Sec. of State Padilla admits that he cannot say how many non-citizens, ineligible to vote in U.S. elections, voted.
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1,016 New CA Laws
Written by Susan Miller
CA imposes increasingly restrictive measures on both individuals and businesses.
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About 500 migrants released by ICE Wednesday, over 1,000 released past few days.
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Learning about the recent conflagrations in California, President Trump tweeted: “There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor. Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!”
The main stream media, environmentalists, and, of course, celebrities declared the tweet proof of the president’s insanity, fanning the culture war fires by blaming climate change. Some blamed the president himself for dismantling some regulations put in place by environmentalist lobbies.
Who’s right? Why, in the last five years, is California experiencing so many fires?
Articles predating this year’s fire, especially those written after the 2017 fires, put the blame on forest management. Moreover, the Little Hoover Commission, a state funded think tank that makes recommendations to the governor, “found that California’s forests suffer from neglect and mismanagement, resulting in overcrowding that leaves them susceptible to disease, insects and wildfire.” Fire ecologist Sasha Berleman, in a Mother Jones interview, claims that “100 years of fire suppression has led to this huge accumulation of fuel loads, just dead and downed debris from trees and plant material in our forests, and in our woodlands,” says Berleman. “Our forests and woodlands are not healthy, and we’re getting more catastrophic fire behavior.”
Representative Tom McClintock, whose district includes Yosemite Valley and Tahoe National Forest, explained in a Flash Report interview that “ponderous, byzantine laws and regulations administered by a growing cadre of ideological zealots in our land management agencies promised to ‘save the environment.’ The advocates…have dominated our law, our policies, our courts and our federal agencies ever since.” That article outlines federal missteps that “led to America’s forests turning into tinderboxes, starting in the Clinton Administration and made worse, thanks to activist judges, by thwarting reforms attempted by the Bush Administration, and accelerating during the complicit Obama presidency.” (American Greatness.) Regulations put in place in 2012 particularly have lead to more fires in the past five years.
And, according to website American Greatness, California’s oligarchy, described as those who own the state’s land (“utility companies, trial lawyers, Silicon Valley ‘green’ entrepreneurs and billionaires”) plus “public sector unions, senior partners in California’s leftist coalition” benefit from environmentalist policies because they create artificial scarcity: “They pretend that natural disasters are “man-made,” so they can drive up the cost of living and reap the profits when the companies they invest in sell fewer products and services for more money in a rationed, anti-competitive environment.”
Most shocking of all, the switch from fire suppression through land management has resulted in a massive fire fighting industry. “Over the past few decades, the federal government built an industry designed to fight fire, not light it.” County budgets now include purchase and maintenance of fire helicopters and more. The attached chart, from the Oregon Public Broadcasting site, reveals just how shockingly lucrative the fire fighting business has become for the National Forest Service.
Ironically, attempts to create scarcity through environmentalism has resulted in policies that actually hurt the environment. Why? Because the intense fires release much more carbon than do controlled fires. (PBS)
The president knew all this when he made that fiery tweet. He’d been briefed by Ryan Zinke, Secretary of the Interior. And, the president’s tweet got the public talking and researching. It got voters asking why so many had to lose homes and businesses. It got more Californians to realize swamps exist, not just in Washington DC – but in the flood plains of Sacramento, and the mountains and deserts of California.
***Read the White House link on what the administration is doing for the fire effort. It’s massive and includes up to “75 percent of California’s costs for removing debris, conducting emergency activities, providing transitional sheltering,” and more.
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Trump’s Triumphs: October 1st through 7th - a week that made history
The swearing in of Justice Brett Kavanaugh - and the political madness leading up to it - overshadowed other news of that week, news which, if given any attention by the media, would show Donald Trump as one of the most masterful leaders the country has seen.
THE ECONOMY: Despite or because of the Kavanaugh firestorm, the President received a 51% approval rating in a Rasmussen poll. This also shows that Americans are paying attention to the high stock market and other important economic factors. CNS News reported that the number of federal employees has decreased by 16,000 since Trump took charge, but the federal government announced the unemployment rate had dropped .2% in September to 3.7% - the lowest since December, 1969. The economy has added 3.2 million jobs under Trump, and Fox News announced that “manufacturers are on track to record their highest confidence levels in the survey’s 20-year history, thanks in part to the Trump administration’s economic agenda, which included comprehensive tax reform and reduction in regulations.”
USMCA: On October 1, the same day that Senator Flake asked for an extension for the FBI to investigate Kavanaugh, the US, Canada and Mexico announced USMCA, the new trade deal that replaces NAFTA. Congress should vote upon the treaty next year, though the president as well as Mexican and Canadian leaders will officially sign in November. The new deal will allow more American made dairy products into Canadian markets, and (as reported in last month’s newsletter) does much to keep manufacturing in the US while boosting the Mexican economy. The deal has a sunset clause requiring the countries to revisit the arrangement every 6 years.
CHINA: According to CNBC, “it would be a mistake to miss this week's most significant geopolitical development…a dramatic unfolding of the Trump administration's intensified offensive on China.” It has been the White House’s conviction that Trump's predecessors “have done too little to respond to years of unfair Chinese trade practices, cyber transgressions, rapid military growth, growing technological prowess and the underlying strategic consequences of the so-called Belt and Road economic initiative” that connects China to Eurasian countries and, according to critics, promotes Chinese dominance in world affairs.
Underscoring the far-reaching, multi-faceted nature of the Trump administration efforts aimed at China, Vice President Pence in an October 6th landmark speech called out China as America's foremost threat, ahead of Russia, due to both the scope and seriousness of its activities abroad and within the United States. Though the New York Times accuses the administration of starting another Cold War, the fact that the Chinese have been undermining the US economy and stealing its intellectual property is widely known, one ironic example being Senator Feinstein’s personal driver of 16 years. The “war” on China is reflected in the new USMCA agreement as it requires all three parties to inform the others if they begin trade talks with "non-market economies" (such as China).
KAVANAUGH: Lastly, the Kavanaugh appointment rounded up the week with a stunning victory for the President. In less that two years, he has placed two justices among the Supremes and, especially if he’s re-elected in 2020, may have the chance to swear in one more. This makes the Trump influence on the court historically significant and, as his appointees are both comparably young, long lasting, keeping the court with a general 5 to 4 conservative majority.
Previous outrageous character assassinations by the Left of Supreme Court hopefuls Robert Bork (abandoned by Reagan) and Justice Clarence Thomas (supported by G.W. Bush) taught the president not only to stand by his man but to raise public support, which Trump did on Twitter and at his stump rallies in states key for the 2018 midterms. Audiences chanted “Kavanugh! Kavanaugh!” inspiring fellow conservatives across the country to keep pressure on their senators. The president was not afraid to call out accuser Blaissey-Ford (remember one is only a victim if a crime against her can be proven) for her false testimony or to point out that absurd attack — against a squeaky clean dad of two girls — undermined not only our government but good men everywhere. Now the whole country get it that the Left, rather than legislate, relies on the courts to promote agendas Americans don’t want.
The week ending October 7 was a busy week - and so successful for the master of four-dimensional chess that CNN actually referred to the Trump presidency as “influential” and commented that “it already seems Trump's grand design will be difficult for a future President to quickly reverse.”
Let’s hope that isn’t fake news!
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Feds say California didn’t comply with ‘two document’ Real ID requirement.
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California-based communist group BAMN (By Any Means Necessary) failed in its attempt to rally migrants in Tijuana to march to the U.S. border.
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"Be a force for change," Novato mayor tells West Marin middle schoolers' "equity and activiism" class.
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California Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed 2016 wildfire management bill while CA burned.
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A look at California’s illegal voter-registration problem. There are 3.5 million more people on U.S. election rolls than are eligible to vote.
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More...
KQED radio held the one and only debate between Gavin Newsom and John Cox. Listen to it at this link.
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As if you thought the notorious nanny state couldn't get any more intrusive. Water and milk only allowed on California kids' menus.
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Trump’s Triumphs: Dismantling NAFTA.
One of the president’s campaign promises was to renegotiate NAFTA. His administration did so as of August 31, and the new deal could be approved by Congress in early 2019.
So what IS NAFTA, and why is it a good thing that the Emperor-God has taken a machete to it? Moreover, why are swamp dwellers hypocrites for opposing the rewrite?
The North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement is a 1994 product of the Clinton administration. As one might expect, it’s complicated and varied; and its effects far reaching and often subtle. “Negotiated behind closed doors with hundreds of official corporate advisors, NAFTA was radically different than past trade deals that focused on traditional trade matters, like cutting border taxes. Instead, most of NAFTA's provisions grant new powers and privileges to multinational corporations.” (citizen.org) In short, NAFTA incentivizes US corporations to leave the country, taking jobs with them (1 million American jobs lost to date), and guts pro-America, pro-worker policies, like one requiring the US government to spend tax dollars on American-made goods.
The end result, over 25 years, lowered US wages, hurt US manufacturing and agriculture, and increased the US trade deficit. Critics says NAFTA destroyed the Mexican economy and drove millions from their homes (and into the US.)
To be fair, a 2013 New York Times articles sings NAFTA’s praises, claiming “Nafta was not about the net creation or destruction of U.S. jobs; it was about better jobs and lower costs.” “Better jobs for whom?” one might ask after realizing the restorative impact of the Trump administration’s common sense changes to the agreement. (A full list can be found at the ustr.gov site below.)
The new agreement requires:
1) Mexico to guarantee workers the right to secret ballot votes on their own unions and contracts. Who knew that Mexico has fake “protection” unions which approve low-wage contracts before work at a new plant even commences? If Mexican workers protest the $2 per hour wages at a plant that would pay $20 to $25 per hour to make the same product in the US, the Mexicans are fired for violating their phony “contract.” The secret-ballot vote requirement could help end that exploitation. (prospect.org)
2) the razing of NAFTA’s investor-state dispute settlement tribunals. ISDS is a system through which investors (that is, multi-national corporations) can sue countries for alleged discriminatory practices, grabbing compensation from taxpayers after attacking environmental and health policies that they claim undermine NAFTA investor rights.
3) a lift in the share of a good’s value that must be made in North America to 75 percent from 62.5 percent, a rule of origin widely criticized as allowing NAFTA benefits for goods comprised of parts made in China and other countries outside of North America.
Though it’s probably inaccurate to pin all of today’s political woes on NAFTA specifically, it does seems as if it laid the ground work for many of them: loss of work in the factory and farm towns of fly-over country, massive influx of illegals from Mexico, and the general dismantling of borders in favor of multi-national corporations. Think about it: if multi-national corporations can negotiate US trade deals, they run Washington… and much of the world. So, if Donald Trump was elected to drain the swamp, NAFTA is what made the swamp a particularly good home for alligators. No wonder the swamp wants to keep it. Politicians have spent 25 years getting rich off it. The Left abandoned the American worker and took up identity politics in part because of it.
By undoing NAFTA, the president is not only putting America first, he’s incentivizing Mexico and Canada to look after their own. He’s restoring a healthy sense of competition between businesses, and keeping politicians away from the national and international trough. He’s raising the standard of living for Mexico and helping ensure its citizens can make a home in their home country honestly, instead of risking life and limb to make one in the US illegally. And that in turn defends American workers. So, overhauling NAFTA is good for everybody, well, except globalists, corporatists and lobbyists. And it’s another brilliant strategic move by President Trump, the master of four dimensional chess, to make America great again.
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Trump’s Triumphs - A Tale of Two Dictators
Trump Tower was built in 1979. In 1988, according to the New York Times and Fortune Magazine, 75% of construction in NYC was still controlled by gangsters. Therefore, it’s likely that both President Trump and his builder father dealt with the mob. Whether they dealt directly or indirectly, to survive and succeed, they had to understand how the ruthless think, feel, and operate. Having built luxury buildings all over the world, the president understands the ruthless on an international scale.
Yet, after Singapore, he was chided for not ironing out details with Kim. And, after Helsinki, the president was criticized by the Main Stream Media for appearing too conciliatory to Putin.
But actions speak louder than words. When Trump criticized Angela Merkel for making an oil deal with Russia, he reminded the world that he’s not just building up the US as an energy supplier, he’s threatening Russia’s economy. With nuclear weapons alone giving Russia cache on the world stage, Russia eeks out a GDP of $8,733 per capita, compared to the US GDP of $57,467. In short, Russia can’t afford to lose business. By expanding Obama era sanctions against Russia, the president limits Russian access to technology and, according to Bloomberg, threatens to decrease the Russian economy by 10%. So, with the pressure on, Mr. Putin openly agreed at the Helsinki press conference to Trump’s demands regarding Syria. Success.
Why does Syria matter, aside from protecting Israel? According to Breitbart’s Carol Glick, “North Korea…would interpret Iranian deployment along the Syrian border as a sign of American weakness, and U.S. allies around the world would once again lose confidence in America’s protection, as they did under…Obama.”
Plus better relations with Russia speaks loudly to China. “According to Mark Leonard, director of the European Council on Foreign Relations, ‘For the Chinese… Mr Trump’s sycophantic press conference …in Helsinki had a strategic purpose. They see it as Henry Kissinger in reverse. In 1972, the US nudged China off the Soviet axis in order to put pressure on its real rival, the Soviet Union.' Today, Mr Trump is reaching out to Russia in order to isolate China.”
Kim, with his faux marble palaces and starving populace, may appear more as a nuke obsessed James Bond villain than the leader of a country. But by wooing him, President Trump not only begins to dismantle the DMZ - the Asian equivalent to the Berlin wall - he brings a feeling of peace to Americans whose relatives fought and died there. True, Kim may not be dismantling his nukes, but he has stopped testing. And, by sending back American remains, the dictator is reaching out. That alone is of historical importance.
But perhaps the purpose of courting Kim is not just to reign him in; perhaps it’s to further isolate China. As Leonard’s Asian contacts report: “Look at how [Trump] handled North Korea…He got Xi Jinping to agree to UN sanctions [half a dozen] times, creating an economic stranglehold on the country. China almost turned North Korea into a sworn enemy of the country…[The Chinese] describe [Trump] as a master tactician, focusing on one issue at a time, and extracting as many concessions as he can. But they also see him as a strategist, willing to declare a truce in each area when there are no more concessions to be had, and then start again with a new front.”
So, perhaps the president didn’t push for exact details with North Korea because the word of madman Kim can’t be trusted anyway. Therefore, the document is symbolic and operable agreements were probably not the goal. And perhaps Trump conciliated to Putin in public because doing so would make the dictator look (and feel) good after having conceded on hard issues in private.
What do foreign affairs have to do with ’70’s gangsters? While communication, technology and trade are gently, peacefully creating an educated class in Russia and China (and India and everywhere) who hold mores much in common with the American way of life, the governments of these countries reflect their bloody histories. Sure, the US has its dark side; but in Russia and China, human life is still fairly cheap.
In The Art of the Deal, Mr. Trump depicts his younger self collecting rent for his father in the New York of Charles Bronson’s Death Wish. He learns to stand to the side in case delinquent renters shoot through the door. The president learned young to dodge a bullet and get crooks to pay up at the same time. So, why wouldn’t Mr. Trump know how to handle two international leaders known for assassinating enemies? Perhaps a president who has confronted the darkest side of humanity will be the guy to bring us world peace.
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