Tag Archives: Special interest groups write legislation

May 10 2021

Clash within the Rule of Law


Armstrong Economics Blog/Corruption Re-Posted May 10, 2021 by Martin Armstrong

The Department of Justice (DOJ) this past week announced it would appeal a federal judge’s order vacating a nationwide freeze on evictions. The DOJ announcement came just hours after a federal judge in Washington, D.C., struck down the eviction moratorium that was put in place by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to help those COVID prevented from working yet they had to pay rent. This problem illustrates the real crisis in economics. On the one hand, it certainly is reasonable to say that rents should be suspended if people are prevented from working by the government.

The CDC order declared that “a landlord, owner of a residential property, or other person with a legal right to pursue eviction or possessory action shall not evict any covered person.”Id/55,296The Court struck it down for a very straightforward reason. “It is the role of the political branches, and not the courts, to assess the merits of policy measures designed to combat the spread of disease, even during a global pandemic. The question for the Court is a narrow one: Does the Public Health Service Act grant the CDC the legal authority to impose a nationwide eviction moratorium? It does not.”

REGARDLESS OF THE MERITS, housing advocates and tenants rights groups may be up in arms, but the decision is correct. The CDC does not have the dictatorial power to make any such decree. If the CDC can impact the economy and suspend contracts under the pretense of a health issue, then this is a very dangerous proposition. That is like saying the Division of Motor Vehicles could claim in the name of safety everyone must be banned from driving to work. Such decrees would be beyond their authority or jurisdiction.

If the goal is that evictions should be banned, then that much come from Congress and not some agency. Additionally, you cannot suspend tenets from paying rent without suspending the landlord’s obligation to pay mortgages and property taxes. You cannot discriminate against one class for the benefit of the other and pretend this is Equal Protection under the Constitution.

The ruling, if it takes effect, would not disturb eviction freezes enacted by state and local governments, only those issued by the CDC, and the DOJ is seriously altering the Constitution to justify such power.

Corporate landlords filed more than 56,000 eviction actions since the eviction pause took effect last September, with almost half of those filed this year, according to a study by the Private Equity Stakeholder Project of seven states. Those notices, which don’t always lead to evictions. Nevertheless, NEVER in 6,000 years of recorded history has any country ever locked down its citizens and denied them the right to earn a living, which then ripples through everything. These absurd orders are unfair and highly disruptive to the economy as a whole.

May 10 2021

Oregon Police Officer Under Investigation For Extremist Views – Infraction, He Carried ‘Molon Labe’ Key Chain


Posted originally on the conservative tree house May 9, 2021 | Sundance | 94 Comments

The attacks against police; and the attacks against patriotism that connects the social fabric to respecting law and order; are reaching new levels.  The tools and techniques being deployed by Marxist BLM activists are increasingly infiltrating the police units.

The leftists are creating new and ridiculous definitions of what constitutes “extremism” and/or “far right” extremist expression.  This latest example is a case study in using Alinsky weaponizing methods to attack language.

OREGON -A Bend Police Department officer will be investigated for allegedly violating policy by wearing a keychain connected to a far-right group while in uniform on Saturday.

Bend Chief Mike Krantz did not identify the employee, though Cpl. Josh Spano is the officer seen in a photograph circulating on Reddit and Facebook. Attached to the front of Spano’s service vest is an item reading “molon labe” in Greek lettering, a phrase associated with the far-right Three Percenters militia.

The “molon labe” item and its letters appear to be larger than Spano’s name tag on his vest.

“I’m aware of the allegations posted around social media regarding one of our employees displaying an item that was inconsistent with our uniform, an item believed to be supportive of extremist ideologies” Krantz told The Bulletin.  (read more)

We cannot continue cowering to the ever-changing whims of the leftist movement.

May 10 2021

Newt Gingrich is Exactly Right, Liz Cheney is Positioning to Support the Deep State With an Independent Run for Office…


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on May 9, 2021 | Sundance | 242 Comments

The former Speaker is exactly correct.  Cheney is pre-positioning herself to run against the potential for a 2024 Trump re-election bid.  The objective here is transparently obvious.  Liz Cheney is the 2024 version of former 2016 candidate Evan McMullin.   Both Cheney and McMullin come from the same origin within the intelligence apparatus.  Let me be very clear about something…. The Intelligence Community are the deep state operatives who control government.

At the 30,000 foot level, the U.S. Intelligence Community, known as the “IC” are the people and institutions behind the entire operation of the United States government.  There are no longer three branches of government.  All branches (executive, legislative and judicial) now defer to the IC.  {Go Deep Here}

The IC network, including their ability to reach into all systems, networks, institutions and agencies for surveillance, contains all of the elements of control over all other institutions.  Former CIA operative Evan McMullin, running for president in 2016, was part of this system effort.  It is now crystal clear that Liz Cheney, daughter to former Def Sec. Dick Cheney, is operating on behalf of this same system effort. THAT is the connective tissue.

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Understand Modern DC HERE

The way we defeat all of the issues which we face on a daily basis is to first understand who the enemy is, what the allies can/cannot do to assist us, and what functional issues exist in the battle.

When you realize the Intelligence Community is now in total control over government; when you realize there are no checks and balances within this system; when you realize the three branches of U.S. government have been deconstructed; only then can you honestly start to formulate solutions.

One of the IC biggest weapons is also their weakness.  They operate in the shadows…. their systems rely on leverage, blackmail, and fear… they count on people not knowing how the levers are pulled.  Expose the problem to the larger American electorate and the IC is weakened.

May 10 2021

Arizona GOP Chairwoman Kelli Ward Provides Weekend Update on Status of Maricopa County Audit


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on May 9, 2021 | Sundance | 141 Comments

Arizona GOP Chairwoman Kelli Ward provides an update on the Maricopa County audit including the legal battles.  Chairwoman Ward outlines how the county board of supervisors has been discovered to have withheld material evidence from the audit despite a court order demanding compliance.

There are certain to be more legal battles ahead as the auditors demand access to all the equipment, including the passwords the county is withholding.  From the reference of the State Senate, the judge has already ruled on these issues and everything that was used in the 2020 election is subject to the subpoena by the State Senate.  It will be interesting next week to see how this issue resolves.

Finally, Kelli Ward says to expect a busy week next week as these and other issues are tackled while the physical audit of ballots continues.

The Veterans Memorial Coliseum CCTV system remains active [SEE HERE]  as a public security and integrity issue.

Additionally, THIS is the official page of the Arizona Senate Liaison for the Maricopa County Election audit. “Under the direction of The Honorable Ken Bennett, former Arizona Secretary of State, an audit is underway to ensure transparency and integrity in the Maricopa County, AZ 2020 election audit.”

May 10 2021

Lee Smith and Victor Davis Hanson Discussion During Freedom Festival


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on May 8, 2021 | Sundance | 109 Comments

Lee Smith is the only DC regional journalist I would ever recommend anyone trusting (the ONLY one), and Victor Davis Hanson always has an eloquent way of explaining the bizarre world that surrounds everything political.   Lee Smith having a roundtable discussion with VDH is a must watch:

May 10 2021

Stunning Admission – Maricopa County, Arizona Election Officials Did NOT Have Control Over Ballot Counting Machines


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on May 7, 2021 | Sundance | 226 Comments

In the latest update from Maricopa County, former Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett explains that county election officials have admitted they did not control the ballot counting machines.  Additionally, Bennett explains the progress of the ballot audit and what the next steps are likely to be.

“Officials in Maricopa County, Arizona were forced to acknowledge they did not have any control over the voting machines during the 2020 elections. One America’s Christina Bobb spoke with Senate spokesman Ken Bennett to get the details.”

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The Veterans Memorial Coliseum CCTV system remains active [SEE HERE]  as a public security and integrity issue.

Additionally, THIS is the official page of the Arizona Senate Liaison for the Maricopa County Election audit. “Under the direction of The Honorable Ken Bennett, former Arizona Secretary of State, an audit is underway to ensure transparency and integrity in the Maricopa County, AZ 2020 election audit.”

May 9 2021

Important Maricopa Ballot Update – GOP Chairwoman Kelli Ward Discusses Sec. Of State and DOJ Coordinating to Derail Audit


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on May 6, 2021 | Sundance | 30 Comments

After the DOJ Civil Rights Division sends a letter to the Arizona state senate, Arizona Chairwoman Kelli Ward gives an update on the coordinated democrat shenanigans.

As Ward notes, the Democrat Arizona Secretary of State is coordinating with the DOJ in an effort to block the audit from continuing.   The auditors and the State senate need our support as the feds start to target the effort.  Unfortunately, I suspect that somewhere, sometime, at some point in this battle, the legal fight is going to end up at the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Veterans Memorial Coliseum CCTV system remains active [SEE HERE]  as a public security and integrity issue.

Additionally, THIS is the official page of the Arizona Senate Liaison for the Maricopa County Election audit. “Under the direction of The Honorable Ken Bennett, former Arizona Secretary of State, an audit is underway to ensure transparency and integrity in the Maricopa County, AZ 2020 election audit.”

May 6 2021

DOJ Attempts to Get Involved in Arizona Ballot Audit – As Predicted DOJ Civil Rights Division Cites Lawfare Activists and Media Reports as Evidence of Concern


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on May 5, 2021 | Sundance | 147 Comments

Everyone knew this was coming…. The Feds are attempting to get involved in the Maricopa County ballot audit.  The DOJ Civil Rights Division has sent a letter [pdf available here] to the Arizona State Senate claiming their review of Lawfare statements and media reports may show evidence of auditing issues that violate federal laws.

Last week a group of Lawfare activists [SEE HERE], including New York University Law School – which leads to Andrew Weissmann, asked the DOJ to get involved.

The ridiculous letter from the Biden DOJ goes on to cite media reports from the Washington Post as evidence to justify their involvement.

Remember, previously the DOJ narrative was that each state makes up its own election rules.  Now the DOJ is saying, falsely, that Arizona might be breaking federal laws.

Their first concern [as predicted] centers around ballot security.  Again, remember, the Maricopa County election board would not let the auditors use the county tabulation center [SEE HERE] so the ballots and equipment had to be moved to Veterans Memorial Coliseum (AZ State Fairgrounds).   Now the DOJ is citing that move as a potential issue for the security of the ballots and auditing procedures.

The first issue relates to a number of reports suggesting that the ballots, elections systems, and election materials that are the subject of the Maricopa County audit are no longer under the ultimate control of state and local elections officials, are not being adequately safeguarded by contractors at an insecure facility, and are at risk of being lost, stolen, altered, compromised or destroyed.

Federal law creates a duty to safeguard and preserve federal election records. The Department is charged with enforcement of provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1960, 52 U.S.C. §§ 20701-20706. This statute requires state and local election officials to maintain, for twenty-two months after the conduct of an election for federal office, “all records and papers” relating to any “act requisite to voting in such election.”

The DOJ’s second issue is even more obtuse. They cite federal election law for voters rights, as the DOJ is worried that auditors will visit -and intimidate- people and places who have a record of multiple ballots from the same address or non residence:

The second issue relates to the Cyber Ninjas’ statement of work for this audit. Among other things, the statement of work indicates that the contractor has been working “with a number of individuals” to “identify voter registrations that did not make sense, and then knock on doors to confirm if valid voters actually lived at the stated address.” … these federal preservation and retention requirements for elections records is to “secure a more effective protection of the right to vote.”
The statement of work also indicates that the contractor will “select a minimum of three precincts” in Maricopa County “with a high number of anomalies” in order “to conduct an audit of voting history” and that voters may be contacted through a “combination of phone calls and physical canvassing” to “collect information of whether the individual voted in the election” in November 2020. Statement of Work at ¶ 5.1. This description of the proposed work of the audit raises concerns regarding potential intimidation of voters. The Department enforces a number of federal statutes that prohibit intimidation of persons for voting or attempting to vote. For example, Section 11(b) of the Voting Rights Act provides that “No person, whether acting under color of law or otherwise, shall intimidate, threaten, or coerce, or attempt to intimidate, threaten, or coerce any person for voting or attempting to vote, or intimidate, threaten, or coerce, or attempt to intimidate, threaten, or coerce any person for urging or aiding any person to vote or attempt to vote…”

Both issues are moot; but the DOJ effort to intervene in the audit should not be taken lightly.  Democrats in Arizona, the Lawfare group, the media and the DOJ are all working together to undermine the audit.

The Arizona State Senate should tell the DOJ to go pound sand; however, the DOJ effort is really an attempt to build a framework to undermine the results of the audit if/when fraud is uncovered.

The DOJ is making a concerted effort to assist the Biden administration in retaining the fraud.  That’s the bottom line.

Here’s the letter: 

We all know where this is coming from…

May 6 2021

Liz Cheney Runs to The Washington Post to Present Her Case Against President Trump


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on May 5, 2021 | Sundance | 306 Comments

Decepticon Representative Liz Cheney has gone to The Washington Post to request their support in presenting her ideological case against President Donald J Trump.

…. because the first outlet “Republicans” consider when they want to talk to other Republicans is The Washington Post right? /sarc… I digress.

Rather than spend time on this insufferable creature who is no longer relevant to the issues we face, allow me to point out the transparently obvious.

For over a decade the one constant in an ever-changing universe has been the specific outlets used to push public relations narratives.  Because this pattern is so predictable we have drawn attention to it frequently.

  • When the Intelligence Community wants PR support they use The Washington Post.
  • When the FBI team want PR support they use The New York Times and Politico
  • When the State Dept. Want’s PR support they use CNN

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Liz Cheney runs to The Washington Post.  What does that tell you?

May 5 2021

The Decline & Fall of the USA & Rise of China


Armstrong Economics Blog/China Re-Posted May 4, 2021 by Martin Armstrong

The obsession with climate change and the manipulated models they have put forth that only look at data post-1850 is interestingly fulfilling our model that China will become the financial capital of the world. The billionaires pushing this agenda and the hair-brain ideas behind the Great Reset undermine the Western economy and our very culture. The woke movement is further dividing the people as everyone seems to be offended by something. What builds a civilization is much like a relationship between a husband and wife. As long as it is mutually beneficial, the relationship flourishes. As soon as each only looks for themselves, divorce becomes inevitable. This is what the woke movement is doing — dividing the people and that eliminates the mutual benefit of remaining together as a nation-state or civilization.

China will NOT join the West in destroying its economy to BUILD BACK BETTER. In fact, Su Wei, Deputy Secretary-General of the National Development and Reform Commission, said that “Because renewable energy (sources such as) wind and solar power are intermittent and unstable, we must rely on a stable power source … We have no other choice. For a period of time, we may need to use coal power as a point of flexible adjustment.”

China will NOT follow this woke movement, but it will also pay only lip-service to this Great Reset and BUILD BACK BETTER agenda. The collapse of communism in 1989 was economically driven. Once Bretton Woods collapsed, China was forced to deal with the real world. The USA peaked in 1977, initially benefiting itself from the sharp rise in energy. China has posted positive economic growth since the fall of communism, whereas the United States plunged negatively during the 2007-2009 Financial Crisis, and once again thanks to the manufactured COVID Financial Crisis. This BUILD BACK BETTER agenda will permanently dismantle the Western economy and transfer economic growth and innovation to China.

So when we look ahead at the markets, we must change the way we see the world, for it is changing in ways people have not yet appreciated. Because of the endless borrowing with no intention of ever paying anything back by those in government, we are entering the last stage of the ECM wave – authoritarianism because they have fiscally mismanaged everything possible.