There was a firestorm in Washington when President Trump announced he sent Erica McEntarfer packing. Ms. McEntarfer was the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), a governmental entity about which Americans know little but happens to be critical to the U.S. economy. While the President muddled his reasons for the firing, it was done for two excellent reasons. This entity was created in 1884 and has evolved into its current home within the Department of Labor. It bills itself as “the principal fact-finding agency for the U.S. government in the broad field of labor economics and statistics and serves as a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System.” One might hope that it would provide solid economic information on which the government and our economic leaders can base their financial decisions. The BLS pours out many different reports. I know this as I receive them. The reports are about worker productivity, average weekly wages, regional hiring activity, national job openings, and many other topics. There is one report that is more important than the others combined. That is because the entire economy waits with bated… Read More

How quickly we forget. Between 1941 and 2001, Democrats controlled the redistricting process in the entire country (practically). And they gerrymandered (pronounced gary-mandered) everywhere. In 1991, Democrats controlled the Governorship and both houses of the Texas Legislature, but they were losing control of the state, as Republicans gained support, in fact, getting 47% of the statewide vote. The Democrat controlled state then enacted a congressional district plan that was called by the Supreme Court as the “shrewdest gerrymander of the 1990s.” It was so bad that in 2000, Republicans got 59% of the vote, but only 13 of the state’s Congressional seat. The Congressional seat fight in Texas continued in 2001, when the Democrats controlled the House, but the Republicans controlled the Governor and the Senate. Democrats still tried to protect their 1991 gerrymander by refusing to agree to a Congressional map in 2001.

Did we hear any Democrats cry about the gerrymandering process they perpetrated in Texas through 2001? No. In fact, between 1940 and 2000 the highly partisan maps drawn in the 25 to 30 states controlled by the Democrats were never… Read More

Redistricting is a purely political act. I know its boring, and very inside baseball, to talk about it, but jobs, power, influence and policy are all affected by how the political lines in any state are drawn. State legislatures were granted the power in Article 1, Section 4 of the US Constitution to draw Congressional lines, and, of course, most state Constitutions give them the right to draw state legislature lines. It is important to differentiate the power to draw state legislative districts and Congressional districts, because the Constitutional power to draw those lines are drawn from different sources.

With that introduction, let’s look at what California’s Arrogant Authoritarian in Charge (AAIC) Newsom is planning in the upcoming battle with regard to the redistricting of California Congressional lines.

First, we need to look at federal reapportionment laws. 2 USC Section 2a governs the “apportionment” process, that is, how the number of members of Congress are distributed between the states. Apportionment occurs once every ten years after the decennial census and that is when the states are allowed to draw the new… Read More

Mortgage fraud refers to an intentional misstatement, misrepresentation, and/or omission of information relied upon by an underwriter or lender to fund, purchase, and/or insure a loan secured by real property. A criminal referral has been issued by federal officials to the U.S. Department of Justice questioning whether U.S. Senator Adam Schiff committed mortgage fraud. It appears he has. Those of us who have either acquired a personal residence or have refinanced a property know how daunting the paperwork is when you buy that property and you place financing on it. There are forms and then there are more forms. One might believe that reviewing the endless stack might be a little easier if one happens to be a graduate of Harvard Law School. It would be ostensibly easier for someone who clerked for a federal judge and prosecuted cases as an Assistant United States Attorney. That same person has held other people to the highest standards, leading one to think he would hold himself to those same high standards. Washington DC is filled with stories of members of Congress sleeping on a coach in their office or sharing an apartment with one or more fellow members.… Read More

When a former “comrade in arms” in the policy/political arena has an abrupt change of mind/behavior, two things happen. One sits in bewilderment at how they are now expressing themselves, and those with positions on the other side of the aisle function as if you personally are responsible for every misguided act/statement of the subject person. With my personal desire to be an honest broker of opinions, I must call out Tucker Carlson for his multitude of errant comments and his blatant anti-Semitism. Many people evolve politically over the years. David Horowitz was a significant voice in the Republican arena who recently passed away. His story is about being a Communist in his youth and then evolving to being a bastion of conservative thinking and a founder of the Freedom Center that is carrying on his life’s work as part of his legacy. The difference is David, a friend of mine, did not devolve into hatred for anything other than a failed political philosophy. Yes, I was proponent of Tucker Carlson when he was on Fox News. Tucker was the only show I regularly watched on Fox News other than Special Report which is the network’s excellent hard… Read More

When I first read about Governor Newsom’s plan to “redistrict” California’s Congressional districts to counter the move in Texas to change its Congressional district lines, I thought his plan to be flawed. I don’t know anything about the rules in Texas regarding the redistricting process there, but California supposedly has a “bipartisan, independent” redistricting commission. Neither the Governor nor the Legislature is supposed to have the power to draw district lines.

Then, the Democrat Attorney General, Rob Bonta, rendered an opinion saying the Legislature could override the redistricting commission, and propose its own plan, submit that plan to the voters, and work to counter the Texas redistricting. Article XXI of the California Constitution directly contradicts the Attorney General’s legal opinion. Attorney General Bonta is not driven by the law, but rather the partisan politics that both he and Governor Newsom have pursued for years here in California. Article XXI says, rather clearly, the commission draws the districts once a decade, and that’s it. (section 1 of Article XXI)

Texas is… Read More

As always, our spring trip brought revelations about the world and the world of travel that make it special to visit countries outside the United States. This trip gave us greater understanding of how challenging and invigorating it can be when you travel on your own, often akin to a MASH unit. After our special November trip to Antarctica – via a most enjoyable cruise (rarely our mode of travel but the way one accesses the most isolated and unblemished place on earth), we were back to seeing multiple locations of South America and the Caribbean over the course of 3-1/2 weeks. The trip began with a startle. Slightly more than a week before leaving we learned we must have visas to enter Brazil. The Beautiful Wife scours the travel world to make sure we have all our proper paperwork long before leaving. Brazil had delayed implementing the visa program from April 2024, but it reupped it on Canada, Australia and the U.S. starting April 10th with little fanfare and less preparation. BW jumped into action and sent off the applications using our passport photos. Three days later we got notice our application was rejected. Why? Because you cannot smile in the… Read More

For many years, the left has claimed that the only way to get fair redistricting maps for Congress and the State Legislatures is to create an “independent” redistricting commission, with an equal number of Republicans and Democrats on the commission, which would then draw the legislative and Congressional districts in the state “free of political concerns.” The map would be fair and representative of the population and not “gerrymandered.” The state would enter into political nirvana with districts drawn with an eye to the needs of the communities that the districts represent, and not bow to the politicians in power that are drawing the maps for their own interests. That’s the theory anyway.

Just a little history. The Constitution put the right to draw Congressional districts in the hands of state legislators. In Federalist No. 45, James Madison explains why. Madison says that members of Congress will be required, at least once every ten years, to rely on state legislators to protect their Congressional seat, thereby making Members of Congress somewhat reliant and responsive to state legislators. As a former state… Read More