the senate does.  That’s the core problem.

Overlay that DC structural issue with the fact that almost all of the bureaucracy created by this skewed DC system is now in place to defend itself from any outside effort to change it, and you get this problem that Donald Trump exposed.

Repeal the 17th amendment and you will see the most significant restoration of freedom, liberty and social balance in our lifetime.

Making America Great Again, requires repealing the 17th amendment…..

….. Learn More Here

Published on Rumble by Dinesh D’Souza  on May 7, 2022 

This is the official 2000 Mules movie.

Below are the instructions to purchase and watch:

1. Purchase the movie or an annual subscription at 2000mules.locals.com.
2. Make sure your email addresses on Rumble and Locals match. If they do not match, this movie will not be available on Rumble and will only be available for you on Locals.
3. If you are using the website or app, reload the page. The movie will play directly on this page. If not, you can still watch it directly on Locals.com.
4. If you are using ROKU, you must access the film under the SUSBSCRIPTIONS tab and under DINESH D’SOUZA account for it to work. This means you must be subscribed to his channel and must login.

Armstrong Economics Blog/Economics Re-Posted May 10, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

COMMENT FROME GERMANY: Oil and flour shelves are empty.

REPLY: I really do not know of the braindead politicians actually understanding what they have done with their COVID restrictions, and then whispering to Zelensky to please sacrifice your own people to create a diversion for the collapse in the economy so they can blame Putin. Meanwhile, the Green German candidate Baerbock found herself being pelted with eggs. These politicians have no idea what they have done to society – none whatsoever! Even the Federal Reserve came out and warned that the war in Ukraine and the surging inflation are the greatest threats to the world economy. But the politicians will never listen.

Germany has also issued a cookbook on how to cook without electricity. Welcome to the insanity of Republican forms of government. I suspect they will all vanish post-2032.

Armstrong Economics Blog/Politics Re- Re-Posted May 10, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

Krystal Ball provides a bipartisan view on the manipulation tactics that both Republicans and Democrats have been using throughout US history to gain votes. Remind the voters to hate the opposition who will turn their world into a dystopian nightmare — Vote for me and this time will be different!

The reality is that most politicians do not care about the key issues they discuss on podiums around the country. Both parties deliberately refuse to fix the problems they claim are ruining society because they need to scare voters to stay in line and vote within party lines.

As Ball mentioned, the minimum wage is stagnant at $7.25 per hour after the Democrats claimed for years they would raise it substantially. Perhaps only Bernie is honestly concerned about this issue and would have taken legitimate steps to correct the problem. Biden implemented the Child Tax Credit to help struggling families but implemented it for only one year. Once that program expired, his tactic backfired and Democratic voters flocked to the GOP. He has billions available for Ukraine, but not for US taxpayers.

There are many “one-issue voters” who will vote for whichever candidate supports their main concern regardless of political affiliation. Abortion is one of those issues that attract one-issue voters who have an extremely religious and moral opposition to the practice. The Democrats have claimed to care about protecting abortion rights for decades but failed to uphold their promise.

Obama said that protecting Roe would be his top priority once elected president. Despite many cycles of holding power, the Democrats refused to make access to abortion a federal law. Obama had the House AND Senate in his pocket and could have passed the Freedom of Choice Act with little opposition. He did no such thing because the Democrats need the issue of abortion to portray the Republicans as the opposition. The Republicans used the same technique when Trump promised to overturn Roe v. Wade to appeal to his Christian voters.

These politicians only care about securing votes for candidates who support the current regime. The Republicans should be celebrating the Supreme Court decision, but are upset over the leak because it takes away another talking point for the midterm election. Additionally, as America has abandoned its original Christian founding, fewer Republican voters are overly concerned with Roe v. Wade, especially given the endless issues facing our nation.

Both sides have had nearly 50 years to protect or overturn Roe. How long will politicians continue to make the same empty promises before the people call their bluff? Sooner or later, voters will realize that this time will not be different.

Armstrong Economics Blog/War Re-Posted May 10, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

Over the weekend, Volodymyr Zelensky admitted that he is hoping US financial pressure on Russia will end the war. “So far, I think that the United States of America is the accelerator of the sanction policies and I think they do more than any other country. And this is the way it should be because they are the most powerful country right now. I see the same support with respect to sanctions from the United Kingdom,” Zelensky told reporters at Fox.

The Ukrainian leader admitted that he needs the US to be involved in the war, economically, which is selfishly pushing the nation and all of NATO into World War III. On top of sanctions, President Biden just appealed to Congress for $33 billion in aid to help Ukraine. Only $3 billion of that will go to food and humanitarian programs to help civilians and the five million Ukrainian refugees, while $8.5 billion will go toward economic aid. An alarming $20 billion will go directly toward assisting military action against Russia.

Putin is not exaggerating by calling the West an aggressor, as it is no different from Ukraine calling it the “accelerator.” The press is painting Putin out to be a madman hellbent on war with the world. His goal from the beginning was clear – secure land that he believes belongs to Russia. He had NO intention of provoking NATO nations or creating a global disaster. The press was certain that Putin would declare war against the US and others on May 9, Victory Day, which symbolizes when the nation defeated the axis powers in World War II. Let us not forget that the axis powers would have won the last world war if not for Russia. The UK and US have been memorialized as the victors, but Russia experienced more casualties than either nation.

The US and other nations have unofficially declared an economic war on Russia. We are a few missteps short of a full-fledged war to the likes we have never seen. Zelensky wants other nations to get involved and join the war, even if that means the loss of millions of lives.